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

[Darksavior]

Moonwalker (bootleg) audio is now fixed thx to arcadez.

[grant2258]

Just create a new dat from mame2003+ it will save in the bios folder. I put a pull request in with the updated dat :)

[Riverstorm]

@robertvb83 - Here's a link to the newest DAT from today. Grant put in a PR to correct the nbajam samples. If you really want to get around the errors you could duplicate the nbajam.zip archive and rename it to nbajam.wav.zip which should work in theory. I believe the DAT is generated directly from the code.

There's 3 OST (Original Sound Track) samples. They are ffight.zip, mk.zip & nbajam.zip. These are upgrades to the original arcade audio. If you remove them from the samples directory you'll here the original arcade audio and if they are present you'll get the upgraded audio so they are more like a bonus than needed samples.

If you want to get really fancy you can actually remove individual samples from the archive and it will play the ROM based audio in place of just the missing samples. There's some other fancy things. The guy that put together these OST samples really went all out.

I am still missing the ffight.zip samples too as they are very new to 2003+.

I believe Grant also put in a PR to change some of the neogeo.zip files so you can use the same neogeo.zip for both 2003+ and FBA without conflict.

[Riverstorm]

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

Moonwalker (bootleg) audio is now fixed thx to arcadez.

That's a pretty cool little 'MJ' tribute. :)

[grant2258]

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

@robertvb83 - Here's a link to the newest DAT from today. Grant put in a PR to correct the nbajam samples. If you really want to get around the errors you could duplicate the nbajam.zip archive and rename it to nbajam.wav.zip which should work in theory. I believe the DAT is generated directly from the code.

There's 3 OST (Original Sound Track) samples. They are ffight.zip, mk.zip & nbajam.zip. These are upgrades to the original arcade audio. If you remove them from the samples directory you'll here the original arcade audio and if they are present you'll get the upgraded audio so they are more like a bonus than needed samples.

If you want to get really fancy you can actually remove individual samples from the archive and it will play the ROM based audio in place of just the missing samples. There's some other fancy things. The guy that put together these OST samples really went all out.

I am still missing the ffight.zip samples too as they are very new to 2003+.

I believe Grant also put in a PR to change some of the neogeo.zip files so you can use the same neogeo.zip for both 2003+ and FBA without conflict.

I just renamed 2 files in mame neogeo bios that where conflicting with fba. People can add the extra bios files the the neogeo zip now if they want both to work on both instead crashing.

[robertvb83]

@riverstorm thank you for your great explanations! this is very helpful! i will try the linked dat file later.

but so far i managed to get almost no more errors in clrmamepro. NO Missing roms in my sets only the soundfiles of the sega OST are missing... which for now is ok for me (i couldnt trace them)

the only thing is that clrmamepro is still reporting the missing sets although i tried to add them manually...

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

and this is the list of missing sets

 You are missing 17 of 4831 known mame2003-plus.xml sets (+ BIOS sets)

acpsx
cpzn1
cpzn2
cvs
decocass
konamigx
megaplay
megatech
nbajam.wav
neogeo
nss
pgm
playch10
skns
stvbios
taitofx1
tps

[Riverstorm]

@robertvb83 - Almost all are system files. If you go under Scanner -> System do you have all the paths defined? If not click 'Auto-Assign' and it should populate those SysDefPath paths based on your ROM path settings.

Also under Scanner -> Advanced you could try checking 'Separate BIOS sets'. This will take a few minutes to update all the files. If they are being merged they might show up as missing.

If everything is configured correctly you might simply be missing the system ROMs.

[markwkidd]

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

the only thing is that clrmamepro is still reporting the missing sets although i tried to add them manually...

@Riverstorm nailed it. Another ClrMamePro issue. Those are BIOS files that don't get generated if you have "Disable Separate BIOS Sets" (which I recommend - there is no need to have separate BIOS files though some people are used to it for historical reasons).

IMO ClrMamePro should not display "missing" messages for BIOS sets when you specifically tell it you don't want BIOS sets but that's how it is for now. I should also add this information to the docs!

Edit: @robertvb83 I have updated the OP with the information on CHDs and the BIOS sets. @Riverstorm I incorporated some of your text. Thank you!

[UDb23]

@markwkidd Any news on backdrop artwork support ?

[robertvb83]

@markwkidd thanks again for clarification. you say 15 missing files, i have 16 plus nbajam.wav...
even the new dat has this confusing missing folder for nbajam.zip... but i am totally fine with my set right now. so many great additions. we played tapper for hours yesterday :-)
you did an outstanding job with that. thank you so much!

i have one more question. i am used to use the crt shader with config files from this thread
for mame 2003 there are per game cfg files loaded on game start in this folder: /configs/all/retroarch/config/MAME 2003/

is there a corresponding folder to put the files in fir mame2003-plus?

[markwkidd]

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

even the new dat has this confusing missing folder for nbajam.zip... but i am totally fine with my set right now. so many great additions. we played tapper for hours yesterday :-)

It's awesome to really get in the zone on a game. It's very gratifying to know that the core is helping create some good times. I am making a note to be sure I understand the 'NBA Jam CD Hack soundtrack sample folder' issue.

