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[killergorilla]

I think this is a great idea, the .84 dat contains shed loads of stuff that you simply can't play, it'd be great to get a much smaller working list up and running.

As for using clrmamepro, romcenter can use the dats from it no problems.

[ressurectionx]

QUOTE(killergorilla @ Jan 16 2008, 02:43 PM)

I think this is a great idea, the .84 dat contains shed loads of stuff that you simply can't play, it'd be great to get a much smaller working list up and running.

As for using clrmamepro, romcenter can use the dats from it no problems.

Thanks for the tip man.  I didn't know that.  

I'm just finally finishing the basics of the spreadsheet.... the names, the zipfiles and the clones.  It's taken a long time because the way the txt file was set up it was impossible to export it to excel nicely (at least I didn't know how to).  When I'm finished with that, I can get back to actually testing the games.  I've gotten around 1,700 done now.  Tons of bad roms so far, but a lot more good ones though.  It will be interesting to see how much of the 11 GB of files will actually be used when you've got just the roms that work without clones.  

I'll keep this thread updated with my progress.

[killergorilla]

Not a problem mate, glad to point it out

Yeah, please do post your progress, I for one will definitely be interested in using it.

[Monkey Bread]

I always wanted to see something like this--count me as also being interested in your progress!

[ressurectionx]

Sure thing guys.  I work weird hours and travel somtimes on my weekends.   I might be going out of town this weekend actually, so I probably won't get too much done in the next week or so.  I usually like to sit down when I can devote large blocks of time to testing the MAME and PSX games.  It's crazy how 10 hours can just fly by like that.  

Trust me... I will get this completed.  But just like the PSX compatibility, it's one of those things I'm dying to get done so I can get on with my life, but it's always going to gnaw at me if I don't finish it.  If I had to put a date on when I'll be done with this, My guess would be by mid-April.....  but I don't want to commit myself to anything.  Ideally, I would like to have a complete compatibility list of MAME and PSX by May so I can start obsessing on working my fat ass out for summer instead of obessing over this.  

Who knows?  Now that I've got the bulk of the spreadsheets for both projects done, testing should be a lot quicker.  

To think.... I was actually typing out every title and version by hand before I went to work on the supported games text file.  Doing it that way was no treat either, but I did in about 6 hours with that what would have taken 30 hours to type out by hand.  

It's an ever evolving process, and if you really look at the spreadsheet when it's done, it won't be too difficult to notice the changes from one point to another when I developed a new way of getting this done.  I'm sure I'll never go back and make everything uniform, because that would just waste countless hours fixing something that isn't broke.  Trust me... for anyone who would actually take the time to read a spreadsheet on MAME compatibility instead of just taking my word for it and using my datfile, it will still make perfect sense.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 17 2008, 09:25 AM

[ressurectionx]

Hello everyone.  Getting off work this morning and then I'll have a few days to devote to this.  I hope to get 2,000 games under my belt in that time, but that's probably being way too optimistic.  We'll see how it goes, and I'll update my progress.  

I still haven't figured out why my MAME won't go to the UI options screen or reset, but I can pause and exit to the romlist.  Really weird and frustrating.  If I can't figure out what I need to delete off my box when I upload a new version, I'm just going to put the roms on my second XBox and do it that way.  I will not begin testing games again until I've solved this problem.


THINGS WE KNOW:

MAMEoX will likely not be getting a compatibility upgrade which would make this list obsolete any time soon, if ever.


Things I haven't personally tested, but have been stated as fact:

1. Some games, such as Joust say "Factory Settings Restored" after the romcheck. If you reset the rom (not the emu) then it will load up fine.

