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  • Added on: Feb 20 2010 09:50 PM
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Using BFMulator

A tutorial on how to start your first emulations with BFMulator.

Posted by duplu on Feb 20 2010 09:50 PM


Version : 2.04 Test Version

Emulator Author : Re-Animator

Supported Techs : Scorpion 1, Scorpion 2

The BFMulator is used to run machines originally manufactured by Bellfruit (BFM). The emulator is unique in that it can run emulations directly from ZIP files and also allows layouts to be scrolled if they are bigger than the current screen resolution. The following documentation assumes that you have installed the BFMulator via a full installation of FMEIW (Fruit Machine Emulator Installation Wizard). If you have not used FMEIW then we recommend that you re-install all your emulators via this method as it will check your system for required files and will also set various parameters correctly.



Starting the Emulator

LEFT click the START menu and then choose the 'Programs' menu item (All programs on Windows XP). From the resulting menu LEFT click 'Fruit Machine Emulation' and then ' BFMulator - Bellfruit MPU Emulator'.




The emulator will now load and you will be left with the screen below.

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Loading an Emulation

There are two methods of loading an emulation into BFMulator. You can either drag and drop a ZIP file directly onto the BFMulator screen or open a layout via the 'Project' menu. The method you use is purely a personal preference and has no bearing on how the emulation functions.

For ease of use it is recommended that you store your layouts in the directory C:Program FilesFruit Machine EmulationBFMulatorLayouts. This directory will be automatically created by the installation of FMEIW and is also the default directory that will be browsed by BFMulator when you are loading layouts.



Loading an Emulation - Drag and Drop Method

This is by far the easiest method to load a layout into the BFMulator. For this to work you must ensure that the ZIP file contains both the layout and the required ROMs and that these are not contained within any sub-directories.

Open a Windows Explorer windows in the directory that your layouts are stored in. Scroll the screen until the layout you want to load is in view. Now LEFT click and hold the layout whilst dragging it over the BFMulator window as in the example below.

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Loading an Emulation - via the 'Project' menu

This method allows you to run emulations directly from a ZIP file and also allows you to run layouts that have been unzipped. For whichever method you are using ensure that both the layout and the required ROMs are present and that these are not contained within any sub-directories.

LEFT click the 'Project' menu item and then 'Load game'. This will open a dialogue box prompting you to select the emulation to load. The dialogue will show ZIP files and also file with a .gam extension (these are BFMulator unzipped layout files).

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LEFT click the name of the file you want to load and then click the 'Open' button.



Load Messages

Once you have either dragged and dropped a ZIP file onto BFMulator or opened a ZIP file you will see the following alert. It's not important whether you click 'Yes' or 'No'.

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Clicking 'Yes' will show you a loading window (as below) and clicking 'No' doesn't show the window.

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Error Messages

If you see the alert displayed below then this indicates that the file you are trying to load is not for the BFMulator. This is most commonly caused when you try to load a file meant for MFME (Multiple Fruit Machine Emulator) into the BFMulator (they both have the same layout extension .gam).

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The following alert is not an error as such. It simply indicates that there is no RAM file for the machine you are going to play. This means that the machine will play from a factory reset. You should only see this message once the very first time you load a machine. If you see this message every time you load a machine then this indicates that the machine state is not being saved because you have no RAM directory set. If you have installed BFMulator via FMEIW then you will never see this alert.

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Playing your Emulation

All being well your emulation should have now loaded and will begin to initialize. As the emulations are created from true fruit machine ROMs the emulation will go through the same initialisation routines as a proper fruit machine would.

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Firstly the ROM and then the RAM will be initialised, after this the emulation will be ready for play. At this point the emulation should be in 'attract' mod, indicated by the lamps on the machine flashing.



Inserting Coins

The method of inserting coins will depend on how the author has programmed the emulation. You therefore may need to try both of the following techniques :

Clicking the Coin Mechanism - Hover your mouse pointer over the coin mechanism (below). Clicking on the RIGHT mouse button will cycle through different denominations (ie, £1, 50p, 20p and 5p). Clicking on the LEFT mouse button will insert a coin of the currently selected domination.

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Use the keyboard - Using the keyboard it is usually possible to insert a pound by pressing the '0' (zero) key. The author may have set up other keys for different denominations, you will need to check the accompanying README file within the ZIP file for details of these.



Pressing the buttons

As with inserting coins the method for pressing the buttons will depend on how the author has programmed the emulation.

Clicking the buttons themselves - This is an easy one to test! After inserting some coins simply hover your mouse pointer over the START button for the machine and LEFT click it. If the button depresses and the reels spin then you will be able to press all of the buttons. Some people see this as the most authentic method of play. This is often referred to as 'mouse play'.

Use the keyboard - Keyboard play is possible with all emulations. After inserting coins use the keys below to play the machine. For non-standard buttons, ie, features, we would advise that you check any README file within the ZIP file for the emulation.

S or Spacebar - START

1 - Hold/Nudge 1st Reel

2 - Hold/Nudge 2nd Reel

3 - Hold/Nudge 3rd Reel

4 - Hold/Nudge 4th Reel (if applicable)

E - Stop/Exchange

C - Collect/Cancel



Configuration Settings

There are quite alot of settings that can be adjusted within the BFMulator. The ones detailed below are the most commonly adjusted settings :

Project - Reset Machine

This will reset the machine as if you had just loaded it. You can use this if the emulation gets stuck. This does not perform a factory reset of the machine. To perform a factory reset you must delete the machine RAM file located in the RAM file directory.

Advanced - Emulator Settings - MPU/Catridge(s)

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CPU emulation settings
- These sliders control how fast or slow the emulation is running. Adjust the sliders left or right depending on whether the emulation is running too fast or too slow.

Save RAM files to - This is the full directory path on your PC where the RAM files will be saved. This is set automatically via FMEIW if you used this to install the emulators. If this field is blank then BFMulator will be unable to save the RAM for a machine and it will play from factory reset every time you load it. This location can be changed to any folder in your PC.

Layout files - This is the directory path on your PC where your layout files are stored. This is the directory that will be shown by default if you use the 'Project' menu method to load your layouts. If you have used FMEIW to install your emulators then this path will point to the directory 'C:Program FilesFruit Machine EmulationBFMulatorLayouts'.

Advanced - Emulator Settings - Reels

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Use motion blue on reels - Untick this option on very slow PCs to disable the blur when the reels are spinning.

Advanced - Emulator Settings - Misc

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Use Bitmapbuffer - Untick this option if your emulation is running extremely slowly.
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