[GerbilSoft]

I finally got the new plugin system in Gens/GS to a point where I can call it v1.0. However, I'm not quite done with Gens/GS r7. So, I'm releasing an almost-done preview release, r7_pre2.

Gens/GS r7_pre3 is out now, with fixes for some bugs that crashed the emulator in some situations. (Also, I added a page for mdp_error.h in the MDP documentation.)

Gens/GS r7_pre4 is out now. Release 7 won't be out until I finish the documentation, but there's a ton of useful bug fixes in r7_pre4, including a fix for an SRAM regression introduced in r7_pre2 and proper POV hat support on Linux. (I have no idea why the Ubuntu developers decided to use POV hats on 9.04, but whatever.)

Gens/GS r7_pre5 is out now. I really didn't want to do another prerelease, but this has a ton of changes, including fixes for inverted axes in Controller Configuration on the Linux version, plus a fix with POV hats on the Linux version. Additionally, RGB color scaling is now supported, so, for example, an MD CRAM color 0xEEE is scaled to RGB(255,255,255) instead of RGB(224,224,224). This results in brighter images, and is more accurate to how the actual hardware works. (0xEEE tells the VDP to output maximum brightness for all three color components.) [This can be turned off in Graphics, Color Adjust.]



Please test it and report any bugs you may find.

Changes from m6 to r7_pre5: http://gs_server.gerbilsoft.ddns.info/cgi-...=release-7_pre5

Downloads:

• Source Code: gens-gs-r7_pre5.tar.gz
• Ubuntu 8.04+ (i386): gens_2.16.6.95_i386.deb
• Win32 (i386): gens-gs-r7_pre5-win32.zip

EDIT: Release 7, Preview 5 is out.

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 10 October 2009 - 11:21 PM
Reason for edit: Release 7, Preview 5.

[GerbilSoft]

New preview release, Gens/GS r7_pre3. Fixes some crash bugs and some other stuff.

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 02 August 2009 - 09:17 PM

[Ravenfreak]

I've noticed that in previous releases of Gens, the PWM was quiet due to a bug. In this release, the PWM is too loud. There's definitely overkill with the PWM. So far, that's the only bug I've noticed.

[Axel Letterman]

I've discovered a bug on the windows version.

When I select Blargg's NTSC filter while having Directdraw 4 as the backend render, it freezes the emulator up. But when I switched the backend to GDI, it works very well.

[AamirM]

I've discovered a bug on the windows version.

When I select Blargg's NTSC filter while having Directdraw 4 as the backend render, it freezes the emulator up. But when I switched the backend to GDI, it works very well.

I reported this bug to GerbilSoft in IRC some time ago. Glad to know its not just me. Its been there since preview1.

This post has been edited by AamirM: 04 August 2009 - 05:04 AM

[HighFrictionZone]

It works just fine for me, but I haven't been playing many games recently.
Something to consider, and this is for anybody who wants to make a plugin: fast forward and re-recording features. Fast forward because sometimes I want to skip past some repetitive part (end-of-level tallies anybody), and re-recording simply because it makes it easier to record a video of whatever hack I'm working on or whatever game I'm playing and make it look like I know what I'm doing.

Minor feature requests aside, though, this works awesome and I have not encountered any problems with it yet. If I ever encounter any, you'll be the first to know.

[GerbilSoft]

I've discovered a bug on the windows version.

When I select Blargg's NTSC filter while having Directdraw 4 as the backend render, it freezes the emulator up. But when I switched the backend to GDI, it works very well.

I reported this bug to GerbilSoft in IRC some time ago. Glad to know its not just me. Its been there since preview1.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to reproduce this bug, so I can't figure out what's causing this issue.

I've noticed that in previous releases of Gens, the PWM was quiet due to a bug. In this release, the PWM is too loud. There's definitely overkill with the PWM. So far, that's the only bug I've noticed.

This might be caused by Chilly Willy's PWM scaling patches. They definitely increase the quality of PWM, but they also make PWM a bit louder than it should be. I'll try to decrease the PWM volume slightly for the final release.

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 04 August 2009 - 10:36 AM

[Chilly Willy]

I've noticed that in previous releases of Gens, the PWM was quiet due to a bug. In this release, the PWM is too loud. There's definitely overkill with the PWM. So far, that's the only bug I've noticed.

This might be caused by Chilly Willy's PWM scaling patches. They definitely increase the quality of PWM, but they also make PWM a bit louder than it should be. I'll try to decrease the PWM volume slightly for the final release.

See why I left that post-scaling shift in place even though it wasn't being used? I did say that you might eventually need to use it. :D

[GerbilSoft]

I've noticed that in previous releases of Gens, the PWM was quiet due to a bug. In this release, the PWM is too loud. There's definitely overkill with the PWM. So far, that's the only bug I've noticed.

This might be caused by Chilly Willy's PWM scaling patches. They definitely increase the quality of PWM, but they also make PWM a bit louder than it should be. I'll try to decrease the PWM volume slightly for the final release.

See why I left that post-scaling shift in place even though it wasn't being used? I did say that you might eventually need to use it. :D

The shift you left in place is for subtracting from the shift value, which would make it louder. Then again, if I specify a negative value, it'll be softer, so :P

Also, with regards to the NTSC rendering problem, I did manage to reproduce it using my actual WinXP partition. If anyone else is having problems with the NTSC renderer being slow (or even if it's working correctly for you), please post your OS and video card.

Working:
- Gentoo Linux, ATI FireGL V5200 with Radeon driver
- Windows XP in VirtualBox, VBox emulated VGA

Not Working:
- Windows XP, ATI FireGL V5200
- Windows Vista, ATI Radeon X1650
- Windows XP, nVidia GeForce 7300 GS (Sik)
- Windows XP, Intel 915G (AamirM)
- Windows XP, Radeon 9600 Pro (Tets)

EDIT: So it looks like it's just a weird "feature" in VirtualBox that lets it run properly. I'll try debugging it on my XP partition sometime this week.

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 05 August 2009 - 11:16 AM

[Tets]

The NTSC filter is slow for me as well. This is running on Windows XP with a Radeon 9600 Pro.

[HighFrictionZone]

When using the NTSC filter, performance suffers slightly (though not enough to be unplayable, just somewhat annoying) when using the DirectDraw backend. When using the GDI backend, it runs smooth.

I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, graphics card is, according to Performance Information and Tools, from the Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family. That means fuck all to me, but I assume you can make better use from it.

As a note, if configure the NTSC filter and disable interpolation, it runs at normal speed when using the DirectDraw backend.

[GerbilSoft]

I figured out why the NTSC renderer runs slow. Instead of double-scanning the NTSC image in the rendering function, it double-scans it afterwards, which requires reading from video memory. Reading from video memory on DirectDraw is slow.

The fix is to rework the function so it doesn't have to read from video memory. I'll try implementing this later tonight.

This post has been edited by GerbilSoft: 05 August 2009 - 01:47 PM

[Sik]

Oh wow.

That said, why didn't Gens/GS start doing frameskipping even in auto? o.o;

[GerbilSoft]

That said, why didn't Gens/GS start doing frameskipping even in auto? o.o;

Automatic frameskip appears to be kinda broken.

Anyways, I fixed the lag problem with the NTSC renderer. You can get the updated version here: blargg-ntsc-1.1.0-win32.zip

[GerbilSoft]

Bump for Release 7, Preview 4. I haven't adjusted PWM audio yet, because it might actually be accurate. (I remember someone mentioning that on the actual 32X, PWM is really loud.)