Regen for Linux and Windows

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:57 pm

As far as I can tell, no. It even happens when High Priority is enabled. Hmmm, I think I should add this to the list of bugs and issues soon.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:02 pm

King Of Chaos wrote:As far as I can tell, no. It even happens when High Priority is enabled. Hmmm, I think I should add this to the list of bugs and issues soon.

Maybe also mention that it takes up 50% CPU...? Well, if it requires intensive programming code searching/process of elimination...maybe not..? For a second there, I thought there was something wrong with my PC specs...

Edit - Disabling screen saver does not disable it; and if it goes on, the screen (emulator) turns completely gray and requires emulator shut down.

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:15 pm

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:Maybe also mention that it takes up 50% CPU...?

Well, I think that part's normal. I could be wrong though, I think Aamir is the best one to answer that.

deltaphc · Post by **deltaphc** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:39 am

Minor bug that's been around since 0.85:

When you select File-->Power Off, it does what it's supposed to do, but if you try to load another ROM afterwards, you get problems, mostly with sound. It doesn't go away until you restart Regen.

If you load another ROM without powering off, it runs fine.

Also, on Vista, the client area appears to be improperly sized. To show what I mean:
http://i37.tinypic.com/inbzvq.png

If you look very closely at the checkered background, you can see some scaling artifacts.

AamirM · Post by **AamirM** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:09 am

Hi,

About the sound skipping problem, well its hard for me to debug something that doesn't happen to me

. But anyways, I'll try fix it. Does the SoundBufferSize adjustment has any effect on it?

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:Maybe also mention that it takes up 50% CPU...?

If you're using Core 2 build then its normal (both cores should be utilized btw). If your using normal build then one core should be used up 100%. If thats not happening then there is certainly something going wrong with Regen. Your PC specs are fine, don't worry about that

.

All other bugs/requests have been noted. Can anybody confirm the Sonic 3 sound problem (super sonic part) on real hardware?

stay safe,

AamirM

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:05 pm

I don't have the dual core build, so I think the usage is normal. Then, it's just the sound crackle I'm having issues with. But tyring to change the the buffer size...I haven't tried that yet but I will after work.

Edit - And yes, I can confirm the Sonic 3 plane sound issues definitely happen. BTW, is the buffer size in the emulator config or the .ini file?

Fras · Post by **Fras** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:59 pm

The sound stuttering only happens about twice after game startup for me, with some 30 seconds in between. After that, I haven't noticed it.
And... there's some sort of clicking sound in the music during the new game/save select part in shining force 2. This happened in both new versions.

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:00 pm

AamirM wrote:Can anybody confirm the Sonic 3 sound problem (super sonic part) on real hardware?

Compare Kega to Regen, since Kega does it exactly like the real hardware (and I can remember it well). If you listen carefully, the main instrumentation is either too loud, or it sounds echoed slightly.

DancemasterGlenn · Post by **DancemasterGlenn** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:16 pm

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:Maybe also mention that it takes up 50% CPU...?

AamirM wrote:If you're using Core 2 build then its normal (both cores should be utilized btw). If your using normal build then one core should be used up 100%. If thats not happening then there is certainly something going wrong with Regen.

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:I don't have the dual core build, so I think the usage is normal.

I feel like there must be something wrong in one of these statements. By Aamir's logic, neobahamut's build (he's using the normal build) should be using 100% on a single core, right? He doesn't have the dual core build, so usage isn't going to be 50% across two cores.

Or am I crazy?

AamirM · Post by **AamirM** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:16 pm

Hi,

I don't have the dual core build, so I think the usage is normal.

Nope its not

. It should be using one core 100% in this case.

Edit - And yes, I can confirm the Sonic 3 plane sound issues definitely happen. BTW, is the buffer size in the emulator config or the .ini file?

Its in the ini file.

And... there's some sort of clicking sound in the music during the new game/save select part in shining force 2.

Thats due to SSG-EG which is now emulated and this game uses it during that time.

Compare Kega to Regen, since Kega does it exactly like the real hardware (and I can remember it well). If you listen carefully, the main instrumentation is either too loud, or it sounds echoed slightly.

Ok, will try later again. I tried last night but couldn't hear any difference. The falling bombs sound glitch is known of and so I am only talking about the super sonic sound part. BTW, can anyone notice any difference between Mega Turrican track 3 in Gens(yes Gens) and Kega? (high quality turned on in both)

Or am I crazy?

No you're not. I think neobahamut misunderstood/mistyped something

.

stay safe,

AamirM

AamirM · Post by **AamirM** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:07 pm

Hi,

I've been working my ass off for the last two hours or so trying to fix the sound skipping problem. Here is a new binary that should remove this problem once and for all. Basically, the sound shouldn't skip even if one is getting like 15 fps or so but instead will be crystal clear. Somebody should try and run this on a Pentium 2 or something

. Tell me how it goes.

stay safe,

AamirM

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:12 pm

I've got a Pentium 3 sitting right here...

