Le FAQ De Snes9x

Wassail,
This is the much anticipated and highly informative Frequently Asked Questions a
rticle,
which contains, believe it or not, Frequently Asked Questions! This time around
we have
also included Frequently Answered Answers! I shall be your host on this gleeful
sojourn
through a text document where anything can, but probably won't, happen. On our f
irst
section of this mystical journey you shall see various frequently asked question
s, as
well as their answers!
Amendments:
By popular demand the FAQ is now sorted in some form of coherent order, and has
little
liney things, which are supposedly neat.
The majority of the things in this FAQ are based off the Windows port of Snes9x.
While some
of the information is relevant to most, or all, ports, no gaurantees are made th
at what is
said will be accurate for all versions. Note that there is a section for the var
ious official
ports in chapter 4.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 1:
Emulator Specific Questions
Or
It's Not The Size Of An Emulator That Counts; It's How You Use It.
Q: When is the next version (of Snes9x) coming out?
A: Chances are it will be coming out when enough changes have been made to sui
tably
make a release. You can generally guesstimate the release date by paying attent
ion to
the Developers forum at snes9x.com.
Q: Why do my games run too fast?
A: Through proper nutrition and training an increase in abilities is often fou
nd. It is
possible that certain ROMs, whilst training for the annual Rohm race, surpassed
a sane
limit. Generally not allowing them to run will cause atrophy, making them somew
hat
slower. Seriously though, try using the + and/or - keys to adjust the emulated s
peed. If
you are feeling lucky, you might also wish to try holding down Shift, and pressi
ng the +
and/or - keys. In the display settings make sure the "Use Frame Limiter" and "Au
tomatic
Frame Skipping" boxes are checked.
Q: Why doesn't Snes9x support transparencies?
 A: It does! Make sure the "Transparency" box is checked in the settings menu.
Q: I recently purchased a game pad controller. Will it work on Snes9x?
A: More than likely yes. Any USB compatable controller will work. Generally th
is
means any controller made within the past 7 years or so. If you are having probl
ems
consider updating drivers and recalibrating your controller.
Q: In Snes9x my game pad is having trouble inputting any diagonal directions on
the D-Pad.
How can I fix this?
A: While setting up your controller functions in Snes9x, make sure you do not
setup the
diagonal buttons; leave them blank. Ye olde Snes only had 4 buttons on the D-Pad
: Up, down,
left and right. By pressing two directions you would go in the appropriate diago
nal direction
(game specific, of course). If you have accidently set a value in the diagonal
boxes already
either select them one at a time and hit "Escape", or press the "toggle diagonal
s" button.
Q: Soooooooo... Why the heck do you have diagonals in the controller setup anywa
y?
A: Simple really. Some people enjoy using the keyboard, or have no other choic
e.
In the next chapter the topic of keyboard input limitations will be addressed; B
eing able to
input the diagonals can help hinder that occurrence. It can also make keyboard u
sage a bit easier...
assigning the directional controls to the number pad for instance.
Q: I gotsid me a translation patch (.ips) for my game. Now what do I do so I can
use it?
A: Make sure both your ROM image and .ips file are in the same folder and mak
e sure
they have the exact same name (minus file extensions, of course). As an example
"Pie.smc"
should have "Pie.ips" and "Super_Pie3(E).smc" should have "Super_Pie3(E).ips". N
ow open up
Snes9x, load your ROM and voila! It should be noted that IPS patches are almost
always designed
for use with a specific dump of a ROM. If you are positive you are using it corr
ectly, but it
still does not work, consider trying a ROM from a different source.
Q: I had a bad checksummed game that didn't work so I adjusted the header, but i
t still
doesn't work :( Why?
A: It should be noted that while it is possible to plop a ROM into Snestool, o
r several other
programs, and adjust the header size to be the same as a proper "good checksum"
ROM,this merely
mimics the appearance of a good ROM. Any problems still found within its evil w
ill remain.
One could compare it to covering up a circumorbital haematoma with a paper bag.
Q: I have heard a lot about the Snes9x restore trick. What is it and how do I do
it?
 A: The Snes9x restore trick is a way to reset the windows registry settings th
at contain the program
information. Handy uses for this include:
Resetting display options in case you accidenlty selected OpenGL without having
a compatable graphics card
Clearing the recent games list in case you are 12 and decided to load "Adult Man
ge 2.smc"
Fixing various anomalous occurences (perma-minimize, menu tree not appearing, et
c.)
