path: root/old/rel/readme.txt

DrPocketSnes
Super Nintendo (SNES) Emulator
by Reesy

DrPocketSnes is a Super Nintendo (SNES) emulator for the GP2X and Gizmondo. I've taken bits from PocketSnes and SquidgeSnes and merged them into another new emulator.  I then stuck my menu system on it and called it my own :) you've got to love porting stuff.

So credits for this emulator should really go to.

Snes9x Team for creating the original Snes9x emulator
http://www.snes9x.com/

Scott Ramsby for PocketSnes port based on Snes9x sources
http://paqpark.nuclearfallout.net/projects/pocketsnes.php

Yoyofr for OpenSnes9x port based on Snes9x sources
http://yoyofr.fr.st/

Squidge for the SquidgeSnes port based on OpenSnes9x
http://squidge2x.com/

Notaz for his fixes and improvements to SquidgeSnes.
http://notaz.atspace.com/

Rlyeh for his work on the gp2x (not so)minimal sdk
http://www.retrodev.info/

Reesy for merging everything and sticking a menu on it...the really complicated stuff ;).
http://reesy.gp32x.de/

====================
IMPORTANT
When upgrading from v4 to v5 you will need to manually move the savestate files (*.sv*) from the options directory into the savestate directory and the SRAM files (*.srm) from the root installation directory into the sram directory.  See change history for more details.
====================

==============
Change History
==============

___________________________________
Version 7.1.0	Release Date 28/10/2010
___________________________________
Changes by Bitrider
	
- Added: Tv-Out compatiblity. 
	Thanks to XiM for the Ext connector used to make my Tv-Out cable, which made this feature possible.
- Internal changes: 
	Lots of code refactoring, make my life easier. 
	A new saner Makefile.

___________________________________
Version 7.0.1	Release Date ??/09/2010
___________________________________
Changes by Bitrider
	
- Bug-fix release (Mode-7, priorities, sprites, etc)

___________________________________
Version 7.0.0	Release Date 30/07/2010
___________________________________
Changes by Bitrider

	Thanks goes to: 
		Buba-ho-tep, Rivroner (beta testers) 
		Anarchy (GP32Spain webmaster & conding contest promoter)
		Head-On-Heels (v 6.5.0 developer)
		Notaz, Squidge, Little Johnz & all those who contributed to this wonderful emulator.

- Added: deep changes to SPC 700 assembly core, now it is faster.
	- moved a few registers 
	- less reads/writes to memory
	- implemented GetByteZ, GetByte, SetByteZ & SetByte in ARM assembly
- Added: modifications to 65c816 assembly core, a little bit faster.
	- moved several flags from memory to status register.
	- implemented SetPCBase in ARM assembly.
	- SetDSP & GetDSP called directly (S9x_SetDSP & S9x_GetDSP where just wrapper functions with no added value).
	- Assembly CPU code splitted in several files (modularity purposes)
- Added: 4 different assembly APU (SPC 700) cycle sizes: 13, 14, 15 & 21. 
	Now more games are compatible with fast executable & fast mode on compatible executable : 
	Human's ones (Firemen, ...), Secret of evermore, Clock Tower (yeah, I know it's also by Human but a special case) that one is for you Buba. 
- Added: 16 bit fast assembly renderers for:
	tile: opaque, add, add 1/2, add fix 1/2, sub, sub 1/2, sub fix 1/2
	tile clipped: opaque, add, add 1/2, add fix 1/2, sub, sub 1/2, sub fix 1/2
	mode 7 just one layer: solid, solid with priority, add, add 1/2, sub, sub 1/2
	mode 7 with priorities (two layers): solid, add, add 1/2, sub, sub 1/2.
	subscreen filling: solid, add, add 1/2, sub, sub 1/2
- Added: SpeedHacks (rom patching with snesadvance.dat) to fast executable
- Added: a switch to enable/disable speed hacks, "Apply snesadvance.dat on ROM load".
- Added: Super FX emulation to fast executable version.
- Added: last played ROM loading at PocketSNES startup 
- Added: a switch to enable/disable last played ROM loading at startup
- Added: persistent selector in ROM list selector 
	 Last selected ROM will continue being focused when you launch a ROM 
	 and go back to the menu to select another ROM. (idea by Buba-ho-tep, thanks man.)
	 It does work only when you are in default PocketSNES ROM directory
- Added: display ROM file name while loading.
- Added: on ROM load error display error, pause & show "Push a button to continue".
- Added: fast version (65c816 assembly emulation) will show as "v 7.0.0 fast"
	 compatible version (65c816 C emulation) will show as "v 7.0.0 compatible" 
- Added: the ability to use Fast (assembly SPC-700) or Compatible (C SPC-700), more games playable on fast executable.
	 - So "Emulation (Reset Required): Compatible/Fast" switch is now available on fast executable. 
- Fixed: Auto save SRAM should only save when a change occurred
- Added: "Manual + indicator" to SRAM saving options
	 A disk will be displayed on the lower right corner of the screen when SRAM data is awaiting 
	 Note: disk won't be visible if screen is resized
- Added: a little bit optimized sound block decode routine.

