Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers

biglouieuk

@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

You are hopefully making edits in the .rc files that match the version of AdvanceMAME you are using. They each require their own .rc files.

yup, got that. and now selecting version for each ROM. :)

Thanks for the description above about the ROM sets. All makes sense. I will hunt around for a later Warlords, not sure there is one. Pretty old and simple game perhaps?

3.5 seems to have a new setting that 0.94 doesn't have, in the TAB GUI....Paddle Analog <none> I wonder if that is the cause of the 3.5 issues...

caver01

@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

I will hunt around for a later Warlords, not sure there is one. Pretty old and simple game perhaps?

The fact that it is an older, simpler game might also mean that the ROM dumps were complete and haven't changed. The fact that they work in multiple versions of MAME supports this theory. It may not be worth your time to hunt for other versions, as you may find after downloading that they are the same anyway.

3.5 seems to have a new setting that 0.94 doesn't have, in the TAB GUI....Paddle Analog <none> I wonder if that is the cause of the 3.5 issues...

The GUI is always a bit misleading--the only thing you really control is the sensitivity settings which are a lot easier to edit there. You still need to assign controls through the .rc edits. I am surprised the same entries cannot be copied/transcribed from one .rc file to another to preserve functionality. I have successfully done that from .94 to 1.4 through more recent 3.x versions of the .rc files.

You might try launching the advm or advj utilities from their respective bin directories to test your pots that way. Maybe the different MAMEs are detecting a different device index?

Also, there have been certain developments in 3.x that are pi-specific. Certainly, the video seems to be better than it was in 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 versions. I have read other posts about performance challenges, but I have found the opposite case to be true--that 3.x works better/faster than earlier versions (Golden Tee variants prove this for me anyway). Performance is probably not an issue for Warlords, but video capabilities might be better.

biglouieuk

@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

You might try launching the advm or advj utilities from their respective bin directories to test your pots that way. Maybe the different MAMEs are detecting a different device index?

trying this now, excellent idea!!

Same for both 0.94 AND 3.5 in advj...

I can see the feedback...So its ...Software?

caver01

@biglouieuk Those utilities are intended to let you test raw analog input to see what indices they use and how you should map inputs in you .rc files. If the the index numbers are the same, I wonder if one MAME is maybe looking at PADDLE for that ROM and another looking at DIAL even though the ROM itself may not have changed. I dunno.

biglouieuk

@caver01 Yea, thats a good thought. I've just had a look. Both advj tools for 3.5 and 0.94 show JOY 1 x and y axis moving. So all good.

I'll add in some dial settings to the rc file, see if it has an effect. :O)

If you want to see the build, I have stuck some pictures up here http://www.ukvac.com/forum/topic360446_post1016264.html#1016264

and linked to this thread incase anyone else wants to understand the pots and MAME side of things..

caver01

@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

http://www.ukvac.com/forum/topic360446_post1016264.html#1016264

Cool project! I hope you are able to get the arcade background with the towers etc.

1500points

haven't checked this thread in awhile.
I made the same changes in all .rc files, but i have been using the standard advancemame.

haven't tried calibrating the pots, yet. the kids have been playing it a lot. Really popular around here now. Go Warlords!

caver01

@1500points Did you load the background artwork? There is a great file for that online somewhere.

1500points

@caver01 can you clarify what you mean by background art? Like a Retropie theme, you mean?

caver01

@1500points No, I mean like the original game which had a semi-transparent mirror which superimposed the graphics over paper cardboard "castles". This cardboard artwork has been scanned and retouched such that you can load it as a background so the game looks like it is being played on original hardware. The .art file also has an overlay to tint the color of the players on screen. You definitely need the old (.106 and earlier) artwork file for Advancemame. Find that, download the .zip artwork file, and put it in the artwork folder that is referenced in your .rc file. Then, make sure background art and overlays are enabled.

Here is an example of me using the artwork file as a background for Asteroids. Similar art is available for games like Omega Race, Space Invaders etc.

The format can be a little tricky to modify, but most of the time I have been able to use these as-is, or what I like to do is darken them somewhat. To do that, you need to unzip then edit the .art file which is a simple text file with parameters that are pretty self-explanatory.

