Shenmue Dojo

Demul is a really good Dreamcast emulator, and unlike NullDC it's still being worked on. Although it requires a more powerful PC to run smoothly at this current stage, it's being optimised and more bugs are being fixed with every new release.

You can download the latest build from the following link

This is the latest build of Demul with the following changelog:

Demul v0.7 alpha build 180428

- Fixed image distortion on Nvidia GPUs.
- Rebuilt using latest Visual Studio.

Demul v0.7 alpha build 180426

PowerVR2:
- Fully emulated scaler/filter, should fix most if not all games which was cut in size if in TV-modes.
- Filtered NaN UV texture coordinates (Soul Reaver lifebar fix).
- Filtered negative vertex coords (MK Gold with ATI fix).
- Allowed upto 128 layers.
- Emulated primary/secondary render target buffers for Opaque/PunchTrought lists (Agartha proto flashlight fix).
- Fixed MvSC2 SCORE blinking.
- Handle edge case ELAN IRQs.
Display:
- Auto hide mouse cursor when in fullscreen (with 5 seconds timeout).
- Prettify "start in full screen" option.
- Renamed SPG/GPU display to FPS/RPS.
Input:
- Corrected purupuru device reply (Resident Evil 2 fix).
- Fixed xinput crash if attempt to configure inputs during emulation.
- Fixed few games with inverted "pedal" inputs.
AICA:
- Fixed AEG/FEG which might stuck in edge cases (some sounds in MvSC2, ReVolt jump sound, etc).
NAOMI:
- Fixed RF ID generators for Dinoking, Love&Berry, etc
- Small corrections to JVS I/O Sense line.
Misc:
- Patch for Orion Puzzle Collection (workaround for Kalisti SDK bug).
- Documented actual game developers in game list.

Demul v0.7 alpha build 160818

- ADPCM decoder tweaks.

Demul v0.7 alpha build 160816

- Fixes current LBA after CD-Mil security check (Pier Solar works again).

Demul v0.7 alpha build 160814

- fixed freezing bug in KalistiOS-based games with DC keyboard controller.
- fixed freezing bug in some WinCE-games if VMU is present.
- improved Dev.Box emulation.
- patches for Cycraft InitialD and ClubKart (boots, but not yet playable).
- better aspect correction and filtering for Cave CV1000
- InitialD, ClubKart and Derby Owners magnetic card readers are now emulated (press PUSH6 key then the game will ask to insert/take card)
- fixed Marvel vs Capcom 2 characters during intro.
- ClubKart2003 input fixes
- WWF Royal Rumble 4 players input works now.
- NAOMI DIMM Board is now emulated.
- added recently dumped NAOMI and Atomiswave sets
- romset in sync with MAME
- bunch of other minor fixes and stability improvements


Demul v0.7 alpha build 221215

- ATI texture perspective bug fix is now optional (only works for ATI and causes glitches on Nvidia GPUs).
- Ancient CDI v2 parsing killed by accident has been restored.
- GD-ROM status/irq bug fixes (Gauntlet Legends).

Demul v0.7 alpha build 201215

- Disk swapping functionality


Demul v0.7 alpha build 181215

- SH4 MMU optimizations, many WinCE games now work full-speed on a modern PC.
- Tile Accelerator has been rewritten and optimised.
- Support for Xinput devices without vibration has been added.
- Automatic DC video mode selection.
- Simple deinterlace for TV-mode.
- Rotate and Aspect Ratio fixes.
- Optional Bilinear filter added.
- Libchd doesn't require SSSE3 anymore.
- Fullscreen switching crash fixed.
- gdrImage subcodes emulation bug fixes and improvements.
- gdrImage bug fixes and cue/bin support.
- SH4 exceptions handling bug fixes.
- Supid Invaders now boots OK.
- Fixes for recent indie games.
- Romset sync with current MAME
- Other minor tweaks and optimisations.


Demul v0.7 alpha build 230915

- "NAOMI 2 Vertex Cache" option for ATI/AMD GPUs (disabled by default).
- AMD-specific texture glitches fixes in many games (Shenmue II, ECCO, HotD2, etc...).
- Several minor optimisations.


