Nintendulator 0.960 -----------Introduction -----------Nintendulator started out as NinthStar NES, written by David "Akilla" De Regt.

Written in C++, it was a reasonably accurate (and slow) NES emulator which used NESten 0.61's mapper DLLs. Numerous other systems were planned to be emulated within NinthStar (as well as complex debuggers for each of them), but somewhere along the line, the project was abandoned. At that point, I took the existing NES sources and started improving them. First, the PPU was rewritten to be much more accurate than before, running cycle-by-cycle according to documentation that had been released at the time. After that, the CPU was rewritten to execute instructions more accurately. Then the APU was mostly completed, giving the emulator proper sound. Somewhere along the line, it was determined that the C++ usage in the code was very poorly done and was slowing the program down, so I converted it to plain C and named the program "Nintendulator". The eventual goal of Nintendulator is to be *the* most accurate NES emulator, right down to the hardware quirks. In the meanwhile, it can certainly be used to test NES code with confidence that if it works properly in Nintendulator, it will probably work properly on the real hardware as well. --------------Version History --------------0.960 - Overall: Added proper Unicode support to Nintendulator - as such, there are now separate ANSI and Unicode builds. - APU: Various optimizations to the pulse channels Removed the sound logging feature from the code, since AVI output allows sound logging easily. Re-enabled frame IRQs on reset - the only games that had problems with these were demos. - Controllers: Added a global option to enable Left+Right and Up+Down in normal gameplay, rather than only allowing it during movie recording. Cleaned up device handling somewhat. Fixed several bugs with device enabling. Moved movie-related code into its own file. Fixed various controller 'Frame' procedures to use the MovieMode parameter rather than the global setting. Improved cursor positioning for the Oeka Kids Tablet controller. Updated Zapper support to behave more closely to the real thing - Debugger: Enabling debugger with 1X size no longer sets the size multiplier to 2x - when closing the debugger, it will now revert to 1X properly. Various minor fixes. - Game Genie: Cleaned up initialization code. Updated Genie Enable code to use the 'optimized' code handlers. On savestate load, any active game genie codes will be reported in

the Status window. - Graphics: Graphics resources are now unloaded when an invalid bit depth is detected - this should prevent the emulator from crashing. Enumerated all available palettes to reduce the possibility of introducing bugs when newer VS palettes are added. Added dark grays to the 14th column of the Playchoice-10 palette. Added the palette for the VS unisystem PPU "RP2C04-0001". Cleaned up NTSC palette generation code slightly. Improved Colour Emphasis coefficients to more closely match the real hardware. - Mapper Interface: Added the ability to select which DLL to use when multiple DLLs support the current game's mapper. Removed the "Full Reset" reset type. Added Unicode support, denoted by setting the high order bit of the CurrentMapperInterface variable. Moved mapper 'Load' call from NES "File Open" code into LoadMapper. - NES: Fixed a bug where changing between NTSC and PAL emulation would load the "Custom Palette" for the wrong mode. Fixed a multithreading bug in the main emulation routine. Fixed a bug in the Load Settings code to perform special mapping for the Four-Score instead of the Power Pad. - Main Program: Fixed command-line parameter handling to behave correctly when the program and/or ROM filenames are enclosed in quotes. - PPU: Added a variable to keep track of fractional cycles in PAL emulation. For compatibility, this variable is stored in the upper bits of the "ClockTicks" state variable. Added preliminary code (currently disabled) to accurately emulate the sprite evaluation process. Adjusted the initial VRAM addres load to occur at cycle 304 on scanline -1. Delayed VRAM address horizontal component reload until cycle 257. Fixed a bug in Sprite 0 Hit handling during frameskip. - Savestates: Moved controller savestate code into the Controllers module. Moved movie savestate code into the new Movie module. - Mappers: Added a new mapper DLL for VS Unisystem games. Increased MMC3/MMC6 IRQ counter threshold for PPU address changes. Removed noise emulation from FME-7 sound code. Updated MMC5 configuration dialog to list unconfirmed Famicom game titles in Japanese. Improved mapper 32 slightly. Updated mapper 45 (and BMC-Super1Min1 UNIF board) to support RAM at $6000-$7FFF. Updated mapper 95 to use Namco 118 instead of MMC3. Made vast improvements to mapper 100 (debugging mapper). Upgraded MMC5 mappers to full compatibility. Added iNES mappers 74, 88, 116, 125, and 188. Added UNIF boards NES-SFROM, NES-TL1ROM. and UNL_A9712. Fixed UNL-H2288 board (Earthworm Jim 2 pirate) to work correctly. 0.950 - APU: Fixed behaviour of square channel pitch bends (silences properly in

