Blissx Xbox

Blissx
Blissx
General
Author	XPort, Madmab
Type	Console
Version	11
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2023/10/11
Links
	Download
	Website

Blissx is an Intellivision emulator for the Xbox. Original by XPort ported from Bliss emulator and updated by Madmab.

Features

Emulates the Intellivision.
Ported from Bliss.
ZIP support.
Cheat system - Search/Create your own cheat codes (see readme).
Favorites list.
Netplay.
Resizable game screen.
Save Game management - delete save game files.
Skin-ableSamba/NetBIOS sharing support (read roms from your PC).
Relax Network Sharing (read roms from your PC).
Play MP3 or M3U playlists in the background (can also read MP3/M3U from across Samba/Relax shares).
Hardware filtering options : Point, Bilinear, Trilinear, Anisotropic.
Graphics filters.
Record/Playback feature.
Every single in-game command is fully customizable on any of the four joypad controllers.
Map any emulator or UI command to a single button or a combination of two buttons.
Autofire capabilities for any emulator button on any controller.
One-button combos (define a series of emulator commands to be played back when you press a user-definable XBox controller combination).
Traverse any directory on any drive.
All UI commands (save/load state, screenshot, etc) can be invoked from the Options/Pause menu as well as in-game via your customized joypad mappings.
Can be invoked from a command-line to directly run a game from a front-end or dashboard and bypass the user-selection screens (only if the frontend or dashboard supports this feature).
Can return to the launching program if the launching program supports this feature.

Installation

You need to add the BIOS files to sysroms/ in order to use this (do not zip them):

ecs.bin - Entertainment Computer System ROM.
exec.bin - Intellivision Executive BIOS.
grom.bin - Intellivision Graphics ROM.
ivoice.bin - Intellivoice ROM.

User guide

Overlay support

This feature is added since the Intellivision is very reliant on Overlays for proper gameplay.

You can access the overlay by pressing the right analog stick button. If you're still having trouble check out the manuals using the media browser.

Configuration defaults

This feature allows you to set default configurations for select emulators.

In the General settings menu, there will be a new option - Automatically Use Default Game Configuration (Yes/No). If you set it to Yes, it will bring up the game configuration screen and let you define the default (if no default.stg and default.key file exists).

In the Configuration menu, there will be a new option Set default game configuration. You can go in anytime through the Configuration menu to change these defaults to something else if they wish.

Once set to Automatically use Default Game Configuration, you will not see the game configuration screen again unless:

You press X when selecting a game.
Change Use Default Game Configuration back to No.

Keep in mind when it is set to Yes the game will use your Default game settings and not the normal x-port behavior. If set to No, the emulator will behave like it usually does. Each emu is typically different. But all, at the very least carry the controller settings over.

This feature will only be added to emulators in which it is feasible to use.

Controls

Text browser:

A - Start Search

B - Exit

X - Continue Last Search

Y - Simulate width font

White/Black - Previous/Next file

Start - Help screen

Back - Reset view as if document was loaded for first time

D-Pad - Up/down, Up Page, Down Page

Left-Stick Thumb - Set font size

Left-Stick Up - Top/End of file

Right-Stick Thumb - Set text screen size

Right-Stick Left/Right - Decrease/Increase fixed-width font size

L/R - Move up/down text file

Screenshot browser:

A - Lock/Unlock Aspect Ratio

B - Exit

Y - Delete file (Utilities > browse screenshots only)

White/Black - Previous/Next file

Start - Help screen

Back - Toggle between "Full Size" and "Size to fit screen"

D-Pad - Up/Down/Left/Right -> Move image 1/4th the total size of the image

Left-Stick Thumb - Music Control Menu

Left-Stick Up/Down - Move screen up/down

Right-Stick Left/Right - Decrease/Increase screen size (size changes proportional to distance the stick is pressed)

Screenshots

Known issues

No rewind in BlissX due to lack of a savestate feature.

