Sega GG + Nintendo GameBoy emulator for SP beta test

[Guest bitbank]

Sadly, though it was barely working on my Moto Q9c, now the program refuses to work at all on my new HTC Ozone. it doesn't detect any button presses on the keyboard. Any possiblity on a fix for this?

I have the GSM version of the Ozone (T-Mobile Dash 3G) and everything works fine. In the keyboard setup when you try to define a key, it just ignores all key presses? If that's the case, then I'll need to get hold of a device to see what's going on. Are you running the latest version (1.1.6)?

L.B.

[Guest hockeyfan]

Happy Holidays, Larry!

Just wondering if SNES support and NES mapper #5 (MMC5) support are still in the pipeline for upcoming releases of SmartGear?

Also, as I reported in this post, I'm still having issues with running Might and Magic 2 Genesis ROM. I have tried different ROM dumps, and they all exhibit the same scratchy audio/sound problems.  I'm using an unlocked GSM Palm Treo Pro (Qualcomm MSM7201 CPU).  I wonder if there is something you might be able to do to get the sound with this particular ROM to work...?

Thanks!

Edited December 28, 2009 by hockeyfan

[Guest ScreamingFalcon]

I have the GSM version of the Ozone (T-Mobile Dash 3G) and everything works fine. In the keyboard setup when you try to define a key, it just ignores all key presses? If that's the case, then I'll need to get hold of a device to see what's going on. Are you running the latest version (1.1.6)?

L.B.

Looks like the phone is deciding to play nice, just gotta not use the "E/3" key for anything... :)

Edited December 28, 2009 by ScreamingFalcon

[Guest gambit07]

I just bought a T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 (Rhodium). I have mixed feelings about it, but I'm trying to use it as my daily phone to force me to improve SmartGear and other apps for it. I'll add a better on-screen control setup. What makes it more challenging is that not all of the 4 physical buttons on the front of the phone don't work properly for gaming. I tried using the G-Sensor for controlling games, but it's just too difficult to use for most games. Does anyone have experience using the Zeemote bluetooth controller with this phone? Does it response quickly or is there noticeable lag?

Here's my feelings about the TP2:

good:

Large display

browsing the web

viewing photos

typing on the keyboard

watching youtube and other videos

bad:

Using the phone - dialing and managing the calls with the touchscreen truly sucks

Size/weight - the thing feels like carrying around a brick in your pocket

No d-pad :)

I've got the "EnergyROM wm6.5" on there and it's got lots of strange problems. When T-Mobile USA releases a rom update I'll use that because the "cooked" ones are full of strange problems.

Hi, I'm using a VZW TP2 as well, if you're going to flash custom roms and want stability I would say use MightyROM. I'm using the new MightyROM WAR http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=101356 and it's working great. That's the newest Manila build though so they're still working out some issues, if you want something really stable use this http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=79579 that's a really stable rom and should work well for you. If you have any questions let me know

[Guest frogitts]

So I decided that I wanted to play some games on my computer with my USB NES controller :) I got the controller working properly as a joystick, but when I downloaded the trial version of smartgear, I couldn't get my game to work correctly. First of all, sometimes the program acts as if I'm continually pressing up on the keyboard when choosing a file to load, making it impossible to actually load a file. When that does work, I can't navigate in-game menus correctly, and there seems to be no way to assign joystick buttons/axes in a way that causes them to function in-game. I'm also at a loss for what things like "Kludge joystick" and "Use joysick POV" mean. Is there a manual or readme that I'm just missing?

Thanks!

[Guest bitbank]

So I decided that I wanted to play some games on my computer with my USB NES controller :) I got the controller working properly as a joystick, but when I downloaded the trial version of smartgear, I couldn't get my game to work correctly. First of all, sometimes the program acts as if I'm continually pressing up on the keyboard when choosing a file to load, making it impossible to actually load a file. When that does work, I can't navigate in-game menus correctly, and there seems to be no way to assign joystick buttons/axes in a way that causes them to function in-game. I'm also at a loss for what things like "Kludge joystick" and "Use joysick POV" mean. Is there a manual or readme that I'm just missing?

Thanks!

The "Kludge joystick" was a custom piece of hardware that I created and the "POV" refers to the second analog point-of-view controller on some joysticks. I am going to work on the PC version of SmartGear because it has fallen behind a bit. Most people use the phone version, but the PC version deserves some "love" as well.

