_[ ZSNES Windows Frequently Asked Questions ]______________________________

[GENERAL ISSUES:]
Q: Why does ZSNESw crash and give me an error with dinput.dll?
Q: Why do I get a black (or corrupted) box when I start up ZSNESw?
Q: Why in the GUI under Config/Options are some of the choices gone?
Q: How do I use CD-ROMs with ZSNESw?
Q: Why is netplay choppy/slow?

[SOUND COMPATIBILITY ISSUES:]

Q: Will ZSNES Windows be able to use my sound card now? It wouldn't work
for me in the DOS version.
Q: How come I don't get any sound?
Q: ZSNES Windows tends to have some static when playing games is there any
way to remove it?
Q: How come stereo is reversed?

[VIDEO ISSUES:]
Q: Why do I get a dark line every quarter inch roughly on my screen when I
Q: In the Video section where I set my resolution what do those letters
stand for to the right of the resolution?
Q: Will ZSNES Windows support a 3DFX graphics mode?
Q: Are there transparencies in ZSNES?
Q: How come the graphics are really screwed up?

[GAME COMPATIBILITY ISSUES:]

Q: Why doesn't *name of game* work on ZSNES?
Q: Can you get *name of game* working by the next release?
Q: Why is *name of game* not working in v.*version #* of ZSNES? It was
working before.
Q: When do you think you will emulate the *DSP/SFX chip? My favorite game
*name of game with chip* won't run without it.
Q: This game tells me that it is not compatible with the MultiTap (or an
external device attached). What should I do?
Q: How do I improve the compatibility of ZSNES?
Q: Why am I experiencing problems with Chrono Trigger?
Q: What games use which DSP chip? How much of the DSP-1 is emulated?
Q: Why doesn't Star Ocean/Street Fighter Alpha 2 work?
Q: Can you guys get Star Ocean/Street Fighter Alpha 2 to work?

[SPEED ISSUES:]
Q: Why is ZSNES slow?
Q: Can you please make ZSNES faster?
Q: Can you implement dynamic recompilation into ZSNES?
Q: Why does the game slow down even though I'm using auto frame rate and
the FPS is pretty high?

[[KEYBOARD/JOYSTICK ISSUES:]
Q: Will ZSNES Windows now be able to use my Windows Joystick/Gamepad?
Q: Why can't I press more than 2 keys at a time?
Q: How come my joystick keeps holding in one direction?
Q: How do I use both my Keyboard and Joystick for the 1st player?

[CHEAT ISSUES:]
Q: How come the game genie codes don't work?
Q: How do I use .CHT files?
Q: Why doesn't ZSNES support multi-line codes?

[FREEZING/CRASHING ISSUES:]
Q: When I load a ROM, how come ZSNES crashes?

[MISC:]
Q: How does the auto .IPS patching feature work?
Q: What is this sdd1dat.dat file I keep getting?
Q: Where do I get the games?

_[ GENERAL ISSUES ]________________________________________________________

Q: Why does ZSNESw crash and give me an error with dinput.dll?
A: If you get this error, download and install the latest version of DirectX
which is located at www.microsoft.com/directx
If you already have the newest version of directx installed for
a while, try re-installing it (and make sure that you're installing
DirectX v8.0a or higher).
Q: Why do I get a black (or corrupted) box when I start up ZSNESw?
A: First of all, make sure that you have the latest version of DirectX
installed (see above question). If that didn't help, then check
your desktop color settings and make sure that the number of colors
is set to either 16bit or 32bit (since ZSNESw will only work with those
modes).
Q: Why in the GUI under Config/Options are some of the choices gone?
A: Basically they have become obsolete due to the abilities of Windows.
Q: How do I use CD-ROMs with ZSNESw?
A: You need to define a save directory that points to your hard drive.
In order to do this, use a text editing program such as wordpad and
open up zsnesw.cfg, which should be located in the directory where you
installed ZSNESw in (this will only appear after you run ZSNESw at
least once). Then look for the line SaveDirectory= and enter
the directory where you want all the writeable files to be stored.
Q: Why is netplay choppy/slow?
A: Please read netplay.txt that is included in the original ZSNESw archive.
_[ SOUND COMPATIBILITY ISSUES ]____________________________________________
Q: Will ZSNES Windows be able to use my sound card now? It wouldn't work
for me in the DOS version.
A: It is very likely that your sound card will in fact work given that your
card is supported by Windows and Direct Sound from Microsoft's Direct X.

Q: How come I don't get any sound?

