Hacking NDSSFC/CATSFC revival

[idbirch]

Hi, I just wanted to ask something from those of you more experienced with the DSTwo and SNES emulation. My DSTwo arrived today (still waiting for my 3DS XL in the post) so I used my old phat DS to update the software and firmware. Next I tried the SNES emulators, eventually finding this newer version here but the speed seemed poor compared to what I remember years ago on my Phat DS and Supercard SD.

Sure enough, I fired up my slot 2 Supercard SD which has some SNES roms on it (looks like I injected the emu into each ROM so I'm not 100% sure which emu it is but I think it's SNES DS) and Donkey Kong Country and Zelda Link to the Past both run a lot smoother than with the DSTwo and CATSFC. DKC has corruption on the splash screen and between-level screens but the main game is so much faster and smoother than on CATSFC - can anyone shed any light on why this might be? Will the situation improve on the 3DS XL?

Thanks.

 

[Rydian]

The emulator for the DS itself runs much better because it's a much shittier emulator. It supports way less, so it's faster because it doesn't do nearly as much (as you found out). Like how a bike is way less heavy than an actual car, I guess.

Many games do not run at all or do not progress past the first level or two, and like you found out even the games which technically run do so with graphics corruption.

 

[idbirch]

OK, I think I understand your viewpoint although you seem overly defensive of NDSSFC and your car/bike analogy is rather silly. Reading between the lines of your reply I guess it's a case of this emulator prioritising emulation accuracy over speed. There's nothing wrong with that but unfortunately for me, I'd rather have a broken splash screen and a smooth running game (and in Zelda: ALTTP's case, no issues at all and a smooth running game).

The only question now is how do I get SnesDS to run from the DSTwo? The 3DSXL doesn't have a slot2 as far as I know and from my testing so far, DSTwo won't run the rom-with-emu-injected NDS files and the SnesDS plugin has no sound and crashes a lot

 

[Rydian]

OK, I think I understand your viewpoint although you seem overly defensive of NDSSFC

No, I'm being overly-critical of an SNES emulator that doesn't even achieve >75% game compatibility in 2013.

and your car/bike analogy is rather silly.

It's not focused on speed, but capability versus weight and cost. The bike is much cheaper and lighter, but can't do many of the things a car can.

Reading between the lines of your reply I guess it's a case of this emulator prioritising emulation accuracy over speed. There's nothing wrong with that but unfortunately for me, I'd rather have a broken splash screen and a smooth running game (and in Zelda: ALTTP's case, no issues at all and a smooth running game).

Until you hit a game that doesn't run at all.

The only question now is how do I get SnesDS to run from the DSTwo? The 3DSXL doesn't have a slot2 as far as I know and from my testing so far, DSTwo won't run the rom-with-emu-injected NDS files and the SnesDS plugin has no sound and crashes a lot

SnemulDS is the name of the DS port, IIRC.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

OK, I think I understand your viewpoint although you seem overly defensive of NDSSFC and your car/bike analogy is rather silly. Reading between the lines of your reply I guess it's a case of this emulator prioritising emulation accuracy over speed. There's nothing wrong with that but unfortunately for me, I'd rather have a broken splash screen and a smooth running game (and in Zelda: ALTTP's case, no issues at all and a smooth running game).

The only question now is how do I get SnesDS to run from the DSTwo? The 3DSXL doesn't have a slot2 as far as I know and from my testing so far, DSTwo won't run the rom-with-emu-injected NDS files and the SnesDS plugin has no sound and crashes a lot

It's not being defensive; try running Yoshi's Island, Mario RPG, Kirby etc. on SNEmulDS, for example. But CATSFC/NDSSFC versus SNEmulDS, as you have noticed, is a tradeoff between correct graphics and FPS.

If you want more correct graphics without setting layer priorities all the time, then go with CATSFC -- but it will give you 20 FPS by default. (30 FPS, at frameskip 1, means that you could experience stuck buttons for up to 2 whole seconds, though!)

If you want smooth play, without a care in the world for the correctness of the layers, then go with SNEmulDS, which will give you 60 FPS and perfect controls. Some games will be fine, but most will be a hodgepodge of colours. Rydian points this out.