Obviously this isn't the be all and end all to problem-solving, but it seems to
be rather effective for rare
bugs not related to incorrect usage or unreliable ROMs. In anycase, you shall n
ow learn how to initiate
the Snes9x default settings:
-Press the start button and hit "Run..."
-Type the directory of the Snes9x program into the bar (as in c:\Snes9x\snes9x.e
xe, not www.snes9x.com)
-Add quotations to the front and end. ("C:\Snes9x\snes9x.exe")
-After the second quotation type " -restore" (though without the quotations this
time)
If done right you should see ["C:\Snes9x\snes9x.exe" -restore]
-Hit enter and Snes9x should start, with it's settings clear. Then just close he
r and they should save.
note: As stated, the directory of the program will change depending on where you
have it.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2:
Game Specific Questions
Or
How I learned To Stop Worrying And Love The ROM
Q: What's da dilly-o wit' dem Graphics packs, foo?
A: Some games contain processors that are difficult to completely emulate due
to their
compression schemes. Through various means something called a "graphics pack" ha
s been
created that will allow you to view the graphics in these games despite the comp
ression.
Most graphic packs are rather large in file size, since they contain all the unc
ompressed
graphics in a game. The games that require graphics packs are:
Far East of Eden Zero (J)
Far East of Eden Zero: Shounen Jump No Shou (J)
Momatarou Dentetsu Happy (J)
Super Power League 4 (J)
After many hours of work one of the two aformentioned chips has been emulated mo
re efficiently.
SNES games using the "S-DD1" chip can now run without a graphics pack. While the
re are some pros
and cons to either choice, I recommend not using a graphics pack as they are lar
ge and may not
be complete. It can be much slower without one, however, should yOu feel speed
is more important
than accuracy. The exact ROMs that can now run without graphics packs are:
Star Ocean (J)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (E)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (U)
Street Fighter Zero 2 (J)
Q: Why doesn't game X work?
A: There are three possible answers to this question, depending on the scenari
o. Answer
one is that it does work, but your ROM dump is incorrect (this MAY be fixed by r
eattaching
your cartridge to your copier and redumping). Answer two is that we have found a
solution
to the problem, but have not yet implemented a fix. Answer three, a subsidiary
of answer two,
is that we do NOT know what is wrong with it, and as such have not yet implement
ed a fix.
Q: Why doesn't Snes9x display SD3/Secret of Mana/other hi-res games properly?
A: Some games had resolution changes at certain parts during the game that aff
ect the pixel
size of what is shown on screen. Due to the way this is handled some games requ
ire specific
options to keep "right". First, make sure that Hi-res support is selected in th
e option menus,
That option can slow down performance on slower machines, which is why it may be
off by default.
Second, it is recommended your filter option is set to "normal," as oppossed to
"none." Some of
the other filtering modes may work without problems, but I have not tested them
to be sure.
Note: In the event the "hi-res" option is greyed out, make sure your display res
olution is at
least 512 x 480.
Q: Why can't I press many buttons at once? (Like in that Chrono Trigger game...
Communist Arris Dome)
A: Most standard keyboards (There are a few exceptions, though only a few) ca
n only
output so much data to the compter at a time. As such your computer is often una
ble to
carry-out the instructions you have given it. There are solutions abound, of cou
rse,
and here they are now: Lovely recommendation one is to rearrange the keymapping
in Snes9x
so that all the necessary buttons are on a single keystroke... That way you can
press 1 key
and have it do all the actions. The draw back to this is that if you set "a" to
jump
and shoot you will be unable to jump without shooting, or shoot without jumping,
until
you change it back. The super sexy recommendation number 2 is to set the ctrl an
d alt
keys to some of the necessary buttons. The draw back to this is that often these
buttons
can cause problems if used in tandum with other keys, due to Windows shortcuts.
You may,
for instance, be using alt to jump and while in midair hit f4 to load a savestat
e...
That will close the program, which is bad. Finally, and the method I personally
recommend,
is to purchase a gamepad. The draw backs to this are that it requires time and m
oney.
