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 Liberty version 1.3 beta 2
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  Gambit Studios
  Frequently Asked Questions
  Liberty version 1.3 beta 2

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   1. What is Liberty?
   2. What is a GameBoy(tm)?
   3. What is a GameBoy(tm) ROM image?
   4. Where can I find GameBoy(tm) ROM image files?
   5. Where can I find GameBoy(tm) ROM image files (32K)?
   6. How do I convert GameBoy(tm) ROM image files for use with Liberty?
   7. How do I configure Liberty?
   8. Why is Liberty slow? 
   9. How can I make Liberty faster?
  10. Why is there no sound in Liberty?
  11. Why am I getting errors for saving and loading of games?
  12. Why does beaming of ROM images not work?
  13. How can I purchase Liberty?
  14. Who are the guys behind Liberty?

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   1. What is Liberty?

      Liberty  is the first  GameBoy(tm) emulator for devices that use the 
      Palm Computing Platform.  All Palm OS devices (except as listed below)
      should be compatible with Liberty.

      The following devices are NOT compatible with Liberty:
 
        Pilot 1000, 5000
        Palm Personal, Professional

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   2. What is a GameBoy(tm)?

      GameBoy(tm)  is a  device designed by Nintendo who's sole purpose is 
      to provide the user with the ability to play computer games. It used
      an 8-bit processor (similar to 8080/z80), 8K of RAM, 8K of video RAM
      and a screen resolution of 160x144 (2.6" in size). It provided 2 bit
      grayscale graphics.

      Liberty only supports original GameBoy(tm) games.
 
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   3. What is a GameBoy(tm) ROM image?

      GameBoy(tm) games were distributed using a plug-in cart system. This
      cart contains the program code and additional memory for the game it
      provides.  A GameBoy(tm) ROM image  is a direct duplicate of what is
      stored on this cart.  Each bank is 16K in size and  each cart always 
      has an even number of banks (multiple of 32K).

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   4. Where can I find GameBoy(tm) ROM image files?
   5. Where can I find GameBoy(tm) ROM image files (32K)?

      Gambit Studios does not endorse the illegal use of commercial games. 
      DO NOT request illegal images from us -  we don't know where you can 
      get them, and will not respond to your requests.

      GameBoy(tm) ROM images are available on the Internet - start here:

        http://www.vintagegaming.com/emulators/gameboyroms.html
        http://www.emuunlim.com/ROMs/gameboy.shtml

      GambitStudios provides pre-converted GameBoy(tm) ROM images of  free
      and demonstration roms at the following URL:

        http://www.gambitstudios.com/freesoftware.asp

      A large number of freeware and public domain GameBoy(tm) ROM  images
      can be found here:

        http://welcome.to/kojote/

      There are at least 80 commercial games available for the GameBoy(tm)
      that are 32K. These include: 

        Dr. Mario, 
        Tetris, 
        World Bowling, 
        Tennis, 
        Scramble, 
        Asteroids, 
        Centipede, 
        Bomb Jack, 
        Hyper Lode Runner and many more!!!

      UPDATE: (1.1.1) lifting of 32K demo limit: you can use >32K rom files!
              . the demo limit is ONLY valid for the first 32 executions of
	        the Liberty application, after this - you MUST register :))

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   6. How do I convert GameBoy(tm) ROM image files for use with Liberty?

      Liberty  is distributed with  a GameBoy(tm) ROM  image utility. This 
      program just splits the ROM image  up into a  readable format on the
      Palm Computing Platform.

      Various executables are available, depending on your platform.

        liberty.zip    = PC platform

                         16bit MSDOS program
                         32bit Windows program (drag + drop compatable)
                         InstallBuddy PlugIn

                         The easiest way to convert ROMS to pdb files is 
                         to copy them into a directory called:
 
                           C:\GBROMS

                         Make sure the rom2pdb.exe and gb2pdb.bat are in
                         this  directory as  well and then type "gb2pdb"
                         and press [enter]. Install the .pdb files using
                         the software provided with the device.

        liberty.sit    = Macintosh platform

                         Macintosh Executable (drag + drop)

        liberty.tar.gz = *nix platform

                         gcc -o rom2pdb rom2pdb.c      :P

      The source code is provided in each distribution, so the utility can
      be re-compiled to suit your own likings :) 

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   7. How do I configure Liberty?

      Liberty has a number of configuration options that allows the best
      gameplay environment:

        - key assignments

          You can adjust the configuration of the hardware buttons to suit
          the GameBoy(tm) games that  are emulated in Liberty. The default
          configuration gives the four center buttons as the joy pad, with
          button A on the right and button B on the left.

        - grayscale configuration

          If you are having problems seeing the grayscale tones,  you can 
          make adjustments using this configuration screen.  It  is  only
          available on devices that use 2bpp grayscale graphics displays.

        - color tweaking

          Some Palm devices are color, why should Liberty be a boring old
          grayscale application?  You can tweak the grayscale colors to a
          set of colors using RGB configurations. 