AamirM · Post by **AamirM** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:17 pm

Hi,

Go on try it. And use some heavy plugin if possible (lq2xS,hq2xS, NTSC filter etc..). Sound shouldn't not skip.

stay safe,

AamirM

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:30 pm

aaaaaaaaaaaaans it crashes.

I'm running XP 32 SP3. my VS2005(A leftover from a failed attempt at learning how to program) pops up and asks if I want ot debug when it crashes.

Edit: The exact error message is "An unhandled win32 exception occured in Regen.exe [2660]."

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:32 pm

AamirM wrote:Hi,

I have uploaded two Regen beta executables (only) with which I need some testing from you guys. The common thing to test in both of them is the updated YM2612 core to make sure no game has broken sound (except Sonic 3 falling bombs at one point).

Regen 0.93 normal
This is purely built from only the C sources. Tell me if this worked for you on your AMD processor or not. This should be quite faster (20%-60% at least) than previous 0.85 release. If not, then tell.

Regen 0.93 parallelized (Core 2 and compatibles only)
This is built from the C sources and some hand optimized asm code (used in VDP and YM2612). This should use both the cores (unlike previously). Tell me if this worked for you on your AMD processor or not. I've tested this only on my friend's Core 2 PC. Again, I'd like to know what speed its achieveing compared to previous 0.85 and the normal build above.

The YM2612 core should now be even more accurate than Kega Fusion's. One must listen closely otherwise the difference won't be noticeable. Note that this is not a release but sort of a WIP . Also, it will have 100% compatibility (commercial games). All the known non-working games have been fixed.

stay safe,

AamirM

I DLed the first one and not the parallelized one.

Edit 2:36PM - Changed the sound buffer from 7 to 14 and seems to be okay.

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:03 pm

AamirM wrote:Sound shouldn't not skip.

No skips, or any hiccups in the emulation at all.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:38 pm

Okay, did some testing to see which of the two emulators sound better (BTW, this is Sonic 3 with title screen theme and Chrome Gadget Theme), first emulator is Regen 0.93 with the new sound core versus Kega Fusion 3.51, both with High Quality mode turned on. http://www.filefactory.com/file/bb81fe/ ... s_Kega_mp3 Not sure how long the link will last, but here it is. Personally, I think Regen's new YM2612 core stands out more.

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:12 am

Try the Super Sonic music comparison. To me in Regen it sounds kinda doubled and echoed, which to me doesn't sound like the real hardware and like Kega. To me, I guess it kinda sounds muffled. Hard to explain.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:39 am

In Sonic 2 or 3?

King Of Chaos · Post by **King Of Chaos** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:02 am

Sonic 3. In my tests, I used Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

AamirM · Post by **AamirM** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:02 am

Hi,

I tried the latest build posted here (which uses new time sync code) on a P3 700 Mhz today and to my pleasent surprise, Regen ran faster than Kega Fusion

. Add to this that it is build from only the C sources

. My old code must've been hiding some serious performance problem which didn't show up although I do profile my code all the time. I tried many different games but the end conclusion was same. I will describe Sonic 3D only.

First I ran both Regen and Kega with SuperHQ, Overdrive, Stretch options only and both had no problem maintaining 60 FPS. Then I applied the hq2x plugin. Now the FPS dropped considerably. Kega was giving 33-42 FPS during the game and ~37 FPS in the start screen. Regen on the other hand was giving 38-46 FPS and ~42 FPS at the start screen. The reason, I am specially mentioning start screen is because it is a bit heavy on the plugin due to colors and many edges and boundaries between the colors which all put pressure on the plugin. And the sound didn't skip at all in both of them. The sound started to skip in Regen when the FPS exactly dropped below 20 (not at 20). I even took screenshots to show off.

Sorry for my arrogance and shameless bragging above as I am very surprised right now.

IST : That is strange. But I'll have a look and may even post another fixed exe.

neo_bahamut1985 : Thanks

King of Chaos : Ok, I tried again. Yes, the sound is very very slightly echoed but I could not notice any doubling. I wouldn't say its not like real hardware after a confirmation because its not that much off from Kega. But again, I am not a guy with very good ears

. I only try and compare waveforms.

stay safe,

AamirM

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:24 am

That's not arrogance, dude. That's pure shock!

When I Downloaded the file, it had no extension and was named "Regen". However, when I clicked the link on the download service, the status bar had the real name. Perhaps the download got fucked up?

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:12 pm

Add .zip or .rar at the end (force the extension...)? Maybe.

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:29 pm

I did. I was able to extract the contents, but the emulator itself crashed.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:37 pm

Weird. Having an older version to replace it with helps (I had this issue in the past, so I copied it in the folder where I had an older version to replace --so, if you had 0.85 and replaced it with the 0.93b it should work). If not, I apologize.