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DCEmu Interviews Go back to Main Page
Interview with: Timo Laman
Homepage:
Date: 2002
The Interview
Wraggster Can you tell us where were you born, where you live, your family
details,etc.?
Timo : I was born 19 years ago in Amsterdam. Currently I live in the north
of the Netherlands, with my mother and my sister.
Wraggster What qualifications do you have?
Timo : I have a highschool diploma (well, the Dutch equivalent of one I suppose)
and I just finished the first year of my education in Computing Science
at the University of Groningen.
Wraggster What made you get into computers?
Timo : When I was about 6 years old I had a friend who had a NES. That's
about when my interest in computer games started. As soon as I started playing
games however I also wanted to know how they worked. So when we got our
first PC (about 6 years later) I started to learn how to program... in QBASIC,
that is.
Wraggster What projects/coding have you done previous to your OswanDC Emulator.?
Timo : I've tried lots of things. My most recent program is a viewer for
Quake maps (for the PC). Before that I made a guitar tuner (which is, unfortunately,
too inaccurate to be of any real use) for a school assignment. OswanDC is
the first project that I ever really released, though.
Wraggster What made you choose to do an emulator for the Dreamcast?
Timo : I wanted to do something with an emulator for my next project, but
I didn't feel like starting a new emulator from scratch. When I came across
the source for Oswan it seemed like a nice idea to make a port. That way
I would finally have a use for my DC coder's cable, and maybe even contribute
something useful to the DC programming scene.
Wraggster How did you start and what programs did you use to start coding
for theDreamcast?
Timo : Some time ago, when I had just bought my Dreamcast, a friend told
me he had heard of a port of Quake for the Dreamcast. I searched the internet
for it and that brought me to DCemulation.com. When I saw how easy it was
to write your own programs for the DC and play them, just using freely available
software and relatively cheap hardware, I thought "well, why not"
and ordered a coder's cable. Then I started writing some very simple programs,
first using libdream and later KOS. For compiling I use gcc 3.0 (hmmm, I
should probably update that sometime), in a linux environment. For loading
I use the excellent DC-tool/DC-load program.
Wraggster Can you give us a status update on your emulator?
Timo : I'm working on sound support. I fixed a bug a few days ago that slowed
some games down when sound was enabled. Sound partially works, but needs
much improvement before a version with sound support is fit to be released
Wraggster How hard was it getting your OswanDC emulator to work and how
can you improve it?
Timo : Actually it wasn't that hard to port the emulator. I had a working
version two days after I started.There's always room for improvement of
course, but right now the most important things are getting the sound to
work and improving the speed.
Wraggster Do you have any new projects in the pipeline?
Timo : Not at the moment.
Wraggster Whats your opinion of the Xbox and PS2 Emulation Scenes and which
wouldbe the most promising for you?
Timo : Since I do not have either an Xbox or a PS2, I haven't really looked
into those scenes. Still, I think the creation of emulators and homebrew
software for any console is great.
A big thanks to Timo Laman for a great Interview. :)
The DCEmu Homebrew and Gaming Network
Welcome to the DCEmu Homebrew and Gaming Network. This Network of sites is
owned and ran by fans of the retro consoles and the latest next-gen consoles,
we post news on all the consoles we cover about hardware aspects, gaming and
Homebrew. Homebrew and Emulation are software thats made using free and legal
tools to play on games consoles. This Network is the only worldwide network
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the credit and comments they deserve for all their hardwork. We have a Network
that currently supports Nintendo Wii, Xbox360, PS3, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Nintendo
DS, PSP, GBA, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Gizmondo, Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac,
GP32, GP2X and also Mobile Phone Emulation. When new consoles appear we will
expand to cover those consoles.
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