April 1997


4/30/97

-From the SNES97 homepage.....

New versions of Snes97 for Linux and Sun Solaris are here ! New versions of Snes96 for Linux, DOS and Sun Solaris also released. They might be able to run ROMs that Snes97 can't and vice versa, so you might what to give them a try.

I don't have ANY of the new binaries up yet though, so get them from the source instead,.(for now)  I will not support any platforms but Windows and DOS.

-I realize that this file is getting pretty big, so I will start fresh with a new news page tomorrow. The "back issues" will be saved and stored by month from now on.

-ekwong@netbistro.com (Harisson Piel) Brought it to my attention that I hadn't included Atmosherical Heights in my ROM page, although they do have a number of good games to download. This prompted me to update the page, and get rid of the broken links which had been there for a while.

-I knew that something would come of Kyoto! The Genesis EMU begun by Haruki Ikeda before his death in February is being continued by Michael Kikuta, the author of BlueZone, which was never released. He is looking for programmers and Sega-CD docs. http://www.cco.net/~chaosknight/. He is writing his own EMU, because Haruki's source code was lost. He is just calling it Kyoto in memory of his friend.

-A permanent link to the News Service (See below) has been added to the emulation links page.

-Lord ESNES has informed me that version .11a does indeed have VESA 2.0 support, unlike I stated on the 27th. It is built in to the emu, but has to be enabled with either -vesa or -vesa2 after the ROM file name. I am just honored that he was on the site!

-Jim Pragit, of JP Software, has begun a new news only site called the EMU News Service. it is located at http://members.aol.com/emunews. I am the SNES correspondent for the site, and both my site and his will always have the most up to date news available this way. Jim is a great guy, and runs an excellent site, it's worth your time to check it out.

-The EMU News Service is reporting that the "save NESticle" site is gone. I feel that is was a lost cause anyway.

4/29/97

-Version .0.0.15 of SNES97 is out for DOS and WIN32, Secret of Mana loads!! Earthbound loads!! the speed has been increased slightly as well. SNES97 is officially THE SNES emulator to get.

-NES-Lord was released last week, and it is up to version .35. It is being written almost entirely in ASM, so it is FAST! Compatibility is still lacking though, as is sound support. Check the NES page.

-Node99 is going to be back up on a new server sometime withing the week, perhaps by this weekend if everything goes well.

-Handy, another Lynx EMU is out, and at version .10. Check the Lynx page.

-Massage .81 will be released soon with FM speed improvements and a fix for the Golvelius sprite bug, No more Shareware versions will be disributed though.

-MetaLynx has been updated, I'm not sure what has been improved/added.

-I am aware of some broken links on the ROM page, help me out and let me know if any of the pages have moved/disappeared. Thanks.

4/27/97

-Well, I'm sorry I didn't update the page more often while I was gone, but I was busy getting V.I.P. tours of the white house and such....

-ESNES version .11a is out. It doesn't have VESA 2 support, but it is more compatible with ROMS and there are a number of fixes and new features. There are 2 versions, one has special line by line graphics support, which supposedly runs some games better, but often is slower.

<<From Lord ESNES's Homepage>>

This version includes line-to-line graphics engine, it is necessary in roms with IRQ and/or HDMA. HDMA line-to-line and DMA fixes. SRAM support in mode 21, SRAM size checks, Interleaved ROM format, a lot of bugs fixes, new commands line options, 2-4 buttons joystick support, Pro Action Replay Codes support, and ROM patches in memory. A lot of stuff are working better.

4/20/96

-I am making this update from my uncle's laptop in Washington D.C., so I can't do anything too extensive

-SNES97 .0.0.1 for WIN32 and .0.0.11 for DOS are out, follow the link in my mission statement to get to the new files.

-I realize that some of my ROM links are broken. Please mail me if you know the status of these sites, or if you know the REAL URL for Rudy's Page (It's a bit off I think)

-It will be hard for me to update the site until Saturday, so bear with me...

4/17/96

-As promised, a new SNES ROM site has been added (actually 5 sites) to the ROM page. They are the last ones on the list.

-Node99 was back up, at least for a minute. (It was 10:15 eastern when it worked). The page is gone again now though. They must be working on it.

 -I will be in Washington D.C from the 18th until the 26th, so I may not get to update the page again until then. I will be staying with my uncle, who has AOL, so I may get to do some updates, but probably just the news page. I am trying hard to get a MAJOR compatibility update done tonight, and I think I'll be able to pull it off. I'm sorry that it has taken so long, but I am in school, and have to do some homework.

-Well, I just got ALL of the binaries up, and all of the links work. Thank god I don't have to do that again. Using 3 different screen names is a pain. I also did some other minor updates to pages, and added even more to the ESNES compatibility page. The SNES97 one is taking longer to get going than I thought.

-Node99 was booted off of it's server because it was drawing too many people. Sean will have to transfer the site to the commercial end of nfinity.com in order to get his page back up. Just another example of people who are screwed over because of their successes. Hopefully we will see Node99 back up soon.

-I found some errors on my compatibility pages...if anyone has had different results with the emulators, PLEASE mail me. I want the page to be as accurate as possible.

