Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers

[biglouieuk]

@1500points so now we are just trying to solcve the deadspots issue with potentiometers when using an APAC , Advmame and joystick axis faking!

I guess a joystick will always have a deadspot in the middle, when its 0,0... thats what I see on the pots, they have deadzone of maybe 5% either way from middle. Pots are fine when I put them on a voltmeter, so its defo software.

I tried changing retroarch configs: input_axis_threshold=0.0 doesnt seem to make a difference.

Does advmame use Retroarch??

[caver01]

@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

Does advmame use Retroarch??

Nope.

[caver01]

When you define a device_joystick in AdvanceMAME, does the GUI menu give you an option to calibrate? According to the Advancemame documentation, the advj utility does, but it says the utility does not save the calibration data, that you can do it in MAME.

[biglouieuk]

@caver01 Hi good evening, apologies for delay, been working on a different cab project.

I don't define a joystick in advmame GUI, I do that in the .rc file EG input_map[p1_paddlex] joystick[1,0,0]

The GUI doesn't let me calibrate joysticks, when I click the option, it just flashes, never opens.

advj doesnt show the deadspot, when I move the pot, it goes all the way through and round. Very odd...

[caver01]

@biglouieuk said in Ultimarc A-Pac with 5k Potentiometers:

@caver01 Hi good evening, apologies for delay, been working on a different cab project.

I don't define a joystick in advmame GUI, I do that in the .rc file EG input_map[p1_paddlex] joystick[1,0,0]

The GUI doesn't let me calibrate joysticks, when I click the option, it just flashes, never opens.

advj doesnt show the deadspot, when I move the pot, it goes all the way through and round. Very odd...

I was't suggesting that you define it in the GUI, but the documentation alludes to being able to calibrate somehow.

[biglouieuk]

@caver01 hi, yes I hear what you are saying. I cant for the life of me find anywhere to calibrate in advmame itself, and have it hold settings. Ive seen a few posts where they can change a figure to be a percentage for the deadspot.

I tried that a little while ago, but that only seems to be a retroarch config and nothing to do with advmame..

Maybe its time to give up and go with a post in the advmame forum. :)

[1500points]

Just a fast update with a side-note. My theme is that I think for Rpi and spinner games that a mouse-based spinner is a better option.
I'll post a couple example vids below.
1- mouse spinner has no deadspots
2- mouse spinner moves the whole player range
3- apac pot doesn't control stella properly, just causes it to move to ends of movement.
4- mouse spinner works great in stella which opens up kaboom, super breakout and night driver.

Vid example 1-

Vid example 2-

[caver01]

@1500points TurboTwist2 spinners are really nice. So nice that I put two of them in my system. However, they are just so expensive, especially if you are building a dedicated Warlords cabinet.

Maybe you get what you pay for compared to DIY solutions, but you might be able to get away with mini optical mouse hacks to build bunch of spinner devices. I would consider the hack from this post, especially if you can lay your hands on the parts for cheap.

[1500points]

@caver01 I'm finally at the point of exploring artwork.
Can you give me another nudge toward where I would find that warlords background for Raspberry Pi, then what folder the file would be stored in for retropie?

I just figured out how to add artwork from regular mame on a pc by going into the tab UI>video>enable backdrops.
And I found art at mr do's castle site under in-game art.
For Warlords it adds a whole marquee/bezel effect which is overkill, I'd kinda like to have just the faint mote.

learning, learning, learning.
thanks for your help as always! :)

[caver01]

@1500points A common source of in-game artwork for years has been Mr. Do's Arcade page which is very easy to find. There are no ROMs on that site at all, but a lot of very helpful support files. The catch is that you will need to use the OLD ARTWORK that follows a format that is no longer used by current MAME (but exactly what is needed for AdvanceMAME). For that, you need to find the archive which is linked on one of the first paragraphs of the Artwork FAQ on that site. Once you are browsing the nice list of old artwork you should be able to find a zip file for warlords. It is over 3 megs in size, and inside the zip file are several very nice images. One is the background, but it also contains the overlays, bezel, and crucially, the .art file which is a text file that controls how the images get used.

For advanceMAME, you need to look at your .rc file and find the line that references the path for artwork. I think I changed mine a long time ago. You need to put your .zip file into the folder listed. I think there is also a setting to enable artwork.

Now, the trick will be fine tuning the .art file, which is embedded inside the .zip. If you crack open the zip, you can mess with the settings, rezip, and see how it plays. It sounds like you would probably disable the bezel, perhaps keep the color tinting overlay, and adjust the brightness of the background art. It is the background that really takes the cake I think. In the original arcade version, this is actually a cardboard castle behind reflective glass. This gives the TRUE illusion of depth, but the artwork file in the zip file a very good replacement. You will see what I mean once you get it downloaded.

[1500points]

alright, progress.
Checked the artwork path found in opt/retropie/configs.....advmame1.4.rc
which led to putting the warlords.zip in
/home/pi/retropie/roms/mame-advmame/artwork

Rebooted, now the backdrop appears in warlords correctly, BUT it is too bright as it is obscuring the king and castle on 2 of the corners.

so i'll see how to edit the files in the original zip next......

[1500points]

So I figured out you can edit the warlords.art file with notepad.
--use 7zip to open the warlords.zip, right click on the .art file and open with notepad which shows text.

I tried the brightness at .2 and at 1.0, it started at .7---
but the king and castle blocks are getting blacked out.

What do you suggest as the correct values in the art file?

hmmmm, maybe the PNG needs edited in paint to remove the color in the castle section?

[caver01]

@1500points so you got in there and found how to edit details as I hoped you would. Some of that is described in part of my post a while back regarding vector games. I was successful reducing the brightness of the backgrounds for Asteroids Deluxe and Omega Race. Trial and error got me to a brightness configuration that was to my liking. You could also edit the image too.

[biglouieuk]

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!

[1500points]

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.

[1500points]

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.

[1500points]

@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.

[1500points]

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.

[caver01]

@1500points that would be quite a project. I remember those football games. They were huge. Are you going to try a CRT display?

[1500points]

@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.