SG-1000 (blueMSX)¶

Background¶

blueMSX is a cycle accurate emulator that emulates all generations of MSX computers as well as SVI, ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000.

Author/License¶

The blueMSX core has been authored by

Daniel Vik

The blueMSX core is licensed under

GPLv2

A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.

Extensions¶

Content that can be loaded by the blueMSX core have the following file extensions:

.rom
.ri
.mx1
.mx2
.col
.dsk
.cas
.sg
.sc
.m3u

Databases¶

RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the blueMSX core:

BIOS¶

The blueMSX core requires the 'Databases' and 'Machines' folders from a full installation of blueMSX.

Go to Main Menu > Online Updater > Core System Files Downloader and download 'blueMSX.zip'. That's all you need to do! The 'Databases' and 'Machines' folders will be extracted and moved to your RetroArch 'system' folder automatically.

Alternatively, if your frontend doesn't have the 'Core System Files Downloader':

You can download the 'Databases' and 'Machines' folders from an official full standalone blueMSX emulator installation. Get blueMSXv282full.zip near the bottom of the page.

Move/Copy the 'Databases' and 'Machines' Folders to RetroArch's System directory.

Features¶

Frontend-level settings or features that the blueMSX core respects.

Feature	Supported
Restart	✔
Screenshots	✔
Saves	✕
States	✕
Rewind	✕
Netplay	✕
Core Options	✔
RetroAchievements	✔
RetroArch Cheats	✕
Native Cheats	✕
Controls	✔
Remapping	✔
Multi-Mouse	✕
Rumble	✕
Sensors	✕
Camera	✕
Location	✕
Subsystem	✕
Softpatching	✕
Disk Control	✔
Username	✕
Language	✕
Crop Overscan	✕
LEDs	✕

Directories¶

The blueMSX core's library name is 'blueMSX'

The blueMSX core saves/loads to/from these directories.

Frontend's System directory

File	Description
bluemsx.ini	blueMSX Config
bluemsx_history.ini	blueMSX History

Geometry and timing¶

The blueMSX core's core provided FPS is 60
The blueMSX core's core provided sample rate is 44100 Hz
The blueMSX core's base width is (Base width)
The blueMSX core's base height is (Base height)
The blueMSX core's max width is (Max width)
The blueMSX core's max height is (Max height)
The blueMSX core's core provided aspect ratio is (Ratio)

Usage¶

ColecoVision Gamepad Mapping is as follow:

Button 1 as Retropad A
Button 2 as Retropad B
Dial keys 1 to 8 as X, Y, R, L, R2, L2, R3, L3
Star (*) as Select, Hash (#) as Start
0 & 9 are on keyboard 1 & 2 for Player 1
0 & 9 are on keyboard 3 & 4 for Player 2.

SpectraVideo Cassettes¶

To play SpectraVideo cassettes type 'cload' then 'run'

or BLOAD ''CAS:'',R depending on the game.

Multiple-disk games¶

If foo is a multiple-disk game, you should have .dsk files for each one, e.g. foo (Disk 1).dsk, foo (Disk 2).dsk, foo (Disk 3).dsk.

To take advantage of BlueMSX Disk Control feature for disk swapping, an index file (a m3u file) should be made.

Create a text file and save it as foo.m3u. Then enter your game's .dsk files on it. The m3u file contents should look something like this:

foo.m3u

foo (Disk 1).dsk
foo (Disk 2).dsk
foo (Disk 3).dsk

After that, you can load the foo.m3u file in RetroArch with the BlueMSX core.

An alternative is to append disks to the current playlist via the "Disk Image Append" option RetroArch menu.

Core options¶

The blueMSX core has the following option(s) that can be tweaked from the core options menu. The default setting is bolded.

Settings with (Restart) means that core has to be closed for the new setting to be applied on next launch.

Machine Type (Restart) [bluemsx_msxtype] (Auto|MSX|MSXturboR|MSX2|MSX2+|SEGA - SG-1000|SEGA - SC-3000|SEGA - SF-7000|SVI - Spectravideo SVI-318|SVI - Spectravideo SVI-328|SVI - Spectravideo SVI-328 MK2|ColecoVision|Coleco (Spectravideo SVI-603))

Manually select the machine type you would like the core to start in.
Crop Overscan [bluemsx_overscan] (disabled|enabled|MSX2)

Forces cropping of overscanned frames

Crop Overscan Off

Crop Overscan On

Crop Overscan MSX2

VDP Sync Type (Restart) [bluemsx_vdp_synctype] (Auto|50Hz|60Hz)

Match the game/machine region frequency to avoid emulated speed issues.
No Sprite Limit [bluemsx_nospritelimits] (OFF|ON)

Remove the 4 sprite per line limit which can reduce or remove sprite flicker in some games.
Sound YM2413 Enable (Restart) [bluemsx_ym2413_enable] (enabled|disabled)

Awaiting description.
Cart Mapper Type (Restart) [bluemsx_cartmapper] (Auto|Normal|mirrored|basic|0x4000|0xC000|ascii8|ascii8sram|ascii16|ascii16sram|
ascii16nf|konami4|konami4nf|konami5|konamisynth|korean80|korean90|korean126|
MegaFlashRomScc|MegaFlashRomSccPlus|msxdos2|scc|sccexpanded|sccmirrored|sccplus|
snatcher|sdsnatcher|SegaBasic|SG1000|SG1000Castle|SG1000RamA|SG1000RamB|SC3000)

When a ROM game or application is in the database, the emulator uses the databases to apply the correct mapper. If the sha1 value of a dump is not yet in the databases, it uses an automatic mapper detection system, but it can fail in some cases. In this situation, you can manually select the correct mapper.

