Introduction
MesaDX is an on-going project to develop a software-based Sega Mark III
Architecture (SM3A) emulator. The Sega Mark III architecture was implemented
in three separate home game consoles: the Sega Mark III, the Sega Master
System, and the Sega Game Gear. The goal of the MesaDX project is to create a
debugging tool used to aid software development for all three of these
systems.
Because MesaDX is software-based, it can include sophisticated debugging
features not available in the original Sega Mark III Architecture. The most
significant of these features is the inclusion of
AGAMA Extensions in the emulator. AGAMA is
a specification adding a special debug register file to each device in the
SM3A along with an additional execution mode that exists underneath the normal
SM3A execution environment. This new execution mode allows developers to
create custom Monitor Software that can monitor system events and can
even adjust debug functionality during application execution. The AGAMA
extensions provide developers with a powerful, customizable environment in
which to execute applications, without cluttering the application program with
debug code.
Overview
The MesaDX project consists of three main components:
- MesaDX:
- MesaDX is the main application. MesaDX is a Windows application
suitable for execution on any Windows 98 (or later) platform that supports
DirectX 5.0 (or later). MesaDX provides a user-interface and various Windows
resources to the emulation system, which is implemented in a separate DLL
file. (The current emulator DLL shipped with MesaDX is called Kokin, and is
discussed below.)
- Kokin:
- Kokin is a library of emulator implementations for SM3A devices with AGAMA
extensions. All the emulator devices (Processor, Memory, VDP, PSG, etc.),
are implemented in Kokin and loaded when MesaDX is launched. The current
version of MesaDX permits the user to load specific devices from the Kokin DLL.
This flexibility allows developers to create specific configurations
on which to develop/test/debug their application software.
- AGAMA:
- AGAMA is a specification that extends the traditional Sega Mark III
Architecture to include sophisticated debugging features. The most important
improvement offered by AGAMA is the inclusion of Monitor Mode which
allows developers to create special software that can monitor any or all of the
system events occuring during execution.
More information about each component can be found at the links provided above.
[Introduction]
[Overview]
