--- /dev/null
+-- porter's foreword --\r
+\r
+This is a Pandora port of Exophase's impressive GBA emulator, gpSP.\r
+Since nobody has released a functional port for more than a year after\r
+pandora's release, and the GINGE'd version doesn't do this emulator\r
+justice, I've decided to take this task. This version also includes\r
+my own tweaks from GP2X/Wiz version. In case anyone wonders, this\r
+release was done with author's consent.\r
+\r
+To use it, you'll first need to copy authentic GBA BIOS to gpSP\r
+appdata directory, which usually is <SD card>/pandora/appdata/gpsp/ .\r
+It must be named gba_bios.bin and should be 16kB in size.\r
+\r
+I've appended the original gpSP GP2X and PSP readme files as they\r
+contain lots of information that is still relevant for this version,\r
+as well as development history of this project.\r
+\r
+- notaz\r
+\r
+Changelog:\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u7\r
+- Pandora port, using hardware scaler for video output.\r
+- Fixed a few portablility issues in ARM asm and sound code.\r
+- Tweaked timing to suit pandora's LCD refresh nicely.\r
+- Maybe fixed GBC/digital sound channel desync over time.\r
+- Some other not-that-relevant cleanups and tweaks.\r
+\r
+Source code should be available at:\r
+http://notaz.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+-- gameplaySP2X Gameboy Advance emulator for GP2X --\r
+\r
+gpSP2X is a version of my (Exophase)'s emulator originally for Sony PSP.\r
+A large amount of effort has been done to make it more optimized for the\r
+ARM CPU present in the GP2X, however it is still very much a work in\r
+progress.\r
+\r
+See readme.txt for the PSP version readme, which contains a lot of\r
+information relevant to the GP2X version (note that some of it does\r
+not apply however).\r
+\r
+\r
+Changelog:\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u6\r
+- Fixed clock and scaling config saving.\r
+- Fixed occasional crash on first ROM load on 1.1 firmware.\r
+- Added LCD timing setup code, which can be controlled through\r
+ 'pollux_dpc_set' environment vatiable (see gpsp.gpe wrapper script).\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u5\r
+- Added portrait drawing modes. They eliminate tearing but are slightly\r
+ slower.\r
+- Added page scrolling in ROM browser with L/R.\r
+- 32MB ROM support fixed.\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u4 (unofficial notaz release, done on Exophase's request)\r
+- Wiz port. No emulation related changes.\r
+- Wiz: dropped SDL for video and hitting hardware directly (GPH SDL can't\r
+ be trusted, it doesn't do double buffering as of firmware 1.0).\r
+- Added new optimized software scaler with interpolation.\r
+- gpSP is now saving ROM dir on exit. Delete romdir.txt if you don't\r
+ want that.\r
+- gpSP now comes with wARM, new kernel module+lib for ARM cache control\r
+ (replaces mmuhack).\r
+- gpSP no longer invalidates whole icache after recompilation, might\r
+ cause minor speedup.\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u3 (unofficial notaz release, released with permission):\r
+- Removed built-in CPU/LCD/RAM-Tweaker.\r
+- Improved usability of volume control.\r
+- Removed PSP-specific GUI options, adjusted help text.\r
+- Overclocking from menu now works, keep it at 200 if you don't want that\r
+ (if you want to overclock using launcher, for example).\r
+- Fixed centering-on-first-run problem.\r
+- 3:2 scaled option now does what it says.\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u2 (unofficial notaz release):\r
+- Replaced non-working mmuhack.o with proper one, added cache flush calls\r
+ to avoid artifacts.\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb u1 (unofficial notaz release):\r
+- Fixed a problen in thread synchronization which caused deadlock after\r
+ some time.\r
+\r
+0.9-2xb: \r
+-- IMPORTANT-- If you're overwriting an old version, be sure to delete the\r
+ gpsp.cfg file first, or be prepared to have a bunch of weird button\r
+ settings that would require fixing.\r
+\r
+- Fixed some bugs stunting compatability.\r
+- Optimized alpha blends in renderer.\r
+- Some more optimizations to dynarec output.\r
+- Savestates should work better now.\r
+- Cheat/misc menu won't crash the emulator.\r
+- Main button config window works (not all buttons are in yet)\r
+\r
+0.9-2Xa: (Exophase release)\r
+- Redid autoframeskip. Should work more reliably.\r
+- Rewrote dynamic recompiler from x86 source (arm_emit.h, arm_stub.S).\r
+ Has some more sophisticated behavior than the last version, more is\r
+ still to come... Should notice a slight speed improvement over the\r
+ last version.\r
+- Tweaked GUI to be a little more useable. Buttons are now mirroring the\r
+ PSP version's.\r
+- Code unification + cleanup amongst versions.\r
+\r
+\r
+v9008: (zodttd release)\r
+- Updated the way autoframeskip works. Should be better now. Still has a max\r
+ frameskip value.\r
+- Added a slight performance increase to the dynarec.\r
+- Added sync() to make sure files such as savestates and in-game saves are\r
+ saved properly to the GP2X.\r
+\r
+v9006: (zodttd release)\r
+- Initial public release\r
+\r
+\r
+Installation:\r
+\r
+1. Place the "gpsp.gpe" and "game_config.txt" file in a directory on your SD\r
+ card used with the GP2X.\r
+\r
+2. Place your GBA BIOS in the directory from step 1. This file must be named\r
+ "gba_bios.bin" in all lowercase as shown, so rename it if needed.\r
+\r
+ -- NOTE --\r
+\r
+ There are two commonly available BIOSes - one is the correct one used in\r
+ production GBA's worldwide and the other is a prototype BIOS. The latter\r
+ will not cause some games to not work correctly or crash. If you attempt\r
+ to use this BIOS you will be presented with a warning before being\r
+ allowed to continue. This screen will give you a checksum of the real\r
+ BIOS image (see readme.txt for further information).\r
+\r
+3. Place your GBA games in the directory from step 1. These files should have\r
+ a ".gba" or ".bin" file extension. Zip compressed games should be supported\r
+ and are recognized with the ".zip" file extension. Note that 32MB ROMs will\r
+ probably not run if zipped. 16MB and smaller should be OK.\r
+\r
+4. Done. Run gpsp.gpe.\r
+\r
+\r
+Controls:\r
+\r
+How to use gpSP on the GP2X:\r
+Buttons are mapped as follows (GBA/ingame buttons can be changed in the menu):\r
+\r
+GP2X--------------------GBA\r
+X -> A\r
+B -> B\r
+L TRIG -> L TRIG\r
+R TRIG -> R TRIG\r
+START -> START\r
+SELECT -> SELECT\r
+\r
+GP2X--------------------------------gpSP\r
+\r
+-- IN-GAME --\r
+\r
+VOL MIDDLE (UP + DOWN) -> menu\r
+PUSH STICK -> fps display toggle (second number is\r
+ frames actually drawn)\r
+\r
+-- IN-MENU --\r
+B -> select option\r
+X -> cancel/exit menu\r
+A -> escape (up one director level in the\r
+ file selector)\r
+\r
+When gpSP is started, you are presented with the option to overclock your\r
+GP2X. Use the L/R TRIG to change the CPU clockspeed and press START to\r
+continue. You may also change RAM timings here - experiment with what\r
+works well. Note that going too high on overclocking or low on RAM\r
