https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=197.6.107.31&feedformat=atomEmulation General Wiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T23:11:53ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.32.0https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=List_of_notable_SNES_ports_and_remakes&diff=9618List of notable SNES ports and remakes2015-10-23T01:28:35Z<p>197.6.107.31: </p>
<hr />
<div>Some SNES games suffered from slowdown which may be fixed in ports.<br />
<br />
Many SNES games were ported to the GBA. These versions may have extra features, but at the cost of poorer video and audio quality. The resolution is significantly lower at 240 x 160 as opposed to the usual 256 x 224 of SNES games. This leads to a smaller visible playing area, which can be devastating in some cases. The audio is much lower quality than the SNES and almost always uses inferior instrument samples for whatever reason (designated as "worse audio"). Also, most GBA games use much brighter colors to compensate for the lack of contrast in the original GBA display. To have these games display as intended, a shader or a palette patch is needed. Additionally, the GBA has two fewer buttons, leading to compromised control layouts.<br />
<br />
Several SNES games were ported to the PlayStation. More often than not the PS1 ports offer more features. However, the CD format creates loading times. Contrary to popular belief, most of these ports are not emulations. They simply take the text and graphical assets from the SNES game ROM image on the disc, with the rest of the programming being original work. <br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|Name<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|PS1<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|GC<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|PS2<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|GBA<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|NDS<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|PSP<br />
! scope="col" style="text-align: center;"|Notes<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Chrono Trigger<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS1: Extra content including FMV & beastiary, longer load times<br />
<br />NDS: PS1 extra content (with load times fixed) plus more extra content, touch controls, more literal translation, French translation added<br />
<br />iOS/Android: Translation based on NDS with additional languages, touch controls, mostly unchanged graphics.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Clock Tower<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"| PS1 & Windows: Titled ''Clock Tower: The First Fear''. FMV, minor graphical changes; additional new weapon, enemy, & location<br />
Wonderswan: greyscale colors, poorer audio, lower graphical quality, slightly reduced screen size<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Contra III: The Alien Wars<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Titled ''Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX''. Removed dual wielding and mega bombs, added lock aim, Mode 7 levels replaced with levels from Contra: Hard Corps, worse audio.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Donkey Kong Country<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"| GBC: weaker graphics & audio, new stage, longer version of "Winky's Walkway", mini-games, time trail<br />
GBA: increased brightness, worse contrast, color saturation, & audio; mini-games, time trail<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Dragon Quest V<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS2: Full 3D remake with party enhancements. Only released in Japan.<br />
<br />DS: Remake done in a similar vein to the DQIV remakes. Has the same mechanics perks as the PS2 remake, along with some unique content.<br />
<br />iOS/Android: Port of the DS version.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Dragon Quest VI<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
DS: Remake done in a similar vein to the remakes of the previous two games. Features some core gameplay changes.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|EarthBound<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Worse audio. Japan only.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Final Fantasy IV<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
'''Original Version'''<br />
<br />PS1: FMV opening and ending, new features, different translation, longer load times<br />
<br />WSC: Lacks Mode 7 effects (replaced by scaling effects), limited palette, poorer audio. Japan-only. <br />
<br />GBA: Titled ''Final Fantasy IV Advance''. Based on the WSC version. New translation. Extra content, updated graphics, worse audio.<br />
<br />PSP: Titled ''Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection''. Includes ''The After Years'' as well as an in-between ''Interlude''. Includes all GBA content. Enhanced graphics, choice between original and enhanced audio.<br />
<br />'''3D Remakes'''<br />
<br />NDS: Very different 3D remake following FFIII on DS (no PSP release unlike it).<br />
<br />PC: HD version of DS remake.<br />
<br />iOS/Android: DS version port, followed by an exclusive 3D remake of ''The After Years''.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Final Fantasy V<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS1: First official English release of the game.<br />
<br />GBA: Titled ''Final Fantasy V Advance''. New translation. Extra content, worse audio.<br />
<br />iOS/Android: Redone sprites (RPG Maker art style), touch controls.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Final Fantasy VI<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
<br />GBA: Titled ''Final Fantasy VI Advance''. New translation. Extra content, worse audio.<br />
<br />iOS/Android: Redone sprites and Mode-7 sections (RPG Maker art style), touch controls, reworked Cyan Bushido.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Front Mission<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|DS: Only official English release of the game.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Ganbare Goemon 1<br />Yuki-Hime's Disappearance<br />US: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja <br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|GBA: Worse audio, no multiplayer/co-op, more save slots than the Super Famicom release, can change character any time. Japan only. Bundled with Ganbare Goemon 1.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Ganbare Goemon 2<br />General McGuiness<br />Japan-only<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|GBA: Worse audio, no multiplayer/co-op, more save slots, can change character any time. Japan only. Bundled with Ganbare Goemon 2.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Kirby Super Star<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Titled ''Kirby Super Star Ultra''. Extra games, enhanced graphics.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|GBA: Extra dungeon reliant on ''Four Swords'' game. More accurate translation, more shops, new enemies. Link voice clips from ''Ocarina of Time''. Simplified difficulty (20 digs like PAL SNES version instead of 25 in digging minigame, Ice Dungeon layout)<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Mega Man & Bass <br />JP: Rockman & Forte<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Only official English release. Worse audio. Smaller screen resolution makes the game borderline unplayable.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Mega Man X<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
