FB Alpha  - http://fba.emuunlim.com
          - http://www.barryharris.me.uk
----------------------------------------

FB Alpha is an arcade emulator supporting the following hardware platforms:

 - Capcom CPS-1
 - Capcom CPS-2
 - Capcom CPS-3
 - Cave
 - Neo Geo
 - Sega System 16 (and similar), System 18, X-Board, Y-Board
 - Toaplan
 - Taito
 - Psikyo 68EC020 based hardware
 - misc stuff we like


What's New?
-----------

v0.2.97.05
- Tidied source to compile cleanly with GCC 3.4.5, GCC 4.3.3 and the latest Microsoft SDKs [Barry]
- Wrote compile guides for the above which are available on my website [Barry]
- Replaced the readme.txt with a detailed Windows help file [Barry]
- Replaced the whatsnew.txt with a HTML document and added a link to it from the help menu [Barry]
- Updated libpng to the current version (1.2.35) [Barry]
- Made a new higher quality icon, with support for the nice big vista icon [Barry]
- Ported MAME's Konami CPU core [iq_132]
- Fixed an issue with the M6809 interface [iq_132]
- Fixed Konami core to compile with VC [Barry]
- Added Signed Write support to the DAC core [Barry]
- Added control over the volume of the DAC core [Barry]
- Added option to control whether the DAC core adds to the current buffer or not [Barry]
- Big update to the Megadrive driver [Barry] 
  - Greatly improved timing 
    - Changed the YM2612 to use the 68000 for timing since the Z80 can be disabled
    - Properly supported PAL
    - Updated the reset routine to support switching between regions
  - Changed to MAME's Z80 core - it works much better
  - Basic SRAM support
  - Added support for most games that require special init functions
  - General tidy-up and many small fixes
  - Most games now work - testing is under way to enable games that are working (see my site for details on how you can help this effort)
  - Updated to the latest driver generated from the database
- Added driver for 1943 [Barry]
- Added driver for F1 Grand Prix [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Fuuki FG-3 hardware [iq_132]
- Added driver for Gyrus [iq_132]
- Added driver for Haunted Castle [iq_132]
- Added driver for Lethal Crash Race [iq_132]
- Added driver for Vigilante and games on similar hardware [Barry]
- Added clone of Chase HQ to the Taito Z driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Mighty Pang to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Night Warriors to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Operation Wolf to the Taito Misc driver [Barry]
- Added support for the Neo-Geo Deck BIOS [Barry]
- Made the Neo-Geo BIOS select more intuitive [Barry]
- Improved the PGM driver, see changes.txt in the PGM folder for full details [iq_132]
- Simulated the protection in Oriental Legends Special/Super making it playable [XingXing]
- Fixed background colours and added savestates to 1943 [iq_132]
- Fixed an issue with some sprites in World Cup '90 [Barry]
- Fixed text layer in Metal Slug 4 Plus [kenshiro]
- Added XAudio2 Sound plugin, partially based on FBA Shuffle [Barry]
- Fixed an issue with the Neo-Geo driver flags, fixing Memory Cards and Button Macros [Barry]
- Added the full range of button combinations to the Neo-Geo macros [Barry]
- Added macro support for the PGM driver [Barry]
- Changed the parent filters in the selection dialog to behave in the expected way [Barry]
- Fixed MAWS links [Barry]
- Moved the FPS display in the DirectX 9 blitter to the top right [FBAShuffle]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.131 [Barry]

v0.2.97.04
- Moved Namco sound to it's own module and updated the Pac-Man driver [Barry]
- Added driver for Galaga [Barry]
- Added driver for Pass [iq_132]
- Added a hack to get Knights of Valour 2 Plus working [XingXing]
- Tidied up the SoftFX blitters [Barry]
  - Updated the Enhanced blitter to allow more filters
  - Added support to the ini file for long long integers to support the Enhanced blitter
  - Added hq2xS, hq3xS, hq2xBold, hq3xBold, EPXB and EPXC filters from SNES9X ReRecording
  - Added SuperEagle, 2xSaI, Super 2xSaI filters from VBA ReRecording
- Fixed issue with board roms in ClrMAME XML DAT generation [Barry]
- Changed ampersands in the ClrMAME XML DAT output to their HTML entity [Barry]
- Some updates to the Megadrive driver via the online generator [nj7, JackC, arturf]
- Fixed some rom sizes in non-working parents [Barry, pointed out by JackC]
- Fixed license2rtf.pl to allow hyphens in URLs [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.129u6

v0.2.97.03
- Ported MAME's ARM7 CPU core and added an interface to it [iq_132]
- Fixed some issues with the ARM7 code when compiled with VC [Barry]
- Ported MAME's S2650 CPU core and added an interface for it [iq_132]
- Added support for IRQ callbacks to the S2650 interface [Barry]
- Added support to retrieve the PC from the S2650 interface [Barry]
- Added support for hiscore.dat [Barry]
  - The default path is support\hiscores, and .hi files will be stored there
  - The path is configurable via the support files dialog
  - hiscore.dat should be placed in the path
  - Hi Scores are only loaded and saved if the option "Save high scores when supported" is
    enabled
  - Hi scores are only loaded and saved if a driver supports it (the various info dialogs will
    inform in the comments section if high scores are supported for a game)
- Added support to the Galaxian and World Cup 90 drivers
- Added S2650 support to the cheat and hiscore modules [Barry]
- Added support for hq2xS and hq3xS filters from FBA Shuffle (hq3xS only built with VC) [Barry]
- Added 2xPM LQ and 2xPM HQ to the SoftFX blitters [Barry]
- Big update to the PGM driver (see driver for details) [iq_132, tested by JackC and Aquashark]
- Added games on the S2650 CPU to the Galaxian driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Super Cobra to the Galaxian driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Dogyuun to the Toaplan2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of World Cup 90 to the driver [Barry]
- Added driver for Diver Boy [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Armed Formation hardware [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Magical Cat Adventure hardware [iq_132]
- Added driver for Sky Fox [iq_132]
- Added driver for Got-cha Mini Game Festival [iq_132]
- Updated EPOS driver, fixing Dealer [iq_132]
- Added Warriors of Fate to the CPS Changer driver [iq_132]
- Changed the Megadrive driver to be generated from a status database on my website [Barry]
- Fixed sprite based Capcom logos in CPS-2 Phoenix games [Barry]
- Fixed memory leak with CPS-2 games, noticed by kenshiro and Leaf [Barry]
- Added savestate support to the Galaxian driver [Barry]
- Fixed the default dips in Tiger Road and hooked up the correct dips in F1 Dream [Barry]
- Corrected aspect ratio for Bank Panic [Captain CPS-X]
- Cleaned up the 4 En Raya, Ambush, Dotrikun, Minivader, Silkroad and Wall Crash drivers [iq_132]
- Fixed an error in the selection dialog when pressing Cancel [Captain CPS-X]
- Corrected an issue with scaling some PNGs for the selection dialog [Captain CPS-x]
- Improved the Options tab in the selection dialog [Captain CPS-X]
- Stopped the selection dialog switching to the favourites tab when adding a game to your
  favourites [Captain CPS-X]
- Fixed the game information printed from the favourites game list [Barry]
- Added new clrMame Pro XML dat file output [Barry]
- Fixed rotated games when using the DirectX 9 blitter [fbashuffle]
- Added FPS display to the DirectX 9 blitter [fbashuffle]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.129u5 [Barry]

