Sega GG + Nintendo GameBoy emulator for SP beta test

[Guest mikeeey]

Thank you to everyone for the bug reports. I'll try to reserve some time to do some bug fixes tonight.

I came up with another idea for the on-screen controls that you might like. How about a translucent diagram with arrows and buttons (thin outlines in black+white)? This way you can run your games fullscreen and still see the controls without interfering with the game display. This would make it easier to support all of the different display resolutions and orientations.

Thoughts?

L.B.

Similar to the iphone keys?

they are transparent buttons but you can still easily see the game without distraction.

[Guest Joost B]

Oh that would be great, i've got the HTC Touch HD, smartgear is working good, but the thing is I don't have any hardware keys to play what so ever...

So the on-screen controls would be great!!

can't wait :( B)

[Guest tgwaste]

Hey Larry,

do you think in the next release it would be possible to make it so executing a .saved game could load smeartgear + rom + load the save you executed?

or is that something kind of painful to do?

[Guest geeve420]

Hey L.B.,

I just wanted to say a quick thanks for all your hard work. I just returned from a buisness trip and playing some Sega and Nes saved my sanity at Atlanta international. Keep up the good work and really looking forward to the next realese.

Thanks

Geeve

[Guest bitbank]

Hey Larry,

do you think in the next release it would be possible to make it so executing a .saved game could load smeartgear + rom + load the save you executed?

or is that something kind of painful to do?

Are you talking about file associations, or being able to select a save_game file from the file selector within SmartGear? I'd rather not do file associations because there's always another application that it will interfere with. Being able to open a save state from the list of saved games sounds more practical. Perhaps when you choose a game to run, I can check if there are save states and prompt you for which one (if any) you'd like to load.

L.B.

[Guest bitbank]

I've been extremely busy trying to ship another product, but I'd like to get an official release of SG out sooner rather than later. I fixed the problem with using FIT2Win and FIT2Win*. The issue was that I had changed the fixed-point value for scaling the image from 8.8 to 16.16 to allow for more accurate scaling. There are 3 separate routines within the code (one for 0, 90 and 270 degrees). Not all sections had been updated properly. Anyhow, here's 1.1.3 with that part fixed.

L.B.

smartgear.zip

[Guest tgwaste]

Are you talking about file associations, or being able to select a save_game file from the file selector within SmartGear? I'd rather not do file associations because there's always another application that it will interfere with. Being able to open a save state from the list of saved games sounds more practical. Perhaps when you choose a game to run, I can check if there are save states and prompt you for which one (if any) you'd like to load.

L.B.

hey,

what about a way to give smartgear.exe an argument where the arg is a save state

ie:

"\Program Files\smartgear\smartgear.exe" "\Program Files\smartgear\SAVED_GAMES\MARIO GOLF_gb.sv1"

it would run smartgear and load that save

that would be awesome, then you could build homescreen themes around it using HS++ and Mortscript :(

[Guest tgwaste]

I've been extremely busy trying to ship another product, but I'd like to get an official release of SG out sooner rather than later. I fixed the problem with using FIT2Win and FIT2Win*. The issue was that I had changed the fixed-point value for scaling the image from 8.8 to 16.16 to allow for more accurate scaling. There are 3 separate routines within the code (one for 0, 90 and 270 degrees). Not all sections had been updated properly. Anyhow, here's 1.1.3 with that part fixed.

L.B.

yay fit-to-win works everywhere now except i need to use fit-to-win* for genesis (which looks great) using the non * crashes the application.

trying sonic the hedgehog

[Guest Torrast]

1) The device you are using - HTC Fuze (Touch Pro)

2) All of the relevant settings (e.g. video size, sound on/off) - I have tried this with Fit2win, * and 150% display modes (the rest are too small to see details on using my phone), tried with and without frameskip and throttling to 60fps, both with an without sound.

3) The specific game you tried - Final Fantasy Legend 1 & 3 for Gameboy, Final Fantasy and Super Mario Brothers 2 for NES, Phantasy Star 2 & 4 for Genesis.

