VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

General Dreamcast discussion applies here. Before posting here please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section to see if your topic would fit better in those categories.

Moderators: pcwzrd13, mazonemayu

Forum rules
Please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section before posting here to see if your topic would fit better in those categories. Example: A new game/homebrew release would go in the New Releases/Homebrew/Emulation section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 or if you're having an issue with getting your Dreamcast to work or a game to boot it would go in the Support section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=42
MJaoune
noob
Posts: 2

VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#1 » Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:15 am

VeMUlator

After months of hard work and days of no sleep, in addition to the lack of documentations regarding this device, I am happy to announce the release of a new SEGA Visual Memory Unit emulator for Android devices. It is totally written from scratch using native Android API.

One of the reasons I have created this emulator is to enjoy VMU mini-games loaded into Dreamcast flash memory dumps (.bin) used in various Dreamcast emulators such as: reicast, NullDC and Chankast. The emulator supports real-time save/write to the flash memory dump (Can be disabled), which means that if one for example was playing Chao Adventure and the game saves its progress, it would be saved to the real flash memory file instantly, so if the player wanted to return back to the mini-game later, he will start playing from where he had reached, this also means that if the player got his Chao out of the VMU in Sonic Adventure (Using reicast emulator for example), the Chao will be affected by the Chao Adventure according to the progress.

The emulator also supports playing (.vms) standalone mini-game files, but without save/write capability, due to the fact that these files are not a whole flash memory, but rather just the data of the mini-games, but this will soon be fixed by adding support to convert (.vms) files to flash memory dumps (.bin) from within the emulator.

Other features include:
- Compatibility with any Android device screen size (With support for wide-screen gameplay.)
- Compatible with Android gamepad/controllers (MOGA).
- Supports searching for flash memory dumps inside reicast's system folder.
- Supports most official mini-games in addition to homebrews.

The emulator requires the VMU BIOS in order to work, the VMU BIOS file specifications are as follows:
Filename (Usually): VMU_BIOS.bin or DC - VMS BIOS (Full).bin
Filesize: 64KB
MD5 checksum: 4bffb9b29b9aeb29aa618f3891a300ce

The BIOS can also be found from within the whole Dreamcast BIOS package:
Filename: Dreamcast.zip
MD5 checksum: acf579f9256494df571e8a07341b028d

Once BIOS is obtained, it must be renamed to "VMU_BIOS.bin" and placed in "VeMUlator" folder in the phone's internal storage.

The emulator still doesn't emulate sound, because sound relies on a hardware inside the VMU which is already emulated but is still under testing, once I am assured it is working 100% as intended, sound emulation will be implemented.

Image

mrneo240
Rank 9
Posts: 926

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#2 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:39 am

ads though..

colgate
Doom
Posts: 185

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#3 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:11 pm

Looks interesting, thank you!

User avatar
RudyTabootie
shadow
Posts: 5

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#4 » Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:24 am

Is there a way to use this in tandem with the VMU file I have with Reicast?

MJaoune
noob
Posts: 2

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#5 » Thu Nov 30, 2017 4:37 pm

RudyTabootie wrote:Is there a way to use this in tandem with the VMU file I have with Reicast?


Yes, you can enable the option to search reicast's system folder for flash memory dumps (.bin files) so you can play them, or you can directly copy-paste the flash memory dump file from reicast's folder and put it in "VeMUlator/roms" path. If save option is enabled from the Settings (It is by default), the flash memory dump file will be written to in real-time whenever the game saves its progress.

GamerguyDS
noob
Posts: 1

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#6 » Mon May 11, 2020 3:27 am

2 problems!
Saving doesn't work, eg: seeds/snacks don't stay when quitting, nor does adventure progress save in chao adventure 2.
If you need a bios to save, I got one, but it keeps saying to replace the battery and didn't let me start the game.
Please help!

TheChromeGamer
noob
Posts: 1

Re: VeMUlator: A free new SEGA VMU emulator for Android!

Post#7 » Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:38 pm

Am I able to use the SA2 Chao Explorer on this? (I think it's called Chao Explorer)

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Lounge”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users