Release notes for lxdream 0.9.2 "Slippery Turtle"

===================================================

Lxdream 0.9.2 primarily focuses on improving rendering performance, which is

up to 3x faster than 0.9.1 (depending on hardware and scene details). The

CD-ROM device layer has also been rewritten to provide more flexibility and

introduce some new features. 

Nevertheless this should still be considered an alpha release, with many 

unimplemented features remaining. You're unlikely to see 'perfect' emulation,

and we're nowhere near being bug-compatible (in other words, don't expect your

code to work on the real hardware just because it runs correctly in lxdream).

Note that command-line options for running binary executables have been changed in this

release:

   lxdream -e homebrew.bin

will load and execute the binary directly, while

   lxdream homebrew.bin

will now embed the binary into a bootable disc image, and then boot into the 

disc.

Changes since 0.9.1

-----------------

* Lots of tuning of rendering performance.

* Can now boot and run homebrew discs without requiring the BIOS rom image.

* Automagic wrapping of executable files in disc images.

* New dependency on libisofs

* Minor bugfixes

Known issues

------------

The following are known problems in 0.9 that will be fixed before 1.0 - 

in other words, you don't need to report them - we already know :)

* Graphic artifacts related to translucent triangle intersections, sorting errors 

  and/of lack of depth precision.

* The SH4 emulation is not cycle accurate, and (by default) usually runs

  slower than the real one. This cause some programs to have timing problems

  or to break completely. In some cases this can be worked around by

  adjusting the CPU scaling factor (-m command line option)

* Audio quality generally ranges from poor to horrible, interrupted by the

  occasional bit of fair-to-middling sound. 

System requirements

-------------------

Linux:

   GTK 2.6+

   Current (2008 or later) ATI or NVidia binary OpenGL drivers 

      - If anyone wants to fix the free drivers, lxdream specifically

        requires a working implementation of either the EXT_framebuffer_object

        or GLX_SGIX_pbuffer extensions. 

OS X:

   System 10.5 or later

GCC, Make, etc.

Building

--------

From the base directory

~$ ./configure

~$ make

~$ make install            (optional, GTK only)

Enjoy!

Older History

================

Changes since 0.9

-----------------

* Lots of core performance improvements, especially with the MMU turned on

* VMU support (memory card only)

* GDB remote debugging support

* Quick-save states

* LIRC driver

* Now uses the ~/.lxdream directory (by default) to store runtime data

* Audio + input drivers are now built as plugins

* OSX: fullscreen support, minor UI improvements

Changes since 0.8.4

-------------------

* Improved accuracy + compatibility (many bugfixes)

* Shadow volumes

* Render-to-texture support

* Fogging

* Light-gun support

Changes since 0.8.3

-------------------

* Fullly native Mac OS X support

* Renderer rewrite (fixes perspective correction among other problems)

* ALSA and PulseAudio sound drivers

* Save states now work on x86-64

* New translations: Spanish and Italian

* Lots of miscellaneous bug-fixes and improvements

Changes since 0.8.2

-------------------

* MMU Implementation

* Dreamcast mouse + keyboard support

* Joystick/gamepad support

* Assorted bug-fixes

Changes since 0.8.1

-------------------

* x86-64 architecture support

* Preliminary Mac OS X support

* Pbuffer support (to support OpenGL drivers without EXT_framebuffer_object)

* Support for more recent CDI and NRG image file versions

* Minor bugfixes

Changes since 0.8

-----------------

* Various configure/build fixes for compatibility

* GDI image support

* Minor bugfixes

Changes since Milestone 3

-------------------------

* Speed improvements (translation core now runs at roughly double the speed

  of M3)

* GUI Overhaul - it's actually somewhat usable now. Also removed the gnome

  dependency (now just needs GTK 2.0)

* Sound fixes (aka, some sound actually works now)

* A few minor bugfixes and tweaks.

Changes since Milestone 2

-------------------------

* Implemented the SH4 translation core

* A handful of minor bugfixes

No really, that's it. The good stuff is coming next version, honest

Changes since Milestone 1

-------------------------

* Complete rewrite of nearly all PowerVR2 code - The M1 code was largely a

quick hack to get something running. It's done for real now.

* Initial IO event system (not widely used yet)

* Lots of bugfixes throughout the system