emulation.net News Archives

October 1998

MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b6! This version is a very significant upgrade; in particular, the Neo-Geo driver now supports sound in most games and has proper zooming effects!
Insignia is offering a $50 rebate on SoftWindows 98's $169 retail price to present owners of RealPC, SoftWindows 95, or even Virtual PC.
A complete pack of screenshots for MacMAME is available for download. Unfortunately it's not quite up-to-date with the MacMAME 0.34b6, but hopefully it wil be updated soon.
Sorry for the occasional outages that emulation.net has experienced recently. The host server has gotten slightly overloaded during peak hours of the day. If you're having problems connecting, try again in an hour or two and it should be fine.

The main page has received a slight reorganization; hopefully this will reduce download times and improve the structure of emulation.net.
SNES9X has been updated to version 1.1.1!
True Reality has been updated; this version fixes some color problems, and includes some early controller support, so Pong is now playable!
A new Apple II utility has been written called A2Catalog! This utility will allow you to sort and organize your Apple II disk images.
All of Richard Bannister's ROM Info tools have been updated.
I've had a lot of varying reports from Internet Explorer users over the last few days. Many say that the problem has gone away on its own. Several more also report that Mac OS 8.5 solved all their crashing problems. The few that still had problems have gotten them to go away by either disabling images, disabling Java/JavaScript (which strikes me as odd, since emulation.net does not make use of Java or scripting), or disabling various extensions.

Sorry for the recent lack of updates; I am once again being overwhelmed by school-related responsibilities.
A Nintendo 64 emulator has been ported to the Macintosh! TrueReality requires as much horsepower as you can give it--currently, my G3/266 manages about 2 frames a second with TrueReality. Also, please be aware that TrueReality cannot run any commercial Nintendo 64 games at all--it is currently limited to running a few homebrew carts (although it may display the startup logo for Wave Race 64 before the game crashes).
MasterGear, a Sega Master System emulator, has been updated to version 1.2! This version is now compatible with ROMs written for the SG1000 or SC3000, Japanese precursors to the American SMS.
SNES9X version 1.11 should be released as soon as possible. Currently, it's working, but this build seems to introduce more bugs than it fixes, so I'm going to look into the problems a little more before release.

The MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b5! This is a very worthwhile update--sound in many games has improved, and several games gained music support. Neo-Geo support has been enhanced as well.
NES ROM Info has been released! This utility will help organize and clean up NES ROMs.
The authors of GrayBox, a Nintendo emulator, are planning to divide the emulator into two versions--a fast, simple emulator and a slower, complex emulator with a nicer interface and more advanced features.

The Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator has been updated to version 0.8.6! The external filesystem code is now working, and some speed enhancements have been added. Unfortunately the Amiga hard disk emulation no longer works properly.
Virtual Gameboy has been updated to version 1.2.1! This version supports 16 megabit ROMs properly (such as Dragon Quest Monsters).

Power64 has been updated to version 2.1.2! This version supports InputSprocket and fixes a few bugs.
I've made a few attempts to fix the Internet Explorer bug on emulation.net, but since I don't have a machine which will reproduce the error, I need your feedback!

Power PC Engine has been updated to version 0.3.7b2! This version fixes a problem with frameskipping and cleans up some dialogs.
Genesis ROM Info has been updated to version 1.0b7.
Carl-Henrik Skarstedt has coded an OPL-2 emulator! The OPL-2 is an audio processing chip which controls, among other things, the SoundBlaster, a PC audio card. The biggest benefit is undoubtedly that MacMAME will emulate sound in many more games now; however, if you think you have a use for the source, Carl is encouraging emulator authors to drop him a line!
The Macintosh port of Retrocade is still under construction. The author says that it should be ready for release in a few more weeks. (Progress was delayed by CodeWarrior Pro 4's optimizer, which introduced several errors into the code.)
A handful of Internet Explorer 4 users report that accessing emulation.net has recently caused their computer to crash, although it did not happen previously. I am unable to reproduce the situation on either Mac here, and I can't figure out what's changed; if anyone can deduce the problem, please let me know. Please note that emulation.net is designed and tested almost exclusively on Netscape Communicator; if you are using Netscape, you should have no problems accessing the site.

Update: MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b4r2! The previous version was compiled with CodeWarrior Pro 4; unfortunately, their new "optimizing compiler" introduced several errors into the program. Downgrading to CodeWarrior Pro 3 solved the problem. (This version still has one known bug: sound effects in a few games, like Gyruss and Anteater, cause terrible static. This is not compiler-related, though.)
MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b4! This version features much-improved Neo Geo support, 20 new ROMs, and better auto-frameskipping.
Several readers have written to ask when they can expect a Macintosh port of SNES9X 1.1. Unfortunately, it might take a while. The core emulation code has not changed at all from version 1.0.9--unfortunately, it remains a mystery why Mario Kart works on Intel processors but not on the Mac. The networking code introduced in 1.1 is not yet portable; this is why the DOS version does not support networking. When the network code is rewritten for portability, I'll attempt to bring it to the Macintosh, but this will be my first serious networking project, so it may not happen overnight.

Lynx ROM Info has been updated to version 1.0b2.
A utility for sorting PC Engine ROMs, PCE ROM Info, has just been released. (Richard Bannister is really on a roll!)
A small utility to make hard disk image files for Amiga emulators, UAE HDF Creator, has been developed.
Registered users of Rebirth report that version 2.0 has just been released. The version 2.0 demo will be released sometime in the last quarter of 1998.

