This update mostly affects the standalone frontend, but a couple of them also apply to the libretro core.
Keyboard Rebinding
One shortcoming of the standalone frontend is that it lacks keyboard rebinding: the W, A, S, and D keys will always control the Control Pad’s D-Pad, and so on.
But not anymore!
New to the frontend is full keyboard rebinding! In addition, the default key bindings have been switched to the more common arrow keys and Z/X/C keys combination.
Unlike some other emulators, this system allows the user to bind multiple keys to the same action: for instance, if the user wanted to bind both the ‘Z’ key and the ‘space’ key to the Control Pad’s ‘A’ button, then they can do so!
It would be pretty frustrating for binding customisations to be lost whenever the program is closed, so support has been added for persistent configuration: settings are saved to a file called ‘clownmdemu-frontend.ini’, allowing settings such as the keyboard bindings, console region, and V-sync to be remembered by the emulator.
Options Menu
Previously, the options would all be managed through the menu bar, but this is quite clunky as the menu bar would close after each option is toggled. To improve the user experience, the options have now been moved to a dedicated menu:
This menu provides a much more intuitive way to change options! Additionally, each option shows a tooltip when hovered over with the mouse, allowing unfamiliar users to understand what they do!
Default Window Sizes
Another improvement to the user experience is that windows are now given a sane default size, meaning that they will now have a proper size when opened for the first time.
Recent Software
Opening the same ROM file over and over again is tedious, so now the emulator keeps a list of the 10 most recent files used:
FM and PSG Debugging Toggles
The standalone frontend has had the ability to disable individual VDP planes for ages, but now it can also toggle FM and PSG channels. A dedicated menu has been added for this:
This feature is also available in the libretro core:
PSG Debugger Overhaul
The PSG debugging menu was butt-ugly before, and has been given a makeover:
Support for Alternate PAL Detection Method
Previously, when playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with the emulated Mega Drive in PAL mode, the music would play at a slightly slower speed, just like it does in the first game. This shouldn’t happen.
The reason that this was occurring was that the game relies on an alternative method of detecting the PAL video mode: by checking bit 0 of the VDP’s control port. This bit should reflect whether PAL mode is enabled or not. Now that this is the case, the game properly detects and accounts for the speed difference in its music, allowing it to play at the proper speed.
Closing
User-friendliness has been a focus of this update, so hopefully this will make the standalone frontend much more accessible to new users!
v0.3 of the standalone frontend can be downloaded here: https://github.com/Clownacy/clownmdemu-frontend/releases/tag/v0.3
v0.1.1 of the libretro core can be downloaded here: https://github.com/Clownacy/clownmdemu-libretro/releases/tag/v0.1.1
Clownacy's Corner 