DSVIC ---------==============================--------- Copyright 2010 Ian Cowburn ianc@noddybox.co.uk 1. LICENSE ---------- The code to DSVIC is released under the GNU General Public License. See the text file COPYING for details. Other included software is provided in good faith, is not released under the GNU General Public License, and is copyright their respective authors. VIC-20 ROM (c) 1981 Commodore Business Machines 2. DSVIC -------- DSVIC is an emulation of a VIC-20 and is is supplied in two main forms, as a native Nintendo DS executable and a version with a Gameboy Advance wrapper (in case your Ninentdo DS homebrew device only supports running GBA executables). In addition to this two different versions are supplied, one which initialises the FAT library and one which doesn't. They are identical save for this, and separate ones are supplied in case the FAT library initialisation causes problem on your homebrew device: dsvic.nds - Nintendo DS version dsvic.ds.gba - As above with a GBA wrapper. dsvic-nofat.nds - Nintendo DS version; no FAT library initialisation. dsvic-nofat.ds.gba - As above with a GBA wrapper. I'm probably being overly paranoid there, but better safe than sorry. In any of the following sections where files are mentioned it obviously doesn't apply to the 'nofat' versions. 3. Using DSVIC -------------- When run DSVIC displays a splash screen with copyright information and whether the FAT library has been able to find a supported device for the loading of external tapes. Once the A button has been pressed the VIC-20 resets and displays itself on the top screen, and a soft keyboard is displayed on the bottom, touch sensitive, screen. Also at this point, if so configured, a default memory snap will be loaded. See the "Memory Snapshots" section for more details. When using the soft keyboard by default the shift keys are 'sticky' and once used will stay held down until pressed again. At the bottom of the keyboard is an area where you can click to bring up a menu. Either use the stylus, or the joypad and button A to select an option from the following choices: RESET VIC-20 This resets the emulated VIC-20. SELECT CART Selects the built-in cart to use (DSVIC has a number of VIC-20 cartridge games built into it). The next section has extra information on the loading of games. CONFIGURE Lets you configure settings (see last section for settings). If you press SELECT to exit the configuration screen then the configuration is saved into the file /DSVIC.CFG which is read on start-up. SAVE MEMORY SNAPSHOT Saves a memory snapshot. This option only works if a FAT-enabled version of DSVIC is being used. See the "Memory Snapshot" section for more details. LOAD MEMORY SNAPSHOT Loads a memory snapshot. This option only works if a FAT-enabled version of DSVIC is being used. See the "Memory Snapshot" section for more details. CANCEL Cancels the menu. 4. Using the internal cartridges on DSVIC ----------------------------------------- Games on the VIC-20 were supplied on cassette or cartridge. DSVIC includes a few cartridges that are selectable from the menu. Follow the on-screen instructions to select the game. A quick description and the controls to use are displayed on the top screen. 5. Using external images on DSVIC --------------------------------- If you are using the version of DSVIC that allows the use of FAT devices, and you device is supported, they you can load any old tape. FAT support is via the new DLDI interface, so you may need to dynamically link in the appropriate FAT driver. Details are available here: http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/index.html Note that the default driver linked in is the Datel Max Media Dock (Compact Flash) -- solely as that's what I have. Simply place the .P file (VIC-20 games are usually distributed as .P files that are simply an image of the memory that would have been dumped to tape) and either put it in the root directory of the FAT device or in a directory called VIC-20SNAP. Alternatively if you can't remember the names of files, loading "*" will give you with a file selector to select the tape file with. It can't be at all guaranteed that all original VIC-20 games will work as expected. After all, DSVIC isn't really a VIC-20. 6. Configuration Options ------------------------ STICKY SHIFT This option allows you to decide whether the shift key on the soft keyboard is sticky (toggles when you press it) or acts like the other keys. You should never need to make it non-sticky unless a game needs it. ALLOW TAPE SAVE If enabled this means that files saved with the SAVE command will try and create a .P file in the VIC-20SNAP directory, or the root directory. You can SAVE "*" to bring up the file selector. If not enabled attempts to SAVE files from BASIC will be silently ignored. LOAD DEFAULT MEMORY SNAP If enabled DSVIC will look for a memory snapshot called AUTO.V20 in either the root directory or the VICSNAP directory. See the "Memory Snapshot" section for more details on snapshots. 8. Memory Snapshots ------------------- DSVIC supports basic memory snapshots. When you select "SAVE MEMORY SNAPSHOT" from the main menu DSVIC will prompt for a filename (only up to 8 alphabetical characters). Once entered the snapshot will be saved in the directory VICSNAP with an automatically added .V20 extension. If this save fails, an attempt is made to save the snapshot in the root directory of the device. On selecting to load a memory snapshot a file selector is displayed. On selecting one of the snapshots it will be instantly loaded. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $Id$ vim:expandtab:spell