 
___________________________________
Version 6.5.0	Release Date 24/10/2009
___________________________________
Changes by HeadOverHeels
	1. Optimizations in mode 7 and other code optimizations
	2. Horizontal scaler
	
	FAST VERSION
	------------
	3. Increased compatibility: star ocean, rendering ranger, etc.
	4. More games are compatible with audio performance hack
	
	NORMAL VERSION
	--------------
	5. Full SuperFX and SA-1 emulation
	6. Snesadvance.dat speedhacks support
	7. 2 sound emulation modes: compatible and fast

___________________________________
Version 6.4.5	Release Date 06/06/2009
___________________________________
Changes by HeadOverHeels
	1. Ported to GP2X WIZ
	2. Optimizations in C4 emulation

___________________________________
Version 6.4.4	Release Date 16/11/2008
___________________________________
Changes by Reesy
	1. Zipped save states
	2. Rom Browser code tidied, you can now set the default directory
		from inside the rom browser.  The rom browser now also tells
		you the current directory.
Changes by HeadOverHeels
	1. Fixed some bugs in layer priority (super ghouls'n ghosts level 4 for example)
	2. Optimizations in tile rendering code, ppu emulation, ...
	3. Changes in volume control to be more usable with headphones in firmware 4.0.0 and louder with firmware 4.1.1
	4. Fixed: some games do not work if you don't restart the emulator
	5. Menu now sets cpu clock to 66 mhz to save battery

___________________________________
Version 6.4.3	Release Date 23/02/2008
___________________________________
Changes by HeadOverHeels
	1. USB pads support
	2. Fixed sky colour for Super Mario World when transparencies are not active.
	3. Fixed framerate for PAL games (50 fps) and added an option to configure region (AUTO, NTSC, PAL)
	4. Fixed sound problems with some games (Ilussion of Gaia for exmaple)
	5. Sound frequencies have been changed (8250,16500) to make GP2X F200 compatible
	6. 256x240 games resolution problem have been fixed
	7. C4 chip support (Megaman X2, X3)
	8. High resolution text support (Seiken Densetsu 3 - Secret of Mana2)
	9. Added DSP optimizations from snes9xTYL of Yoyofr.
	10. F200 sound level now is lower
	11. SDD1 support (Star Ocean & Street Fighter Alpha 2)
		SDD1 decompressed packs are supported. SDD1GFX.DAT & SDD1GFX.IDX must be copied to a subdirectory named socnsdd1 (for Star Ocean) and sfa2sdd1 (for Street Fighter 2 alpha). Create these subdirectories in the roms directory.
		If no packs are found, the emulator uses realtime decompression (slower)
	12. Other minor fixes and optimizations.
	13. Added stereo sound.
	14. New advanced hacks options:
		Audio performance hack
		Ignore palette writes
		Ignore Fixed Colour
		Ignore Windows clipping
		Ignore Add/Sub modes
		Layer desactivation

