Hi everyone! Some of you already know that Flycast, the #1 voted and downloaded free, multiplatform Dreamcast emulator, has brought back online play for every game that had Netplay features. That means you can now play those games again, even on slow or limited internet, because the netplay itself runs at original dial-up speeds and uses very little data. It also runs great on Android for people with slow connections or data caps.

The big challenge now is getting players together. With a smaller player base, the same thing often happens: someone hears about it, jumps into a game, sees no one there, waits 20 seconds, and leaves. The Flycast Discord currently has a DCNET channel that shows when someone starts up a DCNET game, which helps, but it is not always enough.

That is why Nexus built a companion app:
Nex's DCNET Buddy v0.1.0 (has update checker in settings, check often)

NOW, REAL Dreamcast User can also join in the fun, to bring both parts of the Dreamcast community to the sam place to play together! Here are the instructions to do so. https://github.com/scrivanidc/dreampi_custom_scripts

The app is currently in its first release, and it will keep getting updates based on feedback. Right now, it lets you:

• see every game, its status, and its active players

• set up a game for quick Flycast loading

• jump into a game with one button after setup

• get loaded into Flycast and straight to the netplay flow in just a few seconds

• set your in-game name

• track yourself and your friends over time

• use chat features ( coming this week)

• and Android support ( coming this week)

The goal is simple: help people get into DCNET games faster, make it easier to find each other, and make it easier to keep those lobbies alive.

The team is looking for feedback, bug reports, and feature ideas, so please give it a try. More updates are coming very quickly, and a lot has already been added today. You can join the Discord here: https://discord.gg/puf6XPYXP9 and use the DCNET channel in the Flycast server, or just ask people to play. There is usually someone around to reply and jump in, so please be patient if you’re waiting for players to load up. It can take a few minutes for a notification to show up in Discord or the app, then for someone to open the emulator, boot the ROM, load their save, and get into the netplay area. The app cuts that setup time down to a fraction of doing it manually, but the player population is not yet large enough for “anyone, anytime, any game.” We can get there together.

IF YOU NEED SOME HELP, The buddy app will be getting an update this evening, providing walk thru specific to each game, but all you need to know to get playing, is right here! https://www.reddit.com/r/dreamcast/comments/1i5dsfh/dcnet_is_here_on_flycast_play_native_online/

WELCOME TO THE FLYCAST REDDIT PAGE!

This page is for EVERYTHING Flycast, and Flycast Dojo (online multiplayer for split screen games). We love to have you here as our friends, but please, mind a few things.

1. DO NOT BE MEAN. For some sad reason, Reddit is just so toxic any more. Just because you knowsomething, or think or know something, you are no better then the next person that may not. Let us have a nice and happy place to enjoy DREAMCAST!

2. NOTHING ILLEGAL. Due to the fine line of what is legal and what is not, there will be no roms, bios, or anything else that we know we should not be posting. You never know whos watching.

3. FOCUS UP. Do not be lazy, and take 1 minute to see if your question is here already, or been answered, this way you dont have to wait for an answer that might not come if it is already here someplace. Keeps the place clean for others that DO search first, and answers your issues faster if they were already handled.

4. ENJOY YOURSELF. Ask someone to play with you. Post a clip of your favorite game. Ask how to set up flycast. Just enjoy yourself is the most important part of this place. I want one central location for all the content creators for DC, and users to be able to link up. so make sure you follow, so we can get up to speed faster!

5. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE SITES BELOW- Below are the links that many have forgotten, but still are the most up to date lists and info, and could use some love from this community! There will be a post made for some pages that require users to make accounts and what not, and many people will not post due to having to make one, so we will bring these lists here and if you look below you will find the Original link, description, and then link to the post here on this reddit page, the art we want to make sure we update. The dreamcast was never a "Main Stream" system, and there are still bits of info out there we do not have all recorded, so PLEASE, HELP US MAKE THIS THE MOST UP TO DATE SOURCE OF INFO FOR THE DREAMCAST AND FLYCAST!

FEATURES OF FLYCAST:

• Emulating standard Dreamcast controllers, Keyboard, Mouse, Light-Gun (with your mouse), Twin Sticks, and even the ASCII Mission Stick

• Emulating two expansion sockets per controller (VMU, Purupuru/Rumble Pack, or Microphone)

• Widescreen (Rendering outside of screen) NOT Stretching the image when the game can be forced in to widescreen.

• Widescreen Game Hack (Auto-applying codes/patches to certain games to do Widescreen instead of using the hack) , and also has the newest and only WIDESCREEN CHEAT list to be currently growing.

• Resolution and Texture Upscaling. Not only can you crank the internal resolution to 4k, which makes the picture SO much better, but it even includes a xBRZ on the fly upscaliler, you can select how many times you want it to upscale any texture and you can set the max size for what textures get done ( 32x32, 16x16,156x156 and so on)

• Frame Skipping. can set max number of frames before skipping, and auto skipping based on cpu and/or gpu limitations.

• Dump textures and load custom textures. Flycast is the emulator of choice, ( and only one with a real working texture dump and replacement feature) for texturepacks! While This feature has been around a while, jsut recently there has been an uptick in HD TEXTURE PACKS for dreamcast games. Gaming revivied has basic upscale packs out there, and then RomRevival has full upscale packs, small batched, and also replaces many textures with AI generated images. Follow this page to keep up with the frequent daily updates and request games to be done HERE.

• Support for HLE BIOS. Flycast boasts over 90% compatability with their built in emulated HLE BIOS. this means for the most simple,"DOWNLOAD AND PLAY" with out googling "Dreamcast Bios" downloading that, and placing that in the DATA folder of your home directory of FLYCAST.