v0.2.97.02
- Added a driver for games on Galaxian hardware, 177 new sets [Barry]
- Added support for insane sample Galaxian sound sample hardware and the various AY8910
  interfaces in the Galaxian driver [Barry]
- Moved PPI8255 module to the burn folder so it can be accessed by all drivers [Barry]
- Added support for a third PPI8255 [Barry]
- Added driver for Aquarium [iq_132]
- Added driver for Dark Seal [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Deniam hardware [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Midas hardware [iq_132]
- Changed the left and right sound channels in the CPS-3 driver [Barry]
- Fixed the speed-up hacks for Jojo's Venture [Barry]
- Improved analog controls in the Sega drivers when used with analog devices [Captain CPS-X]
- Added some clones to the Toaplan2 driver [Barry]
- Added some new Phoenix sets to the CPS-2 driver (provided by bonky0013) [Barry]
- Some renames of roms in Neo-Geo decrypted sets as reported by pmc2 [Barry]
- Fixed the aspect ratio in the Arkanoid driver [Captain CPS-X]
- Added support to the Game Information dialog for Select, Versus, How To, Scores,
  Bosses and Game over previews [Barry]
- Added configurable path support for the above new previews [Barry]
- Fixed issue with selection dialog when clicking filters too fast [Captain CPS-X]
- Added buttons to the selection dialog for tasks in the context-sensitive menu [Captain CPS-X]
- Moved the options in the selection dialog to their own tab [Captain CPS-X]
- Tidied the selection dialog [Captain CPS-X]
- Tidied the rom and support path dialogs and made them less cumbersome [Captain CPS-X]
- Changed the PNG load functions to use PNGlib [Captain CPS-X]
- Added support for loading support files from zips [Captain CPS-X]
- Added filter for Galaxian hardware to the selection dialog [Barry]
- Matched all set to MAME 0.129u3 [Barry]

v0.2.97.01
- Added driver for Black Tiger [iq_132]
- Added driver for Block Out [iq_132]
- Added driver for Mug Smashers [iq_132]
- Added driver for Pirates [iq_132]
- Added driver for Tao Taido [iq_132]
- Added clone of Double Dragon 3 to the Double Dragon 3 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Power Instinct to the Power Instinct driver [Barry]
- Added Street Fighter 2 Rainbow Set 3 to the CPS-1 driver [Barry]
- Applied fm.c fixes from MAME 0.128u2 [Barry]
- Added support to Zet to get the DE register [iq_132]
- Fixed the sound in Double Axle [Barry]
- Corrected the clocks in Prehistoric Isle fixing the music tempo [Barry]
- Fixed decryption for Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha and clones [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.128u7 [Barry]
- Changed the version string to include leading zeros in the final section [Barry]

v0.2.96.99
- Added driver for Contra [iq_132]
- Added driver Funny Bubble [iq_132]
- Added driver for Legend of Kage [iq_132]
- Added driver for games on Legendary Wings hardware [iq_132]
- Added driver for Son Son [iq_132]
- Added Cue Brick to the Konami driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Armored Warriors to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Capcom Sports Club to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Giga Wing to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Small speed-up in the generic tile handling, improving the speed slightly in lots of
  drivers [Barry]
- Corrected the text rom size in Samurai Shodown V and Samuari Shodown V Special [Barry]
- Updated the Neo Geo Bios roms [Barry]
- Added support for the Samurai Shodown V bootleg [Barry]
- Hooked up the region dip switch in the PCB version of Metal Slug 5 - this won't work
  until we have dumps of the actual PCB program roms though [Barry]
- Corrected the road colours in Enforce [Barry]
- Fixed sound in Ali Baba [iq-132]
- Fixed an issue with icon handling in the favourites module [Captain CPS-X]
- Disabled the Neo Geo multislot menu item until such time it does something useful
  [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.128

v0.2.96.98
- Removed the keys for Neo Geo M1 decryption - the values are now derived from the rom,
  thanks to Haze and cyberwills [Barry]
- Fixed a memory issue in the HD6309 and M6809 CPU interfaces [kev]
- Allowed hi-res PNG images [Captain CPS-X]

v0.2.96.97
- Added decryption of the Neo Geo M1 roms, thanks to Andreas Naive and Haze [Barry]
- Added clone of Marvel vs Capcom to the CPS-2 driver [Barry]
- Added clone of Tengai to the Psikyo driver [Barry]
- Moved Cps1Draw() out of a loop resuling in a big speed up for CPS-1 [Barry]
- Added a "Deselect All" button to the IPS Manager dialog [Barry]
- Fixed an issue with the menu translation template [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.127u4 [Barry]

v0.2.96.96
- Ported MAME's M6809 CPU core [Barry]
- Ported MAME's HD6309 CPU core [Barry]
- Ported MAME's M6800, HD63701 CPU cores [Barry]
- Added an interface to the M6809 core and added support for it to BurnTimer and
  the cheat module [Barry]
- Added an interface to the HD6309 core and added support for it to BurnTimer and
  the cheat module [Barry]
- Added an interface to the M6800 and family cores and added support for them to
  BurnTimer and the cheat module [Barry]
- Added driver for Double Dragon and Double Dragon II [Barry]
- Added driver for Ghouls & Ghosts [Barry]
- Added driver for Renegade [Barry]
- Added SNK16 driver [iq_132]
- Added clone of The New Zealand Story to it's driver [iq_132]
- Added analog inputs to the SNK16 driver [Barry]
- Hooked up the sound CPU comms in the Power Instinct 2 driver [Barry]
- Very big update to the Jukebox [Captain CPS-X]
- Rewrote favourites module - delete your old favorites.dat file [Captain CPS-X]
- Added support for icons in the gamelists [Captain CPS-X]
- Added options to configure vertical and horizontal full-screen resolutions seperately
  [Captain CPS-X]
- Fixed another bug when FBA was used under Vista [Captain CPS-X]
- Made the inputs dialog stop the sound properly when using the shortcut key
  [Captain CPS-X]
- Applied the dialog sound fix above to the dip switch and cheat dialogs [Barry]
- Fixed a memory leak when loading PNGs [Captain CPS-X]
- Optimised the automatic support file download feature [Captain CPS-X]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.127u2 [Barry]

v0.2.96.95
- Added driver for Zero Zone and Las Vegas Girl [iq_132]
- Added a clone of Three Wonders to the CPS-1 driver [Barry]
- Changed the FD1089 module to use the external keys [Barry]
- Set CPS-3 back to 60fps [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.127u1 [Barry]

v0.2.96.94
- Fixed Windows Vista crash when opening the game selection dialog [Captain CPS-X]
- Added Missing In Action to the TMNT driver [Barry]
- Removed an unnecessary array in sys16_run.cpp reducing the exe size [Barry]

