@Database ANES.Guide @Author Fredrik Schultz & Morgan Johansson @Node Main " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " _ _ _ ____ /.\ /.\ /.\___ / __/ _ _/ |_\_ _/ | \_ _/ |___/_/__ \_ _ |Y _/ Y | Y _/ Y | Y| :| | | | | | | | |: :...:...:...:...:.......:.......: -÷- Amiga Nintendo Emulator -÷- Version 0.99.6b GIFTWARE Development started: 8:th of May 1997 Created by: Morgan Johansson Fredrik Schultz @{" Documentation " Link index} The authors cannot be held responsible for any possible damage caused by this program. You are using it at your own risk! @Endnode @Node index " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " Welcome to A/NES - Amiga Nintendo 8-bit emulator. @{" Introduction " Link Introduction} A short introduction to A/NES... @{" Requirements " Link Requirements} What do you need to run this..? @{" Installation " Link Installation} Shouldn't be a problem... @{" Registered User? " Link Reggad} Read this if you're a registered user. @{" Features " Link New} @{" Preferences " Link Prefs} @{" Controls " Link Use} If you don't already know them... @{" Sending gifts " Link Register} @{" Authors " Link Contact} How you can contact us... @{" Technical info " Link tech} @{" Future " Link Future} What will the future be? @{" History " Link History} Link to the past ;) @{" Bugs " Link Bugs} Still some to fix... @{" FAQ " Link FAQ} Frequently Asked Questions @{" Is this legal? " Link Legal} A legal notice found on the Net... @{" Greetings to " Link Greetings} @Endnode @Node tech " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}TECHNICAL INFORMATION@{ub} The following utilities was used during the development of A/NES. * ASM-ONE v1.29/v1.30 * GADTOOLSBOX A/NES consists of more than 13.000 lines of pure assembly code. The source code (including gui) is about 230 Kbyte in size. The 6502 cpu emulation is NOT based on any existing source and is written from scratch in assembly, making special use of the 68020 processor or better. @Endnode @Node Prefs " -÷×÷- A/NES - GUI & Preferences -÷×÷- " @{b}GUI@{ub} Explaning about @{b}Load / Start ROM@{ub} is not needed I guess. :) The "continue" button will let you continue your game when you have aborted it (by for example pressing the escape-key). However this button is not entirely reliable yet so use it with care. @{b}PREFERENCES@{ub} Features enabled at this time are: @{" GENERAL " Link GenPrefs} @{" EMULATION " Link EmuPrefs} @{" CHEAT " Link CheatPrefs} -------------------------------------------------------- @Endnode @Node GenPrefs " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}GENERAL WINDOW@{ub} @{b}Graphics-driver@{ub} / @{b}Scroll@{ub} have no function yet (they will in 1.0!) @{b}LIMIT SPEED@{ub} This function disables all speed-limitation code. So, if your favourite game always run at 50fps, it should now run even faster (even if it will probably flicker even more).... On 68040/060 you can really enjoy FAAAST NES emulation. About 2 - 3x NES speed is not unusual... :) Default = checked @{b}AUTOSAVE BATTERY@{ub} Turn this function off if you don't want to save the battery. Default = checked @{b}IGNORE LED@{ub} Here is a real usefull option! :D When this button is cleared, A/NES automatically takes care of switching on/off the hardware sound- filter to improve sound quality. Check this if you don't want A/NES to do that. Default = cleared @{b}JOYPAD 1@{ub} Selects if you want to use keyboard/CD32 pad for emulating joypad 1. Support for more pads will be added later. @{b}JOYPAD 2@{ub} Selects between "Disable" or "CD32". You should choose "disable" if you don't want to use joypad2 (will save a few cycles) or if you haven't got a CD32 compatible joypad. :) @Endnode @Node EmuPrefs " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}EMULATION WINDOW@{ub} @{b}HBLANK@{ub} Number of cycles / row. Only for advanced users. Default value is 115. @{b}EMULATE SOUND@{ub} Turn sound emulation on / off. Saves a few cycles but shouldn't be noticable. @{b}CHANNELS@{ub} There are three separate channels emulated yet by A/NES. Here you can de-select any channel you don't want to listen too. The three channels are squarewave 1, square wave 2 and triangle wave. Noise/PCM isn't implemented yet, but they are coming. @{b}VOLUME@{ub} Sets the master volume of the sound. @Endnode @Node CheatPrefs " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}CHEAT WINDOW@{ub} @{" ACTION REPLAY INFORMATION " Link codes} If you look on the left side of this window, you will discover several "string gadgets", they look something like this: action replay .