NullDC
Encyclopedia
nullDC is an open source
Sega
Dreamcast and NAOMI
videogame systems emulator for Microsoft Windows
.
After not being updated for almost two years, the project's author drk||Raziel announced his decision to release the source code with his newest build.
On August 25, 2006 the first screenshots were released, the authors were revealed to be ZeZu (programmer of Icarus, a Dreamcast emulator which was never released) and drk||Raziel, it was explained that the emulator would aim at compatibility more than speed, and would use a plugin structure to allow other authors to contribute.
The first version (v1.0.0 beta) was released on April 1, 2007, and proved itself to be the Dreamcast emulator with the highest compatibility to date.
The second version (beta 1.5) was released on November 4, 2007. It added support for game pads, but the sound did not work and had other bugs (in the author's words, it was "crashy, buggy, shitty").
A third version (beta 1.6) was released after few days, on November 7, 2007. This version included a new audio plugin and several bug fixes.
A new plugin and video shader for nullDC were released on January 10, 2008, to fix some display bugs and add the support for stereoscopy
as per the specifics of the nVidia
stereo 3D drivers.
Version 1.0.3 was released on August 20, 2008, nine months after the last beta 1.6 and bringing speed improvements, bugfixes and new features like the fog effect emulation, support for Dreamcast VMU
and experimental DSP sound effects added to nullAICA plugin. The release is the first introducing NAOMI arcade system emulation with a separate version of the emulator. Gamepad support has been temporarily removed in this version, but it will be included in later versions.
The emulator
went open source
on May 9 2010.
On September 5 2010, drk||Raziel announced that he would continue development of the emulator as well as a port of nullDC for the PlayStation 3
, Wii
, Pandora
, and ARMv7 (Android). As of January 2011, drk|Raziel is on indefinite hiatus due to personal reasons. His website closed, and it remains to be seen if he will continue work on nullDC or if he will release source code related to ARM
and PowerPC
devices.
The current version is 1.0.4 r136, as of September 21, 2011. The current alphas for the PlayStation 3 were alpha 1 (compiled with Sony's SDK, against DMCA), and a unstable PS3toolchain compiled Alpha 2. The current alpha for the Android is build 36.
DirectX
9.0c, the latest Visual C++
runtime libraries and optionally WinPcap for modem emulation. As usual for emulators, a dump of the original console BIOS
is also needed. It has a plugin architecture, with several alternative implementations (some ported from Chankast) for graphics, sound, memory cards and reading games burned to CD-ROM
s (optical disc drives for personal computer
s (PCs) cannot read GD-ROM
s directly) or disk image files.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Dreamcast and NAOMI
Naomi
-Literature:* Naomi * Naomi , by Junichiro Tanizaki* "Noémi", part IV of the novel The Man with the Golden Touch by Mór Jókai-Music:* Noemi , Italian singer and music video director...
videogame systems emulator for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
After not being updated for almost two years, the project's author drk||Raziel announced his decision to release the source code with his newest build.
History
The emulator was first announced on February 19, 2006.On August 25, 2006 the first screenshots were released, the authors were revealed to be ZeZu (programmer of Icarus, a Dreamcast emulator which was never released) and drk||Raziel, it was explained that the emulator would aim at compatibility more than speed, and would use a plugin structure to allow other authors to contribute.
The first version (v1.0.0 beta) was released on April 1, 2007, and proved itself to be the Dreamcast emulator with the highest compatibility to date.
The second version (beta 1.5) was released on November 4, 2007. It added support for game pads, but the sound did not work and had other bugs (in the author's words, it was "crashy, buggy, shitty").
A third version (beta 1.6) was released after few days, on November 7, 2007. This version included a new audio plugin and several bug fixes.
A new plugin and video shader for nullDC were released on January 10, 2008, to fix some display bugs and add the support for stereoscopy
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
as per the specifics of the nVidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
stereo 3D drivers.
Version 1.0.3 was released on August 20, 2008, nine months after the last beta 1.6 and bringing speed improvements, bugfixes and new features like the fog effect emulation, support for Dreamcast VMU
VMU
The VMU, or Visual Memory Unit is a memory card peripheral for the Dreamcast. Its official name was changed by Sega for each of the three key regions:-* Japan = Visual Memory System * North America = Visual Memory Unit...
and experimental DSP sound effects added to nullAICA plugin. The release is the first introducing NAOMI arcade system emulation with a separate version of the emulator. Gamepad support has been temporarily removed in this version, but it will be included in later versions.
The emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
went open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
on May 9 2010.
On September 5 2010, drk||Raziel announced that he would continue development of the emulator as well as a port of nullDC for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, Pandora
Pandora (console)
The Pandora is a handheld game console designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for homebrew development...
, and ARMv7 (Android). As of January 2011, drk|Raziel is on indefinite hiatus due to personal reasons. His website closed, and it remains to be seen if he will continue work on nullDC or if he will release source code related to ARM
ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
and PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
devices.
The current version is 1.0.4 r136, as of September 21, 2011. The current alphas for the PlayStation 3 were alpha 1 (compiled with Sony's SDK, against DMCA), and a unstable PS3toolchain compiled Alpha 2. The current alpha for the Android is build 36.
Features
NullDC requires the latest version of MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
9.0c, the latest Visual C++
Visual C++
Microsoft Visual C++ is a commercial , integrated development environment product from Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages...
runtime libraries and optionally WinPcap for modem emulation. As usual for emulators, a dump of the original console BIOS
BIOS
In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
is also needed. It has a plugin architecture, with several alternative implementations (some ported from Chankast) for graphics, sound, memory cards and reading games burned to CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s (optical disc drives for personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s (PCs) cannot read GD-ROM
GD-ROM
GD-ROM is the proprietary optical disc format used by the Dreamcast games console, as well as its arcade counterparts and the Sega/Nintendo/Namco Triforce arcade system...
s directly) or disk image files.
System requirements
- CPU: AMD Athlon XP/64/Turion at 2 GHz or Intel Pentium 4 at 2.6 GHz or equivalent
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 4 TI or ATi Radeon 8500
- RAM: 512 MB
- Operating system: Windows XP/2003/Vista/7