PC Ngine status update (tubooboo)	2001/5/7
Hy all, really quick status update on the PC-Ngine effort: games load processor emulation is fine apart from some endian issues endian issues cause emulator to crash after some frames its definitely running full speed! display issues, the bitmap struct used by tgemu doesn't seem to get populated correctly (might be related to endianess issues) tubooboo

More info about PC Ngine (tubooboo)

2001/4/25

Hy again, As I got some mails about the subject yesterday, here are some additional infos on the upcoming ngine based PC Engine emulator: The emulator is based around TGEmu by Charles McDonald I am in touch with the author, and he agreed to provide help if I run into problems I am porting this emu because the source is the cleanest I could find. It also seems very fast Fullspeed seems likely. Sound seems likely to be implemented for Release #1 Saving might get an issue for Release #1, but if you get fullspeed and sound, hey! :) The tgemu source currently compiles and links happily with the ngine shell Almost all of the ngine-snes9x features will automatically be available in PC Ngine, suchas the Fileselector, VMU listing, help, Joyconfig etc. A release is *EXPECTED* within the next 1-2 weeks. PLEASE, if I do not make it, do not flame me. Ngine is just a hobby of mine. Multiplayer support (Bomberman :) is currently not implemented in tgemu, but I will hack it in for Release #1 Screenshots of ngine running PC Engine games should be up in the next days or a week or so. Did you notice the Dreamcast console on the homepage? ;-) Get some! tubooboo

Introducing the next ngine based emulator (tubooboo)

2001/4/24

Hy all, I want to share some nisights where the current ngine development is going. First and most important, the good news is, there will be a new ngine based emulator called PC-Ngine ... you guessed it, it emulates the PC Engine game console. It will support saving, multiple joypads, hopefully run fullspeed from release #1. I will also try to get sound in for release #1. I had the code for it compiling from nothing to executeable after 3 hours of editing, this looks some nice bit of code. Expect a release soon... but not like tomorrow ;) On a different topic, how is SNES9x coming along? Well, well, not too bad, but I am very consumed with other stuff, but be sure there are going to be some more updates to it. tubooboo

ngine snes9x 0.40 available for you to download! (tubooboo)

2001/3/22

Finally! ngine-snes9x 0.40 is out NOW! It is the most significant update of ngine-snes9x since its launch, around 50% of all the ngine codebase has been improved and rewritten. Have fun with this version, and have a quick look on what has been achieved since the last release, 0.30a: - ADDED: snes9x game saving/autoloading from VMU. Fully automatic process that needs no user interaction. You might see a little slowdown while saving occurs. - ADDED: Rockin joypad operation mode. You can now operate most keyboard commands with the joypad using GUIs for command selection, file selection etc. - ADDED: this means possibility to use whatever directory structure on the ROM CD, regardless if you have a keyboard or not. - ADDED: Auto switch to joypad mode if there is no keyboard found. - ADDED: Configuration interface for joypad in snes9x. Saveable and supports the Analog stick. - ADDED: Preferences saving for video modes, joypad configurations etc. If prefs are saved once, they are auto-loaded on startup of ngine. - ADDED: improved command line for keyboard users. - ADDED: loading of splitted ROM images now working (SMC/SWC splitROM formats) - FIX: snes9x ingame display correctly centered - FIX: several crash-prone functions securified - FIX: SNES9x "after few minutes" crash bug fixed. Tested with Chrono Trigger and Mario World (ran all night). - FIX: Overall stability of ngine is much better than in 0.30a - CHANGE: File set completely reorganized. All things now in tidy, logical places :). - CHANGE: Master Event handler. Much more command line flexibility. - CHANGE: Cleaned up handling of user interface. Now showing button mappings in file selection Get you brand-new, all cool ngine-snes9x 0.40 here. Most importantly, have fun! tubooboo

ngine snes9x 0.40 progress (tubooboo)