------------. .------------. | | | | `------------' `------------' .------------. .------------. | | | | `------------' `------------' game genie .------------. .------------. | | | | `------------' `------------' .------------. .------------. | | | | `------------' `------------' In the Action Replay gadgets you can input Action Replay codes (really!) :) You can have four different codes activated at once. Game Genie codes works just like the ActionReplay codes. These codes will also be saved along with your saved patch files. @{b}Note@{ub} that all values you type are default as HEX code, which means you don't have to type $-signs or similar. Valid characters are 0-F, any other characters will be ignored. Also, be sure to "fill" the entire "string-fields", for example if you want to "poke" at adress 10, be sure to write 010! @{b}Cheat description@{ub} - here you type a 64 character long description of your cheat. This is only usefull if you want to save your cheat into a special patch (.pat) file, so you don't have to type your cheatcodes more than once. @{b}Activate@{ub} - Be sure this button is activated if you want to use the current cheat codes. @{b}Save@{ub} - Press this and your current cheat will be saved as a file. @{b}Load@{ub} - Loads a cheatfile. @{b}Get filepath@{ub} - Press this button to select a suitable path for storing your cheatfiles. There seems to be some kind of bug left in this code since the ROM path & cheat files path are mixed sometimes. Nothing serious though... @Endnode @Node Reggad " -÷×÷- A/NES - Registered Users -÷×÷- " @{b}Information for registered users@{ub} A/NES from now on is giftware, which means A/NES is not crippled anymore. But, still, keep your keyfile in a safe place. It's not needed right now, but it may be usefull in the future. @Endnode @Node New " -÷×÷- A/NES What's new? -÷×÷- " @{b}Features@{ub} - Full 6502 emulation (incl. ALL timings!) - Battery backup - Nice looking gui! :) - Action Replay/Game Genie code support! - Sound support - OCS/ECS support! (AGA recommended!) - Splitscreen scrolling - Two player support - Horizontal/ Vertical / Panning mirroring modes supported! - CD32 joypad support - XPK support - Supports mappers 1,2,3,4,7,9,10,11,15,34 (more or less) - Written in 100% 680x0 assembler code Note! A/NES only supports loading of XPK packed ROM files, not battery save files (*.sav). @Endnode @Node Use " -÷×÷- A/NES Controls -÷×÷- " @{b}JOYSTICK 1@{ub} ---------- When selecting "keyboard" in the preferences window, the following keys will work: ENTER - Start RIGHT SHIFT - Select LEFT AMIGA - A LEFT ALT - B ARROWKEYS - Guess what? :) ESCAPE - Abort emulation ... or if you decide to use a CD32 compatible joypad: @{b}CD32@{ub} ---- YELLOW - Start GREEN - Select RED - A BLUE - B PAUSE - Abort emulation @{b}JOYSTICK 2@{ub} ---------- Finally, joystick 2 is emulated! :) Choose between "disabled" or "CD32", that suites you the best. The keyboard is always locked to joystick 1 and may not be used by player 2. Always set this to "disable" when not using joystick 2. Support for more pads will be added in the future. @Endnode @Node Bugs " -÷×÷- A/NES Bugs -÷×÷- " @{b}Reporting bugs@{ub} Please report bugs to us that causes your computer to behave strangly. (See our addresses elsewhere in this guide file). BUT! Don't report about non-working ROMS! Many things is NOT emulated properly / yet, so please have patience... When reporting bugs to us, don't forget to mention: * Your complete machine setup! (cpu, ram, PAL/NTSC?, etc) And anything else that may be usefull for us to know.. @{b}Known bugs/problems@{ub} * Problems with some MMC's (caused by lack of good documentation). * Scrolling wrong / flickers. * Sound problems. * Sprites sometimes appear on strange places or flickers. * CPU emulation bugs @Endnode @Node Requirements " -÷×÷- A/NES Requires -÷×÷- " @{b}Requirements@{ub} - OCS/ECS/AGA chipset (AGA is recommended for best performance) - 68020+ - ~2Mb of Memory - reqtools.library - lowlevel.library (if you want CD32 joypad support!) - xpkmaster.library (for loading XPK files!) A/NES sometimes have problems to run on unexpanded A1200 machines, so a fastram expansion is a good thing to have. However a 68030/050 should be enough to play most games at a decent framerate. NOTE! You can not view the NES title if your ROM files are packed with XPK. @Endnode @Node Register " -÷×÷- A/NES is Giftware -÷×÷- " A/NES from now on is GIFTWARE. Which means no more crippled versions for non-registered users! Enjoy! :) But if you like A/NES and uses it alot, sending gifts to us are very welcome! :) Prefered gifts are of course money. 