Author Topic: NullDC (New Dreamcast Emu) (Read 12784 times)

Howard_Casto · « **on:** April 14, 2007, 09:58:00 pm »

This was menioend in the consoles already, but it's more of a software thing.

NullDc is a new dreamcast emulator that runs most games at or near fullspeed! Compatability is also much greater than chankast.

I'd give a link, but it appears to be "homeless" atm. Do a google search and you'll find one of the sites hosting it.

Enjoy!

Timoe · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2007, 10:05:40 pm »

How is the compatibility with standard Front Ends?

is it command based?

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #2 on:** April 15, 2007, 01:53:44 am »

Nope......

But Since I"m such a nice guy I whipped up this ahk which will add command line suport

Code: [Select]

Loop %0%  ; This loop is to merge all variables, as cd images will probably have spaces in the names.
{
	GivenPath := %A_Index%  ; Fetch the contents of the variable whose name is contained in A_Index.
	
	LongPath = %LongPath% %GivenPath%
	
}


IniWrite,%LongPath%,nullDC.cfg,ImageReader,DefaultImage ; We use the default image value in the nulldc.cfg to load the appropriate image.

IniWrite,1,nullDC.cfg,ImageReader,LoadDefaultImage ; We ensure that the newly changed default image will be used on bootup.

Run nullDC_100b1.exe ; Now Start NullDC
winwait, nullDC v ; Now wait for it's window to load
WinMenuSelectItem, nullDC v,,File,Normal Boot ; Select "Normal Boot" from the file menu.

Sleep,1500 ; Wait a bit
MouseMove, 3000,3000,0 ; Finally move the cursor out of the way.  (3000 by 3000 ensures that it's moved to the bottom regardless of resolution.

IniWrite,0,nullDC.cfg,ImageReader,LoadDefaultImage ; We want to turn auto-load back off so the app can still be used manually.

Just save the code above as "nullDC.ahk" and you are set (you need auto hot key of course).

No fancy options since nulldc seems to load every game well without monkeying with renderer options. Simply launch the ahk along with the path to the cd image.

The one thing I've noticed is the the emu doesn't seem to like ctrl, alt, shift and other special keys mapped to buttons. This can be fixed via a key swap in ahk though. I didn't include this in the script because it'd be different for each person.

Timoe · « **Reply #3 on:** April 15, 2007, 09:11:32 am »

Wow I'll have to try this out.

I dont use ctrl, shift, spacebar and the like for my control buttons so they dont get in the way

I am currently running Chankast in Mala with Howards wrapper and I have the following games fully playable:

Border Down
Capcom vs Snk
Capcom vs Snk Pro
Capcom vs Snk 2 (minor graphical issues but totally playable
Crazy Taxi
Dynamite cop
GigaWing 2
Guilty Gear X (no music, but sound fx are ok)
Ikaruga
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Power Stone
Vampire Chronicles

This new emulator adds only a few games for me like Street Fighter III but it actually plays too fast. Oh and nullDC leaves the mouse cursor on the screen which is kinda lame. <edit> But Howards ahk fixes this. </edit>

I dont have a lot of dreamcast games but I guess iss NullDC will continue to be developed it might be worth learning to use and adding to the cabinet.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2007, 11:28:11 pm »

Well from a fe dev standpoint it's a lot friendlier. It took me a weekend to write the chankast wrapper, while it took me the better part of an hour to make that script.

jcrouse · « **Reply #5 on:** April 16, 2007, 02:53:23 pm »

Howard ...... and where might one find this script? On your website? If so, are you still hosted at oscarcontrols? The site appears to be down.

Thanks,
John

headkaze · « **Reply #6 on:** April 16, 2007, 05:41:13 pm »

There is another NullDC script available on the GameEx forums here

SGT · « **Reply #7 on:** April 16, 2007, 06:08:52 pm »

Quote from: jcrouse on April 16, 2007, 02:53:23 pm

Howard ...... and where might one find this script? On your website? If so, are you still hosted at oscarcontrols? The site appears to be down.

Thanks,
John

jcrouse,

Howard included the script in a post above.

jcrouse · « **Reply #8 on:** April 16, 2007, 10:38:38 pm »

Duh !!!

Thanks,
John

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #9 on:** April 16, 2007, 10:45:04 pm »

Quote from: headkaze on April 16, 2007, 05:41:13 pm

There is another NullDC script available on the GameEx forums here

That one looks a tad picky. Mine "just works". To each his own though.

Banacek · « **Reply #10 on:** April 16, 2007, 11:12:14 pm »

That's awesome. Thanks Howard! I wonder there's any communication with the author out there. Customized controls should always be number one

Lilwolf · « **Reply #11 on:** April 19, 2007, 09:03:08 pm »

you can customize the controls... but I think he was saying it doesn't like some keys.

btw, just tried it... works great on some games, others no go so far.... but haven't played with the different renderers.