+timings can cause the game to crash or the GP2X to outright freeze up.\r
+\r
+If you do not want to overclock, press START without using L/R.\r
+You will now be presented with a menu to choose a game. Press the IN-MENU\r
+"SELECT" button shown above to pick a game to load.\r
+\r
+If you would like to test gpSP for the GP2X with a homebrew (free public\r
+domain) game, a game by Russ Prince works very well with gpSP. It is called\r
+Bust-A-Move and is a remake of the classic game it's named after.\r
+\r
+\r
+How to build from source:\r
+\r
+The makefile included in the source is geared towards the Open2x toolchain.\r
+If you use Open2x and installed it in the way recommended then it should\r
+work okay, assuming you also have up to date HW-SDL (and have\r
+arm-linux-sdl-config installed in the right place). The makefile is in the\r
+gp2x directory, so go there first then just type make to build gpsp.gpe.\r
+Might need a little tweaking if your setup is different. If you need help\r
+you can ask me, but I'll probably nag you about why you want to build it in\r
+the first place.\r
+\r
+\r
+GP2X version FAQ:\r
+\r
+Q) Help! This game doesn't work. Am I using a bad version of the ROM?\r
+\r
+A) First, make sure you're using the correct BIOS version. If you aren't\r
+ gpSP should tell you. Other than that, there are some games that are\r
+ known to not work now (and will probably work later), and perhaps\r
+ many more games that I don't know about that don't work. I haven't\r
+ launched a full scale compatability test at this version, so it might\r
+ take a while before the compatability levels are high.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Why is this version slower than the PSP version?\r
+\r
+A) gpSP is still a work in progress. It might be possible to obtain more\r
+ speed from both this version and the PSP one too (and others in the\r
+ future). With that in mind, know that even a very agressively overclocked\r
+ GP2X is still less powerful than a PSP, generally speaking. Still, I\r
+ have a lot of ideas. It's unlikely that the GP2X version will ever be as\r
+ fast/faster than the PSP version for anyone but anything's possible.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) How high does my GP2X have to overclock to enjoy gpSP?\r
+\r
+A) That depends on you. Higher overclocking will mean less frames skipped\r
+ on autoframeskip, or less frameskip needed if on manual. Or it can\r
+ make the difference between whether or not virtual 60fps can be reached.\r
+ For some games no GP2X in the world will be able to run them fullspeed,\r
+ with any amount of frameskip. A few might run well with no overclocking\r
+ and a generous level of frameskip (probably manual). If you don't care\r
+ about battery life (or you're plugged into an outlet) you should push\r
+ it as high as you can while still maintaining stability, because\r
+ chances are high that whatever you play will benefit from it. Right now\r
+ you'll probably want 260MHz if you can achieve it, but with a lot of\r
+ luck this number will lower slightly in the future (and is just a vague\r
+ ballpark figure anyway). I don't want to scare anyone off from using the\r
+ emulator, you should give it a try and see how it plays for you\r
+ regardless of how high you can overclock. Just note that this is far\r
+ from a locked smooth experience for everyone on every game.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) GBA has an ARM processor, GP2X has an ARM processor. GP2X is more\r
+ powerful than GBA. This emulator should run great without overclocking,\r
+ so therefore you're doing it wrong.\r
+\r
+A) That's not a question, but I'll field it anyway. Two things: first,\r
+ "virtualization", or running the GBA code "natively" on the GP2X is\r
+ probably not possible, at least not with the way I want to do things.\r
+ For reasons why go read my blog (see below). So yes, you actually\r
+ do need more than 16.7MHz of ARM9 power to emulate the GBA's CPU.\r
+ Second: there is a whole lot of work behind emulating the pretty 2D\r
+ graphics on the GBA, something it can do in hardware a lot better than\r
+ this platform can.\r
+ End result: GBA emulation on GP2X isn't as easy as you think it is.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What are you working on now? When will you release the next version?\r
+\r
+A) See the gpSP development blog:\r
+\r
+ http://gpsp-dev.blogspot.com/\r
+\r
+ Note that I don't give release dates, ever, unless I'm right on the verge\r
+ of releasing. Be grateful that I've decided to be much more open about\r
+ the development of the emulator now.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Thanks to your blog I heard that you made some improvement. Can I have\r
+ a copy of the new code?\r
+\r
+A) No. Builds in transition often have a lot of problems, and I like for\r
+ releases to be relatively substantial. I can probably be bribed out of\r
+ them with donations though. :P\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Why do the menu suck so much? Why do half the options not work or not\r
+ make any sense?\r
+\r
+A) Sorry, the menu still hasn't been modified very much to fit the GP2X\r
+ version instead of the PSP version.. hopefully this will improve in the\r
+ future.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Who's in charge of the GP2X version anyway?\r
+\r
+A) Originally, zodttd was. I, Exophase, have basically usurped control of it\r
+ now to encourage zodttd to work more on his PS1 emulator (that and I'm\r
+ possessive of gpSP and get nervous when people work on it too heavily).\r
+ zodttd will most likely still be around to work on things though.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I'm a super nice person and would like to donate some of my hard earned\r
+ money to this one-off GBA emulator. Where do I send my money to?\r
+\r
+A) Exophase: exophase@gmail.com on PayPal\r
+ zodttd: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=heirloomer\r
+ %40pobox%2ecom&item_number=1&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&tax=0&cy_code=USD&bn=\r
+ PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8\r
+ ^ Click there for donating on PayPal (remove whitespace/linebreaks).\r
+\r
+ GP2X people have already donated a lot more to me than PSP people have,\r
+ even though there's an order of magnitude or two less users. And they've\r
+ donated far more to zodttd than they have to me. So I'm not going to ask\r
+ people to donate..\r
+\r
+ However I won't lie: donating ups the chances of me actually working on the\r
+ next version (for which I have a lot of ideas, but not necessarily time to\r
+ dedicate to.. that time might need more incentive to be allotted from other\r
+ things). This could change depending on my employment situation, but right\r
+ now I feel guilty doing anything that doesn't help guarantee that I'll be\r
+ able to buy food a year from now.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Tell me all of your personal information.\r
+\r
+A) Again not a question, but why not. I'm Exophase, real name: Gilead Kutnick,\r
