Mophun
Developer | Synergenix Interactive AB |
---|---|
Type | Cellphone |
Generation | 5th generation |
Release date | 2000 (pre-1999) |
Discontinued | 2003 |
Successor | Mophun 3D |
Dumped | mophun.com |
Emulated | ✓ |
Mophun™ (distorted by more fun) was a built-in (embedded) game platform specially designed for mobile phones, developed by Swedish company Synergenix Interactive AB. Its development began in late 1999, its market implantation only achieved a serious level in November of 2002. Its supports high performance downloadable C/C++ mophun™ games. Mophun 2D game engine is available on especially the Sony Ericsson mobile phones including T300 and T610, are the best known devices for running Mophun. Most Mophun programs are around 50–150 kB in size. And Mophun 3D engine was available on the Symbian operating system, for the UIQ (P800 and P30) and Series 60 (Nokia 7650, 3650, Siemens SX1 and N-Gage) and Windows Mobile. it's often used to provide embedded (pre-installed) games on mobile phone handsets. Games for Mophun are written in assembler in C and C++ using a well-documented and open API. A special version of GCC is used to compile programs.
Emulators
Name | Platform(s) | Version | FLOSS | Accuracy | Active | Recommended |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mophun 2D | ||||||
Mophun emulator (Official emulator) |
2.5.4 alpha 2 | ✗ | Mid | ✓ (Tuxality mod) |
✓ | |
Mophun SDK | 2.5 2.17.2 |
✗ | Mid | ✗ | ~ | |
MoRePhun | git | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✗ | |
Mophun ActiveX Control | 1.0 | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ? | |
Mophun 3D | ||||||
Mophun 3D SDK | Unavailable | ✗ | ? | ✗ | TBD | |
Mophun Games Launcher |
|
1.01 | ✗ | Mid | ✗ | ✓ |
4Mophun |
|
1.1 | ✗ | Mid | ✗ | ✓ |
- ↑ Run Mophun Games Launcher on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android through EKA2L1
- ↑ Possible to run 4mophun on Windows through Microsoft's Device Emulator with Image
- Mophun Games Launcher
- Only compatible with 13 games, all of which use the 3D engine and were released for Symbian OS (S60 and UIQ devices).
- 4Mophun
- Does not work with games that are locked (e.g. have a predefined IMEI recognition algorithm) or do not use the 3D engine.
- Mophun emulator
- An official emulator. It was created by Synergenix Interactive AB, designed for development and demos. As such, encrypted or compressed games do not boot. However, this has been worked around, both by decrypting the files and decompressing them (except for compressed resources), and modifying the emulator to perform decryption on the fly, albeit only when opening them via the Open menu. Exile is not known to work in any found version of the emulator. An unofficial mod, created by Tuxality, boots encrypted games without the need to decrypt them first by decrypting them on the fly.
- Mophun SDK
- Mophun was a mobile phone games SDK, it was released in 2002, C based SDK specialised to game development for mobile devices. It was made possible by Synergenix and it was coming with a free license to develop games. Mophun SDK allowed creation of games for the Symbian OS platform without the burned of the complexity of Symbian OS.
- MoRePhun
- A new, open source emulator by Luca91. It is only a proof of concept, as only a few opcodes and a couple of SDK APIs are emulated, and there is no heap. There is sprite and input support, as well as support for the collision API. It is compatible with a few small homebrews. Luca91 mentions the SDK API handler needs to be better organized.
- Mophun ActiveX Control
- The official website for the platform, mophun.com, used to host development demos playable in the browser using the ActiveX platform (crawled demo files here). The mophun plugin itself can run unencrypted .mpn files. Although it is not playable through the web archives of the site, it is expected to be curated for Flashpoint.
Overview
Mophun games are developed in the C and C++ programming languages using an open source SDK. Despite the API being very easy for programmers to use, Mophun has not been very popular. The main reason for this seems to be the strict approval process - the compiled program can only be run under an emulator, and Synergenix must approve the program so it can be used on a mobile device. The approved program can only be run under one IMEI number. Only developers registered and approved by Synergenix can use self-certification (and through the Synergenix server), and they are only allowed to have one IMEI number. The developer must sign a sales contract with Synergenix, which then shares and approves it for end-users, so the program can be shared. Such a process disallows free programs to be created for Mophun, and also discourages many developers from developing programs for Mophun.
The mophun gaming platform runs on extremely limited hardware resources with minimum requirements of an 8-bit processor running on 12 MHz. Competing game technologies usually require 32-bit processors and 25 to 50 MHz. Because of the limited hardware resource requirements mophun games can run on today's existing 2G-phones. The game can be downloaded via WAP directly to the phone or to a computer and then transferred to the phone via infrared (IR) or cable.