DOS: Different aspect ratio, worse audio.<br />
<br />PSP: Titled ''Mega Man Maverick Hunter X''. Full 3D remake, different Sigma stages. Serves as an alternate take on the original game.<br />
<br />iOS/Android: Touch controls, "redrawn" graphics (actually smeared versions of the SNES graphics), much slower gameplay, level movement restrictions, no stage changes after beating Mavericks in a certain order, optional microtransactions.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Mega Man X2<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Mega Man X3<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS1, Saturn: Remixed soundtrack.<br />
<br />PC: Port of PS1 version. Cannot be directly installed on 64-bit OSes; you must extract the files manually. Files fail to save after reboot if this is done.<br />
<br />GC, PS2: Based on PS1 version.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Metal Max 2: Kai<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />(R)<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|GBA: Average port with a better font and worse music. You'll want to get the 1.1 revision because the initial one is so bugged and unplayable it had to be recalled.<br />
<br />DS: Full 3D remake with animated NPC sprites and much better graphics. Improved in every aspect and filled to the brim with new content. Based on the engine of Metal Max 3 for the Nintendo DS.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Titled ''Ogre Battle: Limited Edition''. Slightly enhanced graphics and sound.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Romancing SaGa<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"| Wonderswan: Enhanced graphics, new story scenario & side quest (Japan only)<br />
PS2: Enhanced 3D graphics<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Secret of Mana<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"| Android/iOS: Partially enhanced graphics, enhanced fonts & menus, touch controls<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Super Mario World<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
The version in ''Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World'' has unique sprites for Luigi.<br />
<br />GBA: Titled ''Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2''. Slight additions, worse audio, Mario voice clips. Different Luigi sprites from either SNES version.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|GBA: Titled ''Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3''. New levels, worse audio.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Star Ocean<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|Titled ''Star Ocean: First Departure''. Only official English release.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS1: Slowdown removed.<br />
<br />GBA: New levels, worse audio.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
PS1: First English release. Slightly enhanced music.<br />
<br />PSP: Very enhanced, more features<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Tales of Phantasia<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓ (R)<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
'''PS1:''' Cleaner graphics, different sprites, new effects, partial voice acting, food system, skits.<br />
<br />'''GBA:''' Based on PS1 version but scaled down, additional content, worse audio, decreased framerate.<br />
<br />'''PSP Full Voice Edition:''' port of PS1 edition including GBA additional content plus full voice acting, new sprites.<br />
<br />'''PSP Tales of Phantasia X Narikiri Dungeon:''' PSP version with even more additional content (Grade shop) and a remade spin-off.<br />
<br />'''iOS/Android:''' F2P port of ToP X. Sub-par translation. At least GBA one had better controls and interface than this. No longer available.<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|Umihara Kawase<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|✓<br />
| style="text-align: center;"|<br />
| style="text-align: left;"|<br />
'''DS:''' As part of the JP-only ''Umihara Kawase SE Kanzenban'' compilation. Both games in the compilation were ported from scratch with minor enhancements and slightly differently-sounding MIDI music, with the physics properly implemented unlike all other ports.<br />
<br />'''Vita:''' As part of the third game, but only included in its Vita port. Seems like emulation.<br />
<br />'''PC:''' Upcoming release. <br />
|}<br />
[[Category:Notable ports]]</div>197.6.107.31https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=History_of_emulation&diff=9617History of emulation2015-10-23T00:21:37Z<p>197.6.107.31: /* Nintendo DS */</p>
<hr />
<div>This page contain information of emulation history.<br />
<br />
Emulation in general gained popularity around 1995-1997, mostly due to increased CPU speed, increased usage of Internet, and increased number of decent emulators.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
<br />
===NES===<br />
The early history of NES emulation is vague, but there are some early emulators known to public.<br />
<br />
*'''Family Computer Emulator V0.35''' for FM Towns, by "Haruhisa Udagawa", with file timestamps of December 12, 1990.<br />
*'''Pasofami''' for the FM Towns, with a release date of May 1, 1993 in its info file. Windows version was released on 1995.<br />
*'''LandyNES''' by Alex Krasivsky, which seems became the base of iNES emulator. At least one beta version was released to the public, but discontinued after the release of NESticle. No release date known but likely mid to late 1990s.<br />
*Marat Fayzullin's [http://fms.komkon.org/iNES/ iNES] (also known as interNES in early versions) is the first (or at least one of the first) emulator to use [http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/INES NES header format (also known as iNES format)]. The release date of first version is 1996 according to its site.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/documents/nes/nesa.html NESA] (Nintendo Entertainment System in Assembler) by British programmer Paul Robson was one of the first free NES emulator with source code available. [http://metopal.com/2012/04/06/interview-paul-robson-programmer-of-the-nesa-emulator/ metropal.com] has an interview with the author.<br />
*[[NESticle]] (first version known as v0.2) was released on April 3, 1997. It was one of the first freeware NES emulators.<br />
<br />
====External Links====<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10169 First Famicom/NES emulator?] - Zophar's Domain<br />
*[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=6905 Anyone remember the first NES emulator?] - nesdev.com<br />
*[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8721 NES Emulation History] - nesdev.com<br />
*Old [http://www.nesworld.com/ NES WORLD] archive pages<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu1.htm Page 1] - Unknown Year, but probably in 1996. Has information of Pasofami and interNES.<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu2.htm Page 2] - Sometime around May 1996. Does not have much info of emulators (only lists variants of "Famicom (NES) emulator" which is likely Pasofami) instead forces on game screenshots taken from early NES emulators.<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu3.htm Page 3] - Sometime around May 1997. Has information of various early NES emulators such as NESticle.<br />