v0.2.96.93
- Added support for the K007232 sound chip [Barry]
- Added support for the K051960 and K052109 gfx chips [Barry]
- Rewrote the TMNT driver which is now fully working [Barry]
- Added driver for Commando and clones [Barry]
- Added ESD16 driver [iq_132]
- Added NMG5 driver [iq_132]
- Added Tecmo driver [iq_132]
- Added SunA16 driver [iq_132]
- Added Kangaroo driver to debug builds [iq_132]
- Added daimakr2 to the CPS-1 driver [Barry]
- Added snowbrod to the Snow Bros. driver [Barry]
- Added sound to the Pacman driver and fixed some issues with the default inputs [Barry]
- Added support for the YM3562 sound chip [Barry]
- Added the YM3526 sound to bestbest in the SunA16 driver [Barry]
- Added DAC support to Stratovox [iq_132]
- Corrected the refresh rate in the CPS-1 driver [Barry]
- Changed the refresh rate in the CPS-3 driver [Barry]
- Imported fixes from MAME 0.126u5 for fm.c [Barry]
- Reduced DAC volume in fm.c for YM2612 matching MAME 0.127 [Barry]
- Marked the fake CHD CPS-3 sets as hacks so they can be filtered out [Barry]
- Fixed an issue with cheats in Z80 (ZET) based games [Barry]
- Added a feature to auto-download support files [Captain CPS-x]
- Merged all the LoadPNG() calls [Captain CPS-X]
- Added favourite gamelist support [Captain CPS-X]
- Allowed the recent gameslist to cycle games currently in the list [Captain CPS-X]
- Fixed issues with mouse events on the game window [Captain CPS-X]
- Added zlib/libPNG to FBA source, they are now compiled rather than using pre-compiled
  libraries [Captain CPS-X]
- Some updates to the minGW Win32 header file allowing Win32 API Versions 3.8+ to be
  used, and also to add support for some new functionality to older versions[Barry,
  Captain CPS-X]
- Added a filter for Konami games [Barry]
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.127 [Barry]

v0.2.96.92
- Captain CPS-X readded netplay and removed the dependancy on any external
  dlls - use them at your own risk
- Fixed a problem with the SuperScale filter on nVidia gfx cards
- Merged in Captain CPS-X's improvements to the game selection dialog
- Fixed a problem with the game information dialog displaying incorrect images
- Updated the romcenter dat module to support the latest romcenter
- Imported fixes from MAME 0.126u4 for fm.c
- Added a flag for MVS Cartidges and changed hardware description output
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.126u4

v0.2.96.91
- Added the 2xPM filter to the softfx filters with help from Captain CPS-X
- Added ElSemi's SuperScale and SuperScale75 filters
- Made the IPS Manager fallback to Simplified Chinese as a last resort as
  this is the reference language for the MAME Plus IPS collection
- Made the IPS Manager description vertically scrollable for long
  descriptions and reorganised the dialog
- Added Captain CPS-X's auto monitor aspect ratio code
- Added driver for Unico games
- Moved the drawing code in CPS-1/CPS-2 to happen after the VBLANK IRQ -
  this shouldn't cause any problems but if you see anything that didn't
  happen in previous builds let us know

v0.2.96.90
- Burner (interface) changes
  - Added board type, genre and family filters to the game selection dialog
    - Updated all drivers with the new flags
    - Amended the relevant dialogs to display the new genre and family
      information
    - Added the genre and family flags to the -listextrainfo output
  - Added gamelist localisation functionality
    - It works in much the same way as the UI localisation, beware though,
      that if you have a large file it can take some time to start the
      program, try and keep the file small and with only the titles you want
      to translate
    - Maximum titles to translate is currently set at 5000
    - The advantage of doing it this way is that the whole program benefits
      from translated titles, not just certain parts and the speed hit is
      only felt once rather than every time a title is retrieved
    - Obviously this only works with UNICODE builds
  - Fixed some issues with clicking behind some dialog boxes
  - Fixed a problem with the config file, allowing multi-byte paths to be
    specified
  - Double clicking on cheats in the dialog now selects the next option,
    thanks to sho
  - Changed the menu in the game selection dialog to a basic menu
  - Increased the width of the info boxes in the game selection dialog to use
    all available space (and not crop text unnecessarily)
- Burn (emulation) changes
  - Hooked up the SN76496's in Van-Van Car
  - Finished up sf2m13 thanks to a small patch posted by iq_132 years ago
  - Added various homebrew games and demos (can be filtered out if you don't
    want to see them)
  - Added various decrypted C sets to the Neo Geo driver (can be filtered out
    if you don't want to see them)
  - Fixed a rom size issue in 8ballact
  - Matched all sets to MAME 0.126u3

v0.2.96.89
- Added IPS support via a manager dialog.
  Right click on the game list, open the manager, enable the patches you want,
  they are saved to a config file, then right click and play with your saved
  patches
- Fixed a problem with the saving of config files where the game title has
  unicode in it
- Added iq_132's Street Fighter driver
- Seperated the pacman driver from the misc section
- Removed some CPS-1 hacks

v0.2.96.88
- Fixed an issue with the monitor aspect radio buttons
- Various fixes to the themed menus
- Added themed menus to the game selection dialog
- Prevented modeless menus being used with themes
- Added options to view details in MAWS, CAESAR, and progretto EMMA to the
  game selection context menu
- Added PNG support to the place holder image
- Added option to choose skins to the Misc menu
- Improved the localisation support for the game selection dialog and the
  game information dialog
- Added "Enable VSync" to the video menu
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.126u2

v0.2.96.87
- Added dynamic video size switching to the core
- Merged in Captain CPS-X's menu themes code and added the options to the
  misc menu (disabled by default)
- Merged in kev's and oopswares changes to zet and added CZ80 to the source
  distribution
- Fixed an issue causing the preview image not to display on program start
  when the Enhanced blitter was enable
- Fixed an issue with localisation support and added an option to reset to
  UI default language
- Changed the hotkeys for cheat search to be used with Ctrl
- Added support for the widescreen mode in Street Fighter III 2nd Impact
- Added a fake dipswitch to Street Fighter III for widescreen since the game
  seems to support it
- Added extracted roms to all CPS-3 sets (noone is likely to port CHD support
  just for CPS-3 which already works anyway)
- Added fake dip hack to make Red Earth and War Zard work
- Added sf2m8 to release builds
- Added tigerhb1 to the Tiger Heli driver
- Fixed a potential crash in the ICS2115 reset routine (spotted by iq_132)
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.126u1

