Difference between pages "Mednafen" and "Sega Dreamcast emulators"

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(Created page with "__NOTOC__{{Notability|Products|date=January 2010}}<br />{{Refimprove|date=April 2012}}<br />{{Infobox software<br />|  name = Mednafen<br />|  screenshot =<br />|  caption ...")
 
 
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__NOTOC__{{Notability|Products|date=January 2010}}<br />{{Refimprove|date=April 2012}}<br />{{Infobox software<br />|  name = Mednafen<br />|  screenshot =<br />|  caption =<br />|  developer = Mednafen Team<br />|  latest_release_version = 0.8.D.3<br />|  latest_release_date = 12 Sept 2010<br />|  latest_preview_version = 0.9.26-WIP<br />|  latest_preview_date = 15 October 2012<br />|  operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]<br />|  genre = [[Video game console emulator]]<br />|  license = [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]<br />|  website = {{URL|mednafen.sourceforge.net}}<br />}}
+
{{Infobox console
 +
|title = Sega Dreamcast
 +
|logo = DreamcastConsole.png
 +
|developer = [[:Sega]]
 +
|type = [[:Category:Home consoles|Home video game console]]
 +
|generation = [[:Category:Sixth-generation video game consoles|Sixth generation]]
 +
|release = 1998
 +
|discontinued = 2001
 +
|predecessor = [[Sega_Saturn_emulators|Sega Saturn]]
 +
|emulated = {{✓}}
 +
}}
  
−
'''Mednafen''' is an [[OpenGL]] and [[Simple DirectMedia Layer|SDL]] multi-system [[free software]] [[emulator]], driven from the [[command-line]]. It is distributed under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]].<ref name="mednafen">{{cite web | url=http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/ | title=Introduction to Mednafen | publisher=[[SourceForge]] | work=Mednafen | accessdate=April 13, 2012}}</ref>
+
The '''[[wikipedia:Sega Dreamcast|Dreamcast]]''' is a sixth-generation console released by [[wikipedia:Sega|Sega]] on November 27, 1998 in Japan and later on September 9, 1999 in NA. It retailed for {{Inflation|USD|199.99|1999}}. It had a Hitachi SH-4 RISC CPU at 200 MHz with 16 MB of RAM and 8 MB of VRAM. It had a PowerVR2 GPU at 100 MHz, which theoretically was capable of pushing 3 million polygons/second on-screen. There is a 2 MB audio RAM, which complemented a powerful 67 MHz Yamaha AICA sound processor, with a 32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU core. The audio chip could generate 64 voices with PCM or ADPCM codec and provided ten times the performance of the [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn's]] sound system.. Sega also released the '''[[Sega NAOMI and variants|Naomi]]''', an arcade system board with similar components to the Dreamcast. Sammy's '''[https://segaretro.org/Atomiswave Atomiswave]''' arcade board was also based on the Dreamcast and Naomi.
  
−
Mednafen is an acronym for "My Emulator Doesn't Need A Frickin' Excellent Name".<ref name="finkproject 2012">{{cite web | url=http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/mednafen | title=Package mednafen-0.8.13-1003 | publisher=Fink | date=March 27, 2012 | accessdate=April 13, 2012}}</ref><br />{{Clear}}
+
Sega collaborated with Microsoft on the Dreamcast's development, and this partnership would continue later with the [[Xbox emulators|Xbox]]. What came out of this was the possibility for games to be developed for an optimized version of '''Windows CE''' (with DirectX) on each disc. However, Windows CE wasn't mandatory to use and most developers opted for Sega's development tools instead out of convenience. Even in major emulators, this aspect isn't implemented (or implemented well).
  
