Emulator Release: AMAME & PMAME 0.36 beta 13
19:57:  AMAME and PMAME have been brought up-to-date with the official version of MAME. You can get them at the MAME page.

Emulator Release: AMESS & PMESS 0.36 beta 12
19:49:  AMESS & PMESS, AMD and Pentium optimized versions of MESS, have been updated to version 0.36 beta 12. They may be one version behind regular MESS, but they're worth getting if you have a slow computer. You can get them at the MESS page.

Emulator Release: MESS 0.36 beta 13
19:38:  MESS, the multi console/computer emulator, has been updated to version 0.36 beta 13. You can get it at the MESS page.

Misc. News: Is the great midget rebellion at hand?
18:45:  We've bolted our doggy-doors and nailed the windows shut... The streets are filled with angry midgets... Can this be the end of the world?

Misc. News: Hash discontinued - Source released
10:35:  Due to a recent hard drive crash, the author of Hash has lost most of the emulator's source code. The author has decided to discontinue this emulator, but is releasing the source code for version miz 1.0beta2, which does not have openGL, joystick support, and does not contain the debugger. The author does state the following:

"The HasH project is not dead completely as I will be making in the future a combined gameboy emulator/disassembler. the first beta of this can be found on ConsoleDev.com."

You can download the source code mentioned above from the Hash homepage.

Site News: WinAMP Skins section gets own page
08:32:  I have moved the skins on the WinAMP page. They will now have their own page on Zophar's Domain because the skins list is getting rather large and takes a while to load up the main WinAMP page.

You can view the WinAMP section and the new WinAMP Skins page by visiting the following links:

Misc. News: Newsletter
06:10:  Stay tuned for a VERY special edition of the newsletter. I'm sure you're going to love this one.

Utility Release: Final Fantasy 2J savestate editor
01:28:  SquareHead has released another savestate editor. This one is for savestates from Final Fantasy 2J for NES. It lets you edit the party members' eqiupment, inventory and other neat stuff. This is just the first beta, so if you find any bugs, report them!

You can download it from the Facelift utilities page. Thanks to Stu for the news!

Misc. News: Happy New Year!
01:21:  Let me be the first to welcome you to doomsday. May there be many an emulator released on this, the last day of the world...hehe.

Have an outrageous opinion on Y2k you wish to share? Please add to the Y2k discussion on our Talk of the Town message board.

Site News: Cell Phone emulator
01:04:  If you for some reason want to develop HDML easily, you can download a cell phone emulator for Windows 9x/NT at http://updev.phone.com/. You have to sign up and get a login on the site to be able to use it, so I assume that it's best to only provide a link to the site that has the emulator. So if you want to learn/debug your HDML, go visit http://updev.phone.com/ and take a look at the cell phone emulator. Thanks to finn for the news!

Utility Release: NesToy 2.7b!
00:35:  NesToy, a NES ROM renaming and identifying utility has been updated to version 2.7b, and here's what's new:

12/30/1999
Emulator Release: TRWin GL 122999
18:21:  A new version of TRWin GL, a Nintendo 64 emulator for Windows that uses OpenGL for graphics, has been released. This new release has a lot of changes made to the user interface. Speed and graphics support have been improved.

You can download it from the N64 emulators page.

Emulator Release: MAME 0.36 beta 13
18:10:  Yet another MAME beta was released today. This one is called "Lance, rejoice". You can get it at the MAME page.

Emulator News: MEKA 0.33 beta update
09:41:  Emucamp has posted a large list of changes that are present in MEKA 0.33 beta, which was released to beta testers recently. Here's a partial condensed list of what's changed so far:

Misc. News: Amiga Flashback update
09:36:  Amiga Flashback (a site dedicated to gaming on the Amiga) has posted another large update to the site:

Site News: RPG Central hosted at ZD
09:32:  The entire family of Zophar's Domain would like to welcome our newest hosted site, RPG Central. RPG Central is a modest but well organized website dedicated to providing a wealth of RPG tips, information, music, news and more. If you're an RPG fan, be sure to drop on by; you'll enjoy your stay.

Be on the lookout for more sites to be hosted here at ZD as we approach 2000! Only 2 more days to go...

Misc. News: X-Box Information
01:35:  NintendoDolphin.net has turned up some new information about Microsoft's up-and-coming console, the X-Box. It looks like they're aiming for a winter 2001 release. There's more info too. Go read the article. Thanks to Ian for the news.

Site News: Overclocked: #57 - EmuSUX
01:16:  A day ago, I posted the first half of a 2 part episode of Overclocked, an emulation related comic, and here's the second part and a new episode:

Misc. News: Newsletter: Viewer Feedback
01:00:  A special edition of the newsletter is coming out, and you know what that means, . . . That's right, folks! It's time
for another session of where you, our viewers, get to ask questions and get an answer! We had excellent feedback the
last time around, so, get out your thinking caps and think of good questions. Remember, your questions cannot have anything to do with ROMs, or illegal things. Try to be creative, too. Remember, that I review every question that goes into a maybe pile, and if its not newsletter material, it won't go in. So, think hard! Remember, you can send them to either me or Justin.

Get cracking! This issue goes out on Friday!

Emulator Release: Archie 0.7
00:42:  A new version of Archie (an Acorn Archimedes emulator for DOS/Windows) has been released. Here's what's new in version 0.7:

12/29/1999
Utility News: FF2j & FF3j Savestate Editors
23:16:  1 new savestate editor and a modification of the README.txt was released. Here's what's new for both:

Interview News: Emulation Zone interviews Overclocked and more
22:47:  An interview of David Lloyd, Overclocked's creator, was conducted by Emulation Zone. The next person they're going to interview is going to be of David Michel of Magic Engine.

You can read this interview by going to the following link:

Emulator Release: Gens v0.1a
22:38:  A new Genesis emulator, Gens, was released. It only runs 10% of the ROMs available, but, you should check it out.

Go on over to the Genesis emulators page to get a copy.

Thanks to Stephane Dallongeville for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: EMU+ 0.36 beta 12
20:27:  EMU+ has been updated to version 0.36 beta 12 and is now up-to-date with the newest version of MAME. You can get it at the MAME page.

Utility Release: PSXPlay 1.40
20:14:  A new version of PSXPlay, the PSX video player for Windows, has been released. The documents are in Japanese, so I don't know what's new. You can get it at the pSX utility page. Thanks to Kenji for the news.

Translation News: Tenchi Madness!
04:31:  Lina-chan and Nuku Nuku have updated their translation page with new news on the Tenchi Muyo RPG.

'Okay news! First the battle text bug on our Tenchi Muyo patch has not been corrected. However, we do plan to release the patch out to the public, I hope that it will be up to what you expect a good english patch to be. ^^
Now I am working on the last touches, beta testing and evaluation of the patch! So, yes, this means the patch will be out, soon! REALLY soon. I figure that this process will not last a week. Meaning? Continue checking our homepage for updates! ^.^'

Check back here or at their website for the latest news.

Thanks to Phil for the news.

Misc. News: Gravis Xterminator not supported in Win2k?
03:19:  Bryan Kennedy sent us an email about his conversation with the folks over at Gravis, in which they discussed Windows 2000 drivers for the Xterminator gamepad. Bryan tells us that when he upgraded to Win2k RC3, the gamepad stopped working. A Gravis spokesman stated, "As far as I know there aren't any plans to release Windows 2000 compatible software/drivers."

I suppose this means that Gravis isn't going to release drivers for any of their other products...at least for now. Email us if you have any further information on this, or if you found any other gaming devices which are not supported.

12/28/1999
Media News: MSNBC talks about gaming.
21:16:  What happens to game systems when they are faced with their replacements?

With Sony releasing their new system next year called Playstation 2, Nintendo with their system, Dolphin, and Nintendo announcing the release of a 32-bit version of the Gameboy, the common question that is on everyones mind is, "What will happen to their current and past systems"?

An article was posted on MSNBC regarding the fate of the past systems and the upcoming systems in the next year.

You can check out this article by visiting the following link:

Emulator Release: DGen for MacOS 1.1.7
16:39:  Richard Bannister has updated his port of DGen for MacOS to 1.1.7. Here's what's new:

Site News: Back In Time does Sinistar: Unleashed review
16:09:  Back in Time has done a review of Sinistar: Unleashed, the follow-up of the old 2D top down arcade game Sinistar. The review is well written and has a lot of nice screenshots for you to look at, so head over to Back in Time and read it! Thanks to Mike Stulir for the news.

Emulator News: ruMSX things..
16:00:  I uploaded the correct ruMSX 0.2000 zip file, because for some reason the binary on the homepage was still version 0.19. I also uploaded the InstallShield version, too. If you don't know what ruMSX is, it's a very good MSX 1/2/2+/Turbo emulator for Windows.

You can download it from the MSX emulators page. Thanks to the MEP Crew for the news!

Site News: www.nemu.com updated!
15:45:  The NEmu64 website has been updated! And boy does the next release look promising! There are screenshots of Xena: Warrior Princess, Aerogauge (correct textures) and other neat games that will work in the next release of NEmu64! Go check it out! Thanks to Duuk for the news.

Emulator Release: Naughty 0.0
15:28:  Naughty, a new NES emulator for DOS, has been released. As you might be able to tell from the version number, this emulator isn't very advanced yet. It only supports mapper 0 & 2, and it's kind of slow, so it's not really worth the download at the moment. But who knows, a future version of this emulator might be much better. On the other hand the author says he won't work at it because he's anti-Nintendo, so don't count on that either. But he says that he'll keep working on it if you guys give him some GOOD reasons. So go encourage him, now.

You can download it from the NES emulators page. Thanks to the author of Naughty for the news!

Misc. News: Overclocked: #56 - Pure Laziness (Part 1)
04:47:  A new episode of Overclocked, a comic strip geared towards emulation events, was released. This episode, Green and Pretzel talk about EmuDX and more.

You can check out this episode by going to the following link:

12/27/1999
Translation News: Woo.
22:56:  X Translations has created a new Cristopher Columbus translation patch, with most menu's and items completed!

Also, Assassin Productions' SD Gundam translation has been relocated to the NES page, due to my error.

Get the translations off the Translations page.

Misc. News: Amiga Flashback Updates
18:24:  Amiga Flashback, a legal Amiga emulation site, has added some more public domain Amiga Disk Images and other stuff to their site. Here's the list:

Frontend News: Easy2600 v0.8
07:50:  A new version of Easy2600, a frontend for the Z26 emulator, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Utility News: SetCleaner v2.1.2
07:32:  A new version of SetCleaner, arcade emulator utility, was released. Here's a quick list of what's new:

Misc. News: Overclocked: #55 - RS Claus
05:52:  A new episode of Overclocked, a comic strip dealing with emulation issues and events, was released. This issue talks about what happens when you don't give Santa the respect he deserves. Check out this episode by visiting the following link:

Emulator Release: RuMSX version 0.2000
02:07:  A new version of RuMSX has been released. Here is what's new:

Misc. News: ZD-spc on Netscape
00:10:  Netscape has added ZD-spc to their plugins page. Go check it out! I'm really happy about it.

Netscape's audio/video plugins page.

12/26/1999
Misc. News: Newsletter Volume 1, Issue #6 reminder
22:56:  A small reminder to you newsletter fanatics that the current Y2K edition is still available for your viewing pleasure. A new issue is underway and I know you'll like it. The Scribe, Andrew (Horoscope creator.), and I are hard at work to make a special edition of the newsletter for you all.

You can see the current issue of the Zophar's Domain Newsletter by visiting the following link:

Utility News: PSXPlay v1.39
22:24:  A new version of PSXPlay, a utilty that allows you to watch motion JPEG and video files from your PSX CD, was released.

You can get this utility by going on over to the Playstation Utilities page.

Thanks to Kenji Teruya for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: NESticle v.42 - French Version
21:55:  A French version of NESticle, an NES emulator, was released. This emulator is great for those of you who speak French.

