Dreamcast emulation?

[Bootaaay]

I had an urge to play some Under Defeat, but upon firing up my DC it seems that the GPU is blown and it won't output any sort of intelligible picture

So, until I can pick up a new Dreamcast, what is currently the best method of playing DC games on PC?

I'd prefer an emulator that's compatible with the various DC shmups, one that can play games directly from the GD-Rom and not an .iso, and one that supports gamepads/arcade sticks.

If anyone could point me in the direction of a suitable emulator, that'd be most appreciated

[Ziggy]

Well I just checked the compatibility list for NullDC and it don't look too bad...

http://www.1emulation.com/forums/index. ... opic=21524

And I'm not even sure if that's an up to date version.

one that can play games directly from the GD-Rom and not an .iso

Well that's just not gonna happen. Computer drives can't read Dreamcast games.

[MidnightRider]

Shouldn't this be in the emulation forum?

Anyway, I was into post 4th generation emulation a while back. NullDC will read just about any iso format, including GDI(a 1 gig rip), without needing a disc in the drive. What you will need is a Dreamcast BIOS, it has to be named dc_boot.bin and dc_flash.bin, there's a text document in the directory that requires them that tells you that anyway. Not sure if the game you want to play will emulate well, or perfectly for that matter, but most DC games will. There's an issue with Jet Grind Radio, where you can't use whatever you have setup for the analog to paint, but as long as the games you want to play don't have controls like that(you can still move with the analog) you should be fine. Emulator might crash depending on the game too.

[Pulsar_t]

You mean GD-ROM as in disc? I don't think DVD drives can read those, however you can do your own GDI rips or find them on the net.

http://www.emucr.com <- Here you'll find the latest builds of the Dreamcast's current emulators: Demul, Makaron and nullDC. I have all three because not a single one is perfect. Speed-wise I'd rank them as follows: Makaron->Demul->nullDC (nullDC has the most configurable options of all three, with a performance hit). BIOS are easily obtainable and each readme.txt should be helpful enough, or alternatively you can find custom-zipped BIOS for each emulator.

Emulating the console is easier than ever, and there's plenty of options to please everyone.

[Bootaaay]

http://www.emucr.com <- Here you'll find the latest builds of the Dreamcast's current emulators: Demul, Makaron and nullDC. I have all three because not a single one is perfect. Speed-wise I'd rank them as follows: Makaron->Demul->nullDC (nullDC has the most configurable options of all three, with a performance hit). BIOS are easily obtainable and each readme.txt should be helpful enough, or alternatively you can find custom-zipped BIOS for each emulator.

Emulating the console is easier than ever, and there's plenty of options to please everyone.

Awesome, thanks for the info man - so there's no way to just play the game straight from disc? I have to rip it, or download it first?

Shouldn't this be in the emulation forum?

Whoops, didn't notice the emulation forum

[Betamax001]

What about booting burned isos from a CDR? Can any of them do that? I have more or less all games on CDR and would love to just play those instead of having a ton of isos on my computer.

[MidnightRider]

Pretty sure they can, just point the emulator to your disc drive.

[Pulsar_t]

so there's no way to just play the game straight from disc? I have to rip it, or download it first?

GD-ROMs are tricky to read. I suppose it can be done with certain older drives (for backup purposes) but with perfect GDI rips floating around there's really no need to tinker with the hardware. The reason the Dreamcast got pirated so easily was because people could rip the games using the console's own drive.. At first they used a serial connection which took many hours (I recall transfering 32mb of mp3s to my old Siemens cellphone took a long time!) but with the broadband adapter it became a brisk process.

If you're looking for a frontend I recommend the Hyperspin Project, but other options might exist.

[ac_90]

this is the emulator you want:
http://code.google.com/p/nulldc/downloa ... z&can=2&q=

thats the most current version and from my experience its worked the best out of every dc emulator ive tried. search for some youtube videos on how to install it properly cuz you have to download some additional shit before its up and running but its not too hard.

i get all my games from here:
http://snesorama.us/board/showpost.php? ... ostcount=1

once you click the game you want look for uploads by TuxTheWise he has the best versions you can get without having the actual disc.