Sega model 3 #segamodel3

mechafatnick

Right, just uploaded a load more default NVRAMs (covering everything i think) along with a .ini with settings for a load more games.

Shocking find of the morning: the Pi can handle the PPC clocked at the real 66hz and beyond. This means we're able to have the sound in games like Spikeout and Daytona with minimal slowdown.

N.B,

Sega Rally loses the menu if you insert coin before the demo mode. SWA won't load the game (iof you wait till Darth Vader appears it works)

Folly

@mechafatnick

Can you rename nvram to NVRAM ?
Can you rename *.st0 to *.st ?
(gamename of the .st has to be like the zip)

Otherwise I it won't work.

Folly

@mechafatnick @DTEAM

I added the module-script to github
link_to_commit

Isn't tested yet on NVRAM and Saves, as the source doesn't have the proper NVRAM directory yet.
If it doesn't find the correct directory, It will install though, but without copying those directories.

mechafatnick

@folly yeah sorry we popped to Costco!

I've renamed those files so it should all work now.

Folly

@mechafatnick said in Sega model 3 #segamodel3:

@folly yeah sorry we popped to Costco!

I've renamed those files so it should all work now.

Perfect, we can test !!!!
Curious if this will work OOB. ;-)

FIXED EDIT: I have to fix an issue, NVRAM and Saves directories are not copied correctly.

Folly

@mechafatnick

Can you check your Supermodel.ini ?
If I use the old Supermodel.ini then it seems to run fine.

I get an error in runcommand.log that says there is an error in line 366 of Supermodel.ini.

If you want more info I can post the runcommand.log

mechafatnick

@folly It's alright! i forgot to put a ; in front of a comment. Updated.

Folly

@mechafatnick

I still have to fix some issues.
Can take a while.......

Folly

@mechafatnick

Can you remove this from the Supermodel.ini ? :

GameXMLFile= /opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/Config/Games.xml

My module-script places the emulator files in :
/opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel-mechafatnick

I have done this to prevent the mix-up with manual installs that otherwise will brake.
As I use pushd in the runcommand-line it will automatically find the XML file without the need of putting it in the ini file or as an option in the runcommand-line.
With above line still added in ini file , then the emulator will not find the XML because it will search in the wrong directory.

mechafatnick

@folly Done! I suspect the couple of save states will have to be changed too then.

Folly

@mechafatnick said in Sega model 3 #segamodel3:

@folly Done! I suspect the couple of save states will have to be changed too then.

Yes, indeed I saw that.

We have to decide whether we put them in the runcommand-line or in the ini.

If I put it in the runcommand-line the source code is still, sort of, compatible with a manual install and people can add just .st files without editing the ini file.

If you think we should prefer to put it in the ini file, just let me know.

Folly

@mechafatnick @DTEAM

I did some minor fixes.
Basically, the module-script should work now.

mechafatnick

@folly Oh definitely definitely the ini method! If you check the game-specific settings i set up lastnight/this morning there's a much wider margin than i originally anticipated - particularly as some games need the PPC to be run above 60hz.

From a user point of view i think it would be much better for us to work our what works in advance and the user just switch between normal/high res modes in the command line.

We could even include an ini file set to run everything using the new 3d engine and at full speed if someone in the future wants to build/run under windows

Folly

@mechafatnick

Sounds good.

Just found we can use relative paths in the Supermodel.ini.

Turn this :

InitStateFile = /opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/Saves/srally2.st

Into this :

InitStateFile = Saves/srally2.st

And we are way more flexible as where we will put the emulator files.

I think you could even do that for all games.
Whether there is a save state or not, I think it will always boot, with or without save file.

Agreed ?

I can then remove the options from the runcommand-lines.
Now that all the games get their own configs I presume I can also remove the under-clock lines, just keeping only 1 runcommand-line.
Am I right ?

mechafatnick

@folly

Yep! we can have one:

Supermodel = "XINIT:/opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/supermodel %ROM%"

Or a couple with different res options? (with the resolution specified in the command line - thats how the N64 emus do it.

Folly

@mechafatnick

Thats ok.

I will look at it tomorrow.

Edit: No time today i will have to postpone it a day.

Red_Trev

@mechafatnick said in Sega model 3 #segamodel3:

@folly WIll people want to skip the initial boot sequence? That might be part of the fun. Hmm.

