Introduction
FakeNES is a portable, Open Source NES emulator. It uses the Allegro library for input, graphics, and sound across various platforms.
It is distributed under the zlib/libpng license.
Performance
FakeNES is written in 100% C language code. This makes it very portable, but also very slow compared to many other NES/Famicom emulators.
Do not expect FakeNES to run fast or even be playable on a 486 or Pentium. I recommend at least a 300 MHz processor for full speed.
A 1 GHz+ processor may be required if you want special features like HQ2X.
API support
OpenGL is supported, through AllegroGL. For best results, disable any "enhancements" that your video drivers may force upon the program.
OpenAL is also supported.
Configuration
At this time, command-line options are not supported.
However, you may supply the name of a file that you would like to load on the command-line (instead of loading it from the GUI).
Under Windows, you can also drag and drop any supported file formats (such as .NES files) directly onto the program icon in Windows Explorer.
Input
FakeNES supports two keyboard layouts, four joysticks, and a mouse.
Expansion hardware
A great deal of in-cart expansion hardware ("mappers") are emulated, but extensive game compatibility is not something I strive for.
The NES four player adapter ("Four Score") is supported.
The NES light gun ("Zapper") is supported, and requires a mouse.
Unicode
FakeNES is mostly, if not fully, Unicode(UTF-8) compliant, provided you are able to obtain a suitable font for your locale.
Getting support
The SourceForge project page
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/fakenes
The Silohware IRC channel
irc://irc.freenode.net/#silohware
Other documentation
If you need any help regarding building FakeNES from a Source Code package or CVS, please read the 'INSTALL' file in the 'docs' directory.
There is also a FAQ on the website.
Anything else
If you would like something else documented, please let me know. You can contact me by E-mail at stainless@users.sourceforge.net.
In closing...
I would like to thank my fellow ZSNES developers, without them I would have never became interested in the world of emulation.
I would also like to thank the current maintainer of SNEeSe (and forever best friend), TRAC, as well as the rest of the Silohware team, without them FakeNES would never have even been possible.
A very special thanks goes out to Xodnizel, I don't think I need to say why.
And finally I would like to thank everybody else who is (as Matt Conte so elegantly put it) still hacking around with the old piece of shit.
- randi