Changelog

V11

Updated to madmab edition interface CFv1b43. See "Interface Changelog.txt". Be sure to read the latest changes in "Interface Changelog.txt" the new "saves" handling code has been implemented.
Changes to the screenshot code to account for new directory layout when using "Extras menu" screenshot options. This is a core update to BlissX from "Bliss v2.04". It may as well been a complete conversion since so much code changed. The guy pretty much converted it to DirectX/3D/Input. Anywho it provides a few benefits that are hopefully worth the effort.
True 16 direction disc support should now be working. Just set to ("Use left analog as 16 way disc" to "Yes) to enable it.
Motocross now working :). I created a game specific hack to handle it.
Finally hooked up the xbox and onscreen keyboard to the ecs keyboard this includes the shift keys. Say thank you madmab for letting me play Flinstones Keyboard Fun! :P
Renamed improperly named keypad keys and remove non-existant keys from the controller settings.
Now displays global message "Using default game configuration." when default game configuration is set and no game configuration is found.
No game exit transition displayed when game is autolanched.
Updated to Bliss2 core v2.04.

V10b3

Updated to madmab edition interface CFv1b17. See "Interface Changelog.txt".

V10b2

Updated to madmab edition interface CFv1b14. See "Interface Changelog.txt".

V10b1

Updated to madmab edition interface CFv1b08. See "Interface Changelog.txt".

V10

Changes To BlissX Core:

Nothing really. BlissX core has not been updated in ages. This is just an update to the latest Madmab Edition interface and features.
Added the following homebrew games to the Bliss internal database. The following games are now playable. Adventures Of Tron (2600 Ver), Rocky And BullWinkle, Snow, Spirit, Stack 'em (doesn't work though), Sudoku, Xmas Carol v1.2, Yogi's Frustration, and DkInty Demo.
Moved the system ROMs to a place that makes more sense. So make sure that exec.bin, grom.bin, ivoice.bin, ecs.bin are in the "SYSROMS" directory and that they are unzipped.
Game selectable video mode removed and change to a global game video mode. So you can use the interface (game select) at 720p or 1080i and have games run in another video mode. "In Game Menu" video mode will match the one the game is set for except for the media browser which will change to match the video mode used outside of the game.
Now have the ability to display long names for games. This currently relies on having Xtras synopsis files. In the future I will be providing other options. So get to work waal.
Emulator now supports Action Lists, Preset Controller Configs, and a config database.
Name of Loaded disk image is displayed in the in game menu.
Added a "per game" autoload save state option. Options are "No, 1-10, Most Recent".

Interface Related Changes:

Fixed another bug related to removal/addition of favorites.
Fixed an issue where changing the "Samba Nameserver" would also ask you for the "Relax Share Name" when you were done.
Improved game preview network streaming. I like to call it "pseudo-streaming" so streaming game previews off a network should be ALOT smoother now.
"Pseudo Streaming" defaults to off. So if you want to turn it on go into "Screenshot/Movie Preview Settings" and turn it on. I'm doing this until I get more feedback concerning the performance of it.
Removed pop-up that says "Select The Cheatcode File You Wish To Use." per Dominater01's request.
The two Preset Controller menu options have been moved to the "controller configuration" menu. I did this cause several emu's use this feature now and to help reduce clutter in the in-game menu.
Fixed blank pop-up message when trying to display the cheat codes when there are none.
Fixed issues where media would not display when a directory with a period in it was highlighted.
Added option to "Refresh DVD Drive". It is currently in the "Utilities Menu"
Finally added option to "Shutdown Xbox". It is currently in the "Main Menu" however I have my reservations about it's location. I'd prefer to have it in the "Utilities Menu". You can disable this menu in the "Dummy/Lockdown Mode Settings" menu.
Partial >4096 file support put in. If you have more than 4096 title or action shots put them in a directory named "action01" and "titles01".
Checks put into the cheatcode database checker to let you know if the file is to big or has too many game entries and needs to be split up.
Gilou9999's HD Colour skins should work properly now (no weird hacks). Be sure to at least copy over the "settings.ini" files in the skin directory and the skin "configurations" directories and "reload the skin".
Added new skin transition option "none". Real handy for skins like Gilou9999's that uses the HD sprite trick.
Windows 7 users should have no more weird issues on samba shares. Woohoo.
Fixed issue where emulator menu video mode was reverting to last played games video mode in emu's that support game specific video modes.
Created mappable key for (swapping keyboard/action list) so you don't always have to hop in and out of the IGM.
Fixed issue where video mode was not being remembered in some cases when set to either 720x480 or 720x576.
Fixed issue where emu would lock up if the media directory path was longer than 36 characters. (Thanks to those who reported it and AMOC for testing for me).
Fixed issue with wacky numbers when trying to adjust the volumes while in the IGM.
Pressing Back while in the the controller settings menu will set the value to "None".
Accurate Screen Pixel Ratio option added (see "http://fancyxbox.info/?doc=1&secao=screen" for more into) per gilou9999's suggestion. Some numbers are still a WIP. Go into Game/Text Screen Size Position" and select "Set Game Screen to Accurate Screen Pixel Ratio". The emu will ask you if you wish to turn off software/hardware filters and flicker filter. This is recommended for the most accurate screen. You'll still have to manually adjust the image on the Y axis. We can't do everything for you, ya lazy bum.
Added an option to display a "Static" video if no movie found. Can be set to yes or no. Static file must be named "Tv Static.xmv" and placed in the emu's "backgrounds" directory.

