(r02 was not posted to the WIP thread)
byuu says:
Internally, all color is processed with 30-bit precision. The filters
also operate at 30-bit depth.
There's a new config file setting, video.depth, which defaults to 24.
This causes the final output to downsample to 24-bit, as most will
require.
If you set it to 30-bit, the downsampling will not occur, and bsnes will
ask ruby for a 30-bit surface. If you don't have one available, you're
going to get bad colors. Or maybe even a crash with OpenGL.
I don't yet have detection code to make sure you have an appropriate
visual in place.
30-bit mode will really only work if you are running Linux, running Xorg
at Depth 30, use the OpenGL or XShm driver, have an nVidia Quadro or AMD
FireGL card with the official drivers, and have a 30-bit capable
monitor.
Lots of planning and work for very little gain here, but it's nice that
it's finally finished.
Oh, I had to change the contrast/brightness formulas a tiny bit, but
they still work and look nice.
This was released beside bsnes v082r19. byuu didn't mention it in the
v082r19 release notes, but in a previous post mentioned that a number of
filters stopped working when bsnes switched to using RGB555 for all its
internal data.
byuu says:
Finally, a new release. I have been very busy finishing up SNES box,
cartridge and PCB scanning plus cataloguing the data, however this
release still has some significant improvements.
Most notably would be randomization on startup. This will help match the
behavior of real hardware and uninitialized memory + registers. It
should help catch homebrew software that forgets to initialize things
properly. Of course, I was not able to test the complete library, so it
is possible that if I've randomized anything that should be constant,
that this could cause a regression. You can disable this randomization
for netplay or to work around any incompatibilities by editing bsnes.cfg
and setting snes.random to false.
The GUI also received some updates. Widget sizes are now computed based
on font sizes, giving it a perfectly native look (because it is native.)
I've also added a hotkey remapping screen to the input settings. Not
only can you remap inputs to controllers now, but those who did not know
the hotkey bindings can now quickly see which ones exist and what they
are mapped to.
Changelog (since v077):
- memory and most registers are now randomly initialized on power-up
- fixed auto joypad polling issue in Super Star Wars
- fixed .nec and .rtc file extensions (they were missing the dot) [krom]
- PPU/accuracy now clears overscan region on any frame when it is
disabled
- PPU/compatibility no longer auto-blends hires pixels (use NTSC filter
for this)
- added hotkey remapping dialog to input settings window
- added a few new hotkeys, including quick-reset
- phoenix API now auto-sizes widgets based on font sizes
- file dialog once again remembers previously selected file when
possible
byuu says:
- added pause shortcut ('P' key, as pause/break is too finicky)
- pause and auto-pause show on status bar
- added a debugger skeleton, very very primitive and completely unusable
- don't try it yet
- added software filter support
Also included is the new snesfilter library. It has all of the filters
the old one had, as well as scanline filters since that's not in my GUI
anymore
If you want scanlines and other software filters, then you can either
make your own hybrid two-in-one software filter, or make a pixel shader
(I don't have one of those yet.)
byuu describes the changes since v067:
This release officially introduces the accuracy and performance cores,
alongside the previously-existing compatibility core. The accuracy core
allows the most accurate SNES emulation ever seen, with every last
processor running at the lowest possible clock synchronization level.
The performance core allows slower computers the chance to finally use
bsnes. It is capable of attaining 60fps in standard games even on an
entry-level Intel Atom processor, commonly found in netbooks.
The accuracy core is absolutely not meant for casual gaming at all. It
is meant solely for getting as close to 100% perfection as possible, no
matter the cost to speed. It should only be used for testing,
development or debugging.
The compatibility core is identical to bsnes v067 and earlier, but is
now roughly 10% faster. This is the default and recommended core for
casual gaming.
The performance core contains an entirely new S-CPU core, with
range-tested IRQs; and uses blargg's heavily-optimized S-DSP core
directly. Although there are very minor accuracy tradeoffs to increase
speed, I am confident that the performance core is still more accurate
and compatible than any other SNES emulator. The S-CPU, S-SMP, S-DSP,
SuperFX and SA-1 processors are all clock-based, just as in the accuracy
and compatibility cores; and as always, there are zero game-specific
hacks. Its compatibility is still well above 99%, running even the most
challenging games flawlessly.
If you have held off from using bsnes in the past due to its system
requirements, please give the performance core a try. I think you will
be impressed. I'm also not finished: I believe performance can be
increased even further.
I would also strongly suggest Windows Vista and Windows 7 users to take
advantage of the new XAudio2 driver by OV2. Not only does it give you
a performance boost, it also lowers latency and provides better sound by
way of skipping an API emulation layer.
Changelog:
- Split core into three profiles: accuracy, compatibility and
performance
- Accuracy core now takes advantage of variable-bitlength integers (eg
uint24_t)
- Performance core uses a new S-CPU core, written from scratch for speed
- Performance core uses blargg's snes_dsp library for S-DSP emulation
- Binaries are now compiled using GCC 4.5
- Added a workaround in the SA-1 core for a bug in GCC 4.5+
- The clock-based S-PPU renderer has greatly improved OAM emulation;
fixing Winter Gold and Megalomania rendering issues
- Corrected pseudo-hires color math in the clock-based S-PPU renderer;
fixing Super Buster Bros backgrounds
- Fixed a clamping bug in the Cx4 16-bit triangle operation [Jonas
Quinn]; fixing Mega Man X2 "gained weapon" star background effect
- Updated video renderer to properly handle mixed-resolution screens
with interlace enabled; fixing Air Strike Patrol level briefing screen
- Added mightymo's 2010-08-19 cheat code pack
- Windows port: added XAudio2 output support [OV2]
- Source: major code restructuring; virtual base classes for processor
- cores removed, build system heavily modified, etc.
Tim Allen