Post by: XPort on August 28, 2004, 11:45:00 AM
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Post by: madmab on September 02, 2004, 02:04:00 AM
Does not save screen shots correctly (colors are way off).
Sound emulation (old) has weird artifacts.
New is ok, but it is a whole octave higher so it sounds odd. In fact I dont even bother using it despite the sound artifacts that exist in old.
I dunno the story behind the problems you ran into with sound, but you may be able to get some help over at the Atariage Forums there are some very knowledgable people over there and even a few emu authors frequent.
If you consider upgrading to a new core, just stay away from the most recent one. It breaks alot of things. But the one before that is fine. (I'm referring to Atari800win)
5200 controller mapping is a pain in the butt. With a little work alot of this could be cleaned up. See idea further below.
Farily accuratel autodetecting file types would be possible as well. Executable files have a (255,255) header and disk images, cartridges, etc have different headers too. I'd have to tinker with it a bit but most 5200 games use only 2 of the ROM types and 1 or 2 use specific ones. I could research more into this if you are interested in adding this.
Ability to save which disks where put in drives (1,2,etc). Keep in mind drive one needs to always default to selected ROM. I think this was 1st implemented in winuaex. Save state may have to remember what disk was in what drive.
Not sure if this did not exist until winuaex, but it would be kinda cool to be able to combine multi-game disks into one zip and then have the emu ask which (disk) to use when picking the zip (or inserting disk in drive).
A suggestion that would apply (and be specific) to several emulators would be some pre-defined setups. I know on winuaex some were made for default amiga configs.
In this case I'm specifically thinking of controller set-ups. A default for 5200 controller, standard atari controller (with space, enter, esc, start, option, select mapped), keyboard control (pad mapped to arrow keys on atari keyboard, button for space and enter). As an example, for standard atari controller I usually map select->back, start->start, and option->black or white, space/enter to x/y respectivly, esc to either black or white.
Of course user defined mappings would be even better. If interested I could work up mappings to the 5200. The only disadvantage is the 5200 controller actually has a numeric pad as well. Only a couple programs really use the number, most use the standard ones listed in your documentation.
Keyboard control defaults would probably be more useful to other computer emulators than atari. I have found, though, that most cases across the board the same keys are usually used. So it definetly would be handy. Respective fans for each system could probably tell you more about common keyboard setups on other computer systems then I ever could.
The ability to assign controller 1 as being plugged into port 2. There are probably only three games that require this, but it'd be nice.
Thank you for your time.
Post by: madmab on September 04, 2004, 06:40:00 AM
When I used the same keyboard in something more current like winuaex the keyboard seems to be fine. Game used was Zork I.
I dunno if this is a difference in the emulator interface versions, or a difference in the sensitivity of the two respective computers (atari vs amiga). But if this could be tweaked, or maybe a keyboard sensitivity option put in, that'd be great.
In the meantime I have to just try and tap the keys real lightly in Atarixlbox.
Thanks.
Post by: Mclane on September 12, 2004, 06:45:00 AM
Oh, maybe the screen syncing / anti tear code from WinUAEx (an update to all the older emu's with this would be brilliant)
Obviously the second request part 2 is just a wish knowing the time you already spend on the emulators as it is.
Post by: madmab on September 12, 2004, 07:01:00 PM
Post by: Mclane on September 13, 2004, 04:57:00 AM
I always did wonder why it never made it into the port, Xport did such a lovely job it just seemed odd it was skipped
Post by: madmab on September 14, 2004, 08:36:00 AM
It's possible that some features seem kinda pointless at first and just are not bothered with. For example a black white/color switch in an atari 2600 emulator. Seems kinda useless until you realize some games use it for controls (like bringing up a star map).
Those crazy classic system programmers... Always finding a use for even the most insignificant thing.
Post by: madmab on September 14, 2004, 10:40:00 PM
The sound quirks/artifacts occur due to the interaction of two (or more?) pokey sound channels. So most likely there is a problem somewhere in how the sound is mixed, the X-box is interpreting it, or whatever. Though I really do not know how X-box sound works enough to speculate in that direction.
Anyways a program called "Race In Space" is a perfect example of the interaction. If a player is "moving" their ship when the countdown timer "beeps" you can hear it mess up. If the player is not moving the timer "beeps" fine, plus the player movement sounds fine when the timer is not "beeping".
Post by: Mclane on September 17, 2004, 03:40:00 PM
Post by: madmab on September 17, 2004, 09:15:00 PM
Only effect I've seen switching to PAL is usually more lines top to bottom, slower framerate (PAL runs at 50 as opposed to NTSC 60). If a game was written for PAL sometimes the video will be screwed up, or something else due to timing differences. All of these are normal issues.
Post by: rxd on October 12, 2004, 02:06:00 PM
Post by: LamerWitANoBrainer on October 28, 2004, 10:57:00 PM
I have had a good few hours once or twice but most of the time i can't change the floppies more than a few times before AtariXLBox will lock up going back into the game after a disk change.
I have used both AR-the City and the Dungeon(8bit), two different versions of each game and they all seem to crash out in the same way after a floopy change going back into the game. It does not seem to have much of a pattern on which disk is being loaded or anything else, Just that hitting the 'B' button or 'selecting return to game' locks up AtariXLBox version 4 and 5,...
I imagin it's an issue with just this game, so I'm not holding my breath for an easy fix, I've tryed tweekin' a few of the easy(GUI) settings; AtariXL type and the like, Re-installed and cleared AtariXLBox game save data, all with no luck.
Don't knock yourself out on a fix, just thought you might wanna know.
Otherwise Lovin' the X-Port's!!! THX
Post by: LamerWitANoBrainer on December 04, 2004, 10:38:00 PM
~~~
Have tryed the Dungeon on WinXP SP1, With Atari800Win PLus 3.1 (ATARIOSB.ROM) and it seems to work just fine, played for 10 mins, switched the disks at least ten times, The game did have an issue seeing a disk with an HP cheat on but turnin' off the cheat let it find the disk and continue the game.
It looks like my issue was with using cheat codes, even turning them off did not help, I had to delete XLBox game save folder, and then the crashing seemed to go away, as long as one did not use the cheats, I guess,...
But AR the Dungeon did not seem to find any disks in the "B floopy" it only found disks in "A drive".
~~~
I was using X2 4977 and evox 1.8.3572.
And upgreading to; X2 4979.67 or 4980.67 and AvaLaunch 0.49.1 did not help either.
Turned off the X2 IGR and the FTP and unpluged the link cable as well, no help there.
Fresh game disks and XLBox files did not help either.
When the games seemed to work better, besides not having cheats and a clean save folder on E: drive, I was using the default controler settings as well. When the games were buggerin' I was using a custom controler setting as well, but I imagin it was the cheats/a buggered "E:/SAVES/AtariXLbox folder.
~~~
I hope some of this helps y'all with future issues/coding stuffs!
Happy Holidays to you and yours~
Post by: k8track on April 11, 2006, 12:21:00 PM
I'm assuming I have the latest version--it was installed on my Xbox in October of 2005. I've emailed the guy who did it for me, but can no longer reach him--so I'm not for certain. In any case, any word on a future update of this emulator?
Again, great work here. Just wondering if there's a way to change those settings.
Post by: madmab on April 11, 2006, 12:56:00 PM
You can change the configuration of an already configured game by pressing the X button instead of the A button.
Post by: k8track on April 12, 2006, 06:35:00 AM
Thanks again, I'll give it a try--I'll brace myself to prepare for what these "artifacts" might be (still on a bit of a learning curve).
Post by: hargle on April 12, 2006, 01:05:00 PM
AtariXLBox documentation
It's based on my atari 2600 (z26x) documentation project, so some things are a little off, but issues such as sound would be an excellent addition to the docs themselves, and since it's a wiki, you can edit it yourself! (that's a hint!)
Post by: nightfella on October 15, 2006, 12:45:00 AM
Now my question ( You knew one was coming...) As you are now updating and have updated some of your other emulators, i was wondering if we may see a version 6 of AtariXLbox?