4) The device orientation (e.g. keyboard open / closed) - This is with the device keyboard out, with the "0" orientation, using only keyboard input.

The vertical "tearing" effect still persists, so this must be unrelated to the display wraparound issue you mentioned previously. This happens in all of the above listed games, no matter what settings I tried, and only happens when the screen is scrolling, such as when navigating an overworld map. I tried getting a screenshot, but the issue goes away when movement stops, so the screenshots always come out perfect, even if the screen was going to hell a moment beforehand. Speaking of screenshots, binding the screenshot command to the "-" button on the keyboard (key on the extreme upper right) does not appear to work, but its easy enough to just remap the SS function to another place. While I didn't think it could be any way related, I also tested it with and without the Diamond ati d3d driver installed, just in case. The driver had zero effect, which makes sense because of the lack of any 3d action going on.

I also noticed that FFL for the Gameboy is especially buggy compared to the last build, as the characters no longer "pace" in the overworld/town setting, and the character sprites (both player character and all NPC characters) do not scroll smoothly along with the background. Also, at times, attempting to load Genesis games results in crashing the program, whereas other times it works fine. This does not seem to be affected by any combination of settings I can identify. There also appears to be just a bit of scratchiness in the Genesis audio, but turning on stereo sounds appears to provide some improvement over mono mode.

While not necessarily a "bug" about the SNES support, I find that Smartgear does not recognize SNES rom file types (*.smc), as it does not see them in my file folder. Very odd!

Overall, the controls are still great and the sound support is superb; it's just the display issues that are holding back the overall performance of Smartgear. Hopefully you find this feedback useful :(

Everything but the Genesis crash issue still holds true, even with the new build just posted. Not much of a new feedback, but it seemed silly to re-type everything B)

[Guest spriggan486]

This is a great piece of software. It really passes the time at work lol. Would it be possible to add some kind of support for gameshark codes? I think thatd be really cool. Everyone knows that pokemon is useless without the unlimited rare candy cheat. :(

[Guest urphonesux]

thanks for all the work you do but even downloading the last release

its not working correctly on my samsung saga

the mouse issue is there until i check use gdi

then whatever smoothness i had is gone

the music and video start stuttering and the only thing that is fixed is the mouse issue

without use gdi checked the mouse issue is there but the music and video appears to play in realtime

Please fix i am willing to donate/buy also

[Guest hockeyfan]

I borrowed my friend's phone, and tried to run 1.1.3 on it.  Video worked fine, but the sound was not working -- basically just scratching sounds all throughout.

1) Device you are using: AT&T GSM Samsung Epix (i907).

2) Sound did not work properly, regardless of sound settings (went through every single permutation).

3) Genesis - Might and Magic 2.

4) Device orientation - The Epix is a candy-bar format phone with a 2.5 inch screen at 320x320, with full physical QWERTY keyboard.  Keys were mapped to the keyboard.

Hope this helps!

[Guest be77solo]

Hey,

I'm new around here, and was reading through all of these posts, and wanted to add some thoughts, comments, etc...

First of all, I've been hunting for a good NES emulator for my HTC 8525 and now my HTC Fuze for quite a while, and I never even knew this thread or forum existed. I had run across SmartGear multiple times over the last few months, and wasn't overly impressed with the website and wondered if it was legit, and was hesitant to purchase. All of the other emulators are so old and outdated, I wasn't even aware of SmartGear's current development.

I did try the version on the website with my Fuze, and had all of the prior issues as mentioned in this thread, mainly being the keyboard problems. I had almost given up on SmartGear after not being able to map the controls, but then I found this thread and the latest build, and it's working much better. I would have definitely pursued SmartGear sooner if I had know it was still a current and legit product as I do now. I definitely think that an updated and more informative website would help sales. I would have purchased it much sooner had i known it was regularly updated, as opposed to the other emulators I use that are 6+ years old.