You can get this fine emulator over at the NES Emulators page.

Thanks to Top50 for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: Jnes v.30
21:27:  A new version of Jnes, an NES emulator, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Frontend News: EmuStation v3.0
21:17:  A new version of EmuStation, a universal frontend, was updated. Here's a list of what's new:

Frontend News: FronTrash v2.0
21:10:  A new version of FronTrash, a universal frontend, was released. It features support for 32 systems and 272 emulators. This is a great frontend. Here's a LONG list of what's new:

Emulator Release: ZD-spc 2.31
16:27:  Whoops! I forgot to add another file for the plugin, which made the snes9x part not initialize properly, not allowing the plugin to start. It's fixed now, and here are the two things that have been fixed:

Site News: Save archives updated
16:20:  Updated: GS0, NSF, NSM, STA, CHT, SPC, ZMV, ZST archives.
Many thanks to Izumi. who contributed many new NSFs. That Dragon Slayer 4 / Legacy of the Wizard NSF especially brought back (frustrating) memories :) His homepage about video game music (Japanese only) also includes a 5 level guide for NSF ripping, as well as a link to a utility called NES2NSF.

Emulator Release: MagicEngine 0.96 beta 3
00:50:  A new beta of MagicEngine, a commercial TG 16 emulator, has been released. This beta, supposedly the last one, features these bigfixes:

12/25/1999
Translation News: Just in Time for the Holidays...
19:27:  BMF54123 in the holiday rush, has released a fun hack of SMB2, but in the christmas spirit!

Download SMB2:Christmas Edition from the Hacks page.

Emulator News: RockNES progress report
19:23:  The following news was posted on the RockNES (a NES emulator for DOS) homepage regarding its development:

I hadn´t any other way. I started RockNES again from scratch (a full rewrite). Broken stuff is working again. This is very good :) ´cause the old one was very messed up! Currently, there is no sound or GUI, but it will be added with the time. It seems all broken stuff is working again. Right now, config file, VS Unisystem, Game Genie and GUI are missing, they should be added soon. All mappers are ok, big fix to Mapper #1 (MMC1), with a couple of games now working, game Rad Racer works fine again (the road is fine). The sound & gfx drivers remains the same, with very minor changes (startup/shutdown). A lot of Mapper #0 games and demos work too.

Be sure to visit the official RockNES homepage for more information. Thanks to Arthur O'Hara for the news.

Misc. News: EmuSphere returns
19:05:  I don't know how we missed this (we never received one e-mail about this) but EmuSphere, a popular emulation news site in the past, has returned. The design is very clean, and the colors go very well with the logo. I urge everyone who has never been to EmuSphere to give it a go. You won't be dissapointed.

Emulator News: Merry Xmas from the ZSNES team
18:58:  Over at the official ZSNES homepage, the ZSNES team released a version of ZSNES that has snowflakes falling down in the GUI. It's the same effect they did last year, and if you didn't get to see it then, you should head on over and pick it up.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed in.

www.zsnes.com

Emulator News: Verification on 2 emulators
18:41:  Every now and then, ZD comes across emulators that we are unable to verify for one reason or another. When this happens we come to you, the visitors of Zophar's Domain, for assistance.

LordFlux has informed us of an emulator for 2 popular LaserDisc games, Space Ace and Dragon's Lair. According to the documentation, the emulator does in fact work if you have the appropriate hardware and the games themselves. However, we have no way to verify this. If anyone has any information or experience with this emulator and can verify its ability, please don't hesitate to e-mail me with your findings. The page is located at http://daphne.rulecity.com.

The second emulator was discovered by Christopher Swenson. According to the documentation, it's an IA-64 Merced emulator. It comes with source code as well. However, once again we have no way of verifying that this program is capable of emulating (or simulating) this Intel chip. If you have any information, please e-mail me. The file is called is64sim.zip.

Merry Xmas!

Misc. News: The Scribe's EmuFAQ: M2P2
17:23:  The Scribe (responsible for the bulk of emulator compatibility charts and many more texts on the internet) has released version M2P2 of his comprehensive Emulation FAQ. This version clears up some things about the Nintendo vs. Bung decision.

Misc. News: Overclocked #54: Lump of Coal
15:51:  David Lloyd of the popular emulation-parody comic strip Overclocked has posted strip #54 on his site. "Lump of Coal" deals with people who don't get what they want for Xmas. Hey, I personally liked the cute bunnie slippers. :)

Misc. News: Dream Quest 2000 released by Firebell
15:46:  The official FireBell homepage has posted Demo 2 of Dream Quest 2000, an accurate clone of the popular RPG, Final Fantasy. The game is freeware and it's only 1.6 MB, so you can't lose. Be sure to pick up this clone, and Merry Xmas!

Misc. News: Xmas present for the French
15:41:  Power3D (a gaming site for people who speak french) has posted a french translation of SmyGB 0.2 for Xmas. For all of ZD's french visitors, you should visit Power3D and pick it up.

Misc. News: Back to the Roots Xmas update
15:36:  In more Amiga-related news, Back to the Roots (a site dedicated to gaming on the Amiga) has added games from Core Design, Infocom, Sierra and others to the site. The newly added games include Banshee, Dragonstone and King's Quest VI. If you're a fan of the Amiga, be sure to check out Back to the Roots.

Misc. News: 3 new game reviews on Amiga Flashback
15:30:  Amiga Flashback, a site dedicated to keeping the Amiga alive through emulation, has posted the following 3 game reviews on their site:

Misc. News: UltraHLE and Voodoo3
00:12:  There are still many people who are having problems getting Voodoo3 video cards to work with UltraHLE, so I uploaded a file that can help. It's actually just the glide2x.dll file for the Voodoo Banshee, but it works with Voodoo3 cards too, and it's compatible with UltraHLE. Simply download the file and put it in your UltraHLE directory. You can get it at the Glide wrapper page. Thanks to Antonio for the file.

12/24/1999
Misc. News: Overclocked #53 - Emu-Judas
01:17:  Here's a holiday treat for you all! Overclocked has a very special visit from "God Himself" on today's Overclocked.

You can view today's episode by visiting the following link:

Emulator Release: MEKA 0.32c
00:38:  A new bugfix version of MEKA has been released. If fixes a bug that can cause problems with MEKA in DOS. Also, there's now an option in the config file to change to IPeriod for Colecovision games. You can get MEKA at the Master System page.

Utility Release: ZD-spc 2.3
00:14:  Here is my Christmas present to all of you out there, a new version of ZD-spc! I bet you will like what's new in this version, take a look:

12/23/1999
Emulator Release: R80 Spectrum v0.22
23:44:  A new version of R80, a Spectrum emulator, has been updated. This version adds Covox emulation for the SoundBlaster cards, and has much faster emulation. Here's a quick list of what's new in this version:

New:

Misc. News: Article on violence in the media
23:13:  Shamanix (Jay Downing.) has taken the liberty of writing up a short editorial about violence in the media. It's quite an interesting piece of literature, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. I would like to thank Shamanix for his input and contribution to Zophar's Domain.

Check out the article by going to the following link:

Misc. News: Commodore 64 & 128 Emulation FAQ
22:53:  A Commodore 64 & 128 Emulation FAQ has been updated. It contains useful information for emulator users. A bit of a warning, however,. . .

This FAQ is written in Italian.

You can view the site by visiting the following link:

Translation News: Tales of Phantasia translation progress
21:51:  DarkForce of DeJap is currently at work on a translation of the SNES game Tales of Phantasia. His current progress is amazing as he's almost done it. All text has been translated. All that remains to be done are a few bugfixes and the fixing of other "issues."

You can look at DarkForce's current progress by check out the following graphic:

Site News: Illegal to "Back Up" N64 Games?
14:58:  Though there are no details on the site, GameDaily has an article stating that Nintendo has won seven million dollars in damages from major backup device manufacturer Bung. Carlind, whom long-time copier people may remember distributed copiers for the NES, SNES, and N64 until going out of business not long ago, was mentioned in the initial lawsuit, though I do not know if they were found guilty as well.

Thanks to rei for the info!

Misc. News: Overclocked: #52 - Perils
13:59:  Another comic of the popular comic strip, Overclocked has been created. This one deals with ROM leaking.

You can check it out at the following link:

Misc. News: Stuff
06:53:  Ok, this is doomsday for me, I guess. :) I can afford one smiley per year. I have to take my computer home from this computer club now, so I can't update Zophar's Domain until in January. I may be able to get to some computer with internet access (I do now have internet access at home) and do an occasional update, but don't count too much on it. I'll be gone until January 10, I think. But then I'll be back and work even better than I did before, hehe. Well, anyway. Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy new year. I hope you'll get christmas presents, unlike me, I don't. Bye bye.

Site News: Nine more days to doomsday and all's well!
04:30:  Yo!

What's up everyone? It's Zophar again, with another dose of evil fun. I have lots to talk about tonight, so I hope everyone had something to eat, since you'll probably be staying on this screen for quite some time.

I've been browsing the web with a sense of insanity these past few weeks. "Why?", you may ask? The reason is quite simple: ZD wants *YOU* (Imagine a big picture of a figure resembling Uncle Sam except that his hat is similar to Willy Wonka, he's entirely shrouded in black, and his voice is deeper than Dr. Robotnik from the Saturday version of the Sonic cartoon)! Do you run a video gaming site that's well designed and has a small fan base, but you've been looking to broaden your horizons? Are you the author of an emulator just waiting to break out into the public but you have no webspace? Perhaps you run an emulation site which you update umpteen times a day, but lack the bandwidth & space that your ISP currently gives you? Worry no more, because Zophar's Domain is here for you! Don't be afraid to send your old pal Zophar an e-mail, afraid that he'll cast it away and never read it. While I cannot accept all webmasters into the ZD family, I will accept those who have an established gaming or emulation related website (or authors needing space & bandwidth for emulators) into the maelstrom. Be sure to read all of the rules at the bottom of the ZD Hosting page before any webmaster or author sends an e-mail.

Speaking of hosted websites, ZD will soon be welcoming 4 websites that are moving from various providers & ISPs to ZD, as well as one new website from which you'll be able to download an emulator which promises to be one of the most *complete* freeware Nintendo Entertainment System emulators for Windows9X that the world has ever seen. (For those who have seen ZD video show #2, you know what I'm talking about). A release should be right around Armageddon (if we're all still alive, of course), so hold on to your hats because it's going to be quite a ride!

Many of you have been wondering, "Hey Zophar, what ever happened to those NSM contests that you used to do every month?" Well, I'd have to tell you that there will be a new NES movie contest announced on January 1, 2000. I'd add in the fact that depending on what happens between now and then, it may NOT be a NESticle NSM contest. I'd also have to tell you that this one will be the most difficult yet, so don't hold your breath. ;) Additionally, I'll be deciding on whether or not to go ahead and start the ZMV contests.

I'd like to thank everyone for your continued support of the largest SNES SPC and NES NSF music archives on the web! For those of you who have been asking about a Genesis GYM archive, you won't be waiting much longer. The problem of the missing PCM sound from logged GYM files (ie, drum beats and percussion samples) has been solved, and one of the current GYM players (which will be hosted on ZD come the new release) will support Megasis-logged GYM with PCM data. Hopefully, other Genesis emulators will support this new GYMX standard once everything is all set. More on this when our archive is set up and the new version of the player is released.

It's hard to believe that we're nine days away from the Year 2000, and only a little over a year from the new millenium! Even though 2001 is the new millenium, there's something about that two and three zeros that makes the year 2000 seem more important than the new millenium, which takes place in 2001. It also gives people a reason to 'party like it's 1999' not once, but twice. Hey, works for me!

