> >Let's see what 0.6 does compared to 0.5. :-)
>
> Hehe, not much ^^; Although the new hardware sprite renderer is okay for
> playing Tetris :)
But not good for anything else? It's not even default...
> >Har har! If he didn't get it yet, I forwarded this to him. :-)
>
> You naughty boy ;)
> Well at least now I'm sure he knows of GEM's existance. Sometimes I wonder
> what he feels like after seeing GEM and remembering his words ;)
Well, he says his words still stand, because it is so slow that he thinks it's
still unplayable, since it's no fun anymore at this speed...
> >Will you now go for another platform, since you say it is the last GEM
> >*for MSX2/turboR*?
>
> You're very observant aren't you?
Of course.
> <LONG ANSWER>
[snip!]
> But, this approach failed. I tested several 32kB games, and with some the
> program scanned 30% of the ROM. That's about 10kB of code. I would guess
> the rest of the ROM (22kB) would be data (graphics, music, whatever).
> However, there was NO noticable speed-up! :(
Maybe all the RST jumps take too much time?
> I'm 100% certain the technique sped up SOMETHING, it just skipped the
> actual game! (Maybe it was behind a jump-table, or something else not
> scannable) I was not about to include such a feature just for faster
> initialization routines or faster title screens!
> For me, this was the last possible solution. Those who are familiar with
> the term 'Dynamic Recompilation' will know what another solution could be.
> But they will also understand it's close to impossible to achieve on MSX,
> with its limited memory.
What's limited? 128kB? 512kB? 4MB?
> So I was left with a slow, but capable emulator. It's possible to extend
> its functionality more, raising compatibility etc. But, it will remain this
> slow (or even slower). So I asked people if they REALLY played games on
> GEM, and nobody answered "Yes, I'm playing Zelda" or something like that.
Exactly: it's a bit too slow to really enjoy the games. But it's great to
enjoy GameBoy on MSX! :-)
> GEM had already proven it was possible to emulate Gameboy on MSX. If nobody
> uses it to play the games, there is no use in developing it further.
True, in some sense. Unless you can indeed speed it up.
> </LONG ANSWER>
> I won't keep GEM's future a secret. Next week, a special parcel will arrive
> at my house. It will contain a certain Spanish hardware, the LPE-Z380 ^____^
I guessed that.
> I've already started reprogramming GEM for Z380, and IF I succeed, I will
> show GEM380 on April 21th 2001 at the International MSX Fair in Tilburg
> (Netherlands)! (If that isn't a good reason to come, I don't know what is ^_^
Cool!
> GEM is dead, long live GEM!
Har!
Grtjs, Manuel
PS: MSX 4 EVER! (Questions? The Ultimate MSX FAQ: http://www.faq.msxnet.org/)
PPS: Visit my home page at http://bilderbeek.cjb.net/
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