[Guest bitbank]

I'm making some exciting changes to SmartGear including adding native support for the BGP100 and ZeeMote bluetooth gamepads and 2-player simultaneous support (needs at least 1 bluetooth controller). I'm also looking at performance/sound issues on new devices (e.g. Touch Pro 2) and other VGA/WVGA devices. I'm adding a 200% and 300% zoom mode which are extremely fast and allow for full speed gaming on most of the display surface. I'm also revisiting making some ARM optimizations for the newer phones (ARM11) to speed things up a bit. The code is quite broken at the moment as I add new features/fixes, but I'll try to have a release shortly. One of the new features is also new functionality on the main menu - you now can see your button presses with graphic indicators to verify that your controls work as expected.

Stay tuned...

L.B.

[Guest Menneisyys]

I'm making some exciting changes to SmartGear including adding native support for the BGP100 and ZeeMote bluetooth gamepads and 2-player simultaneous support (needs at least 1 bluetooth controller). I'm also looking at performance/sound issues on new devices (e.g. Touch Pro 2) and other VGA/WVGA devices. I'm adding a 200% and 300% zoom mode which are extremely fast and allow for full speed gaming on most of the display surface. I'm also revisiting making some ARM optimizations for the newer phones (ARM11) to speed things up a bit. The code is quite broken at the moment as I add new features/fixes, but I'll try to have a release shortly. One of the new features is also new functionality on the main menu - you now can see your button presses with graphic indicators to verify that your controls work as expected.

Stay tuned...

L.B.

Wowz! You're just great! Keep up the good work!

[Guest tgwaste]

I'm making some exciting changes to SmartGear including adding native support for the BGP100 and ZeeMote bluetooth gamepads and 2-player simultaneous support (needs at least 1 bluetooth controller). I'm also looking at performance/sound issues on new devices (e.g. Touch Pro 2) and other VGA/WVGA devices. I'm adding a 200% and 300% zoom mode which are extremely fast and allow for full speed gaming on most of the display surface. I'm also revisiting making some ARM optimizations for the newer phones (ARM11) to speed things up a bit. The code is quite broken at the moment as I add new features/fixes, but I'll try to have a release shortly. One of the new features is also new functionality on the main menu - you now can see your button presses with graphic indicators to verify that your controls work as expected.

Stay tuned...

L.B.

yay! glad to see work resumed. glad you got the TP2. Ive found A/W/S/Z to work pretty well in place of the D-Pad. atleast for the games i've played.

here's hoping for some SNES love. :)

[Guest bitbank]

I've got the ZeeMote working with SmartGear and now you can do 2-player simultaneous with 2 ZeeMotes. I just had a crazy thought and maybe you guys can give me some feedback on. Since 2 people can now play on SmartGear at the same time (keyboard+wireless or wireless+wireless), how about 2-player gaming for GameBoy and GameGear with a simulated link cable. The idea is that I'll have 2 emulator sessions running on the same phone (split window) so that 2 people can play the GBC/GG linked games like PAC-MAN and others (or 2 completely different games at the same time). There aren't tons of games which support the link cable, but it might be kind of cool (especially for people with devices with TV out).

L.B.

[Guest tgwaste]

I've got the ZeeMote working with SmartGear and now you can do 2-player simultaneous with 2 ZeeMotes. I just had a crazy thought and maybe you guys can give me some feedback on. Since 2 people can now play on SmartGear at the same time (keyboard+wireless or wireless+wireless), how about 2-player gaming for GameBoy and GameGear with a simulated link cable. The idea is that I'll have 2 emulator sessions running on the same phone (split window) so that 2 people can play the GBC/GG linked games like PAC-MAN and others (or 2 completely different games at the same time). There aren't tons of games which support the link cable, but it might be kind of cool (especially for people with devices with TV out).

L.B.

honestly i think SNES support would be a better thing to have and spend time on. :)

I mean this is a GREAT idea no doubt but im just wondering how often it would be used.

I know im pushy with the SNES thing, but i think its something every single user of SmartGear would use a great deal.

Its time to put MorphGear to rest with the superior product. B)

[Guest bitbank]

honestly i think SNES support would be a better thing to have and spend time on. :)

I mean this is a GREAT idea no doubt but im just wondering how often it would be used.

I know im pushy with the SNES thing, but i think its something every single user of SmartGear would use a great deal.

Its time to put MorphGear to rest with the superior product. B)

I agree with you up to a point. The last round of work I did on SNES, I spent many many hours debugging problems with emulating the 2 CPUs and I didn't see any way to get past them. The SNES is on hold at the moment because I have very limited free time and in order to make progress, it will take considerable time investment. It is more practical to spent the limited time I have on cleaning up the existing emulators (e.g. adding/fixing NES mappers, optimizing/improving Genesis sound, optimizing overall operations for new phones, fixing timing/sound issues and adding cool features which don't take much time).

