programming my first emu

**refraction** · April 7th, 2004

im starting on a Chip8 emu as most people seem to suggest and i was wondering if this was a good idea:-

I dont really know C++ (but i want to learn it) same with emulation techniques, but im quite key'd up on vb, so would it be worth me coding the emu in VB (to get the idea on how emulation works weighed off) then code the same emu again in C++ to help me learn the language. i know it wount be the easiest of tasks but at least if i do it on vb first ill get the general idea on how i want to do it on VC++ 6. Got loads of tutorials n that ive been reading and im starting to understand it quite quickly.

what do you other programmers recon?

**zenogais** · April 7th, 2004

Umm, I would say learn C++, but thats just my personal preference. But emulation is generally not a very good project for a person fairly new to programming to start with. I would say invest a very decent amount of time in just becoming comfortable with the language. Emu's can be done in VB, but its generally easier to use a language that has more capabilities such as C++/C.

**FLaRe85** · April 7th, 2004

moomoomoo coded a Chip8 emu in VB. He's in France atm, but I'll direct him to this thread whenever he gets back. He could probably give you some pointers.

**refraction** · April 7th, 2004

cool cheers, well i was thinking of the VB side just to give me the overview on how emulation works as such, i know that David Winter guy made a chip8 emu in VB, but im not just gonna copy all his code, cos that kinda defeats the point in it!

but yeh cool if you could get me some pointers

eventually i will work it out on C++, im quite a fast learner, and im not afraid to try new things so ill probably pick C up quite fast

cheers lads

**Chrono Archangel** · April 8th, 2004

hmmm i was just wondering if anyone ever made a NES emu in VB? or any other kind of emu for that matter

**refraction** · April 8th, 2004

yes its called BasicNES, its not a bad emu, but it tries to emulate sound by using midi sounds, so the sound emulation is beyond crap. plus theres a few graphical problems in some games.

Ramsus K · April 8th, 2004

If you want to see what's been done using Visual Basic, just take a look at Zophar's Domain. You'll find a number of console emulators were written in Visual Basic (some should have downloadable source code too), although they tend to be much slower than their C/C++/Assembly counterparts.

I would use C or C++, since emu programming is a pretty low-level task. However, the concepts are more important when it comes to learning new things, since concepts will always stay with you, while the languages you use will change. With that in mind, you should try to learn new concepts using the language you feel most comfortable with if it's possible.

April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrono Archange

hmmm i was just wondering if anyone ever made a NES emu in VB? or any other kind of emu for that matter

well i made a gameboy emu about a year ago but never posted my work and got deleted and i also lost my backup of the source. the emu was called bad_boy and it only played super mario,super mario 2 for gameboy and wario world it had no sound and was very slow.

**mikeshoup** · April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by RIVAL FORCE

well i made a gameboy emu about a year ago but never posted my work and got deleted and i also lost my backup of the source. the emu was called bad_boy and it only played super mario,super mario 2 for gameboy and wario world it had no sound and was very slow.

Wow. Oh, and I coded a perfect Sega Dreamcast emu, lost the code, and never released it. Betcha believe me now.

April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeshoup

Wow. Oh, and I coded a perfect Sega Dreamcast emu, lost the code, and never released it. Betcha believe me now.

Dude thats not cool making fun of other ppls hard work you should know your a emu author as well as i am. shame on you. plz have more respect for other ppls efforts.

BTW a pefect DC emu ??? that was very "Tacky" its not possible and they call you a emu author.

**mikeshoup** · April 8th, 2004

You missed my point. I'm just showing how easy it is to just say you did something with no proof to back up.

I was just satirizing you.

April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeshoup

You missed my point. I'm just showing how easy it is to just say you did something with no proof to back up.

I was just satirizing you.

i see your point. there for im sorry for not having proof and my post was completely pointless. i wish i could show you a screenshot.

_hyde_ · April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by refraction

yes its called BasicNES, its not a bad emu, but it tries to emulate sound by using midi sounds, so the sound emulation is beyond crap. plus theres a few graphical problems in some games.

You might wanna try some of the emu's that came from BasicNES, like LissNES (the one I use for a lot of the NES deving I do, though I know that it is not the most accurate).

If you are going to be coding an emu, you might as well have some fun with it. If learning C++ seems like a pain in the ass (which really isn't true), code the whole thing in VB.

Regardless of what you do, good luck!

**refraction** · April 8th, 2004

cheers

i think ill do what i said i recon, just to give me an overview on how to structure the emulator to make it work!! then when i know C++ a bit better (which shouldnt be too long) ill remake it in there, then do like a gameboy emu or somet in c++ instead of messing around with vb

**mikeshoup** · April 8th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by refraction

cheers

i think ill do what i said i recon, just to give me an overview on how to structure the emulator to make it work!! then when i know C++ a bit better (which shouldnt be too long) ill remake it in there, then do like a gameboy emu or somet in c++ instead of messing around with vb

'too long' in C++ terms is like 1 year. Most people don't seem to grasp this, that when you first learn c/c++ you're doing a lot of 'DOS' apps. You can't even start touching win32 API until after that.

**refraction** · April 8th, 2004

aye i understand im not gonna manage it over night! but ive seem some good tutorials, like the ones at http://www.cplusplus.com/ i just have to put nose to the grindstone now!

hoyoyo80 · April 8th, 2004

Refraction,it is nice to be ambitious,i learn vb too and BASIC too,but C++ take time(i also learning it now

),if i manage to finish learning off my c++ book,in 3-4 month i will start making some stupid prog

(start small),but maybe for you it not the same since u already code emu b4,but for me beginner better start small...

