PC-Engine/TurboGrafx emulation?

D-Boy · Post by **D-Boy** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 4:17 am

There hasn't been any word (that I've seen) that Bill Nagel's emulator is still in progress. Are there any other projects in the works?

It's really surprising that one of the first systems to be emulated really well on PC is one of the last anyone is attempting for Dreamcast, especially with all the tech info on it. The specs are so similar to the level of the NES, it seems like a system Dreamcast actually stands a chance of emulating at full speed with sound.

Not to mention the $210 price tag of actually buying the real system makes emulation a much more viable avenue to play your cheap SCDs, compared to Genesis/SNES systems which are $7 in any pawn shop in the USA

Hobbes T Tiger · Post by **Hobbes T Tiger** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:14 am

PC Engine would be an excellent emulator to have finished. The system was way ahead of it's time and had a great line up of quality games that left other 8 bits in the shade.

It might be slightly harder to emulate than NES, but what I can tell you is that MESS supports it.

So, is there any chance of someone porting the MESS code for a PC Engine build?

D-Boy · Post by **D-Boy** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 10:20 am

The problem with that being MESS is much like my cat -- built for comfort, not for speed. I think it would take some serious rewriting to get and decent performance out of it on the Dreamcast (I doubt it would be any better than Bill's last release which was 80% speed with no sound), and at that point, you'd be better off writing something from scratch for the DC.

Maybe some day Takayama Fumihiko will work on one. It seems like everything he touches instantly ends up running full speed, with sound, at 90% compatability. And given all the similarities to the NES, I'd think a native Dreamcast emulation core would be a snap for it. I thought the machine has been fairly well documented by the Magic Engine author and others.

In fact, if memory serves me correctly (though often it doesn't), there was actually talk of Magic Engine being ported to DC, though that got canned right around when Sega deep-sixed the machine in the USA.

FlashPV · Post by **FlashPV** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 5:28 am

Hu-go! is a great PC engine emulator. It's portable and open source.
I'm wondering why nobody tried to make a Dreamcast port?

cube323 · Post by **cube323** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 5:46 pm

You guys totally speak the truth. I love the PCE/TG-16. I'm not much of a programmer, but full speed/sound PCE on DC seems totally possible.

I truly hope one of you Dreamcast Dev Rockstars takes up this cause. It would be totally worth your time.

D-Boy · Post by **D-Boy** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 4:35 pm

Yeah, it's the last of the great 8-bit systems that haven't been emulated at a level you could really call playable (if you interpret playable to mean anything resembling the actual game, not just running without crashing).

HuCard and CD emulation would be amazing on the Dreamcast. Getting to play great games like Dracula X, Ys I&II, IV, and the Neutopia Series off the PC would really kick ass.