Logos? Huh? What? Yes! It's time for the most creative visitors to Zophar's Domain to pull up their sleeves and get down & dirty. If you can design the most insane, excellent, beautiful, gorgeous, breathtaking or otherwise incredible ZD logo that the entire world has ever seen, then you can enter ZD's Logo-making contest! What are the rules? There's only two: you give ZD full permission & rights to use the logo (we can use it as we see fit), and that you use every ounce of creativity in your body to do so. The winner will be credited on Zophar's Domain as the author of the logo, and the logo will be used on ZD! Imagine seeing your work on ZD in the Year 2000... I would create one myself, but I received a "C" in Art almost 7 years ago in 7th grade... so... ;) E-mail your submission to Zophar. It's due by December 31, 1999. Please, no logos bigger than 30KB.

It's almost time for me to write my essay on "The Most Influential Emulators of the Decade". I'll be going back in time to these last few years to when emulation really started to take off, and I'll be writing down my choices for the most influential of all of them. I'll hopefully be able to release this text along with "The Chronicles of Zophar" in the first week of January 2000.

Thanks for reading this blurb! I shall be going off to sleep now. Just remember that we at ZD appreciate each and every one of you, our visitors. Without your support, we'd probably still be on ZipLink with our 10MB quota and 100MB a day bandwidth limit. We thank you for visiting YOUR website, Zophar's Domain!

Emulator Release: MAMED 36b11b for Digita
04:16:  MAMED, the version of MAME for Digital Cameras, has been updated to reflect the MAME 0.36b11 sources. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: MacMAME 0.36 Beta 12
04:02:  MacMAME has been updated to 0.36b12. Here's what's new:

Translation News: Super Mario Bros. Challenge Back Again!
02:11:  Another version of SMB Challenge has been released, this time with playability up to Level 5.

Get it off the Hacks page.

Emulator Release: MAME32ASM v0.36 Beta 12
00:55:  A new version of MAME32ASM, an arcade emulator, was released. Not much was added to this version, but there is more to come. Here's a quick list of what's new in this version:

Utility Release: GL2IDE version C
00:02:  Another Glide Wrapper has been added to ZD. This wrapper doesn't even require a 3d card! It is however recommended not running it in software mode, for it is quite slow. Check it out.

You can download this wrapper, along with others from the Glide Wrappers page

12/22/1999
Utility Release: Clide 2.4
23:28:  I have added another wrapper to ZD. This time, it's Clide. A very nice wrapper, that is very fast, and works well on older video cards. Check it out.

You can get this wrapper, and other wrappers from the Glide Wrappers page.

Utility Release: Bleep! 1.04
22:54:  Bleep!, a NSF plugin for WinAMP, has been updated. Here's the scoop:

Emulator Release: BeGameboy .30 Released!
20:59:  A third release in about a week and a half, BeOS users rejoice! This update seems to be quite major, as the author, David Raingeard, has this to say, on BeBits:

"Major update of BeGameboy. Multithreading and GUI implemented. Does not need SDL anymore ! Bug reports welcome !"

The GUI is functional, and has basics, including save state, it seems. I haven't tested it with a rom, though.

You may download BeGameboy from our BeOS Console page.

Misc. News: The Physics of Santa Claus
19:32:  Some sites are starting to post rip-offs of the physics of Santa...well, here at ZD, we have the entire text direct from the source. Back in my AP physics class in high school, we actually did the calculations presented in the text, and as crazy as they sound, they're correct. Proceed with caution, however, because if you believe in Santa, you won't after reading this.

Translation News: Fire Emblem Gaiden Update
18:32:  J2e has updated their Fire Emblem Gaiden patch, so that when you use the Exaclibur spell, the game wont freeze.

Download it from the Translations page.

Thanks to the Lost One for the news.

Media News: Monkey See, Monkey Do
13:09:  You may remember that Sega came up with this novel idea a few weeks ago to make TG-16 and Sega Genesis games downloadable and playable on a Dreamcast for a small fee.

Well, guess what? According to Gamespot, Nintendo of Japan and the Randnet DD service has a similar novel idea dealing with the N64DD (only available in Japan) being able to download NES games onto a N64DD disk using the Randnet DD service, with the only sticking point being a small fee (a few hundred yen -- about a dollar) paid for each game.

Hmm, I wonder where they got that idea from.

Thanks to Retrogames for the news.

Site News: Poll Update
12:52:  Well, I thought long and hard about the poll this time around, and I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to make a poll about the millennium. That's what everyone was expecting, I bet. Instead, I have an average poll in mind.

Here's the results from the last poll:
What would you think about adding a write-in vote for the poll?

Choice 1 was: "It's a great idea, because the stupid poll updater might miss something."
It received 102 votes (31.2 percent).

Choice 2 was: "It's a bad idea, because morons might post useless write-ins."
It received 150 votes (45.9 percent).

Choice 3 was: "I might have to mail in a write-in vote, ruining the point of this poll."
It received 38 votes (11.6 percent).

Choice 4 was: "I don't care."
It received 37 votes (11.3 percent).

All I can say is, "Darn, my idea got shot down."

As for the new poll, here's the question:
What do you think of graphically-enhanced emulators like EmuDX?

What are you reading this last sentence for? Go vote.

Translation News: Metroid Challenge V. 0.40 and an Apology
11:53:  First off, we'd like to apologize to Curtis Himel, who didn't get credit for his Metroid Challenge hack until now. Hopefully, he accepts our apology.

Next, there's a new version of the hack, version 0.40. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Sparcade V. 2.33b
11:10:  Dave Spicer, whom many would call the "father" of arcade emulation, has just released a new version of his emulator Sparcade. This version, 2.33b, was released as a beta version, so it may be a little buggy. Nonetheless, it's a big update. (Oh yeah, it supports Gradius III!) Here's what's new:

Misc. News: Newsletter Volume 1, Issue #6 - Y2K Edition
02:51:  Yes, folks. The time has arrived. The FINAL newsletter for 1999 has arrived. I'm sure that you're going to enjoy this edition as its taken me and the people that worked on it a LONG time to think of, plan, write up. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Andrew for helping me out with the great horoscopes. He will be helping me with them from now on. Also, I would like to thank ^cd^ for helping me out on the newsletter. Okay, enough of the chatter, let's get on with it, shall we?

Here's what's included with this Y2K edition of the newsletter:

Misc. News: Overclocked: #51
02:18:  David of Overclocked has done another issue of his comic. This one is called, Eye for an Eye You can view it by visiting the following link:

Translation News: Go Go Ackman!
01:32:  Equinox has released his completed translation patch for Go! Go! Ackman!, a sidescrolling adventure game for SFC.

Get it from the Translations page.

Translation News: SD Gundam Knight Story RPG
00:52:  Assassin Translations has released a patch for their SD Gundam Knight Story RPG translation. Currently the patch is basically a 'menu patch' but a script dump is being translated.

Current Progress:

12/21/1999
Utility Release: OpenGlide v0.04
23:33:  A new version of OpenGlide has been released. Here is what's new in this version:

Translation News: RPGe
22:32:  It seems that the RPGe website has vanished without a trace. We have contacted harmony7, RPGe's leader but he has yet to respond. For now, the links will stay as they are, and we will keep you posted as information is made avialable.

Also, I've been gone for a week and a half. I'm trying my best to go through all of the emails I've recieved.

Emulator Release: MEKA 0.32b!
17:52:  MEKA 0.32b has now been released to "evil pirates and truly poor people", hehe. Now Greendog and Panzer Dragoon Mini works correctly! Anyway, this means that you can now go get the latest version of this great SMS/GG/Colecovision/etc. emulator from the Sega Master System/Game Gear emulators page! Thanks to [valar] for the news!

Emulator Release: Unofficial MAME32 with autofire 0.36 beta 12
17:42:  The unofficial MAME32 with autofire has been udpated and is now in sync with the DOS version. This is a MAME32 version with autofire options available.

You can download it from the MAME page.

Emulator Release: MEKA 0.32
16:03:  MEKA 0.32, an excellent Sega Master System/Game Gear/Colecovision/etc. emulator for DOS, has been released to registered users, this is just a small bugfix release that fixes an evil graphics emulation bug. The public version should be out soon, but if you do have the opportunity to, you should really register this emulator. Thanks to Joe Bucci for the news!

Emulator News: KOF 99 fix for NeoCD!
16:00:  The authors of NeoCD has released a fixed executable of NeoCD that fixes the problems with playing the KOF '99 CD. They also says to look out for the Windows version of NeoCD, which will be released some time in January! So if you have KOF '99, go download the NeoCD fix from the Neo*Geo emulators page and play it. Thanks to the NeoCD authors for the news.

Emulator News: Hu6280 site updated!
15:48:  Most of you hopefully remember Hu6280, a PC-Engine/Turbo GrafX 16 emulator for DOS and Windows. Well, with all the recent talk about PC-Engine emulators (Magic Engine, Hu-Go!), they decided to update the site. The site has been updated with screenshots of Shadow of the Beast, Golden Axe, and some various news.

Go visit the Hu6280 official homepage and read the news! Thanks to Jammy for the news.

Misc. News: Newsletter will be out soon!
08:20:  The Zophar's Domain newsletter will be out very soon. Andrew, Justin, and I have been hard at work to make this last newsletter of the year a special one. So, sit tight and wait for good things to come.

Remember, that you can view the current available issue of the newsletter by going on over to the Newsletter page.

Stay tuned!

Misc. News: WinAMP skins added
08:15:  I have added 11 skins to the WinAMP skins section on the WinAMP page. Here's a list of what I added:

Site News: New site hosted on Zophar's Domain!
01:49:  That's right, folks. Zophar's Domain is hosting another site for your viewing pleasure. The owner of the site is Geechyguy and he will be updating the site for you. This site contains articles about emulation and other information.

You can view the site by visiting the following link:

Media News: Video game ban in Brazil
00:27:  Another article about the Brazilian ban on violent video games has been posted. Looks like the shooter was on drugs. Brazil looks set to ban more video games in 120 days. Not a very welcomed idea for video gamers in Brazil.

Check out the article at this link:

12/20/1999
Emulator News: Champi removed and news on SNEShout
23:27:  After receiving many e-mails on the possibility of Champi being nothing more than a spanish version of Snes9x with a few changes, we decided to research the situtation ourselves. We've determined that it's nothing more than a hack of an SNES emulator called SNEShout, which is largely based on the freely available Snes9x source code. Since ZD has never been a site to support cheap hacks of emulators, we've removed it from the SNES page.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed in about this. If you'd like to check out SNEShout, you can visit it at the link below.

Misc. News: UltraINI 1.0.24
22:43:  Another version of UltraINI has been release. Tired yet? Check this out, they re-added the Automobili Lamborghini game. It turns out that the game really works, but only from Z64 dumps of the game. Oh well. They have also added the support of Dexanoid, which is an awsome home brewed game from a group called Protest Design. And you can download it from their web page.

You can get the new version of UltraINI from the Nintendo 64 emulators page.

Emulator Release: Magic Engine 0.96 beta 2
03:43:  Another beta version of Magic Engine has been released. This one should fix the strange colors troubles that some people had, it should also fix most of the CDROM problems.

You can download it from the Turbo Grafx 16 emulators page.

Emulator Release: Pretendo WIP
03:35:  Delta has released a WIP version of Pretendo, his NES emulator for Windows 32. This is basically a total rewrite, so some things may work better, and some things may work worse than before.

Download it from the NES emulators page at your own risk.

Emulator Release: Hu-Go 1.06b for Linux
03:29:  Hu-Go!, a TG-16 emulator with sound, 4 player support, ISO support and much more, has been ported to Linux, and this version is in sync with the DOS version.

You can download it from the Turbo Grafx 16 emulators for Unix page. Thanks to Elmeryud for the news!

Site News: Impact news
02:53:  The Impact, an arcade emulator that most of you already know about, has received it's own domain name: www.impactemu.com! The page has been revamped and the gallery has been reworked, so go have a look at the page now! Do you want this emulator to be released? Then please don't bug the authors with stupid questions or anything like that, just be patient and it'll come to you.

