Mame4all Wiz

[Prophet]

Additional:
I have now confirmed that TV out will work on the Wiz

Nice. Seems like a good feature to have these days.

If the tearing issue has really been addressed for all practical purposes (i.e. there's a legit workaround that doesn't involve a big speed hit) then I'll get one.

 

[Franxis]

[If the tearing issue has really been addressed for all practical purposes (i.e. there's a legit workaround that doesn't involve a big speed hit) then I'll get one.

It is faster than the GP2X port, but not 2x faster.
The tearing issue is not solved yet

 

[vampire8bit]

Franxis are you going to continue updating the GP2X version?

 

[Franxis]

Franxis are you going to continue updating the GP2X version?

Yes, i will release new versions for both GP2X and WIZ.

 

[vampire8bit]

Franxis are you going to continue updating the GP2X version?

Yes, i will release new versions for both GP2X and WIZ.


Thanks that's very good news. Im still deciding on whether to to hang on to my GP2X or sell it and get a Wiz.

 

[EvilDragon]

I already got the final version of the WiZ yesterday, not much have changed.
The buttons and DPad are a bit roughed (which is nice ) and the WiZ logo on the back is now silver.
The battery compartment is held by two screws... errrgh.

Well, the firmware on it is 0.7.3 which sounds scary but works okay (except for some weird translation stuff in the german language I need to tell them... that happens when you translate the text out of the blue without knowing exactly where it will be put in the menu ))

MAME works fine, VICE doesn't (no idea why, never could get VICE from the archive to run), tearing is not gone, but MUCH better (it's hardly noticable except when playing Sonic, and even there it's barely visible, nice).

So the WiZ should definately be released within the next days

One question for MAME:
Some games seem to be fixed on 245MHz (I can't change it)... with some games I can select a higher clockrate.
Is this a bug or could this have something to do with me copying my old CFG Dir from the gp2x over?

 

[Franxis]

One question for MAME:
Some games seem to be fixed on 245MHz (I can't change it)... with some games I can select a higher clockrate.
Is this a bug or could this have something to do with me copying my old CFG Dir from the gp2x over?

Remove all files in the "frontend" folder.

 

[Alex.]

Do you think you could post some photos of the final hardware?

Thanks for the news!

 

[Prophet]

tearing is not gone, but MUCH better (it's hardly noticable except when playing Sonic, and even there it's barely visible, nice).

Is that using the new method to render landscape mode (using the 3D hardware) that was discussed before? Does this mean there will always be some tearing using landscape mode? No way to completely avoid it?

Or are you describing something else?

 

[Exophase]

This is partially conjecture, but if he's running pre-existing software then my guess would be that it's using landscape mode. Otherwise the software wouldn't look right - this is of course not true if it uses a dynamically linked library for the output like SDL, that can hide a rotation away. In that case, does Temper work? That hits the hardware directly.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, just found out that tearing is still very visible... but it's more visible with vertical scrolling games (tried Rainbow Islands) than with horizontally scrolling games...

 

[Prophet]

Well, just found out that tearing is still very visible... but it's more visible with vertical scrolling games (tried Rainbow Islands) than with horizontally scrolling games...

Bad. :-(

But I guess we can't judge what the Wiz will be like in the long term, until the devs get a chance to try the new technique from GPH that Warmfluffy mentioned. If that "fixes" tearing without a big speed hit, then it's OK and will just be one of those little quirks. But if tearing can't really be fixed adequately in software (since the display hardware is apparently buggy and won't be changed, for now), then the Wiz will lose sales over it I think.

Every new hardware has a teething period where devs learn their way around it, so we have to wait and see a bit longer.

 

[Ghaleon]

I have just been thinking... a lot of the old arcade games from the 80s which don't scroll shouldn't have any screen tearing, like Ms Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Burger Time, or Space Invaders. That makes things a little better. Of course, many games for the Genesis and the Neo Geo will have tearing.

 

[DaveC]

I hope the Wiz is not delayed. Play-Asia.com still lists it as an April 2009 release. Not many days left now!
Looking forward to trying MAME as soon as I get it!

Yeah, it's funny because at first I had zero interest in the Wiz. Then over time it grew on me, mainly when they fixed the buttons and headphone jack.

I think OLED will look awesome for MAME, especially those good old classics that used lots of black. As a kid I LOVED how those bright colors glowed against deep black on those RGB CRT monitors. I still wonder about the size, but it's similar to the GBA size, and that was bearable. If it was between 3.2 - 3.5" it would be perfect, but then again, part of the Wiz' charm is its small size.

You are 100 % correct.

I just said "what the fuck" and got a Wiz even after I was less than thrilled in the beginning. The screen IS a bit small for my old eyes and looking at tiny sprites is a bit of a strain. To me the tiny screen is the biggest :lol: drawback. If they made the screen at least 3.2" it would have been perfect, Oh well.

But the OLED screen does exactly what you say, it makes the colors really stand out as the black screen is REALLY true black. Turn on the Wiz in a dark room with a black screen and you can't even tell where the edges of the screen are. With an LCD you always see the dark grey outline glowing through. Vector games truly look amazing, much better than on any LCD. Small starfields like the Galaga background pop out at you. Since the response time is far superior to LCD there is zero ghosting. The infinite viewing angle means rotating for vertical MAME games looks perfect unlike an LCD that washes out when rotated. The screen makes it look like you are holding a mini arcade machine with it's bright contrasty screen. The only downside is OLEDs don't last as long but by the time it wears out the MKII will be out.