2. Romcenter can use clrmamepro datfiles without any problems.  (I'm going to research online how to make datfiles)


QUESTIONS I STILL HAVE:

1. Does anyone know how to get games such as Guerrilla War, Ikari Warriors and Heavy Barrel to work right? You should be able to make your guy change the direction he's fireing.  I can move in all directions but only fire straight forward. The other analog stick doesn't get the job done.  It has been mentioned that this could possibly be changed in the UI Options menu, but that the changes might universally impact all games, which is not an acceptable fix.  If this is the case, I will mark these games as unplayable. (A cumbersome workaround in this case could be to group all games which would require this universal change together and have a seperate instance of MAME only for running them.  I won't be doing that, but it is an option if you just can't live without those games)

2. Does anyone know how to use the "pedal" for games like Hydra? You can't start that particular game unless you use the pedal after inserting a coin, and none of the buttons seem to do that. (Hydra works too slow to be enjoyable anyhow, but I know that it is not the only game that has this problem).

3. Some games such as Kram start off with a language selection screen after the romcheck. Does anybody know how to select the language so you can continue on?  It seems to me like it's just stuck there and there's nothing you can do about it.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 20 2008, 05:32 AM

[ressurectionx]

4.  Is it even worth doing this project?  I've just started reading about Mamedox Arcades and what I've heard sound really impressive.  The list of games on there is somwhere around 800 games, so it does play quite a bit of the games and I do see that Gurilla War and Ikari Warriors are on there.  From what I've seen BritneySPAIRS (sorry if I got that name wrong) say on here and in another forum, he loathes bugs and will not add games that don't work, so I can only imagine that these games run perfectly without the flaws of MAMEox128 plus.

What are the merit's of doing this project still?  I'm quite vested in it already, so I really don't want to abandon it, but I feel like I'm re-inventing the wheel now and not even doing as good a job.  

I saw that robot said in the other thread that he plays both emus and has them side by side on his XBox.  Why would you do this?  What functionality and benefits do MAMEox128 Plus have over Mamedox Arcades?  I've read a bit about Mamedox Arcades and I've seen the extensive list of supported games and the claims that everything on the list works without any bugs and I'm kinda sold on it now.  

Somebody please tell me that I haven't wasted the better part of my last 3 weekends doing this work.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 20 2008, 09:20 AM

[competes2win]

Well From what I gather Mamearcades, which is what I use, is more of a "best of" emulator. So even though it plays all the games it plays perfectly it doesan't necessary include all of the perfectly working mame games if that makes any sense. It includes probably all of the 'classics' and the authors favorites.

but also important to know, I believe that you can now add any mame rom and are not restricted to using the roms specified by the emulator. So in this case Mame arcades would act just like any other mame emulator.

[ressurectionx]

Posted in this thread: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=634022

robot3 said:

QUOTE

I do have and use the most current mame128, but I like the layout look of arcades and what really intrigued me is the .xbe to add games. I just want to be clear on the adding rom option for arcades. Prety much if you want to play a game that is not listed you can use that option to try and add it in correct? Whether or not it will play is another story.

Then BritneysPAIRS said:

QUOTE

there is a thread happening else where with all stuff mentioned.... The full version of arcades allows you to add roms, but I dont support it.

I can add a 128meg version but dont have 128meg so dont know and cant fully test stuff but easy to do a virtual mod if someone wanted to test it.

Ive asked elsewhere for new games for a few months and have added all I can.

My goals at the moment are to

add videos instead of pics
launch Street Fighter 3 third strike
a patch for Cabs...but I dont have one so need input and help if people want that
ill add a 128meg patch but will also require the help to test as I cant. Ill do all the interface work needed and assemble it but it will require a tester with a few hours of time

Then you said:

QUOTE

I would definitely be willing to help in anyway I can in regards to the 128meg patch. I feel that a patch of that sort would make an amazing addition to your emulator. Again however, I don't currently have a full rom set...

keep up the good work, it's cool someone is still working hard on an emulator.

No offence to BritneysPAIRS or all the great work he's done, but I can only understand about half of what he types on either here or the other forum I was looking at.  His posts are extremely confusing to me.  I get from this though that his emulator does not support the feature to add roms.  Is there something that you know that I don't competes2win, now that you've been using this emulator for a while?

What is the "FULL" version of Arcades?  I thought this was the full version of Arcades?  Is his emulator a port of an entirely different PC version of MAME than MAMEox PLUS?