v0.2.96.86
- Burner (interface) changes
     - Added a game information dialog to burner
     - Tidied up the game selection dialog and seperated Kaneko 16 and Psikyo 
     - Added a context menu to the game selection dialog
     - Added a most recently played games menu item
     - Changed the roms dir config dialog to support upto 8 paths
     - Fixed an issue with the roms dir config dialog that didn't let the user
       clear an entry
     - Added the roms dir config dialog to the Misc menu
     - Added a dialog to configure support files (previews, titles, flyers,
       marquees, controls, cabinets, pcbs, cheats and history) and added it to
       the Misc menu
     - Added an option to the Misc menu to stop FBA playing with the Num Lock
       status (don't use this if you use a Hotrod or X-Arcade stick)
     - Added an option to the Video menu to auto-switch to full screen after
       loading a game from the selection dialog
     - Added iq_132s improvements to the cheat system
          - Adds support for Nebula/Kawaks cheat dats
          - Adds limited (although most cheats work) support for the old format
            MAME cheat.dat file
          - Adds cheat support to drivers using the ZET interface, or NEC, SH-2
            and M6502 CPUs
     - Added a basic cheat search engine
     - Added a jukebox player - this is very preliminary and only supports
       WWF Wrestlefest for now (it has many problems for now)
     - Added a menu item to write decrypted C Neo-Geo roms to disk
     - Various little GUI fixes/improvements
- Burn (emulation) changes
     - Merged in Oopsware's changes to the ZET interface improving support for
       MAME's Z80 emulator - some things are still broken though so DOZE is still
       the default
     - Added a function to the CPU interfaces to return the active CPU
     - Fixed a screen clearing issue in the CPS-1 and CPS-2 drivers when not
       using a 16-bit colour depth
     - Added various bootlegs to the CPS-1 driver in various states of working and
       attempted to differentiate between the good, the bad and the ugly (dumps)
     - Added offset support to the CPS-1 scroll layers
     - Added a flag to define whether or not CPS-1 sprite rendering should happen
       in reverse
     - Fixed an issue with rom loading in the sf2yyc driver
     - Got the sf2m3 set working and the sf2m1 set almost working
     - Added "Phoenix Edition" sets to the CPS-2 driver
     - Changed to iq_132s current Neo-Geo driver (thanks to iq_132 for updating it)
     - Enabled the decrpyted C Neo-Geo clones and bootlegs from Kawaks
     - Added two clones of Night Striker to the Taito driver
     - Changed some dip switches in the Double Dragon 3 driver
     - Added Wonder League '96 to the Tumble Pop bootleg driver
     - Updated dip switches in Wonder League Star and Jumping Pop
     - Added the 16-bit only flag to the megadrive games - fixes rendering issues
       in the basic blitters
     - Added iq_132s Vulgus driver
     - Matched all sets to MAME 0.126

v0.2.96.85
- Added Mazinger Z, Metamoqester, Power Instinct 2 and Power Instinct Legends
  to the Cave driver
- Lagged the sprite palette in all CPS-2 games - fixes issue in ssf2 attract
- Tidied up the CPS-2 split graphics rom loading
- Properly fixed the qadj ninja sprite bug without resorting to hacks
- Changed the 68000 clock frequency in later CPS-1 games
- Various fixes to the Double Dragon 3 / Combatribes driver
- Added an Italian bootleg of The Combatribes to the ddragon3 driver
- Added clone of Turbo Outrun and clone of Alien Storm to the Sega drivers
- Added iq_132s Bionic Commando driver
- Added iq_132s Ninja Gaiden driver
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.125u6

v0.2.96.84
- Added module to emulate the TC0280GRD/TC0430GRW Taito roz layer chips
- Added support to the TC0100SCN module for double width rendering
- Added support to the TC0100SCN and TC0110PCR emulation for multiple chips
- Fixed priorities in Metal Black
- Fixed the CPS-1 palette and added screen clearing to the last palette entry
- Fixed a glitch in the ninja's sprite animation in qadj in the CPS-1 driver
- Added support for split CPS-2 graphics roms
- Added rent version of Capcom Sports Club to the CPS-2 driver
- Added clone of Mighty Pang to the CPS-2 driver
- Added Hotdog Storm to the Cave driver
- Added iq_132s The Legend of Silkroad driver
- Added BisonSAS's fixes to the CPS-3 driver
- Added proper screen clearing to the Final Star Force driver
- BisonSAS added various unicode titles and dip switches to 1943
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.125u4

v0.2.96.83
- Added a module to control the Taito IC chips in a more efficient way
- Added a module to do all the common Taito functions and tidied the drivers
- Rewrote the PC080SN and PC090OJ emulation adding support for row scroll,
  double width and other features
- Added tile banking support to the TC0100SCN emulation
- Added support for configurable bit-depths to the TC0100SCN emulation
- Added palette offset support to the TC0480SCP emulation
- Added driver for Darius
- Added Dead Connection, Dino Rex, Growl, Koshien, Liquid Kids, Mahjong Quest,
  Mega Blast, Metal Black, Ninja Kids, Solitary Fighter and various quiz games
  to the Taito F2 driver
- Rewrote the Operation Wolf, Rainbow Islands and Rastan drivers to support
  the new Taito IC module
- Added Jumping and the original versions of Operation Wolf to the Taito
  PC080SN & PC090OJ based driver
- Rewrote the Taito X driver to support the new Taito IC module
- Added Balloon Brothers, Gigandes and Last Striker to the Taito X driver
- Added iq_132s Dr. Tomy driver
- Added iq_132s Exed Exes driver
- Added proper screen clearing to the Hyper Pacman driver
- Fixed a small bug in the ClrMAME dat generation with missing quotes
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.125u2

v0.2.96.82
- Added driver for Taito F-2 hardware supporting Final Blow, Football Champ,
  Gun & Frontier, Liquid Kids and Super Space Invaders '91
- Added tilemap flip support to the TC0100SCN emulation
- Added priority map support to the TC0100SCN emulation to allow
  sprite blending in the Taito F2 driver
- Added support to the CPS-1 driver for loading stars from alternate
  format graphics roms
- Corrected all dips in the CPS-1 driver
- Updated mappers and configs in the CPS-1 driver to match MAME
- Big tidy up of the CPS-1 and CPS-2 drivers
- Added dynwaru and ffightj2 to the CPS-1 driver
- Added clone of Street Fighter Alpha 2 to the CPS-2 driver
- Added iq_132s driver for Pirate Ship Higemaru
- Updated megadrive driver to nganiere's which fixes some game names
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.125

v0.2.96.81
- Added support for the TC0480SCP Taito tilemap controller
- Rewrote the System 16 tile rendering to allow proper col and row scroll and
  also support alternate tilemap selection
- Added Double Axle to the Taito Z driver
- Added 1942w to the 1942 driver
- Added more games to the System 1 driver
- Added iq_132s Green Beret driver
- Updated the CPS-1 mappers as per MAME
- Corrected clock in Varth
- Corrected clocks in the Kyugo driver as per MAME
- Corrected sprite positioning in the Kyugo driver
- Added a feature allowing users to go to fullscreen and back by double-clicking
- Added command line option -listextrainfo
- Fixed compile errors when using the MAME Z80 core with the Zet interface
- Updated the Mole, Green Beret, Pooyan and Gun Smoke drivers with BisonSAS' changes