1500points

Update on calibration of pots-
Plugged A-Pac into win10 pc, used the calibration steps found at https://www.ultimarc.com/a-pac.html

Indeed it showed that one side of each movement wasn't going clear to edge of the test grid. Calibrating the pots in settings then fixed that on the PC. Applied the settings.

Plugged back into Raspberry Pi. Calibration fixes didn't come over.
One corner of each pot won't go clear to edge, but it doesn't affect gameplay.
The groovy game gear spinner does allow the shield to travel full range on warlords but wow that would be expensive to buy 4 turbo twists.

1500points

@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

@1500points No, I mean like the original game which had a semi-transparent mirror which superimposed the graphics over paper cardboard "castles". This cardboard artwork has been scanned and retouched such that you can load it as a background so the game looks like it is being played on original hardware. The .art file also has an overlay to tint the color of the players on screen. You definitely need the old (.106 and earlier) artwork file for Advancemame. Find that, download the .zip artwork file, and put it in the artwork folder that is referenced in your .rc file. Then, make sure background art and overlays are enabled.

Here is an example of me using the artwork file as a background for Asteroids. Similar art is available for games like Omega Race, Space Invaders etc.

The format can be a little tricky to modify, but most of the time I have been able to use these as-is, or what I like to do is darken them somewhat. To do that, you need to unzip then edit the .art file which is a simple text file with parameters that are pretty self-explanatory.

wow! never heard of that before. I'll look. Very cool.

@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

@1500points No, I mean like the original game which had a semi-transparent mirror which superimposed the graphics over paper cardboard "castles". This cardboard artwork has been scanned and retouched such that you can load it as a background so the game looks like it is being played on original hardware. The .art file also has an overlay to tint the color of the players on screen. You definitely need the old (.106 and earlier) artwork file for Advancemame. Find that, download the .zip artwork file, and put it in the artwork folder that is referenced in your .rc file. Then, make sure background art and overlays are enabled.

Here is an example of me using the artwork file as a background for Asteroids. Similar art is available for games like Omega Race, Space Invaders etc.

The format can be a little tricky to modify, but most of the time I have been able to use these as-is, or what I like to do is darken them somewhat. To do that, you need to unzip then edit the .art file which is a simple text file with parameters that are pretty self-explanatory.

wow never heard of that. i'll check it out. very cool.

caver01

@1500points Bummer. So the calibration in Windows stays with the driver and does not save to the board. Oh well, now we know.

Yes, the GGG spinners are expensive. I have two of them, and glad I do, but it was difficult to justify. It could be a good case for a set of DIY spinners. There are many tutorials, and even someone here who did it with a cheap little optical USB mouse. You can build encoder wheels using cardboard and an x-acto knife, but access to a 3-D printer would be more consistent.

caver01

@1500points said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

ow never heard of that. i'll check it out. very cool.

Here is a scaled down version of the background file from inside the zip archive. You will have to imagine the players in color, superimposed over this:

And if you adjust the artwork parameters you can imagine this background getting a lot dimmer if needed so you can see the action a little easier. It's all up to you.

1500points

Here is a quickie vid to show the finished project-

caver01

@1500points that looks fantastic! Congrats on the build!

1500points

BigLouie figured out the final details, I have it properly working now.
Had to wipe the sd card and start fresh to get it fully working.
Now to figure out the mote effect....

Part 2 vid-

biglouieuk

@1500points so now we are just trying to solcve the deadspots issue with potentiometers when using an APAC , Advmame and joystick axis faking!

I guess a joystick will always have a deadspot in the middle, when its 0,0... thats what I see on the pots, they have deadzone of maybe 5% either way from middle. Pots are fine when I put them on a voltmeter, so its defo software.

I tried changing retroarch configs: input_axis_threshold=0.0 doesnt seem to make a difference.

Does advmame use Retroarch??

caver01

@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

Does advmame use Retroarch??

Nope.

caver01

When you define a device_joystick in AdvanceMAME, does the GUI menu give you an option to calibrate? According to the Advancemame documentation, the advj utility does, but it says the utility does not save the calibration data, that you can do it in MAME.