271 replies to this topic

[Guitar]

Progress has been steady, but slower than I had hoped.

 

The synthesized sound is in, AY8910 needs a bit of work to sort the speed out on some machines.

 

For sampled sound the OKI chip is in and working, although it needs a few tweaks to sort out the dynamic frequency settings.

 

The NEC chip is written, and will be debugged later today to ensure its working.

 

The Crystal games decoding has been massively simplified and is now complete.

 

BWB, Coinworld & Simple Characterisers need doing.

Hoppers need doing.

1 Lamp Extender, 1 Reel Extender, and all the 7 seg extenders need completing.

 

That should see MPU4 complete and working.

 

Almost everything has been upgraded or tweaked to work more accurately, and to be easily re-used on later techs.

 

I have included a screenshot of the MPU4 configuration screen, so you can see some of the extra bits that have been included.

 

Attached Files

•  ConfigPreview.png   71.15KB   2 downloads

[cja272]

Thanks for the update

[banditboy2006]

thanks for the update now I might release another test layout for amber tonite

[Guitar]

Update time:

 

The sampled sound has a playback/decoding issue I can't find yet. The samples play at the right time, but they sound wrong, like they have a cold. I'm working on a fix.

 

The BWB Characteriser is nearly complete, the actual CHR works, but needs auto detection adding.

 

Once these 2 issues are dealt with, the last remaining extenders can be added, hoppers can be added, and that should allow me to get IMPACT up and running. MPU4 is by far the most complex tech, the BFM techs, and Maygay M1 should be up and running much quicker than MPU4 has been.

 

I have limited time to spend on the emulator at present, so things are progressing slower than I would've liked. But it will be worth the wait, while I am sure the new emulation isn't bug free, its been heavily upgraded from the previous version.

[cja272]

Thanks for the update

[niallquinn]

No rush - good to see things progressing.

 

NQ.

[andy-1]

Thanks for the update.

[Guitar]

Well, well, well, its possible to auto extract the CHR numbers for BWB from the ROM.

 

So now that is working I have a few other bugs to attend to. Sampled sound of either type sounds bad / wrong, and the bankswitched sound on the OKI falls over in use.

 

The AY sound is too slow on some machines.

 

And Blues Boys / Red Hot Fever both stop working in play, which is either a 6809 core bug, or related to the sound being cocked up. I'm hoping its the sound, if not, it could be a fun bug to find.

[Guitar]

FAO Mame

Attached Files

•  MPU4 Memory Map.zip   9.33KB   14 downloads

[nails]

is coding getting easier for you? the more you code you more you learn ?

[Guitar]

is coding getting easier for you? the more you code you more you learn ?

 

The coding itself is pretty easy, there are some aspects to C++ which can get quite involved, and I deliberately avoid them where possible. But for emulation purposes the coding is straight forward.

 

Its the bug finding I have trouble with. Partly because its a dll I am unable to run it through the IDE, so all debugging has to be coded, as opposed to stepping thru the code. Also there are many more ways to cock things up in C++ as array writes are completely unchecked.

 

I have found and fixed bugs I knew existed in the VB version though, so this is by no means a fruitless exercise (pun very much intentional).

 

This should be the most complete, and accurate MPU4 emulation available when it's released. There is more automation in this version, the Characteriser for Barcrest, BWB, & Crystal auto detect. I think I have found a way to automatically pick out the lamp CHR for Barcrest too.

 

There is a lot to do yet, but MPU4 is by far the biggest tech with all its extenders, IMPACT should be much quicker to get up and running, then everything following that (apart from the video stuff) should mostly use already available code within Amber.

 

Framerate / Speed is much improved, I have included a slider for accuracy versus performance. This means it should run on a much wider range of PC's/Laptops.

 

I've been looking at Android too, now that I have a tablet, and I have to say that a Play Only version of Amber on 'droid would not be a bad thing. (dont get your hopes up, at this rate I should have that done around 2020).

[Guitar]

So, MPU4 is now in the final stretch.

 

Hoppers should be finished in a few hours. Many more bugs have been found and fixed, most games are now up and running, with a few that need a bit of tweaking to work properly.

 

A couple more extenders should see things complete, then they just need to be debugged.

[niallquinn]

Thanks for the update..........look forward to an exe.

 

 

NQ.

[cja272]

Thanks for the update

[robinhood75]

Great news guitar. Will be keeping an eye on this thread.

Regards

Robinhood75

[banditboy2006]

stake x test is coming tonite for all your clubber fans

[elcondor]

FAO Mame

Ta, it's a bit clearer than the existing lists. Check PM

Edited by elcondor, 08 July 2014 - 09:10 AM.

[Guitar]

A bit of an update.

 

MPU4 is nearly done! I have a timing issue to sort, the serial driven NEC sound card, Coinworld CHR, an EDC bug, Prism Lamps, & Prize Mechs.

 

Once they are complete I can then strip out all of the MPU4 code within VB, sort out the default settings in the layout wizard and do a final tidy up of the configuration form.

 

The Timing Issue is the only unknown at this stage, as I only found the bug today when running the test ROMs. The NEC sound card should be very quick as its very very similar to the non serial card. Coinworld CHR is easy to do, and has been done before. Prism lamps use the same gfx components as lamps, and the Prize Mechs are very similar to hoppers, which are already in use.

 

I have included a screenshot of all the available options for MPU4.

Attached Files

•  Config.png   443.44KB   1 downloads