FBAlpha, support Mouse?

mitu

@OliB You can save your existing binary, backup the /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbalpha folder.

barbudreadmon

Hope there are no problems with my current romset after update

For the most part, your romset should be ok, but there'll be slight changes for some roms between .43 and .44 . I can't tell you how many of them though, you'll have to use clrmamepro + (hb)mame 0.204 romsets to fix this.

OliB

@barbudreadmon
THX again. I've heard about that clrmamepro tool and take a quick look at it... but I'm afraid I don't understand the whole story :-) For now, I understand that I've to convert the roms which are not running anymore using clrmamepro to the fba .44 Version. What else did i need too? Sorry agin for that questions, but I still learn to understand this...

OliB

FBA .44 Source Update is finished. I can see now the added Trackball settings. Will play around with that. It also seems as I'm on the lucky side - my favorite games are still running :-) Will see what happens if I try a new game which isn't supported. In meanwhile, I will skill up myself regarding clrmamepro. Current I've found a MAC OS version of clrmamepro and also, the as far as i know needed FBA .043 DAT file.

barbudreadmon

@OliB said in FBAlpha, support Mouse?:

the as far as i know needed FBA .043 DAT file.

I provide an up-to-date dat file in the repo : https://github.com/libretro/fbalpha/blob/master/dats/FB Alpha v0.2.97.44 (ClrMame Pro XML).dat

Don't use some random dat from some random website, people (including distributions like retropie) like copying a dat file, including it in their docs, then never updating it, instead of directly linking the one which is updated every time there is a change on a romset...

mitu

@barbudreadmon The dats folder from the source repository is automatically added in the installation folder for lr-fbalpha in RetroPie.

barbudreadmon

@mitu people are supposed to read doc at https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FinalBurn-Alpha/, and the dat there is wrong, i don't think many people will check the sources of what they built for potential dat files

dankcushions

@barbudreadmon you can update the wiki to point to the right one if you want. i told the person who mistakenly changed it to the wrong link, but i'm tired of policing the wiki if people won't correct their mistakes :/

OliB

@barbudreadmon
THX for the DAT file

barbudreadmon

@dankcushions said in FBAlpha, support Mouse?:

you can update the wiki to point to the right one if you want

Iirc that's what i did a long time ago, i don't want to do it again considering i am not a retropie user and i have my own projects to work on. This is especially pointless if anyone can replace it by a link to some crappy copy.... you should consider making the wiki not publicly editable...

dankcushions

@barbudreadmon that's not my decision to make. i fixed the link - takes 5 seconds.

one thing would be nice if the dat filename itself didn't change every version as it breaks the link. i am not sure there's so much utility in having the name change, anyway, when git tracks the history.

Clyde

@barbudreadmon Making the wiki non-editable by normal users would prevent vandalism, but also contributions from the community. Wikis thrive on the latter, so I would respectfully advise against closing that door.

barbudreadmon

@dankcushions said in FBAlpha, support Mouse?:

one thing would be nice if the dat filename itself didn't change every version as it breaks the link

Your point is valid so i changed this behavior and updated your wiki.

@Clyde said in FBAlpha, support Mouse?:

also contributions from the community

I have also seen some of those "contributions from the community" in arcade compatibility list, basically people with wrong romsets saying "this game doesn't work with emulator XXX", that's when i stopped participating in this kind of docs/lists. Imho, the docs/lists about arcade should be writable only by a handful of people who understand what they do, or at least some kind of validation should be required.

Clyde

@Clyde said in FBAlpha, support Mouse?:

also contributions from the community

I have also seen some of those "contributions from the community" in arcade compatibility list, basically people with wrong romsets saying "this game doesn't work with emulator XXX", that's when i stopped participating in this kind of docs/lists.

I'm also no friend of such lists, they tend to be outdated too quickly if the software in question is still updated regularly. I'm more concerned with general docs and guides that don't change that often, like the Retropie Docs. Those also tend to require more effort to write than a mere list entry, which helps to protect them from "drive-by edits" a little more than lists.

Imho, the docs/lists about arcade should be writable only by a handful of people who understand what they do, or at least some kind of validation should be required.

Both of those approaches put all the work on the shoulders of that handful of people who, in most cases, are doing this in their freetime. That may result in either a poorly maintained wiki and/or overworked maintainers.

I think it's a matter of perspective. While you seem to see greater risks than benefits in an open wiki, I see it the other way around. Maybe we should leave it at that at this point, lest we hijack this thread with our discussion. 😇

dankcushions

thanks for changing the filename @barbudreadmon!

i am technically in charge of the compatibility lists but it's a full time job to try and police them and clean out the crud. every time i leave one for a few months I pretty much have to put in a revert back to the beginning. a lot of the bad edits are just misinformed or accidents, but some of them get full of racist crap, also. unfortunately google sheets doesn't give you enough control over protecting parts of the sheets, unless you stop them being edited at all. i don't want to do that but i am tempted.

i think they're a microcosm of the internet - you give people trust and anonymity and they will let you down :)

barbudreadmon

@Clyde I added a second mouse device type, the first one is only using the ball (i think that's what you guys need ?), the second one use the ball and also map buttons to the mouse. That way everyone should be happy.

@OliB Support for analog controls in centipede should be complete today or tomorrow.

OliB

@barbudreadmon

WOW! THX U so much! So'll wait until you implement it and update fba from source again.

Clyde

@barbudreadmon Thanks, that sounds great. I'll test it today or in the next days. My Pi is doing the update from source right now, but I don't know yet if I'll have the time to test it later today.

AFAIK there should be no need of different mouse devices for trackball/spinner/lightgun, because they all use the same /dev/input/event… devices. (Multiple mouse devices may be needed for games with multiple mouse-type devices, though.)

Trackballs and lightguns will use both axes of a mouse device, whereas spinners will use only one axis per spinner. For two spinners, that may be X and Y of a single mouse device if they are connected that way. Others, like the USB adapters that come with the SpinTrak spinners, will map them as separate mouse devices and only use their X axes.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices/ describes the different kinds of axis mappings in great detail.