Gens (Emulator)

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For the ancient Roman clan, see Gens.

Gens

The interface of Gens
Developer:	Stéphane Dallongeville
Latest release:	2.14 / May 21, 2006
OS:	Microsoft Windows
Use:	Emulator
License:	GPL
Website:	http://www.gens.ws/

Gens is a free/open source emulator for the Sega Genesis (Sega Mega Drive). It runs on Windows systems (using DirectX), on Linux (using Simple DirectMedia Layer) and on Microsoft's Xbox. Development of Gens began in 1999. As of July 2006, the current version (2.14) advertises full compatibility with 92% of all Genesis games and is considered to be one of the most compatible Genesis emulators available, although its Yamaha YM2612 emulation is far from perfect.

[edit] Gens Plus!

Gens Plus!, a fork of Gens, adds support for additional graphic filters as well as the ability to choose between rendering engines such as DirectDraw and Direct3D. It also adds support for emulation of the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear. While the emulation of these two additional platforms is not as complete as that of the Genesis and 32X compatibility, the accuracy has increased with each new release of the emulator.

[edit] Features

Gens has features such as:

saving console state (without relying on in-game save ability)
recording what buttons are pressed and slowing the gameplay down so it is used in making of tool-assisted speedruns
support for Game Genie cheats
support for Netplay using the Kaillera client.
support for Sega CD and Sega 32X games if provided with the respective BIOS images, which are not provided with the emulator
numerous sound/video enhancements:
- Vertical Synchronization to disable tearing on fast-moving games such as Sonic the Hedgehog
- supports 2xSaI (Kreed) graphics filtering to make older games appear crisper than on the original console
- multiple sound bitrates (11025, 22050 and 44100), stereophonic sound capability, YM2612 high sound quality, and WAV and GYM sound dumps
- screen save capability and brightness/contrast adjust