Genesis Plus v1.0.0
===================

Genesis Plus is a Windows emulator based on Genesis Plus GX.
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000, Mega CD
and Pico emulator.

  Genesis Plus:     https://github.com/hazem-abdelghani/Genesis-Plus
  Genesis Plus GX:  https://github.com/ekeeke/Genesis-Plus-GX

Core by Charles MacDonald (1998-2003) and Eke-Eke (2007-2026).
Windows GUI by Hazem Abdelghani (2026).


WHICH FILE TO RUN
-----------------
  Genesis Plus.exe          64-bit Windows (use this one if you are not sure).
  Genesis Plus-32bit.exe    32-bit Windows. It has no Shaders option, because
                            librashader has no 32-bit build.

No installation is needed. Both only use DLLs that ship with Windows.
Keep librashader.dll next to Genesis Plus.exe if you want GPU shaders.


GETTING STARTED
---------------
  1. Run the exe.
  2. Open a game: File > Open ROM (Ctrl+O), drag a ROM onto the window, or
     pick your games folder with File > ROMs Directory (Ctrl+B) and
     double-click a game in the list.
  3. .zip, .gz and .7z archives open directly.

Everything is stored next to the exe, so the whole folder can be copied
to a USB stick and keep working. On first run these are created:

  genesis-plus.ini  settings
  bios/             optional BIOS and add-on ROMs
  saves/            battery saves and Mega CD backup RAM
  states/           save states
  screenshots/      PNG screenshots
  cheats/           per-game cheat lists
  covers/           cover art, matched to each game by file name
  recordings/       video (.mp4) and audio (.wav) recordings
  shaders/          GPU shader presets (64-bit only)


THE GAME LIST
-------------
Above the list (and above the game, in a window) is the toolbar:

  Open ROM, Refresh | Play, Stop, Reset, Pause, Start in Fullscreen,
  Screenshot | Settings, Player 1 controls

Play needs a game picked in the list; Stop, Reset, Pause and Screenshot act
on the running game. The toolbar goes away in fullscreen.

  Search bar    Narrows the list as you type. Ctrl+F jumps to it, even
                when it is switched off (it then goes away again when you
                leave it empty). Close hides it.
  Filter bar    Narrow the list by console, region (read from tags such as
                (USA) in the file name) and folder. Reset Filters clears them.
  List columns  Right-click the column header, or View > List Columns.
  View mode     View > View Mode: list or grid with cover art.

The toolbar, search bar and filter bar can each be switched off under View.


SETTINGS
--------
Options > Settings (or the gear on the toolbar) holds every option of the
menus on tabs: View, Emulation, Video, Audio, Input, Tools and Options.
A change takes effect at once, exactly as if you had used the menu. Windows
with their own settings (Levels and Latency, Configure Player...) open from a
button and Settings stays open underneath.

The Video tab also has the GPU shader switch (64-bit only): tick Use Shader,
pick a .slangp preset with the ... button.


CONTROLS (PLAYER 1 DEFAULTS)
----------------------------
  Arrow keys        D-pad
  Z, X, C           A, B, C
  A, S, D           X, Y, Z
  Enter             Start
  Right Shift       Mode

A connected gamepad works with no setup. Change everything under
Input > Configure Player 1 / 2.


KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
------------------
  Ctrl+O                  Open a ROM
  Ctrl+B                  ROMs Directory
  Ctrl+W                  Close the ROM
  Ctrl+R / Ctrl+Shift+R   Reset / hard reset
  Ctrl+C                  Cheats
  Ctrl+F                  Search the game list
  F1                      Keyboard shortcuts
  F2 / Pause              Pause and resume
  F3                      Stop the ROM
  F5 / F8                 Save / load the current slot
  F6 / F7                 Previous / next slot
  F9                      Undo the last state load
  F12                     Save a screenshot
  Shift+F11               Record video + audio (start / stop)
  Ctrl+F11                Record audio only (start / stop)
  Alt+F11                 Stop recording
  Alt+Enter / Esc         Toggle fullscreen
  Tab (hold)              Fast forward
  Backspace (hold)        Rewind (enable it in the Emulation menu)
  \                       Advance one frame while paused

In fullscreen, move the mouse to the top edge of the screen to show the
menu bar. The cursor hides itself after a few idle seconds.


LAUNCHING FROM A FRONTEND
-------------------------
LaunchBox, Pegasus, Playnite, ES-DE, Steam ROM Manager and similar launchers
start the program with the game as its argument:

  "Genesis Plus.exe" [options] "<rom>"

  -f, --fullscreen      start the game in fullscreen
  -w, --windowed        start the game in a window
  -x, --exit-on-close   quit when the game is closed (Stop, Close ROM), so
                        the frontend gets control back
  -s N, --state N       load save state slot N (0-9) once the game has started
  -h, --help            show this list

Example:
  "Genesis Plus.exe" --fullscreen --exit-on-close "C:\Roms\Sonic.zip"

The fullscreen options apply to that launch only. For Mega CD games give the
.cue (or .chd) file of the first disc. More frontend setups are in README.md.


BIOS FILES (optional)
---------------------
Put these in the bios folder. Only the Mega CD BIOS files are required,
and only for Mega CD games (the one matching the game's region).

  bios_MD.bin                           Mega Drive TMSS boot ROM
  bios_CD_U.bin / _E.bin / _J.bin       Mega CD BIOS (USA / Europe / Japan)
  bios_U.sms / bios_E.sms / bios_J.sms  Master System
  bios.gg                               Game Gear
  ggenie.bin, areplay.bin               Game Genie, Action Replay
  sk.bin, sk2chip.bin                   Sonic & Knuckles lock-on

Turn the BIOS on under Options > Boot from BIOS When Available.
BIOS files are not included.


MORE HELP
---------
  Help > Menu Guide           Every menu explained
  Help > Keyboard Shortcuts   The list of hotkeys
  README.md                   Full documentation, in the project repository


LICENSE
-------
Same terms as Genesis Plus GX: source must accompany modified
redistributions, and it may not be sold or used commercially.
See LICENSE.txt in the repository root.