 

[masterz87]

I figured it was time to ask it here, but since I know the SNES is backwards compatible, I don't remember how they did it, I am thinking it's like the gcn->wii in that it's the same parts just more powerful/more memory etc. I don't think it is like the gbc->gba wherein it has the actual hardware in there. A lot of the games for the nes I want to play, have been rereleased as snes games(most of the time) so it's not a huge thing, and i still have a ton of games still to play on my todo list so it's not a huge thing. I was just wondering about it.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

I figured it was time to ask it here, but since I know the SNES is backwards compatible, I don't remember how they did it, I am thinking it's like the gcn->wii in that it's the same parts just more powerful/more memory etc. I don't think it is like the gbc->gba wherein it has the actual hardware in there. A lot of the games for the nes I want to play, have been rereleased as snes games(most of the time) so it's not a huge thing, and i still have a ton of games still to play on my todo list so it's not a huge thing. I was just wondering about it.

The NES games re-released as SNES games have some graphical improvements. That makes them SNES games, not NES games running on a SNES.

You may be thinking of re-releases like Super Mario All-Stars. Those are not NES games on the SNES, they're SNES games.

You need to learn to post context when cross-posting into threads :\ Now no one who reads the CATSFC thread will understand what you're on about.

 

[Rydian]

I figured it was time to ask it here, but since I know the SNES is backwards compatible, I don't remember how they did it, I am thinking it's like the gcn->wii in that it's the same parts just more powerful/more memory etc. I don't think it is like the gbc->gba wherein it has the actual hardware in there. A lot of the games for the nes I want to play, have been rereleased as snes games(most of the time) so it's not a huge thing, and i still have a ton of games still to play on my todo list so it's not a huge thing. I was just wondering about it.

The SNES isn't backwards-compatible. Same architecture, but NES games don't run on the SNES.

Besides, NES emulators would perform much better.

 

[ferret7463]

The SNES isn't backwards-compatible. Same architecture, but NES games don't run on the SNES.

Besides, NES emulators would perform much better.

That kinda reminds me, i remember waaaay back in the mid 90's My buddy had a "NES" adapter for his SNES. It would plug into the top like a cartridge and then you would plug the NES cartridge into it. It was a pretty cool device. He bought from a Flea market back then.


Here is a SNES emu question? Why is it harder for the DS2 to emulate a 16 Bit system than the 32 Bit GBA system. I've compared Mega Man and Bass on both and the GBA works much better.

 

[masterz87]

That kinda reminds me, i remember waaaay back in the mid 90's My buddy had a "NES" adapter for his SNES. It would plug into the top like a cartridge and then you would plug the NES cartridge into it. It was a pretty cool device. He bought from a Flea market back then.


Here is a SNES emu question? Why is it harder for the DS2 to emulate a 16 Bit system than the 32 Bit GBA system. I've compared Mega Man and Bass on both and the GBA works much better.

The gba is _only_ doing 160x140 pixels, the snes uses the same amount of data per pixel _but_ it renders the games at 320x240 _and_ the snes has the ability for the games to use _additional_ processors. So the emulator _has_ to emulate more processors all in sync whereas the gba is a single processor. The SNES is 2, and also whatever additional chips the games use. That and the fact that you're pushing more pixels, means more data has to be passed from the ds2->ds.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

CATSFC 1.36, the File Selector Edition, is now available.

* Supports more than 511 elements in a folder without crashing, RAM permitting. You can now put the entire Mightymo cheat pack into /CATSFC/GAMECHT without it crashing! Yay! A progress indicator appears if a directory is large. For example, "Loading... (950)" indicates that the file selector has looked at 950 entries so far.
* The screenshot slideshow does not crash with an exception if there are no screenshots.
* It should not be possible anymore to be "locked" into the last page if it has 1 or 2 elements and you enter it with the R shoulder button.
* Sorting has been optimised with GameYob's quicksort code.
* Folders are now sorted inline with files.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

The gba is _only_ doing 160x140 pixels, the snes uses the same amount of data per pixel _but_ it renders the games at 320x240 _and_ the snes has the ability for the games to use _additional_ processors. So the emulator _has_ to emulate more processors all in sync whereas the gba is a single processor. The SNES is 2, and also whatever additional chips the games use. That and the fact that you're pushing more pixels, means more data has to be passed from the ds2->ds.

