There are many new games out there with great graphics and stuff. But still, some of us may be missing those "old" games we played in our childhood (Gameboy, snes, sega etc.), that became the foundation of today's game culture.
Luckily, console emulators are available for almost all OS's, be it for computers or handhels,to let us play those classics all over again, and Windows Mobile gives a list of available emulators to choose from...
But the problem is, most WinMo emus are outdated (ironically, like the games they emulate), which means compatibility issues with newer WinMo devices like our M900
Fortunately, I found some emus that are still compatible with M900 and can render playable emulated games from Gameboy, Super Nintendo, Sega etc.
MorphGear (How To)
How to Install Morphgear in M900 (and make it work in landscape)
A. GDI Landscape (Full Screen)
1.Download Morphgear 2.4.0.9 in the official site http://www.spicypixe...hgear/Home.aspx or the attached file below. Extract the files anywhere on your PC.
2.Connect device with ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Center, run the .exe files and install (to memory card). First install MorphGearSetupPPC2003. exe then others.
3.On the device, Run MorphGear (located in Games folder). Be sure the device is in PORTRAIT mode.
4. Click settings icon (3rd from the right) and select Global Settings.
set the following:
Driver: GDI
0rientation: North
uncheck- use virtual pad
Check- Enable Sound
CPU Throttle: High
5. Soft Reset Device
6. When the device resumes, slide the screen to set screen to Landscape and run Morphgear. After starting Morphgear, make sure that the settings icons and the MorphGear logo are in landscape too. If not, check Global Settings again to configure it correctly.
7. Now depending on what ROM you want to emulate, open settings and choose an emulator, for example, if you have a NES ROM, Open iNES then set Screen Size to Windows Size (for full screen landscape).
8. Scroll down and set Input. Double tap the controls (up,down,left,right etc.) and select keyboard keys(or even hardware keys) to map game controls. Then press ok.
9. You'll return to the main screen. Select the Folder/Open File icon (first icon) to locate your ROM (in this case the NES rom),select it and the game will automatically start. Double Tap screen to activate full screen. Enjoy the game.
10. If you want to play another console rom (like gba,snes,genesis etc.) just repeat steps 7 to 9. To close current game, choose Stop icon (hand) and choose exit game (choose exit MorphGear to exit the app).
It is interesting to note that TurboGrafx-16,NES,MasterGear,Gameboy GB and GBC run well in full screen landscape. SNES,Gameboy Advance and Genesis ROMs will still be playable also, but there is a little speed drop.
To get more fps and smoother speed, adjust video size (step 7) to Fit Windows or smaller. (don't add more frameskip (default is 3), it will just make the speed choppy). There is another option in emulator settings named Image smoothing, which is like anti-aliasing and smooths graphics but noticeably affects speed. (I recommend not using this setting)
Speed
It is interesting to note that using the RawFramebuffer as a Driver gives better speed than GDI, which works effortlessly in Portrait. But making it work in Landscape mode full screen is a little bit tricky.
To use Rawframebuffer in landscape:
B. Rawframebuffer Landscape: (Full Screen)
1. Repeat step 3 (of the above GDI guide)
2. Do step 4 (above) but change set settings to:
Driver: RawFramebuffer
0rientation: East
uncheck- use virtual pad
Check- Enable Sound
CPU Throttle: High
3. Soft Reset Device
4. When device resumes, slide to reveal keyboard (this will automatically sets screen to landscape).BUT BEFORE running MorphGear, with/while keyboard slided out, change Orientation to Portrait.
5. Run MorphGear. Check if the settings icons are vertically situated in the LEFT side and the MorphGear logo horizontal (if this is the case you're in the right track).
6. Repeat step 7 (above)
7. Now the tricky part, in mapping controls remember that the directions are not what they seem. For example if your using keys W-A-S-Z as UP-LEFT-RIGHT-DOWN (IN GDI landscape mode), WHEN using Rawframebuffer, UP=LEFT,RIGHT=UP, LEFT=DOWN, DOWN=RIGHT.
Yup it's a little bit confusing:confused:, but it's the only way to get logical direction controls. If you want to use W-A-S-Z, just set it this way:
UP-A
LEFT-W
RIGHT-Z
DOWN-S
And click ok.
8. Locate and Choose ROM.Tap screen to set Full Screen. Enjoy Game. (Refer to Step 9 above)
9. If you want to play another console rom (like gba,snes,genesis etc.) just repeat steps 6 to 8 on this Rawframebuffer guide.
NOTE: One important thing to remember is NEVER activate the device's LANDSCAPE mode WHILE using the RawFramebuffer or you'll end up a jumbled display. If this happens, just totally exit Morphgear via exit button or via task manager, switch to portrait mode while the keyboard is slided out and run MorphGear.
To sum up things, if you want to have Playable Games in Full Screen Landscape.
1. For TurboGrafx-16,NES,MasterGear,Gameboy GB and GB ROMs,use GDI.
2. For SNES,Gameboy Advance and Genesis ROMs,use RawFrameBuffer(TurboGrafx-16,NES,MasterGear,Gameboy GB and GB ROMs works great in RawFramebuffer too, but as I said, it's a little bit tricky.)
To have more speed.
1. Adjust screen size to Fit Window or Smaller.
2. Disable Image Smoothing.
3. For even more speed, play Games in Portrait Mode ( just set Global Settings/Orientation= North, applicable for both GDI and RawFramebuffer.) But why bother portrait, games are still playable in landscape,and our device have a KEYBOARD remember:rolleyes:? (reminds me of the upcoming PSP GO)
Enjoy!
Miscellaneous:
To use a WVGA compatible Screen Gamepad (to use while playing in portrait mode) check here: http://forum.xda-dev...ad.php?t=489147
For Game ROMS, just Google it
Below is a screenshot of a NES game I'm playing with M900.
I also uploaded a video to show all how playable it is with our device. Video is in here: hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XocdojhNpo (copy paste to your browser and replace hxxp with http) or just play embedded [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XocdojhNpo"]YouTube - Morphgear on Acer Tempo M900: Playing in Full Screen Landscape and Keyboard Controls[/ame]
