NINTV-DS

NINTV-DS (aka Nintellivision) is an Intellivision console emulator running on the DS/DSi.

Install :

To make this work, place NINTV-DS.NDS on your flashcart or SD card which you can launch. You must supply the BIOS files:

grom.bin
exec.bin
ivoice.bin (Optional for Intellivoice games)
ecs.bin (Optional for ECS games)

These can go in one of four places: same directory as your ROMS, /roms/bios (recommended) or /roms/intv/bios or /data/bios (you can change the default location using the Global Configuration once you load the emulator).

The GROM and EXEC binaries are property of Intellivision and you will have to find them yourself. Don't ask. If you own Intellivision Lives, you likely have both files already somewhere in your house.

Features :

All known games run at full speed, full framerate and with the best sound quality on a DSi or above (the DSi has 2X the CPU and 4X the memory of the normal DS handhelds).
Almost every game runs at full speed on the older DS-LITE and DS-PHAT hardware with a slight reduction in sound quality.
Custom Overlay Support. See the 'extras' folder for details.
Manual/Instruction Support. See the 'extras' folder for an example.
Save Sate support (3 save slots per game).
High Scores for up to 10 scores per game with various sorting options.
Cheat / Hack support using NINTV-DS.cht (see 'extras' folder and place in /data directory)
Numerous button / controller mapping options. Dual-Controller support (run and shoot at the same time).
JLP support for accelerated functions (multiply/divide), extra RAM and flash memory. If not auto-detected, when loading a game use the X button to load with options.
ECS support for ECS games including sound-enhanced games like Space Patrol. If not auto-detected, when loading a game use the X button to load with options.

Technical Specs :

Loads .ROM or .BIN/.CFG format files.
Up to 1024KB (512K words) of ROM memory emulated.
JLP 16-bit RAM emulated (8K Words) plus all accelerator functions supported.
JLP Flash support of 336 rows (42 sectors) for a total of 64K bytes (actual 64512 bytes). Each game gets their own 64K of file-backed flash.
ECS emulated with the 2K of 8-bit RAM, Keyboard, extra sound channels, etc.
Intellivoice emulated for games that take advantage of voice enhancements.
Up to 8K of extra 8-bit RAM emulated for games like USFC Chess and Land Battle (note, the 2K of ECS 8-bit RAM comes out of this pool).
Up to 16K Words of extra 16-bit RAM emulated beyond dedicated 8K words of JLP RAM.
Paging on all segments of memory provided the full binary is 1024KB (bytes) or less.

Loading Games :

Most games you simply pick from the 'Load' list of roms and the game will load and play perfectly. In case it doesn't, you can load the game by pressing the X button (instead of the normal A button) and select from a list of possible hardware configurations (stock Intellivision, JLP, ECS and Intellivoice in all relevant combinations). Your last picked hardware setting will 'stick' and be saved for the game you are playing.

Intellivision games come in two main formats: .bin+cfg and .rom formats.

A flat-binary (.bin) may or may not have an associated .cfg file to help describe where to load it in memory. If no .cfg file is found, the Nintellivision internal database (with over 200 games known) will try to load it automatically.

Nintellivision emulator also supports the .int extension which can be either a .bin or a .rom format file. As of version 4.8, the emulator will look at the first byte of the file to determine if it's a flat-binary (.bin) or a meta-data .rom (the file will start with a 0xA8 byte). This is useful as Twilight Menu only supports auto-launching Nintellvision with .int files.

Controller Types :

You can select Player 1 controller or Player 2 controller.
More importantly you can select 'Dual Action A' or 'Dual Action B'
Dual Action A uses the disc/buttons from Controller 1 and the Keypad for Controller 2 (perfect for AD&D Cloudy Mountain or Tron Deadly Discs)
Dual Action B uses the disc from Controller 1 and the Buttons/Keypad for Controller 2 (perfect for Astrosmash, Buzz Bombers and any game you move and shoot)
In configuration you can press the 'X' button to cycle through some common controller mappings or assign your own custom map.

Because the Intellivision had an innovative controller/keypad arrangement, you may want to get creative in how you map your buttons. For example, selecting Dual Action A controller and then mapping ABXY (and the related diagonals) to the 8-arrow-fire keypad buttons makes for a very enjoyable experience in games like AD&D Cloudy Mountain or Tron Deadly Discs. You move your adventurer with the d-pad and you fire with the ABXY into any of the 8 directions. Map the 'RUN' controller action button to the shoulder buttons on the DS and you can navigate any of Cloudy Mountain's dungeons with ease. In my opinion, for many of these games, this is pretty close to the original feel of playing on a real Intellivision.

