NesterDC SE Release Delayed (beware p.8 for 56k'ers)

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:09 am

I did what I could the past couple of weeks to finish NesterDC SE, but I didn't get the free time I was expecting. There were too many interuptions and responsibilities. However, I did manage to get a LOT done. It's probably better that I wasn't able to finish more before Christmas because then I might have made a rushed release which could have had bugs and missing features. Let me tell you now that NesterDC SE will be worth the wait. It's going to be everything I personally wanted in a NES emulator and a little more. Plus its use of DreamScript as the glue between the emulator and GUI is working out incredibly well.

Trust me that I am very pissed that I missed Christmas. But I think it'll be a higher quality release because I did.

cagmere · Post by **cagmere** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:13 am

Hey no prob man, you know what they say, better late than never. Like you said too, I'd rather have the emulator be all that it can be, rather than it be rushed and things be missing. Thank you for all of your hard work and enjoy the rest of your holiday!

GustavoSM · Post by **GustavoSM** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:21 am

Those are great news! But I think, scherzo, that you should measure your words before posting. I won't be able to sleep for the next days.

Post by **Christuserloeser** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:57 am

Love your spirit! Thank you for the info & let me ensure you that I can wait. Take all the time you need.

Chris

Excessive · Post by **Excessive** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 11:56 am

This is good news! Nester DC SE is worth the wait! Just take your time and make it really good before releasing it! Keep up the good work and dont forget to enjoy your holiday!

Pyrosurfer · Post by **Pyrosurfer** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 12:00 pm

I'm looking forward to it. I played nester dc 7, the controls were crap, I just went back to using 5. Is there a possibility of netplay, analog stick control, and/or rumble support (maybe you can think of something to use it for)? Any of these features would rule.

Later. Release when you're ready, don't rush it.

BrAzE · Post by **BrAzE** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 12:41 pm

Doh! unlucky, but I sense that Nester DC SE is definitely gonna be worth the wait. I look forward to seeing how it all turns out

.

Merry Xmas (all).

DcSteve · Post by **DcSteve** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 1:16 pm

Scherzo is a hard working man with a wonderful family that he needs to take care of. Chicago is a very busy city, and we both live in it. The fact hat he has gotten a lot done is a blessing to our ears. That means that when he gets that good amount freetime he needs.. it probably will get done. Today is christmas, he should enjoy it on his terms, not on ours.

law56ker · Post by **law56ker** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 2:12 pm

cool cool great work, i'm excited to see it when it's done!

karsten · Post by **karsten** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:06 pm

i just hope it's out before 10 janury...
after that date i have too much work

anyway, if scherzo says that it's worth the wait...

wow!

OneThirty8 · Post by **OneThirty8** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:21 pm

It's great that you are making progress and that have enough pride in your work to only release it when you feel it's ready. There's nothing worse than people criticizing something you worked hard to create, especially when it's for free and you worked your tail off to meet a deadline. I have every confidence that it will be well worth the wait, both for those of us who are looking forward to it and to you because it will be done to your satisfaction.

Now go drink some egg nog and enjoy your holiday!

Shapyi · Post by **Shapyi** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 5:29 pm

When its ready, its ready. I can't wait, take all the time you need

Dutchdude · Post by **Dutchdude** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 6:01 pm

Yeah, relax man

...no worries.
People demanding or complaining should be beaten up

Skater_dusto · Post by **Skater_dusto** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 6:38 pm

It'll be a very nostalgic moment when nesterdc se is released. Kudos on all the hard work, brother.