Emulator Release: BeGameboy .20 Released!
00:36:  Not a day after the first release, a second is already out. This release includes 'paddle'-thumbpad?- support.

I must say, I was quite surprised by the number of people who mailed me about this. Pleasantly surprised.

You may find it on the BeOS Console page.

Thanks go to everyone who did email me!

Misc. News: Che's King of Dragon editor source released
00:36:  Have you ever wanted to make a save game editor? Well here is a source code that can help you out. Che has released the source code to his King of Dragon's editor. Written in Visual Basic, it will aid you in making your own editor. Take a look at his web page for more details.

You can visit his homepage at http://che.darkmazda.com

Media News: Games Magazine Article On Emulation
00:23:  Games Magazine had an article on emulation in their February 2000 edition of the magazine. It seems to be less spiteful than some other articles, and includes an interesting comparison to jaywalking.

While we don't have a scan of the article, The Wanderer (God -- doesn't matter which one -- bless his soul) did us a favor and typed it out for us.

Thanks again to The Wanderer for the info.

Misc. News: Overclocked #50: Physical Frontend
00:00:  Episode #50 of David Lloyd's emulation parody comic strip, Overclocked, is now up for viewing. "Physical Frontend" deals with the many different uses for frontends (yeah, right). This will be the last episode for a while, so enjoy!

Also, while we're at it, be sure to give the Overclocked Remix page a visit: the remixes of some classic tunes are a tribute to what those games once were!

12/19/1999
Media News: Amiga Music CD
23:28:  A CD containing music from the Amiga system has been released. It's titled Immortal and is now available to order from Monteiro Music. The album features some of the best soundtracks ever created for Amiga games. Included with the album are soundtracks from the following games:

Misc. News: DirectX 7.0a released
23:16:  Microsoft has released DirectX 7.0a. It fixes problems with Gravis USB joysticks along with many other bugs. You can get it at the DirectX homepage. Thanks to nodeX for the news.

Emulator Release: Hu-Go 1.06
22:45:  A new version of Hu-Go, a TurboGrafx 16 emulator for DOS, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Aphrodite v0.1a
06:34:  A new NES emulator called Aphrodite was released. It runs ROMs, has sound, and seems to work okay.

You can get a copy at the NES page.

Thanks to odiemisafeg for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: BeGameboy 0.12 Released!
03:37:  To the few of you who use BeOS, and do not read BeNews on a daily basis, here you are. The first gameboy emulator for BeOS, appropriately named BeGameboy, has been released. The author has this to say:

"BeGameboy is a gameboy emulator for BeOS. It is still very primitive, but works well. Check for updates in the next days..."

It looks as though we may have a decent emulation related Christmas. Now if they will only release Maui...

You may find BeGameboy, and the rest of the console emulators on their very own page. Called, surprisingly the BeOS Console page.

Emulator Release: Magic Engine v.96b
01:21:  A new version of Magic Engine has been released. After over 2 years of silence, they have finally come back. I'm glad that the project isn't dead since it is the best TG16 / PC-engine emulator out there. This new release is now for Windows, and the CD's work 100%. Please keep in mind that this is only a beta, and you must register for the full version.

You can download it at the TG16/PCE emulators page.

Thanks go out to The_great_D2 for the e-mail

Utility Release: Tiler v0.5b
00:54:  A new tile map editor for SNES save states has been released. This utility lets you import, and export pictures from your ZSNES ZST file. Check out some of the features of Tiler .5:

12/18/1999
Utility Release: Ultraini 1.0.22, no, really
23:40:  UltraINI 1.0.23 was a fake. Too bad. I have re-uploaded the 1.0.22 INI.

You can download it at the Nintendo 64 emulators page.

Thanks go out to JandaMan, and Zach for the messages

Utility Release: X-Glide .13a MGlide 1.246G
16:19:  I've added two more wrappers to the Glide Wrappers page.

Check out the Glide Wrappers page here.

Site News: Glide Wrapper section
15:56:  I have added a new section to ZD. It is the Glide Wrapper section. Have you ever run a 3d game\program that requires glide2x.dll? Well that program was written for 3dFX cards. But, with the creation of Glide Wrappers, you don't need a 3dFX card anymore. You just need a 3d card, and the glide wrapper will work with it, to make glide games\programs work. Glide wrappers weren't known of that much until UltraHLE came out. Then Glide wrappers came up left right and center. If you want to try UltraHLE or other games that requires a 3dFX card, but you don't have one, check out this page.

Glide Wrappers page.

Utility Release: Mario Improvement .50
15:25:  A new version of that great NES editing utility, Mario Improvement 3 has finally been released. Here is what's new:

Utility Release: GoodGBC 0.9
15:11:  I have added a new utility on ZD named GoodGBC. GoodGBC, like GoodGB, is a utility for renaming your Gameboy ROMs. GoodGBC however, renames Gameboy Color ROMs. So far, this utility has a complete database. Check it out.

You can download it at the Gameboy Utility page.

Utility Release: GoodGB 0.22
15:08:  A new version of GoodGB has been released. Here is what's new:

Emulator Release: MAME 0.36 beta 12
12:41:  Another version of MAME, a multi arcade game emulator, has been released. This version is mainly a bugfix version, and not many new games are supported, but if you had trouble with beta 11, try this version. Anyway, here's the what's new list:

New games supported:

Misc. News: Back to the Roots stuff
12:07:  Back to the Roots, a site with a lot of Amiga games legally available for download, has been updated with an interview with the president of Darkage software and of course some new games, so visit Back to the Roots! Thanks to Calavera for the news.

Misc. News: The 64DD is out in Japan!
12:03:  The 64DD is out in Japan, but most likely it won't ever make it over here. But if you get your hands on this one you can look forward to things such as the F-Zero X expansion kit and Sim City 64.

Read more about it here: http://www.videogamers.com/news99/12-15dd.shtml. Thanks to The DragonKeeper for the news!

Emulator Release: NEStra 0.66
11:21:  NEStra, a NES emulator for Unix/X11/FreeBSD that uses dynamic recompilation, has been updated to version 0.66, and since I missed version 0.65 I'll post the news for that version here as well:

Misc. News: Overclocked: #49, the Dilophosaur & a correction
09:02:  Yesterday, I posted an issue of Overclocked (an emulation parody comic strip) MAMEBucks Coffee, which I mentioned was #47. However, the titlebar on the page was incorrect. It was not #47, but #48. I felt that everyone should know that so there's no confusion.

Today's issue, #49, deals with holiday spirit. Be sure to give it a read, and don't drink any coffee with it. ;) Also, the official Overclocked transportation vehicle has been announced! I still say that my time-traveling jet beats all, but what can you do?

Emulator News: UltraHLE development update
08:16:  RealityMan, author of UltraHLE, posted this on the WWWboards on his site. Here's what he had to say:


I know many of you want regular news updates on the progress of UltraHLE, whats happening, when its going to be released etc. First, the reason why there are so few, ok NO, news updates is that I have changed my stance on the news. When I was updating I had so much negative feedback that I just got to the point where I decided that I would privatly develop HLE 1.1 and release as and when I was ready. As far as a release is concerned, I have heard the rumours of a Christmas release or a release on the 1st aniversary of HLE 1.0's release but I can tell you now that this will not happen. I am spending my development time up to the new year currently on Jagulator and will not be resuming development of HLE till mid January time. At that point I will review the project and look at the targets and whats left to be finalised. Hope that clears a couple of things up...


You can check out the official UltraHLE site at the following link:

Emulator Release: Sweet16 1.3 Released
02:38:  After a bit of silence on the BeOS emulation front, Sweet16 has been updated. Sweet16 is an Apple IIgs emulator, and is also shareware. I have not tried it yet, but it seems to be fairly advanced. Feedback on this, anyone?

The update includes support for multipartition disks, multisession cds, the IIgs serial ports, and increased stability. Also there is 'much, much more!'

You may grab it off of the BeOS Computer page.

12/17/1999
Site News: Holiday Logo
18:31:  I took it upon myself ot create a holiday logo for Zophar's Domain. I hope you enjoy it.

Site News: New ZD jet and 12 days of Emu-Xmas?
11:10:  Many people felt that the glory of the time-traveling ZD jet that we posted yesterday could not be felt due to the low quality of the picture. Thanks to Exodus3D, we now have an even better jet which you can view in all its glory now. Additionally, Exodus3D has taken "The 12 days of Xmas" and created "The 12 days of EmuXmas". Be sure to check it out. Maybe I'll upload an MP3 of my rendition of it sometime today. :)

Misc. News: Overclocked #47: MAMEBucks Coffee
10:49:  David Lloyd has released issue #47 of his emulation parody comic strip, Overclocked. Issue #47 deals with MAME and its sixteen thousand versions, each of which has about 5 bytes changed. I spilled my coffee again upon reading this one. :) Be sure to check it out for a good laugh.

Site News: Back In Time update
09:48:  Back In Time has done, as promised, a complete review of Pac-Man World for PlayStation. If you don't have a PlayStation, then get your hands on a copy of Bleem!. It seems to run fine under Bleem!. Additionally, details on the game, and some other information on using the game under Bleem! have been included in the review.

So, go on over to the Back In Time site and check it out.

Thanks to Mike Stulir, the Webmaster of Back In Time, for the e-mail.

Utility Release: ROMCenter 1.80
02:21:  ROMCenter, a mutli system ROM checking/renaming/repairing utility, has been updated to version 1.80 and here's what's new:

Misc. News: UltraINI v1.0.22
02:02:  A new version of UltraINI, the INI file for UltraHLE, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Utility Release: SPCAMP v0.601
00:55:  A new version of SPCAMP, an SPC plug-in for WinAMP, was released. There were two versions released in the last 2 days, so I'll mention what was new in both versions. Here's the list:

12/16/1999
Utility News: PSXPlay v1.35 Readme File Translation
22:20:  Well, BDLou mentioned that he couldn't read the readme file for PSXPlay v1.36 (because of the fact that it's in Japanese). Well, we now have a translation of the readme for 1.35.. I know, it might not be quite so helpful to those of you looking for new features, but this is the most recent one we have. If anyone translates a newer version, that's great. :)

You can pick PSXPlay up (along with the translated readme, which I uploaded) at the Playstation utilities page.

Much thanks goes out to Segu and Zoomy for this translation.

Utility Release: PSXPlay v1.36 released
20:37:  Already, a newer version of PSXPlay, a Playstation STR video player, has been released. As it was released so close to the last version, I can only imagine that it is a bug fix, but, being in Japanese, I can't tell you for sure.

Download it in the Playstation utilities area.

Thanks to Benjamin's Ultimate Homepage for letting me know.

Misc. News: Want to be famous?
16:32:  Well, then, you've stumbled upon the right news posting. If you would like to be mentioned in the next newsletter, and have a question answered that you've always wanted to know about Zophar's Domain, what it's like working here, or just something about emulation, then send in your question to me or Justin and we'll answer them and you'll be mentioned in the FINAL newsletter before Y2K hits. How exciting! So, get your juices flowing and think of a question, submit it, and maybe you'll be famous in the emu scene!

Site News: Retrogames and a 747?
12:03:  Atila of Retrogames.com now has a new way to travel around the world. However, I decided to hire a secret builder, known under the code-name "Marcus", to construct a secret ZD-jet that would be able to transform into a Delorean going 88 MPH...

The world is not enough. Mwuahahah. Thanks to Marcus for the... err... jet.

Misc. News: Overclocked #46: Spooky
11:02:  David Lloyd has drawn his 46th episode for his emulation parody comic strip, Overclocked. In "Spooky", David examines the panic and fear that develops when someone with no DOS experience is thrust into the black screen of evil.

