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SNES emulation on Topaz.

Hi. I have recently spent some time trying to run SNES emulation on my Topaz and would like to share the results with you. I was using Topaz ESSentiaL v1.8.1 ROM (thanks to !aman!), meaning Windows 6.1.
First of all there is a number of definite/ultimate/absolute guides to running SNES emulation on WinMo phones on this forums and even on wiki. Unfortunately most of those threads date back to 2005 and refer to devices I have never really used. Obviously no information / testing for Topaz, short of any HTC devices was available.
I have tried two versions and multiple clones of PocketSnes. All of them require you to install additional libraries to be able to open roms. Even with that however I wasn't able to successfully run any rom. The closest one to working was SnesGo published here on xda-devs ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=518027 ), but even this would only successfully load rom, but than pause it every frame. When you click the screen to unpause the rom you can see it is actually running, but thats it.
I have also tried PocketNester and PocketNester Advanced. They managed to load some roms (albeit in some .nes format not the common .snc format). The display however was very small and flashing all the time. On game pause it would stretch to full screen. Admirably it was also able to emulate sound, though not to much use.
Finally, the only emulator that I managed to successfully run was MorphGear. I used the virtual pad created for Blackstone by Dredd67 ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=489147 - note that also the configuration he suggests for Touch HD worked well on my Topaz). It is a must, as the original MorphGear pad is too small to use. There is a nice split of 50% screen being used by vpad the other 50% by the emulated rom.
Note that also the pseudo multitouch functionality works on Topaz. It is hard to use (screen on Topaz is smaller and with higher res than Blackstone), but maybe it is possible to get used to it. Most of the time however you won't need to use it, as unlike Blackstone we have hardware keys to use. Unfortunately out of those I was only able to bind 'back' key. One hardware keys is however more than enough for the sort of roms I am interested in (say as a dash key you hold while moving). It also seemed to accept binding to green phone key, but it didn't work once the rom was loaded. Finally, even though hard to use, I was also able to bind volume up & down. Unfortunately - volume up is bound with the same code as 'back' key so all in all I was able to get two, distinguishable and working binds.
Important: Before trying to bind keys make sure to switch to default keyboard, not HTC one, or the bindings won't work
Sound doesn't seem to work, which is a pity, but doesn't prevent you from playing the roms. All other features, such as state save/load, display configuration, etc seem to work perfectly.
Now I am mostly interested in jrpg roms such as Final Fantasy series, and I have tested it mostly on similar titles. I was able to successfully run Legend of Zelda III, Lufia 2, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and to my greatest Joy - Chrono Trigger.
The bad news is, that the classic Final Fantasy titles do not work. The roms load and play intro properly, but do not respond to any key presses, neither from vpad nor from hardware keys. Some other titles, like Seiken Densetsu 3 don't work at all.
Summarizing - the only emulation that works well on Topaz seems to be MorphGear. You don't get the sound and not all titles are playable, but there is a nice range of ones that do work perfectly. Hope this short blog-like post saves few hours of searching the net for some of you.

Hmm.. i am looking for a snes emulator on topaz too, but is it possible to get the multitouch working? What do i have to do for it? How can i install this things to play roms Much thanks...

I've got a few emulators running on the Diamond 2 but they are all a bit pointless without hard keys - the touchscreen is useless with the games.

Oke, so the multitouch function such as on the hd blackstone is not possible on the touch diamond 2? That was a super manner as it works too...
Let me know when there are other options to play gba games etc with a touchscreen

Purejet said:
Oke, so the multitouch function such as on the hd blackstone is not possible on the touch diamond 2? That was a super manner as it works too...
Let me know when there are other options to play gba games etc with a touchscreen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Blackstone does not have multitouch. You need a capacitive screen for multitouch to function, and so far only HTC's Android phones are using them... Windows Mobile currently only "officially" supports resistive touchscreens.

