Homebrew Emulator NeoGeo Pocket emu for DS

[FluBBa]

So I think my NeoGeo Pocket emu is ready for a first release.

No save states yet, you should probably use a Bios (at least to get flash ram saving to work), it's still slow on NDS/NDS Lite, can't load games larger than 2MB NDS/NDS Lite.

I haven't done extensive testing of games so please tell me if games doesn't work correctly (the first boss on Sonic bugs out a lot of the time).

https://gbatemp.net/download/ngpds.37181/
https://github.com/FluBBaOfWard/NGPDS/releases

 

[Nikokaro]

Yet another surprise. What's more, it came out of nowhere.
This year you never cease to amaze us.

Note: Too bad about the arcade version of Double Dragon, which I was really hoping for.
But it seems that most people don't like it...

 

[Jayro]

Color support?

 

[FluBBa]

Yes, color support. I tried to make it emulate the Mono version as well but it's not tested so much, you have to use no bios or the actual mono bios and change the setting to NGP (not color).

 

[Indy13]

This is a great news ! Thank you very much @FluBBa !

After a quick test, here is my feedback, it's fun to play and intuitive to use, compared to RaceDSfixed it's fast, I used an NGP bios, I had no sound problem and I was able to save without any problem .

If I had to suggest a few more improvements (if it's possible of course) it would be the following:

- a little more speed
- support for bigger games
- a console image on the bottom screen like S8DS
- compatibility with EZ Flash 3in1 for DS / Lite users

Small off topic: Is it possible that a port of Swan Advance will be done on Nintendo DS in the future or not at all?

 

[FluBBa]

I will take a look a some things that might speed it up a bit, maybe even add speed-hacks, not sure though.
4MB games are not happening on normal DS since it only has 4MB of RAM and some of it is already used even before the emulator should fit.
My plan was to add some kind of borders to the game screen, I can maybe add a full console image at the bottom as well.
Compatibility with EZ Flash 3in1? For more RAM or?

Wonderswan... yes I will try to port that to the DS as well.

 

[Indy13]

4MB games are not happening on normal DS since it only has 4MB of RAM and some of it is already used even before the emulator should fit.
Compatibility with EZ Flash 3in1? For more RAM or?

Yes I was thinking of EZ Flash 3in1 to have more RAM, if it's possible maybe it could improve the speed or size of games maybe both

My plan was to add some kind of borders to the game screen, I can maybe add a full console image at the bottom as well.

It's a great idea, the idea of borders Regarding the bottom screen, do you think you will remove the clock in the next version or is it necessary to display it?

Wonderswan... yes I will try to port that to the DS as well.

This is great news, 2021 is definitely the year of rebirth for DS phat / lite users! It's awesome!

 

[CrashMidnick]

I will take a look a some things that might speed it up a bit, maybe even add speed-hacks, not sure though.
4MB games are not happening on normal DS since it only has 4MB of RAM and some of it is already used even before the emulator should fit.
My plan was to add some kind of borders to the game screen, I can maybe add a full console image at the bottom as well.
Compatibility with EZ Flash 3in1? For more RAM or?

Wonderswan... yes I will try to port that to the DS as well.

Thanks for your hard work. I plan to buy an EZ 3in1 so I am definitely interrested in this feature I will try your emu this evening on DS lite.

This is great news, 2021 is definitely the year of rebirth for DS phat / lite users! It's awesome!

For sure, not to say that DS homebrews are still a must have on O3DS too as many devices are not properly emulated on the 3DS side (CPC, Atari 8bit, NGP, Neo Geo...)

 

[plasturion]

Great emu, some games run almost at full speed. It would be great to see wonderswan emulator doing the same, because current one emus: DualSwan, WonderDS are too slow and unplayable. The issues I noticed that Puyo Puyo 2 doesn't boot (white screen), King of Fighers R-2 there's no sound (or maybe it was different beat'em up), Metal Slug 1st Mission - a little too slow, Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket adventure... Eggman sometimes don't show up again after he go out of the left or right bonduary of screen. Tested on ds lite with R4.
EZ flash 3in1 has a ram expansion module placed in slot-2, very rare item this days. As for me I don't mind if there's not 4mb rom support. This emu runs pretty neat right now, it would be awesome to see speed optimizing for ds lite. Thanks a lot.
I would like to try Watara Supervision emu as well. :]
I had some random freeze issues on R4 using PCEngine emu - NitroGraphx, I described on this board some time ago.

 

[Indy13]

Hi @plasturion

The issues I noticed that Puyo Puyo 2 doesn't boot (white screen), King of Fighers R-2 there's no sound (or maybe it was different beat'em up), Metal Slug 1st Mission - a little too slow, Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket adventure... Eggman sometimes don't show up again after he go out of the left or right bonduary of screen. Tested on ds lite with R4.