v0.2.96.80
- Ported MAME's Z80 core to FBA
- Hooked up MAME's Z80 core in the System 16 games that use MC-8123 encryption,
  sound now works in these games
- Hooked up MAME's Z80 core in the Sega System 1 games, encrypted games now work
- Added more games to the Sega System 1 driver
- Changed the Sega System 1 drivers to appear in the Sega games list
- Got the YM2151 sound working in Cotton
- Added support for the UPD7759 sound chip
- Hooked the UPD7759 chip up in the System 16B driver
- Hooked the UPD7759 chip up in the prehisle driver
- Hooked the UPD7759 chip up in the tmnt driver
- Rewrote the Sega PCM support - solves quite a few problems, particuarly in
  enduror, outrun and smgp
- Fixed an issue in the Sega System X driver which caused missing sounds in
  abcop and smgp
- Fixed bug in the YM2612 emulation when more than one chip is emulated
- Changed the CPS-1 rendering code to use the mapper tables from MAME
- Added smgpja to the X-Board driver
- Added shinobi4 to the System 16B driver
- Added ledstrm2 to the madgear driver
- Added command line options, -listinfowithmd and -listinfomdonly
- Fixed the version output in dat files
- Fixed bug where any rom errors weren't reported
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.124u3

v0.2.96.79
- Corrected sound in the tnzs driver
- Correctly fixed coins in the wc90 driver
- Enabled Tazmania in the megadrive driver (it works and I like it :) )
- Added support to the FM core interfaces for sound mixing
- Removed kaillera support. The client can be removed and probably should be
  due to being a potential security risk. Left netplay, chat, etc. code in
  the program so it has potential to be used with a different netplay system.

v0.2.96.78
- Added oopsware's Picodrive Megadrive driver port and tidied up and improved
- Started to go through Megadrive games and enabling ones that work in release
  builds. Only got to letter B and checked my favourites!
- Added iq_132s Funky Bee driver
- Added iq_132s Pooyan driver
- Ported MAME's I8039 core to FBA
- Added support for DAC sound
- Hooked up the I8039 and DAC in System 16A to add voice support to the driver
- Added gpilotsh and samshoh to the Neo-Geo driver
- Updated the SN7649 emulator to determine whether to add to the sound buffer
  or not
- Removed the AY8910 part of the YM2612 emulation since it's not needed
- Fixed sound in 1943
- Fixed sound in Gunsmoke
- Changed the default DAT file handling to not include Megadrive games
- Added menu option to write DATs including Megadrive games

v0.2.96.77
- Added driver for Taito Z hardware
- Added oopsware's Raiden driver and updated the nec core and vez module
- Retidied the nec core and vez module
- Added iq_132s Gun Smoke driver
- Added iq_132s Scrambled Egg driver
- Changed the M6502 core to Marat's with the interface wrote by kev
- Added kev's m90 driver and his updates to the m92 driver to debug builds
- Tidied the m90 and m92 drivers and corrected the gfx decoding in the m90 driver
- Updated Dec0 drivers to kev's latest version
- Updated Jack the Giantkiller driver to the iq_132s latest version
- Made the "In Game" tab the default on the game selection dialog
- Added a checkbox for Taito to the game selection dialog
- Changed some names to prevent duplicate descriptions
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.124u1

v0.2.96.76
- Added driver for games on Tumble Pop bootleg hardware
- Tidied the System 1 driver and enabled working sets in normal builds
- Added support for the SN76496 family of sound chips
- Added sound to the Mr. Do driver
- Added sound to the Bank Panic driver
- Fixed missing music in Combatribes
- Fixed a compile issue with VC in the Bank Panic and New Zealand Story drivers
- Fixed an issue in VC builds with inputs not working in various drivers
- Fixed a bug in the Mysterious Stones driver with AY8910 memory allocation
- Corrected the ZetBc call in the 1943 driver making it playable (but still preliminary)
- Updated the Jack the Giantkiller driver to iq_132s latest release
- Updated the dec0 and tmnt drivers to the latest versions released by kev
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.124a

v0.2.96.75
- Added driver for Double Dragon 3 / Combatribes
- Added driver for WWF Wrestlemania
- Added driver for Kyugo Z80-based hardware
- Updated the pacman driver to the latest version released by iq_132
- Added iq_132s Bank Panic driver
- Added iq_132s Mr. Do driver
- Added iq_132s Mysterious Stones driver
- Added iq_132s The New Zealand Story driver
- Added clone of Real Bout Fatal Fury to Neo-Geo driver
- Added clone of Metal Slug 5 to Neo-Geo driver
- Added clone of Dungeons & Dragons: tower of doom to the CPS-2 driver
- Matched all sets to MAME 0.123u4

v0.2.96.74
Just a quick bug-fix release. What's new is;
Updated the CPS-3 driver to include Oopsware's latest fixes
Fixed a problem with the size of m1 rom in Metal Slug 5

v0.2.96.73
Thanks go to the neosource forum regulars for a lot of this stuff. iq_132 has
written many drivers for older games, and Oopsware has contributed some impressive
drivers too. Captain CPS-X and KOF2112 have also tidied up some things. This list
is from memory and some stuff is sure to be missing. Here's what's new anyway;

- Added a generic tiles decoding routine and updated various drivers to use it
- Added support for 32x32 tiles in the generic tile rendering module
- Added support for multiple YM2203s to the YM2203 interface
- Updated all sets to match MAME 0.123u1
- Tidied up all source code to compile cleanly for all builds (unicode, non-unicode,
  debug, non-debug)
- Added support for M6502 CPU
- Added support for SH-2 CPU
- Added support for NEC V30 family CPU
- Seperated misc drivers into "Misc (pre 90s)" and "Misc (post 90s)"
- Moved some common sound cores into the burn folder
- Added various clones and fixed some little issues in various games
- Added driver for Madgear and Last Duel
- Added driver for 1942
- Added preliminary driver for 1943 and added support to the Zet interface to get the
  BC register
- Added Oopsware's CPS-3 driver
- Added various drivers by iq_132
- Cleaned up the drivers by iq_132 (seperated into Misc pre 90s category, corrected
  aspect ratios, fixed rom-sets, etc.)
- Added driver for seta2 hardware
- Added preliminary driver for m92 hardware in debug builds
- Added a d_parent module to put required parent drivers that don't have a specific
  driver

v0.2.96.72
This list is nothing like exhaustive. These are only the highlights of a big new version;

- Thanks to the contributions of OopsWare we have some nice new drivers
      - PGM Hardware
      - Video System Hardware
      - 1945k III
      - Gals Panic
      - Power Instinct
      - Shadow Force

- I have been busy with the following
      - Added a Sega System 18 driver
      - Added Ace Attacker, Excite League and Super League to the Sega System 16 drivers
      - Added various bootlegs to the Sega System 16 driver
      - Added driver for Kaneko 16 Hardware
      - Added Honey Dolls, Snow Bros. 3, and The Winter Bobble to the Pandora based driver
      - Added a generic lightgun interface to the burn library and converted all existing drivers to use it
      - Emulated column and row scroll in System 16 tilemaps (still has a few issues with a few instances)
      - Added support for (multiple) YM2612/3438 sound chips (as used by System 18)
      - Added support for the RF5C68 PCM sound chip (still has issues which escape me at present, used by System 18)
      - Fixed an issue with high BPP support in the generic tiles interface
      - Matched all sets to MAME 0.117u3 and added some clones to various drivers

