Gambatte 0.5.0-wip2 released

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:44 am

any plans to support standard Wide-Boy64 or Game Boy Player borders? or would that be something found in n64 or gamecube emulator? I've always been confused on matters like this.

sinamas · Post by **sinamas** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:19 am

New release.

It contains a few important bug fixes, such as MBC2 ROMs not getting any SRAM in 0.4.0. It also contains some major audio/video timing improvements, as well as improvements and additions to platform-specific audio/video engines (particularly on win32).

The verbose log:

Code: Select all

libgambatte:
    - Fix HqXx filter pitch.
    - Fix mbc2 not getting a rambank.
    - Make sure to reset passed pointers when deleted. Fixes potential crash
      when loading ROM during OAM busy.
common:
    - Substantially improved rate estimation averaging.
    - RateEst: Add a convenient way of filtering measures that extend beyond
      a buffer time, and are as such probably invalid.
    - RateEst: Allow using a custom timestamp in feed().
    - RateEst: Keep a queue of the last ~100 msec worth of samples and
      duration, and filter out collective samples that give a pre-estimate
      that seems way off.
    - Replace "Game Boy / Game Boy Color emulator" with "Game Boy Color
      emulator" for now to avoid misleading anyone on the current status.
gambatte_qt:
    - Disable BlitterWidget updates (paintEvents) while not paused.
    - Allow BlitterWidgets to opt in to get paintEvents while unpaused. Do so
      for QGLBlitter since it may need to clear buffers afterwards.
    - QGLBlitter: Try to blit right after sync in the case of single buffering.
    - Up default audio buffer latency to 100 ms (some common system audio
      servers require a lot of buffering to work well).
    - Adaptively skip BlitterWidget syncs if audio buffer is low, in a manner
      that should minimize wasted skips in sync to vblank situation, and tries
      to be non-disturbing. This replaces frame time halving, and blitter
      specific rescueing.
    - Clear display buffers in DirectDrawBlitter and Direct3DBlitter in
      exclusive mode, since blits don't necessarily cover the entire buffers.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Make sure that a minimum amount of time has passed
      between calls to WaitForVerticalBlank, since it can return in the same
      vblank period twice on a fast system.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Support vsync for refresh rate ~= 2x frame rate.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Refactor somewhat and get rid of a couple minor
      potential bugs.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Some tweaks to get updates closer to sync time in
      certain situations.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Some tweaks to better support DONOTWAIT.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Make only updating during vblank while page flipping
      optional.
    - Direct3DBlitter: Some tweaks to get updates closer to sync time in
      certain situations.
    - Filter out very short frame times in frame time estimation.
    - Don't adjust frame time during turbo, but rather skip BlitterWidget
      syncs to speed up, which avoids vsync limits without disabling vsync.
    - DirectDrawBlitter: Add triple buffering option.
    - Direct3DBlitter: Use D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD in non-exclusive mode.
    - Direct3DBlitter: Allow triple buffering and vblank-only updates in
      non-excusive mode.
    - Rename "Page flipping" in Direct3D and DirectDraw blitters to
      "Exclusive full screen".
    - Pause audio on win32 titlebar clicks/drags to avoid looping audio due to
      underruns from blocked timerEvents.
    - Use wildcards for platform detection to avoid being unnecessarily
      compiler/architecture specific. Fixes bug 2377772.
    - Rewrite most of DirectSoundEngine, supporting primary buffer option,
      making it more robust, correct and hopefully cleaner. Only use part of
      the primary buffer if the desired buffer size is lower than the
      primary buffer size.
    - Direct3DBlitter and DirectDrawBlitter: Force blocking updates when sync
      to vblank is enabled. Some updates only block if there's a prior
      unfinished update in progress. This screws up frame time estimation in
      turn screwing up vsync. To fix this we do a double update (and extra blit)
      if close to a frame time period has passed since the last update when
      sync to vblank is enabled. I really should have noticed this earlier as
      it pretty much breaks vsync adaption completely.
    - Direct3DBlitter: Use the D3DCREATE_FPU_PRESERVE flag when creating
      device. Omitting this flag can screw up floating point calculations in
      other parts of the code. For instance WASAPI cursor timestamps get
      utterly screwed up here.
    - Direct3DBlitter: It appears that managed textures are updated before
      they are unlocked, which screws up redraws, making things appear choppy
      in some situations. Use a default memory texture and a system memory
      texture and the UpdateTexure method instead.
    - DirectSoundEngine: Make use of the sample period limit feature of
      RateEst, rather than duplicating the feature.
    - Add polling WASAPI engine with exclusive mode support. Latency and rate
      estimation is generally better than DirectSound, and in exclusive mode
      there is less blocking as well as exclusive mode being better than
      shared mode in the other areas too.
    - WasapiEngine: Add device selection.
    - WasapiEngine: Add static isUsable() method. Only listed if isUsable().
      Default engine if isUsable().
    - WasapiEngine: Use default device if there's only one device available,
      since we don't show the combobox anyway.
    - DirectSoundEngine: Provide the integrated read and status get write
      method optimization.
    - XvBlitter: Set NosystemBackground attribute rather than OpaquePaintEvent.
      Reimplement paintEngine to return NULL as suggested by Qt docs.
    - X11Blitter: Reimplement paintEngine to return NULL.
    - AlsaEngine: Make use of sample period limit feature of RateEst. Don't
      increase estimated sample rate on underrun.
    - OssEngine: Make use of sample period limit feature of RateEst. Don't
      increase estimated sample rate on underrun.
    - Esc exits fullscreen on macx.
    - Drop OpenAL from default macx binary.
    - Add some useful but commented build flags for macx to .pro files.

