Acorn Emulation Latest

Details of all previous updates, can be downloaded in a ZIP file - recommended reading.

30 emulators and counting!

Archie, a new Archimedes emulator for the PC has been released. The author is looking for an ARM2 data sheet if anyone can help, since at the moment he is forced to work from the ARM6 information.

STem v1.03, the Atari ST emulator by Sam Ellis has been released. The new version of this emulator features bug fixes to the 68000 CPU emulation, a faster MFP timer C (don't ask me, I don't know either), control of the main ST joystick via the Acorn keypad, can now boot v2.06 of the TOS (ST OS).

David McEwen has released v0.27 of xNES. The new version is compiled using Acorn Stubs instead of UnixLib (for non-C buffs that means smaller, 'better' code), much optimisation has also been made of the original code, Mappers 1 and 11 have been improved meaning Mario1 and defender are now improved, and Crystal Dreams games now work.

New versions of Stella and AdamEm should be out soon, with emulation for more perculiar controls via the mouse.

The MAME development team will be publicly releasing beta versions of the emulator, before the full version is released. This will mean updates every few days/weeks as opposed to the 4 month gap between v0.30 and v0.31. v0.33 beta 1 (0.32 has been skipped to prevent ambiguity with MAME32, the Win95 port) should be out fairly soon for RISC OS, once Gareth gets back from the States, and has already been released for Dos and Mac platforms.

The Acorn Emulation Archive has been updated with STem v1.03 and xNES v0.27.

I came across another Acorn emulation page which I've addded on my links page, nothing new though I'm afraid.

I'm pleased to say that last week the Acorn Emulation Page had a record 946 hits, I'd like to say thankyou to all of you who visit the page and find it a worthwhile resource. I'm considering adding an FAQ section to the page, so if there's any questions you have, or any other areas you think I should add, please tell me about them.

I'm also starting up a game of the update. Basically this entails me mentioning one of the best emulated games I've been playing since the last update and can recommend you download and take a look at (I'm also open to suggestions if you've played a really good game under emulation). With this update I'm recommending Wonderboy III.

I have been sent a preview v0.10 of Miracle, the Sega Master System emulator, by Rich Talbot-Watkins, and am pleased to announce that significant improvements have been made and will continue to be made to the emulator. The version I have features the code as a module with a desktop frontend. Save/Load state functionality has also been added, in the same format as MasterGear (Gareth Moore's Sega emulator) and there is also the possibility of MASSAGE (the best SMS emulator on the PC) save state compatability. Redefinable controls for players 1 & 2, and automatic or user defined frame skip. The multitasking emulation is not implemented yet, and may not be before the next release, but should be coming eventually. Rich is very busy with degree finals so don't bother him with queries right now, the next version will be released as soon as it's ready.

I've added a frequently asked questions page (FAQ) to the site. At the moment it's quite small, but will grow when I remember some more of the questions I keep getting asked. On the emulator authoring page, I've added a section on features of a good emulator, as a list of features that emulator authors should consider adding to their emulators. They aren't all possible for all systems, but I hope might generate a few ideas for emulator authors.

It appears that there are year 2000 compatability problems with some BBC, BBC+, and Master series computers, as a result of the OS ROMs. This effects emulation in that depending on which BBC ROMs you use with your emulator, it may fail. The good news is that R. Sprow has produced and is selling modified year 2000 compliant BBC ROMs for a very small charge. These have been tested with WSS 6502em and apparently work fine. If you want to get hold of these ROMs, I suggest you take a look at his page.

Having read some of the interviews of emulator authors in the PC world, and found them very interesting, I'm considering doing a similar thing for emulator authors on the Acorn (if they're willing of course). Emulator authors, look out! ;o)

Previous update: Tuesday 28/4/98 (ZIP file)