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|+ PC-98 Emulators
→Emulators
|release = 1982
|discontinued = 2000
|predecessor = [[NEC PC-88 emulators8800 series|PC-8800]]
|successor =
|emulated = {{✓}}
}}
The '''[[wikipedia:PC-9800 series|NEC PC-9800]]''', also known as the '''PC-98''', were a family of computers made by [[wikipedia:Nec|NEC]] throughout 1982 to 2000. Despite using Intel x86 chips, MS-DOS and Windows OS, and many other superficial similarities, the series is not IBM compatible. Some PC-98 software may work on an IBM or vice versa, but this is very YMMV<ref>https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=49934</ref>. In fact, the introduction of a native Japanese version of standard MS-DOS in the early 90s and subsequent entry of cheaper foreign IBM clones in the Japanese market was the nail in the coffin for the PC-98. They were not released or marketed outside of Japan(besides few attempts such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APC_series#APC_III APC-III] and PC-9801FC), but still useful for playing early visual novels and Touhou games.
==Emulators==
<div style="max-width:100%; overflow:auto;">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Operating SystemPlatform(s)
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|[[libretro]]
! scope="col"|[[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]]
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="1112"|PC/ x86
|-
|Neko Project 21/W
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, }}|[https://simk98.github.io/np21w/ {{NekoProject21Ver}}]|{{✗}}|High|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|-|Neko Project II kai|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}<ref group=N name=np2kai>Only available as a libretro core outside of Windows and Linux.</ref>|[https://sites.googlegithub.com/siteAZO234/np21win 0.86 rev57β2NP2kai git]|{{✓}}
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|Neko Project II
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS <small>}}(PPC/Intel)</small>
|[http://www.yui.ne.jp/np2 0.86]
|{{✗}}
|Mid
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20100323104752/http://hp.vector.co.jp:80/authors/VA015680/ax/axindex2.htm Anex86]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.zophar.net/pc98/anex86.html e1]
|{{✗}}
|Low-Mid
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[MAME]]
|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
|{{✓}}
|Low
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|SL9821
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[http://www.satotomi.com/sl9821/sl9821_dl.html 0.3.1.5{{SL9821Ver}}]|{{✗}}
|High
|{{✓}}
|{{✗✓}}|{{TBD}}
|-
|[[DOSBox#DOSBox-X|DOSBox-X]]
|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/releases {{DOSBox-XVer}}]
|{{✗}}
|Low
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|-
|QEMU/9821
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://takeda-toshiya.my.coocan.jp/qemu/index.html Snapshot 8/20/2012]
|{{✗}}
|Low
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="1112"|Mobile/ ARM|-|Neko Project II kai|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}<ref group=N name=np2kai />|[https://github.com/AZO234/NP2kai git]|{{✓}}|High|{{✓}}|{{~}}|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/np2android Neko Project II]
|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]]}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/np2android 20120217]
|Unknown{{✗}}|Low|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[http://akiyuki.boy.jp/android J98]
|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]]}}
|[http://akiyuki.boy.jp/android J98-b]
|Unknown{{✗}}|Low|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|}
</div><references group=N />
===Comparisons===
;Neko Project II:The best PC-98 emulator out there that's still under active developmentbut went inactive since March 2016. Its major drawback is the non-remappable controls.:;Neko Project 21/W:Based on Neko Project II but with a focus on simulating PC-9821 series with enhanced options (CPUs, memory sizes, sound sources) as well as support for LAN board, PC-9801PCI bus, CD-96 expansion boardDA, various Window Acceleratorswindows accelerators, additional disk image format fmgen and so on.:;Neko Project II kai:A more libretro-focused fork, which has also merged several improvements from 21/W.;Anex86:Another decent PC-98 emulator, but which emulates [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPSON_PC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA EPSON PC-286/386/486] series which is a series of PC-98 clone computers made by EPSON Corporation rather than PC-98 series made by NEC. older and less powerful. It allows key rebinding. Some programs may have trouble running on this emulator due to so-called "EPSON protection" that prevents them from running on EPSON clones.;[[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 system is still in its early stagesnot yet complete.
;[[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).
;QEMU/9821:A fork of [[QEMU]] that supports PC-9800 architecture. No longer maintained. Able to boot MS-DOS, Windows 98 and Windows 2000, but software compatibility is hit or miss.
==Playing GamesUsage==
:<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...).
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 (on NP2: ''Emulate/Font'' for Neko Project II, on Anex86: 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:
* 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/Resetrestart 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.
* [http://fullmotionvideo.free.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=954 Overview of PC-98 emulators]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOYh92usnhk Policenauts running under SL9821]
==References==
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:NEC personal computers]]