Mega Man games, Codemasters intros, etc.) Fixed behaviour pf square/noise channel volume envelope Fixed behaviour of triangle channel linear counter Rewrote DPCM IRQ code to work correctly Adjusted DPCM sample fetch to take up to 4 cycles Reduced PCM volume by 25% Reading $4015 now correctly acknowledges a DPCM IRQ Fixed behaviour of frame counter when in 5-stage mode Disabled frame IRQs on reset (fixes some games) Added full APU state information to savestate files Added simple linear downsampling filter to audio playback (improves noise channel) Audio output is now clamped to prevent clipping Improved audio playback code somewhat, should react more smoothly to brief system slowdowns Controllers: Added SNES controller (compatible with NES controller in most games, can be used with homebrew games designed for it) Added alternate Famicom keyboard (used in "Study & Game 32-in-1" multicart) Added Family Trainer (similar to Power Pad) Added Oeka Kids drawing tablet Individual controllers are now updated exactly once per frame, to ensure consistent results Redesigned controller configuration, now prompts to press a button/key/axis instead of having to select it from a list Made controller configuration much more flexible, allowing joypad axes to be used for ANY controller button Controllers are now kept acquired at all times, allowing players to control the game while the emulator is not selected. CPU: Removed 'B' (breakpoint) flag from processor status Set 'I' flag upon receiving NMI and RESET Various optimizations to individual instructions Updated sprite DMA to take 513 cycles instead of 512 Fixed minor bugs in NMI and IRQ handling Implemented most of the 'useful' invalid opcodes Debugger: Changed window positions to be relative to each other, rather than fixed Debugger now forces window size to at least 2X size, removed half-size nametable viewer. Fixed crash bug with placing breakpoint on top instruction line Scrolling through I/O registers in the disassembly window no longer reads from them (since it would alter their states) No longer causes graphical glitches under Windows 9x Added bank status for CPU banks 6/7 and PPU nametables Graphics: Auto-Frameskip now updates the selection in the menu NTSC palette is now generated at runtime Added the Playchoice-10 RGB palette as well as its own unique way of applying colour emphasis Added a palette configuration dialog, allowing users to select between a parameterized NTSC palette, a fixed PAL palette, the Playchoice-10 RGB palette, or one loaded from an external file (.PAL format, as supported by other emulators) Separate palette settings are stored for both NTSC and PAL emulation, though NTSC only uses one set of parameters Miscellaneous fixes Mappers:

Redesigned mapper interface to provide additional functionality * PPU I/O handlers * Allow setting PPU open bus * Allow mapping nametables in arbitrary PPU regions * Allow mapping custom data into the CPU and PPU * Removed SRAM save/load handling * Changed IRQ to select the state (high/low) instead of sending a pulse * Replaced Mapper menu with a single callback to let the mapper open its own configuration dialog * Removed MMC5 Attribute Cache update operation, as Nintendulator does not use an attribute cache * Moved ROM-specific information into a separate 'ROMInfo' structure, passed to the DLL when a game is loaded. Added detailed information for all supported file types. ROMs are now loaded using this information, rather than by only specifying a mapper number or board name * Replaced mapper-specific Init/Unload functions with Load, Reset, and Unload operations. * Added a global 'UnloadMapper' operation NES: Moved emulation to a thread separate from UI handling Failure to open a ROM now gives a reason why it failed. Added "Auto-Run on Load" option Rewrote file parsing code for all supported ROM types Added disk writing support for FDS games NSF player 'control' code now resides in the mapper DLL rather than in the emulator itself NSF playback speed is now adjusted to the actual NTSC/PAL video rates rather than exactly 60Hz/50Hz. Switching from PAL to NTSC no longer causes the program to lock Various optimizations to Game Genie support Allow compile-time disabling of debugger for improved speed Changed default stretch to 2X Added the ability to slow down emulation by a particular amount Added the ability to pause emulation and advance one frame at a time Overall: Allow specifying a ROM filename on the command-line Allow opening a ROM by dragging it onto the program window Opening a menu, resizing the window, or opening the Load File dialog no longer results in the last sound segment playing over and over Added a status window, where various messages are reported Paths for ROMs, movies, palettes, etc. are saved between sessions Added an iNES header editor PPU: Added I/O handlers for all PPU memory accesses Made all PPU memory accesses synchronous with PPU emulation Fixed palette access functionality Attempting to read from SPR-RAM while rendering now simulates what a real PPU would return, though it assumes no sprites are drawn Various timing fixes and optimizations Savestates: Created a new [custom] savestate format; SNSS had too many problems and did not store certain vital pieces of information * CPU and PPU state information are stored in separate blocks CPUS and PPUS instead of a single block BASR * Added numerous fields to CPU and PPU data stored * Dropped mirroring status from PPU block - the mapper state stores this * CHR-RAM and PRG-RAM no longer store null data at the end, saving