100 SEK is a good amount but equal amount in other currency is of course also appreciated. Send gifts to: FREDRIK SCHULTZ ÖSTRAVÄGEN 12 715 31 ODENSBACKEN SWEDEN Send Metallica related stuff to this guy and you've got a friend for life! :) Or MORGAN JOHANSSON MÖRBY 715 92 STORA MELLÖSA SWEDEN This dude is a total NES-Maniac. Send everything related to NES to him. An IO-48/56 unit would be very appreciated. :) Also, NES games is also fine (check with him first though... :) @Endnode @Node Introduction " -÷×÷- A/NES Introduction-÷×÷- " @{b}Introduction@{ub} It all started a day in may in the year of 1997. I was watching Nesticle on a PC machine and started to wonder why there wasn't any decent NES emulator for Amiga... So I (Morgan) and my friend Fredrik started this little project. We had never done anything like this before so it was a challenge. The CPU emulation (it's incredible fast) was written from scratch in 68020 assembly language and everything else concerning the emulation is also written in assembly. Enjoy it, and remember, if you like it and use it, send us gifts! :) @Endnode @Node Legal " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " The Legalities of Console Copying and Emulation 3-11-97, Copyright Anthony DiPasquale http://www.pce.net/anthony, anthony@pce.net 1. Is it legal to create an emulator? There has been some discussion on this. To create an emulator one must have a high level of knowledge of the source platform to be emulated, and the target platform the emulator runs on. To find out info about the source, usually takes reverse engineering, of the original console, which may be considered illigal. 2. Is it illegal to run/use an emulator? This goes along with the above question. There is debate around this as well. The general rule to follow is: You are allowed to own/run an emulator, as long as you actually own a corresponding hardware device. Example, you own a game boy, so you are allowed to run a game boy emulator on your computer. 3. Is downloading ROM images illegal? No, it is not, as long as you own a hardware copy of each rom image you download. If you download images you do not own a copy of, you are commimiting piracy. By now, I'm sure Nintendo has realized that all the game boy game roms have been being illigally copied, that being one of the most popular emulators, and they do not seem to care. Chances are if you copy a Coleco, Atari, Sega Master System, etc, it wouldn't matter too much. The general rule is: If the company is no longer collecting royalties, they probably won't mind. Who would pay $30 for a Coleco Vision ROM nowadays when you can go out and get the latest CD Rom game for about the same? Most people don't pirate roms because they are too cheap, they do it because they may miss an old game that you could no longer purchase even if you wanted to. 4. Is storing/distributing ROM images illegal? It may not nessisarily be illegal, it is more up to the person who downloads the image then the person who provides it. It is a questionable practice, and I wouldn't recommend it. Even though you may see various web pages and FTP sites doing it, that doesn't make it legal. @Endnode @Node codes " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}Action Replay@{ub} A/NES now supports "Action Replay" codes! A/NES at the moment only support RAM based codes (most A.R codes are RAM based). They should look something like this, and should always consist of eight characters: 0005B682 (this one gives you unlimited life in "Chip'n'Dale") If you find codes that are less than 8 characters, maybe they look like this: 05B682 Just be sure to fill it with zeroes, so it gets 0005B682 = eight characters. @{b}Game Genie@{ub} Not supported yet, but soon. @Endnode @Node Installation " -÷×÷- How 2 A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}Installation@{ub} Use the installer script that is included in this archive to install A/NES. Thanks for the script, Lennart Johannesson! @Endnode @Node Future " -÷×÷- The future of A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}The future (?)