Nico0020 · Post by **Nico0020** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:00 pm

no sweat. Enjoy the holidays. It is just great to hear about progress. I'll be happy whenever its released, and I can wait. Im setting aside a CD-R espically for this release. Hopefully some of our Artists can make up a awsome lookin cover for it.

mankrip · Post by **mankrip** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:32 am

Sorry Scherzo, but there's a few things I'd love to see in NesterDC SE:
- The 2xSaI or Super 2xSaI filters.
- 240 vertical resolution, like in NNNesterJ (I don't remember if it's already in NesterDC).
- 3 screen size options: Integer Scaling (512x480), Full Screen (640x480), and "Integer Y scaling + 4/3 Aspect Ratio" (299x480, because 224*(4/3)=298.66). The 480 Y size is because of the 240 vertical resolution, otherwise if should be 448 in both the Integer Scaling and "Integer Y scaling + 4/3 Aspect Ratio" modes.
- Multiple save slots for normal saves and save states.
- Support for very long names in the ROM selection menu, like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III - The Manhattan Project".

These are the only features I'm missing in the current versions of NesterDC, but there's no problem if they can't be done.

Post by **Christuserloeser** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 10:11 am

For the Super SAI filtering stuff there would be more speed needed. Nester SE currently works full speed for the first time, but its very close, so any new feature might add the need for frameskip like in NesterDC 60 or 71. What you've suggested might even need more frameskipping...

@Scherzo: I'd love to see these features as well, maybe in a next version of Nester SE?

I was always wondering, if that GLEAM SH2 CPU emu would add any speed to NesterDC...

Maybe it's worth a try...

DCEmulation's Gleam page wrote:* Main update: speed improvments (minor ones, all over the place).
* NEW asm cpu core.
* Fully interactive setup
* Option menu with frame skip
* FULL SCREEN option.
* Save and Load Support.

taken from http://www.dcemulation.org/dcemu-gleam.htm

Links & Downloads

gleam 6502 asm core, code - 10/05/00:
http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~mason/projects ... 0.1.tar.gz

gleam (emu for DC, plain files) - 10/30/00
http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~mason/projects ... 000.tar.gz

About the asm cpu core, the gleam author wrote:10.05.00

Hopefully some news that will generate traffic .. I've released the source code to gleam's assembly cpu core, written in sh4 asm. My goal is that people will download, correct, and send me patches. I will appreciate anything that helps. I know there are smart and witty people out there, so help This core is a LOT faster than my old C core, but there are a LOT more bugs, most of which I don't have the time to stomp out. I know it's hard for you to work on the core without the other part of gleam, but if you can do it, then I will appreciate your help.
I can't wait to see what's next.

Official gleam website:
http://www.csit.fsu.edu/~mason/?section ... onal:gleam

Hope, it helps to gain some speed to add some of Fragger's suggestions... Those early DC devvers had to use any possibility to gain some extra emulation speed. The gleam CPU core might have some bugs though... Maybe it's possible to add a CPU switch, so when enabling the filtering, NesterSE switches to the Gleam ASM 6502 emu in the back (and display a 'warning' message). This way, it would ensure that people who like to use no additional filters still play Nester with the more bugfixed CPU emu, Nester currently uses, and people that would like to try the filtering modes, are beeing warned about possible emulation problems due to the use of the gleam ASM CPU emu...?

Chris

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:19 pm

Sounds like that cpu core is rather buggy and incomplete. It would take serious fixing on my part just to make it usable for the compatibility expected from NesterDC. If I took on that task I'd be in the same place as SFC is right now. I could learn sh4 asm but I don't want to. It doesn't seem like a good investment of my time. It would take a long time to be any good at writing quality code. Id rather spend that amount of time learning something I can use. Continuing to write things in C/C++ is a benifit to me outside the homebrew scene.

As for different graphics modes and filtering. 2xSai would be nice but there isn't enough clocks to do it. I'll try for kicks to see how bad it is. I wish that 256x224 wasn't PAL only. I'd like a true to NES resolution like that. Oh well.

gamedudex2 · Post by **gamedudex2** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 1:02 pm

so nester does not display in the same res as the nes did? or is just the pal version thats different?

Hobbes T Tiger · Post by **Hobbes T Tiger** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 1:09 pm

I'm so looking forward to this release, and I'm just glad that we know it's still coming and that we're not left guessing.

Thanks for the heads up and give it to the world when it's ready for it