A: There could be several situations :
A: Either you accidently disabled sound (You can enable it through the GUI)
or you don't have a sound card or the sound drivers aren't properly
installed in your system.
Q: ZSNES Windows tends to have some static when playing games is there any
way to remove it?
A: First of all, make sure that you have the latest sound drivers installed.
Also, the problem could be in relation to many different variables. The
emulator uses Direct Sound for audio so it is likely not an issue with
Windows but most likely a setting in the emulator. The problem could be
in relation to using a lower khz value than the SNES uses which is
32000khz. Another more likely reason is that you have one of the
special sound filters engaged. For higher end cards (better than SB16)
it appears that the Low Pass Filter can cause static.
Q: How come stereo is reversed?
A: Turn on 'Reverse Stereo' in the Sound configuration in the GUI.

_[ VIDEO ISSUES ]__________________________________________________________

Q: Why do I get a dark line every quarter inch roughly on my screen when I
use 25/50% scanlines in a full screen stretched video mode?
A: This is a video card based issue in which your card does not scale the
video image properly and that is the result.
Q: In the Video section where I set my resolution what do those letters
stand for to the right of the resolution?
A: There are four different sets of letters which are R, S, DR, and DS. R
stands for ratio as these modes will retain the screen size ratio to the
output of a real SNES. S stands for stretched, any of these modes will
stretch the image to the exact size of the resolution you have chosen.
The D in DR/DS meants high resolution which allows for the use of
interpolation, 25/50% scanlines, 2xSai, and Super Eagle modes.
Q: Will ZSNES Windows support a 3DFX graphics mode?
A: Probably not as the author has little interest in adding support for it.

Q: Are there transparencies in ZSNES?

A: Yes. Transparencies are in ZSNES. If something is not showing that should,
try pressing '6', which is the default to turn on all layers.
Q: How come the graphics are really screwed up?
A: It's probably a problem with the emulation. You can try running the
game 80% or 120% execution which can be set in the ZSNESW.CFG through
the DOS prompt or another editor. It might fix your problem, but then
again maybe it won't be the solution.

_[ COMPATIBILITY ISSUES ]__________________________________________________

Q: Why doesn't *name of game* work on ZSNES?
A: Getting the compatibility higher is a very hard task to do. We're
always trying to get more games working.

Q: Can you get *name of game* working by the next release?

A: We're always trying, but we can never guarantee a specific game will be
working because of the difficulties involved in bug fixing.

Q: Why is *name of game* not working in v.*version #* of ZSNES? It was

working before.
A: Whenever we change something in the emulation, whether it's optimisation
or bug fixes, it has a good potential to have caused a problem elsewhere.
Usually, these problems aren't discovered until after a release.

Q: When do you think you will emulate the *DSP/SFX chip? My favorite game
*name of game with chip* won't run without it.
A: We will consider emulating extra chips only if decent information on
those chips are found. However, even if we find info on them, we
cannot guarantee to be able to implement them.

Q: This game tells me that it is not compatible with the MultiTap. What
should I do?
A: Set both Player 3, Player 4, and Player 5's input device to 'None'.

Q: How do I improve the compatibility of ZSNES?

A: Turning on sound helps a lot here. Also, try in the ZSNES configuration
file to keep the % of execution at 100%. If a game still doesn't work,
try tweaking the percentage of execution to both 120% or 80%. If that
still doesn't work, then it's either a corrupt rom, a game that requires
a special chip, or a bug in ZSNES.

Q: Why am I experiencing problems with Chrono Trigger?

A: If you cannot press the L+R+A seqence, then you would need to assign
both the L and R key as the same key such as set L and R to PageUp and
set A to Home, then pressing PageUp+Home will be the same as pressing
 L,R, and A together. This is a hardware limitation of the keyboard,
not a bug in ZSNES.

Q: What games use which DSP chip? How much of the DSP-1 is emulated?
A: Known DSP versions are DSP-1,1A,1b, 2, and 4. Known games for each:
DSP1: Pilotwings, Mario Kart
DSP1A: Suzuka 8 Hours, Lock On, Michael Andretti's Indy Car Challenge,
Super Bases Loaded 2
DSP1B: Ballz
DSP2: Dungeon Master
DSP4: Top Gear 3000
In addition, there is a SETA DSP chip, which is totally different.
Pilotwings and Mario Kart are both compatible with the DSP emulation
in ZSNES. These routines are not perfect yet, however, and are not
sufficient to play other games, at the moment.
Q: Why doesn't Star Ocean/Street Fighter Alpha 2 work?
A: Star Ocean and Street Fighter Alpha 2 both use the SDD-1 chip, which
uses an unknown compression routine that has to be figured out before
it can be emulated. Star Ocean is currently supported via a third-party
decompression pack, and you should follow their directions.

