New DS emulator - melonDS

Another working PC emulator was released by StapleButter (aka Luigi), former Desmume developer is out
right now! Here the newest one - melonDS! Still under testing mode with some working games.Information:-melonDS v0.1 is released. melonDS is an open source Nintendo DS(NDS) emulator. melonDS is part of a second wave of DS emulators. There are a few other emulator projects that are part of it, which you might have already heard of. Either way, check them out!melonDS Features:* almost-complete 2D graphics
* 3D graphics (software renderer) with texturing, alphablending, lighting
* input: keyboard and joystick, touchscreen
* backup memory
* booting from the BIOS
* resizable video output window, preserving aspect ratio of individual screensHow to use melonDS requires BIOS/firmware dumps from a DS. You can dump them with the following dumper.
The files must be placed in the same directory as the melonDS executable, as follows:
* bios7.bin -- ARM7 BIOS, 16KB
* bios9.bin -- ARM9 BIOS, 4KB
* firmware.bin -- firmware, 256KB or 512KBNote: the DS-mode firmware in the 3DS isn't bootable. It only contains the bare minimum required to run DS games. Be sure to enable direct game boot when using a firmware dump from a 3DS.Settings Emulation: settings related to emulation. For now it lets you enable direct game boot (directly runs the game instead of going through the firmware).
Input: allows you to configure keyboard and joystick input. You can change a mapping by clicking the corresponding entry, then pressing a keyboard key or joystick button. For now, joystick input uses the first joystick available if multiple joysticks are plugged.Visit here for information and download:- http://melonds.kuribo64.net/Windows 64 bit = http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.1_win64.7z
Linux 64 bit = http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.1_linux64.7z
Source Code (if you are programmer) = https://github.com/StapleButter/melonDSTo Do List (for future version):-

• better 3D engine
• sound
• wifi
• other non-core shit (debugger, graphics viewers, cheat crapo, etc)

More To Do List:-

• sound
• more 3D engine features
• hardware renderer for 3D
• wifi
• maybe emulate flashcarts or other fancy hardware
• 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

Stay tune for future version! I hope this emulator can support better WIFI coming soon! :D

being a opensource project this will have a steady pace in development.
Since Wifi will actually be a thing in this project and now that Nintendo has stopped wifi service for NDS i wonder how will this be supported,and once it gets done im sure users will be interested in this.

Replying to #1

so what are the other projects ?

I don't know about other one than Desmume are primary one. You can ask StapleButter (Luigi) at GBATemp website or his Twitter social website.

You say it's "Better than No$gba and Desmume", But what makes it better than them?

Just try it for yourself! It not better, so better wait in on future version will some more support which similar with No$gba, Desmume and other outdated emulators (Ideas, NeonDS etc). Right now, AR codes will not included yet, WIFI was still under testing mode and so on.

MelonDS is now version 0.3! Change log:-

set POSTFLG when booting games directly, fixes Pokémon games and likely others
• fix bug with cart DMA, booting a game from the firmware should be stable now
• better emulation of cart transfer delays
• better save type heuristics
• support for writing to VCount
• 2D: fix display capture blending modes
• 2D: implement X-flip for bitmap sprites (oops)
• 3D: fix mode3 (vertex) texcoord generation (Eledees no longer looks like your TV decoder broke)
• 3D: fix Z-buffering
• 3D: attempt at fixing culling, works better
• 3D: latch all rendering-related registers upon VBlank
• 3D: delay rendering start a bit, for games that run late
• 3D: optional threaded renderer
• 3D: change renderer to work per-scanline; accurate stencil buffer
• 3D: fix alpha calculation when alphablending is disabled via DISP3DCNT
• 3D: fog and edge marking
• wifi: more functionality emulated, attempt at sending/receiving data
• misc bugfixes and optimizations
• better framerate limiter

Download it here!Windows 64 bit: - http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.3_win64.7z
Linux 64 bit:- http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.3_linux64.7z

I admit that MelonDS is a great NDS emulator for PC, but with the release of DraStic for Android (which actually fully supports touchscreen), I am not sure whether MelonDS will earn the same respect. Nonetheless, it is nice to see that the NDS is not forgotten by us gamers (whereas it is by Nintendo).

not everyone plays games on mobile devices. I for one don't.