space * Dropped "SRAM Writable" field - the mapper state stores this * Mapper data no longer stores PRG/CHR banks separately - the custom data field stores this in a manner appropriate to the mapper * Custom mapper state data no longer has a size limitation * Added storage for Game Genie status and FDS disk write information When selecting a savestate, the titlebar now also indicates whether a savestate is present in the slot - Movie support: Proper movie support has been added with the following features: * Record from reset OR from where you are currently playing * Use (almost) any controllers you want * Save your state while recording a movie, then load the state to 'rewind' back to that point * Watch an existing movie, then save and load a savestate to resume recording at that point - AVI output: With a sufficiently fast processor, you can create an AVI of your gameplay. On slower systems, it is best to record a movie and then create the AVI while playing back the movie. Notes: * Supports video compression using any codecs available. * Currently does not support audio compression. 0.900 - Initial release ------------------Supporting Features ------------------Supports files of types .NES, .FDS, .NSF, and .UNIF Save States (custom format .NS0-.NS9) Movie Recording (custom format .NMV) with savestates SRAM saving (standard .SAV files) FDS disk writing (stored as differences in custom .FSV file) 4 player support, and beyond Ultra-accurate pixel-based rendering Emulates all internal sound channels, as well as most of the external Japanese ones (FDS, MMC5, VRC6, VRC7, FME-7, Namco 106) - Support for all DirectInput controllers - Built-in REAL Game Genie support - External mapper plugins -----------Known Issues ------------ "Non-standard" sprite overflow behavior is not yet emulated - PAL APU timings have not yet been verified - Certain system hardware properties may not be emulated 100% correctly. - Not all mappers are emulated perfectly. - When recording movies, it is not possible to assign text to the 'Description' field. - When recording a movie and stopping, excess data at the end of the movie file is not truncated, though it is ignored during playback. - If your CPU speed is below 1000MHz, emulation will likely be slow. -------------------

Using Nintendulator ------------------Minimum system requirements for Nintendulator are a 1000MHz or faster processor. All commands & options are available through menus, many with shortcut keys. File: - Open (Ctrl+O) Browse to a ROM's location and open it. - Close Unloads the currently opened ROM. - Edit iNES Header Allows you to open an iNES ROM image and edit its header to change its PRG/CHR ROM sizes, mapper number, and flags. - Auto-Run Causes the emulator to immediately start emulation after a ROM is loaded. Useful if you don't want to have to press F2 every time you load a game. - Exit (Alt+F4) Closes the program. CPU: - Run (F2) Starts emulation. After loading a ROM, you must use this to start it running unless you have Auto-Run enabled. - Step (Shift+F2) Runs the CPU for exactly one instruction and then stops. Only useful when the Debugger is open. - Stop (F3) Temporarily stops emulation. Use 'Run' to resume. - Soft Reset (F4) Resets the game as if you had just pushed the 'reset' button on the NES. Some games behave differently to hard vs. soft resets. - Hard Reset (Shift+F4) Resets the game as if you had just power-cycled the NES. - Save State (F5) Saves the game's state. - Load State (F8) Loads the game's state. - Prev State (F6) Changes the savestate slot to the previous slot. - Next State (F7) Changes the savestate slot to the next slot. - Game Genie (Ctrl+G) Enables Game Genie support. Perform a Reset to access the code entry screen, then enter the codes as you would on a real Game Genie. Press Ctrl+G while the game is running to enable/disable the currently entered codes. - Frame Step Allows you to pause a game and advance it one frame at a time while updating your controls. Useful for recording movies. PPU: - Frameskip Allows the emulator to skip rendering frames to improve speed. If you have a slow computer and cannot attain full speed, turn up frameskip to attempt to speed up emulation. Use Auto-Frameskip to let the emulator automatically adjust frameskip for best speed. - Size

