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     it's all just a little bit of history repeating...

==============================================================

DGen is a Genesis/Megadrive emulator, which currently
runs under for Windows 95/98/NT/2000 using DirectX.

--------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE - In the DOS version, press F1,F2 or F3 to strech the screen,
F1 being the fastest. The DOS version doesn't have sound.
Type dgen -help for more info on how to work it.
The rest of this file refers to the Windows version.

V1.04 (quick change)
  The line across the middle of the screen was really annoying me,
  so there's an option in dgen.ini (split_screen 0) if you
  are not playing a horizontally split game.
DOS version: Use dgen -nosplit

V1.04 (21st May):

This release is for one reason only: Interlace mode support!

Also games which split the screen into top and bottom should now
work (i.e. rough raster effects supported).
It's a little bit faster now.
  (By the way, put "fullscreen 1" in the dgen.ini for a considerable
   performance increase. About 150% on my machine.)
And it has pad 2 support.

So basically,
** THIS MEANS THAT THE SONIC 2 TWO_PLAYER MODE SHOULD NOW BE PLAYABLE! **
As far as I know, no other Genesis emulator supports this. If you can
confirm this, let me know.

Even better, you can resize the screen to be roughly vertical to
get rid of the distortion...
...IN A WAY THIS SHOULD MAKE IT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!
Put "any_size 1" in dgen.ini to resize the screen to any rectangle.

A few other fixes here and there. (e.g. Zerowing/Hellfire/RoadRash sprites)

Bugs:
  Big line across the middle of the screen. Use V1.02 if it annoys you!
  (I know it annoys me!)
  Even lines only in interlace mode - odd lines coming later.

 BY THE WAY THE KEYS HAVE CHANGED

  Pad 1:
                     Y      = (Direction-pad)
                   G H J
(A B C) =  Z X C
                 space = (Start)



  Pad 2:

Enter = (Start)  Del End PgDn = (A B C)
                                       8      = Direction-pad
                    (numeric keypad) 4 5 6

V1.01: Added DGEN.INI file.

Bugs
----
- Lots of graphical and playability glitches sadly.

Once again, if DGen doesn't work for you, just don't use it.
--------------------------------------------------------------


(The name is spelt "Capital D, Captial G, small e, small n",
and pronounced "Dee Jen".)

At this point I'll slip in the old standard disclaimer:
  I do not accept responsibility for any effects, adverse or otherwise,
  that this code may have on you, your computer, your sanity, your dog, 
  and anything else that you can think of. Use it at your own risk.

Automatically created configuration file is DGEN.INI,
which is usually create in the same directory
as where you run it (but Windows can be a bit unpredictable so you
may have to hunt around for it!).

Q: How fast is it?
A: Roughly speaking it compares like this:

Slow                                         Fast/
/Jerky graphics                              Smooth Graphics
  <------------------------------------------>
     Megasis          DGEN         Genecyst
                                   KGen
but hey - you can compare for yourself!
Certainly works well on my P2-333.
Runs terrible on a P1-150! (try increasing snd_segs)
If you have a Pentium-I or below then I advise you to use KGen or Genecyst.
If you have a Pentium-II 333 you should have no trouble.

Q: Why use it rather than Genecyst and KGen?
A: It has interlace mode support
A1: DOS programs sometimes have trouble with newer graphics cards and
   sound cards. (It's happened to me a couple of times.)
A2: It's quite cool to be able to have a Genesis sound test
    playing while you work - like I'm doing right now!
    (Try increasing snd_segs in DGEN.INI if it skips.)

Q: What's the compatibilty like?
A: Not bad, but sound is missing from a lot of games sadly.

Q: I'm still not convinced
A: If DGen doesn't work for you, just don't use it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
*** How to use DGen *********************************************

EASY WAY: Find your rom in Window's explorer, find DGen and
drag and drop the rom onto it.
Controls: Arrow keys, A, S, D and Return for the Start Button
          Sorry, no joypad support yet.
Exit by pressing Alt-F4, or clicking in the corner.

If you have make a directory (folder) on your desktop called "save",
DGen will save your game when you quit, and restore it when you load.
Depending on the working directory you might have to make this
directory somewhere else. This is why drag and drop isn't recommended,
but if it works for you, great.

RECOMMENDED WAY: Use the DOS command line, because then the save
directory and DGEN.INI will be in the current directory, which doesn't clutter
up your desktop.
e.g.
  cd \dgen
  dgen demo.bin

Shift-R resets.

Press F1 to toggle "Crap TV emulation"(tm) (16-bit only, not 15-bit).
This is a bit of a gag, but vastly
improves the appearance of some games which use stippling/dithering!
I would argue that Genesis games are not designed for square
pixel monitors, and CTV mode looks more authentic... but that's just me!
At the moment the filter slows things down a bit.

F5 and F7 - save and load to "save\XXXX.gsx"
(no confirmation is shown onscreen)
Remember that "save\XXXX.gsx" is also written when you exit.

.gsx files are a bit like gs0-gs9 save states, so you may be able
to swap save states between emulators. Anyone got the actual
specs for Genecyst or KGen save states?

*****************************************************************
                                                              
4th May

Dave's computer is back to normal!
Thankyou thankyou thankyou for all your help!


READ BEFORE E-MAILLING DAVE:

  E-mail DOs and DON'Ts
  ---------------------

---DON'Ts:---------
- No ROM requests of course!
(there's no point since I literally just delete them on sight.)

- Don't e-mail before you've read all the documentation and my web page.

- No need to e-mail about lots of graphical or playability glitches
since I probably know already.

- Insults! (Just don't use DGen if you don't like it!)

---DOs:------------
- If you know what is CAUSING a mis-emulation (e.g. you are a Genesis
  demo programmer or an Genesis emulator programmer) mail me at once!

- If DGen works where another Genesis emu doesn't I'd love to know!

- Praise! (hey - I'm a sucker for praise!)

---------------

Homepage might be one of these:
  http://www.dtmnt.com/
  http://www.emuunlim.com/dgen/
Check them both.

Dave's e-mail
dave@dtmnt.com

Technical Bits
--------------

+ Scroll A/B Low/High and Window
+ Per screen offset supported
+ Per tile offset supported
- Per line offset approximated by tile offset
+ 16-bit Stereo Sound (I think)
+ 68000 and Z80 supported
+ YM2612 supported (e.g. Music)
+ Z80 DAC supported (e.g. Drums and speech)
- PSG chip NOT yet supported (e.g. extra music/sound bits)
- Raster effects not supported (e.g. Toe-jam)
+ H-ints supported a bit (e.g. Moonwalker)

Credits
-------

- Dave for putting it all together
- Neill Corlett for the very fast StarScream 68000 emulator
- Neil Bradley for the very fast Multi-Z80 emulator
- Tatsuyuki Satoh for the YM2612 emulation
- Dave for Genesis and VDP emulation
- Dave for the C++/assembler graphics rendering.
- Microsoft's *good* programmers who seem to have designed DirectX
  but not everything else that Microsoft produce.

--------------