Overlays :

Nintellivision contains a default standard overlay that mimics a real Intellivision controller along with some common menu items. Each game can also have a custom overlay which is user-defined. A large number of custom overlays are provided in Extras.zip in the overlay-library folder. You must name the .ovl file the same as the base filename of the ROM (e.g. if you have Astrosmash.int or Astrosmash.rom, you must name the overlay Astrosmash.ovl) - loading such a game would bring up the custom overlay automatically. If the custom overlay doesn't show, double check that the base filenames are exactly the same. By default, overlay files (.ovl) go into the same directory as the game ROMs but you can override this in Global Configuration.

Frameskip and Sound Quality :

The DSi will run all known games at full framerate without any frameskip needed and at the 'High' sound quality setting. There is an 'Ultimate' sound quality that is slightly better than 'High' - it's marginally better but does take a significant amount of CPU time. Use it only for "simple" games (e.g. Astrosmash, Beauty and the Beast, etc.).

The DS-Lite/Phat will run many of the classic games without any frameskip but for most of the homebrews and later INTV games, frameskip is enabled and the sound quality is a bit lower. You can play with these settings as you like but generally it will still be a good playing experience even on older DS hardware.

Settings you should probably not touch :

Backtab Latched is normally disabled. There are two known games (Stampede and Masters of the Universe) that need this to display properly. Most games do not change the backtab while the screen is rendering but to gain speed, these two games do just that. Setting this to TRUE chews up significant DS CPU time - but is a more accurate rendering. If you encounter a future game where the images on screen appear to "jump" or "jitter" - try turing this to TRUE, Save your settings and reload the game.
Fudge Timing is needed for the original version of Mattel Motocross which is running right at the edge of proper timing... some non NTSC systems had problems running that game back in the day. The cycle emulation on Nintellivision is pretty close but not perfect - so the fudge timing is used make it so Motocross runs properly. It's unlikely you would ever need to change this but I put it in to future-proof the emulator in there is another game discovered with borderline timing chartacteristics.
Skip Blanks is needed for B-17 bomber as it should not blank the display when it's not active. The timing in Nintellivision is not perfect and without this set to TRUE, B-17 bomber will "flash" and it's a bit jarring. I don't know of any other games that need this setting but I've included it just in case.

Missing / Known Issues :

ECS support is partial - there is no UART / Cassette handling but all other ECS features are present (page flipping, keyboard, extra 8-bit RAM and the extra PSG sound channels).
Intellivision emulation is NTSC only - no PAL support.

License :

Copying and distribution of this emulator, its source code and associated readme files, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the this copyright notice is used and wavemotion-dave (NINTV-DS) and Kyle Davis (BLISS) are thanked profusely.

The intro jingle is from Mixkit and is used courtesy of the Mixkit Stock Video Free License.

Sample Overlay graphics (other than the default generic keypad) are provided for personal use only and do not fall under this license model - the original copyright holders of the images is retained.

The NINTV-DS emulator is offered as-is, without any warranty.

Credits :

BLISS - Intellivision Emulator. Originally developed by Kyle Davis. Contributions by Jesse Litton, Mike Dunston, Joseph Zbiciak.
Most of the cheats are provided by the excellent work found at: http://www.midnightblueinternational.com/romhacks.php
Thanks to Michael Hayes for allowing the inclusion of the cheats database into NINTV-DS
Thanks to Stephen-J for help with many custom overlays.
Thanks to Eisengrim for help with custom overlays.
Thanks to ts-x for help with the Intellivision manuals and numerous custom overlays.
And special thanks to Joseph Zbiciak (jzintv fame) for detailed descriptions of all the ins and outs of Intellivision hardware so that better emulation is possible!

History :

V5.0 : 06-Mar-2024 by wavemotion-dave

New splash screen jingle.
Boosted audio output by almost 25% so you don't have to max out your DS volume.
New audio ramp down/up to help soften (and partially eliminate) audio pops/clicks when transitioning in and out of a game to the menus.
Minor cleanup and tweaks as time permitted.
5.0a with new Gold/Black menu buttons!

