nullDC Now Open-Source

Finally. I mean after a year, if your work doesnt go anywhere just make it open source and let the fans have at it.

 

I think this kind of stuff should have been open source from the beggining..

 

Well, now that it is open source, who wants the *ahem*Katana*ahem*SDK*ahem* to see if there is anything in there that can be of use for making this emulator more accurate?

Edit: Also, might try porting this to Linux eventually. Gonna see how good (or bad) the code is first. =P

 

I'd say I'd like the SDK anyway. May help with an idea I have for building a Rez level editor...

Actually, couldn't the emulator be programed to allow it to function as an editing utility?

 

One of you should code a gamepad plugin.

 

Yes, one of us should. What else can I do master. Believe me, I am hard at work cleaning up the code, a gamepad plugin is not very high priority. If anything, I want to try and remove the plugin system, it promotes the production of lackluster code that isn't accurate but rather is for aesthetics, which isn't what an emulator is about.

 

The whole point of the plug-in system is to provide alternative engines to high level emulators because the main one may not be good enough, or maybe it is but doesn't run OK everywhere.

However, open source projects usually have a mindset of "rerun configure and rebuild everything", so...

 

Plugins just aren't needed when you have the source code you can integrate things with directly. If someone wants to code a different renderer or whatever, go for it but there's no need to make it a plugin to have it in.

All I hope for is proper mouse and keyboard emulation, and maybe cleaning up the choppy sound buffer.

 

Oh, I thought it meant getting rid of alternate renderers completely... Although Allegro's Grabber allows extra stuff to be added at build time and still calls them plug-ins.

But it's true that some projects attempt to use every obscure API in existence and their grandma, including every single pre-standard variation of the standard library.

 

So in 5 more years NullDC actually may get an update!

 

I am afraid the amount of people who can contribute something useful are very less. And they are probably already working with MAME/Demul/Makaron etc..

In b4 someone adds "1337 |-|19|-| r35 73><7UR35" support.

 

Sik: It's just that a simple plugin system opens up possibilities for any idiot to come along and write something and not have to get approval to integrate it into the code base. There will still be openings for people who actually know what they're doing to create their own video cores and whatnot and have them integrated into the actual code base, think of it as a quality control type thing....

 

This is great! Now one day we'll have near perfect Dreamcast Emulation!

 

Segaloco: I could as well just fork the project and get the very same effect... If you don't like a plug-in, then don't make it official, period.

 

I'd argue that a plugin API is what keeps emulators relevant. I've seen cross-pollination of good plugins between emulators. Mainly graphics and sound plugins, but some others also.

And in the event a drastic change occurs in a host platform, a new plugin could be written and the emulator functionality would be restored.

 

Don't get mad. It's just the one thing I've wanted since the last version of NullDC came out and I'm unable to make one myself.

 

What, exactly, is wrong with letting anyone make plugins? Open source or not, there's still the fact that most people aren't going to want to have to become a developer for a project just to add a few functions when a plugin system could let them do that with ease.
As for "quality control" - I'm sorry, but I had no idea crappy plugins ruined the emulator regardless of whether they're used or not. Why should you care about the plugins people make? Is anybody forcing you to use them? Or take notice of them?
With a modular system, people can easily implement their own stuff into the emulator - as opposed to a clusterfuck where everything is shoved together. Keep that in mind.

 

A "bad" plugin can bring an emulator to its knees. You can make the tightest emulation possible, and have some idiot throw some bad C++ at a plugin that takes longer reading a joystick than the emulator spends on emulating the CPU. :D

Also, if an emulator is open source, allowing plugins means some will be closed source, which kind of goes against the project as a whole. The point of being open is to 1) allow all the devs to make corrections and optimizations, and 2) allow others to see the code to learn how things are done. Closed source plugins don't support either point.

Not that I have anything against closed source plugins or emulators... it just doesn't blend well with open source projects. It's a point around which many arguments arise.