DancemasterGlenn · Post by **DancemasterGlenn** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:00 am

Thanks sinamas!

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:35 am

sweet. Congrats on the new release.

Post by **Nach** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:56 pm

sinamas: I think I found a bug.

r228. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman, Final Boss Mad Bomber (Code: 8513, or in reverse 3158):

Mad Bomber's arms seem to partially disappear whenever it lets out a missile.

I don't recall this happening in the original game, although my brother is currently borrowing my copy so I can't verify it on the original, to see if it's RTO or not.

sinamas · Post by **sinamas** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:26 pm

Nach wrote:sinamas: I think I found a bug.

It happens on both my CGB and DMG-08. Many games get that when the sprite limit is exceeded. I actually had to hack the ROM image to get it to run on my flash cart, as it depends on MBC1 behavior that conflicts with the MBC5-ish behavior of my flash cart.

About progress:
This has been an extremely busy semester for me, so work on Gambatte has been minimal. I _have_ been able to do some basic DMG testing, which indicates that the DMG and CGB differ in a few core areas, but are otherwise very, very similar. Unfortunately a lot of my tests depend on some of that CGB-specific behavior, so they need to be reworked to be meaningful for the DMG. I'll see if I can get some more done this summer.

DancemasterGlenn · Post by **DancemasterGlenn** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:22 am

Good to hear an update, can't wait for an eventual new release!

crocomire · Post by **crocomire** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:30 am

I found a "sprite bug" similar in Metroid II...
The same happened on BGB, only in VBA it appear "correct": The energy ball is behind of Samus sprite.

Some suggestions for the future releases:

- Save emulator window position and/or center it in the screen.
- Option of choose the paths to the saves (sav and gps), palettes, snapshots.
- and...

kick wrote:- The DMG palette scheme editor should have 4 layers for customization

Gambatte is a fantastic emulator. Great work sinamas!

sinamas · Post by **sinamas** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:12 pm

crocomire wrote:I found a "sprite bug" similar in Metroid II...

Looks normal to me. On the DMG sprites further to the left have priority. Since both Samus and the ball are composed of several sprites, which ones appear on top will depend on Samus' horizontal position.
Thanks for the feedback.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:46 pm

Yeah. I'd have to fire my Gameboy up, but I'm pretty sure that's actual game behavior.

Just think of it as a very crude attempt at transparency.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:41 am

still it's not bad to pool these real hardware shortcomings as known issues so people don't wonder or report them twice.

Post by **Nach** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:07 pm

Thing is, they seem to be noticeable on Gambatte than on real hardware.

Probably an optical illusion caused by a bigger viewing screen.

Rashidi · Post by **Rashidi** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:50 pm

Nach wrote:Thing is, they seem to be noticeable on Gambatte than on real hardware.

Probably an optical illusion caused by a bigger viewing screen.

is that trully possible to emulating optical illusion from real hardware? (saves NTSC 'illusions')

crocomire · Post by **crocomire** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:31 am

Sorry, it's really a false bug...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf4rqsV3qYU
The author of this video used a real SGB, and the same thing happened ...

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:45 am

Rashidi wrote:
Nach wrote:Thing is, they seem to be noticeable on Gambatte than on real hardware.

