@database DarcNES.guide

@node "Main" "DarcNES - Multi Consol emulator"

  DarcNES v9a0924 (000926)

  Copyright (C) 1998-2000 by Alastair Bridgewater

  Ported by Mathias "AmiDog" Roslund 1999-2000

 @{" Introduction          " link "introduction"} - What is this?
 @{" Requirements          " link "requirements"} - What does it require?
 @{" Features              " link "features"} - What can it do?

 @{" Installation          " link "installation"} - How to install?
 @{" Usage                 " link "usage"} - How do I use it?
 @{" Options               " link "options"} - What does these do?

 @{" Disclaimer            " link "disclaimer"} - Who's responsible?

 @{" History               " link "history"} - What's new?
 @{" Contact               " link "contact"} - How to contact me?

 Visit the homepage at http://www.amidog.com/emu/

@endnode

@node "introduction" "DarcNES - Introduction"

 This is a multi consol emulator written by Alastair Bridgewater.

 It currently supports Nintendo 8bit (NES), Sega Master System (SMS),
 Sega Game Gear (GG), PC-Engine/TG16 (PCE), among others.

 Support for many more systems are planned.

@endnode

@node "requirements" "DarcNES - Requirements"

 Hardware:

  * Amiga with a PowerPC board
  * AGA or CGFX
  * 16 MB of RAM
  * OS 3.0

 Software:

  * WarpUP v4.0
  * lowlevel.library for CD32 pad support

 Required minimum screenmode resolutions:

  * NES - 256x240
  * SMS - 256x192
  * GG - 160x144
  * PCE - 256x256
  * CV - 256x192
  * SG1000 - 256x192
  * Apple ][ - 280x192
  * NOTE 1: Smaller screenmodes can be used, but then you'll not see all action.
  * NOTE 2: DarcNES/Amiga currently ONLY supports 256xany and 320xany for CGFX and
            320xany for AGA. So there is no use to define a 160x144 screenmode for GG.

@endnode

@node "features" "DarcNES - Features"

 * Supports NES/SMS/GG/PCE/SG1000/Coleco Vision/Apple ][.
 * CD32/SEGA pad and two button joystick support.
 * Optional use of cgfx instead of direct gfxmem access.
 * Fast AGA support using custom PPC C2P routine.
 * NES/SMS/GG/SG1000/Coleco Vision sound support (using audio.device).
 * Optional triple buffering.

@endnode

@node "installation" "DarcNES - Installation"

 Just copy it to any place on your HD.

@endnode

@node "usage" "DarcNES - Usage"

 * Starting DarcNES:

  darcnes romfile (write just darcnes for a list of supported parameters)

 * Keyboard keys:

  HELP - Saves a screenshot in PCX format to the current directory
  ESC - Quits DarcNES/Amiga.
  Q (TAB) - Select
  W (ENTER) - Start
  A (CONTROL) - A Button
  S (LALT) - B Button
  Arrow keys - Left, Right, Up, Down
  Coleco Vision also uses 0-9, *, + (on numerical keyboard)

 * CD32 pad buttons:

  Green = Q (TAB)
  Yellow = W (ENTER)
  Red = A (CONTROL)
  Blue = S (LALT)
  Directional buttons - Left, Right, Up, Down
  Start = Quits DarcNES/Amiga (only when using NOIDCMP)

 * SEGA pad/two button joystick buttons:

  B/one = A (CONTROL)
  C/two = S (LALT)
  Directional buttons - Left, Right, Up, Down
  Q (TAB) and W (ENTER) on keyboard are also used

@endnode

@node "options" "DarcNES - Options"

 FRAMESKIP/N  : frameskip 1-9 (def: 2).
 JOYPAD/S     : use CD32 joypad (def: keyboard).
 SEGA/S       : use SEGA pad or two button joystick (def: keyboard).
 CGFX/S       : use CyberGraphics instead of direct gfxmem access (def: off).
 SWIZZLE/S    : swizzle bits (PCE), is required for some USA ROMs (def: off).
 REQUESTER/S  : use screenmode requester (def: CGFX BestModeID/PAL Lores).
 NOSTALGIA/S  : save the screenshot in Nostalgia:samples/ (def: current directory).
 SCREENMODE/N : use the specified screenmode (def: CGFX BestModeID/PAL Lores).
 NOIDCMP/S    : do not use OS calls for input, faster, less compatible (def: off).
                This ONLY works with real CD32 pads, do NOT use unless you have one!
 CDDEVICE/K   : device of the CD-ROM for PCE CD emulation (def: atapi.device).
 CDUNIT/N     : unit of the CD-ROM for PCE CD emulation (def: 2).
 TRIPLE/S     : use triple buffering (def: off).