+ male, 23 years old, current residence Bloomington, IN; straight/single/not\r
+ actively looking, almost have an MS in Computer Science (do have a BS\r
+ underneath it), likes PSP more than GP2X, will not write a Nintendo DS\r
+ emulator for either, am currently looking for a job for after I graduate.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) You said you're looking for a job.\r
+\r
+A) Yes. If you have one or know someone who needs a low level oriented\r
+ programmer then I'm up for grabs. And this is my resume:\r
+ http://exophase.devzero.co.uk/resume.pdf\r
+\r
+\r
+Credits:\r
+\r
+Original codebase: Exophase (exophase@gmail.com)\r
+Foundation gp2x code: zodttd\r
+GP2X dynarec/stubs + current code maintainance: Exophase\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+-- gameplaySP Gameboy Advance emulator for Playstation Portable --\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Release log --\r
+\r
+v0.91 (minor cleanup release)\r
+\r
+NOTE: I don't usually do minor releases but I rewrote a ton of\r
+things in gpSP 0.9, much of it during the last few days, and although\r
+I spent a lot of time debugging a few bugs inevitably crept in.\r
+\r
+# Fixed some issues in the new memory handlers that crept up, hopefully\r
+ should fix the problems between 0.8 and 0.9.\r
+# Fixed a bug introduced in 0.9 that could cause crashes when selecting\r
+ things in the menu (I hope, at least).\r
+# Fixed a bug with a certain invalid opcode causing a jump to be scanned\r
+ when there isn't one (fixes Sabre Wulf).\r
+# Removed 2048 option for audio buffer.\r
+\r
+v0.9 (yes, it's still beta)\r
+\r
+NOTE: As some of you may be aware I'm pretty much tired of these\r
+unofficial releases by people (okay, mostly single person) who\r
+don't wish to follow my wishes. I'm in the process of asking this\r
+person to stop, in his own language. However, I want to make\r
+something clear. Look at the last six new features in this\r
+changelog. I added these TODAY. I could have done them at any\r
+time. But I didn't, because I spent many (dozens, quite possibly\r
+hundreds) hours debugging games that people want to play. I have\r
+always believed that this is far more important than spending time\r
+on new features. Frankly, I'm tired of my emulator being hacked on\r
+by other people, and if it doesn't stop I'm going to make this\r
+project closed source.\r
+\r
+Since I know this information is most visible when updated on the\r
+major sites, note that it is the news posters I am especially\r
+talking to. Next time you upload unofficial releases of my\r
+emulator (without even knowing what's changed) bear in mind that\r
+you're only encouraging me to stop working on this. If you want\r
+to pick sides between me and unofficial devs, be my guest. I'll\r
+let you decide by the contents of this release who's doing more\r
+for my emulator.\r
+\r
+Oh, and if you downloaded a version of gpSP that has more than\r
+"gpSP" in its name then you're using one of their versions. Shame\r
+on them for not even removing this threatening message, and shame\r
+on you. Unless you're using a port I endorse (GP2X, Dreamcast, etc),\r
+in which case everything's good.\r
+\r
+\r
+# Fixed stereo output being reversed.\r
+# Fixed a bug causing misaligned errors on 8bit writes to the gbc\r
+ audio channel 3 wave data (fixes various Super Robot Wars games)\r
+# Fixed DMA with garbage in their upper 4 bits (fixes a crash in\r
+ Zelda: Minish Cap)\r
+# Added double buffering to the rendering, removes line artifacts.\r
+ Big thanks to Brunni for the idea.\r
+# Fixed a bug preventing some SRAM based games from saving (fixes\r
+ MMBN4-6)\r
+# Fixed a bug causing part of EWRAM to potentially get corrupted if\r
+ code segments loaded in EWRAM cross 32KB boundaries (fixes\r
+ Phantasy Star 2)\r
+# Fixed a bug causing games using movs pc in user mode (very bad\r
+ behavior) to crash. Fixes Colin McRae Rally 2.0.\r
+# Improved timing a bit more. Fixes GTA Advance.\r
+# Fixed a sprite clipping bug (fixes crash in third boss of Zelda:\r
+ Minish cap)\r
+# Increased translation buffer size significantly (fixes Donkey Kong:\r
+ King of Swing)\r
+# Fixed a dynarec bug causing add pc, reg to not work in Thumb code\r
+ (fixes crash in DBZ:LoZ, seems to fix crashes in battle in Golden\r
+ Sun, probably fixes other games)\r
+# Made sprites using tiles < 512 not display in modes 3-5 (fixes\r
+ a couple minor graphical bugs)\r
+# Removed abort on instruction 0x00000000 hack, was breaking a\r
+ certain bugged up game (Scurge)\r
+# Fixed bug in flags generating variable logical shifts (fixes\r
+ SD Gundam Force)\r
+# Fixed unaligned 16bit reads (fixes DBZ:LoZ in game)\r
+# Redid contiguous block flag modification checking AGAIN and\r
+ hopefully got it right this time (fixes Mario vs. Donkey Kong)\r
+# Redid ldm/stm instructions, fixing some cases (along with the\r
+ timing improvements fixes Mario & Luigi)\r
+# Fixed 14bit EEPROM addressing (hopefully fixes saving in a lot\r
+ of games)\r
+# Completely redid memory handlers, accurately emulates open and\r
+ BIOS reads now. Fixes Zelda: Minish Cap (roll bug, last dungeon),\r
+ Rayman, MMBN 1 (last dungeon), probably others.\r
+# Fixed a minor graphical glitch on the edges of the screen\r
+ (thanks Brunni and hlide for the help!)\r
+# Fixed crash on loading savestates from files of games not currently\r
+ loaded, but be sure you have the exact file you loaded it from or\r
+ gpSP will exit.\r
+@ New memory handlers should provide performance boost for games\r
+ that access VRAM significantly (ie 3D games)\r
+@ Added dead flag elimination checking for logical shifts, probably\r
+ doesn't make a noticeable difference but should have been there\r
+ anyway.\r
++ Added rapidfire to the button mappings.\r
++ Added auto frameskip. Removed fractional frameskip (don't think\r
+ it's very useful with auto anyway). Select auto in the graphics/\r
+ sound menu to activate it; frameskip value will act as the\r
+ maximum (auto is by default on). Thanks again to Brunni for some\r
+ help with this. Frameskip options are game specific.\r
++ Added vsync to the rendering. Only occurs when frames aren't\r
+ skipped. Seems to reduce tearing at least some of the time.\r
++ Added non-filtered video option.\r
++ Cheat support (Gameshark/Pro Action Replay v1-v3 only), still\r
+ in early stages, doesn't support everything; codes may cause\r
+ the game to crash, haven't determined yet if the codes are bad\r
+ or the implementation is. See cheat section for more information.\r
++ Added ability to change audio buffer size. Does not take affect\r
+ until you restart the game.\r
++ Added analog config options.\r
++ Added ability to set analog sensitivity and turn off analog.\r
++ Added ability to change the clock speed. This is a game specific\r
+ option. Try lower speeds w/auto frameskip to save battery life.\r
++ Fixed savestate speed on crappy Sony sticks.\r
+\r
+(legend: # bug fix, + feature addition, @ optimization)\r
+\r
+v0.8 - ("unlocked" beta)\r
+\r
+NOTE 1: It has come to my attention that there are actually BIOSes\r
+out there that are being used that cause some games to not work.\r