Misc. News: Back In Time reviews games.
10:25:  A while ago, Back In Time posted previews of some products that are in development from Atari/Hasbro Interactive. Those games have gone gold, and are available on shelves at stores. Back In Time has done complete reviews of the games they mentioned. Those reviews include:

Misc. News: UltraINI 1.0.21
09:56:  A new version of UltraINI, the INI file for the N64 emulator UltraHLE, has been released. Here's what's new in this version:

Media News: Treasure box?
09:45:  In a recent issue of Dengeki DC Magazine, there was an interview with Treasure president Masato Maegawa. In it, he revealed the company's plans for a compilation of a few of their 16-bit titles for Dreamcast. It's titled "Treasure Box."

There's no news on whether these will be emulations or just enhancements.

You can keep up with this story by visiting Gamefan.

Thanks to Aderack for the e-mail.

Misc. News: Gamepics: 5,000 games, 10,000 screen shots.
09:23:  Gamepics, a screen shot archive for video games, reached an all-time record. The archive has reached 5,000 games featured, and offers 10,000 screen shots. Quite impressive, no?

You can see the archive by going over to the GamePics page.

Thanks to Mek for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: TIGraph 2.0
07:53:  A new version of TIGraph, a calculator emulator, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Emulator Release: WinApe 1.8b
03:48:  WinApe, an Amstrad CPC emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 1.8b and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Q-EmuLator 1.2
03:40:  Q-EmuLator, a Sinclair QL emulator for Windows, has been updated to version 1.2 and here's what's new:

Utility Release: GoodGB 0.2
03:27:  GoodGB, a Gameboy ROM identifying and renaming utility, has been updated to version 0.2 and here's what's new:

Utility Release: NesToy 2.6b
03:23:  NesToy, a NES ROM checking and renaming utility has been updated to version 2.6 and here's what's new:

12/15/1999
Emulator Release: MZ80 3.0
18:41:  A new version of MZ80, Neil Bradley's Z80 CPU emulator, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator News: MagicEngine release date pushed back
15:21:  The release date for the new version of MagicEngine has been pushed back until the 18th for PC owners and the 28th for Mac owners.

Utility Release: PSXPlay v1.35 released
09:48:  Not much is known about this update, as the homepage is in Japanese, however, there are a few blurbs of english, saying, "motion JPG", and "MMX". There also seems to be an AVI export feature now too. PSXPlay is a Sony Playstation utility that allows you to view the video stream files on a PSX disc.

Grab your copy in the PSX Utilities section.

Misc. News: Banjo Kazooie in UltraHLE stuff
07:49:  If you are one of the people playing Banjo Kazooie in UltraHLE now that the copy protection has been bypassed you might be interested in this:

"With the release of the new ini for UltraHLE, banjo-kazooie was fixed to be the normal size. However, you still could not advance in the game because of a broken bridge. Someone sent me a savestate that has the bridge fixed and I also have a cheat people can use to bypass the bridge. You can get the info and savestate at www.emuhq.com/ultrahle"

So, visit www.emuhq.com/ultrahle if you want the savestate or the cheat, and thanks to jandaman for the news!

Site News: More on the Quebec/video game situation
06:17:  A few days ago, we reported on the situation in Quebec with video game companies. Quebec told various video game companies that if they don't comply with the laws and print instruction manuals in French by the end of December, then they would be in breech of the law. Thanks to Joseph Millman, we now have an article from The Globe which explains the situation in detail. You can check it out below.

Site News: Emucamp unveils its surprise
05:40:  Emucamp.com, a popular emulation news site, has revealed its surprise for everyone. They have opened a new site known as CENetworks. The purpose of the site will be to provide in-depth reviews of emulators, and there are plans for a print version of the magazine as well! There are some popular figures that have joined the project, and some of them are being listed right now. Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's something that I feel you'll enjoy.

Site News: Overclocked: 2 new episodes and a t-shirt!
05:05:  Overclocked, the famous emulation parody comic strip, has released 2 new episodes. Episode #44 is entitled "Pookie the Bitchy Monkey" and is about one of those fun banner ads that doesn't seem to ever want to go away. Episode #45, "I have this Dream", is a parody on different famous speeches. Be sure to check them both out, they're great laughs!

Also, Overclocked has created a t-shirt design for the upcoming EX2K project, which is just one of the many ways that emulation sites are coming together as one. Almsot every single major emulation site (including mine) is a part of this t-shirt design, so check it out!

Misc. News: Bleem! Counter Sues Sony
04:22:  It looks like Bleem! will be the aggressor for once against Sony. Yesterday in court, the Honorable Judge Charles A. Legge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted Bleem's motion for leave to amend and assert counterclaims against Sony. Bleem! is accusing Sony of all kinds of different anti-competitive and monopolistic practices. I can't wait to see what happens next. =) You can read more at IGN or GA Source. Thanks to Bone Deaf for the news.

12/14/1999
Emulator Release: AMAME & PMAME 0.36 beta 11
14:50:  AMAME and PMAME, the AMD and Pentium optimized version of MAME, have been brought up to the same version as the official MAME. You can get them at the MAME page.

Utility Release: SetCleaner v2.1.0
07:04:  A new version of SetCleaner, a M.A.M.E., Raine, Callus, System16, Rage and M72 utility, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Site News: Redump v2.5
04:00:  A new version of Redump, a MAME utility, was released.

You can get it at the MAME Utilities page.

Thanks to Till for the e-mail.

Media News: Brazilian judge bans 6 video games
03:46:  If all the controversy about video gaming emulation and game language versions wasn't enough, it looks like that a Brazilian judge has banned 6 video games from being sold in Brazil. If any vendor is caught selling any of the following games, the vendor could be slapped with a $10,000 US fine:

Emulator News: CCS64 V2.0b
03:26:  A new version of CCS64, a Commodore 64 emulator, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Fixed:

Site News: Sega G3 1.11 3rd
03:23:  Sega G3, a Japanese Sega Master System/Game Gear/Mark 3 emulator for Windows, has been updated, but I don't know what's new, neither can I seem to find the what's new list in the readme, but you can download it from the Sega Master System/Game Gear emulators page. I saw this over at Kinox.

Site News: GBFan 1.15 6th
03:16:  GBFan, a Japanese Gameboy/Super Gameboy/Color Gameboy emulator for Windows, has been updated. I don't know what's new, and I can't find the spot for the what's new text in the readme, so I would be very glad if someone took a look at the readme and tells us what's new.

You can download it from the Gameboy emulators page. I saw this over at Kinox.

Emulator Release: TuxNES 0.73
03:02:  TuxNES, a NES emulator for Linux originally based on the NEStra source code, has been updated and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: SynKGB 0.022a
02:54:  A new version of SynKGB, a Gameboy emulator for Windows, has been released. This new version is Windows 2000 compatible, so if your favourite Gameboy emulator doesn't run in Windows 2000, you can use this one to play MBC1 and MBC2 games, at least.

You can download it from the Gameboy emulators page.

Utility Release: GoodNES 2.5 and Good2600 0.94
02:44:  GoodNES and Good2600, two ROM checker utilities for NES and Atari 2600 ROMs, have been updated.

Good2600 news:

Site News: EMU+ 0.36 beta 11
02:35:  EMU+, a version of DOS MAME with some added features like CPU overclocking, Neo*Geo save states and dual mouse support, has been updated and here's what's new:

Utility Release: Che's Ultimate Cheater 1.21
02:35:  A new version of Che's Ultimate Cheater, a cheater, has been released. Here's a list of what new cheats were added:

Emulator Release: AMESS 0.36 beta 11
02:23:  AMESS, the new AMD/Pentium II/486 optimized version of MESS, a multi computer/console emulator, has been compiled by Rodimus Prime, and it has been added to the MESS page. I saw this over at Emulation HQ.

Misc. News: Various things
02:13:  I know I haven't done many updates lately, and that's because I'm not allowed to be online from home any more. The only time I can be online is when I'm at school or at the computer club. You might have noticed the _Bnu_Dead sitting around on IRC most of the time (when I get disconnected I might return as ^Bnu, though). Msg him and I will read it as soon as possible. Also, my mail address isn't working right now because a friend of mine sent me a 34 MB mail, so I can't check it. Until I have that problem solved I can't answer any mail, ergh. Now I'm off to look for stuff to update about, have a nice day.

Misc. News: Newsletter update
01:43:  I've decided to add a new section to the newsletter. The name of the section will be, "Viewer Feedback." In this section, you will have the opportunity to mail questions to us and we'll answer them to the best of our abilities.

You said, "our"? What do you mean?

Exactly what it means. I've decided to hire an assistant to help me out with this newsletter, and with luck, it will return to its weekly spot. Justin Mullins (^cd^), will be helping me out with it.

A huge holiday edition of the newsletter is coming out soon. This one will be the biggest yet. So, if you have any questions that you would like answered, then send me or Justin and we'll get right on them.

What kind of questions do you want?

Well, we were hoping you could send us questions such as, "What is the best NES emulator out there?" or "Where can I find a decent site regarding arcade emulation?" You know, just whatever comes to your mind. Please keep in mind, that we will NOT handle questions regarding:

12/13/1999
Site News: Save archives updated
18:39:  Updated: CS0, NSF, SRM, CHT, SPC, ZMV, ZST archives.
As per request, the SPC archive has been split into two pages, one for complete and another for incomplete soundtracks.

Misc. News: UltraINI 1.0.20
17:14:  A new version of UltraINI, the INI file for the N64 emulator UltraHLE, has been released. Through these updated INI files, more games can be played then the original INI supported. Here's what's new in this version:

Misc. News: Overclocked: Sprout & Bloodlust
16:50:  The emulation parody comic strip Overclocked has been updated with 2 new episodes. The first is "Enter Sproutman", which shows the strength, courage and intelligence of the average IDSA member (Hey, I didn't write the strip!). The second is a contribution to Overclocked by Lord Hellbent Marstorius Deathspew IV of Bloodlust Software. Be sure to check out both strips; you'll get a kick out of them, and maybe you'll even learn something!

Emulator Release: Callus v0.42 - French Version
07:42:  A French version of Callus, an arcade emulator, has been released.

You can get this emulator by going on over to the Multi Arcade Emulators page.

Thanks to Top50 for the e-mail.

Technical Docs News: Super Gameboy Techical Document added
05:55:  A Super Gameboy technical document was added to Zophar's Domain. If you've been searching for a technical document for the Super Gameboy, then search no further.

Go to the Gameboy Technical Documents page to get a copy of the document.

Also, here's a link to a webring dedicated to Gameboy emulator development.

Translation News: "Challenge Games" updates
05:30:  The head of Challenge Games (a ROM-hacking group that hacks classic ROMs to create new & interesting versions of them) has e-mailed us to let us know how things are progressing:

Well, a lot has been going on in the past three weeks at CG. Three great Hacks of the Week (Peach's Nightmare, Final Fantasy Epica, and Luigi and the New Quest) have been selected from the scores of hacks that have been submitted, rated, and posted on the Hacker's Forum.

And from these three... the much more prestigious Hack of the Month was selected! Final Fantasy Epica snagged that award this month! Hacks of the week are done on every week where there are enough hacks submitted to have a decent contest, and there is always now going to be a hack of the month.

Also, Metroid Challenge version .35 has come out, bringing many new levels and improved gfx to that classic game, and Challenge Boards, which are like online scoreboards for the hacks at Challenge games, have gone up for many of the hacks, including MetroidC and even some of the more popular hacks on the Hacker's Forum!

Finally, Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 Challenges will each have big updates in the coming weeks, most likely soon after exams are completed for everyone at CG.

All fans of the ROM-hacking community should check out their website, located at smb3c.darkmazda.com. Also, be sure to check out ZD's Translations sections, to which these hacks will be added when Mike Gregerson returns from vacation.