Changes by Reesy
___________________________________
Version 6	Release Date 04/02/2007
___________________________________
	1. Fixed a bug on the rom browsing code.  Strings were not being terminated correctly.  
___________________________________
Version 5	Release Date 03/02/2007
___________________________________
	1. Changed the way SRAM works.  The old versions of PocketSnes used a timer to check if SRAM had changed while the SNES emulator was running.  If a change was detected the SRAM was saved straight away.  This used to cause glitches in the framerate.  SRAM is now saved when you enter the menu as long as you have SRAM saving set to automatic in the options menu.
	2. Added options to allow you to switch MMU hack on or off
	3. Added options to allow you to switch Craigx's RAM settings on or off.
	4. Fixed problems where data was not being saved to SD card correctly, I was missing a few calls to sync()
	5. I've tidied up the installation directory abit.  Most things used to be stored in the options sub directory and somethings were saved to the root installation directory, which was a bit of a mess.  So I've now created the following 3 directories in order to make things more logical.
	
	options (*.opt)		- used to hold global and individual game settings
	savestate (*.sv*) 	- used to hold save states for all games
	sram (*.srm)		- used to hold SRAM saves for all games
	
	This means that we you upgrade from Version 4 to Version 5 you will need to manually copy the savestates out of the options directory and into the savestate directory in order for PocketSnes to recognise them.  You will also have to move the SRAM files out of the root
installation directory and into the sram directory.	
___________________________________	
Version 4	Release Date 30/01/2007
___________________________________
	1. Fixed timer code which was causing the emulator to crash
___________________________________	
Version 3	Release Date 24/01/2007
___________________________________
	1. Scaled display mode added.
	2. 44K sound mode added.
	3. Super FX support added - very very buggy and slow
___________________________________
Version 2	Release Date 24/01/2007
___________________________________
	1. Fixed Diagnals.
	2. Fixed Volume controls.
	3. Fixed Reset game function.
	4. Snes Select button now working.
___________________________________	
Version 1	Release Date 24/01/2007
___________________________________
	Initial release

=========================
Installation Instructions
=========================

Along with this document you are reading you should have also received the following files

PocketSnes.gpe  - PocketSnes emulator
mmuhack.o       - Additional module used to hack MMU and improve performance.

Simply copy these files onto your SD card, the files can go anywhere but both files need to be in the same directory. I recommend putting the in a directory of their own because when the emulator first starts up it will create several subdirectories which are used to store options, savestates and SRAM saves.

So for example create a directory called DrPocketSnes and then copy the PocketSnes.gpe and mmuhack.o files into the DrPocketSnes directory.  

Now you need to copy some SNES roms to you SD card.  Again you can put your roms anywhere you like on your SD card, you just need to configure DrPocketSnes to point at your rom directory.  To do this follow the instructions below

1.	Start PocketSnes
2. 	Select "Select Rom" from the menu.
3. 	This will take you by default to the current working directory (e.g the directory where you installed DrPocketSnes /mnt/sd/DrPocketSnes.
4. 	You now need to browse through the file system to find your rom directory.
5. 	To do this select ".." to move up and directory or select any entries that start with "+".  Entries that start with "+" are directories, so selecting takes you into that directory.
6. 	Once you have located your rom directory, you need to save the current directory as your default rom directory.
7. 	To do this select the "Back To Main Menu" menu option.
8. 	Then select "SNES Options"
9. 	Then select "Save Current Rom Directory"
10.	This will store the current rom directory in a text file held in the options directory. So the next time you start PocketSnes and select "Select Rom" you will be taken straight to your rom directory.

============
Menu Options
============
_______________________________________________	
Return To Game
	If you have a rom loaded this will allow to exit the menu and return to the game.
_______________________________________________	
Select Rom
	Takes you to the Rom Selection screen which allows you load a new game.
_______________________________________________		
Manage Save States
	Takes you to the save state management screen.  Save states allow you to save your current position in the currently loaded game.  This means that you can reload a particular position in the game as many times as you want.
_______________________________________________	
Save Sram
	Allows you save the current contents of SRAM to a file.  SRAM is the battery backup ram which used to be on the Snes cartridges.  This allowed high scores or game progress, so that the next time you loaded the snes game you could continue where you left off.  If you plan to use save states then you don't need to worry about SRAM saves as the save state holds all of this information as well.
_______________________________________________	
SNES Options
	Takes you into the options screen which allows you to customise how the emulator runs. See "SNES Options - In Detail" for more information on each of the settings.
_______________________________________________
Reset Game
	Allows you to reset the current rom, its the same as reloading the rom apart from you don't have to read the rom file from the SD card again.
_______________________________________________	
Exit Application
	Exits PocketSnes and reloaded the GP2X menu.
_______________________________________________

