Welcome to Wataroo

Wataroo is a Watara SuperVision emulator. It was originally written after I lost a bet with Brandon Cobb. As with a genuine SuperVision, the best way to use this software is not at all.

As of writing Wataroo is closed source and only available for Microsoft Windows.

This program is intended as a development tool for and preservation of the SuperVision architecture. While it can be used to run commercial software I will neither assist nor prevent users from doing so. You are on your own.

More information can be found in the included help file. If you'd like to get thoroughly acquainted with this obscure platform, check out SuperVision : Handheld of the Less Fortunate.

My reverse engineering notes are available in EQU_WATARA.asm.


Emulated Hardware
  • KS5360 (65C02, LCD Controller, APU, Timer, DMA, and I/O)
  • Mappers : STANDARD and MAGNUM

Minimum Requirements
  • 1.6GHz Intel Core Solo
  • 256MB RAM
  • Microsoft Windows 95 + DirectX 7.0
  • DirectDraw or Direct3D Compatible Graphics Accelerator
  • DirectSound Compatible Audio Device

Bonus Binaries
  • Watara Hardware Test

Current Version
Wataroo 0.8.0.0 2021-5-28 Added
  • Upgraded to Visual C++ 6.0 SP5 + Processor Pack.
  • Optimization now favors Pentium Pro.
  • Complete rewrite of all the KS5360's modules.
  • Provisions for future TV-Link and Hybrid console support.
  • Overhaul of the interface and friendly features to match BupSystem v0.9.6.4.
  • Graphics API (GAPI) abstraction layer and NULL Render Path.
  • Upgraded to JoyFish v0.8.6.2.
Cleanup
  • 65C02's ABS,X and ABS,Y writes are now five cycles long.
  • Asynchronous display scanning and frame pushes now properly supported.
  • Timer's interrupt evaluation depends upon both count and phase.
  • ...and many others I've forgotten.

Archive
Wataroo 0.7.1.2 2018-4-18 Added
  • Upgraded to JoyFish v0.8.5.2.
Cleanup
  • Screen Saver and Monitor Power Down now disabled while running.
  • Several Direct3D 9 performance enhancements for faster texture updates.
Wataroo 0.7.1.1 2017-12-29 Added
  • Automatic input configuration support.
  • Upgraded to JoyFish v0.8.5.1.
Cleanup
  • Input dialog now highlights each button's mapping field when pressed or reassigning.
  • DMA Controller doesn't let the CPU run one out of every six clocks, it's always fully halted.
  • Whether or not the LCD Driver is enabled actually DOES affect the DMA Controller's speed.
Wataroo 0.7.1.0 2017-10-3 Added
  • Mouse cursor autohiding in Full Screen Mode.
  • Super Divider audio enhancement feature.
  • List of detected joysticks now displayed after a manual rescan.
  • XInput support.
Cleanup
  • Split 65C02 emulation into fetch and execute phases to fudge timing a little better.
  • Pulse channels' prescaler reset conditions adjusted to better match the hardware.
  • Noise channel's dividers were running half as fast as they should have been.
  • Joystick auto rescanning would never trigger from a cold start if multiple joysticks were connected.
  • Joystick auto rescan interval reduced from four to two seconds.
  • Corrected a fairly embarrassing access violation when loading user button mappings.
Wataroo 0.7.0.2 2017-2-26 Added
  • Support for the MAGNUM mapper.
  • Small (160x160) and Large (800x800) window size presets.
  • History section in HTML Help.
Cleanup
  • CPU Stall Cycles weren't accumulating properly.
  • Increased the silencing cutoff for the pulse channels from a division of zero to three.
  • DMA Controller actually does support VBUS to CBUS transfers and CPU stalling.
  • Link Port registers' behavior was way off.
Wataroo 0.7.0.1 2017-1-26 Initial Release


All content by Osman D. Celimli unless otherwise noted.
Not all of said content guaranteed to be useful. Some is probably quite old and dumb.
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