Emulator Problem w/ a game

[evolvedbullet]

If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment, but back to the point..

Whenever I use my emulator (Project64), I get alot of small problems. First, the sound on the Roms I play skips more than half of the time but on other games thats not the issue. Secondly, some of the Rom's content isn't working 100%. And thirdly, the FPS on some games get shot to hell for some reason.

Specs:
8800 GTS GeForce Nvida V.Card
Gigabyte Tech. Mobo; P35-DS3L
4 Gbs of Ram
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

If I may be specific in a problem I am having in a particular game, when I play Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (E) (1.1v.) I have a functionality problem with an object called "Lens of Truth". I've played this game about 8 yrs ago and I can tell that it isn't working right when I try looking at hidden doorways and traps. Those things are meant to be visible with the Lens equipped. I looked all over the internet to see if other folks had this particular problem, so far I've come up with nothing. If you guys have any ideas, Id appreciate that too.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment,

Emulators aren't. ROMS are, and that's what you want help with.

 

[TridenT]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment,

Emulators aren't. ROMS are, and that's what you want help with.

I thought they were only illegal if you didn't own the game...

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: TridenT

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment,

Emulators aren't. ROMS are, and that's what you want help with.

I thought they were only illegal if you didn't own the game...

and how many people follow that? lol

 

[JujuFish]

Originally posted by: TridenT

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment,

Emulators aren't. ROMS are, and that's what you want help with.

I thought they were only illegal if you didn't own the game...

Incorrect.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: JujuFish

Originally posted by: TridenT

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
If emulators are illegal, I didn't know and will proceed with it's un-installment,

Emulators aren't. ROMS are, and that's what you want help with.

I thought they were only illegal if you didn't own the game...

Incorrect.

Yes, that information is incorrect and was propagated by the emulation/ROM sites as a lame disclaimer. It's simply not true.

 

[alcoholbob]

Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

It's considered a derivative work, which is considered ilegal.
Way too much misinformtion around.

"Any unauthorized copy of a computer program, regardless of the original or resultant media, can be considered a counterfeit copy under federal law. (15 USC 1127, 18 USC 1030). The practice of dumping the videogame cartridges of a home videogame system by the average user is not justified under the backup proviso of copyright law (Atari v. JS&A Group, 1983), and this restriction also covers arcade videogames and any other ROM-derived formats as well (Tandy v. Personal Micro Computer, 1981). The one exception for ROM dumping is granted solely to bona fide developers and their associates (Sega v. Accolade and Nintendo v. Atari, 1992), with any resultant "intermediate copies" having exactly the same protections and restrictions as if they were the originals themselves. You, as a user, do not have the right to dump a piece of computer code stored in ROM format for use with an emulator, since you are not a developer (Sony v. Connectix, 2000). Also, this is not considered to be justifiable as an operational adaptation due to the necessary format change involved (Mirage v. Alberquerque ART, 1988). What you have produced is a derivative work, and all such works must be authorized by the copyright owner in order to be legal (17 USC 106). You cannot use fair use to justify ROM dumps, since the courts have denied this venue to the average user due to the illegal nature of the resultant copies (Sega v. MAPHIA, 1994). You may not obtain intermediate copies from a developer for your personal use, as this voids the developer's protections under case law (Sega v. Accolade, 1992). As an additional note, current EULA language by practically all computer program developers utilizing some form of permanent storage media specifically forbids the practice of dumping their code from its original media, and they are justified in doing so under federal contract law (ProCD v. Ziedenberg, 1996). Any unauthorized "ROM" in the possession of the average user is considered to be at best an infringing copy of the program in question (MAI v. Peak, 1993) and at worst a counterfeit copy (15 USC 1127, 18 USC 1030). In short, the average user may not produce, obtain, own, use, or distribute any kind of infringing "ROM" without the authorization of its copyright owner."

 

[shortylickens]

Yup, this is what I figured would happen.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Yup, this is what I figured would happen.

 

[Fox5]

Try www.ngemu.com for your problems.

 

[Sureshot324]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

It's considered a derivative work, which is considered ilegal.
Way too much misinformtion around.