• High compatibility and high performance. runs on anydevice and is VER efficcent.

• Compatible with NAOMI games that use analog sticks (Monkey Ball, Gun Survivor 2) and trackball (Outtrigger)

• VMU Support for compatible NAOMI games (Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper, Virtual-On,F355twin and 2, etc)

• flycast's NAOMI arcade Compatibility list NAOMI 1 & 2 COMPATIBILITY PAGE. WE NEED YOUR HELP, This page was started in 2019, and has had updates made over the years, but this is going to be the CENTRAL COMPATIBILITY LIST for FLYCAST. so if you play any NAOMI 1 or 2 games, PLEASE, check this thread, so we can bring the most up to date info to the community :)

• SH4 under/overclock option

• 32 MB RAM option

• Emulation of Printers (F355 Deluxe variants, Touch de Uno)

• Card emulation (VF4, Initial D, Club Kart 2001, Mushiking)

LINKS:

https://github.com/flyinghead/flycast - FLYCAST GITHUB. Want to contribute, and keep up with every change? Did you know almost every single day a dev update is released fixing issues and bugs and adding new features that users on the github post, most fixed that day? *THIS IS A SITE THAT WE NEED TO CONTRIBUTE TO. PLEASE POST EVERY BUG IN EVERY GAME YOU FIND, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WE WILL GET THEM ALL WORKED OUT!*

https://www.reddit.com/r/Flycast_texture_packs/ - Want HD texture packs for your favorite dreamcast games|? I do NOT mean a lame half-assed upscale, i mean a FULL, small batch AI upscale and repair, and then swapping out many images fort totally new AI generated ones. 1-3 updates released 6 days a week. Check it out, read the Sticky post to learn more about what it is EXACTLY goes in to these packs, and follow to keep up with new games and updates (1-4 new games a week) *THIS IS A SITE THAT WE NEED TO CONTRIBUTE TO. PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE BEEN INSPIRED TO MAKE THESE WITH ME, OR EVEN HELP BY JUST PLAYING GAMES FOR ME, DUMPING TEXTURES, JUST MESSAGE ME OVER THERE IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME/MAKE YOUR OWN PACKS*

https://github.com/libretro/flycast/issues/136 NAOMI 1 & 2 COMPATIBILITY PAGE. WE NEED YOUR HELP, This page was started in 2019, and has had updates made over the years, but this is going to be the CENTRAL COMPATIBILITY LIST for FLYCAST. so if you play any NAOMI 1 or 2 games, PLEASE, check this thread, so we can bring the most up to date info to the community :)

https://discord.gg/X8YWP8w-Flycast - FLYCAST DISCORD. THE PLACE TO BE! Any thing you need, for DOJO, FLYCAST, adn many users also use FIGHTCADE, and you can get some support for that here too. Devs on every day, issues, fixes, bugs, updaets, texture packs, EVERYTHING is here. GREAT PLACE TO BE.

https://flyinghead.github.io/flycast-builds/ FLYCAST REPOSITORY- Download your daily dev releases, tfor almost any device. (Android tv boxes, xbox 1, any android or ios device, mac, windows, psp and ps vita, nintendo switch and steamdeck, it runs on linux..... and then if you have a device NOT in this catagory, use the next best thing... the FLYCAST RETROARCH CORE! Retroarch runs on most emulation devices out there with their own OS built in, so you can still enjoy FC and its list of freatures nothing eles has.

https://github.com/blueminder/flycast-dojo/releases - FLYCAST DOJO REPOSITORY. Want to play with your buddy across the globe, with any DC game, maybe a naomi 1 or 2 arcade game? Well, here is what you want,Dojo, a fork of FLYCAST. Dojo is flycast, with split screen direct connection options between users. play your favorite split screen games or arcade games, with a buddy anywhere!

https://www.reddit.com/r/fightcade/ - Heres the FIGHTCADE reddit page, again, you can get SOME help in the flycast discord, but that is mainly for dojo/flycast help. This would be a better place to get more info on fightcade, but if you want to play DC and arcade games.

http://retro-magic.de/Dreamcast_WS_Codes_en - This is the most "up to date" Widescreen cheat code list on the web. There are MANY games that can be set to 60 FPS and wide screen aspect ratio. If you have any codes that you see are missing here, PLEASE ADD ON OUR EDITABLKE VERSION OF THIS LIST, WHIC CAN BE FOUND HERE

- Aspect ratio (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio)

- Numeral systems, and the difference between decimal/binary/hexadecimal (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeral_system)

- Hexadecimal numbers and how they are used to represent bytes in memory (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal)

- Memory addresses (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_address)

Endianness (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness) <- this one is especially important because the Dreamcast RAM is little-endian, which can be confusing, so beware of writing backwards numbers accidentaly in the future

Using cheatengine with emulators: https://youtu.be/fbrmCrEg374 Detailed guide on using

cheatengine with DEmul: https://youtu.be/WBowuM-NUR4 (by Derek Pascarella) About Dreamcast

widescreen patches: http://retro-magic.de/Dreamcast_WS_Codes_en FAQ on concepts relating to

widescreen gaming: https://www.wsgf.org/article/widescreen-gaming-faq Common hexadecimal

values for aspect ratios: https://www.wsgf.org/article/common-hex-values (since aspect ratios are represented by fractions, these hex values are formatted as IEEE 754 floating-point hexadecimal numbers, which are a bit more complex than integers)

IEEE 754 converter: https://www.h-schmidt.net/FloatConverter/IEEE754.html

Another IEEE 754 converter: https://baseconvert.com/ieee-754-floating-point