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Emulation accuracy

54 bytes added, 16:16, 29 July 2021
From latest Wayback Machine snapshot
An emulator is '''accurate''' when an instruction given to both the program and the hardware results in both outputting the same result. That means accurate emulators produce much less fewer audio and video glitches , usually at the cost of more processing power needed. It's often achieved by using tighter synchronization.
Notable accuracy-centric emulators include [[Mesen]] (NES), [[higan]] (SNES), [[CEN64]] (N64) and [[Exodus]] (Sega Mega Drive) among others.
==Types==
===Low accuracy===
An emulator isn't accurate when it has a large amount of visual and audio glitches and favors performance as much as possible. To work around these glitches, emulator developers typically include game-specific hacks (and prioritize popular games) to skip over problems, such as compatibility issues that can cause games to break. Many times, these emulators will be deemed incompatible with the less popular games. As Near (then known as byuu ) explains in a 2011 Ars Technica article linked below, ''Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos'' will soft-lock towards the end due to a specific hardware edge case that isn't emulated in [[ZSNES]] or [[Snes9x]], but is properly dealt with in his own emulator [[higan]] due to his documentation of the system. This can also become very problematic when ROM hacks abuse software errors to create otherwise impossible behaviors to achieve what they can. When a ROM hack can only be used in that one specific emulator, he explains, it becomes incompatible with real hardware (either through a flash cart or printed), and that such an issue has occurred with [[ZSNES]] before and continues to occur with Nintendo 64 ROM hacks.
Newer emulators tend to favor High-Level Emulation (HLE) as opposed to Low-Level Emulation (LLE), which results in lower accuracy. While emulators like [[Dolphin]] favor accuracy but still retain HLE for performance and have successfully used it to an advantage, these types of exceptions are uncommon and [[High/Low level emulation|it can still hinder accuracy]].
===High accuracy===
Emulator developers often strive for high accuracy when the system cannot effectively be cycle accurate. Their emulator replicates the components of the original system as closely as possible, and as byuu Near explains it's that reason that more processing power is required to do so. The result is less This results in fewer audio and visual glitches and better handling of edge cases used by creative game programmers. An emulator with high accuracy may or may not be cycle-accurate and sometimes, they achieve 100% compatibility with commercially released games.
===Cycle accuracy===
==Further reading==
*[http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/08/accuracy-takes-power-one-mans-3ghz-quest-to-build-a-perfect-snes-emulator/ Accuracy takes power: one man’s 3GHz quest to build a perfect SNES emulator] - Byuu (now known as Near) ([[higan]] developer), 2011
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQZMVo_Fmrs Pokémon glitches and emulation accuracy] - TheZZAZZGlitch
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