Old Computer Appreciation Thread

Zering · 22 Dec 2020, 23:04

@folly I'll test with an official MAME CHD and report back.
I sometimes use CHDMan but I find it's less than ideal with any files that aren't bin/cue or GDI.

TPR · 24 Dec 2020, 18:21

Has anyone had any luck getting controls re-mapped for GSplus or lr-mess-apple2gs?

Under GSPlus I can't seem to find much in the way of controller re-mapping and in several games, like Arkanoid for example, the controller just keeps going to the right no matter what I press.

For lr-mess-apple2gs I can bring up the machine options by pressing SCROLL LOCK and then TAB but I can't figure out how to re-map buttons per game. It seems like I can only re-map globally and I'd have to do that for every game I load up because keyboard mappings might be different per game.

Also can't seem to get some buttons mapped. Like Thexder seems to need the "Option" key mapped and I don't see that anywhere in the re-map options.

If someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Zering · 24 Dec 2020, 22:06

@tpr Sorry, can't help you there, I haven't played with IIGS emulation that much.

AdamBeGood · 25 Dec 2020, 20:27

@zering @Folly Merry Christmas, guys!

I got one of those RetroFlag GPi Pi Zero cases, so I'll be tinkering with a portable Pi soon.

Zering · 25 Dec 2020, 20:46

@adambegood Merry Christmas to you too!
To celebrate I'm actually playing games. Shocking I know! ^^
I beat Jet Set Radio this morning and now I'm on Planescape and Trails in the Sky SC. Both get better the more I play it.
Once I beat Planescape I want to get back to the MSX for a bit.

AdamBeGood · 26 Dec 2020, 11:11

@zering said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@adambegood Merry Christmas to you too!
To celebrate I'm actually playing games. Shocking I know! ^^
I beat Jet Set Radio this morning and now I'm on Planescape and Trails in the Sky SC. Both get better the more I play it.
Once I beat Planescape I want to get back to the MSX for a bit.

I need to beat JSR, love that game. I bought Planescape in the Steam sale, it was just under 4 quid! Looking forward to playing it.

Folly · 26 Dec 2020, 13:09

@adambegood @Zering @DTEAM

Merry Christmas to you all.

These days I am not so busy.

I hope to include the command scripts next week.
I already can use these command scripts to boot directly the zip's (also without .cmd file) of handhelds with lr-mess with added background overlay in fullscreen.
I have also inculded the extensions nessesary to switch between emulators.
I am now working on the integration of the RetroPie names (future guessing) and/or trying to use @DTEAM naming for compatibility with es-themes.
This naming part seems to be quite a challange again.

Folly · 1 May 2021, 08:04

@adambegood @Zering @DTEAM

I finished my script faster than expected.

See it as a late chrismas gift.
So you all can experiment, if you want.

(https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share)
I have added it as generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh .
The generate-desired-systems.sh can now be used for different versions.
I did some tests to check the functionality, so it should work, but didn't installed many differtent handhelds yet.
I wasn't able to add framskipping in the generated cmd script.
This still has to be done in the game (use F8, F9,F10 and F11).
So now it should be playing time, if nothing else gets in the way ;-).
I still have to write a good readme doc which can take a while.
I also want some automating solution for the handheld background overlay stuff.

If it's all more concrete I will add this info on the lr-mess intergration thread.

Advice :
Do not generate all the script files.
The script can now generate for more than 30000 mess system types.
I don't know how long this would take.
But this can take up many hours.

Zering · 28 Dec 2020, 15:42

@folly Hmmm I went to test those then realised I screwed up.
I went to uninstall your very first steps to make room for testing but then I realised I deleted them by accident.
Do I have to generate them again or is there another way to delete the previously generated cores?

Folly · 28 Dec 2020, 21:31

@zering

I hope I understand you concern correctly.
Is it correct, you uninstalled and deleted the first generated scripts.
But you want them back, right.