NotATreoFan said:
The Blackstone does not have multitouch. You need a capacitive screen for multitouch to function, and so far only HTC's Android phones are using them... Windows Mobile currently only "officially" supports resistive touchscreens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A capacitive isn't multitouch by default right? Just a screen with higher sensitivity allowing for better interaction with the finger. Please prove me wrong, as I'm longing for the Leo, wich is rumoured to have capacitive screen, but nothing is mentioned about multitouch. And, the OS should support multitouch too, wich is a feature we are only going to see when windows mobile 7 arrives.... unless the guys from redmond have a surprise for us.

Topaz Keyboard Controller GSM v1.3.2 works with hardware keys.
Okay if you enable Polling Method in Global Settings in morphgear and then install Topaz Keyboard Controller GSM v1.3.2 (search for it on this site) then you can use your hardkeys to play your games. You just have to mount your hardkeys to Up, Down, Left, Right, Page Up, Page Down - These are buttons Morphgear can use. You don't have to mount the volume buttons - morphgear can control them from start.
It takes a little bit getting used to but i have mounted right to Back button and Left to Hang-Up button and A and B button to volume buttons. So you can play the games with hardkeys only... And btw thats if you play games in landscape.
Remember to add the keys with Direct Key Mapping in the keyboard controller and do not mount you buttons to any letters or else it won't work...

NotATreoFan said:
The Blackstone does not have multitouch. You need a capacitive screen for multitouch to function, and so far only HTC's Android phones are using them... Windows Mobile currently only "officially" supports resistive touchscreens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The blackstone doesn't have a capacitive screen... but with some trickery they got a "multitouch" kinda setup. Basically hidden buttons between the virtual dpad and the virtual buttons... so that when you touch Right + A... it would hit the hidden button in the middle that just output "right + A".
Capacitive screens are whole different beasts then resistive. Capacitive screens are more sensitive because they don't require pressure like resistive screens. It works by using your finger to charge electrons in the screen or something. The downside is that a typical stylus won't work on Capacitive screens. Capacitive screens also support multiple touch inputs on the screen at any given time, but I forget how many max inputs the iPhone senses at once (3 maybe or 4).
This isn't working on the Topaz because the screen is smaller, thus the hidden buttons are smaller, thus harder to hit. It would probably work properly if the hidden buttons were enlargedd a hair.

player911 said:
This isn't working on the Topaz because the screen is smaller, thus the hidden buttons are smaller, thus harder to hit. It would probably work properly if the hidden buttons were enlargedd a hair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hidden buttons are smaller, but they still work. Sure, you need to be precise with your fingers, but that was the case on Blackstone too. It didn't take me long to get used to it. Plus, when you just need certain combinations you can always bind keys to 'back' and 'volume down' hard keys. Note (again) however, that you must disable the HTC keyboard for that to work !!
As a side note - for some time I have switched away from TESS ROM to X-Treme ROM. Not only the menu started to display properly (there are some glitches when using TESS) but also the sound emulation started to work. The drop in FPS was slight but noticable. I am now using TESS again, but with WinMo 6.5. While the menu is still glitched as hell, the sound works too. Just make sure to:
1) Enable sound in global settings
2) Enable sound in SNES settings
3) Enable Emulation in SNES settings
4) Restart MorphGear

accelerometer

i'm new to the touch pro
i'm curious what kind of things people are doing with the g-sensor
i bought my phone unlocked with a warrior rom on it (ppcgeeks i think)
though i didn't really look into the g-sensor mod that was running on it
have reflashed since

eigerzoom said:
i'm new to the touch pro
i'm curious what kind of things people are doing with the g-sensor
i bought my phone unlocked with a warrior rom on it (ppcgeeks i think)
though i didn't really look into the g-sensor mod that was running on it
have reflashed since
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly just games and Shake UI which I find kind of lame.