2001/3/12

Hello fellow ngine visitor, Ok, I should not be setting fixed release dates, but the update has grown larger than I anticipated, hence the big delay. In any case, there is good news about all this... the Source code has been totally cleaned up and majorly reorganized, which has been a big step. Basically, this is a more comprehensive list of what has changed between 0.30a and now: File set completely reorganized. All things now in tidy, logical places :) .(done) Master Event handler. Much more command line flexibility.(done) Rockin joypad operation mode. You can now operate most keyboard commands with the joypad using GUIs for command selection, file selection etc. (done) this means possibility to use whatever directory structure on the ROM CD, regardless if you have a keyboard or not. (done) Auto switch to joypad mode if there is no keyboard found. (done) configurable joypad for snes9x.(done) preferences saving for video modes, joypad configurations etc. (done) if prefs are saved once, they are auto-loaded on startup of ngine. (done) improved command line for keyboard users. (done) snes9x game saving/autoloading from VMU (work in progress) display correctly centered (done) help system improvements (work in progress) graphics engine for console display reworked, much more flexible (done) file access functions centralized, smaller code, better support (done) loading of splitted ROM images now working (SMC/SWC splitROM formats) (done) several crash-prone functions securified (done) SNES9x "after few minutes" crash bug fixed (done) There are even more things I have done to ngine, but I cannot remember them all... as you can see, the only things left to do are the implementations of SNES saving and loading. This should not be a big deal as VMU access routines and VMU file creation already completely works (for saving the pereferences). Apart from that, the help system should be up in a matter of an hour or two. This said, it is one mor full evening of coding until I can deliver ngine 0.40 to you guys, but I am not sure when this evening is going to be. Can't be too far in the future though, so keep checking this site. ngine 0.40 will be released in two forms: Discjuggler 3.x selfbooting image Individual files for people who like to make their own ngine CD with a few ROMs on it. (I will *NOT* provide support for this) And nope, sadly no sound in ngine-snes9x 0.40, but I shall look into it shortly. Be happy with whats going to be delivered, i worked a lot on it. Hope you will like it :-) ... tubooboo

release date announcement troubles. (tubooboo)	2001/3/5
Hy, Sorry, but I will have to have you guys waiting a few more days. I really wanted to get ngine 0.40 out the door this weekend, but it just was not possible to do for a variety of reasons... But cheer up, i am pretty sure the new version will please most of you. Thou shallt never set fix release dates. tubooboo

ngine-snes9x 0.40 feature set: What we are looking at. (tubooboo)

2001/2/26

Hy, I am pretty pleased to finally announce an update for ngine-snes9x. Nope, its not out yet, but it will be hopefully in 3-4 days... if no new problems arise. Anyway, here is the feature set of ngine-snes9x 0.40: Crash Bug (impacted 40% of all games that reset the DC after a few minutes) is fixed. Preferences support! Save your favourite display mode and joypad config to the VMU and have it auto load these settings again when you load ngine. SNES game display now (finally) correctly centered. SNES game saving / loading :-D Loading of splitted ROM images now works Full VMU control for the keyboard users (delete etc) (maybe) a VMU file editor tubooboo

Development milestone: GDB working with ngine sources (tubooboo)

2001/2/19

Hy, Most of you will ask me what the heck this is all about... Well I have reconsidered my current debugging and development techniques (serial cable, printf for debugging), and found them.... unacceptable. So I spent some time and looked into the GdbStubs project... a Dreamcast client for this was released by the almighty Fulg (tonz of respect for that). So I decided to get it to work... :) And eventually, after a lot of fiddling with linker issues that made the GUI debugger crash, finally, ngine development looks like this now (realtime, remote C++ code debugging for yer Dreamcast, i like it :-D Shot from variable browser Shot from function browser Shot from source code window So whats your gain out of this? Well, for one, this is going to hugely speed up debugging times. The crash bug for example has been fully resolved. Also saving is now progressing very nicely... no release date yet, but it cannot be too long... If anyone is interested how it is done, write on the Developer messageboard, and I ll try to help. tubooboo

I am back, and I have some news (tubooboo)

2001/2/6

Heya, so, I finally made it, I moved into the new flat and have my computing equipment back up :). Just a brief update because I am very very busy... I (think I) fixed the crash bug in ngine snes9x, amongst a few other things I tried yesterday night. Also a bit of progress on my generator port has been made. More on these as it breaks. A new version of ngine-snes9x will be distributed to some beta testers shortly. Also, expect a beta of ngine-generator (aka nginesis) soon. tubooboo

ngine all over progress report (tubooboo)