−
==Host systems==
+
==Emulators==
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 +
|-
 +
! scope="col"|Name
 +
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
 +
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 +
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
 +
! scope="col"|Naomi
 +
! scope="col"|Atomiswave
 +
! scope="col"|Windows CE
 +
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 +
! scope="col"|Active
 +
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="10"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|[[DEmul]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://demul.emulation64.com/downloads/ {{DEmulVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[redream]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://redream.io/download {{RedreamVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Flycast|Flycast]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds/ CI Builds]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[reicast]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 +
|[http://builds.reicast.com/ CI Builds]<small> (Not Working)</small><br/>[https://snapcraft.io/reicast r8.1]<small> (Snap Store)</small>
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[nullDC]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://www.emucr.com/2013/03/nulldc-svn-r150.html 1.0.4 r150]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Makaron]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://www.zophar.net/dreamcast/makaron.html T12/5]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[http://washemu.org/ WashingtonDC]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://github.com/washingtondc-emu/washingtondc git]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[http://www.lxdream.org Lxdream]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[http://www.lxdream.org/download.php 0.9.1]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[https://segaretro.org/Chankast Chankast]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://chanka.emulatronia.com/FrameSetDC_Down.htm 0.25]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[MAME]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="10"|Mobile / ARM
 +
|-
 +
|[[redream]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
 +
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.recompiled.redream 1.1.98]<small> (Android)</small><br/>[https://redream.io/download 1.5.0]<small> (Raspberry Pi)</small>
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Flycast]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}
 +
|[https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds CI Builds]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[reicast]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pyra}}
 +
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.reicast.emulator r20.04]<small> (Android)</small></br>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/122 Pyra Build]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="10"|Console
 +
|-
 +
|[[Flycast]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
 +
|[https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds CI Builds]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[nullDC PSP]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}
 +
|[https://github.com/PSP-Archive/nulldce-psp git] [https://archive.org/details/nullDC-PSP 1.2.1]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|nulldc-360
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox360}}
 +
|[https://github.com/gligli/nulldc-360 git]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}
 +
|}
  
−
The emulator runs under [[Microsoft Windows]],<ref name="makeuseof pot 2010" /> [[Linux]],<ref name="makeuseof pot 2010" /> [[PlayStation 3]],<ref name="jailbreakscene 2011">{{cite web | url=http://www.jailbreakscene.net/forum/threads/mednafen-ps3-emulator-released-built-on-9-30-11.1705/ | title=Mednafen-PS3 emulator released -- built on 9/30/11 | publisher=Jailbreak Scene | date=September 30, 2011 | accessdate=April 13, 2012 | author=Addicted_to_Mod}}</ref><ref name="googlecode">{{cite web | url=http://code.google.com/p/mednafen-ps3/ | title=mednafen-ps3 | publisher=[[Google Code]] | accessdate=April 13, 2012}}</ref> and [[RISC OS]].<ref name="riscos.info gransden 2012">{{cite web | url=http://www.riscos.info/index.php?title=Special:AWCforum&action=st/id257/Mednafen_-_multi-system_emulator_released | title=Mednafen - multi-system emulator released | publisher=[[riscos.info]] | date=April 12, 2012 | accessdate=April 13, 2012 | author=Gransden, Chris}}</ref> A port for Wii is currently in the works.<ref name="wii-mednafen">{{cite web | url=http://code.google.com/p/wii-mednafen/ | title=wii-mednafen}}</ref>
+
===Comparisons===
 +
;[[DEmul]]: Has the highest compatibility and accuracy, but it' Windows-only and closed-source. It supports Windows CE games, but in general, they run worse than standard Dreamcast titles. It's also more resource-intensive than other emulators.
 +
;[[redream]]: Multi-platform and easy to use, but it's closed-source. Compatible with [https://redream.io/compatibility 90+% of the Dreamcast library] (Windows CE now supported), has a good user interface, is easy to set up, and can run without a BIOS. Runs on [https://youtu.be/rywLHa1i9yk?t=529 low-end machines] provided that they support OpenGL 3.1. There's a payware premium version that provides high-definition rendering.
  
−
==Supported systems==
+
;[[nullDC]]:  Can run a lot of games at great speed on mid-end PC and it's open-source, however, it's no longer developed and the more recent forks have improved upon it.
 +
:;[[reicast]]: Eventually, nullDC's author forked his own project into reicast, with the main objective to widen platform availability to smartphones and tablets. While wider availability is generally a good thing, this resulted in cutting accuracy corners from the nullDC codebase to achieve the speed goals necessary to run on these platforms. Advancements in mobile hardware should have led to the removal of such "hacks"; however lack of developer resources and interest led to long delays in Reicast development, and the codebase remained virtually untouched for years before the RetroArch team began working with it as part of a "Reicast core", later named Flycast.
 +
:;[[reicast#Libretro_core|Flycast]]: Fork of reicast available as a standalone emulator and as a [[libretro]] core. Libretro collaborators, primarily [https://github.com/flyinghead/reicast-emulator flyinghead], dramatically improved Reicast in areas such as graphics, input, system clock, and Dreamcast VMU. Atomiswave and NAOMI SH-4-based arcade systems have also been added to great fanfare<ref name="flycastnaomi">https://github.com/libretro/flycast/issues/136</ref>, along with support for MAME's popular CHD format. Even full MMU support, which is needed to run WinCE-based games such as "Armada", "Half-Life" and "SEGA Rally Championship 2", has recently been tackled through an experimental branch (anyone following Dreamcast emulation over the years understands what a tough nut this is to crack). Aside from some audio stuttering issues in games such as "Looney Toons Space Race" and "Resident Evil: Code Veronica", this is a highly compatible and accurate emulator.
  
