Dynamo

If I didn't see his join date then I would've thought he was a holdover from the old days! 1Emu is kinda like Time Square: back in the day it was filthy, dirty, shady, illegal. Now it's Disneyfied and clean as a whistle!!! Not that it's a bad thing but yeah. Hmm, I'll try out ROMCenter........are the default DATs good enough or do I have to download additional ones?

Forgot to mention, this isn't just for arcade ROMsets, but for console ROMsets as well.

Long story short, I have a couple of ROMsets which most should know are massive in size. Are there any programs with which I can separate these ROMsets into separate folders such as region, hacks, non-hacks etc. so that I can have easier access to just specific types of ROMS instead of shuffling through countless variations of the same game? Any help would be appreciated, thanks and as a long-forgotten veteran who's been around since Pre-Crisis 1Emulation it's great to be back!

Windows XP Pro SP3 Pentium 4 (w/Hyper-Threading) @ 3.2 Ghz 256 MB ATi Mobility Radeon X800 Realtek ALC880 5.1/7.1 Sound Card I've already been trying out nullDC and set it up according to the recommended plugins/settings mentioned in the readme. I've also lowered all of my graphic's cards filtering/aliasing/etc. options to their absolute minimum. So far I've managed to try out two games: Virtua Fighter 3TB & Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. I also have Capcom Vs. SNK 2 but for some reason the emulator doesn't load it, it just goes straight to the DC main menu. VF3TB ran decently, obviously had some slight graphic problems or corruption in spots (I know that much, that DC emulation is far from perfect) and the total speed of the emu never dropped below 80-85% at most. MVC2 ran well, though there was graphic corruption in the form of distracting lines on the sprites and backgrounds, and mssing sprites in the intro. It rarely dipped the emu below 90-95%. With that in mind, are these some alternate settings or plugins that I should keep in mind considering my specs, and which would improve the performance of the emulator? Or is the graphic corruption on games like these (MVC2 specifically) just because DC emulation isn't that far up yet? I've also been trying out the Saturn emulator, SSF (supposedly the best one).........does it really run crappy on all but 2D Saturn games? I tried out the Virtua Fighter series and it ran and looked abysmal. Any settings I should keep in mind for this emu?

Okay, so I've read up a bit on what dummying is and how it "pads out" the rest of the empty space on a CD-R. But with Alcohol 120%, I'm only able to burn a DC CDI. file and nothing else, no CUE sheet (the games I've d/led so far only contain the CDI. image anyways), no dummy file. Anyone knows how I could not only burn a CDI. image, but pad out the disk with a dummy file as well because its clear to me that regularly burning them works, but loads too slow and strains my DC's motor.

Can anyone tell me what the heck "dummying" a Dreamcast back-up is, how and if it works better over a plain-jane DC back-up and how could I go about doing so myself? Because I've been lead to believe that no matter how well or how slow/fast I burn my DC back-ups, my DC's GD-ROM drive and laser still work and grind really hard to play them, and the games often stall or have longer pauses/load times than what the original copies of the games would have. No skipping or resetting as of yet though, as my DC really is still "fresh and young" and not weathered. I'm asking this because I d/led a torrent with a whole bunch of DC tools and utilities on everything (boot discs, file format conversions, dummying programs, GD-ROM rippers) yet don't know how to go about using them.

1) What's up with those ISO's that contain multiple DC games in one file, i.e playable all from one disc? Just how well do those play........or are they too good to be true?

Alright, so I've got "Dynamite Cop" (KALISTO) with me, and instead of being packaged as a RAR. file, ZIP. file and whatnot, the files are just numbered as 001, 002, 003, 004 etc. What the heck is up with that, and how can I open such a file?

Well, my CD-RW drive's max write speed is 16X, the Memorex CD-R I burned MVC2 to as a "trial" has a listed speed of 52X, as does the pack of TDK CD-R's I bought this past weekend (to use with the DC). Now that I think about it, I'm not gonna try to go too much out of my way to protect my DC..........too much reading tutorials, methods and all that crap. Patience is a virtue of mine which has disentegrated over the years........I just wanna play dammit! I'll still try to use common sense in dealing with these back-ups of course..........whatever common sense that may be. My trial with a Memorex CD-R was a success, now I'll go and try them with TDK CD-R's.

