Brilliant, many thanks.

BTW, if you don't mind me asking, Is there any chance of a Sega driver ?
To see Outrun, Power Drift, & Space Harrier, etc.. On a PPC, would just be the icing on the cake.

I really don't know what any of you are on about.
Seriously, on my OLD, yes OLD (2003/4 ?) Ipaq 2210, 2Gb SDCard, I'm currently running SF3 New Generation, with sound, and zero skipping issues. Overclocked Xscale to 533, mind.
The only slowdown I've seen, is when it needs to access the SDCard, to check to see if your SDCard is fast enough. Even then, it's only for a few seconds, every now and then.

The only thing I would moan at is that the cache creation is incredibly slow.
Are we going to see a PC update to fbauds that supports all the new game additions ? This would help speed up the cache creation on a desktop PC, so I can copy this cache to the SDCard.

Great update, though. I never thought I would see CPS3, running sooo well on my Ipaq. This little thing just keeps amazing me, and all for £75 with a cradle and 2Gb SDCard, second-hand.

May have a Axim X50v, on the way if the guy actually wants to sell it. Unless, someone here in the UK has one

It just underclocks the emulated hardware using lower clock cycles, much like in certain MAME deratives where you can overclock the CPU. MameFX, I believe, allows you to do this.

If you are finding games slow, try using more simpler games, mostly 2D stuff. On my old IPaq 2210 overclocked to 533mhz, I can run simpler games like Loderunner almost fullspeed with a frame skip of 2. A lot of old platform games run well, as does a lot of puzzle games. But I found games like Ridge Racer, a little slow. Although, funny thing is, it looked smooth enough in the in-game running demos.

The only benefit I can see, that PSX4all has over FPSEce, is the ability to underclock the emulated PSX.
This can be helpful in getting some speed out of certain games. The downside, looking at the forum, is that this feature doesn't save those settings, so you have to manually do this every time. And this could be a pain because it's a different setting for almost every game.
I don't see any benefit over FPSEce, for compatibility. FPSEce, is already quite compatible.

One of the developers of FPSEce has been seriously ill, so it's a bit unfair to ask for any progress on the emulator.
Although, looking at the FPSEce forums, it's maybe not far off a release. And, it looks like they're writing a custom PPC GPU plugin.
I also prefer FPSEce's front-end, as it's well designed, looks great, and is easy to use. Can't ask for more. If they could include a feature to underclock the psx cpu, then I see no reason for PSX4all.

The PSP does indeed have that ability, but most psx games need some sort of conversion, or messing around with, ripping, etc..
On the wibrain, you can make use of the extra functions of ePSXe, such as save states, better gfx, etc..
It wont ever kill the PPC world, as I think you'll find it's more a Business device, than a hobby device.

Thanks for the links, btw.

I know a few people who have purchased them, and they all agree that they are the future. We tried ePSXe, with Wipeout 3, and got a constant 60fps. This appeals to me, as I don't have to constantly mod it, or mess around with conversions.

PSP ? Needs modding, not as fast CPU wise, no XP OS, not X86, needs coders to port code. Plus side, it's cheaper, better battery, got a good following, better to hold in hands. Not for me, personally.

As for cost, look at the cost of PPCs a few years ago. My HP IPaq 2210 cost me £50 English pounds, and came with a 2Gb SD card + Cradle. When it first came out, it came with a 64Mb card, no cradle, and cost 6-times the price.
For about £340, you get 4.8" WSVGA Touchscreen, 1.2GHz, 60GB HD, 1024MB RAM, 802.11b/g, Webcam.
Thats almost the same price as a Ipaq 614, and I know what I would rather have.

Battery life is no different from my Ipaq when overclocked to 533, around 3 hours tops when using emulators.

These WILL get cheaper, faster, and more portable, over a given time. No dicking around with arm code, all x86 from here, and fully compatible with all the current x86 emulators.

BTW, if you know of a "Alive" forum for PPC, then post a link

I see no benefit here, except for possibly a better designed front-end.
Both are based around the archaic MAME 0.36 format, and both seem to have their fare share of problems. Although, it's actually nice to see ANY pocket development.

