melonDS

melonDS

DS emulator, sorta

The goal is to do things right and fast, akin to blargSNES (but hopefully better). But also to, you know, have a fun challenge :)

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How to use

Firmware boot (not direct boot) requires a BIOS/firmware dump from an original DS or DS Lite. DS firmwares dumped from a DSi or 3DS aren’t bootable and only contain configuration data, thus they are only suitable when booting games directly.

Possible firmware sizes

• 128KB: DSi/3DS DS-mode firmware (reduced size due to lacking bootcode)
• 256KB: regular DS firmware
• 512KB: iQue DS firmware

DS BIOS dumps from a DSi or 3DS can be used with no compatibility issues. DSi BIOS dumps (in DSi mode) are not compatible. Or maybe they are. I don’t know.

As for the rest, the interface should be pretty straightforward. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask, though!

How to build

See BUILD.md for build instructions.

TODO LIST

• better DSi emulation
• better OpenGL rendering
• netplay
• the impossible quest of pixel-perfect 3D graphics
• support for rendering screens to separate windows
• emulating some fancy addons
• other non-core shit (debugger, graphics viewers, etc)

TODO LIST FOR LATER (low priority)

• big-endian compatibility (Wii, etc)
• LCD refresh time (used by some games for blending effects)
• any feature you can eventually ask for that isn’t outright stupid

Credits

• Martin for GBAtek, a good piece of documentation
• Cydrak for the extra 3D GPU research
• limittox for the icon
• All of you comrades who have been testing melonDS, reporting issues, suggesting shit, etc

Licenses

melonDS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

External

• Images used in the Input Config Dialog - see src/frontend/qt_sdl/InputConfig/resources/LICENSE.md