All in all I think it is a nice product, and will be purchasing a license shortly, and do agree that $10 is more than fair for what it includes. Issues wise, the latest build works great with the Fuze keyboard now, and the landscape mode looks great. That was my biggest reason for sticking with SmartGear and trying to get it working. I love PocketNester, and still get better performance/audio with it, but I have to play landscaped with the keyboard, and that means my games play sideways (pocketnester is portrait only), which is terrible. So, this seems to be the better solution, and now that I know it's still being updated, I'm more than happy to support it and pass it along to my colleagues and buddies.

Sorry for the novel here, ha. But, got excited to see all of this discussion and tips for emulation on windows mobile, and even more excited to see that it's still being developed and improved. Keep up the great work, and I do hope sales improve, and love seeing projects like this. Hopefully some of this helps in some way as to how somebody that knows nothing about this board or your product might stumble in, and how you might get some more sales!

[Guest be77solo]

Ok, been playing around some more with the emulator, comparing performance between the 8525 and the Fuze, and honestly, the 8525 plays better... any idea why this is? The 8525 plays them almost perfectly, where as the Fuze looks great, and loads and runs pretty good, but it's just a bit "off" if that makes sense? Have no idea why, curious? For my best comparison, the 8525 plays NES and GBC using SmartGear perfectly, with great controls, and feels the same as PocketNester does playing NES games on my Fuze. Any ideas or tips on what might be the difference? On the 8525 Nes games are fully enjoyable with SmartGear, where as on the Fuze they run good, look great, but are just a tad off control and gameplay wise. Maybe as simple as a setting or tweak I don't know about, and wish I could describe it better, but one is perfectly smooth, where as the other is less smooth, but not obviously jumpy.

I have changed the keyboard registry settings for the delay and repeat rate on the Fuze as suggested in a previous post, if that matters. Thanks!

EDIT: Registered this afternoon, and received my code within an hour or so, thanks!

Allen

Edited March 12, 2009 by be77solo

[Guest Skeese]

Good to see this project still going strong, i remember trying this out on my very first smartphone..

Anyways does SmartGear support full WVGA resolution, i was wondering if this would work on the X1?

Would you also mind giving the link to the latest exe or cab , so i can try it out?

Thanks

Edited March 12, 2009 by Skeese

[Guest Joost B]

Maybe you can watch on the development of morphgear..

look at this..

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=489147

btw smartgear is mutch better, i only need virtual key-pad to play on the HTC touch HD.

greetsz

[Guest dio05]

Hi Larry,

Is it a bug the not all SNES games are able to be played from SG? I really want to play FF Mystic Quest but the rom does not load... If you manage to fix this I am willing to play for this great software...

Thks

[Guest jeiyuu]

Larry,

Still love your work.. I have recently updated my device from HTC Touch to HTC Diamond, and sad to say, the d-pad on my new device is not as good as from my previous. I would really love to see an option for an onscreen controller (as mentioned in previous posts). My next phone upgrade (which will be a year or so from now) will have no d-pad at all and little to no hardware buttons, and I know I would still love to use your software.

Hopefully we can see a option for the d-pad for future releases..

EDIT: If it would be too hard, would we be able to have a new touchscreen option similar to the "Directionals" one you have but where it would be like this (or similar):

A Up B

Left Pause Right

C Down Start

Thank you for your hard work,

jeiyuu

Edited March 23, 2009 by jeiyuu

[Guest Maximum Carnage]

I've been extremely busy trying to ship another product, but I'd like to get an official release of SG out sooner rather than later. I fixed the problem with using FIT2Win and FIT2Win*. The issue was that I had changed the fixed-point value for scaling the image from 8.8 to 16.16 to allow for more accurate scaling. There are 3 separate routines within the code (one for 0, 90 and 270 degrees). Not all sections had been updated properly. Anyhow, here's 1.1.3 with that part fixed.

L.B.

Hello,

I actually did purchase a license to use your emulator a few months ago because it is an ongoing project and you're probably the only hope right now for getting Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games to run on my Motorola Q as all of the emulators that I have either run them too slowly as is with PocketSNES or the sound is not emulated properly 80% of the time as is the case with Picodrive. I know that most emulators out there are free but I also know that taking on a project like this is no easy task and requires a lot of knowledge about the hardware and programming of the systems you're trying to emulate. Having said all that, I like most people on here have a little bit of constructive criticism I'd like to share to help improve the experience for all of us, paying or free users.