          Experiment with the different options to find a good system :)

        - frame blit

          You can control the rate at which the Palm screen is updated by
          setting this value. "Every Frame" is the slowest, however, once
          an overclocking utility is  used "Every 2nd Frame"  yeilds very 
          good animations and game play feel.          

      If you are having problems using your hardware keys or feel Liberty 
      is running very slow - you should disable any uneccessary hacks and
      perform a soft-reset and restart liberty.

      UPDATE: (1.2) game by game configuration!! finally!
              . you can now use the flexibility of configuring each game on
                a game by game basis! no more tweaking each time you play.

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   8. Why is Liberty slow? 
   9. How can I make Liberty faster?

      Liberty is an emulator. Emulation requires in many cases at least 8x
      (10 times in reality)  of CPU power to  emulate a particular type of
      CPU. The Palm's CPU, bundled with the resources required by the Palm
      Operating System is not sufficient to run at full speed.

      Overclocking is not supported by Palm Computing and the use of these 
      types of programs is  at your OWN risk.  Various applications  exist 
      that can do this task.  Afterburner  3.0 has been  tested internally 
      and works with no problems, however, results may vary. 

      You should see  some substantial increase in performance as soon  as 
      the device is overclocked.  If you do  not see any improvement,  you
      should  consult the  utilities manual  to ensure that the program is
      doing what it should.

      The following url provides an example of how to overclock:

      http://www.ardiri.com/index.cfm?redir=palm&cat=liberty&subcat=overclck

      You can use the "Benchmark" program to ensure your device is running
      at a faster speed when the utility is activated.  It is  written  by
      Neil Bridges and can be found on www.palmgear.com.

      The best games for use  with Liberty are RPG, adventure and strategy 
      games like Pokemon, Monopoly, Final Fantasy etc.  Liberty  does  not 
      emulate games well  that  change the  screen contents quickly,  like 
      action games, side scrollers etc.

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  10. Why is there no sound in Liberty?

      The GameBoy(tm) uses 4-channel with stereo sound.  It is not possible
      to reproduce the  sound within Liberty without  having a  significant
      impact on execution performance.
 
      UPDATE: (1.2) partial sound support: only channels 1 and 2.
              . it can be more annoying than useful, and can be disabled :)

      UPDATE: (1.3) sound quality has improved greatly! (though we still 
              emulate channels 1 and 2 only)

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  11. Why am I getting errors for saving and loading of games?

      Liberty performs a number of checks when doing a save and restore of
      a emulation  state and can run into a number of problems when trying
      to save or restore a game. The error can be caused because:

        - using an non-compatible saved state (from an earlier version)
	- low on memory and cannot perform the save
	- a writing error occured when saving the game state

     We have considered being backward compatible, however,  each release 
     of Liberty introduces either new attributes or a slight  redesign of
     the  internal mechanisms of  the emulator.  It would be  a developer 
     nightmare to try and translate between existing states. In the event
     something goes  wrong,  you  will  be informed,  and the problematic 
     saved  state  will be  removed.  There can be times where errors can 
     occur for different  reasons,  and you should  report any errors you
     experience to us - it could be a *bug* :)
     
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  12. Why does beaming of ROM images not work?

      The Palm OS exchange  manager (infa-red) is designed to work with the
      timing of a 16Mhz or 20Mhz processor  [depending on device].  The use 
      of an  overclocking utility  may interfere with the exchange  manager
      and cause problems with beaming. 

      If you are having problems with beaming ROM images, try disabling the
      overlocking utility and try again.

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  13. How can I purchase Liberty?

      Liberty is available online exclusively from the PalmGearHQ website.
      You can purchase  it by clicking on the "buy"  icon at the following 
      website:

        http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=7928

      PalmGearHQ handle  credit card  purchases both  online and over  the 
      phone. If you do not  have a credit card,  you can send  a cheque or
      money order (in US$) to the following address:

        Gambit Studios, LLC
        220 North Thornton St.
        Richmond, MO 64085
        United States of America (USA)

      Pricing is as follows:

        $16.95 - Liberty
        $22.95 - Liberty + AfterBurner 3.0 BUNDLE

      Cash payment  is considered as  long as it  is received  at the above 
      address, or paid in person.

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  14. Who are the guys behind Liberty?

      Liberty was a joint effort between Aaron Ardiri and Michael Ethetton.

      Michael Ethetton is the president of Gambit Studios and wrote the z80
      and gameboy emulation core of the Liberty application.

         methetton@gambitstudios.com
         http://www.gambitstudios.com/

      Aaron Ardiri,  an Independent Palm Developer,  joined the development 
      team on invitation to get the product "out the door". His duties were
      to build an application  framework, handle the memory  management and
      build the user interface of the emulator. 

         aaron@ardiri.com
         http://www.ardiri.com/
         
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  If you  have one of those questions that  you feel we should provide some 
  form of  explanation of,  please let us  know and we can incorporate them 
  into future versions of this FAQ.

  // Aaron Ardiri
  // Michael Ethetton
  - the Liberty development team           

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