2001/1/22

Hey all... not an awful lot of updates recently, but here is whats new: I am having runtime issues with DCGenerator currently, and have to say I am not very happy with the sourcecode in the current state. It is basically a mix up of modified x86 code mixed with the Mac Port, resulting in pretty bad speeds because of hefty emulation requirements of the 68000 CPU. My current development build of DCGenerator only runs at about 10% of the actual Genesis speed, no doubt about it, its not suited for a release. I will go on and investigate other source codes, but DCGenerator might not be out in a while. On the SNES9x front, it was reported to me that ngine will reset the DC after a few minutes of play. I verified it does not happen for all games. It seems like a memory leak in a commented out saving routine, and I will do my best to get both saving and fixing this bug done by the next release of ngine-snes9x. ( in case you are curious, Super Bomberman runs fine, for instance ) On a side note, I have begun work on another, not yet disclosed emulator. It *will* run fullspeed and should have pretty decent support on the first release. The last thing you guys should know is that I will be moving next weekend, hence I did not update that much lately... running around and getting stuff ready for moving... When this is over, I will again have time to get stuff out to you like in the christmas days ;) Cu around on the message board. btw, in case you are bored, check out my music section ;) tubooboo

site cleanup, Generator, and so on... (tubooboo)

2001/1/5

Hy all, I hope the current ngine release was pleasing to most of you, I did not hear a lot of ranting anyways ;-) ... I rewrote some pages on this site, you should note: SNES9x burning instructions added GCC Guide improved. Music section up and running Even more links added ( this is now one of the biggest list of links for DCDev ) Main page has link to snes9x download Also, a few people have already asked me if I am working on a Generator port. This rumour is true. I have it compiling fine in the ngine shell, and I expect to get screenshots out to you very soon. tubooboo

ngine snes9x 0.30a released (tubooboo)

2001/1/1

Hello... ok here is a bugfix release. It fixes the problems people had with selecting a ROM file using the joypad. (thanks to Tortri for the quick testing) The bug only showed up if the root directory of your CD had less than 15 or so files. Now it works with any CD. Also long filenames have been reported to work correctly. NO spaces in them, though. Download ngine-snes9x 0.30a for Dreamcast now (Discjuggler format) As always, read the README file, and discuss any issues with it on the message boards. tubooboo

issues with the 0.30 release (tubooboo)

2001/1/1

Hy, and happy new year everyone! Unfortunately, the new ngine-snes9x release has some pretty major issues with the joypad ROM selection. I cannot repro these bugs, but heard that at least using a US Dreamcast no keyboard ngine will crash with a light blue screen upon ROM selection. I would suggest you wait downloading this version if you have the configuration above, until I am able to dispatch a bug fix for this. Please, if you have the configuration above, and Joypad ROM selection *works* for you using the latest release, get in touch with me. All others who are willing to waste a few CDRs on beta versions of ngine, leave your email adresses on the message board, and you will get a few test versions. Thanks for your support, and sorry for that bug, I can assure you it works for PAL machines... Also, I burnt all my ROM CDs using Mode 1 and 8.3 filenames only. tubooboo

ngine-SNES9x 0.30 released! (tubooboo)

2000/12/30

Hy, ngine snes9x 0.30 has been released, lots and lots of fixes / improvements in this puppy: ADDED: if all PAL/NTSC detection fails, press Y button on controller to change back and forth. ADDED: keyboard mode now supports unix style TAB completion features! nice isn't it? ;-) ADDED: Fiddled a bit with the startup flags of SNES9x for more speed. Speed is no more painfully slow, not fullspeed yet, but accept- able. FIX: SNES9x no more crashed when fed a non existant filename. FIX: ntsc and pal commands now correctly stick when invoking SNES9x ISSUE: autodetection on startup may still not work correctly. Type "ntsc" at the command prompt to get to NTSC mode. ADDED: new build flag BUILD_FOR_BURNING (will make ngine work without a serial connection) ADDED: controller polling code in keyboard menuing code, messaging via event loop. ADDED: controller ROM selection for snes9x, enabling nonkeyboard people to operate ngine-snes9x ADDED: Means to switch back from joypad operation to keyboard operation ADDED: Exiting SNES9x emulation now also possible using DC controllers start button, not only keyboard "esc" CHANGE: in snes9x, START is now "analogue pad up", select is now "analogue pad down", exiting snes9x is Dreamcasts "start" button CHANGE: filenames can be no longer than 40 characters. Behaviour for longer filenames is undefined. ISSUE: joypad button press handler is dirty, don't hold down buttons for a long time, or else... ;) ISSUE: changing into directories is currently not possible using joypad control. You have to stick the ROMs into the root dir of your CD if you do not have a keyboard. Download ngine-snes9x 0.30 for Sega Dreamcast selfbooting now (Discjuggler format) If you are having a problem with it, please read the entire README file that shipped with this version. Also please post on the message board if you have a problem. tubooboo

New version of ngine imminent (tubooboo)

