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Games Entertainment

Source for N64 Emulator Released (sort of) 55

Posted by CmdrTaco from the if-you-can-beat-em-open-source-em dept.
An anonymous reader pointed us a a wired news article where you can read that the authors of the UltraHLE N64 emulator has had its source code released. The article talks about Nintendo considering Legal Action against the authors of the emulator, as well as the Sony/Connectix suit and the fact that another company is working on a Playstation emulator for windows. Update: 02/12 03:51 by CT : My bad. The source code wasn't actually released by the authors- the code is a disasembled bit posted by someone else. It doesn't compile. Will the real UltraHLE authors take the hint? Update: 02/13 03:04 by S : The code has been removed, although anyone could make it again with REC. In the mean time, Dextrose has an UltraHLE-on-Linux Howto which reveals that the combination of UltraHLE-Wine-Linux is faster than the original UltraHLE-Win98: with Zelda running at 21.3 fps under Linux versus 19.6 under Win98.
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Source for N64 Emulator Released (sort of) More

Source for N64 Emulator Released (sort of)

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  • I think Rob redid posting so they are in reverse chronological order. I predict the net result of this will be plenty of "First" posts, as all these kids will want their post to be at the top...
  • Okay, I'm getting tired of all the Anonymous Cowards flaming Rob for posting a second article on this subject. Perhaps it's only one of you, I don't know..

    Anyway, the Wired reporter was a bit screwed up too, saying of the source, "GossiTheDog's UltraHLE code is a conversion of the original C++ code. It is not complete and fails to compile, he explained on his Web site."

    This, as we've all learned from the previous posting about the so-called "source", is untrue. It's actually de-compiled code that likely looks ugly, and isn't much easier to look at than grabbing a hex editor to read the binaries of UltraHLE.

    Now, back to the ACs.. I'm really fucking tired of all the flames you guys put up, and I also hate the stupid "First!" comments everywhere, especially when they end up 10 comments down the page!

    Get a life, or go somewhere else.
  • OOOoo... that's REEEAL original.. never heard that one before..
  • Here's the exact text of the notice from the Super Mario 64 booklet that I was talking about earlier:

    WARNING: Copying of any Nintendo game is illegal and is strictly prohibited by domestic and international copyright laws. "Back-up" or "archival" copies are not authorized and are not necessary to protect your software. Violators will be prosecuted.

  • I don't get why the UltraHLE authors don't open source this thing. It would surely help out a lot in their upcoming trial.. unless they have something to hide...
  • Posted by OGL:

    Would you PLEASE stop posting these dumb stories about some idiot with a decompiler? This is not source code. Source code is, by definition, the SOURCE of a binary. This is some crap that is unreadable and uncompilable. Don't you people check your stories at all before posting them? The person who submitted this should be ashamed too.

    -W.W.
  • Posted by Jeremy Witt:

    Ok.... Wrong Facts, Indirection, Incompletly researched topic... Those are the things that I can immediately associate with this post..

    A)
    The code isn't from the original Authors.
    (At least from what I can tell)

    B)
    It's not the original Source (It is a conversion of the ASM code that was acquired by running a dissassembler on the Binary)

    C)
    This is none other than a Reference to the
    same story that was on slashdot two days ago..
    (dextrose.com ring a bell?)

    D)
    Spreading unreasearched information like "this is Source Code from the original Authors" is flippantly careless, and quit possibly slanderous. These guys seem to be in a bit of trouble (Which could be quite compounded if they really WERE employees of Nintendo at one time as rumor has it).

    JWitt
  • Posted by OGL:

    ROTFL...

    You're completely right of course, I've never coded a single line in my entire life! NOT!

    The quality of the posts on /. is almost as abysmal as its editorial content. Although on second thought this article may serve the purpose of making fun of wired online, so perhaps it's not all bad.

    -W.W.
  • But what are guns supposed to be used for if not killing other people?

  • What? (Score:1)

    by WWWWolf ( 2428 )
    UltraHLE source is out? Lemmesee... ::looks at the site:: No? Drats.

    Just for a second I had a feeling that there *was* hope. Nah. Oh well, maybe in the future... False hope is a bad thing, please read the article first.
  • why not add hardware specs that would allow a cartridge to be connected to a parallel port or something. this would "encourage" people to buy the cartridges and get the ultrahle guys off the hook, no?

