Duimon - HSM Mega Bezel Graphics and Presets - Feedback and Updates

ZeroSin3 · 26 June 2022 21:51

I mean, within Launchbox you can provide a command line parameter.

The following works to start games (loader) when I test them individually as ‘Extra Command Line parameters’:

Galaxians () "atom -rp “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom” -flop1 “%romfile%” -autoboot_delay “2” -autoboot_command "dos\ndir\ncat\n*run"galaxi"\n""

Hardhat Harry (**) “atom -rp “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom” -flop1 “%romfile%” -autoboot_delay “2” -autoboot_command “dos\ndir\ncat\nrun"LOADER”\n”"

The following doesn’t work Chuckie Egg “atom -rp “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom” -flop1 “%romfile%” -autoboot_delay “2” -autoboot_command “dos\ndir\ncat\nrun"runme”\n”" (and all others with the runme don’t work)

However…the command line you provide applies to ALL games. So the last part of the autoboot command should be variable, whether it is a shortname of the game, loader or runme

I’ve tried adding it to the custom command line parameter per game

So Galaxians should pick up the custom command line settings which I tested as working. But it doesn’t. It just checks what is configured in the default command line and then still gives the loader command instead of galaxi.

Then I tried using cmd files, for instance H:\RetroArch\retroarch.exe -L “H:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll” “atom -rompath “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom” -flop1 “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom\atom\galxians.zip” -autoboot_delay “2” -autoboot_command “dos\ndir\ncat\nrun"galaxi”\n”

But then it doesn’t find my files. Says required files are missing. Through command line it doesn’t seem to pick up the atom.opt file. When I check it seems to be reading from mame.opt

So, games run. But I want to find a way which makes all games run without having to change the command line every time. I’ll post this to the LB forum after I’ve done experimenting with it myself. You already helped a lot in getting me on the way. So again, thanks very much for that!!

Duimon · 26 June 2022 23:52

Inside Launchbox you may have to delete the extra quote before the driver name. (i.e. "atom).

I tried a few more games and the autoboot command is dropping characters for some reason.

The current mame core may be buggy. I have been having issues with other command lines in other cores not behaving consistently.

BTW you need an asterisk before the commands (i.e. *dos) I didn’t see them in your example.

ZeroSin3 · 27 June 2022 00:14

the asterisks were there when i posted. Must have been edited out? i agree, must be something off. guess i’m a perfectionist. want all games to run whenever you release a new bezel is when i convert my old settings from mame to retroarch:wink:

Duimon · 27 June 2022 00:29

The easiet way to get the games to run with Launchbox would be to strip the command line of the path to retroarch,exe and the core part.

e.g.

atom -rompath “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom” -flop1 “H:\LaunchBox\Games\Acorn Atom\atom\galxians.zip” -autoboot_delay “2” -autoboot_command “ *dos\n* dir\n *cat\n* run"galaxi”\n”

…put that in a galaxians.cmd and load it like a rom.

Like I said… I have gotten this to work on a couple of systems but it breaks weirdly

on others. I think it is worth a shot for you to try though.

This is a problem unless you are OK with disabling software lists in the opt. (If you are never going to use the traditional method.

There are times when you actually need the traditional method (FM-Towns that need a boot disk.)

I have yet to find a way to use a boot disk and iso/chd in the command line.

ZeroSin3 · 27 June 2022 00:45

i will try it tomorrow. Will let you know. thanks for taking the time!

ZeroSin3 · 27 June 2022 22:14

Still no luck. But I’m not one to give up quickly

Duimon · 27 June 2022 22:38

Glad to hear it.

My policy is that I won’t release a graphic until I can get a game to run, but I only require one game.

Please keep me in the loop if you learn anything.

Duimon · 27 June 2022 22:48

Those that have following this thread for a while will know not to take statements like…

…too seriously.

The acorn data recorder!

The data recorder was very similar in design to the Electron… I took the liberty of making them even more alike.

The main reason I decided to tackle it now was the tinted cassette window.

My plan for the Amiga 4000 involves a case with a tinted window and I wanted to see what I could do.

I think it turned out pretty good. Here is a shot of the whole thing.

It is on a separate layer so the X position can be adjusted if needed.

It still needs a touch of work but I should be ready to build some presets very soon.

Duimon · 28 June 2022 02:50

Here’s a shot of the Electron, with the just finished data recorder, in night mode, 21:9 aspect, and some X position on the data recorder layer. (Decal Layer.)

Duimon · 29 June 2022 03:10

@ZeroSin3

My issue with the autoboot dropping characters is actually a bug in the keyboard emulation. The keypress duration timing is flaky.

