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One Arcade Wheel (to rule them all)


Dunk3000

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Hi all,

 

I am creating just one arcade wheel on my setup, with as many emulated arcade games as possible on it. To me this is preferable than having them split across seperate wheels for manaufatures and/or systems.

 

Naturally MAME would be the base, and used wherever possible, and I was going to use Phulsoff's unofficial 0.168 database with mahjong and casino removed. I would need to update as each new mame version comes out - hopefully Phulsoff will continue his great work in providing XMLs. Below are some assumptions I have made with regards to the other Arcade Emulators and databases out there, please feel free to comment or correct me on them:

  • My understanding is all the "classic" databases are just taken from MAME set, filtered by manufacturer, so can be disregarded?
  • AAE games are all emulated in MAME, so no need to use this emulator or add games to database?
  • Zinc and FB Alpha games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use these emulators or add any games to database?
  • Neo Geo emulation is great in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games database?
  • Sega Model 2 emulation is not very good in MAME, so games should get added to database and model 2 emulator used?
  • Sega Model 3 emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and supermodel emulator used?
  • Laser Disc emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and daphne emulator used?
  • Capcom Play System I,II&III are emulated in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • Cave games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • MAME only emulates some discrete games, so the Dice emulator should be used for any unsupported and those games added to database?
  • Namco System 22 is emulated ok in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • Sammy Atomiswave is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?
  • Sega Naomi is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?
  • Triforce hardware is not emulated in MAME, so triforce branch of Dolphin should be used and games added to database?
  • Tatio Type X games are not emulated in MAME, so games should be added to database and setup to launch correctly?
  • Anything I have missed?

Apologies for all the questions, but I have always focussed on console emulation, and so arcade emulation I am not so familiar with (I was leaving it until I build a cabinet) but decided it be more fun to play the games sooner :). Be cool to get some advice from people more experienced in this area, cheers...

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  On 12/28/2015 at 11:35 AM, Dunk3000 said:

Hi all,

 

I am creating just one arcade wheel on my setup, with as many emulated arcade games as possible on it. To me this is preferable than having them split across seperate wheels for manaufatures and/or emulators.

 

Merging databases and setting up alternative emulators is not a problem, and I will of course share the results should anyone else want to use; but what I wanted to discuss with you guys is the best emualtors for each game/system. I realise there is the nonmame page on retrogames (which I think is great) but they focus on open source and running on linux, so following just that means you miss out on some things. I want best emulation, even if that means closed source, and as I am running HyperSpin (which needs windows), limiting to just linux is pointless.

 

Naturally MAME would be the base, and used wherever possible, and I was going to use Phulsoff's unofficial 0.168 database with mahjong and casino removed. I would need to update as each new mame version comes out - hopefully Phulsoff will continue his great work in providing XMLs. Below are some assumptions I have made with regards to the other Arcade Emulators and databases out there, please feel free to comment or correct me on them:

  • My understanding is all the "classic" databases are just taken from MAME set, filtered by manufacturer, so can be disregarded?
  • AAE games are all emulated in MAME, so no need to use this emulator or add games to database?
  • Zinc and FB Alpha games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use these emulators or add any games to database?
  • Neo Geo emulation is great in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games database?
  • Sega Model 2 emulation is not very good in MAME, so games should get added to database and model 2 emulator used?
  • Sega Model 3 emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and supermodel emulator used?
  • Laser Disc emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and daphne emulator used?
  • Capcom Play System I,II&III are emulated in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • Cave games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • MAME only emulates some discrete games, so the Dice emulator should be used for any unsupported and those games added to database?
  • Namco System 22 is emulated ok in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?
  • Sammy Atomiswave is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?
  • Sega Naomi is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?
  • Triforce hardware is not emulated in MAME, so triforce branch of Dolphin should be used and games added to database?
  • Tatio Type X games are not emulated in MAME, so games should be added to database and setup to launch correctly?
  • Anything I have missed?

Apologies for all the questions, but I have always focussed on console emulation, and so arcade emulation I am not so familiar with (I was leaving it until I build a cabinet) but decided it be more fun to play the games sooner :). Be cool to get some advice from people more experienced in this area, cheers...

 

  1. yes
  2. AAE is based off of an old version of mame to specifically support a vector look on non-vector monitors. This level of consistency is difficult even using MAME+HLSL
  3. Zinc is still good for those with low-spec computers. Generally you still need a dual core ddr2 800 setup just to play GDarius without frameskip.
  4. correct
  5. sega model2 emulation in MAME is atrocious at the moment.
  6. sega model3 emulation in MAME is an abomination at the moment.
  7. use daphne
  8. correct
  9. correct
  10. Mame is currently in a push to get more discrete games running but its really resource intensive. Keep dice for now IMO
  11. correct
  12. keep demul
  13. keep demul
  14. keep dolphin
  15. type X will be a waste of time to emulate. Nobody seems to be bothering with it on the MAME team even though MAME has a pretty mature x86 emulation code base.
  16. very very preliminary very broken support for Sega Lindberg has been added to MAME. It doesnt work at all for the average user if i remember correctly
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I am far from an expert but I'll add my 2 cents...

