iNES is a Nintendo Entertainment System emulator which was designed by Marat Fayzullin and Alex Krasivsky. The Macintosh version of iNES is ported by John Stiles, and is available at http://emulation.net/ .
iNES is very easy to use! Opening the application will bring up a file selection dialog. Choose a Nintendo cartridge image and a window will appear. This is a "virtual NES"—it should behave like a real NES system, complete with the original sounds, graphics, and even flaws of the original software. Although the default settings should work for the majority of games, additional options are listed in "Preferences" in case you want to experiment.
This emulator is shareware! If you like it, you are encouraged to register. Shareware registration is handled by Kagi, and is only $15. For details, please visit http://order.kagi.com/?E4&S or use the Register application included with iNES.
How To Use NetPlay
First, both players must decide what game to play. Obviously, both players must be playing the same game in order for NetPlay to work properly.
Then, one player must choose "Host" and the other should choose "Join." The host can choose the network type—AppleTalk or TCP/IP—and game name. The joining player should enter the Internet address (if TCP/IP) or choose the NetPlay game from the list (if AppleTalk). If there are no problems connecting, you should be able to play two-player games together until one of the players closes the game. The host plays as player 1 and the joining player is player 2.
If a player pauses the emulation or the network has problems, the game might hang up waiting for the other player to respond. If you're impatient, you can close the game at any time.
Notes:
- Get NetSprocket 1.1.1! Previous versions may work, but they're much, much less stable, and tend to have problems communicating (causing games to go mysteriously out of sync).
- NetPlay really wasn't really meant for games over the Internet—trying to play over the net will probably be extraordinarily slow. If you have a LAN (for example, college dorm), you should be in gaming heaven.
- NetPlay only works on PowerPC-based computers.
- The emulation settings on both computers running NetPlay must be identical; otherwise, out-of-sync problems are likely to occur. (The best way to ensure that the settings are okay is to set them all to their default setting.)
- NetPlay is limited to the speed of the slowest computer. If you play NetPlay with a slow computer against a fast computer, the game will run on both computers at the slow computer's pace.
- Running NetPlay through a router such as Internet Gateway might require special configuration to work properly. If the game doesn't start at all, you might have to reconfigure the router's port mappings.
Frequently Asked Questions
• Where can I get game files?! (or: Where can I get game [xxx]??)
- Not from me. Certain sides on the Internet have a huge selection of cartridges available for the NES—however, be warned that downloading ROMs you do not actually possess is a copyright infringement. For that reason, I will not provide ROMs for iNES or links to them—so don't e-mail me to ask for cartridge images! Your mail will be deleted. If you mail me about where to get games, you won't get a response. (The included test cartridge will only display a few test patterns then read joypad input. However, if this cartridge runs, iNES is working properly.)
• So how do I plug a Nintendo cartridge into my Mac?
- Sorry, it isn't easy. If you want to convert your own NES 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 NES 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: B button
option: A button
tab: select button
return: start button
• The video is choppy.
- Your Macintosh is probably working really hard! If your computer is slowing down, iNES tries to compensate by lowering the framerate. This speeds up emulation, but at the expense of smooth graphics.
A few ways to smooth out choppiness on low-end Macs:
- Most importantly, disconnect from the Internet. Being online can slow down a computer by as much as 20% (this applies to all programs, not just iNES).
- Run in full screen mode.
- Lower the Cycles/Scanline value, if it is high. Many games will let you set this value as low as possible without problems.
- Turn on "Skip Every Other Line" in the Video Settings dialog. This can speed up video a great deal in full-screen mode, but looks a little darker.
- Make sure "Suspend Background Tasks (in Full-Screen Mode)" is activated. This is turned on by default.
- Put the video in a small window, or set your Full Screen Preferred Size to "Single."
- Lower the output quality of sound.
- Quit background applications and/or the Finder.
• You never responded to my e-mail....?