256x224, 512x224 or 512x448 in NTSC,
256x239, 512x239 or 512x478 in PAL.

You're correct about the additional processors, because the cartridges can contain chips - famously used for Star Fox's 3D. That's why it takes much CPU power to emulate those games.

Another thing is the wide array of video modes in SNES hardware, which makes frame skipping so great: sometimes even rendering a picture takes lots of time.

 

[TaxiTitan]

OK, I think I understand your viewpoint although you seem overly defensive of NDSSFC and your car/bike analogy is rather silly. Reading between the lines of your reply I guess it's a case of this emulator prioritising emulation accuracy over speed. There's nothing wrong with that but unfortunately for me, I'd rather have a broken splash screen and a smooth running game (and in Zelda: ALTTP's case, no issues at all and a smooth running game).

The only question now is how do I get SnesDS to run from the DSTwo? The 3DSXL doesn't have a slot2 as far as I know and from my testing so far, DSTwo won't run the rom-with-emu-injected NDS files and the SnesDS plugin has no sound and crashes a lot

No slot 2 i can find. on my 3DS XL
Also getting white screen on the newer versions of catsfc (1.36 the newest right now)
I formatted my sandisk 64gb Micro SD card to fat32 using this guide w cmd. http://www.r4isdhc.org/myblog/?p=1418
GB, GBA emus, and DS games works fine.
The old version of Catsfc I tried had about half the framerate or less on Akumajo dracula XX... little disapointing.
The older versions hangs if too many roms in folders.
I had around 100 roms per folder and it hanged.
White screen on version 1.1 how early version do I have to use??

 

[TaxiTitan]

I think ita bacause a corrupt meny save.
Cause no catsfc version works for me now and catsfc has worked for me in the beginning.
How to reset catsfc meny configs, but keep my DS ram saves?
I tried replace only catsfc folder in root, and the 3 files in my dstwoplug folder.
Bagsfc emulator also give white screen freeze. http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/f...ad-bagsfc-scds2-sfc-unofficial-r3-f22639.html

I have lots of DS game saves that I dont wanna delete.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

I think ita bacause a corrupt meny save.
Cause no catsfc version works for me now and catsfc has worked for me in the beginning.
How to reset catsfc meny configs, but keep my DS ram saves?
I tried replace only catsfc folder in root, and the 3 files in my dstwoplug folder.
Bagsfc emulator also give white screen freeze. http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/f...ad-bagsfc-scds2-sfc-unofficial-r3-f22639.html

I have lots of DS game saves that I dont wanna delete.

It looks to me like you will have to copy all the files you can still read from your microSD card to your hard drive, reformat the card, and copy them back to your microSD card. But because your card is 64 GiB, you cannot simply use the Panasonic SD Formatter. See post #574 from the previous page for possible instructions.

CATSFC 1.35 requires much more correctness (and provides much less corruption) in the filesystem, but earlier versions corrupted /CATSFC/GAMERTS.

 

[TaxiTitan]

It looks to me like you will have to copy all the files you can still read from your microSD card to your hard drive, reformat the card, and copy them back to your microSD card. But because your card is 64 GiB, you cannot simply use the Panasonic SD Formatter. See post #574 from the previous page for possible instructions.

CATSFC 1.35 requires much more correctness (and provides much less corruption) in the filesystem, but earlier versions corrupted /CATSFC/GAMERTS.

Solved by reformatting the card
Thanks for the reply

 

[garchomp4ever]

Are any of you guys actually able to run Mario RPG at a playable level? I have my Supercard at DSTWO v1.11 and my 3DS is on 4.4.0-9, and the emulator is the most recent version and I the rom still runs at unplayable speeds. What are your guys' settings if you can run it properly?

 

[Deleted member 319809]

Are any of you guys actually able to run Mario RPG at a playable level? I have my Supercard at DSTWO v1.11 and my 3DS is on 4.4.0-9, and the emulator is the most recent version and I the rom still runs at unplayable speeds. What are your guys' settings if you can run it properly?

-> Post #532

 

[garchomp4ever]

-> Post #532

Oh well, guess I can't have my timed hits on the go.

 

[DGenerateKane]

Well crap. That's one of the few SNES games I'd like to play again. :/