I mean, honestly, there is absolutely no reason for me to be doing what I am doing right now if his emulator has all the same features, plus the ability to add your own roms if there is one you like that he didn't put on there.  Plus with the video features and what not, his emulator sounds amazing.  I'm a little disheartened with this now and will probably go back to testing all of the PSX games for a while instead of MAME like I was going to this weekend until I figure out if this is worth it at all to continue.




EDITED TO ADD:  Well, I do feel a little better now.  He says that he's open to hearing about roms that actually do work and adding them to his interface, and he has said a few other things that make me think that the games he already has tested were done the same way I have been testing them in MAMEox.  Perhaps I should just avoid testing the games he already supports (remove them from the spreadsheet it took me about 12 hours to create) and just test ones that he doesn't currently support.  

In the end, if he's willing to add the roms or put the functionality to add your own roms, he's already done most of the testing work for me and has improved the emulator in ways that I probably never would have been able too (and looks like more updates are coming).  Maybe it's time for me to sign up for the other forum and speak to the man directly.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 20 2008, 02:29 PM

[xyteam]

ok ressurection ill try and answer some of your questions.
acouple of weeks before the full arcades patch was released(mamedox emulator and 100added roms),brineyspairs released a beta patch which didnt have the rom adding function,just wanted some feedback.the full version which as you know has been released and is posted in this forum,has the added romscan function so you can now add your own roms.
mamedox arcades is basically mamedox1.1,reskinned with a roms oackage and some new features(genre selection,favourites.....),anyway mamedox is based on mameox.843b as is mameox128plus,the difference with mameox128plus is options mostly(add your own flyers,mame history.....)there is possibly a slightly better game compatibility but not much i think as for example-i tested the mortal kombat games on both emus,with sound disabled obviously and they run perfectly on both emus.
i know mameox128plus runs raiden fighters2(2000) and mamedox dosent.
mamedox arcades has been made for ease of use for people who dont want a load of different options and i think its just basically aimed for people who dont want any hastles,and its bug free as well.

[ressurectionx]

Thanks for that breakdown on that zyteam.  I get it completely.  

I did a little sleeping on it and after reading your post I know what to do next.  This is actually great.  I would like to continue my testing on Mameox128 Plus, and I believe that I can still use my spreadsheet to track all of this.  Here's what I'm going to do.  


1.  Any game on my spreadsheet that BritneysPAIRS has already tested in MAMEdox Arcades I will give a Black background with Green letters.  Any one that is an unnecessary clone of one of the games he has working, I'm going to make a black background with blue letters.  

2. The games I've tested that work that are not yet on Mamedox Arcades, I have already made Green on a White background.  Clones of these games I have made Blue on a White background.  

3.  Games are not a part of Mamedox Arcades and do not work on Mameox128 Plus will be Red on a White background.  There will be an explanation in all non-working games as to what the problem is (MEMORY ALLOC ERROR, NOT ENOUGH MEMORY, wrong romset errors, freezes xbox on load, blank screen on load, Ikari Warriors type controller problems, too slow to be enjoyable, sound is too annoying to be enjoyable, etc.)

4.  All Japanese or other foreign roms that fit one of the following categories will be Purple text on White background.  These categories include, but are not limited to:  All Mahjong games, Games which rely heavily on text, or simply any unenjoyable foreign game which wasn't already discarded for being a clone of a working English rom.

5.  Any girly games which are either in English (are there any in English?) or not very text reliant so they're still playable even if you can't read the language will be seperated for anyone who wants to add them.  My list of working games will be kid friendly, but somebody might want these on their box too.  I will make them Black letters on a Red background.  If they don't work, they'll just be grouped with all the unworking roms.  Anyone that is unplayable because of huge amounts of text or Mahjong games will be put in the working foreign category and be made Purple on White background.

6.  Any game I will not bother testing and will simply remove will be Orange text on White background.  These include games such as the Cassette system games and the Play Choice 10 games.  There is no reason to play any of these.  Cassette games take over 2 minutes to load and seem ancient and Play Choice 10 games are just NES games.

I may choose to make more categories as my testing progresses.

In Office 2007 I can also group games by color, making them really easy to post here in a forum when I'm done too.  