Contents
Mophun 2D
The Mophun standard, which was adopted as the standard for Sony Ericsson mobile phones (and is also supported by some models of Siemens phones and other "smaller" brands) has been "running around" to try to attract attention of mobile game developers. A platform similar to J2ME, the program openness is not as good as that of J2ME, and the types of downloads are single, but mophun games can provide game demos, and have good restrictions on piracy, and the fees are more convenient and reasonable.
Mophun has the advantage of being an open standard (free for the developer) and its programs tend to be very compact, occupying half the memory of a similar one in Java and a third of that occupied by a similar one in BREW, which has taken many companies to turn their eyes to Mophun (as it speeds up the download of games).
— From a technical point of view, Mophun is superior to J2ME. Tests conducted by independent companies showed that in a device where Mophun gives 60 MIPS, J2ME shows 400 KIPS (which means 150 times slower). Synergenix also adds that on some devices, some subsystems use native code from the phone's processor rather than virtual machine code, which means speeds can reach 90% of the phone's CPU's maximum capability (for example, 90 MIPS for a 100 MIPS model when running native programs).
— In 2002: Relaunched as mophun signed embedded deal with Sony-Ericsson. Mophun embedded into T300, T610, etc and Online distribution system with DRM.
— In 2003: Embedded deal with TTPcom.
— The 2D version requires about 50kB of memory and the 3D version only adds an additional 100kB to the footprint. The mophun engine on the mobile device makes sure that the games run in a secure sandboxed environment and it also contains DRM features to help prevent piracy.
— The 2D versions of mophun™ enables multiplayer wireless gaming.
— For low-end phones, mophun™ provides the possibility of real-time, arcade style 2D action games that no other comparative technologies can match.
— The mophun™ API gives the games access to features like an advanced sprite and tile engine, a collision system, sound support and communication. Games can also access hardware, such as vibration, backlight and touch screens.
— Two-player Minigolf game that runs over the network, using a multiplayer server from Terraplay back in Sweden.
* Mophun API
— Lessphun project is an implementation of the Mophun API for Cibyl, "Lessphun is Mophun". The purpose of Lessphun is to easily be able to port old Mophun games to Cibyl/J2ME. The ultimate goal I have with Lessphun is to port my two Mophun games Lorminator dash and Bruce Lee. Lessphun is currently capable of recompiling and running the Lorminator dash game correctly, although some things work slightly differently than under Mophun (notably font handling). Lessphun will be mostly compatible with Mophun, but where compatibility is difficult it will be sacrificed. Lessphun is only meant as a transition-path from Mophun-based games, for new games use the Cibyl J2ME API or a custom Cibyl API instead, and here old mophun projects
List of Mophun 2D supported devices
OS (Platforms) | Mobiles |
Sony Ericsson | T68 (T68i / T68m / T68ie / T68a) / T100 / T226 / T230 / T237 / T238 / T290 (T290a / T290i /T290c) / T300 / T302 / T306 / T310 / T312 / T316 / T610 (T618 in China) / T616 / T618 / T628 / T630 / T637 / Z200 / Z208 / Z300 (Z300i / Z300a / Z300c) / Z600 / Z608 |
Medion, PAVO, TTPCom | MD95674 |
Sendo | SendoX |
Archos | GMINI 400 GMINI 402 (GMINI 402 Camcorder) PMA400 PMA430 AV700 (AV700TV) |
Tiger Telematics | GameTrac Gizmondo |
Voxtel | VS400 |
Telfokom | Angstrem A4 devices (2001-2004) Turbo A5/A6 (early -2003) |
List of Mophun 2D Games
— There are 303+ known games, Mophun Game List of which 255 have been released, 41 are unknown to have been released, 3 are demos and 5 are unreleased. It was later overtaken by advances in J2ME that came with the MIDP 2.0 framework. Mophun preservation thread on Twitter
Mophun 3D
Mophun 3D is registered trademarks of Synergenix Interactive AB. Synergenix was established in 1999, Sweden. It was acquired by Kayak Interactive on Feb 11, 2005. | |
Developer | Synergenix Interactive AB |
---|---|
Type | 3D Engine |
Generation | 6th generation |
Release date | 18 May 2003 |
Discontinued | 2006 |
Predecessor | Mophun 2D |
Dumped | mophun.com |
Emulated | ✓ |
Synergenix Interactive AB launched the Mophun 3D engine for Symbian based handsets in 18 May 2003. It's a fast gaming system for mobile phones, pushing mobile games to new levels, enabling true real-time multiplayer gaming over mobile networks as well as high performance 3D graphics and true 3D gaming features. The engine currently available for all Series 60 and UIQ handsets, including the Nokia 3650, 7650, N-Gage, Sony Ericsson P800, Motorola A920 and Siemens SX-1 mobile phones and a whole range of Symbian based phones, Smartphones and Windows Mobile / Pocket PC handsets. Additional supported platforms include Archos Gmini series, TTPCom, Texas Instruments, as well as all leading RTOS and application operating systems. The original mophun has been upgraded to the mophun 3D version, and should bring completely new elements of entertainment through 3D games to the mobile phone field in particular.