I kept all the scripts in the repository.
So you can generate these scripts again with the same first version when you did back then if you want. (generate-lr-mess-systems.sh)

Version 1.3a generates for retropie, so then the es-themes will match.
So with the first you generated for example hbf700p. then the retropie system name had also that name. But then you don't have a matching es-theme.
So in the newer versions it finds the right retopie name with it. So it becomes MSX. Then you have a matching theme. Hope you understand how it works.
With version 1.4a I added the command scripts and also matching with the DTEAM handheld naming.

Hope this explenation helps.

ps. Very busy with work now. So if I don't reply it's because of that.

EDIT : The 1.3/1.4 versions will generate valerino alike scripts with mouse enabled and autoframeskipping on. So I there are any issues with this I like to get a notice.

Zering · 28 Dec 2020, 23:53

@folly Great, thanks for the explanation!
I'll try it soon. I'm back to work tomorrow myself.

DTEAM · 29 Dec 2020, 01:23

@folly
For handeld systems from my tutorial, have you try my gamelist.xml and images/video?

Does it work well?

Folly · 29 Dec 2020, 14:27

@dteam said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly
For handeld systems from my tutorial, have you try my gamelist.xml and images/video?

Does it work well?

I haven't had time for this, so that is still on the "to do list".
Theoretically, it think, it should work.
Perhaps you can try it out for us.

EDIT :
Curious as I am, I was able to do a fast test.
In the gamelist I renamed .7z to .zip.
(I use .zip files instead)

Gamelist, pictures and video work.

TPR · 29 Dec 2020, 21:05

Here's an issue I'm having with GSPlus. Out of about the 150 games for the system, I've gotten most of them to work, but about 15 of the games throw this error at me:

Any ideas on how to fix this? I did some Googling around and I couldn't find anything specific to GSPlus to fix it.

I got this error on games like Deja Vu, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, and Uninvited.

Any ideas?

Zering · 29 Dec 2020, 21:30

@tpr Doesn't Wolfenstein 3D throw up the same error? I think in that case the rom was bad.

TPR · 29 Dec 2020, 23:03

@zering Hmm... I've tried a few different versions of each ROM. Maybe I'll keep looking....

DTEAM · 30 Dec 2020, 00:03

@folly said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

Gamelist, pictures and video work.

If your theme support image,video and marquee (together)
you should see the handheld machine instead a 3d box like:

	<game>
		<path>./kgradius.7z</path>
		<name>Gradius</name>
		<desc>Konami Gradius (1989, LCD, 2 AA Batteries, Model# ?). Based on Konami's Gradius arcade game. Called Nemesis in Japan.
</desc>
		<image>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/konamih/kgradius1.png</image>
		<video>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/konamih/Kgradius.mp4</video>
		<marquee>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/konamih/kgradius.png</marquee>
		<rating>0.8</rating>
		<releasedate>19890101T000000</releasedate>
		<developer>Konami</developer>
		<publisher>Konami</publisher>
		<genre>Handheld LCD</genre>
		<playcount>1</playcount>
		<lastplayed>20201030T114901</lastplayed>
	</game>

sorry for my poor quality picture!

DTEAM · 30 Dec 2020, 03:25

@folly said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

With version 1.4a I added the command scripts and also matching with the DTEAM handheld naming.

In generate-desired-systems.sh
I wrote :

bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh konamih
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh jakks
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh all_in1
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh classich
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh tigerrz
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh tigerh
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh gameandwatch

Only tigerh was generated. But good news, tigerh works !!
Great job!

TPR · 30 Dec 2020, 04:20

Apple IIgs - GSPlus Joystick / Mouse configuration help:

I loaded up about 154 Apple IIgs games today from the TOSEC library to do some joystick / mouse testing and here were some of the notes I made. I loaded these up using GSPlus. The collection of notes is for games that either needed additional key presses to get the joystick to work that might not be obvious when loading up a game, or games that had trouble using the joystick or mouse.

I thought the following notes may be helpful to some, and if anyone has a fix for the games I couldn't get to work, please let me know! Thank you.

Alien Mind - Use F1 & F2 Button as "Button One and two" when calibrating. Needed to tweak the joystick trim amount -25 on both X & Y otherwise the character won't go down. Use the joystick config menu by pressing F4.