I have not experienced the sound problems others mention but wound love to see fixes for the screenshot colour bug and the overly sensitive usb keyboard setting. I don't care so much about new features as this emulator does everything else just great, but would love to see fixes for these two minor problems.
Any news?
Thanks again for ALL your great work.
Post by: madmab on December 04, 2007, 02:54:00 PM
Seems that setting the number of pokey's to 2 fixes the problem. Now since that is a rather weird way to solve the problem (considering the design of the machine itself). Since this seems to be some bizzaro world issue that only plague's the xbox I'm not sure what to think.
my 1.3.2 update attempt compiles but with more errors than I care and probably more holes than swiss cheese. So since porting to a more current version is a bit out of my skillset I think I'll stick to the current code base. I am considering porting over a few "minor" things since 1.3.2 enables keyboard and SIO sound. Two things I'd like to have.
That being said I'm a happy camper.
Things I'm hoping to do are enabling the ability to turn on artifacting. Something that the "currently available source code" seems to have partially enabled. Disabling the ability to pick the "old' pokey since it sounds like crap anyways (RIP Ron Fries it's been good, but thanks for getting things started!! 
)Maybe simplyfying setting up the controllers when the machine type is (5200). Not sure how to best go about this (interface and logistic wise).
Since most atari files have headers to identify what type of file they are I might use that to "auto pick" the media type (cartridge, exe, cassette, bootable cassette, or disk).
Update the pallette file? I'm guessing this should be fairly easy. Maybe even let the user load a pallette.
Anyways if anyone has any suggestions. Feel free to make them. But no guarantee. I have absolutely no experience in this area, so I'm pretty green. But I should be able to scrap a few things together!
Post by: madmab on December 06, 2007, 12:27:00 PM
Removed the option to pick the pokey sound type. It now defaults to 'NEW'. And just to be nice I set it up so previous configuration files do not have to be deleted. Ain't I a nice guy? When you load an older configuration file the emulator will just default to "new" on the pokey type.
Fixed the screenshot save bug. Turned out to be another (I'm guessing) typo in the original atarixlbox code.
This one was driving me nuts, so I was determined to fix it.Chances are the savestates will no longer be backward compatible once I'm done with this thing. I wanna add the cartridge and SIO save code. The cartridge save code will fix any issues with save states for bankswitching games. Ain't I a mean guy?
Well that's about it for now.
Post by: hargle on February 02, 2020, 04:24:00 PM
what do we do with updated, bugfixed code? There's no central repository, no single person folding in bugfixes or regression testing, no revision control.
I most certainly want these fixes that you've done, but where do I get them, and what if I was working on the same piece of code?
Certainly we could post dif files here, or if I ever get off my butt and fix XER's upload function, we could post code updates there.
Post by: madmab on December 06, 2007, 05:17:00 PM
And I'm not really familar with generating/using diff files. But I supposed I'll need to learn it if I wanna be more succesful in upgrading the core emu code. Plus I was wondering if some sort of name change was in order. Two of the code changes are to the main source, but they certainly seem to be specific to this emu (not affecting the "common" code).
The other two are in the main Atari800 src.
I'll probably try to update the palette so it can be either NTSC or PAL. As well as a partial update to the mzpokey (which means some symbol renaming). Not sure how much of a headache that's gonna be. But I want the keyboard and SIO sound enabled. Yeah I know kinda silly, but I miss those sounds.
Post by: hargle on February 03, 2020, 09:33:00 AM
2nd, do you mind if I mirror all the source currently on xbins on my site? (xbox.nugnugnug.com)
Individuals can then upload single files that have updates, along with descriptions of the changes. It'll still be anarchy, but it's better than losing all the work that is being done in private. Unless someone wants to get into sourceforge and store it all there? I dunno.
BTW: madmab, I'd always wanted to separate out the 5200 from the computers, since the controllers and the media selection stuff is so complex to get working.
Any chance you'd be willing to slice the project into 2?
All you'd really be doing is changing the menus around and getting rid of options that don't apply for each system-the actual emulator wouldn't have to change in the slightest. It is a bit of a code/space waste, but it would make life SO much easier to have entirely different emulators.
I'm beyond swamped with other projects at the moment, but it's on my todo list unless you run with it first.
Post by: madmab on February 03, 2020, 10:52:00 AM
Added pregenerated pallette for NTSC that is supposedly more accurate. Still have not decided whether to add a "load palette" option since the pallette's available seem limited (not very accurate). Whenever NTSC is selected this palette is generated. Otherwise the default palette is used (PAL).
NTSC (IMG:http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4478/dkntscat7.th.png) PAL (IMG:http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4220/dkpalst7.th.png)
I've done some preliminary set-up for 5200 centric button definitions... 5200 start, 5200 *, 5200 #, 5200 pause, 5200 pad 0-9. Plus I removed a bunch of unneeded keyboard centric definitions (like F1-F10) and I redefined the arrow keys to better match what games use (-, =,+, *). I lined 'em up in such a way that they should not interfere with most peoples setups. Stuff not likely used (like mouse button) I pushed to the end of the list, etc.
I'm still working thru this but I was thinking of having three default joystick configurations. One for the joystick and typically used keys by games (space, enter, esc). A second for the 5200 which includes the above mentioned (I could always lock this down when the machine type is set to 5200). A third where the d-pad is mapped to the keyboard arrow keys for games that use this (like Ultima 4). I can provide more information later, as I'm a bit worn out and need some sleep.
I figure between that and "autopicking" the media type I oughta be set. I'm still working out the details on this though.
Never gave much thought to seperating the code. I'm still kinda going thru my options. Plus I wanna read thru the changelog and see when/if they added true analog support for the 5200 sticks. Oh and figure out when they actually "enabled vol_only sound" so that you can here games like berzerker talking.
This post has been edited by madmab: Yesterday, 07:08 PM
Post by: XPort on December 08, 2007, 07:32:00 AM
QUOTE(hargle @ Dec 7 2007, 11:33 AM) 
I think XER is an acceptable home for code updates. I'll try and get the uploads module working again, and perhaps this will introduce some new life into the site. Xport, if you're reading this, firstly, thanks for releasing the source to all of these emulators! This has been a dream of mine for years!
2nd, do you mind if I mirror all the source currently on xbins on my site? (xbox.nugnugnug.com)
Individuals can then upload single files that have updates, along with descriptions of the changes. It'll still be anarchy, but it's better than losing all the work that is being done in private. Unless someone wants to get into sourceforge and store it all there? I dunno.
BTW: madmab, I'd always wanted to separate out the 5200 from the computers, since the controllers and the media selection stuff is so complex to get working.
Any chance you'd be willing to slice the project into 2?
All you'd really be doing is changing the menus around and getting rid of options that don't apply for each system-the actual emulator wouldn't have to change in the slightest. It is a bit of a code/space waste, but it would make life SO much easier to have entirely different emulators.
I'm beyond swamped with other projects at the moment, but it's on my todo list unless you run with it first.
Anyone is free to mirror the source wherever. The more places the better because xbins won't always be around. Ideally, it would be great if someone took the time to distribute all of the code on sourceforge. That would be the best option. I have no objection to anyone providing a means for updates to the code. I would like to see it centralized as well.
Post by: madmab on December 10, 2007, 12:50:00 AM
Pre-defs currently save in the default saves location (typically E:\saves\atarixlbox). I don't particularly like the clutter in that directory, but oh well.
But while testing my menu's I also noticed the Analog Button Sensitivity, and Analog Stick Sensitivity options. So I'm wondering if I should save these as well. I've never really bothered with them but they seem like the type of settings that would be the same over multiple games.
Any input? Haven't been getting any lately.
At the moment the mappings are as such.
For Atari Joystick - Xbox d-pad is mapped to the joystick. A to button 1. B to d-pad up (for games that require pressing up to jump). Start is Start. Back = Select, Black = Option. White = Esc. X = space. Y = enter. Right stick up=1, left=2, right=3, and down=4. I do this so you do not have to take your hand off the d-pad to select those. Left stick up=5, left=6, right=7, down=8. That leave 0 and 9 which I'm not sure what to do with. Maybe left trig + A and B for each respectively?