Allows you to set the window size between 1X and 4X stretch. - Mode Allows you to switch between NTSC (American and Japanese) and PAL (European) timing. If a game plays at the wrong speed, its music is off-pitch, or has timing-related graphical errors (i.e. screen scrolls at the wrong location), try switching modes. - Palette... Allows you to choose a different set of colors. In NTSC mode, specify the Hue and Saturation to your liking; other modes do not use these settings. If you do not like the builtin palettes, choose 'Custom' and load a .PAL file. Nintendulator allows you to specify different palettes for NTSC and PAL emulation (though the NTSC palette uses the same parameters in both modes). - Slowdown Allows you to slow down emulation in order to better control the game you are playing. Sound Menu: - Enabled Enables sound playback AND speed throttling - when sound playback is disabled, emulation will be done as fast as possible. Input Menu: - Setup Opens the Input configuration dialog. Select a device for each controller port and press the corresponding "Config" button to configure it. Selecting "Four-Score" for one controller port will automatically select it for the second port. When configuring a controller, select a device for each button from the appropriate dropdown lists and click the corresponding button. When the "Press a key..." indicator appears, press AND release the key/button/axis you wish to use. Controllers cannot be changed while a movie is playing or recording, though you can still adjust the key bindings. The option "Allow simultaneous Left+Right and Up+Down" is available to enable the ability to press two opposing direction buttons at the same time. Be aware that this causes glitches in some games! Debug: - Level 1 (Ctrl+F1) Disables the debugger entirely. This should be used for all actual gameplay. - Level 2 (Ctrl+F2) Displays the current contents of the pattern tables and the palette. - Level 3 (Ctrl+F3) Displays the current contents of the nametables. (includes Level 2) - Level 4 (Ctrl+F4) Displays the game's code where it is currently executing and the status of all CPU registers. Also indicates PPU timing information as well as currently mapped program and character ROM/RAM banks. Breakpoints can be placed by clicking on an instruction. (includes Level 3) - Status Window Opens the Debug Information window, where the emulator can display various status messages without having to pop up a dialog box. Game: If the game you have selected has any special options, this menu will be enabled. Clicking on it will open a dialog box through

which you may configure your game more closely. This is used mainly for NSF playback (to choose which song to play) and FDS games (to eject/insert disks). Misc: - Start AVI Capture Allows you to capture video and audio data to an AVI file. Choose a location to save the AVI file in, then specify a video codec. - Stop AVI Capture Stops the active AVI capture. - Play Movie Allows you to play back a previously recorded movie. Browse to the location the movie is stored and open it. - Record Movie from Reset Allows you to record a movie starting from system reset. These have the advantage of being significantly smaller than movies recorded from a savestate. Choose a location to save the movie file in, then choose the controllers you wish to use - once recording starts, they cannot be changed! - Record Movie from Current State Allows you to record a movie starting from the current system state. These tend to be larger than movies recorded from reset, but they can be used to demonstrate a particular part of a game without having to waste time reaching that point. Choose a location to save the movie file in, then choose the controllers you wish to use - once recording starts, they cannot be changed! - Resume Movie Allows you to watch a movie up to a certain point, and then save and load a savestate to continue recording it. Recording is enabled the instant you load a compatible savestate. Browse to the location the movie is stored and open it. - Stop Movie Stops any movie currently playing or recording. Help: - About Displays the obligatory About box. ---------------Acknowledgements ---------------TNSe - For writing the emulator NESten, allowing me to implement the mappers using a simple yet powerful interface. Akilla - For writing the emulator NinthStar NES, upon which this emulator was based. Kevtris - For lots of help figuring out various aspects of the NES's hardware using his CopyNES and other tools. Everyone else from EFnet #nesdev and the NESdev board, who are too numerous to name. ------Contact -------

Homepage - http://qmt.ath.cx/~nes/nintendulator http://nintendulator.sourceforge.net/ (redirect) ---------Disclaimer ---------NES, Family Computer, and FDS are registered trademarks of Nintendo. Game Genie is a registered trademark of Galoob. The author is not affiliated with Nintendo of America or any other company mentioned, and does not encourage the piracy of NES games. Nintendulator may be distributed according to the terms of the GNU General Public License. It may NOT be distributed with copyrighted ROM images. You use this software at your own risk. The author is not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from the use of this software. If you do not agree with these terms, do not use this software.