mame2003-plus: hundreds of new games, improved input, features, new bugs - now with runahead support

Darksavior

I tried mk2 today with latest 2003plus source, and the sound effects are more scratchy than normal 2003. Has that game been given the downport treatment?

markwkidd

@darksavior we're trying to "lock in" a lot of things.. it's possible some of this polishing treatment caused an audio regression in MK2. I would like to explore another option that isn't as much of a regression as the consequences of a MK2 audio level fix.

The first thing I'd like to ask you to do is erase your mk2.nv file from inside the saves folder and reload the game to see how it sounds. I don't think this will produce results but before we go down the rabbit hole I want to make sure of the baseline with no nvram file.

I'd also like to make sure that there is no audio boost in your retroarch settings. You might have done this in the past because Mortal Kombat 2 comes from the factory with the volume set very low in the service menu. That has recently been fixed in mame2003-plus, so if you have any other measures in place to accommodate for the low volume you might be overcompensating now that it is fixed by default.

If it still sounds worse than mam2003 at that point, but before I ask you to file a github issue: Do you have a keyboard so that you can enable mame_keyboard, press F2, and enter the service menu?

You should find that the volume setting in the Mortal Kombat 2 service menu is at maximum -- which I believe is what it should be based on my testing on my own system. Maybe somehow it's clipping because of the service menu setting itself. The way to test this is to lower the volume in the service menu -- maybe by 50% -- and see whether you still have the audio quality issues.

Darksavior

@markwkidd I'll try without the nv file. The only audio boost I use is in the alsa mixer and I crank it right below red. I noticed plus had the volume default much higher than normal. I'll check that out with the keyboard.

UPDATE: Deleting the nv file brought back the audio to it's default very low state that normal 2003 also has. I never modified it. No more scratches. I do hear a tiny pop here and there but they're minor..the scratchy audio is what was annoying me. Thanks. My keyboard isn't responding in-game, it's probably a controller priority on my end but problem seems fixed so I won't bother.

markwkidd

@Darksavior thank you -- that confirms my overall theory that there is clipping. What is good on my crappy laptop speakers is not a universal default after all. Shocking! LOL.

I will change the default audio level to something in between the factory default and the current default ASAP.

markwkidd

The headline for today is that we have closed out Phase 3 of development on the new input system.

This is exciting partly because coders can move to Phase 4, where we finish everything off. The other exciting part is that the Phase 3 input system is now on the master branch for public use.

Three default RetroPad layouts to choose from on a per-player basis

Now you don't have to set one default for all players. In Phase 4 these per-player control layouts will move to the Controls menu, but for now they're still in Options.

By default the MAME Remapper is turned off via a new core option.

This is because:

Using the MAME Remapper makes netplay impossible unless both players keep their .cfg files synchronized. (The way I implemented "Dual Joysticks" has the same drawback -- I didn't understand Netplay as well way back then.)
As of RetroArch 1.7.3 it should be possible to do any mapping via RetroArch that is possible to do with the MAME remapper.

This is a bold claim and it may turn out that we still need to do some work on the core end to make it true for input devices and games that have't been tested yet. You can turn the MAME Remapper back on, but consider leaving it off to help with testing.

If you are experienced using the MAME Remapper and would like to try to "port" your mappings to be purely RetroArch then that is something we can chat about in this thread.

grant2258

I will also be able to give advise to people with drangonwise encoders 6 or 8 button layouts that will work in mame and other cores.

robertvb83

@markwkidd @grant2258 this is an amazing work i will try to do some testing later.

is there any controller subtype doing this numbering with my 6 button fighting stick?

i have retropad configured like this
YXL
BAR

for most games including all neogeo i want
345
126
and i understand that this will be achieved by the 6-button layout subtype

but for fighting games like sf2 i like to have
123
456
what should i configure there?

maybe in the end i will end up using
345
123
as my standard so for 3button games i still use only bottom row and for 4 button i will change to snes type yxab
i would be totally fine setting this manually i just want to hear your advice

grant2258

@robertvb83 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

@markwkidd @grant2258 this is an amazing work i will try to do some testing later.

is there any controller subtype doing this numbering with my 6 button fighting stick?

i have retropad configured like this
YXL
BAR

for most games including all neogeo i want
345
126
and i understand that this will be achieved by the 6-button layout subtype

but for fighting games like sf2 i like to have
123
456
what should i configure there?

maybe in the end i will end up using
345
123
as my standard so for 3button games i still use only bottom row and for 4 button i will change to snes type yxab
i would be totally fine setting this manually i just want to hear your advice

on a 6 button layout you will achieve
123
456
on an arcade panel

you dont need to map an arcade panel like a controller if you want different layouts like that for some reason youll need to map per game .

problem is some games need the order like double dragon 2
1 < hit this direction
2 jump
3 > hit this direction

the
123
456

is a general setting that woks for most games if want so many configurations there is no choice but map them

markwkidd

This post is deleted!

markwkidd

@grant2258 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

@robertvb83 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

@markwkidd @grant2258 this is an amazing work i will try to do some testing later.

is there any controller subtype doing this numbering with my 6 button fighting stick?

i have retropad configured like this
YXL
BAR

for most games including all neogeo i want
345
126
and i understand that this will be achieved by the 6-button layout subtype

but for fighting games like sf2 i like to have
123
456
what should i configure there?