Site News: ZD mentioned on Sierra Online-hosted "V-Game Universe' website
05:11:  The exposure that ZD has been getting lately is phenominal. From IGN.com to the World Wrestling Federation to foreign television networks, we are making a positive impact on the mainstream community. Zophar's Domain has recently been featured on V-Game Universe, a gaming-related website hosted on Sierra Online's won.net server.

Here's a piece of what they had to say about us:

"This site throws shame right in the face of most other emulator sites. You will find emulators for every system you can think of and more. Stop searching and get the best emulators now!"

Be sure to check out their website, and don't forget to let all of your friends who aren't into this community in on the wonderous secret that is emulation.

Thanks for visiting ZD!

Emulator News: NO$GMB author needs your help!
04:37:  If you've been to the official homepage of NO$GMB (a Gameboy emulator for DOS) recently, you've more than likely noticed the following message that is posted there:

PLEASE HELP ME OUT

I need the following hardware for development of no$gmb

- Microsoft SDK CDROM (or any other docs about windows sound functions (waveOutWrite, etc.)
- SB PRO (to fix a bug in stereo mode, where no$gmb runs at only 50% speed)
- CD ROM Writer (as backup media, if anybody wants to get rid of one would be great!) My little sister needs some stuff for herself, too...
- CPU/Mainboard 486-66 or better
- Harddisk of 500MB or more

If anyone can help out the author of NO$GMB, you can contact him at nocash@work.de.

Thanks to nodeX for the information.

Media News: TwinGalaxies.com's video game contest
04:32:  A news release has been issued by Twingalaxies.com regarding the resurrection of a legendary video game contest, which will unite arcade coin-op gamers and console gamers from around the globe. From the press release:

The Coronation Day Championship whose first edition was televised by ABC-TV's "That's Incredible" on February 21, 1983 under the name "The North American Video Game Olympics," will be conducted by Twin Galaxies for the first time since 1986, accompanied by an awards ceremony that will commemorate the greatest video-game playing accomplishments of the 20th Century.

Scheduled for January 8-9, 2000 at the famous Funspot Family Fun Center in Weirs Beach, NH, the event will crown the final video game champions of the century as well as hand out awards to the players, magazines, manufacturers and arcades of the year.

The prizes will include $1,000 for first place, $500 for second, $250 for third and $250 for fourth. Midway Home Entertainment will award copies of Ready 2 Rumble and Hydro Thunder to the top five finishers (available on all three platforms) and Funspot will be presenting trophies to the top three champions.

You can get the latest news on this contest at www.twingalaxies.com.

Misc. News: Overclocked receives domain!
04:23:  The ever-popular emulation parody comic strip, Overclocked, has moved to www.overclocked.org. For those who have never heard of this strip, it's parodied everything in the emulation world, from Bloodlust's hyped return (heh heh) to DarkMazda (former ZD staff member) all the way up through the wonder that is MAMED (port of MAME for the Digital Camera system). I recommend this strip to anyone who needs a good laugh at the Soap opera that is emulation.

Site News: Correction on the Quebec/Nintendo/Sony post
04:03:  I'd like to make a correction on a post we made yesterday concerning the law in Quebec regarding the French language. The Register, which is a news site that we have trusted for some time, mixed up the story.

In actuality, the law that was passed was not about websites; it was about the video games themselves. After some careful research, and thanks to many people who live in Quebec e-mailing us at ZD, we've found out that the law states that anything sold in Quebec, such as video games and their manuals, must be either in French only, or bilingual (French and any other languages). It was not about websites, as "The Register" reported.

I'd like to thank all residents of Quebec for picking up their mistake, and we at ZD hope that no one living in Quebec was offended for the misinformation. Hopefully, we'll start seeing some games released in French in Quebec.

Emulator Release: French MacMAME 0.36 Beta 11
02:17:  The French version of MacMAME has been updated to 0.36b11. This release includes all features from the latest MacMAME.

Get it at the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulators for Macintosh page.

Misc. News: Newsletter
01:52:  I've decided to release the newsletter bi-weekly. That means, you'll see it 2 times a month instead of 4 times. My reasons are many, but the ones that stand out in my mind, is that it takes a long time to write up a single copy of the newsletter, and with no help, it only makes it longer. Additionally, the interviews and horoscopes take a long time to write up and actually think of. So, you won't see an issue this week, but next week, I'll have a special "holiday" edition. So, sit tight for now.

You can view the current issue of the Zophar's Domain Newsletter by going on over to the Newsletter page.

12/12/1999
Emulator Release: 1964 0.3.2
19:28:  A new version of 1964, the N64 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Meka 0.31 released to registered users
19:22:  A new version of Meka, the SMS emulator, has been released to registered users. Here's what's new:

Misc. News: WinAMP skin added
10:17:  A new WinAMP skin was added to the WinAMP page. Here's what was added:

Site News: New Amiga games @ Back to the Roots
01:34:  Back to the Roots has posted a few new Amiga games on their site, remember that they have been given permission to put these games up for download on their site, but you are not allowed to upload them anywhere else, only have them for private use. Anyway, here's the list of new games they've added:

Utility Release: FF3j Save State Editor beta 5
01:29:  SqaureHead has released another beta version of his Final Fantasy 3j (NES) Save State editor. This is just a bugfix release, but you might want to go download this since the latest version posted on our Facelift page was beta 1.

Misc. News: Nintendo, Sony, and Quebec.
00:03:  This is not directly emulation related, but somewhat humourous at least. It appears that Quebec is insisting that any commercial web sites aimed-?- at people living there must be in French, due to some interesting interpretation of their laws. English versions of the site may also be present. They have given Nintendo and Sony until New Year's to produce such a site, or else face a fine of undetermined ammount.

You may see the article in it's full form at The Register.

Thanks go to The Scribe for pointing this out!

12/11/1999
Misc. News: An LP in WHAT format?
23:57:  Paragon 5 has just released their first album in... get this... GameBoy Color ROM format. They used a tracking software called Beyond Tracker, and this LP is to show off some of their efforts. It works very nicely.

Grab it on the Gameboy Free Roms Page, or visit Paragon 5's homepage.

Misc. News: Do you REALLY enjoy video game music?
23:38:  Here's the webpage for a band called the "Koopa Troop". They specialize in playing music from old NES games. Thanks to Zach for the link.

Misc. News: New Brazilian Emulation Site
23:23:  Hello everyone. Your friendly neighorhood emulation page wanted to welcome EmuLords, a Brazilian emulation site, hosted by Emucamp. This new news site will serve to represent Emucamp to the Portugese speaking audience. All the features you see on Emucamp will be translated to Portugese. This includes all articles, reviews, interviews, and more shall be translated to Portugese and posted on that site, as well as any future content. They shall continue to add other non-english sites. Bravo!

Here, you may go to EmuLords.

Emulator Release: Pagan 0.1.4
18:55:  A new version of Pagan, the N64 emulator for Windows, has been released. It includes a joystick plug-in. You can get Pagan at the N64 page. You can also check out the plug-in SDK for Pagan at the Pagan homapge.

Emulator Release: MAME32 0.36 beta 11
18:02:  The official version version of MAME32 has been released. It is now up-to-date with the official DOS version. The assembly core is now being used for the official version, so I wonder what will happen to MAME32ASM... Anyway, you can get MAME32 at the MAME page.

Site News: Happy Hannukah & Seasons Greetings!
05:44:  Yo!

It's been a tiring week for me, but here I am, ready to go and alert as ever (yeah, right). I'd like to wish all jews, such as myself, who celebrate Hannukah (pronounced Cha-Noo-Kah, "Ch" as in "Bach"), a happy last day of Hannukah! I should have posted this about 7 days ago, but hey, better late than never, right?

Also, I'd like to wish everyone Season's Greetings, as we delve into the holiday season. I had originally thought against decorating the website, as I felt it would be wrong to leave anyone out, but after careful consideration, I decided that decorating the site wouldn't be such a bad idea. Hey, I may not believe in Christianity, but the majority of the United States and many countries outside of it celebrate Christmas, so why shouldn't we?

So, you'll be seeing some decorations up pretty soon. Take care everyone, and I'll see you later. Thanks for visiting ZD!

Utility Release: NESToy 2.5b
04:21:  A new version of NESToy, an NES utility, was released. Here's a list of what's new:

Misc. News: WinAMP skin added
02:07:  A new skin was added to the WinAMP skins section of the WinAMP page. Here's what was added:

12/10/1999
Emulator Release: Z80Stealth 0.100
14:45:  A new version of Z80Stealth has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: HiVE 1.04
14:28:  A nwe version of HiVE has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator News: MEKA News
02:53:  I saw something interesting over at Emulation Camp: The what's new list for MEKA 0.31 RC1!

Emulator Release: X-MAME/X-MESS 0.36b11.1
02:38:  X-MAME, MAME/MESS for Unix/X11, has been released and the Unix version is now in sync with the other versions. Remember, if you want to compile MAME, type

make -f makefile.unix

If you wish to compile MESS you will have to alter the makefile a bit. I was a bit confused earlier and I said that you should compile makefile.mame or makefile.mes, but that was wrong, thanks to Eddie Olivarez for pointing that out for me!

You can download it from the Unix MAME page or the Unix MESS page.

Utility Release: Good2600 0.91
02:25:  Good2600, a program like GoodNES and GoodGB, which means that it checks and verifies ROMs to be good dumps. This one works on Atari 2600 ROMs, if you hadn't figured it out yet, hehe. So far it recognizes about 607 ROMs, but the database is not complete yet.

You can download it from the Atari 2600 utilities.

Emulator Release: MAME32ASM 0.36b11 build 991209
02:16:  MAME32ASM, MAME for Windows with an Assembler 68k emulation core, has received a minor update, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: NeoGeo CD emulator to 0.80
00:30:  A new version of NeoCD has been released, here are the new items this time areound:

12/9/1999
Translation News: Fire Emblem 3 Project Shifts Hands
20:34:  The Fire Emblem 3 translation project which was being handled by me, is now being shifted over to Magic Translations with Taskforce and Fox Astron. They plan to implement a DTE or VWF for more space. My group released the final FE3 patch, which translates the dialog text up until chapter 5.

Get the patch off the Translations page.

Fire Emblem Translations
Magic Translations

Emulator Release: MacMAME 0.36 Beta 11
20:33:  MacMAME has been updated to 0.36b11. Here's whats new:

Misc. News: I'm back
20:31:  I am finally back from my holiday, and ready to get to work.
Let the updates begin!

Media News: More CT PSX news..
20:25:  Recently, we mentioned an unconfirmed rumor (which people later confirmed) about Chrono Trigger PSX using a ROM.

We have a couple of news bits about it. First of all, IGN's PSX page mentioned ZD's find in a recent letters section. Thanks to Andrew Gabor for sending the letter (and nicely telling us it was him who sent it).

Also, there's also an interesting bit of news about the ROM. Barubary recently tried to replace the CT ROM on the disc (which is essentially the Japanese version of CT) with the released English ROM version of CT, and burned it on a CD-R. When he tried it on his modded PSX, it didn't work -- the PSX crashed.

This has been a popular subject since the rumor was mentioned, and I've gotten a ton of e-mails about it. Thanks for all of them -- I've read every one and even replied to a few of them.

Misc. News: More on FFVIII demo for PC
17:17:  Mr. Saturn sent me an E-Mail informing me that the January 2000 issue of PCGamer will contain (stated as 'exclusive' by the mag) the demo version of Final Fantasy VIII for PC. This may be a good alternate for someone who does not want to download 67MB. :)

Utility Release: GoodGB v0.1beta released
08:25:  This nifty little utility renames Gameboy ROMs using a list of over 1550 known ROMs. It can also produce text outputs of what you do have, and what you do not. It's in it's early stages, and the database is not complete, but it appears to work just fine.

You can get your copy in the Gameboy Utilities area.

