Genesis-Plus-GX/history.txt

Genesis Plus for Gamecube
------------------------------

current:
---------
[Genesis]

(MAME YM2612) fixed LFO phase update for CH3 special mode: fix sound effects in Warlock & Aladdin (thanks to AamirM)
(MAME YM2612) fixed enveloppe attenuation level on "KEY ON": fix Ecco 2's splash sound
(MAME YM2612) minor fixes on SSG-EG emulation
(MAME YM2612) added libsamplerate (Secret Rabbit Code) support for better FM resampling (HQ mode) 
(VDP) implemented cycle-accurate HINT timings: every timing sensitive games/demos are now *finally* working fine
(VDP) fixed a bug affecting CRAM/VSRAM DMA timings
(VDP) fixed Sprite Attribute Table address mask for VRAM writes 
(CPU) improved accuracy of 68k access to Z80: fix music in Pacman 2 when entering PAUSE menu
(CPU) disabled "Address Error" emulation when UMK3 hack is loaded: fix game crashing after a round ends up
(CART) added support for some more unlicensed games: Pocket Monster, King of Fighter 98, Soul Blade (credits to Haze)
(IO) improved Menacer emulation: fix lightgun support in Body Count & T2: The Arcade Game
(IO) implemented Konami Justifier emulation: fix lightgun support in Lethal Enforcers 1 & 2
(IO) implemented Sega Mouse emulation (Populous 2, Body Count, Shangai 2, Fun'n Games, ...)

[Wii only]
- added lightgun & mouse support through Wiimote IR 

[NGC/Wii]
- added "Gun cursor" option to enable/disable gun position display
- added "Invert Mouse" option to invert Sega Mouse vertical axe (required by some games)
- improved Controller options: Wiimote/Nunchuk and Classical Controllers can now be affected separately to ANY player
- faster zipped ROM loading from SDCARD
- reduced binaries size using Dollz3


16/07/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- adjusted (again) HINT timings: fix Double Dragon 2 (game freezed), hopefully does not break anything else
- fixed broken EEPROM support for Codemaster games
- modified input update timings: fix Dungeons & Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun (thanks to Notaz)
- added support for "Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy" hack (max. size supported is 10MBytes)
- added (VERY) preliminar support for PICO roms (credits to Notaz for his documentation)
- improved YM2612 emulation (credits to Nemesis for his tests on real hardware):
  .implemented phase overflow emulation: improved fix for special music instrument used in Comix Zone, Flashback, Ariel, Shaq Fu...
  .improved SSG-EG emulation in MAME core (also based on additional code from Alone Coder)
  .improved Timers emulation accuracy
  .improved Enveloppe Generator accuracy
  .fixed Channel 3 CSM mode emulation
  .implemented sample interpolation in MAME core to emulate the chip at original frequency (HQ YM2612 mode, from gens)

[NGC/Wii]
- added automatic alphabetical filesorting (Marty Disibio)
- added ROM History for faster ROM access (Marty Disibio)
- fixed a silly input bug in "ROM Infos" & "Game Genie" menus
- modified "Hard Reset" option
- improved display sharpness in original rendering mode (H40 cell mode only), filtering is now completely disabled
- enabled overscan emulation in "STRETCH" aspect mode also
- added support for horizontal wiimote handling in Menu (automatically used when the wiimote is not pointed towards the screen)
- improved Controller options
  .prevented keys reconfiguration if device is not detected
  .added support for up to 8 players (ISS Pro Deluxe, ...)
  .each player can be affected to a custom device (GAMECUBE Pad, WIIMOTE/NUNCHUK or CLASSIC)
  .added the ability to use classic controller & wiimote pad from the same port separately
  .modified "soft-reset" key on the Wiimote to avoid "accidental" resets (now press Buttons + & - simultaneously)
  .added MODE button mapping: use "START+Z" on gamepad or "Button Minus" on wiimote/classic (not reconfigurable)
  .added automatic configuration save for controller options



01/06/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- improved HCounter accuracy: fix graphic glitches in "Striker (Europe)"
- improved HINT timing accuracy: fix flickering in "Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel (USA)"
- improved rendering accuracy when backdrop color is modified during HBLANK (Road Rash I/II/III)
- fixed broken Game Genie support