Probably an optical illusion caused by a bigger viewing screen.
is that trully possible to emulating optical illusion from real hardware? (saves NTSC 'illusions')

NTSC artifacting isn't an optical illusion. It's not even related to the concept of an optical illusion.

And no, it's not possible to emulate an optical illusion caused by bigger/smaller screens. Except by playing in a small window. Then you'd get DIFFERENT optical illusions.

Nintendo actually made explicit reference to that optical illusion in the ads for the GameBoy Pocket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8-DKakDoVI

The smaller frame around the display had the side effect of making the display itself appear bigger, even though it's exactly the same size.

kick · Post by **kick** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:09 am

sinamas wrote:About progress:
I _have_ been able to do some basic DMG testing, which indicates that the DMG and CGB differ in a few core areas, but are otherwise very, very similar. Unfortunately a lot of my tests depend on some of that CGB-specific behavior, so they need to be reworked to be meaningful for the DMG. I'll see if I can get some more work done.

Still waiting for an updated (Qt 4.5.1) build.

sinamas · Post by **sinamas** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:21 pm

kick wrote:
sinamas wrote:About progress:
I _have_ been able to do some basic DMG testing, which indicates that the DMG and CGB differ in a few core areas, but are otherwise very, very similar. Unfortunately a lot of my tests depend on some of that CGB-specific behavior, so they need to be reworked to be meaningful for the DMG. I'll see if I can get some more done this summer.
Still waiting for an updated (Qt 4.5.1) build.

Lay off the hallucinogens. Summer hasn't started yet in Norway.

kick · Post by **kick** » Tue May 12, 2009 1:59 am

Audio buffering / latency in Gambatte
----------------------------------------------

Just tried the Linux .deb package of Gambatte-Qt with OSS 4.1 on a really old PC with a SoundMAX AC97 onboard chip.

I've set the audio latency all the way down to 4ms and surprisingly, there's no difference in the sound quality - no pops,crackles,slowdown or stuttering. Sounds too good to be true.

On Windows the sound begins to crackle when the latency is set to a value of 10ms or below (as expected).

Makes me wonder if the Linux version of Gambatte is using hardware buffers for the audio output.

There's an interesting quirk when using hardware buffers with these onboard chips - you can set the latency all the way down to 1ms and it will still 'work',but the real latency you'll get is a fixed value of > 200ms.

Try it with JACK (Linux) , ASIO4ALL (Windows) or even OpenAL. The only way to get lower latencies with these chips is to switch to software buffering.

doktor_kris · Post by **doktor_kris** » Wed May 13, 2009 4:15 am

sinamas wrote:Lay off the hallucinogens. Summer hasn't started yet in Norway.

Sant nok, men unn deg tid til bading og kos! Kan liksom ikke bare være inne når om varmen steker ute, vettu.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed May 13, 2009 5:13 am

doktor_kris wrote:
sinamas wrote:Lay off the hallucinogens. Summer hasn't started yet in Norway.
Sant nok, men unn deg tid til bading og kos! Kan liksom ikke bare være inne når om varmen steker ute, vettu.

What

(except nok. I know that's norweigian money. :p)

Post by **Agozer** » Wed May 13, 2009 11:19 am

adventure_of_link wrote:
doktor_kris wrote:
sinamas wrote:Lay off the hallucinogens. Summer hasn't started yet in Norway.
Sant nok, men unn deg tid til bading og kos! Kan liksom ikke bare være inne når om varmen steker ute, vettu.
What

(except nok. I know that's norweigian money. :p)

Only when capitalized.

Thristian · Post by **Thristian** » Wed May 13, 2009 3:27 pm

adventure_of_link wrote:
doktor_kris wrote:Sant nok, men unn deg tid til bading og kos! Kan liksom ikke bare være inne når om varmen steker ute, vettu.
What

Google says:

Sant NOK, but except the time to dip and enjoy! Can not just be like when the heat is beating down on the outside, y'know.

But except the time to dip and enjoy, couldn't have said it better myself.

Fras · Post by **Fras** » Wed May 13, 2009 3:34 pm

But except the time to dip and enjoy

Hah. : P

I get it fairly well, except for that 'kos'.

Bodkins Odds · Post by **Bodkins Odds** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:57 pm

Does Gambatte emulate the game link cable? And if not then could it be made to?

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:08 pm

Hi, how do I change the GBC palette VBA-M (rev. 899 x64) uses to match Gambatte's?

gbPalette=FF7FB5568C310000FF7FB5568C310000FF7FB5568C310000FF7FB5568C310000FF7FB5568C310000FF7FB5568C310000A4