Emulator Release: InfoNES 0.69
08:10:  InfoNES, a very slow NES emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new in this version:

Misc. News: XGL200
03:37:  XGL200, one of, if not even the, best Glide<->Direct3D wrappers, has been added to the N64 emulators page for your downloading pleasure. I remember that I used this one back in the days when I had my AMD K6/2 400 and an old ATI Rage Pro with 8Mb of video RAM, so this one is good to try out if you have a card that can use Direct3D but not Glide if you want to try out UltraHLE at a decent speed.

Misc. News: WinAMP skins submissions reminder
03:21:  Again, I would like to remind you of the criteria for submitting skins to me. You MUST provide me with a screen shot of your skin. Here's what the shot should have:

Frontend News: NESFront v1.0b
03:16:  A new frontend was added to the NES Frontends page. Here is a list of what this frontend features:

Emulator Release: First Magnavox Odyssey emulator ever!
03:11:  The first Magnavox Odyssey emulator ever has been released! It's being programmed by Paul Robson and David Winter, and so far it can play Tennis and Football (with or without overlay) OK.

Now go download it from the Odyssey emulators page and thrive in the Magnavox Odyssey's 4 bit glory, hehe. Thanks to the authors of OdyEmu for the news!

Emulator Release: MameD v36b10b Release
03:08:  Are you tired of simply taking photos and short movies with your digital camera? Do you crave to play games on it? Old arcade games? From Mame? Well then, guess what...

Yes, Mame, one of the most ported emulators has been brought to Digital cameras hosting the Digita OS. This appears to be a Kodak proprietary OS, as Digita only runs well on the Kodak DC265 and DC290. It is possible to run on some other Kodak cameras, but memory constraints prevent it from doing much. Even as is, many of the game drivers were taken out. Still, it seems rather fun, all the same.

You may get MameD at our Digita Mame page here. Also included is a link to the homepage, where there are screenshots to prove the claim. Enjoy!

Site News: Harper to maintain Digita
03:00:  In the spirit of porting emulators to any possible platform, some rather zealous people have brought emulation to the realm of Digital cameras. Yes, to Digita. I actually have no idea about the OS, nor do I own a digital camera yet. The BeOS emulation scene is slow, so I shall now also run the fast paced Digita section. Someone has to do it, no?

Translation News: Pokemon
02:37:  I've talked about this subject before, and I feel that I need to go back on it. Currently at ZD, Pokemon translations are not supported. Pokemon roms are not supported. Serious patches will be looked at and accepted, however, we cannot deal with the magnatude of different patches for the Gold and Silver games. Thanks.

Site News: New Frontends Maintainer
01:24:  You read right. I will be maintaining the Frontends pages now. So, if you have frontends news, or a frontend release, then I'm the girl you send it to.

So, in the meantime. . .

Stay tuned!

12/8/1999
Misc. News: Final Fantasy VIII PC Demo released
22:48:  Weighing in at 67MB, you can now download a demo version of the PC port of Final Fantasy VIII courtesy of IGN.com. Check it out here.

Special thanks to Wally Abrazaldo for letting us know.

Frontend News: MAME Classic 0.36.11
22:44:  A new version of the Windows MAME fontend MAME Classic has been released, and here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Pagan 0.1.3
21:48:  A new version of Pagan, the N64 emulator for Windows, has been released. It has a new UI, and it has an INI file now. You can get it at the N64 page.

Emulator Release: MESS 0.36 beta 11
16:38:  A new version of MESS, the multi-console emulator, has been released. I don't know what all is new in this version, but you can download it at the MESS page.

Site News: And the 6,000,000th visitor is...
07:42:  Chris Moeller, also known as kode54, has achieved the 6 millionth visit to Zophar's Domain! He's contributed a number of NSFs to ZD, and I'd like to congratulate him on achieving this landmark figure. He'll be receiving a $30 check for his efforts. See you all in 7 mill!

Utility Release: NES Toy v2.4b released
07:25:  NES Toy v2.4b, a NES ROM management utility for DOS, has been released. The following is what is new as listed in the documentation:

Site News: New CCS64 Beta
05:06:  A new beta 2.0 of the Windows and DOS versions of CCS64, a Commodore 64 emulator, has been released and here's what's new:

Site News: Emulators for Digita & Java, Bloodlust antics, and more!
03:09:  Yo! (Why "Yo" this time? I determined that since I live in Philadelphia, a "Hey everyone, Zophar here" didn't really make sense, so this is how I'm going to open each "Site News" post I do. Let's just hope that Adrian doesn't decide to show up.)

It's really late at the time of this post, but being in the insomniac that I am, I decided to do a little work (for a change!) I noticed that while ZD has supported emulators for Digita (the OS that Digital Cameras run under) and Java, we've never actually linked them from the sidebar (that really long bar on the right). I've added the appropriate sections to the bar, as well as the new pull down menu & style code, which was missing from them. If anyone notices any other sections we've missed, or you see a section that we don't yet support, toss me a mail and we'll try to get it up as soon as possible.

ZD would like to wish a farewell to Keith Speroni, who has been with ZD for around two years. He ran the quotes pages, and designed some of the graphics that you see here at ZD. Good luck with school, Keith, and we wish you well!

I've had quite the electrifying experience (and I'm not talking about Rocky Maivia) over at bloodlust.zophar.net! It seems that while I was dying to meet Stumpy, he may have taken it a little bit too literal. The interview will shock you: Stumpy vs Zophar.

Incredibly enough, ZD will soon be able to claim "McZophar's: over six million served!". Who would have ever thought that a site with 2 spinning consoles and a big space-wasting gamegear would ever reach six million? Of course, the true landmark visit will be 6,666,666, so let's see if we can reach that before Y2K! Remember to send in your (non-fake) screen captures of the entire screen if you're 6,000,000 to the Zophmeister, and you'll win something nice.

Remember everyone: every piece of text printed on Zophar's Domain would not exist without the support of each and every one of you... and dare I say, the DOZENS... and DOZENS... of ZD's fans. As long as you're here, so we shall be. Thanks for visiting!

12/7/1999
Misc. News: Back to the Roots posts legal Amiga Files
22:31:  Back to the Roots, a legal Amiga emulation site, has received permission to post several files on its page: Chuck Rock, by Core Design, and Leisure Suit Larry (one of my all-time personal favorite series ;)) 1-5. These aren't public domain, but Back to the Roots apparently received special permission to post them.

Check out Back to the Roots.

Misc. News: Once in a Blue Moon Offer!
20:21:  Superfly Wonder Pimp has emailed us with information on his website, Red #9 which sells backup units. He is making one last order to FFE who sell the Super Wild Card DX2 backup units for SNES/SFC. The special preorder offer of $200 for a 32Mbit, and $220 for 64Mbit is in place for this last import. If you are interested in the backup units, visit his website.

http://www.emucamp.com/red/

Site News: WinAMP Skin added
15:56:  A new skin was added to the WinAMP skins page. Here's what was added:

Utility News: QND v.22
15:08:  A new version of QND, an NES utility, has been updated. Here's a quick list of what's new:

Emulator Release: Come Back 64 (WinCE)
14:53:  A new version of the Windows CE version of the free Commodore 64 emulator Come Back 64 has been released.
These are the versions of ComeBack64 for WinCE for devices with MIPS, SH3 and ARM processors. Here's a list of what's new:

Emulator Release: ZSNES Fix
14:35:  A new ZIP of ZSNES 0.988 was uploaded last night because the previous one was having problems with Kirby 3. If you are having problems with Kirby 3, go re-download ZSNES at the SNES page. Thanks to CoRyP for the news.

Misc. News: Newsletter Volume 1, Issue #5
14:26:  Once again, the fifth issue of the ever-popular Zophar's Domain Newsletter has been released. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the puzzles as they were VERY hard. I didn't get many right answers, but this week will be easy. Please read the fifth issue for more details. Here are this weeks features:

Emulator Release: Emu+ 0.36 beta 11
14:24:  A new version of Emu+, an unofficial version of MAME that supports overclocking of the emulated CPUs as well as other enhanced features, has been released. It's now up to date with the official version. Get it at the MAME page.

Utility Release: NesToy 2.31b
02:47:  A minor update version of the NES ROM renaming/header repairing/etc program NesToy, has been released and here's what's new:

Site News: Zophar's Underworld, Volume II
00:33:  The second installment of ZD's real audio/video show is now online. Due to all of the e-mails we received the first time around, it seems that an overwhelming majority of you liked the first show, but felt that the video portion of it wasn't coming across as well as we would like. Many of you felt the video was just too skippy and of low quality to really mean anything, and suggested an audio only version for modem users. Therefore, there are now 2 versions of the ZD show. The first version is 80Kbps, and is NOT for the modem user to stream. It's the version that contains video, so modem users may download it and view it locally, while DSL/cable modem users may stream it.

The second version is audio-only, and I actually recommend modem-people to stream this version if video is not important to you. It's 16Kbps, so it should be very clear and easy to hear the various tunes that we play. This volume of the ZD show is co-hosted by Julie Kira Lucas, a regular visitor to ZD (who programmed a ROM hacking utility a while back named ROMedit). We feel that everyone will enjoy this variety, as we plan to have a different co-host on every show! You'll also notice less staggering on my part, since I was more prepared this time.

I'd like to end this post with a shoutout to Starfoxx, who recently released a song at MP3.com I urge you all to check it out, if you're in the mood for some good music!

You may stream the show below. This show is more than a week overdue, but we think it's worth it!

Emulator Release: Pasofami 1.3c
00:18:  A new version of Pasofami has been released, but the docs are in Japanese. You can get it at the NES page.

12/6/1999
Emulator Release: ZSNES 0.988
23:44:  A new version of ZSNES, the awesome SNES emulator, has been released, and here's what's new:

Media News: Excellent media violence commentary.
23:39:  Well, I must say that I'm stunned. I read this article, and I couldn't believe how well this hit the nail on the head in the light of recent events (Columbine) that have sparked national debate on violence in the media, including video games.

Simply enough, while the violence is occurring more in the media, the violence rate has gone down sharply in this era in which Republicans look at Quake and see the devil (yes, there are pentagrams, but there sure isn't any sort of devil).

Everyone with a social conscience and a taste for violent video games: Stop what you're doing right now and read this.

Thanks a million to Zac Buschmohle for improving my life by pointing me out to this excellent article. I only wish he had done it a couple of weeks sooner. I'm actually writing a research paper on violence in the media (and TV in particular) for my English 111 class. It's too late to use now. :(

Misc. News: Glide API Is Now Open Source
23:31:  According to 3DFiles, Glide has gone open-source, and 3DFX is releasing technical docs about it. This will probably bring about Glide wrappers that are better than ever.

Misc. News: Poll
21:35:  No, I'm not talking about a ZD poll. I'm talking about the poll that I did a while ago on ZD for my ENG 103 class. First off, I'd like to thank everyone who responsed. Thanks a lot! I turned in my paper today, and I think I'll do rather well. =) Now, the poll turned out so well that my friend, Justin, asked me to help him out by doing a poll for him too. If you would like to help him out, mail him a yes or no answer to these two questions:

"Do you think that the year 3000 will be more utopian than today?"

"Do you think the moral standards in our society will be lower in the year 3000?"

Thanks in advance. =)

Emulator News: Acorn Electron emulator in the works!
16:44:  Bryan McPhail of the MAME fame has started work on an Acorn Electron emulator! There are already a bunch of Acorn Atom emulators, but up until now no Acorn Electron emulators have been made. You can check out its homepage to read a bit about it. So far progress on the emulator looks like it's coming along nicely, go have a look for yourself! Stay tuned for a release of this emulator! Thanks to Dave for the news!

Emulator Release: MAME32ASM 0.36 beta 11
15:11:  MAME32ASM has been updated to the newest version of MAME. You can get it at the MAME page.