+The BIOS md5sum listed here is for the BIOS actually in GBAs and\r
+is as accurate as you'll get, (if you have a GBA and a flashcart\r
+you can dump it yourself, see http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/GBA_BIOS)\r
+\r
+NOTE 2: Since I know this is as far as a lot of people here I have a\r
+little request. Please, please, (I'd italicize this if I could)\r
+please stop constantly asking me when the next release will be,\r
+what it'll have, etc. And while you're at it, please stop asking me\r
+to implement wi-fi multiplayer, cheat support, or fix all of your\r
+games. Some things will happen in due time, other things might not\r
+ever happen. I devote about as much time as I can to this emulator\r
+and I carefully include as much as I can in releases to try to\r
+minimize the number of people who will nag me next time (erm, I\r
+mean, to make the most people happy), so I don't release every other\r
+day or anything like that. Sorry that I can't release once a week,\r
+but I'm a lot busier now than I was when I was first developing this\r
+emulator. Good thing I got the first version out before that, wasn't\r
+it?\r
+\r
+Congratulations, you made it this far! Now read the rest of the this\r
+thing. *_*\r
+\r
+\r
+# Fixed bug in dead flag elimination, "alt" version no longer needed.\r
+# Fixed EEPROM saves being saved as 32kb instead of 512bytes/8kb\r
++ 32MB ROM support has been added. ROMS are "demand loaded" as\r
+ necessary and page swapped out; there might be a small loading lag,\r
+ but I have yet to ever really notice anything.\r
+ NOTE: 32MB ROM support only works for unzipped ROMs.\r
++ Save states have been added. See the save state menu for save/load\r
+ options.\r
++ Support for the real-time clock (RTC) chip in Pokemon cartridegs\r
+ and other games. The implementation is based off of VBA's, whatever\r
+ notes on gbadev I could find, and some of my own reverse engineering\r
+ of what the games do... it might not be totally correct. Also,\r
+ setting the time does not work.\r
++ Per-game configuration. Currently this only saves frameskip and\r
+ frameskip variation options.\r
++ Removed the flash type option from the menu and instead added it\r
+ to game_config.txt. Hopefully got everything - let me know if you\r
+ find something that isn't there. It's pretty easy to add them if you\r
+ have to.\r
++ Added a display in the upper left-hand corner to indicate when\r
+ fast-forward is on.\r
++ Added button bindings for save/load state.\r
+@ Found a fix of StrmnNrmn proportion: far too much unnecessary mutex\r
+ synchronization was going on. Removing the two offending lines of\r
+ code gave a massive speed boost for free. Enjoy.\r
+\r
+v0.7 - (beta than ever)\r
+\r
+# Fixed a dynarec bug involving flags generating functions in\r
+ contiguous conditional blocks. Fixes music in Super Mario\r
+ Advance 2-4.\r
+# Fixed a dynarec bug where Thumb mov imm instructions wouldn't\r
+ set flags. Fixes Zelda: Minish Cap, Megaman Battle Network,\r
+ probably others. Comes at a slight speed cost.\r
+# Fixed a MIPS dynarec bug where some delay slots might not\r
+ get filled rarely, causing chaos. Don't know if it improves\r
+ any games.\r
+# Improved self-modifying code detection. Makes Golden Sun,\r
+ Golden Sun 2, and Madden 2007 sorta work but excrutiatingly\r
+ slowly. Looking for a game-specific workaround for this - if you\r
+ want to play these games you'll have to wait for now :(\r
+# Fixed a bug causing the interrupt disable flag to go down\r
+ when SWIs are entered, causing crashes/resets. Fixes\r
+ Super Mario Advance 2-4.\r
+# Fixed menu crashing when strings with certain characters are\r
+ printed (for instance going to the menu after loading the\r
+ BIOS)\r
+# Accidentally forgot to render win0 + win1 + objwin when all\r
+ active at the same time, many weeks ago. Added that, should fix\r
+ some parts in games that had frozen screens.\r
+# Fixed some issues with gpsp.cfg needing to be present and\r
+ corrupting, hopefully. At the very least sanity checks are\r
+ performed on the config file.\r
+# Made it so assigning the frameskip button to something besides\r
+ triangle actually worked as expected.\r
+# Fixed ability to restart current game if nothing is loaded\r
+ (ie, crash)\r
+# Added interrupt on cpsr modification support to the dynarec\r
+ (fixes backgrounds in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance)\r
+# Added open addressing for ldm/stm instructions (fixes\r
+ Super Mario Advance 3)\r
+# Improved cycle accuracy a little. Don't know of anything this\r
+ fixes, but games with idle loops will run a little better w/o\r
+ idle loop elimination (but should still be added when possible)\r
+# Fixed some bugs causing sound to play sometimes when it shouldn't.\r
+@ Added dead flag elimination for Thumb code. May possibly have\r
+ noticeable performance increases (Thumb emited coded size can\r
+ have a reduction of 20% or more)\r
+@ Added code generation for divide SWI. May have a small speed\r
+ increase in some games.\r
++ Added analog nub support (special thanks to psp298 for the\r
+ code)\r
++ Added fractional frameskip. Go below 0 to get them. A frameskip\r
+ of 1/2 for instance means render 2 out of every 3 frames, 2/3\r
+ means render 3 out of every 4 frames, etc. Possibly useful for\r
+ games that are not quite fast enough at fs0 but fullspeed at\r
+ fs1...\r
+\r
+v0.6 - (still beta quality, look out for new bugs)\r
+\r
+NOTE: Please include gpsp.cfg with EBOOT.PBP, this shouldn't be\r
+ necessary but I think it is right now.\r
+\r
+# Fixed a nasty bug that shouldn't have made it into the initial\r
+ release; a lot of games that TECM.. erm.. crash won't anymore.\r
+ NOTE: This doesn't mean that no game will ever crash, freeze,\r
+ otherwise not work.\r
+# Fixed some crashes in the GUI and the ability to "go up" past\r
+ ms0:/PSP. Made the "go up" button square like it was supposed to\r
+ be (instead of cross).\r
++ There's now a menu that you can access, by default press right\r
+ while holding down triangle for the frameskip bar.\r
++ Menu option: resize screen aspect ratio, the default is now\r
+ "scaled 3:2" which makes it look more like a normal GBA. You\r
+ can use "fullscreen" (what it was like before) or "unscaled 3:2"\r
+ (tiny but pixel for pixel like a GBA)\r
++ Menu option: You can now load new games while the current one\r
+ is running.\r
++ Menu option: You can now restart the currently running game.\r
++ Menu option: Frameskip variation - this defaults to "uniform"\r
+ whereas it defaulted to "random" last release. Basically, turn\r
+ it on random if you find that frameskip causes flickering\r
+ animations to make things disappear. Other than that it will\r
+ generally look better on uniform.\r
++ GUI and file loading now have "auto repeat" on the buttons so\r
+ they're not such a pain to navigate.\r
++ Menu option: Added support for 128KB flash ROM, some games\r
+ require it (Pokemon Firered/Leaf Green, Super Mario Advance 4),\r
+ turn it on before running the game to make sure it works.\r
+ NOTE: There are some versions of these ROMs that have been\r
