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ZSNES News
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Apr 2nd, 2001 - zsKnight
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The ZSNES Sources have finally been released in the CVS repository of the sourceforge page. We also would like to welcome Teuf as a member of the ZSNES team as an assistant coder! He's helped us with quite a lot in the past while, including (but not limited to) setting up the Source Forge page, helping us to write the open source documentation, fixing up the ZSNES sources to not require a custom version of nasm, organizing the sources into directories, modifying the make file, etc. With the sources released, we also hope to release an updated binary soon. Click on the Sourceforge link on the left side of the screen to access the sources. The sources will also be available in a ZIP file for those who don't want to use CVS.
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Jan 20th, 2001 - zsKnight
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Although ZSNES' Source Code hasn't been released yet, I've setup a new message board for the purpose of this. The board script that this board is using is ikonboard, which is the same board script that ePSXe.com uses, which requires user e-mail registration. Anyways, I've started a couple of posts in that board. One is related to how you want to see ZSNES Open Source to proceed (I'd recommend the developers to answer this one), and another one which asks for a new logo for the board. I was also thinking of maybe converting the old message board to the new format, however, I might end up adding a 'General Chat' forum for off-topic posts instead and leave the old board for technical questions, unless I hear lots of objections to it. You can visit the ZSNES Developer's Board here.
Some more good news. Dark Force, John Weidman, and I have gotten some more progress on S-DD1 emulation, specifically on Star Ocean. However, this is still early and the encryption and compression techniques of the S-DD1 still proves to be very difficult to figure out. Visit DeJap Translations for the full scoop and screenshots!
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Dec 27th, 2000 - zsKnight
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A nasty bug has crept into the DOS version in the 8-bit video modes, so a fixed version (v1.17b) is released (it has the same filename as v1.17 so just overwrite it). There is also a small feature that was added to the windows port a while ago, but we just forgot to tell you about it. Basically, it allows you to start-up netplay from the commandline, so for those who are both willing and interested, you can code a battle.net type software (or configure existing software) for zsnesw's netplay. Basically, it works like this:
Commandline: /ABCDE (nickname) (fname) (IP Addy)
(nickname) = user nickname
(fname) = filename w/ full path (if L) or path name (if C)
(IP Addy) = IP Address (Client Only)
A = U (UDP - Recommended if works), T (TCP/IP - Slower, but more compatible)
B = S (Server), C (Client)
C = C (Chat first), L (load game first)
D = N (Stay in ZSNESw after disconnect), Q (Quit after disconnect)
E = # of connections (Keep it 2 for now)
eg: ZSNESW /UCCN2 nickname d:\snesroms 202.1.1.1
As for problems with the windows port, below are some of the ones we know. The following are problems that many people are reporting as well as their solutions:- Corrupt box with windows freezing - Solution: Change the desktop video mode to either 16bit(65536) or 32bit color
- Windows Crash with DInput.dll error - Solution: Install the latest DirectX at http://www.microsoft.com/directx
- Sound sounding like 8bit instead of 16bit - Solution: Install the latest sound drivers for your sound card
The following are problems with no solution (so far):
- Slow performance with 3DFX cards - Definitely a problem, although this might have to wait for open source to be fixed since neither of us have 3DFX cards.
- Slow performance with certain joysticks - Not sure if this is related with the joystick drivers or ZSNESw.
As for open source, preparation has begun, but there might be just one more release before that happens. And what about S-DD1 emulation for Star Ocean/SFA2? Well. All I can say is that I can't see it coming in the near future since the obstacle that's in our way isn't exactly what we specialize in.
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Dec 25th, 2000 - zsKnight
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Released a new version. Main features here are compatibility fixes, an addition of a slow motion key, and also more fixes to the out of sync problems in netplay (hope it works). Merry Christmas!
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Nov 27th, 2000 - zsKnight
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A new version of ZSNES (both Win/DOS ports) has been released. In this version, netplay technique has been improved (should be less jumpy), nickname support has been added for netplay, and it also allows for longer in-game chat strings. The windows port has improved in speed for those who runs it windowed on a 32-bit color desktop. There are also a bunch of other fixes/additions, so check out whatsnew.txt that's included in the archive for the full details.
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Nov 14th, 2000 - zsKnight
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Here's another version. This time, several problems with the Windows port have hopefully been fixed such as the greeny display problems some of you have been experiencing and the mouse wheel causing some problems (although I can't confirm either of these fixes). Also, netplay has been improved to reduce the amount of in-game pauses. The Tales of Phantasia rom with that extra 512 byte header should also work in ZSNESw where it crashed before. There are also a couple of other fixes, so just refer to whatsnew.txt for the complete list.
Now for some netplay tips. In order for a game to run nicely under netplay, it is recommended that the game should run at least 30fps on both computers when not in netplay. Also, be sure to check the Max Frame Skip under Config -> Options and make sure that it has a value bigger than 2. If either of these 2 conditions aren't satisfied, the slower computer would end up lagging the other computer, causing netplay to end up being slow and jumpy on both sides. Also, for those who haven't read the documentation, you can chat in-game by pressing 't' and typing your line.
For those of you experiencing out of sync problems under netplay where both sides end up seeing something different, they are normal and only seem to occur in certain games over time. We aren't sure what exactly causes this, so it is not fixable at the moment, but our recommendation is for either side to save then load a state. If you've experienced out of sync problems, if you can, report the games you've experienced desyncing in the message board and also mention if either side has loaded any game or played any other net sessions right before connecting without restarting ZSNESw.
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Nov 12th, 2000 - zsKnight
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A fix version has been released which fixes a performance bug for those who experienced a noticeable drop in speed from the windows version of v1.0 to v1.1. This version also has some minor additional optimisation, adds in (simple) mouse wheel support, and allows people with no soundcards to run ZSNESw without crashing.
Now I'm stuck on wondering what I should do next. I was hoping to move into Open Source preparation, but since I've been hearing a lot of requests for > 2 connections for netplay, maybe I should work on that instead. But that would push open source outwards to a much later date and also quite possibly take up a lot of my time, which I was actually hoping to start spending it on writing a commercial game. I guess I might give > 2 connections a shot if I feel like it.
Oh yeah. For those who sent an e-mail to any of us in the past few days, please re-send it since the server's forwarding service wasn't functioning during that time. Thanks!
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Nov 7th, 2000 - zsKnight
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Just a few things to report. Firstly, since the bandwidth for zsnes.com has been quite high lately, our main web space provider, CubeSoft, can't afford to provide us the bandwidth for our site for much longer, so we have switched to a different server now. But we would really like to thank CubeSoft for providing us with web space and bandwidth all this time ever since before this homepage has gotten a domain name. Also, the news that most of you have been waiting for. ZSNES v1.10 has been released for dos and windows. The key features of this version would be internet netplay (Windows Port only, but it plays really nice based on most of the connections I tried it with), many bug fixes with the windows version (including that dreaded mouse stuck on the left side bug and .zip/long filename loading bugs), fixes with FF2/4 (music problems/hit point damage being behind the character), and also a Game Rewind feature that some of you requested (Windows Port only / set the rewind key in Misc->GameKeys in the GUI). This Windows version is also the first actual release (not pre-release) version since most of the bugs that people have been experiencing have been ironed out. Anyways, I would really like you to try out the netplay feature of ZSNESWin and report back feedback including the cpu processor type/speed of both computers on the ZSNES Message Board. Netplay does require a faster computer and a net connection that isn't unstable, but does not require a lot of bandwidth so a modem to modem connection should be sufficient enough.
For those who would like to know what's in store next, we're hoping to start preparations on open source.
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