Mednafen

Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom Documentation

Last updated January 2, 2024
Valid as of 1.32.0-UNSTABLE

Table of Contents:

Introduction

The "snes_faust" emulation module is experimental, and not used automatically by default except for SPC and SNSF playback. To use this module rather than the "snes" module, you must either set the "snes.enable" setting to "0", or pass "-force_module snes_faust" to Mednafen each time it is invoked.

Timing is approximate, so some games may exhibit timing-related issues. The only input devices currently emulated are the standard SNES gamepad, mouse, and multitap. The following special cart chips and devices are emulated:

A unique feature to this module(at the current time) is optional 1-frame speculative execution, disabled by default, controlled by the "snes_faust.spex" setting. Enabling it will reduce input(controller)->output(video) latency by 1 video frame(~16.7ms), with no deleterious effects on most games tested(though it will increase CPU usage a bit). Combine it with the setting changes recommended here for a better netplay experience.

To boost performance on underpowered multi-CPU-core platforms, enable multi-threaded rendering by changing the setting "snes_faust.renderer" to "mt". If emulation is then still marginally too slow to run fullspeed, additional performance with the multi-threaded renderer can sometimes be obtained by manually specifying CPU affinity with settings "snes_faust.affinity.ppu" and "affinity.emu"; such as with values "0x1" and "0x2", respectively(or vice-versa), on a dual-core system, or "0x3" and "0xC" for quad-core. There are also settings "affinity.video", "snes_faust.affinity.msu1.audio", and "snes_faust.affinity.msu1.data", for more advanced tinkering. However, keep in mind that it's *very* easy to massively hurt performance by specifying sub-optimal CPU affinities.


Settings Reference

Caution: Any settings that change emulation behavior as seen from the emulated game are shown with the setting name bolded in the table. One should be conscious of these settings if one has changed them from the default values when using network play or movies, as they can cause desychronizations if not set the same among hosts(or between the recording emulator and the playing emulator).

Setting:Value Type:Possible Values:Default Value:Description:
snes_faust.affinity.msu1.audiointeger0x0000000000000000 through 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0MSU1 audio read thread CPU affinity mask.

Set to 0 to disable changing affinity.

 
snes_faust.affinity.msu1.datainteger0x0000000000000000 through 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0MSU1 data read thread CPU affinity mask.

Set to 0 to disable changing affinity.

 
snes_faust.affinity.ppuinteger0x0000000000000000 through 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0PPU rendering thread CPU affinity mask.

Set to 0 to disable changing affinity.

 
snes_faust.correct_aspectenum0
1
force_ntsc
force_pal
1Correct aspect ratio.
  • 0 - Disabled

  • 1 - Enabled

  • force_ntsc - Enabled, force NTSC PAR.

  • force_pal - Enabled, force PAL PAR.
 
snes_faust.cx4.clock_rateinteger100 through 500100CX4 clock rate, specified in percentage of normal.

Overclocking the CX4 will cause or worsen attract mode desynchronization.

 
snes_faust.h_filterenumnone
512
phr256blend
phr256blend_auto512
phr256blend_512
512_blend
noneHorizontal blending/doubling filter.
  • none - None

  • 512 - Force 512.
    Double width of line if it's 256.

  • phr256blend - Pseudo-hires halve-blend.
    Blend line down to 256 pixels if it's pseudo-hires.

  • phr256blend_auto512 - Pseudo-hires halve-blend and force 512 if necessary.
    Blend line down to 256 pixels if it's pseudo-hires. After, double width of line if any other lines use hires mode.

  • phr256blend_512 - Pseudo-hires halve-blend and force 512.
    Blend line down to 256 pixels if it's pseudo-hires. After, double width of line if it's 256.

  • 512_blend - Force 512 and blend.
    Double width of line if it's 256. After, blend line.
 
snes_faust.input.mouse_sensitivityreal through 0.50Emulated mouse sensitivity.
 
snes_faust.input.port1enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 1
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port2enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 2
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port3enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 3
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port4enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 4
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port5enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 5
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port6enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 6
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port7enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 7
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.port8enumnone
gamepad
mouse
gamepadInput device for Virtual Port 8
  • none - none

  • gamepad - Gamepad

  • mouse - Mouse
 
snes_faust.input.sport1.multitapboolean0
1
0Enable multitap on SNES port 1.
 
snes_faust.input.sport2.multitapboolean0
1
0Enable multitap on SNES port 2.
 
snes_faust.msu1.resamp_qualityinteger0 through 54MSU1 sound quality.

Higher values correspond to better SNR and better preservation of higher frequencies("brightness"), at the cost of increased computational complexity and a negligible increase in latency.