Atari keyboard simply assigns the d-pad mapping to the arrow keys (hmm I need to remember to double check that it works).
Atari 5200 Stick -> Xbox d-pad is mapped to the joystick (for now). A to button 1. B to button 2. Start is Start. Back is *. Black is #. White = pause. Numpad is assigned the same as Atari Joystick except 0 is assigned to X and 9 is assigned to Y.
I tried to line them up similarly so that when switching from system to system the player does not get confused. Of course this is a moot point since the gamer can change the mappings whichever way and save them under the pre-defs.
FYI... The Video mode (NTSC/PAL) option is removed when in 5200 mode because the 5200 was never released in European regions. It is basically an NTSC machine only.
Post by: madmab on December 12, 2007, 03:03:00 PM
Other than that about all I've done is gotten the load/save preset configuration junk going.
I'll probably take this functionality and slap it in to WinstonX as well at some point since it seems to be missing from there.
Post by: madmab on December 14, 2007, 04:31:00 PM
Yup. Apparently selecting a disk from a multi-file zip creates all kinds of havok with the game in question being played.
I'm currently working around this "issue" but it also seems to affect the C64 emulator (ViceX) as well.
Post by: madmab on December 16, 2007, 01:52:00 AM
I noticed that the atarixlbox code uses drive X: for temp stuff as well as samba and relax copying. But when I snarfed the unzip code from vice64 I noticed that it uses Z: for all of that. So I was wondering if there was a reason for the change?
2nd question related to global variables that store filenames/paths. It looks like the initial filename/path that a game is loaded under is pretty much discarded after use. I see storage areas for the savepath, prefix, sram, bram, cuefile, rtcfile, chtfile, keysfile, and the settingsfile. Just wondering if I was overlooking something.
Thanks
Post by: XPort on December 16, 2007, 08:27:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Dec 16 2007, 04:28 AM)
I've been trying to avoid any questions but I gotta ask x-port...
I noticed that the atarixlbox code uses drive X: for temp stuff as well as samba and relax copying. But when I snarfed the unzip code from vice64 I noticed that it uses Z: for all of that. So I was wondering if there was a reason for the change?
2nd question related to global variables that store filenames/paths. It looks like the initial filename/path that a game is loaded under is pretty much discarded after use. I see storage areas for the savepath, prefix, sram, bram, cuefile, rtcfile, chtfile, keysfile, and the settingsfile. Just wondering if I was overlooking something.
Thanks
The X, Y, and Z drives are all temp drives and IIRC they are all 750MB partitions (or they are all the same 750MB partition.) I don't recall why I used X for one and Z for another (if there was actually any real reason.)
No, the filename is not stored anywhere except the initConsole proc. I generally did not have any use for it other than locally.
Post by: madmab on December 17, 2007, 04:21:00 AM
I added the preset controller stuff to the "game options" menu, as well as the ability to display what disks are loaded in drive 1 and 2. I'll eventually probably do 3 and 4 as well but I'm keeping it simple for now.
The cart select screen now only displays applicable cart entries. Those that are the same size as the file in question as well as filtering out computer/5200 depending on what system is currently selected. Cart (none) is always in the list because it works with the Atari800 .CART files.
I got the multidisk statesave stuff straightened out except for when it needs to unzip disks from a .zip file. Hopefully I'll get that one ironed out. The other big issue is that relax and samba files are renamed (if larger than 42 characters and using incompatible character) and dumped to the X: drive. So the savestate filenames do not reflect the source. Not sure how I'm gonna get around that one.
Load Disk now works like it is supposed to.
I plugged in some code to "autodetect" the media type from the 2.0.0 core. Have not tried it yet, though.
That's about it for now.
Post by: madmab on December 20, 2007, 04:22:00 PM
Gyruss - Unlimited live for both players. Double shots for both players.
Donkey Kong - Unlimited live for both players. Controller rumbles when kong stomps on the ground.
Pacman - Unlimited lives for both players. Controller rumbles when pac dies or eats a ghost.
Ms. Pacman - Unlimited lives for both players. Ms Pac seems to have a couple "quirks". One it only seems to use one byte to store lives. It assumes that both players have the same number of lives. Hence if player one gets an extra player, two gets one as well. Odd. Plus the byte used to store the level does not correspond with the fruit value. So when the game hits the baby pack levels the fruit value never increasess. In fact the fruit is not random like in the arcade.
Wasted several hours farting around with the sound core from different versions of Atari800 and even Aplus but the same sound quirks seem to be there. Not really sure why. So I may have to re-enable the option to pick old pokey for playing games like Berzerk for the speech.
Still not quite sure if those NTSC colors are right. Guess I'll have to drag out my 130xe sometime.
Automount of disks works properly when the disks are in ZIP files now. Only disadvantage is Samba/Relax users are out of luck. At the very least I may be able to post a "warning" that the drives are not properly mounted and give the user the option to select them. The autodetect media option works great. I'll probably have a releasable version sometime next year. Christmas is too close for me to really finish it up just now.
Actually there may be a way around the samba issue, but I have to look at the code a little more.
Things I wanna do.. Enable configuration uploads. I want to add support for up to four drives, should be easy. Rotate disks option. I cannot seem to find the keyboard transparency option anywhere. Did I forget where it is, or is it disabled?
Oh and seems our understanding of some of the 5200 controller buttons are mapped was incorrect. It's only noticeable with Parker Brothers Games. "F" acts as START, not "4" and the right arrow key acts as "*". I guess I better double check the other keys like "#" etc. I'm thinking of mapping "Warm Reboot" to one of the keys. Any suggestions?
Post by: madmab on January 02, 2008, 02:12:00 AM
The emu now copies the predef controller files from the emu directory into the default saves directory if they are not already there.
The "Game Options" menu to display what files are "loaded" shows drives 1 thru 4. Plus I added a rotate disks option. Just press the A button when viewing the loaded disks. I'll eventually link this to rotate_disks in the controller setup.
Added in some of the extra functionality in winuaex to the virtual keyboard. Can't seem to dig up the doc on these but essentially you get the following functionality. White button toggles shift key. Y button toggles ctrl key. Start presses enter and back backspaces. Cursor can be moved with the analog stick.
Seems the capslock key is not mapped properly. Not sure how to fix this.
I was hoping I would luck out and find some budding graphic artist to help me out with modifying the default skin. But I'm not having any luck and the Atari 5200/8-bits seem to be unloved.
So I gave it a go and at least did one thing. I changed the default xbe load screen to the Xbox X morphing into the Atari Fuji and the word X-port changing into ATARI. Check it out. Just click on the image below to see the animation. The linked gif is preliminary work. The actual result is slightly different.
Unfortunately the xbox front end doesn't support startup sound files so I couldn't use another idea. Maybe later....
Post by: madmab on January 02, 2008, 07:52:00 PM
How would I go about this, if possible?
Post by: XPort on January 03, 2008, 06:33:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Jan 2 2008, 10:28 PM)
I have a question for X-port. I want to enable configuration uploads/downlods for the emulator so that I can make a ton available for people. It looks like someone at xbox-scene would have to create the directory needed to store this information. (atari800).
How would I go about this, if possible?
I've updated the PHP on my site such that if the dir doesn't exist, it will create it. Try it now and let me know.
Post by: XPort on January 05, 2008, 09:53:00 AM
Post by: madmab on January 11, 2008, 02:31:00 AM
Most of the core source code has been upped to 2.03 with the following exceptions. Pokey - created problems with Beef Drop demo will update if I can fix it. Pokey_old and Pokey_new code. Currently I'm using the ones that came with A800winplus. I have like three different sound core setups so it's a matter of deciding which one I want.
Seems the capslock key was not mapped properly. Fixed it, now we can type in lower case! Keep in mind on the Atari caps works in reverse. Pressing capslock will put you in lower case, unlocking capslock puts you back in upper case.
Since the black button is not used on the virtual keyboard I went ahead and mapped it to the capslock key.