Perhaps it would help BritneySPAIRS with his work too when it's done.  I know that he likes testing things out himself, but he could use this as an aid if he wanted to when considering which new games to put on his XBox.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 21 2008, 04:56 AM

[ressurectionx]

NEW NOTE:  I believe that BritneysPAIRS got some roms working that didn't work before, but their clones did.  I'm not sure exactly which ones he fixed or how he did it, so if I've already tested them and the main rom didn't work, but the clone did, I'm just going to leave the notes that I put on there for MAMEox128 Plus.  It doesn't really matter because as far as those games are concerned, anyone who has this set got the roms from a pack that already had all of the fixes in it.  Like I had said in the post above though, all of his working games and the clones to them will have a black background, so you know they work no matter what my notes said.

However, if a game that was fixed in MAMEdox Arcades is marked as non working in MAMEox128 Plus on my list and all of the clones don't work either, I will mark the main game as Green in the list and say it was fixed in MAMEdox.... such as Ikari Warriors and 720 Degrees.

I also really don't know how he fixed some of the roms.  I was going to make all US roms the main set, then world, then Foreign if they aren't available.  Since I don't know how he did it, if he has a game I have yet to have tested, I will just mark the main rom Green and the others Blue.  Again, it won't matter because any of the games he has on his emu have already been tested as working either way and people who have the emu have his set.

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 21 2008, 05:42 AM

[ressurectionx]

This is great, merging both lists like this.  I've finally merged my spreadsheet with the working roms from MAMEdox.  I've probably got another 2000 games done now just from doing the merge.  All things I've read about this emulator make me believe that if it's on the list that it has been tested and it works.

A few interesting things I'd like to mention.

1. There are around 4 or 5 duplicate games where the parent rom and clone rom are both included.  I'm not talking about ones like the street fighter roms, but roms that have both the US and Japanese rom for no apparent reason.  Overall though, very good work de-duping.

2. Personally, I would like to have the US rom before the European or World roms.  I like getting the "Say No To Drugs" messages from the FBI.  Reminds me of the arcades when I was a kid. US roms were prefered some of the time, but not most of the time.  There were even instances where the Asian rom or Japanese rom was included over the US rom.  There are probably about 50 or so roms that I would change in this category.

3.  There are quite a few games which I like that work in MAMEox128 Plus that are not on his list.  I don't have any idea at this point how many without doing a complete test of the remaining roms and adding everything up.

I will continue working on this spreadsheet and then lay out in detail any suggestions I have.  I know somebody was asking which roms we'd like to see in a new version of MAMEdox Arcades and I know I'm a little late now, but I think I can come up with a list of good games that work in MAMEox128 that aren't in MAMEdox once I finish the testing.   Probably only have about 2,000 more roms to go through now.

Thanks for your help everyone, especially BritneysPAIRS!

This post has been edited by ressurectionx: Jan 21 2008, 03:52 PM

[competes2win]

haha you're crazy man going through all this... but keep up the good work.

[G19]

I remember doing something similar a couple of years back, though maybe not to the same extent. I downgraded a full romset to .84 and then using a couple of apps, removed Mahjong/Adult/Light Gun etc etc from the set. I also got rid of almost all pre-84/85 roms as I never played them. I then removed all CPS1/2 and NeoGeo as well as I ran those from FBAxxx. All this on the PC before I even attempted to move them to Xbox.

After testing about 70% of the remaining roms I was satisified. I think ultimately the whole set only came to like 2 gigs or so, mostly because I had taken out the big NG and CPS roms.

The one problem I have had with people making sets (including myself) is how they define 'Working'. Even in 'Arcades', games are included which patently do NOT run 100%. I mostly play shooters (shmups) like DoDonPachi, R-Type etc and I especially notice those types of games which do not run as they should. eg Dragon Blaze. Also games were included with no sound eg. Batsugun, V-Five etc. I know this is a compromise some people are willing to make to play certain games eg. MK3, but for me it is a bridge too far.

Anyway, enough waffle. Good luck with the project ressurectionx!