fmsxDS v0.09 released

[FAST6191]

fmsxDS v0.09 released
MSX emulator sees and update
Nyagosu has released a new version of his DS MSX emulator (last was early August) based around the fmsx core.

Spoiler: Changelog

Updated core to 3.5
Small sound changes aimed at headphones.
GUI reshuffle
Added mouse emulation (the author states not to expect much as a computer mouse and touchscreen are not that similar in operation).

For the unaware the MSX was a home computer (much like the amiga) based on the Z80 processor with a version of microsoft BASIC at the core of it that was launched in late 1983. While not very popular at all in North America the MSX family of computers enjoyed considerable success in parts of former Soviet Union, Korea, Japan, South America in places like Brazil and Chile as well as mainland Europe.

MSXAll, umbrella site for all things MSX

fMSX homepage

FMSXDS Author homepage

download (binaries and sources)
Thanks to dc-emu for the news

 

[Bob Evil]

Very nice

My MSX is up in the attic ... so this saves me some hassle lol

 

[Hadrian]

My one is in my GF's parents loft, spacebar is knackered though. May get this one, I don't remember trying the last version. Maybe I'll give the translated version of Snatcher I run through.

From wiki:
"MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s. It was a Microsoft-led attempt to create unified standards among hardware makers, conceived by one-time Microsoft Japan executive Kazuhiko Nishi. Despite Microsoft's involvement, MSX-based machines were seldom seen in the United States but were hugely popular in other markets[dubious – discuss]. Eventually 5 million MSX-based units were sold world-wide.

Nishi proposed MSX as an attempt to create a single industry standard for home computers. Inspired by the success of VHS as a standard for video cassette recorders, many Japanese electronic manufacturers along with Goldstar, Philips and Spectravideo built and promoted MSX computers. Any piece of hardware or software with the MSX logo on it was compatible with MSX products of other manufacturers. In particular, the expansion cartridge form and function were part of the standard; any MSX expansion or game cartridge would work in any MSX computer.

Nishi's standard consisted primarily of several off-the-shelf parts; the main CPU was a 3.58 MHz Zilog Z80, the graphics chip a Texas Instruments TMS9918 with 16 KB (KiB) of dedicated VRAM, the sound was provided by the AY-3-8910 chip manufactured by General Instrument (GI), and an Intel 8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface chip was used for the parallel I/O such as the keyboard (and partly by the I/O ports provided by the AY-3-8910). This was a choice of components that was shared by many other home computers and games consoles of the period, such as the ColecoVision home computer (an emulator was later available with which MSX systems could run some of its software), and the Sega SG-1000 video game system. Most MSX systems soon starting to integrate not only the common "glue logic" components but also the Z80 CPU, the sound chip, the 8255 PIO and the Video Display Processor into a single chip, called an MSX-Engine chip. The result was that one only needed an MSX-Engine chip and some ROM and RAM chips to build a basic system, which greatly reduced production costs. However, almost all MSX systems used a professional keyboard, not a chiclet keyboard, which drove the price up again. So these components alongside Microsoft's MSX BASIC made the MSX a competitive, though somewhat expensive, home computer package.

The system MSX most closely resembled was the Spectravideo SV-328 home computer (Spectravideo even claimed to be "MSX compatible" in advertisements before the actual launch of MSX systems) but it was in fact not completely compatible with it. This led to a new and short-lived kind of software cracking: converting. Since the MSX games were unplayable on the SV-328 computer, SV-328 crackers developed a method of modifying the (MSX) games to make them work on the SV-328. In most cases this included downloading the MSX BIOS to the SV-328 from tape or floppy disk. Spectravideo later launched a system, the SV-728, which did completely adhere to the MSX standard.

Before the appearance and great success of the Nintendo Famicom, MSX was the platform for which major Japanese game studios, such as Konami and Hudson Soft, produced their titles. The Metal Gear series was originally written for MSX hardware. [1]"


Konami did some really good games for this.

 

[chatshi]

This is really good news. I didn't even know there was a MSX emu for the DS.
This means Metal Gear time again!

 

[Arm73]

The MSX is my second favorite computer, and it brings back lots of memories.
Is this emulator capable of running MSX2 games or not ?
Anyway, most of the European games were ported from the ZX Spectrum, which is a shame because the MSX had so much more to offer (hardware sprites, more colours..), however Japanese games were a real kick.
Games like Gradius, Kings Valley, Aleste or Metal Gear solid were really amazing for their time, and they really took advantage of the superior hardware.
I hope to be able to play all those games on my DS !

 

[Tanks]

This is really good news. I didn't even know there was a MSX emu for the DS.
This means Metal Gear time again!

For some odd reason, I've been unable to run a Metal Gear ROM... MG:II works... but not MG:I...

 

[Fusion]

This was a choice of components that was shared by many other home computers and games consoles of the period, such as the ColecoVision home computer (an emulator was later available with which MSX systems could run some of its software),

Hmm, i wonder if there was people saying "does this ColecoVision games run on MSX" like some people stating "does it work on PAL" like this board.

On a side note though, i wonder if this emu can run some of the Coleco games since theres no emu (that i know of) for Coleco on the DS.

 

[FAST6191]

theres no emu (that i know of) for Coleco on the DS.

Alekmaul does ColecoDS, last version released a week ago:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82016

 

[Elrinth]

This is really good news. I didn't even know there was a MSX emu for the DS.
This means Metal Gear time again!

For some odd reason, I've been unable to run a Metal Gear ROM... MG:II works... but not MG:I...

 

[Scorpin200]

This is really good news. I didn't even know there was a MSX emu for the DS.
This means Metal Gear time again!

For some odd reason, I've been unable to run a Metal Gear ROM... MG:II works... but not MG:I...