But GREAT addition... might have dreamcast without swapping disks on my cab soon!

Banacek · « **Reply #12 on:** April 20, 2007, 02:08:03 am »

Quote from: Lilwolf on April 19, 2007, 09:03:08 pm

you can customize the controls... but I think he was saying it doesn't like some keys.

btw, just tried it... works great on some games, others no go so far.... but haven't played with the different renderers.

But GREAT addition... might have dreamcast without swapping disks on my cab soon!

My bad, I haven't played with it yet since it's the end of the semester, and if I start with it, I'll fail my classes

Dariusz · « **Reply #13 on:** April 21, 2007, 01:18:13 pm »

Curious, with this new emu NullDC, does it allow you to play games off the original CD using the PC CD/DVD drive?

Dariusz

clockwork · « **Reply #14 on:** April 21, 2007, 02:18:25 pm »

I just found this emulator today. Not surprised to find it's already been buzzed here.

Howard, does that script of yours go into the NullDC base directory or data?

jcrouse · « **Reply #15 on:** April 24, 2007, 09:47:22 pm »

I am curious, does anyone have this script of Howards working from a FE? I can get it to work from a commandline but MameWAH doesn't like it. I have tried all I know to no avail. I am sure it's a MameWAH issue and was wondering how it is working with the other FEs.

I also have to first mount the image before using the script. Howard, is this by design and just not mentioned or in your testing is the script sifficient to allow nullDC to start the game? If I don't mount the image first I just get the DC screen with the spinning CD. If I mount it everything works perfect from the commandline. Mounting and unmounting is no problem in MameWAH, i'm just curious as to what is intended and working for you or others.

My issue appears to be one of focus. MameWAH mounts the image, then nullDC appears, then nullDC disappears and I'm looking at MameWAH again, however, nullDC is now running the game in the background, behind MameWAH and obviously without focus. I have gotten MANY emulators working with MameWAH but this one puzzles me. I have tried all our normal settings for {dosbox}/{nodosbox] and {safelaunch}/{nosafelaunch} but nothing yet. It must be something to do with the two windows that nullDC uses.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Zeosstud · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2007, 05:30:34 pm »

Anyone been able to get San Francisco Rush 2049 running well on either EMU?

Zeosstud

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #17 on:** April 26, 2007, 12:45:52 am »

Quote from: jcrouse on April 24, 2007, 09:47:22 pm

I am curious, does anyone have this script of Howards working from a FE? I can get it to work from a commandline but MameWAH doesn't like it. I have tried all I know to no avail. I am sure it's a MameWAH issue and was wondering how it is working with the other FEs.

I also have to first mount the image before using the script. Howard, is this by design and just not mentioned or in your testing is the script sifficient to allow nullDC to start the game? If I don't mount the image first I just get the DC screen with the spinning CD. If I mount it everything works perfect from the commandline. Mounting and unmounting is no problem in MameWAH, i'm just curious as to what is intended and working for you or others.

My issue appears to be one of focus. MameWAH mounts the image, then nullDC appears, then nullDC disappears and I'm looking at MameWAH again, however, nullDC is now running the game in the background, behind MameWAH and obviously without focus. I have gotten MANY emulators working with MameWAH but this one puzzles me. I have tried all our normal settings for {dosbox}/{nodosbox] and {safelaunch}/{nosafelaunch} but nothing yet. It must be something to do with the two windows that nullDC uses.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

I'm not sure what you are talking about..... you don't mount/unmount images in nulldc (although I believe it's an option). You can simply set a default image to load, when you start the emulator, which is what the script exploits. Mamewah has focus issues with everything, (bah!

) but I'm pretty sure there are settings to fix this. You'll have to ask a mamewah user for specifics. If you are using real, physical, dc discs then you'll need to modify the script (and put in the cds ahead of time due to how the emu works.)

jcrouse · « **Reply #18 on:** April 30, 2007, 11:06:53 am »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on April 26, 2007, 12:45:52 am

I'm not sure what you are talking about..... you don't mount/unmount images in nulldc (although I believe it's an option). You can simply set a default image to load, when you start the emulator, which is what the script exploits. Mamewah has focus issues with everything, (bah! ) but I'm pretty sure there are settings to fix this. You'll have to ask a mamewah user for specifics. If you are using real, physical, dc discs then you'll need to modify the script (and put in the cds ahead of time due to how the emu works.)

Yes. It is an option. That being said, what format are your images in. Mine are mds/mdf files. Using your script and using the menus does the exact same thing for me. When I launch the script a box still pops up asking for the image file.

It seems to be a bug in nullDC. Even if I just launch nullDC and use the menus I still have to select my image twice. First I select the mds file and then the mdf file. The second time, the file filter is "mds" but it only lists "mdf" files in the selection box. If I select it the game then launches after I select start.

The exact same thing happens if I manually do what your script does. If I modify the cfg file and set the first parameter to "1" and the seconf parameter to my "mds" file when I launch nullDC it still asks for the second file as it does above.

