August 18th 2003

No, it hasn't appeared then disappeared, its been worked on but I did enjoy the weekend with my family so only a bit got done over the last couple of days.  So what is occurring and what are the plans.  Well, as previously mentioned the debugger code is now completed, so that has tidied things up nicely.  Also, I have been reinstating a collection of rom images for testing.  The coding plans for the next couple of days are to complete the clean up and functionality of the UI code.  The v1.0.0 GUI was functional but buggy as hell so it is being spring cleaned and fixed (although I'm not adding loads of whizz-bangs or anything like that, just minor improvements for now).  On the operational front, I am trying to sort out the ini file side of things....this is no simple task but I want to phase it out.  I am not overly worried at this point about having this and that configuration, the aim is to reproduce a console, e.g. simply plug in the game and play.  Once that is achieved then we can add 'features'.  What I am trying to do is get UltraHLE stable enough for a v1.0.1 release [soon] to show that it is once again being worked on by one of the original authors (RM) and that things will move forward.  There was a lot of crap a few years ago but we are all a bit older and wiser and far more adult about things (here's hoping) so lets get to work :) :)

[Update 1] The UI work is now done. The next item I am working on is the automatic detection of the OS_TV_TYPE to determine whether PAL or NTSC is to be used.  This was a fundamental element missing from v1.0.0 that stopped a variety of roms from working just on that point.  This can be fixed by patching but it seems sensible, in view the INI will ultimately disappear, to fix it now.

[Update 2] TV type detection now works correctly. Also fixed a bug where the rom list view didn't redisplay when an emulated rom was exited.

August 13th 2003

Had some fun last night, whilst working on and testing UltraHLE 1.0.1 it crashed the ATI Mobility M3 driver on my Laptop so I ended up spending a couple of hours fixing that :(  Despite that I managed to make some further progress on the debugger and console handling code.  Will work more on it this morning and hopefully move onto the ini code later today.

[Update] The Debugger and Console code is now 95% completed and much more modular.  Have also started work on the combiner code letting me move from wireframe to *partial* textures, see below...

August 12th 2003

I was thinking how to approach this site and decided that rather than make it a multi page information source for the emu I would start out making diarised entries on the main page for now.  This means that I don't have to spend loads of time designing a new site etc and can also provide decent updates on the progress of the rebuild.  Maybe once things near completion I will expand the site but for now this will do.  Ok, so what I have got so far.  The code I have salvaged is fairly close to the original 1.0.0 release but with about 40% of the Glide to OpenGL code migration completed.  What I am working on over the next couple of days is to examine the source  and begin to strip out all the unused or surplus code.  This will make the source cleaner and reduce some of the redevelopment time required.  I have already cleaned up the cartridge loading code, stripped out disk memory mapping and have begun work on cleaning up and optimising the debugger.  I have already been asked about whether I will be using plug-ins or not for graphics, sound, controllers etc. and decided before the question that those elements would stay native within the emulator to provide a more optimised system.

[Update] Most of the initial work on the debug user interface is now completed and should be fully completed by the end of the day.  Also, a few compiler warnings have been fixed on the cartridge and main emulation thread source code.

August 11th 2003

Nostalgia is probably the best word for it.  Having spent the last few years doing this and that I found myself last weekend trawling  through a dusty stack of CDs.  To my surprise I found some of the old development code, post 1.0.0 release, of UltraHLE and it was kinda nice loading it back up again and playing some of the classic N64 titles.  I decided that it would be nice to relaunch the UltraHLE site and spend some of my free time that I now have to try an piece back together the project.  Before anyone jumps the gun don't expect any releases all of a sudden, I'm not committing myself to any targets or timelines, just keeping the project ticking over as and when I can.  Although I've not been active in emulation for a good time now I have regularly kept in touch with the scene through the old favourite emulation sites such as EmuUnlim and Retrogames.  Its been interesting seeing the development of other N64 emulators and more recently emulators for the PS2 and XBOX. I would like to request, however, that developers not use the UltraHLE name in any emulator using the 'old' leaked UltraHLE source code.  As copyright owner I reserve the right to retain the name.  I am more than happy for those emulators to continue development but under different names with a published context that they are 'based' on the original UltraHLE code. 

The UltraHLE software is the Copyright (c) of RealityMan 2003. This software is a technology demonstrator and is provided 'as is' without
any expressed or implied warranty. The author accepts no liability for the misuse of this software and does not encourage or support the illegal use
of cartridge copiers or rom binaries. This source code is unpublished proprietary information of the author. No part of this software may be disclosed
to any third party or copied or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part.

The Mario Character is the Copyright (c) Nintendo Inc.
All references to Nintendo, Nintendo 64 or N64 are the Copyright of Nintendo of America, Inc. and Nintendo of Japan, Inc.
Nintendo 64, N64 and the Nintendo 64 logo are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc. and Nintendo of Japan, Inc.
All other copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged.  Nintendo is in no way affiliated to the UltraHLE project.