[Guest ScreamingFalcon]

Any possibility of allowing use of the PS3 controller as well? They use Bluetooth as well.

[Guest aem22]

I had a Verizon Ozone for a day or so I had purchased on eBay, but had to send back because it had a bad ESN. I tried SmartGear on it of course while I had it and it didn't run well. Games for most systems felt choppy and the audio seemed to have static. If I turned off the audio it ran a little smoother, but not nearly as good as on my Q9m (though the Q9m is running an older version of SmartGear because the newer versions don't work on it). Tried messing with the settings for a long time, but it never worked well. The frame rate throttling or w/e didn't seem to be working as it should. Or at least that is my best guess based on what I experienced. The keys did work just fine though.

Partially due to the fact SmartGear didn't work well I'm not looking for another Ozone. My money is limited and I can't afford a newer Verizon device, so I will probably get stuck with a HTC Touch Pro (first one). Hopefully SmartGear will work better, but there will be no dpad. Edit nvm searched this thread and it looks like the Touch Pro will be pretty bad with SmartGear. Eh maybe I should just get another Ozone and just have to play with sound off and with it a little choppy.

Edited February 5, 2010 by aem22

[Guest bitbank]

I had a Verizon Ozone for a day or so I had purchased on eBay, but had to send back because it had a bad ESN. I tried SmartGear on it of course while I had it and it didn't run well. Games for most systems felt choppy and the audio seemed to have static. If I turned off the audio it ran a little smoother, but not nearly as good as on my Q9m (though the Q9m is running an older version of SmartGear because the newer versions don't work on it). Tried messing with the settings for a long time, but it never worked well. The frame rate throttling or w/e didn't seem to be working as it should. Or at least that is my best guess based on what I experienced. The keys did work just fine though.

Partially due to the fact SmartGear didn't work well I'm not looking for another Ozone. My money is limited and I can't afford a newer Verizon device, so I will probably get stuck with a HTC Touch Pro (first one). Hopefully SmartGear will work better, but there will be no dpad. Edit nvm searched this thread and it looks like the Touch Pro will be pretty bad with SmartGear. Eh maybe I should just get another Ozone and just have to play with sound off and with it a little choppy.

The Ozone should have performed well - I have the Dash 3G which is essentially the same thing and it performs well. I'm working on lots of performance improvements, so don't buy a specific device just for that reason. I am working with a Touch Pro and TP2 now, so those devices will get lots of attention as well.

L.B.

[Guest aem22]

The Ozone should have performed well - I have the Dash 3G which is essentially the same thing and it performs well. I'm working on lots of performance improvements, so don't buy a specific device just for that reason. I am working with a Touch Pro and TP2 now, so those devices will get lots of attention as well.

L.B.

Searching this thread for the Touch Pro I found a lot of talk about the keyboard being crappy and/or it not working with SmartGear. Is it now playable? Personally I don't really want to use touch screen controls to play.

As far as the Ozone if the settings were tweaked it was made playable, but no it didn't perform well. I think GameBoy seemed to work fine but Genesis and NES were not smooth. It just seemed like the Ozone was too powerful and SmartGear wasn't throttling right. If throttle was removed it seemed to run great, except for it going way too fast.

I see you've discussed multiplayer features recently. It would be awesome if you could make it possible for at least two players to play on the same device without having to use any bluetooth controller. Specifically this would be useful for games where players do not actually play at the same time but the game itself does not support using one controller for more than one player. You might be able to allow keys for two players to be defined if there are enough keys available on the device or you might have a player switch key that switches the controller input between player 1 and player 2. That way I could easily play board games or stuff like Mario with others. As is the only game I've really found that lets us use one controller is Monopoly for NES.

Edited February 5, 2010 by aem22

[Guest hockeyfan]

Just a thought... To resolve this throttling issue (e.g., if it's off, the games run too fast, but if it's on, then they run too slow), would it be possible to add an option for an adjustable throttle rate? Have a scale from 1-10 that affects the throttling rate for each emulated system. This way, a perfect medium could be found on many different systems.

Larry, quick question: I know you mentioned you'd be working on the TP2. Any chance you would be able to also work on the Treo Pro? I know it's not the most popular phone out there, but it would be good if this phone could get some of your valuable attention as well, to help resolve the audio issues with certain Genesis games that I've pointed out in the past. Thanks! ;)

[Guest bitbank]

Just a thought... To resolve this throttling issue (e.g., if it's off, the games run too fast, but if it's on, then they run too slow), would it be possible to add an option for an adjustable throttle rate? Have a scale from 1-10 that affects the throttling rate for each emulated system. This way, a perfect medium could be found on many different systems.

