Nintellivision (NINTY-DS) Official Release and Discussion Thread

[+wavemotion]

Welcome to the official Release and Discussion thread for Nintellivision - an Intellivision emulator for the DS/DSi/XL/LL and other sundry compatible handheld devices.

 

     

 

Where can I find it?

Always at:  https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS 

 

What can it do?

• Load and run virtually any Intellivision game on the planet. On the DSi or above (with the 2X CPU), all games run at full speed, full framerate and with the best sound quality. On the older DS-Lite/Phat, most games run full speed with just the occasional slowdown and/or reduction in sound quality (most evident on Intellivoice games).
• Custom Overlay Support. More than 70 high-quality custom overlays have been developed by various users of the emulator over the past two years.
• Manual/Instruction Support - with many of the Intellivision games being a bit more complex than other games of the era, the manuals are required reading.
• Save Sate support (3 save slots per game).
• High Scores for up to 10 scores per game with various sorting options.
• Cheat / Hack support using NINTV-DS.cht (see 'extras' folder and place in /data directory)
• Numerous button / controller mapping options. Dual-Controller support (run and shoot at the same time in games like Deadly Disks or AD&D Cloudy Mountain).
• Full Intellivoice support to let you hear all the games that love to talk.
• JLP support for accelerated functions (multiply/divide), extra RAM and flash memory. 
• ECS support with keyboard including sound-enhanced games like Space Patrol which take advantage of the extra PSG.
• ROMs load up to 1MB (1024K) in size - that's more than twice the size of the currently largest available game/demo (Bad Apple).

 

How do I install and run the emulator?

• To run this on your DS or DSi (or 2DS/3DS) requires that you have the ability to launch homebrews. For the older DS units, this is usually accomplished via a FlashCart such as the R4 or one of the many clones. These tend to run about US$25. If you have a DSi or above, you can soft-mod your unit and run something like Twilight Menu++ or Unlaunch which will run homebrew software on the DS. The DSi has a convenient SD card slot on the side that saw very little use back in the day but is a great way to enjoy homebrews. See https://dsi.cfw.guide/ to get started on how to soft-mod your unit.
• You can run an R4 (or similar) flashcart on the DSi or 2DS/3DS to run the emulator but these cards generally run in 'compatibility' mode meaning they will not unleash the 2X CPU and 4X Memory of the DSi or above. That's okay - but realize you will not get the full throughput of your device.

 

I don't have a DS/DSi/XL/LL - what would you recommend?

• I always recommend the DSi XL (USA) or LL (same unit but Japanese). These are a bit larger and have a slower refresh on the LCD which more closely mimics the phosphor fade of a real TV. The XL/LL units are built like tanks - they can take a beating and deliver a smooth playing experience. Like any DSi, they will also have the SD card slot which is the easiest way to soft-mod your device for playing homebrew games. All seven of my emulators will run on just about any DS hardware - but I always run them on a DSi XL or LL (I have several units as you might imagine).  These units will set you back at least $75 - one trick to reduce the cost is to try and find a 'broken' one - something that has perhaps the flash cart slot broken. Those are fine since you won't need to use the flash cart to load normal games - you're really interested in the SD card slot on the side (which was underutilized for almost any real purpose when the machine was in the marketplace - fortunately homebrewers can use it).

 

Why did you do this?

• I love the Intellivision and the DS is well-suited to handle the overlay via the touch-screen. I was one of the disappointed buyers of Intellivision Lives on the DS which had a number of glitches - missing sounds, missing row of graphic tiles at the bottom for some games (my favorite game - Treasure of Tarmin aka Minotaur was virtually unplayable) and a number of collision detection issues left me feeling like it was a missed opportunity. Nintellivision seeks to correct that with a mostly ground-up (parts borrowed and improved from the old Bliss core) development to take advantage of the DS capabilities and expand it to play modern homebrews utilizing the JLP features. When you compare Nintellivision to Intellivision Lives, I think you'll find Nintellivision plays more like the real thing. After trying both... Intellivision Lives left me... rather flat.

 

 

If you have any suggestions, comments, or just want to say "Cool!”- that's great. I'm over 250 development hours on Nintellivision and any appreciation is, well, appreciated

 

[+wavemotion]

I've just checked in 4.9c - not a full release but one that has some important audio changes. I've increased the audio amplitude by almost 25% so that the game sounds are not so soft (several users correctly pointed this out). I've also done my best to try and eliminate (or at least soften) the slight audio pops and clicks as you transition in and out of gameplay to the various menus. This should provide a smoother audio experience across the board.

 

[+wavemotion]

Reserved.

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, wavemotion said:

Welcome to the official Release and Discussion thread for Nintellivision - an Intellivision emulator for the DS/DSi/XL/LL and other sundry compatible handheld devices.

