Articles tagged with: sheepshaver

News Roundup: December 28 - March 8

mossy_11 on Sunday, 09 March 2014. Posted in News

My apologies on another late roundup. I’ve been busy. It was worth the wait, though, as we’ve got a huge one this time round, including a few new emulators.


There’s a new Macintosh emulator under development! Shoebill currently emulates a Mac II running A/UX (versions 1.x.x through 2.0.0), which was Apple’s implementation of Unix some 20+ years ago, although it will eventually support booting Mac OS. It’s early days yet, with the 0.0.1 release dropping just last week, but this is the first emulator that supports A/UX and it also emulates the MMU (which other Mac emulators don’t, so we could finally have some leaps forward if somebody manages to decouple the MMU code from Shoebill). See this E-Maculation thread for discussion, or head to GitHub for a download link and screenshots. (Thanks WatchSmart!)


Shoebill isn’t the only new emulator for us to play with; 8086tiny holds claim to the title of “the world’s smallest portable, highly-functional PC emulator.” True or not, at 28K (with comments) the source code is at least tiny. It emulates an 8086 CPU plus all standard PC peripherals, and its disk images should mount out of the box in OS X. I haven’t had a chance to test it myself yet, but this looks like a great choice for running DOS or early versions of Windows. You can learn more about 8086tiny and download the source code from its official website.


Multi-system emulator BizHawk has been updated to version 1.6.0. This release adds Sega Genesis and CD support and OpenGL video output, and it also fixes some issues with stability, audio throttling, and opening NES games. Check out Sappharad’s forum thread for more details and a download link.


WatchSmart pointed out this very cool browser-based Mac Plus emulator, RetroWeb, which comes with a number of built-in games and apps and seems to run at a decent frame rate in most current browsers. You can load your own disk images, too, but that’s not really the point here — this is an easy way to reminisce or to show other people what Macs were like 25 years ago without going to the hassle of setting up Mini vMac. (It uses PCE for its core, in case you were wondering.)


Continue reading for more updates, including a full complement of Mac-on-Mac news, a new way to play a classic, progress on a NeXT emulator, and more.

News Roundup: June 14 - August 12

mossy_11 on Tuesday, 13 August 2013. Posted in News

My apologies about missing July’s roundup; I had a very busy month.


Nintendo 64 emulator Mupen64Plus has been updated to version 2.0. This release improves all the plugin modules, notably adding support for video window resizing and six new joysticks. It also fixes emulation issues with a number of games, including Donkey Kong 64 and Ocarina of Time. Check out the release notes here, then download via this page.


After two years without an update, Eric Shepherd aka SheppyWare’s Sweet16 Apple IIgs emulator has seen a major new release and a subsequent minor update. Version 3.0 drops support for PowerPC Macs, implements drag-and-drop support between the Mac and Apple IIgs Finder, adds a bunch of long-overdue features, fixes loads of issues, and improves everything else. Check out the release notes for both this and the 3.0.1 update at the Sweet16 website.


One year to the day after its previous release, Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon emulator Hatari has been updated to version 1.7.0. This release adds an experimental MMU for the 68030 mode, improves accuracy in several areas, and makes a few other fixes. From a gaming perspective, 15 titles that previously had issues—including James Pond and Microprose Golf—should now work. The full release notes are included in the download (available here), while the quick-fire version is on the Hatari news page.


NekoLauncher Mednafen, a frontend/launcher for multi-system emulator Mednafen, has been updated to version 0.9.29. As has Mednafen itself, courtesy of idyll and Weedy Weed Smoker. For the uninitiated, Mednafen handles Game Boy Advance, Virtual Boy, Super Nintendo, and several other classic systems with aplomb, and it’s also an excellent choice for Mac folks looking to emulate PlayStation games. You can grab Mednafen with or without its frontend here, or pop over to Nekocan for just NekoLauncher Mednafen. And share your thoughts on the newly-minted MacScene forum thread.


Continue reading for more emulator news, including updates to Stella, Sheepshaver, and CocoaMSX, along with a couple of new additions to the scene.

News Roundup: May 8 - June 13

mossy_11 on Friday, 14 June 2013. Posted in News

There’s a new Nintendo 64 emulator on the block. I don’t know how Daedalus compares to Mupen64Plus or SixtyForce, as I couldn’t get it to run after compiling, but it looks to be under active development. You can grab the source from the Daedalus GitHub page. Let us know how it performs if you get it working.


ScummVM, an interpreter for dozens of classic point-and-click adventure games, has been updated to version 1.6.0. This release adds four new engines, which adds support for such titles as Eye of the Beholder and The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime. Other changes include improved support for Macintosh versions of a few games, an update to the Roland MT-32 emulation code, a grid chooser for save games, three new translations, and more. See the release notes for more details, and grab ScummVM from its downloads page.


Arcade emulator MAME reached version 0.149 a few days ago. As usual, this update includes a raft of fixes, additions, and tweaks. There’s a detailed change log if you want to see precisely what’s new. You can grab the source code from the MAMEdev site, or grab 32-bit or 64-bit Intel binaries from the SDLMAME site.


Almost-everything emulator MESS was also updated to version 0.149, with a similarly-exhaustive change log. You can grab its source code via either the MESS Wiki or MAMEdev site, and download binaries via the SDLMAME/SDLMESS site.

Continue reading for more emulator updates, including test builds for CocoaMSX and Sheepshaver, a return from the dead for Fuse, and more.