2000/12/29

Hy all, An all new version of ngine is to be released very soon (0.30), presumably right in time for the new year. It will feature, amongst a lot of internal improvements: Joypad control for file selection Improved speed (only around 5-8% though) Improved keyboard interface NTSC detection fixes Analogue controller now used for SNES start and select buttons Also, expect the source to be out in a few weeks of further cleanup. I think the fourth release of ngine should have a stable enough source base for you to work with. tubooboo

Merry XMas everyone! (tubooboo)

2000/12/24

Hy, I wish each and everyone of you a happy christmas, and a lovely few days. _ )\_ _,-, _ _.---.._) ( _) ( .-' `. ___`)8o) (` _.' _.-:::::::o()8-` _ / .::::::::::::::\ >\_ __ _/ , .;:::::-;""))`_\::| _____):<__)\__ / \;::::" _ ,%"'%/ _.-' _.'):(_);( .| \ \::| ,%"' ,a'_|.._ _.-' _.' .-\O_);_(' | /`-. `.|:; %`,a' ,_ \/|"".-' .'__.'o8()8_(' | | \ `._ _) _.' | |""""""""| |"""")O""| |_|_ \_ \ \`-.__.'|\` /`| | | /:( | (%%%%\ `. / \ .'_`---' | | | ):( | |)%%%%| `._ / `"--' `-' | | | \(` | /%%%%%| ) .' | | | ` | .|%%%%%/ /.' `. |--------|__|--------|' .\%%%/ .;;;. `. .'|___,-._.%%%%\________|.| |"" ;:::::; `-.__ _.' ..._/%%|/%%%%%| | | | ;:::::; .'`.`````` ,;::::%%%%%%%%%%| _ _ | |/ |`:::' \ .-`::::::\%%%%%%%%| (_><_)| / | .'`._.'`. `:::::`%%%%%%/ _/\ | / \ .-' \:::::\%%%'|______\_|/ \ \:::::;"' `-. `._ \:::;` _)_ `. /`" / O \ `-. .-' |~__| hjw `. _.-' |__x| `-._____.--' It has been pretty hectic for me getting ngine-snes9x out in time for you, but i eventually made it. The release is not without problems, though, I have heard of problems on NTSC dreamcasts that will auto switch to PAL mode. Be sure I will fix that when I am back from my parents on the 26th. Again, all the best for you and everyone you know. CU in a few days! tubooboo

ngine-SNES9x 0.24 public release (tubooboo)

2000/12/22

Hy, today's the big day: ngine-snes9x has been released. You will need a keyboard to operate this first beta, and it will not have sound or saving yet. Also it will not run faster than the other emulators. So whats better about it? ... well it runs in the ngine shell, which you can play around with for a while, it has decent compatibility, and its ULTRA easy to butn it. Discjuggler is all you need. Download ngine-snes9x for Sega Dreamcast selfbooting now (577kb, Discjuggler format) While you are downloading, read the release notes, please. If you are having a problem with it, please read the entire README file that shipped with this first version. Also please post on the message board if you have a problem. Note this release has been entirely developed using free tools, and is legal to distribute, as long as you do not make any profit from it. Now, HAVE FUN! tubooboo

ngine-SNES9x getting ready for launch... (tubooboo)	2000/12/17
Hy, really quick update, i am really sleepy now ;-) ngine-snes9x progressing nicely joypad support up (play only, not menuing) few new console commands for developers to sniff around in hardware locations ;) picture now displays centered rewritten command line parser It is getting tight.... i will try to burn the first CD image on Friday night. And, work on the ASM CPU kernel has begun. tubooboo

ngine-SNES9x getting ready for launch... (tubooboo)

2000/12/17

Hy, again, thanks all for keeping the spirit alive and visiting this site. Rest assured that I am not forgetting about you. Here is something that you will like very much: I got ngine-snes9x to a state where i feel confident I will make the first public release in a few days (of active work though). Do not hold me liable for this, but I am shooting for a release prior to christmas, if i can at all make it. The reason for that is that I found the last really nasty bug in my port that did not allow to load ROMs greater than 512kb in size, which was quite unsatisfying... thats been solved, as well as a lot of other things, screens anyone? from Final Fantasy 2 (duh) from Chrono Trigger, no less from Desert Strike ...you get the plot What works and what does not: working full command line (like MSDOS, including dir and stuff) play ROM, press esc, your back to command line CD-ROM changing at will, no need to reboot. auto detection of pal/ntsc dreamcasts (and if all fails, a PAL/NTSC command to switch with :-) any ROMSize up to 32MBit working SuperFX/SA1 games now work not (yet) working Sound :-( propably will only make it into second release (you can always use DreamSNES) Saving (my task to accomplish before the release ;-) non-keyboard menu (you CANNOT use this without a keyboard at the moment, i will try to get the command line working with a joypad for the release) fullscreen (will propably be in for the first release) As I said, I am trying to get this out to you as a xmas-present, but please, do not expect miracles. I am working on a assembler CPU emulation for this emulator, but it will definitely not make it into the first release, so expect the port to run about 65% of realtime in most cases. It is my highest priority to get this running full speed with sound, and you can count on it i will do it ;) ..but for now, I want to ship something to thank you for your continued support. Also, if I do not make it for christmas (I do not hope so), don't be mad ... to be on the safe side, have a keyboard ready, as that already working. :) ok thats all, cu on the message board! tubooboo