+ hacked to get around their 128KB flash, and may not even work\r
+ properly at all. Look out for them, these games should save\r
+ 128KB save files after you set the setting to it, IF they use\r
+ 128KB flash.\r
++ Menu option: Added ability to make the .sav files only update\r
+ when you exit the emulator, use with extreme caution (in other\r
+ words, it's not a good idea to use something like this in beta\r
+ quality software if you care about your saves). Does NOT update\r
+ if you exit through the home button, don't use the home button\r
+ if you can help it.\r
++ Zip support thanks to SiberianSTAR. It will load the first file\r
+ with the extension .gba or .bin that it finds.\r
++ Menu options are saved to gpsp.cfg. Note that it does not save\r
+ frameskip options or flash ROM options because these are very\r
+ per game particular.\r
++ The emulator will now try to save backup files to something\r
+ more matching the backup size than a fixed 64KB.\r
+@ Loading ROMs and the auto save of the .sav files is MUCH faster\r
+ now. Thanks for the heads up on how to improve this from pollux!\r
+@ While coding for the screen resize code I found that SDL just\r
+ wasn't cutting it and had to code for the GU myself. Turns out\r
+ the new code is faster (but because it is render code any\r
+ improvement will be diminished to nothing as frameskip is\r
+ increased). Special thanks to Zx-81 for the tips on this one\r
+ and for his GU code in the PSPVBA source as an example.\r
+@ Added some games to game_config.txt. Note that not all versions\r
+ of these ROMs will work with these options, try to use the USA\r
+ version if possible.\r
+\r
+8-19-2006 v0.5 - Initial release (public beta quality)\r
+\r
+\r
+-- About --\r
+\r
+gameplaySP (gpSP for short) is a GBA emulator written completely from\r
+scratch. It is still pretty young (only having started a 3 months prior\r
+to the first release) and thus rather immature, but it does a decent\r
+job of playing a number of games, and is being improved upon somewhat\r
+regularly. It is currently somewhat minimalistic, in the sourcecode,\r
+presentation, and features. Its number one focus is to deliver a GBA\r
+gaming experience in the most playable way that PSP can manage, with\r
+frills being secondary (although still a consideration, at least for\r
+some of them).\r
+\r
+Having said that, optimization was the important way in achieving this\r
+goal, with overall compatability being a near second. Because of this\r
+some games may not run at the favor of running more games significantly\r
+better. Of course, the compatability will improve with time. The\r
+compatability in the current version (0.8) is perhaps around 80%\r
+(assuming the correct BIOS image is used).\r
+\r
+Many games will run at their best out of the box, but some games will\r
+run very slowly unless idle loops are taken care of. There is a supplied\r
+ROM database, game_config.txt, that gives idle loop targets and other\r
+settings that may help a game to run better (or at all) on a per-game\r
+basis. Currently (as of version 0.8) a few dozen games are on this list,\r
+mostly only USA versions. This list will continue to be updated; there's\r
+no real telling exactly how many of the ~2500 GBA games will need to\r
+appear here.\r
+\r
+gpSP currently requires an authentic GBA BIOS image file to run. It will\r
+make no effort to run without one present; this file is 16kb and should\r
+be called gba_bios.bin and present in the same location as the EBOOT.PBP\r
+file. Please do not ask me where to obtain this, you'll have to look\r
+online or grab it from a GBA. Note that it is not legal to have this file\r
+unless you own a GBA, and even then it's rather gray area.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Features --\r
+\r
+gpSP mostly emulates the core Gameboy Advance system. As of right now it\r
+does not emulate any special hardware present on various GBA cartridges.\r
+\r
+\r
+What it emulates:\r
+\r
+GBA CPU: All ARM7TDMI ARM and Thumb mode opcodes except block memory w/\r
+ s-bit (probably aren't used in GBA games)\r
+Video: Modes 0, 1, 2 almost completely, basic 3-5 support, sprites,\r
+ windows/OBJ windows\r
+Interrupts: HBlank, VBlank, all timers, all DMA channels, keypad\r
+DMA: Immediate, HBlank, VBlank, sound timer triggered\r
+Sound: Both DirectSound channels and all 4 GBC audio channels\r
+Input: Basic GBA input delivered through PSP controls\r
+Cartridges: Currently supports ROMs up to 32MB in size (the maximum for\r
+GBA) with the technique of ROM page swapping to fit within PSP's RAM.\r
+Backup: 32/64kb SRAM, 64/128kb flash, 512bit/8kb EEPROM\r
+RTC: The real-time clock present in cartridges such as most of the\r
+ Pokemon games and some others.\r
+\r
+\r
+What it lacks:\r
+\r
+Video: No mosaic, bitmap modes lack color effects (alpha, fades),\r
+ there might be some minor inaccuracies in blending...\r
+Cycle accuracy: Very cycle innacurate; CPU is effectively somewhat\r
+ overclocked, meaning games with rampant idle loops will probably run\r
+ rather poorly. DMA transfers effectively happen for free (0 cycle).\r
+ Please do NOT use gpSP as a first source for developing GBA homebrew,\r
+ try No$GBA instead.\r
+\r
+\r
+Additional features it has:\r
+- The ability to attempt to run games at faster than GBA speed (sometimes\r
+ they can end up a lot faster, other times not so much)\r
+- Savestates: the ability to save a game's state to a file and resume\r
+ playing where you left off later.\r
+- Mild cheat support\r
+\r
+\r
+Features that it doesn't have (please don't ask me to implement these!)\r
+- Wi-fi multiplayer\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Controls --\r
+\r
+The default control scheme is very simple. If you don't like it you can\r
+change it in the configuration menu.\r
+\r
+At the ROM selection screen:\r
+\r
+Up/down: navigate current selection window.\r
+Left/right: switch between file window and directory window.\r
+Circle/start: select current entry.\r
+Square: go one directory up.\r
+\r
+In game:\r
+\r
+Up/down/left/right: GBA d-pad\r
+Circle: GBA A button\r
+Cross: GBA B button\r
+Square/start: GBA start button\r
+Select: GBA select button\r
+Left trigger: GBA left trigger\r
+Right trigger: GBA right trigger\r
+Triangle: Adjust frameksip\r
+\r
+In frameskip adjustment:\r
+\r
+Hold down triangle to keep up, press up/down to increase/decrease\r
+frameskip, respectively. Press down at 0 to change to auto, and up\r
+at auto to change to 0.\r
+\r
+In the menu:\r
+\r
+Up/down: navigate current menu.\r
+Left/right: change value in current menu selection (if a value is present)\r
+Circle/start: select current entry (see help for entry to see what this means)\r
+Square: exit the current menu.\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Frameskip --\r
+\r
+The purpose behind frameskip is to cause the emulator to not render every\r
+frame of graphics to make the emulation closer to fullspeed. Many games will\r
+run fullspeed without skipping any frames, however, some (particularly more\r
+graphically demanding ones) will require this.\r
+\r