<br />
===SNES===<br />
Just like NES, the SNES emulation history is quite fuzzy, but there are evidences that SNES emulators existed as early as 1994.<br />
<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/vsmc.html VSMC] was released in 1994 and could run select few Homebrew roms. Apparently it was updated a few times after its initial release, and later versions could run some commercial games including Final Fantasy 2.<ref>[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_002.txt EMULATION Issue #2 - 23/07/96] - VSMC's new Brain: "Whilst previous versions of VSMC were fast, some programs like Final Fantasy 2<br />
were hideously slow."</ref> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7YXaaYdPGw (Video of one early version. Please note the music is inserted by video editing, not from the emulator.)]<br />
*'''Super Pasofami''' or '''SPW''' (Super Pasofami for Windows?), developed by the author of Pasofami, was released sometime in 1996. Very little information is available about this emulator aside of the reports that version 1.4a deleted some people's Windows directories.<ref>[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_004.txt EMULATION Issue #4 - 28/08/96] - Revenge of Super Pasofami? (Windows 95): "SPW 1.4a has been released, and reportedly deleted some people's Windows<br />
directories. Whether this is a revenge plot by the author, or just some dodgy programming, remains to be seen. For this reason, most webpages do not carry 1.4a."</ref><br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/esnes.html ESNES] was one of the first SNES emulator that could emulate sound. It later merged with NLKSNES to become NLKE.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/nlksnes.html NLKSNES] was one of the fastest SNES emulators, though it lacked sound emulation. It later merged with ESNES to become NLKE.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/nlke.html NLKE] is successor of ESNES and NLKSNES and contained both speed and sound.<br />
*[[Snes9x]] was a merged effort of '''Snes96''' and '''Snes97''', both released sometime in 1996-1997.<br />
*[[ZSNES]] was first released on October 14, 1997.<br />
<br />
====External Links====<br />
*[http://patpend.net/articles/ar/s9xpast.html The Past of SNES '9x (archaic ruins)] - Contain some history of SNES emulation scene.<br />
<br />
===Genesis===<br />
Genesis emulation dates as early as 1994.<br />
*An emulator simply called [http://segaretro.org/Megadrive_(emulator) Megadrive] released in 1994 could run Sonic the Hedgehog very slowly with no sound and many glitches. Quickly discontinued because the author lost its source code from a hard drive crash. It is currently the earliest known Genesis emulator.<br />
*[http://segaretro.org/GenEm GenEm], first released in 1996, is the second Genesis emulator released. The DOS Version of it was the first emulator to feature (prelimilary) sound emulation.<br />
*[[Genecyst]], first released in 1997 was one of the first widely used Genesis emulator.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/genesis/kgen.html KGen] was earlist predecessor of [[Kega Fusion]], released around 1997-1998.<br />
<br />
===Nintendo 64===<br />
Earliest known attempt at N64 emulation is 1998.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/n64/project-unreality.html Project Unreality], released in May 1998, was the first Nintendo 64 emulator that could run several homebrew ROMs and could show N64 logo screen of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Wave Race 64. It was discontinued after the two main developers decided to join a game development company to create commercial N64 games.<ref>[http://games.slashdot.org/story/98/07/12/1713252/project-unreality-in-limbo Project Unreality in limbo (Slashdot)]</ref><br />
*[[UltraHLE]], released in January 26, 1999, was so good that angered Nintendo.<br />
<br />
===Game Boy===<br />
Not much is known about GB emulation before 1995.<br />
*[http://fms.komkon.org/VGB/ Virtual GameBoy] (VGB) was first known GB emulator that could run commercial games. First released in 1995 for some unknown platform then ported to PC sometime in 1995 or 1996.<br />
*[[No$]]GMB was released for DOS in 1997. GameBoy Color support was added in 1998.<br />
<br />
===Game Boy Advance===<br />
Unlike other consoles, GBA emulation and Homebrew scene was started as early as 2000, a year before GBA's release. <!-- Why? I don't know... I heard a rumor that some GBA internal docs have leaked (as well as Yoshi demo) but I have no source. --><br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/gba/gbaemu.html GBAEmu], released in September 2000, was the first known GBA emulator. It could run some Homebrew ROMs as well as Nintendo's "Yoshi's Story" tech demo.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/gba/igba.html iGBA], which was available as early as February 2001 and last updated on March 25, 2001, could run a few commercial games with some graphical glitches and with no sound.<br />
*Several GBA emulators with more accuracy were released in 2001, for example [http://www.zophar.net/gba/boycott-advance.html Boycott Advance], [http://www.zophar.net/gba/dreamgba-tng.html DreamGBA], [[No$]]GBA, and [[VisualBoy Advance]].<br />
<br />
===Nintendo DS===<br />
With so many emulators like iDeaS, and the leaked EnSata, it only got decent enough by 2007.<br />
<br />
* '''DeSmuME:''' Developed by YopYop156 around 2005, first as "YopYop DS". Discontinued at version 0.3.3 in April 2006, citing a change of laws regarding emulation in France. Source code was then released. Many devs tried on their own to made their own follow-up (one such emulator includes NDesMume, of which only one version was ever released), before teaming up and merging their work, resulting in build 0.5.0 as the starting point for the new emulator.<br />
<br />
:With partial Wi-Fi emulation enabling online MP (but not local MP) in 2010, Nintendo supposedly threatened the devs with legal action (though this is unconfirmed). This resulted in the online Wi-Fi functionality being removed from the main trunk, yet it still had its own active branch which didn't face any legal action whatsoever.<br />
<br />
:The main trunk devs decided to drop all development of the Wi-Fi feature or anything related (online, local, download play, Wii/DS connectivity, DSiWare). This had the unfortunate side-effect of stalling efforts to preserve online content near the closure of Nintendo's DS servers in 2014 as other parties were scrambling to get the emulation enough to preserve packets from online play.<br />
<br />
:Similarly, the high-resolution DS rendering feature appeared first in shikaver's port (X432R), which was also more optimized for speed and kept getting updated with features from the trunk. Then in the closed-source commercial port Drastic, before making it to Desmume. <br />
<br />