Larry, quick question: I know you mentioned you'd be working on the TP2. Any chance you would be able to also work on the Treo Pro? I know it's not the most popular phone out there, but it would be good if this phone could get some of your valuable attention as well, to help resolve the audio issues with certain Genesis games that I've pointed out in the past. Thanks! ;)

The issue with the Ozone and other devices with the Qualcomm MSM7xxx is that the timer or sound system is not throttling things correctly. It has plenty of speed, it's just that getting it to regulate the framerate has problems. I don't need to have specific devices to recreate this issue, they ALL exhibit the problem :D. This weekend I will be trying to figure this out once and for all because it's been bugging me for a long time.

I am adding lots of support for multiplayer including 2 wireless controllers, 2 people on the same device and 2 phones working together for cooperative play over bluetooth and wifi.

L.B.

[Guest tgwaste]

2 phones working together for cooperative play over bluetooth and wifi.

thats crazy! ill have to see it to believe it ;)

[Guest The Dark Prince]

I am glad to see the coop play coming!! Any progress on in-emulator linking for us Pokemon-addicts?? Lol

Also, sorry if this has already been answered but what about a gameshark addition??

Thanks a lot L. B.!!!!

Edited February 6, 2010 by The Dark Prince

[Guest bitbank]

I am still a long way from being finished, but I figured it's time to let you guys start playing with what I've got. Here is a beta build (Requires WM5/6, sorry, PPC2003 no longer supported):

http://www.bitbanksoftware.com/sg.zip

This is just the ARM EXE with no installer. It is labeled 2.0.1 BETA and will expire at the end of March. I'm confident I'll release a real build before then, but this is just to let you see the direction I'm going.

Here are the major changes:

1) The video configuration now is mostly automatic. I've written optimized routines for 75%, 100%, 150%, 200% and 300%. It will choose the best size for you so you don't have to configure each game. If you want to cover every pixel of the display, that option is available as a checkbox.

2) SmartGear now supports BGP100 and Zeemote controllers. The Zeemote currently only works on devices with the Microsoft bluetooth stack. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to add support for Widcomm. Select how you want the devices to be arranged by selecting Options->Devices->Configure. Once things are set the way you want, connect to the device(s) by selecting Options->Devices->Connect. Make sure your devices are on and ready. Widcomm devices will use the BT Serial port and pop up an annoying window; Microsoft BT devices will do it all silently with sockets. Pair with your devices before you run SmartGear so that they're in the BT devices list. This soon won't be needed on Microsoft BT devices. The "driver mode" is currently not implemented, but I'll have it running soon.

3) 2-player mode is now supported with the use of the keyboard or bluetooth devices. You can arrange things any way you want, but the most "comfortable" way to play has been to use 2 Zeemotes on the phone and have it connected to a TV. I've tested this with NES, SMS and TG16 games. I'll be working on Genesis soon, but I haven't tested it.

4) The GUI has changed to show you your controller input while sitting idle. Green indicates P1 and Red indicates P2. This is useful when using wireless controllers to confirm that they're connected.

5) Head-to-head play is in the works for GameGear/GameBoy and the 2-player systems. This is currently partially implemented.

Things are not fully implemented, so please don't send bug reports. I would be happy to receive suggestions about how to make the GUI friendlier and reasonable feature requests.

Enjoy,

L.B.

[Guest ScreamingFalcon]

Any plans to allow usage of the PS3 controller as a Bluetooth device as well?

[Guest bitbank]

Any plans to allow usage of the PS3 controller as a Bluetooth device as well?

I've been experimenting with the Wiimote and PS3 sixaxis controllers, but have been unable to make them work. The Wiimote looks like the more likely to eventually get working, but both of them have their challenges.

L.B.

[Guest hockeyfan]

Hi Larry,

I downloaded your latest BETA, but the Genesis sound issues are still present. I guess you are still working on resolving this issue.

I had made this suggestion for a GUI enhancement a few months ago -- not sure if you are still considering it for the final release...

[Guest bitbank]

Hi Larry,

I downloaded your latest BETA, but the Genesis sound issues are still present. I guess you are still working on resolving this issue.

I had made this suggestion for a GUI enhancement a few months ago -- not sure if you are still considering it for the final release...

I haven't gotten to the Genesis issues yet, but they are on my todo list.

It's very quiet since I released the new beta code. Any comments (good/bad)?

1) Is the new GUI an improvement?

2) Are you happy with the new automated video resizing?

3) Anyone successfully use their BGP100 or Zeemote controllers?

Thanks,

L.B.