— Mophun 3D is the first commercially available virtual machine/game engine with complete 3D support.
— The mophun 3D engine featuring low memory footprint and low processing power requirements for its suite of 3D APIs, directly targeted at quickly and effectively developing mobile 3D games. The engine is designed for development of 3D mobile games that are compact and downloadable over-the-air.
— Mophun 3D have backwards compatible at the binary level with all existing games for mophun and therefore theoretically it is possible to run current 2D games for the original engine in mophun 3D. While the runtime of the current mophun 2D engine can run on mobile devices with relatively slow processors (8 bits, 12 MHz), mophun 3D require significantly faster 32-bit processors with a speed of at least 16 MHz. Mophun has quickly become a popular way for mobile network operators and distributors to increase ARPU.
— Mophun 3D have its own 3D API and come as a comprehensive SDK package with its own 3D graphics routines optimized for each type of mobile device. The mophun 3D API is very similar to the OpenGL-ES standard, which is again intended mainly for mobile devices.
— Mophun 3D directly support optimized light sources, texture mapping and shadow work for 3D graphics, as well as object collision detection and Z-buffering.
— Mophun 3D have its own sound interface. The Sound API directly support WAVE (WAV), ADPCM and other currently the most widely used audio formats.
— The mophun™ 3D API gives the games access to features like an advanced sprite and tile engine, a collision system, sound support and communication. Games can also access hardware, such as vibration, backlight and touch screens. The 3D features include 3D math, perspective correction, material, lighting, shading, fog, collision & occlusion, texture wrapping, blending, transparency, filtering, and a number of different rendering modes.
— In addition, Mophun's download functionality has been adopted by more than 12 European and North American network operators. For the future trend of mobile 3D games, Synergenix also launched Mophun 3D SDK, allowing developers to develop 3D games. However, the 3D API is still purely software accelerated and cannot have a smooth picture like a PC.
— CSL enable its customers to download advanced 3D games based on mophun technology directly to their Symbian OS based mobile phones. CSL provide Symbian OS mobile phone users with direct access to a growing supply of great 3D games based on the mophun technology. Such as Rally Pro Contest, Anarchy Boxing 3D, Joe’s Treasure Quest 3D, and Lock 'N Load are available through CSL.
— The Synergenix Vendor Signing Tool (VST)
Offers an opportunity of secure distribution and piracy control. The games can be locked to a specific device based on the IMEI number or time-limited for demo purposes or several different forms of subscription gaming. The VST can also be used to add operator specific information to games at the point of sale, such as IP addresses to your multiplayer server or your own games portal.
Features
- 3D graphics
- Enhanced audio
- High-quality sound
- Multiplayer service
Multiplayer technology
— In 2003, Synergenix Interactive AB launched, world's first mobile 3D multiplayer game for mophun 3D engine.
— The 3D versions of mophun™ enables multiplayer wireless gaming capabilities over Bluetooth™, Infra-red, WLAN, GPRS, EDGE and 3G network. Many of mophun games are perfectly connected via bluetooth. In multiplayer mode, some have the ability to connect via bluetooth (for example, Carmageddon 3D, Fatal Arena, Lock 'N Load 2).
- Terraplay technology
Lock 'N Load 2, The new installment is the first to use Terraplay's MOVE 3.1 platform and benchmark the first-person shooter genre on mobile. Also Rally Pro Content using its Mophun 3D game engine and Terraplay Systems network technology for multiplayer functionality. Multiplayer gaming has used local connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth but Terraplay MOVE enables subscribers to connect to another handset over 2.5G and 3G networks without geographical restrictions.