Controllers¶

The blueMSX core supports the following device type(s) in the controls menu, bolded device types are the default for the specified user(s):

User 1 device types¶

None - Doesn't disable input. There's no reason to switch to this.
RetroPad - Joypad
RetroKeyboard - Keyboard - Keyboard inputs are always active. Has keymapper support.
RetroPad Keyboard Map - Joypad - Awaiting description.

User 2 device types¶

None - Doesn't disable input. There's no reason to switch to this.
RetroPad - Joypad
RetroKeyboard - Keyboard - Keyboard inputs are always active.

Controller tables¶

Joypad¶

User 1 and 2 Remap descriptors for 'RetroPad' device type	RetroPad Inputs	blueMSX core inputs
Button 2		Button 2, Coleco Button 2
Button 3		Button 3, Coleco #2
Select		Select, Coleco Star (*)
Start		Start, Coleco Hash (#)
Joy Up		Joy Up
Joy Down		Joy Down
Joy Left		Joy Left
Joy Right		Joy Right
Button 1		Button 1, Coleco Button 1
Button 4		Button 4, Coleco #1
Button 5		Button 5, Coleco #4
Button 6		Button 6, Coleco #3
Button 7		Button 7, Coleco #6
Button 8		Button 8, Coleco #5
Button 9		Button 9. Coleco #8
Button 10		Button 10, Coleco #7

Keyboard¶

RetroKeyboard Inputs	RetroKeyboard
Keyboard Backspace	BACKSPACE
Keyboard Tab	TAB
Keyboard Return	RETURN
Keyboard Pause	PAUSE
Keyboard Escape	ESCAPE
Keyboard Space	SPACE
Keyboard Quote '	COLON
Keyboard Comma ,	COMMA
Keyboard Minus -	NEGATIVE
Keyboard Period .	PERIOD
Keyboard Slash /	DIVIDE
Keyboard 0	0
Keyboard 1	1, Player 1 Coleco #0
Keyboard 2	2, Player 1 Coleco #9
Keyboard 3	3, Player 2 Coleco #0
Keyboard 4	4, Player 2 Coleco #9
Keyboard 5	5
Keyboard 6	6
Keyboard 7	7
Keyboard 8	8
Keyboard 9	9
Keyboard Semicolon ;	SEMICOLON
Keyboard Equals =	CIRCUMFLEX
Keyboard Left Bracket [	LEFT BRACKET
Keyboard Backslash \	BACKSLASH (YEN)
Keyboard Right Bracket ]	RIGHT BRACKET
Keyboard Backquote `	AT
Keyboard a	A
Keyboard b	B
Keyboard c	C
Keyboard d	D
Keyboard e	E
Keyboard f	F
Keyboard g	G
Keyboard h	H
Keyboard i	I
Keyboard j	J
Keyboard k	K
Keyboard l	L
Keyboard m	M
Keyboard n	N
Keyboard o	O
Keyboard p	P
Keyboard q	Q
Keyboard r	R
Keyboard s	S
Keyboard t	T
Keyboard u	U
Keyboard v	V
Keyboard w	W
Keyboard x	X
Keyboard y	Y
Keyboard z	Z
Keyboard Delete	DELETE
Keyboard Keypad 0	NUMPAD 0
Keyboard Keypad 1	NUMPAD 1
Keyboard Keypad 2	NUMPAD 2
Keyboard Keypad 3	NUMPAD 3
Keyboard Keypad 4	NUMPAD 4
Keyboard Keypad 5	NUMPAD 5
Keyboard Keypad 6	NUMPAD 6
Keyboard Keypad 7	NUMPAD 7
Keyboard Keypad 8	NUMPAD 8
Keyboard Keypad 9	NUMPAD 9
Keyboard Keypad Period .	NUMPAD COMMA
Keyboard Keypad Divide /	NUMPAD DIVIDE
Keyboard Keypad Multiply *	NUMPAD MULTIPLY
Keyboard Keypad Minus -	NUMPAD SUBTRACTION
Keyboard Keypad Plus +	NUMPAD ADD
Keyboard Keypad Enter	NUMPAD PERIOD
Keyboard Up	UP
Keyboard Down	DOWN
Keyboard Right	RIGHT
Keyboard Left	LEFT
Keyboard Insert	INSERT
Keyboard Home	CLS
Keyboard End	STOP
Keyboard Page Up	SELECT
Keyboard F1	F1
Keyboard F2	F2
Keyboard F3	F3
Keyboard F4	F4
Keyboard F5	F5
Keyboard Caps Lock	CAPS
Keyboard Right Shift	RIGHT SHIFT
Keyboard Left Shift	LEFT SHIFT
Keyboard Left Control	CONTROL
Keyboard Left Alt	GRAPH
Keyboard Print	PRINT

Supported combinations

Keyboard Left or Right Shift + Keyboard 0 = UNDERSCORE

Compatibility¶

blueMSX Manual