Beta Uae4All Additions

[tuki_cat]

Hi all,

attached is the temporary PND with NUB support and unstable vsync. The version allows the sharing of the uae4all folder in pandora/appdata by this and the "official" v1.1.1.6. The PND is in the attached .rar

http://www.mediafire.com/?2v632csl3dqaoc2

Also here is binary that can be run from the runme.sh

http://www.mediafire.com/?p4p1c0z87t33829

 

[Esn]

Who has permission to edit the GD compatibility list? I'd like to modify the entry on "Star Control". I have the exact same version as the one listed there, but it doesn't work; it restarts immediately after the title screen. Maybe it worked in a previous version of the emulator, I don't know (for that matter, why isn't there an "emulator version" column on that list?).

Also, Supaplex has no sound effects, as I mentioned previously, but I'm not sure if that's just a difference of the Amiga version with the DOS version. The only Youtube videos I could find specifically of the Amiga also don't have any sound effects, but again, that could be due to the emulator.

Also, was it normal to have really long loading times on the Amiga?

But regardless, thank you a lot for this emulator. With the new fixes, it's now finally at a stage for me where lots of games become very playable without the persistent annoyances that were there before.

 

[TitanUranus]

Who has permission to edit the GD compatibility list? I'd like to modify the entry on "Star Control". I have the exact same version as the one listed there, but it doesn't work; it restarts immediately after the title screen. Maybe it worked in a previous version of the emulator, I don't know (for that matter, why isn't there an "emulator version" column on that list?).

Also, Supaplex has no sound effects, as I mentioned previously, but I'm not sure if that's just a difference of the Amiga version with the DOS version. The only Youtube videos I could find specifically of the Amiga also don't have any sound effects, but again, that could be due to the emulator.

Also, was it normal to have really long loading times on the Amiga?

But regardless, thank you a lot for this emulator. With the new fixes, it's now finally at a stage for me where lots of games become very playable without the persistent annoyances that were there before.

Have you tried different memory configs, different number of active drives and different kickstarts - and different cores? I'll try it out tomorrow when I get some time, but I'm very busy being poorly right now, and my Pandora is busy with lots of torrents (it seems 40+ torrents is taxing it's resources a tad).

I'll also give John4p's terminal suggestion a try - thanks for that. An explanation of what it does would be welcome, I know the screen doesn't shut off in other emulators so what's going on here? - I had hoped it may shed some light on the whole "no nubs" thing. I mean if the dpad and buttons don't register as inputs in the underlying OS while the emulator is running, but the nubs do then isn't that an indication that the nubs aren't being "locked" and used by the emu as they should?

Nice to see so much interest in this emulator, and so many people appreciating your good works John4p (and other contributors too).

EDIT: I really am unwell, there was an uncharacteristic lack of punctuation in that poorly worded reply.

 

[john4p]

An explanation of what it does would be welcome, I know the screen doesn't shut off in other emulators so what's going on here?

xset s off shuts the os' screen blanking off completely. Since uae4all uses the gamepad mode the dpad- and button-input doesn't prevent the screen blanking.

I had hoped it may shed some light on the whole "no nubs" thing. I mean if the dpad and buttons don't register as inputs in the underlying OS while the emulator is running, but the nubs do then isn't that an indication that the nubs aren't being "locked" and used by the emu as they should?

Yes, that means they do something - thanks for the info. Just notaz' sdl doesn't automatically assign those inputs to any sdl inputs so I don't know how to use them.

 

[Esn]

I think I encountered a problem with Dragon Flight.

It seems that you can only move around with the arrow keys on the keyboard (I'm guessing).

Since UAE4All has no keyboard mode, I can't move around. It also asks me to press "left" or "right" when I start out, and it doesn't mean the mousebuttons.

Would it be possible to add a "keyboard" mode where the d-pad is the arrow keys and ABXY are the most often-used keyboard action buttons? (in DOS those were Space, Ctrl, Alt, Shift; I'm guessing it was something similar on the Amiga)

Also, would it please be possible, in the disk selection menu, to change the colour of all non-disk files? Perhaps to grey instead of black. The reason I ask is that the save states are placed in the same directory, and the file names look entirely identical to those of the disks, so it is really annoying to find which file is the disk and which is the save state. I have to press Select for every single file in that list, and I imagine this could get annoying with games of more than a few disks and different savestates for each of those disks.