This forum, however, is as dead as a dodo. Filled lately with plebs asking mundane crap that can be answered by just READING the threads, rather than the lazy approach.

Like I read on another PPC forum, the whole platform seems dead. I say bollox to the whole PPC crap, and get one of these

http://www.oqo.com/intl/products/index.html

or

http://www.wibrain.com/

Both more than capable of running native PC emulators, including ePSXe, Project64, etc.. And no waiting for someone to bother to port to arm.
Masterall, posts f*ckall, lately, so he's either not bothering, or is just bored with it all. Can't say I blame him.

As usual, thats a good read, Menneisyys.

BTW Menneisyys, any chance you could help in kickstarting this forum back into life ?

We really need a thread of desires and wishes for pocket emulators, and any sort of words from the authors, if they're still around.

This would make a change from the many many 1-post whiners we are seeing lately, especially from the ones who continue to buy naff phones and expect miracles from these device's short comings.

Snes9xJ4u, is blazingly fast, I'm shocked.

On my HP Ipaq 2210, overclocked to 533mhz, I can run F-Zero with a Frameskip of just 1, sound 8bit 22k, and it's superb. Sound itself, is pretty poor, with lots of music & audio skipping, but I'm not too fussed as I'm just happy to finally be able to play F-Zero at playable speeds.

Just to add, just tried Super Mario Kart, and it's damn fast with a frameskip of 1, with a value of 2 it should be amazing. Sound is awful though, and skips more than F-Zero.

I wouldn't say it was far worse, certainly slower. GXMarks for the 1940 hover around the 1440 mark on a stock 266 mhz samsung CPU, while mine (admittedly overclocked) on a XScale PXA255 at 533mhz gives me just under 1200 on GXMark.
Now, this isn't bad for what is essentially a cheap second-hand PPC, far far cheaper than any mobile phone, and far better for emulation. I got mine, on ebay in the UK, for £45 inc cables, wallet, 1Gb SDCard. For that money, not a lot comes close to it.

Try running a SNES emu on a Desktop PC at 400 mhz, and see how far that gets you.

Currently, the only PC emulator to actually have almost correct sound (note almost, not perfect) is ZSnes and bsnes. Snes9x, on PC, has had a update to 1.51, but even that has a pitch problem. And, most of these emulators require a fairly powerful PC to run fullspeed with no frameskip and correct sound.

Personally, I think you are asking a little too much out of limited hardware.

And lastly, I think a few people get angry on this forum because of the constant, constant whining from people who just can't be bothered to actually READ the damn forums, where they'll find the answers a hundred times. Not aimed at you, or anything, just a general observation.

Also, on my own HP Ipaq 2210, with a xscale CPU overclocked to 533mhz, I can run most SNES games at good speeds with a frameskip of 1. But then, I'm not too hung up about the sound, so I run with 8bit mono sound, to gain a bit of speed. With these settings, even some SNES mode7 games like Pilot Wings, runs superb.

I dont have a problem with speed, heck, sometimes it's a little too fast. I'm also not using a phone, I'm using a PocketPC (HP Ipaq) running at 533mhz, and about 30Mb free RAM.
My own problem with 0.10, is it's rom loading on a few games, particularly the Puzzle Bubble roms, in that Finalburn is asking for roms from a completely different rom set (didn't happen in 0.08 or 0.09), and the bubbles disappear after a few minutes of play (already noted by many other people) which didn't happen in 0.08, but did happen in 0.09.
So, I would say that 0.10 definately has a problem.
Did you try Puzzle Bubble 1 or 2 ?



Oh, I don't doubt that, as I myself am busy.
Would be nice to know what he's working on, though, even to give us a little teaser

I think he's dead

Honestly though, I see quite a few problems in 0.10, that weren't in 0.08.
The problems of the poster up a bit, are down to the emulator looking for the wrong roms.
Recently, I used a newly formatted SDCard on my PPC, stuck on FinalBurn 0.10 + working roms, and it doesn't seem to like loading a lot of NeoGeo games. Puzzle Bubble 2, for instance, wants roms from a completely different game (sailor moon, if I remember right). Plus the fact that the disappearing bubbles glitch is still there from 0.09, but not in 0.08.

Still, great emulator, great speed, but I'm sticking with 0.08, for now.