The app still seems to have a few bugs to be worked out for cabinet friendliness but it is looking great so far.

John

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #19 on:** April 30, 2007, 10:41:36 pm »

You must have an odd setting in nulldc somewhere because my images are in the same format and it doesn't do that. Perhaps you've changed from the default cdrom plugin?

jcrouse · « **Reply #20 on:** May 01, 2007, 06:31:53 am »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on April 30, 2007, 10:41:36 pm

You must have an odd setting in nulldc somewhere because my images are in the same format and it doesn't do that. Perhaps you've changed from the default cdrom plugin?

I agree from a troubleshooting stand point that it seems that way. However, this is happening on two seperate systems. I also whacked everything on both systems and started from scratch and still get the same results with the default install settings. It's not a big deal. I'll wait for the next release and see what has been added/changed. I don't expect you to help fix the problem I just wanted to get it documented somewhere in case someone else is having similar issues.

John

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #21 on:** May 01, 2007, 01:29:11 pm »

Well I understand that, but since the problem seems to be only happening to you and it's happening on two seperate systems (thus eliminating a hardware/os issue) it's likely user error unfortunately and we should be able to figure it out.... Also it's unlikely that future versions will fix the issue if it's exclusive to you.

Let's see, what I can think of...

Are your dc images bootable? Some trickery has to be done to make dc images work. Basically if they booted in chankast they'll boot in nulldc.

You need to set a full path.... relative paths don't seem to work.

My script turns OFF default booting after it completes as it's annoying when using the program manually. That isn't your issue, but just keep that in mind.

The default image is not loaded when you start up nulldc, but when you select "normal boot" or high level booting. That should be obvious, but you know, just in case.

Image reader plugin is what I am using.... I don't think the other one even works right. Not sure if that's the default or not (sorry I didn't notice that before).

The only way I can replicate your problem is if I set to an invalid path, so i'd suggest checking that for typos.

I hope that helps.

jcrouse · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2007, 02:20:50 pm »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on May 01, 2007, 01:29:11 pm

Well I understand that, but since the problem seems to be only happening to you and it's happening on two seperate systems (thus eliminating a hardware/os issue) it's likely user error unfortunately and we should be able to figure it out.... Also it's unlikely that future versions will fix the issue if it's exclusive to you.

Let's see, what I can think of...

Are your dc images bootable? Some trickery has to be done to make dc images work. Basically if they booted in chankast they'll boot in nulldc.

You need to set a full path.... relative paths don't seem to work.

My script turns OFF default booting after it completes as it's annoying when using the program manually. That isn't your issue, but just keep that in mind.

The default image is not loaded when you start up nulldc, but when you select "normal boot" or high level booting. That should be obvious, but you know, just in case.

Image reader plugin is what I am using.... I don't think the other one even works right. Not sure if that's the default or not (sorry I didn't notice that before).

The only way I can replicate your problem is if I set to an invalid path, so i'd suggest checking that for typos.

I hope that helps.

Bootable = yes. They are all bootable and actually tested in a real DC. Also, they play fine going through the nullDC menuing system to load and start the game.

Full path - Even if I go into the cfg file that you modify, set the first parameter to "1" and the second parameter to the image It doesn't load. When I select start it still pops up the open file dialog box. As stated earlier, the file type filter is "mds" but the file box displays mdf files. There are definately minor issues with the code.

You're wrapper has nothing to do with my problems. Even nullDC on it's own deosn't work for me using the default Image Reader plugin. Yes it is the default, FYI. Please see the previous post for a description of what happens.

The other plugin, ZnullGD, seems to work good for me if I first mount the image in Daemon Tools, again just an FYI. I even modified your script to work with this plug in and it works great, basically just sends the start command, from the command prompt but this is where I have the MameWAH focus issue.

There shouldn't be any typos. I even created an image with no spaces in the file name, just for testing.

Thanks,
John

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #23 on:** May 02, 2007, 01:57:22 pm »

Yeah I read it believe it or not and I know it's a glitch in nulldc, but I've still managed to get my mds files working. I did find one that is doing what you described since then though, so it might have something to do with how the image is authored. Cdi and img files have the same basic structure, so your easiest solution might be to just convert them (which is what I am doing.)

jcrouse · « **Reply #24 on:** May 02, 2007, 11:38:30 pm »

LOL, I already tried that.

John

Negativecreep0 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 06, 2007, 02:35:23 pm »

hate to ressurect the dead but Howard_Casti I saw you mention alt ctrl and space problems. Did you ever right a ahk for it?

JCKnife · « **Reply #26 on:** November 09, 2007, 07:37:26 pm »

Here's a link to the latest release (BETA 1.6 7-11-07) I can find.

http://forums.ngemu.com/nulldc-discussion/95446-nulldc-1-0-0-beta-1-6-07-11-2007-update.html


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