Also, accidentally loading a savestate for the wrong disk makes the emulator crash.

I had hoped it may shed some light on the whole "no nubs" thing. I mean if the dpad and buttons don't register as inputs in the underlying OS while the emulator is running, but the nubs do then isn't that an indication that the nubs aren't being "locked" and used by the emu as they should?

Yes, that means they do something - thanks for the info. Just notaz' sdl doesn't automatically assign those inputs to any sdl inputs so I don't know how to use them.

Good news... I hope it will eventually be possible to use the nubs as the mouse input all the time, and not have to specifically switch to mouse mode to use the mouse.

 

[TitanUranus]

Ah hah... Star control seems to work for me. There was one minor problem where there was a "repeated key press" which put lots of letters into the CLI window, I just hit the backspace key and deleted the letters and it started loading up straight away. I only tried it once, but it loaded up fine. I don't know what version I used cause I renamed all my ADF's to smaller file names. However as far as I remember the config I used was:

1mb
Kickstart 2.0
2 drives
UAE core (just to be safe)
synch 100
Sound accurate and 44khz
Frameskip 0
Overclocked the pandora a bit (think 690mhz was fine)

once you set that up, insert the disks into drive A and B (that's button A for drive A and Y for drive B ) . Then RESET instead of run (so the changes actually take effect.

Hope that helps, if not PM me and I'll sort you out with a working copy.

For John4p - believe it or not, I had thought of switching off the screen blanking as a temporary remedy! Maybe in future UAE4All could turn it off though, and when it quits it'd automatically set it on again (like other emulators and video players etc...).

EDIT: Damn smiley shades icon appeared where I wanted it to say "drive B )". Also I should have said ADZ'z not ADF's since I compressed them all to save space, not that it makes any difference to the general running of the game.

 

[john4p]

Update:

• Floppy drive speeds 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x selectable now (the faster the less compatible though)
• Save per game config works now (depends on filename in DF0
• Save General config & Save Game config updated with the new menu options
• Added shortcuts: L-trigger + , (comma) = leftclick, L-trigger + . (period) = rightclick
• Stylus mode: dpad up = simultaneous left+right click (Cannon Fodder grenades)
• No frameskip is default now

Note that 8x floppy speed isn't really 8 times as fast as the normal setting.
Also the faster the speed setting is the less compatible it gets.

Added the new mouseclick shortcuts so you don't have to switch to mouse emulation mode to proceed through most cracktros...


Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?r2g34w0mt0adiia

"Nub version": http://www.mediafire.com/?j3rmj4m6hny902r

Source: http://www.mediafire.com/?gtbteirko63fl06


@Esn: In mouse-emulation mode the AXBY buttons should be arrow keys. In stylus mode it's the dpad.

@TitanUranus: Yes, Star Control works fine.

 

[Esn]

Oops, never mind about Dragon Flight... apparently (as far as I can tell, anyway), you can only move by mouseclicks and nothing else, one square at a time. This is really annoying, which unfortunately means I probably won't be able to play the game. I think it would be annoying even on a real Amiga. I also realize that the on-screen keyboard does have direction buttons, so I can test those out if needed.

EDIT: If the touchscreen worked, it would be less annoying. The "nub" mode just seems to allow me to click wherever the mouse pointer was before, not move the mouse pointer.

A question about Amberstar, now. When I start, it gives me this message:

Welcome to AMBERSTAR!

Before you start playing, you must install AMBERSTAR on floppy- or hard-disk, using the program AMBER* INSTALL. If you want to install on floppy disk, please run FORMAT GAME DISKS first to format your Game Disks. After installing, you can start the game from hard-disk or from the Game Disk A which you have just created.

To avoid memory problems, please deactivate all other running programs and tasks. Read READ_ME.ONE for more technical information.

Have fun!

