I want to make the ZsnesDC

?SKl?v?4? · Post by **?SKl?v?4?** » Tue Oct 08, 2002 3:58 am

I'm sorry folkers but I just don't like DreamSNES. The Dreamcast and SNES deserve a better legacy than the choppy framerate and subpar sound the DreamSNES has given us. LOL ok I'm talking major smack now when I shouldn't. Because aside from little anti-boot word filters in chat i have never programmed anything in my life but i REALLY want to make the ZsnesDC. I'm a complete programming newbie so any help i can get here would be wonderful. I have friends that will help out a lot along the way but something from the experience emu community would be great as well. The most i can say that i want out of the ZsnesDC is that i want it to be self bootable with the roms on the same disc as the program files and that i would like to make it as much of a direct port (video & sound quality all intact) as possible with an improved interface (cosmetically speaking). Let me know how i can get started and what programs will help me along the way. I'm not looking to do this alone or be THE GUY that does it. If someone already has this idea and is working on it, great, lemme know if i can be of any help (riiiiight) or if the idea intrigues you and u think u can do it better yourself go ahead. i just want a decent SNES emu for my DC. Thanks for tolerating the long post

Post by **BlueCrab** » Tue Oct 08, 2002 4:25 am

Well, I can tell you that you probably are not going to get very far in making "ZSNESDC". The reason I say this (and the reason ZSNES is so fast) is that it is written completely in assembler, meaning that you would have to completely rewrite all of the code to get it to work on the dc. Assembler is very un-portable. Each processor has specific assembly commands, and therefore, you cannot just simply change a few things, an assembler program would have to be completely rewritten from scratch.

?SKl?v?4? · Post by **?SKl?v?4?** » Tue Oct 08, 2002 8:39 am

I'm crushed. lol i guess i can stop installing Cygwin now. Bah! Thanks man. I'm glad u let me know before i decided to yank out my hair.

?SKl?v?4? · Post by **?SKl?v?4?** » Tue Oct 08, 2002 8:44 am

I should have mentioned this in the last post but i noticed someone had been developing a DC port of Stella the Atari Emulator. Is this pretty much the same case as Zsnes? If not i would like to tinker around with it and see if i can get something going with it.

Post by **BlueCrab** » Wed Oct 09, 2002 2:00 pm

I've never looked at stella, so I just take this from a general point of view.
Generally speaking, if a program has no Assembler code, it can be ported fairly easilly (still no little task tho). If a program has parts of assembler code, you could still port it, but you would have to rewrite those parts. If a program is completely assembler (like ZSNES) it would be impossible to port without completely rewriting it.

Hope that Answered your question.

Clessouliss · Post by **Clessouliss** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 10:01 pm

Hey. If you wanna make a super nintendo emulator and you know some asm I would sugest that you go and gets Snes9x source and start converting parts of it KOS then recoding main sections into Sh4 asm.

I wouldnt really rocomind if unless you've got tons of free time.

BlackAura · Post by **BlackAura** » Sun Oct 27, 2002 8:26 am

Clessouliss (subtle name change there) - basically what you're talking about is exactly what the DreamSNES team are doing, except they're using their own OS/library (libRonin) instead of KOS.

What does Stella emulate anyway? I thought it was an Atari 2800, but I could be wrong. Does an Atari 2800 even exist? They were just a few years before my time, I'm afraid.

If it's C, and it's written in a portable way, and it doesn't use features that KOS or it's libc don't implement properly, then getting it to run on a Dreamcast isn't a major hassle. I actually got Quake 2 to run on a Dreamcast before now. The hard part is getting it to work properly on a Dreamcast. Still, if you have a vauge idea of what you're doing, give it a go.

clessoulis · Post by **clessoulis** » Sun Oct 27, 2002 1:29 pm

Well I got my old account back so you mite wanna delete clessouliss from the libray now.

reaper2k2 · Post by **reaper2k2** » Sun Oct 27, 2002 3:50 pm

well there was snes emulator ported to some pocket pc that was written in c

even worked on a noki phone lost the link for it

wb cless

mr. darkness · Post by **mr. darkness** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 8:16 am

BlackAura wrote:What does Stella emulate anyway? I thought it was an Atari 2800, but I could be wrong. Does an Atari 2800 even exist? They were just a few years before my time, I'm afraid.