========================	
SNES Options - In Detail
========================
_______________________________________________
Sound
	Allows you to turn the sound on or off
_______________________________________________	
Sound Rate
	Allows you to configure the sample rate of the sound emulation.  The high the rate the clearer and more accurate the sound.
_______________________________________________
Volumne
	Allows you setup default volume levels.  Volume can also be controlled using the volume controls on the GP2X.
_______________________________________________	
Cpu Speed
	Allows you select the GP2X cpu speed to be used when emulating the Snes.  The higher the cpu speed the smoother the emulation is ( plus it drains you battery more)
_______________________________________________	
FrameSkip
	Allows you to control how many frames are not rendered, this can allow you to keep full speed emulation when at low cpu speeds. AUTO will skip as many frames as needed in order to maintain full speed emulation.
_______________________________________________	
Action Buttons
	The GP2X has the same button as the snes but the buttons are in the wrong order.  This option allows you to have the same button names as the snes, or to have the same button positions as snes.
	NORMAL = same button names as Snes
	SWAPPED = same button positions as Snes
_______________________________________________	
Show FPS
	This allows you to see how man frames are being rendered per second.  This can allow you to see how the emulator is performing.
_______________________________________________	
Brightness
	This allows you to control the current brightness of the screen.  You can make it darker or brighter.
_______________________________________________	
Transparencies
	The SNES has very complicated graphics hardware which can be quite slow to emulate.  Switching off transparencies can improve performce but makes some games unplayable because you can not see all of the information that you need.
_______________________________________________	
Render Mode
	Allows you to scale the emulated SNES graphics.  The normal SNES screen resolution is less than the GP2X's, so when in unscaled mode the graphics appear in a window.  If you select the scaled mode then the graphics are stretched to fill the screen.
_______________________________________________	
RAM Timing
	This allows you select faster ram timings.  This can improve performance.  If you change this option you need to restart PocketSnes because these settings are only applied as the emulator is first started.
_______________________________________________	
MMU Hack
	This option allows you to enable the MMU hack developed by Squidge.  This option massively improves performance and is recommended.  Again if you change this option you need to restart PocketSnes because these settings are only applied as the emulator is first started.
_______________________________________________	
Saving SRAM
	This option allows you to control how the SRAM is saved to you SD card.  If you select automatic then SRAM will be saved automatically everytime you return to the menu if it has been modified during the last run of emulation.  If you select the manual option then SRAM will only be saved when you select the Save SRAM menu option from the main menu.
_______________________________________________	
Load Global Settings
	This option will reload the global settings.  Global Settings affect all games as long as the games does not have a setting file of its own ( See Load Settings for current game). 
_______________________________________________	
Save Global Settings
	This option allows you to save the current settings to the SD card.  Everytime you load a new rom these settings will be reloaded, so basically they become you default settings.  This can be overwritten using the "Save Settings For Current Game" option which allows you to save a config file for a particular rom. So each time you load the rom these settings will automatically be loaded.
_______________________________________________	
Delete Global Settings
	Deletes any global setting file that has been created.  If you have no global setting file then PocketSnes will use its own internal default settings when loading a new rom.
_______________________________________________	
Load Settings For Current Game
	This option will load any setting file associated with the currently loaded rom.
_______________________________________________	
Save Settings For Current Game
	This option allows you to save a config file for the currently loaded rom. So each time you load this rom these settings will automatically be loaded instead of the global settings.
_______________________________________________	
Delete Settings For Current Game
	Deletes any config file for the currently loaded rom.
_______________________________________________	
Save Current Rom Directory
	This option allows you to save the current rom directory as you default rom directory.
_______________________________________________