V4.9 : 01-Feb-2024 by wavemotion-dave

Improved cheat database selection - after selecting cheats, just press START to reset and apply cheats directly on the cheat picker screen.
Improved bankswitching/paged roms so that partially filled banks can be switched (some recent homebrews require this).
Updated internal database so more games load and run properly without tweaks.
Minor cleanups across the board as time permitted.

V4.8 : 24-Jan-2024 by wavemotion-dave

.int files are now auto-detected as either .bin(+cfg) or .rom files. This allows you to rename .rom files or .bin files to .int and let Twilight Menu++ auto-launch Nintellivision.
Slight improvement to the Intellivoice driver to give a minor boost in performance (mostly for DS-Lite/Phat).
Added new keyclick enable option in Configuration (page 2) that produces the typical Intellivision keyclick when you press the 12-button keypad (on the DS lower screen).
Added a new level of sound quality 'Ultimate'. The default for the DSi and above is still 'High' as 'Ultimate' consumes significant CPU time but you can enable it on a per-game basis for some of the more simple games (e.g. Astrosmash, Beauty and the Beast, AD&D Tarmin, etc)
DS-Lite now enables Intellivoice on World Series Major League Baseball - sound quality is a bit rough on the older handheld but very playalbe.
Fixed save/restore state including when backtab latched is TRUE (Stampede, Masters of the Universe)
Fix for intellivoice games so there are no more glitches on the updated version of Same Game and Robots.
Fix for ecs games so they don't inadvertantly write over the last graphics card in memory (causing minor graphics corruption on some games)
Correction of one intellivoice coefficient value (thanks to documentation in JZINTV) so voice games sound their best.
Other minor tweaks and cleanup as time permitted.

V4.7 : 19-Jan-2024 by wavemotion-dave

Major refactor of the audio processor for a big speedup in rendering especially with more than one audio processor (i.e. ECS or Intellivoice)
Switched from individual pixel output to 16-bit (two pixel) output when dealing with scrolling games (big speedup for games like Tron Solar Sailor, Space Spartans, Sorrow, TNT Cowboy, etc).
The DSi now defaults to NO frameskip on any game and the 'High' (best) sound quality.
Aggressive frameskip no longer an option - it's not needed for any game even on the older DS hardware.
The DS-Lite/Phat gets a 15% improvement in sound quality and many of the classic games now run without frameskip.
With the many updates, the config format changed and will be wiped back to defaults - sorry!

V4.6 : 15-Jan-2024 by wavemotion-dave

Massive overhaul to the core emulation to reduce memory footprint. The older DS-Lite/Phat (with 4MB of memory) can now load all of the newest homebrew games!
Optimizations in Video, Audio and CPU cores provides 10% speed up across the board.
Improved sound quality for the DSi including a new "BEST" option (not enabled by default) that will render the sound as good as I can make it on the handheld.
A few small fixes for the CPU core to improve the cycle accuracy.
With the improved speed, the DSi largely disables frameskip for the best visual experience.
Save States needed to be updated for all these changes - so your old save states can't be restored. Finish your current game before upgrading to 4.6!

V4.5 : 01-Jan-2024 by wavemotion-dave

Added new Screenshot handling (press and hold the L+R shoulder buttons for ~1 second to take a .bmp snapshot written to the SD card)
Added new meta key mapping to un-throttle (Speedup) the emulator. Useful for games where your character is resting and you want the emulator to run the frames as fast as it can.
Minor cleanup on the internal database for the latest and greatest homebrew games.
Lots of new and improved overlays in the extras.zip pack.

V4.4 : 30-Oct-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Major overhaul of configuration to provide for better future enhancements. Your old configurations will be wiped in favor of the new defaults.
Major cleanup of overlay support - gone are the built-in overlays except for the normal Intellivision controller graphic and the mini-ECS keyboard. All other overlays are stored externally and a library of more than 40 custom overlays for personal use are provided.
Simplified use of custom overlays - if the .ovl file exists (with the same base name as the .ROM or .BIN file), it will automatically be loaded and used (you no longer need to specify that the overlay is 'Custom').
Other minor cleanups and tweaks as time permitted.

V4.3 : 24-Sep-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Improved 8-bit RAM support to provide a full 8K of 8-bit RAM (the ECS 2K of 8-bit RAM comes from this pool).
Added parsing of the .ROM enable/access table so that we properly allow for writable memory segments (allows the 'lilBro' games to work).
Other minor cleanups and tweaks as time permitted.