List of Mophun 3D supported devices
OS (Platforms) | Mobiles |
Symbian OS | * Nokia (S60.x) — 3250 / 3650 / 3600 / 3660 / 3620 / 6600 / 6620 / 7650 / E51 / E60 / E61 / E65 / E70 / N70 / N71 / N72 / N73 (N73ME) / N76 / N80 / N90 / N91 / N92 / N93 / N95 / N-Gage (N-Gage QD) / 6630JP (FOMA NM850iG) / Vodafone 702NK / Vodafone 702NK II (6680JP) * Nokia (S80.x) — 9200 Communicator * Nokia (S90) — 7700 * Sony Ericsson (UIQ.x) — P800 / P802 / P900 / P908 / P910 (P910i) * Motorola A920 / A925 / A1000 * NTT DoCoMo (Symbian^2) — Fujitsu FOMA F900i / FOMA F2102V / FOMA F2051 * Siemens SX-1 * SendoX * BenQ P30 |
Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) |
* All Windows Mobile Smartphones running at a resolution: 176x220 (VGA) 240x320 (QVGA) |
Archos | * GMINI 400 * GMINI 402 (GMINI 402 Camcorder) * PMA400 * PMA430 * AV700 (AV700TV) |
Tiger Telematics | * GameTrac Gizmondo |
- The GameTrac Gizmondo has traditional HW graphics accelerator, support for 3D Mophun Mobile Gaming Technology as well as the development of high-quality 2D and 3D games for use on their new Gametrac series of products.
- The AV700 has a built-in Mophun 3D gaming engine.
- Play Mophun games directly on the Gmini 402 Camcorder or on a TV. Demo games are included in the Gmini 402 Camcorder.
- The AV700TV comes with various Mophun demo version games designed for the terminal, some of them quite impressive 3D graphically.
- The Gmini 400 can play both 2D and 3D games using Mophun, a gaming platform designed primarily for cellphones.
List of Mophun 3D Games
* Later 3D based mophun games for Symbian
* Some games were released for J2ME
Title | Release Date | Developer | Publisher | Genre(s) | Service (Multiplayer) |
Version(s) | Language(s) | Description | J2ME (Version) |
Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American Racing 3D | 2005 | Mattias Hedkvist Games | Synergenix Crew | Racing | Bluetooth Infrared |
1.1 1.01 |
EN | — | [1] | |
Anarchy Boxing 3D | 2005 | Anarchy Games & Mah-Kolor Games | Synergenix Interactive AB | Sports (Boxing) | Bluetooth | 1.60 | Multi | — | [2] | |
CA Outlaw 3D | Unreleased? / 2005 | Mattias Hedkvist Games | Synergenix Interactive AB | Racing | — | 1.0 | EN | — | [3] | |
Carmageddon 3D | 29 November 2005 [EU] | KAMPO Interactive | Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive Licensed by Eidos Interactive & SCi Games Ltd. |
Racing | Bluetooth | 1.0.7 | Multi | Based on PC / Console port | 2D | [4] [5] [6] |
Fatal Arena 3D | 2005 | Progressive Media ApS | Synergenix Interactive AB | Fighting Beat-em'up |
Bluetooth | 1.22 | EN | — | [7] [8] | |
Football Pro Contest | 2005 | Big Red Games Ltd. Qube |
Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive |
Sports (Football) | — | 1.0.4 | Multi | — | [9] | |
Golf Pro Contest | 2005 | Touche RABARBRA |
Synergenix Interactive AB | Sports (Golf) | — | 1.0 | EN | Some backgrounds are 176x208. Prequel of Golf Pro Content 2 |
— | [10] |
Golf Pro Contest 2 | 2006 | Two Tribes B.V. | Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive |
Sports (Golf) | Wi-Fi GPRS (3G Network) |
1.0.3 | Multi | Sequel of Golf Pro Content | 3D | [11] [12] |
Heli Attack 2 | 2005 | Maratron, CH Studio Square Circle Co. Synergenix Interactive AB |
Maratron, CH Studio Square Circle Co. |
Shooter Arcade |
— | 1.01 | EN | Based on Web game | — | [13] |
Joe’s Treasure Quest 3D | 2005 | KAMPO Interactive | Synergenix Interactive AB | Platformer Maze |
— | 1.0 | Multi | — | [14] [15] | |
Lock ‘N Load: Combat Arena | 2005 | Synergenix Interactive AB | Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB) | First Person Shooter Action |
Bluetooth Wi-Fi GPRS (3G Network) |
1.20.0 | EN | Only multiplayer. like CS |
2D | [16] |
Lock ‘N Load: Rise of War | 2005 | Synergenix Interactive AB | Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB) | First Person Shooter Action |
— | 1.01 | EN | Similar to Wolfenstein 3D & CS | 2D | [17] [18] |
Lock ‘N Load 2 (Exile) | June 2006 | Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB) | Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB) | First Person Shooter Action |
Bluetooth | 0.9.0 Beta 1.20 |
Multi | Sequel to Lock 'N Load. like CS |
— | [19] |
Martial Arts 3D | 2005 | Wireless Dreams (wwe.wdr.8h.com) |
Synergenix Interactive AB | Fighting | Bluetooth | 1.0 | Multi | Similar to Tekken | — | [20] |
Rally Pro Contest | July 2005 [EU] | Synergenix Interactive AB | Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive |
Racing Thriller |
Bluetooth Infrared GPRS |
1.31 | EN | 3D | [21] [22] | |
The Da Vinci Code 3D | May 2006 [NA] | SouthEnd Interactive AB | Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB) Licensed by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. |
Quest / Mystery (Puzzle elements) Graphic Adventure |
— | 1.0.1 1.0.2 |
EN | Based on The Da Vinci Code 3: The Movie | 2D | [23] [24] |
Worms World Party | 2006 | Two Tribes B.V. Codeglue B.V. Team17 Software Limited Paragon Five, Inc. |
Blaze Global (formerly Synergenix Interactive AB), THQ Wireless Inc. | Turn based Strategy Casual |
— | 1.0.0 | EN, FR, DE, IT, ES | Based on N-Gage / GBA Port | — | [25] |
- The new 3D version of Carmageddon's features the same action, bonuses, and carnage found in the original PC title, totally redesigned for the latest 3D-enabled Symbian handsets.