(Press the left mouse button)

What do I do? Is installing to hard-disk supported? Or should I install to floppy?

EDIT: Another question, before I forget... for anyone who's played it, is Amberstar also mouse-only? No way to move except for clicking on the directions? Was this a standard back then?

--

TitanUranus, thanks for the info! Only the UAE core seems to work for Star Control; the other cores have the behaviour I described. That info should be added to the compatibility list, I think.

--

john4p, out of curiosity, is it easier to upload to Mediafire than to the Repo? Or do you not have upload rights to UAE4All on the Repo? (Can more than one person have upload rights to an app?)

The benefit of the Repo for the user is that people who don't follow this thread will also receive the update via Tempel's PNDStore application.

In any case, I updated the Pandorawiki emulator list with the new file.

EDIT: Never, mind I see the reason you didn't upload it to the repo is that it's not in PND form. So I'm adding the original versions back to the emulator list; this now means that there are 4 different versions listed.

I also added information about the control scheme, mostly from tuki_cat's readme but updated for the latest version. Could you please tell me if it's accurate?
http://pandorawiki.org/UAE4ALL#In-game_controls
F12 doesn't seem to toggle between windowed and fullscreen, as far as I can tell...

--

EDIT: Also, one more request for the GUI, john4p: Could you make it so that when you select "Eject all drives", it doesn't automatically bring you back to the game? I don't see what the point of that is. I think most of the time when you do that, you want not to continue playing the same game, but to start a new one, so you would go back to the menu anyway.

 

[tuki_cat]

Update:

• Floppy drive speeds 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x selectable now (the faster the less compatible though)
• Save per game config works now (depends on filename in DF0
• Save General config & Save Game config updated with the new menu options
• Added shortcuts: L-trigger + , (comma) = leftclick, L-trigger + . (period) = rightclick
• Stylus mode: dpad up = simultaneous left+right click (Cannon Fodder grenades)
• No frameskip is default now

Note that 8x floppy speed isn't really 8 times as fast as the normal setting.
Also the faster the speed setting is the less compatible it gets.

Added the new mouseclick shortcuts so you don't have to switch to mouse emulation mode to proceed through most cracktros...


Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?r2g34w0mt0adiia

"Nub version": http://www.mediafire.com/?j3rmj4m6hny902r

Source: http://www.mediafire.com/?gtbteirko63fl06


@Esn: In mouse-emulation mode the AXBY buttons should be arrow keys. In stylus mode it's the dpad.

@TitanUranus: Yes, Star Control works fine.

@john4p - I'll PND these up later today and post them to the repo. Great work on the drive speeds & thanks for the simultaneous mouse cliicks, i have found some cracktros need this too.

 

[john4p]

A question about Amberstar, now. When I start, it gives me this message:

Welcome to AMBERSTAR!

Before you start playing, you must install AMBERSTAR on floppy- or hard-disk, using the program AMBER* INSTALL. If you want to install on floppy disk, please run FORMAT GAME DISKS first to format your Game Disks. After installing, you can start the game from hard-disk or from the Game Disk A which you have just created.

To avoid memory problems, please deactivate all other running programs and tasks. Read READ_ME.ONE for more technical information.

Have fun!

(Press the left mouse button)

What do I do? Is installing to hard-disk supported? Or should I install to floppy?

Harddisks aren't supported yet. Just install to floppy. If you play the English version you need Kickstart 2.0 to run it (the German version works with 1.3 and 2.0).

EDIT: Another question, before I forget... for anyone who's played it, is Amberstar also mouse-only? No way to move except for clicking on the directions? Was this a standard back then?

AFAIK you can use the numblock on the keyboard to move (which currently nothing is mapped to in UAE4All).

TitanUranus, thanks for the info! Only the UAE core seems to work for Star Control; the other cores have the behaviour I described. That info should be added to the compatibility list, I think.

Tried it yesterday - and seems to work fine with FAME/C (this game has weird controls though).

I also added information about the control scheme, mostly from tuki_cat's readme but updated for the latest version. Could you please tell me if it's accurate?
http://pandorawiki.org/UAE4ALL#In-game_controls
F12 doesn't seem to toggle between windowed and fullscreen, as far as I can tell...

