Control Details
PocketVCS:
The Settings screen allows you to adjust the performance of the program to suit each machine. Here are a few guidelines:
1. Set the Frameskip
to a value that gives smooth motion with the sound
OFF! The sound routines are highly optimized
at this point and do not add any delays, but incorrect buffer sizes can
slow things down greatly.
2. The higher the
sound sampling rate, the more sound data must be in the buffer to avoid
clicks in the sounds. Adjust the sound buffer
to a point "just past" where the clicking stops. This is a limitation of
WinCE as it does not seem possible to get interrupts for filling the sound
buffers, so you need to keep dumping to it. If the buffer size is too large,
time is wasted, things slow down.
3. Changing the sound
pitch will change the buffer speed, so make
sure the buffer is set right if you change the pitch.
4. Speed
a problem? Try pausing,
then resuming.
There is a glitch in the WinCE system that causes thread timing to be skewed
on some creates, making things run slower. Amazingly, simply pausing and
unpausing works great.
5. The Atari is a
miserable machine to emulate, since the actual machine had no dedicated
video hardware. The programs run one pixel at a time, with a strict demand
on processor time. To get better graphics, game programmers did some wild
tricks with their code, and because of this, some games will not work properly
with some of the features. Some games MUST be set to 0 skipframes to work
properly. Others need the screen overscanned to eliminate "ghost" characters
on the sides of the screen. Be sure and check the notes given on the main
site.
PocketColeco:
The Settings screen allows you to adjust the performance of the program to suit each machine. Here are a few guidelines:
1. Setting
the Speed: The settings for the CPU time greatly
affect the games. Hence the 4 (four!) speed controls available. Set the
skipframes
and
speed slider
first, and remember to set the Frameskip
to a value that gives smooth motion with the sound
OFF! The speed slider should be at FAST
for most machines
2. Cycles
per Vsync changes the number of CPU instructions
that are done before the screen is updated. The higher the number, the
faster the games will run. Usually about 60000-70000 is fine, but try higher
or lower numbers to see the effects. The program won't allow invalid numbers
so feel free to experiment.
3. Cycles
per Hsync works almost the opposite. More
cycles mean slower action. Try reducing this and increasing Vsync to get
more speed on slower machines. Usually around 30 is fine.
4. Adjust the sound
LAST. Remember that higher sound rates
take more processing time, and require a larger
buffer. Adjust
the sound buffer to a point "just past clipping".
This is a limitation of WinCE as it does not seem possible to get interrupts
for filling the sound buffers, so you need to keep dumping to it. If the
buffer size is too large, time is wasted, things slow down.