ALTERNATIVE HANDHELD EMULATION

Console Nokia N-Gage & Symbian 60 Phones

Name

fMSX for Series 60

Author

Juha Riihimäki

Description

fMSX for Series 60 is a MSX emulator for the Nokia N-Gage & other Series 60 Phones.

Screenshots

Download

Download install package for
version 1.07a, intended for Nokia 3620/3650/3660/7650/N-Gage™, Sendo X and Siemens SX-1, or
version 1.07b, intended for Nokia 6600/6620/7610.

Download PC tool set for creating install packages from system ROM and cartridge ROM images.HERE

Information

MSX emulator for Series 60. MSX is an 8-bit home computer that first saw light in 1983. With this emulator you can play hundreds of games available in the web for the MSX platform. Emulation core based on an adapted version of the fMSX/Unix version 2.7 source code. Development is still in progress

Q: When I start the emulator I it says "Machine type: <none>" and won't let me change it. How can I change it?

A: This happens when you don't have any proper system ROMs installed. To play any games you must have the system ROMs for at least one machine type installed. Due to copyright reasons they are not included with the emulator install package but instead you need to acquire and install them yourself after installing the emulator. The emulator will automatically detect which system ROMs are present. Depending on which system ROMs you have installed you will have different choices available (see the list below). These files must be placed in the rom subdirectory under the emulator's main directory (\system\apps\fmsx). You can do this either by creating a patch install package (example set up included with the PC tool set that I am providing on the main page) or if your device has an MMC card, you can use a PC equipped with an MMC card reader to copy the necessary files to the correct location (remember to install the emulator on the MMC card if you wish to use this approach). If you are unable to locate any of the listed files, have a look at the C-BIOS, which is a freeware MSX1 BIOS implementation. You can use it as a replacement for MSX1 system ROM. It enables you to play MSX1 ROM cartridge games.

for MSX1, you need msx.rom (or msx.rom.gz)
for MSX2, you need msx2.rom and msx2ext.rom (or .gz's)
for MSX2+, you need msx2p.rom and msx2pext.rom (or .gz's)
To play disk games, you need disk.rom (or disk.rom.gz)
To play disk games that require MSX-DOS2, you need msxdos22.rom (or .gz)
Other supported optional system ROMs need their respective ROM images (FM-PAC, Kanji, RS-232).

Q: I try to create an install package for game x but all I get is some .gz files, no .sis.

A: The batch file that I provide with the PC tool set simply first tries to compress (gzip) all .rom files in the current directory and after that it runs makesis.exe with the provided .pkg file. The .pkg file is a text file that contains the "layout" for the install package which is to be created. You can use any text editor (such as Notepad) to edit the contents. Unfortunately makesis is very picky and if one of the files that are listed in the .pkg file to be included in the install package is missing it will not create the install package (.sis) at all. Because I cannot know what games and system ROMs you might want to install I am merely providing an example .pkg file which has to be edited before use. You can add and remove lines as necessary in the .pkg file.

Q: I'm unable to copy the necessary system ROMs, game cartridge ROMs or disk images to the device. Could you please make an install package for me for game x?

A: Unfortunately I cannot distribute ROMs or disk images for the emulator, this would be too big a task for me to take care of - not to mention the copyright issues if it is commercial software you are after. It may seem a bit tricky to create the patch install package for the emulator at first but it is really very easy. Just use the PC tool set that I provide or copy the necessary files to your phone's MMC card if you have one. Note that games (cartridge ROMs, disk and tape images) must be placed in data subdirectory under the emulator's main directory (\system\apps\fmsx) whereas system ROMs must be placed in rom subdirectory under the emulator's main directory.

Q: How can I "eject" a ROM cartridge, disk or tape?

A: Press the "clear" key (C on the phone) when the menu cursor is over a ROM cartridge, disk or tape image that you wish to "eject".

Q: Is it possible to remove a keybinding from the emulator?

A: Yes, in all keyboard configuration screens you can use the "clear" key (C on the phone) to remove a keymapping. This will be indicated in the UI with a keymapping to "<none>".

Q: Is it possible to map more than one MSX key to the same phone key?

A: Yes, this has the effect as if you had simultaneously pressed more than one keys down on the MSX. Note that you can also have joystick mappings and keyboard mappings on one phone key (e.g. phone's left softkey can be both joystick fire button 1 and space key).

Q: I defined a key for turbo fire but when I try to use turbo fire in the emulator it does not work. Why?

A: In the emulator's default configuration, both joystick fire button 1 and space key are mapped to the phone's left softkey (like in the example in the previous question's answer). The turbo fire and autofire modes only affect joystick fire button 1 emulation and some games are reading player input simultaneously from both joystick and keyboard. As a result, when turbo fire mode is enabled and you keep the left softkey pressed down, the joystick fire button will be "autofired" but the space key is being pressed down all the time. Some games like Gradius (Nemesis) interpret this as a continuous fire button press and the turbo fire does not seem to work. To get it working, remove the keyboard mapping from phone's left softkey to MSX space key (i.e. phone's left softkey will be mapped to joystick fire button 1 only). On the other hand, this also means that turbo fire and autofire do not work in games that do not support joystick input.

Q: The music sounds distorted / the emulator crashes when I enable sound support, what's wrong?

A: There are known problems in the sound routines especially with Nokia 6600 phone. Best way to avoid problems if you wish to have sound is to use raw rendering mode without rotation. Best sound quality is achieved by first defining a screen freeze key (under emulator special controls configuration, "Screen update") and use it while the emulation is running to suspend all screen updates. Another way is to increase the frame skipping setting in display settings. This should give adequate sound quality, of course with partial or total loss of display update so this is more useful for listening to the music, gameplay may suffer from it.

  The Hottest DCEmu Posters