mame2003-plus: hundreds of new games, improved input, features, new bugs - now with runahead support

UDb23

@grant2258 ...but somewhat transparent in the green... again :-(

grant2258

well you dont want the free tinge or the alpha. We could just make the game b & w. if this is doing the same thing in advance mame is not a code fault on out end ill get it and test it on there at some point and do some experimentation the geen and red added are treated as overlays

Riverstorm

I guess I don't doubt the validity of whether it was there or not but since we are kind of breaking all the rules so to speak for backdrops why not remove it, if it's easy. It's so pronounced when you see it on a TV and doesn't look right to me at all.

grant2258

Riverstorm

I meant with green! =/ I am fine with how it was with the green rectangle.

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - Here's a crude and not fancy spreadsheet in Excel that will calculate the position. All you need to do is enter backdrop x and backdrop y as backdrop dimensions and game x and game y as the game screen dimensions and the final number should be calculated after Position: near the bottom. Ignore all the other numbers (quite a few) or they could be moved off screen and just leave pertinent information. I left Space Invaders numbers in the spreadsheet as an example.

The formulas in backdrop x/y one and game x/y one are long and funky with trim, substituting, rounding, etc. that's all to get the final Position: string to match what it should look like in the .art file with just a cut-and-paste.

It's not been fully tested such as half/pixels or screen edges which I left after some quick and dirty testing due the final number calculations are carried out to the 100 thousands (5 decimal places) anyway and just don't seem affected to much.

Also I used some raw values for and made the assumption such as 0,0 is the top left corner (of the backdrop, not the game area). If they are negative x/y values I didn't know what to formulate them against or I would have created a formula such as game x being larger than backdrop x and make it zero unless it's a negative number, etc.

There's a lot of room for improvement, field naming etc. and just calculating the numbers directly vs. all the extras but I needed to do it long hand to get a grasp of how to do it first. I believe the formula should work for a majority of quick calculations on new backdrops.

If you do find ways to improve it just let me know or shoot me back a copy if you would. I am heading out and will be with family over the next 4 days (in and out but around home) so have a great holiday and Merry Christmas, if it applies.

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - One last thing, just to clarify game x/y in the spreadsheet are Core Provided values so your viewports should work perfectly.

UDb23

@Riverstorm Great work and really useful, thanks.
Will use it for my testing.
Merry Christmas to you and family.

Clyde

@UDb23 said in mame2003-plus: hundreds of new games, improved input, features, new bugs - now with runahead support:

@grant2258 ...but somewhat transparent in the green... again :-(

Sorry if I missed something in the previous discussion, but isn't the original space invaders also slightly transparent due to the mirror? At least I can see it clearly in the video you posted before.

I'll still have to test it in action, but just from the screenshots posted by @grant2258, I like the transparent version better.

UDb23

@Clyde In current version it's transparent by default. All considered I'd keep it that way.
For those wanting solid color just add the above mentioned ALPHA setting in the .ART file.

mikeylikesit33

Thanks for all your hard work guys! I've got a nice Asteroids Deluxe background going now, and maybe I can get the playfield set right with the new spreadsheet.

Big thumbs up!

Merry Christmas...

UDb23

@Riverstorm lr-mame2003 updated from source few hours ago.
SI (invaders.zip) game area is 720x960 (rotated 960x720) core provided on my 1080p TV (no overlay applied).
Created a better fitting backdrop image (still 1920x1080).

Applying the corresponding backdrop coordinates (calculated w rotated game area):

UDB screenshot.jpg

We finally get a properly proportioned Taito moon backdrop
:-))

UDb23

SI backdrop available here.

@markwkidd How can I upload this to the lr-mame2003 plus git repo ?

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - That looks really sharp! Do the spreadsheet calcs seem to be correct? Also looking forward to Omega Race and a few others you have planned. I'll do some testing later this evening when we get home late-ish. Sacrifices must be made, games must be played. All in the name of science, of course!

Riverstorm

@mikeylikesit33 - Maybe you can post your finished backdrop when you have it setup and completed.

UDb23

@Riverstorm said in mame2003-plus: hundreds of new games, improved input, features, new bugs - now with runahead support:

Do the spreadsheet calcs seem to be correct?

Yes they do work well, thanks !
Cross checked with my original excel sheet.
Will create an updated one that generates the full .art file ;-)

Currently creating a new overlay of the SI bezel from scratch to fit the backdrop best.
Cleaned up a high res original bezel scan, vectorising it now.

UDb23

@Riverstorm said in mame2003-plus: hundreds of new games, improved input, features, new bugs - now with runahead support:

Also looking forward to Omega Race and a few others you have planned

On step (backdrop) at a time...

robertvb83

@UDb23 maybe you can answer this...

Is that backdrop file independent from different screen resolutions or can we only use this for 1080p? I have a 5:4 pc monitor with 1280 x 1024. Do i have to modify something to match my screen?

UDb23

@robertvb83 the .ART mame artwork system places the backdrop proportionally to the game area. It should therefore scale it according to the monitor.
Has not been tested so far; try it and let us know.

mikeylikesit33

@Riverstorm I will. Playing with brightness on it currently.

A little too light, and it’s hard to see the game. A little too dark and why bother... there’s a big in-between that I am tweaking to find the sweet spot.

Also, my playfield is still just a tad off.

I’ll work on it more Monday