ZSNES + ROM in one .exe?

dr_slump · Post by **dr_slump** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:28 pm

I was wondering if there is a utility to fuse zsnes and a ROM into one file that actually makes an executable ROM?
It would be very useful for games that run properly only on particular builds where the fix caused problems on other games (Marvel Super Heroes for example).

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:13 pm

There is no utility. This is a retarded idea no matter how you attempt to justify it for many different reasons... legal or otherwise.

dr_slump · Post by **dr_slump** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:28 pm

I know it's kind of retarded.

or otherwise

Don't get me wrong, it would be only for my personal convenience, instead of checking my notes every time for the proper revision.

AntoineWG · Post by **AntoineWG** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:02 pm

Just create shortcuts for all of the ROMs you want to run with the non-current version and add the path to the version of ZSNES you want to use to the command line, using the ROM path and name as the arguement.

dr_slump · Post by **dr_slump** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:08 pm

I found solution by renaming the extension of the roms to the proper revision number (and of course associating them).

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:17 pm

just like a virtual console

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:53 pm

You could almost certainly write a small launcher with NSIS and compile everything together in an NSIS archive. The launcher would extract things to a temp directory, run, then clean up. It might be more trouble than it's worth, though.

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:33 pm

Deathlike2 wrote:There is no utility. This is a retarded idea no matter how you attempt to justify it for many different reasons... legal or otherwise.

Meh. Well, I've thought about implementing something like that in the past. Say you've made a really well done PD ROM, or if you want to go on the slightly illegal yet far more realistic side, an English translation. By just distributing the game, you limit your audience to people who want to setup and use an emulator, and have little control over known issues such as emulator bugs in present or future emus.

Wouldn't it be neat if you could make your own custom config file, set the title of the emulator, set the about screen to your own little copyright message, pre-define settings that work best for the game (gamma, input defaults, etc), and disable all of the unnecessary stuff (debugger, cheat code editor, etc)? You'd basically then have what looked, felt and ran like a native PC game, but was really just an emulator with a customized UI tailored to that specific game.

Whether or not the ROM was attached wouldn't be a big deal. Rename it to "program_name.dll", and the config file to "program_name.ini". Stick an autorun.inf file on there, and now you can make neato CDs, maybe print out some cover art and an instruction booklet and you have a really kickass little package you can physically mail out to your beta testers once the testing is completed, as a thank you gift.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:35 pm

byuu wrote:
Deathlike2 wrote:There is no utility. This is a retarded idea no matter how you attempt to justify it for many different reasons... legal or otherwise.
Meh. Well, I've thought about implementing something like that in the past. Say you've made a really well done PD ROM, or if you want to go on the slightly illegal yet far more realistic side, an English translation. By just distributing the game, you limit your audience to people who want to setup and use an emulator, and have little control over known issues such as emulator bugs in present or future emus.

Wouldn't it be neat if you could make your own custom config file, set the title of the emulator, set the about screen to your own little copyright message, pre-define settings that work best for the game (gamma, input defaults, etc), and disable all of the unnecessary stuff (debugger, cheat code editor, etc)? You'd basically then have what looked, felt and ran like a native PC game, but was really just an emulator with a customized UI tailored to that specific game.

Whether or not the ROM was attached wouldn't be a big deal. Rename it to "program_name.dll", and the config file to "program_name.ini". Stick an autorun.inf file on there, and now you can make neato CDs, maybe print out some cover art and an instruction booklet and you have a really kickass little package you can physically mail out to your beta testers once the testing is completed, as a thank you gift.

I don't have issues with PDRoms... as long as they give proper credit in this manner. It is not a bad idea for this purpose though.

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:57 pm

Another idea ...

Remember that group that was translating Final Fantasy 5 for Square, intended for a US release? They basically wrote their own SNES emulator, which took them forever, was buggy, and eventually the project was dropped. Imagine if all it took was dropping in the ROM and making the release? Some commercial vendors might even be interested in such an idea, if we could pitch the idea to the right people. If I were to write my own S-DSP core, I would be willing to give away bsnes, free of charge, in exchange for simply asking me permission to use it first (I'm all for free software, but am an even bigger supporter of common courtesy). I think it'd be a really cool way to get some 'missed' games out to US audiences who aren't into emulation, or a neat way to sell legal, physical copies of old games to consumers that still wish to purcahse them. And not be the DRM licensed garbage that is on the Wii. Physical manuals, physical cases, media that one can back up, etc.

Bleem! offered something similar, but Sony probably prevented it from ever happening. They had a deal where they would let publishers load their software onto the PSX CD, and the game would then essentially be compatible with both the PSX and PCs. How cool would that have been if it were allowed by Sony?