I've been thinking about your approach of putting everything into the ini and i think this is the right approach. Going forward I think we should:

-have two ( or three?) options in emulator.cfg:

supermodel (which will be at native res)
supermodel high-res (800 x 600)
supermodel very high-res (1024 x 768)

Then, we can handle the settings for the individual games in supermodel.ini (so whether to enable the DSB, how far to underclock CPU.) That way we'll have optimal settings for each game without the user having to alter anything. Sound good? I've made sections for each game in the ini file. I think i might be developing carpel tunnel...

EDIT: Ok! We can all chip in!

Add these lines to the global section of supermodel.ini (under your controls:)

;Our non input settings...
EmulateDSB = 0
MusicVolume = 60
SoundVolume = 60
Stretch=1
VSync=0
Throttle=0
GameXMLFile= /opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/Config/Games.xml
New3DEngine=0

now, in emulators.cfg we only need to set the res in the command line (if you want to have different options)

Supermodel = "XINIT:/opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/supermodel %ROM%"

Now all we need to do, as a group, is come up with the optimal settings for each game as a group. I've made a start below (copy this into supermodel.ini - below the global section)

;daytona 2 power edition
    [ dayto2pe ]
;daytona 2: battle to the edge
    [ daytona2 ]
  ;Dirt Devils (Export, Revision A)  
	[dirtdvls]
;Dirt Devils (Australia, Revision A)
    [ dirtdvlsa ]
;Dirt Devils (German)
    [ dirtdvlsg ]       
;Dirt Devils (Japan, Revision A)  
	[ dirtdvlsj ]
;Emergency Call Ambulance (Export)
    [ eca       ]
;Emergency Call Ambulance (Japan)	
    [ ecaj      ]
;Emergency Call Ambulance (US location test?)	
    [ ecap      ]
;Emergency Call Ambulance (USA)	
    [ ecau      ]
;Fighting Vipers 2 (Japan, Revision A)	
    [ fvipers2 ]  
;Fighting Vipers 2 (?)    
    [ fvipers2o ]
;Get Bass (?)    
    [ getbass ]
;Harley-Davidson and L.A. Riders (Revision B)	
    [ harley ] 
;Harley-Davidson and L.A. Riders (Revision A)   
    [ harleya ]
;L.A. Machineguns: Rage of the Machines (Japan)    
    [ lamachin ] 
;Le Mans 24 (Revision B)	
    [ lemans24 ]
 ;The Lost World (Japan, Revision A)   
    [ lostwsga ]
;The Lost World (Original Revision)	
    [ lostwsgo ]
PowerPCFrequency = 30
;Magical Truck Adventure (Japan)    
    [ magtruck ]
;The Ocean Hunter (?)   
    [ oceanhun ]
;Scud Race (Australia, Twin)	
    [ scud ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
MusicVolume = 200
EmulateDSB = 1
;Scud Race (Export, Twin)	
    [ scuda ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
MusicVolume = 200
EmulateDSB = 1
;Scud Race (Japan, Deluxe)	
    [ scudj ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
MusicVolume = 200
EmulateDSB = 1
;Scud Race Plus (Revision A)	
    [ scudplus ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
MusicVolume = 200
EmulateDSB = 1
;Scud Race Plus (?)  
    [ scudplusa ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
MusicVolume = 200
EmulateDSB = 1
;Ski Champ (Japan)	
    [ skichamp  ]
;Spikeout Final Edition (?) - too slow on pi	
    [ spikeofe  ]
PowerPCFrequency = 45
EmulateDSB = 1
;Spikeout (Revision C)	
    [ spikeout  ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
EmulateDSB = 1
;Sega Rally 2 (?)	
    [ srally2   ] 
;Sega Rally 2 (Prototype)	
    [ srally2p  ]
;Sega Rally 2 (Prototype Version A)
    [ srally2pa ]
;Sega Rally 2 (Deluxe)	
    [ srally2x  ]
;Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (Revision A)
    [ swtrilgy  ]
;Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (?)	-not working on pi
    [ swtrilgya ]
;Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (?)   -not working on pi
    [ swtrilgyp ]
;Virtua Fighter 3 (Revision D)
    [ vf3       ]
PowerPCFrequency = 40
;Virtua Fighter 3 (Revision A)	
    [ vf3a      ]
PowerPCFrequency = 40
;Virtua Fighter 3 (Revision C)
    [ vf3c      ]
PowerPCFrequency = 40	
;Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle (?)	
    [ vf3tb     ]
PowerPCFrequency = 40
;Virtual On 2: Oratorio Tangram (Revision B)
    [ von2      ]
PowerPCFrequency = 30
;Virtual On 2: Oratorio Tangram (Ver 5.4g)	
    [ von254g   ]
PowerPCFrequency = 30
;Virtual On 2: Oratorio Tangram (Revision A)	
    [ von2a     ]
PowerPCFrequency = 30
;Virtual On 2: Oratorio Tangram (?)	
    [ von2o     ]
PowerPCFrequency = 35
;Virtua Striker 2 (Step 2.0) - no special settings    
    [ vs2       ]
;Virtua Striker 2 (Step 1.5) -  no special settings 
    [ vs215     ]
;Virtua Striker 2 (Step 1.5, older) -  no special settings 	
    [ vs215o    ]
;Virtua Striker 2 '98 (Step 2.0) -  no special settings 	
    [ vs298     ]
;Virtua Striker 2 '98 (Step 1.5) - no special settings 
    [ vs29815   ]     
;Virtua Striker 2 '99 (?)	
    [ vs299     ]
;Virtua Striker 2 '99 (Step 1.5)	
    [ vs29915   ] 
;Virtua Striker 2 '99 (Revision A)    
    [ vs299a    ]
;Virtua Striker 2 '99 (Revision B)	
    [ vs299b    ]
;Virtua Striker 2 '99.1 (Revision B)	
    [ vs2v991   ]