Ancient Land of Y's - Use CTRL-J to calibrate joystick and F1 & F2 as "Button one and two"

Black Cauldron - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Downhill Challenge - Cannot get joystick to work at all.

Dream Zone - Mouse stutters and lags around the screen. It's playable, but difficult.

Grand Prix Circuit - Pressing J on the main selection screen and then calibrating the joystick with the F1 & F2 keys seems to crash the game when you use the joystick and buttons to make a selection. Game seems to work okay with the keyboard.

Great Western Shootout - Mouse lag makes this game unplayable.

Hardball - Joystick control seems to be stuck on "Down" and I can't find a way to re-calibrate the joystick. I tried adjusting some of the tweak settings in the control panel but that didn't do anything.

Immortal - Needed to tweak the joystick trim amount -5 on both X & Y otherwise the character pulls to the right. Use the joystick config menu by pressing F4.

John Elway's Quarterback - Need to press SHIFT-Y to answer "Yes" at the "Do you have a joystick" question.

Kings Quest I - IV - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Laser Force - Joystick works but seems to have calibration issues. I tried tweaking the settings but nothing really seemed to work.

Leisure Suit Larry - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Manhunter - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Marble Madness - Needed to tweak the joystick trim amount -5 on both X & Y otherwise the character pulls to the right. Use the joystick config menu by pressing F4.

Mixed Up Mother Goose - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Police Quest - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Qix - Press "J" at the title screen to calibrate joystick. Use F1 & F2 as button one and two.

Rastan - This game actually works just fine with the joystick control, but it takes like 7 minutes to load up!

Silpheed - Press SHIFT-7 to calibrate the joystick after the game has loaded. Use F1 and F2 for the buttons when it asks to press them.

Skate or Die - Needed to tweak the joystick trim amount -25 on both X & Y otherwise the character pulls to the right. Use the joystick config menu by pressing F4.

Space Ace - The joystick doesn't work because apparently there is no joystick control! It's keyboard only for this game. And it does work! It's just odd...

Space Quest I & II - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Spirit of Excalibur - Mouse stutters and lags around the screen.

Test Drive II - Pressing CTRL-J to Select the Joystick seems to crash the game when you make a selection.

Thexder - Press F1 when it tells you to center your joystick and press a button.

Third Courier - Mouse stutters and lags around the screen. It's playable, but difficult.

Zany Golf - Mouse stutters and lags around the screen. It's playable, but difficult.

Side Note: Sometimes I'll have to insert a disk twice before the emulator will accept it. For example, when it says "Insert Lost Tribe Disk 3" and I press F4, select Disk 4, and press F4 again, it doesn't register on the first try. But if I go and do that exact same thing a second time, it works.

The following games I could not get to load at all. I would either get "This application needs Tool029 in the system folder" error, or some other issue with the game that didn't load up or made it totally unplayable.

Ancient Glory
Balance of Power
Bouncing Bluster II
Club Backgammon
Deja Vu II
Deja Vu
Full Metal Planete
Gate, The
Lost Treasures of Infocom
Neuromancer
Out of this World
Paperboy
Quest Master
Shadowgate
Subversion
Superstar Ice Hockey
Uninvited
War in Middle Earth
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

I also noticed that if you press F1 + F4 that will quit GSPlus and take you back to Emulationstation. I hadn't seen that documented anywhere either.

Hope this is helpful for someone looking for joystick / mouse config help!

Folly · 30 Dec 2020, 08:26

@dteam said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

@folly said in Old Computer Appreciation Thread:

With version 1.4a I added the command scripts and also matching with the DTEAM handheld naming.

In generate-desired-systems.sh
I wrote :
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh konamih
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh jakks
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh all_in1
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh classich
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh tigerrz
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh tigerh
bash generate-lr-mess-systems-1v4-alpha.sh gameandwatch
Only tigerh was generated. But good news, tigerh works !!
Great job!

Nice thinking, but you can't generate with "RetroPie names" you have to use "MAME/MESS names".
Have a look in the generate-desired-systems.sh .
I have added them.

ps.
I will try your es-theme later.
I am convinced it will work also.