Franxis:

I think I found a BUG in MAME. It doesn't save any of my settings for screen rotation, clock speed etc. I have to re-do those every time I start a game. Is there a way these settings can be saved so we only have to do them once?

Also I play allot of vertical games. Because of this I set the "MENU" button as a fire button. There is one problem though, the emu doesn't register the MENU button if the d-pad is pressed at the same time. So if you are moving, you can't fire/jump etc at the same time. Holding your hand at the top to press B while vertical is very awkward and uncomfortable. Is there a way that it can be made so that the menu button and the d-pad can be used simultaneously and that the settings are saved? Also the samples don't work, I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for the great emu

 

[Prophet]

DaveC... you have a Wiz already?!

I really want your take on the screen tearing issue. I know you're at least as particular as me when it comes to such things. It's the one thing that really keeps me on the fence about the Wiz right now.

Also - what do you think of the controls? How is the dpad? You of all people MUST post a mini review of the Wiz controls ASAP!

 

[DaveC]

DaveC... you have a Wiz already?!

I really want your take on the screen tearing issue. I know you're at least as particular as me when it comes to such things. It's the one thing that really keeps me on the fence about the Wiz right now.

Also - what do you think of the controls? How is the dpad? You of all people MUST post a mini review of the Wiz controls ASAP!

Yes in some cases the screen shows a diagonal line that looks like a ripple in the screen. Obviously that is bad but it seems there will be a work around in software. Supposedly they can write to the screen in portrait mode then rotate using the hardware. I just hope that doesn't cause ugly scaling artifacts or screen re-sizes and they can still output to the screen at 1:1. Otherwise they will be trading one flaw for another.

The pad is certainly GPHs' best effort, I know that isn't saying much but it is not bad. It has a decent feel and the throw distance is good, the only problem is that the pivot in the center is too small. There must be a little pivot because I can't press all 4 directions at once. I played Thunder force III on it and didn't have much problem. That is a good test of pads. Worst case a simple mod could add a larger pivot. The buttons draw allot of bitching about them being too close together but I don't have much of a problem, I just press on the outer chrome pieces.

 

[Franxis]

Franxis:

I think I found a BUG in MAME. It doesn't save any of my settings for screen rotation, clock speed etc. I have to re-do those every time I start a game. Is there a way these settings can be saved so we only have to do them once?

Also I play allot of vertical games. Because of this I set the "MENU" button as a fire button. There is one problem though, the emu doesn't register the MENU button if the d-pad is pressed at the same time. So if you are moving, you can't fire/jump etc at the same time. Holding your hand at the top to press B while vertical is very awkward and uncomfortable. Is there a way that it can be made so that the menu button and the d-pad can be used simultaneously and that the settings are saved? Also the samples don't work, I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for the great emu


I don't see such bug:
Use the latest version of MAME4ALL: http://archive.gp2xwiz.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,73,22
Anyway i will release a new version this weekend.

The MENU button is fire button in vertical mode automatically. I know it uncomfortable to use the B button, Any suggestion to have two fire buttons in vertical mode?. The samples works correctly. I assume you are using the correct samples? http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,73,2511

Do a clean installation! (or delete all configuration files, including the 'frontend' folder).

Thank you and regards.

 

[Prophet]

DaveC... you have a Wiz already?!

I really want your take on the screen tearing issue. I know you're at least as particular as me when it comes to such things. It's the one thing that really keeps me on the fence about the Wiz right now.

Also - what do you think of the controls? How is the dpad? You of all people MUST post a mini review of the Wiz controls ASAP!

Yes in some cases the screen shows a diagonal line that looks like a ripple in the screen. Obviously that is bad but it seems there will be a work around in software. Supposedly they can write to the screen in portrait mode then rotate using the hardware. I just hope that doesn't cause ugly scaling artifacts or screen re-sizes and they can still output to the screen at 1:1. Otherwise they will be trading one flaw for another.

The pad is certainly GPHs' best effort, I know that isn't saying much but it is not bad. It has a decent feel and the throw distance is good, the only problem is that the pivot in the center is too small. There must be a little pivot because I can't press all 4 directions at once. I played Thunder force III on it and didn't have much problem. That is a good test of pads. Worst case a simple mod could add a larger pivot. The buttons draw allot of bitching about them being too close together but I don't have much of a problem, I just press on the outer chrome pieces.

Good to hear a positive impression of the controls from you. Thanks. Fingers crossed that the tearing gets addressed in a satisfactory manner for the devs to use it.

 

[DaveC]

I don't see such bug:
Use the latest version of MAME4ALL: http://archive.gp2xwiz.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,73,22
Anyway i will release a new version this weekend.

The MENU button is fire button in vertical mode automatically. I know it uncomfortable to use the B button, Any suggestion to have two fire buttons in vertical mode?. The samples works correctly. I assume you are using the correct samples? http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,73,2511

Do a clean installation! (or delete all configuration files, including the 'frontend' folder).

Thank you and regards.

Hi,

Ok I was using the samples from the GP2X version I had. They work now thanks.

The Menu button does not work as fire for me in vertical mode automatically. When I select "rotate" in the MAME menu it rotates the screen but "B" is still default as Fire or Jump etc. I am refering to the Wiz version, the GP2X version did work with the volume buttons.

If I go into the MAME config menu while in the game and set "MENU" as "fire" it still does like I say, It won't register a press of the "memu" button if I an moving with the D-pad. Try it, load Donkey Kong set the aspect to "rotate" and run the game. You will see that "b" is jump by default and if you try to change jump to "menu" when you are running you can't jump at the same time which obviously makes the game unplayable.