Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone

bbilford83

On a totally unrelated note, I'm wondering if anyone has installed and played the Amstrad GX4000 and noticed that the games don't take up the full real estate of the screen - like I get black bars above, below, left, and right. Before I mess around with scaling to try to fix it, is there some obvious thing I'm missing that would make it display correctly?

roslof

Heads-up that the binary name for mess/libretro has changed. Spotted this with the current 0.247 release.

Original name: mess_libretro.so

New name: mamemess_libretro.so

Calling this out for folks who upgrade and may have custom scripts that reference the original name. Recommendation is to simply rename the binary after installing.

Folly

@roslof said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Heads-up that the binary name for mess/libretro has changed. Spotted this with the current 0.247 release.

Original name: mess_libretro.so

New name: mamemess_libretro.so

Calling this out for folks who upgrade and may have custom scripts that reference the original name. Recommendation is to simply rename the binary after installing.

Thanks for letting us know.
I addressed this problem earlier in post/280735 and it should be fine using the latest version.

When I can I will update, next month, the database/script to 0.247 .

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

On a totally unrelated note, I'm wondering if anyone has installed and played the Amstrad GX4000 and noticed that the games don't take up the full real estate of the screen - like I get black bars above, below, left, and right. Before I mess around with scaling to try to fix it, is there some obvious thing I'm missing that would make it display correctly?

Never really noticed it but indeed you will get black borders.
I just tried a few things but with no result and zoom is disabled.
Seems to me that something is not implemented in mame and lr-mess for a few amstrad CPC system types.
Theoretically it should be discussed on the mamedev forum here :
https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=1

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

On a totally unrelated note, I'm wondering if anyone has installed and played the Amstrad GX4000 and noticed that the games don't take up the full real estate of the screen - like I get black bars above, below, left, and right. Before I mess around with scaling to try to fix it, is there some obvious thing I'm missing that would make it display correctly?

Just an idea, perhaps you can try to make an artwork file for mame that can zoom the screen.
Or for lr-mess you can make a system related retroarch.cfg with different viewport settings to zoom the screen.

bbilford83

@Folly Thanks for the suggestions. This may be beyond my ability but I will dig around. And maybe register for the mame forum you suggested to ask there.

I have the same seemingly-unfixable problem with the standalone model 3 emulator and others seem to too, so I can get used to it :).

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly Thanks for the suggestions. This may be beyond my ability but I will dig around.

I had succes with zooming the screen with adding some lines the specific retroarch.cfg (/opt/retropie/configs/gx4000/retroarch.cfg) using for using lr-mess :

custom_viewport_height = "1200"
custom_viewport_width = "1920"
aspect_ratio_index = "23"
video_scale_integer = true

Then it uses custom aspect ratio with a custom set resolution.
For you the resolution might be different, so you have to experiment a bit.
Can you try this and let me know if it works for you ?

I also tried to make a custom artwork file for mame, but did not yet get it to zoom.

And maybe register for the mame forum you suggested to ask there.

Just an advice, only talk about mame there, not retropie.

bbilford83

@Folly Thanks again for this idea, it is definitely on the right track but I can't seem to get it to work. At 1080 and 1920, which are the dimensions I have emulationstation loading at, it is the same as usual. I tried tweaking it to make it a little bigger and it works but it isn't expanding evenly - like, when I expand enough to get rid of the bar on top the bottom still has a bar, and if I expand enough to get rid of that one, the top image is going off the screen. I also noticed for the first time that the default image is to the right of where it should be - like it is not centered left to right either. That's the norm, like before I put anything in the retroarch.cfg. Weird. I will mess around with it a bit more but it seems like mame is placing the image off center to begin with and I am not sure how to fix that.

bbilford83

On a related note, I have also noticed the same problem with FM Towns Marty, which I've started testing - for now I've given up on getting an exhaustive list of what games it could play and am just testing a few). For the games I have gotten working, they are also all boxed with black bars above and to the sides. And just like for GX4000 the bar on the bottom is almost nothing but the bar on the top is thick. Weird.

Also, @folly, if I can ask for one more tip, I have been reading and re-reading your old post before this script about installing the Marty, and also another thread called "Old Computer Appreciation Thread," to try to figure out how to launch the games that require a blank floppy as well as a CD Rom. I created a completely blank file in Notepad++ with the correct mame name for the game, zipped it a zip file of the same name, but that didn't work for me. Do the CHD's have to be named something in particular, or am I possibly missing some other step I can't find?

This is kind of ridiculous but the game I really want to get working is Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego :). I played it a lot as a kid and have managed to get my 6-year-old to like it, and it seems like the Towns version is worlds better than the Genesis/SNES one...