Rewind changes:

Rewind is a bit of a memory hog. On some emu's at 720p it is barely useful. Some emu's can't even handle it. Here is what I did.
Tweaked around with the rewind system fixed a couple potential xbox lockers.
Modified the rewind system so if memory runs low it clears half the buffer, if that doesn't work it clears the entire buffer. What this means is that on memory intensive emu's you'll have a rewind system that mostly works. It's pretty much a "better than nothing" set-up.

V9

Interface Related Changes:

New feature "Seconds before playing movie" determines how long the emu will wait before playing a movie. The default is half a second. This will help speed up rom browsing. Especially useful for people streaming stuff (like movies) across the network.
If streaming movies from across the network and the user press on the dpad or a, b, x or y the emulator will abort the transfer. This should help speed up rom browsing and allow the user an "out" especially for the larger movies.
Fixed an issue with the software filters displaying garbage.
Activated the "Keep user Within ROM Directory Tree?" which I somehow missed.
Fixed up the box/cart art position on a few skins.
Fixed a problem where setting the box/cart orientation was screwed up.
Fixed the bug that screwed up Gilou's skin to begin with (too weird to explain).

v8

Changes To Blissx Core:

Correct "overlay.ini" file this time.
Be sure to read the changes for v7 in case you missed them. This version is to bring BlissX upto date with the changes to other emu's.
Note: No rewind in BlissX do to lack of a savestate feature.

Interface Related Changes:

Accurate Screen Pixel Ratio option added (see "http://fancyxbox.info/?doc=1&secao=screen" for more into) per gilou9999's suggestion. Some numbers are still a WIP. Go into Game/Text Screen Size Position" and select "Set Game Screen to Accurate Screen Pixel Ratio". The emu will ask you if you wish to turn off software/hardware filters and flicker filter. This is recommended for the most accurate screen. You'll still have to manually adjust the image on the Y axis. We can't do everything for you, ya lazy bum.
Added an option to display a "Static" video if no movie found. Can be set to yes or no. Static file must be named "Tv Static.xmv" and placed in the emu's "backgrounds" directory.

Rewind changes:

Rewind is a bit of a memory hog. On some emu's at 720p it is barely useful. Some emu's can't even handle it. Here is what I did.
Tweaked around with the rewind system fixed a couple potential xbox lockers.
Modified the rewind system so if memory runs low it clears half the buffer, if that doesn't work it clears the entire buffer. What this means is that on memory intensive emu's you'll have a rewind system that mostly works. It's pretty much a "better than nothing" set-up.