Turned on code for upload/downloading configurations to website. Thanks to x-port for creating a directory for atarixlbox.
Apparently the emu does not "unload" a cartridge, or cassette when switching games thus creating weird behavior. (like atari basic being unusable). Fixed that. I didn't notice these issues until I started upgrading the core but now that I'm done, they may be gone now that I'm done.
Changed the palette code again, now using some routines created by Kr0tki.
Fooling around and put some quick and dirty code in to support the 5200 analog stick. This does create some other issues (like where to map the numpad keys). The analog stick is only read when in 5200 mode. Centipede plays pretty ok, Missile Command is near impossible to control.
Put in option/code to allow swapping of joystick in port 1 and 2. Supports a total of two games!!
Reactivated the rewind code. I temporarily disable it while I upgraded the core so I would not have to worry about dealing with it.
To do.... add in the ability to turn on/off player/missile/playfield collisions (for cheating).
Post by: RMM on January 11, 2008, 01:31:00 PM
Post by: madmab on January 16, 2008, 03:44:00 AM
Well except for the PSX directory which I suspect is full.
Thanks
Post by: XPort on January 16, 2008, 06:20:00 AM
Post by: madmab on January 16, 2008, 06:49:00 AM
I don't get that error if I change the platform_name to something like DOS.
Post by: XPort on January 18, 2008, 06:59:00 AM
Post by: XPort on January 19, 2008, 09:04:00 AM
Post by: XPort on January 20, 2008, 07:46:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Jan 20 2008, 08:59 AM)
Funny you should say that cause I've been leaning heavily towards some CRC32 based system. Just have not decided how to go about it just yet.
You wouldn't happen to know of any code out there that will calculate the CRC of a file do you? I kinda ending up hacking two different pieces of code together to do it. Not sure if it is gonna work though. The CRC32 code in atari800win did not produce CRC's that match the usual numbers.
It's a pretty big change but I'm slowly piecing some stuff together.
There's lots of stuff out there for CRC calculation. Not all of it is going to arrive at the same results, however, so trying to match it to a pre-existing set of CRC numbers without having the code for how those CRCs were generated may not work. Here is one example:
http://www.nicemice..../source/crc32.c
It would probably be easier/faster to just calculate them yourself with your own code if you have a complete (and well-named) TOSEC collection.
Post by: madmab on January 27, 2008, 01:11:00 AM
I noticed a visual anomaly that I cannot quite figure out. It's kinda hard to explain, but if you boot up in something with a gr.0 screen (like basic, memo pad, or one of the Atari Dos's). Look at the very first line of display (blue line). It displays part of it and then the rest of that scanline is black.
If I go into game options, configure, video options (or whatver it is), and select on of the options that actually updates the screen (like soften screen, flicker fixer, etc) and then go back into the emulation the screen will then display correctly.
Looking at the code it looks like the stuff that is executed in above menu's is executed by loadkeys(). Best I can tell it looks fine. So I'm a little baffled as to why the display is not initializing correctly. It's a teeny thing, it does affect other titles in different ways though.
Thanks..
Post by: XPort on January 28, 2008, 06:17:00 AM
Post by: madmab on January 29, 2008, 12:56:00 AM
Are they different for a reason? Or are they just various "evolutions" of that code? Should I look at one of the other emu sources for a transplant? Or is the fix simpler than that?
Thanks...
Post by: madmab on January 29, 2008, 04:48:00 AM
Cleaned up some of the menu structures so they work like they are "supposed" to. It's funny how easy it is to overlook small stuff like that when your excited about a feature added.
Fixed a few interface "quirks" regarding game sounds playing while emu is paused.
Added in the ability to turn on/off player/missile/playfield collisions (for cheating). Try it on games like Pacman or Jumpman. The collision setting is not saved on exit, but the sprite collision detection settings are saved on exit. So all it takes is a simple hop into the options menu to re-activate it.
Went ahead and threw in Dual Analog support! Yeah Dual Robotron and Space Dungeon baby!! Just check out the configuration screen, enable dual analog, and you should be set.
Autoselect media automatically brings up the cartridge select screen if the media type is a cartridge.
Added in 3 extra cart types (Atari Max and Spartados X 128)
Changed Two Chip 16 KB 5200 cartridge to be more descriptive (Atari Proto's use this).
Mapped the 5200 reset button for games that use it (Countermeasure). Currently mapped to black+white
combo.
Modified swap joystick ports 1 & 2 so it works in 5200 mode (for the ONE game that supports it)
Player missile collisions work properly in fast forward mode.
Some menu changes. Specifically.. (still fine tuning this)
Split the computer specific options to a second screen. If you set the computer type to something other than Atari 5200 a menu option will appear allowing you to set them. All shared options (pokey type, artifact mode) are left on the main config screen.
If the computer type is set to Atari 5200 it will automatically (on exit) set the media type to cartridge and if the cart type is not 5200 specific it will bring up the cart select screen.
Changed the default cntrlr preset to "Atari Joystick". It changes to "Atari 5200" when the user selects 5200,
Atari joystick when they pick a computer (unless they use the "configure control" option). Changed autodetect to a yes/no option. Seems a little less ambiguous.
Upload configuration has been removed from the configuration screen and moved to the options screen where it makes more sense to use it.
Upload configuration adds file CRC to name. Download configuration displays current file CRC for user comparison. More of a temporary thing until I come up with something better.
---------------------------------------
Fixed problem when a filename inside a zip contains too many characters. While I was at it I fixed the space as the last character when trimming to 42 characters behavior that has been around for who knows how long. Zip files where the path was saved now unzip correctly.
now unloads cassette when exiting a game. grrr.
Adventure control does not freak out and River Raid plane does not drift to the right. Yeah!!
*** known issues ***
Some 5200 games seem to have some "drift" for a lack of a better term.
Starwars seems to be about -12 on the x&y axis.
Kaboom has about +24 on the x axis.
I believe that the computer version of Kaboom tries to take into account paddle jitter so one cannot help but
wonder if they are trying to do something here.
Pengo freaks out whenever both the x and y axis are greater than 0 (no diagonals!!). As long as you stick to
strictly cardinal directions it works fine. (Good luck with that one).
Emu will lock up if rewind is on and computer type is set for 130xe. ALOT of data is being thrown around when in 130xe mode (128k+ worth) so it may not even be worth it.
Post by: XPort on January 29, 2008, 07:32:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Jan 29 2008, 03:32 AM)
Wow.... just a quick glance at Vice64, Z26, and Winuaex the render_to_texture is quite different for each. Although Winuaex seems to be the closest.
Are they different for a reason? Or are they just various "evolutions" of that code? Should I look at one of the other emu sources for a transplant? Or is the fix simpler than that?
Thanks...
The render_to_texture routine is fairly specific to each project. It's almost always going to be different because the way the emulator stores its video in buffers is different almost every time.
It could be the case that it starts reading from the source video buffer (what's being copied into g_pBlitBuf and d3dlr.pBits) too early - or it's reading one line of video too much. Fiddle with the offsets of the source buffer (d3dlr.pBits is the dest buffer) in render_to_texture. Try pushing it forward/back one line or have it not read as much - things like that. (The filtered rendering doesn't suffer from that because those routines t "absorb" the first line in the video buffers.)
Post by: madmab on January 30, 2008, 06:58:00 AM
I thought it had something to do with holding down left-trigger or something, but I cant seem to get that to work.
Post by: XPort on January 30, 2008, 07:21:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Jan 30 2008, 09:34 AM)
Hey what is the magic controller combo to activate the debug log?
I thought it had something to do with holding down left-trigger or something, but I cant seem to get that to work.
I don't think that ever really worked - and I stopped fiddling with it when I began using the remote debugger in MSVC.
Post by: madmab on January 31, 2008, 05:59:00 AM
Post by: madmab on January 31, 2008, 12:00:00 PM
Thanks
This post has been edited by madmab: Jan 31 2008, 08:01 PM
Post by: XPort on February 01, 2008, 06:17:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Jan 31 2008, 02:00 PM)
Hey X-port I was wondering if you had any insight on the playback/record stuff. Just looking at it, it's pretty basic. What kind of factors do you think would cause it to work incorrectly? I know it wont work if there is no save state. The only thing I can think of is a the emulator using a random number generator that is truly random.