Comparing MelonDS with Drastic is way off the mark. They run on 2 very different operating system/platform. Should have made comparison with e.g. DeSmuMe or No$GBA.

Replying to #9

My point is that DraStic runs on an Android smartphone, which emulates the same controls as Nintendo DS since they both support touchscreen. The touchscreen feature makes the Nintendo DS unique compared to other portable consoles (e.g. Nintendo GameBoy Series, Sony PSP, etc). However, very few computers actually support a touchscreen, and given their humongous size relative to the NDS screen, PCs can never truly capture the ineffable beauty of the NDS's exquisite features.Realizing that DraStic can emulate Nintendo DS ROMs at full frame rate even with a 600 Mhz single-core CPU and can support a high internal resolution, there is virtually no point in getting a PC emulator. I am not saying that MelonDS is a bad emulator. The first thing I said is that MelonDS is a great emulator. My point, however, is that when one has the option of playing NDS games with a real touchscreen along with a better internal resolution, why should anyone bother with a PC emulator?Furthermore, I find no point in comparing MelonDS to other DS emulators for PC (or a similar operating system/platform) because the author of this post himself admits that MelonDS does not support as many features as its rival PC emulators such as DeSmuMe. Also, if you note the title of this forum, you will find that it says "New DS emulator - melonDS". Nowhere does the forum title mention a "new DS emulator for PC only".

Dear Loonylion,Sir, I understand that you are the co-administrator of this website, but I would appreciate if you follow basic grammar rules (such as capitalizing the first letter of a sentence and placing punctuations correctly) so that users may understand your helpful advice.Sincerely,
Sahel123 (TruthSeeker)

Replying to #11

Somebody is either high as dope or is itching for a smackin'

Replying to #12

There is no fear in sharing the truth for the benefit of all; I would not have said this if I did not have understood him. By the way, your use of oxymorons is quite awkward, and your use of slang hinders others from fully comprehending your thoughts. Please follow basic grammar rules and netiquette. Peace be with you.

melonDS version 0.4 was updated!!! Change Log!

• implement access modes for certain IO registers that were unhandled
• actually implement RCNT instead of hardcoding it
• wifi: emulation of multiplayer cmd/reply/ack transfers
• wifi: more accurate RFSTATUS/RFPINS
• wifi: some games can go into multiplayer now (Pictochat, NSMB, Pokémon known working)
• improved savemem detect heuristic
• implement firmware write, fix SPI bugs
• accurate emulation of 'main memory display FIFO'
• 2D: fix render/capture order
• 2D: implement mode6 large BG
• 2D: fix bitmap BG sizes
• 2D: fix rotscaled bitmap sprites
• 3D: fix missing term in MatrixTranslate
• 3D: fix toon highlight mode
• 3D: fix boxtest bug
• 3D: accurate viewport transform
• 3D: polygon Y-sorting
• 3D: more accurate interpolation, still not perfect
• 3D: more accurate Z and W transforms, fix some cases of Z-fighting
• 3D: separate polygonID attributes for opaque and translucent pixels
• 3D: start documenting and implementing depth test edge cases
• emulate delays for SPI transfers and div/sqrt
• misc bugfixes/additions as usual

Visit here for informations! http://melonds.kuribo64.net/Download it here!Windows 64 bit => http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.4_win64.7z
Linux 64 bit => http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads/melonDS_0.4_linux64.7zEnjoy the games with... WIFI support!!!! :D If you're feeling generous, visit here!https://www.patreon.com/staplebutter

Cahos Rahne Veloza · #12Somebody is either high as dope or is itching for a smackin'

LOL, dude, what movie is that from?

Someone play Pokemon with trading between versions on 2 PC's!!!That's was AWESOME!!!

melonDS 0.5 is out!This release finally brings a UI that doesn't suck. Oh and antialiasing.There hasn't been a lot of changes due to real life issues (and being oh so efficient with UI coding).The full changelog is below.

