Difference between pages "Sega Genesis emulators" and "Compatibility layers"

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{{Infobox console
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While not strictly emulation ''per se'' (hence why [[Wine]] stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), '''compatibility layers''' allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating API and system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of [[Emulation Accuracy|replicating the correct behavior]], such as accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.
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|title = Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
 
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|logo = RS39200_Megadrive.png
 
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|image = Sega-Genesis-Mk2-6button.jpg
 
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|image2 = Sega-Nomad-Front.jpg
 
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|imagecaption = '''Top:''' Sega Mega Drive.<br/>'''Middle:''' Sega Genesis Model 2 with 6-button controller.<br/>'''Bottom:''' Sega Genesis Nomad, portable variation.
 
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|developer = [[:Sega]]
 
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|type = [[:Category:Consoles|Home video game console]]
 
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|generation = [[:Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles|Fourth generation]]
 
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|release = 1988
 
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|discontinued = 1997
 
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|predecessor = [[Master System emulators|Master System]]
 
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|successor = [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]
 
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|emulated = {{✓}}
 
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}}
 
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The '''[[gametech:Sega_Genesis|Sega Genesis]]''' is a 16-bit, fourth-generation console released by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega Sega] in Japan on October 29, 1988 and in the US on August 14, 1989. It had a Motorola 68000 CPU at 7.6 MHz and a Zilog Z80 at 3.58 MHz. In other regions, it was known as the '''Mega Drive'''. It had several add-ons, including the Sega CD (a CD add-on, called Mega CD outside America) and the 32X (a 32-bit, cartridge-based add-on).
 
  
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The Sega CD was released on October 15, 1992 and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|299.99|1992}} and had a Motorola 68000 CPU at 12.5 MHz and 64 kbit of RAM. The Sega 32X was released on November 21, 1994 for {{Inflation|USD|159.99|1994}}. It had 2 SH-2 RISC CPUs at 23 MHz with 256KB of RAM and 256KB of VRAM.
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==Compatibility layers==
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Genesis emulation is very good, with a high degree of game compatibility (many of them claiming nearly 100% compatibility with commercial games, including Virtua Racing). They are available on many platforms. Many Genesis emulators also feature compatibility with the [[Master System emulators|Sega Master System]] (SMS), and the [[Master System emulators|Game Gear]] (GG) as well as earlier Sega consoles. Genesis-based arcade boards and the [[Sega Pico]] are still sketchy, however.
 
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==Emulators==
 
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-
 
! scope="col"|Name
 
! scope="col"|Name
−
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
+
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
−
! scope="col"|CD
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! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
−
! scope="col"|32X
 
−
! scope="col"|[[Sega Pico|Pico]]
 
−
! scope="col"|[[Libretro|Libretro Core]]
 
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 
|-
 
|-
−
!colspan="10"|PC
+
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
 
|-
 
|-
−
 
+
|[[Wine]]
−
|[[BlastEm]]
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
+
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}} <br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]
−
|[https://www.retrodev.com/blastem/changes.html {{BlastEmVer}}]
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|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Exodus]]
+
|[[Proton]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
−
|[http://www.exodusemulator.com/index.php/downloads/current-release {{ExodusVer}}]
+
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Genesis Plus GX]]
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|[[TeknoParrot]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|{{GenPlusGXVer}}
 
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}* ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|[[BizHawk]]
 
