Frequently Asked Questions about Gameboy 97 =========================================== 1. Where do I get the latest release ? The latest version is always available from the home page [http://users.aol.com/autismuk/gameboy.htm] ready to download. It contains all the necessary files to run Gameboy 97, except ROM Images. You can also check EMUNEWS (http://users.aol.com/emunews) for the latest information. 2. Why doesn't the joypad work properly ? There are timing problems in the Joystick code which aren't yet fixed. These have been temporarily fixed by using the BIOS Joystick Function (versions > 2.830). If you get really stuck use JoyEmu and disable the joypad (set address to zero). This does work ! 3. How do I put in Game Genie codes Miss the 8th digit out. It's a carry on from an original error. so 4A4-249-705 would type in as 4A424975 and it would display as 4A42497_5. The 8th digit is a checksum of some sort, I think. This idiocy is entirely the fault of the programmer. 4. How do I make game 'xxx' work ? Check to see if the cartridge length is valid (should be 32768, 65536,131072,262144 or 524288). If not, the cartridge may be corrupted. Try changing the values in Config especially the 'No recursive Interrupt' or extending the 'Mode 11 Cycles'. If the screen goes off & freezes , try turning 'VBI when off' on. If there's a hack available, try that. There's a list of games on the homepage. 5. I've tried all that and it still doesn't work. What do I do next ? Look it up on the homepage http://users.aol.com/autismuk/gameboy.htm which has fixes for known games. If that doesn't work email me at autismuk@aol.com describing the problem and I'll try and sort it out. Note : NOT Final Fantasy Adventure OR Snow Bros which I'm still trying to figure out. Don't send me Rom images, if I need the image I'll ask for it. Games tend to fall into the easy to fix or complete bastard categories. 6. What does the painter do ? A Gameboy has 16 screen elements - the background, the window and two sprite palettes. The painter allows you to colour the various bits (each element has 4 sub-elements) in various colours to produce a Super Gameboy effect. Play with it for a while, you'll get the idea quickly. 7. I've got a screen full of numbers... help ! You've entered the debugger by mistake. Press key F10. This is a developers tool. If you don't understand it, you won't need it. 8. How do I suggest improvements ? Email them to autismuk@aol.com. All suggestions, where legally or morally possible are welcomed. Make sure you have the latest version - what you want may already be available. 9. Game 'xxx' works on VGB but not on Gameboy 97 Let me know ! AFAIK there are now no games in this category. The maintainer of VGB and I are sharing information and ideas for fixes, so we hope to keep both GB97 and VGB as accurate as possible. If you are maintaining another VGB version and don't use Hans's source let me know if you want some assistance with bug fixes. I am a great believer in 'friendly competition' between emulator authors. 10. Will Gameboy 97 always be free ? Yes, unless someone offers me a large amount of money for it ! I have no intention of it becoming shareware. 11. What is Config for ? To set up various things about how the emulator works - colour schemes,keyboard definitions etc. 99% of cartridges will run quite happily without being configured. 12. When will the source be available ? I haven't yet decided whether or not to release the source. When it is available I will post to comp.emulators.* and email emunews. 13. Where do I get ROMs ? Don't ask me... look on the WWW - try searching emulator pages. There are 2 games available on the net freely - the Yar's Revenge demo by Genetic Fantasia and Norman Nithman's Tic-tac-toe. 14. Will Gameboy 97 be available on other platforms ? No. Its all in 32-bit assembler, so it would be a bit of a nightmare to port. Having said that, there is a possiblity of a Linux port, and an OS/2 port. Basically , only i386 machines. 15. I'm writing an emulator. Can I ask for help ? Yes. I would recommend reading Marat Fayzullin's and Dr Pan's documents first as they contain mostly accurate technical information about the Gameboy. The latest Dr Pan document can be obtained from Jeff Frohwein's Gameboy site, which is an excellent source of Gameboy information. 16. When will Super Gameboy support be available ? When I've figured out how it works. The painter and background fulfil most of the functionality of the SGB. 17. Why are there so many different versions ? When I do any sort of useful update, I release it. There are currently about 6 or 7 versions that have been uploaded, but the current version is always available on my web page. 18. How do I design a background ? Use paint. Set up a 320x200 image (Image Attributes) and draw your picture. If you start with the provided image the 'hole' for the display will always be in the right place. Save it as a 256-colour bitmap (a 16 colour one won't work...) Note : When it says use Paint it means Windows App Paint, not physical paint.... 19. How do I use VGB colour schemes ? Use the TRANS program to convert your .CFG to .C97 files, either by TRANS which converts all files in the current directory or TRANS to convert individual files. Hans changed the way the CFG files work at some point, so not all CFG files will translate. I grabbed a batch off the WWW though, and they seemed to work ok. 20. How do I remap joystick buttons ? Use JoyEmu which allows this, with some fiddling. Set the joystick address in config to zero. 21. My screen goes mad when I press the / key Your monitor cannot support 180 x 144 mode. Don't use it !