P3-1.0 GHz or faster processor. P4-1.4 GHz recommended for close to 100% speed.
Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Other Win32 platforms MAY work, but they are NOT supported.
64 MB RAM. More is better since you won't swap as much.
CD-ROMS, ARM-ELF executable files, or ISO-2048 images of the games you wish to test. This is the first public beta to support physical CD-ROM support, and it may have bugs.
2 FILE NAMES AND LOCATIONS
In the installation directory, place all the files you received with this installer into a directory of your choice (say, "C:\Program Files\FreeDO").
You will need to obtain a 3DO BIOS ROM. We CANNOT legally provide this for you, so don't ask! You will have to find some way to obtain this for yourself. There are ways to extract this ROM from your 3DO, but we're not going to detail that here.
You can now place the BIOS ROM in any directory you choose, but you MUST select a ROM the very first time you run Beta 1.6. After the first run, the same BIOS will be used for subsequent runs unless/until you choose another one.
An NVRAM file will be created in the registry. This will contain your game saves.
Depending on the version of the beta, from time to time other files may be created and/or destroyed in the root of C:\ or the program directory itself as games are played. Some of these files may be of use to the development team in debugging a particular problem. You may delete these files safely, after FreeDO has executed, to free space. We continue to try in the future to be "cleaner" but we can't promise.... ;-)
3 STARTING THE EMULATOR
TO start the emulator, click on the FreeDO executable in File Explorer or type FreeDORel.EXE in the directory that contains the executable at a command prompt. The emulator will start, and present you with a logo playfield, and a menubar with the following items (from left to right):
File - contains Load ISO, Load CD, Eject CD, Select BIOS, Restore NVRAM, Backup NVRAM, and Quit. NOTE: You MUST "Select BIOS" the first time you run this new version on your computer or the emulator will not function!
CPU - Start, Stop, Reset - these menu items starts and stops the CPU, and resets the emulation (may not work with all titles). You can also use the F2 key to start, and the F3 key to stop, the emulation. The F4 key switches between fullscreen and windowed mode.
PBUS - Contains selection and configuration for up to 2 controllers. The keyboard can now be fully configured for any custom keys you desire. 2 controller support now means that 2-player games should now be possible.
Config - Important items here are "CEL/Accurate Mapping" and "VDL/Fullscreen, Extrapolation". Accurate Mapping can be used to improve the look of 3D games by turning it on, or to improve the speed of games not requiring 3D by turning it off. Try each title with both positions and select the one that is best for you. The VDL/Fullscreen item (same as F4 key) can be used to switch between fullscreen and windowed modes. Extrapolation can be turned on for supersampled, 640x480 screensize or off for "original" 320x240.
Help - will show an "about" screen (eventually some version of help will be placed here)
4 USING THE EMULATOR
a Loading ISO Images
Let's assume you have created an ISO-2048 image of the game you wish to test and you have placed it on your harddrive or burned it to a CD-ROM. To "load" it into the emulator, select "CD-ROM ---> Open ISO" from the FreeDO menubar. A dialog box will open which will allow you to select the ISO image you wish to play.
Or, insert a 3DO CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive and select "File ---> Load CD".
b Running the CPU
Now that you have loaded an ISO image, or if you simply want to watch the 3DO "BIOS" run, you can press F2 or select "CPU ---> Start" from the FreeDO menubar.
c Stopping the CPU
Press F3 or select "CPU ---> Stop" from the FreeDO menubar.
d Controls / How to play games
You can now configure the controllers on the keyboard for up to 2 players. Select the mappings by seelcting "PBUS/Controller X/Keypad/Config" (where X is the controller, 1 or 2, you wish to configure). Settings are saved and will be retained in the registry the next time you run FreeDO, until you change them again.
e Fullscreen
Press F4 to enter fullscreen. You cannot return to windowed mode from fullscreen; we are aware of this bug and we will work to fix it.
f NVRAM
You can back up and restore multiple NVRAM "snapshots" to the active registry (the one the emulator "sees" as a 32KB 3DO NVRAM) by selecting File ---> Restore/Backup NVRAM. Files are saved as "*.NVM". You can designate any number of these files, so the size of your save states is limited only by your storage device.
5 BUG REPORTS
We know you will find some bugs in this release. Please do not notify the FreeDO project developers about ANY bugs by email. Instead, please limit your reports to the FreeDO forums, and ONLY post if a similar bug has not already been posted there.
6 CREDITS
FreeDO code is (c) 2002, 2003, 2004 by Felix Lazarev, Alexander Trush, John Sammons, and ,others.
"3DO" is (r) (tm) (c) 3DO Corporation, Redwood City CA USA.
Please, don't pirate, reverse-engineer, or disassemble any of this code for your own use or the use of others. Any such action or use is expressly forbidden.
