nullDC

From Sega Retro

Video game console emulator

NullDC.png
nullDC
System(s): Sega Dreamcast, arcade (NAOMI)
OS: Windows
Developer: drk||Raziel (a.k.a. Stefanos Kornilios Mitsis Poiitidis), ZeZu
Programmed in: C++
Last release date: (12 years ago)
Last version: 1.0.4 r136

nullDC is an open source Sega Dreamcast and NAOMI emulator for Windows, developed by drk||Raziel (currently under the nickname skmp) and ZeZu. It was released under the MIT license.

nullDC requires DirectX 9.0c, Visual C++ runtime libraries and optionally WinPcap for modem emulation. BIOS files are also needed. It has a plugin architecture, with several alternative implementations (some ported from Chankast) for graphics, sound, reading games burned to CD-ROMs (it cannot read GD-ROMs directly) or disk image files, memory cards, etc.

The developers went on to produce a follow-up emulator, Reicast, for Android.

History

The emulator was first announced on February 19, 2006.

On August 25, 2006 the first screenshots were released, the authors were revealed to be ZeZu (programmer of Icarus, a Dreamcast emulator which was never released) and drk||Raziel, it was explained that the emulator would aim at compatibility more than speed, and would use a plugin structure to allow other authors to contribute.

The first version (v1.0.0 BETA) was released on April 1, 2007, and proved itself to be the Dreamcast emulator with the highest compatibility to date.

The second version (beta 1.5) was released on November 4, 2007. It added support for game pads, but the sound did not work and had other bugs (in the author's words, it was "crashy, buggy, shitty").

A third version (beta 1.6) was released after few days, on November 7, 2007. This version included a new audio plugin and several bug fixes.

A new plugin and video shader for nullDC were released on January 10, 2008, to fix some display bugs and add the support for stereoscopy as per the specifics of the NVIDIA stereo 3D drivers.

Version 1.0.3 was released on August 20, 2008, nine months after the last beta 1.6 and bringing speed improvements, bugfixes and new features like the fog effect emulation, support for Dreamcast VMU and experimental DSP sound effects added to nullAICA plugin. The release is the first introducing NAOMI arcade system emulation with a separate version of the emulator. Gamepad support has been temporarily removed in this version, but it will be included in later versions.

Version 1.0.4 r22 was released May 9, 2010, coinciding with drk||raziel's discontinuation with the project.[2] He also made the source code available for others to continue the project. The latest revision of this version is 1.0.4 r147, available on the Google Code repository.

Downloads

Download.svg Download NullDC
File: NullDC 104 r136.7z (956 kB) (info)
Current version: 1.0.4 r136

External links

References