Thanks
It doesn't matter how "random" an emulator's number generators are - they're all going to be based on exactly the same set of parameters due to the save state. When a save state is working correctly, it takes a snapshot of the entire virtual hardware system. RNGs are simply calculations based on system parameters (like clock cycles since startup mixed in with values of things like the current register values and highly volatile memory locations). Since all the parameters that it would use to generate a RNG are saved during a save-state, when the state is reloaded, you're going to have the same sequence of RNGs afterwards because it's generating them based on the same data.
That being said, the only thing that comes to mind for when the record/playback routines might malfunction is frameskip. If there is cause for frameskip and the updateEvents function is not called when a frame is skipped, then that may cause problems. If the save state isn't saving everything in the system, that has the potential to cause problems as well.
Post by: madmab on February 03, 2008, 03:56:00 AM
I tell ya. It sure caused some weird behavior when using the rewind function! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Certain events that occured alot of times would not happen again, etc. It was one of those things that I noticed, but didn't notice. Things are usually moving so fast it isn't always obvious.
So I can add that to my list of changes.
Record and Playback now work correctly.
Added in a do not allow activating attract mode. Really only useful in demo's.
This post has been edited by madmab: Feb 3 2008, 12:05 PM
Post by: madmab on February 03, 2008, 10:15:00 PM
Post by: madmab on February 04, 2008, 09:13:00 AM
(IMG:http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9672/lightgunbg3.th.jpg)
This post has been edited by madmab: Feb 4 2008, 05:14 PM
Post by: madmab on February 07, 2008, 04:19:00 AM
NES definitely has it beat in this category.Barnyard Blaster, Bug Hunt, and Crossbow play pretty well as long as you have a steady hand.
eegt97 has been a big help getting some of the non-working 5200 games going (pengo, star trek, pitfall). As well as giving me some ideas on getting some of the harder to control 5200 games controllable (missile command, tennis).
Post by: madmab on February 07, 2008, 07:04:00 AM
Post by: XPort on February 08, 2008, 06:17:00 AM
Post by: XPort on February 15, 2008, 06:26:00 AM
Post by: madmab on February 17, 2008, 12:33:00 AM
Playback has the same issue with keypresses.I should be able to have that squared away soon enough, right now it's an ugly hack. Of course analog data is not passed either, but I don't even know if I wanna bother with that.
Not very many two player co-op or vs games anyways... and I'm hardly a network gameplay expert.
Post by: madmab on February 25, 2008, 10:33:00 AM
First it gave me a "A tool returned an error code from "Performing Post-Build Event..."
Something about xbepatch. So I dug around and found an xbepatch.exe file, plopped it in my atari800 directory along with the other source files.
Recompiled...
It still says "A tool returned an error code, blah, blah, blah".
Before that there is an entry that says "xbcp: warning: No such file exists on the Xbox"
and then all the dots "." from I assume with xbepatch runs.
If I hit F5 to start executing it runs but then it locks up just before going into the main menu.
It runs fine if I select it and run it from the xdk launcher.
I was able to execute one of the demo's in debug mode.
Hmmm... looks like I had to uncomment the following line, although it still gives an error at least I can run it with f5.
#define USE_DEBUGCLIENT
Post by: XPort on February 26, 2008, 06:56:00 AM
Regardless, since you have a debug kit set up, why don't you just set a breakpoint near the beginning of execution and step through it to see where the problem is? You really don't want that DEBUGCLIENT stuff enabled - it's just extra overhead and it's been commented out in all my projects for quite some time.
Post by: madmab on February 29, 2008, 11:46:00 PM
Anyways here is a boring list of things I'm doing.
QUOTE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Netplay should now work properly and it passes keypresses as well. Not 100% sure, not sure if I care. No analog yet either. Oddly enough netplay does not confirm that both players have the same ROM loaded so it can make for pretty interesting situations.
Thanks to Kr0tki Bounty Bob is now playable. There are only two working versions of Bounty Bob that I know of. The correct 5200 dump and the cassette version released in the UK. I highly suggest the 5200 version, UK version is a little slower. Set the UK version to PAL for it to work properly.
Record/Playback now works with paddles (0 & 1) when in paddle mode. Yipee! Oddly enough y axis is handled as paddle 1. I'll eventually map this to controller 2 so we can at least have two paddle support.
Switched positioning control of sprites in the skin menu to the left analog stick, that way you don't have to worry about unintentionally lowering the volume of the music.
Changed the config menu around a bit more.
------------------------------------------
removed atari_ostype. If anyone can think of a reason to keep it, let me know.
removed pokey_type. We default to pokey_new. Is there any reason not to?
Configuring a new game is pretty easy now. In 98% of the cases you can just press the B button to exit and that's it. Outside of being asked for a cartridge type. The only exceptions would be if you have to switch to PAL mode or turn of high speed SIO.
------------------------------------------
Rewind is deactivated when in 130Xe or higher mode (crashes).
Basic Cartridge is set to on when autodetect detects a basic program (not sure why I didn't do this a while ago).
Tweaked the rewind size so now menu graphics should not dissapear in those rare cases.
Savestate load screen is a little more informational when sent to it from the save/record option.
When you save a picture it removes the screenshot save path making it easier to see long names.
bugs
------------------------------------------
leftover Record/playback time is incorrect when recording/playing paddle games. (I'll fix it l8r)
------------------------------------------
Netplay should now work properly and it passes keypresses as well. Not 100% sure, not sure if I care.
No analog yet either. Oddly enough netplay does not confirm that both players have the same ROM loaded so it can make for pretty interesting situations.Thanks to Kr0tki Bounty Bob is now playable. There are only two working versions of Bounty Bob that I know of. The correct 5200 dump and the cassette version released in the UK. I highly suggest the 5200 version, UK version is a little slower. Set the UK version to PAL for it to work properly.
Record/Playback now works with paddles (0 & 1) when in paddle mode. Yipee! Oddly enough y axis is handled as paddle 1. I'll eventually map this to controller 2 so we can at least have two paddle support.
Switched positioning control of sprites in the skin menu to the left analog stick, that way you don't have to worry about unintentionally lowering the volume of the music.
Changed the config menu around a bit more.
------------------------------------------
removed atari_ostype. If anyone can think of a reason to keep it, let me know.
removed pokey_type. We default to pokey_new. Is there any reason not to?
Configuring a new game is pretty easy now. In 98% of the cases you can just press the B button to exit and that's it. Outside of being asked for a cartridge type. The only exceptions would be if you have to switch to PAL mode or turn of high speed SIO.
------------------------------------------
Rewind is deactivated when in 130Xe or higher mode (crashes).
Basic Cartridge is set to on when autodetect detects a basic program (not sure why I didn't do this a while ago).
Tweaked the rewind size so now menu graphics should not dissapear in those rare cases.
Savestate load screen is a little more informational when sent to it from the save/record option.
When you save a picture it removes the screenshot save path making it easier to see long names.
bugs
------------------------------------------
leftover Record/playback time is incorrect when recording/playing paddle games. (I'll fix it l8r)
------------------------------------------
QUOTE
Well today was 5200 analog tweak day and I would have to say it was pretty productive. I messed around with the analog calculations routines in order to try to make certain games (cough*missile*cough*command*coughcough) playable. Here is what I got so far. I musta tried every method I know of before settling in on the one I have now.
Missile Command - I'm pretty satisfied with this one. I can play into the higher levels, no problem. The dpad speed is set to the 2nd fastest speed. The speed is probably a tad slow for people with faster reflexes but too bad!! Personally I think this is about as close to the 5200 feel it will get.
Star Wars - Not much to say about this except that the stick is now centered. Control should be a little tighter.
Kaboom - I pretty much give up on this one. It's impossible to play with a stick anyways.