I downloaded the latest update to the emulator from your post that I quoted above hoping to find some major improvements but as far as I can tell, not much has changed in the version that I had from December of 08. There are a number of improvements that I thought of that I don't think would be that difficult to implement. One thing I've noticed that's in common with all of the emulators I have on my phone: Gnuboy, Pocket Nester Plus, PocketSNES, Picodrive, etc. is that their menus have many more options available. They weren't all coded by the same author either but their file menus are all basically the same. They have options to resume, reset, load state, save state, etc.. You have none of those options. Why not? Those are a staple in pretty much any emulator that I've ever used for several years. I don't understand why save states have yet to be implemented. I don't understand why I can't have a button mapped that will pause the game currently running and take me to a menu where I can resume my progress, save the state, change options, etc. instead of having to totally exit out of the game by pressing my 'back' key to make changes and start all over again from the beginning. That's a very huge drawback to this emulator at this time and one of the biggest things that I think need to be changed on the next version.

One of the reasons for me purchasing the license to unlock the emulator was because you claimed on your website under the "Trial Version" section that "The trial version of SmartGear allows you to play each game for up to 2 minutes, and has the save/load feature disabled." I was expecting a save/load feature to appear when I entered the unlock code but it has yet to appear and I've had it unlocked for a few months now. It's still not there with the newest update I downloaded from the post I quoted above.

As far as suggestions for other emulators go, I would like to recommend the Atari 7800 because there isn't one available for the smartphone that I could find. But before you tackle that or any new emulators, I would suggest that the ones that are supposedly supposed to work now be worked on first until they run nearly perfectly. I've had a few of the genesis games crash the emulator such as Crusader of Centy. None of the games run at full speed on my device and the sound is choppy and there's a staticy noise coming from the speakers. The sound issue is also the case with the Picodrive emulator so I don't know what the issue is there. I suppose that the SNES emulation is still disabled because none of the roms even show up when I go to their folders. I would suggest removing the option to set keys for it altogether if it's not even functional.

Anyways, there's still a lot of work to be done but it's good go know that you're actually working on it and making some progress. I look forward to seeing a much better running and fleshed out emulator in the near future. *crosses fingers*

Edited April 3, 2009 by Maximum Carnage

[Guest PolloLoco]

Hello,

I actually did purchase a license to use your emulator a few months ago because it is an ongoing project and you're probably the only hope right now for getting Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games to run on my Motorola Q as all of the emulators that I have either run them too slowly as is with PocketSNES or the sound is not emulated properly 80% of the time as is the case with Picodrive. I know that most emulators out there are free but I also know that taking on a project like this is no easy task and requires a lot of knowledge about the hardware and programming of the systems you're trying to emulate. Having said all that, I like most people on here have a little bit of constructive criticism I'd like to share to help improve the experience for all of us, paying or free users.

I downloaded the latest update to the emulator from your post that I quoted above hoping to find some major improvements but as far as I can tell, not much has changed in the version that I had from December of 08. There are a number of improvements that I thought of that I don't think would be that difficult to implement. One thing I've noticed that's in common with all of the emulators I have on my phone: Gnuboy, Pocket Nester Plus, PocketSNES, Picodrive, etc. is that their menus have many more options available. They weren't all coded by the same author either but their file menus are all basically the same. They have options to resume, reset, load state, save state, etc.. You have none of those options. Why not? Those are a staple in pretty much any emulator that I've ever used for several years. I don't understand why save states have yet to be implemented. I don't understand why I can't have a button mapped that will pause the game currently running and take me to a menu where I can resume my progress, save the state, change options, etc. instead of having to totally exit out of the game by pressing my 'back' key to make changes and start all over again from the beginning. That's a very huge drawback to this emulator at this time and one of the biggest things that I think need to be changed on the next version.