All projects update (tubooboo)

2000/12/12

Hy all again, Here is the first official news about the second ngine project in the works. It is a port of DGEN, the Genesis emulator for Windows. I have been working on getting the code to compile for about three evenings now, and it will now compile for the Dreamcast with no errors, albeit the tile rendering code had to be commented out for now, as it is in native x86 assembly. Therefore the port currently does not work, but I will try to get the custom tile rendering code up as soon as possible. On another note, ngine-snes9x has also progressed, it is now be possible to exit snes9x back to the ngine shell. I still have a memory leaking problem which is the only issue (rather serious though, after exiting snes9x and attempting to start it again I have trouble allocating sufficient memory) remaining before i can release the first beta version to testers. One more project around the corner (well, as far as that goes ;) is a port of 123mp3, a freeware MP3 player for the ngine shell. tubooboo

ngine-snes9x works on Dreamcast, first shots. (tubooboo)

2000/11/28

Hy there, tonight is pretty special, as I am to announce one of the most important thing since this website went live... ngine-snes9x now works on the Dreamcast. Not only that, but also the ngine console ( a bit of a mini MSDOS shell ) is fully operational, and will be released in source code form very soon... the first working version of this was a result of a week of holiday where i was able to spend 50+ hours on getting G++ to work, get around the linker problems (cheers to all the dudes that helped on the message board, but it was something else ;), and finally get the load to run on the Dreamcast using only free tools... At this point in time, cheers to the guys that made this possible, in particular Marcus Comstedt for providing the logic for the serial cable, Dan Potter for his awesome dreamlib system, and all the people on the dcdev list, who kindly answered all my queries on (sometimes) lame questions. Thx to all of you, so much. Also, big thanks to my girlfriend, for respecting the work I do, and not abandoning me for being a geek ;-). Alright, so here is some screens for you, taken with my shitty TV Tuner card, sorry, I could not get them in color, these are black and white only.... This is the startup GUI of ngine, with a full command line... almost there for loading a rom into snes9x, just like for the DOS version of it. and there we go. ngine in action on the Dreamcast. Pity the shot is b/w only another shot for your pleasure... ok.... i am going to sleep now... here is some important facts about the status though: this does not mean we are (very) near to public release sound/filesaving etc does not work speed is not that good, about 65% of fullspeed (i will propably write a SH4 assembler CPU core), it is just not possible to go faster as far as i can tell.. using the C sources of snes9x at least... it is not the only emu you are going to see ;-) maybe another one will be released before ngine-snes9x... Alright then, post your opinions on the message board, and also notice that I will be recruiting beta testers for this soon. Now, before you email me, know that you are going to NEED two things to apply as a beta tester: a working serial cable setup capability to use cdrecord I will announce the application email address soon, for now, I hope you are satisfied with what you saw... and good night. Catch you all on the Message Board tomorrow! tubooboo

Now we are getting there: ngine on Dreamcast status (tubooboo)

2000/11/24

Hy all, Thanks for keeping the faith in ngine. So, I had a week of holiday and accomplished quite a lot of things in this week. Here is where we are: ALL code (ngine + snes9x) compiles for SH4 (Dreamcast) ngine is happily initializing all neccessary plugins on Dreamcast the ngine console works (sort of a mini mini operating system for apps running within ngine, imagine it like a mini-subset of MSDOS) on Dreamcast, with keyboard support. Screen shots of this later this weekend. snes9x would work, BUT... one single problem is left. When I resolved that it will *propably* take a very short time to finally *release* ngine-snes9x ... but it seems to be a mean one which is not caused by my own code, but by my custom built C++ linker. If anyone wants to know more about this, look on the messageboard for details. If you are able to tell me how to resolve this, you will definitely be mentioned in the release. tubooboo

