VirtualA5000 and OS_Byte 19

[David1664]

Does VirtualA5000 support/emulate OS_Byte 19 (wait for VSync)?It's a pity that RPCEmu doesn't seem to (Arculator certainly does), otherwise I'd carry on using that. If I'm mistaken here then please do correct me.

EDIT: I was wrong about RPCEmu not emulating OS_Byte 19! I'm not sure how I came to that conclusion. Embarrassed.

I'm thinking of buying VirtualA5000 as it's going for only £15, but only if OS_Byte 19 (or equivalently WAIT in BASIC) works as expected.

Can anyone say how closely the speed of VirtualA5000 matches that of a real A5000?

Thank you.


David.
--

http://www.proggies.uk

[steve3000]

Hi David,
What is wrong with the current OS_Byte 19 emulation, when you say it's not as expected?

Have you tried RedSquirrel's A5000 emulation? I still use this occasionally when other emulators don't cope correctly, but I can't comment on its Vsync emulation (only that its VIDC emulation is definitely not as good as Arculator, but even Arculator isn't perfect).

I suggest RedSquirrel because Virtual A5000 was the commercial version of RedSquirrel as I recall, just with various additions (such as improved performance, floppy disc support, printing and possibly networking?). But it was written quite a while ago, for Windows Xp I think, so I'm not sure if Virtual A5000 or many/any of the extras work under modern windows versions?

Steve

[sirbod]

I tested most emulators for gaming compatibility, Arculator and Red Squirrel are the only two worth using.

Since I did the tests, Arculator has had some major source code updates, particularly around CPU instruction timing and JFD support, but isn't yet available as a binary download. It still suffers from the issues I've noted in the testing.

[David1664]

What is wrong with the current OS_Byte 19 emulation, when you say it's not as expected?

RPCEmu's OS_Byte 19 emulation works fine, and I was mistaken to state otherwise. A bit embarrassing really as I use RPCEmu quite a lot...

Have you tried RedSquirrel's A5000 emulation?

Many years ago, yes. I started writing a slightly wacky Frogger clone with it

I might have another play with RedSquirrel (if I can find it), but in the meantime I'll stick with Arculator and RPCEmu, and save myself the £15 I was going to fork out for VirtualA5000.

Jon: Thanks for your comment, and I enjoyed reading your assessment of the available Arc/RPC emulators.


David.
--

http://www.proggies.uk