One of the reasons for me purchasing the license to unlock the emulator was because you claimed on your website under the "Trial Version" section that "The trial version of SmartGear allows you to play each game for up to 2 minutes, and has the save/load feature disabled." I was expecting a save/load feature to appear when I entered the unlock code but it has yet to appear and I've had it unlocked for a few months now. It's still not there with the newest update I downloaded from the post I quoted above.

As far as suggestions for other emulators go, I would like to recommend the Atari 7800 because there isn't one available for the smartphone that I could find. But before you tackle that or any new emulators, I would suggest that the ones that are supposedly supposed to work now be worked on first until they run nearly perfectly. I've had a few of the genesis games crash the emulator such as Crusader of Centy. None of the games run at full speed on my device and the sound is choppy and there's a staticy noise coming from the speakers. The sound issue is also the case with the Picodrive emulator so I don't know what the issue is there. I suppose that the SNES emulation is still disabled because none of the roms even show up when I go to their folders. I would suggest removing the option to set keys for it altogether if it's not even functional.

Anyways, there's still a lot of work to be done but it's good go know that you're actually working on it and making some progress. I look forward to seeing a much better running and fleshed out emulator in the near future. *crosses fingers*

Ummm, you might want to edit the majority of your post because most of the features you complain about - are already there. When a game is already open, you can tap the screen and the options now show load and save states. Also - SNES games do show up. If you bothered to read the thread you'd know they have to be in zip files. But SNES emulation is just a proof of concept.

If you're complaining about speed with sound - then I believe you're never going to be satisfied with ANY emulator on the Motorola Q. You chose a phone with a very slow processor. I made a concious decision to buy a PPC with a fast processor - first a 6700, and now a Touch Pro. Though the 6700 handles emulation better than the newer phone.

[Guest ScreamingFalcon]

Just Curious, does the new version fix the little issue with the keyboard mapping on the Motorola Q9c? The keymapping on my old vanilla Q worked just fine (made the keyboard as close as I could get to the original controllers), but when I tried to mirror the mapping I used on it to my new Q9c, I had nothing but issues. Still, all in all, best 10 bucks I ever spent on my phone.

[Guest Maximum Carnage]

Ummm, you might want to edit the majority of your post because most of the features you complain about - are already there. When a game is already open, you can tap the screen and the options now show load and save states. Also - SNES games do show up. If you bothered to read the thread you'd know they have to be in zip files. But SNES emulation is just a proof of concept.

If you're complaining about speed with sound - then I believe you're never going to be satisfied with ANY emulator on the Motorola Q. You chose a phone with a very slow processor. I made a concious decision to buy a PPC with a fast processor - first a 6700, and now a Touch Pro. Though the 6700 handles emulation better than the newer phone.

Ok before I get flamed here, expecting anyone to spend an hour or probably more reading the entirety of a now 57 page thread with over 1,100 replies that was started nearly 5 years ago is a little ridiculous to figure out how to operate this emulator don't you think? I don't think you can make a good argument against that. Any and all changes would be much easier to follow if they were all in one place and concise... for instance maybe on the website that hosts the emulator?! Or maybe with some documentation included with the download like most emulator authors do? Give me a break! To give you some credit, I have read through the first 20 pages or so and several of the most recent ones but decided after a certain point that it wasn't worth my time.

As far as my choice in phones go, I purchased this phone before I found out that I could use emulators with it and I'm not going to upgrade just for the sake of emulation because it suits my needs. Your argument about my phone having a slow processor is true but I have several emulators that work nearly flawlessly save for Picodrive, PocketSNES, and Smartgear. Although I don't understand the complexities of exactly how emulators work, I find it perplexing how my phone runs Marvel Vs. Capcom on the FinalBurn emulator, a game released on the Dreamcast, albeit a bit slowly once you get into the actual fighting but it struggles at emulating the sound correctly for sega games and slows to a crawl for any SNES game I throw at it. Can you explain that? I was playing Puzzle Bobble 2 the other day on FinalBurn and also compared it to my playstation version and it ran just as well. I believe that this phone is capable of handling the Genesis and Snes but it just requires someone with enough skill to accomplish that task. I'm not capable of it but that's why I gave this man my money because I believed in his skill to do it and hopefully he will.