I had the same problem with Sonic but it didn't surprise me because @FluBBa had mentioned it

For the other games, yes, Metal Slug is a bit slow but Puyo Puyo works. Are you sure you have a good version of the game? The name of this game on NGP is Puyo Pop, you should try to find a version with this name, the sound on King Of Fighters R2 works too, did you use an NGP color bios?

As far as I'm concerned, I created a sub-directory named "NGPDS" in a directory called "data", it is in this "NGPDS" sub-directory that I put my games and the bios, once this installation done, I started the emulator and in the options menu, I selected "machine" and in the "machine settings" menu at the machine line, I selected "neogeo pocket color" and at the "bios settings " line, I selected the bios that I put in the games directory. You should try this installation, it works for me with this configuration, like you, I use a ds lite with an r4

I would like to try Watara Supervision emu as well. :]

Yes that would be great too

 

[Indy13]

Hi @CrashMidnick !

For sure, not to say that DS homebrews are still a must have on O3DS too as many devices are not properly emulated on the 3DS side (CPC, Atari 8bit, NGP, Neo Geo...)

I totally agree with you, I find that the DS scene benefits from a good seniority and a solid base in terms of developments, I do not have 3DS but that does not prevent me from going to see what's happening on this scene and I'm amazed at how much better the DS scene looks than the 3DS scene for some emulators and homebrews

I plan to buy an EZ 3in1 so I am definitely interrested in this feature

EZ Flash 3in1 + DSTwo(+) is the best combo the the DS phat / Lite

 

[Deleted member 323844]

I have tested a bunch of games on DS Lite, if anyone is wondering how it performs. Few games are 100% playable on base system (haven't tested DSi/3DS), but it looks quite an achievement.

 

[plasturion]

..., I selected "neogeo pocket color" and at the "bios settings " line, I selected the bios that I put in the games directory.
...

Hi and thank's again dude. That's works. With selected bios King of Fighters R-2 has sounds and Puyo Pop (puyo puyo 2) boots. :]

 

[Indy13]

Hi and thank's again dude. That's works. With selected bios King of Fighters R-2 has sounds and Puyo Pop (puyo puyo 2) boots. :]

Glad to read this my friend ! Don't forget to save your settings now !

Another little thing, if you do a flash backup, maybe like me, the emulator will freeze, that's okay, it's just because the emulator creates a .fla file, I have an almost full sd card so this is probably why I had this freezing problem but if you turn your console off and on again, the backup made before this freezing problem is created and remains usable.

PS: if your looking for your settings file and .fla file (flash save file), you will find this in your NGPDS folder with your roms and your bios that why it's important to put this folder at root of your sd card or in a "data" folder as explained on the readme file otherwise the emulator may not work properly.

@FluBBa
I noticed a boot problem with white screen on all games and ngp's homebrew games when I try to change the speed, if I set the speed to max or 200% and I save this in my general settings, I can only launch one game, if I want to change games with this setup when I try to launch a second game, I stay on a white screen, is this normal ?

Edit : after several tests,it seems the boot problem on a white screen after changing the speed only appears if a save of the general settings with speed modification is made, otherwise if the saving of the general settings is not modified, you can change the games normally with the set speed to max or 200%

 

[Indy13]

I haven't done extensive testing of games so please tell me if games doesn't work correctly (the first boss on Sonic bugs out a lot of the time).

Metal Slug does not boot if the speed is set to 200% or max before launching the game, you have to run the game on normal speed and then change the speed, with the speed at 200% or max, there are some slight glitches graphics but nothing very annoying and it's still very playable.

Rockman Battle & Fighters has graphical glitch issues at Cutman level, it's playable but the background image has display issue.

 

[wavemotion]

Nice work, @FluBBa! You're half-man, half-amazing!

 

[esv_83]

You can add the option to see the covers of the games. as well as the covers in GBARunner2 and msxDS.

 

[FluBBa]

Metal Slug does not boot if the speed is set to 200% or max before launching the game, you have to run the game on normal speed and then change the speed,

I guess this has to do with the emulator holding the power button after loading a game, I'll look into it. SELECT or Y is the power button.

 

[Indy13]

I guess this has to do with the emulator holding the power button after loading a game, I'll look into it. SELECT or Y is the power button.

I hadn't thought of the ON / OFF function, indeed, by pressing X or SELECT, the game starts normally and without problems with the speed set to the maximum after having saved this configuration in the general settings.

Otherwise, I tried Dive Alert 'Matt's version "(EU), the game crashes after the dialogs at the beginning, I didn't try "Becky's version" but I think it must be the same because it seems that the origin the problem comes from the backup system which is linked with the console time and the configuration of the date and time of the bios, in any case, for the moment, I preferred to remove these two games from my directory because the conflict with the bios configuration impacted with other games like Delta Warp

 

[FluBBa]

Update with some smal fixes
* Added a new border on game screen.
* Added new setting to lower emulated cpu speed.
* Tweaked cpu register usage.
* Fixed MULA opcode.