Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers
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I have been messing with the Arpicade jamma pcb which uses a variety of advmame versions. I noticed in the later versions there are detailed deadspot settings in the config file. Looks much different than the advmame1.4 config files. Might be a lead?
On the topic of the warlords backdrop. I played with it a couple hours and have myself finely frustrated.
The backdrop image set at .5 brightness is good for the mote.BUT the king/castle area is still blacked out.
I have messed with the backdrop image in paint which is referenced under the backdrop section of the .art file.
And I have messed with the tintmask and tintover images referenced under the overlay section.
To test I put strips of plain old white on half the images to see the effect, but nothing helps pull the king/castle image back to proper visibility.I did notice there is a priority of -1, -2, -3 for the backdrop, bezel and overlay in the settings but I don't know what that does nor does it seem overly relevant?
To me it looks like using backdrops with warlords is a no-go unless someone has a clever solution.
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I should clarify about the backdrop stuff.
I did try turning off the backdrop in the .art file by setting visibility from 1 to 0.
Taking it out of the equation.
Which leads me to believe the problem with the king/castle getting blacked out is in how the "overlay" is being applied to the image.
And when I made the masks half black and half white, it showed me that neither extreme helped the king/castle show up properly.
So I am kind of thinking there is something defective in the way overlays are used with Warlords.Maybe a newer version of advmame with the newer style backdrops would solve it?
Dunno, an exploration for another day. -
@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:
Update my side. Still no luck on getting rid of the dead spots that using joystick and advj causes.
I'd like to find an advmame or Linux expert to see if they can investigate the code, I don't see any way to solve this via config files.
Mouse might be the way forward but I would love to use pots.... And have it dedicated for warlords.
If anyone knows anyone who can help, donkey me know!
I saw this suggestion on BYOAC.
Wonder if it will have any effect. I'm not familiar with the command but I see some info on google search about it.jscal -c /dev/input/js0
jscal -p /dev/input/js0
sudo jscal-store /dev/input/js0
jscal(1) - Linux man page
Name
jscal - joystick calibration program
Synopsis
jscal [options] <device-name>
Description
jscal is a joystick calibration program for Linux joystick driver.
Options
-c, --calibrate
Calibrate the joystick.
-h, --help
Print out a summary of available options.
-s <x,y,z...>, --set-correction <x,y,z...>
Sets correction to specified values.
-t --test-center
Tests if the joystick is corectly calibrated. Returns 2 if the axes are not calibrated, 3 if buttons were pressed, 1 if there was any other error, and 0 on success.
-V, --version
Prints the version numbers.
-p, --print-correction
Prints the current correction settings. The format of the output is a jscal command line. -
quick update and a personal revelation.
I learned by pure googling accident today that 1979 Atari Football was also released in a 4 player trackball cocktail model! Who knew.....and it is in MAME.I set up a new trackball cabinet for Golden Tee. So I tried Warlords with the 3inch happ trackball. IT PLAYS GREAT!
Now I'm thinking a new 4 player trackball cocktail is on the horizon for football and warlords. Since it is mouse based inputs there is no deadspot in Warlords, nor is there a calibration issue. the knight shield travels properly.
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@1500points that would be quite a project. I remember those football games. They were huge. Are you going to try a CRT display?
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@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:
@1500points that would be quite a project. I remember those football games. They were huge. Are you going to try a CRT display?
It actually looks pretty good on a cheap computer LCD.
I'd have to see how to hook up a pi to an old color TV maybe with the rca jacks to pursue a CRT.The biggest drawback I noticed when I fired up the 2player version is that it lists the plays right on the screen, so you'd have to make a physical vision shield to hide your choice from the opponent.
Might be Fall before I actually take action on anything, which gives me time to round up a handful of happ trackballs on the cheap and look around on curbs for an old tv with rca jacks.
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one more follow-up. I got around to trying the newer warlords art package from Mr. Do with mame 184 and a PC.
It looks much better than the old art, BUT the top right castle bricks are invisible, kinda like happened in my pi tests. I tried lots of intensity variations to fix it but couldn't with Pi.
So it looks like it is a no go with newer MAME. That is too bad, the mote looks soooooo cool. -
@1500points Is this artwork visibility because it is off screen, or are you saying there is a brightness/overlay situation that is making it too dark?
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@caver01 said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:
@1500points Is this artwork visibility because it is off screen, or are you saying there is a brightness/overlay situation that is making it too dark?
it is a brightness/darkness or a color conflict that causes the bricks of the upper right castle to be pure black. you can't see them in the gameplay.
similar problem happened with advmame1.4 and the older art at Mr. Do.
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@1500points I will try to take a look. I will send myself a reminder to see if I can make it work.
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@1500points Well, I just tried it and the artwork loads up just fine for me. However, for whatever reason, the backdrop renders at a very low resolution, even though I have the video setup to a 4x magnification. What am I missing? The artwork backdrop is 1200+ pixels wide but advancemame is clearly scaling it way way down before displaying that layer. It is very disappointing, but maybe I have a bad setting.
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I just saw there is a potential calibration option via an xbox controller tool.
I haven't tried it but maybe it is useful for an A-pac? -
@1500points Interesting. Might be worth looking into. I wish I could use xboxdrv with my IPAC but it apparently does not work with a keyboard controller. Might work with your analog inputs though.
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Back from the dead! This Warlords project has been sitting idle for a while for me. I was reading your comments above and it has inspired me to look at these joystick calibration and dead spots in advj and advmame.
Maybe device_joystick auto is a good place to investigate. And I'll look into your suggestions above. I like the track ball idea but I really want those potentiometers!
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@1500points this looks like a good place to start more investigation...
Specifically... "Correcting the inner and outer deadzones of analog sticks for finer control and to prevent drifting problems in overly-sensitive or well-worn controllers."
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