Changes to the media browser:

User can specify whether manual is displayed "Full Size" or be "Sized to fit screen" when loaded. Keep in mind any saved bookmarks override this. Press Back to toggle between "Full Size" and "Size to fit screen".
Commercials can be displayed either full screen, at the size of the video with black background, or same size of the video with synopsis background.
Controls for screenshot browser (added/changed the following):
- A -> Lock/Unlock Aspect Ratio.
- Back -> Toggle between "Full Size" and "Size to fit screen".

v7

Changes To Blissx Core:

It speaks. Intellivoice fixed so now you can play games like B-17 bomber, Bomb Squad, Space Spartans, Tron Solar Sailer, and World Series Major League Baseball.
The INTV Controller 1 disc was hard coded to the left analog stick. I removed this. They can be mapped thru the controller settings screen.
Added ability to map controller one to controller two's buttons (and vice versa). Since the INTV doesn't like keypad and discs presses at the same time. This allows for dual stick action in games like "Nightstalker" and "Discs Of Tron".
ECS keyboard can be mapped to the controller now, thus making ECS games playable (Mind Strike). True keyboard and onscreen keyboard support pending.
Added overlay support. Also created a new overlay system. The file "overlay.ini" contains configuration information for each overlay, including the color of the transparent button. Default + game overlays provided by "Carnage By Bob", thank you.
Overlay can be accessed by both controllers. So that player two can use it as well (useful for games like "Body Slam - Super Pro Wrestling").
Added the following homebrew games to the Bliss internal database. The following games are now playable. Astrosmash competition, King Of The Mountain (fixed), League Of Light (proto), Lock 'n' Chase (fixed), Robot Rubble (how do you start this?), Same game & Robot, Space Patrol (Teaser), Stonix, Super Masters, and Tag-Along Todd.

Interface Related Changes:

Given the full "Madmab Edition" treatment.
New dual-preview skin to support Xtra's. Say thank you to Gilou9999 for the skin. Music provied by Carnage By Bob.
Hopefully addressed weird issues with "Force Reload D:\\*.ini Settings".
New option to "Keep user Within ROM Directory Tree". You can find it in "General Settings, Page Two". Useful for keeping n00bs from getting lost while selecting games.
Hoperfully cleaned up all instances where the current "game select" directory would get trashed.
Transparency control for keypad and keyboard should now function properly.
Tightened up the Synopsis parsing code (sorry RessX).
Fixed issue where cycling thru screenshots when non-available would create an infinite loop.

Fixes to the keyboard/keypad including. These affect emu's that use a keyboard/keypad (Winuaex, AdamX, Atarixlbox):

Keyboard/keypad no longer corrupts portions of the screen when being moved.
Keyboard/keypad can be moved diagonally in ALL directions now
Keyboard/keypad transparency now works properly when "Pause game while using Keyboard/Pad" is set to ON.
Fixed issue with screen blurring when Keyboard/keypad is activated. I'm surprised I did not notice this earlier.

Others:

"Auto Game Configurations (aka Configuration defaults) for select emulators *
Pressing Back while in the the controller settings menu will set the value to "None".
Created a new overlay system. The file "overlay.ini" contains configuration information for each overlay, including the color of the transparent button.
Fixed issue with the "Music Control Menu" where the "Go to next/previous song" options were not working.
Fixed issue where "View playlist" did not show the first two songs.
Fixed issue where "pause" would still display even after changing songs while viewing the playlist in "clear screen" mode.
Add song to playlist now functions correctly.
Added a seperate "Volume Control Menu". It can be accessed by pressing "Y" in the "In Game Options" menu, or from the "Game Configuration" menu. It lets the user set the volume for in game sound, mp3_cdda, cdda, movie and mp3 music player from 0-100.
Fixed issue where games that had more than 48 CRCs in the cheat code database would cause a crash when game is selected while searching for cheat codes.
Rumble codes and cheat codes are now stored in seperate files. ("rumblelist.inf" and "codelist.inf" respectively). To make it easier to search for "rumble codes" only. Note to cheat code makers: be sure to make your cheat codes and rumble codes seperately now. For those importing rumbles, the rumble does not have to be "activated" in order to work, it just works. Remove it from the list if you no longer wish to use it, or set it to "Rumble Enabled On - Nothing".
Skin can now have a "Startup Movie" on loading menu. Please use with discretion (no long movies)
"Startup Movie" can be displayed full screen or in a window. If fullscreen is used the loading menu will not be displayed.
Transparency for "Startup Movie" can be set as well.
Moved the network initialization code to run before the loading menu. This moves the delay caused by network init to before the display of the loading menu, not after.
Files when selecting within a zip are sorted.
Added a seperate timer for alternating Box/Cart art.
Ability to view synopsis from within game. (press right analog stick down).
Movies. The ability to display movie previews.
- You can set the movie/previews directory in the "Change Default Directories" section.
- The movie name has to be exactly the same as the ROM name. Only one movie per game.
- Display order can be set to. None, Screenshots Only, Movies Only, Screenshots 1st- Then Movies, Movies 1st- Then Screenshots.
- Movies display over screenshots so if you want you can see screenshots when no movie exists.
- Can now stream videos and screenshots from Samba or Relax.
- Sound for movies can be turned on/off.
- Box/Cart art can be displayed in seperate window.
- Transparencies for Box/Cart art (and screenshots) is now supported Check out some of the 3d Box/Cart art floating around.
- Skin author can now designate two locations where Boxart or Cartart will display based on width vs height.
- Old Screenshots are now sorted and displayed in proper order.
- Old Screenshots can be named anything (as long as it has .png extension).
- In Game Options Screen can be sized and positioned now.
New option to "Force Game Screen Size/Position". There are two configurable screensizes. (To deal with multi-core systems like MekaX and XboyAdvance). This will be useful when switching from HDTV to SDTV or vice versa. It will save the user the trouble of resizing the screens for something that is likely temporary.
Numerous changes to menu system see above (current menu configuration layout)
Sprites can now be named for easier manipulation. Directory names must be of the format "0_spritename", "1_spritename", etc. Do not use underscores for the spritename. It is a delimiter.
Added "Select Skin Configuration Used" and "Save Skin Configuration as" to the "Configure SKin" menu in place of the above moved options. This allows multiple skin configurations in one skin allowing the user more "pre-defined" options on how a skin looks. For example the placement of the games list and the preview screens. Gilou's Dynamic skins really take advantage of this, check 'em out.
Sprites now show when sizing the preview screens.
Changed "Seconds before auto-advancing Screenshot" to "Seconds Before Auto-Advancing Artwork".
Changed "offset X" and "offset Y" to "Offset X (left/right)" and "Offset Y (up/down)" in the Sprite Settings menu.
New Option to pause or not pause emulation when keyboard or keypad is up.

Finished the "Media browser":

Be sure to use the RessurectionXtras or Xtras for maximum enjoyment ("http://www.emuxtras.net").
Ability to display documentation (text or graphic) and commercials (xmv format only).
Assigned buttons (white/black) to go to next/previous files when viewing documentation. See below graphic/text file viewer controls.
Once the user opens a document - the emulator remembers this document as long as the game session is running.
View settings for each document viewed are now stored in a "bookmark" file so next time you view a file your settings are restored. Press Back to "reset" as if reading document for first time.
"View Text File" changed to "Browse Manuals/Videos".
Support added for different kinds of documentation in the media browser. Including "Manuals", "Game FAQs", "Game Maps", "Commercials", and "Other". The user can also specify where these directories are located. Defaults are "Manuals", "GameFAQs", "VGMAPS", "Commercials", and "Other". "Other" is in the media root directory (typically "x:\media\Other") for non emu specific stuff.
User can specify whether manual is displayed "Full Size" or be "Sized to fit screen" when loaded. Keep in mind any saved bookmarks override this. Press Back to toggle between "Full Size" and "Size to fit screen".
Commercials can be displayed either full screen, at the size of the video with black background, or same size of the video with synopsis background.
NOTE: Some emulators are tight on memory (eg: NeoGenesis) and not all the Xtra's will load. If you have trouble with an image loading you might have to resize it.
In screenshot viewer. If the image is smaller than your text file screensize settings it will work as follows.
- If the image is taller than it is wide it will continue expanding the image (based on aspect ratio) until the width fits within the width of your text file screensize width. (Most normal manuals)
- If the image is wider than it is tall it will continue expanding the image (based on aspect ratio) until the height fits within the height of your text file screensize height. (For example NES manuals).
This seems to effectively stretch the image in the best manner possible for scanned manual reading.
Browsing manuals/videos should auto select any file matching your ROM name exactly. Select "View Media Directory" for manual browsing.
Unmapped controls that allow you to move the screen around since word wrap should work correctly now.
Change Fixed Width font controls are now mapped to the right analog stick (left/right) like the help screen says it should be. Doh.
Set font size keeps seperate settings for Fixed Width fonts and proportional fonts since they produce different results.
Graphic documentation can now be stored in a ZIP file and still work with the media browser functions (next/previous and bookmarks).
Music no longer starts playing after viewing text file in game.
Number of lines displayed in the text file viewer now properly match user set text screen size.
Number of lines displayed updates properly if user modifies text screen size within text file viewer.
Text file viewer functions turn off FixedWidth before displaying any menu.
Added a fixed width font for the text file viewer. If you wanna use it you have to make sure that a file named "FixedFont.ttf" is located in the emulator directory. Press "Y" in the text file viewer to switch to the fixed font.

