Backdrops in mame2003-plus

Clyde

@Riverstorm said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

knock on wood

Since we Germans also say "klopf auf Holz" (knock on wood), I was curious where this custom came from originally. Interestingly, it may be based on German folklore. 😊

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocking_on_wood#Origin

edit: typo (can't type German anymore, it seems)

UDb23

@Clyde Very interesting, thanks. Can also confirm in Italy it’s “touch iron”.

@Riverstorm This time the flu was particularly strong and sudden. Feeling much better today, should be back to almost ok condition tomorrow. Funny that it almost always happens during weekends, ’cause you relax after a tough week ? There probably there is a scientific explanation.

Fingers crossed for you guys not to catch it !
@Clyde Daumen drücken in Germany I know, I have relatives from Germany ;-)

Riverstorm

@Clyde - That's great. I had no idea it was so global. I literally knock on wood wherever I am standing when needed. A desk, book case, door, door frame, whatever is wood. Availability is a bit slim in our computer room at work. It's all metal, plastic and silicone. Funny thing is no one asks what you're doing because they already know. :)

@UDb23 - I am still surprised how many people die from the flu annually. It really can be deadly. I don't know if it's global but here we do flu vaccines annually. Most agree, some don't. I go with the "for the most part". I think they do more good than harm but I respect all stands.

I think they target the top 5 or 6 strains each year and sometimes they get it right and sometimes not. It's hard to predict what strain will break out and be a "pandemic". This year has been particularly good. The flu shots start to run out around February or March and that's when the flu peaks statistically, then it dies off for the summer. They say it has to do with being cooped up indoors and less fresh air so I crack a few windows every day for a 10 or 15 minutes and they say that helps. Even when it's way below zero. I always think it is a funny thought but where does it (the flu) go in the summer and why so less prevalent and aggressive! ;)

I read an article a long time ago and for the life of me can't find it again. What you wrote prompted me to try again. It's basically exactly along the lines of what you wrote. Our immune systems have the ability to repress "sickness" to a certain degree during the work week so "we can get the job done" and when weekend rolls around and our immune system relaxes and suddenly we feel really run down or get the sniffles or that cold or full blown influenza in your case. I don't think it's an accident it happens that way.

I think you had an interest but after the nayslayer updates overlay "LEDs" do work. I've tested Gorf, Lunar Lander and Turbo. If you don't remember Turbo you will with a screenshot. I spent quite a bit of time with Lunar Lander this past weekend and you can adjust the difficulty and the lighted overlay changes as you select the level with the assigned key. It's really pretty darn cool. That's a win-win.

Clyde

@Riverstorm It's also important to distinguish between influenza and the common cold. Up until today, we have only vaccines for (some strains of) the flu, not for the common cold. But alas, many people confuse them and wonder why they get the common cold after being vaccinated.

Another misconception is that coldness causes the common cold, maybe partly because of its name (or the similar "Erkältung" in German). But as the umbrella term infectious desease points to, you have to be infected by others. AFAIK, the seasonal fluctiations in infection rates are presumed to have to do mainly (*) with people crowding together indoors during bad weather, cold air drying out our mucosa, coldness weakening our immune system, or a combination of them.

(* mainly have to do? have mainly to do?)

Maybe we should title this thread "Backdrops in mame2003-plus, and other topics we talk about when @UDb23 is temporarily unable to provide more of his excellent groundwork". 😉

Riverstorm

@Clyde said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

Maybe we should title this thread "Backdrops in mame2003-plus, and other topics we talk about when @UDb23 is temporarily unable to provide more of his excellent groundwork". 😉

I agree! It's been good though because I spent some time tweaking games and catching up this past weekend. Organizing my mess of retro-gaming files too.

Yeah it's a very important distinction. Where I come from we see extreme temps so we have these long lengthy discussions at work mostly. :) It's a running joke we can land a man on the moon but we can't find a cure for the common cold. The best tale-tale sign for the flu to me is the fever as that implies the body is fighting hard. Colds are just a nuisance more or less with a cough, congestion, runny nose but not a fever which is our body fighting infection.

As for cold causing a cold I agree it can't but it wasn't quite as black and white to me to answer if cold and cold air are "safe". When down south some folks ask some good serious questions about cold. For the normal immune system I think it's fine. In fact it was around 32F/0C two weekends ago and I was out chipping ice in a long sleeve shirt, no coat, no gloves. Indoors we keep it at 69F/20.5C and that's just great for me. My youngest daughter was born to it and it's just normal to her but my wife will never fully "embrace" the cold and dislikes it. I never wear more than a flannel shirt all winter except in extreme cold. I was reading recently that "challenging" the body in cold weather strengthens our cells and keeps them healthy. Kind of like the whole cold shower trend but that's not for me. I just as soon work outside in the cold.

Anyway sorry, to the point, cold may be an issue for folks with compromised immune systems, respiratory issues, etc. that can turn into something worse and works our system harder but I agree cold air can't cause colds--it's just that, cold air (you can't create something out of nothing like a virus) since it's a virus it's in the air vs. bacterial based infections which you need to come in contact with physically. I was watching a show on the military the other day and they feed troops, that operate in the cold, double the calories. So the body works much harder to operate in cold.

Also interesting they say the flu vaccination can help shorten the flu if it's from the same family like influenza A or B. Do you guys over in Germany do flu vaccinations?

Yeah I understand the reasons why they say the flu and colds are more prevalent in winter but I am still amazed how we can go from almost everyone has a cold to nothing in a few short months. Bio-warfare would be very effective in the winter. Funny thing is most of the pathogens in those weapons come from common plants located anywhere.