+Frameskip can be set to two forms, either auto or manual. Auto will attempt\r
+to skip only as many frames as necessary to make the game full speed, and\r
+will not skip more than 4 in a row no matter what speed the game runs at\r
+(at this point the benefits of frameskip yield diminishing returns).\r
+\r
+It is recommended that you keep frameskip on auto, but manual is maintained\r
+as an option if you want it and works as follows:\r
+\r
+Manual frameskip will only render one out of every (n + 1) frames, where n\r
+is the current frameskip value (so 0 will render everything). Increasing\r
+the frameskip can improve speed, especially with very graphically\r
+intensive games.\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Cheats --\r
+\r
+Currently, gpSP supports some functionality of Gameshark/Pro Action Replay\r
+cheat codes. To use these, you must first make a file with the same name\r
+as the ROM you want the cheat code to apply to, but with the extension .cht.\r
+Put this file in the same directory as the ROM. To make it use a normal\r
+text editor like notepad or wordpad if you're on Windows.\r
+\r
+To write a code, write the type of model it is, gameshark_v1, gameshark_v3,\r
+PAR_v1, or PAR_v3. gameshark_v1/PAR_v1 and gameshark_v3/PAR_v3 respectively\r
+are interchangeable, but v1 and v3 are not! So if you don't know which\r
+version it is, try both to see if it'll work.\r
+\r
+Then, after that, put a space and put the name you'd like to give the cheat.\r
+\r
+On the next several lines, put each cheat code pair, which should look like\r
+this:\r
+\r
+AAAAAAAA BBBBBBBB\r
+\r
+Then put a blank line when you're done with that code, and start a new code\r
+immediately after it. Here's an example of what a cheat file should look\r
+like:\r
+\r
+\r
+gameshark_v3 MarioInfHP\r
+995fa0d9 0c6720d2\r
+\r
+gameshark_v3 MarioMaxHP\r
+21d58888 c5d0e432\r
+\r
+gameshark_v3 InfHlthBat\r
+6f4feadb 0581b00e\r
+79af5dc6 5ce0d2b1\r
+dbbd5995 44b801c9\r
+65f8924d 2fbcd3c4\r
+\r
+gameshark_v3 StopTimer\r
+2b399ca4 ec81f071\r
+\r
+\r
+After you have written the .cht file, you have to enable the cheats\r
+individually in the game menu. Go to the Cheats/Misc menu, and you will\r
+see the cheats; turn them on here. You may turn them on and off as you\r
+please, but note that some cheats may still hold after you turn them off,\r
+due to the nature of the system. Restart to completely get rid of them.\r
+\r
+IMPORTANT NOTES:\r
+\r
+This is still very work in progress! I basically added this in only 1.5\r
+or so hours, and I don't have a lot of time right now to work on it\r
+before releasing. So I'll probably improve it later.\r
+\r
+Not all of gameshark's features are supported, especially for v3. Only\r
+basic cheats will work, more or less.\r
+\r
+Cheats may be unstable and may crash your game. If you're having problems\r
+turn the cheats off.\r
+\r
+Really, there's no guarantee that ANY cheats will work; I tried a few and\r
+some seem to work, others are questionable. Try for yourself, but don't\r
+expect anything to actually work right now. Do expect this feature to\r
+improve in future versions.\r
+\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Frequently Asked Questions --\r
+\r
+Q) How do I run this on my PSP?\r
+\r
+A) Provided is an EBOOT.PBP which will run as is on a 1.0 firmware\r
+ PSP or custom firmware that can run unsigned EBOOTs. On 1.5 firmwares\r
+ you must use a kxploit tool to run it (try SeiPSPtool). On 2.0\r
+ firmwares and higher further exploits must be used - see\r
+ http://pspupdates.qj.net/ for more information. Note that I have NOT\r
+ tested this emulator on any firmware version besides 1.5, and it's\r
+ very possible that it doesn't run well, or at all on higher versions.\r
+ Therefore I strongly recommend you downgrade if possible, and use\r
+ Devhook to run games that require > 1.5 version firmwares.\r
+\r
+ Be sure to include in the same directory as the EBOOT.PBP file the\r
+ game_config.txt file included and the gba_bios.bin file which you\r
+ must provide yourself.\r
+\r
+ gpSP does not run on PSPs with version 2.71 or higher firmware yet,\r
+ nor does any other homebrew executable.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What is a BIOS image file? Why do I need it to run gpSP? Other GBA\r
+ emulators don't require this...\r
+\r
+A) The GBA BIOS image file is a copy of a ROM on the GBA system that\r
+ has code for starting up the GBA (it shows the logo), verifying the\r
+ game, and most importantly, providing utility functions for the games\r
+ to use. It is the latter that gpSP needs the BIOS present for. It's\r
+ possible to replace all of these functions with equivilent code, but\r
+ this will take time - in the future gpSP may not require a BIOS image.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I can't find this BIOS image.. please send it to me.\r
+\r
+A) Sorry, but you're on your own. I won't send you a BIOS or tell you\r
+ where to get one (unless you want to rip it from a GBA yourself, in\r
+ which case I'll just give you the same link at the top). I can't do\r
+ this because it's not legal to send it around and I don't want to\r
+ get a reputation for illegally distributing BIOS images.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) How do I know I have the right BIOS?\r
+\r
+A) If you have md5sum you can check if it has this hash:\r
+ a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6\r
+ That BIOS should work fine. I think that some others work fine too,\r
+ although I haven't confirmed this with absolute certainty. It's also\r
+ theoretically possible to use custom (and free) BIOS replacements,\r
+ but I don't know of any publically availablone ones.\r
+\r
+ As far as I'm aware there are two BIOSes floating around, I doubt\r
+ you'll get one that isn't one of those two. There's a very easy way\r
+ to determine which one you have - just look at the very first byte in\r
+ a hex editor. The correct BIOS begins with 0x18, the buggy BIOS begins\r
+ with 0x14.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) My favorite game won't run.\r
+\r
+A) There probably isn't anything you can do about this, although a\r
+ change to game_config.txt might help. gpSP is still an emulator in\r
+ its infancy so the compatability is not superb. I don't have time\r
+ to test too many games so I'm releasing it as a public beta to get\r
+ a feel for some things that don't work. The next version could\r
+ perhaps fix it, or it might never run. There are always other\r
+ emulators of course, please try one.\r
+\r
+ However, before nagging me there is one thing I recommend you try,\r
+ and that is to add the option "iwram_stack_optimize = no" for the\r
+ game in game_config.txt. See the file itself for more information\r
+ on how to do this. If this fixes your game (and it's not already\r
+ in the game_config.txt) please tell me about it.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) My favorite game is very slow.\r
+\r
+A) Emulating GBA takes a number of resources and getting it done well\r
+ on PSP is no simple task by any means. Some games are just going to\r