 

     

 

Where can I find it?

Always at:  https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS 

 

What can it do?

• Load and run virtually any Intellivision game on the planet. On the DSi or above (with the 2X CPU), all games run at full speed, full framerate and with the best sound quality. On the older DS-Lite/Phat, most games run full speed with just the occasional slowdown and/or reduction in sound quality (most evident on Intellivoice games).
• Custom Overlay Support. More than 70 high-quality custom overlays have been developed by various users of the emulator over the past two years.
• Manual/Instruction Support - with many of the Intellivision games being a bit more complex than other games of the era, the manuals are required reading.
• Save Sate support (3 save slots per game).
• High Scores for up to 10 scores per game with various sorting options.
• Cheat / Hack support using NINTV-DS.cht (see 'extras' folder and place in /data directory)
• Numerous button / controller mapping options. Dual-Controller support (run and shoot at the same time in games like Deadly Disks or AD&D Cloudy Mountain).
• Full Intellivoice support to let you hear all the games that love to talk.
• JLP support for accelerated functions (multiply/divide), extra RAM and flash memory. 
• ECS support with keyboard including sound-enhanced games like Space Patrol which take advantage of the extra PSG.
• ROMs load up to 1MB (1024K) in size - that's more than twice the size of the currently largest available game/demo (Bad Apple).

 

How do I install and run the emulator?

• To run this on your DS or DSi (or 2DS/3DS) requires that you have the ability to launch homebrews. For the older DS units, this is usually accomplished via a FlashCart such as the R4 or one of the many clones. These tend to run about US$25. If you have a DSi or above, you can soft-mod your unit and run something like Twilight Menu++ or Unlaunch which will run homebrew software on the DS. The DSi has a convenient SD card slot on the side that saw very little use back in the day but is a great way to enjoy homebrews. See https://dsi.cfw.guide/ to get started on how to soft-mod your unit.
• You can run an R4 (or similar) flashcart on the DSi or 2DS/3DS to run the emulator but these cards generally run in 'compatibility' mode meaning they will not unleash the 2X CPU and 4X Memory of the DSi or above. That's okay - but realize you will not get the full throughput of your device.

 

I don't have a DS/DSi/XL/LL - what would you recommend?

• I always recommend the DSi XL (USA) or LL (same unit but Japanese). These are a bit larger and have a slower refresh on the LCD which more closely mimics the phosphor fade of a real TV. The XL/LL units are built like tanks - they can take a beating and deliver a smooth playing experience. Like any DSi, they will also have the SD card slot which is the easiest way to soft-mod your device for playing homebrew games. All seven of my emulators will run on just about any DS hardware - but I always run them on a DSi XL or LL (I have several units as you might imagine).  These units will set you back at least $75 - one trick to reduce the cost is to try and find a 'broken' one - something that has perhaps the flash cart slot broken. Those are fine since you won't need to use the flash cart to load normal games - you're really interested in the SD card slot on the side (which was underutilized for almost any real purpose when the machine was in the marketplace - fortunately homebrewers can use it).

 

Why did you do this?

• I love the Intellivision and the DS is well-suited to handle the overlay via the touch-screen. I was one of the disappointed buyers of Intellivision Lives on the DS which had a number of glitches - missing sounds, missing row of graphic tiles at the bottom for some games (my favorite game - Treasure of Tarmin aka Minotaur was virtually unplayable) and a number of collision detection issues left me feeling like it was a missed opportunity. Nintellivision seeks to correct that with a mostly ground-up (parts borrowed and improved from the old Bliss core) development to take advantage of the DS capabilities and expand it to play modern homebrews utilizing the JLP features.

 

 

If you have any suggestions, comments, or just want to say "Cool!' - that's great. I'm over 250 development hours on Nintellivision and any appreciation is, well, appreciated

 

Well now this is cool and might get me to dust off my DS. 

[+Rick Reynolds]

Highly recommended.  It is now the majority way I play Intellivision.  I've talked about it on the Intellivisionaries podcast.

[Eisengrim]

44 minutes ago, Rick Reynolds said:

Highly recommended.  It is now the majority way I play Intellivision.  I've talked about it on the Intellivisionaries podcast.

I'm getting there as well. It's the overlays that convinced me. It's a step up from roms on real hardware where I don't have overlays.

[+cmadruga]

Next PRGE maybe I will bring my DS XL (with this emulator installed) to give folks a quick taste of my WIP games and get some reactions.

[+wavemotion]

41 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

Next PRGE maybe I will bring my DS XL (with this emulator installed) to give folks a quick taste of my WIP games and get some reactions.

Cool! This morning I checked in the candidate release for 5.0 - I found a new royalty-free splash-screen intro sound effect and tweaked the audio settings slightly. I think I've eliminated most of the pops/clicks when going in and out of game-play vs menus.  Should be a nice polished release. Just getting 1 more day of testing before I pull the trigger on the official release (but anyone can just grab the latest daily build).

