Elysian Visual Memory Unit

The Elysian VMU is an under-development VMU emulator that attempts to go far beyond the call of a simple emulator with fancy modern features. EVMU is being designed to be the end-all, one-stop VMU emulation, file management, and development software platform.

About

Being developed by the team behind Elysian Shadows in parallel with the game itself, EVMU seeks to not only fully and accurately reproduce the glorious 8-bit gaming experience of the past, but also to allow future indie games to turn any PC, smartphone, or mobile device into a virtual VMU to use as an additional display, save device, or external 8-bit gaming platform, functioning as it did on the Dreamcast. EVMU is also being developed to function as an add-on emulator for existing Dreamcast emulators, to bring you the COMPLETE Dreamcast emulation experience.

ElysianVMU aims to unify the VMU community for gamers and for developers, by offering a single, integrated tool which can be used to unlock the full potential of the device on any platform, by honoring it as an interactive 8-bit filesystem for save files, as a standalone gaming device, as a remote screen for Dreamcast homebrew and emulators, and as an epic little microcontroller platform capable of powering indie titles.

ElysianVMU aims to unify the VMU community for gamers and for developers, by offering a single, integrated tool which can be used to unlock the full potential of the device on any platform, by honoring it as an interactive 8-bit filesystem for save files, as a standalone gaming device, as a remote screen for Dreamcast homebrew and emulators, and as an epic little microcontroller platform capable of powering indie titles.

Why The VMU?

So you're a game developer or an an engineer and think it looks kinda neat but are wondering why the hell you should actually realistically consider the VMU as a development platform. Allow me to share with you the variety of reasons why I, as a developer and as an engineering enthusiast, see the VMU as an appealing target platform.

  • Cross-Platform: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi

  • Japanese and US Bios Support

  • Filesystem and Save File Manager

  • Export and Import .VMI/.VMS, .DCI, .VMU, .DCM and .BIN file formats

  • Supports .LCD VMU Animator files

  • Custom Graffiti Tool for Jet Set/Grind Radio

  • Buzzer Tool for Creating VMU Music

  • Controller/Joystick Support (with Analog Stick support)

  • Physically Accurate LCD Animation (for grayscale and pixel ghosting)

  • Tools for exporting and ripping Dreamcast file icons

  • Screenshot and Screen Capture Recording

  • Supports VMU-to-VMU Serial Emulation over IP (work-in-progress)

  • Memory Browser and Debug Environment (work-in-progress)

  • Integrated VMU Assembler and Disassembler (Waterbear)

  • Fully Integrated Documentation

  • Low-Battery Emulation

  • Scriptable Command-Line Interface

  • Fully Supported by the Elysian Shadows Engine and Toolkit

Get EVMU

EVMU is currently in active development, but you can try out an early build below or play online.