V4.2 : 15-Aug-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Improved JLP 16-bit RAM when it contends with similar 16-bit RAM specified in a config (.cfg) file (games like TNT Cowboy and A-F now run properly).
JLP Flash maximum increased to 64K per game.
Other minor cleanups and tweaks as time permitted.

V4.1 : 04-Jul-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Added the ability to map any DS key to the DISC UP and DISC DOWN which makes platform games like Rick Dynamite much more enjoyable.
Force load of JLP/ECS/IVoice will now save out to configuration for the game so you don't have to do that more than once.
Games of 16K or less without a specific .cfg or database entry will load at 5000h which is very likely where it wants to load.
Numerous homebrews and hacks added to the internal database.

V4.0 : 22-Apr-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Small optmizations across the board - utilizing every bit of the NDS instruction cache to squeeze out another frame or two of performance.

V3.9 : 05-Mar-2023 by wavemotion-dave

Improved ECS keyboard handling so we can handle 'transposed' scanning of columns/rows (allows demos like Adventure to run).
Improved banking / page-flipping for faster page switches and more robust. There should be no more small audio 'gaps' when page-flipping music.
For the DSi we now support 1024KB (512K Words) of binary ROM which is almost unfathomably large in the world of Intellivision games (130% larger than anything I'm aware of).

V3.8 : 26-Dec-2022 by wavemotion-dave

Improved memory handling so we don't run out of memory on the DS-Lite/Phat and no more crashes!
ECS and extra cart RAM now in faster VRAM to improve performance.
Fixed sound channels so that PSG + ECS + Intelivoice can all play nice together (mostly for World Series of Baseball)
Improved .ROM parsing support - now checking the CRC integrity and properly parsing the compatibility tags so more games run with the right settings (Intellivoice or JLP or ECS, etc).
New Game/Emulator Information screen to let you know if you are running in DS compatibility mode (less RAM, slower CPU) or DSi compatibilty mode (more RAM and faster CPU).
For the DSi or above we now support a much wider range of binary files (up to 512K) with page flipping.
New menu to allow you to launch a game with specific hardware configurations. Use X to load the game instead of A (launch instructions are on-screen).
Lots of small improvements and cleanup as time permitted.

V3.7a : 23-Dec-2022 by wavemotion-dave

First pass at ECS style page flipping (aka bankswap). DS-Lite will support World Series of Baseball without voice.
Improved error handling with better messages on-screen to help diagnose problems with missing roms, roms that are too big/complex, etc.
Cleanup across the board - reorganized memory to free up more resources for the future.

V3.6 : 24-May-2022 by wavemotion-dave

Added cheat support. Place NINTV-DS.cht into /data directory. See 'extras' folder.

V3.5 : 01-Mar-2022 by wavemotion-dave

Added support for ECS and ECS-Sound-Enhanced games.
Improved internal database so more games are recognized correctly.
Save states changed with ECS support. Finish your 3.4 games before upgrading or lose your progress.

V3.4 : 04-Dec-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Added support for more ROM segments so games like DK Jr Homebrew will run.
New global nintv-ds.man manual support - see extras folder.
Other small cleanups as time permitted.

V3.3 : 02-Dec-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Added use of generic.ovl which replaces the generic overlay if found.
Fix for custom overlay manual/instruction meta key.
Cleanups for .bin file reading and other small tweaks under the hood.
Code commented throughout for better maintainability.
More than 50 manuals added thanks to ts-x! See extras folder.

V3.2 : 04-Nov-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Fixed .cfg file reading (last line was skipped if there was no CR)
A few homebrew and missing games added to the internal database.
A slight speedup on Intellivoice games which really helps the older DS hardware.

V3.1 : 30-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Favorites support - you can select up to 64 games as 'favs'
Sound sync when running faster than 60FPS
If BIOS files not found, emulator will search for them (slow but effective)
Tiny bit more speed and optimization

V3.0 : 25-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Sound fixed - no more zingers!
New global menu option for green vs white font.
New Agressive frameskip to help with older DS-LITE/PHAT play.
Many small cleanups and improvements under the hood.

V2.9 : 23-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Minor sound improvement across the board.
Significant speed improvement - games run 6-12% faster. DS-LITE will run more games.

V2.8 : 20-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

First round of sound cleanup - two new improved settings in configuration.
Fixed crash with 'complex' custom overlay (out of memory) coming out of menu/config.

V2.7 : 19-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Fixed graphical glitches on D1K and D2K!
Proper fix for Q-Bert so it plays perfectly (no patch needed).
Fix for .man manuals sometimes missing last line.
Minor sound cleanup and other under-the-hood improvements for speed.

