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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 or 98 using DirectX.

(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.

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 this P1-150!
It's starts off promising but soon decays into jerkiness.
If I have any time I'll produce a simpler version for slower
computers without the sound.
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: DOS programs sometimes have trouble with newer graphics cards and
   sound cards. (It's happened to me a couple of times.)

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 will be in the current directory, which doesn't clutter
up your desktop.
e.g.
  cd \dgen
  dgen demo.bin

Extra features:
Shift-R resets.
Press X to enable "Crap TV emulation"(tm).
This is a bit of a gag but in 16-bit color mode
it also filters the screen, which vastly
improves the appearance of 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.
In CTV mode:
  C and Shift-C:                Alter contrast
  B and Shift-B:                Alter brightness
  U and Shift-U, V and Shift-V: Alter color

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.

*****************************************************************
                                                              
   30th April 1999: VERY IMPORTANT!

DGen is FREEWare, but in return please help me fix my computer!
After all, it is in your interests!
This is the first and possibly LAST (!) version of DGen to be released,
because my hard disk has been wrecked by Windows NT 4.0! Doh!
Luckily I copied it to disk the night before.
It is hardly in the condition I intended, but
it's certainly a good Beta, and it would be a shame not to release it ever!

IF YOU HAVE AN EMULATION WEB PAGE PLEASE INCLUDE THIS
TEXT WHEN YOU ANNOUNCE DGEN:

"The author of DGen, DTMNT (and the future DTMNT2) has had his partition
table corrupted by Windows NT4.0. If you believe you may be able to help,
please read the second text file included with DGen for a description
of the problem."

Thankyou for spreading the word!
Everyone else reading this, if you know lots about

  - Partition tables
  - Norton disk utilities
  - Windows NT 4.0 wrecking hard drives

then read the second TXT file included with
DGen called DGEN-PLE.TXT or rather more descriptively
  "DGen_Please_help_Dave_fix_his_computer.txt"

--------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.00
------------

First release!
Don't expect too many update till later in the year, because
a) I'm very very very very busy and
b) My computer is completely broken remember!

Bugs
----
I couldn't fix these because my computer is currently trashed.
- If your display is x555 15-bit the colors may be wrong.
  Use 24-bit or 32-bit for now...
- Lots of graphical and playability glitches sadly, but
  hey it is only a first release!
- Controls are mapped to both joypads (for testing).
- No full screen mode (the version I had compiled was switched
  to a window) Actually someone might like to hack it, since it's
  in the code like this: int width=320,height=240,depth=16,fullscreen=0).

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

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

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.

- No requests to alter the program till I get my computer fixed!
I mean, I can't even boot the thing remember!

- 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!
  E.g. "The player's sprites are inverted when they jump because
        the game is using special feature X or 68000 instruction Y"

- (Okay it's unlikely - but you never know!)

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

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

- If you know lots about partition tables, e-mail me
  and read the other text file.

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

Homepage might be one of these:
  http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc/4330/
  http://www.dtmnt.com/
Check them both.

Dave's e-mail
dayvee@rocketmail.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.

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