wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS
1
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS.git synced 2025-06-18 13:55:33 -04:00
Code Issues Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity
da9fa14c7c
NINTV-DS/README.md

14 KiB
Raw Blame History

NINTV-DS

NINTV-DS is an Intellivision console emulator running on the DS/DSi.

Install :

To make this work, place NINTV-DS.NDS on your flashcart or SD card which you can launch. You must supply the BIOS files in the same directory as your ROM files (can be changed in Global Options):

  • grom.bin
  • exec.bin

Optional is ivoice.bin for Intellivoice games. Optional is ecs.bin for ECS games.

The GROM and EXEC binaries are property of Intellivision and you will have to find them yourself. Don't ask. If you own Intellivision Lives, you likely have both files already somewhere in your house.

Features :

  • All known games run at full speed on a DSi or above.
  • Many games run very close to full speed on the older DS-LITE and DS-PHAT hardware but you can play with config settings to get the most out of these games.
  • Custom Overlay Support. See the 'extras' folder for details.
  • Manual/Instruction Support. See the 'extras' folder for an example.
  • Save Sate support (3 save slots per game).
  • High Scores for up to 10 scores pre game with various sorting options.
  • Cheat / Hack support using NINTV-DS.cht (see 'extras' folder and place in /data directory)
  • Tons of button / controller mapping options. Dual-Controller support (run and shoot at the same time).
  • JLP support for accelerated functions, extra RAM and flash memory. When loading a game, use the X button to load with options and force JLP support ON if not auto-detected.
  • ECS support for ECS games including sound-enchanced games like Space Patrol. If not auto-detected, when loading a game use the X button to load with options.

Technical Specs :

  • Up to 1024KB (512K words) of ROM memory emulated.
  • JLP 16-bit RAM emulated (8K Words)
  • JLP Flash support of 168 rows (21 sectors) for a total of 32K bytes (actual 32256 bytes). Each game gets their own 32K of file-backed flash.
  • Up to 2K of 8-bit RAM emulated for the ECS module or for games like Chess or Land Battle.
  • Up to 32K of 16-bit RAM emulated beyond JLP/ECS RAM.
  • Paging on all segments of memory provided binary is 1024KB (bytes) or less.

Controller Types :

You can select Player1 controller or Player 2 controller. More importantly you can select 'Dual Action A' or 'Dual Action B' Dual Action A uses the disc/buttons from Controller 1 and the Keypad for Controller 2 (perfect for AD&D Cloudy Mountain or Tron Deadly Discs) Dual Action B uses the disc from Controller 1 and the Buttons/Keypad for Controller 2 (perfect for Astrosmash, Buzz Bombers and any game you move and shoot)

Missing / Known Issues :

ECS support is partial. No UART / Cassette. The older DS-LITE/PHAT can only support a minimal ECS page-flipping scheme will let you play all the commercial ECS games including World Series Baseball (without voice), MindStrike, Jetsons and Scooby Doo Maze Chase. On the DSi or above running with extra memory, a full page-flipping scheme is employed and it should play anything you throw at it (and World Series will have voice). Each ECS game will allow you to use the Intellivision Keypad to enter just enough keyboard information to start the game or you can pick the ECS mini-keyboard overlay.

Check for updates on my web site : https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS

License :

Copyright (c) 2021-2023 Dave Bernazzani (wavemotion-dave)

Copying and distribution of this emulator, its source code and associated readme files, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the this copyright notice is used and wavemotion-dave (NINTV-DS) and Kyle Davis (BLISS) are thanked profusely.

The NINTV-DS emulator is offered as-is, without any warranty.

Credits :

BLISS - Intellivision Emulator. Originally developed by Kyle Davis. Contributions by Jesse Litton, Mike Dunston, Joseph Zbiciak. Most of the cheats are provided by the excellent work found at: http://www.midnightblueinternational.com/romhacks.php Thanks to Michael Hayes for allowing the inclusion into NINTV-DS And special thanks to Joseph Zbiciak (jzintv fame) for detailed descriptions of all the ins and outs of Intellivision hardware so that better emulation is possible!

