Regen 0.93 Beta 4 + new Debuggers

AamirM's Regen forum

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YakovlevViktor
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Post by YakovlevViktor » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:36 am

To AamirM

This is a last modification of gens created by me
http://shedevr.org.ru/utils/Files/gensVKNTrace.rar

source code
http://shedevr.org.ru/utils/Files/GensVKNTracersrc.rar

Including many thinks, but not translating to inglish (russian)!

AamirM
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Post by AamirM » Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:08 am

Hi,
I'm trying to figure out what that huge "7" means in the about window. Razz
Its my favourite and lucky number :D . Dunno about you but looks cool to me. (and thats the best "artwork" I could do :P )
Quick Save State works! Yay! However, there's no checkmark by Slot 0 by default.

Save State As still saves a state with no extension instead of GSX.

Power Off disables all sound in subsequent loaded games.
Ahh...Thanks for the reports. I'll fix them.
Question about Genesis video modes: About the one that Regen displays with vertical black bars on the left and right (aka Sparkster title screen): Wouldn't a TV stretch the image horizontally? So shouldn't "Correct Aspect Ratio" alter the video output so all Genesis video modes are essentially the same looking?

I've read through discussions about this in the past and how Steve Snake "does it right" in Kega. If so, why is Kega's video in fullscreen smaller than Regen's? But then TV's had rectangular pixels or something. This confuses me.
Unlike Kega, I am not emulating a TV :P . So, with stretching off, what you see is what a Genesis produces. I can't tell why Kega's video in fullscreen is smaller than Regen. Most probably aspect calculations are different. Again, I am eliminating the TV.
EDIT: Does Correct Aspect Ratio + Stretch = like a TV?
Nope, Correct Aspect + Stretch = largest 4:3 image in selected fullscreen resolution. For example, if stretching is on and selected fullscreen resolution is 800x600 then resulting image will be 800x600 (with aspect correction on of course and your monitor aspect disregared) which is correct because 800x600 is a 4:3 resolution. Again, I don't know why Kega is displaying it smaller. Regen provides lots of aspect correction options so at least one should please you :) .
What's limiting the filters to only 2x? I would love to use Normal2x up to Normal5x (or more!) Very Happy
Honestly, its purely because of my laziness. :D
I thought we weren't really supposed to compare to Kega, but I will.

Sound issue: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Konami Screen is really crackly. Similar to the crackliness of CV: Bloodlines BGM 26.

EDIT: Phantasy Star II overworld map song in Kega: If you listen carefully, you can barely hear little woppies in the background. They occur more frequently than Regen but are much harder to hear. Regen has just a few towards the end of the song, and they are quite audible.

Zombies Konami Screen sounds really interesting (and good!) in Kega. Have a good ol' fashioned listen.
Yeah I hear the crackliness too. Though it doesn't happen in the VGM plugin so I am guessing this may be filtering. About Phantasy Star II, its not just this game, there are other games as well where some intruments are higher level than Kega and I've asked Steve Snake about this. Lets see what he has to say. Although I haven't looked, it may be the SSG-EG as well in which case it may be Regen which is right. Will look into it myself later.
Someone had mentioned the difference in video clarity between Kega and Regen at supposedly equivalent video settings. Kega is clearer. I decided to investigate.
Hmmm......okay, will look into this too. Thanks for reports and screenies.
To AamirM

This is a last modification of gens created by me
http://shedevr.org.ru/utils/Files/gensVKNTrace.rar

source code
http://shedevr.org.ru/utils/Files/GensVKNTracersrc.rar

Including many thinks, but not translating to inglish (russian)!
First of all, welcome to the boards. Thanks a lot for those. I'll add important things from there into Regen. I can easily see what the code is doing so I will translate it myself pretty easily. Thanks a lot again :) .

stay safe,

AamirM

AamirM
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Post by AamirM » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:21 pm

Hi,

Okay, I tried translating the main 68k debugger but I can't translate just one text line which appears as ????.

Image

I'd be thankful if somebody could translate that.

To YakovlevViktor:

Nice work! :wink: You added lots of things. And that 68k debugger looks sweet :) .

stay safe,

AamirM

SmartOne
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Post by SmartOne » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:07 pm

AamirM wrote:
Does Correct Aspect Ratio + Stretch = like a TV?
Nope, Correct Aspect + Stretch = largest 4:3 image in selected fullscreen resolution.
... Isn't that what a TV is/does?
AamirM wrote:Regen provides lots of aspect correction options so at least one should please you :)
Unless I learn something better, the above pleases me very much! :D

Snake
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Post by Snake » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:04 pm

AamirM wrote:Unlike Kega, I am not emulating a TV :P . So, with stretching off, what you see is what a Genesis produces.
Well, no it isn't. It isn't the TV that 'stretches' these images. It's the way they are output.

Zoomer
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Post by Zoomer » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:57 pm

Aamir. First line of question marks is just description of VDP breakpoints:
"Setting up breakpoint on memory write"
and next one:
"Address range: ..."

SmartOne
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Post by SmartOne » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:01 pm

Snake, I have to say that I love Kega. Thank you for all your work.

