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TI-Boy SE - Game Boy Emulator For TI-83+SE/84 / Re: Game Boy Emulator
« on: June 17, 2009, 05:08:29 pm »
Okay, here's the first draft for a readme:
Code: [Select]
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| TiBoy SE - Alpha 0.0.1 |
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A Game Boy emulator for the TI-83+SE, TI-84+, and TI-84+SE graphing calculators.
Coded entirely by calc84maniac.
Presented by Outside the Box Programming in association with Omnimaga.
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| Table of Contents
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1. What is this project?
2. Features
3. How to convert ROMs to APPs
4. Controls
5. List of working/non-working games
6. PAQ - Potentially Askable Questions
7. Special Thanks
8. Version History
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| 1. What is this project?
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This is an emulator for the original grayscale Game Boys, although a bit incomplete (hence the Alpha version).
Do not expect it to be able to run all games at full compatibility. Many games won't even run at all.
And it's possible that some games will crash the emulator completely and cause a RAM clear.
Also - do not run this on a TI-nSpire! It will crash!
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| 2. Features
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* Three different zoom levels - 50%, 75%, and 100% (the Game Boy's screen resolution is 160x144 pixels, while the calculator's is 96x64).
* Grayscale at the 75% and 100% zoom levels.
* Three different palettes when in black-and-white mode.
* Intuitive panning at 75% and 100%, using the numpad.
* Sprite tracking at 75% and 100% (so it can automatically pan with your character).
* Two different sprite tracking modes - center mode and platformer mode.
* Two channels of sound if you plug headphones into the data port.
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| 3. How to convert ROMs to APPs
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1. Download a Game Boy ROM from the Internet (I'm not telling you how, just use a search engine) or rip it from a cartridge yourself.
2. Rename it to whatever you want the APP to be called on your calculator. (Example: naming it Pokemon.gb will make it be named Pokemon oncalc)
3. Drag the ROM onto the batch file included in this package.
4. Wait for the files to copy and for WabbitSign to create your APP.
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| 4. Controls
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Game controls:
Arrow keys: D-Pad
2ND: A
ALPHA: B
ENTER: Start
+: Select
Emulation controls:
ON: Exit.
CLEAR+ON: Exit and archive save file appvar.
STO>: Turn sound on.
LN: Switch between 75% and 100% zoom.
LOG: Turn grayscale on/off.
-: Select light palette for black-and-white.
*: Select normal palette for black-and-white.
/: Select dark palette for black-and-white.
Numpad: Panning controls for 75% and 100% zoom. If pressed at 50% zoom, changes zoom mode.
.: Selects 50% zoom.
(-): Advances sprite tracker by one sprite. When zoomed in, press this button repeatedly until it pans to your character.
0: Turn sprite tracking off.
MODE: Switch between center mode and platforming mode while tracking a sprite.
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| 5. List of working/non-working games
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Great compatibility:
Tetris
The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening
Metroid II - Return of Samus
Kirby's Dream Land
Good compatibility (has a few issues):
Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins
Pokemon Red Version
Bomberman GB
Mega Man - Dr. Wiley's Revenge
Not working or not playable:
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Bubble Bobble
Everything else:
Feel free to test it out in WabbitEmu!
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| 6. PAQ - Potentially askable questions
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Q. Why doesn't my ROM work?
A. Sorry, nothing I can do about that now. Try to find a different one.
Q. Why did my calculator crash?
A. Did you try the app in WabbitEmu first? Sorry, I can't guarantee complete stability at this point.
Q. How do I get a calculator ROM for WabbitEmu?
A. Search on ticalc.org for Rom8x.
Q. Why is WabbitEmu sort of buggy?
A. The version I included is an unofficial release, because the official release is unable to run TIBoy SE.
Q. I deleted an APP, and now the emulator is messed up!
A. This, unfortunately, is due to a glitch in the TI-OS. Resend the emulator and you should be fine.
Q. How do I hear the sound?
A. Go to Radioshack and buy a 2.5mm-male to 3.5mm-female adapter. Then plug one end into your calculator's data port and plug headphones into the other end.
Q. how do i tern on my claculater
A. ...
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| 7. Special Thanks
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Nitro2k01 (from gameboydev.org), for all of his help and support with understanding the Game Boy's hardware and software.
Spencer (from revsoft.org), for updating WabbitEmu to support the obscure hardware features I used, and also for SPASM and Wabbitsign.
Michael Vincent, for inspiring me with Emu8x.
Omnimaga, for providing a place to showcase my project and receive feedback. :)
The entire TI calculator community, for suggestions and motivation.
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| 8. Version History
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Alpha 0.0.1
* First release.I'll probably add appvar info after I actually code it.
The sound is based on interrupts, though, so it interrupts the code whenever it needs to.
