MasterGear is an emulator for the Sega Master System and the Sega Game Gear. In short, it allows Sega Master System or Game Gear cartridges to be played on your Macintosh. MasterGear attempts to provide a fully accurate replica of the original Sega Master System and Game Gear hardware in Macintosh-compatible software.
• How does it work?
Operation of MasterGear is very easy. Opening the application will bring up a file selection dialog. Choose a Sega 8-bit cartridge image and a window will appear. This is a "virtual Sega"—it should behave like the real Sega system, complete with the original sounds, graphics, and even flaws of the original software.
• So how do I plug a Sega cartridge into my Mac?
Sorry, it isn't easy. Certain sides on the Internet have a huge selection of cartridges available for the Sega—however, be warned that downloading ROMs you do not actually possess is a copyright infringement. For that reason, I will not provide ROMs for MasterGear or links to them—so don't e-mail me to ask for cartridge images! Your mail will be deleted.
If you want to convert your own Sega cartridges to files manually, the only way is to download the cartridge data on a Windows machine, and then copy it to your Macintosh via floppy disk or networking. The adaptors used for direct Sega cartridge input are available for Windows machines, but none have been developed for Macintosh so far that I know of. Hopefully somebody will one day develop an adaptor for Macintosh.
• How do I control the game?
The key settings are customizable. The default keys are:
arrow keys: direction pad
shift: 1 button
option: 2 button
return: start button (only used in Game Gear mode)
tab: pause button (only used in Master System mode)
delete: reset button (only used in Master System mode)
• What do all the interesting-looking options do?
MasterGear has several options, each of which has some cool features. (* denotes options only available to registered users.) Choose Preferences from the Edit menu to change your setup.
Under the Video tab, the choices are:
• Video Mode: the video can be displayed small, interlaced, blocky, or TV mode.
• Video Zoom: the video can be zoomed up to four times the base size.
• Full Screen: lets you choose whether MasterGear takes over the screen or displays in a window.
Under the Audio tab, the choices are:
• Sound Quality (n kHz, n bit): sets the sound quality of MasterGear. 44 kHz, 16 bit sound is highest quality, while 11 kHz, 8 bit is lowest. Higher quality sound can take a fair amount of processor power.
• Volume slider: selects volume of the sound to be played. (For louder sound, also turn up the volume in the Sound control panel.)
Under the Speed tab, the choices are:
• Run at n % of actual speed: * allows you to slow down or speed up the emulator. It's very useful to speed up boring parts or slow down difficult areas within a game.
• Quit other applications: speeds up MasterGear by closing all background applications.
• ..., and quit the Finder: can give a further speedup, but you will lose all of your Apple menu items until you quit MasterGear and return to the Finder.
• Suspend Background Tasks: in full-screen mode, this will boost MasterGear's speed by ignoring other open applications. Ongoing background processes like printing and file downloads will be temporarily suspended. It is usually best to run MasterGear in full-screen mode so you can take advantage of this boost.
Under the Screen tab, you can choose how MasterGear handles your monitor setup. MasterGear can be set up to automatically select the best screen resolution and best color mode for fast video. (For resolution switching to occur, QuickTime 2.1 or later must be present.) MasterGear performance and video quality will be at its peak if you choose the third selection.
Under the Emulation tab, the choices are:
• Cycles/Vertical Blank: controls how much processor time is received by cartridges. If you turn it down, you will get smoother emulation on slower machines; however, some games may not work or run poorly in this mode. If you turn it up, games will get less frequent slowdowns and glitches—this option is recommended for those with faster computers.
• Delayed VRAM: emulates the original Sega hardware's tendency for video memory updates to have a "lag time" before completing. Although this option fixes glitches in a few games, it causes many more to have errors; use this option with caution!
• Language: allows you to set the nationality of the Sega system being emulated. Some (but not all) games will play in either Japanese and English, depending on the language setting.
• Auto Fire: turns on rapid-fire joystick mode. Holding a key down will simulate multiple, quick taps. This is useful for games which need a lot of button tapping.
In the Keyboard Layout dialog, simply drag the keys on the keyboard to choose how you want to control MasterGear.
* Two-player simultaneous action is supported in the registered version of MasterGear.
Note: some keyboards only allow a few keys being depressed at a time. (This is inherent in how they were designed; it cannot be fixed through software.) However, the keys shift, option, control and command can all be held simultaneously with at least two other keys. Therefore, it is recommended that you keep the fire buttons on those keys, unless you know your keyboard can support it.
Freeze Game State and Defrost Game State allow you to save your position within a game on disk, and retrieve it later. This is extremely useful if you're near the end of a game and are near dying—freeze the game state, then if you make a mistake, defrost it and you can try again from the exact same point without penalty. This is also useful for rewatching game endings, and saving your position in games that don't normally allow saving.
* Freeze Game State and Defrost Game State are only active in the registered version of MasterGear.
• How can I register?
Registration is easy! A simple application is included with MasterGear that will allow you to send in a registration via e-mail or postal mail. Within approximately two working days, you will receive a registration code which will fully unlock MasterGear.
You can also register via the World Wide Web. This is usually the fastest and most convenient method of registration. Please visit:
http://order.kagi.com/?E4&S
for a simple on-line registration form. This page is fully encrypted, so any personal information you send through the Internet cannot be viewed by third parties.
• How can I find out more about emulators?
Visit my web site, emulation.net , at:
http://emulation.net/
This is the largest, most comprehensive Macintosh emulation page on the Internet. If it's not on this page, it probably doesn't exist.
