1579 replies to this topic

[bitbank]

I've written a Sega GameGear + Nintendo GameBoy emulator for the smartphone and would like some feedback before I release it.  GameGear titles run at 60 fps (no frameskip) and 44Khz audio on the MPx200 (should run the same on any smartphone).  It should be able to run any and all GameGear titles perfectly.  GameBoy color titles require more horsepower and not all will run at full speed.  The program can open ZIP files, so no need to unzip them first.  This demo EXE allows you to play the games for 2 minutes before it exits each game and the EXE will expire on September 1st.  My plan is to sell this for a reasonable fee.  Any feedback is appreciated.

Larry B.

send feedback to: [email protected]

Download from:

http://www.bitbankso...s/smartgear.zip

[midnight]

one thing, dont change the keypad to tone when it exits

also, good luck trying to sell it, i'm not against selling emulators as such, but theres plenty of free emulators out there, including gameboy/gameboy color and genesis

[Coolbox]

Hi Midnight

I have tried your emulator...sad it only holds for 2 min. I tried some different games and it seems to work just perfect. I only had a problem running marioland. It starts perfect but when I start the game I get som vertical lines in different colors. I have been playing this game on another emulator without any problems though it runs slow compared to yours.
It could be nice to try your software for at bit more than 2 min. so it is possible to exclude problems when shifting levels and so on....
:wink:

[agent.m]

Quote

Hi Midnight

I have tried your emulator...sad it only holds for 2 min. I tried some different games and it seems to work just perfect. I only had a problem running marioland. It starts perfect but when I start the game I get som vertical lines in different colors. I have been playing this game on another emulator without any problems though it runs slow compared to yours.
It could be nice to try your software for at bit more than 2 min. so it is possible to exclude problems when shifting levels and so on....
:wink:

sorry mate! its bit bank who gets the credit    Midnight always gets other peoples praise

[Alex (nedge2k)]

@Coolbox: Er...this isnt Midnight's emu. In fact he hates them :roll: Oh yeh, mentioning rom names is against forum rules.

@Bitbank: IMO you will never get any money for these emus. GNUboy already runs gameroms perfectly and picodrive is aweome for megadrive roms. They wouldnt be used as freeware and they certainly wont be bought.

[Alex (nedge2k)]

lol agent.m....beat me to it

[Coolbox]

Oh sorry about the roms....I am new at this forum.

I think this emulator is much better than others that I have tried . Other emulators are not running perfect on my spvclassic. And .gbc runs perfect too on smartgear.

I would pay for it.....if it is a reasonable price ofcause.....
:wink:

[bitbank]

I realize there are several free projects for both GG and GBC emulation, but none that I have tried run at full speed on SmartPhone.  I think there is a small market for a reasonably priced (

L.B.

[Alex (nedge2k)]

I've always thought picodrive to be the best myself...but i havent run it on SPV classic so wouldnt know how it performs

[Pondrew]

Quote

I've always thought picodrive to be the best myself...but i havent run it on SPV classic so wouldnt know how it performs

He's probably focusing on the fact that Picodrive won't do Gamegear, only Genesis/Mega Drive.

[Coolbox]

btw I noticed that the sound isnt so good. It seems to be a bit noisy.

It would also be nice with screen rotation if possible.

When do you expect it to be finished??

[bitbank]

Coolbox,
The sound should be perfect on GG and good on most GBC titles.  When the emulation is not keeping up (some GBC titles) you will hear breakup of the audio.  Try setting the frameskip checkbox or turn off audio if it is really bad.  

The code is all written in C and does pretty well on GBC, but when GBC titles enable high speed mode (8Mhz Z80), the 132Mhz OMAP has a hard time keeping up.  GBC should run all titles full speed on a decent 200Mhz device.  A good GBC game to test is "Galaga: Destination Earth".  This game taxes even fast smartphones.  Anyone with a 200Mhz smartphone, please let me know if tough GBC titles run at full speed.

If all goes well, I should be able to release it by the end of the month.  Obviously not everything will be perfect, but I hope to have reasonably frequent updates.

I'd really like to hear suggestions about the UI and feature set.  E.g. how to enhance the save/load state and friendlier ways of defining the keys, etc.

Thanks,
L.B.

[agent.m]

Quote

I've always thought picodrive to be the best myself...but i havent run it on SPV classic so wouldnt know how it performs

Bitbank gets props!!! The emu played an old .gb game of mine real fast for classic spv. faster than gnuboy. But im taking that the emu was made from scratch? Also like the gui. Very professional. p.s. still waiting for picodrive to improve compatbility. But yeah as a fully woking emu (this one is a demo). Picodrive is still the best

[Coolbox]

I have tried a gbc game and it runs perfect on my spvclassic. I dont know if I kan say the name of the game... :?

I really look forward to try the full version since all other emulators wont run acceptable with sound on my phone.

[bitbank]

agent.m,
Yes, this emu is 100% my code;  I like to own 100% of what I create .

I have tried Picodrive on my Pocket PC and it has impressive speed for a Genesis emulator.  I'm not sure why it would be a good choice for SmartPhone considering its lack of sound and the fact that Genesis titles are 320x224 or 256x224. Squeezing that to fit on a 176x220 screen doesn't sound like a good idea.  GG/GBC games are 160x144 and fit nicely on the Smartphone display.

L.B.

[Pondrew]

Quote

agent.m,
Yes, this emu is 100% my code;  I like to own 100% of what I create .

I have tried Picodrive on my Pocket PC and it has impressive speed for a Genesis emulator.  I'm not sure why it would be a good choice for SmartPhone considering its lack of sound and the fact that Genesis titles are 320x224 or 256x224. Squeezing that to fit on a 176x220 screen doesn't sound like a good idea.  GG/GBC games are 160x144 and fit nicely on the Smartphone display.

L.B.

Picodrive looks and runs superbly. Only thing holding it back is the lack of sound.

[midnight]

hmm, personally i think that picodrive makes MUCH better use of the screen, they squeeze in rather nicely actually, only problem is compatability.
My fave emu is still SmartNes though

[bitbank]

Guys... I've also written a good NES emulator that I can toss in there.  I will try to get that integrated shortly and let you know when it's ready.

L.B.

[_Drake_]

it's ok but there are other emulators out there for free so i don't think you wil actualy sell large numbers of it, the market for smartphone's is small but the market for smartphone emulators is even smaller.

found a small bug: it somehow turns the button click sound on when i quit.
(mpx200)

in this state it's pretty unusable, i can't buy it if i would so it quit's after 2 min's, kinda pisses me off in strange way    :wink:

[xAix]

@BitBank: I think you should go the way of other emulator writers (trying my best to not mention any other emulators) such as Nocash, who does impose time limits on his emulators, but doesn't ask for real payments to unlock them-- he asks for donations. Also, people who dont have credit cards or PayPal won't be able to enjoy this...

[edited by midnight: watch what you are doing with the 'size' bbcode, people need to be able to read the post.]