Short: Bug fixed SPC-700 emulator preview Author: chinoclast@mailexcite.com (Gaelan Griffin) Uploader: chinoclast mailexcite com (Gaelan Griffin) Type: misc/emu Replaces: misc/emu/Anonymous.lha Requires: An 020+ amiga, AHI version 4 or greater: mus/misc/ahiusr.lha Architecture: m68k-amigaos Cool copyright routine, use it in your own code :D ----------------------------Licensing Agreement----------------------------- All files Copyright (c) 1998 by Gaelan Griffin. All rights reserved. License Agreement This license applies to the computer program known as "Anonymous", which is referred to in this license as the "program". The "author" refers to Gaelan Griffin who is the author of the program, documentation, and any related files and who has copyrighted (1998) all the files mentioned. The "archive" refers to the package of distribution, as prepared by the author. Each licensee is addressed as "you" or the "licensee". All conditions of this licensing agreement stated below must be met. You can not challenge the author's copyright. No profit can be gained directly or indirectly by the licensee as a result of the use of or failure to use the program without the prior written permission of the author. The program can not be used in any way that directly or indirectly supports the Microsoft corporation or any of it's subsidiaries or business partners without the author's prior written permission. The program can not be used by any employee or shareholder of the Microsoft corportation or any of it's subsidiares or business partners without the author's prior written permission. The program and the data in the archive are freely distributable under the restrictions stated below, but are also Copyright (c) 1998 by Gaelan Griffin. All rights reserved. Redistribution of a modified version of the program, the archive or the contents of the archive is prohibited in any way, by any organization, regardless whether commercial or non-commercial. Everything must be kept together, in the original and unmodified form. Commercial distribution or inclusion of the software in any collection including, but not limited to, CD-ROMS or cover disks is forbidden without the author's prior written permission with the sole exception of Aminet and Fred Fish CD-ROMS. The exception previously stated is only applicable as long as the author does not state otherwise and as long as all conditions of the licensing agreement are met. Distribution may not violate the licensing agreement or copyright in any way. A nominal fee to cover copying costs is allowed. THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY. THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM AND ALL RELATED FILES IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAMS TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS LICENCE, YOU MUST DELETE THE PROGRAM, THE ARCHIVE AND ALL DATA CONTAINED IN THE ARCHIVE FROM YOUR STORAGE SYSTEM. YOU ACCEPT THIS LICENCE BY USING THE PROGRAM AND/OR REDISTRIBUTING THE ARCHIVE OR ANY DATA CONTAINED WITHIN THE ARCHIVE. --------------------------End of Licensing Agreement------------------------ No time for proper docs yet (I think I spent WAY too much time on the Licensing Agreement :) but you can't be too careful in today's society.) I'll just cover the main points As you know from reading the licensing agreement you don't have to pay any money for the use of this software. Although it's possible that this may change in the future (emailware, giftware, maybe even shareware) I have no intention of ever crippling my programs or adding annoying features. More on this later. Okay, this is the first "preview" release of my SPC-700 emulator. I don't have as much time to work on it anymore for awhile and I promised some people that I would make a public release soon. That, combined with the fact that the emulator works (sort of) with some programs and the new version of ADOM is the reason I've decided to release this. Remember, this is a "preview" release. It doesn't work very well yet. It's primary purpose is to let the world know that it does exist and does work and also to give people something to look forward to in the future. Okay, I'll admit it, the sound is pretty terrible right now. Most replays don't work and the ones that do usually don't sound too good (although some DO sound nearly perfect.) That's why this is only a "preview" :) You may notice that some replays partially work and you can make out a tune. This is evidence that most parts of the emulation are working okay. I'm aware of many of the problems and am working to fix them when I have time. In other words, please DON'T COMPLAIN about the sound or I will not release this again until it is nearly perfect. Okay? The next version will have real documentation in which I will give a detailed description of the emulator status and what to expect in the future. Usage: You need AHI installed. At the command line type Anonymous file where file is the name of the .SPC file to emulate. Simple. Yes, it's called Anonymous. This is because I haven't been able to decide yet between the many names I'm considering. Suggestions are welcome. To quit, type Ctrl-C in the shell window. Because of the AHI mixing routines, the output will be very soft so turn up your monitor/speakers and please don't forget to turn them down again when you are finished. This will be fixed in the future. It uses minimal stack. Don't try to run it from the workbench. That's about it. Solutions to some problems you may have: Adjust AHI settings, especially the default music unit. Try setting it to one of the 8-bit fast modes (NOT ++) Try to give it as much CPU time as possible. Sometimes you have wait a few seconds with some .spc files. Try a different SPC :) In particular, try the recommended ones. About the .SPC files: These are SPC-700 emulation save states, written out by some program (usually ZSNES.) Personally, I find this method to be very poor, but at the moment, there is no other way. I'm working on a file format for ripped music which will be MUCH better than stupid save states, but it will be awhile. If you're interested in ripping, mail me. More on this later. Known bugs: There is a small memory loss the first time the program is run. I believe this is AHI's fault as I've seen other programs exhibit this behaviour. This mem loss is small and is one-time only so it shouldn't affect anyone. I don't know if it can be fixed. The second time the program is run there will be 2 byte reads from 1E. This appears to be caused by AHI_SetSound loading a null pointer from somewhere. I haven't seen this in other programs so it's probably my fault. I probably passed some bad data in the AHI initialization code somewhere. It appears to be harmless. If you have any idea why this might be happening, let me know. Other than that, it appears to be pretty stable. If you notice any enforcer or mungwall hits (besides the ones listed above) then let me know. Also, inform me immediately if it ever crashes, don't assume someone else will. Be sure to try and troubleshoot the problem first (get rid of patches, upgrade AHI, use different audio mode, boot without startup sequnce) When reporting bugs, be sure to give me as much information about your system and the bug as you can. Also, make sure you've read this entire doc first. I don't want to hear about poor sound (yet.) I'm aware of the problems. Also, please let me know how it works (or doesn't work) with your soundcard if you own one. Raist has offered to put some .SPC files on some of his webspace This is the best place to get them at the moment. Be sure to get the BioMetal musics as they are emulated nearly perfectly!! Zombies also works okay. come.to/warpsnes or www.mygale.org/09/raist99/warpsnes/nf-index.html You could also try these: www.cynetcity.com/GameZone/528/ Zophar's Domain (sorry, I don't remember the URL) Feel free to contact me for any reason, bug reports, constructive criticism, ideas, praise, donations, or whatever. My email address: chinoclast@mailexcite.com (Don't support micro$oft! Don't use hotmail!) NOTE: If you haven't recieved an email reply in more than a week, write me again. It's possible it got lost somewhere or that I didn't realize you wanted a reply.