DS994a - A Texas Instruments Emulator for the DS/DSi

[Chillimonster]

Not sure what i'm doing wrong, but i just get white screens on this (both on the r4 card and on TM on the DSi XL

Probably me in all honesty.

I have got the Bios files in the roms / bios directory (along with the bios files for your other superb emulators)

 

[wavemotion]

Hmmm… this emulator is built using the same tools and layout as all my other emulators. Even without BIOS files it will still boot fine - you just can’t start any games.

Perplexing.

 

[Chillimonster]

All sorted - Redownloaded on a different PC and all was well.

 

[wavemotion]

I'm pleased (and tired!) to release version 0.6 at: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/DS994a

It took more than 50 hours of re-write but the CPU core has been replaced. When I started this whole project (pre version 0.1), Tunnels of Doom was running at less than 50 fps. When I started the core re-write (post version 0.5), I had optimized the core such that ToD was running at 100 fps (unthrottled). After the core re-write:

I'm not a Rocket-Surgeon, but that's a solid 20% speed improvement. 98% of the games should run at full speed now on the older DS hardware (even via R4 flash cart).

I've also made a number of improvements to the disk system and added some new memory expansion options because... why not.

V0.6: 21-Jan-2023 by wavemotion-dave

• Re-write of the CPU core. It's 20% smaller and 20% faster.
• Added ability to list disk contents so you can see what programs are on it.
• Added write-backing of .DSK files. When they chagne the file is written out in the background.
• Added SAMS 512K expanded memory support - must be enabled in OPTIONS on a per-game basis.
• Added new cartridge types to support SuperCart 8K, MiniMemory 4K and Milton Bradley MBX carts (with and without special 1K RAM).
• New splash screen... new logo icon... a fresh start!

If you use this emulator, please report any bugs or other odd behaviors. There's almost no chance I didn't introduce something odd with the re-write...

Time to sit on the couch and nap for the day.. waking up just long enough to enjoy a few games of Tunnels of Doom on the venerable DS handheld.

 

[Chillimonster]

Thanks for all your work on this (and your other emulators)

Finding myself spending more time playing on the DSi Xl than the N3DSXL and vita at the moment.

Love this little handheld :-)

 

[CrashMidnick]

If you use this emulator, please report any bugs or other odd behaviors.

I tried several games yesterday and they seemed to work fine even if it is difficult to say when you do not own the original HW.

Howerver I found a problem with "E.T. and his adventure at sea" : go to the first black dot/square with your ship and reply to the question (should be easy for you Dave ), after that, the ship will slutter. I cannot find a video on YT if it's normal behaviour or not but it's weird.

V0.6a used, I did not see that you put online V0.6b.

 

[wavemotion]

Thanks for the report, Crash! I'll definitely take a look at ET at Sea. That game was unreleased and is a prototype so it's possible that it just wasn't finished properly and has glitches. But it's also just as likely my emulator

I just put up 0.6c... development comes fast and furious with early beta releases. My next big hurdle is Speech Synthesis which was a hallmark of some of the best TI games. But as you know by now, sound emulation is my nemesis - I hate doing it and it always ends up in frustration.

By the way, if you haven't already played Hunt the Wumpus you should... fun little logic game that takes just a few minutes to play but you'll end up playing multiple rounds every time you boot it up.

 

[CrashMidnick]

Speech Synthesis ? Really good news (Alpiner, star trek...) ! Thanks.
For E.T. aventure at sea, I thought it was a full game. This explains that, maybe

Just a "little" request about the bios, could you please make them work in the emulator folder ?

 

[Jayro]

This is dope. Can we disable the debug stuff on the bottom screen?

 

[wavemotion]

This is dope. Can we disable the debug stuff on the bottom screen?

Release builds should have no debug enabled by default... only the keyboard.

 

[Indy13]

I had a red screen "guru meditation error" yesterday when changing version, I think it must be either from a game or from a config file (I did not check if a config file is created or not) but I just turned off and on my ds lite and everything worked normally again.

In any case once again a big thank you to you @wavemotion , you provide man!

And also a thank you to @CrashMidnick who helped me with the installation

 

[wavemotion]

You're quite welcome @Indy13

Version 0.7 is checked in: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave

V0.7: 24-Jan-2023 by wavemotion-dave

• New TI99 Keyboard Layout - select in Global Options or on a Per-Game basis.
• Better DSK vs ROM handling - remembers last directory for each.
• SAMS 1MB enabled for DSi and above.
• Fixed save/load state for Mini-Men, SuperCart and MBX Carts (only SAMS save/load is non-functional right now).
• Other cleanups as time permitted.

The new keyboard layout still needs some polish... but it's perfectly functional. When you press the FCTN key it will toggle the graphic to show you the Function keys (you can press a key or hit FCTN again to toggle it back off). Press the little down-arrow in the upper-right for the mini-menu (to save high scores, load/save state or just quit the game completely and select a new cart to play).

 

[wavemotion]

Version 0.8 is checked in: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave

V0.8: 29-Jan-2023 by wavemotion-dave

• Added DSK2 support and both drives now handle up to 360K disks.
• Improved default key mapping so X='1' and Y='2' allowing faster game startup.
• Inverted .bin files now supported with the filenames ending in '3' or '9'.
• Added ability to paste in DSKx.FILENAME from the Disk menu
• Other cleanups as time permitted.

 

[wavemotion]

Version 0.9 is ready: https://github.com/wavemotion-dave

V0.9: 02-Feb-2023 by wavemotion-dave

• Added DSK3 support. All three drives support up to 360K disks.
• Improved emulation on SAMS memory such that Realms of Antiquity will run.
• Persist SAMS memory on Save State/Load using RLE compression.
• Other cleanups as time permitted.

 

[squeakycleanswine]

Wow, never thought I'd see something like this come out for the ds. DS homebrew scene surprises me every day. Great work!

 

[wavemotion]

Version 1.0 is released! https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/DS994a

V1.0: 11-Feb-2023 by wavemotion-dave

• Improved TI99 keyboard which is the new default.
• Improved DSK saves for more robust writes.
• Screen Snapshot added (press and hold L+R+Y)
• Ability to swap upper / lower screens (press and hold L+R+X)
• Cleanup across the board for the official 1.0 release.

Many thanks to everyone that provided feedback. This represents more than 150 hours of development effort on my part - plus countless hours of development by the authors of some of the underlying code. If you're running a pre-1.0 version, I would appreciate you updating as soon as is convenient - at this point I'd like to only take feedback and issues on the officially released version.

 

[CrashMidnick]

Thanks for your hard work and time, Dave !

 

[SnomxIsKindaOK]

This is super weird but super cool lol! Great work!

 

[Indy13]

I went from 0.9c to 1.0 to 1.0b with no issues. Thanks Dave

 

[Indy13]

The 1.0c is the version of the beast !