"Any unauthorized copy of a computer program, regardless of the original or resultant media, can be considered a counterfeit copy under federal law. (15 USC 1127, 18 USC 1030). The practice of dumping the videogame cartridges of a home videogame system by the average user is not justified under the backup proviso of copyright law (Atari v. JS&A Group, 1983), and this restriction also covers arcade videogames and any other ROM-derived formats as well (Tandy v. Personal Micro Computer, 1981). The one exception for ROM dumping is granted solely to bona fide developers and their associates (Sega v. Accolade and Nintendo v. Atari, 1992), with any resultant "intermediate copies" having exactly the same protections and restrictions as if they were the originals themselves. You, as a user, do not have the right to dump a piece of computer code stored in ROM format for use with an emulator, since you are not a developer (Sony v. Connectix, 2000). Also, this is not considered to be justifiable as an operational adaptation due to the necessary format change involved (Mirage v. Alberquerque ART, 1988). What you have produced is a derivative work, and all such works must be authorized by the copyright owner in order to be legal (17 USC 106). You cannot use fair use to justify ROM dumps, since the courts have denied this venue to the average user due to the illegal nature of the resultant copies (Sega v. MAPHIA, 1994). You may not obtain intermediate copies from a developer for your personal use, as this voids the developer's protections under case law (Sega v. Accolade, 1992). As an additional note, current EULA language by practically all computer program developers utilizing some form of permanent storage media specifically forbids the practice of dumping their code from its original media, and they are justified in doing so under federal contract law (ProCD v. Ziedenberg, 1996). Any unauthorized "ROM" in the possession of the average user is considered to be at best an infringing copy of the program in question (MAI v. Peak, 1993) and at worst a counterfeit copy (15 USC 1127, 18 USC 1030). In short, the average user may not produce, obtain, own, use, or distribute any kind of infringing "ROM" without the authorization of its copyright owner."

Then how do all these ROM sites operate without getting sued? Unlike torrent sites, the ROM sites directly host the ROMs, so it seems like they'd be an easy target for legal action.

 

[acheron]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

It's considered a derivative work, which is considered ilegal.
Way too much misinformtion around.

(snip legal summary)

Good summary, thanks. From a theoretical perspective, I'm not sure I buy some of those decisions, but who said the law has to make sense?

Of course, even if you were allowed to back it up, you have to create the backup yourself; downloading someone else's "backup" is legally not the same thing (UMG v MP3.com, 2000).

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: Sureshot324

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

It's considered a derivative work, which is considered ilegal.
Way too much misinformtion around.

Then how do all these ROM sites operate without getting sued? Unlike torrent sites, the ROM sites directly host the ROMs, so it seems like they'd be an easy target for legal action.

Alot of the sites ARE shut down, or the servers are located in foreign countries where our copyright laws don't apply. For example, I found a disc from my ROM days a while back and it had a notepad file with a list of the ROM sites I visited regularly, and when I copy/pasted them none of them worked anymore.
They claim to operate in grey areas, but are eventually found and shut down if it is within their power to do so.
Nintendo is known to be aggressive towards these things.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: acheron

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Well it's not even on the same system so you could say it's a Mona Lisa knock-off. There's nothing illegal about that unless *you sell it.*

It's considered a derivative work, which is considered ilegal.
Way too much misinformtion around.

(snip legal summary)

Good summary, thanks. From a theoretical perspective, I'm not sure I buy some of those decisions, but who said the law has to make sense?

Of course, even if you were allowed to back it up, you have to create the backup yourself; downloading someone else's "backup" is legally not the same thing (UMG v MP3.com, 2000).

I agree, the law doesn't make sense, but it's still illegal, and that's all that matter.
Nobody downloading or using ROMs is going to FPMITAP, but when asked if it's illegal, the answer is still yes, and there may be legal ramifications if discussed here.

 

[AbAbber2k]

As far as the OP's technical problems go... all I can say is that N64 emulation sucks compared to PSX, SNES, Genesis, etc. There are plenty of games that run great on PJ64 or 1964... but there are probably just as many that run like crap/don't run at all/have terrible graphical and/or sound errors.

Best thing to do is search the net for emulation forums with tips on getting your games to run better. I've had good luck with both PJ64 and 1964 in the past, combined with Pete's Plugins.

 

[alcoholbob]

You are breaking laws every day that are you aren't aware of. Law enforcement and the courts will only go so far (not to mention the content owners). There is a common sense limit, as society's wheels would come to a halt if every contractual agreement was enforced. Imagine if every cassette tape, CD copy of a radio station song, or VHS copy of a tv broadcast, hell, TIVO, youtube, these are all massive IP violating activities. Alot of these regulations the content owners themselves would never have the balls to pursue these things legally--everything comes down to money because they want to KEEP making more money on profitable schemes. The fact is, EOL software from multiple generations ago is not generating any income, and unlike creative artists these corporations operate under the good will of their users because they are constantly producing content in order to chase the generational cash cow. Perception = business opportunity and the last thing these companies have the interest in is user piracy of old games that are already routinely thrown into free demo discs.