How to get a decent Asteroids?

roslof

@kounabi22 said in How to get a decent Asteroids?:

i believe there is some option to enable high res vector graphics

There is an option in lr-fbneo, but if enabled, will be too slow to perform on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. It actually is too slow on a 4B, also.

@jamietuley you could opt to ALSO install lr-mame (from binary). You could configure Asteroids to use it via runcommand.

I'm currently using the latest lr-mame. It took a long time to figure out my ideal setup, but it's this:

LIBRETRO CORE OPTIONS:

Read configuration (enable)
Write configuration (enable)
Alternate render method (enable)
Resolution (1024x768)
(save only for this game)

MAME OPTIONS (use Tab on Keyboard while running Asteroids)

Slider Controls
**Screen Brightness 1.000
**Screen Contrast 1.500
**Screen Gamma 1.200
**Vector Flicker 0.14
**Beam Width Minimum 1.20
**Beam Width Maximum 1.40
**Beam Dot Size 1.60
**Beam Intensity Weight -0.95

Mame is kind of weird... The first 3 options are saved to a cfg file in the mame folder inside your rom directory. The other options are saved into an .ini file in your bios/mame/ini directory. Turning on Write Configuration will create this ini. Once you have it all pretty, you could turn off Write Configuration, but leave Read Configuration enabled.

LIBRETRO SHADER PARAMETERS
This is hacky, but I learned that you can get even sharper lines if you use the zfast_crt or zfast_crt_curve shader. If you try this, just ensure you disable things that would simulate scanlines or mask:

For zfast_crt_curve:

Scanline Darkness = 0.00
Mask Effect Amount = 0.00

For zfast_crt:

Scanline Darkness - Low 0.00
Scanline Darkness - High 0.00
Mask Effect Amount - 0.00
You can also crank up "Dark Pixel Brightness Boost" if desired

My results:

Super sharp, but lines are thick enough to read clearly on any CRT. The "dot" parameter stretches any single vector dot (like bullets) vertically so they're more legible on a CRT. With the latest lr-mame, it even sounds really good (highs are crisp and lows thump with my soundbar w/subwoofer).

Hope this helps.

jamietuley

@roslof thanks so much for all this info! I will do my best to replicate your set-up.
I did in fact try to install lr-mame as I believe it was your compatibility list I was reading where you primarily use FBneo and lr-mame? Though for some reason retropie kept timing out on obtaining lr-mame when I was trying to install it - if I get the same problem today I'll see if I can post more detail on it here.

Can you remind me of the Romset that works with your lr-mame?

Thanks again,

Jamie

roslof

@jamietuley said in How to get a decent Asteroids?:

Can you remind me of the Romset that works with your lr-mame?

If you have a ROM that works with current fbneo, then you're all set.

If not, current lr-mame uses a 0.251 romset, but the rom for Asteroids specifically has been unchanged for quite awhile now. I would simply backup your existing ROM, pull an asteroid.zip ROM from a newer, modern set and it should work fine.

jamietuley

@roslof thanks for all the help..

I managed to install lr-mame, I loaded up Asteroids and the sound was fine - so thats one tick! I input all your settings and it made the game look GREAT! I was all set but then after putting all those settings in the sound was back to being terrible??!!

Im crushed :(

Even more frustrating is this version again does not save any scores? The one joy I had with my 0.78 version of Asteroids and Deluxe was even though the sounds was distorted it did still save high scores.

Im at a bit of a loss now - do you have any ideas?

roslof

@jamietuley a few thoughts -- Try a lower resolution instead of 1024x768. Your Pi3B+ might be a little bit underpowered. Start with an ugly 640x480 just to see if it makes a difference and if good, check the values in between.

High scores definitely save (see screenshot below) but you'll need the hiscore plug-in enabled. Various plug-in folders should exist in <bios>/mame/plugins/ There is one subfolder called "hiscore". Ensure that it's in the plugins folder. My hiscore subfolder currently contains these four (4) files:

hiscore.dat
init.lua
plugin.json
sort_hiscore.lua

I believe you can download/update newer versions of the hiscore.dat file if necessary.

In order to enable plug-ins, simply modify mame.ini (located at <bios>/mame/ini/) and add ensure under "SCRIPTING OPTIONS", the "Plugins" line is set for "1" and not "0":

Plugins 1

Lastly, you'll need to enable the hiscore plug-in itself. In <bios>/mame/ini, look for a file called plugins.ini. If it doesn't exist, create it. Add the line:

hiscore 1

...then save the file.

Some additional information here

So, when I'm running MAME/Asteroids, I hit tab and see "Plugin Options". Tap Enter and I see "Hiscore Support". Tap Enter again and the "Save scores" value is set for "When updated", so it writes the hiscore as soon as the value changes.

If set up correctly, the actual Asteroids high score will be located in <bios>/mame/hiscore and will be named asteroid.hi.

Funny thing... When all is correctly set, don't panic when Asteroids boots and you see the high score is "0". This is normal. It will change once the high score table is displayed.

Good luck!!

barbudreadmon

@roslof said in How to get a decent Asteroids?:

There is an option in lr-fbneo, but if enabled, will be too slow to perform on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. It actually is too slow on a 4B, also.

I suppose we should do something to allow alternative resolutions (currently only 480p and 1080p are available), i'll think about it :).

roslof

@barbudreadmon said in How to get a decent Asteroids?:

@roslof said in How to get a decent Asteroids?:

There is an option in lr-fbneo, but if enabled, will be too slow to perform on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. It actually is too slow on a 4B, also.

I suppose we should do something to allow alternative resolutions (currently only 480p and 1080p are available), i'll think about it :).

Would be wonderful. If you elect to support this, let me know, and I'll test it up for you.

Ashpool

@barbudreadmon That would be really cool(!), and if it is not to much to ask and effort on your behalve to be done, maybe a few classical (vertical) DMT resolutions would be nice (mostly thinking about 1200 here, but 900/960/1024/1050 are also coming to mind. But for those below 1080 adding 720p would be a good compromise/investment IMHO and as 1200 is even closer to 1080 then those are to 720 it shouldn't be a priority task (if any at all).

jamietuley

@roslof Thank you so much for all this help and info - really is much appreciated!

I will for sure be trying anything that you suggest, though one point you mention that Im intrigued about and thats you saying my Pi3 might be a little underpowered?

I dont know if I should have mentioned this previously but I get a general sound issue where I'll be mid game and the sounds just cuts out - the timing varies but it sure enough will always occur. When I quit the game back to attract mode the sound is back! Now on previous posts people have suggested that my Pi may be struggling because I have both the iPac AND a USB sound dongle plugged in which then goes to my amplifier in the cab. A suggested solution is to buy a powered USB hub to take some strain off the Pi - I have now finally purchased one of these but just need the day/time to start opening up my cabinet.
Do you think this could be the reason for the Asteroids distorted audio??

Anyway I think its best I install this new powered USB first.. see what happens and then follow your instructions.
Thanks again and any insight helps :)

Cheers,
Jamie

barbudreadmon

@jamietuley Distorted audio is a typical symptom of your device being too slow to emulate a game, which might happen if your device is underpowered for some reason (bad power supply, too many connected devices, ...), resulting in your cpu being underclocked. Most of the time, it's simply that your device is too slow though, and tbh i'm not convinced a pi3 can handle vector games at a high resolution.