@endnode

@node "disclaimer" "DarcNES - Disclaimer"

 Remember! You use this piece of software at your own risk!
 I can never be held responsible for any sort of damage caused
 to your software or hardware by the use of this product!

 Bugreports and suggestions might be sent to one of my addresses.

@endnode

@node "contact" "DarcNES - Contact"

 Bugreports, suggestions, comments or anything else you may
 want to contact me about can preferably be sent by e-mail to:

 darcnes@amidog.com
 
 You may however also contact me by normal mail:

 Mathias Roslund
 Sveav. 2b, nb
 S-702 14 Orebro
 Sweden

@endnode

@node "history" "DarcNES - History"

 v9a0226 -000223
         -Much faster AGA support by only performing C2P on the required number of bitplanes.
         -000228
         -Updated to latest DarcNES source v9a0226.

 v9a0305 -000306
         -Decided to use the original version numbers (i.e. no revision 'a').
         -Started adding keyboard support for the Apple ][ driver.
         -Now uses elf2exe2, this reduced exe size from 570k to 410k.
         -000307
         -Finished the keyboard support.
         -Added NOIDCMP switch, but I can't get the ppc asm CD32 button code to work.
         -000308
         -Fixed a keyboard bug.
         -Now uses lowlevel.library for NOIDCMP (temporary).
         -Height wasn't read for requester and AGA screenmodes.
         -The depth is now rounded to 4/6/8 (Apple ][ uses 3), to work with current C2P's.
         -CGFX BestModeID now tries to get the real screensize, that is, for NES it tries to
          get 256x240, for SMS 256x192 etc.

 v9a0530 -000314
         -Finally got the ppc asm code for reading CD32 pad buttons to work, so now the NOIDCMP
          mode is even faster! This might be important with future releases.
         -000411
         -Recompiled with EGCS 2.95.2.
         -The PPC asm code for reading the CD32 pad buttons sometimes fail. I've added a fix
          for this, but it isn't bulletproof.
         -After getting a report about the SEGA pad code acting weird as well, I've added
          a similar fix as the CD32 pad one.
         -000607
         -Finally updated to the latest Linux release. I would've done it sooner, but Nyef
          changed the makefile in a way that I wouldn't work on the Amiga anymore, so I had
          to write my own one.
         -000620
         -Just remembered that I had forgotten to add the frameskip code, fixed.

 v9a0617 -000625
         -Updated to the latest Linux sources.
         -Fixed diagonal movements when using NOIDCMP.
         -The SWIZZLE option wasn't working, fixed.

 v9a0710 -000711
         -Updated to the latest Linux sources. The menu system of DarcNES is not yet supported.
          I've not decided if I should use Amiga menus or some custom ones like MAME.

 v9a0710 -000724
         -After finally getting my hands on a PCE CD, I've started adding PCE CD support.
          Since I've not figured out how to read the LBA of a track on the CD, only DraculaX
          is currently working.
         -000725
         -The PCE CD emulation now reads the TOC of the CD and should thus work on all CDs.
         -Added CLI options to select cd device and unit.

 v9a0901 -000903
         -Updated the Amiga version to the latest Linux one.
         -Added some alternative keys to the keymapping, should help people with PC keyboards.
         -Fixed one nasty bug breaking all systems except PCE CD.

 v9a0916 -000909
         -Added optional triple buffering, it's a bit slower but looks much better.
         -000921
         -Updated the sources to the 9a0916 release, fixed one PCE vdp bug.

 v9a0924 -000926
         -Updated the Amiga version to the latest Linux one.


@endnode