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	MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b6! This version is a very significant upgrade; in particular, the Neo-Geo driver now supports sound in most games and has proper zooming effects! Insignia is offering a $50 rebate on SoftWindows 98's $169 retail price to present owners of RealPC, SoftWindows 95, or even Virtual PC. A complete pack of screenshots for MacMAME is available for download. Unfortunately it's not quite up-to-date with the MacMAME 0.34b6, but hopefully it wil be updated soon. Sorry for the occasional outages that emulation.net has experienced recently. The host server has gotten slightly overloaded during peak hours of the day. If you're having problems connecting, try again in an hour or two and it should be fine.
	The main page has received a slight reorganization; hopefully this will reduce download times and improve the structure of emulation.net. SNES9X has been updated to version 1.1.1! True Reality has been updated; this version fixes some color problems, and includes some early controller support, so Pong is now playable! A new Apple II utility has been written called A2Catalog! This utility will allow you to sort and organize your Apple II disk images. All of Richard Bannister's ROM Info tools have been updated. I've had a lot of varying reports from Internet Explorer users over the last few days. Many say that the problem has gone away on its own. Several more also report that Mac OS 8.5 solved all their crashing problems. The few that still had problems have gotten them to go away by either disabling images, disabling Java/JavaScript (which strikes me as odd, since emulation.net does not make use of Java or scripting), or disabling various extensions.
	Sorry for the recent lack of updates; I am once again being overwhelmed by school-related responsibilities. A Nintendo 64 emulator has been ported to the Macintosh! TrueReality requires as much horsepower as you can give it--currently, my G3/266 manages about 2 frames a second with TrueReality. Also, please be aware that TrueReality cannot run any commercial Nintendo 64 games at all--it is currently limited to running a few homebrew carts (although it may display the startup logo for Wave Race 64 before the game crashes). MasterGear, a Sega Master System emulator, has been updated to version 1.2! This version is now compatible with ROMs written for the SG1000 or SC3000, Japanese precursors to the American SMS. SNES9X version 1.11 should be released as soon as possible. Currently, it's working, but this build seems to introduce more bugs than it fixes, so I'm going to look into the problems a little more before release.
	The MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b5! This is a very worthwhile update--sound in many games has improved, and several games gained music support. Neo-Geo support has been enhanced as well. NES ROM Info has been released! This utility will help organize and clean up NES ROMs. The authors of GrayBox, a Nintendo emulator, are planning to divide the emulator into two versions--a fast, simple emulator and a slower, complex emulator with a nicer interface and more advanced features.
	The Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator has been updated to version 0.8.6! The external filesystem code is now working, and some speed enhancements have been added. Unfortunately the Amiga hard disk emulation no longer works properly. Virtual Gameboy has been updated to version 1.2.1! This version supports 16 megabit ROMs properly (such as Dragon Quest Monsters).
	Power64 has been updated to version 2.1.2! This version supports InputSprocket and fixes a few bugs. I've made a few attempts to fix the Internet Explorer bug on emulation.net, but since I don't have a machine which will reproduce the error, I need your feedback!
	Power PC Engine has been updated to version 0.3.7b2! This version fixes a problem with frameskipping and cleans up some dialogs. Genesis ROM Info has been updated to version 1.0b7. Carl-Henrik Skarstedt has coded an OPL-2 emulator! The OPL-2 is an audio processing chip which controls, among other things, the SoundBlaster, a PC audio card. The biggest benefit is undoubtedly that MacMAME will emulate sound in many more games now; however, if you think you have a use for the source, Carl is encouraging emulator authors to drop him a line! The Macintosh port of Retrocade is still under construction. The author says that it should be ready for release in a few more weeks. (Progress was delayed by CodeWarrior Pro 4's optimizer, which introduced several errors into the code.) A handful of Internet Explorer 4 users report that accessing emulation.net has recently caused their computer to crash, although it did not happen previously. I am unable to reproduce the situation on either Mac here, and I can't figure out what's changed; if anyone can deduce the problem, please let me know. Please note that emulation.net is designed and tested almost exclusively on Netscape Communicator; if you are using Netscape, you should have no problems accessing the site.
	Update: MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b4r2! The previous version was compiled with CodeWarrior Pro 4; unfortunately, their new "optimizing compiler" introduced several errors into the program. Downgrading to CodeWarrior Pro 3 solved the problem. (This version still has one known bug: sound effects in a few games, like Gyruss and Anteater, cause terrible static. This is not compiler-related, though.) MacMAME has been updated to version 0.34b4! This version features much-improved Neo Geo support, 20 new ROMs, and better auto-frameskipping. Several readers have written to ask when they can expect a Macintosh port of SNES9X 1.1. Unfortunately, it might take a while. The core emulation code has not changed at all from version 1.0.9--unfortunately, it remains a mystery why Mario Kart works on Intel processors but not on the Mac. The networking code introduced in 1.1 is not yet portable; this is why the DOS version does not support networking. When the network code is rewritten for portability, I'll attempt to bring it to the Macintosh, but this will be my first serious networking project, so it may not happen overnight.
	Lynx ROM Info has been updated to version 1.0b2. A utility for sorting PC Engine ROMs, PCE ROM Info, has just been released. (Richard Bannister is really on a roll!) A small utility to make hard disk image files for Amiga emulators, UAE HDF Creator, has been developed. Registered users of Rebirth report that version 2.0 has just been released. The version 2.0 demo will be released sometime in the last quarter of 1998.