- Added Ganbare Ginkun and Riot to the Tecmo 16 driver [BisonSAS]
- Added kev's preliminary Dec0 driver to debug builds [kev]

v0.2.96.71
- Added driver for Galaxy Force 2 (gforce2, gforce2j)
- Added driver for G-LOC (gloc, glocr360)
- Added driver for Line of Fire (loffire, loffirej, loffireu)
- Added driver for Major League (mjleague)
- Added driver for Power Drift (pdrift, pdrifta, pdrifte, pdriftj)
- Added driver for Rail Chase (rchase)
- Added driver for Strike Fighter (strkgftr)
- Fixed sprite flip in Sonic Boom
- Added some unicode titles [BisonSAS]
- Matched sets to MAME 0.114u1

v0.2.96.70
- Datfiles should be sorted properly now - thanks to LogiqX for pointing out the errors again

v0.2.96.69
- Optimised the FD1094 routines resulting in a big speedup for those games
- Fixed some minor dat file issues - thanks to LogiqX for pointing them out

v0.2.96.68
- Added driver for Bullet using Aaron's preliminary FD1094 key (bullet)
- Added driver for Enduro Racer (enduror, enduror1, endurobl)
- Added driver for Final Tetris (finalttr)
- Added driver for Hang-On (hangon)
- Added driver for SDI (sdi, sdib, sdibl, defense)
- Added driver for Space Harrier (sharrier, sharrir1)
- Added driver for Sukeban Jansi Ryuko (sjryuko, sjryuko1)
- Added driver for Twin Adventure (twinadv, twinadvk)
- Emulated the NVRAM for X-Board, Out Run, System 16B and System 16A drivers, although Out Run games don't seem to
  use it
- Emulated the PPI I/O Chip and hooked it up for the System 16A and Out Run drivers
- Fixed a bug in the System 16 Tilemap rendering (fixes Golden Axe, Wrestle War and some others)
- Optimisations to the graphics rendering in the System 16, Out Run and X-Board drivers
- Added an interface to the YM2203 FM sound core
- Added mahjong controls to the default assignment routine and updated the mahjong games to use it
- Fixed savestate support in some Cave drivers [BisonSAS]
- Various driver cleanups [BisonSAS]
- Improved the rom verify feature and moved the define to the makefile
- Updated some unicode titles [BisonSAS]
- Updated sets to match MAME 0.114

v0.2.96.67
- Added driver for AB Cop (abcop)
- Added driver for After Burner (aburner2, aburner)
- Added driver for Dunk Shot (dunkshot)
- Added driver for E-Swat (eswat, eswatj, eswatu)
- Added driver for Golden Axe (goldnaxe, goldnaxj, goldnaxu, goldnax1, goldnax2, goldnax3)
- Added driver for GP Rider (gprider, gprider1)
- Added driver for Heavyweight Champ (hwchamp)
- Added driver for Racing Hero (rachero)
- Added driver for RyuKyu (ryukyu)
- Added driver for Super Monaco GP (smgp, smgp5, smgp6, smgpj, smgpu, smgpu1, smgpu2, smgpu3)
- Added driver for Thunder Blade (thndrbld, thndrbd1)
- Added Jan's preliminary driver for Madgear in debug builds only (madgear)
- Added Kev's preliminary driver for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in debug builds only (tmnt, tmntu, tmntua, tmht,
  tmntj, tmht2p, tmnt2pj, tmnt2po)
- Rewrite of the Bombjack driver [kev]
- Fixed a crash in some FD-1094 encrypted games
- Fixed the reset function for FD-1094 encrypted games
- Cleanups to the Taito 68K drivers [BisonSAS]
- Fixed bug in the preview cycling code for the Game Select dialog [Captain CPS-X]

v0.2.96.66
- Added driver for Cotton (cotton, cottonj, cottonu)
- Added driver for Out Run (outrun, outrun1, outrun2, outrunb)
- Added driver for Passing Shot (passshot, passshta, passshtj)
- Added driver for Super Hang-On (shangon, shangon2, shangon3, shangnle)
- Added driver for Turbo Out Run (toutrun, toutrun2)
- Fixed a bug in the System 16 Sprite rendering [kev]
- Fixed a problem with memory card support
- Updated the region dips in the Battle Bakraid and Batrider drivers [BisonSAS]
- Forced the Battle Bakraid driver to use the Musashi 68K core [BisonSAS]
- Updated some unicode titles [BisonSAS]

v0.2.96.65
- Corrected the rom size of the v4 rom in lastbldh and lastsold
- Finally beat the bug that sometimes hides the license dialog (hopefully!)
- Updated the load dialog based on code from Captain CPS-X, should be the last change as I'm really happy with it
- Updated sets to match MAME 0.112u4

v0.2.96.64
- Big update to the System 16 drivers - these drivers are still preliminary and thus still have issues (major issues
  only listed);
	- Dynamic memory maps for System 16B are not emulated
	- Row and Column scroll not emulated for System 16A and B
	- Alernate tilemap select for System 16B not emulated
	- Some of the FD1094 encrypted games require a driver reset after loading before they boot
	- There are plenty of other small issues as well but most games are running well
- Added driver for Biomechanical Toy (biomtoy) [kev, cleanup by BisonSAS]
- Fixed blank tile bug in the Prehistoric Isle driver
- Fixed bad tiles in The King of Fighters 99 driver [BisonSAS, Ryo, Robert, Yuri, Takuma)
- Updated the CPS-1 drivers to allow brightness control in the palette
- Removed the XOR from spf2ta now the decryption key is known
- Cleanup to the Bombjack driver [BisonSAS]
- Fixed issues with savestates in several drivers
- Changed the game selection dialog again
- Added/fixed several non-Latin titles [doomking, BisonSAS]
- Updated several romsets to match MAME 0.112u3
- Fixed the perl script that generates the driver list so that sets can be assigned to debug builds only again

v0.2.96.63
- Added garoubl to the Garou driver

v0.2.96.62
- Added driver for Choko (choko)
- Added driver for Jyangokushi: Haoh no Saihai (jyangoku)
- Added various CPS-2 clones now the decryption keys are known
- Added rastsag1 to the Rastan driver
- Fixed bug with EEPROM on startup in CPS games
- Fixed crash bug in Q-Sound games with sound disabled
- Enabled the "Tournament" mode in the tournament versions of Super Street Fighter 2 - now they try to connect to
  other terminals (if you just want to play the games then change the setup in the "Test Menu", access using F2)
- Fixed bug in datfile generation module
- Various rom changes to match MAME 0.112u2 (with the exception of the XOR for spf2ta)

v0.2.96.61
- Fixed bug in System 16 sound - won't test with volume down in future!

v0.2.96.60
- Added Sega System 16A driver supporting Action Fighter, Alex Kidd, Fantasy Zone, Quartet, Shinobi and Time Scanner
- Added various clones to the CPS-2 driver as the keys are now known
- Added driver for Street Fighter Alpha CPS-Changer
- Various renames and XOR removals to match MAME 0.111u5
- Improved save state support in numerous drivers
- Dropped the "(BH)" monikor from the App title

v0.2.96.59
- Fixed issues with sound in irrmaze, joyjoy, mahretsu, pspikes2 and socbrawl
- Added sf2m2 to the Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition driver
- Amended the game selection dialog and separated CPS-1/CPS-2 games
- Widened the dip switch dialog


v0.2.95.27

   This is still an alpha release!