Breakout - more controllable, but still too hard for me. Because of the way the game handles the stick I don't think I'll be able to get this any better.
Tennis - Your player won't jump around (ala pengo style) if you press the stick too far.
Centipede - Well I couldn't leave well enough alone. I adjusted this cause I felt the current settings were too sensitive. Personally I'm satisfied with how I got it, it should be more manageable. The dpad speed is about the same as the 5200 to 8-bit conversion.
Asteroids - You still have to press left/right or right/left in order to rotate, but now your ship doesn't spin around, thus killing you. Oh and you won't super thrust when using the shield or hyperspace.
Pole Position - Probably a little more sensitive than I would like. But I have a feeling most people will prefer it as I have it. The dpad is at the 2nd fastest speed.
Gorf - A total waste of my time. I had no luck with it. Just play the digital conversion.
Space Invaders - Probably didn't need to be messed with but I did anyways. The transition between the two ship speeds should be improved. Dig pad uses the slowest speed.
The dpad should be useable in all of the above except for Gorf (meh), Super Breakout, and Kaboom.
Missile Command - I'm pretty satisfied with this one. I can play into the higher levels, no problem. The dpad speed is set to the 2nd fastest speed. The speed is probably a tad slow for people with faster reflexes but too bad!!
Personally I think this is about as close to the 5200 feel it will get.Star Wars - Not much to say about this except that the stick is now centered. Control should be a little tighter.
Kaboom - I pretty much give up on this one. It's impossible to play with a stick anyways.
Breakout - more controllable, but still too hard for me. Because of the way the game handles the stick I don't think I'll be able to get this any better.
Tennis - Your player won't jump around (ala pengo style) if you press the stick too far.
Centipede - Well I couldn't leave well enough alone. I adjusted this cause I felt the current settings were too sensitive. Personally I'm satisfied with how I got it, it should be more manageable. The dpad speed is about the same as the 5200 to 8-bit conversion.
Asteroids - You still have to press left/right or right/left in order to rotate, but now your ship doesn't spin around, thus killing you. Oh and you won't super thrust when using the shield or hyperspace.
Pole Position - Probably a little more sensitive than I would like. But I have a feeling most people will prefer it as I have it. The dpad is at the 2nd fastest speed.
Gorf - A total waste of my time. I had no luck with it. Just play the digital conversion.
Space Invaders - Probably didn't need to be messed with but I did anyways. The transition between the two ship speeds should be improved. Dig pad uses the slowest speed.
The dpad should be useable in all of the above except for Gorf (meh), Super Breakout, and Kaboom.
I'm currently working on this..
Right now it is just an empty shell that lets you move the cursor around and that's about it. The next step is to attach an action to the buttons. I just wanted to see if I could get it going first.
Of course the next logical step after that would be this.
Post by: madmab on March 10, 2008, 02:02:00 AM
For anyone who care, just an update.
The overlays are pretty much done and functional. I ended up making them a bit larger though, although the overlay can be moved. There are about 23 overlays that have been created and that I even know of.
Other than that I just added a built in disk boot menu for megadisks. This for anyone that happens to use them. I have a feeling I'm the only one.
L8r
Post by: zorglub on March 10, 2008, 05:16:00 AM
I suppose i'm not the only one to look forward for the first release. Can't wait to try. Thanks for keeping us inform of your progress. And take care.
Post by: XPort on March 10, 2008, 06:48:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Mar 10 2008, 03:38 AM)
X-port. I've only had a chance to glance at it but does the mednafenX your ported use SDL? I was not quite sure. I did notice the common folder had a couple SDL directories but they were empty.
For anyone who care, just an update.
The overlays are pretty much done and functional. I ended up making them a bit larger though, although the overlay can be moved. There are about 23 overlays that have been created and that I even know of.
Other than that I just added a built in disk boot menu for megadisks. This for anyone that happens to use them. I have a feeling I'm the only one.
L8r
No, it does not use SDL.
Post by: ressurectionx on April 12, 2008, 01:14:00 AM
Had a question for you though. In your opinion is Ballblazer a functional 5200 game? I can't for the life of me figure it out. If it doesn't work for you either and you wouldn't mind taking a look at it and seeing what is wrong, I'd be mighty appreciative.
Thanks,
~Rx
Post by: ressurectionx on April 12, 2008, 04:35:00 AM
I'm not even anywhere near my XBox to try it out, but I know that's gotta be the answer. I never had Ballblazer for the 5200 when I was a kid and didn't even know it was on there till I tried out XPorts emu, so I had no clue it used the keypad functions. I had the 7800 version.
Heh... I almost forgot that the 5200 had those crazy telephone keypads and the little plastic cards you'd lay over them for easy access to the functions for certain games. I wonder how many other things I haven't been able to do cause I forgot about that and I don't still have those little plastic cards.
Can't wait to see what you can do with it. You think that's why Miner 2049'er II - Bounty Bob's Revenge doesn't work for me too? I can't remember my problem with that after about a year since I've tried it, but I bet that's why that game didn't work either. I'd love to try that one out. Miner 2049er was my favorite 5200 game, but I never got a chance to play the sequel yet.
I just had an idea. I don't believe anything like this is already included in the emu, but I just thought that a kick ass addition might be a key combo, say press both joysticks down at the same time, and if the game had an overlay card it will pause the game and pull up a jpeg/png image of the overlay.
This could be made even more useful if the overlays were edited in paint/photoshop to display the new button(s) that will do that function. I could help with that if you like the idea.
Talk to you soon,
~Rx
Post by: ressurectionx on April 12, 2008, 07:56:00 AM
Awesome on that and awesome on the Bounty Bob my man. Love knowing there are people on the scene again and that we think on similar wavelengths. Looking forward to trying the NES emu when I have time tomorrow after work and can't wait to see what you do with the Atari one.
~Rx
Post by: RMM on April 13, 2008, 08:39:00 AM
Post by: madmab on April 18, 2008, 08:37:00 AM
I'm trying to add some code that is getting errors when it compiles. The error point to some .obx files. I know where they are.
Looking in the make file it has the following statement I think that tells the compiler where to look for the files.
PLAYERS_OBX = players/cmc.obx players/mpt.obx players/rmt4.obx players/rmt8.obx players/tmc.obx players/tm2.obx
Anybody know what I need to do?
Thanks..
Post by: madmab on April 18, 2008, 07:34:00 PM
Post by: madmab on April 27, 2008, 01:35:00 AM
QUOTE
Well after a little head scratching I managed to add in the ability to play SAP to atarixlbox. I used the ASAP code made by Piotr.
Fusik. Playback speed (for SAP files) can be set to either NTSC or PAL.
For those not in the know SAP is like the Atari equivalent of the SID collection for the C64. It's not quite as nice or complete as the SID collection but I wanted this to be customized towards the Atari series of computers. I'll probably attempt to do the same for Atari ST music files when I work on WinstonX. So run out to the SAP music archive and help yourself to some SAP files!!!
The player can also play the following formats, although I have not tested CMC Rzog, MPT DoublePlay,Theta Music Composer 2.x.
* CMC (Chaos Music Composer)
* CMR (CMC Rzog)
* DMC (DoublePlay CMC)
* MPT (Music ProTracker)
* MPD (MPT DoublePlay)
* RMT (Raster Music Tracker)
* TMC, TM8 (Theta Music Composer 1.x)
* TM2 (Theta Music Composer 2.x)
Changed order of some of the entries in the "Music Control Menu". Added options to skip to next/prev song within a SAP/tracker file.
Added an option to show (view) song name when the mp3 player changes songs.
Playlist repeat mode, and View Name setting is saved in INI file.
Fixed (hopefully) issues with the 130xe keyboard code getting confused about which key is highlighted.
When "adding a code" from the "edit code" screen the current code is copied as a template. To start with a "blank" code "add a code" from the "cheat code" menu.
Changed the cart select screen so it does not show the "oddball" cartridge configurations. This can be toggled by selecting the "Show Odd Cart Types" line. This is my solution to the one thing that bothered me about automediadetect, and that is the rather large cartridge type list with mostly useless entries.