Well, I went ahead and burned a self-boot ISO (Marvel Vs. Capcom 2), followed the instructions almost exactly except I burned my disc at 4x........and it worked! Solid copy of MVC2 that plays damn near perfectly, except for a handful (can count 'em on one hand) sound stutters here and there. To be honest though, I could literally feel the vibrations coming off of my DC's GD-ROM as it read the game, and it did look like it took a second or two longer to load some screens and sounds. Keep in mind that my DC is still pretty new, with not even 100 hours logged into it. I was just wondering if it is true that CD-R's make the DC GD-ROM drive work harder and shorten its lifespan. Regardless, I'm always on top of taking care of my DC, cleaning its laser, keeping it dust-free......... Hopefully future burnings will go successfully, I'll let you know in the coming days and weeks! Thanks!

I'm peeping this guide out, as I'm venturing (for the first time) into the world of DC pirating as I speak. My near six-year old DC (June 2000) is still pretty much a baby (don't think I've managed to log in even 100 hours into it) and I'm very concerned about preserving it as much as I can and having it fall victim to burned media like I've heard many people's DC's have supposedly succumbed to, so I'm gonna try to go above and beyond to make any burns as good as possible.........or maybe I'm just worrying too DAMN much. Full version of Alcohol 120%? Check. Good CD-R media (TDK)? Check. Solid CD-burner? Check. I'll be experimenting on small, relatively simple games first to see how it goes. Also, any suggestions for the best DC boot disc out there? I'm sure I'll be needing one. I've got my "sources" for DC stuff, so I'm not asking for it, but I'm just waiting for a definitive word on a good boot disc and what kind of DC ISO releases or games I should be aware of that won't vibe well with my DC. Know of any ones guys?

Wow...........say mummy, do you think this is one of the longest-lasting threads on these forums? I'm sure it's been around since the "Pre-Crisis" 1Emu days (back when we salivated over and dissected the newest Neo/CPS ROMS, all the Kawaks/Nebula/MAME/NRX hacks and the pervasive ROM trading/linking)......back before you were even a mod! I still pop my head in here every once in a blue, especially to check out this thread right here. Seems like it was just yesterday that I created yet at the same like an eternity ago. I was still a fresh-out-of-High School dropout at the time, (left at beginning of Junior/11th Grade) and now I'm in the midst of my second year at a local college. Oh yeah...........and I determined that Nestopia was the best NES emulator for me a long while ago. I was going through a NNNesterJ binge/phase up until the time that Nestopia became prominent. Regardless, I hardly do any NES emulating nowadays, 16-Bit and up for me.

I'm more impressed by the games sound. I'd say its around TG-16 quality, not borderline Sega Genesis quality like I thought before. I'm impressed by how much developers stretched the NES hardware to its limits (that is with the help of mappers, seeing as a stock NES was quite weak.) Parallax scrolling on an NES? Unheard of! The tons of flicker in most games is annoying though......... I'd probably like the game even more if it was translated, but seemingly no one is picking it up out there. Oh, and that NES palette you provided the link to is MILES better than the default/emulated palette that Nestopia has. Its a keeper.

Well, I've been trying out the latest version of Nestopis for awhile and it rocks. Seems like it has really improved over the last version I was using which was from way back in 2003 (STILL no Lagrange Point VRC7 emulation though.........I mean c'mon, FCE Ultra & NNNesterJ emulate it! and both are pretty much dead!). Its functioned perfectly with all of the games I've tossed at it. Only qualms are: 1) Not compatible with the most common format of NES video: FCE Ultra's. The emu community really needs to sit down and decide on one format. 2)The aforementioned Lagrange Point emulation. 3) I dunno, but I can't find a way to stretch the screen to full screen. There are some set screen dimensions that can possibly be tweaked with but I dunno how to. I dunno....................unless this emulator chokes on me this might be the end of my journey.

I'm trying out the newest Nestopia out now, seems like it was rewritten from scratch since the last version I used. No problems yet (still doesn't emulate Lagrange Point's sound............) so I'll see if this emulator simply isn't all flash.