====== Testing homebrew using an emulator ======

The cheap and convenient way!

As homebrew produced by Wonderful requires a somewhat higher degree of accuracy than most emulators provide, please try to stick to emulators listed here.

If you don't feel like reading the whole page, just download [[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2|Mesen 2]].

===== Mesen 2 =====

The best emulator for Wonderful development is [[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2|Mesen 2]]. It features leading accuracy and the most extensive low level debugging functionality.

{{ :wswan:tutorial:mesen2.png?direct&600 |}}

You can download Mesen 2 [[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2|here]].

===== wf-mednafen =====

wf-mednafen is a fork of [[https://mednafen.github.io/|Mednafen]]. It features a variety of emulation fixes, as well as debugger UI improvements from the [[https://github.com/pce-devel/mednafenPceDev|mednafenPceDev]] fork.

Even with those fixes, its accuracy is behind Mesen 2 or Ares, but it //does// provide [[https://mednafen.github.io/documentation/debugger.html|a debugger]]. In addition, it has some features which are missing from Mesen 2, in particular UART port and WonderWitch cartridge emulation.

You can download wf-mednafen [[https://github.com/WonderfulToolchain/wf-mednafen/releases|here]].

==== Exposing the UART port on Linux ====

If you're using Linux, this should allow you to expose the console's UART port to other programs.

First, create a script in a fixed location of choice on your hard drive (for example, ''%%/home/myuser/ws_serial.sh%%''):

  #!/usr/bin/env bash
  PATH=$HOME/.wine/dosdevices/com1
  socat PTY,link="$PATH",echo=0 STDIO

Make sure to set PATH to the location you want the UART socket file to be present; the default suggested above will expose the port as the COM1 serial port to Windows programs, such as TransMagic, in WINE.

Next, edit ''%%~/.mednafen/mednafen.cfg%%'' and edit the following options:

  wswan.excomm 1
  wswan.excomm.path /home/myuser/ws_serial.sh

From now on, after launching wf-mednafen, the UART port should be available under this socket file. Note that wf-mednafen restarts will invalidate the file, requiring a restart of the program on the other side.

===== Other emulators =====

These emulators do not provide advanced debugging functionality, so they are not recommended for development. However, they are still considered highly compatible with Wonderful-produced homebrew:

  * [[https://ares-emu.net/|ares]] - the debugging features are quite limited((As of recently, Ares //does// support debugging via a GDB stub, but gdb itself doesn't play well with 16-bit 8086 concepts.)), but it is an excellent emulator for //playing// WS/WSC games.
  * [[https://github.com/FluBBaOfWard/NitroSwan/|NitroSwan]] - if you want to play WS/WSC homebrew on a DS/DSi console, this emulator can absolutely be recommended. Due to hardware limitations, it lacks a few features; in particular, the color 2-bits-per-pixel mode is limited to only 512 tiles and not 1024.