XArcade Tank Stick Issues

mbrett

@caver01 I'm using lr-fbalpha. ROMs are in fba folder.

I don't have any idea what you said about AdvanceMAME .94.

I commented out those two lines, and I can now exit of out of mame2003! Yes! One issue settled.

caver01

@mbrett We will get to Advancemame and it will make more sense when we do.

Now what's in your xarcade-to-gamepad device config files?

Theoretically, if you are indeed launching your neogeo games with lr-fbalpha, it should be using the same configuration as lr-mame2003 (lr-anything should be using the same).

mbrett

@caver01 fbalpha is magically working! So, everything now working except the 6 Golden Tee ROMs.

mbrett

@caver01 I spoke too soon. Don't get me wrong, I just whooped the snot out of 1941: Counter Attack. The Tank Stick is great! But, tried Arkanoid....and no trackball. I play Arkanoid in fbalpha. So, that's a bummer.

caver01

@mbrett I don’t think I can help with analog in FBA. Going to have to use lr-mame2003 or AdvanceMAME.

mbrett

@caver01 OK, this is what I'm getting when I did your advmame-0.94.rc corrections:

Parameters:
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame-0.94/bin/advmame "arkanoid"
Invalid argument 'mouse[0.x] mouse[1,x] mouse[2,x] mouse[3,x]' for option 'input_map[p1_trackballx]'.
Invalid integer '0.x] mouse[1'.
Valid format is [-]joystick[JOYSTICK,STICK,AXE]/[-]mouse[MOUSE,AXE]/[-]joystick_ball[JOYSTICK,AXE].

caver01

@mbrett You have a period, not a comma in there.

mbrett

@caver01 I moved them to libmame folder. I have Arkanoid working. Need to find different Centipede ROM. I have every Golden Tee working with libmame 2010. But no trackball support. So close...

caver01

@mbrett No need to give up on advancemame. You just need to eliminate the syntax errors in your .rc file. GT roms work great in AdvanceMAME3.x--better even than they did in AdvanceMAME1.4.

Did you go through this how-to?

mbrett

@caver01 Really odd. I've corrected the advmame-.98.rc. But now Golden Tee '97 says this. And I had it working last night:

Parameters:
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame-0.94/bin/advmame "gt97"
AdvanceMAME - Copyright (C) 1999-2003 by Andrea Mazzoleni
MAME - Copyright (C) 1997-2003 by Nicola Salmoria and the MAME Team
gt97prm0.130 NOT FOUND
gt97prm1.130 NOT FOUND
gt97prm2.130 NOT FOUND
gt97prm3.130 NOT FOUND
gt_nr.u88 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.0_0 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.0_1 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.0_2 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.0_3 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.1_0 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.1_1 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.1_2 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.1_3 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.2_0 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.2_1 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.2_2 NOT FOUND
gt97_grm.2_3 NOT FOUND
gt_srom0.nr NOT FOUND
gt_srom1.nr NOT FOUND
ERROR: required files are missing, the game cannot be run.

Is it possible to just get MAME-2010 to see the trackball? The GTs all work perfectly in that, except trackball.

Also, this advMAME 3. you talk about I can't find anywhere. I appreciate the help, but the bread crumbs are getting frustrating. Yes, I've read everything.

caver01

@mbrett When you install AdvanceMAME you get three versions: 0.94, 1.4, and 3.x (latest). The version 3 is just plain AdvanceMAME. The advmame.rc file is for 3.x. They have left the dot version number off because it has been getting frequent updates. From the emulators.cfg:
advmame = "/opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin/advmame %BASENAME%"
AdvanceMAME3.x (and 1.4) requires romset 0.106 which is obviously different than the set required for 0.94.

The error you noted above is MAME thinking you are missing ROM files. I can't explain what you might have changed between then and now.

Are you using runcommand to pick the different versions?

As for MAME2010, I don't know if that one has mouse support. I don't use it. MAME2003 is by far the most developed in terms of working features among the libretro cores, and AdvanceMAME3 is the most versatile.

mbrett

@caver01 [Faceplant] Nope. I can't do it. I can't download another ROMset of 60gb just to get six damn ROMs. So ridiculous. Oh well. I guess I'll try to get MAME 2010 to work or just fuck it, and do Golden Tee on PC. So frustrating.

caver01

@mbrett Sorry you are frustrated. It is the way MAME has always been, and it is always an important moment when users finally realize this. You'd be surprised how much time is spent trying to troubleshoot and educate people about MAME ROMs who don't read or comprehend the documentation.

That said, you might actually try the ROMs you have. It's not a supportable technique, obviously, but while ROMs have changed in step with MAME's development, many have not required updates. You may well have ROMs that will 'accidentally' work with several versions of MAME.

mbrett

@caver01 Huzzah! I have MAME 2010 working like a champ.

/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-core-options.cfg
mame_current_mouse_enable = "enabled"

Bingo!

caver01

@mbrett How's the performance? 2010 has always been a little sluggish on some things, but maybe on GT it doesn't matter. I might switch over to it. I am using AdvanceMAME for GT roms.

If you like vector games, I recommend getting Advmame running. They look much better in Advance than any of the lr-cores.

mbrett

@caver01 '97 worked great. That's all I tested. If I didn't have to dl an entire new ROMset, I'd be all over advMAME for vectors. As it is, I don't have that many vector games, so, as the GTs, it would probably not be worth it.

caver01

@mbrett I just tried GT2K in lr-mame2010 and the opening music was stuttering and animation got sluggish. I noticed the Pi was struggling and overheating which is rare for me. Quit and relaunched and selected AdvanceMAME and immediately noticed a difference. Smooth music and no slowdowns or overheat.

It might be recent development on Advmame 3 that is making it run better on the Pi. I know it was always a little sluggish, especially with the music on 1.4.

Anyway, I thought I would share my results.

mbrett

@caver01 I just ran GT2K and had the stuttering but no sluggish animation or overheating, and play was smooth to me. To-may-to, to-mah-to.

caver01

@mbrett I did have my arcade system running all day long today while I was at work, then came home and tried this. I guess it was warm already which might be the difference. The animation issues was definitely a result of throttling due to temperature.

Nevertheless, as your music was stuttery, I would put AdvanceMAME performance above 2010. Ultimately, playability vs. setup challenge will win out, but know that you have some wiggle room if performance becomes an issue as you heat up.

AlCzervik

@caver01 Any chance you could share how you have your GT ROMs setup in the folder(s)? Looking to replicate your efforts with the xArcade tankstick but unsure how to setup the ROMs. Thanks in advance!