@{ub} This is very preliminary and will probably change. * More speed! * More compability. * Better sound. * Better & faster graphics! * Rewrite code for PowerPC? @Endnode @Node History " -÷×÷- A/NES History-÷×÷- " @{b}History@{ub} --------------------------------------------------------- Version: Released: 0.99.6b 1/4-98 * Game Genie support. * "Continue"-button implemented. * FAM-fileformat support. * Added mapper 10. * The usual bugfixes... 0.99.5b 22/3-98 * A/NES is now giftware! All features enabled for everyone! * Sound emulation rewritten. * PPU-related bugs fixed. * Other minor fixes. 0.99.1b 31/1-98 * Doesn't crash anymore if the lowlevel.library isn't present. (Thanks to Jesse Livengood for reporting this ugly bug!) 0.99b 25/1-98 * Now supports iNES extended file- format (>16 mappers). * Mapper #34 support. * Mapper #7 bugfixed (works again!) * Partial Mapper #15 support. * Shouldn't crash anymore on exit. * Minor CPU emulation speedup. * Some spritecode optimised. * Interrupthandler (NES) optimised. * Keyboard settings changed. * Spritebugs fixed once again. * Screenmode related code removed since it only caused trouble (for everyone but me? :-) * Filerequester code improved. * Small optimisations here and there. * Minor GUI bugfixes. 0.98b 6/1-98 * Now supports 4 different ActionReplay codes at once. * Major MMC2 improvements. (Punch-Out looks alot better!) * MMC3 fixes (SMB3, StarTropics now partially works!) * Major spritebug fixed. * Small changes in GUI. * Minor fixes and optimisations. 0.97b 1/1-98 * Happy New Year edition! * Small GUI changes. * Minor MMC3 changes. * Finally, two player support! * ADC instruction optimised! * Other minor changes. 0.96b 24/12-97 * Christmas edition! * Filerequester code fixed. * Minor bugs in docs(!) fixed! :) * Small MMC2-fixes. * Cheatcodes can now be saved & loaded. 0.95b 14/12-97 * Minor sound improvements. * Major GUI bug fixed! * Cheat preferences window now implemented. * Action Replay codes supported! 0.94b 7/12-97 * Preferences is now available. * Nintendo MMC2 (Mapper 9) now finally works! * Sprite collision register fixed. Some games works / scrolls much better now. * Small changes in soundroutines. * Minor changes here and there. 0.93b 22/11-97 * CPU emulation partly rewritten to improve performance on MMC- based games. * Now less memory hungry (~1Mb!) * Mapper 4 improved. 0.92b 8/11-97 * Versionstring is now correct! (oops!) :) 0.91b 8/11-97 * GUI font-bug fixed (silly!). * Bugfixed mapper 1. * Lots of other small fixes. 0.90b 1/11-97 * Sprites rewritten (MUCH faster). * Splitscreen scrolling. * Sound code rewritten. * Now in theory works on ECS! * Bank switching code optimised. * Minor code cleanup. * GUI rewritten! * A/NES is STILL shareware, so register today! 0.36b 28/9-97 * Major CPU bugfix! * Small fixes (as usual!) 0.35b 21/9-97 * Now supports XPK packed files! * A/NES doesn't eat 1mb of fast memory anymore when started from an icon. ;) * Small changes here and there. * Small soundfixes. * Internal version for registered users only! 0.34b 13/9-97 * Small joypad bug fixed. * Keyfiles are now supported. * Minor speedup and fixes in the spriteroutines. * Bank-switching code optimized. * Triangle Wave soundchannel implemented. * Minor optimisation in PPU code. 0.33b 3/9-97 * A small (but major) CPU-bug fixed! * CD32 joypad support! 0.32b 31/8-97 * Sound support! (partial) * A spriteregister wasn't properly emulated. Fixed now! 0.31b 23/8-97 * FAST version included! * Mapper #11 supported. * Small fixes. * A/NES is SHAREWARE! Support us! 0.30b 5/8-97 * Mapper #4 is now partly supported! * Mapper #7 supported. * Mapper #9 now fully supported. * Minor changes and bugfixes. 0.29b 3/8-97 * Major improvements in the graphic routines, resulting in an incredible speedup in some games. * Minor fixes. 0.28b 27/7-97 * A register wasn't properly emulated. Fixed now! (some games works alot better!) * Battery backup functions added! * Mapper #1 emulation improved and bugfixed (ALOT)! * The filerequester now remembers where you "left it" the last time (saved in S:ANES.prefs). * Small CPU emulation bugs fixed. 0.27b 19/7-97 * Mappper #1 emulation improved but not yet perfect. * 8x16 sprites supported. * Some emulation bugs fixed. * GUI changes/fixes. * File requester routines bug- fixed once again. * And some other changes... 0.26b 13/7-97 * Keyboard handler a little bit improved. * File requester should now work properly (phew!) * ESCAPE is now used to abort the emulation. 