History :

V3.8a ... Not yet officially released

  • Improved ECS keyboard handling so we can handle 'transposed' scanning of columns/rows (allows demos like Adventure to run).
  • Improved banking / page-flipping for faster page switches and more robust. There should be no more small audio 'gaps' when page-flipping music.
  • For the DSi we now support 1024KB (512K Words) of binary ROM which is almost unfathomably large in the world of Intellivision games (130% larger than anything I'm aware of).

V3.8 : 26-Dec-2022 by wavemotion-dave

  • Improved memory handling so we don't run out of memory on the DS-Lite/Phat and no more crashes!
  • ECS and extra cart RAM now in faster VRAM to improve performance.
  • Fixed sound channels so that PSG + ECS + Intelivoice can all play nice together (mostly for World Series of Baseball)
  • Improved .ROM parsing support - now checking the CRC integrity and properly parsing the compatibility tags so more games run with the right settings (Intellivoice or JLP or ECS, etc).
  • New Game/Emulator Information screen to let you know if you are running in DS compatibility mode (less RAM, slower CPU) or DSi compatibilty mode (more RAM and faster CPU).
  • For the DSi or above we now support a much wider range of binary files (up to 512K) with page flipping.
  • New menu to allow you to launch a game with specific hardware configurations. Use X to load the game instead of A (launch instructions are on-screen).
  • Lots of small improvements and cleanup as time permitted.

V3.7a : 23-Dec-2022 by wavemotion-dave

  • First pass at ECS style page flipping (aka bankswap). DS-Lite will support World Series of Baseball without voice.
  • Improved error handling with better messages on-screen to help diagnose problems with missing roms, roms that are too big/complex, etc.
  • Cleanup across the board - reorganized memory to free up more resources for the future.

V3.6 : 24-May-2022 by wavemotion-dave

  • Added cheat support. Place NINTV-DS.cht into /data directory. See 'extras' folder.

V3.5 : 01-Mar-2022 by wavemotion-dave

  • Added support for ECS and ECS-Sound-Enhanced games.
  • Improved internal database so more games are recognized correctly.
  • Save states changed with ECS support. Finish your 3.4 games before upgrading or lose your progress.

V3.4 : 04-Dec-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Added support for more ROM segments so games like DK Jr Homebrew will run.
  • New global nintv-ds.man manual support - see extras folder.
  • Other small cleanups as time permitted.

V3.3 : 02-Dec-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Added use of generic.ovl which replaces the generic overlay if found.
  • Fix for custom overlay manual/instruction meta key.
  • Cleanups for .bin file reading and other small tweaks under the hood.
  • Code commented throughout for better maintainability.
  • More than 50 manuals added thanks to ts-x! See extras folder.

V3.2 : 04-Nov-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Fixed .cfg file reading (last line was skipped if there was no CR)
  • A few homebrew and missing games added to the internal database.
  • A slight speedup on Intellivoice games which really helps the older DS hardware.

V3.1 : 30-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Favorites support - you can select up to 64 games as 'favs'
  • Sound sync when running faster than 60FPS
  • If BIOS files not found, emulator will search for them (slow but effective)
  • Tiny bit more speed and optimization

V3.0 : 25-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Sound fixed - no more zingers!
  • New global menu option for green vs white font.
  • New Agressive frameskip to help with older DS-LITE/PHAT play.
  • Many small cleanups and improvements under the hood.

V2.9 : 23-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Minor sound improvement across the board.
  • Significant speed improvement - games run 6-12% faster. DS-LITE will run more games.

V2.8 : 20-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • First round of sound cleanup - two new improved settings in configuration.
  • Fixed crash with 'complex' custom overlay (out of memory) coming out of menu/config.

V2.7 : 19-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Fixed graphical glitches on D1K and D2K!
  • Proper fix for Q-Bert so it plays perfectly (no patch needed).
  • Fix for .man manuals sometimes missing last line.
  • Minor sound cleanup and other under-the-hood improvements for speed.

V2.6 : 18-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Added disc controller direction support to custom overlays. See Vectron.ovl in extras.
  • Patched Q-Bert so it doesn't lose a life after each board.
  • Fixed save states so we can save games with extra RAM (old save states will not work - sorry)

V2.5 : 15-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Horizontal Stretch/Offset now saved on a per-game basis.
  • Custom Palette support (see example in 'extras' folder).
  • Ability to map DS key to bring up manuals.
  • Added combo key mapping (AX, XY, YB, BA) for diagonal shooting.
  • Updated example .man manuals (see 'extras' folder).

