The Final Dave Interview

Conducted by LordEvilElmo

This is only a very short interview as these are questions that I think
many other people would like to hear the answers to :)

Hiya Will, how's it going. I'm here to plug my new single called "Funky
EmuChicken" a kind of hip-hop Retro-pop Funk-techno-rap affair, out in all
good record shops Monday. Oops, emulation interview, not publicity
interview - doh! I always get them mixed up...

Are you going to be continuing the development of FB, or is this another
rare one off opportunity?

It's more of an update with all the micro-updates I've been making for my
own interest, probably easier to upload now that the scene is a bit calmer
many months after the... you know... the *incident* ;)
Progress on Final Burn has always been at irregular rates. For example when
CPS2 emulation first became a possibility with Raz's work, I was working on
it at a blistering rate. Whereas when there was a steady flow of virii into
my inbox, progress s-l-o-w-e-d d--o--w--n. So I don't know - I suppose you
could forsee a similar thing happening if say Super Monaco GP was finally
decrypted, but otherwise it's probably going to be quite quiet.

What made you decide to return to programmin after such a long hiatus?

I guess that's the thing, I haven't really stopped programming at all!
Ever! Since the age of four! It was FB a couple of years ago, then the Dega
project, then VGM format, then back to FB, then another project, then a few
tiny updates to FB for my own usage, while all the CPS2 craziness was
happening last year, now the FB upload (which was pretty hard work - it's
getting harder to host the damn thing than write it - LOL)! I've got a few
things on at the moment, but I hope I can do something to FB.

As the emulator is now quite far behind KAWAKs, Nebula and even the
deriative project FBA, will you be adding all that is missing and fixing
the games which don't work correctly?

I'm not sure - I guess I don't really notice the deficiencies myself.
Probably because I can't do any of the special moves which cause sprite
problems!

Why the incomplete CAPCOM games list again?

I guess I just wanted to concentrate on a few titles, as it's very
difficult to maintain all the drivers. It takes about an hour to add a new
driver in and it's quite a chore to do it, then you end up with a larger
games list to page through. And there just didn't seem to be much point if
it's a game I never play.
I guess I just tend to find all that a bit tedious and just adds to the
compile time. If it's a game I'll use I'll add it though. I did take the
time to add a few more CPS1 titles though in the interest of classic
emulation versus new stuff.
Actually the compile time is bad enough at the moment with the Sega AND
Capcom drivers in!

Will we be seeing further Development of the Sega games?

I hope so, I'd like to get Thunderblade and Out Run working well. And I'd
like to get Golden Axe up and running.

Considering the huge amount of progress made by team FBA, will any new
systems be added to FB?

System 16 is a little bit different to After Burner, so that's sort of a
new system I've been adding. The other thing I'd like to add is a Gauntlet
driver, since I've been working on a new 6502 emulator. But I don't know
how easy that would be.

What new functions may we be seeing in the future of FB?

Don't know! I've been playing a bit with an overlay video plugin
(preliminary code is in the source), feel free to try that out but it's a
bit incomplete.

As you have never expressed more than a glancing opinion of Team FBA, how do you feel about the work they have done?

I haven't? I thought I'm always singing their praises! Well, if you haven't
heard me singing they praises before, this is me singing! # Team FBA = cool
guys! #

Do you have any other projects at all?

Yes

Anything else that you'd like to say?

Bonza.
Don't know why, I'd just like to say it.
Sounds funny.