0.25b 12/7-97 * Damn! Bugfixing the previous version resulted in another bug. The "cannot click any button" bug should now have been removed 0.24b 12/7-97 * Major improvements in the keyboard handler! * Mapper #1 partly supported! * Minor GUI fixes. * Small CPU bugs fixed. 0.23b 8/7-97 * Minor fixes. * Some GUI-NTSC problems fixed. 0.22b 8/7-97 * Shouldn't crash anymore if started from an icon. 0.21b 6/7-97 * Fixed some minor stupid bugs! * 50 FPS speed limit for fast computers. (Could cause very annoying flickering if framerate was more than 50FPS). * We're still at SCC'97 and we have just found out that we won the democompo! :) 0.20b 6/7-97 * Released at the SCC '97 party held in Köping, Sweden. * Mapper 2 and Mapper 3 supported. * Many bugfixes. * Sprite routines optimised. * Colours now look better. 0.10a 30/6-97 * First official beta release! --------------------------------------------------------- @Endnode @Node Contact " -÷×÷- A/NES -÷×÷- " @{b}Authors of A/NES:@{ub} MORGAN JOHANSSON MÖRBY 715 92 ST.MELLÖSA SWEDEN computer : A1200T, Blizzard 68060/50, 16mb Fast, 6.4Gb HD, 20x IDE CD. e-mail : morgan.johansson@mbox301.swipnet.se guilty of: 6502 CPU emulation Sound Mapper support ROM-handler Gfx in general Bugtesting (and finding most of them) ------------------------------------------------------ FREDRIK SCHULTZ ÖSTRAVÄGEN 12 715 31 ODENSBACKEN SWEDEN computer : A1200, Blizzard 68020/28, 4mb Fast, 4.3Gb HD. e-mail : fredrik.schultz@swipnet.se guilty of: 6502 CPU emulation GUI Gfx in general Sprite & Scrolling Some bugfixing ------------------------------------------------------ Also big thanks to Dew / Limited Edition - for fixing the keyboard handler! @Endnode @Node FAQ " -÷×÷- Frequently Asked Questions -÷×÷- " @{b}Frequently Asked Questions@{ub} @{b}Q: Why is not Mapper5 supported?@{ub} A: Mapper 5 (or MMC5) is an incredible device that almost turns your NES into a new machine. It's VERY complex and the question is if it's ever going to be emulated properly. @{b}Q: Why is there graphics errors in Punch Out using mapper 9?@{ub} A: Mapper 9 (or MMC2) is a quite advanced MMC and every function is not yet emulated (not discovered how it works). Mapper 9 has some impressive functions to bankswitch VROM and this affects A/NES performance in a negative way. We're sorry for this (blame Nintendo! :) @{b}Q: My action replay codes doesn't work. Why?@{ub} A: Could be due to several reasons: 1) Check your spelling. Is it 8 characters long? 2) The code may be ROM based, and this does not work yet in A/NES 3) The action replay code may be for a different version of the game and may not work with yours. 4) Is the "activate" switch on? :) 5) Bugs in our code? :) :) @{b}Q: A/NES crashes when I try to run some games.@{ub} A: In rare cases this may happen. We are looking into this problem. @{b}Q: A/NES just quits when I try to start it. Why?@{ub} A: Check that you have installed the included font in your FONTS: directory properly. Do you have enough memory available? @{b}Q: Why do I get an 'XPK ERROR' message?@{ub} A: You are trying to load an XPK packed file, that is either corrupt or simply, you don't have the xpkmaster.library and it sub-libraries installed in your LIBS: drawer. @{b}Q: Why is A/NES written in assembler and not C?@{ub} A: There is enough slow c-ports out there, don't you think? @{b}Q: I keep getting a "FAILED" message what does that mean?@{ub} A: Well, the game has tried to execute an invalid assembler instruction. This is probably not caused by the game itself, it is just caused by bugs in our emulator. :) @{b}Q: It doesn't work correctly on my NTSC system.@{ub} A: Hopefully most of these problems are gone now. @{b}Q: In some games, the graphics looks very strange.@{ub} A: Yes. This could be the result of an unsupported (or not an entirely supported) Mapper chip. @{b}Q: Why doesn't A/NES multitask?@{ub} A: A/NES doesn't use any system routines becuase of speed-reasons. Running A/NES in a workbench window would sure be nice, if you have an INCREDIBLE fast machine, but most Amiga users doesn't have that kind of equipment today. @Endnode @Node Greetings " -÷×÷- A/NES Greetings to: -÷×÷- " @{b}Thanks to:@{ub} @{b}Thanks to:@{ub} Bloodlust Software, D, Dew/LED, FanWen, Firebug, Fredrik Olsson, Lennart Johannesson, Leo Flavum, Marat Fayzullin, Nate_DAC, Nintendo, Paul Robson, Ville Helin, Y0shi, #amycoders + everyone that has supported us this far in our project. Especially thanks to those which have registered / sent us gifts! Thanks guys! We won't forget you! @Endnode