Sunday, August 13, 2006

R7 released!

I've just uploaded R7 to SourceForge. Here's the changelist:


[^] Avoid checking for interrupts in dynarec code in most situations.
[^] Optimise dynarec Load/Store instructions to avoid checking for interrupts directly.
[^] Implemented the remaining 32-bit integer instructions in the dynarec.
[^] Implemented the remaining commong load/store instructions in the dynarec.
[^] Implemented JAL/JR in dynarec.
[^] Optimised various texture cache related features.
[^] Added various known value optimisations to the dynarec engine.
[^] Link together blocks even when they exit with branch likely instructions.
[+] Added option to allow frequency of texture update checks to be reduced.
[+] Added the ability to configure buttons
[!] Fixed a couple of compatibility issues caused by the dynarec.
[!] Fixed a couple of issues related to self-modifying code and the dynarec.
[!] Fixed issues with the framerate counter flickering.

 



Daedalus R7 for v1.00
Daedalus R7 for v1.50
Daedalus R7 Source

The main emphasis has been on improving the framerate of as many roms as possible, but I've also made some significant fixes to the dynarec engine which should improve compatibility for a few roms where this was causing problems before.

There are two settings you should be aware of if you're looking at getting the fastest possible framerate. The first is on the global settings page (that's the one you see on the main menu as soon as you boot up). You'll want to set 'Tesselate Large Triangles' to No here. The next option that helps boost the framerate is set 'Texture Update Check' to Disabled on the Rom Settings screen. A combination of these two options give a significant speedup in various roms.

In R7 I've also added the ability to define your own custom controller configurations. You can define a new controller mapping by adding a new .ini file to the Daedalus/ControllerConfigs directory. There are a few examples in there already, and I'll look at posting a brief tutorial up here sometime soon. If you come up with a new mapping you think would be useful then email me (my address is in the readme.txt) and I'll post it up here and add it to a later release.

I think R8 is going to continue to focus on improving the framerate. I still have a lot of optimisations I want to get in, and I think these will help improve the framerate even further. I also want to spend a little time improving the front end, as it's getting harder for me to add new settings and options in there. I also want to add an option for changing some of the settings while a rom is running (i.e. I think it's time we had an in-game menu.) Another thing I'll look at for R8 is saving settings between runs of the emulator - this way Daedalus will remember which controller setup you prefer for each rom. Finally I want to add an option to quit back to the main menu without having to restart Daedalus.

Phew! That's quite a big list. I can't guarantee I'll be able to add all that for the next release, but that's what I'm currently aiming for. I think it's more important to try and release regularly (i.e. every 3-4 weeks) rather than try and cram everything into one go, so some of these features might move back to R9 if I slip behind.

My first job though is to move my development environment over from my old PC to the new 'beast'. I've had to put this release together through a Remote Desktop Connection to the old PC and I can't bear to do that any longer. It'll probably take a few days to get everything set up on the new PC, but it should be a lot less painful in the long run :)

-StrmnNrmn

50 comments:

Zodionic said...

yes!!!! this is great, noticable speed increase in mario but i seem to be getting some strange green textures in the castle

Paulnpoosy said...

YESSS!!!

Paulnpoosy said...

Lets get started ont the compat list wally and other guy!

Mario Kart God said...

Why is Mario Kart so choppy???!!!

Mario Kart God said...

Strmnnrmn do you think you could release another build and fix the bug that's making Mrio Kart very choppy.

Michael Millet said...

Finaly!

skater9269 said...

the choppyness kinda is bothering me but i will suck it up maybe he can fix it in r8.

skater9269 said...

yes it is choppy in mario cart and allitle at one point in mario 64

Mario Kart God said...

Well Rampage is full speed but has a few new graphical glitches.

skater9269 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
skater9269 said...

its not just his rom I reported it first before strmn made this post.

Mario Kart God said...

I wonder if strmnnrmn can release another build and fix this problem??!!

Mario Kart God said...

Maybe it just a small issue he could fix in a few minutes, because Strmnnrmn never said anything about it being choppy.

Mario Kart God said...

Anybody get any other fast games???

skater9269 said...

yes strmn do try to fix the chopiness it would really rule if you could and i dont want to wait 4 more weeks to play mario kart.

Mario Kart God said...

Yes, same with me. It would be really cool of you to fix the choppyness in Mario Kart. I reaally don't want to wait 4 weeks. So if you could that would be great.

Mario Kart God said...

Oh, and why is it that Mario Kart is like the only game that has this huge choppyness in it??

Disturbd1 said...

Strmnnrmn, regarding the PSXP emulator: http://www.psp-generation.com/

That was where the original news broke.

Disturbd1 said...

And huge props for this release! It's awesome!

skater9269 said...

mortal kombat 4 no longer freezes and plays quite well even though it is only at 10 fps or somthing like that also it has major graphical flaws but the charecters and blood are good so its ok by me.

skater9269 said...

@disturbd1
suck off it is very choppy in the fastest levels and we are simply saying we do not wish to wait 4 more weeks play it in time trials in choco mountain you duche bag.