* '''NO$GBA:''' originally a GBA emulator, it received e-Reader and NDS emulation by its 2.4 version by 2006. It was for a long time THE emulator for DS games. It also had partial implementation for local multiplayer that went nowhere, and a very useful debugger for modding DS/GBA games. Development stalled for a long time with version 2.6a published in April 2008. While it's not nearly up-to-par with the more recent games due to graphical problems, the apparent crashes on boot could be solved with a separate tool to decrypt DS images.<br />
<br />
:Came back after a long hiatus in 2014 with version 2.7 and is now more or less under development - 2.8a notably is the first emulator to include DSiWare emulation.<br />
<br />
===PlayStation===<br />
Earliest known attempt at PlayStation emulation is 1998. PlayStation emulation is notable for two controversial commercial emulators, both of which Sony sued.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/psx/psemu-psemu-pro.html PSEmu/PSEmu Pro], first released in early 1998, was one of the earliest PS emulator that could run commercial games. It also created the plugin standard that is still used by [[ePSXe]].<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/psx/psyke.html Psyke], released around 1998-1999, was the first PS emulator that used Dynamic Recompilation to speed up the emulation. It could run a few games such as Metal Slug and Tekken 3. An interview with the author on September 13, 1998 is available on [http://www.emuviews.com/show.php?SERIAL=223 this site].<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleem! Bleem!], first released in March 1999 for Windows, was a commercial software that could run several commercial games in full speed with enhanced resolution and texture filtering. There were also three separate Dreamcast versions that could run Gran Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3.<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix_Virtual_Game_Station Virtual Game Station], another commercial emulator, was released in 1999 but for Macintosh. Windows version was released later and allegedly had better compatibility than Bleem!, albeit without enhanced graphics.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/oldnews/ Old news archive] - Zophar's Domain<br />
*EMULATION: The ALL Format Newsletter - a series of emulation newsletters published in July to August 1996<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_001.txt Issue #1 - July 1996]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_002.txt Issue #2 - 23/07/96]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_003.txt Issue #3 - 30/07/96]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_004.txt Issue #4 - 28/08/96]<br />
<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>197.6.107.31https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=History_of_emulation&diff=9616History of emulation2015-10-23T00:20:34Z<p>197.6.107.31: /* Game Boy Advance */</p>
<hr />
<div>This page contain information of emulation history.<br />
<br />
Emulation in general gained popularity around 1995-1997, mostly due to increased CPU speed, increased usage of Internet, and increased number of decent emulators.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
<br />
===NES===<br />
The early history of NES emulation is vague, but there are some early emulators known to public.<br />
<br />
*'''Family Computer Emulator V0.35''' for FM Towns, by "Haruhisa Udagawa", with file timestamps of December 12, 1990.<br />
*'''Pasofami''' for the FM Towns, with a release date of May 1, 1993 in its info file. Windows version was released on 1995.<br />
*'''LandyNES''' by Alex Krasivsky, which seems became the base of iNES emulator. At least one beta version was released to the public, but discontinued after the release of NESticle. No release date known but likely mid to late 1990s.<br />
*Marat Fayzullin's [http://fms.komkon.org/iNES/ iNES] (also known as interNES in early versions) is the first (or at least one of the first) emulator to use [http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/INES NES header format (also known as iNES format)]. The release date of first version is 1996 according to its site.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/documents/nes/nesa.html NESA] (Nintendo Entertainment System in Assembler) by British programmer Paul Robson was one of the first free NES emulator with source code available. [http://metopal.com/2012/04/06/interview-paul-robson-programmer-of-the-nesa-emulator/ metropal.com] has an interview with the author.<br />
*[[NESticle]] (first version known as v0.2) was released on April 3, 1997. It was one of the first freeware NES emulators.<br />
<br />
====External Links====<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10169 First Famicom/NES emulator?] - Zophar's Domain<br />
*[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=6905 Anyone remember the first NES emulator?] - nesdev.com<br />
*[http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8721 NES Emulation History] - nesdev.com<br />
*Old [http://www.nesworld.com/ NES WORLD] archive pages<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu1.htm Page 1] - Unknown Year, but probably in 1996. Has information of Pasofami and interNES.<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu2.htm Page 2] - Sometime around May 1996. Does not have much info of emulators (only lists variants of "Famicom (NES) emulator" which is likely Pasofami) instead forces on game screenshots taken from early NES emulators.<br />
**[http://www.nesworld.com/old/emu3.htm Page 3] - Sometime around May 1997. Has information of various early NES emulators such as NESticle.<br />
<br />
===SNES===<br />
Just like NES, the SNES emulation history is quite fuzzy, but there are evidences that SNES emulators existed as early as 1994.<br />
<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/vsmc.html VSMC] was released in 1994 and could run select few Homebrew roms. Apparently it was updated a few times after its initial release, and later versions could run some commercial games including Final Fantasy 2.<ref>[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_002.txt EMULATION Issue #2 - 23/07/96] - VSMC's new Brain: "Whilst previous versions of VSMC were fast, some programs like Final Fantasy 2<br />
were hideously slow."</ref> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7YXaaYdPGw (Video of one early version. Please note the music is inserted by video editing, not from the emulator.)]<br />
*'''Super Pasofami''' or '''SPW''' (Super Pasofami for Windows?), developed by the author of Pasofami, was released sometime in 1996. Very little information is available about this emulator aside of the reports that version 1.4a deleted some people's Windows directories.<ref>[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_004.txt EMULATION Issue #4 - 28/08/96] - Revenge of Super Pasofami? (Windows 95): "SPW 1.4a has been released, and reportedly deleted some people's Windows<br />
directories. Whether this is a revenge plot by the author, or just some dodgy programming, remains to be seen. For this reason, most webpages do not carry 1.4a."</ref><br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/esnes.html ESNES] was one of the first SNES emulator that could emulate sound. It later merged with NLKSNES to become NLKE.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/nlksnes.html NLKSNES] was one of the fastest SNES emulators, though it lacked sound emulation. It later merged with ESNES to become NLKE.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/snes/nlke.html NLKE] is successor of ESNES and NLKSNES and contained both speed and sound.<br />