- There are several reasons. The most common is that your e-mail address in your mail program is wrong, or your mail server rejected the message, and the mail bounced. This happens extremely frequently with aol.com addresses; if you are an America Online user I would have to suggest that you switch to a real ISP as soon as you can. Another reason would be that you asked a question that was already covered in this document. Lastly, I am known to be extremely tardy with e-mail when more important things (like exams, projects, and parties) arise. Sorry, that's just prioritizing.
• iNES won't start; it can't find the Appearance Manager.
- iNES is very reliant on the newest and coolest features of the Mac OS. Specifically, it uses the Appearance Manager, which improves the look and feel of the Mac OS interface, and Navigation Services, which finally updates the horrible file-open and file-save dialog boxes which have plagued the Mac OS since System 6. You can get both of these extensions from http://emulation.net/nintendo/
• Game Genie codes aren't working!
- iNES is compatible with some, but not all, Game Genie codes. If the code you entered does not seem to have an effect, then it is likely to be incompatible with this release.
• DiskSystem games aren't opening at all! iNES doesn't recognize them.
- You are likely trying to run a fwNES-formatted DiskSystem image. These are identical to iNES-formatted images, except that they contain an empty, 16-byte header. These headers are easy to remove with most disk editing tools—just select the first 16 bytes and remove them. Then the image should be recognized.
• DiskSystem games show a title screen but I can't figure out how to get past it.
- Press the insert-coin key (by default, this is mapped to the number 1). This button inserts a disk. Pressing this button again will advance through the disks one by one, so if the game asks you to "insert side B," just press the insert-coin key again.
If you're getting lots of error messages, probably the game is incompatible with iNES. There are still some notable DiskSystem limitations—most prominent is that the disks cannot be written to! For example, ERR#3 is a sign that the game wants to write data in order to continue but found the disk write-protected. This limitation will hopefully be corrected soon.
• The backup memory for this game wasn't saved, and I lost my character data!
- The cart image that you are using doesn't have its header set up correctly. Use the ROM Settings dialog and turn on the option, "Battery Backed."
• This cart seems to be running, but the graphics are totally garbled, or scrolling acts oddly.
- Again, ROM Settings can be used to solve the problem. If the scrolling acts strangely, change the Mirroring setting to the opposite of its current setting. If the cart graphics are garbled, change the Mapper selection to something else. It's a matter of trial and error until you find the proper mapper. Almost always, you'll eventually find a mapper that works properly.
• This cart glitches out totally, or doesn't get past the title screen before crashing.
- Most problems of this sort can be cured by going to iNES's Emulation setup dialog (in Preferences) and altering the values of "Cycles/Scanline." Some carts will work best with this setting placed around 130, while others refuse to work if it's not at exactly 114; many games will work either way, and a few will behave a little differently under each setting. It's often a matter of trial and error.
• Help, I can't get Punchout to work!
- Try using Mapper #9. Previous versions used Mapper #10 but iNES now uses the mapper number that every other emulator uses. (Strangely enough, this used to be one of the most common iNES questions. Punchout is definitely fun, but I never realized the amazing demand!)
• iNES just told me my cart's headers are corrupt! What should I do?
- Some carts downloaded from the Internet contain garbage data within the image, which can confuse the emulator. Previous versions made no attempt to repair garbled headers; the games would just refuse to play. The current version of iNES tries to repair the header if it's found to be corrupt. If the repair is successful, you might not have to do anything. If the header is too scrambled for automatic repair, and the game is not working, go to ROM Settings and try all the Mapper Types until the game works. (Good luck!) Recently, some weird carts have surfaced with new mappers that iNES does not yet support; they are very rare, however, and generally correspond to games that were rather unpopular. At any rate, a future version of iNES is likely to support them.
• My computer is running iNES really slowly right now. If I register and set the speed above 100%, will this fix the problem?
- No. Your computer is too slow to run iNES at full speed. Sorry.
• How can I register?
- Registration is easy! You can register via the World Wide Web. 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. If you prefer not to use the World Wide Web, a simple application is also included with iNES that will allow you to send in a registration via e-mail or postal mail. Within two working days of registration or sooner, you will receive a registration code which will fully unlock iNES.