[NGC/Wii]
- added full horizontal scaling (up to 720 pixels) when using "stretch" aspect mode (use Xscale to increase width)
- added progressive mode support (480p) in menu also
- added automatic SRAM/FreezeState support (OFF by default, check "system options")
- added automatic configuration file support
- /genplus/saves is now automatically created if it does not exist
- use libfat automatic SDCARD detection: default slot is now always used when accessing SDCARD
- assigned Reset Button to Genesis Soft-Reset

[Wii only]
- added automatic TV mode detection (from SYSCONF), no more PAL60 version needed
- added option to return to Wii System Menu
- fixed "TP reload" option: now compatible with HB channel
- removed SD-Gekko support (Wii slot becomes default slot)
- added Wii SD slot support for SRAM & FreezeState files
- added Wiimote, Nunchuk & Classic controllers support through libwiiuse (see User Manual for default keys)
- added customizable key mapping (for each configurations: wiimote only, wiimote+nunchuk or classic)

  
19/04/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- modified VINT timings a little bit: fix lockup during Desert Strike's intro
- corrected 68k interrupts handling: fix graphic glitches in Darius II/Sagaia

[NGC/Wii]
- fixed 60Hz "Bilinear" rendering mode (was broken in last release)
- fixed issue with the 1st file when browsing SDCARD through SD-Gekko
- fixed GX initialization: fix "freeze" issue that occured sometime when starting a game
- added "Wii Reboot" option
- added PAL 50hz support in menu (black borders)
- added progressive rendering mode support (480p) in Wii mode (not supported by the PAL60 version, use the other one !)
- compiled with a modified libogc: should definitely fix the PAL "red screen" issue for RGB-cable users (still use the PAL60 version !)

  
06/04/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- updated SVP core: fix some perspective issues in Virtua Racing (thanks to Notaz)
- added internal SAT update during VRAM Fill: fix unmasked sprites during Battletech's intro
- fixed m68k core issues with gcc 4.2.3: fix Xperts, Lemmings 2, M1 Abrams Battle Tank
- forced YM2612 Enveloppe update: fix intro music in Batman&Robin (thanks to Aamir)

[NGC/Wii]
- removed not working DVD features (Wii mode only)
- fixed Timers with PAL roms
- added EURGB60 TV mode support: fix "red screen" issue with PAL Wii when using RGB cable
- added PAL50 TV mode support (PAL and NTSC roms), see video options
- added "TP reload" option, use "System Reboot" (Wii mode only)
- added Front SD rom loading support with LFN & subdirectory browsing (Wii mode only)


01/03/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- added SVP emulation: Virtua Racing is now emulated (big thanks to Notaz and TascoDeluxe)
- fixed VDP registers behaviour when VDP Mode 4 is enabled: fix Bass Masters Classic Pro, Captain Planet & The Planeeters
- corrected a bug in DMA Fill operation: fix James Pond 3, Rockman World/Megaman Willy Wars (corrupted VRAM)
- corrected typo errors in CPU cycle counters update: fix optiom screen music in "College Slam" and probably others games.
- added preliminary support of undocumented YM2612 bug: fixes soundtracks of Shaq Fu, Spiderman, Comix Zone, Ariel and some others
- added support for mappers & copy protection devices used in many unlicensed/pirate cartridges (see cart_hw.c for details)
- rewrote memory handlers for better modularity and some (little) speedup
- reduced Savestate size

[NGC]
- compiled with last LibOGC (20080228): fix issues when unplugging controller, support for Wii mode (see release.txt)
- added "hard-coded" IPL font (no more direct access to BOOTROM): fix font problem for Qoob users
- added SDCARD Slot B support for loading Roms
- removed unused MAME PSG Core
- added 'Force DTACK' option for prototype games usually hanging on real hardware (example: Sonic Crackers)
- added an option to underclock SVP core (with default cycle count, Virtua Racing actually does not run fullspeed in GC mode)
- fixed frame timing in PAL mode
- fixed analog stick sensitivity