Congratulations, well deserved

Now, how about a GBACE update ?

Just, and thats assuming a PPC can emulate to the level of a 386, without problems. I remember upgrading to a 486 DX66, to play it properly, and later on getting a 3DFX card to fully enjoy it.

You will NOT see System Shock, playable in Dosbox, on a PPC.



Dosbox, is Far, Far more complex than a simple (compared to Dosbox) GBA emulator. You are effectively emulating a complete PC. The authors themselves, have said that a FAST desktop PC, will give you the equivalent of a fast 486 PC. System Shock, was playable on a fast 486 PC. Think about it, for a second.



Yes, so it may seem. Now, try some REALTIME 3D games, like, umm, System Shock ? elder scroll arena ? A game, which I remember, REQUIRED a fast 486 to be even playable. Again, THINK ABOUT IT !!

On a PPC ?

Keep Dreaming.

Perhaps on the simplest of cores, a frame skip of 8+, and no sound, and even then it would be like watching one of those jpeg slide shows.

Hi,
Hope you didn't think I was bashing you, it wasn't my intention. I really take it to heart, when it comes to the 8bit emulators.

As for my settings, I use PAL 50hz, PAL-G video. Bear in mind, I don't use any sort of zip/rar compression on the Blast d64 images, as thats what causes many problems with vice. I always autostart the images by simply double-clicking on them, I don't use the attach image feature, then manually use LOAD "",8 etc..

If you want any pics, or anything, I'll glady put some up.

Pocket PC, is a HP IPaq 2210, WM2003, 2 Gb Flash card, latest 2.52 version of PocketC64.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

Nice topic, as always. But, who downloads C64 emulators to view Demos ?

Seriously, I don't know a single person who either cares, or downloads old C64 demos. They were great in their day, but they have little relevance today. Most demos are made up of a bunch of moving, zooming sprites, some scrolling old scene text, and some naff music. Ok, some demos had some great music, and made the SID sweat a little.
To mark down an emulator for not being able to run some demo, is a bit off, IMHO. Games, are what counts with C64 emulators, and the C64 had some classics.

Lastly, please leave ANY such bias, out of a emulator review. You're reviewing C64 emulators, not a C64 v Spectrum v Amstrad debate. All three had their strengths and weaknesses, but this isn't the place.
And, FWIW, when dealing with desktop PC emulators, you should look at their GUI's, as part of a review. IMO, Vice has THE best GUI for a C64 emulator. It's clean, simple to use, and follows a template set by most emulators. CCS64's GUI, sucks. It's a horrible mish-mash of old-style 90's emulator GUI's, and some attempt at a standard windows GUI.

And, I have no trouble, myself, on both PocketC64, and Vice, at running the Blast comps. So far, out of the hundred or so I've tested, they all worked fine.

Personally, I would start HERE
And just have a look around, read the descriptions, follow links, some maybe dead, some not.

I know they're for PocketPC, they may work on your phone (I don't use phones for this stuff, I use a phone as a phone), I simply don't know.

Also, obviously, have a look around this very forum, and read the posts.

Create the cache in Finalburn on your PC, then copy it across.
Much faster.

Where did I say I need to OC to 530 ?
Did I post that ? No.
It just runs better at 530, it's not required.

Cheers for this, running superb, on my Ipaq PPC, at 530 mhz.

Still wouldn't mind Sega drivers, if at all possible. Not a problem, if it ain't, as it's such a great emulator.

Very nice, for a test version

With my Ipaq o/c at 530, and the frameskip at 3, the few games that I tried (mostly 2D games), ran very well.
Sound, wasn't too bad either, at 22khz.

Not quite up there with PocketGBA, but as this is just a test, it's damn good.

Any plans for xscale support ? or GAPI support ?


cheers,

Wonderful emulator, runs perfect on my old HP 2210 overclocked to 530mhz.

Save states, on NeoGeo games, is my one and only gripe, but thats only a minor gripe.

Any chance of adding some Sega drivers ?

I was wondering if at all, games like Outrun, Powerdrift, etc.. would be worth trying ?
Not sure what kind of speed to expect from a Sega driver, but it would be nice to see Outrun, on the small screen