V2.4 : 12-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Fixed horizontal and vertical offset/scrolling. Christmas Carol should now work.
  • Improved memory handling so we can load larger games.
  • Allow Manual/Instructions to be mapped to keys.
  • Improved generic overlay graphic.
  • Beta version of screen stretch/offset.

V2.3 : 10-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • New Custom Overlay Guide (see extras folder)
  • New Manual/Instructions Support (see extras folder)
  • Improved speed, reduced memory usage
  • Full JLP flash support
  • DS-LITE/PHAT sound improvment

V2.2 : 07-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Stampede graphics fixed.
  • Minor artifacts in Masters of the Universe fixed.
  • Centipede working again.
  • Improved speed across the board.

V2.1 : 03-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Nova Blast fixed.
  • JLP random fixed and improved JLP compatibility.
  • Reduced dynamic memory allocation.
  • Added headers and cleanup under the hood.

V2.0 : 02-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Improved loading from command line so overlays work again.
  • Improved first-load of a game so it's faster/smoother.
  • Added new SWAP handling to instantly swap left/right controller (for Swords & Serpents "co-op" play)
  • Patch for Q-Bert so lives are not lost (ever... it's not a great patch but makes the game playable)
  • Another frame or two of speedup.
  • Other cleanups under the hood.

V1.9 : 27-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Removed reliance on knowncarts.cfg. Internal database handles most games and you can use a "romname".cfg for new .bin games.
  • Added command line support so it can be called via TWL++.

V1.8 : 26-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Reworked configuration options - new game specific and global options available. Unfortunatley your old config will be wiped out in favor of the new format. Sorry!
  • Improved sound quality for the DSi.

V1.7 : 24-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • New Palette options.
  • New Brightness options.
  • New Save State options.
  • New MENU button for custom overlays (and START defaults to MENU now)
  • Other cleanup as time permitted.

V1.6 : 23-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Save State support added.
  • Fixed EVEN frameskip.

V1.5 : 21-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Better .ROM support (CVDEMO will now play)
  • More CP1610 optmization squeezing out a few more frames of performance.
  • Improved Frameskip and Speed options in Config area.
  • Cleanup for custom overlay support.
  • Other minor cleanups where time permitted.

V1.4 : 16-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Custom overlay support! See custom-overlay.zip in the distribution.
  • Hide bios files from game listing.
  • New d-pad configuration options.
  • Ability to map DS keys to meta-functions such as load, config, score, etc.
  • Other cleanups as time permitted...

V1.3 : 12-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Basic JLP support for Accelerated functions and extra 16-bit RAM (hello Grail of the Gods!)
  • Major internal cleanup for better memory management.
  • Squeezed out a couple more frames of speed improvement.

V1.2 : 10-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • More speed - many games now playable full speed on the DS-LITE/PHAT!
  • On the DSi, even the Intellivoice games should be running full speed now.

V1.1 : 09-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Big boost in speed. Just about everything full speed on DSi.
  • A few more overlays added.

V1.0 : 07-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • First major release!

V0.9 : 06-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Major sound improvement (finally!)
  • High Score Support added

V0.8 : 05-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Two types of Dual-Action controllers supported (A=Standard, B=buttons on Controller #2)
  • More overlays added (Astrosmash, B-17 Bomber, Atlantis, Space Spartans)
  • Switched to a retro-green font for Game Select/Options
  • More new homebrews supported.
  • Minor sound improvements.

V0.7 : 04-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • Ability to save configuration on a per-game basis (START button in Config)
  • Minor sound improvements
  • Moved FPS and Turbo mode to Config
  • More homebrews added to "knowncarts.cfg"

V0.6 : 03-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • More speedup and polish - especially for intellivoice games.
  • New config options for frameskip, sound quality
  • New overlays for MINOTAUR and ADVENTURE (in Config settings)
  • New dual-action controller support (in Config settings)
  • Can now map START and SELECT buttons

V0.5 : 02-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

  • First pass release.