Emerson Arcadia 2001 Emulator ============================= by Paul Robson (autismuk@aol.com) What's new in this release :- - semi-scanline based screen engine implemented - accurate palette from real screen shots - block graphic mode implemented - console keys latched - horizontal scrolling bits implemented - palette switching for sprite multiplexing works properly. - sound tuned [reasonably] accurately - noise channel added - all controller keys emulated - emulation now much faster Also, I now have (I think) a better idea of how fast the 2650 CPU goes, namely much slower than I thought. The default has it running at 38x262x60 Cycles/Sec which is about 100k instructions per second. This emulator should now run happily on anything above say a 486-33 (untested guess !) though frame skipping may be required. There are no limits on the distribution of this emulator. This will not run on Windows NT, but should work quite contentedly on DOS or Windows 95. ROMs are currently available from the homepage at http://users.aol.com/mk14emu/arcadia.htm. If you have any more Arcadia ROMs, please let me have them. The emulator was primarily written by decoding the ROMs, so the more ROMs I have, the fewer bugs there are likely to be. Notes ===== To run a game, run it using 2001 e.g. 2001 CATTRAX.BIN The screen uses a alternate VGA (256x256) mode which should work on all VGA monitors. It is possible to change it to a slightly squashed 320x200 mode by changing "2001.ini". In 320x200 mode 8 lines of the display are lost (the resolution is 128x208) which is virtually unnoticeable. This mode is useful for screenshots (if anyone should want them) as it can be cut and pasted from a Windows 95 DOS box. The sound requires an Adlib card to be present at $0388. This can be moved by changing the 2001.INI file provided. Your Adlib card address can be found using the Win 95 Control Panel/System Icon, or the appropriate DOS utility. 2 channels of the card are used, one for the beeps and one for the white noise. And if you're wondering, Alien Invaders really does sound that awful when it starts up. Keys ==== Occasionally the paddles get swapped over (usually at the end of a game !) To correct this, press F9. Yes, its a total bodge caused by the truly amazing way the paddle axes are multiplexed. Cat Tracks is particularly bad at this, you'll need to F9 at the start of every life. Sorry, but I haven't cracked this one yet, it's to do with instruction timing on the delay loop which plays the rinky-dink tune at the start (and stops frame counting) ESC Back to MSDOS F1 Start (the EA console buttons) F2 Options F3 Difficulty F5 Reset F9 Switch Paddle Axes (if u/d/l/r get swapped) Arrow Keys Player 1 Paddle. ZXCF Player 2 Paddle Space Player 1 fire key (alternate to keypad). G Player 2 fire (alternate to keypad). The controller buttons are emulated as shown below. Note that Key 2 has the same function as the fire key. Controller Layout Keyboard Keys (P1) Keyboard Keys (P2) ----------------- ------------------ ------------------ 1 2 3 NumL * / 5 6 7 4 5 6 7 8 9 T Y U 7 8 9 4 5 6 G H J Enter 0 Clear 1 2 3 B N M Paul Robson (autismuk@aol.com) 30th July 1998 Thanks to the following who contributed to this project (in alphabetical order) Dan Adams - Beta Testing Anthony Brown - help with the 2637 PPU & odd bits of information Andrew Davie - help with the 2650 CPU & lots of typing ;-) Sylvain DeChantal - maintainer of the Emerson Arcadia 2001 FAQ Riccio - Beta Testing Jay Tilton - inspiration and assistance with the Emerson Hardware