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly Thanks again for this idea, it is definitely on the right track but I can't seem to get it to work. At 1080 and 1920, which are the dimensions I have emulationstation loading at, it is the same as usual. I tried tweaking it to make it a little bigger and it works but it isn't expanding evenly - like, when I expand enough to get rid of the bar on top the bottom still has a bar, and if I expand enough to get rid of that one, the top image is going off the screen. I also noticed for the first time that the default image is to the right of where it should be - like it is not centered left to right either. That's the norm, like before I put anything in the retroarch.cfg. Weird. I will mess around with it a bit more but it seems like mame is placing the image off center to begin with and I am not sure how to fix that.

Your TV is probably also part of the problem.
And probably the lines I for the retroarch.cfg are not the most ideal fix, but it's a start of getting somewhere.
For better centering you can add these lines (replace the zeros with other values) :

custom_viewport_x = "0"
custom_viewport_y = "0"

For a better fix I want to try this option, which isn't related to setting the resolution, but to get it working I possibly have to use more options that I didn't find yet :

video_scaling = "2"

bbilford83

@Folly Sorry I had not seen this post before! It seems that if I add those two x/y dimension lines along with what I had before, it doesn't do anything no matter what values I give the x and y. Weirdly, when I delete the original custom viewport values and replace it with just the x and y numbers, it is super zoomed in, and I can't even navigate to the scaling in the RA menu to try to fix it. Maybe that is just what happens if I have the scaling set to "custom" but without specifying what?

Anyway, I appreciate the idea regardless.

bbilford83

I figured out another way to do it that worked! You can actually adjust the image - both by "stretching" and adjusting along x or y axis - within the mame menu. It is in "slider controls - Screen Horiz Stretch" and "Screen Horiz Position." You can see it change as you adjust so I was able to stretch and center pretty quickly/easily.

Like you said, it seems like a weird way to fix it, but it worked!

Folly

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/0a657e9ccfbab3144c2ae0d66e699d6126c8605a

Folly

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/7c8bfc1f8796dd3e68f5fc14888f1ccf70a86fa9
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/438f8b4aed307bf73cfba705f38d5c7b2dd27bc7

Folly

@bbilford83

I have updated the script to version 247.03 and added your handheld configs for better button mapping (konamih and tigerh).
Can you do a second check in if the lines work ok ?
And can you check if the help of these lines are good enough ?

I will add your name to the first post as you have contributed to the script.

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/0dddc72c0a36ef8a3c4e619e29159db8031ff57c

bbilford83

@Folly I think it worked great! At least it seemed like after I updated they downloaded properly and in the right place. Regarding the help lines, I guess the only thing I might add is "Can still remap in MAME menu," though probably everyone who is using this script would know that. I am wondering now if maybe I should've also given you my default.opt file where all it does is map the mame menu to the left analog stick if you wanted to include that too. That way people (like me) who usually don't have a keyboard out could do all the remapping without ever needing one. If you'd like I can add it to the google drive - not a big deal either way.

Glad to have contributed!

Folly

@bbilford83

I discovered that we probably need to change the directory structure of your files on your google drive with the konamih and tigerh cfg files.
I want to be able to use only 1 command to download them all (now I use 2).
If, in the future we want to add something then I don't have to add more commands, it would work with the same command and then it's possible to add more in the future without much effort.
Can you make a test-structure like this :
<category>/lr-mess/*.cfg

default.opt "Can still remap in MAME menu"

I can look into that one too.
Just place the file on your drive, somewhere separate from the other opt files.

Folly

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/7136398c4b4e78e60dacc7a72dbcb25ff39180d9

bbilford83

@Folly No problem, I just moved them both into the file structure you requested. I added the default.cfg file to the root folder on its own. But if you like the idea of using it, we could just move it into both of the same folders as the button mapping and it will work to change the mame menu toggle to the left analog stick button if you set it up to download with others in the script.

I am sorry I didn't use any of the other handheld systems btw - it would probably be better if it was for all-in-one/jak's/classic too.

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly No problem, I just moved them both into the file structure you requested.
I added the default.cfg file to the root folder on its own.
But if you like the idea of using it, we could just move it into both of the same folders as the button mapping and it will work to change the mame menu toggle to the left analog stick button if you set it up to download with others in the script.

I am sorry I didn't use any of the other handheld systems btw - it would probably be better if it was for all-in-one/jak's/classic too.

I just tested and it basically it works great, however since the default.cfg is in the root it will copy it to in /opt/retropie/configs now.
So it is probably better to add the whole directory structure like /opt/retropie/configs and put konamih and tigerh inside.
I think then it will be future proof and it would be possible to add all-in-one/jak's/classic in a later stage too and we could use it for much more files if we discover something.
For nowcan you place the default.cfg in a directory /share so I can look at it without being copied.
Good idea ?

PS
For everyone who wants to use the option :
Download lr-mess configs for better button mapping (+/-1 min.)
Beware it doesn't work correctly right now !
(WIP)