Carryovers from Atarixlbox:

Ability to pick a file from within a zip file.
Fixed a few interface "quirks" regarding playing game sounds while emu is paused.
Select save state screen tells you whether your "loading" or "saving", it also now displays whether a save file has a record session (R) associated with it.
When a new save state is created it deletes any recordings. If you press the "back" button while in the save state select screen it will allow you to delete that save state (as well as it's recording).
Utilities menu display modifed to state "stop or start recording/playback" depending on whether they are turned on or off. It also displays total minutes remaining or played so far.
Record/Playback turn off when exiting a game. Boy that sure caused some confusion.
Switched positioning control of sprites in the skin menu to the left analog stick, that way you don't have to worry about unintentionally lowering the volume.
Savestate load screen is a little more informational when sent to it from the save/record option.
When you save a picture it removes the screenshot save path making it easier to see long names.
Changed order of some of the entries in the "Music Control Menu".
Playlist repeat mode, and View Name setting is saved in INI file. Although song name only shows in the music control menu.
(cheat codes)When "adding a code" from the "edit code" screen the current code is copied as a template.
You can activate/deactivate a code from the "cheat code list" menu by pressing start.
Deleting a cheat code now asks you if you are sure (I got tired of accidently deleting my codes).
Fixed up the problem created from using multiple files in a Zip file.
Fixed problem when a filename inside a zip contains too many characters. While I was at it I fixed the space as the last character when trimming to 42 characters behavior. Zip files where the path was saved now unzip correctly.
Rewind and Fastforward are de-activated during record/playback and netplay mode. It even tells you so when you try..
Modified YesNoMenu so it doesn't clear m_menuText.
Added ability to add in cheat codes from a Gameshark compatible database (see description below). This includes the ability to export the cheat codes in a game to "share" with your friends. Cheat/rumble codes are included for most games. When "adding" codes from the gameshark DB it will move you to the entries with a matching CRC. If not you'll have to manually find the game.

Credits

Special thanks:

X-port for porting a great collection of emu's over to the xbox, releasing the source code, and answering my questions.
Surreal CE team - Just because they are cool.
+T+, iq_132, NeoBomb, and XtecuterX73 for helping keep the xbox-scene alive.
Atariage (Albert in particular) - For providing a place for me to ramble on. For encouragement in general.
Wimpy and Perr - For providing even a better place for me to ramble on.
Carnage By Bob for kicking things in gear with his BlissX Xtra's.
Gilou9999 for new COLOUR SD and HDTV skins, synopsis, suggestions, rumble codes, etc.
Cospefogo for the onscreen keyboard used by AdamX. Frank Morris for fixing the minor spelling error in the onscreen keyboard.
Guybird for the "Button List" concept/idea and waal for the "Popup Action List" idea.
Shout out to Hyper_Eye, SPPV, hcf, A600, Destronger, +T+, Neobomb, incrediclint, Surreal CE team and all those who are honourable and keep the xbox-scene alive.
Comments of support from various interested parties.

External links

EmuXtras - http://www.emuxtras.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=2124