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ReadMe.OS2
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2000-08-20
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SNES9x for OS/2 - MGL version ported by Marty Amodeo [Release 3]
================================================================
This is a port of an emulator for a game system that plays two of my
five favorite all-time games (Zelda 3 and Super Metroid for those who
are curious). I have wanted to port this for a LONG time, but with all
the work on MAME and Retrocade, I never got around to it. Well, I
finally bit the bullet and did it.
Things to be aware of:
1] This emulator *requires* use of the TIMER0 device driver.
Most people already have a working version of this on their systems
but you should be aware that it can disrupt operations in concurrent
DOS and Windows applications.
2] DART is *required*. Your sound card must support DART otherwise
this version of SNES9x will not have sound.
3] This version requires the installation of SDDHELP.SYS from beta 32 or
later of Scitech Display Doctor. The appropriate file is included for
those who do not use SDD as their video drivers. Those who do have
beta 32 or later installed should use their own versions of SDDHELP.SYS.
This version of SNES9x will not work with older versions of SDDHELP.SYS.
4] OS/2 believes that it is in a full screen text mode while SNES9x is
running. If a fatal error is encountered, such as a SYS3175, a full
screen popup error will appear. Note however, that OS/2 is not aware
that you are in a graphics mode and may not be able to display such
popup messages correctly. If SNES9x blanks out and you are left with
a stagnant black screen with no sound playing, press ENTER a few times
and then type "MODE CO80" to restore text mode.
5] If you wind up back at your desktop while SNES9x is running (by
accidentally hitting CTRL-ESC or something), SNES9x will pause
itself until you go back to it. If this happens, it will unpause when
you select the session again and will attempt to re-initialize the
video mode.
6] Any printed-out messages on the screen that can't be seen because
you are in graphics mode or went by too fast for you to read can
be read in a file named Debug.Log.
7] This version will produce core files when a problem is encountered.
IF YOU ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM: First check the list of known deficiencies
below. If your problem is listed, then there's obviously no need to tell
me about it. If your problem is not listed, e-mail me a *text message*
describing the actions leading up to your problem and whatever was reported
in the Debug.Log file. SAVE YOUR CORE FILES! If you find a problem and
write to me about it, I may ask you to zip up the core file and e-mail it
to me. This will be extremely helpful in solving the problem.
8] The enhanced joystick device driver (by Vesa Jääskeläinen) is included
with this archive. To enable joystick support, install and configure this
driver as per the instructions in the driver's archive.
9] Known deficiencies:
* None at this time.
Getting Started
===============
** YOU NEED EMX TO RUN SNES9x ** Download it (EMXRT.ZIP) from Hobbes or
your favorite OS/2 software archive.
Just unzip the main Zip file (which you've undoubtedly already done). Next,
run the CONFIG program to set up your keyboard, joystick, video, and audio
options.
If you have a registered version of Scitech Display Doctor, you may press the
"Scitech Display Doctor Setup" button. When prompted, enter the directory into
which the SDD utility programs were installed (specifically, GAMode). CONFIG
will then check which video modes are available and add the modes used by SNES9x
if they are not present. If the modes are added to your system, you can then
run GACtrl to set their refresh rates and center them properly on your monitor
if you wish.
To "tune in" the Super Nintendo video modes manually, if you don't want to use
CONFIG to do it for you, run the following commands at a full screen OS/2
command prompt from your SDD installed directory:
gamode add 256 239 8
gamode add 256 239 16
If you do not have a registered version of Scitech Display Doctor installed on
your system, or if you are using an IBM-licensed version (SDD SE), you will not
be able to use the custom video modes. SNES9x will default to using 640x480.
You can tell it to stretch the image to occupy the full screen if you wish.
(See the extra command line arguments documented below.)
Make sure you have installed and booted up with the correct versions of the
SDDHELP.SYS device driver from Scitech. An appropriate version is included
in this archive, however, you should *NOT* install it if you already have an
up-to-date version of SDD installed on your system.
Now you should be all ready to run SNES9x!