07/01/2008:
-----------
[Genesis]
- fixed interleaved rom detection: roms with .smd extension should now work fine
- fixed a recently introduced bug in VDP registers writes: fixes bad colors in Toy Story (intro)
- updated list of games using EEPROM: added Sports Talk Baseball (internal memory check fixed) and Brian Lara Cricket
- fixed VINT flag update when VINT is disabled: fixes NCAA College Football
- adjusted DMA timings in H32 mode: fixes flickering in Out of this World, Kawasaki Superbike Challenge & Formula One
- adjusted line rendering and HBLANK timings: fixes flickering in Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing, Deadly Moves/Power Athlete
- fixed unmapped ROM reads through Z80 Bank: fixes Zombie High (Proto)
- added support for custom ROM/RAM mapping used by Game no Kanzume Otokuyou

[NGC]
- fixed broken SDCARD support for SRAM and Savestate files


30/12/2007:
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- fixed ROM injector base address (DATA section 1)


28/12/2007:
-----------
[Genesis]
- many sourcecode cleanup and optimization
- completely rewrote EEPROM emulation: now support all known EEPROM types (24C01-24C65) and mappers (Sega, Acclaim, EA, Codemasters)
used in a few games (now use internal game database) as external RAM. This should at least fix save support in the following games:
  . NBA Jam (alternate Acclaim mapper)
  . College Slam, Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (24C65 type)
  . NHLPA Hockey 93, Rings of Power (EA mapper)
  . Micro Machines serie, Brian Lara Cricket 96/Shane Warne Cricket (Codemasters mapper)

- external RAM is now initialized to 0xFF by default: fix Micromachines 2, Dino Dini Soccer 
- fixed SRAM 16-bits memory handlers: fix some Sega Sports and EA Sports games (NFL95, NBA Action 95, NHL97, NHL98,...)
- modified WRITE_xxx & READ_xxx macros for better portability and faster memory access on BIG ENDIAN platform 
- completely rewrote BIG ENDIAN support in render.c and vdp.c: rendering should be a little faster
- rewrote ROM bankswitch emulation (Super Street Fighter II): ROM access are faster, using memory pointers instead of reading ROM copy from ARAM 
- fixed leftmost Window/PlaneA column render and implemented Window bug (as described by Charles Mc Donald)
- improved "Sprite Limit" and "Sprite Collision" detection accuracy
- modified RGB565 Color Palette to use the full available color range (0-31;0-63)
- implemented "cycle accurate" HV Interrupt timings: fix Sesame's Street Counting Cafe, Legend of Galahad (intro)
- improved VDP access timings accuracy (added FIFO emulation): fix Double Clutch
- improved DMA timings accuracy: fix Winter Olympics (E), Arch Rivals and probably more
- fixed HCounter again: Road Rash serie (I,II,III) don't need timing hacks anymore
- fixed VCounter in Interlaced 2 mode: fix Combat Cars "VS-Mode"
- improved Interlaced 2 mode (double resolution) rendering: Sonic 2, Combat Cars ("VS-Modes") look far better
- added TMSS BIOS support (optional)
- rewrote part of the YM2162 MAME's core: fixed internal FM timers handling, removed non-YM2612 emulation code and unused multiple cpu support
- implemented "cycle accurate" FM timers & sound samples rendering
- improved Z80 Interrupt timing accuracy: fix Sonic 3 music slowdowns
- updated Z80 & 68000 cores to last MAME versions
- improved Soft Reset emulation: X-Men 2 and Eternal Champions (random character selection) now work more like on real hardware.
- added full overscan emulation (vertical & horizontal borders) for "pixel perfect" aspect ratio (tested against a real genesis)

[NGC]
- fixed rom checksum calculation (only used for rom information)
- some modifications in GX rendering code.
- added support for original Genesis/Megadrive NTSC & PAL video modes: this makes games looking exactly as on original hardware (progressive rendering with reduced resolution)
- added "Aspect" option to switch between ORIGINAL (aspect ratio is fixed and borders are emulated) and MANUAL SET (horizontal and vertical scaling can be manually configured, borders are not emulated)
- added "Overscan" option to disable the original borders color and always use black borders (only used when ORIGINAL Aspect mode is enabled)
- added support for up to 720 pixels horizontal resolution (needed for proper aspect ratio emulation)
- added "TV Mode" option to enable automatic switching to PAL(50Hz) TV mode when the Genesis runs in PAL mode
- added "Xshift" & "Yshift" settings to let you adjust display area position while keeping the original aspect ratio
- added option to disable/enable SSG-EG support in FM cores: this special mode is indeed not properly emulated and some games might sound wrong when enabled
- removed "CPU Type" option, you can also now force Region (JAP/EUR/USA) without reseting the game, choose USA or JAP for 60hz, EUR for 50hz, this can be useful to bypass game region protection at startup.