The last thing I do before hitting the 'Release' button is to play one full 4-level game of AD&D Treasure of Tarmin. That way, if the release is otherwise a total bag of crap, at least I can say that Tarmin works and I can live on a desert island with that.

[+wavemotion]

https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS

V5.0 : 06-Mar-2024 by wavemotion-dave

• New splash screen jingle.
• Boosted audio output by almost 25% so you don't have to max out your DS volume.
• New audio ramp down/up to help soften (and partially eliminate) audio pops/clicks when transitioning in and out of a game to the menus.
• Minor cleanup and tweaks as time permitted.

 

We did find one late-breaking audio issue yesterday - with some obvious audio clipping on Thunder Castle and Tower of Doom (both of which max out the amplitude on the PSG audio mixer at times). This has been fixed for the official release of 5.0 - if you grabbed the daily build yesterday, please update to the official build today.

[Eisengrim]

I installed 5.0, working well! I can confirm the ._ files are now hidden, thanks!

Edited March 7 by Eisengrim

[+wavemotion]

Since the emulation is in great shape, I'm turning to more quality of life and cosmetic issues for Nintellivision.

 

First up is to ditch the garish red font for the main menu. I put that in mostly as a placeholder years ago and never got around to polishing it up.  Fortunately, since then, some fans of Nintellivision have surfaced who also have a bit of pixel-graphical skills.  @StephenJ just sent me this last night which I've put into the daily 5.0a build today:

 

 

This captures the classic gold/black styling of an original Intellivision console nicely. I think it's a big step-up from the original menu and will definitely be going with this (with or without slight tweaks) going forward!

 

 

[juancho]

Fantastic emulator, thanks for your efforts!

[timdu]

Hi everyone, I have a Nintendo Dsi with box and original instruction manual. I wanted to try this out , but since I am a right-handed game player, I don't think this is going to be a good option for me.

 

I would like to sell or trade this Nintendo Dsi console system to someone who may be interested in this Nintellivision emulator / Intellivision portable gaming system!

 

 

please let me know if you are interested

 

thanks,

Tim D.

 

 

[+Steve Jones]

Mine still looks like this, even with the newest version, do I have to change a setting somewhere?

 

[+wavemotion]

52 minutes ago, Steve Jones said:

Mine still looks like this, even with the newest version, do I have to change a setting somewhere?

You have a generic.ovl somewhere in your overlays. I allow for a custom default overlay with Nintellivision. You can remove generic.ovl and you'll get the new built-in overlay.

[+Steve Jones]

I meant the buttons/icons to the left, not the overlay itself

 

or is that part of the ovl file?

 

 

[+wavemotion]

The .ovl overlay files take over the entire bottom screen.

So these are all overlays - the one on the left is the built-in one when it can't find an external file for the game.

[+cmadruga]

To create a new overlay do I need both a png and an ovl?

How are .ovl files generated?

[+cmadruga]

Also is there a way to adjust ECS and Intellivoice volumes?

[+wavemotion]

Nintellivision comes with an Overlay Creation Guide in the extras folder:

 

https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/NINTV-DS/tree/main/extras

 

It tells you how to create an overlay. Warning - it's not for the feint of heart. I think only 3 or 4 of us have made overlays over the past year. Fortunately that that make them are really good.

 

I provide about 70 custom overlays - also in the extras folder.  I provide both the .ovl and the .png that it was created from but all that is needed for use with the emulator is the resulting .ovl file (which must have the same base filename as the rom file you're trying to load/play)

 

The .ovl file is self-contained and has the hotpots (touch screen coordinates) as well as the tiles/graphics information suited for the bottom DS screen.

 

2 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

Also is there a way to adjust ECS and Intellivoice volumes?

There is not.

 

[+cmadruga]

Real slick!
Credit goes to @Eisengrim
 

[+wavemotion]

That IS slick!

In tangentially related news, Nintellivision just took over the #2 spot in downloads and in 'STARS' on my github site.  

[Eisengrim]

I'm using Nintellivision a lot on a road trip and am very impressed with the stability. The save states are working great which is crucial for playing a bit and then setting aside for other vacation stuff - I haven't had any corruptions or other issues.

[Sinjinhawke]

Finally got around to trying this.  I just have a DS Lite with an old DSTT card but it seems to be working.  Caverns of Mars runs pretty sweet on it.

[+wavemotion]

Glad to hear it! I've worked hard to ensure that the experience on the older DS-Lite/Phat hardware is nearly identical to that of the later models. The only real difference is that I have to sample the sound engine a bit less often - so the sound is not quite as good as later models - but passable for handheld use.