nesdev.org

kyuusaku wrote:I had no idea a computer could interpret another computer so I thought the game (FFV) was ported to the PC yet dependent on the emulator

As if the emulator were DOS4GW or SDL.dll or the Java VM or something?

More like a game interpreter since I thought each ROM was a surprisingly elaborate recreation of each game. Since my first ROMs were translations I guess the strange credits may have convinced me it was fan-made, or the lack of sound.

Genecyst really brought home the emulation concept for me--that you're truly playing the literal game. This is kind of funny, but I did a double take because I had remembered Genesis games having a lot more fine detail when I last played one a few years prior (probably RF interference), the clarity of a RGB monitor in whatever screenmode Genecyst used was too "blocky".

I still talk with Alex (Landy) on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, usually on IRC. He and I have been friends since the mid-90s. I had the chance of calling him in Moscow back in 1997 -- all I wanted to say to him was "thank you" (in English and Russian) and he couldn't respond since he can't speak English (but can type it fine). It never occurred to me until then that someone could type a language but not speak it. He's also the main reason I learned a little Russian and gained some interest in Russian culture over the years. He and I have a running joke (dating back to something like 1995) about barracudas... ;D

I've pointed him to this thread and I'm absolutely certain it will make him smile and bring a tear to his eye; he's a nostalgic. :-)

If you have any questions for him about LandyNES, etc. let me know and I can ask him, otherwise we might get Shiru to convert the questions from English into Russian so Landy can understand them better. But that said, I'd like to politely request you not ask questions about the LandyNES/iNES ordeal or Alex/Marat friendship -- it's not something he likes talking about for a lot of reasons.

koitsu wrote:It never occurred to me until then that someone could type a language but not speak it.

*raises hand*

I can write in English, around 90%. Since I don't practice chatting with another guy in English, well, I can speak at ~60% and listen ~40%. I just need more practice.

kyuusaku wrote:This is kind of funny, but I did a double take because I had remembered Genesis games having a lot more fine detail when I last played one a few years prior (probably RF interference)

The same kind of double take you might do when playing an NES through an LCD TV?

*raises hand*

I can write in English, around 90%. Since I don't practice chatting with another guy in English, well, I can speak at ~60% and listen ~40%. I just need more practice.

Same here.

The fact English vowels are completely distorted, and that you don't know how to speak a word even if you write it in this particular language doesn't help.
The good side of english language is the simple grammar and conjugation, and similarity in vocabulary with french.

kyuusaku wrote:I did a double take because I had remembered Genesis games having a lot more fine detail when I last played one a few years prior (probably RF interference), the clarity of a RGB monitor in whatever screenmode Genecyst used was too "blocky".

Heh, I distinctly remember my father thinking the same thing. We used to play Genesis together all the time, and in 1997, when he first got internet, I found out about emulators and promptly downloaded Genecyst and Sonic 1. Knowing that he was a Sonic fan and that he would enjoy playing it on his computer, I showed it to him, and the first thing he did has ask me if the resolution wasn't higher on the actual console.

Out of curiosity, who designed the iNES format? Was it Alex Krasivsky (for LandyNES) or Marat Fayzullin (for iNES)?

I always thought it was Marat, until recently I saw this thing in the README file of the "NES Image" tool (made by the infamous DiskDude):

The .NES format is becoming the standard for images and was designed for the
iNES Nintendo emulator by Alex (Landy). Many people think that Marat wrote it,
however he did not. It was Alex - Marat merely improved and ported the code to
other operating systems (That's not to say Marat didn't do any work!).

Now, it's not exactly a reliable source, but I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

In my opinion, formerly there's no "iNES format", but a "NES header format" instead. If you take the "iNES format" so you're doing reference to Marat and his emulator iNES.

Then the question becomes "Which emulator was first to use the NES header format?"

I believe that koitsu may remember something back in 1996... Personally, I remember of the blue "The Dump", Nesticle and Pasofami.

Zepper wrote:

koitsu wrote:It never occurred to me until then that someone could type a language but not speak it.

*raises hand*

I can write in English, around 90%. Since I don't practice chatting with another guy in English, well, I can speak at ~60% and listen ~40%. I just need more practice.

I can read (and of course understand) almost anything, like a true second language, yet I don't write very well and my speaking is abysmal. How did I learn english? With a dictionary and a copy of Resident Evil. Yes, the first one. Of course I was lucky because English is similar and yet much more simple than my 1st language. I have poor speaking skills but at least I can do a decent imitation of all the RE's dialogues. OH MY COD!

tepples wrote:Then the question becomes "Which emulator was first to use the NES header format?"

No idea. Well, after thinking a bit, I removed all the "iNES" references in my emulator and docs, since we really have no "iNES" here, but a header of 16 bytes starting by "NES", not "iNES". The "NES header" term is correct. Funny, why I didn't think about it before?