*[[Snes9x]] was a merged effort of '''Snes96''' and '''Snes97''', both released sometime in 1996-1997.<br />
*[[ZSNES]] was first released on October 14, 1997.<br />
<br />
====External Links====<br />
*[http://patpend.net/articles/ar/s9xpast.html The Past of SNES '9x (archaic ruins)] - Contain some history of SNES emulation scene.<br />
<br />
===Genesis===<br />
Genesis emulation dates as early as 1994.<br />
*An emulator simply called [http://segaretro.org/Megadrive_(emulator) Megadrive] released in 1994 could run Sonic the Hedgehog very slowly with no sound and many glitches. Quickly discontinued because the author lost its source code from a hard drive crash. It is currently the earliest known Genesis emulator.<br />
*[http://segaretro.org/GenEm GenEm], first released in 1996, is the second Genesis emulator released. The DOS Version of it was the first emulator to feature (prelimilary) sound emulation.<br />
*[[Genecyst]], first released in 1997 was one of the first widely used Genesis emulator.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/genesis/kgen.html KGen] was earlist predecessor of [[Kega Fusion]], released around 1997-1998.<br />
<br />
===Nintendo 64===<br />
Earliest known attempt at N64 emulation is 1998.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/n64/project-unreality.html Project Unreality], released in May 1998, was the first Nintendo 64 emulator that could run several homebrew ROMs and could show N64 logo screen of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Wave Race 64. It was discontinued after the two main developers decided to join a game development company to create commercial N64 games.<ref>[http://games.slashdot.org/story/98/07/12/1713252/project-unreality-in-limbo Project Unreality in limbo (Slashdot)]</ref><br />
*[[UltraHLE]], released in January 26, 1999, was so good that angered Nintendo.<br />
<br />
===Game Boy===<br />
Not much is known about GB emulation before 1995.<br />
*[http://fms.komkon.org/VGB/ Virtual GameBoy] (VGB) was first known GB emulator that could run commercial games. First released in 1995 for some unknown platform then ported to PC sometime in 1995 or 1996.<br />
*[[No$]]GMB was released for DOS in 1997. GameBoy Color support was added in 1998.<br />
<br />
===Game Boy Advance===<br />
Unlike other consoles, GBA emulation and Homebrew scene was started as early as 2000, a year before GBA's release. <!-- Why? I don't know... I heard a rumor that some GBA internal docs have leaked (as well as Yoshi demo) but I have no source. --><br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/gba/gbaemu.html GBAEmu], released in September 2000, was the first known GBA emulator. It could run some Homebrew ROMs as well as Nintendo's "Yoshi's Story" tech demo.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/gba/igba.html iGBA], which was available as early as February 2001 and last updated on March 25, 2001, could run a few commercial games with some graphical glitches and with no sound.<br />
*Several GBA emulators with more accuracy were released in 2001, for example [http://www.zophar.net/gba/boycott-advance.html Boycott Advance], [http://www.zophar.net/gba/dreamgba-tng.html DreamGBA], [[No$]]GBA, and [[VisualBoy Advance]].<br />
<br />
===Nintendo DS===<br />
With so many emulators like iDeaS, and the leaked EnSata, it only got decent enough by 2007.<br />
<br />
* '''DeSmuME:''' Developed by YopYop156 around 2005, first as "YopYop DS". Discontinued at version 0.3.3 in April 2006, citing a change of laws regarding emulation in France. Source code was then released. Many devs tried on their own to made their own follow-up (one such emulator includes NDesMume, of which only one version was ever released), before teaming up and merging their work, resulting in build 0.5.0 as the starting point for the new emulator.<br />
<br />
With partial Wi-Fi emulation enabling online MP (but not local MP) in 2010, Nintendo supposedly threatened the devs with legal action (though this is unconfirmed). This resulted in the online Wi-Fi functionality being removed from the main trunk, yet it still had its own active branch which didn't face any legal action whatsoever.<br />
<br />
The main trunk devs decided to drop all development of the Wi-Fi feature or anything related (online, local, download play, Wii/DS connectivity, DSiWare). This had the unfortunate side-effect of stalling efforts to preserve online content near the closure of Nintendo's DS servers in 2014 as other parties were scrambling to get the emulation enough to preserve packets from online play.<br />
<br />
Similarly, the high-resolution DS rendering feature appeared first in shikaver's port (X432R), which was also more optimized for speed and kept getting updated with features from the trunk. Then in the closed-source commercial port Drastic, before making it to Desmume. <br />
<br />
* '''NO$GBA:''' originally a GBA emulator, it received e-Reader and NDS emulation by its 2.4 version by 2006. It was for a long time THE emulator for DS games. It also had partial implementation for local multiplayer that went nowhere, and a very useful debugger for modding DS/GBA games. Development stalled for a long time with version 2.6a published in April 2008. While it's not nearly up-to-par with the more recent games due to graphical problems, the apparent crashes on boot could be solved with a separate tool to decrypt DS images.<br />
<br />
Came back after a long hiatus in 2014 with version 2.7 and is now more or less under development - 2.8a notably is the first emulator to include DSiWare emulation.<br />
<br />
===PlayStation===<br />
Earliest known attempt at PlayStation emulation is 1998. PlayStation emulation is notable for two controversial commercial emulators, both of which Sony sued.<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/psx/psemu-psemu-pro.html PSEmu/PSEmu Pro], first released in early 1998, was one of the earliest PS emulator that could run commercial games. It also created the plugin standard that is still used by [[ePSXe]].<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/psx/psyke.html Psyke], released around 1998-1999, was the first PS emulator that used Dynamic Recompilation to speed up the emulation. It could run a few games such as Metal Slug and Tekken 3. An interview with the author on September 13, 1998 is available on [http://www.emuviews.com/show.php?SERIAL=223 this site].<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleem! Bleem!], first released in March 1999 for Windows, was a commercial software that could run several commercial games in full speed with enhanced resolution and texture filtering. There were also three separate Dreamcast versions that could run Gran Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3.<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectix_Virtual_Game_Station Virtual Game Station], another commercial emulator, was released in 1999 but for Macintosh. Windows version was released later and allegedly had better compatibility than Bleem!, albeit without enhanced graphics.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
*[http://www.zophar.net/oldnews/ Old news archive] - Zophar's Domain<br />