• new UI, more stable, less windows all over the place
• wxWidgets ditched, lost some weight
• 2D: allow reading BLDALPHA
• GPU: fix potential issues with VCount write
• implement 8bit accesses to some registers
• 2D: mosaic (not quite right for rotscaled sprites)
• 3D: fix culling
• allow 128KB firmwares from DSi/3DS
• 3D: more accurate fog
• 3D: more accurate polygon edges (but not perfect)
• 3D: antialiasing
• 3D: misc optimizations

pile of copypasta How to usemelonDS requires BIOS/firmware dumps from a DS. You can dump them with the following dumper.The files must be placed in the same directory as the melonDS executable, as follows:* bios7.bin -- ARM7 BIOS, 16KB
* bios9.bin -- ARM9 BIOS, 4KB
* firmware.bin -- firmware, 128KB, 256KB or 512KBNote: the DS-mode firmware in the 3DS isn't bootable. It only contains the bare minimum required to run DS games. Be sure to enable direct game boot when using a firmware dump from a 3DS.SettingsEmulation: settings related to emulation. For now it lets you enable direct game boot (directly runs the game instead of going through the firmware) and the threaded 3D renderer.There's also a wifi-related setting (which only ended up there because I'm lazy and I need to redo the UI). You should try toggling it if you have trouble getting multiplayer working.Input: allows you to configure keyboard and joystick input. You can change a mapping by clicking the corresponding entry, then pressing a keyboard key or joystick button. For now, joystick input uses the first joystick available if multiple joysticks are plugged.If your game fails to saveCheck the size of the savefile. melonDS can, in some circumstances, misdetect the save memory type.Save memory type detection is done only when no existing savefile is present.If you provide an existing savefile with the correct size, melonDS will use the correct save memory type and saving should work properly.Downloads* Windows 64-bit
* Linux 64-bitIf you feel generousmelonDS PatreonHave fun!

melonDS 0.6b is out!This release brings a long-due sound fix and fancypants display modes.The full changelog is below.

• don't fail completely if SDL haptic init fails (bentley)
• fail gracefully when ROM loading fails
• support Unicode filenames under Windows
• FPS counter is back (sorry!)
• allow Windows file picker to navigate through shortcuts (instead of trying to load the shortcut as a ROM)
• screen layout/sizing/scaling modes, screen gap, rotation
• toggle for screen linear filtering
• add support for 8bit GXSTAT accesses
• reset IE/IF properly
• fix sound capture/playback for things like surround

pile of copypasta
How to usemelonDS requires BIOS/firmware dumps from a DS. You can dump them with the following dumper.The files must be placed in the same directory as the melonDS executable, as follows:* bios7.bin -- ARM7 BIOS, 16KB
* bios9.bin -- ARM9 BIOS, 4KB
* firmware.bin -- firmware, 128KB, 256KB or 512KBNote: the DS-mode firmware in the 3DS isn't bootable. It only contains the bare minimum required to run DS games. Be sure to enable direct game boot when using a firmware dump from a 3DS.SettingsEmulation: settings related to emulation. For now it lets you enable direct game boot (directly runs the game instead of going through the firmware) and the threaded 3D renderer.There's also a wifi-related setting (which only ended up there because I'm lazy and I need to redo the UI). You should try toggling it if you have trouble getting multiplayer working.Input: allows you to configure keyboard and joystick input. You can change a mapping by clicking the corresponding entry, then pressing a keyboard key or joystick button. For now, joystick input uses the first joystick available if multiple joysticks are plugged.Screen rotation: lets you rotate the screens, for games that ask you to hold your DS sideways.Screen gap: sets a gap between the screens.Screen layout: natural (screens always stacked on top of eachother), vertical (screens always laid out vertically), horizontal (always laid out horizontally).Screen sizing: even (both screens get the same size), emphasize top (bottom screen is kept at native resolution), emphasize bottom, auto (tries to determine which screen to emphasize)Screen filtering: enables linear filtering when the screens are scaled.If your game fails to saveCheck the size of the savefile. melonDS can, in some circumstances, misdetect the save memory type.Save memory type detection is done only when no existing savefile is present.If you provide an existing savefile with the correct size, melonDS will use the correct save memory type and saving should work properly.Downloads0.6b (fixed some bugs)* Windows 64-bit
* Linux 64-bit0.6 (original release)* Windows 64-bit
* Linux 64-bitIf you feel generousmelonDS PatreonHave fun! :cool:

MelonDS version 0.7 was released! See website here for change log including downloads!https://gbatemp.net/threads/melonds-0-7-released.521888/

Version 0.7.1 was updated! Visit here for download!http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php