Site News: NesToy 2.3b
05:17:  NesToy, a NES ROM image checking and header fixing, etc. tool, has been updated to version 2.3b and here's what's new:

12/5/1999
Emulator Release: MAME v0.36 Beta 11 (The Y2K Release)
19:41:  MAME, the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator, is out with a special Y2K-ready release. Here's what's new:

Graphics:

Misc. News: Source for SNES Tic Tac Toe free ROM now available
19:21:  It was brought to my attention by the author of the SNES Tic Tac Toe free ROM that the source code was freely available for his demo. So, now all the docs and source are included with the zip for the ROM. Now it's time for all you SNES coders to get cra cking! :)

You can grab your copy of Tic Tac Toe from the SNES Free ROMs area.

Misc. News: Concerning the alleged CTPSX ROM
16:09:  I just wanted to say that I have obtained a copy of Chrono Trigger Remake for the PlayStation, and I've tested it. It is, indeed, true. It worked perfectly on SNES9x. Does this mean that Squaresoft supports emulators? Who knows?

Emulator Release: Bleem! FR 1.5b and Snes9X FR 1.24 Win.
13:03:  In emulation, translation is the greatest form of flattery, and both Bleem! and Snes9X seem to have hit the level deserving of a French translation.

Bleem! FR requires a CD-Key, meaning that you have to go buy the full version of Bleem! before you can enjoy it "en francais". (I knew that those four years of French class came in handy.) Even if you don't know French, get Bleem! FR for the neat install program, which plays some techno music. :)

You can pick them up at the Playstation emulators page and the Super NES emulators page, respectively.

Emulator News: Chrono Trigger PSX ROM?
12:01:  In an interesting development, someone has sent us some screenshots which look like the PSX redux of Chrono Trigger is actually a ROM!

After the person found a "rom.bin" file in the main directory of the CT disc, he saved the file to his hard drive, renamed the file to "rom.smc", and tried it out. According to him it worked.

Our problem is, we can't prove the shots, amazing as they are. So, we've decided to ask you guys to help us. Are they real? Are they fake? If someone has the disc (it's only out in Japan), try this and find out for us. T hen you can e-mail me and confirm it for us.

As a note to this, the FF Anthology discs aren't like this in the least bit. I've tried them myself. :)

Emulator Release: Raine version 0.27 ezel
02:12:  The second version of Raine in one day. Here is what's new in this version:

Misc. News: Dreamcast Database
00:58:  Sam Pettus has released a Dreamcast Database. It includes a summary of all games available the Sega Dreamcast, game ratings, release dates, what languages the games have been released under, and so on. It also includes information regarding the Dreamc asts evolution and information about its accessories. I skimmed through this document and its very interesting.

Take a look at the Dreamcast Database and enjoy.

12/4/1999
Emulator Release: Raine 0.27 beta
21:07:  A new version of Raine has been released, and here's what's new:

Added the following playable game:

Emulator Release: ANEX86 v1.70
21:03:  A new version of ANEX86, a PC-98 emulator, was released. Since the "what's new" documentation is in Japanese, I am unable to report what is new. So, you'll have to check it out for yourself.

Get this emulator by going on over to PC-98 emulators page.

Thanks to Tenchi for the message.

Misc. News: Bleem! ini file updated
18:10:  Matt from the Bleem! team has recently finished testing 40 games in Bleem! and has released an updated ini file for it. The new ini file will make alot less game come up with the annoying "This game has not been tested" screen.

The ini file, and the current full version of Bleem! with this updated ini file can be obtained from the Bleem! website.

Emulator Release: Emulator86 V. 0.50
14:18:  It's not everyday that we find brand-new emulators that haven't been on ZD, but today is one of those days. That's because we've discovered a TI-86 emulator that we've never put on ZD before, Emulator86 by Kirk Meyer. Here are its features:

Site News: PC Emulators for DOS/Windows page fixed.
13:39:  Someone recently pointed out to us that the "PC Emulators for DOS/Windows" page was broken. It was like that for about three weeks, but nobody happened to notice. It's fixed now.

We'd like to apologize for any inconvenience.

Utility Release: in_nPSG version 0.6.2.3
01:18:  A new version of a great Genesis music WinAMP plugin has been released. Here is a list of what's new in this version:

12/3/1999
Utility Release: GoodNES v2.3
18:54:  A new version of GoodNES, an NES utility, was released. Here's what's new in this version:

Translation News: YnT Returns
18:22:  Yonin no Translators, the group that translated Rockman & Forte, is alive and well. They have moved to a new website at http://ynt.darkmazda.com/. However, they in are need of a translator. If anyone want's to he lp, e-mail TruPlaya.

Misc. News: Stuff
07:46:  I will be gone until sunday, I hope you won't miss me too much. But while I'm gone, feel free to check out this site: http://x68k.retrogames.com. It's a site with a really nice selection of X68000 games. The X68000 is a really nice Japanese computer that uses the 68000 processor and has some really nice gfx capabilites. The site is being run by... Guess who :) with some help from rairai and ProtoCat. Have fun.

Site News: BeBochs 0.45!
02:06:  BeOS users were greeted today with a fresh version of BeBochs, the PC platform emulator for BeOS. It is for x86 build only, though. This release brings Pentium emulation and bugfixes. It is still unknown whether it runs Win9x, but it does run freeDOS and NT, apperantly, although it doesn't state which version. If anyone feels like finding out, I would be more than happy to post the results here.

You may download BeBochs for your pleasure here.

12/2/1999
Site News: New chat program: Gooey
15:49:  Hi everyone, Zophar here. I'm back from a week of playing Gabriel Knight III, and I must say, the ending was almost tear-jerking (note: almost). For those who have not yet experienced the GK3 series, get moving: the official Gabriel Knight III page.

On a totally unrelated note, ZD now has an official chat program: Gooey! This chat program is a little under 3 megs, but it's well worth the download! Unlike IRC, there are no server splits, and you don't have to worry about denial-of-service attacks (your IP is kept private on Gooey). Rather than traditional chat-channels, a 'channel' is denoted by which webpage you're at. Therefore, if you're at www.zophar.net, you'll be able to chat with all other Gooey users currently at ZD.

I urge everyone to give this program a try, by going to the official Gooey website, downloading the program, going to zophar.net, and trying it out. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. I and some of the other ZD staff be online much of today, and over the next few weeks. I'd like to ask everyone interested in chatting with us to give Gooey a try; we want it to be succesful and become used on a regular basis.

Thanks for visiting ZD, and we hope to see you on Gooey!

Utility Release: Jabba 1.0
14:12:  A new SNES utility for DOS has been released. This utility was made to aid the ROM hacker in simple SNES ROM expansion. This utility was coded in C and includes the source code.

You can download Jabba at the SNES utilities page.

Utility Release: IPSWin 1.2
14:03:  A new version of IPSWin for windows has been released. IPSWin is a program for patching files, commonly used for patching ROMs. Here is a list of what's new in this version:

Utility Release: MSP 0.40 for DOS
13:57:  A new version of MSP for DOS has been released. MSP is an MP3, CD, MOD, CYM and other sound formats player for DOS. It doesnt have a GUI, it runs using the command line... but other than that, it is a great player. Here is what's new in this version:

Misc. News: Request for information
13:46:  I would like some help on the ZD-spc Internet browser plugin. The thing I need help on, is for some reason, I cant load anything from the resources of my DLL. I am using the Netscape SDK, and for some reason, whenever I try to use CMenu to load a menu, it gives me an error that that resource doesnt exist in the dll. I think it is trying to load it from the Netscape's resource... I need it to read from my plugin. Has anyone written a Netscape plugin before, that can help me out?

You can write me at nitro@zophar.net.

Thanks.

Emulator Release: ZD-spc 2.21
13:42:  I've released a new version of ZD-spc. I've received a bunch of e-mails from people saying that it doesn't work in IE. But it does, IE just didnt know where it was. So, I fixed up the plugin directory search. This should make the installation better. Remember to go into the ZD-spc add-on preference, and select Internet plugin. (If you have to, uncheck it, and check it again. Just to make sure it is the new version) Here is what is new in this version:

Site News: Poll Update for the blind.
09:54:  All right, with this recent poll, we've now learned that 10% of the ZD-going public reads the site in braille. (It must be difficult for them to use the emulators. :) Anyway, here are the results of the poll:

What do you think of the new additions to the layout?

Choice 1 was: "I think they're convenient and useful."
It received 160 votes (43.4 percent).

Choice 2 was: "I think they're ugly and useless."
It received 107 votes (29 percent).

Choice 3 was: "I'm currently reading ZD in Braille."
It received 37 votes (10 percent).

Choice 4 was: "I don't really care."
It received 65 votes (17.6 percent).

As for the new poll, it's something I've been thinking of for the past few weeks, and I don't know if it's a good idea or not. See, after I noted that someone sent me a write-in vote for the poll in a recent poll result, I got about a dozen e-mails with write-in votes. That write-in was a one-time thing (so stop sending me write-in votes expecting to get on ZD :). I had a brainstorm, though -- why not add a write-in vote as part of the poll script? There seems to be enough demand to garner one. I would then post a link to the write-in results every time I updated the poll, and possibly not even use write-ins every time (in cases where it's Yes or No, for example).

If you really want to, you can vote.

Media News: Japanese student prosecuted for owning a ROM site.
09:30:  A few days ago, a Japanese student was prosecuted for having a ROM site. The ROMs on it were mostly Famicom and Game Boy ROMs, and they didn't total more than 180 in number.

This occurred despite the fact that he had put a warning on the site, labeled "Information Exchange". This, of course, is essentially proof that any sort of warnings on ROM sites don't hold water.

The specific copyright law he broke was the right of "public transmission", because he essentially distributed the ROMs on his web site, draining the original value of them in the process.

It must be pointed out that while this is the first time that someone has been prosecuted for it (though not in the U.S.), this is nothing new. Many other sites have been shut down temporarialy or permanently for distributing ROMs.

You can read the AsiaBizTech article here.

Utility Release: TMPlay
08:22:  A utility for playing Sega Saturn movie files was released.

You can check out this utility by going on over to the Sega utilities page.

Thanks to Graywords for the e-mail.

Emulator Release: New CCS64 2.0 beta for Windows
02:56:  A new beta version of CCS64, a C64 emulator for Windows, has been released, and here's what's new:

12/1/1999
Utility Release: PSXPlay 1.34
16:40:  A new version of PSXPlay has been released. And, as always, I have re-compressed the program in .ZIP format for the convenience of all you people. I would like to say what is new in this version, but I don’t know Japanese.

You can download the new version at the PSX utilities page.

Utility Release: NesToy 2.2b
16:24:  A new version of NesToy, a utility for the NES has been released. Here is what's new in this version:

Media News: MaximumPC Article about Emulation
15:40:  A friend of mine, DooMStalK, has provided us a couple of scans from a MaximumPC article. It is one of the more positive ones, which tell emulation as it is. You can download the scans here. Again, thanks to DooMStalK for the scans.

Emulator Release: ZD-spc 2.2
15:29:  A new version of ZD-spc has been released. This version now has its own installer, to prevent some problems with the Internet plugin, and windows DLL. Here is a list of what's new:

Frontend News: StartRAINE 0.27.1
15:20:  A new version of this RAINE frontend has been releaed. It's now up to 0.27.1. Here's what's new:

Emulator Release: Vice 1.2
15:05:  Vice is mainly a Commodore 64 emulator, which also emulates the VIC 120 and PET systems. It has been updated to 1.2, and here are the changes:

* Changes in VICE 1.2

** C64 changes

Misc. News: N64 Compatibility List
10:01:  The Explosion Net Emulation page has posted a huge N64 compatibility list. It has compatibilty listings for over 300 ROMs and demos for UltraHLE, Nemu64, and TRWin. Go Check it out!

Utility Release: Bleep! 1.03
09:55:  A new version of Bleep!, the NSF plug-in for WinAMP, has been released, and here's what's new: