Jump to content
IGNORED

ColEm Emulator for Windows, Android, and Linux


Recommended Posts

On 1/9/2020 at 11:28 AM, ChuckH said:

As mentioned before, Squish'em Sam and Sewer Sam still do not have the digitized voices and now Wizard of War doesn't either. If I'm missing some audio setting I apologize. Otherwise, It would be nice to have that added to your fine emulator.

Sorry, just noticed this. It is normal for some games not to have digitized voice at the moment, but are you saying that Wizard Of War had audio and now it does not? Are you sure about this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, GarageResearch said:

Sorry, just noticed this. It is normal for some games not to have digitized voice at the moment, but are you saying that Wizard Of War had audio and now it does not? Are you sure about this?

Yes. Just try the released rom in CoolCV emulator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I was able to compile ColEm v. 4.8 for MS-DOS, using the Watcom C Compiler. It is great to be able to run SGM games under DOS now! This is massive upgrade, since the last official DOS version was v. 2.6. I couldn't get the additional effects to work, like 2x, 4x, and mono, sepia / amber modes, because I was using a kludge of the last DOS source code (libmsdos.c and msdos.c from v. 2.6) and the Linux source from v. 4.8.

 

Also, I wanted to set as default the options to enable SGM, all sprites on, and autofire on for buttons A and B, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I did succeed in making all frames displayed by default (uperiod is changed from 75 to 100 in coleco.c). Anyone can help on how to set these flags to ON, instead of OFF by default, so that I don't need to manually enable them every time? Seems like it should be easy to do this.

 

 

COLEM48.EXE

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't edit my post above, but attached is a zipped version, with no-delay BIOS and current Docs from v. 4.8 converted to ASCII text format for DOS friendliness. All options including cheats work except video effects scale 2x, TV (scanline) effects. I think it has to do with 640x480 and higher VESA modes not being correct or complete in the original DOS source code from version 2.6.

ColEmv48_MS-DOS.zip

Edited by zyzzle
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/11/2020 at 1:05 AM, zyzzle said:

Can't edit my post above, but attached is a zipped version, with no-delay BIOS and current Docs from v. 4.8 converted to ASCII text format for DOS friendliness. All options including cheats work except video effects scale 2x, TV (scanline) effects. I think it has to do with 640x480 and higher VESA modes not being correct or complete in the original DOS source code from version 2.6.

ColEmv48_MS-DOS.zip 92.17 kB · 10 downloads

Pretty cool, if you ask me :) Anyway, the special effects should work as well, but they require an upgrade to LibMSDOS.c code, similar to how LibWin.c looks. And yes, you probably want 640x480 or higher video mode with that, but the current LibMSDOS.c should be able to do that already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is the best way to emulate the controls for Slither on ColEm?  I believe I have the latest, 4.8.  I would prefer to control with either the arrow keys or the mouse.  Flip or fire buttons I can figure out easier than controlling the weapon.  The default setup doesn't seem to really work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Am I correct in thinking that users can add their own colour palettes to ColEm (using .PAL files)?  If so, what is the format of the PAL file and how does one add it to ColEm?

 

This is for the Windows version.

 

Thanks

Edited by Ikrananka
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/1/2020 at 10:02 AM, Ikrananka said:

Am I correct in thinking that users can add their own colour palettes to ColEm (using .PAL files)?  If so, what is the format of the PAL file and how does one add it to ColEm?

Yes, if you have got something like Game.rom, ColEm will automatically try to load and use palette from Game.pal. The format is very simple and consists of 16 lines like this one:

#RRGGBB

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, All!
 
I've just released the free ColEm 5.0 for Windows and Linux, with the source code for those interested in porting ColEm to other platforms:
 
    http://fms.komkon.org/ColEm/ -- homepage
    http://fms.komkon.org/ColEm/ColEm50-Source.zip -- portable source code
 
This release adds the complete Coleco Adam emulation, including keyboard, printer, disk, and tape drives. Both .DSK and .DDP file types are now supported. There are multiple new menu and command line options for working with printers, disks, and tapes. Please note that since Coleco Adam emulation is very new, it may have bugs. If you encounter any problems, or any Adam software that does not run, please, report it here.

Recent ColEm releases also added support for 2kB SRAM found in the Lord Of The Dungeon game, Super Game Module (SGM) emulation, AY8910 PSG, 24c08 and 24c256 EEPROM emulation, and other modern features important to the homebrew community. See below for all the changes in the latest release.

 

ALL CHANGES:
* Coleco Adam emulation is now operational, with keyboard, printer, disk, and tape drives. Use -adam command line or "Hardware | Adam" menu to enable. Requires EOS.ROM and WRITER.ROM files.
* Emulator will load .DSK files into disk drive A: and enable Adam mode.
* Emulator will load .DDP files into tape drive A: and enable Adam mode.
* Printer output can be sent to a file with -printer option.
* Adam disk drives can also be loaded with -disk* options.
* Adam tape drives can also be loaded with -tape* options.
* Windows version has got full support for Adam-specific media images and hardware.
* Added "File | Save Printer Output" menu to ColEm-Windows.
* Added "Hardware | Disk Drives" menu to ColEm-Windows.
* Added "Hardware | Tape Drives" menu to ColEm-Windows.
 
Enjoy!
 
PS: fMSX Deluxe, my complete MSX and MSX2 emulator for Android, is currently on $2.99 sale:
 
Edited by GarageResearch
URLs broken
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, GarageResearch said:

Yes, if you have got something like Game.rom, ColEm will automatically try to load and use palette from Game.pal. The format is very simple and consists of 16 lines like this one:


#RRGGBB

 

So, does that mean that custom palettes are game specific?  If I say have 200 games and I want to always use the same custom palette then I have to have 200 identical custom palette files but with each named differently to match each game name?  Or have I misunderstood?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

So, does that mean that custom palettes are game specific?  If I say have 200 games and I want to always use the same custom palette then I have to have 200 identical custom palette files but with each named differently to match each game name?  Or have I misunderstood?

At the moment, this is correct, since the emulator assumes that one of the three supplied palettes (chosen with -palette <n>) should be enough for general case. I can add more flexibility though. Like adding an option to supply a filename to the -palette parameter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, GarageResearch said:

At the moment, this is correct, since the emulator assumes that one of the three supplied palettes (chosen with -palette <n>) should be enough for general case. I can add more flexibility though. Like adding an option to supply a filename to the -palette parameter.

Adding an option to use a single custom palette instead of the built-in palettes would be awesome.  If this could be available using the menus in the Windows version even better ??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

Adding an option to use a single custom palette instead of the built-in palettes would be awesome.  If this could be available using the menus in the Windows version even better ??

Windows version should have it already: simply try opening a .PAL file via the "File | Open" menu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, GarageResearch said:

Windows version should have it already: simply try opening a .PAL file via the "File | Open" menu.

Ah - okay - I got that to work.  Couple of questions/suggestions:

  1. What hex code should be used for the first "colour", i.e. transparent?  It seems to be that a hex code must be included for transparent which is odd.
  2. I found that one has to open the .pal file AFTER loading a game rom.  Loading it beforehand doesn't work.  Also, when doing a CV system hardware reset the new palette is unloaded and you have to again reload the .pal file.  This is rather annoying.  It would be better, in my opinion, to allow the user to specify a custom palette file to use (via the Hardware > Color Palette menu) and that this custom palette is used every time the emulator is started and stays even with a "hardware reset".
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Ikrananka said:

Ah - okay - I got that to work.  Couple of questions/suggestions:

  1. What hex code should be used for the first "colour", i.e. transparent?  It seems to be that a hex code must be included for transparent which is odd.
  2. I found that one has to open the .pal file AFTER loading a game rom.  Loading it beforehand doesn't work.  Also, when doing a CV system hardware reset the new palette is unloaded and you have to again reload the .pal file.  This is rather annoying.  It would be better, in my opinion, to allow the user to specify a custom palette file to use (via the Hardware > Color Palette menu) and that this custom palette is used every time the emulator is started and stays even with a "hardware reset".

1. There is really no such thing as "transparent" color in TMS9918. Color #0 can be treated as "transparent" in certain situations, but it is still a valid color in general. Most systems set it to black (#000000).

 

2. As I have said before, the current ColEm code does not have a notion of global default palette file. The "File | Open" functionality is part of generalized file types recognition. You can open .CHT and some other files in the same way.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, GarageResearch said:

1. There is really no such thing as "transparent" color in TMS9918. Color #0 can be treated as "transparent" in certain situations, but it is still a valid color in general. Most systems set it to black (#000000).

 

2. As I have said before, the current ColEm code does not have a notion of global default palette file. The "File | Open" functionality is part of generalized file types recognition. You can open .CHT and some other files in the same way.

 

  1. Thanks - I just wanted to know what it was best to set it as in the palette file for ColEm.
  2. So this is a suggestion then, to make ColEm have a global notion of default palette.  It is rather obtuse in the way that it is implemented at the moment and very annoying that one cannot make a custom palette be set as the default.  There are many emulators out there that operate this way and, in my opinion, would be a great enhancement for ColEm.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Ikrananka said:
  1. Thanks - I just wanted to know what it was best to set it as in the palette file for ColEm.
  2. So this is a suggestion then, to make ColEm have a global notion of default palette.  It is rather obtuse in the way that it is implemented at the moment and very annoying that one cannot make a custom palette be set as the default.  There are many emulators out there that operate this way and, in my opinion, would be a great enhancement for ColEm.

1. Since it is Coleco, with a standard TMS9918, you should probably set it to black. In MSX2, using V9938 with programmable palette, people often set it to dark-dark-blue for the classic green-on-blue system console experience. Any MSX1 game started from MSXDOS prompt (including Konami games converted from cartridges) then runs on the dark blue background.

 

2. Some of my other emulators actually have a configurable global default. I guess, nobody asked for that in ColEm so far.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, GarageResearch said:

1. Since it is Coleco, with a standard TMS9918, you should probably set it to black. In MSX2, using V9938 with programmable palette, people often set it to dark-dark-blue for the classic green-on-blue system console experience. Any MSX1 game started from MSXDOS prompt (including Konami games converted from cartridges) then runs on the dark blue background.

 

2. Some of my other emulators actually have a configurable global default. I guess, nobody asked for that in ColEm so far.

 

 

2. First ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...