- Added support for MVS emulation using multiple catridges
- Removed dependeny on kailleraclient.dll, it is no longer part of the FB Alpha
  distribution packages. A working version of the dll can be obtained from
  <http://www.anti3d.com/>. If this dll is placed in the same directory as
  FB Alpha or elsewhere in the library search path, the netplay options will
  become available again;
- Added an interface for audio DSP effects;
- Added a VST hosting module (plugins are found if located in a subdirectory
  named vstplugins or in a customisable alternate location);
- Changed the Neo Geo screen size to 320x224 pixels;
- Added controls to specify the visible area of any game;
- Fixed Neo Geo sprite drawing;
- The emulation and GUI now run in seperate threads, making the complete GUI
  usable during online games;
- Added Neo Geo multi-slot MVS emulation;
- Added better scaling for preview images
- Fixed miscellaneous minor issues;

v0.2.95.23

   This is still an alpha release!

   Note that, if compiled with GCC, you will need to use version 3.3.x, and
   the experimental DirectX 9 blitter is not built.

- Changed the way FB Alpha looks for ROMs. Now, it will always check the last
  path for any given .zip file, even when a .zip file of the same name is
  present in another path. This way, we can keep ROMs that are only needed
  for FB Alpha seperate without sacrificing compatibility with other emulators;
- Changed the way Neo Geo memory cards work, allowing the use of 1 megabit
  cards;
- Emulated protection in Super Sidekicks (was patched before);
- Fixed the last few bad game names / bad ROM definitions;
- Fixed a few minor issues in the makefile for mingw/cygwin;
- The debugger is now only compiled for debug builds;
- Minor updates to compile documentation;
- Fixed a crash at startup for some systems when autopause was activated;

v0.2.95.22

   This is still an alpha release!

   Note that, if compiled with GCC, you will need to use version 3.3.x, and
   the experimental DirectX 9 blitter is not built.

- Implemented workarounds to the FB Alpha executable to allow the use of windres
  as the resource compiler (it cannot zero-terminate strings or use a string as
  an RCDATA resource);
- Cleaned up the makefiles (variables/options now defined in the main makefile);
- Fixed a few game names / bad ROM definitions;
- Fixed CPS1 games sound / crashing if started as the 1st game;
- Fixed the Psikyo games that use an YM2610 for sound;
- Fixed a few problems with ANSI builds;

v0.2.95.21

   This is still an alpha release!
   
   Note that this version CANNOT be compiled with GCC!

- Added UI translation capability (using templates);
- Converted all code to optionally use unicode;
- Added a driver for 68EC020 based Psikyo hardware;
- Added the English language version of Dangun Feveron;
- Added a built-in graphical 68000 family debugger;
- Added a second 68000 CPU core. For plain 68000 CPUs you can select
  which core to use, the new one also emulates 68010 and 68EC020 CPUs;
- Fixed the overclock feature for Neo Geo;
- Added a DirectX Graphics 9 blitter (see system requirements, below);
- Performed miscellaneous major and minor bugfixes;

v0.2.94.98

   This is still an alpha release!

 - Fixed all the new bugs introduced in the previous version;
 - Fixed the raster effects in Samurai Shodown 3;
 - Preview images can be any png file upto 1024x1024 pixels;
 - Added descriptive text to screenshot png files.
 - Added a system information dialog that's used when FB Alpha crashes;
 - Added the english language versions of mahoudai and shippumd;

v0.2.94.97

   This is an alpha release! Again, although we expect very few problems,
   there still might be some we've not seen.

 - Fixed most of the remaining problems in v0.2.94.96;
 - Shortcut keys have changed;
 - Directories used by FB Alpha have changed;
 - Readme updated (read it completely even if you've read the earlier
   versions);
 - The Neo Geo driver now always uses a real AES BIOS in AES mode, more
   differences between AES and MVS are emulated now as well;

v0.2.94.96

   This is an alpha release! Although we don't expect any big problems,
   it has not been extensively tested.

 - Fixed most of the problems in v0.2.94.56;

v0.2.94.56

   This is an alpha release!

 - Added a driver for Neogeo games;
 - too many other improvements to name;

v0.2.94

 - Added a driver for Cave games;
 - Added a driver for Rainbow Islands;
 - Added support for X-Arcade joystick;
 - Improved compatibility of the Direct3D blitter, and added new options;
 - re-added 3x macros for Street Fighter 2 style games;
 - Added 4-point interpolation to the ADPCM sound cores;


System requirements
-------------------

OS:	You need Windows 98 or higher, preferably Windows 2000 or higher.
	DirectX7 or higher must be installed, some features require DirectX 9.
	Normal (unicode) builds will run only on Windows 2000/XP (or higher).
	non-unicode builds will run on Windows 98/Me as well.
CPU:	CPU speed should be at least equivalent to a Pentium 233MHz, to play
        all games at reasonable	framerates at least 366MHz is required. Exact
        requirements can vary by system or game, as well as video and audio
        settings.
	Normal builds require a Pentium II or higher, or an Athlon or higher.
	A seperate build is available for Pentium and K6 CPUs (MMX is not
	required, although some effects will not work without).
	The about box and the version info both show what CPU your build was
	optimised for (you can check the version info by right-clicking
	fba.exe	in the explorer and selecting properties, then the version
	tab on the window that appears). i586 optimised builds run on
	Pentium/K6 CPUs.
RAM:	192MB or more is recommended. At least 128MB is needed to run all
	games, 64MB should be considered the bare minimum.
VIDEO:	15/16/24/32bpp displays are supported.
	Basic blitter: DirectDraw7 support is required.
	The Basic blitter will work with any videocard that supports
	the minimum requirements.

	Enhanced blitter: DirectDraw7 + Direct3D7 support is required.
	The Enhanced blitter will not work with every video card available,
	specifically older Voodoo cards (up Voodoo 3000) will not work.
	Experimental blitter: DirectX Graphics 9 support is required.

	The Experimental blitter has limited functionality with DirectX 8.1
	compatible hardware, but needs DirectX 9 for full functionality.
	For optimal results, Geforce FX 5900 series or Radeon 9800 series
	(or faster) graphics cards are required. For these cards, select
	the appropriate filter version from the Advanced options submenu.
	For all other compatible cards (e.g. Geforce FX series or Radeon 8500
	and higher), select the high-performance option.

SOUND:	Any sound hardware supporting DirectSound3 should work.
	Sound is optional.
INPUT:	The keyboard and system mouse will always work. There is preliminary
	support for additional mice, and devices such as the X Arcade joystick
	which act as a keyboard are supported. All standard or DirectInput7
	compatible joysticks/joypads, and mice should work.


