Difference between revisions of "NEC PC-9800 series"

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(Comparisons)
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===Comparisons===
 
===Comparisons===
 
;Neko Project II:The best PC-98 emulator out there but went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.
 
;Neko Project II:The best PC-98 emulator out there but went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.
;Neko Project 21/W:Based on Neko Project II (based on ver0.86) but focus on simulating PC-9821 with support for LAN board, PC-9801-96 expansion board, various Window Accelerators, additional disk image format and so on.
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;Neko Project 21/W:Based on Neko Project II (mainly ver0.86) but focus on PC-9821 series with enchanced options (CPUs, memory sizes, sound sources) as well as support of LAN board, PCI bus, CD-DA, windows accelerators, fmgen and so on.
 
;Anex86:Another decent PC-98 emulator, but is older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding.
 
;Anex86:Another decent PC-98 emulator, but is older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding.
 
;[[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]]:A very active fork of DOSBox that, among other things, adds support for the PC-98 as a target system. While it's very easy to set up, its PC-98 compatibility is still in its early stages.
 
;[[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]]:A very active fork of DOSBox that, among other things, adds support for the PC-98 as a target system. While it's very easy to set up, its PC-98 compatibility is still in its early stages.
 
;[[MAME]]:It has drivers for various revisions but as of version 0.189, all of them are reported as <font color="darkred">Not Working</font>. Support for the first batch or so of PC-98 games have started to be added to MAME in [https://www.mamedev.org/?p=460 0.201] (Aug 2018).
 
;[[MAME]]:It has drivers for various revisions but as of version 0.189, all of them are reported as <font color="darkred">Not Working</font>. Support for the first batch or so of PC-98 games have started to be added to MAME in [https://www.mamedev.org/?p=460 0.201] (Aug 2018).
  
==Playing Games==
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==Usage==
 
:<small>''Note: This tutorial was adapted from [http://46okumen.com/pc-98-emulation/ this resource.]''</small>
 
:<small>''Note: This tutorial was adapted from [http://46okumen.com/pc-98-emulation/ this resource.]''</small>
  
The PC-9800 series of personal computers had floppy disk drives (FDD) and hard drives (HDD) which contained the actual games and software to be loaded. Besides the emulator, you'll need a set of floppy disk images (in the following formats: FDI, FDM, NFD, D88...) ''or'' a hard disk image (in the following formats: HDI, HDM, NHD...)
+
The PC-9800 series of personal computers had floppy disk drives (FDD) and hard drives (HDD) which contained the actual games and software to be loaded. Besides the emulator, you'll need a set of floppy disk images (FDI, FDM, NFD, D88...) or a hard disk image (HDI, HDM, NHD...).
  
You'll need a font if you want text characters to display properly in most cases. Put it in the same directory as the emulator executable, and select it (on NP2: Emulate/Font, on Anex86: Config/Font).
+
You'll need a font if you want text characters to display properly in most cases. It can be downloaded [[Emulator Files#NEC PC-9800|here]]. Put it in the same directory as the emulator executable, and select it (''Emulate/Font'' for Neko Project II, or ''Config/Font'' for Anex86).
  
 
You'll need to configure the emulator as well. In NP2's case, you want to go with the recommended configuration here:
 
You'll need to configure the emulator as well. In NP2's case, you want to go with the recommended configuration here:
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* If using a hard drive based game: Plug the hard drive (HDI) into '''Harddisk/IDE #0''' (if using Anex86, use the HDD1 and HDD2 fields and check the box '''HDD>FDD''').
 
* If using a hard drive based game: Plug the hard drive (HDI) into '''Harddisk/IDE #0''' (if using Anex86, use the HDD1 and HDD2 fields and check the box '''HDD>FDD''').
  
Then hit Emulate/Reset, and most games automatically launch from there.
+
Then restart the machine (not emulator), and most games automatically launch from there.
  