Of course, I don't personally have a problem with people making money off of my work in this regard (as people are buying the games for the games themselves, not for the emulator used). Other people might, and GPL or similar licenses would probably make this impossible in most cases.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:09 pm

byuu wrote:Bleem! offered something similar, but Sony probably prevented it from ever happening. They had a deal where they would let publishers load their software onto the PSX CD, and the game would then essentially be compatible with both the PSX and PCs. How cool would that have been if it were allowed by Sony?

Well, Sony might be loved more, but they lose a lot of money in the process of doing so. It would probably help them more for situations like the current one they are in, which they are losing quite a bit of money.

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:04 pm

i don't see that much money being lost, as only a handful of psx games were ever ported to PC.

but that's some interesting talk about distribution. the only issue is that companies fear DRM-free material. the fear it like they fear teenagers.

PHoNyMiKe · Post by **PHoNyMiKe** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:10 am

the source code to zsnes is available. with a little programming experience you could compile your own rom in a box.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:16 am

Deathlike2 wrote:
byuu wrote:Bleem! offered something similar, but Sony probably prevented it from ever happening. They had a deal where they would let publishers load their software onto the PSX CD, and the game would then essentially be compatible with both the PSX and PCs. How cool would that have been if it were allowed by Sony?
Well, Sony might be loved more, but they lose a lot of money in the process of doing so. It would probably help them more for situations like the current one they are in, which they are losing quite a bit of money.

also, how exactly would multi-disk games (like metal gear solid and fear effect 2) work if there were such a feature?

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:21 am

adventure_of_link wrote:
Deathlike2 wrote:
byuu wrote:Bleem! offered something similar, but Sony probably prevented it from ever happening. They had a deal where they would let publishers load their software onto the PSX CD, and the game would then essentially be compatible with both the PSX and PCs. How cool would that have been if it were allowed by Sony?
Well, Sony might be loved more, but they lose a lot of money in the process of doing so. It would probably help them more for situations like the current one they are in, which they are losing quite a bit of money.
also, how exactly would multi-disk games (like metal gear solid and fear effect 2) work if there were such a feature?

Like any other multi-disk game... prompt to insert next disc.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:45 am

tell me something Deathlike

how would this work, especially when Sony can't even do it on PSPs at the moment?

(yeah, this is why you can't beat MGS or FE2 on PSP)

Truth Unknown · Post by **Truth Unknown** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:01 am

Save Game
Exit Disc One
Insert Disc Two
Load Save

Yeah I know I'm not Deathlike2, but its quite obvious on how it can work.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:27 am

Truth Unknown wrote:Save Game
Exit Disc One
Insert Disc Two
Load Save

Yeah I know I'm not Deathlike2, but its quite obvious on how it can work.

adventure_of_link wrote:(yeah, this is why you can't beat MGS or FE2 on psp)

these games in particular, don't have a prompt to save the game before the diskchange.

Now, you *could* pack the CD images with the emulator then prompt it to swap disks when you need it, but that would defeat the purpose there, as you would need a DVD disk to hold 3-4 disk games (like Fear Effect 2). A mini-dvd would work for Metal Gear Solid, however. Keep in mind that PSone disks hold 700MB of data apiece, like a standard CD. (there are exceptions, *cough*FF7 disk 1*cough*)

EDIT: The point I'm trying to make here: http://www.gamerspress.com/index.php?ti ... leshooting

Truth Unknown · Post by **Truth Unknown** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:50 am

You forget the magic of compression, and pSX Author has made a dandy compressor optimized for PS games. I was able to fit 5 PS games on one Disc. Given the varying disc sizes of many games, the Minimum I can see is 2 on one CD.

And I did miss that line on MGS and other games that don't save before disc swap.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:24 am

adventure_of_link wrote:tell me something Deathlike

how would this work, especially when Sony can't even do it on PSPs at the moment?

(yeah, this is why you can't beat MGS or FE2 on psp)

Ummmm... same way as any other emulator. You'd take the disk out and change it.

The emu is loaded into RAM, or a temp file on the hard drive. It's not running directly off the CD.
Removing the disk should cause no problems at all if the software is coded properly.

Rashidi · Post by **Rashidi** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:11 pm

sweener2001 wrote:i don't see that much money being lost, as only a handful of psx games were ever ported to PC.

actually pirate do such thing.. (not realy porting but sort of...)

in my country, where piracy prevail,
certain pirate group release suikoden II (they dub it "for pc"), but in reality it just 1 track with copied track of suikoden II disc, plus track 2 the emulator (and installer) [hell, i recopy track 1 only, and able to play it with epsxe]

that obivously profit infringment, you know how company would react to such thing....

has anyone know the release "blaze & blade" for pc? it also contain custom psx emulator