Bhole

For other uses, see Bhole (disambiguation).

Bhole is an emulator for Intel x86 PC games designed for DOS. It is different from other PC emulators, in that it emulates the executables directly, rather than through a DOS prompt. This gives the emulator a smaller memory footprint, and has allowed it to be ported successfully to such systems as the Dreamcast video game console. However, this method of emulation has led to a lower compatibility than other PC emulators. Bhole emulates up to an 80386 system, has support for Expanded Memory Specification (EMS) memory, and has PC speaker emulation. Bhole, originally entitled Black Hole, was created by Ori Brost based largely on x86 documents by Ralph Brown, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. Its team members currently consist of quzar (who ported the emulator to the Dreamcast). Kevin Read maintains the official BerliOS project page. Ori Brost has recently given an official declaration that he has stopped working actively on BHole, although still willing to help with some coding if asked and willing to provide counciling for anyone that will want to continue its development.

Source ports

Platforms	Latest release	First release	Notes	Site
Linux	v3	v3		[1]
Windows	v3	v3		[2]
Dreamcast	v3	v3		[3]

Compatibility

As of version 3, six games are known to be fully playable with Bhole. These games are:

• Master of Magic
• Round 42
• Moon Bugs
• Exterminiator
• STYX
• Conquest

Two games are also known to work partially with the Bhole. These games are:

• Rollo and the Brush Brothers
• Livingstone

External links

• Bhole on the BerliOS Developer Page
• Bhole for Sega Dreamcast