I hacked together a lua script that slows things down.

local frame_num = 0

local function process_frame()
        frame_num = frame_num + 1

        if frame_num == 1 then
            emu.keypost("*dos\n")
        elseif frame_num == 50 then
            emu.keypost("*dir\n")
        end
        if frame_num == 150 then
            emu.keypost("*cat\n\n\n")
        elseif frame_num == 200 then
            emu.keypost("*runF1")
        end
        if frame_num == 300 then
            emu.keypost("4RUN\n")
        elseif frame_num == 350 then
        end
       
end

emu.register_frame_done(process_frame)

I saved this as f14_lua.txt and changed my command line to.

E:\RetroArch\retroarch.exe -L "E:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll" "atom -rompath "E:\Temp\atom" -flop1 "E:\Temp\atom\f14.zip" -autoboot_delay "2" -autoboot_script "E:\Temp\atom\f14_lua.txt"`

It pauses for 100 frames between the two numbers of the command.

Even with no need to slow things down the script is easy to edit to use in place of other autoboot commands.

There is supposed to be a way to play tapes if I can figure it out, (And avoid having to press F2.)

ZeroSin3 · 28 June 2022 22:56

you’re not just a graphical wizard but also a technical wizard

I’ll be sure to try it out in my trial and error session

Duimon · 29 June 2022 04:05

Thanks. To be clear, I am just hacking lua scripts I found that themselves are only “just working”. (As stated by the author.)

This one will start the tape player in the alice32.

local frame_num = 0
local run_frame = 0

local function process_frame()
        frame_num = frame_num + 1

        if frame_num == 30 then
            emu.keypost('\n')
        elseif frame_num == 150 then
		    emu.keypost('CLOAD\n')
        elseif frame_num == 300 then
		    manager.machine.cassettes[":cassette"]:play()
		elseif frame_num > 500 then
		    if run_frame == 0 then
		        if manager.machine.cassettes[":cassette"].motor_state == false then
    		        run_frame = frame_num + 60
	    	    end
            elseif frame_num == run_frame then
		        emu.keypost('RUN\n')
		    end
        end

       	if manager.machine.cassettes[":cassette"].is_stopped == false and manager.machine.cassettes[":cassette"].motor_state == true then
		    manager.machine.video.throttled = false
		    manager.machine.video.frameskip = 12
		else
		    manager.machine.video.throttled = true
		    manager.machine.video.frameskip = 0
		end
end

emu.register_frame_done(process_frame)

This loads a command line as a rom in a “galaxian.cmd” with these contents.

alice32 -rompath "E:\RetroArch\system\mame\roms" -cass "E:\Temp\alice32\roms\galaxion.zip" -autoboot_delay "2" -autoboot_script "E:\Temp\alice32\galaxian.lua" -ui_active`

I am naming my scripts *.lua now to keep things straight.

Duimon · 1 July 2022 18:16

I did some more work on the Electron Alternate with the Data Recorder. The new recorder layer looks like this.

By default it exactly covers up the keyboard keys, making it look intentional.

I looked funky before.

It will still look a bit funky as the X Position is adjusted…

…but you can cover up one set of keys at a time…

…until the whole recorder is visible.

Just in case an end user wants to do some extreme screen position/size changes.

Duimon · 29 June 2022 14:33

The Electron is in the repo!

Duimon · 1 July 2022 22:53

Here’s a new WIP.

The BBC Micro.

There are a couple things bugging me but it’s pretty close.

The Monitor is a Microvitec Cub 1451AP-DS, a consumer version of the Cub 653 PVM which was also commonly used. (It didn’t have a bezel so I decided against it, but it was cool looking.)

walter.farmacia · 1 July 2022 23:23

Too bad, so much that I tried but I couldn’t run Acorn System in retroarch and I searched on youtube to see if there was a tutorial to see how it’s done but I didn’t get anything

walter.farmacia · 1 July 2022 23:28

I was able to play on RetroArch NEC TurboGrafx-CD and NEC PC Engine-CD with the mega Bezel Duimon Advance, I already downloaded the 46 official Turbografx-CD games, now I still need to get the 118 PC-Engine CD games

Duimon · 2 July 2022 22:19

I did an OCD pass on both the Micro Model-B and the Cub monitor.

I added the on/off symbols to the monitor and tweaked the LED rocker switch. (It is hard because finding a decent shot is impossible.)

I also tweaked the colors of the Micro to be more in line with the monitor and the other Acorn graphics.

While I was up to my elbows I fine tuned the black level of some layers and offset some masked layers to allow a graceful Gaussian blur.

I briefly tried texture but, although it looked OK, I haven’t textured the other Acorn and I want them to be consistent.

__

I think I am ready to start building some presets.

ZeroSin3 · 3 July 2022 00:34

looking good! For me, for all my platforms, I tend to use the night version. So glad you always add both versions.

ZeroSin3 · 3 July 2022 00:36

try this tutorial: Autoboot Command / Script for MAME SWL