GCC-SH4 setup guide now online (tubooboo)	2000/11/20
I have put together a setup guide for all people interested in compiling C++ code for their Dreamcasts, but do not know where to start off. Access it here. I hope somebody will find this useful. tubooboo

After long delay, a status update! (tubooboo)

2000/11/15

Hiya all, I am still alive =) ... ok here is where we stand. NO, the project is not dead. What I managed to achieve in the last weeks is not much though, i must honestly say. I had huge time constraints, I have a job to go after, a girl friend which i will not abandon for this project, and other personal issues that make me unable to work as much on the project as many of you would hope for... sounds all really bad? Need some good news? Well you got em! I finally got the C++ compiler to work and produce Dreamcast code after a few hours tonight (in fact the first night since 10 days i had time to look after it). This in turn means that a majority of the techdemo already happily compiles for the Dreamcast. I would suspect it another two evenings of work to get it running on the Dreamcast. More nice news include that i am having some serious looks at the MAME codebase these days, watch out for updates on this end, but i will definitely release my SNES9x port first... more as it breaks... tubooboo

The fight with the NO-DevKit is won. AND ..... (tubooboo)

2000/10/22

People might run bored with the progress of ngine lately, but do not fear, there are good things to come. Just to give you some update, I had to rewrite the whole core logic of ngine, and I am really still work-in-progress about it, but the problem is that there are no usable free cross compilers out there, or at least I have not found any that can compile C++ source. As a redesign iteration of the ngine Kernel was highly overdue anyway, I am sticking with C code for now. I also wan to advise all of you writing nasty email that this is only a hobbyist project,a dn that I do not have more than a few hours to work on it every week. I try to get around to as much as humanly possible, but understand that I have a life, and a girlfriend that is well worth a majority of my free time. Anyway, I will very soon post the first shots of the ngine Kernel RUNNING on the DC console. Cannot take TOO long.... For your pleasure, I just feel like releasing a demonstration version for Win32 systems... so here you go, lemme know what you think... and do NOT flame me as this is mereley a demonstration showing that ngine is real. It is NO real release. No sound, no joysticks, just for the curious people.... Get ngine-snes9x technical Demo 1 for Win9x/2000. READ the packaged readme. tubooboo

Website redesign live (tubooboo)	2000/10/19
Hy, don't have a lot of time, but here we go: The new website design, gfx courtesy of Marco Lago, has been pushed live. Surf around, you might something interesting you have not heard of yet ;-) ... post opinions on the board. Thx alot for keeping ngine alive! tubooboo

What I have done lately, and where ngine-snes9x stands (tubooboo)

2000/10/17

Hy all! Thanks for supporting ngine by visiting the site although there has been no major progress announcement in the last two weeks or so. I was plagued with personal and technical issues, as well as possible copyright infringement issues... So I had to change the roadmap for ngine development, here is what I have done: ngine will not need *ANY* copyrighted runtime libs to run on the dreamcast anymore. Instead, a mix of Dan Potters dreamlib and selfmade custom target platform code will be used. the release of ngine-snes9x will come with all the files you will need, in various different formats like cdi/bin-cue and propably as a srec version to upload via the serial slave for the debugging freaks ;) I have, altogether, dropped the thought of using the "devkits" floating around. What does this mean for the release? Well to be honest, I will have to rewrite some code that used to work already, so it is not exactly going to be out faster now. On the other hand, we now already have two competing snes9x ports for the dreamcast, so there is no real rush for me... i am even thinking about porting another emulator like DGen also. Listen, this does NOT mean I will drop the development of ngine-snes9x. I have the serial slave up and running, like I mentioned in my last post, and now, I am also able to compile all off the example source around that is using the GCC compiler and sh4 libs. All of them works a treat, for example CD filesystem access, Video access, Controller handling etc. And it all looks easy to get to me. I will hopefully start tonight trying to compile ngine-snes9x on GCC... and see what happens then ;-) . Hope this is a satisfactory update for you guys, and if you have any questions, post them on the board. tubooboo

Stuff works again, so does my serial cable (tubooboo)

