Section 1: Troubleshooting

1.1. "Why I can't save?"

Make sure you have created the save directory first. KiGB will not save if
the save directory does not exist. If you use the default setting, create a
sub-directory called "save". Read the sample configuration file (kigb.cfg)
for details if you want to set the save directory.


1.2 "KiGB is running very slow on my computer. How can I make it fast?"

First turn off all applications. Turn off graphics filters, Mix Frame and
shadow. Set the color depth to 16. Then, try to switch to full screen mode.
Finally, try to set the frame skip to 1 or 2.


1.3 "What should I do if I find a game not supported or not function
    properly?"

Please e-mail to k*i%g-b@emuunlim.com (remove *%-) with the phrase "[BUGS]"
at the beginning of the subject.


1.4 "I have a cheats library file from NO$GMB. Can I use it for KiGB?"

Yes. The cheats library file of KiGB is downward compatible to that of
NO$GMB. Copy that file to the directory of KiGB and rename it as KIGB.GGS.
Restart KiGB.


1.4 "I can't use hot keys. What's wrong?"

You can use hot keys only when you are in game play. After a menu/dialog
is shown, all hot keys are disabled.


1.5 "How can I get a screen dump?"

Press F12 during game play. The screen dump will be saved into the snap
sub-directory, which must exist first. The file name will be GamenameNN.pcx
where Gamename is the name of the game and NN is a number range from 00 to
99. NN is 00 for the first screen dump of a game. If the screen dump file
already exists, NN will be incremented by 1 until no conflicts found or
all 100 screen dumps already exist.


1.6 "How can I delete the save state files?"

You have to delete them yourself. First change the current directory to
'state' where the save state files are located. The file name is in the
format: Gamename.ssX
where Gamename is the name of the game and X is the slot number - 1.
Delete the files as appropriate. For example, suppose your game file is
called MyGame.gb and you want to delete the save state in slot 5. You need
to delete the file MyGame.ss4 in the state sub-directory.


1.7 "Why I cannot switch to full screen mode in Linux?"

KiGB only supports 320x200 and 640x480 in full screen mode. You can check
whether your display card support them by looking at the Screen section in
the file /etc/X11/XF86Config or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. If it is supported,
append the resolution(s) to the line containing Modes. Re-start XFree86.
Enable 320x200 will make KiGB runs significantly faster.


1.8 "Can KiGB running in OS XXX load the (battery save/save state/input)
     files created from OS YYY?"

Yes. These files are created to be independant of platforms and CPUs.


1.9 "After I copy a (battery save/save state) file from OS XXX to OS
     YYY, KiGB did not recognise it. What should I do?"

KiGB loads battery save/save state files according to the location of the
file and the name of the game. Make sure you copy the file to the right
location and set KiGB points at it in kigb.cfg. Also, the file has to be
named as GameName.sav and GameName.ssN (N is the slot number - 1) for battery
save and save state files, respectively where GameName is the name of the
game running in OS YYY not OS XXX. For zip files, note that the name of the
game is the name stored in the zip file, not the zip file name itself.


1.10 "KiGB crashes when loading save state files. Why?"

There are bugs in loading save state files in v1.0x. These bugs are fixed
in v1.10. Please remove all save state files created in v1.0x.


1.11 "I have created some save state files in v1.0x. Now, after I have
      upgraded to v1.1x, they cannot be recognised or loaded. Why?"

Starting from v1.10, the internal structures are changed and save state
files are stored in compressed format. I decided not to support the previous
save state files. Sorry.


1.12 "How can I link to other KiGB?"

Please read the link.txt.


1.13 "The game play is very slow when linked. How can I make it faster?"

The Game Link Cable feature requires fast PCs (both host and client) and
network. The following configuration is recommended:

   - PIII or above for both host and client
   - Network should not be busy

If the above cannot be met, there are no ways to make it fast. Otherwise,
you can try to set to full screen mode, set color depth to 16 and set frame
skip to 1 or 2. If still slow, try set the Sync Speed to Half or Quarter
(fastest). Setting the Sync Speed other than Normal make some games fail to
connect and KiGB may hang.


1.14 "Can I link to other PC via Internet?"

Yes, you can but it is not recommended. You will find the speed is
unacceptable slow even for broadband connections with the same ISP.


1.15 "Can I start 2 KiGB instances in a PC and link them together?"

Yes, but there are some limitations. Please read the link.txt file for
details.


1.16 "What is a Super Game Boy?"

See sgb.txt.


1.17 "What are the differences between Super Game Boy and Super Game Boy 2?"

SGB2 works exactly the same as SGB except that it also supports Game Link
Cable.


1.18 "Why my xxx Game Boy Color games look strange when SGB is enabled?"

In SGB mode, the color are limited as compared to GBC. Make sure you have
all emulation types enabled. You can try the preference "GBC with SGB border"
to get the SGB border and stay in GBC mode. If you set the preferenec to
"GBC > SGB > GB", you will be in GBC mode. The remaining preference will
set you in SGB mode.


1.19 "Can I change the default border with my favourite image?"

Yes. Show the main menu. Select "Option->Border->Default...". Enter
the file name in the edit box or select one by clicking the button "...".
Click OK. The current image file formats supported are BMP, LBM, PCX and TGA.

There are some nice images which can be downloaded from the bgb's homepage:
http://bgb.bircd.org/

1.20 "Which games support Gameboy Printer?"

