[DOWNLOAD/RELEASE] P-NES Emulator for the HP Prime G2

+- HP Forums (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum)
+-- Forum: HP Calculators (and very old HP Computers) (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/forum-3.html)
+--- Forum: HP Prime (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: [DOWNLOAD/RELEASE] P-NES Emulator for the HP Prime G2 (/thread-25487.html)

[DOWNLOAD/RELEASE] P-NES Emulator for the HP Prime G2 - FerTheWildShadow - 2026-09-26 02:20

After a lot of testing, debugging and optimization, I'm finally releasing the first public version of P-NES, a Nintendo Entertainment System emulator made specifically for the HP Prime G2.

The project started as an experiment to see how far the Prime could be pushed using a combination of HP PPL + Python, but it eventually became a functional emulator capable of running real .NES ROMs, with a custom interface designed around the Prime's 320×240 display.

         

IMPORTANT:
At the moment, P-NES is primarily recommended for the virtual HP Prime / emulator. It also runs on a real HP Prime G2, but performance on physical hardware is still being optimized. Depending on the game, the physical calculator may run at relatively low FPS. This is something I'm actively working on.

CURRENT FEATURES
  1. - Real .NES ROM loading directly from the app files.
  2. - 6502 CPU emulation.
  3. - NES PPU/video emulation.
  4. - Support for iNES ROMs and mappers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 66, 71, 94 and 180.
  5. - MMC1/MMC3 and several simpler cartridge configurations.
  6. - SRAM support for games that use battery-backed saves.
  7. - Automatic SRAM saving.
  8. - Manual SRAM saving from the pause menu.
  9. - 3 Save State slots, with save and load support.
  10. - Restart game option.
  11. - CPU single-step option for testing/debugging.
  12. - Pause menu accessible while playing.
  13. - Customizable controls using supported HP Prime keys.
  14. - Numeric keys, Enter and other calculator keys can be mapped.
  15. - Keyboard letters are intentionally excluded because they are not reliably detected as gameplay inputs.
  16. - Configurable frame skipping.
  17. - FPS limiter with quick presets for 30 / 60 / 120 FPS.
  18. - Manual FPS configuration from 1–360 FPS.
  19. - Unlimited FPS mode.
  20. - ROM browser.
  21. - Touchscreen menu support.
  22. - Multi-language UI: English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian.
  23. - Optimized rendering paths for the Prime.
  24. - Special optimized CPU execution paths for certain common workloads while maintaining normal fallback emulation.
  25. - No audio generation. Since the HP Prime has no speakers, P-NES intentionally avoids spending CPU time synthesizing audio.
  26. - Dark/red UI inspired by the visual style of ODE Master.
  27. - Developed specifically around the HP Prime G2's 320×240 display.

             

ABOUT THE FPS SETTING
  • One important thing when testing P-NES is the FPS limit.
  • The virtual calculator and the physical HP Prime do not necessarily run P-NES at the same speed.
  • If a game feels like it is running too fast, try lowering the FPS limit to something like:
  • 30 FPS → 60 FPS → 120 FPS
  • depending on how your environment performs.
  • If your emulator/computer can handle more speed, you can increase the limit or use UNLIMITED.
  • There is also a manual option where you can enter a value between 1 and 360 FPS.
  • So don't assume that one FPS setting will be ideal for every device. Experiment with it depending on whether you're using the virtual Prime or the real calculator.
  • On a physical G2, increasing the FPS limit obviously cannot create performance that the calculator does not have; some games simply won't reach the requested value yet. The setting is mainly there so you can tune pacing to your particular environment.

PHYSICAL HP PRIME PERFORMANCE [IMPORTANT]
  1. I want to emphasize this because I don't want people downloading it and expecting perfect 60 FPS NES emulation on the physical calculator yet.
  2. P-NES is still in an optimization phase.
  3. The HP Prime G2 is doing CPU emulation, PPU emulation, cartridge mapping, input handling and rendering in software, so some games are currently fairly demanding.
  4. Simple games can perform better, while games using more complicated rendering or cartridge hardware can be significantly heavier.
  5. The virtual calculator is currently the best way to experience P-NES, because it has considerably more host CPU performance available.
  6. That said, running actual NES games directly on a physical HP Prime is one of the main reasons this project exists, so optimization for real hardware will continue.
  7. The goal is not to add game-specific hacks just to make a few ROMs look good. I'm trying to keep the emulator as general as possible and optimize the actual emulation architecture.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE
https://www.mediafire.com/file/0zpbrrczdsbm4ly/P-NES_BETA.hpappdir.zip/file

   

COMPATIBILITY
  • P-NES currently supports classic iNES ROMs. NES 2.0 is NOT supported yet.
  • Compatibility will naturally vary because this is still an early emulator and the NES has a large number of cartridge mappers and edge cases.
  • If you find a ROM that boots incorrectly, has graphical problems, crashes, or performs unusually badly, feel free to report:
  • Game name + ROM mapper + whether you're using Virtual Prime or a physical HP Prime G2.
  • That information is extremely useful when debugging.

There is still plenty of optimization work ahead, particularly for the physical calculator, but I think the project is finally at a point where it's worth letting other people play with it.
I'd really like to see what games you guys try on it, what FPS you get on real hardware, and which ROMs give P-NES the most trouble.
Enjoy P-NES!