README.md

Gearcoleco

Gearcoleco is a very accurate cross-platform ColecoVision emulator written in C++ that runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD and RetroArch.

This is an open source project with its ongoing development made possible thanks to the support by these awesome backers. If you find it useful, please consider sponsoring.

Don't hesitate to report bugs or ask for new features by opening an issue.

Downloads

• Windows:
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-windows-x64.zip
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-windows-arm64.zip
  • NOTE: If you have errors you may need to install:
    • Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
    • OpenGL Compatibility Pack
• macOS:
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-macos-arm.zip
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-macos-intel.zip
• Linux:
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-ubuntu-24.04.zip
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-ubuntu-22.04.zip
  • Gearcoleco-1.3.1-ubuntu-20.04.zip
  • NOTE: You may need to install libsdl2 and libglew
• RetroArch: Libretro core documentation.

Features

• Accurate Z80 core, including undocumented opcodes and behavior like R and MEMPTR registers.
• Accurate TMS9918 emulation.
• Support for ColecoVision Super Game Module (SGM) and MegaCart ROMs.
• Support for Super Action Controller (SAC), Wheel Controller and Roller Controller.
• Save states.
• Compressed rom support (ZIP).
• Supported platforms (standalone): Windows, Linux, BSD and macOS.
• Supported platforms (libretro): Windows, Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi, Android, iOS, tvOS, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo WiiU, Nintendo Switch, Emscripten, Classic Mini systems (NES, SNES, C64, ...), OpenDingux, RetroFW and QNX.
• Full debugger with just-in-time disassembler, CPU breakpoints, memory access breakpoints, code navigation (goto address, JP JR and CALL double clicking), debug symbols, memory editor, IO inspector and VRAM viewer including registries, tiles, sprites and backgrounds.
• Windows and Linux Portable Mode.
• ROM loading from the command line by adding the ROM path as an argument.
• Support for modern game controllers through gamecontrollerdb.txt file located in the same directory as the application binary.

Tips

Basic Usage

• BIOS: Gearcoleco needs a BIOS to run. It is possible to load any BIOS but the original one with md5 2c66f5911e5b42b8ebe113403548eee7 is recommended.
• Spinners: When using any kind of spinner it is useful to capture the mouse by pressing F12. It is also recommended to disable spinners for software that don't use them.
• Overscan: For a precise representation of the original image, using Overscan Top+Bottom and 4:3 Display Aspect Ratio is recommended.
• Mouse Cursor: Automatically hides when hovering over the main output window or when Main Menu is disabled.
• Portable Mode: Create an empty file named portable.ini in the same directory as the application binary to enable portable mode.

Debugging Features

• Docking Windows: In debug mode, you can dock windows together by pressing SHIFT and dragging a window onto another.
• Multi-viewport: In Windows or macOS, you can enable "multi-viewport" in the debug menu. You must restart the emulator for the change to take effect. Once enabled, you can drag debugger windows outside the main window.
• Debug Symbols: The emulator automatically tries to load a symbol file when loading a ROM. For example, for path_to_rom_file.rom it tries to load path_to_rom_file.sym. You can also load a symbol file using the GUI or the CLI.

Command Line Usage

gearcoleco [rom_file] [symbol_file]

Build Instructions

Windows

• Install Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022 or later.
• Open the Gearcoleco Visual Studio solution platforms/windows/Gearcoleco.sln and build.

macOS

• Install Xcode and run xcode-select --install in the terminal for the compiler to be available on the command line.
• Run these commands to generate a Mac app bundle:

brew install sdl2
cd platforms/macos
make dist

Linux

• Ubuntu / Debian / Raspberry Pi (Raspbian):

sudo apt install build-essential libsdl2-dev libglew-dev libgtk-3-dev
cd platforms/linux
make

• Fedora:

sudo dnf install @development-tools gcc-c++ SDL2-devel glew-devel gtk3-devel
cd platforms/linux
make

• Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel sdl2 glew gtk3
cd platforms/linux
make

BSD

• FreeBSD:

su root -c "pkg install -y git gmake pkgconf SDL2 glew lang/gcc gtk3"
cd platforms/bsd
gmake

• NetBSD:

su root -c "pkgin install gmake pkgconf SDL2 glew lang/gcc gtk3"
cd platforms/bsd
gmake

Libretro

• Ubuntu / Debian / Raspberry Pi (Raspbian):

sudo apt install build-essential
cd platforms/libretro
make

• Fedora:

sudo dnf install @development-tools gcc-c++
cd platforms/libretro
make

Screenshots

Contributors

Thank you to all the people who have already contributed to Gearcoleco!

License

Gearcoleco is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 License, see LICENSE for more information.