*EMULATION: The ALL Format Newsletter - a series of emulation newsletters published in July to August 1996<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_001.txt Issue #1 - July 1996]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_002.txt Issue #2 - 23/07/96]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_003.txt Issue #3 - 30/07/96]<br />
**[http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/reviews/emu_004.txt Issue #4 - 28/08/96]<br />
<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>197.6.107.31https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Save_disk_space_for_ISOs&diff=9615Save disk space for ISOs2015-10-22T23:34:55Z<p>197.6.107.31: /* Wii U */</p>
<hr />
<div>ISOs are faithful software recreations of game disks. However, at 700 MB (CD) / 1.4 GB (GC Mini-DVD) / 4.7 GB (single-layered DVD) / 25 GB (Blu-Ray), they can get pretty taxing to disk storage, as newer generations of consoles come. <br />
<br />
It wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that the actually useful game data is often only a fraction of that data size - for instance, the Mario 25th Anniversary Wii disk is a 4.7GB game with only a single SNES rom and nothing else (12 MB of useful data, to be precise). So naturally, one would want to trim the extra fat as much as possible. This is what this improved version of a previous guide aims to help for.<br />
<br />
How does one lighten ISO / ROM dumps? <br />
<br />
There are many ways. Some alter the dump copy forever. Some are playable on only some specific emulators. And many light dumps are unplayable on real hardware (though a bunch are). All depending on the method and the console. So you might want to consider all of this before.<br />
<br />
=Audio-CD=<br />
<br />
Sega-CD, PC-Engine, PlayStation, Sega Saturn... what did these have in common was their reliance on the regular CD format. Game developers stored often orchestrated/Redbook music and occasionally voice acting, using the Audio-CD format. Of course, the CD contained also game data.<br />
<br />
But it was terribly inefficient when it comes to disk storage. Even a 700 MB CD containing nothing but Audio-CD data can hold at most around 80 minutes worth of sound data. <br />
<br />
That's why devs no longer used it, preferring custom audio formats included in the "game data" part of the disk. By the time the PS1 gen came, the Audio-CD part was just used for messages like "Don't put this in a CD player, dumb user!" and little else (exceptions exist, of course!)<br />
<br />
* '''Full Dump:''' <br />BIN/ISO + CUE<br />
<br />BIN/ISO is the full disk data, including Audio-CD sound data and game data<br />
<br />CUE is the datasheet file<br />
* '''Light Dump:''' <br />ISO + MP3/WAV + CUE <br />
<br />ISO is the disk data with only the game data<br />
<br />MP3/WAV is the sound data from the Audio-CD, but these formats take much less disk space<br />
<br />CUE is the datasheet file<br />
<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' No<br />
* '''Gain:''' Several hundreds of MBs to just a few dozen, depending on how much this specific game relies on the Audio-CD sound format<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' Load the BIN+CUE using a virtual drive, then use a CD dumping tool<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes, just burn the ISO+MP3/WAV+CUE again using a CD burner tool (ImgBurner) either to a physical disk, or as a ISO+BIN file.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No, but can be reverted to be<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes (use virtual drive if needed). Some aren't compatible with MP3 so convert to WAV with MP32WAV if that's the case. You may need Sega Cue Maker.<br />
<br />
Examples:<br />
* Princess Crown (SAT): 574 MB > 72 MB (Game Data) + 50 MB (Audio-CD data in MP3 format)<br />
* Captain Tsubasa (SCD): 512 MB > 146 MB (Game Data) + 3 MB (audio as MP3) > (as 7zip) 34 MB (Game Data) + 3 MB (audio)<br />
<br />
=Padding=<br />
<br />
Devs often have their games much, much bigger than they need to be. They put garbage data in the disk. Garbage data isn't game data and just bloats the disk size. It's either a sequence of 00/FF (you know what's inside a file if you open it with a hex editor) or randomized garbage data.<br />
<br />
Its purpose can be to fill in some spots in the disk so that specific parts of game data are in specific areas of the disk (like the borders) and hence the drive's reading speed is quick enough in these spots for the game to work properly. It's in the best of your interests not to mess with this data arrangement (referred to as LBA and TOC in the case of GC/Wii/PS2/PSP) or else the game might not even work in some cases (it might in others though).<br />
<br />
BUT-- the most common bar none use for this is to screw with pirates and people who download ISOs off online sharing websites, by making the ISO bigger and harder to download. Some go a little step further and make that garbage data not just a sequence of 00/FF to make the ISO much, much harder to compress using regular archive formats like zip/7zip/rar... You might be overjoyed to learn this has become the industry standard nowadays.<br />
<br />
==PlayStation 1==<br />
===ECM===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' No<br />
* '''Gain:''' Not Immediate (ISO size doesn't change). ECM only zeroes out redundant error correction data (but in some rare cases this data may be used for anti-piracy, hence corrupting the dump!). When coupled to a compressed archive format (7zip/gzip/zip) however it achieves drastic size reductions.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' PakkISO or ECM Tools (from emuparadise download page). Drag-and-drop the iso on the specific tool, then compress it with 7zip.<br />
<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. Using same tools (unECM). There's a data loss (error correction data) which can damage a select few games. Check the hash with Redump to make sure nothing was altered.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Only recent SVN builds of PCSX-R and ePSXe (they also support 7zip/gzip/zip archives so use them with ECM). Other emulators don't, so you convert manually the ECM dump to an ISO dump whenever you want to play it.<br />
<br />
===PBP (PSP Format for PS1 Images)===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' No<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO size decreases a lot). Official format used by Sony for PS1 dumps on PSP.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' PSX2PSP. Generates an EBOOT.PBP file.<br />
<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. Using same tool, to generate BIN+CUE files. There's negligible data loss.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' On PSP, not on PS1.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Retroarch, mednafen, PCSX-R and ePSXe.<br />
<br />
==PlayStation 2==<br />
===Manual Scrubbing + GZIP Compression===<br />
Often, you can open the ISO in UltraISO and find the dummy files. Sometimes they're obvious looking files like DUMMY.BIN, DATA0.BIN (or .DAT), DUMMY.DAT, etc. Or folders named "PADDING" and stuff like that. You can look into the files (with a hex editor) to see if they're obvious padding data (full of 00/FF, though sometimes it's not as obvious).<br />
<br />
However, you must never mess with LBA and TOC when removing padding. So you try change the size of the padding file inside the ISO to 0 MB, or alter it directly with a hex editor so that it's all zeroed out.<br />
