melonDS 0.5 is out!

This release finally brings a UI that doesn't suck. Oh and antialiasing.

There hasn't been a lot of changes due to real life issues (and being oh so efficient with UI coding).

The full changelog is below.


• new UI, more stable, less windows all over the place
• wxWidgets ditched, lost some weight
• 2D: allow reading BLDALPHA
• GPU: fix potential issues with VCount write
• implement 8bit accesses to some registers
• 2D: mosaic (not quite right for rotscaled sprites)
• 3D: fix culling
• allow 128KB firmwares from DSi/3DS
• 3D: more accurate fog
• 3D: more accurate polygon edges (but not perfect)
• 3D: antialiasing
• 3D: misc optimizations


pile of copypasta



How to use

melonDS requires BIOS/firmware dumps from a DS. You can dump them with the following dumper.

The files must be placed in the same directory as the melonDS executable, as follows:

* bios7.bin -- ARM7 BIOS, 16KB
* bios9.bin -- ARM9 BIOS, 4KB
* firmware.bin -- firmware, 128KB, 256KB or 512KB

Note: the DS-mode firmware in the 3DS isn't bootable. It only contains the bare minimum required to run DS games. Be sure to enable direct game boot when using a firmware dump from a 3DS.

Settings

Emulation: settings related to emulation. For now it lets you enable direct game boot (directly runs the game instead of going through the firmware) and the threaded 3D renderer.

There's also a wifi-related setting (which only ended up there because I'm lazy and I need to redo the UI). You should try toggling it if you have trouble getting multiplayer working.

Input: allows you to configure keyboard and joystick input. You can change a mapping by clicking the corresponding entry, then pressing a keyboard key or joystick button. For now, joystick input uses the first joystick available if multiple joysticks are plugged.

If your game fails to save

Check the size of the savefile. melonDS can, in some circumstances, misdetect the save memory type.

Save memory type detection is done only when no existing savefile is present.

If you provide an existing savefile with the correct size, melonDS will use the correct save memory type and saving should work properly.


Downloads

* Windows 64-bit
* Linux 64-bit


If you feel generous

melonDS Patreon


Have fun!

____________________
Kuribo64

I realized after releasing it that I forgot to add the FPS counter back.


Will be fixed for 0.6.


I want to work on wifi, or fancy addon devices.

____________________
Kuribo64

Local wifi already works but it can use improvement. Online isn't done yet.

Sound is also a todo.

____________________
Kuribo64

I got a report that it fails to load a ROM if the path contains special characters, so check for that.

____________________
Kuribo64

yup

____________________
Kuribo64

Or create a folder in C:\ for example and put your ROMs there

____________________
Kuribo64

It's been fixed, the fix will be included in 0.6.

____________________
Kuribo64

could be, but max emulation speed will be capped by your system's power

____________________
Kuribo64

0.4 had a secret feature where pressing TAB toggled the framerate limiter.

I could readd it, but it'd be best with a proper hotkey system.

____________________
Kuribo64

the hotkey system could be an extension of the regular input system.

____________________
Kuribo64