Finally after a super long time a new release is here (#14)! I've been working a ton on this release for more than a year, there are lots of changes here:
- My new SH2 dynamic recompiler built from scratch for the Wii's PPC (huge fps boost for all games) (#2).
- Start of a new accurate VDP1/VDP2 renderer (transparencies are not there yet but for next release I'm developing a new super fast algorithm for high accuracy VDP2 compositing).
- New menu design. The game list is now divided by pages, you can jump to the next/previous page with right/left respectively.
- New options menu (#6).
- New config file support to specify custom paths (see setagx.cfg in the SetaGX folder for example) (#8).
- New Cover art support (.png support, width must be 128px and height must be 216px or less).
- Initial Wii flow support, see seta_gx.ini file as example (#13).
- New native video with 240p and 480i support (set in the options menu), PAL video was not tested.
- Support for passive N64 controllers connected to the GameCube port (mapping is 1:1 to Saturn controller).
- Fix of Wii U pro and Classic controller handling (#10).
- Add Wiimote Home as exit button even when Classic Controller is connected (#18).
- Initial Wii U Gamepad support (#5).
- Better error message/handling (#4).
Wii U Gamepad Support
The version marked for Wii U supports the gamepad only with a special patched fw.img and the emulator injected into a WiiU VC title, the button mappings should be the same as a Wii U pro/Classic controllers (dunno, I don't have a Wii U to test).
Final notes
From this point forward my plan is to restructure the whole emulator into a cleaner design, I find the current code to be a dead end, so I will spend the time until next release re-implementing everything. This will be hopefully the last release with Yabause code, so next release could break some games 🥹.
I've been working on this project for the past 3.5 years, this venture has been stressful yet fun, I started this project not knowing much on emulation, and the thought of making a SH2 dynarec of my own was daunting to say the least. This release makes me very happy since I can finally say that Saturn games are playable on a Wii, which most people thought was impossible. A ton of new techniques/algorithms needed to be created or implemented for the first time in a Wii for this to be possible. The reason I made this emu opensource was to serve as reference for people who had similar Wii rendering problems that Seta GX needs to tackle, with all the zetabytes of AI slop code everywhere I hope people don't forget to develop new creative ideas or approaches themselves. I want to thank everyone that supported me directly or indirectly, took interest in this project and gave feedback, suggestions and tips (just to name a few @Extrems, @jilou08, @BenoitAdam and @satmonk).