The Atari 2600.

ssj4goku128 · Post by **ssj4goku128** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 12:19 am

ZSNES is coded in C and assembly. It can be ported but the assembly section would need a rewrite[but it would be the same amount if you added assembly in a snes9x port]

reaper2k2 · Post by **reaper2k2** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 12:50 am

Snes is supported in the mess source it be easyer and it bring lots of others

clessoulis · Post by **clessoulis** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:36 am

Personally I dont think anyone else should work on a damn snes emulator because DreamSnes is so far ahead of them. How about a nice port of DgenPC to Dreamcast. We in lack of a good free genesis emu.

crt0 · Post by **crt0** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:48 am

Genesis is being worked on. Trust me when I say no port of any open source Genesis emu will result in enough performance to be fully playable by any means, especially not with sound. That's why we are working on one from the ground up. And yes, the version that renders everything with the CPU runs at 25% speed. I'll say nothing more than that at this time... (feel free to infer what you want, and no there isn't a faster version that works *correctly* yet :P)...

clessoulis · Post by **clessoulis** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:00 am

crt0 wrote:Genesis is being worked on. Trust me when I say no port of any open source Genesis emu will result in enough performance to be fully playable by any means, especially not with sound. That's why we are working on one from the ground up. And yes, the version that renders everything with the CPU runs at 25% speed. I'll say nothing more than that at this time... (feel free to infer what you want, and no there isn't a faster version that works *correctly* yet )...

Maybe I'm wrong but I think there could be a 85% speed without frame skipping. Simply by writing everything in Sh4 or core parts like the tile and sound engines. Its also quick to port. Plus you've already said you've lost interest many times.

crt0 · Post by **crt0** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:28 am

You are asking to be flamed out of existence, but I'll hold off until your next reply.

"Maybe I'm wrong but I think there could be a 85% speed without frame skipping."
You are definitely wrong. Especially because DGen is one of the slower Genesis emulators for PC.

"Simply by writing everything in Sh4 or core parts like the tile and sound engines."
Guess what, that's the same as writing a new emu! Amazing, no?

"Its also quick to port."
Once you port it it will run like sh*t, so there you go.

"Plus you've already said you've lost interest many times."
Not on this project. I said there are slow times. That happens when working on anything. There are a few major obstacles that have to be worked around, and there are plenty of solutions for them that are practical.

clessoulis · Post by **clessoulis** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 2:39 pm

crt0 wrote:You are asking to be flamed out of existence, but I'll hold off until your next reply.

"Maybe I'm wrong but I think there could be a 85% speed without frame skipping."
You are definitely wrong. Especially because DGen is one of the slower Genesis emulators for PC.

"Simply by writing everything in Sh4 or core parts like the tile and sound engines."
Guess what, that's the same as writing a new emu! Amazing, no?

"Its also quick to port."
Once you port it it will run like sh*t, so there you go.

"Plus you've already said you've lost interest many times."
Not on this project. I said there are slow times. That happens when working on anything. There are a few major obstacles that have to be worked around, and there are plenty of solutions for them that are practical.

When I said Sh4 I mean SH4 asm and just because something is made doesnt mean it has to be ported in ASM. I'm I not right?

crt0 · Post by **crt0** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 2:50 pm

"When I said Sh4 I mean SH4 asm and just because something is made doesnt mean it has to be ported in ASM. I'm I not right?"

You are wrong. I knew exactly what you meant. The most important part of a Genesis emulator, as far as actually being able to play games, is the VDP. Thus, if you need to go back and rewrite the VDP renderer in SH4 assembly language (from whatever language it was in originally), then you are essentially rewriting the largest/most important part of the emulator. Pretty much the same thing as doing a whole new one from scratch. Same with the sound engines. Do you have any idea how complex the FM synth in the Genesis is from an emulation standpoint? I didn't think so.

clessoulis · Post by **clessoulis** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 3:00 pm

crt0 wrote:"When I said Sh4 I mean SH4 asm and just because something is made doesnt mean it has to be ported in ASM. I'm I not right?"

You are wrong. I knew exactly what you meant. The most important part of a Genesis emulator, as far as actually being able to play games, is the VDP. Thus, if you need to go back and rewrite the VDP renderer in SH4 assembly language (from whatever language it was in originally), then you are essentially rewriting the largest/most important part of the emulator. Pretty much the same thing as doing a whole new one from scratch. Same with the sound engines. Do you have any idea how complex the FM synth in the Genesis is from an emulation standpoint? I didn't think so.

Cmon dont have be me so mean about it. I know your holding back as it is but I didnt know so sue me.

crt0 · Post by **crt0** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:50 pm

:/

It's not a matter of you not knowing (I try not to write anything assuming that the people I am replying to know anything about it), it was just a matter of you ignoring what I wrote above. :|

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