Old News

17th June 2002: The current media player status is :

Video Formats :
- AVIs, FLIs, MOVs, RoQs, VQAs - old style, FILMs - Sega Saturn/some 3D0 movies, YUV4MPEG. All work to some extent
Video Codecs working :
- DivX 3.11 (aka MSMPEG4 v3), 4, 5
- Cinepak
- MSMPEG 4v1, 4v2
- MSVC
- MSRLE, QTRLE
- RAW - RGB and YUV
- IJPG
- MJPEG
- CYUV
- Probably a few others that I can't think of ;-)
Audio Codecs working :
- MSADPCM
- IMA ADPCM - MS variant
- - QT variant
- - DK3 variant - used by some Saturn games
- - DK4 variant - used by some other Saturn games
- RAW 8/16bit, big/little endian
- MP3 - via AMPlayer module
There are a few things that need to be resolved :
- ASF support - this format is what a WMV/WMA file is. This is coming along, but still needs alot of work.
- AV Sync - currently non-existant
- Frame dropping
- Decent caching support.
Once the above 4 things are sorted to a somewhat satisfactory level and some bugs have been resolved then the first release will be issued.
If you want to contact me use :
david at acornemus dot freeserve dot co dot uk

24th April 2002:

About time for a media player update :
- Due to various commitments the player isn't in a public distributable state. however my intention is to get some sort of taster version out prior to the main release. This will lack source, source documentation and some features. However it will allow people a chance to sample what this application will provide them access to. This could be any time in the next few weeks or after - I want a minimum set of stuff to be working.
- Several compatability improvements have been made.
  - VQA - Westwood's movie format has been added, This is used in the Command and Conquer series among others.
  - RoQ - Quake 3 format
  - Various codecs have been added... MSRLE, QTRLE and IJPG
- Some formats are in development such as PSX STR, Quake 2 CIN,...
- Sound is the biggest omission atm.. and one of the next things I am going to sort out.
- Any suggestions for a name will be welcomed, as well as ideas for formats/codecs to be supported.
Not much else going on really. Hopefully I will get a chance to sort out the ScummVM port so that we can remain up to date. Simon the Sorceror is now partially supported AIUI.

10th March 2002:

ScummVM for RISC OS update
Uses the latest source
Now features music in most games
Sam and Max now fully playable
Monkey Island 1 bug fixed
And loads of other stuff
Get it here
You will also require SharedULib get that here
Check the item below for info on the forthcoming media player
Non-RISC OS news...
Final Fantasy coming to the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance!

2nd March 2002:

I have been really busy with work and I haven't done any emulator stuff.
The links on the Handy page have been updated since the main site has moved. Also changed the link to Michael Foot's site.
However I have been doing some other stuff... such as working on my Movie Player, which is in a private beta testing phase atm. It is progressing nicely.
- It plays various files... MOVs, AVIs, FILMs and FLIs
- Various codecs... DivX, Cinepak, MSVC, among others
- It is under pretty active development as there are numerous issues to resolve as well as the addition of various codecs and formats.
- Check the WIP page for some shots.
- A public release hopefully won't be that far off. I have to sort out the license issue with those whose code I have used, which hopefully won't be a problem.
- There will be more info nearer release.
- If you have any questions feel free to email me. Don't ask to be a beta tester as I have enough.

22nd January 2002:

Yet another SMSPlus update - just some little things
- Changed the run file to enable sound and throttle
- Compiled in some new options
- Added help on the options to the !Help file
- Get it from here.

21st January 2002:

Some updates... (shock!)
A new beta release of DGen!
- Faster - numerous internal changes
- Renderer changed to Dave's line renderer for fewer artifacts
- Dodgy save/load support - read help before using
- Get it from here.
- You will also require SharedULib get that here
An update of SMSPlus...
- This fixes the sound problem - ie lack of
- Some internal changes...
- Get it from here.
I am not providing full support for these as I am amazingly busy atm. Please read the !Help files before sending mails.

Other stuff to follow soon.

3rd January 2002:

Happy New Year! Wow the RiscPC gets even older...
Unfortuantely due to me having 'flu over much of the hols I didn't have a chance to touch any of the software handled by this site. However the final releases of various pieces of software aren't that far off.
I will provide a list of the statuses of all the pieces of software once I get some releases together. Basically assume most as getting only 1 more release (a few may not even get that). I may also clear out some of the stuff on my harddrive - we'll see how it goes - just don't expect support for any such releases.

5th December 2001:

I have stuck up the answers to the quiz. You can view them here.
I'm still working on the ScummVM update... should be something soonish.
Sarien will be synced up as well... this has been much improved.
RiscCPS should also get an update before the year's end. Sound, speed, bug fixes and increased compatability are on the list. If anyone could donate me a 64MB+ memory module I could add support for the recently decoded Neo Geo games such as Strikers 1945+ and Garou Mark of the Wolves.
Another thing I have been working on (on and off) is a movie player. Currently it plays OpenDivX files and RAW AVIs. I am looking into adding other formats prior to release (which will have the source as well). I'm thinking of changing it all to work within a C++ framework - unless anyone has any objections. Sound is currently missing, but will be added in due course.
I'll clarify the situation re the comment I made last update.
My aim is to radically reduce the amount of stuff I do for RISC OS by the end of the year. Ideally things that are being shelved will get one last update. This 'scaling down' will be because I seriously intend to stop spending my free time on this next year. Thus next year it will most probably all cease.
This decision was not based upon feedback (or lack thereof), but due to my immense disillusionment with the platform and its lack of direction. My interest really isn't in having to delve into assembler when I want to get something to run at a decent rate. There are emulators I want to do that are just infeasible on the platform and the lack of decent dev tools (GCC aside - thanks Nick et al for developing the RISC OS version) makes development more awkward and prolonged than it should be. I am greatly uninspired by what those in charge of the platform are doing and the inability of companies to work together on singular goal - surely reestabilishing some sort of market is to everyones benefit ?
So there you go... feel free to mail me comments on this.