Q: I'm all like "Hey, Yoshi's Island" and it's all like "error" and I'm all like
"Ooooh, no
Yoshi's Island" but my friend is like "Yay, Yoshi's Island." Why?
A: Try selecting "mode 2" from the interleave dropdown box in the "open" menu
before
loading said ROM Image.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 3:
All About Netplay
Or
More Slow Than A Quadriplegic Ninja Turtle, But Only Half As Entertaining

NOTE: AS OF THIS DATE NETPLAY FUNCTIONS ARE (TEMPORARILY) DISABLED, SO THE FOLLO
WING
SECTION CAN BE SKIPPED. SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE, THOUGH AS THE NAME OF THE C
HAPTER
SUGGESTS, PERHAPS YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH.
Q: Snes9x netplay sucks, can I make it better?
A: Yes, yes you can! Snes9x is open source so all you need to make netplay bet
ter is
advanced programming knowledge and a will to improve upon the Snes9x code. At pr
esent
time Snes9x is more for LANplay, best used in a small network of local computers
. I
recommend Zsnes (www.zsnes.com) and zbattle (www.zbattle.net) for your random ch
aotic
netplay needs.
Q: I am using a Windows port of Snes9x. My friend is using a Mac. Can we netplay
?
A: Yes... Just not with each other. Snes9x, at this time, does not support cro
ss-platform
netplay. Or good netplay.
Q: Yea who don know dat but when i do what do afta y find som1
(now that I have someone to play with, what do I do?)
A: An excellent... ...question. I couldn't have worded it better myself. Despi
te my
sarcasm however I must cringe at the fact I can actually understand it enough to
answer.
The answer depends on if you are acting as the server/host or the client. If you
are the
host you must first find your IP Address and give it to the person you intend to
play online
with. Next open Snes9x, load the ROM you wish to netplay, and then from the netp
lay menu,
select "Act as server." Then you wait until the client connects... Now, if you a
re the client,
first receive the IP address from the host, open Snes9x, and open the ROM you wi
sh to netplay.
Select "connect to server" from the netplay menu, and fill out the necessary inf
ormation.
Server address should contain the IP Address of the host. After that is done cli
ck "Connect."
Assuming both parties have done their role correctly, a netplay match should soo
n start.
Q: How do I chat with my partner during netplay?
A: I personally recommend yelling really loudly, but the telephone is also a s
omewhat
plausible answer I suppose. Seriously.
Q: Can I play with more than 2 players?
A: Indeed you can. Basically the same steps to starting a multiplayer game ap
ply, however
there are a few important differences. Obviously the game you wish to multiplay
in must support
three or more players. I may add a list of these games at a later date. Now the
n, make sure that
you, as well as everyone intending to play, has selected the "enable multitap 5"
option from the
input menu. If you don't do this it just won't work.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 4:
Mac, And Linux Specific Questions
Or
Don't Buy Into The Paneful Propaganda
Q: My buddy, whose soul has been lost to M$, says he can run games like Doom and
Starfox2, but Snes9x on my Mac has all sorts of problems when running them. What
I
do?
A: The PC version of Snes9x partially uses x86 asm code in place of the C code
used on
the Mac, which might cause a difference in compatibility. As of now I believe bo
th ports can
all run the same things. If you find one that runs on the PC version, but not th
e MAC please
let us know.
Q: On my Mac the damnable games refuse to do anything, even though I'm pressing
keys. Why?
A: This problem is caused by a bug found within OSX 10.2.x. In this bug the au
thentication
dialog turns off GetKeys() (the function that reads keyboard state) when a user
enters his
password, and doesn't turn it back on. This bug has been fixed in 10.3.x.
Q: On my Mac everything is fine when I play the game, however the next time I pl
ay, my save data
is not there. Why?
A: First, check to see if the .SRM file is still on your hard drive. If it is
then make sure
you have set where Snes9x checks for files in the "file" tab, in the preferences
section. If the
.SRM cannot be found then most likely you are trying to save files into a locked
volume, such as
a cd drive, or read-only folder. This will fail. Check the file saving preferenc
es and adjust where
the files are saving.
Q: Can I change the keybindings on Linux?
A: From what I've been told the keymap is hardcoded to the source, making cha
nging them rather
difficult. The only way to change them, for now, would be to edit and recompile
the source, which
from what I've been told isn't something everyone can do.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 5:
Miscellaneous Questions
Or
Q-Bert Is My Only Friend
Q: Is it legal?!