Mophun Games port for other platforms
Mophun 3D games that also came out on Symbian, such as The Da Vinci Code 3D, Lock 'N Load series, Carmageddon 3D. Some games were released in J2ME, such as Rally Pro Contest and Golf Pro Content 2.
Of the exclusives, the indisputable hit is Honey Cave the first and second parts. Deep Abyss was also famous, but its 3D version on the Mascot Capsule 3D was more popular and interesting. They also tried to transfer Honey Cave to 3D for J2ME, but it turned out to be just a very crooked and laggy platformer, so the original 2D versions are a classic for which it is worth trying this emulator.
Title | Platform(s) | Release Date | Developer | Publisher | Genre(s) | Version(s) | Language(s) | Description | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2D | |||||||||
Bomb Jack | J2ME, ExEn | 2003 | Tehkan Ltd. | Elite Systems Ltd. | Puzzle | English | [26] | ||
Colin McRae Rally 04 | J2ME | 27 April 2004 | 8bit Games Ltd. | Synergenix Interactive AB | Racing | English | [27] | ||
FIFA Football 2003: Mobile International Edition | J2ME | 2003 | Distinctive Developments Ltd. | Digital Bridges Ltd. | Sports (Football) | English | [28] | ||
Frankie Jumpy | J2ME | 2003 | Impressionware S.r.l. | Ribes Informatica S.p.A. | Action | English | [29] | ||
Log(Hic!) | J2ME, Symbian, Windows Mobile | 2004 | In The Pockets | In The Pockets | Puzzle | English | [30] | ||
Q*bert | J2ME | 13 June 2003 | D. Gottlieb & Co. | Sony Pictures Mobile | Action Puzzle |
English | [31] | ||
Sheep Mania | J2ME | 8 February 2004 | Progressive Media ApS | Progressive Media ApS | Puzzle | English | Similar to Sokoban | [32] | |
Space Explorer | J2ME | 18 September 2003 | Impressionware S.r.l. | Ribes Informatica S.p.A. | Action | English | [33] | ||
3D Remake of mophun 2D | |||||||||
Deep Abyss 3D | J2ME | 2003 | Sony Ericsson | Sony Ericsson | Platformer Puzzle |
1.0 1.2 |
Multi | ||
Honey Cave 3D | J2ME | 2003 | Sony Ericsson | Sony Ericsson | Platformer | 1.3 | Multi |
Title | Platform(s) | Release Date | Developer | Publisher | Genre(s) | Version(s) | Language(s) | Description | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2D port | |||||||||
Carmageddon 2D | J2ME | 4 July 2005 | Impressionware S.r.l. | Synergenix Interactive AB | Racing | 0.8 | Multi | [34] | |
3D | |||||||||
Football Pro Contest | Windows Mobile | 2005 | Big Red Games Ltd. Qube |
Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive |
Sports (Football) | 1.0.4 | Multi | ||
Golf Pro Contest 2 | J2ME | 2006 | Two Tribes B.V. | Synergenix Interactive AB Kayak Interactive |
Sports (Golf) | 1.0.5 | Multi | ||
Rally Pro Contest | J2ME | 2005 | Synergenix Interactive AB | Synergenix Interactive AB | Racing | 1.1 | Multi |