[Pi 4] Cave CV1000 Performance Thread

dodonpachi

UPDATE: See this thread for additional recommended settings, using May 17 2022 and onwards lr-fbneo updates. My settings below are for lr-mame2016, and as of this edit, lr-fbneo runs these games much better.

Use fbneo. Do not use mame2016.

A lot of this was discussed in this thread here, but I wanted to consolidate all of the information on running CV1000 optimally. I figured this would be a good resource for fellow Cave shmup enthusiasts with a Pi 4.

Below are my CPU/blitter delay settings for every game I've tested. My goal was to resemble PCB gameplay as close as possible, while also compromising enough to reduce sound drops and stuttering. None of these will be 100% perfect full speed, but it's the best I could squeeze out of the Pi 4. If you've found better results, please post them here. All games have only been tested single player, and could perform worse with two players.

NOTE: To change the blitter delay, you will need a keyboard to access MAME's tab menu. First, you'll have to edit blitter delay in Slider Controls, then enable it in Machine Configuration. CPU settings can be changed under Options in the retroarch menu; be sure you're running the latest version of lr-mame2016.

My Pi 4 overclock settings:
CPU: 2100
GPU: 750

Game: Mushihimesama
Filename: mushisam
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 37
Blitter Delay: 56
Notes: Only Original Mode tested. Near perfect, some stuttering on stages 3-4. The best running game on this list, frankly.

Game: Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
Filename: futari15
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 37
Blitter Delay: 56
Notes: Only Original Mode tested.

Game: Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
Filename: futaribl
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 37
Blitter Delay: 56
Notes: Only Original Mode tested.

Game: Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu 1.5
Filename: ddpdfk
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 43
Blitter Delay: 59
Notes:

Game: Dodonpachi Saidaioujou
Filename: dfkbl (technically ddpsdoj, but must use dfkbl to play it until the emulator is updated to support correct filename)
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 38
Blitter Delay: 57
Notes: Character select and stage clear screen will load better if you reset the game via tab menu, under Machine Configuration. Must do this every time to get this effect, though. CPU and blitter settings will otherwise save and be applied every time.

Game: Deathsmiles
Filename: deathsml
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 52
Blitter Delay: 59
Notes:

Game: Deathsmiles Mega Black Label
Filename: dsmbl
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 49
Blitter Delay: 59
Notes:

Game: Espgaluda II
Filename: espgal2
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 49
Blitter Delay: 63
Notes:

Game: Akai Katana
Filename: akatana
Emulator: lr-mame2016
CPU: 47
Blitter Delay: 68
Notes:

Addison

There's a current Steam sale for Mushihimesama with a discount of 65% until the 9th.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/377860/Mushihimesama/

I grabbed the Matsuri Pack Bundle for an extra two dollars.

Gosh this game is so wonderful.

Also posting to keep track of your thread. :D

ecto

@dodonpachi I have a quick question: I can change the blitter settings though the TAB menu. But where are the values saved? I've looked around but found no .cfg or .opt file with my set blitter value. Am I blind?

My goal would be to set the blitter delay in a config file...

dodonpachi

@ecto Honestly, I have no idea where they are saved, just that they are. If I were to guess though, if it wasn't in the rom folder, it may be in the mame2016 folder.

ecto

@dodonpachi Thanks for you input. Anyways, I've set the blitter delay for all games and it seems to stick. It wasn't too many games, so all is well.

dodonpachi

Lr-fbneo was updated to include the CV1000 driver very recently. See my thoughts on performance settings here.

As always, let me know if you find better. So far, I think certain games run better with lr-mame2016, but Mushihimesama might be best with lr-fbneo.

barbudreadmon

@dodonpachi We did a bunch of updates over the past few days, among other things the driver shouldn't be limited anymore to 25% steps (i also added some values for cpu clock in the libretro port), could you please let me know if it's still running well on pi4 ?

dodonpachi

@barbudreadmon unfortunately I'm overseas for a while, and my Pi 4 is back home. Hopefully someone else can test it out, though I assure you I can't wait to install it and give it a spin when I get back.

barbudreadmon

Ok, maybe @G30FF or @Darksavior could give some feedback then ?

Darksavior

@barbudreadmon The latest build does save my cpu/blitter settings with any percentage. The vertical level in deathsmiles mbl doesn't drop to mid 50's any more but the slowdown at 58-60fps is quite a lot using @dodonpachi 's settings.

These guys go in-depth about cpu/blitter settings so I'll test those out later though I'm not sure if I can tell the difference. http://cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=1839.0

G30FF

@barbudreadmon I unfortunately don't have any experience with the original PCBs of any of these games, so I can't confirm how accurate any of these settings are, or whether FBNeo is recreating the experience better or worse. What I can say is that I've tested a few of the games listed here, like the Mushihime-sama games, and, as a newbie to Cave games, they're all very playable to me. In fact I turned off the frameskip settings I previously had on Mushihime-sama in lr-fbneo, and it still plays very well. I haven't given full playthroughs of any of them though.

And yes, the CPU scaling now works at any percentage. I tested that out. Performance overall seems to be much better.

sirhenrythe5th

Gosh, fantastic!!!
I am on vacation right now and cannot test it, but i cant wait to try those "Cave 2.0 SHMUPs".
As mentoined before i am a die hard Fan of CAVEs games, "DoDonPachi" is the best SHMUP ever for me.

Thanks a lot to Dink and the rest of the FBNEO DEV-Team!!!

dodonpachi

I've come across a thread on the FBNeo website regarding suggested CPU and blitter settings for fbneo. I'm overseas without my Pi 4, so I can't test these values myself, but I think it's worth a look:

https://neo-source.com/index.php?topic=3934.0

sirhenrythe5th

I also had a testrun with all the new supported CV1000 Cave SHMUPS.

Without any changes to any parameter and using a non-overclocked Pi4 with default setting only Mushihime Sama runs fast enough to get an impression how great these games are!

All the others have to fight, slowdowns, sound hickups and so on.
But i did not want to complain by saying that!!!, the emulation itself seems to be marvelous, i did not notice any bugs or issues.
The (stock) Pi4 is just too weak to run these games at full speed.

One more reason why it is worth waiting for the Pi5 :D

dodonpachi

@sirhenrythe5th Are you willing to try Mushihimesama with the CPU and blitter settings I wrote in the first post? It may work better for you.

As far as the Pi 4 goes, I think you're right. Absent any further ARM optimization, I think this is basically as far as we'll go performance-wise. However, if Retropie ever gets support for the Rock Pi 3588, I think our performance woes will be resolved.

sirhenrythe5th

@dodonpachi sure, i can do that on monday when i am home again!
I thought about testing the blitter settings with the other CV1000 Shmups that are not running so good as Mushihime Sama.
I played Mushihime to the Boss of Level 2 and it performed just like DoDonPachi, Espgaluda, Guwange and the rest of the older Cave-Shmups.
Really playable, no tweaks required.

barbudreadmon

@sirhenrythe5th said in [Pi 4] Cave CV1000 Performance Thread:

The (stock) Pi4 is just too weak to run these games at full speed.

Keep in mind they are actually running too fast at 100% cpu clock, so you should never run them like that.

kounabi22

@dodonpachi

with the new update of fbneo now it plays all the above games with no need to tweak options.

Addison

@kounabi22 said in [Pi 4] Cave CV1000 Performance Thread:

@dodonpachi

with the new update of fbneo now it plays all the above games with no need to tweak options.

Have you personally confirmed them all?

If so, I know how my current weekend will be wasted. :D

barbudreadmon

Dink reduced requirements for cv1k again just a few hours ago.