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
−
|[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
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|[https://teknoparrot.com/download {{TeknoVer}}]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|PC-based arcade games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Kega Fusion]]
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|CrossOver
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
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|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
−
|[http://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/ 3.64]
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|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 20.0.0]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[FinalBurn Neo]]
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|[[Anbox]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
−
|[https://github.com/finalburnneo/FBNeo-WIP-Storage-Facility/releases/tag/appveyor-build WIP builds]
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|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[PicoDrive]]
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|[[Darling]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
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|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
−
|[http://notaz.gp2x.de/pico.php {{PicoDriveVer}}]
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|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling git]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N name=PicoDrive>Only for the 32X as a cross-platform alternative to Kega Fusion.</ref>
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|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|macOS software
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[MAME]]
+
|[[WineVDM]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
−
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
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|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases git]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[http://segaretro.org/Gens/GS Gens/GS]
+
|[[Wineskin]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
−
|[http://www.dusers.drexel.edu/gitweb/gitweb.cgi/~korth/gens.git r7]
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|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[http://dgen.sourceforge.net/ DGen]
+
|WineBottler
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
−
|[http://sourceforge.net/projects/dgen/files/dgen/ 1.33]
+
|[https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ 4.0.1.1 Dev]
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Genecyst]]
+
|[[WoW]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|DOS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
−
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20070205202050/http://www.zophar.net/genecyst/gcystxxx.zip x.xx]
+
|?
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows 9x apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[GENS]]
+
|[[Win3mu]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|BeOS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
−
|[http://gens.me/downloads.shtml 2.14]
+
|?
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
−
|-
+
|Windows 3.x apps and games
−
|[[higan]]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 
−
|[http://byuu.org/emulation/higan/ {{higanVer}}]
 
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<small>(bsnes)</small> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 
−
|-
 
−
|Megado
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 
−
|[https://github.com/merwaaan/megado Git]
 
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Regen
+
|[[Ardi Executor]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|DOS}}
−
|[http://aamirm.hacking-cult.org/www/regen.html 0.972]
+
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
 
|-
 
|-
−
!colspan="10"|Mobile / ARM
+
|[http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/ DOSEmu]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosemu/files/ 1.4.0]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Genesis Plus GX]]
+
|[http://dosemu2.github.io/dosemu2/ DOSEmu2]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Pandora}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
−
|{{GenPlusGXVer}}
+
|[https://github.com/dosemu2/dosemu2 git]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[PicoDrive]]
+
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Pandora}}
 
−
|[http://notaz.gp2x.de/pico.php {{PicoDriveVer}}]
 
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=PicoDrive />
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
!colspan="10"|Consoles
+
|[[Wine]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 +
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|NeoGenesis
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
−
|[https://digiex.net/threads/neogenesis-v25-download-sega-genesis-megadrive-32x-segacd-megacd-emulator.13698 NeoGenesis v25]
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Sega Genesis Plus
+
|[[Anbox]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox360}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
−
|[https://digiex.net/threads/sega-genesis-plus-libexnon-genesis-megadrive-emulator-for-xbox-360-download.9936 Libxenon]
+
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Genesis Plus GX]]
+
!colspan="9"|Console
−
|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Xbox360|Wii|3DS}}
 
−
|[https://bitbucket.org/eke/genesis-plus-gx/downloads {{GenPlusGXVer}}]<br/>[https://digiex.net/threads/retroarch-360-0-9-8-3-download-sega-sens-gameboy-finalburn-emulator-for-xbox-360.12395 RetroArch 360 0.9.8.3]
 
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[PicoDrive]]
+
|[[Nintendont]]
−
|align=left|{{Icon|PS2|PSP|3DS}}
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
−
|[http://notaz.gp2x.de/pico.php {{PicoDriveVer}}]<br/>[https://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=1710 PicoDrive 1.51b]
+
|[http://wii2.fr/download/Nintendont%20-%20190202.zip 2019-02-02]
−
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
−
|-
+
|GameCube Games
−
|[[Virtual Console]]
 
−
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii}}
 
−
|N/A
 
−
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 
 
|}
 
|}
−
<references group=N />
 
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−
<nowiki>* Available exclusively as a libretro core</nowiki>
 
  
 
