PicoDrive changelog

Homebrew developer notaz just issued an update for the PSP Genesis and Sega CD Emulator, PicoDrive. This version includes the addition of a few new features, such as the disable sprite limit option, and black level adjustment.

This release is mostly about bigfixes, however, so check out the changelog below to see if the problem you've been experiencing while using the emulator is finally addressed:

//Fixed sprite masking code. Thanks to Lordus for explaining how it works.
Added "disable sprite limit" option.
Added black level adjustment to display options.
Changed reset to act as 'soft' reset.
Added detection for Puggsy (it doesn't really have sram).
Some small timing adjustments.
Added support for SVP (Sega Virtua Processor) to emulate Virtua Racing. No recompiler for PSP version though.
Changed config file format, files are now human-readable. Game specific configs are now held in single file (but old game config files are still read when new one is missing).
Fixed a bug where some key combos didn't work as expected.
Adjusted fast renderer to work with more games, including VR.
Fixed a problem where SegaCD RAM cart data was getting lost on reset.
PicoDrive now comes with a game config file for some games which need special settings, so they should now work out-of-the-box. More games will be added with later updates.//

For those who are interested in using this homebrewed emulator but don't know how to start using it, just go over the in-depth readme file included with the download. Just make sure to grab the version most compatible to your PSP's set-up, and refer to the installation and troubleshooting guide in the readme.

PlayStation Portable homebrew developer notaz has been hard at work with his PSP port of the Genesis/Sega CD Emulator, PicoDrive for PSP. Much like the last version, this new release, dubbed version 1.35b sports some bugfixes and a couple of new features.

In case you haven't had the chance to check out notaz' previous releases, here's a bit of a primer. PicoDrive is a multiple platform Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega Mega-CD emulator. Anyway, let's take a look at the changelog:

mp3 code should no longer fail on 1.5 firmware.
added gamma adjustment option.
added .cso ISO format support. Useful for non-FMV games.
it is now possile to force a region after the ROM is loaded.
fixed a sram bug in memhandlers (fixes Shining in the Darkness saves).
fixed another bug in memhanlers, which crashed the emu for some games (like NBA Jam and NHL 9x).
added suspend/resume handling for Sega CD games.
some other small tweaks I forgot about.

According to the dev, PicoDrive for PSP version 1.35b has been tested several firmwares and notaz provided versions for them (firmware 1.50, and custom firmwares 3.52M33 and 3.71M33-3). The dev also noted that the "CSO feature should help to save space on the memstick," though it lags down FMV games.

Check out the download below. Don't forget to go over the readme for more info about PicoDrive for PSP. Enjoy!

Sony PlayStation Portable homebrew developer notaz recently blessed the scene with his port of PicoDrive, an emulator for both Sega Genesis/Megadrive and Sega CD/Mega CD. However, it seems that there's quite the serious bug with the first version, as the emulator itself prevents you from loading any ROMs that you may want to load after testing the bios. Ouch.

Prompt to respond, however, notaz immediately rolled out a new version that irons out this specific quirk out of the equation - and this time, it comes in two flavors, one for custom firmwares and the other for FW 1.5. Convenient!

Here's a look at the changelog:

1.35a

• PSP: fixed a bug which prevented to load any ROMs after testing the BIOS.
• PSP: fixed incorrect CZ80 memory map setup, which caused Z80 crashes and graphics corruption in EU Mega CD model1 BIOS menus.
• PSP: added additional "set to 4:3 scaled" display option for convenience.
• Added an option to disable frame limitter (works only with non-auto frameskip).

Homebrew developer notaz has ported PicoDrive to the the PSP. The base code of PicoDrive comes from Dave's (fdave, finalburn) PicoDrive 0.30 for Pocket PC while the CD code is roughly based on Stephane Dallongeville's Gens. For those unfamiliar with this application, it is an emulator for the Sega Genesis/ Megadrive and Sega CD/ Mega CD.

While the application lacks some of the more "fancy" options such as dynarecs/asm cores, it can run most games at full speed without having to resort to using frameskip and uses hardware MP3 decoding via the audio codec library of the PSP. Since the emulator is still in its early phases of development, it still has some VDP quirks and may have a few glitches because of inaccurate timing and sync between the emulated chips.

If you plan on using this application, be advised that you will still need to get BIOS files to run the Sega CD games and of course some roms. More details on how to use this application can be found in the comprehensive documentation included wth the emulator, so be sure to go over it before doing anything. That said, enjoy PicoDrive.