 

  • My understanding is all the "classic" databases are just taken from MAME set, filtered by manufacturer, so can be disregarded?  I believe so but there may be more filtering that occurred.
  • AAE games are all emulated in MAME, so no need to use this emulator or add games to database?  The AAE emulator adds some nice blooming and other video aspects.  Not sure how well MAME does this.
  • Zinc and FB Alpha games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use these emulators or add any games to database?  Correct.
  • Neo Geo emulation is great in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games database?  Correct.
  • Sega Model 2 emulation is not very good in MAME, so games should get added to database and model 2 emulator used?  Correct.
  • Sega Model 3 emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and supermodel emulator used?  Correct.
  • Laser Disc emulation does not work in MAME, so games should get added to database and daphne emulator used?  Correct.  Daphne and Daphne Singe.
  • Capcom Play System I,II&III are emulated in MAME so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?  Not sure about this.
  • Cave games are emulated in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?  Correct...as long as you use a MAME version that has support.
  • MAME only emulates some discrete games, so the Dice emulator should be used for any unsupported and those games added to database?  I believe this is true.
  • Namco System 22 is emulated ok in MAME, so no need to use different emulator or add games to database?  Not sure.
  • Sammy Atomiswave is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?  Correct.
  • Sega Naomi is not emulated in MAME, so Demul emulator should be used and games added to database?  Correct.
  • Triforce hardware is not emulated in MAME, so triforce branch of Dolphin should be used and games added to database?  Correct.
  • Tatio Type X games are not emulated in MAME, so games should be added to database and setup to launch correctly?  Correct.  (these care basically PC games)
  • Anything I have missed?  Not that I am aware.

 

I will be curious to see the final product and may very well use it!   :)

 

John

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That all looks right to me. I'm running an arcade games only cab myself (Along with modern PC and Pinball).

I prefer it split by major classic manufacturer myself: Midway, Konami, Data east etc... just recently added Tecnos and Seibu Kaihatsu wheels!

The only thing I would change is AAE. Yes you can run them in MAME, but regardless of your MAME settings they look and run better (by far in my opinion) using AAE Update #2.

Not only do they look better but they move smoother. For example Asteroids/Asteroids deluxe move smooth as butter in AAE #2, but animate janky in MAME by comparison.

However AAE Update #2 has a glitch that keeps it from running if you have any joystick/controller drivers enabled. Works awesome if you're using a cab with a keyboard encoder like an iPac though.

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Man those letters you are making would work perfect here :-). Also if you already have systems setup you could just create a single wheel however you want using hyperxmlspin, been advertising it like I'm making money which I have no affiliation with it

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  On 12/28/2015 at 5:38 PM, Dunk3000 said:

Sweet, thanks guys. So, looks like I had the emulators ok, with the exception of AAE - I'm gonna go check that out now.

 

And Metal, when I make the database I can upload ones split in to manufacturers too - so that way the SNK wheel, for example, would not only have the MVS games, but also the ones they did on Atomiswave and other systems, and the Sega one would include Model 2, 3, Naomi etc.. Would that be helpful? Or you prefer the split system wheels we already have?

 

I appreciate the comments, keep em coming if more to add :)

Mine right now are split so I have Naomi, Model 2, Model 3 as separate wheels. Atomiswave as a separate wheel etc...

I've just never looked into how to combine different emu's in a single wheel and database.

I'd be interested in that so long as there wasn't a single game missing or miss-matched and it worked with the latest Demul.

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Ok, made my first version - only has one extra emulator added to MAME (sega model 2) but that is because I am being a bit meticulous with my DB creation and testing so it takes a bit of time.

 

Anyways, if anyone wants to try it out I edited the second post with the files and instructions.

 

This is definitely the way I want my Arcade wheel to look, so I will add other systems and update post 2 as I go.

 

Thanks :)

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Ninja, I haven't used HyperXMLspin, but I am sure for people that wanted a combined wheel AND separate system wheels it would work.

 

But I ONLY want the combined wheel, so it wouldn't work for me as I don't have the separate wheels to search from.

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Version 0.2 with Sega Model 3 added - post 2 updated.

 

For the nonmame games systems I have been matching Mame Style - renaming to latest mame set where necessary, adding genres etc and putting all clone information - figured is best to keep clones because HyperSpin can filter out if needed. I've kept my source files for specific systems so if anyone wants updated databases for anyof them just say.

 

For now, I have kept non working games in the non mame systems, as that is the way system databases are normally done around here. Although, MAME database has non working removed so not sure if I should remove them from non mame systems or not?

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I didn't look to see if you are currently doing this, but you may want to considering "sectioning" your arcade.xml by platform (i.e. sections for MAME, AAE Daphne, etc.) using comments (section headers).  That way if/when a particualr HS database is updated, the associated section in your XML will be easy to find and edit.

 

John

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Jon, that EXE tag works a treat. I thought it was a legacy thing for HyperLaunch and wouldn't work with RocketLauncher - but it does. This makes things much easier

 

Just add one new wheel and it will draw all the settings from your existing system setups - pretty cool.

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  On 1/1/2016 at 5:29 PM, Dunk3000 said:

Jon, that EXE tag works a treat. I thought it was a legacy thing for HyperLaunch and wouldn't work with RocketLauncher - but it does. This makes things much easier

 

Just add one new wheel and it will draw all the settings from your existing system setups - pretty cool :)

 

Totally rewrote the second post with the simpler information - and added a few more systems

 

 

If anyone does try it out, let me know how you get on.

 

Damnit!  I nuked my entire post because I thought it became irrelevant also.  :S

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