It was originally created for KMDFManic's fork of mame2003-plus for SNES Classic where DATs are not really in used, so there has been some adaptation to figure out how to incorporate it back here "upstream".

I see that dankcushions just gave an updated answer to the per-game cfg folders. Thankfully! I wasn't sure of the answer on that one. :)

@UDb23 the Backdrop support is very close to working but there is still one visual issue that has to be solved. grant and I believe we have narrowed down to a pretty specific part of the code that was used to port the original xmame video system to libretro.

For the curious, we think it is an issue in or around the code that calls osd_create_display. Since that is a key function for video there is even some thought that fixing this bug might improve other issues.

At any rate, we've already been calling on developers from RetroArch and some other libretro cores on a regular basis lately to help address pressing issues, but I'm personally hoping that we could get a hand with this before too much longer now that mame2003-plus is mostly running, most of the time.

Coders new to libretro are welcome to join in too though! Not just veterans. :D

[markwkidd]

One minor UI update today.

The UI update: The copyright and the emulation warnings are now consolidated into one message window controlled with one core option rather than two. Instead of being "modal" where the warning screen pauses the emulator, the new warning is non-modal.

The warning window will display for 8 seconds and then disappear on its own. If you want to make it disappear sooner than that, you can press whatever button you have defined as UI_canceland the window will close instantly. Note: there is no default UI_cancel mapping at the moment for gamepad users. This issue is on our radar, but you can map your own through the MAME menu in the meantime.

Edit 1: There was no regression accessing the MAME menu via the core option. I don't know what I was doing when I couldn't open it earlier. Nevermind on that regression!

Edit 2: I spoke too soon!

There is one update for today that is a little more exiting. With help from arcadez I backported the romsets for two zany mini-game systems from mame 0.139/mame2010:

• Super Bishi Bashi Championship (ver JAA, 2 Players)
• Super Bishi Bashi Championship (ver KAA, 3 Players)

[dankcushions]

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

The UI update: The copyright and the emulation warnings are now consolidated into one message window controlled with one core option rather than two. Instead of being "modal" where the warning screen pauses the emulator, the new warning is non-modal

hang on, one of these messages is mostly useful (emulation warnings), but the other is absolutely not (copyright). i don't think these should be part of the same setting - most would only want one of them on, if any.

[markwkidd]

I guess the core option could be made a four-way toggle: all|warnings|copyright|none

[grant2258]

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

I guess the core option could be made a four-way toggle: all|warnings|copyright|none

this way does seem better to to cover all options in one setting if people insist on it being broken down like that. To me they are all off i make a custom gamelist thats shows me this information anyway. either way is good for me im easily pleased though.

[zerojay]

I think this is one case where current behavior shouldn't be messed with.

[grant2258]

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

I think this is one case where current behavior shouldn't be messed with.

well it can be fixed no need for two options though marks alternative solves all the options in one setting

Its a bit late to know a emulator status isint working after you start it in all honesty youll know if it doesnt work right. im pretty sure you can check this stuff in the tab menu as well :).

Again its not a deal breaker but if people want the option cant argue with that everyone has there own opinions and it good to cover them all.

[markwkidd]

There is a new "Dual Joysticks" core option for games like Robotron and SmashTV that could be played with dual joysticks. If you have one controller with two integrated joysticks, or two controllers with two integrated joysticks apiece, you don't need this core option.

But if you want to use 2 or 4 joysticks that are seen as separate devices, "Dual Joysticks" can be used to assign Joystick 1 and Joystick 2 for Player 1, and Joystick 3 and Joystick 4 are assigned to Player 2.

Big thanks to @robertvb83 for bringing this controller configuration to our attention and for testing several different builds. Thanks also to @grant2258 for solving a nasty little bug with my initial implementation. There has been limited testing so far so any other reports on its functionality are welcome.

The screenshot below shows where to 'click' in the RetroArch Options menu in order to set a core option for Dual Joysticks that affects just one game.

Edit: arcadez also backported several new Data East games over the weekend but I don't think they've been listed in the CHANGELOG yet. I'm looking forward to posting the final list soon!

[robertvb83]

@markwkidd really cool! it works like a charm, now i am excited to test all the dual Joystick games. Thank you for your great work again!

btw. time is Something i very rarely have right now, of course i can help testing from time to time, but is there another way to support mame2003-plus development $$? i feel like getting so much value for nothing.

[markwkidd]

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

@markwkidd really cool! it works like a charm, now i am excited to test all the dual Joystick games. Thank you for your great work again!

btw. time is Something i very rarely have right now, of course i can help testing from time to time, but is there another way to support mame2003-plus development $$? i feel like getting so much value for nothing.

#1 Testing this feature several times is valuable. Don't sell yourself short!
#2 If you would like to make a donation, that is great! The best option at the moment is to contribute to a bounty :)

You can start up a bounty on any issue in our issue tracker or the mame2003 tracker. You could also start a new issue and put a few dollars on it.

One bounty that could always use some love is return vector handling in mame2003 and mame2003-plus up to the level of the standalone MAME 0.78 emulator

We also might need outside help fixing the Backdrop artwork -- that is another good candidate for a bounty in my opinion.