    "The lie, Mr. Mulder, is most convincingly hidden between two truths."
  • I think this "source release" is great -- it isn't like you can download a binary anymore, so anything that keeps UltraHLE in circulation is a good thing. Yes, it might have been made by a total idiot in five minutes, but it's set off a media bombshell, added to the frezny around the emulator scene and might pressure the real authors to release the code. Now it's time to rise up and smash the state!
  • Just wondering, is this the sort of thing the ACLU would defend? You know, b/c of freedom of speech and stuff. If they did, this could actually turn out moderately advantageous for the emulation community.
  • It seems that one issue that would make this problem go away would be a pci "cartrage" card... Occuping a 5 1/4" bay, the cartrage reader would provide an interface for UltraHLE to run roms from, and it would not be circumventing anything. The PCI bus should be fast enough to accomidate the requests from the emulator, and Nintendo wouldn't be able to use pirating as an inapropriate use of the emulator... with this cartrage bay, you could run cartrages without having to bypass any security chips, and Nin. wouldn't have a leg to stand on... For example, On PSZ emu side of the house, Bleem is comming out soon which _WILL NOT_ play copied games, it will only play the originals. Thus the authors of Bleem won't have to worry about developers suing. I know that there are /. readers out there with the know how, obviously the edge connector for the cartrages has been mapped (should be available somewhere), and changing the location that the emu looks from physical ram to a card based memory address shouldn't be that hard... :/ I won't even patent my idea :) so long as you mention that the device was inspired by me... :) get to soldering!!!
    Time flies like an arrow;
  • Actually something as controversial as a currnet game system emulator that would draw lawsuits or skirt on the edge of the lawshould be released as full source code and anonomously. the UltraHLE or whatever they call it, authors should have put it out there with no trace to who the heck they are. that way the big corps cant sue anyone. And if the authors werent lying on their reasons for writing it then why didnt they ever release the code? If it was for a learning expierience then teach the people. If you say, "I did this to learn, but I aint gonna let you learn it" credibility drops to the floor. Besides, has anyone even ran this thing? did it even work?
  • This is the same "GossiTheDog" disassemble that was already posted here. It's not the actual source code from the authors.

  • When I posted my article it was the fourth. However, all the subsequent posts are showing up at the top and pushing it down. Originally the "first" poster really was first. The order of the first level responses does not appear to go in chronological order anymore, at least with this story.
  • Dude, that's about the worst solution. If people always "went somewhere else" whenever something was wrong, nothing would ever become fixed, and (CLICHE ALERT) Hitlers would rule the world. If we complain enough, perhaps Slashdot will actually become a higher-quality publication. I don't think anyone would complain if Slashdot editors actually a) Verified links and b) Verified that the story hadn't already been put up in the past few days.
  • This article was already posted, it was wrong then and it's wrong now. First off the authors had nothing to do with it. All that happened is some guy named GossiTheDog ran the program through a decompiler and spent about 5 minutes working on it. Also, he must have used a really crappy decompiler since it can't even recompile the code. With a decent recompiler you should at the very least been able to compile the code. Not to mention that given the authors attitude about the program being used to pirate n64 games they will most-likely never release the source code. And the legal troubles that everyone is talking about are unfounded. Nintendo said that they have not ruled out the possibility of suing the two people who wrote it. But they also have yet to make any formal contact with the two people who wrote the emulator. It really pains me to see wired news report this story, it puts them at the level of zdnet IMHO.
  • The article (and CmdrTaco's synopsis) clearly stated that there was more info in it than just the UltraHLE source story.
  • It is interesting that the people who complain are also the ones who hide behind a shroud. I would suggest in the future that to be taken seriously and not be considered a coward (as the post so blazingly announces) use your real name. Right or wrong, stand up and be a man or woman and state your case. Don't just flame!
  • Follow me on this one.
    Ford made a car. Hmm,
    Chevy made a car. who emulated and not get sued.

    Intel makes a processor chip to run OS's
    AMD makes a processor chip to run OS's
    Cyrix, well. Its a chip to run OS's.
    Intel and AMD are so close together they could be the same chip! But, they are not.

    If I understand emulators, that means I could write a program, that will run other peoples applications. But this is MY code not theirs. If I build a car from the ground up... Is Chevy going to sue me because it LOOKS like their car?
  • No comment on your car theory... apples and oranges.

    On CPUs, reverse engineering is a legal science in itself. To avoid the patent infringment, companies like AMD have to create the designs in a VERY specific way that involves a third party reverse-engineer.

    Simple explanation: If you took an Intel chip, opened it up, figured out how it worked, create you own design based on that info - you just became illegal.

    Workaround: You hire a third party to buy an intel chip, open it up, figure out "what it does", write a set of specifications. You buy the specification (this handover is is done VERY carefully from a legal standpoint). Your engineers take the spec and build a new chip that "performs the exact same functions" but they never actually look an the Intel chip.

    There was a great article in Boot (Now called Maximum PC) magazine last year about exactly how it's done.

    In theory, a company could do the same thing to create an emulator, but I suspect the ULTRA guys didn't.
  • All these people flaming are pretty funny. But why don't we...or Nintendo at least...look past all of the B.S. with this deal and admit that the two guys who coded this up are pretty damn good. In fact, why doesn't Nintendo just give them jobs?? I love Nintendo...always have and always will...but it looks to me like they are being poor losers in this situation. Props to the two guys who coded the whole project by themselves. They obviously KNOW their shit!
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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