hey,
i'm using it for a couple things. games are one: nfs undercover witht eh gsensor enabled, tons of fun!
another use is with galarm (the free version) - i have it set to make me do mazes when i wake up!!!
ring mute on face down - does exactly that, mutes the ringer when you flip it - easy reg tweaks, cabs might be floating around somewhere too
speakerphone on face down wihle in call - program called incall phone tweak or something of that sort
opera browser - rotates when i cahgnes my screen - easy reg tweak if it doesnt already do that (im on opera 9.7b, but 9.5 shoudl do that too)
i think that's all for now, can't think of much else. you can also install things such as diamond gsensor2, sensor sdk, changescreen, gyrator 2, etc as they are all programs that automatically rotate your screen/display when you rotate teh phone.
enjoy

Emulators?

How do emulators work? I dl'ed pocketgba had some trouble figuring it out. Does it only play GBA games? Any emulators out there worth DLing? if so can you also tell me what kind of games they will play? Sorry I am a noob to the emulator circuit but would love to get some old GBA games or just game boy games.

try to do a search more often. it has come acros many times.
try morphgear:
http://www.spicypixel.com/web/page/morphgear/Download.aspx
download the main program called morphgear then download any module so you can play games. note that the snes module is free and all other modules you have to pay for.
if troubles with cofiguring keys, try to change these registry values:
Just remove eT9.
Button Mapping will work with all emulator and games now, like on my old Hermes.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Layouts\e0010409]
"Layout Text"="COMP IME" <<< you have to change these fields on your device to this
"Ime File"="compime.dll" <<< you have to change it into this too.

I searched already. I tried a few diffrent ones, I tried getting them to work and was left confused. The whole emulator thing is rather confusing to me I am going to just have to google search a how to emulat or somehing lol.

hyellow said:
try to do a search more often. it has come acros many times.
try morphgear:
http://www.spicypixel.com/web/page/morphgear/Download.aspx
download the main program called morphgear then download any module so you can play games. note that the snes module is free and all other modules you have to pay for.
if troubles with cofiguring keys, try to change these registry values:
Just remove eT9.
Button Mapping will work with all emulator and games now, like on my old Hermes.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Layouts\e0010409]
"Layout Text"="COMP IME" <<< you have to change these fields on your device to this
"Ime File"="compime.dll" <<< you have to change it into this too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I did this regedit I can not get my ; and : keys to work instead the display \ and /. All the other green function keys seem to work just fine.
Anyone know how to fix this?

Lol reverse the edit or isnt that working for you?

I have the Touch Pro 2 and had the same problem but found this to work:
1. An easy way to get the keyboard working (without having to go through the registry) is download the cab file from this link called "KforRaphael". After you install the cab file, run the program and leave it running until you are done playing the emulator. This will fix the keyboard issue for you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=425646
2. I don't know if it's just mine but sometimes when I run Morphgear, then pull out the keyboard, it kind of messes up the graphics. I've found that if you first (while keyboard is closed), open Morphgear, go into Global Settings and change the Orientation to East. After that, close the program, slide out the keyboard FIRST, then open the program, then you won't have any graphics problems (mine would have some black bars covering part of the menu, etc).
3. The keyboard layout is kind of weird for the up, down, left, right directions (again, this is on the Touch Pro 2 with Orientation set to East). You have to set it up like this: Up - Left, Down - Right, Left - Down, Right - Up.
I hope this helps.

"The Quest" runs on HD2 *FULLY WORKING*

I've been in contact with Redshift about possibly adding 480x800 resolution support to The Quest, one of the better RPG games for WM. The reply I got wasn't great... they won't be supporting the WM version anymore. However, they did mention that 800x480 support works and is built in (aka landscape mode in HD2, HD, X1, etc.)
EDIT: See second post for instructions on how to get this to work.

