May 15, 2001 - 12:45PM MST
An Atari 5200 emulator developer, Jum (aka James Higgs) has given his permission to use the complete source code for his 5200 emulator, Jum52, for the 5200 emulation effort. This will aid significantly in the effort to add 5200 emulation to Bliss, and I want to thank him for the contribution. I'll be using it considerably for reference and I'll be directly porting portions of it to C++ for use in Bliss. Thanks, Jum!
This blank screen bug I've been chasing? It's a DirectX versioning problem. Bliss requires DirectX 8.0 and does not work with DirectX 7.0. Note that it's not enough to just have video drivers that support DirectX 8.0. You must install the DirectX 8.0 runtime, which is available at Microsoft's DirectX website for download here. That also explains why I've been unable to reproduce the problem. It's been pointed out that I have not properly documented this requirement anywhere in the Bliss documentation, so it appears the confusion is mostly my fault. Mea Culpa.
May 11, 2001 - 12:00PM MST
Three pieces of news this time, starting with...
Front end udpate!
Work on the front-end user interface for Bliss32 (aka "Xanadu") by Jesse '3vi1' Litton is coming along beautifully! Here's a screen shot teaser. Can you recognize that font? I don't know about you, but I think it's looking awesome! :-)
New beta!
Secondly, a new beta of BlissJX is available with another attempt to eliminate that blank screen bug. This is a very difficult bug to troubleshoot because I actually am unable to reproduce it on any of the systems I own, so I'm kind of taking some shots in the dark at the bug. Let me know what this does or doesn't do for you.
Atari 5200 support!
It's official! Bliss is getting support for the Atari 5200. I'm working on the core emulation components now, but I don't have any sort of date or information on a release yet. The only thing I can say yet is that it's in progress and that I'll be focusing on trying to eventually obtain the level of compatibility that exists in the Intellivision emulation core in Bliss now.
So I'm sure this must make some of you wonder about the direction of Bliss. Is it trying to become the next MESS? Absolutely not. There's already a fantastic MESS available and I have no desire to try and duplicate the enormous amount of work that has gone into and continues to feed into MESS. So what is this new direction in which Bliss is moving? Well, it's easiest if I at least make the comparison with MESS so that you know how it will be different.
1) MESS includes emulation of nearly any hardware system: ancient and recent gaming consoles, arcade games, computer systems, handhelds, etc. Bliss will focus strictly on gaming consoles prior to the 8-bit Nintendo, which IMHO ushered in a new era of console gaming.
2) MESS includes a user interface external to the actual gaming experience, which means that the front-end is largely unable to be ported to other operating systems. The Bliss front-end in development will exist entirely within the emulation window using no OS-specific user interface features. Instead, it will include a graphical front-end structured around a menuing system similar to what you might see in most recent console games. I think there's a good chance this design will add considerably to the portability of the emulator.
3) MESS is mostly a C codebase, whereas Bliss will be centered around a more object-oriented C++ framework. There's nothing wrong with C and it's a great language in it's own right with it's own set of positive features, but I'm just an object-oriented person. :-)
So I'll now open a standing invitation for anyone who would like to contribute to this effort whether to add design expertise, develop a specific driver for another gaming console, contribute to a porting effort, provide documentation or graphic work, or make any other contribution to the project. Please feel free to join in this intense gaming effort with a focus on early consoles and high cross-platform portability.
May 6, 2001 - 2:35PM MST
Well, I'm sorry to say according to some of the feedback, there appears to still be some problems to work out in the DirectX code, so an official release of all the emulators will be held off for a few more days while we do some more betas. With that in mind, feel free to try out BlissJX v1.54 beta #2.
May 4, 2001 - 4:00PM MST
If you are a somewhat experienced computer user, please try out the new BlissJX beta available on the beta testing page. This beta release contains significantly revamped DirectX code based around several recent contributions from Jesse Litton (aka "3vi1"). An official release of all the emulation packages is likely to happen tomorrow night.
May 3, 2001 - 11:45AM MST
Bliss has been approved as a project on SourceForge, and I am now actively using the CVS repository there for development. If you wish to contribute to the Bliss source codebase or attempt a port to another operating system, feel free to sign up as a developer and download the very latest source code via CVS. I'll be happy to help any other developers set up their environment to compile the Bliss source code.
Another release is still in the works. 3vi1 and I are hashing out some of the details of the DirectX improvements. The next release may happen this weekend and will include major improvements to the DirectX code.
