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