Release Meka - Sega 8bit Emulator


ptitSeb

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On the repo a port of Meka, a Sega 8bit Emulator.

This version is based on v0.73.

I just had to disabled 2 blitters (so Eagle is in fact Double, HQ2x is in fact TV_Double), because only assembler x86 was available (and I don't think I will recode them in C).

Unfortunately, the sound code is not that good in v0.73. It has been improved in v0.80 (wip on git), but it use Allegro 5, and Allegro 5 on the Pandora is too slow (OpenGL only) to be usable (and with wip Allegro 5.1 and GLES, meka won't start, GLES support is far from complete). I tried to improve sound output in build 02, by tweaking the code a bit.

For the rest, MEKA is a really complete emulator, with a pretty and user friendly GUI, translation in some languages, a huge databases of names so you can index your roms, and support for many weird hardware extension (like the 3D glasses or Lightgun of the SMS).

More info on MEKA here: http://www.smspower.org/meka/index.shtml

Grab-it and enjoy

Some more Screenshots

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History log

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Build 02

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  •  Tried to tweak sound to improve quality
  •  Corrected version of PND to reflect version of Meka
Build 01

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  • Initial release
  • version of the PND wrong, it should be 0.7.3.01 to reflect version of Meka used (0.73)
 
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Yes, sound need to be improved. I plan to look at sources from 0.80 and see if I can plug that.

About the "mario is not a fat plumber", it is in fact the secret option to enable NES emulation. But once it's disable in the GUI, you can't re-enable it (as you can't deny facts  :p  ), and have to enable it by adding to the make.cfg the line "mario_is_not_a_flat_plumber = 1".
 
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I used my ears ;) I know the sound timing is way too fast for what it should be on PAL games.


I will have to double check to see if Meka doesn't' require the pal version of the ROM for it to be the correct timing

Fantasy Zone is a good one to test with. its about 25% too fast in audio timing
 
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Also, I hope to get Meka 0.80 running sometimes (well technicaly, I have it running, but 1 fps is not fun)... I have it running with Allegro 5.1, now I "just" have to compile Allegro 5.1 the right way to have GLES2 acceleration...

Meka 0.80 has got a much better sound engine !
 
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New build on the repo.

I tried to tweak a bit the sound code. I tweaked only superficial things: redone parts of the seal mixer and tweaked some timing parameters in Meka, to avoid "overlaps" in sound buffers.

Please report if it sound better or not (sound quite fine on my Pandora, playing RType is good now, even using FM synthesis).

Build 02

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  • Tried to tweak sound to improve quality
  • Corrected version of PND to reflect version of Meka
 
 
Sound has definitely improved in this build. Thanks. :)


It's still a bit laggy, compared to Dega/Mednafen.
Ho, really? I haven't notice, but I overclock my Pandora. At what speed are you clocked?

*EDIT* Oh, you mean, about the Sound Quality ?!

But yes, the sound engine of Meka 0.73 is not synchronised properly, So I don't think I can improve it anymore using the version. I have to switch to 0.80, but I am still fighting with Allegro 5 to have hardware accelleration. So it will take time, but I hope I'll succeed eventually.

But, Meka can enable the "FM" Unit, I don't think Dega/Mednafen have this option (but I haven't checked, so I may be wrong). A handfull of game can use it (try R-Type for example, the already excellent music is changed, as there is more voice).
 
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Sorry, I wasn't precise. Didn't know about FM sound on SMS. Will try R-Type on different emulators later.

I'm always playing the Mickey Mouse titles on SMS. Probably since this (+Columns) was my first video game I bought back in 1991. I was teaching a class in ADR/IDEAL on IBM mainframes and brought my brand new GG with me, to show it to the class. Everybody was fascinated about the color screen, since we were still used to monochrome IBM 3270 terminals. ;)

They also learned how to program Master Mind (with numbers) using ADR/IDEAL. This was the only game I played on mainframes. Most of the people here probably don't even know what's a mainframe. :D
 
Ohoh mainframe, and the beauty of 3270 ! I kind of avoid it in my professional life... Kind of, as there is always time when you need to more or less interact with an application on a mainframe somewhere ;-)

About mednafen, I try RType with it. The sound is better in mednafen, but the graphics are worse in my oppinion. There is much more flickering with mednafen that should be. So all in all, I find it better to play RType with the new Meka  then mednafen, now that the sound is not that much distorded. Didn"t try other games, so it may depends of the game.
 
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