PocketSNES with OpenGL renderer

[Tala]

I have build a version of PocketSNES and implemented an OpenGL ES renderer for the X50v. I also made the Application VGA (hi_res_aware). It is rather a prove of concept and some things are broken:
-no sound (probably some wrong compiler option)
-no on screen controls (because PocketSNES made many assumptions about the screen resolution, i have fixed many throughout the code though)
-use the WM2003 SE landscape switcher instead of the built in code. The application will detect the orientation and goes fullscreen in landscape mode, while displaying menues in portrait mode.

On the bright side, it looks much better than simple pixel doubled versions, since it use bilinear filtering when scaling to any display resolution.

download

Tala

Update: New Version 01-27-05

[tomdon]

Wow kool, is it faster?

[jagnon]

WOW!! This version looks great! The filtered screen output looks 10x better.. I did get sound when using it... tested with Chrono Trigger.

One thing I noticed that if you start PocketSNES in portrait mode, then switch to landscape while PocketSNES is still running, that the full screen is cut off.. but if you start PocketSNES in landscape mode then fullscreen works fine.. Also you cannot get back into the menu options once the game has started..

Thanks for continuing to work on this great emulator!

[Tala]

Wow kool, is it faster?

It is about as fast as emulamers build using picards GAPI tweak.
Infact emulamers build is as fast as it gets, since it just transfers the framebuffer to the 2700g. The OpenGL build needs to convert the frambuffer into a texture(which has a really strange format) and renders the texture to a quad using bilinear filtering. The conversion to a texture format is done in software and takes about 5.6ms using a custom assembly routine, while the second step is done in hardware and is almost neglible.
I first used the standard OpenGL implementation of texture conversion and almost gave up, since it took 34ms!!! Then i wrote the conversion in assembly and it was much faster

Tala

[jagnon]

In landscape mode you can access the menu again by tapping on the top area of the screen where the task bar should be..

Frame rate isn't as fast emulamer's build.. in some of the scenes from chrono trigger attract mode frame rate dropped to 5-6 fps.. but this is a promising start..

[Tala]

One thing I noticed that if you start PocketSNES in portrait mode, then switch to landscape while PocketSNES is still running, that the full screen is cut off.. but if you start PocketSNES in landscape mode then fullscreen works fine..

Yes i noticed that too. For some reason it cuts off some part of the image, when you dynamically switch orientation. Part of the reason is that rendering context and rendering surface is created the first time you load a game (The blue screen you see shortly, is part of a texture detection algorithm). I can try to re initialize OpenGL every time an orientation change occurs.

For now, select orientation prior to launching the first game.

In landscape mode you can access the menu again by tapping on the top area of the screen where the task bar should be..

That is part of the old QVGA code, infact it checks if you tap somewhere into the upper left region where the QVGA imgage is supposed to be displayed. But as i said, it is a VGA application now.

Tala

[kronchev]

I played it for a bit, about 30 FPS constant, not the normal 50 obviously but it looks and plays nicely.

now to just get a damn method of input besides the stupid axim buttons! it seems my IR keyboard is not compatible with the x50 so I'm gonna hauck it in the for sale section

[jagnon]

I'm going to use this version exclusively.. I can sacrifice some framerate.. this version is much easier on the eyes.. and it's fully save and savepoint compatible with earlier pocketsnes releases..

Some more probs I see..
- Direction pad doesn't get mapped correctly in landscape mode.. you need to go into buttons and assign it the portrait directions for it to work correctly in landscape..
- Going to the menu options and returning to the game leaves annoying white bars on the sides of the rendered screen

So does this version of PocketSNES render at 256x224 and smoothly scale up? I see in SNES specs that hi-res mode runs at 512x448.. Does this version render it one for one on a VGA screen?

[Tala]

- Direction pad doesn't get mapped correctly in landscape mode.. you need to go into buttons and assign it the portrait directions for it to work correctly in landscape..

Do not use /options/display to change to landscape mode. The OS is translating the dpad correctly if you use the WM2003SE landscape switcher.

Regarding the white bars, i will fix that. Its the DefWindowProc, which has a white brush assigned. I usually do not call the DefWindowProc, but i made build yesterday, where i had PocketSNES running in a window, which you could move around freely on the home screen and stretch it dynamically (just like on the desktop). It was pretty cool

Tala

[corny]

This might be bit of topic. But could anyone of you supply a link to where I could download some of these games/files/titles

[AJBopp]

I just downloaded it to my x50v and tried to run Ultima VII (which in my old-fashioned opinion is about the only SNES game worth playing). It played the introduction, but without any sound, and then showed the title screen, but refused to actually start the game.

I fiddled with settings but nothing seemed to help. I got the same behavior no matter what I tried.

Is there something obvious I'm missing in setting this up?

[Tala]

I fiddled with settings but nothing seemed to help. I got the same behavior no matter what I tried.

Is there something obvious I'm missing in setting this up?

Try to tap the main window, maybe it is not activated to receive any input. Anyway i think the center button of the dpad is mapped to start.

Tala

[jagnon]

I just downloaded it to my x50v and tried to run Ultima VII (which in my old-fashioned opinion is about the only SNES game worth playing). It played the introduction, but without any sound, and then showed the title screen, but refused to actually start the game.

I fiddled with settings but nothing seemed to help. I got the same behavior no matter what I tried.

Is there something obvious I'm missing in setting this up?

I noticed that if you have the 'Sound emulation' button checked, you also need to have the 'Sync sound' button checked as well.. this gives you sound as well as allows the buttons to work..

[emulamer]

Is the source available for it anywhere?

[OC Noob]

Nice, you guys are doing more for the 2700g then the dipsticks at Intel and Dell with all the money and resources. i.e. they haven't done jacks**t since Stuntcar Extreme and Enigmo.

Thank you!