===Comparisons===
 
===Comparisons===
−
;[[Genesis Plus GX]]:A very solid emulator for the Sega Genesis / Sega Master System / Sega CD / Game Gear. The only things it lack are 32X and Pico support, and a native desktop port; the only way to get this emulator on the desktop is to use the libretro core, which allows for all the benefits of RetroArch like shaders, dynamic sync, and other enhancements. The version used in [[BizHawk]] adds features for speedrunners.
+
*[[Wine]] is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for Android. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard it's similar to the [[MAME]] project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has [[wikipedia:Wine_(software)#Other_versions_of_Wine|a more complete list]].
−
;[[Kega Fusion]]:The project of an employee with previous experience at Sega. Kega Fusion has high compatibility, is easy to use and has plugin-based filter support but it has some issues on newer versions of Windows which can be solved with compatibility settings.
+
**[[Proton]] is Valve's one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
−
;[[PicoDrive]]:Strongly prioritizes performance over accuracy. Compatibility and accuracy isn't as good as Genesis Plus GX but it's useful on very underpowered systems like the Raspberry Pi Zero. Currently the first and only cross-platform option for 32X and Pico games.
+
**[https://www.codeweavers.com/products/ CrossOver] is a commercialized, supported version of Wine from CodeWeavers. It uses additional patches on top of Wine to make it easy to use. They contribute all of their work on CrossOvers back to Wine and make up about two thirds of the commits made to Wine. CrossOver is available on macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.  
−
;[[Exodus]]:Think bsnes but for the Genesis. Even though higan is also getting into the Genesis game, Exodus has already achieved cycle-accuracy at the familiar cost of high system requirements. It is the newest Genesis emulator and is far from complete.
+
**[[Wineskin]] is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted.  
−
;[http://aamirm.hacking-cult.org/www/regen.html Regen]:A focus on accuracy has earned it high compatibility with games, but it does not emulate the Sega CD and 32X. It also allows [[overclocking]].
+
* [[TeknoParrot]] is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
−
;[[BlastEm]]:Aims for cycle-accuracy but unlike Exodus, aims for lower system requirements. It has substantially higher compatibility than Exodus and is catching up to Genesis Plus GX.
+
* [[Darling]] is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known [[Wine]] project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.
−
;[[GENS]]:Close to Kega Fusion in features and compatibility, but has largely been surpassed by better emulators. There are many different forks and iterations of Gens, so your experience will differ quite a lot depending on which version you use.
 
−
;[[higan]]:Also developing cycle-accurate Genesis emulation, akin to its very own [[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES emulator]] bsnes. It's promising but incomplete. However, it can be used in the latest builds.
 
−
;[[MAME]]:Has the parent drivers <code style="color:green">genesis</code>, <code style="color:green">sms</code>, <code style="color:green">gamegear</code>, <code style="color:darkred">segacd</code>, and <code style="color:darkred">32x</code>. Green drivers are reported as OK, where red ones are reported as not working as of version 0.200.
 
−
 
 
−
==Lock-On Emulation==
 
−
Lock-On Technology is a unique feature found on Sonic & Knuckles cartridges for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis that allowed a player to connect an older game to the cartridge's pass-through port for extended or altered gameplay.
 
−
 
 
−
* With Sonic 3: Unlocks an alternate version of Sonic 3 with more levels.
 
−
* With Sonic 2: Unlocks an alternate version of Sonic 2 with playable Knuckles.
 
−
* With Sonic 1: Unlocks the Blue Sphere minigame with a level select to all possible levels.
 
−
 
 
−
The Sonic & Knuckles cartridge can lock on to other cartridges:
 
−
 
 
−
* Smaller than 2MB: Will play a single random level from the Blue Sphere minigame generated from data in the header.
 
−
* Bigger than 2MB: Will boot to Sonic & Knuckles.
 
−
* Has Battery Pack: All save data will be wiped out.
 
−
 
 
−
Most emulators don't support Lock-On save for Genesis Plus GX, but there are pre-combined ROMs for the Sonic trilogy available online that can be played as a regular Megadrive ROM on any emulator and still work. The Sonic 3 Complete romhack also achieves the same purpose.
 
−
 
 
−
Genesis Plus GX's [[RetroArch]] core includes true Lock-On emulation. From the Core Options menu, you can enable the Lock-On feature for either Sonic & Knuckles, Game Genie, or the Action Replay (Pro) -- the latter two using a different technology but with similar effects. Setting this option to anything other than "Off" will enable Lock-on to the cartridge you're currently playing as. After resetting, the game will boot in Lock-On mode.
 
−
 
 
−
The following files need to be under the directory for BIOS files (usually "system"):
 
−
* sk.bin (Sonic & Knuckles (2 MiB) ROM)
 
−
* sk2chip.bin (Sonic & Knuckles UPMEM (256 KiB) ROM): If you can't find it online, extract it with a hex editor from a pre-combined Sonic 2 & Knuckles ROM from offset 00300000 to the end of the ROM.
 
−
 
 
−
For GG/AR, the files needed are areplay.bin and ggenie.bin, but most emulators support cheat codes from these natively.
 