**refraction** · April 8th, 2004

well mate remember dont just read the book, make listtle programs using the bit your learning, however pointless, it will make the learning curve much easier!

hoyoyo80 · April 9th, 2004

Of coz,programming is no theory,more on practical

**refraction** · April 9th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoyoyo80

Of coz,programming is no theory,more on practical

exactly, and thats what ive been doing as i go along, making up little programs to stick the coding in my head! ;p ill get there eventually hehe.

thanks for the advice everyone. oh btw, ive seen a few tutorials on how to simply make a window in win32 apps. any chance someone could do one explaining each part and why you need it etc?

April 7th, 2004	#1 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	programming my first emu im starting on a Chip8 emu as most people seem to suggest and i was wondering if this was a good idea:- I dont really know C++ (but i want to learn it) same with emulation techniques, but im quite key'd up on vb, so would it be worth me coding the emu in VB (to get the idea on how emulation works weighed off) then code the same emu again in C++ to help me learn the language. i know it wount be the easiest of tasks but at least if i do it on vb first ill get the general idea on how i want to do it on VC++ 6. Got loads of tutorials n that ive been reading and im starting to understand it quite quickly. what do you other programmers recon?
$refraction is offline$

April 7th, 2004	#2 (permalink)
zenogais Emu author Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Victorville(Near Los Angeles or LA for those who are on the DL) Posts: 839	Umm, I would say learn C++, but thats just my personal preference. But emulation is generally not a very good project for a person fairly new to programming to start with. I would say invest a very decent amount of time in just becoming comfortable with the language. Emu's can be done in VB, but its generally easier to use a language that has more capabilities such as C++/C. __________________ ----------------- Emu Tinkerer and C++ Programmer

April 7th, 2004	#3 (permalink)
FLaRe85 I Need a Weapon Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 4,321	moomoomoo coded a Chip8 emu in VB. He's in France atm, but I'll direct him to this thread whenever he gets back. He could probably give you some pointers. __________________ .: Flaretech.Net :: Flaretech.Biz Web Hosting :: H3 Stats :: My Blog :. .: Mac Pro :: Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400s :: 6 GB 800MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMMs :: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB GDDR3 :. .: Macbook Pro 17" :: 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo :: 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 :: ATI Radeon X1600 :. .: Home Server :: 2.41 GHz AMD Opteron 180 :: 4 GB DDR400 :: Windows Server 2003 Enterprise R2 :.

April 7th, 2004	#4 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	cool cheers, well i was thinking of the VB side just to give me the overview on how emulation works as such, i know that David Winter guy made a chip8 emu in VB, but im not just gonna copy all his code, cos that kinda defeats the point in it! but yeh cool if you could get me some pointers eventually i will work it out on C++, im quite a fast learner, and im not afraid to try new things so ill probably pick C up quite fast cheers lads
$refraction is offline$

April 8th, 2004	#5 (permalink)
Chrono Archangel Administrator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 7,228	hmmm i was just wondering if anyone ever made a NES emu in VB? or any other kind of emu for that matter __________________ When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide.

April 8th, 2004	#6 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	yes its called BasicNES, its not a bad emu, but it tries to emulate sound by using midi sounds, so the sound emulation is beyond crap. plus theres a few graphical problems in some games.
$refraction is offline$

April 8th, 2004	#7 (permalink)
Ramsus K A1C Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California Posts: 230	If you want to see what's been done using Visual Basic, just take a look at Zophar's Domain. You'll find a number of console emulators were written in Visual Basic (some should have downloadable source code too), although they tend to be much slower than their C/C++/Assembly counterparts. I would use C or C++, since emu programming is a pretty low-level task. However, the concepts are more important when it comes to learning new things, since concepts will always stay with you, while the languages you use will change. With that in mind, you should try to learn new concepts using the language you feel most comfortable with if it's possible.

April 8th, 2004	#11 (permalink)
mikeshoup Emu author Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Englewood, CO, USA Posts: 292	You missed my point. I'm just showing how easy it is to just say you did something with no proof to back up. I was just satirizing you. __________________ Awards stink like poo.

April 8th, 2004	#14 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	cheers i think ill do what i said i recon, just to give me an overview on how to structure the emulator to make it work!! then when i know C++ a bit better (which shouldnt be too long) ill remake it in there, then do like a gameboy emu or somet in c++ instead of messing around with vb
$refraction is offline$

April 8th, 2004	#16 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	aye i understand im not gonna manage it over night! but ive seem some good tutorials, like the ones at http://www.cplusplus.com/ i just have to put nose to the grindstone now!
$refraction is offline$

April 8th, 2004	#17 (permalink)
hoyoyo80 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darkside Of Xeen Posts: 1,124	Refraction,it is nice to be ambitious,i learn vb too and BASIC too,but C++ take time(i also learning it now),if i manage to finish learning off my c++ book,in 3-4 month i will start making some stupid prog(start small),but maybe for you it not the same since u already code emu b4,but for me beginner better start small... __________________ Signature filesize too large

April 8th, 2004	#18 (permalink)
refraction PCSX2 Coder $refraction's Avatar$ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 9,819	well mate remember dont just read the book, make listtle programs using the bit your learning, however pointless, it will make the learning curve much easier!
$refraction is offline$

April 9th, 2004	#19 (permalink)
hoyoyo80 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darkside Of Xeen Posts: 1,124	Of coz,programming is no theory,more on practical __________________ Signature filesize too large

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