2000/10/13

Haven't got a lot of time, but quick update: My DC works again, and so does the serial cable. Here is what I have running now on my CD hooked up to my PC, nice to know it works: All the people who posted to the messageboard that i would just be buying time, please stop calling me a liar, if you do not have confidence in what I do, stop visiting this site. Here is the reason why my DC was fried, that thing is a bit rough to build, at least for me. The pictured cable works now, though, gotta wrap it up now hehe ;-). ngine development has been resumed, cheer up. Shot of my serial hookup tubooboo

ngine development halted. (tubooboo)	2000/10/11
Hy all... Was testing the serial cable and somehow completely fried my Dreamcast just now. As I cannot afford a new one this month, the project is now on hold. I cannot believe this happened. I am so so so pissed off. tubooboo

File selection up and running (tubooboo)	2000/10/03
Hy all... time for a quick status update: File selection in ngine is up and running. I never claimed it being very pretty, but it works fine now. Here is some screenshots... So all that is missing now is sound and some minor issues. Stay tuned... tubooboo

ngine-snes9x logo contest results phase 1 (tubooboo)	2000/10/02
The best logos are in, and you are asked to raise your opinions! Head over to the logo contest results page and write an opinion about your favourite logo on the message board . I will reserve the right to decide on a logo, but still, I am not sure which one i like best, so help me out.

for all the people who wrote me about ngine-snes9x being fake (tubooboo)

2000/10/02

Its your free decision to think my project is fake. But think about it, why would I make such a jerk out of myself?? If you need a reason why the gfx screenshots are shifted one pixel to the left, learn how to program DirectDraw. You can place your surface ANYwhere on the screen, it is not connected to a window. So plz don't post lame stuff like this on my message board unless you know what you are talking about.

ngine-snes9x needs a logo (tubooboo)	2000/09/27
So if you are good with Photoshop, mail me one. Size should be 256*224 16bit and a bigger one for banners and the like. Official emu name is "ngine-snes9x". I could also use a dedicated "ngine" logo. All logos sent in will get shown on the site. Thx for any help!

SNES9X: It WORKS! (tubooboo)

2000/09/27

Guess what! ngine-snes9x started to work! 5 days and 14 hours after i began porting it using ngine. Dont believe me? Heres proof: More pics? Visit the ngine-snes9x project page Actually, I had a really funny conversation with CyRuS64 just before it started to work, here is the log for your entertainment: hehe CyRUS64 says: try it... tubooboo says: well i ll know in a minute tubooboo says: please god please CyRUS64 says: fingers crossed... tubooboo says: i would like my code so much better than the new one tubooboo says: almost there.... linking CyRUS64 says: shit it is a big src tubooboo says: ok trying tubooboo says: ITS WORKING IT IS FUCKIN WORKIN tubooboo says: YES YES YES CyRUS64 says: sweet CyRUS64 says: full gfx? tubooboo says: yep. i ll post screens tubooboo says: yep. CyRUS64 says: yup send me some for boob CyRUS64 says: ill get them up in a flash tubooboo says: ok, hang on, gimma 5 minutes to smoke a cigarette though As you would imagine, this is a huge accomplishment for now. It proves two things: 1: I am well capable to get this stuff working on the DC =) ... and 2. It proves the whole ngine system is neither fake nor rubbish. Actually, I am getting happy fullspeed emulation out of my 333 PC... and i think theres lots of time left even, ngine renders VERY fast. What works now: ngine-snes9x works in the ngine environment with the win32 gfx plugin attached ngine-snes9x therefore works as a standalone exe file on any DDraw Windows machine. What does NOT work: the ngine keyboard plugin (ETA: 2 hours of coding or so to integrate it) any other platform plugins and DC specific joypad plugin code for ngine (to be done) Sound (not even integrated into ngine yet) All i can say, I am greatly reliefed by the result of this. Ngine proved to be a working platform, and I did not make an idiot out of myself by posting about an emu that would never work. Special thanks in no particular oder go to: Gary of SNES9x for a beautiful piece of sourcecode, CyRuS64 for continued support and spreading the word about ngine in the first place, Steffen Haeuser (Amiga Warpup SNES9x porter) for vital tips on adapting the source, Sin for good tips here and there, and especially my girl friend Maike, who did not see much of me the last three days. Thx all, i am happy, good night. Now get this fu**in Messageboard to life. hehey Signing off for the night... tubooboo

SNES9X: The source seems to work (tubooboo)	2000/09/24
Yay, my SNES9x port now reads ROMs and starts to emulate them. even the screen buffer seems to get busy after it running for a while. So i assume it works, it also calls the SNES9x internal display update function regularly. Everything looking good for the first ngine-snes9x screenshots. Gimme a few more hours / maybe days... ;-)

SNES9X: YUP! Snes9x integrated into ngine (tubooboo)

2000/09/24

Lets get one thing out of the way, it is NOT running games yet. However, after a few hours of work tonight I successfully integrated the SNES9x source (v 1.29) into the ngine environment. I have everything compiling and linking fine, hell, I actually invoke SNES9x code now, and I am writing the ROM loader now. We might see very interesting things, very soon, as the whole display environment is already taken care of by ngine, and this works a treat already. Expect no sound in the first version, though. signing off for the night now. cheers for all the support mail, keep it coming. And use the message board if you have a question. Thx, tubooboo

Mailing list added (tubooboo)	2000/09/24
ok. you all cried for it, now go and subscribe to the ngine.de mailing list here.