 
Neko Project II's controls are not remappable. They're 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numpad, arrow keys, enter, space, ctrl, z, and x. For games using the mouse, hit F12 to enable or disable mouse input. Use programs like Joy2Key to rebind other keys.
 
Neko Project II's controls are not remappable. They're 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numpad, arrow keys, enter, space, ctrl, z, and x. For games using the mouse, hit F12 to enable or disable mouse input. Use programs like Joy2Key to rebind other keys.

Revision as of 04:02, 5 May 2019

NEC PC-9800 series
PC98RS.jpg
Developer NEC Home Electronics
Type Home computer
Release date 1982
Discontinued 2000
Predecessor PC-8800
Emulated

The NEC PC-9800, also known as the PC-98, were a family of computers made by NEC throughout 1982 to 2000. They were not released or marketed outside of Japan, but still useful for playing early Touhou games.

Emulators

PC-98 Emulators
Name Operating System(s) Latest Version Accuracy Active Recommended
PC
Neko Project 21/W Windows, Linux 0.86 rev60 High
Neko Project II Windows, macOS (PPC/Intel) 0.86 Mid
Anex86 Windows e1 Low-Mid
MAME Multi-platform 0.264 Low ~
SL9821 Windows 0.3.1.5 High
DOSBox-X Multi-platform 2024.03.01 Low
Mobile
Neko Project II Android 20120217 Unknown
J98 Android J98-b Unknown

Comparisons

Neko Project II
The best PC-98 emulator out there but went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.
Neko Project 21/W
Based on Neko Project II (mainly ver0.86) but focus on PC-9821 series with enchanced options (CPUs, memory sizes, sound sources) as well as support of LAN board, PCI bus, CD-DA, windows accelerators, fmgen and so on.
Anex86
Another decent PC-98 emulator, but is older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding.
DOSBox-X
A very active fork of DOSBox that, among other things, adds support for the PC-98 as a target system. While it's very easy to set up, its PC-98 compatibility is still in its early stages.
MAME
It has drivers for various revisions but as of version 0.189, all of them are reported as Not Working. Support for the first batch or so of PC-98 games have started to be added to MAME in 0.201 (Aug 2018).

Usage

Note: This tutorial was adapted from this resource.

The PC-9800 series of personal computers had floppy disk drives (FDD) and hard drives (HDD) which contained the actual games and software to be loaded. Besides the emulator, you'll need a set of floppy disk images (FDI, FDM, NFD, D88...) or a hard disk image (HDI, HDM, NHD...).

You'll need a font if you want text characters to display properly in most cases. It can be downloaded here. Put it in the same directory as the emulator executable, and select it (Emulate/Font for Neko Project II, or Config/Font for Anex86).

You'll need to configure the emulator as well. In NP2's case, you want to go with the recommended configuration here:

  • Emulate/Configure/CPU: Number of cores to something like 32.
  • Emulate/Configure/Sound: Rate to 44k or 88k for better sound quality.
  • Device/Memory: 13.6MB
  • Screen/Screen Option: Check "Use skipline revisions", and change Ratio to 255. This gets rid of the existing scan line implementation, in case you want a better one with shaders from external programs. Keep in mind PC-98 games, more than any other system, are often graphically designed with scanlines in mind.

To play the games:

  • If using a floppy disk based game: Plug the first disk (FDI) into FDD1, and the second disk (FDI) into FDD2.
  • If using a hard drive based game: Plug the hard drive (HDI) into Harddisk/IDE #0 (if using Anex86, use the HDD1 and HDD2 fields and check the box HDD>FDD).

Then restart the machine (not emulator), and most games automatically launch from there.

Neko Project II's controls are not remappable. They're 2, 4, 6, and 8 on the numpad, arrow keys, enter, space, ctrl, z, and x. For games using the mouse, hit F12 to enable or disable mouse input. Use programs like Joy2Key to rebind other keys.

Resources