Demul v0.7 alpha build 200915

- NAOMI 2 emulation has been rewritten almost from scratch, emulation is now very close if not the exactly same as real hardware, a lot of optimisations added, emulation can now use a separate thread (DX11NG)
- Shadow rendering fix (Cosmic Smash)
- Romset sync with current MAME

Demul v0.7 alpha build 310715

- More precise SH4 FSRRA opcode (What's Shenmue fix).
- VMU window auto open/close.
- DirectInput thread now properly terminates (VMU window close fix).
- Emulator now can be closed by ALT+F4.
- Naomi2 shadows improvements (DX11NG Plugin).
- Naomi2 screen scale (DX11NG Plugin).
- Various romset corrections.
- Several minor performance improvements and bugfixes.

Demul v0.7 alpha build 190715

- Shenmue II's After Burner II mini game is now playable.
- SH4 MMU fixes & improvements.
- Crackin' DJ 1&2 are now playable.
- Ferrari F355 Deluxe now plays with sound/BGM music.
- Several Naomi 2 Fixes (materials, lights refactor).
- Foolproof VMU files creation.
- gdrCHD & gdrImage plugins now save the last used image path.
- Better Xinput deadzone handling.
- GDI audio fix in gdrCHD (this plugin is now recommended to be used with GDI images too).
- A workaround to resolve issues with AMD Catalyst 15.7 drivers.
- Several other minor tweaks.

Demul v0.7 alpha build 190715

SH4
- OnChip access correct bit width only
- add flti0/1 PR flag check
- reg binding cleanups and fixes, PR sanity checks
- fix DIV0S, optimise DIV1 and add linking current block
- fix Invalidation code
- fix delayed slot exceptions
- interrupts fixes / improvements

GD-ROM
- fix CD PLAY after SEEK for Taxi2
- small fix for bleemcast (almost work)
- G1 DMA discrete step

AICA
- use less attenuated ALFO
- mixing levels fixes
- EG timer fixes
- properly handle Decay level = 0 case
- optimise IRQs

HOLLY
- rewrite SPG
- fix Holly registers for wince
- add real HOLLY IDs for all supported platforms

Gaelco
- speedup boot
- decode boot from Altera firmware
- render fixes: offset color flag, handle flats
- add Gaelco Footall
- preliminary support Gaelco Footall analog inputs

Misc
- SCIF link for AW Maximum Speed and Chase1929
- fix Marvel vs Capcom 2 intro Guile character head
- disable menu in fullscreen (fix clicking it with mouse in light gun games)
- netplay: add option to disable flash/sram sync
- set windows timer resolution to min possible value
- rom loading refactoring, NAOMI GD-ROM sets now require security PIC dumps, old GD-rip binaries not supported anymore
- fix save states crash
- improved creation of Dreamcast flash and "timehack"
- NAOMI DIMM CF support
- fix mouse X/Y calc then screen rotated
- fix error when set memcard time in DC bios
- fix DC flash erase, handle correct sector sizes
- Elo touchscreen fixes for Atomiswave and NAOMI StarHorse
- emulated HW210 IC card reader (Dragon Treasure, WCCF)
- SHIO hopper board HLE, Kick'4'Cash playable
- Added all recently dumped games for supported platforms
- Romset in sync with current MAME
- many other changes and fixes

Demul v0.7 alpha build 171011

- -listxml now generate "merge" tags
- minor romset corrections
- fix AICA DSP recompiler state load crash
- about box crash fixed

Demul v0.7 alpha build 171111

- Akai Katana support added.
- Mushiking IV/V/VI added, new card codes included.
(to change 4-5-6 game version go to game test mode BACKUP CLEAR and hold both players buttons 1 for 3 seconds).
- DX11: fixed Cave bi-linear filter.
- ymz770: implemented main volume and clip control.
- ARM: DP immediate Carry little fix.
- Basic analogues simulation when playing with keyboard (arcade only).
- Gaelco: improved ball mechanic simulation.
- Dreamcast game name handle fixed.
- DX11old: fixed shader filter settings load.


Now Shenmue II's AfterBurner II, OutRun, Space Harrier and Hang-on are fully playable.

AfterBurner II


OutRun


Space Harrier


Hang-On



Hint: to minimise the sound-distortion bug that happens every now and then, it is recommended to uncheck v-sync in video config settings.

Note: Please don't ask me to provide any SEGA copyrighted files required to run the emulator, Google is your friend.