I created cheat codes for Jr. Pacman and Ms. Pacman based on the speed hacks done by Nukey Shay. As a result I've modified the cheat code system AGAIN. Seems the a800 team has a strange definition of what they consider ram, rom, and hardware addresses. So now it uses the standard peek/poke system only when the address if greater than $CFFF. Everything else reads directly from the memory table.
Put in some code that hopefully will prevent any conflicts when cold_restart is mapped to a combo where one of the buttons is mapped to something else (like START for example).
Fusik. Playback speed (for SAP files) can be set to either NTSC or PAL.
For those not in the know SAP is like the Atari equivalent of the SID collection for the C64. It's not quite as nice or complete as the SID collection but I wanted this to be customized towards the Atari series of computers. I'll probably attempt to do the same for Atari ST music files when I work on WinstonX. So run out to the SAP music archive and help yourself to some SAP files!!!
The player can also play the following formats, although I have not tested CMC Rzog, MPT DoublePlay,Theta Music Composer 2.x.
* CMC (Chaos Music Composer)
* CMR (CMC Rzog)
* DMC (DoublePlay CMC)
* MPT (Music ProTracker)
* MPD (MPT DoublePlay)
* RMT (Raster Music Tracker)
* TMC, TM8 (Theta Music Composer 1.x)
* TM2 (Theta Music Composer 2.x)
Changed order of some of the entries in the "Music Control Menu". Added options to skip to next/prev song within a SAP/tracker file.
Added an option to show (view) song name when the mp3 player changes songs.
Playlist repeat mode, and View Name setting is saved in INI file.
Fixed (hopefully) issues with the 130xe keyboard code getting confused about which key is highlighted.
When "adding a code" from the "edit code" screen the current code is copied as a template. To start with a "blank" code "add a code" from the "cheat code" menu.
Changed the cart select screen so it does not show the "oddball" cartridge configurations. This can be toggled by selecting the "Show Odd Cart Types" line. This is my solution to the one thing that bothered me about automediadetect, and that is the rather large cartridge type list with mostly useless entries.
I created cheat codes for Jr. Pacman and Ms. Pacman based on the speed hacks done by Nukey Shay. As a result I've modified the cheat code system AGAIN. Seems the a800 team has a strange definition of what they consider ram, rom, and hardware addresses. So now it uses the standard peek/poke system only when the address if greater than $CFFF. Everything else reads directly from the memory table.
Put in some code that hopefully will prevent any conflicts when cold_restart is mapped to a combo where one of the buttons is mapped to something else (like START for example).
I think this pretty much wraps things up so once I get around to testing these changes I can probably release this sucker intto the wild and move on to the next project.
Post by: ressurectionx on April 27, 2008, 01:49:00 AM
You add that ability to bring up the .pngs of the 5200 controller overlays too?
Post by: ressurectionx on April 28, 2008, 08:15:00 AM
Any closer to figuring out a dummy proof mode for the XPORT emus, or is that still a real lofty goal?
Later,
~Rx
Post by: Delirious17 on October 18, 2008, 11:11:00 PM
Also how the hell do I get the forums topics to display properly? I have to click each reply line link to display the link...I want it so I can read each reply right after the other like most message boards have it.
Post by: madmab on October 18, 2008, 11:40:00 PM
You can tell if it's the latest version by looking at the text on the main menu. It should say (madmab ed). Plus there should be a CONFIGS directory inside of your atarixlbox directory with a bunch of *.cfg files.
Post by: Cospefogo on October 20, 2008, 07:44:00 PM
QUOTE(madmab @ Oct 19 2008, 03:16 AM)
Are you sure you have the latest atarixlbox? It should automatically find a configuration, at the very least, for all 5200 games, 400/800/XEG cartridges, and a handful of select titles.
You can tell if it's the latest version by looking at the text on the main menu. It should say (madmab ed). Plus there should be a CONFIGS directory inside of your atarixlbox directory with a bunch of *.cfg files.
Hello MadMad, nice to meet you!
I am running the latest version and I am a bit frustrated with what is happening.
In the main emulator menu configs I did set up the preferences on my own way,
removing all the flicker and image blurry filters, also I do change the exit game
to WHITE button and so on...
BUT EVERYTIME I LOAD A GAME AND I DO ACCEPT THE ""FOUND CONFIGURATION""
everything --- for the game I'm loading --- RESETS!!!!
The image gets BLURRY again, the exit game returns
to RIGHT THUMB and so on!
Matter of fact, even when I set up into - POINT / Flicker Zero / Simple2x (Or none)
I get a blurred image... is this correct?
In all other emus this combo make the pixels SHARP AS A SWISS KNIFE...
What is going wrong?
Is something I am doing?
Oooh...
Right now I am downloading the AtariXLbox V6 to check if its
behaviour is similar to your edition or not...
Cheers!!!
PS. Thanks for your attention!
Cospefogo.
Post by: Cospefogo on October 20, 2008, 09:50:00 PM
Let me better formulate my findings:
1 - Did a clean install
2 - Adjusted the controls to match my taste (White exits a game to the in-game menu)
3 - Installed my own skin (nothing special on it)
4 - Adjusted some positioning of elements on my skin
5 - Adjusted the screen filters to POINT / SIMPLE2X / FLICKER 0
6 - Turned on the SOFTEN DISPLAY (since it affects only the gui, in my understanding)
Then, I start a game.
1 - The emu founds a configuration for the rom
2 - I accept and the game starts normally
But:
1 - It starts just like if I am using bilinear or some flicker level 1
2 - All my own controller config is GONE! White does not exit the game anymore... everything is back to default.
And, I noticed:
1 - If I go to ingame menu, go to screen settings, just change the SOFT to OFF and ON again (one right after one) and only then return to game ---- The blur is gone!!! I need to perform this everytime enter a game... Goes to screen config - change soft to off anc back to on, and return to the game.
2 - Even if starting the game with X and - in the very own game settings I change the controller again --- and force it to save to controller, later the controllers return back to the default "factory" settings.
And finally:
1 - I did installed Xport's V6 and it does not present ANY of the "bugs" mentioned above. Regarding the blur or the controller option it works flawslessly... BUT --- Damn --- I got a problem! I can go into a game, but the START or any other button does not work. I don't understand why! I see the main intro of the games, Keystone Kapers, Megamania, etc etc but I can't play. I did make a clean install and there is no way to make the controllers IN-GAME work... Strange is that the EXIT game command works fine (the default RIGHT THUMB PRESSiNG.)
I think I am getting crazy.
Ha ha!
Regards!
Cospefogo.
PS. When I open Keystone Kapers on V6 the colors look much much nicer than in V7... (at least for my eyes)
The floor has a orange hue... very cool! Why? (I am on a NTSC TV)
* * *
More info:
On your version, each game receives its own configuration file for the KEY, correct?
For some reason these files are created using the factory default settings of the emulator,
instead of using my custom ones. I went directly to the file and edited the commands,
and not --- at least the controller problem on V7 was corrected.
But yet the problem of the blur is still there.
It does not matter if I have the Soft ON or OFF, when I enter the game I got blur...
)c:
Post by: Cospefogo on October 21, 2008, 05:13:00 AM
Thanks so much for your investigation.
Regarding the controls, I will check carefully what is going on in V6,
and will do what you recommend in V7 to keep my custom config for all games.
Regarding the filters, I am already with HARDWARE NONE (0), SOFTWARE POINT (0).
Zero values look like they are OFF in my view, correct?
At the moment I do load a game, then I go to INGAME menu,
chenge to OFF and ON the Soften display and bingo - the blur is gone.
This is working fine for a temporary solution.
By the way... The same happens on Atari7800 emu - MadMab adition.
Flicker 0 / Point / None (or simple 2x) gets blurred when you load any game.
I need to re-check, but if I remember well the Soften Screen OFF/ON trick worked too...
About the color - I did make a quick MOCKUP using internet screenshots.
I am faraway of my Xbox at the moment so I am not able to get
the real screenshots from V6 and V7.
I will post them later.
