DeSmuME

Here you can learn how to use DeSmuME to test your scripts on your computer.

• Introduction
• Setting up the emulator
• Limitations
• Emulating µLua on Nintendo Wii
• Credits

Introduction

Testing MicroLua's homebrews is actually very simple. It can also give results closer to the hardware than MicroLua Simulator.

DeSmuME will run MicroLua and emulate the file system of your linker, so you obviously need to download it.

Setting up the emulator

1. download DeSmuME and install it wherever you want
2. start it and open the menu Emulation/GBA Slot
3. be sure you have prepared a folder, representing the root of your SD card, containing the folder lua (which a lot of people often forget to copy there); the homebrews go in the folder scripts
4. choose Compact Flash. Select folder and choose the folder you have prepared in the previous step
5. in DeSmuME, start the ROM 'MicroLua X.nds' ('X' being the version) that you get in the release package
6. profit

Limitations

As DeSmuME is emulating the console, it is very close to the real behavior of MicroLua, however when you seem to be experiencing a bug caused by MicroLua itself, please confirm it on your Nintendo DS. Despite all the work the team maintaining DeSmuME achieve, an emulator is not the true hardware.

Excepted the point hereabove, there is no known limitation about using MicroLua with DeSmuME.

If compared to MicroLua Simulator, we can say it is far more reliable and complete, but with less debugging tools related to µLua.

Emulating µLua on Nintendo Wii

DeSmuME also exists as a Wii homebrew which allows you to play .nds executables on your Wii, including MiroLua of course.

However, the steps are longer to perform:

1. start your Wii
2. launch the Homebrew Channel (a special channel which is not from the Wii Shop)
3. start DesmumeWII
4. start MicroLua
5. start a MicroLua homebrew

Credits

This page is translated and revised from Ghuntar's original tutorial and the comments that were made there.