H o m e
Friday, February 22, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL WIP information (yes again! :)
Again some WIP news about the current BoyCott Advance/SDL changes! A bit small but it took some time to programm so it's worth it ;) So here it goes :
- New WIN32 installer using Nullsoft's NSIS;
- Optimized QUAD OpenGL rendering (no QUAD_STRIP anymore!);
- Added TV and Dot Matrix mode in OpenGL renderer;
- Complete overhaul of the configfile and commandline switches;
The new WIN32 installer made distribution for the WIN32 version about 1/3 smaller (it's now about 300K) which also saves ngemu some HDD space ;) The new QUAD code is faster on my Hercules Prophet 4500 (Kyro II) so I reccon that most accelerators will benefit with the new code. Also the configfile and commandline switches are being processed to be much more structured (a bit M.A.M.E. style like) so people who write Frontends beware of the new version. If you want to make a release at the same time, contact me (sdlemu@ngemu.com) and I'll e-mail the changes to you. The new implented Scanline features (TV Mode and Dot Matrox Mode) took me some time but I've managed to implent it using the SDL_OPENGLBLIT feature from SDL. The people who use OpenGL with SDL also know that SDL_OPENGLBLIT can be slow but this wasn't the case on several systems I've tried it on. We'll see what the testers say about it :
Sunday, February 17, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL WIP information
Some websites allready posted this information but here it goes officially :) Progress is going nicely with the BoyCott Advance/SDL main-core which is infact also the NeoPocott/SDL and Handy/SDL main-core (long live portability using SDL!). But here is goes :
- Changed C/C++ compiler on WIN32 systems (Cygwin -> Mingw32);
- Added Alpha Blending and Blur to OpenGL renderer;
- Fixed Timer for WIN32 systems;
- Fixed configfile not initialized problem when dropping a ROM image on the exe;
- New installer for WIN32 systems (yay!);
- Added new YUV overlays based upon the SDL CVS testoverlay program;
- Additional fixes (not worthwhile to mention ;).
To see how the new Alpha Blending and Blur looks like, see the screenshot below. I must say that the OpenGL code looks much better and runs much faster/stabler as it did before!
Tuesday, February 14, 2002
SDL emu forum online!
People who dislike e-mail (or just don't have it :) can now post messages on the SDL emu messageboard. It's based upon phpBB and has section for SDL emu (General), BoyCott Advance/SDL (General/Bugs), Handy/SDL ( General/Bugs) and ofcourse NeoPocott/SDL (General/Bugs). Feel free to register on the board. Atm there isn't a link (will come soon in the above menu) but people can allready use it.
Ofcourse, there are some rules for this board :
- NO ROM REQUESTS;
- NO SPAMMING ALLOWED;
- NO TRASHING OTHER USERS;
The above rules apply for all users (even us!) and when breaking them banning can be the result. But I know most people obey these ones. If you want to join up. Click the following link :
SDL emu forum (click me!)
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 Debian 2.2r4 binaries (and some WIP)
While I thought I compiled the binaries against the Debian SDL libraries, something got borked (and linked against my own compiled libs instead). I've completely removed any homemade SDL libraries and includes and rebuild the sources against the real Debian SDL libraries. I compiled it correctly this time (allthough I'm a bit surprised against which libraries the lot is linked, that's a lot!) and uploaded the new binary package. So Debian users, feel free to download the new set! As allways, get them from the BA/SDL part of this website and I thank David and others for help on this one!
Furthermore, because of the new SDL CVS (yay!) I got some very good examples of how to implent the other available YUV overlay. Some of them are really greatly accelerated! They are allready implented and will be available in the next release.
An other thing is the following. Somebody e-mailed me that there was a virus (Backdoor.Egghead) in the WIN32 release of NeoPocott/SDL (and possibly BA/SDL). I allready scanned the releases with NAV 2002 and there were NO VIRUSSES found (this was also stated by fluffy from NG emu!) but do scan first, just in case! Overall, the NeoPocott/SDL release was from around September/October so I was a bit surprised that it should've been infected with a virus from 2-2002 :/
Sunday, February 11, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 releases
A bit later then expected (I came home late from work) but atlast it's here, BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6. Grab the downloads from the BoyCott Advance/SDL download page. It can take time till all packages are uploaded so if it ain't there, please check on later. For the people who missed it, this is the final CHANGELOG :
- Insync with BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 (including Sonic Advance patch);
- BAM movie recording/player support (Niels);
- Support for 10 savestates per GBA ROM image (Niels);
- Fixed a small bug in the OpenGL code (Niels);
- Fixed a small bug concerning fullscreen with software rendering on WIN32 systems (Niels);
- Redone timer for more accurate emulation based upon BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 WIN32 (Caz);
- Added new filtermodes for software rendering (TVMode, 2xSai, Super 2xSai,SuperEagle) (Caz/Niels);
- Code cleaning and migration to C++ (Caz/Niels);
- Added selection of OpenGL GL_TRIANGLE or GL_QUAD texture rendering (Niels);
- Additional fixes (Niels);
Sunday, February 10, 2002 - 1:44 CET :)
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 final release information
Caz and me have finally made the BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 code frozen which means that a release can be made. I first send out beta's to certain people and I hope to hear from them soon! Some additional bugs were fixed in the last couple of days and some enhancements were integrated as well. The final release list is as followed :
- Insync with BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 (including Sonic Advance patch);
- BAM movie recording/player support (Niels);
- Support for 10 savestates per GBA ROM image (Niels);
- Fixed a small bug in the OpenGL code (Niels);
- Fixed a small bug concerning fullscreen with software rendering on WIN32 systems (Niels);
- Redone timer for more accurate emulation based upon BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 WIN32 (Caz);
- Added new filtermodes for software rendering (TVMode, 2xSai, Super 2xSai,SuperEagle) (Caz/Niels);
- Code cleaning and migration to C++ (Caz/Niels);
- Additional fixes (Niels);
I've installed Debian 2.2r5 the other night and this means that the code will be compiled on a Debian system for future releases. NeoPocot/SDL and Lynx/SDL binaries (completely insync with the BA/SDL code) will be released shortly as well. I really hope that this will solve the Debian SDL error.
