Java MSX Emulator

Supporter (3)

19-12-2004, 08:56

Does anybody know of a Java MSX emulator capable to run on mobile devices?

The only Java emulator I was able to find is one created by Arnon
(http://www.classicgaming.com/jmsxemu/), but it looks like the author is abandoned the project while ago.

BTW, does anybody know how I can contact Arnon? Emails sent to
arnon@medicina.ufmg.br return with some system error...

By [D-Tail]

Ascended (8263)

19-12-2004, 10:44

The development of JMSX stopped a long time ago. Afaik there are no Java MSX emulators around, except that one. But if your mobile device's equipped with Symbian OS Series 60, you can of course consider fMSX/S60.

By dsodol

Supporter (3)

19-12-2004, 12:42

Unfortunately, my phone does not support Symbian, but I beleive it has enough power to run MSX in Java... I'd like to contact Arnon to ask his permission to continue the JMSX development - I believe there would be a number of people interested in this, since not all devices are equipped with Symbian, but all have Java...

By DarQ

Paragon (1038)

19-12-2004, 12:52

yes, i'd like to see the sources too. but all i can find are the classes instead

By cax

Prophet (3740)

19-12-2004, 15:44

Classes can be easily decompiled, but it may take some time to understand the sources after decompilation (especially if the classes were obfuscated).

By JEZ

Rookie (27)

19-12-2004, 16:16

I've lately been working a bit with CLDC1.1/MIDP2.0 (the J2ME-configuration you will find in the most modern Java phones) and this is not a true subset of Java 2, but of course most things are just the same.

The code will not compile for CLDC/MIDP though without modifications. Perhaps you've already figured this out.

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

20-12-2004, 07:37

It would be cool if someone could pick up that JavaMSX project again. It would be great to have at least PSG emulation added to it after so long... And personally I'd like to see ROM images being able to be loaded in the emulator from other locations (including completely different servers) than the current dir or any of the child dirs.

By dsodol

Supporter (3)

20-12-2004, 08:26

Of course, I've decompiled the classes already ;-)
I think it'd be pretty much simple to convert it to MIDP 2, but to finish it is a different story... It lacks sound and MSX 2 support, and has a few bugs.
I'll try to contact Arnon for some time more, and if I fail, I probably will start on the project hoping that he won't mind. Anyone willing to help are welcome ;-)

By freakazoid

Supporter (6)

25-01-2005, 11:34

Hello people. Ive already decompiled the classes and started the port to J2ME in MIDP 1.0.
It almost done and I just need to finish VideoMemory adaptation (tms).
I didnt contact the creator yet, may be a send him the J2ME version for evaluation.
After finishing port, We'll need a rom loader interface, and PSG implementation for a decent MSX1 emulation. Im afraid that my S55 mobilephone will not work fast enought to have a good emulation rate.
With a stable version and the creator permission, we could open a source forge project to it. What do you think about it?

By cax

Prophet (3740)

25-01-2005, 12:00

Open source project would be nice.

I have some questions regarding J2ME that I think you can answer:

1) I am not profi in J2ME and hardware it's running on, but, let's say, without music and other resource-consuming features, will it run on almost every Java-capable phone ?

Is any phone fast enough for it ? (I already see you are afraid even your phone is not capable... but I am talking about emulation without sound)

2) Will any screen resolution be sufficient ?
And what kind of resizing do you plan for very small screens ?

3) Do you need to make special versions for Siemens/Motorola/Nokia/etc or this will be real portable application ? I saw a number of J2ME games that have (or have no) specific version for every single model of mobile phone.
If I understand correctly, each phone has it's own limitations and additional features in J2ME it runs...

By freakazoid

Supporter (6)

31-01-2005, 11:32

I think that without the sound emulation it'll run well in middle-level cell phones capabilities (2 MB ram, 2 generation hardware, etc...)
Screen resolution to small LCDs is 100x80 pixels, MSX1 works in 256x192 so i think we just need to translate coordinates in the fastest way.
Each j2me implementation has its own specific capabilities to better use of its hardware. We can develop a generic version of the emulator and than make optimized ones for specific devices.
Im trying to finish the port work as soon as possible, And I´ll know if the mobilephone Siemens S55 is capable of a good emulation