Higher values will also slightly increase the probability of sample clipping(relevant if Mednafen's volume control settings are set too high), due to increased (time-domain) ringing.

 
snes_faust.regionenumauto
ntsc
pal
ntsc_lie_auto
pal_lie_auto
ntsc_lie_pal
pal_lie_ntsc
autoRegion of SNES to emulate.
  • auto - Auto

  • ntsc - NTSC(North America/Japan)

  • pal - PAL(Europe)

  • ntsc_lie_auto - NTSC, but PPU bit as if "auto".

  • pal_lie_auto - PAL, but PPU bit as if "auto".

  • ntsc_lie_pal - NTSC, but PPU bit as if PAL.

  • pal_lie_ntsc - PAL, but PPU bit as if NTSC.
 
snes_faust.rendererenumst
mt
stPPU renderer.

If you have only one CPU with one physical CPU core, select the single-threaded renderer for better performance.

  • st - Single-threaded
    PPU rendering is performed in the main emulation thread.

  • mt - Multi-threaded
    PPU rendering is performed in a dedicated thread.
 
snes_faust.resamp_qualityinteger0 through 53Sound quality.

Higher values correspond to better SNR and better preservation of higher frequencies("brightness"), at the cost of increased computational complexity and a negligible increase in latency.

Higher values will also slightly increase the probability of sample clipping(relevant if Mednafen's volume control settings are set too high), due to increased (time-domain) ringing.

 
snes_faust.resamp_rate_errorreal0.0000001 through 0.00150.000035Sound output rate tolerance.

Lower values correspond to better matching of the output rate of the resampler to the actual desired output rate, at the expense of increased RAM usage and poorer CPU cache utilization.

 
snes_faust.slendinteger0 through 223223Last displayed scanline in NTSC mode.
 
snes_faust.slendpinteger0 through 238238Last displayed scanline in PAL mode.
 
snes_faust.slstartinteger0 through 2230First displayed scanline in NTSC mode.
 
snes_faust.slstartpinteger0 through 2380First displayed scanline in PAL mode.
 
snes_faust.spexboolean0
1
0Enable 1-frame speculative execution for video output.

Hack to reduce input->output video latency by 1 frame. Enabling will increase CPU usage, and may cause video glitches(such as "jerkiness") in some oddball games, but most commercially-released games should be fine.

 
snes_faust.spex.soundboolean0
1
1Enable speculative execution for sound output too.

Only has an effect when speculative-execution for video output is enabled. Will cause minor sound glitches in some games.

 
snes_faust.superfx.clock_rateinteger25 through 500100Super FX clock rate, specified in percentage of normal.

Overclocking the Super FX will cause or worsen attract mode desynchronization.

 
snes_faust.superfx.icacheboolean0
1
0Enable SuperFX instruction cache emulation.

Enabling will likely increase CPU usage.

 

Setting:Value Type:Possible Values:Default Value:Description:
snes_faust.enableboolean0
1
1Enable (automatic) usage of this module.
 
snes_faust.forcemonoboolean0
1
0Force monophonic sound output.
 
snes_faust.scanlinesinteger-100 through 1000Enable scanlines with specified opacity.

Opacity is specified in %; IE a value of "100" will give entirely black scanlines.

Negative values are the same as positive values for non-interlaced video, but for interlaced video will cause the scanlines to be overlaid over the previous(if the "video.deinterlacer" setting is set to "weave", the default) field's lines.

 
snes_faust.shaderenumnone
autoip
autoipsharper
scale2x
sabr
ipsharper
ipxnoty
ipynotx
ipxnotysharper
ipynotxsharper
goat
noneEnable specified OpenGL shader.

Obviously, this will only work with the OpenGL "video.driver" setting, and only on cards and OpenGL implementations that support shaders, otherwise you will get a black screen, or Mednafen may display an error message when starting up. When a shader is enabled, the "snes_faust.videoip" setting is ignored.

  • none - None/Disabled

  • autoip - Auto Interpolation
    Will automatically interpolate on each axis if the corresponding effective scaling factor is not an integer.

  • autoipsharper - Sharper Auto Interpolation
    Same as "autoip", but when interpolation is done, it is done in a manner that will reduce blurriness if possible.

  • scale2x - Scale2x

  • sabr - SABR v3.0
    GPU-intensive.

  • ipsharper - Sharper bilinear interpolation.

  • ipxnoty - Linear interpolation on X axis only.

  • ipynotx - Linear interpolation on Y axis only.

  • ipxnotysharper - Sharper version of "ipxnoty".

  • ipynotxsharper - Sharper version of "ipynotx".

