Pocketnes alpha (2-20-08)

Urza

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Pocketnes alpha (2-20-08)
NES emulator for GBA
%5B1865%5Dpocketnes_after.gif

New version of the NES emulator for GBA, PocketNES. Download and changelog below.

[title:Changelog]Fixed bugs
* Less crashes when using compressed roms

New Features
* Rewrote the Background Tile update system, so now it delays changes to the nametables until the next frame, so that the graphics synchronized properly. No more disappearing ? blocks in Super Mario Bros. (Punchout and 4-screen mirroring is currently broken)

Optimizations
* Games run much faster in this version
* Replaced some memory filling/copying loops with faster multi-register writing code
* Very heavy optimizations to PPU status reads, almost makes PPU hack unnecessary
* Now stores fixed PRG bank inside Fast Video RAM instead of slow cartridge slot, huge speedups for this reason

What's broken:
* PPU Hack does nothing right now
* PUNCHOUT is broken
* TQROM and Mapper 74 are broken
* 4 screen mirroring is broken
* Savestates are buggy
* Don't try to use the cheat finder right now.

Internal changes which only make sense if you're the developer
* Moved some code out of IWRAM, including the multiplayer link code. (it's still there, just no longer wasting fast memory)
* Different timeout system

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Source
 

JPH

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I've never had a problem with PocketNES, works great.
gbasp.gif


And it's glad to know some teams are still supporting the good ol' GBA...I do wish there was more homebrew release for it, lately
frown.gif


gba.gif
 

dib

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I wish the DS version would get some attention, I thought it was supposed to have the extra resources so they could get the last few mappers+games working. And as is I can't even use it, the touch screen controls are broken for me.
 

Spikey

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I would like to see some more attention given to the DS one. Emulators are far more improved, and if I recall correctly, that's what they were waiting for to improve them. Touch screen controls on the menu are horrible, and sometimes when I hit load state I end up selecting save state by mistake and whatnot due to it.

Regardless, nice for the people still on their GBAs. Gunna put this on my M3 that's in my micro.
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jesterscourt

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So to be clear, since I have a CycloEvo AND a 3-in-1, which emulator would be better to use for NES games, the GBA version of the DS version? Compatibility/Bugwise.
 

Rayder

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Punch Out broken? Fail. (my all-time favorite NES game) My SCminiSD has an old version of PocketNES built-in and that game works......graphically glitchy, but it works and I can play it fine.


One question though. Does this version STILL make you create a special file with the ROMs you want to play or does it just allow you to have an NES folder? I'd rather just have a folder.....they do that on the SC's built-in version, why not the official build?
 

Destructobot

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So to be clear, since I have a CycloEvo AND a 3-in-1, which emulator would be better to use for NES games, the GBA version of the DS version? Compatibility/Bugwise.
I don't know about bugs, but I think PocketNES has better compatibility overall. Even so, games look so much better in nesDS that I only use the GBA emulators for games that nesDS can't play adequately.


Rayder: Punch Out!! works in HVCA.
 

DanTheManMS

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One question though. Does this version STILL make you create a special file with the ROMs you want to play or does it just allow you to have an NES folder? I'd rather just have a folder.....they do that on the SC's built-in version, why not the official build?
Because the Supercard does some trickery to launch its built-in emulator with the rom you chose appended onto the end. You're using the Supercard menu to browse for your files. In essence, you're making a "special file with the ROM built-in" the moment you launch it; the Supercard just takes care of it for you. Therefore, no build of PocketNES supports browsing through your Supercard's filesystem, official or not.

DLDI support on GBA apps is very rare, as it came out long after most GBA homebrew projects had already been abandoned. There is a GBAMP-specific version of PocketNES, which uses a paging system to get large roms working (similar to SNEmulDS) but this often creates slowdown. You'd have the same slowdown effect if you added DLDI support to it. The DS can do it because the DS has 4 MB of RAM to store the NES rom into and work with; the GBA has a mere 256 KB so it must use the paging system or simply store the entire game in ROM like it currently does.

As for why NES DS isn't getting updated, the reason is twofold:
1. The guy who's updating this, Dwedit, is more interested in the GBA side of things from what I can tell. He's been updating the PocketNES code for ages, so he's more familiar with it than the NES DS code, which is based off a much older version of PocketNES. Loopy is the one who originally created PocketNES before it was taken over by others, and I believe Loopy is the only one who worked on NES DS at all (I could be wrong here). He's not interested in it anymore, so it doesn't get updated.
2. NES DS still requires a several-thousand-dollar compiler in order to compile it.

If you want better touchscreen support, or simply a way to manage savestates with button combos rather than the touchscreen, try out this tweaked build by kyleroberson.
 

DespizingU

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Wow...I didn't know there was a tweaked build. Thank you very much for that. The touch screen controls for NesDS are absolutely horrible. And that's a shame since it's a great emulator.

Hopefully this tweaked build makes managing savestates a lot more easier.

EDIT: Just wanted to say I'm using the tweaked NesDS build from PocketHeaven that dan linked, and that build makes a world of difference.

I pretty much only used the touch screen for savestates. And in the tweaked build you press Select+Down to save, and Select+Up to load. And Select+Start to pick another rom.
Anyone else that hates the touch screen calibration on NesDS, you need to give this build a try. Big thanks to dan for posting it.
 

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