A: This has been asked time and again, and the answer is yes. Developing,
downloading, or using the emulator, Snes9x, is completely legal. Downloading ga
mes,
called ROMS, however is not. If you own the original cartridge of a game, you a
re still
not entitled to download the ROM image of that game. You may create a single bac
kup
image of your own cartridge via proper hardware, but it must be YOUR cartridge a
nd is
only usable in place of the original... so only one may be active at any time. M
any sites
claim that you may legally download ROMs for up to 24 hours before they must be
deleted. This is also wrong; you can't legally download these for "trial" purpos
es. You
can't download ROMs for educational purposes either. If you wish to use Super Ni
ntendo
Entertainment System games for educational purposes, contact your closest Ninten
do
Outlet and discuss educational programming with them. Finally, a small number o
f
ROMs are labeled "(PD)". This means public domain, and these games are not under
copyright. As such they are legal to download at your hearts content. These incl
ude
programs created by internet users such as yourself for use in Super Nintendo em
ulators.
As of this time there are no commercial videogames in the public domain.
Q: My friend, Tibby, says that you are wrong and that game companies don't care
if you
download games!
A: Whilst not actually a question, and more of a statement, I am afraid Tibby
is
incorrect. Feel free to peruse the various legal documentation sprawled through
out the
World Wide Web or your local constituency. As for the blatant generalization tha
t
companies do not care; At least one does, and truthfully many more do as well, a
s such
the statement is obviously a fallacy. For those who think it is not fair, or sh
ouldn't be the
way it is... perhaps not, though as holders of a copyright it is up to Nintendo
to decide
how and when their products are distributed.
Q: I just purchased your fine program off eBay for $19.89, but my friend says I
can
download it for free. Can you guys give me my money back?
A: Okay, this question hasn't actually been asked, however our free downloadab
le
program does seem to get sold on eBay more often than it should, which is to say
at all.
We cannot reimburse anyone who was unlucky enough to be scammed into purchasing
Snes9x, just as McDonalds cannot reimburse you if you purchased 100 Happy Meals
from a random stranger and he gave you a frozen fish. If you find yourself in th
is
situation... Purchasing Snes9x, not frozen fish... Please take the time to infor
m eBay via
their heavily disguised investigations department, and leave any negative feedba
ck that
you wish. It would also be appreciated by the Snes9x team if you could mention
where
and when this happened so that we can take measures to stop it from happening ag
ain.
While the fact we aren't making money from the program in no way bothers us (It
is
freeware after all), that some grubby bastards are does.
Q: So err, where exactly do I contact y'all, eh?
A: The most convenient way to contact us would be via www.snes9x.com. There i
s a
forum that is checked at least 12 times a day by regulars, and at least a few of
us can
actually give some advice. E-mail is also a possibility, though it is much slow
er, and
you'll hafta find the e-mail addresses on your own. Be sure to read the FAQ and
Read me
before posting, as things already answered many a time will probably result in r
andom
insults or heavy sarcasm.

________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 6:
The Conclusion
Or
That Block Of Words And Various Punctuation Symbols At The End Of The Document
That Isn't
Totally Dissimilar To Something That May, Or May Not, Be Considered A Conclusi
on Given The
Contents Held Within The Paragraph(s) It Contains
I hope you enjoyed this jaunt through the magical land of FAQs. Much has been sa
id but,
obviously, there is still room to grow and expand. Should you feel you have a qu
estion worthy
of this vast tome of knowledge please leave it in the "board feedback" section o
f the Snes9x Forum.
I have been your host and shall return again next time with an even greater FAQ.
I would like to take the time to thank the vast plethora of people who have help
ed me conjur this
machination of goodness. However, in the annals of time I have probably forgotte
n many of those
who have given me advice, defintions, technologial information and cookies. It w
ould be unfair
to only mention the small portion of names I remember from an excessivley long a
nd ever-expanding
list - As such, I won't.
- Gogo
~ Remember to visit our irc channel at #snes9x @ afternet.org to meet some of th
e programmers
and regulars, live. There you can discuss all sorts of fun topics.
Just remember: The rules of the forum apply, so we won't give you ROMs... damnab
le socialists!