−
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />|-<br />! System || Based on code from<br />|-<br />|[[Atari Lynx]] || [[Handy (emulator)|Handy]]<br />|-<br />|[[Game Boy Advance]]<ref name="makeuseof pot 2010">{{cite web | url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mednafen-a-simple-cross-platform-emulator-to-play-your-old-games/ | title=Mednafen – A Simple Cross-Platform Emulator To Play Your Old Games | work=[[MakeUseOf]] | date=September 29, 2010 | accessdate=April 13, 2012 | author=Pot, Justin}}</ref><ref name="pcadvisor garnett 2011">{{cite news | url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/game/3301517/mednafen-review/ | title=Mednafen review | work=[[PC Advisor (magazine)|PC Advisor]] | date=September 6, 2011 | accessdate=April 13, 2012 | author=Garnett, Alex}}</ref> || [[VisualBoyAdvance]]<br />|-<br />|[[Game Boy Color]]<ref name="pcadvisor garnett 2011" /> || VisualBoyAdvance<br />|-<br />|[[Neo Geo Pocket Color]] || [[Neopop]]<br />|-<br />|[[Nintendo Entertainment System]]<ref name="makeuseof pot 2010" /><ref name="pcadvisor garnett 2011" /> || [[FCE Ultra]]<br />|-<br />|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] (only available in WIP) || [[bsnes]]<br />|-<br />|[[Nintendo Virtual Boy]] (only available in WIP) || Original. NEC V810 CPU core based on [[Reality Boy]].<br />|-<br />|[[TurboGrafx-16|PC Engine]]<ref name="pcadvisor garnett 2011" /> || Original. CD-ROM interface based on [[PC2e]].<br />|-<br />|[[PC-FX]] || Original. NEC V810 CPU core based on [[Reality Boy]].<br />|-<br />|[[PlayStation]] (only available in WIP) || Original.<br />|-<br />|[[WonderSwan Color]] || Cygne<br />|-<br />|[[Sega Genesis]] (only available in WIP) || [[Genesis Plus]] by Charles MacDonald<br />|-<br />|[[Sega Master System]] and [[Game Gear]]<ref name="makeuseof pot 2010" /> || [[SMS Plus]] by Charles MacDonald<br />|}
+
;[[Makaron]]: One of the only two closed-source Dreamcast emulators that can properly play Windows CE games.
  
−
==References==<br />{{Reflist}}
+
==Emulation issues==
 +
For the emulators that are either mature or maturing, a very large percentage of games work well, but some games still have problems and glitches.
  
−
==External links==<br />{{Portal|Free software}}<br />* [http://mednafen.sourceforge.net/ Mednafen Homepage]<br />* {{SourceForge|mednafen|Mednafen}}<br />* {{Freshmeat|mednafen|Mednafen}}
+
==VMU emulators==
 +
While some Dreamcast emulators can leverage the screen of the VMU while the game is running, none of them allow you to play the minigames developed for it. See the main page on VMU emulation [[Sega VMU emulators|here]].
  
−
[[Category:Game Boy emulators]]<br />[[Category:Game Boy Advance emulators]]<br />[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System emulators]]<br />[[Category:TurboGrafx-16 emulators]]<br />[[Category:Multi-emulators]]<br />[[Category:OS X emulation software]]<br />[[Category:Linux emulation software]]
+
==Downloads==
 +
* [[Emulator_Files#Dreamcast|BIOS]]
  
−
{{videogame-software-stub}}
+
==References==
 +
<references />
 +
 
 +
{{Sega}}
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Home consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Sega consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Sega Dreamcast emulators|*]]
 +
[[Category:Sixth-generation video game consoles]]

Revision as of 16:56, 21 September 2021

Sega Dreamcast
DreamcastConsole.png
Developer Sega
Type Home video game console
Generation Sixth generation
Release date 1998
Discontinued 2001
Predecessor Sega Saturn
Emulated ✓

The Dreamcast is a sixth-generation console released by Sega on November 27, 1998 in Japan and later on September 9, 1999 in NA. It retailed for $199.99. It had a Hitachi SH-4 RISC CPU at 200 MHz with 16 MB of RAM and 8 MB of VRAM. It had a PowerVR2 GPU at 100 MHz, which theoretically was capable of pushing 3 million polygons/second on-screen. There is a 2 MB audio RAM, which complemented a powerful 67 MHz Yamaha AICA sound processor, with a 32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU core. The audio chip could generate 64 voices with PCM or ADPCM codec and provided ten times the performance of the Saturn's sound system.. Sega also released the Naomi, an arcade system board with similar components to the Dreamcast. Sammy's Atomiswave arcade board was also based on the Dreamcast and Naomi.

