CD-i Emulator 0.53 is a lot better than CD-i Emulator 0.52, which was released in 2005 (we've managed to play Lucky Luke CD-i, which is a digital video CD-i title!) - cdifan once told us that the 0.5 version corresponds with the percentage (out of 1) of how complete the CD-i emulation is, but the current state of CD-i Emulator feels like we're over half way now (especially with the upcoming beta 5)
On the frontpage of cdiemu.org (Home of the CD-i Emulator) it is mentioned that there is currently no working CD-i Emulator 0.53 beta for download. But in fact, it is still in the Download section! cdiemu-0.5.3-beta4.zip was released in August 2018, but it had an evaluation time limit of January 1st, 2019. When you start the CD-i Emulator, it gives you a message that your evaluation time has exceeded and the CD-i emulation stops working.
Recently CD-i member Dave contacted me with this: "I installed it on an old laptop and I accidentally realized that when your PC date is set in 2018, it still runs perfectly." So there's even now a way to enjoy CD-i Emulator 0.53 beta 4 the official way. Of course a cracked version is also floating on the internet, but that's not something you'll find here.
The CD-i Emulator 0.53 beta 4 edition can be downloaded here. It's an official link to the official website, it's no cracked or patched version. The nice thing is: If you have a purchased full version of CD-i Emulator 0.52, this version will also act/work as a full version.
A short recap on what has changed since the 0.53 beta 3 version (dated 2016) or even older:
- The built-in expiration date has been updated to 2019/01/01.- CD-i 180 emulation is now supported.- Audio can now be saved in the native sample rate ???- A faster and more flexible video combiner has been implemented;as a result there may be some new video emulation bugs.- A small number of minor bugs have also been fixed.- Many more internal changes...There are a number of known issues in this version:- CD-i 180 pointing device emulation does not work (it did before).Please remember you need a CD-i BIOS file, which are available everywhere on the internet. For example, download the CD-i 910 bios here. Don't forget to copy the ROM file into the 'rom' directory and rename the file to "cdi910.rom", otherwise CD-i Emulator won't recognize it.
If you're having trouble with CD-i Emulator 0.53, please let us know: We're here to help :)
Have fun!
PS. The newer cdiemu-0.5.3-beta5 is officially nowhere to download, but we hinted at it many times before. CD-i Emulator 0.53 should offer basic digital video emulation, which is one thing we are looking forward to a lot!