I'm gathering initialised nv ram too :D

@mechafatnick can you please confirm what hardware you are testing these settings on ?

I have a raspberry Pi 4b 8GB, and have abandoned full screen mode. The graphics do emulate near perfect but the game play is way too slow, maybe 5 times slower.

I have reduced the screen size to 768 x 576 and have better results while tweaking the PowerPCFrequency up 5 points at a time from 50, though I see you have recommended going down a few ticks.

Havent had time to do much testing yet but the Lost World runs very impressively with the following:

[ Global ]

XResolution=768
YResolution=576
FullScreen=0
WideScreen=1
Stretch=0
WideBackground=0
EmulateNet = 0

supermodel= "XINIT:/opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/supermodel -game-xml-file=/opt/retropie/emulators/supermodel/bin/Config/Games.xml -legacy3d -sound-volume=50 -music-volume=80 -no-vsync -no-throttle -ppc-frequency=65 -no-dsb %ROM%"

mechafatnick

@red_trev
Hello!

Just a normal 4gb pi4, overclocked slightly (up to 1900 i think)?

I think you're probably making it do too much work by changing the resolution. I don't think the Pi has enough grunt for the emulator to draw a screen bigger than the Model 3's native 496 x 384. Render at this resolution and stretch it. It still looks good :D

When it comes to overclocking/underclocking the CPU, its definitely worth going by a game-game basis. The original revision had the CPU clocked at 66gz, while the later revisions had it clocked at 166hz, so later games will probably need it clocked above Supermodel's defaults to work their best. I think the factors in play are:

-Different games use the cpu differently. If you emulate all 66hz for games that are barely using the cpu you're wasting your Pi's resources emulating CPU cycles that are basically idle.

-overclocking the virtual CPU makes the game run smoother in the virtual world, but increases the load on the Pi. Though your virtual cpu in the emulator probably thinks its speeding along at 60fps, the game you're seeing on screen is chugging because the pi doesn't have the resources to keep up with the speed of the virtual CPU

-Underclocking the virtualCPU makes the emulator run smoothly by freeing the pi's resources, but if we take it too far our virtual model 3 isn't quick enough to runt he game and will experience issues. A good example of this is to underclock Virtual Fighter 3 down to 30 and watch as the characters literally come apart at the seams :D

so basically we just need to experiement a bit. I think i have most of these to the point where they're as good as they can be, but its worth experimenting.

Folly

@mechafatnick @DTEAM

It will take a bit longer for me to make the module-script better.
There is an issue with moving the NVRAM and Saves directory.
If these directories already exists in the rom directory the source files are not moved and then a link is nested inside the directories.
I will have to find a good solution for that.

To be continued.....

Folly

@mechafatnick @DTEAM

I think I have fixed the issues.

I have chosen to update all the files from the source.
So we can see how the fixes in the source evolve.

The Supermodel.ini will be backed-up to Supermodel.ini.old when installing or updating.

I removed the old runcommand-lines and added 3 different resolution lines without extra options as the are now in the ini.