20/07/2007:
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[Genesis]
- corrected TeamPlayer support: fix multiplayer in Gauntlet 4 (Sept. version), Pengo and a lot of others
- added J-Cart support: enable multiplayer in Codemasters games (Pete Sampras, Micromachines games, Super Skidmarks)
- added serial EEPROM autodetection: fix games with bad SRAM informations in header (NBA Jam TE)
- added SVP faking: display 2D graphics in Virtua Racing (the game is however still unplayable)
- added support for more internal IO registers: fixe some unlicensed games (Wisdom Tree games...)
- added preliminary support for unmapped protection device: fix some unlicensed games with special built-in hardware (Squirell King, Lion King 2...)
- added "Soft Reset" combo (in game, use L+Z triggers): this should be like pressing the RESET button on a real Genesis and this is required
  in some games to enable special features or even complete the game (ex: X-Men).

[NGC]
- added separate configuration for PortA/PortB inputs (GAMEPAD, MULTITAP or NONE, see Joypad Config): this let you setting
  PORTB as unplugged, which is needed in some games to access special modes or enable cheat codes (Alien Storm, X-Men...)
- Freezestate & SRAM files are now compressed (using zlib)
- FreezeState & SRAM files can now be saved/loaded to/from SDCARD: located in /genplus/saves/ from the root of your SDCARD
- changed initial ROMS directory for SDCARD user: now looking for /genplus/roms/ from the root of your SDCARD
- added user-transparent SRAM autoload (detection order is MCARD then SDCARD, SLOTA then SLOTB)
- "System reboot" is now used for console reboot and SD/PSO reload (if detected)
- added new font: now use original IPL font, extracted from Bootrom
- modified controls when going into the rom selection menu (DVD or SDCARD):
   . use B button to go up one directory
   . use Z button to quit the file selection menu 
   . use L/R triggers to go down/up one full page
   . use Left/Right buttons or Analog stick to scroll the selected entry's filename when it can't be full displayed
- various menu rearrangment, minor bugfixes & sourcecode cleanup


21/06/2007:
-----------
- added 4.7GB DVD support for WII drives (the maximal allowed size for Gamecube DVD is still 1.35GB)
- removed MPAL video timings, always use 60Hz NTSC: fix display problems for PAL wii users (no more PAL50 version needed)
- added Console Reboot option in main menu (IPL Reboot)
- added Multitap support (EA 4-Way Play and Sega Teamplayer): allowed up to four players in games supporting those peripherals
- added partial Sega Menacer lightgun support (use Analog Stick): automatically set when detecting the 6-in-1 Menacer game


18/05/2007:
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- you can now switch between FM cores without reseting the game. FM registers  value are automatically restored when switching.
- modified PAL framesync a little bit: the 20ms period is now applied between the start of 2 consecutive frames,
no more between the end of the previous and the start of the next one, which seems more correct to me
- removed the previous VINT timings modification because it brokes some games (Rocket Knight, Thunderforce III,...)
- added automatic Timing configuration (VDP latency, VINT timing & alternate Line Timing) at game loading, based upon specific romname detection.
This means you can still modify some of these options afterwards but they are now automatically set/unset when loading a game which need
special timing fixes. These fixes are also automatically desactivated when the current game doesn't need them.

For information, games that are actually detected and need special timings to run properly are:
 .Legend of Galahad & Road Rash series (single line not rendered properly)
 .Sesame Street Counting Cafe (don't boot)
 .Chaos Engine/Soldiers of Fortune (graphic glitches on scrolling)


08/05/2007:
-----------
- corrected L & R buttons assignment: fixes Genesis X & Z buttons being inverted
- VINT timings are now a little more accurate: fixes Sesame's Street Counting Cafe
- SN76496 MAX_OUTPUT back to normal
- modified FB_WNOISE value in SN76496 core according to John Kortink's last informations 
- added support for Maxim's PSG core, same as used in SMSPLUS (it becomes the default PSG core)
- updated FM core to the latest MAME version
- corrected DAC output level (fixes voices and some special FX being too low)
- added support for Gens YM2612 (FM) core (MAME's one still remains default FM core)
- added configurable preamplification for each sound cores (see Emulator Options)
- added some other configurable sound options (boost overall volume, FM improvment for Gens YM2612)