  • goat - Simple approximation of a color TV CRT look.
    Intended for fullscreen modes with a vertical resolution of around 1000 to 1500 pixels. Doesn't simulate halation and electron beam energy distribution nuances.
 
snes_faust.shader.goat.fprogboolean0
1
0Force interlaced video to be treated as progressive.

When disabled, the default, the "video.deinterlacer" setting is effectively ignored with respect to what appears on the screen, unless it's set to "blend" or "blend_rg". When enabled, it may be prudent to disable the scanlines effect controlled by the "snes_faust.shader.goat.slen" setting, or else the scanline effect may look objectionable.

 
snes_faust.shader.goat.hdivreal-2.00 through 2.000.50Constant RGB horizontal divergence.
 
snes_faust.shader.goat.patenumgoatron
borg
slenderman
goatronMask pattern.
  • goatron - Goatron
    Brightest.

  • borg - Borg
    Darkest.

  • slenderman - Slenderman
    Spookiest?
 
snes_faust.shader.goat.slenboolean0
1
1Enable scanlines effect.
 
snes_faust.shader.goat.tpreal0.00 through 1.000.50Transparency of otherwise-opaque mask areas.
 
snes_faust.shader.goat.vdivreal-2.00 through 2.000.50Constant RGB vertical divergence.
 
snes_faust.specialenumnone
hq2x
hq3x
hq4x
scale2x
scale3x
scale4x
2xsai
super2xsai
supereagle
nn2x
nn3x
nn4x
nny2x
nny3x
nny4x
noneEnable specified special video scaler.

The destination rectangle is NOT altered by this setting, so if you have xscale and yscale set to "2", and try to use a 3x scaling filter like hq3x, the image is not going to look that great. The nearest-neighbor scalers are intended for use with bilinear interpolation enabled, for a sharper image, though the "autoipsharper" shader may provide better results.

  • none - None/Disabled

  • hq2x - hq2x

  • hq3x - hq3x

  • hq4x - hq4x

  • scale2x - scale2x

  • scale3x - scale3x

  • scale4x - scale4x

  • 2xsai - 2xSaI

  • super2xsai - Super 2xSaI

  • supereagle - Super Eagle

  • nn2x - Nearest-neighbor 2x

  • nn3x - Nearest-neighbor 3x

  • nn4x - Nearest-neighbor 4x

  • nny2x - Nearest-neighbor 2x, y axis only

  • nny3x - Nearest-neighbor 3x, y axis only

  • nny4x - Nearest-neighbor 4x, y axis only
 
snes_faust.stretchenum0
full
aspect
aspect_int
aspect_mult2
aspect_mult2Stretch to fill screen.
  • 0 - Disabled

  • full - Full
    Full-screen stretch, disregarding aspect ratio.

  • aspect - Aspect Preserve
    Full-screen stretch as far as the aspect ratio(in this sense, the equivalent xscalefs == yscalefs) can be maintained.

  • aspect_int - Aspect Preserve + Integer Scale
    Full-screen stretch, same as "aspect" except that the equivalent xscalefs and yscalefs are rounded down to the nearest integer.

  • aspect_mult2 - Aspect Preserve + Integer Multiple-of-2 Scale
    Full-screen stretch, same as "aspect_int", but rounds down to the nearest multiple of 2.
 
snes_faust.tblurboolean0
1
0Enable video temporal blur(50/50 previous/current frame by default).
 
snes_faust.tblur.accumboolean0
1
0Accumulate color data rather than discarding it.
 
snes_faust.tblur.accum.amountreal0 through 10050Blur amount in accumulation mode, specified in percentage of accumulation buffer to mix with the current frame.
 
snes_faust.videoipenum0
1
x
y
1Enable (bi)linear interpolation.
  • 0 - Disabled

  • 1 - Bilinear

  • x - Linear (X)
    Interpolation only on the X axis.

  • y - Linear (Y)
    Interpolation only on the Y axis.
 
snes_faust.xresinteger0 through 655360Full-screen horizontal resolution.

A value of "0" will cause the current desktop horizontal resolution to be used.

 
snes_faust.xscalereal0.01 through 2563.000000Scaling factor for the X axis in windowed mode.
 
snes_faust.xscalefsreal0.01 through 2561.000000Scaling factor for the X axis in fullscreen mode.

For this setting to have any effect, the "snes_faust.stretch" setting must be set to "0".

 
snes_faust.yresinteger0 through 655360Full-screen vertical resolution.

A value of "0" will cause the current desktop vertical resolution to be used.

 
snes_faust.yscalereal0.01 through 2563.000000Scaling factor for the Y axis in windowed mode.
 
snes_faust.yscalefsreal0.01 through 2561.000000Scaling factor for the Y axis in fullscreen mode.

For this setting to have any effect, the "snes_faust.stretch" setting must be set to "0".