Here are the games known to have Gameboy Printer supported:
  * 1942: high scores
  * Austin Powers - Oh Behave!
  * Austin Powers - Welcome to Underground Lair!
  * Disney's Dinosaur: pictures in Gallery
  * Disney's Tarzan (Colour): paint and print in the options
  * Donkey Kong Country: high scores, alphabets and pictures of Donkey Kong
  * Gameboy Camera: all photos and DJ data
  * Gameboy Demo (PD) [C]: the author's address
  * Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening DX: collectible photos
  * Lemmings VS: high scores
  * Magical Drop: high scores
  * Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal: Pokemon data
  * Pokemon Pinball: high scores
  * Pokemon Yellow (Special pikachu edition): Pikachu's surfing records
  * Quest for Camelot: when a cinema screen is showing, press SELECT to print
    it out
  * Super Mario Bros. Deluxe: high scores, banners, characters photos,
    fortunes and calendars

Here are the games some people say support Gameboy Printer:
  * Perfect Dark
  * TNN Outdoors Fishing Champ


1.21 "How can I actually print the printouts coming from Gameboy Printer?"

You need to save the printouts and then use other software to print them
out.


1.22 "I cannot take pictures in Gameboy Camera. What's wrong?"

The camera functions were not emulated.


1.23 "Can I customize the palettes and stick them to a particular game?"

Yes. Starting from v1.42, palettes are customizable. As the customized
palettes are stored in per-game configuration files, every GB game can have
its own palettes.


1.24 "What is 'Mix Frame' in the Video option menu?"

The image in LCD cannot be clear immediately. There is short time lag
before the image can be completely clear. During this short period, if the
LCD displays some images over the old ones, they will be 'mixed'.

Turning Mix Frame on (default is on) will emulate this behavior. You should
always turn it on unless your system run too slow. Some games make use of
this behavior to produce special effects. Examples are: Angel Marlowe, Battle
Ping Pong, and Ballistic.


1.25 "What is the 'Demotronic Trick' and how is it named?"

The trick changed the Gameboy internal registers during the output to the LCD
screen to make special effects. See it in the Demotronic Final Demo (PD) [C].
As documented in the Nintendo manual (according to the authors of the trick),
this kind of change was not possible.

It is named by the authors of the Demotronic Final Demo (PD) [C]. They
claimed they were the world first to do it. So, they had the right to name
whatever they wanted it to be.


1.26 "Which games have SGB borders overlapping the play screen?"

Here is the list:
- Super Snaky (J) [S]
- Animaniacs (U) [S]
- Alfred Chicken (J) [S]
- Desert Strike - Return to the Gulf (E) and (U) [S]
- SD Hiryu no Ken EX (J) [C]
- SD Hiryu no Ken Gaiden 2 (J) [C]

Please update me if you find others.


1.27 "How to switch to GBC mode to run GB mono games?"

Go to the menu "File->Emulation->Type...". In Game Boy Type, uncheck Game Boy
and Super Game Boy. Check Game Boy Color. Click the OK button.


1.28 "What is a Barcode Boy?"

In fact, I don't know :)
I think it is an external device linking to the serial port of the GB. It
is used to read data from cards (?) to create monsters for battle. Currently,
only the game Battle Space employs it.


1.29 "I have questions on the usage of Barcode Boy. Where can I find the
     answers?"

You may find the answers in the file barboy.txt bundled with the KiGB
distribution inside the doc subdirectory.


1.30 "What does the option in File->Emulation->Boot ROM menu mean?"

When a real GB or GBC is powered up, an internal startup program (boot ROM)
starts to run. It shows the logo of Nintendo, plays 2 music notes, verify
and then run the cartridge.

For GB, the boot ROM has been dumped (not included). If you get the boot ROM,
you can enable it by selecting GB in the menu. You must name the boot ROM
file as "dmg_rom.bin" and place it at the directory of KiGB.

For GBC, the boot ROM has not yet been dumped. So, it cannot be emulated.
Instead, KiGB can simulates it. As it is simulated not emulated, you will
find differences as compared to a real GBC.


1.31 "I have downloaded the GB boot ROM but it does not work. Why?"

Make sure you name the file as "dmg_rom.bin" and place it at the directory
of KiGB. You have to select GB in the "File->Emulation->Boot ROM" to enable
it. Default is disable.


1.32 "What is the Gin & Tonic Trick and how is it named?"

The trick changed the Gameboy internal registers during the output to the LCD
screen to make special effects. See it in Mental Respirator (PD) [C].

It is named by the authors of the Mental Respirator (PD) [C]. They claimed
they were the world first to do it. So, they reserve the right to name it.



Section 2: General

2.1. "Is there a port on OS xxx?"

Currently, KiGB can run in MS Windows, Linux and MS-DOS. KiGB is ported to
Mac OS by Richard Bannister (http://www.bannister.org/softare/kigb.htm).
KiGB is written in ANSI C using Allegro. Theoretically, it can be ported to
any platforms supporting Allegro (Richard did a great job as Mac OS does not
support Allegro!). However, it requires a lot of effort - which I cannot
handle by myself. If you are interested in porting KiGB to another platforms,
please e-mail me.


2.2 "Will it be open source?"

KiGB is under active development and I want to have full control of it. So,
the answer is no for the current moment. I plan to make it open source at
certain stable state - probably after the support of Infrared port.