Q: Can you guys get Star Ocean/Street Fighter Alpha 2 to work?

A: We have already worked on them to an extent, however, we cannot go much
further until we gain knowledge on how to get them to work.
Unfortunately, we are not magicians.

_[ SPEED ISSUES ]__________________________________________________________

Q: Why is ZSNES slow?
A: For the Windows version, you might want to change your video mode in
ZSNESWin to different settings until you find the mode that's optimal
in performance.
Emulating a SNES is slow because it is a complex system. Also, ZSNES
by default uses a tile/line engine which is newly completed in v1.0.
This engine is faster than the old so if the speed isn't up to par you
may try a solution below, or your computer just may be too slow.
Vsync, by nature of syncing to the monitor is also slower. So if speed
is paramount to you, Vsync should be disabled.

Q: Can you please make ZSNES faster?

A: We're always trying and there are still a lot of room left for
 optimisation, but a lack of time keeps us from implementing them.

Q: Can you implement dynamic recompilation into ZSNES?

A: There is no plans to implement it since it doesn't seem necessary. The
SuperNES only uses a 3mhz cpu compared to say the 93mhz cpu inside the
Nintendo 64. Implementing a dynamic recompilation engine will be hard
work and won't improve performance by much.

Q: Why does the game slow down even though I'm using auto frame rate and
the FPS is pretty high?
A: A game slows down like that when it executes its code beyond the speed
of cpu emulation that ZSNES currently handles. To reduce slowdowns,
increase the percentage of execution by using editing the ZSNESW.CFG.

_[ KEYBOARD/JOYSTICK ISSUES ]______________________________________________

Q: Will ZSNES Windows now be able to use my Windows Joystick/Gamepad?
A: Yes, the controls are now handed via Direct Input so all Windows based
control devices should work within ZSNES Windows.
Q: Why can't I press more than 2 keys at a time?
A: It's mainly the limitation of the PC Keyboard. If you want to press
more than 2 keys at a time, either use a joystick or change the keyboard
keys around until you find a combination where you can press more than
2 keys at a time. Another technique that works is to set multiple
buttons to a single key. That way, pressing that key presses multiple
buttons at the same time.

Q: How come my joystick keeps holding in one direction?

A: That happens when you hold a direction when ZSNES Windows starts up.
If that happens, then exit ZSNES and reload to recalibrate. Clicking on
SET in the input device window also calibrates the joystick, but it also
resets the controls to the default joystick settings.

Q: How do I use both my Keyboard and Joystick for the 1st player?
A: In the GUI, enter the CONFIG -> OPTIONS menu. Then check 'USE Pl1/2 AS
Pl3/4'. Once you've done that, Player 3 controls will control Player 1
so if you have joystick set on Player 1, set Player 3 as keyboard.
This disables multitap emulation however.

_[ CHEAT ISSUES ]__________________________________________________________

Q: How come the game genie codes don't work?
A: You probably didn't insert the '-'. Otherwise, try clicking on the FIX
button once while the highlight is over the code.
Q: How do I use .CHT files?
A: Copy the .CHT file to the ROM Directory or if you have a save directory
defined, copy it to the Save Directory. Then rename the .CHT file if
necessary so that the filename before the . matches the ROM file.
Q: Why doesn't ZSNES support multi-line codes?
A: It does. Just enter each line as a code.

_[ FREEZING/CRASHING ISSUES ]______________________________________________

Q: When I load a ROM, how come ZSNES crashes?

A: For ZSNESWin, you first might want to see if you have any other major
program running in the background (eg. WinAMP). If it still crashes
after you close those programs, you might want to download and install
the newest version of DirectX which is located at
www.microsoft.com/directx
Odds are, if the emulator crashes as you load a ROM then it is probably
not compatable with ZSNES Windows due to it being incomplete, a bad
header, or for some other reason making it broken.

-[ MISC ]__________________________________________________________________
Q: How does the auto .IPS patching feature work?
A: The auto .IPS feature works by copying the .IPS file to the directory of
your ROM file or if you have a save directory defined, then the .IPS
file goes into the save directory. Next, rename the .IPS file so that
it matches filename (eg. If your ROM filename is THISGAME.SMC, then
your .IPS filename is THISGAME.IPS.) ZSNES uses the ROM file name, even
with zipped files. (So TG.ZIP containing THISGAME.SMC is still patched
by THISGAME.IPS)
Q: What is this "sdd1dat.dat" file I keep getting?
A: It's the debug log for S-DD1 games. This file is not essential to ZSNES
and may be removed if you so desire.
Q: Where do I get the games?
A: The ZSNES Team will *NOT* provide any games or any links to games.