I got it to work. Here's the instructions:
Install BsB Tweaks, The Quest v 1.04 (Not 1.03), and VGA Fix v.4 (The newest one that works with 6.5)
Start BsB Tweaks, and goto the rotation menu. Add File Explorer to the list of programs that can rotate, and soft reset.
Once phone is back on,use VGA Fix v.4, set res to VGA. start BsB tweaks, and go into the rotation menu. Add the quest to the list of programs that can rotate. Before closing The Quest, or soft reseting, go into the settings for The Quest, and select "Left Landscape" for view. Soft reset.
Now, once phone is back on, goto File explorer. Search out The Quest exe. (usually under program files\games\the quest\), rotate screen so file explorer is in landscape, and *double tap* (see note below) the quest. Congrats, your game should start, touch controls will work, and you wont need to use VGAFix to lose full screen. Let me know if it works for you.
NOTE: it seems that a single click on the exe won't always start The Quest. It will show the white "Starting the Quest" text, then exit back to the file explorer. Double tapping the exe works every time... got me as to why.

Thanks for the tip on the settings and starting the game via landscape mode file explorer. works for me.

where can we dl this game? is it free?

http://redshift.hu/
That's the homepage for the game. It isn't free, unless you do some searching. I will say that the game is worth the 10 bucks they are asking. I can easily waste 30 to 60 hours on a play through, not including the official expansion... or the multiple other 3rd party expansions. A new, free expansion was just released for it, in fact. If you poke around in the forums they list on the home page, you can find a ton of info on it. They do have a demo you can download and try.

I added this to the thread on "Games that work for the HD2". Anyone else try this? Just want to make sure it works for a few people.

Hi,
where I can find the VGA fix?
I search and search and don't find anything...
greets
Sturmwind80

Nice one
Good to know !!!
try it tonight ...
THX

Sturmwind80 said:
Hi,
where I can find the VGA fix?
I search and search and don't find anything...
greets
Sturmwind80
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue.
Where do i find this VGA Fix program?

Seems like the OP was talking about WVGA Fix 4.

Works on my TP2
Hey, thanks for the tip! Works like a charm on my Touch Pro 2.

Doesn't work well on my Omnia 2 - the game starts properly on a full screen but the controls are screwed both in start menu and the game itself (have to tap in competely different places than icons are placed, it looks like there is portrait layout of "clickable" places on a landscape display).
Has anyone found a fix for this?

Awesome tip. Worked on my TP2 as well. Like the tweaks apps too.

ScummVM preformance?

can anyone comment on this app?
Does it work?
Can it play the newer games smoothly, like Curse of Monkey Island?
Hoping it can as it may help me decide between the N900 and HD2.

i tried the newest Wince/PocketPC build of ScummVM on the HD2 and there is only one thing to say..... its basically unplayable on my HD2 with Firmware 1.66.
Most games crash, some dont even start.

I used it, Yes, It does work, However the size was super small the screen... Not sure how to fix that, but I played Inherit the Earth, Cd rom version (Talkie) Worked fine.

Mysticales... could you try a Monkey Island if possible?
Also, are you using the 1.66 ROM?

1.66? Im using Energy Rom. Ill try monkey isle later, I know Day of the Tenticle works too.

using the newest SCUMMVM 1.1.148902 Monkey Island (1) is working fine on my HD2 (Artemis V 18.0)
Be sure to check the GFX-options in SCUMM:
Graphics Mode TV2x
Render mode default
Aspect ratio correction = ON
Fullscreen mode = ON

MyRho said:
using the newest SCUMMVM 1.1.148902 Monkey Island (1) is working fine on my HD2 (Artemis V 18.0)
Be sure to check the GFX-options in SCUMM:
Graphics Mode TV2x
Render mode default
Aspect ratio correction = ON
Fullscreen mode = ON
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that looks much better, but what about keyboard mappings, what are you really doing with that?

Tried Curse of Monkey Island. There's not enough hard buttons to be able to map, to make the game playable. ScummVM won't allow remapping of the phone and cancel buttons, or the volume buttons.

It works perfectly with old classic games. No problem on my hd2 even when I was on 1.66.
It simply a matter of setup as underlined before.