Mario Kart God said...

Yeah, I would really like to play Mario Kart without all of that choppyness. And I don't want to wait 3-4 weeks.

Disturbd1 said...

@skater9269:
I wasn't talking about Mario Kart, I was talking about Mario 64. I could care less about Mario 64, as I alrdy have a DS.....

Mario Kart God said...

Well Mario 64 plays pretty good, but not Mario Kart. Nice release Strmnnrmn, but if you could fix Mario Kart please soon, it'd be great.

skater9269 said...

jth mario kart was one of the better playing games paper mario never worked do you see the difference.

Mario Kart God said...

Mario Kart was the best playing game in my opinion, so that's why everyone wants the choppyness fixed soon. Since a lot of us were wanting to play Mario Kart most out of all of them.

Zodionic said...

i havent played mario kart yet and dont want to incase im dissapointed :(
ill try playing with the settings a bit

Zodionic said...

lol QJ still hasnt got this yet

Mario Kart God said...

I've played with the settings in Mario KArt but it is always choppy. : (

Mario Kart God said...

I bet Strmnnrmn is working on the Maro Kart bug right now. : )

skater9269 said...

i agree mario kart was the nuber 1 game i was looking forward to I might revert back to r6 to play it please strmn fix mario kart other than that excellent release

skater9269 said...

strmn great release mario is way better btw it feels full speed in the castle at some points but it is only 20 fps what is up with that.

Mario Kart God said...

I think Strmnnrmn is working on the Mario Kart problem right now since he has not commented back once to us. He usually does.

Paulnpoosy said...

Wally iv done a bunch of the compat list bro!

Kemp said...

Guys, calm down about Mario Kart. Yes you want to play it without the choppiness and you want it sorted right now, but cut the poor guy some slack for once. He's just worked his ass off getting out a major release for you (totally free I might add, you don't pay a cent for it) and as soon as it's out you're making more demands of him. I personally would be saying "screw it, they can wait even longer if they're going to be like this". Give him some time to relax and do his own things without having to worry about code and maybe he'll be in the mood to get it all sorted afterwards, constant pressure to keep working on it will only turn him off the idea.

Kemp said...

That's a very good point, 13 posts about Mario Kart is *very* excessive (especially from just one person), just mentioning it once and having it confirmed by a couple of people is enough for StrmnNrmn to know there's a problem. Spamming up the comments with duplicate posts just gives him more to read, which means if there's a post that is actually useful about the problem then he would likely already be skipping any comments including the words "mario kart" and thus would miss it.

Urkel said...

man mario kart is choppy, but mario 64 is alot faster, in the room with the bob-omb level, I get 20 fps in that room! and the slide I get around 14-15 fps, its awesome.


But one question, to improve framerate, whats the best way to set the texture update at? 30 frames makes it seem faster and every frame makes it seem the same.

Mario Kart God said...

Strmnnrmn, this is an awesome release. Rampage works at an average 30.29 fps!!!!!!!! Super Mario Kart runs even faster!!!!!! And Mario Kart runs basically perfect but just has a choppy bug or sumtin. Keep up the good work! You are my favorite coder of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mario Kart God said...

Oh, and Strmnnrmn do you have a paypal for donations?

Michael Millet said...

Wow, It´s almost full speed in
Super Mario 64.
Good work Strmnrmn!

Mario Kart God said...

Well, I figured it took a ton of work for him to make it go that fast in Mario Kart. Yes, it would be nice if the game wasn't so chopy, Then it would be just about perfect when he fixes it! But I'm sure Strmnnrmn can fix that pretty easily. Good work Strmnnrmn!

Kemp said...

Vern, we already covered that, and he stopped spamming the board about the choppiness. I think at this point anti-spam posts will turn into spam themselves.

Zodionic said...

kemp by complaining about spam posts complaining about spam posts you are spammin, and i realise that because im complaining about someone who complained someone who complained about someone who was spammin, i myself am spaming

Zodionic said...

i guess the guy just loves mario kart!!

Kemp said...

An infinite chain of spamming :o *mind explodes*

JOshISPoser said...

how big could it be for strnm to make it full speed without trying to compress the eboot? i would be willing to test it up to 30 mbs. I'm sure people wouldn't care if he didn't try to make it small and not take up the psp too much. also, when will he start trying to implement sound into it? this n64 is awesome and totally worth all the waits.

Paulnpoosy said...

Ok bud! but you have to have pics,missing mux and a breif explanation on how the rom works!( O ) ( O )

Disturbd1 said...

sk84life: Gex 64 does run, and gets in game, however when u jump on the TV button, it goes nowhere.... Gex still bobs his head, but he won't go into the TV....

Gex 3 is a different story, tons of texture issues, and it wont go in game....

Tinnus said...

Is the source really from R7? in AboutScreen.cpp it says R6...

skater9269 said...

strmn what are the files savestate.cpp and savestate.h used for in daedalus it is in the core folder in the source.