Command Line Parameters
=======================
If you wish to get a list of many common SNES9x command line parameters,
just run the executable with no parameters and it will list them. I'll
only document the OS/2-specific ones here. The CONFIG front-end utility
will allow you to configure all of the major parameters easily and save
the settings to an INI file. This INI file is used by SNES9x to fill in
the default options. Command line parameters can override these defaults.
For the most part, the only command line option you'll need to use after
running CONFIG is the name of the ROM to run, but this information is
provided for the sake of completeness.
-maxskip: This is the maximum number of frames to skip in a row before
displaying another frame. If this is set to zero, it will
keep skipping frames until it is caught up. The default is 3.
If this is set too low for slower computers, it can slow down
the emulation speed and music. If it is set too high on slow
computers, you won't be able to see what's happening!
-transparency: Not an OS/2-specific option, but useful to highlight. This
option enables transparency effects in the emulation. It
requires a 16 bit color video mode and enabling this option
will automatically enable 16 bit color video. It can slow
the emulation down a bit, but makes the emulation as
accurate and visually appealing as possible. This is
disabled by default.
-soundbuffer: Sets the sound buffer size used by DART. Don't set it too low
or your sound drivers may have problems. It defaults to 2048
bytes.
-stretchblit: If you're stuck using one of the 640x480 graphics modes
because you can't "tune in" 256x239, then this option will
tell SNES9x to stretch the video image to occupy the full
640x480 instead of centering it on the screen.
Controls
========
Controls can be configured via the CONFIG program. Click on the function you
wish to set in the list box and press the "Change Key Assignment" button. Then
press the key or joystick button you wish to assign to that function. Note that
the X and Y axis of the joystick (if present) are automatically assigned to the
directional controls of the first SNES controller.
SNES Player 1 Start = Enter
SNES Player 1 Select = TAB
SNES Player 1 Top Left Button = Q
SNES Player 1 Top Right Button = W
SNES Player 1 X Button = S
SNES Player 1 Y Button = A
SNES Player 1 A Button = X
SNES Player 1 B Button = Z
SNES Player 1 Pad Up = Up arrow key
SNES Player 1 Pad Down = Down arrow key
SNES Player 1 Pad Left = Left arrow key
SNES Player 1 Pad Right = Right arrow key
SNES Player 2 Start = Keypad Enter
SNES Player 2 Select = Keypad +
SNES Player 2 Top Left Button = Keypad /
SNES Player 2 Top Right Button = Keypad *
SNES Player 2 X Button = PageUp
SNES Player 2 Y Button = Home
SNES Player 2 A Button = PageDown
SNES Player 2 B Button = End
SNES Player 2 Pad Up = Keypad Up arrow key
SNES Player 2 Pad Down = Keypad Down arrow key
SNES Player 2 Pad Left = Keypad Left arrow key
SNES Player 2 Pad Right = Keypad Right arrow key
SNES Power Off (exit) = Escape
SNES Halt (pause/resume) = F12
Save system state snapshot = F1
Load system state snapshot = F2
Video mode refresh = F11
Screen capture to a PNG file = F3
SNES mouse support is not currently implemented.
Misc.
=====
Snapshots and screen shots will be saved into a directory named "snapshots"
under the directory in which the SNES9x executable lies. If it does not
exist, it will be created. These files will be saved with the name of
the game and an appropriate extension. For example, a machine snapshot
of Zelda will be saved to snapshots\zelda.s9x, and a screen capture from
Metroid3 will be saved to snapshots\metroid3.png.
You will be able to view the resulting PNG files in Netscape or your
favorite image manipulation software, such as PMView.
You should be able to load the .s9x files into versions of SNES9x for
other platforms, and their saved states can be loaded into the OS/2 version
if they are named properly. The .s9x files should be compatible with the
.s96 files made with older versions of SNES9x. Also, .srm files from older
versions of SNES9x should be compatible with this version.
Please give me feedback if you are having graphics compatibility problems.
I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do! :-)
Send your feedback and bug reports to mamedev@stny.rr.com. Keep your eye on
http://emuos2.vintagegaming.com for the latest in Retrocade, MAME, and
SNES9x news!