The releases are scheduled for next monday around 20:00 CET so check on this site by then for the downloads of BeOS, Linux, FreeBSD and WIN32 systems. A binary for NetBSD is also in the works (but will be released later on).
Friday, February 8, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 release information
It's been little over a month since there was a status update about the upcoming versions so here it goes! BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.2.6 is about 99% finished, the only thing to do is some bug fetching and fixing some code here and there. The code is been cleaned up a lot and is now C++ based (based upon GNU C++ specs) which makes the code a lot more readable. You can expect the following things in the next release which should hit the website this weekend :
- Insync with BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 (including Sonic Advance patch);
- BAM movie recording/player support (Niels);
- Support for 10 savestates per GBA ROM image (Niels);
- Fixed a small bug in the OpenGL code (Niels);
- Redone timer for more accurate emulation based upon BoyCott Advance 0.2.6 WIN32 (Caz);
- Code cleaning and migration to C++ (Caz/Niels);
I also hope that I've solved the Debian libsdl error by excluding the missing depenencies on my Linux SDL source distribution. There maybe some extra things implented as well but that'll be presented on the release ;)
Monday, January 7, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.24b R1 available for download!
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.24b Release 1 is out and available for download by clicking the BA/SDL webpage in the menu :) The following was added/implented :
- Insync with BoyCott Advance 0.24b (=0.23b + additional patches) emulation core;
- Implented OpenGL rendering (scaling/fullscreen);
- Implented YUV 1:2 overlay rendering (scaling, might not work entirely on Linux and FreeBSD);
- Implented configuration file;
- Joystick/Keyboard configuration (through configfile);
- Redone soundsupport, sound is now about the same quality as the official WIN32 release;
- Several optmisations and bugfixes;
Especially Linux users have the most benefits with release, they can finally enjoy 100% quality sound (if your system supports it) also the OpenGL renderer runs very stable/fast on a Linux system. The Linux binaries were build on a Redhat 7.0 (updated) development system with SDL 1.2.3 (build from source). GNU Debian 2.2 R4 binaries will be available this week (or simply rebuild SDL from source on your system) so that also they can enjoy this new release.
UPDATE : Binaries for BeOS R5, FreeBSD 4.4, Linux-glibc22 and WIN32 are now all available including mirrors!
Tuesday, January 1, 2002
BoyCott Advance/SDL 0.23b R1 FreeBSD 4.4 beta binary available
The FreeBSD 4.4 binary of the GBA emu BoyCott Advance/SDL has been uploaded as well. This binary is infact a BETA and hasn't been tested by anyone except me. This release has OpenGL, YUV 1:2 Overlay, software rendering, sound and configfile support. This new binary is based upon the 0.23b sourcecode but doesn't have the last changes included from the official BoyCott Advance 0.23b release. Get the binary package (includes Pongfighter) from the BoyCott Advance/SDL webpage.
This release is ONLY for public testing. If FreeBSD owners have problems with it, please contact us through e-mail : sdlemu@ngemu.com.
Binaries are up!
The binaries of all SDL emu's (BoyCott Advance/SDL, NeoPocott/SDL and Handy/SDL) are now uploaded on the website and can be downloaded by clicking the desired webpages from the emu's using the top menu. Mirrors for all binary distributions and for all emulators are available through 3D Downloads just incase. Happy gaming/emulating.
Also, the docs in the distributions are not YET updated! If you'd like to contact us, simply send an e-mail to the following e-mail address : sdlemu@ngemu.com.
Happy new year!
At 2:00 CET 2002 is now definately a fact! We from the SDL emu crew wish everyone a very happy new year! We hope we can give you new and cool releases for this year!
And especially the following people (in no particular order) I wish them the very best in 2002 and beyond :
Caz, Gollum, Dysfunction, Deamon, Bobbi, Thorgal, CDBurnout, Atilla, TkChris, Dhalamar, MarkEllis, Tima, Guyfawkes, GoodOldGames, _axelay_, Zakk, Joshua, Relnev, Slouken and ofcourse everyone I forgot!
Monday, December 31, 2001
New website is up!
With big thanks to the NGEMU crew you can now enjoy the new and improved NeoPocott/SDL website. Well, a lot has changed since 1 year ago. At first we started with the port of the NEO*GEO Pocket Colour emulator NeoPocott to the SDL library. Now we have 2 new emulators ported to the SDL library which emulate the GBA (BoyCott Advance/SDL) and the good old Atari Lynx (Handy/SDL). I hope you enjoy using them on your system as we (Caz and me) developed them with the help of the official Authors (Julien Frelat and Keith Wilkins) of the (closedsource) emu's.
A new eara will submerge and we're going into the next year (2002). With this new year we proudly present our new website and with a new name : SDL emu. Our goal is ofcourse to port great (WIN32) emu's to various platforms with the help of the great Simple Directmedia Layer library!
A big thanks goes to Bobbi for setting the hosting up (tnx m8!), a big applause and thanks goes to Thorgal, he made this very cool design! Furthermore the people from Retrofaction are thanked for there initial hosting and especially Zakk.
I hope you enjoy our new website. Much is now done to get the website up in full content, please be patient concerning binaries! Untill then I allready wish the people a happy new year and a happy 2002.
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