nestopia/changelog.linux

Nestopia by Martin Freij
Linux port by R. Belmont
Resurrected by R. Danbrook
LZMA SDK (7zip support) by Igor Pavlov
======================================

This program is licensed under the GNU GPLv2. For details, read COPYING.

Notes
=====

Nestopia is a portable open source NES/Famicom emulator written in C++. It is designed to be as accurate as 
possible and supports a large number of peripherals. The hardware is emulated at cycle-by-cycle granularity, 
ensuring full support for software that does mid-scanline and other timing trickery.

Nestopia Undead is a fork of the original source code, plus R. Belmont's Linux port overlay, all included
in one convenient source tree with enhancements.

System requirements
===================

Intel or AMD processor, at least 700 MHz.  Recommended 1 GHz+ for best performance.
128 MB RAM
A kernel 2.6.x based Linux distribution
GCC 3.4.x or later (4.x recommended)
A Linux-compatible soundcard capable of 16-bit output with either OSS or ALSA
[Optional] One or more gamepads/controllers recognized by Linux with at least a D-pad or stick and 4 buttons
[Optional] Hardware-accelerated OpenGL


Compiling
=========

* Make sure you have the proper development libraries installed. In Debian:
	apt-get install libgtk-3-dev libsdl1.2-dev

* Go to the directory where you unpacked this and type "make".  ("make -j3" for
  dual-core, "make -j5" for quad).

It helps greatly if you copy these files to ~/.nestopia:

- The Famicom Disk System BIOS (disksys.rom - not included - needed for FDS support)

Usage Notes
===========

"Open"  brings up a standard open file window.  You may choose .nes, .fds, .unf, or .unif format game ROMs, or
.nsf format NES music.  You may also open .zip or .7z format archives.  If the archive only contains one 
recognized file, that file will simply open.  If the archive contains multiple recognized files, the 
archive browser will appear and let you choose which file to open. 

If you choose a disk (.fds), you must have the Disk System BIOS disksys.rom located in ~/.nestopia

If you choose a .NSF file, the Play button with the VCR "Play" symbol will become active, and so will the 
song selector widget next to it.  Click it to begin playing the music.	You will also see the file's title,
composer, and copyright information.

The Cheats... button will open the Cheat Manager. 

In the Cheat Manager, the Import button will import an .XML NEStopia format cheat file and Export will save one
with the current cheats.  You may add cheats in Game Genie or Pro-Action Rocky formats.  The "Check" button 
checks if a code is valid and Add adds it to the list if it's valid.  "Remove code" deletes the cheat selected
in the list.

NOTE: all cheats are deleted from memory when a new game is loaded, so use Export before then to keep 
them around!


"Video" tab
-----------
Renderer: lets you choose software or OpenGL hardware drawing.  OpenGL gives you additional flexibilty and
possibly some performance.

Scaler: lets you choose the scale effect you'd prefer - None, NTSC, Scale?x, or hq?x.

Multiplier: lets you choose the scale factor.  Note that scalers "None" and "NTSC" will ignore this setting unless 
you pick OpenGL for render type.

NTSC type: gives 3 easy presets for the NTSC emulation - you must choose a scale type of NTSC for this
to take effect.

The full screen checkbox indicates if the game will play in a window or full screen.

The Native Resolution checkbox causes fullscreen to run in the native resolution of the display (not NES native res)

The Unlimited sprites checkbox makes Nestopia not emulate the hardware sprite flicker of the NES that occurs
in some games.


"Input" tab
-----------
Each button configures a corresponding NES controller button. Select Player 1 or 2 from the dropdown menu.

Rewind Start/Stop are player-independent.

"Audio" tab
-----------
The Use ALSA checkbox lets you use the ALSA API for audio output, otherwise old reliable OSS is used.

The Stereo checkbox selects mono (more correct, the NES was mono) or a fake stereo effect.  This can be 
toggled "live" while an NSF file is playing to hear the difference.

The Output rate lets you choose the sample rate.  44100 is normally recommended, and 48000 for Sound Blaster
Live and Audigy cards, but if your system is slower you may save some CPU by selecting a lower rate.

The Volume slider does exactly what you'd think, and it also can be changed "live" during NSF playback.

The Lite Surround checkbox and slider control the "Lite Surround" effect.  Again you can change them "live"
during NSF playback.

The "Stereo exciter" checkbox tries to add some synthetic stereo imaging, and it can be changed "live" during
NSF playback as well.


"Misc" tab
-----------
Video Region: lets you choose auto-detection, NTSC, or PAL for the region of a game.  If you force an NTSC game to 
PAL it will play too slowly, and a PAL game forced to NTSC will play too quickly.

The "Preferred System" lets you pick what system Nestopia will emulate if a game doesn't match the database.
You may choose NES (NTSC), NES (PAL), Famicom, or Dendy (a Russian NES clone with some unique attributes).

"Soft patching" enables automatic soft patching.  To make this work, place a .ips or .ups file (case matters!)
in the same directory as the game (or the archive the game is in).  The patch must be named exactly the same 
thing as the game with the final extension replaced with .ips or .ups!  Examples:

For "Super Mario Bros (U).nes", the patch must be named "Super Mario Bros (U).ips" (or .ups).

For "Super Mario Bros (U).nes" inside the archive CoolGames.zip, the patch still must be named 
"Super Mario Bros (U).ips", and placed in the same directory as the archive.

For "Doki Doki Panic (J).rom.stuff.nes", the patch must be "Doki Doki Panic (J).rom.stuff.ips" (or .ups).
Note that only the final extension is removed!


While Playing a Game
--------------------

NOTE: these are the defaults, most can be remapped.

F1 = switch sides of the current .fds disk.
F2 = reset the emulated NES
F3 = save the state (.nst)
F4 = load a saved state (.nst)
F5 = quick save to slot 1
F6 = quick save to slot 2
F7 = load quick save slot 1
F8 = load quick save slot 2
F9 = start saving a NEStopia movie file (.nsv)
F10 = load and play a NEStopia movie file (.nsv)
F11 = stop the current movie playback or recording and close out the file on disk.  Normal user control resumes
at this point, so if you have a movie of a heroic speedrun you can press F3 after the person gets past the
area you always hated and take over from there ;-)
1 = insert coin slot 1 for Vs. games
2 = insert coin slot 2 for Vs. games

Esc = stop emulation and unload the cartridge

Backspace = switch to rewind mode.  If you make a mistake, you can go backwards in time and correct it!
\ = return to normal forwards mode after rewinding.

Battery save, Save state and movie files are 100% compatible between Nestopia on x86 Linux and the Windows 
original, so feel free to trade and swap with your Windows-using friends.

Cartridges with batteries are automatically saved to a .sav file when you exit the emulator.  These .sav
files are also compatible with the Windows version.