<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Not Immediate (ISO dump size the same). Coupled with compression, however... the gain is really noticeable.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' UltraISO<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Not really. Garbage data here is zeroed out, it's not important and you still have the same disk data structure.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Yes.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes.<br />
<br />
You may forego the manual scrubbing part entirely. If you feel adventurous you might want to do it to enhance compression though. Let's get to the meaty part though...<br />
<br />
The PCSX2 emulator supports opening compressed archives containing ISOs. The best format it supports would be '''GZIP'''. <br />
<br />
Use 7zip ("Add to archive..." then choose gzip) or Pigz (multi-threaded, much faster compression) to generate gzip archives containing the ISO file in question. PCSX2 will build an index of each gzip compressed game it loads (as a file in the same directory as the gzip archive), so after the first time where you'll have to wait for the decompression, in all subsequent times there is no speed difference between playing an uncompressed and compressed game. Of course, you can extract the ISO back from the GZIP archive.<br />
<br />
===CSO (aka CISO)===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size the same). Coupled with manual scrubbing, it can be bigger. Not as much of a gain as GZIP though.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' maxcso<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. Using same tool.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' NO<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - PCSX2.<br />
<br />
==PlayStation Portable==<br />
===CSO (aka CISO)===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size lowers). Substantial, depending on game. Increases load times on real hardware but not emulators.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' CISO, CISO GUI, UMDGen or PSP ISO Compressor<br />
<br />CISO GUI (CISO is command line-based): Drag-and-drop ISO file on program, Select compression level (1 to 9 (Max)), "Compress", and choose directory for saving the new CSO file. <br />
<br />UMDGen is a PSP ISO editor. You can save to either the CSO format with this.<br />
<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. Using same tools, but saving to ISO (Uncompressed) format. No data loss.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Yes. Longer load times though.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes. PPSSPP.<br />
<br />
==DreamCast==<br />
===CHD Archive Format===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ROM dump size lowers).<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' GDI to CHD converter.<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' No.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Demul and Reicast<br />
<br />
==GameCube / Wii==<br />
Some examples:<br />
* Super Mario Anniversary (Wii): 4.7 GB (original) > 12 MB (GCZ) (!!)<br />
* Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii): 7.8 GB (original) > 7.1 GB (GCZ) (main cause is FMV's low compression)<br />
* Xenoblade PAL (Wii): 7.8 GB (original) > 6.3 GB (GCZ) <br />
* Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 4.7 GB (original) > 1.8 GB (GCZ) <br />
* Tales of Graces (Wii): 4.7 GB (original) > 4.2 GB (GCZ) (game data already fills the disk)<br />
<br />
* Animal Crossing (GC): 1.4 GB (original) > 26 MB (GCZ)<br />
* Zelda Four Swords Plus Japan (GC): 1.4 GB (original) > 480 MB (GCZ)<br />
* Zelda Twilight Princess (GC): 1.4 GB (original) > 1.4 GB (GCZ) (game data already fills the disk)<br />
* Megaman Collection (GC): 1.4 GB (original) > 1.1 GB (original) (sound data is stored as uncompressed stream to fill disk)<br />
<br />
Dolphin can't play game dumps off compressed archives (7zip/zip/gzip/rar...) directly.<br />
<br />
People used to resort to WiiScrubber (Wii) and GCM Utility (GC) to scrub/trim games to end up with dumps that while they had no immediate size change, their randomized garbage data (like "dummy", "padding" or "znull") was still there but zeroed out making archived dumps using zip/7zip/rar formats have stunning gains (from 1.4GB uncompressed to 26MB zipped for Animal Crossing for example!). Of course the file still needed to be uncompressed to its full size everytime you wanted to play it.<br />
<br />
'''NOTE:''' Trimming and scrubbing (in Wiiscrubber terms) aren't the same! While they both are terms for "zeroing garbage data" to make it more compression-friendly, trimming does not just that like scrubbing, but takes the extra step of relocating the garbage data to the end of the file, hence altering its TOC and requiring the disc to be fakesigned, for a not-so-big compression gain. Hence why scrubbing is by far the most authentic and safe way to solve the garbage data problem.<br />
<br />
However compressed formats incorporating the "padding zeroing" part were made since then, and Dolphin supports them! (Of course, if you're into modding/rom-hacking games, the previous tools might be of interest to you, but this is a story for another time...) <br />
<br />
===GCZ (Dolphin native archive format) - GC/Wii===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes for GC games, No for Wii games (doesn't keep MD5 hash)<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size lowers). Considerable, depending on game.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' Dolphin emulator<br />You need to add the games in your game list under Dolphin (Configuration/Paths).<br />
<br />Select game in game list (you can hold Shift and select multiple ones).<br />
<br />Right-click and choose "Compress selected ISOs". Choose a directory.<br />
<br />It saves a compressed GCZ copy. You might want to delete the original uncompressed ISO.<br />
<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. You can right-click on the GCZ-compressed (in blue) ISOs in Dolphin and choose "Uncompress selected ISOs". Garbage data is still there but zeroed out, which has no effect since it's randomized anyways.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Only Dolphin.<br />
<br />
===WBFS - Wii-only===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size lowers). Considerable, depending on game.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' Wii Backup Manager<br />Under the "Files" section, choose "Add" then choose the ISO file you're converting.<br />
<br />Tool is compatible with ISO, CSO (aka CISO) and WBFS disk dumps. When you're done, select the ISO files you added.<br />
<br />Under "Transfer", use the destination format. So, in our case, WBFS. Choose the directory to save it.<br />
<br />It saves a copy in the WFBS format. You might want to delete the original uncompressed ISO.<br />
<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. You "Add" the WBFS disk dump and "Transfer" it to the "ISO" format. Garbage data is still there but zeroed out, which has no effect since it's randomized anyways.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Yes!! WBFS dumps are playable on Wii.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Dolphin<br />