I notice loss of the vivid hot colors in most of the games
(comparing to AtariXLbox V6)
Please take your time.
And sorry for my poor english!
Best regards!
Cospefogo.
Post by: Cospefogo on October 21, 2008, 06:11:00 AM
QUOTE
* New NTSC palette code using some routines created by Kr0tki.
Source: here.
Maybe there is something on this Krotki's routine that changed the colors a bit?
What do you think?
But don't need to go deeper inspecting that...
It is just for our information.
Cospefogo.
PS. Damn... I can't work today.
I am so excited to go back home and keep messing with my new emulators
that I can't do anything else! It is my first time running:
- Atari 5200
- Atari 7800
- Coleco Vision
- and the weird Odyssey!
Post by: madmab on October 21, 2008, 07:29:00 AM
There were a few other issues as well regarding the color blue and green.
Post by: Cospefogo on October 21, 2008, 07:57:00 AM
QUOTE(madmab @ Oct 21 2008, 11:05 AM)
(...) the browns were off. They looked more redish.
This explains why the floor is so orange on Keystone Kapers running in AtariLXbox V6!
A-haaa!
Post by: Cospefogo on February 03, 2020, 08:01:00 PM
I did pass through almost all existent roms for Atari5200 this evening
using both versions - V6 and V7 (yours). I must confess you - that at least
for my eyes - there is something really weird with your current color palette.
The games on V6 are more vivid, hot color, orange, yellow, red...
On your version everything looks more greenish, blue, lack of reds and oranges and yellow hues...
Check the images:
(IMG:http://kppshngthbttn.com/xtras/a5200palette1.gif)
(IMG:http://kppshngthbttn.com/xtras/a5200palette2.gif)
Is there a way to include a option in the future versions for the user load his own palette?
It could be wonderful!
Best regards...
Cospefogo.
Post by: madmab on February 03, 2020, 08:38:00 PM
There are a few issues that make palettes more an issue of preference than anything. Kr0tki has a couple of threads explaining how his palette is calculated. To put it simply, it's based on specs. Just go to the atariage atari 8-bit message threads and do a search on "palette" and you will see what I mean. There are NUMEROUS discussions about palette's. It's mind boggling. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
But really there are several issues. All of the different atari's had slightly different video output which affects colors. Mostly artifact colors which is why some people have different memories of what the original lode runner should look like (red or blue).
But aside from that the machines were run on NTSC which back in the day the way the colors looked could be influenced by how your tint and color settings were. There were just too many factors.
Now kr0tki did include controls for making adjustments to brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, gamma, and saturation_ramp. But I figured that would be a bit much for the average user so I left it out.
If you try games like Ms. Pacman and Donkey Kong you will get a better idea of where the colors are off in V6. When I had people with real 5200's beta testing it they did some comparisons, and although not exact, they did say they were close. Maybe a "tweak" to the brightness or saturation will do the trick...?
Bottom line. We could argue about the best palette all day. I chose to leave it in the hands of someone who took a more technical approach, rather than a best guess. Ultimately the best option would probably be to let the user select the palette. But to be honest you are the first person I've run into that even showed any interest in this.
I need some info, though.
What resolution are you running in? Are you using PAL or NTSC? Also I never mentioned but the only issues I see with filters on my little SDTV is the junk pixels on the right and bottom of the screen. If the issue is the junk pixels then I may have it fixed.
As far as bluriness. Well I'm having a little trouble picturing that. Maybe it is more obvious on an HDTV in which case I'll have to hook my xbox up to my HDTV and see if I notice any difference.
This post has been edited by madmab: Today, 04:49 AM
Post by: Cospefogo on February 04, 2020, 04:17:00 AM
About the palette:
Thank you very much for your complete explanation.
I absolutely agree with you on anything regarding the palette.
I don't have a real Atari 5200 and I never had one (just a 2600, when I was 8 years old)
and all the comparison I am doing is against AtariXLbox V6 (while playing)
and with No-Intro shots. After playing V6 and found out the No-Intro shots
to be very similar to it. Unfortunately I can generate shots
right from V6 since is it buggy regarding screenshot capturing... Maybe you know that.
I played both and I - personally - like the colors best on V6.
My suggestion around all this subject was just to let people import
the old V6 palette on the future versions, nothing more.
Even if the actual palette is the bottomline correct for all the eternity
blessed by God and canonized by Atari Company themselves, I still - personally - prefer the V6.
Anyway, we can stop chat about this. The subject is over and I clearly got the picture, thanks!!!
About the blur:
I am using a NTSC SDTV through 480i input - 720x480 mode (100x11 pixel aspect ratio on) -
where I set up all Xport emulators to run in: POINT / SIMPLE 2X (or none) / FLICKER 0.
Also, I turn the SOFT ON to better display the GUI info (since flicker filter is off).
I never saw a Xbox1 plugged to a HDTV (and I really don't want or plan to do so...).
After all this years playing on this setup one thing I think I could say solidly is when a game is blurry!!!
And the actual problem is not only in the game, it extends also to the emulator GUI!
It is very easy to find it.
Put your flicker in zero, and let's keep soft OFF.
Don't enter a game yet - at the moment check the emulator GUI.
The letters, lines, anything, are sharp as a knife.
Now enter on a game. It's blurry!
Definitely it is not Flicker Zero!
Call InGame menu, a-haaa --- The in Game menu is not sharp anymore!!!
Then put SOFTEN to ON, and back to OFF, on the same moment.
Get back to the game. Bingo. The game is healed. Sharp again.
Exit the game, go back to the rom selection.
Blaaargh... It got blurred again.
Then, go to the video settings, Soft ON and OFF again (or OFF and ON),
tadá --- Sharp again.
This is what happens.
I just want to help, if you think it's normal, nevermind, really.
Don't loose your time on it. Keep moving adding interesting features
for the emulator!
Aah, and about the broken pixel in the very bottom of the screen,
they really don't bother me. It's really not a problem.
At the moment I am doing a manual process of getting screenshots
for AtariLXbox V6, since the Xports version is buggy in what regards
the shot capturing.
Cheers!!
See you later, dude!
Cospefogo.
Post by: madmab on February 04, 2020, 05:17:00 AM
NP. Anyways. Believe it or not I was originally planning on including multiple palettes in atarixlbox. But I did not for two reasons.
1) I never got a whole lot of feeback regarding it.
2) I felt there were enough options to tweak as it was and wanted to minimize user confusion. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Anyways I don't mind adding it. I'll probably make it an option to load a palette file. Atari800win has some pretty cool palettes like gray and green which would be cool to fool with. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
I'll see what I can do about the blur issue. But I've heard a couple of complaints about the 720 modes that may be hard to track down.
This post has been edited by madmab: Today, 01:20 PM
Post by: Cospefogo on February 04, 2020, 06:07:00 AM
Will do it later today.
And the blur occurs on all instances!
GAME SCREEN, IN GAME MENU, EMULATOR MENUS...
Regards!
C.
Post by: Cospefogo on October 24, 2008, 03:15:00 PM
QUOTE(mikejf @ Oct 24 2008, 06:34 PM)
Madmab, did you have time to check why the emulator volume is rather low compared to the mp3 volume?
Mike
Mike,
Good question!
I did notice it too...
My skin does not play any music at all, but I wonder why
the sound effects (while moving in the menus) are too low.
The sounds on XBMC dashboard, at same volume, are very audible,
and inside the emulator they are very low. (ONLY IN THE GUI... The
GAME sounds are perfectly fine!)
Cheers!
Cospefogo.
Post by: willnulife on January 28, 2009, 11:34:00 PM
Post by: madmab on January 28, 2009, 11:57:00 PM
QUOTE(willnulife @ Jan 29 2009, 02:10 AM)
I know this was mentioned like four years ago, but are there any plans for implementing color artifacting into AtariXLBox any time soon? Some of the best games, in my opinion, use it & it would be nice to play them in all their original glory.
Post by: willnulife on January 29, 2009, 11:21:00 PM
Post by: madmab on January 30, 2009, 12:01:00 AM