SNES9X: Will try to get the source running tonight (tubooboo)

2000/09/22

So, I wanted to get two news items out. First, remember, ngine is a one man show (at least currently hehe), and I am working a lot in my job, have a girl friend, have sort of a life, and people that actually come around to my place and visit me. So do please not expect me drop it all for ngine... I am highly motivated and all, especially due to the backing I get from a lot of people now, but please do not write me emails about quitting my job, as that is bullsh*t. I will try to get to as much progress as humanly possible. Tonight (after setting up our new Linux server, hehe) I will try to get the SNES9x source to link on my Win32 machine, and if i make that, try to integrate the GFX output with ngine. I will update the site tonight and tell you where I got... also have a look at the Messageboard, you might find some news there tonight. If this step works out, we have the most complicated step out of the way.

SNES9X: porting has begun (tubooboo)

2000/09/21

To keep all you posted. I got my hands on the normal non Win32 SNES9x source now. After about 4 hours i got it to compile in Visual C++, but it will not link yet, and even if it does, it doubt it will magically start to work. Initially, I had about 200 linker failures, and now, at 3 am in the morning, I got them down to 18. Still, this is very good news, I expect the program to run in my Win32 environment in a few days, and then, I will integrate it into ngine. There will be no update tomorrow, as I am out having real life (tm). Good night.... tubooboo

Some more details on the ngine status (tubooboo)	2000/09/20
i have done some updates to the status of ngine. Check out the updated ngine page.

Messageboard is now running (tubooboo)	2000/09/20
Since the site seems to attract growing attention, I have added a messageboard for all you people to write your feelings about ngine and Dreamcast development. Have a lot of fun, and post any questions you may have, I will read the board regularly and post answers. Access the board here.

Nice: more than 1000 hits on day one (tubooboo)	2000/09/20
Seems like there is a strong flow of visitors coming around to ngine.de, thanks all for a more than successful day 1 on this site. I hope you are pleased with whats on there now. Keep coming, new stuff will be up, and, you never know, you might be downloading your favourite SNES9X for Dreamcast pretty soon from here ;) thx for your support, tubooboo

Help me: Looking for SNES9x Win32 source (tubooboo)	2000/09/19
I am looking for a new version of the Win32 SNES9X source code. I know that it used to be for download at the Sintendo site lately, but the link is no more... If you happen to have downloaded this source, drop me an email now and attach the source. You will definitely get credits, as this is all that holds up my development now. Go and help out! thx, tubooboo

layout update (tubooboo)	2000/09/19
The layout has been changed so it would now be "bloody Netscape" compatible. Sorry for all the initial inconvieniences. Things should all be well now. If you experience problems surfing the site, please drop me an email. Thanks

ngine.de announces ngine project on boob.co.uk (tubooboo)

2000/09/19

Finally, the ngine project was publically unveiled on everybody's favorite Dreamcast development site, Boob.co.uk. The full story on the project can be read about on the Project pages, linked from the left side menu. Have a lot of fun, and please, send me some feedback regarding ngine. I appreciate any good ideas and will incorporate anything that makes sense and does not take too much of my already sparse spare time. Big shouts to the CyRuS64 at Boob for getting life onto this site.

ngine to run SNES9X on Dreamcast (tubooboo)	2000/09/19
While in announcement mayhem, it should quickly be said that the first project the ngine environment will be used for will be a Dreamcast / WinCE / Linux port of SNES9x. Well , actually, once it runs in ngine, it will run on ANY platform that has ngine display plugins written for it. Watch this spot for news.

ngine progressing nicely, Windows CE plugins start working (tubooboo)	2000/09/18
The ngine GFX and File IO plugins have been successfully ported to Windows CE. This further proves that this is actually a working approach to produce cross compiling source working on any platform. Currently, the Linux plugins are about to get ready... Expect a few Linux screens soon....