maybe in the end i will end up using
345
123
as my standard so for 3button games i still use only bottom row and for 4 button i will change to snes type yxab
i would be totally fine setting this manually i just want to hear your advice

on a 6 button layout you will achieve
123
456
on an arcade panel

you dont need to map an arcade panel like a controller if you want different layouts like that for some reason youll need to map per game .

problem is some games need the order like double dragon 2
1 < hit this direction
2 jump
3 > hit this direction

the
123
456

is a general setting that woks for most games if want so many configurations there is no choice but map them

Grant maybe to restate the obvious, are you suggesting that robertvb83 use 6-Button as the starting point, with per-game overrides for exceptions?

grant2258

@markwkidd

well he wants controller setups on his panel he will have to most people want arcade panel type behavior

arcade buttons not all but typical generic are

1

12

123

1234

1    2 
  3 
4    5

123
456

cover all accept the 4 in a row a 5 like mk

we could just do a classic map for the arcade panel if he wants it mapped like a controller though.

markwkidd

This post is deleted!

markwkidd

@grant2258 said

cover all accept the 4 in a row a 5 like mk

we could just do a classic map for the arcade panel if he wants it mapped like a controller though

Ah so is what robert needs, in fact The "Classic" map that I hid from the options?

grant2258

@markwkidd

well i dont know if it maps exactly like that would probably be best doing in in panel format anyway they arent binded the same as controllers you would need separate ones fro 8 and 6 panel as well. ive never see people wanting arcade panel controls converted to joypads on a arcade panel before though.

@robertvb83 you can set retropad per controler now you dont have to worry about your controls pads not mapping right if you choose

123
456

for the arcade sticks like before

6 button is the old snes just renamed. I did know this would cause some confusion

here is a picture of a negeo panel http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2832457721_de79766d20_b.jpg

If you do feel strongly you want a gamepad map added give us the one format you want for the 6 panel. I think everyone should be able to choose a setup we just cant add a million if you know what i mean

@robertvb83 for me im using a 8 panel stick my mapping is like this i set it up myself.

4 5 6
1 2 3 4

here is a very quick hackish tip. you can add the button as normal or just wire it up to the button 4 there already and still use the 6 button setup

UDb23

@grant2258 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

here is a picture of a negeo panel

Exactly the layout I used as reference for my custom 2 player CP (based on ipac2 - keyboard mode)
:-)

grant2258

@udb23 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

@grant2258 said in mame2003-plus: 250 new games, new input system, new features, new bugs:

here is a picture of a negeo panel

Exactly the layout I used as reference for my custom 2 player CP (based on ipac2 - keyboard mode)
:-)

I found this to be the best all round solution to be honest its just teh cps games that throw it off there has been forum posts in mame asking them to change the button mapping in sf2 to match panel mapped like this. Sf2 is only a few games i really do find it easier to just map them few games. I was going to make this the default option but me and @dankcushions didnt see eye to eye on the subject so i left it at a 6 panel for now rather than offend anyone. dont tell the big guy i kinda like him but he is just as impossible as me at times :)

here is my setup
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d94KrKLUkotGj9GJVjYDBwdoiazzLFtL/view

grant2258

some other mame2003+ our main man arcadez fixed m92 and m107e irem games sound the sample where very much the wrong pitch on these games. The things that guy does for the project never ceases to amaze me :)

Capeman

OMG OMG OMG! RAD MOBILE is on the gamelist! I'm trying this out tonight! That is my holy grail of unemulatable games on the pi!

A good game to tackle would be to get a more modern driver for Ninja Baseball Bat Man, that runs slow as yuck on the pi!

Amazing work! Cant wait to try it out!

robertvb83

@grant2258 @markwkidd in fact i always used the abandoned classic layout :-)

I really dont think that my usecase is so special! see after all we are talking about emulation of real arcade machines. Of course it is great to be able to use whatever controller you wish but it should also be basic to control this stuff like it was meant to be. With an arcade control panel
arcade panel

of course if you chose an arcade layout like original neogeo you are perfect to go with neo geo and all games up to 4 buttons but you are limited to 4 button games. When i decided to build my arcade machine i wanted it to be suitable for most games, including neogeo and consoles but also 6 Button fighting games. So i ended up with my 6 Button fighting stick. I dont have space to place one dedicated cabinet for each game type in my flat :-)

So i think many people will chose the same layout actually (in fact i know that because i reseached so many projects before i start building this). So i would say this is a pretty standard layout

And i NEVER came to the idea to use the top button row as 123 because these are the buttons for 99% of the arcade games! and i strongly want to use the bottom row primarily because it is way more comfortable if you can rest your hand on the pad. I dont know of anybody that actually uses a cabinet gampad other than sf2 with
123
456
this would only make sense for 6 Buttton games

most would use
345
126
or
345
123

Today i would decide to use an 8 Button layout to use the BOTTOM row as 1234 for 4-button game

btw. if i chose 6-Button subtype for my original SNES controler it feels also not right to have it mapped, nobody uses a SNES gamepad like this, or am i missing something? Who really uses L Button as Button 3 on a SNES PAD?

123
YXL
BAR
456

grant2258

123
YXL
BAR
456
is an arcade panel layout

snes pads have a different physical layout they dont have 3 buttons in a row when you bind in retroach 6 pannel look like this on a snes pad

3         6
l          R
   1 2 
   y x
   b a
   4 5


this is what i mean you want to emulate your snes pad instead of an arcade panel