+ overwhelm the emulator completely. Of course, there is one special\r
+ case of game (a lot of early generation games fall under this\r
+ category) that can be made much faster by a simple addition to the\r
+ game_config.txt file. Wait for a new version of this file or the\r
+ next version of the emulator and the game may be improved.\r
+\r
+ That aside, there are still numerous optimizations that can be done,\r
+ and I sure you future versions will be faster (I just can't tell you\r
+ how much)\r
+\r
+ Also, a lot of games will be sped up considerably by adding an\r
+ idle_loop_eliminate_target line for it in game_config.txt. There\r
+ are some more obscurer options there that can improve speed too. If\r
+ the game is VERY slow there might be something wrong with its\r
+ emulation that can be improved. For instance, if you can't get a game\r
+ to run fullspeed on any frameskip you should e-mail me about it.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Some games run fullspeed but the sound is messed up. Why?\r
+\r
+A) At least 9 out of 10 times it means the game isn't really running\r
+ full speed, but just that you can't notice the difference. Increasing\r
+ frameskip will almost always improve sound quality in these\r
+ situations, to a certain point (after around frameskip 3 you\r
+ probably won't be seeing many more returns if it isn't already\r
+ fullspeed). The rest of the time it means there's a bug somewhere else\r
+ in the emulator, probably in the CPU core. Chances are that all you\r
+ can do is wait for it to be fixed in a later release.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) The emulator crashed!\r
+\r
+A) Most games that don't run will probably take the emulator down with\r
+ it, or it could be an emulator bug completely unrelated to the game\r
+ (but unlikely). Press home and wait for the next version.\r
+\r
+ There is some information that comes up when the game crashes. This\r
+ information may be slightly useful to me, but chances are it\r
+ usually won't be all that interesting.\r
+\r
+ These days games are more likely to exit with a "bad crash" error.\r
+ This number is possibly useful to me, but to debug a game I'll have\r
+ to reproduce the crash anyway. When this happens it's probably due to\r
+ a bug in the CPU core that hasn't been fixed yet.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Why won't my game save?\r
+\r
+A) The game might need 128KB flash turned on and might not be listed in\r
+ game_config.txt. See game_config.txt for more information regarding\r
+ this. Be sure to include game_config.txt with the EBOOT.PBP file.\r
+\r
+ Other games might simply have bugs in the save support. For now, use\r
+ savestates as an alternative if you can't save.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) How do I change sound quality?\r
+\r
+A) Right now, you can't. For those wondering, sound is locked at 44.1KHz\r
+ (sounds a bit high? It is, but it's currently necessary to play\r
+ everything correctly). I don't have any plans to allow changing this\r
+ right now, because I don't think there's really much reason to be\r
+ able to (it'd be a tiny speed boost at best and I don't think SDL even\r
+ allows for anything besides this sampling rate on PSP)\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What is this emulator's name?\r
+\r
+A) Um.. what? It's gameplaySP, isn't it? You call it gpSP for short.\r
+ Somehow the name can't have the acronyms gbSP, gbapSP, or really\r
+ just about anything else you feel like giving it. Oh, and if you\r
+ really want to make me happy get the capitalization right too.\r
+ That's gpSP, not gPSP, GPsp.. you get the idea.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Does gpSP run Gameboy/Gameboy Color games? Will it later?\r
+\r
+A) No. Even though GBA can run these games it uses separate hardware\r
+ that proper GBA games have no access to (save for the audio chip),\r
+ and thus there's no point including it in a GBA emulator (it\r
+ doesn't help run GBA games). I recommend using a GB/GBC emulator\r
+ like Rin for playing these games. It'll probably give you a lot\r
+ more options anyway. gpSP will never actually emulate GB/GBC\r
+ games. You'd may as well be waiting for it to emulate PS2 games...\r
+ (that was an analogy. gpSP won't ever emulate PS2 games. >_>)\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Other emulators use the PSP's graphical hardware to accelerate the\r
+ video emulation. Is this possible for gpSP?\r
+\r
+A) I'm honestly not too sure at this point. It's definitely a rather\r
+ complicated procedure, and I don't think it'll be possible to\r
+ accurately accelerate alpha blending. On the other hand, affine\r
+ transformations could perhaps receive a speed boost this way. Any\r
+ solution would have to be hybrid hardware/software, which might be\r
+ possible due to the nature of the PSP's VRAM. Maybe someone will\r
+ be willing to help me think of possibilities here?\r
+\r
+ But don't bother of you're just going to tell me to render a list\r
+ of quads...\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Other emulators use the PSP's second CPU to offload the sound\r
+ emulation. Is this possible for gpSP?\r
+\r
+A) Yes, but it wouldn't improve it nearly as much as say, SNES9x TYL.\r
+ This is because most of the processing that goes into sound on a GBA\r
+ game is done in the CPU, not in dedicated audio hardware. It could\r
+ help a little, but probably not a lot. Maybe enough to be worthwhile.\r
+ It might also be possible to split the video rendering to the main\r
+ CPU and the main emulation to the secondary one, but there are a lot\r
+ of coherency issues involved.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I heard gpSP can only load games 16MB or smaller in size. Is this\r
+ true? What about zipped games?\r
+\r
+A) As of version 0.8 gpSP can play 32MB ROMs. However, they must be\r
+ unzipped. The reason for this is that parts of the ROM are constantly\r
+ loaded to memory as needed, and for this to be as fast as possible the\r
+ ROM has to be present on the memory stick in raw format.\r
+\r
+ You might be wondering, why not just have gpSP unzip the ROM to a file\r
+ then delete the file when it is done? The reason why is because this\r
+ would impose a "hidden" requirement of 32MB on the user that very\r
+ likely may not be there. Furthermore, there are only a few 32MB games\r
+ that anyone actually wants to play. If you only have one 32MB game on\r
+ your memstick then it'd actually require signifnicantly more free space\r
+ to hold both the ROM and the 32MB raw file. With 2 32MB ROMs you only\r
+ gain a around 10-25MB of free space, depending on how effective the\r
+ compression is.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Savestates? From other emulators??\r
+\r
+A) See the savestates option in main menu. gpSP will probably never\r
+ support savestates from other emulators, there's just too much in the\r
+ way of emulator specific data in them.\r
+\r
+ Savestates are currently 506,943 bytes. They would be a little smaller\r