V2.6 : 18-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Added disc controller direction support to custom overlays. See Vectron.ovl in extras.
Patched Q-Bert so it doesn't lose a life after each board.
Fixed save states so we can save games with extra RAM (old save states will not work - sorry)

V2.5 : 15-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Horizontal Stretch/Offset now saved on a per-game basis.
Custom Palette support (see example in 'extras' folder).
Ability to map DS key to bring up manuals.
Added combo key mapping (AX, XY, YB, BA) for diagonal shooting.
Updated example .man manuals (see 'extras' folder).

V2.4 : 12-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Fixed horizontal and vertical offset/scrolling. Christmas Carol should now work.
Improved memory handling so we can load larger games.
Allow Manual/Instructions to be mapped to keys.
Improved generic overlay graphic.
Beta version of screen stretch/offset.

V2.3 : 10-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

New Custom Overlay Guide (see extras folder)
New Manual/Instructions Support (see extras folder)
Improved speed, reduced memory usage
Full JLP flash support
DS-LITE/PHAT sound improvment

V2.2 : 07-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Stampede graphics fixed.
Minor artifacts in Masters of the Universe fixed.
Centipede working again.
Improved speed across the board.

V2.1 : 03-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Nova Blast fixed.
JLP random fixed and improved JLP compatibility.
Reduced dynamic memory allocation.
Added headers and cleanup under the hood.

V2.0 : 02-Oct-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Improved loading from command line so overlays work again.
Improved first-load of a game so it's faster/smoother.
Added new SWAP handling to instantly swap left/right controller (for Swords & Serpents "co-op" play)
Patch for Q-Bert so lives are not lost (ever... it's not a great patch but makes the game playable)
Another frame or two of speedup.
Other cleanups under the hood.

V1.9 : 27-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Removed reliance on knowncarts.cfg. Internal database handles most games and you can use a "romname".cfg for new .bin games.
Added command line support so it can be called via TWL++.

V1.8 : 26-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Reworked configuration options - new game specific and global options available. Unfortunatley your old config will be wiped out in favor of the new format. Sorry!
Improved sound quality for the DSi.

V1.7 : 24-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

New Palette options.
New Brightness options.
New Save State options.
New MENU button for custom overlays (and START defaults to MENU now)
Other cleanup as time permitted.

V1.6 : 23-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Save State support added.
Fixed EVEN frameskip.

V1.5 : 21-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Better .ROM support (CVDEMO will now play)
More CP1610 optmization squeezing out a few more frames of performance.
Improved Frameskip and Speed options in Config area.
Cleanup for custom overlay support.
Other minor cleanups where time permitted.

V1.4 : 16-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Custom overlay support! See custom-overlay.zip in the distribution.
Hide bios files from game listing.
New d-pad configuration options.
Ability to map DS keys to meta-functions such as load, config, score, etc.
Other cleanups as time permitted...

V1.3 : 12-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Basic JLP support for Accelerated functions and extra 16-bit RAM (hello Grail of the Gods!)
Major internal cleanup for better memory management.
Squeezed out a couple more frames of speed improvement.

V1.2 : 10-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

More speed - many games now playable full speed on the DS-LITE/PHAT!
On the DSi, even the Intellivoice games should be running full speed now.

V1.1 : 09-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Big boost in speed. Just about everything full speed on DSi.
A few more overlays added.

V1.0 : 07-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

First major release!

V0.9 : 06-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Major sound improvement (finally!)
High Score Support added

V0.8 : 05-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Two types of Dual-Action controllers supported (A=Standard, B=buttons on Controller #2)
More overlays added (Astrosmash, B-17 Bomber, Atlantis, Space Spartans)
Switched to a retro-green font for Game Select/Options
More new homebrews supported.
Minor sound improvements.

V0.7 : 04-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

Ability to save configuration on a per-game basis (START button in Config)
Minor sound improvements
Moved FPS and Turbo mode to Config
More homebrews added to "knowncarts.cfg"

V0.6 : 03-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

More speedup and polish - especially for intellivoice games.
New config options for frameskip, sound quality
New overlays for MINOTAUR and ADVENTURE (in Config settings)
New dual-action controller support (in Config settings)
Can now map START and SELECT buttons

V0.5 : 02-Sep-2021 by wavemotion-dave

First pass release.

wavemotion-dave / NINTV-DS