emulator: Demul
type: standalone
upstream: "https://demul.emulation64.com"
profiled_date: "2026-03-26"
core_version: "0.7"
display_name: "Sega - Dreamcast/NAOMI/Hikaru (Demul)"
cores:
  - demul
systems:
  - sega-dreamcast
  - sega-naomi
  - sega-naomi2
  - sega-hikaru
  - sammy-atomiswave
  - sega-system-sp
  - gaelco-powervr
  - cave-cv1000

notes: |
  Closed-source Windows emulator for Sega Dreamcast and related arcade hardware.
  Run via Wine (32-bit, win32 prefix) on Linux platforms (Batocera, RetroBat).
  Uses MAME ROM naming conventions for arcade BIOS archives.

  Batocera configgen (demulGenerator.py) maps roms0 to the BIOS directory.
  All BIOS ZIPs are placed directly in bios/ (no subdirectory prefix).
  Demul searches configured ROM paths for both game ROMs and BIOS archives.

  Gaelco PowerVR and Cave CV1000 (3rd gen) games are self-contained ROM sets
  and do not require separate BIOS archives.

  HLE MIE emulation available (changelog: "full HLE MIE" mode). LLE mode
  requires mie.zip with the 315-6146 MCU firmware.

  Supported launch modes via -run= parameter:
    dc, naomi, naomi2, hikaru, atomiswave, gaelco, cave3rd, segasp.

  BIOS requirements verified against Batocera configgen, batocera-systems
  declarations, MAME ROM set conventions, and community documentation.
  No source code available for direct verification.

files:
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sega Dreamcast
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: dc_boot.bin
    system: sega-dreamcast
    required: true
    size: 2097152
    note: "Dreamcast boot ROM (2 MB). No HLE fallback in Demul."

  - name: dc_flash.bin
    system: sega-dreamcast
    required: false
    size: 131072
    note: "Dreamcast flash memory (128 KB). Created by emulator if missing."

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sega NAOMI
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: naomi.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: >
      NAOMI system BIOS archive (MAME format). Contains region-specific
      BIOS ROMs (EPR-21576 Japan, EPR-21577 USA, EPR-21578 Export,
      EPR-21579 Korea) plus development and special BIOS variants.

  - name: naomigd.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: false
    category: bios_zip
    note: "NAOMI GD-ROM BIOS. Shares ROMs with naomi.zip (subset of region BIOS variants)."

  - name: hod2bios.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: false
    category: bios_zip
    note: "House of the Dead 2 game-specific BIOS. Japan/USA/Export variants."

  - name: f355bios.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: false
    category: bios_zip
    note: "Ferrari F355 Challenge game-specific BIOS. Japan/USA/Export variants."

  - name: f355dlx.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: false
    category: bios_zip
    note: "Ferrari F355 Challenge Deluxe game-specific BIOS. Japan/USA/Export variants."

  - name: airlbios.zip
    system: sega-naomi
    required: false
    category: bios_zip
    note: "Airline Pilots Deluxe game-specific BIOS. USA/Export variants."

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sega NAOMI 2
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: naomi2.zip
    system: sega-naomi2
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: >
      NAOMI 2 system BIOS archive (MAME format). Contains region-specific
      BIOS ROMs (EPR-23605 Japan, EPR-23607 USA, EPR-23608 Export,
      EPR-23609 Korea, EPR-23610 Australia).

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sega Hikaru
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: hikaru.zip
    system: sega-hikaru
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: >
      Hikaru system BIOS archive (MAME format). Contains EPR-23400a (latest),
      EPR-23400, EPR-21904 (early), prot_bot (dev/prototype). All 2 MB at IC94.

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sammy Atomiswave
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: awbios.zip
    system: sammy-atomiswave
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: "Atomiswave system BIOS archive (MAME format). Contains bios0.ic23 and bios1.ic23 (128 KB each)."

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Sega System SP
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: segasp.zip
    system: sega-system-sp
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: >
      System SP (Aurora/Spider) BIOS archive (MAME format). Contains
      EPR-24236a, EPR-24328/a BIOS ROMs, serial EEPROM, and network
      firmware variants.

  # -------------------------------------------------------
  # Device ROMs (NAOMI / NAOMI 2 / Hikaru)
  # -------------------------------------------------------
  - name: mie.zip
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: "MIE (Maple-JVS bridge) Z80 MCU firmware (315-6146.bin). HLE mode available; LLE mode requires this archive."

  - name: jvs13551.zip
    required: true
    category: bios_zip
    note: >
      Sega 837-13551 JVS I/O board firmware. Contains sp5001.bin,
      sp5001-a.bin, sp5001-b.bin, sp5002-a.bin, 315-6215.bin.