11/04/2007:
-----------
- corrected MAX_OUTPUT value in SN76496 core: fix PSG sound (SFX) volume
- removed unused sound buffer allocation


26/03/2007:
-----------
- added DVD automount: automatically call libogc DVD_Mount function if ISO PVD reading failed (idea taken from softdev's last neocdredux release). This may be useful for loading roms from a DVD after booting from SDLOAD or after stopping DVD motor.
- added "DVD motor off" feature, like in others emulators
- corrected Memory Card mounting function: EXI_ProbeReset() function was never called if the first mounting attempt failed. Should fix some of the "Unable to mount memory card" errors.


22/03/2007:
-----------
 - added SDCARD subdirectory browsing and LFN (255 char. max) support


17/03/2007:
-----------
 - remove some rendering unused code (only used by DOS version of genesis plus) for little speedup
 - added an option to enable alternate line rendering timing (fix single line error in Road Rash series and Legend of Galahad's Intro)
 - Color RAM update now always reset color 0 to border color (fix color glitches in Mortal Kombat,...) (thanks to Noop's for the idea)
 - added last Softdev's modifications (normalised memory access and ASM GU functions used intead of 'C' ones) for some speedup
 - updated gcaram.c to be compatible with last libogc version


09/03/2007:
-----------
- little rendering code speedups
- modified HV counter tables (fix graphic glitches in Skitchin's sky, Lotus 2 Recs, Panorama Cotton, Dashin Desperados & maybe more)
- completely rewrote DMA timings emulation so that it works for all games (no more cpu freezing)
- added all DMA tranfer rates handling for each three DMA modes and added dma busy flag emulation
- modified interrupts handling on VDP register #0 and #1 writes (fix Lemmings status bar)
- added VDP RAM write latency  (fix Chaos Engine/Soldier of Fortune gfx glitches)
- modified FM timers handling a bit (fix Vectorman2 music)
- corrected Sprite Limit rendering (fix Sonic 1 & Micromachines 2 title screens)
- corrected IO Registers writes (fix Decap' Attack controls, no more need for alternate input)
- corrected 6 Buttons Pad emulation (fix 6buttons detection in Mortal Kombat 3, Comix Zone and other 6-buttons compatible games)
- modified sound mixing a bit according to Generator sourcecode (FM and PSG ratios seems more correct)
- added separate CPU Region (USA, Europe, Japan,...) & Speed (PAL or NTSC) choice in menu options
- modified main frame synchro in PAL mode (fix sound glitch in this mode), thanks to Softdev for the solution
- added savestates support (go to SRAM menu, memory card supports only)


07/02/2007: (Eke-Eke)
---------------------
- fm timers fixed (fix missing music in Castle of Illusion, Quackshot, Undead Line, Wonderboy in Monster Lair, Cal 50, Turbo Outrun, Thundeforce 4 and maybe more)
- added complete EEPROM emulation (save support now works fine in Wonderboy5, Megaman Willy Wars, NBA Jam...)  (credits to Notaz, adapted from Picodrive code)
- added preliminar dma timing emulation (fix bottom screen in Legend of Galahad) (credits to Notaz, adapted from Picodrive code)
- hack: clear Vint pending after Hint (INT level 4) acknowledge (fix Fatal Rewind)
- hack: modify read_bus16 to return a random value (fake fetch) (fix Time Killers)
- modified cpu execution timings, with more correct hblank and interrupts timing  (fix ISS Deluxe, Double Dragon 2 and certainly more) (Based on Gens code)
- modified busreq mechanism: better synchro between z80 & 68k (no need to dejitter anymore) (Based on Gens code)
- added sprite collision detection (fix Strider 2)
- modified dma fill operation for big endian platform (fix Contra Hardcorps gfx garbage)


Based on Softdev's initial releases


WIP1.2	unzip.c
		Added partial zip support
		
WIP1.1	sio.c added
		Added six button pad support from x86 Gens
		Additional changes based on Charles MacDonald's gen-hw.txt
		
WIP1	07 March 2006
		Updated SN76496 driver
		Added GX Hardware Scaling