-I'm going to have to add a third screen name so that I can get an extra 2 megs for binaries. AOL is great (yes, I'm serious), but this is a pain.

-Ines info added to the NES page, various other minor fixes/changes to the site.

4/16/97

-Magic Engine version 0.8 has been released for the TurboGrafx 16. This new version is just a playable, crippled version  of the same code with no sound, so that the "Magic Engine a Fake???" posts would stop.

-VSWC has been discontinued, and is being integrated into SNES97. No further versions will be available. Go get SNES97!!! The VSWC page has been removed.

-The latest news about SNES97, is that is plays FF3 and Super Metriod among others!! This version is not yet completed however, and has not been released to the public.

-Node99 has mysteriously disappeared, no word on its status.

-Dark Sun volume 2 is out. Find it here

4/13/97

-ESNES compatibility info complete!!! 82 games included!!!!!

-Still more ROMs obtained. The following are new since yesterday.....

4/12/97

-A Turbografix 16 section will be added later tonight or tomorrow. The system has finally been emulated..

-Well, I got even more ROMs than I thought. Here are the ones not listed in yesterday's update.....

4/11/97

Personal Page: I added a 2nd picture of myself, and updated some ot the info. I finally was accepted at B.U. last week, so I just need to figure out where I'm going now... Case Western Reserve is currently at the top of the list.

-SNES Professional version .08b is out, and it should run ALOT more games now. Mode 7 is implemented, but HDMA has not been completed yet. It will be included in version .09b, which will be out soon I'd imagine. I will be adding a ROM compatibility section to the SNES Professional page within a couple of days.

-Archaic Ruins has resurfaced at archaic_ruins.parodius.com.

-Emulating Life, one of the best SNES ROM sites is gone. You can still get most of the same ROMs however, from ftp.regra.com.br

-I have added a Lynx emulation section to the site because of MetaLynx, a new (and the first) Lynx EMU.

-Many of you will be happy to know that the compatibility sections of the SNES emulator pages will be expanding shortly, due to the fact that I've gotten a TON of new ROMs to test. The following is a list of new ROMs I have gotten, and need to test......

4/8/97

-News Flash.. Damaged Cybernetics is no more.  The emulation scene has taken another hit, as DC is dissolved. Archaic Ruins is down...at least temporarily, as is all of futureone.com.

-Well, I learned that Mindrape was the major cause of NESticle's termination. He apparently got onto Bloodlust Software's system, and stole the NESticle source code, then distributed it on newsgroups. He still has not made a public apology, which I think we all deserve.

-SNES97 .6 for Linux/Sun OS is out, yet the homepage isn't updated. Here are the improvements....

-If anyone has seen The_Brain on IRC or heard ANYTHING about VSMC lately, please mail me. The VSMC page hasn't been updated forever, and I'm getting suspicious as to it's status....

4/7/97

I got back last night from Skiing, and I was BEAT, I didn't have the energy to update the site until today. Alot has happened while I was gone, so here it is in concise form.....

-NESticle released. This is the BEST NES emulator ever, check the NES page.....

Good while it lasted....

-The NESticle page has changed into a rationalization of the authors decision to discontinue the product :-( , probably as a direct result of a letter from Yoshi, who quit the scene recently telling of the horrors and greedyness of the scene in general. I can respect the decision, but am also saddened by it. NESticle was like winning the lottery and then losing the winning ticket. It was a glimpse into what is possible in the area of NES emulation, but we will never see what NESticle could have been. Off to Obsolete Obsoletion with you!! I will keep a copy of NESticle locally as long as it remains the best free EMU. version .21 will be the FINAL version.

-Haruki Ikeda, the author of Kyoto, an unreleased assembly coded Genesis emulator, has died in a car crash and the project is dead. Various authors are talking about creating a Genesis EMU is his memory. This is the way the EMU scene should be.

-Although the SNES97 page is not yet updated (again) Typhoon Z has somehow obtained a copy of SNES97 .0.0.0.3 DOS, and I have put it up locally. It may be faster than the WIN32 version if you have a slow windows video card.

4/3/97

 -I'm leaving today for Sugarloaf U.S.A. one of the Easts best Skiing spots, and wont be back until sunday night. For those of you with Linux or a Sun Sparc system, there are new versions of SNES97 for you as well, although I normally don't cover those platforms. I'd like to thank Typhoon Z for linking this page to his "What's New" section. I've gotten a ton of hits because of that. Thanks T.Z.!! Anyway, I'll be back on Sunday night with an update, so check back then. I changed a couple of minor things on the SNES97 page and on the ESNES page, but nothing major to report. Go get SNES97 .0.0.0.31!! It's the best SNES EMU yet!

4/1/97

-Well, I went back to the SNES97 page, and version .0.0.0.31 for WIN95 is out now. Apparently some of the mode7 support has been improved, and FF2 and Zelda are almost perfect now.

-Due to a suggestion by Typhoon Z I have left aligned all large paragraphs on the site. It's a bit easier to read now. Background Added, Return buttons added to bottom of pages, SNES97 version .0.0.0.3 for WIN95/NT4 is released and added locally!! Look at the FF2 intro!!

Here is a small list of changes compared to v0.0.0.21: