Question about a specific game (Strikers 1945 plus)

RetroArch Android devices
#1

This is one of my favorite Neo Geo shooters, but it the worse emulated game in the entire library of neo geo. I read that initially, when it was first emulated, it had a slowdown bug, where sound would be ok, but the video would crawl like a turle at 15 fps. They eventually fixed it in FBA, but i tried it in both FBA .30 core and FBA .38 core (latest for android?) and both have that slowdown bug that was supposed to be fixed a long time ago (sound ok, video turtle). Mame cores (2010, 2014, 2016) are indeed bug free, but this one Neo Geo game seems to need more CPU power in Mame than freacking CPS3 games, which makes it unplayable once the bullet hell starts.

Mame4 droid plays the game very well, with no hacks, Fba4Droid (only one specific revision of the emu though) plays it ok (though that emu has other issues) but i’dv really wanted to have it in Retroarch FBA, 'cose it’s really my favorite emu on android :slight_smile:

So, what’s the story, is there something wrong with that game in recent FBA revisions …?

#2

just run this game a few times to test, mame and mame 2014(and ume2014) does not slowdown as much as fba does. im comparing using the same 2nd plane(mostly slows down when in full power up and shooting enemies that needs multiple hits) and same stage

#3

thanks for testing man :slight_smile:

So it’s clearly an issue with this game in FBA. Seeing as it is a Neo Geo rom, it should fly (literally) on even the lowest specs.

For example, in Mame4droid and Fba4Droid (.38), i can limit my CPU to 700 mhz (or even lower) and the game is smooth as butter. On Retroarch FBA, with the CPU at 2000 Ghz, it slows down terribly… :frowning:

#4

i’ve read a few discussions, and this game(and some others) has slowdowns even on the arcade, so it probably is not an emulation thing. but just try in mame if works better. bios or region selections does not seem to affect the slowdowns

#5

Yes, there is > some slowdown, but it is the kind of smooth slowdown that Cave games have, not single digit framerates that the FBA has. By my calculations, to have smooth gameplay in any of the Mame cores, a Galaxy S6 would be the minimum , and even then i think it’s not 100% as it should. Sadly i’m stuck with an S4, so… :frowning:

I’m sticking with Mame4Droid for now. It’s good emulation and surprisingly much faster than 0.139 mame core.

Thanks again for the assist buddy.

#6

Ok, so i double checked. The “only” recent FBA version that plays 1945 plus correctly, with no slowdon, is 0.2.97.37, not 38. I think it is a regression for that game in 38.

So, if anyone has the 0.2.97.37 fba core for Retroarch (around december 2015) please share !

Thank you!

#7

your right… the last commit thats based on 0.2.97.37 does not cause slowdowns in strikers 1945 plus. let me check this out and find which one caused it and probably then send report to dev/maintainers of the core.

what platform are you gonna be using? i can only test and compile for linux and windows x64. havent tried cross-compiling yet for android.

EDIT: posted the issue in github. hopefully devs can look and find a fix for it. turns this bug actually started when it was updated to 2.97.38. have to look at the other neogeo games that has slowdowns if this is related(shocktroopers2 being one of them and one i play mostly)

#8

Good job buddy! :smiley:

I am on android sadly.

#9

sorry cannot seem to compile for android, the tools needed requires large downloads.

this is probably a build or compile issue related, since the older fba2012 which is based on 0.2.97.29/30 suffers the slowdown also.

#10

yeah, it has the slowdown (it shouldn’t as the issue was fixed way before that revision). Thanks for trying though.

#11

update : slight_smile:

im reading good responses from barbudreadmo and team-fba. hope for a fix(or workaround) soon…

FIX UPLOADED: hopefully buildbot can compile the new version for android so you can test it out.

#12

wha, i can’t wait man!!

You have any idea how often buidbot pushes new updates?

#13

its already up probably

#14

Yes, and it works excelent! Great job on all fronts! :smiley:

#15

an update has been made regarding this issue. it deals with actually doing fix to the issue(z80) rather than isolating this on a per-game-basis. this should fix any other games(that we do not know of) that will benefit from this.

check out the new commit from buildbot repo and post comments.

thanks