Please test the emulator and kindly provide your feedback of any bugs/performance issues you may find, especially with Shenmue and Shenmue II. It'd be really helpful if you could also provide a save file at the spot where the bug/glitch happens alongside your bug report.

Seems to working for me, but on a laptop with an integrated graphics card, it's very slow- unplayably slow in fact, but I think that's just Demul generally.

Thanks for posting this I am really impressed with Demul so far! Bought a dreamcast controller converter for full nostalgia! If you ever notice improved versions in the future please post them! Thank you!

Cool!, even cooler, and not shenmue related, it allows for Naomi multiboard games!!!




Also, with the dx11shw plugin you get dithering like in an actual Dreamcast awesome,



this is the ultimate Dreamcast experience xD honestly at 1x resolution is like playing on an actual Dreamcast.

Shame it runs like dogshit on my PC:

After testing the version you posted out it runs worse than 110715 with Vsync on mostly sound problems and its a bit more jerky. I will stay with 110715 for the moment as it runs almost flawlessly with Vsync on! Keep up the good work though!

@Esppiral : It looks like Demul isn't using hardware acceleration on your machine for some reason, that could be the reason behind the slow performance since it's running in gpuDX11ngsw mode instead of gpuDX11nghw. Can you please tell me more info about your PC specs ? especially what GPU are you using ? is it a DirectX 11 class card?

Any recommendations on resolutions for a 1080p TV or sweet fx settings ?

NeoShredder wrote: Seems to working for me, but on a laptop with an integrated graphics card, it's very slow- unplayably slow in fact, but I think that's just Demul generally.

An integrated graphics card isn't going to get the job done here. Masterchan actually mentioned that you're going to need a more powerful rig in the other demul thread because the emulator is still being optimized at this point.

If your laptop is all you have you might be out of luck for the time being.

Ceej wrote:

NeoShredder wrote: Seems to working for me, but on a laptop with an integrated graphics card, it's very slow- unplayably slow in fact, but I think that's just Demul generally.

An integrated graphics card isn't going to get the job done here. Masterchan actually mentioned that you're going to need a more powerful rig in the other demul thread because the emulator is still being optimized at this point.

If your laptop is all you have you might be out of luck for the time being.

Ahh, yeah, there's no denying it.

NullDC is really unstable for me though. One minute it works fine for weeks next it starts crashing on boot-up with no change in configuration....*sigh*.

Gotta get a new rig for Shenmue III anyways right?

NeoShredder wrote:
Gotta get a new rig for Shenmue III anyways right?

lol exactly! If i didn't have my PC to emulate Shenmue with idk what I would do.

Sorry about your issues with NullDC too. NullDC is pretty much old faithful for me. There's a lot of annoying bugs (the shadows, the sound glitches, Ryo's see-through head) but it usually doesn't crash and it gets the job done.

I'm gonna have to test this release of Demul, I was actually using the release in the previous thread but it was crashing on me every 5 minutes after working awesome for a day or so. I was on the end of Disc 3 in Shenmue II and I really wasn't in the mood to troubleshoot any issues, so I switched back to NullDC to finish my playthrough. Will probably download this and take Shenmue I for a test drive soon.

While I don't have the best system I do have a good modern GPU and decent CPU, but for emulation, you guys really don't even need a modern GPU, it is all about the CPU with emulation.

I got an AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4ghz, MSI R9 270x Hawk Edition, 8gb Ripjaw ram.

I have a rig built for modern games but manv emulated PS2 games struggle, but the only game on Dreamcast I have any performance problems emulating is Shenmue II, even though on my 2009 gaming PC on NullDC it ran way smoother.

Just had a quick 30 minutes of playing around with this and it all seems to work fine. Keep up the good work! And thanks.

Finally got to test this with Shenmue I and I have to say it works pretty well!

Is Afterburner the only classic game that works with this release? I remember Space Harrier and other games would always cause NullDC to crash.

Ceej wrote:
Is Afterburner the only classic game that works with this release? I remember Space Harrier and other games would always cause NullDC to crash.

Hang-on, Outrun, Space Harrier and AfterBurner II work perfectly fine in this release of Demul.
Hang-on fully works in NullDC, Outrun (partially) works in NullDC, and Space Harrier and AfterBurner II cause NullDC to freeze.