+ without the snapshot, but I find that very useful and it wouldn't help\r
+ size immensely. Compression would help, but I wanted the size to be\r
+ constant so you knew exactly how much you could hold and to improve\r
+ save/load speed.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What's with the zip support?\r
+\r
+A) I hear stories that some games work unzipped and not zipped, so you\r
+ might want to try unzipping them if it gives you problems. You also\r
+ might want to try making fresh zips with WinRAR - users have\r
+ reported some higher success rates doing this.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What's with the config file? Should I make it read only?\r
+\r
+A) There was a bug in version 0.6 that caused the config file to not\r
+ get updated or get corrupted sometimes. Hopefully this is fixed now,\r
+ but if it DOES get corrupted making it read only can prevent this\r
+ from happening in the future.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) So when WILL the next version be released?\r
+\r
+A) Sorry, but I almost never announce release dates. Furthermore, I'll\r
+ probably be pretty hush hush on internal development, just to keep\r
+ people from nagging me about it and building too much suspense.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I don't like this emulator. Are there other alternatives?\r
+\r
+A) Yes. Try PSPVBA by Zx-81 (http://zx81.dcemu.co.uk/). Overall I doubt\r
+ the compatability is significantly higher than gpSP's anymore, but\r
+ I'm sure there are some games it runs that gpSP doesn't.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I heard there was a version of gpSP for PCs. Is that true?\r
+\r
+A) I developed this emulator internally on PC. It might have a speed\r
+ advantage over other PC GBA emulators, although the PSP version has\r
+ more sophisticated optimizations. Most people have fast enough\r
+ computers to run better GBA emulators for PC and gpSP lacks some\r
+ important features (screen resizing) that the PSP version kinda\r
+ hides. Even though gpSP spent a majority of its development\r
+ gestation as a PC app it was always developed with the PSP in mind,\r
+ so the PC version will probably not see the light of the day unless\r
+ I get overwhelming demand for it. It is, however, possible to\r
+ build it from the source. But I request that you don't distribute\r
+ such builds. If you happen to find one, bear in mind that I don't\r
+ offer any support for it, and as far as I'm concerned it won't\r
+ exist.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I hear there's a version of gpSP for other platforms too, like\r
+ Dreamcast. And I hear they're slow! What gives?\r
+\r
+ These are ports, done by other people (or maybe myself?). This is\r
+ possible because gpSP is open source and its base version is fairly\r
+ portable, but to run fast enough on anything but platforms quite a\r
+ bit faster than PSP it at least needs a CPU specific dynarec backend.\r
+\r
+ I don't (necessarily) maintain all builds of gpSP, so you'll have to\r
+ contact the authors of these ports for more information. That\r
+ notwithstanding, I try to get as involved in other ports of gpSP as\r
+ I can.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) I want to modify gpSP. How can I do this, and am I at liberty to do\r
+ so?\r
+\r
+A) Yes, you are, under the terms of the GPL (see the included\r
+ COPYING.DOC). You can download the sourcecode from whereever you\r
+ downloaded this; if you can't find it please e-mail me and I'll give\r
+ you a link to it. I would vastly appreciate it if you contacted me first\r
+ before forking my project, especially if you're just looking to gain\r
+ recognition without adding much to it. It's better to keep all changes\r
+ tidy in one branch of development.\r
+\r
+ I would like to stress this a little more seriously (hopefully those\r
+ interested are reading this). Although you are legally entitled to\r
+ release your own forks of gpSP it would be much more benficial to me,\r
+ to you, and to the users of this program if you instead tried working\r
+ with me to get your changes incorporated into the next version. I\r
+ really don't feel like competing with other builds of my source\r
+ anymore, so please do me a big favor and send me an e-mail if you want\r
+ to work with gpSP.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) How do I build gpSP?\r
+\r
+A) make will build it. You need to have SDL for PSP installed, as well\r
+ as the standard PSP toolchain/PSPSDK and zlib. gpSP isn't much of a\r
+ "build it yourself" program so please don't bother me much about how to\r
+ build it unless you have a good reason for wanting to do so.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) What is with the version numbers?\r
+\r
+A) Anything less than 1.0 means beta. Beta means that I still have major\r
+ plans for working on it, and that I don't fully back it as being\r
+ stable or reliable software. Of course, if it does hit 1.0, that doesn't\r
+ mean it'll be perfect. It just means I'll have spent a lot of cumulative\r
+ time working things out. The closer it gets to 0.9, the happier I am with\r
+ it overall.\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) Donations?\r
+\r
+A) Very appreciated. exophase@gmail.com on PayPal. <3\r
+\r
+\r
+Q) How can I contact you?\r
+\r
+A) exophase@gmail.com, Exophase on AIM, exophase@adelphia.net on MSN. I\r
+ welcome IMs, but if you nag me a lot you'll make me sad inside. And\r
+ don't ask me for ROMs or the GBA BIOS. I figured this was common sense\r
+ but apparently not.\r
+\r
+\r
+-- Credits --\r
+\r
+Exophase: main developer\r
+siberianSTAR: zip support\r
+psp298: analog nub code\r
+\r
+Beta testers for 0.7:\r
+theohsoawesome1\r
+thisnamesucks837\r
+blackdragonwave9\r
+dagreatpeewee\r
+xsgenji\r
+\r
+Beta testers for 0.8:\r
+Runaway_prisoner\r
+theohsoawesome1\r
+tanyareimyoko\r
+spynghotoh2020\r
+\r
+Beta testers for 0.9:\r
+RunawayPrisoner (my right hand man)\r
+Veskgar (my left hand man)\r
+qasim\r
+\r
+-- Special thanks --\r
+\r
+Quasar84: He's helped me in so many ways with this. We both kinda learned\r
+GBA together, he did little demos for me and I got them emulated. It was\r
+great trying out your more advanced code for your own projects once you\r
+got to them, it was equally rewarding to see your work and to be able to\r
+run it at the same time. Least of all I wouldn't have been able to do any\r
+of this without your constant support and presence. I really owe this\r
+release to you.\r
+\r
+gladius: You are an amazing GBA coder. I wouldn't have been able to get\r
+through some tough parts without your help. Its been good talking about\r
+ideas with you.. I'm sure you're glad to see that there's finally a GBA\r
+emulator with dynarec ;)\r
+\r
+\r
+Many, many others of course, probably too many to name, and I don't want\r
+to make anyone feel bad by putting others above them (well, except those\r
+two, heh) so if you think you should be on here, you probably should be!\r
+Just pretend you are for now, and maybe I'll put you here next time.\r
+\r
notaz.gp2x.de / gpsp.git / commitdiff