News Roundup July 8 - August 14

mossy_11 on Thursday, 16 August 2012. Posted in News

MacScene's new sister site Archive.vg launched its public beta at the end of July. It's shooting to be the IMDb of video games, and has had some great feedback so far. The Archive.vg iPhone app was just released on the App Store (free!), with near-full access to the database—it's missing screenshots, but it has credits and contributors (which you won't find on the website just yet). The app also has collections, which you can expect on the site at a later date. On the Archive blog, two articles may be of special interest to MacScene regulars: An Emulator for the Rest of Us—How OpenEmu Changes Everything and The Perils, Challenges, and Uncertainty of Collecting and Preserving Video Games.


Dapplegrey, a DOSBox frontend, reached a major milestone sometime recently—version 3.0. I can't kind find any release notes, but it has a shiny new UI and organisational features—along with a new icon. Mountain Lion users take note that it's not signed for Gatekeeper. You can get it from the Classics for X website.


Classic adventure game interpreter ScummVM version 1.5.0 "Picnic Basket" has been released. This update adds support for 11 more titles, including Backyard Baseball 2003, Dreamweb, Blue Force, and Once Upon A Time: Little Red Riding Hood. Changes include "dramatically" improved MT-32 emulation and TrueType font support. See the Release Notes for more details. As always, you can download the latest release from the ScummVM downloads page.


Continue reading for more emulator updates, including new versions of OpenMSX and Sheepshaver, a name change for gbpablog, and more.

News Roundup: June 7 - July 7

mossy_11 on Saturday, 07 July 2012. Posted in News

After nearly a year without updates, PlayStation 2 emulator PCSX2 has received two new versions in a week. Version 0.9.6 was updated to perform better in OS X Lion. Then 0.9.7 Alpha was released a few days later. Zedr0n included side-by-side screenshot comparisons to showcase the visual improvements between 0.9.6 and 0.9.7. You can get it, and check out the screenshots, at the PCSX2 for Mac website. As with all alpha software, proceed with caution.


MacScene regular seanstar has released new software for the NES Power Glove—more than 20 years since the ill-fated contraption was mercilessly retired. NESGlovPhone lets you perform music in real-time, on an actual NES, using the Mattel Power Glove to interact with the NES sound chip. It offers a "reasonably intuitive musical interface" and multiple modes of interaction. So it turns out it wasn't an April Fools joke. If you have a working Power Glove, NES, and devcart, get your copy at the Psych Software website.


Apple II emulator Virtual ][ has hit version 7.0. The new update provides full OS X Mountain Lion compatibility, improves accuracy of high-resolution colors, modernises the appearance of the main window, added the Bulgarian character set, and added the option to save a memory dump of the virtual machine to a file. Get it from the Virtual ][ website.


Continue reading for more updates, including new versions of Micro64 (plus a video), SheepShaver, CrossOver Mac, Boxer, Stella, and more.

News Roundup: March 9 - April 6

mossy_11 on Saturday, 07 April 2012. Posted in News

Amiga emulator FS-UAE has hit version 1.0.0. The new release brings performance improvements, new configuration options, improved net play support, improved relative path handling in configuration files, and the ability to change controllers during game play. See the changelog for the full list, or get it from the FS-UAE website.


JPCSP, a PSP emulator, has new svn builds available. Recent changes include improved compatibility for software render, a new frame skip option, preliminary support for ad hoc connection, and compiler fixes. Head over to the official JPCSP website for more details.


ARAnyM, a virtual machine for running 32-bit Atari ST/TT/Falcon operating systems, was updated twice in March. Version 0.9.12 offers a new precise FPU emulation core, an important fix to CPU CAS instruction emulation, and more, while 0.9.13 includes a couple of important bug fixes. Get it at the ARAnyM website.

Continue reading for more updates, including new Mini vMac and Sheepshaver builds, the typical VirtualBox maintenance release, a new version of Stella, and more.

News Round-up: October 8 - November 9

mossy_11 on Tuesday, 09 November 2010. Posted in News

mac_os_x_lion_bannerThe next major version of Mac OS X will be called Lion, it was revealed at a “Back to the Mac” media event on October 20. Due for release in mid-2011, Lion promises to bring dozens of features and ideas from the iOS devices. It remains to be seen how well these features will work with the larger Mac screen and a keyboard/mouse set-up.

macappstore


But the big talking point has been the Mac App Store, which will be similar to the iOS App Store. Many (including myself) predicted this move to a central repository for Mac software, and the general consensus seems to be that it is a good thing -- provided the Mac App Store remains just one of many ways to obtain software for your Mac. Apple is soliciting submissions for the store, which is due to launch early next year.

macbook-air


In other Apple news, the new 11” MacBook Air fills a long-vacated hole in Apple’s laptop line-up -- last occupied by the 12” PowerBook. The base price of US$999 makes for a very tempting deal. Xserve, Apple’s rackmounted server line, will be discontinued on January 31. Apple has provided an "Xserve Transition Guide" to help existing users migrate to the Mac Mini or Mac Pro server solutions. Apple also revealed that its port of Java for Mac OS X is officially deprecated.


apple-logoApple also reported a Q4 revenue of $20.34 billion, an all-time record for the company. Year-over-year Mac and iPhone sales increased by 27 and 91 percent, respectively, while iPod sales dropped 11 percent in the same period. Check out the press release for a full run-down.


Leading Mac emulation headlines is the news that PowerPC Macintosh emulator SheepShaver has been updated twice in as many weeks. The new build offers a number of ‘under the hood’ changes, partial support for bin/cue files, and 64-bit mode for Snow Leopard users. See the E-Maculation forums for a download link and additional information. [Thanks WatchSmart for the tip.]

More emulation news after the break...