Sega collaborated with Microsoft on the Dreamcast's development, and this partnership would continue later with the Xbox. What came out of this was the possibility for games to be developed for an optimized version of Windows CE (with DirectX) on each disc. However, Windows CE wasn't mandatory to use and most developers opted for Sega's development tools instead out of convenience. Even in major emulators, this aspect isn't implemented (or implemented well).

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Libretro Core Naomi Atomiswave Windows CE FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
DEmul Windows 0.7 Build 280418 ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓
redream Windows Linux macOS 1.5.0 (Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi)
1.2.07 (Android) 		✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓
Flycast Windows Linux macOS CI Builds ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
reicast Windows Linux CI Builds (Not Working)
r8.1 (Snap Store) 		✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ~ ✗
nullDC Windows 1.0.4 r150 ✗ ~ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
Makaron Windows T12/5 ✗ ✗ ✗ ~ ✗ ✗ ✗
WashingtonDC Linux git ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
Lxdream Linux macOS 0.9.1 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
Chankast Windows 0.25 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.264 ✓ ~ ~ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗
Mobile / ARM
redream Android Linux ARM 1.1.98 (Android)
1.5.0 (Raspberry Pi) 		✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓
Flycast Android iOS CI Builds ✓ ~ ~ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
reicast Android Dragonbox Pyra r20.04 (Android)
Pyra Build 		✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ~ ✓
Console
Flycast Switch CI Builds ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
nullDC PSP PSP git 1.2.1 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ~
nulldc-360 Xbox 360 git ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ~

Comparisons

DEmul
Has the highest compatibility and accuracy, but it' Windows-only and closed-source. It supports Windows CE games, but in general, they run worse than standard Dreamcast titles. It's also more resource-intensive than other emulators.
redream
Multi-platform and easy to use, but it's closed-source. Compatible with 90+% of the Dreamcast library (Windows CE now supported), has a good user interface, is easy to set up, and can run without a BIOS. Runs on low-end machines provided that they support OpenGL 3.1. There's a payware premium version that provides high-definition rendering.
nullDC
Can run a lot of games at great speed on mid-end PC and it's open-source, however, it's no longer developed and the more recent forks have improved upon it.
reicast
Eventually, nullDC's author forked his own project into reicast, with the main objective to widen platform availability to smartphones and tablets. While wider availability is generally a good thing, this resulted in cutting accuracy corners from the nullDC codebase to achieve the speed goals necessary to run on these platforms. Advancements in mobile hardware should have led to the removal of such "hacks"; however lack of developer resources and interest led to long delays in Reicast development, and the codebase remained virtually untouched for years before the RetroArch team began working with it as part of a "Reicast core", later named Flycast.
Flycast
Fork of reicast available as a standalone emulator and as a libretro core. Libretro collaborators, primarily flyinghead, dramatically improved Reicast in areas such as graphics, input, system clock, and Dreamcast VMU. Atomiswave and NAOMI SH-4-based arcade systems have also been added to great fanfare[1], along with support for MAME's popular CHD format. Even full MMU support, which is needed to run WinCE-based games such as "Armada", "Half-Life" and "SEGA Rally Championship 2", has recently been tackled through an experimental branch (anyone following Dreamcast emulation over the years understands what a tough nut this is to crack). Aside from some audio stuttering issues in games such as "Looney Toons Space Race" and "Resident Evil: Code Veronica", this is a highly compatible and accurate emulator.
Makaron
One of the only two closed-source Dreamcast emulators that can properly play Windows CE games.

Emulation issues

For the emulators that are either mature or maturing, a very large percentage of games work well, but some games still have problems and glitches.

VMU emulators

While some Dreamcast emulators can leverage the screen of the VMU while the game is running, none of them allow you to play the minigames developed for it. See the main page on VMU emulation here.

Downloads

References

  1. ↑ https://github.com/libretro/flycast/issues/136
Dreamcast logo.png
 Consoles: SG-1000 • Master System • Genesis / Mega Drive • CD • 32X • Pico • Saturn • Dreamcast
Handhelds: Game Gear • VMU / VMS
Arcade: System series • Model 1 • Model 2 • Model 3 • NAOMI
Retrieved from "https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Mednafen&oldid=41206"