How to use FB Alpha
-------------------

Make sure your ROMs are zipped and correct for use with FB Alpha (it can
write out dat files for ClrMame pro and Romcenter). Make sure FB Alpha knows
where to find your ROMs by specifying them in the ROM dirs dialog (accessible
from via the "Load Game" option). When adding new games, use the Rescan Roms
button, again accessible via the "Load Game" option. When viewing the "Load
Game" dialog, if a game doesn't appear as available, you do not have a
compatible or complete ROMset for that game. If you are missing only some
non-default optional files (e.g. alternative Neo Geo BIOSes), the game will
be faintly hightlighted. Uncheck the "Show available only" option to show
unavailable (they will show up highlighted).

Do NOT ask us where to get the ROMs for any game.

Select the game you want to play and click "OK". When the game is loaded, you
can set up inputs for it by selecting "Map game inputs" from the Game menu.
Double-click an input to assign it, or choose a preset for each player using
the drop-down boxes, and click the "Use preset" button to use that preset for
just this game or session, or click "Make default" to make that preset the
default for all games.

You can also play against people on the internet by selecting the "Play via
Kaillera" option from the Game menu instead of "Load game".


Commandline interface
---------------------

FB Alpha can also be invoked with command line options. When invoked this
way, FB Alpha will automatically switch to fullscreen mode when a game is
loaded, and the Escape key quits FB Alpha. The options are as follows;

fba <game> [-listinfo|-w|-a|-r <width>x<height>x<depth>]

<game>      = The game's romname. You can specify the filename of
              a savestate or input recording instead.
-w          = Run in a window instead of fullscreen.
-a          = Use the same resolution as the original arcade game.
-r          = Specify a resolution. Depth is optional.

If neither -a nor -r are specified, the default fullscreen resolution is
used.

Examples:

fba sfa3 -r 800x600x32

fba awesome_sfzch_recording.fr -w

fba vsav2 -a

For front-ends, you can also do fba -listinfo which will output information
about the supported games to stdout, and the ROM files they need in a MAME
compatible format.


Creating your own input presets
-------------------------------

You can add to the included presets by creating a .ini file in the
config\presets folder. A file example.ini is provided already as an example.
The preset name will be the filename without the ".ini", eg, example.ini is
displayed as example. In the .ini file it is possible to use specific names
such as "P1 Low Punch" or generic names such as "P1 Fire 1". When a game is
allocating inputs it will look for the specific names first, and then the
generic ones. The example provided has generic inputs only (unzip
"preset-example.zip" in the FB Alpha directory).


Usage/optimisation tips
-----------------------

Video

 - If the Enhanced blitter works on your system, use it, esp. for 32-bit
   screenmodes. Try to switch off the "Use DirectX texture management",
   as this can sometimes result in better speed, esp. if you have an nVidia
   card.
 - If the Enhanced blitter is very slow in windowed mode, hit alt-enter
   twice, going into full-screen mode and back. This will force DirectX to
   reorganise the memory on your video card.
 - If you have a monitor that can be rotated to a vertical orientation,
   uncheck "Rotate vertically aligned games" in the video menu. If vertical
   games don't have the correct orientation, check "Mirrored vertical
   alignment" in the "Monitor Properties" submenu as well.
 - Use "Double size", "Triple size", etc. options to control the window size
   and the resolution used for fullscreen mode. This will ensure all games
   will look similar without per-system or per-game settings.
   Note that: To view some games at 4x zoom requires a resolution higher than
	      1600x1200. If you can add custom resolutions to your videocard,
	      1712x1284 is a good choice.
	    - At high resolutions, RGB effects and triple-buffering require
	      large amounts of video memory. You may not be able to use them
	      both at the same time for all games if your videocard has less
	      then 64MB video RAM.
 - If you can add custom resolutions to your videocard, you can instruct
   FB Alpha to try to use the exact same resolutions the original game uses.
   To do this, select "Arcade" from the fullscreen resolution submenu. Then
   load a game and hit Alt-Enter to go to fullscreen mode. When this fails,
   FB Alpha will report the exact resolution you need to add to display this
   particular game so the image fits the screen without stretching (it will
   also take into account rotation for vertical games).

Sound

 - For the best sound sound quality, enable 4-point interpolation and
   FM interpolation.
 - If you have a really slow PC, set the sound samplerate at 22050 or 11025
   Hz, and make sure FM interpolation is disabled.

Input

 - If the mouse sensitivity is not to your liking, it can be changed for each
   game individually in the corresponding .ini file in the config\games
   directory. The label is "analog" and the default is 0x0100 (256 in decimal
   notation). Use higher values for faster movement, lower values result in
   slower movement.
 - If you turn off Auto-save input mapping, all games will have their input
   mapped according to the currently selected preset.

Misc

 - There are 4 directories that FB Alpha will search for ROMs available via
   the GUI, but there are a total of 8, the last 4 of which are accessible
   via editing the config\fba.ini file.
 - For Neo Geo games, FB Alpha can read\write (though not create) MAME memory
   cards.
 - You can replace the F logo image used for the blitter preview with your
   own image. Create a 32bpp .bmp image, in a resolution similar to the games
   FB Alpha supports (e.g. 304x224), and edit the szPlaceHolder in
   config\fba.ini
 - You can use multiple versions of FB Alpha from the same directory. Just
   rename one of the two fba.exe files. If you name the second .exe file
   fba2.exe, the application settings wil be stored in config\fba2.ini. Note
   that there might be problems if you use both versions to play the same
   game; the game's settings, but not control assignments, can be lost.
 - Should you ever want to return to the initial, default settings, delete
   the config subdirectory in your FB Alpha directory.
 - To hide the menu, right-click on the window. A second right mouse-click
   will restore it. While the menu is hidden in windowed mode, drag anywhere
   on the window to move it, and left-click to show the menu. Alternatively,
   you can use Ctrl + Enter to hide/show the menu.
 - If you select "associate with .fs and .fr extensions" from the Misc menu,
   FB Alpha will add some registry keys so that your savestates and input
   recordings can be started by simply double-clicking them in the explorer
   or on the desktop. Select "disassociate from .fs and .fr extensions" to
   remove the created registry keys completely.
 - You can still load the savestates created using savestate slots normally
   via the dialog or by double-clicking them.
 - There are some shortcut keys not listed in the menu. They are:
   Escape	Return to Windowed mode (from full-screen mode)
   F1		When in pause mode, run emulation for one frame
		When not in pause mode, unthrottle emulation while held down
   ALT + -	Sound volume down
   ALT + +	Sound volume up
   backspace	Toggle Frames per Second indicator
   T		On-Screen chat (during netplay only)


Acknowledgements
----------------

Thanks to: Dave, ElSemi, Gangta, OG, Razoola, Logiqx, TRAC, CrashTest,
           Andrea Mazzoleni, Derek Liauw Kie Fa, Dirk Stevens, Maxim Stepin,
           the MAME team, Shawn and Craig at XGaming.

Thanks also to everyone who has made suggestions, submitted code, or helped
in any other way.