Ok so that was off topic and I'll reign it in for the day but I do enjoy the conversation! :)

Clyde

@Riverstorm said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

Do you guys over in Germany do flu vaccinations?

Yes, at least for the most prevalent strains of the season. News will report about them, and doctors will offer the vaccines as well as counsel about them.

Riverstorm

@Clyde - Ok it sounds similar except we don't get much in the way of counsel. They give you the shot and send you on your way. They do promote and advertise very liberally at all levels of government to "get the flu shot" and make them available at every hospital, small clinic and corner drugstore. I appreciate you sharing as I don't often get a chance to chat with real people from other countries which is really nice.

Just to add to the thread I did test Spy Hunter and Sky Diver lighted overlays and they work great also. Sky Diver is more like a moving lighted marquee but still fancy looking. I've test most of the games I have or remember with "LED" overlays and they all seem to work properly.

Clyde

@Riverstorm I enjoy talking to people from around the world, too. It's one of the amazing possibilities of our time. 😎

Care to share screenshots of Spy Hunter and Sky Diver along with any useful setup information?

Riverstorm

@Clyde - My screenshots with overlays clip the overlay for some reason but it's fine if there's no overlay. I don't think RA accounts for the overlay correctly. The good is there's nothing to it. Just download any pre-0.106 artwork (there's a dedicated section) from Mr. Do's website and copy it into your /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003-plus/artwork folder and run the game. No configuration required!

EDIT: I don't know if we can post links here for Artwork or if so I can link you to the correct page.

UDb23

@Clyde @Riverstorm
I’m on a business trip in uk. Almost back at 100% after my short but tough influenza (@clyde thanks the exact term used here). Seems all your knocking on wood helped, thanks :-)
Seems also you had a nice discussion on flu etc; couldn’t read thru all of it yet.
Thats how to make a real viral post? Lol

For the moment just a quick reply.

The only new testing I also did while ko was on skydiver.
It works as @Riverstorm already found out, meaning works out of the box with mrDo’s artwork ( discontinued).
Not checked yet if the game area ratio is actually 4/3. Anyway it looks well and I can make the overlay for it to cover the black sidebars (based on high res bezel scan).
LEDs: before each jump a letter appears randomly; if the jump is successful (inside the target area) that letter will be lighted on. If you light them all you get a bonus if I remember well.

MAME history’s data state that MAME v 0.78u4 implemented sounds. Mine does not have sounds so it seems 2003plus doesn’t include the additional code.

UDb23

Additional on skydiver: clouds are low res; already made them in vectors therefore creating a new bd zip that includes the high res clouds.
As said in the BD sheet the clouds are on top so l’d prefer to create a RA overlays including those and just let .art system manage the leds. Leds graphics could be improved also but takes more time and not sure if it’s worth it.

@Riverstorm could you kindly update the sheet with your precious testing info (if not already doing it)?
Btw you mentioned it gets really cold in your area in winter and you have limited number of sunny months; northern US ?

UDb23

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - Glad you're feeling better. Ok, thanks for the explanation on Sky Diver and how the letters work. It's been to long. I was having a lot of fun with it last night though but missed the damn pad more than I hit it. Practice makes perfect. When testing I use a monitor quite often as it's close to the PC so I missed the no sound. I would like to play it with sound as it's actually still pretty fun.

I filled in a good number of games in the spreadsheet but you might need to clean up the notes they way you like so you can understand them better.

Lunar Lander, Spy Hunter and Turbo look great too, check them out you won't be disappointed. All could use some overlay love.

I have a hard time knowing if it's 4/3 (Sky Diver) due to the BD throws off the numbers and enlarges the game area. On my monitor it's 1280 x 1200 which is a 16/15 ratio.

I am in the Northern US (we call it the Upper Midwest). I can get to the Canada border in a few hours drive. If you heard of Mt. Rushmore I am close to that National Monument. Lot's of wide open spaces, country and blue sky in all directions for miles. Population density is pretty low here but I like it. Great place to raise a family, low crime and smog free. You can walk safely at night. ;) For big cities Minneapolis, MN would be the closet drive. Then Chicago, IL would be the next closet population wise.

Riverstorm

@UDb23 @Clyde - I opened an issue here on no audio in Sky Diver to see if it's an easy fix and could be implemented.

Riverstorm

Grant already added audio to Sky Diver you just need to update from source, he's quick! :)

Clyde

@Riverstorm said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

Grant already added audio to Sky Diver you just need to update from source, he's quick! :)

@grant2258 @Riverstorm Thanks!

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - I added all the clones to the spreadsheet so the game count is up to 91. I added the parent name to the comment field for clones that aren't immediately obvious by the name. Space Invaders has a lot of clones. I tried to add them alphabetically but I think a bit of cleanup might be needed throughout the spreadsheet.

@Clyde - Yeah it's better with sound, yay Grant! ;) He's looking into adjusting the volume if possible on the start it's loud then it's ok once game play starts.

markwkidd

If anyone is feeling bold, and in the mood to compile, I have added backdrop support to mame2003 "classic" on a trial basis. No automatic copying of artwork or anything like that, just the functionality.

Riverstorm

@markwkidd - It looks good. I tested Omega Race and Space Invaders. Just a heads up for 2003 users. I did loose some core settings and had to redo my vector settings, re-enable warnings, overlay multiplier, etc. Maybe backup or jot down your settings first.

markwkidd

@Riverstorm Thank you for the report from pi land!