- Josh

I must say, making games is quite a lot of fun, perhaps even more fun than making emulators.

- JoshMan

I haven't updated this site in a while. I've been pretty busy lately with school, weightlifting, etc.

I haven't really worked on either of the emulators (NEStron, Super NEStron) since my last post. The source code for both of them still exists, and they are not cancelled. I believe that one day I will finish Super NEStron, and when that day comes I will release it onto the web. But that probably won't happen until this summer, if not later.

I definitely won't be working on any of the emulators for a few months. I am currently programming a 3D shooter (titled "Josh's Grand Banana Odyssey" by one of my friends:) for my physics class final project. It's really cool, it uses DirectX for all the 3D graphics stuff. The 3D engine is completed, now all I have to do is program the gameplay. Granted it won't be as complex as Quake or Unreal, but it will be fun nonetheless - to make, and to play later when I'm bored :)

And a final note, I don't check this e-mail account any more, so don't bother writing me. If you really need help you can use the messageboard.

- JoshMan

- JoshMan

• Added turbo/rapidfire
• Hopefully fixed a few controller bugs.
• Minor miscellaneous bug fixes.
• Cooler snow.

Get it at the downloads page.

- JoshMan

Time has been scarce lately. School is kinda rough especially now right before Thanksgiving Break, and between regular school, homework, and weightlifting, I haven't really had any time to work on either of the "NEStron!" emulators for a while. Neither of them is cancelled. I think I'm going to release a new version of NEStron sometime next week. Mapper 9 and 10 support are still a little flaky, so they won't come the new version, but everything else that I mentioned in the last update will be there.am 

Super NEStron is currently in the stage that usually kills about 75% of all emulators built - CPU emulation debugging. I can't really say when I will finally be able to find the hidden culprit, considering what little time I actually spending working on it. So for now I'm going to make the development of Super NEStron private. This means that it may be a while before it comes out (if at all).

One more thing - I think I might want to add a "movies" section to this website, so if you have any NES movies that you've created and you want to put them up for others to download, you can send them to me at joshman@emuunlim.com . Please attach a ".zip" file containing the NES movie and a .txt file containing:

• The title of the game
• Description of the movie (what you do in it)
• Your name (or handle, such as "JoshMan" or "Mighty Mo", etc.)

Please enter "NES Movie" as the subject of the E-mail. And please, the movies should be semi-impressive. Don't send me a movie of you "dying really bad." 

Well, have a happy Sunday, everyone. :)

- JoshMan

I've added linear interpolation to Super NEStron's audio core, making it sound a lot better. I've also finished writing the Main CPU core. Now I've got to debug all the little kinks in both of the CPU cores. Once this is done, I get to start the fun stuff - drawing the graphics and adding all of the extra features.

Oh, and I got a "nice" little comment from a nice kid named Squaw. I just had to share it with everyone. You can see it here.

Until next time - make love, not war. Oh, and always listen to Judas Priest.

- Josh

Of course I haven't added all of the features (Echo, Fading, etc.) and I haven't added any form of interpolation to the sound yet, so it sounds a little "scratchy" or lower in quality than ZSNES or SNES9x, but once I get all of these things implemented, it will produce great sound.

Just thought I'd let everyone know. From now on I'll try to keep the SNEStron postings to a minimum. :)

- JoshMan

- JoshMan

- JoshMan 

NEStron Version 0.6.4b is out. This fixes sound latency problems with 0.6.3b and SaveRAM problems with 0.6.3b.

- JoshMan

• Added automatic frameskip.
• Added software stretch mode - choose from Hardware Stretch, Pixel Resize, Full Scanlines, 75% Scanlines, 50% Scanlines, 25% Scanlines, Interpolation, LED Display, and SmartScale.
• Hopefully fixed some crashing bugs associated with game controllers.
• Fixed joypad axis sensitivity problems.
• Added Game Genie support.
• Fixed a few games (Super Contra).
• Fixed another sound bug in the savestate/loadstate features.
• The GUI Window is now red :)
• SaveRAM is now saved if a game writes to it, regardless of whether or not the ROM defines SaveRAM existent.

Get it in the Downloads section.

- JoshMan

The new version is coming along quite nicely. It includes fixes for a few more games (Super Contra) and features many new gameplay enhancements, such as scanline support and game genie support. I'm also working to fix a game controller bug that crept into version 0.6.2b that seems to appear on some WinXP systems. I hope to add ZIP file support as well, and I hope to fix a graphical bug that seems to appear in multiple games (Double Dragon, Wizards and Warriors, etc.), however if this proves to take more time than expected, I will release the new version without these additions and add them in a future version.

The moment we all dread has arrived - school is starting once again. Yes, I am about to become a senior in high school. This means development will slow dramatically because I will be too busy hazing freshmen to work on NEStron :) Development won't stop entirely, but my time to work will be greatly diminished. Not necessarily because of the countless freshmen that need my attention, but because I need to focus on schoolwork and getting into college.

Until next time - happy gaming!

- JoshMan

- JoshMan

• Added Fast Forward (again) (Press ~)
• Added Stereo Sound
• Tweaked CPU timing a bit. This may make some games work incorrectly, but it makes most games run a lot better.
• Added "recent folders" menu.
• Fixed a sound bug in the savestate/loadstate features.

Get it in the downloads section.

- JoshMan

- JoshMan

• Added NES Movie feature
• Fixed mapper 3 video mirroring bug (sqoon)
• Fixed a bug in the BRK opcode
• Added NTSC/PAL speed switching
• Fixed a bug in sprite 0 detection
• Fixed mapper 4 graphics bug (Zombie Nation)
• Fixed VRAM Addressing bug (transition effect of Final Fantasy 1 + 3)
• The NESticle Palette is now the default palette. To change color palettes, click "Options->Graphics->Color Palettes" and select the desired palette.

Get it at the downloads page.

- JoshMan

- JoshMan

God bless America.

- JoshMan

NEStron v0.6.0b is doing very well. There is still one bug in the CPU core that I need to fix, however, before I release it. Beta testers have informed me that the win 2k/XP problems that occurred in the WIP release (most notoriously the "phantom dialog box") have been corrected. Since there are only a handful of major bugs to fix, though, I think it would be better just to wait for the real thing. 

The time is drawing near....

- JoshMan

Sorry about the inconvenience.

- JoshMan

I've also released the editor for the NEStron synthesizer. I'd appreciate it if someone could try and develop some better instruments than the ones I came up with.

It would also help me out to know how many people actually like the synthesizer better than the actual NES audio. If you could e-mail me or use the messageboard I'd appreciate it.

- JoshMan

Welcome to the official website of NEStron - an 8-bit NES emulator for Windows 95+.  Programmed in x86 assembly/C++, NEStron provides a great gameplay experience on any Windows-based PC. Head over to the features page to learn more, or check out the various screenshots I've bothered to post.

 - JoshMan