−
 
 
−
==Mega Drive Plus / Genesis Plus==
 
−
 
 
−
The Mega Drive Plus / Genesis Plus (sometimes abbreviated as MD+) is a special mode for certain Genesis games that use enhanced CDDA tracks with a Sega CD. This was not used in any official games, however, the mode itself was first used in the first batch of Pier Solar releases. This feature was been [https://downloads.terraonion.com/public/MegaSD_DEV_Manual.pdf documented] to be used on Terraonion's Mega SD flash cartridge, to give similar effects for Genesis games in a way how MSU-1 does in patched SNES games.
 
−
 
 
−
Currently, no Genesis + Sega CD emulators feature this function, although there is [https://github.com/ekeeke/Genesis-Plus-GX/issues/297 plans to be added] in Genesis Plus GX.
 
−
 
 
−
==External links==
 
−
* [http://wiki.megadrive.org/index.php?title=Main_Page MegaDrive Development Wiki] - A Wiki about every technical aspect of the SEGA MegaDrive hardware and software. Its aim is to provide the most detailed, accurate and up to date information, to help homebrew development and repairs.
 
−
* [http://segaretro.org/Category:Mega_Drive_emulators Mega Drive emulators] on Sega Retro
 
−
* [https://archive.org/details/sega_genesis_library ARCHIVE.ORG Console Library: Sega Genesis]
 
  
 +
==Wrappers==
 +
Compatibility layers may also make use of '''wrappers''', which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.
  
−
{{Sega}}
+
{{Main|Wrappers}}
  
−
[[Category:Consoles]]
+
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
−
[[Category:Sega consoles]]
+
[[Category:Not really emulators]]
−
[[Category:Sega Genesis emulators|*]]
 
−
[[Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles]]
 

Revision as of 21:46, 9 July 2021

While not strictly emulation per se (hence why Wine stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), compatibility layers allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating API and system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of replicating the correct behavior, such as accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.

Compatibility layers

Name Operating System(s) Latest Version FLOSS Active Recommended Runs the following software
PC / x86
Wine Linux macOS FreeBSD 9.0
(Dev: 9.7 ) 		✓ ✓ ✓ Windows applications and games
Proton Linux 8.0-5 ✓ ✓ ✓ Windows games
TeknoParrot Windows 1.0.0.140 ✗ ✓ ✓ PC-based arcade games
CrossOver Linux macOS Chrome OS 20.0.0 ✗ ✓ ✓ Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux git ✓ ✓ ✗ Android software
Darling Linux git ✓ ✓ ✗ (WIP) macOS software
WineVDM Windows git
Dev 		✓ ✓ ✗ 16-bit Windows apps and games
Wineskin macOS 1.7 ✓ ✗ ✗ Windows applications and games
WineBottler macOS 4.0.1.1 Dev ✓ ✗ ✗ Windows applications and games
WoW Windows ? ✗ ✗ ✗ Windows 9x apps and games
Win3mu Windows ? ✓ ✗ ✗ Windows 3.x apps and games
Ardi Executor Windows Linux MS-DOS 2.1.17 ✓ ✗ ✗ Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
DOSEmu Linux 1.4.0 ✓ ✗ ✗ DOS software
DOSEmu2 Linux git ✓ ✓ ✗ DOS software
Mobile / ARM
Wine Android 9.7 ✓ ✓ ✗ (WIP) Windows applications and games
Hangover Android Linux ARM git ✓ ✓ ✗ Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux ARM git ✓ ✓ ✗ Android software
Console
Nintendont Wii Wii U 2019-02-02 ✓ ✗ ✓ GameCube Games

Comparisons

  • Wine is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for Android. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard it's similar to the MAME project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has a more complete list.
    • Proton is Valve's one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
    • CrossOver is a commercialized, supported version of Wine from CodeWeavers. It uses additional patches on top of Wine to make it easy to use. They contribute all of their work on CrossOvers back to Wine and make up about two thirds of the commits made to Wine. CrossOver is available on macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.
    • Wineskin is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted.
  • TeknoParrot is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
  • Darling is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known Wine project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.

Wrappers

Compatibility layers may also make use of wrappers, which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.

Main article: Wrappers
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