<br />
===CSO (aka CISO) - Wii-only===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size lowers). Less than WBFS.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' Wii Backup Manager. Same as above, but "Transfer" to "CISO".<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. You "Add" the CSO disk dump and "Transfer" it to the "ISO" format. Garbage data is still there but zeroed out, which has no effect since it's randomized anyways.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Dolphin<br />
<br />
==Wii U==<br />
All uncompressed ISO dumps are 23.3GB, which makes compression needed de facto. Some examples:<br />
* Super Mario World 3D: 23.3GB > 2.61GB (88% gain)<br />
* New Super Mario Bros. U: 23.3GB > 1.8GB (92% gain)<br />
* Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze: 23.3GB > 11.7GB (49% gain)<br />
<br />
===WUD (Wii U Compressed Image Dump Archive)===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' Yes (lossless, doesn't actually alter the data).<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ISO dump size lowers): Around 50% gain usually (depending on game)<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' [http://mega.nz/#!llQwyQQZ!58fErjqM7pyQZKFKe0Qlu1yLP5EbtmOmiDUN1ElW07c wud tool]. To use, drag-and-drop the ISO on the executable.<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' Yes. wud tool includes a decompression utility, which recreates the original file.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' No<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Future releases of CEMU (and potentially other Wii U emulators)<br />
<br />
By Exzap, CEMU's author ([http://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-image-wud-compression-tool.397901/ release thread]). The tool detects duplicate sectors and only stores them once: all the empty ranges end up removed, storing only ranges which contain file or filesystem data. Of course the original ISO can be reconstituted.<br />
<br />
==GameBoy Advance / Nintendo DS / Nintendo 3DS==<br />
===Trimming===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' ABSOLUTELY NOT<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (ROM dump size lowers).<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' NDSTokyoTrim (GBA/DS/3DS), rom_tool (3DS)<br />NDSTokyoTrim: Drag-and-drop roms, and press "Trim". The original file will be overwritten! <br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' No. Sometimes it damages the game's functionality irreversibly.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Yes, same file format.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes<br />
<br />
While it doesn't affect the game's functionality by much other than being a smaller regular ROM, it's not advisable though to trim in many cases, including GBA games in general. Rebuilding the internal structure of the rom might even destroy the game's functionality in the few games where it does matter (for example Golden Sun DS).<br />
<br />
==Xbox 360==<br />
It's certainly better than keeping 8.5GB images, but the conversion is too substantial and irreversible to be suitable for archival purposes, since it affects data structure tables as well.<br />
<br />
===XEX (Xbox Executable) + Data folder (a.k.a Spilling The ISO Guts)===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' ABSOLUTELY NOT<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (total file size decreases). It still works with Xenia<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' XBOX 360 ISO Extract, Exiso-GUI or Exiso. (These might be useful for rom-hacking too I guess?)<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' ISO could be rebuilt, though not accurately.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Probably Not.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Xenia.<br />
<br />
===Rebuilt ISO===<br />
* '''Archive-quality dump?''' ABSOLUTELY NOT<br />
* '''Gain:''' Immediate (total file size decreases). It still works with Xenia.<br />
* '''Tools Used:''' ISO2GOD (also a "Games on Demand" X360 image convertor). <br />Under Settings, set the output and rebuild path to the same location. Check "Always save rebuilt ISO" and set Padding to "Full (ISO Rebuild)", then save changes.<br />"Add ISO", and press "Convert". Keep generated ISO, and delete generated folder.<br />
* '''Can be reverted?''' The padding quantity information alongside the original data structure is lost forever.<br />
* '''Playable on Hardware?''' Yes. If the rebuilding process didn't damage anything vital.<br />
* '''Playable on Emulators?''' Yes - Xenia.<br />
<br />
=Other Tricks=<br />
==Storage Tricks==<br />
These methods have the advantage of being compatible with EVERY emulator, even those without proper support for compressed ISO/archive formats.<br />
<br />
===NTFS Compression===<br />
You can enable filesystem-level compression (like "NTFS Compression" in Windows) for the directory containing your ISOs/ROMs. This has a very noticeable space gain and doesn't affect the emulator's functionality. It's surprisingly more effective than many people would like to give this credit.<br />
<br />
===Decompression on Demand===<br />
You can keep your ROMs/ISOs compressed in a 7zip archive and use RocketLauncher or any other [[Frontends]] to decompress 7zip archives and pass the contents onto the emulator.<br />
<br />
==LET'S PLAY GAME BUTCHERING GAME==<br />
Of course, there are also the devs who don't merely use garbage data for padding, but also bloat '''the game data part'''. For instance, Tengai Makyou IV PSP has a specific FMV movie duplicated a dozen times, and the Megaman Collection on GC stores its sound data using an uncompressed format bringing the size of that portion alone to 1GB. In many of these cases, there's just not much you can do about it without destructively altering game data.<br />
<br />
So what do some people do? Note when I say "delete" it often means replacing the file with a 1KB dummy file to prevent the ISO file structure from collapsing on itself. Of course, it's not like some idiots care anyways about keeping the thing in a semi-playable state.<br />
* They delete all videos: this brings Super Smash Bros Brawl to 4.7GB.<br />
* They delete all voice acting and occasionally sound and music: this brings Xenoblade PAL to 4.2 GB with even only one of both dubs removed.<br />
* They delete unused content you could get with emulator cheats like rooms and stuff<br />
* They delete "extra" languages other than English<br />
* If game has multiple quests, they delete some characters / quests they don't like. Especially seen in compilations and stuff with demos included.<br />
<br />
Since this results in most of the case in very noticeable detrimental effects in gameplay (if the game doesn't crash outright), this is nothing short of mutilating the game image, and the fuckers doing this then instead of keeping it for personal use are instead uploading the game to "archive" it (bonus points if they remove chunks from the game to make room for a shitty intro screen) while being proud of themselves, have a special spot in Hell.<br />
<br />
tl;dr: Avoid.<br />
<br />
This page was based partially on this [https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/3g933n/guide_reduce_the_size_of_your_ps2_gc_wii_x360_ds/ guide].<br />
<br />
[[Category:FAQs]]</div>197.6.107.31