ACE CPC Emulator, only Amiga makes it possible?

[OffseT]

Ok guys. Since Push'n'Pop died, I finally created an account here to post news about ACE.
I know that you are mainly about PeeCee and that ACE is not really your cup of tea, but I need to post news somewhere.

So, ACE 1.12 is finally released after being delayed for quite a long time.

This new version fixes some issues in CRTC emulation (mostly on CRTC 0/2 since CRTC 1/3/4 are already almost perfect  ). It also extends the plugins API and comes with new plugins for mice and joysticks.

More details about ACE on the dedicated web page.


http://ace.cpcscene.net

[CraigsBar]

Will definitely be grabbing this tomorrow. Thanks @OffseT


Edit: Downloaded and installed... Ever better, this is without doubt the best Amstrad Emulator on any platform.


I'd love to see Arnold for OSX match this, and I am sure it will get there. but right now it's not there yet.


Thanks @OffseT and keep up the good work @arnoldemu

[roudoudou]

I know that you are mainly about PeeCee and that ACE is not really your cup of tea, but I need to post news somewhere.

Maybe you see the following post from Kevin about acid testing: amstrad cpc "acid" test
amstrad cpc "acid" test


It would be nice to share all limit cases you told me about 

[arnoldemu]

@OffseT: Yes I hope I already tested some of these limit cases but if there are some I missed please tell me about them and I will add a test.
I can tell you if the limit case is already tested and the name of the program to run to see it.
I have tested a lot of things but I have probably missed something.

All the tests I made and published have been run on the following setups: GX4000, 464Plus, 6128Plus, 464 (type 0, tall keys), 464 (type 4), 6128 type 0, 6128 type 1, 6128 type 2, KC Compact.
+ I also tested some hardware devices I have: X-MASS, X-MEM, PlayCity, Symbiface 2, Amram 2, Dobbertin ROM board.

Ace has always been the emulator which people say is the best because of it's higher accuracy and compatibility. I can't run it myself but I have asked Craig to run some tests

The name "acid" tests comes from the html acid test. e.g. http://acid3.acidtests.org/
It means to thoroughly test features. In our case to thoroughly test the hardware of cpc and plus so that the accuracy of emulators can be confirmed and to highlight and show limits and features of our machines so that they can be used (or worked around) in demos and games

[OffseT]

Ok. I didn't know about this acid test (I don't read forums very often).
I'll run it and I'll fix what might be wrong in ACE asap!


That's a very good idea to try to gather this kind of tests. I'll let you know if I have some additional stuff I could provide you
(I guess Roudoudou was thinking about some timing tests for I/O ASIC register page).

I don't know if ACE is that accurate. Well, at least for me it is not accurate enough.
Anyway, last time I checked Arnold and WinAPE, ACE was better at almost every stage.
(I cannot check on a regular base because I don't have any PC at home)

Now, the good news is that Arnold and WinAPE are still being improved, and that some other good emulators are on the way for PC users.

[TFM]

Welcome OffseT, nice to read from you again. 

[arnoldemu]

Now, the good news is that Arnold and WinAPE are still being improved, and that some other good emulators are on the way for PC users.

Arnold's accuracy has improved a lot but It doesn't pass the tests 100%.


Feel free to ask questions about the tests. Please put the questions in the thread about them

[Gryzor]

Glad to see some news - the more, the merrier. Even though I still have a MorphOS machine on my to-do list...

[Skunkfish]

Can MorphOS run on WinUAE? I believe it's possible to run AmigaOS4 now?

[roudoudou]

Morphos is not a free software 

[OffseT]

MorphOS is a commercial operating system and cannot be run emulated.
Anyway, it is free to download and install on any supported machine (the trial version is limited to 30 minutes sessions).


The goal of ACE never was to be widely spread; I just wanted a proper the best CPC emulator on the machine I have at home.
On PC you already have Arnold and WinAPE which are good and still being improved.

[CraigsBar]

MorphOS is a commercial operating system and cannot be run emulated.
Anyway, it is free to download and install on any supported machine (the trial version is limited to 30 minutes sessions).


The goal of ACE never was to be widely spread; I just wanted a proper the best CPC emulator on the machine I have at home.
On PC you already have Arnold and WinAPE which are good and still being improved.

ACE is in my opinion the best emulator on *any* platform. It's a shame I am probably the only one who gets to appreciate it. Thanks for your continued work on ACE it is awesome.

[TFM]

On PC you already have Arnold and WinAPE which are good and still being improved.

You forget JavaCPC, which is in few ways more precise than all other emulators. 

[OffseT]

ACE is in my opinion the best emulator on *any* platform. It's a shame I am probably the only one who gets to appreciate it. Thanks for your continued work on ACE it is awesome.

Thank you very much!
Anyway, there are more users than you think!

You forget JavaCPC, which is in few ways more precise than all other emulators. 

Sorry, I don't know much about PeeCee.

[TFM]

Sorry, I don't know much about PeeCee.

Yeah, they're not that important anyways. 

[Skunkfish]

Planning an emulator round-up for issue 2 of my fanzine, I'm assuming a Mac Mini G4 and trial MorphOS is the cheapest way to get thus emu up and running?

[CraigsBar]

Planning an emulator round-up for issue 2 of my fanzine, I'm assuming a Mac Mini G4 and trial MorphOS is the cheapest way to get thus emu up and running?

Yep, sure is. It's best if you get a g4 "silent upgrade" Mac mini. But the 1.42ghz is OK too.

[OffseT]

ACE 1.13 is available.
This version comes with numerous small improvements related to usage for crossdev (thanks Krusty for the advices).
 
It also fixes several small bugs (mainly in MUI code) and introduces some minor improvements in the emulation engine (thanks to Kevin Thacker test suite). Finally, it also includes internal reworks to improve portability and 64-bits support.
http://ace.cpcscene.net/fr:downloads

[CraigsBar]

I've been playing with my vampire 600 v2 recently so have not tried thus new release yet. But I guess it will be awesome

[CraigsBar]

Played with this latest release in preparation for the Amiga event in 3 weeks time. All working beautifully.

[OffseT]

Hey there!

Just a few words to let you know that ACE 1.14 is released.
A lot of improvements, including CRTC 0 now as good as CRTC 1/3/4, reworked GUI, updated German translation, new icons, new features...

More details about ACE on the dedicated web page.
http://ace.cpcscene.net

Still for MorphOS only, but internals were also improved to ease a future AmigaOS port.

[OffseT]

Hi there!

ACE 1.15 is released.
A lot of improvements, including real time video recording, extensive symbols handling, clipboard support and a bunch of new stuff...

More details about ACE on the dedicated web page.
http://ace.cpcscene.net

Still for MorphOS only, sorry guys!

[DanyPPC]

I own a MacMini G4 with dual OS (MacOS/MorphOS) installed, and i think ACE is the best Amstrad CPC/CPC+ emulator i have tested and used on an Amiga compatible platform.


Great work ! 

[Skunkfish]

Planning to pick up a PowerPC Mac Mini this week and looking forward to trying out this emulator finally!

[OffseT]

Additionally, I published the source code of a small tool which can be used to convert ACE video recordings (AREC files) and then encode them (thru ffmpeg) in your preferred format.


Here it is: ace-arec2raw


It is the POSIX compatible version of the tool already provided for MorphOS with ACE. The goal is mainly to be able to use a big fat PeeCee to do the durty encoding job instead of injuring your little MorphOS machine.