BLuRry

JACE finally has a decent amount of updates and I think it's stable
enough to release another build.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/java-ace/files/Builds

Changes since last build:
-Better NTSC color emulation
-Fixes to prevent crashes on start (race condition in video
initalization)
-Tweaks to sound timing
-Experimental raw sound output (activate/deactivate with F7)
-Help text on start screen now reports correct key shortcuts
-Lots of other things here and there I've forgotten about (it's been a
while!)
-Removed some configuration options that were causing unnecessary
grief (Program counter shouldn't be a config variable)

I think the most important part is that the configuration seems to be
pretty reliable (press F4). There are some unfortunate limitations to
Java though, especially when it comes to joystick support (or lack
thereof) and accelerated graphics -- though the Java 2D can work
relatively well on most platforms. Next big steps will be conversion
to a more modular plugin system so that additional modules will not
constitute compile or runtime dependencies of the core code. This
will allow better input/video/output plugins that can utilize things
like jinput and lwjgl at some later point in time.

-B

BLuRry

If you grabbed JACE before 9:50 CST today then there was a display bug
(a reversion actually, not even a new bug!) but now the display looks
okay in GR, HGR and DHGR as it should. I can finally put away all
those looming changes that I haven't had time to think about in the
past year so now I can focus on other features for a change. I know
that the video NTSC rendering is kinda hacked (the Y component is not
based on a sliding window, it's just using fixed values) but it looks
pretty good in spite of that. Things like the color fringes of lo-res
pixels of different colors look like correct approximations. I
noticed I left myself loopholes to implement Chat Mauve support
(render a DHGR byte in B&W if the hi-bit is set). Is this a feature
anyone would want?

-B

On Jan 19, 12:39*am, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> JACE finally has a decent amount of updates and I think it's stable
> enough to release another build.
>
> https://sourceforge.net/projects/java-ace/files/Builds
>
> Changes since last build:
> -Better NTSC color emulation
> -Fixes to prevent crashes on start (race condition in video
> initalization)
> -Tweaks to sound timing
> -Experimental raw sound output (activate/deactivate with F7)
> -Help text on start screen now reports correct key shortcuts
> -Lots of other things here and there I've forgotten about (it's been a
> while!)
> -Removed some configuration options that were causing unnecessary
> grief (Program counter shouldn't be a config variable)
>
> I think the most important part is that the configuration seems to be
> pretty reliable (press F4). *There are some unfortunate limitations to
> Java though, especially when it comes to joystick support (or lack
> thereof) and accelerated graphics -- though the Java 2D can work
> relatively well on most platforms. *Next big steps will be conversion
> to a more modular plugin system so that additional modules will not
> constitute compile or runtime dependencies of the core code. *This
> will allow better input/video/output plugins that can utilize things
> like jinput and lwjgl at some later point in time.
>
> -B

Antoine Vignau

Congratulations for the update.
And, yes, I'd like to get the Chat Mauve support,
Antoine

BLuRry

On Jan 19, 1:52*pm, Antoine Vignau <antoine.vig...@laposte.net> wrote:
> Congratulations for the update.
> And, yes, I'd like to get the Chat Mauve support,
> Antoine

Is there any good software to test it?

BLuRry

On Jan 19, 2:05*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 19, 1:52*pm, Antoine Vignau <antoine.vig...@laposte.net> wrote:
>
> > Congratulations for the update.
> > And, yes, I'd like to get the Chat Mauve support,
> > Antoine
>
> Is there any good software to test it?

Nevermind -- found some stuff. Log in to G+ and check my post,
Antoine. ;-) There's a little funkiness I need to work out but my
first attempt wasn't too far off.

-Brendan

BLuRry

On Jan 19, 4:26*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 19, 2:05*pm, BLuRry <brendan.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Jan 19, 1:52*pm, Antoine Vignau <antoine.vig...@laposte.net> wrote:
>
> > > Congratulations for the update.
> > > And, yes, I'd like to get the Chat Mauve support,
> > > Antoine
>
> > Is there any good software to test it?
>
> Nevermind -- found some stuff. *Log in to G+ and check my post,
> Antoine. *;-) *There's a little funkiness I need to work out but my
> first attempt wasn't too far off.
>
> -Brendan

And with a little bit twiddling, this mode looks pretty decently
emulated. I think there is a little color fringe on the left edge but
I'll fix that some other day (?). Anyway, if you want to play around
with the "Le Chat Mauve" rendering, download it again. I just updated
the build and added a configuration option under "DHGR Capable Video"
to enable/disable this mode. Nice part: You can click Apply and see
the difference right away! Side-effects: Airheart and other DHGR
programs will probably render in B&W if you use this option.

-B