As far as Load and Save states are concerned, I'm not seeing them. I can't 'tap' anything on my screen because it's a MotoQ which doesn't have a touch screen to tap... as far as I know, the latest version MotoQ9c does not have a touch screen. Mine is the original silver Q. The only way I know of to get back to the menu is by pressing the button that is mapped to the 'exit' key function. When I press the left softkey all I see are the options 'open', 'about', and 'exit'. I have version 1.0.4 installed and that's the latest one. Oh and when I tried opening up my zipped up version of Super Mario World for the SNES, it gave me a file not recognized error. Maybe I have to install some zip program addon for my Q? I don't understand why the roms are only able to be seen in zip format and not either one. I wonder what page the answer to that question is on... hmmm... 27? Maybe it's reply #884... argh!

Edited April 4, 2009 by Maximum Carnage

[Guest asrrin29]

Ok before I get flamed here, expecting anyone to spend an hour or probably more reading the entirety of a now 57 page thread with over 1,100 replies that was started nearly 5 years ago is a little ridiculous to figure out how to operate this emulator don't you think? I don't think you can make a good argument against that. Any and all changes would be much easier to follow if they were all in one place and concise... for instance maybe on the website that hosts the emulator?! Or maybe with some documentation included with the download like most emulator authors do? Give me a break! To give you some credit, I have read through the first 20 pages or so and several of the most recent ones but decided after a certain point that it wasn't worth my time.

As far as my choice in phones go, I purchased this phone before I found out that I could use emulators with it and I'm not going to upgrade just for the sake of emulation because it suits my needs. Your argument about my phone having a slow processor is true but I have several emulators that work nearly flawlessly save for Picodrive, PocketSNES, and Smartgear. Although I don't understand the complexities of exactly how emulators work, I find it perplexing how my phone runs Marvel Vs. Capcom on the FinalBurn emulator, a game released on the Dreamcast, albeit a bit slowly once you get into the actual fighting but it struggles at emulating the sound correctly for sega games and slows to a crawl for any SNES game I throw at it. Can you explain that? I was playing Puzzle Bobble 2 the other day on FinalBurn and also compared it to my playstation version and it ran just as well. I believe that this phone is capable of handling the Genesis and Snes but it just requires someone with enough skill to accomplish that task. I'm not capable of it but that's why I gave this man my money because I believed in his skill to do it and hopefully he will.

As far as Load and Save states are concerned, I'm not seeing them. I can't 'tap' anything on my screen because it's a MotoQ which doesn't have a touch screen to tap... as far as I know, the latest version MotoQ9c does not have a touch screen. Mine is the original silver Q. The only way I know of to get back to the menu is by pressing the button that is mapped to the 'exit' key function. When I press the left softkey all I see are the options 'open', 'about', and 'exit'. I have version 1.0.4 installed and that's the latest one. Oh and when I tried opening up my zipped up version of Super Mario World for the SNES, it gave me a file not recognized error. Maybe I have to install some zip program addon for my Q? I don't understand why the roms are only able to be seen in zip format and not either one. I wonder what page the answer to that question is on... hmmm... 27? Maybe it's reply #884... argh!

If you don't have a touchscreen phone, then use the button assigned to pause the game. once the game is paused it will give you two soft button menu's, one to exit the game, and one that says file, which will let you save, load, reset, change keys, etc. The only thing you can't do while the ROM is active is disable sound, though you can mute it. The latest version available here for download is not a stable version, which is why the SNES is not working correctly. the latest stable version is on his website.

You are not going to see perfectly playable ROMS on a smartphone. you would need a ppc to get the better processor. NES and gameboy games worked very well on my old i-mate SPL, which wasn't a PPC, but even non-turn based games where a little on the slow side. Thankfully most games don't turn into slideshows, which is known to happen with the other emulators. If you want a better expereince, sometimes disabling the sound makes things go quicker.

[Guest tgwaste]

sure would be A LOT better if SNES worked like the rest. :excl:

i need to get my mario kart on!

[Guest geeve420]

Any updates coming our way anytime soon?