Why doesn't Kega output an image that's the largest 4:3 ratio for the indicated resolution? This has something to do with the overscan borders, no?

YakovlevViktor
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Post by YakovlevViktor » Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:47 am

VDD Breakpoint

After text ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I translate to inglish:
Set a breakpoints to write in VDD
Range adress 00000-2ffff

And see sh2 debuger for Sega 32X and VDP for SegaCD

Snake
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Post by Snake » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:08 am

SmartOne wrote:Snake, I have to say that I love Kega. Thank you for all your work.

Why doesn't Kega output an image that's the largest 4:3 ratio for the indicated resolution? This has something to do with the overscan borders, no?
Not really the best place to discuss this but anyway... It does :)

Basically, it outputs what a real console outputs. In PAL modes, you will get a 240 line high display. Some games will use the full display, others (most of them, because they're usually coded for NTSC and then ported) will only use 224. But in that case you will see a small border on your display.

On an NTSC TV, not only are there less lines, but they're spaced slightly further apart. This requires a very slight vertical stretch to simulate correctly. Kega will do this for you if you disable the aspect options, and enable filtering. This is probably what you're talking about. It'll fill the screen in NTSC and still show the border and correct aspect in PAL.

SmartOne
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Post by SmartOne » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:44 am

Well, this video stuff also applies to Regen because it's not 100% accurate based on my little screenshot investigation and personal experience. If Kega's output is 100% correct, then Regen's simply isn't.

I'm running Sparkster NTSC. In Kega I disabled aspect options and have it set to "Normal" with "Filtered." My fullscreen resolution is 1280x800. The fullscreen output is stretched to fill the whole screen. This can't be correct! Disabling the "Filtered" option makes the picture clear with small borders on the top and bottom.

Fixed Aspect (Fit) looks correct to me, but the video is centered in the middle of the screen with black borders all around. So, again, why doesn't Kega scale that image to the biggest ratio for my resolution?


EDIT: By the way, Regen doesn't always successfully load a drag 'n' dropped rom (ZIP.) The first one worked, but when another game is running, the focus simply switches away from Regen when I try to drop another rom... And now I can't reproduce the glitch. But it DID happen.

tomaitheous
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Post by tomaitheous » Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:40 am

Well, this video stuff also applies to Regen because it's not 100% accurate based on my little screenshot investigation and personal experience.
You probably know this already but... unfiltered/internal screen shots from the emu snapshot function are not going to retain the aspect ratio. I think I've see one or two emu's that allow you to take filtered snapshots.

Snake
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Post by Snake » Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:00 am

SmartOne wrote:This can't be correct!
Bah, no. That only works if your screen is also 4:3. Widescreen monitors weren't exactly common when I made the last build ;) Actually this mode was really created for people who wanted to run it through TV Out.
SmartOne wrote:Fixed Aspect (Fit) looks correct to me, but the video is centered in the middle of the screen with black borders all around.
Yeah, that option will intentionally not do sub-pixel scaling, nor alter the shape of pixels. So your image will be 960x720, since that's the largest multiple of 320x240 that'll fit.

Of course you can do whatever you want if you set up the expert modes in the ini file, but an option that does exactly what you want is definitely in order these days. Kinda a combination of the above two - do the NTSC vertical correction but don't assume the display is 4:3 ;)

HardWareMan
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Post by HardWareMan » Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:09 am

YakovlevViktor wrote:VDD Breakpoint
After text ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I translate to inglish:
Set a breakpoints to write in VDD
Range adress 00000-2ffff
And see sh2 debuger for Sega 32X and VDP for SegaCD
I will help you with translating.
Section "VRAM breakpoints".
Text: "Set breakpoint at VRAM write access in addresses 00000-2FFFF".

SmartOne
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Post by SmartOne » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:00 pm

tomaitheous wrote:You probably know this already but... unfiltered/internal screen shots from the emu snapshot function are not going to retain the aspect ratio. I think I've see one or two emu's that allow you to take filtered snapshots.
Both Kega and Regen can take filtered screenshots, so this is covered.

Thank you for explaining, Snake. I finally understand! :)

AamirM
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Post by AamirM » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:26 pm

Hi,
Snake wrote: Well, no it isn't. It isn't the TV that 'stretches' these images. It's the way they are output.
Snake wrote: On an NTSC TV, not only are there less lines, but they're spaced slightly further apart. This requires a very slight vertical stretch to simulate correctly. Kega will do this for you if you disable the aspect options, and enable filtering. This is probably what you're talking about. It'll fill the screen in NTSC and still show the border and correct aspect in PAL.
Then what stretches them? If its the Genesis, I am wrong then and I'll accept that. But unless I missed something, I thought it produced 256 or 320 pixels wide video and due to the pixel clocks it gets stretched. But since nobody complained about it, I am not going to change it right now in Regen. Again, what you see on Regen is *not* what you see on TV (with stretch off). That allegation is correct. But I didn't make it to look like on a TV in the first place.

@ Others who gave translation:

Thanks! :)

stay safe,

AamirM

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