Thanks for that - it's quite accurate so far.
Windowed mode doesn't work with notaz' SDL so you can remove the F12 entry.
In joystick mode (B ) is also the 2nd firebutton.
Didn't know about the space bar. Since we have a space bar on our Pandora I'll remove space being mapped to (B ) (now I know why you also activate a "powerline" in the Turrican games when transforming into the gyroscope).
Please also add the shortcut "L+D key: show/hide status line (shows disk drive activity)" to the general controls.

EDIT: Also, one more request for the GUI, john4p: Could you make it so that when you select "Eject all drives", it doesn't automatically bring you back to the game? I don't see what the point of that is. I think most of the time when you do that, you want not to continue playing the same game, but to start a new one, so you would go back to the menu anyway.

Okay, I'll change that.

@john4p - I'll PND these up later today and post them to the repo. Great work on the drive speeds.

Thanks again!

 

[Michoko]

Wow, john4p, thank you very much for all those new features, it's quite an impressive list of cool improvements!!

Do you think that maybe, if you don't find a solution for the nubs, you could remap the mouse pointer movement to L+Dpad (and maybe change the screen adjustement to R+Dpad). I'm telling this from the top of my head, but I think it might be a good compromise if the nubs are not usable anymore (you could even consider an auto acceleration feature that accelerates the mouse pointer progressiveley the more you keep the dpad pressed in one direction)

My 2 cents!

Keep up the great work!

 

[john4p]

Yes, that's a good idea. But we'd need a new shortcut for the virtual keyboard then (which currently occupies the R-trigger in joystick mode). L+V key maybe?

Would that be acceptable for you, tuki_cat (it's your keyboard gfx which really look nice)?
Another option would be pressing both L- and R-trigger for the virtual keyboard.

 

[Esn]

Thanks for the corrections; I updated the article to reflect them. Please keep me abreast of any further control changes by posting in this thread about them.

By the way, since the list of controls is quite long and complex, might it make sense to copy+paste the text from the wiki and have it as a menu option in the GUI, where when you click on it, you can scroll through the list? Just so that I don't have to quit the emulator to remind myself of what the controls are. As I've had to do sometimes...

---

L+V is a really bad idea. V is in the very middle of the keyboard and is awkward to reach (as are Start and Select to be honest, but I digress). Besides which, it has to be a key on the right side of the keyboard because you'll need your left thumb to use the D-pad while you're holding it.

Is moving the screen around REALLY something that you're going to be doing often? I think the keyboard should maybe take precedence... how about L+M to move the screen around (M for "move", and also it's on the right side of the keyboard, so it'll work).

---

John4p, the version of Star Control I have doesn't work with the other cores, only with the UAE core. I'm using a 1.3 kickrom. I could send it to you if you like.

---

So I can just press "num lock" on the virtual keyboard, and I'll be able to use the D-pad to move then?

---

As for removing the Spacebar being mapped to B, if nothing is mapped to Y in Joystick mode (as far as I can tell), why not map it to that? Yeah, it's also there on the Pandora, but Y is a bit more comfortable to reach.

 

[john4p]

L+V is a really bad idea. V is in the very middle of the keyboard and is awkward to reach (as are Start and Select to be honest, but I digress). Besides which, it has to be a key on the right side of the keyboard because you'll need your left thumb to use the D-pad while you're holding it.

You don't have to hold the combination to use the keyboard. Currently you press R once to use the keyboard and you press L once to close it.
We could change that to press L+V once (or both triggers - whatever is more acceptable) to open it and press L to close it.

Is moving the screen around REALLY something that you're going to be doing often? I think the keyboard should maybe take precedence... how about L+M to move the screen around (M for "move", and also it's on the right side of the keyboard, so it'll work).

I need it for a lot of games. L+M+dpad is a too long combination.

Btw., if we could "free" the R-trigger for joystick mode that'd open up a lot of other key combination possibilities.

John4p, the version of Star Control I have doesn't work with the other cores, only with the UAE core. I'm using a 1.3 kickrom. I could send it to you if you like.

You could post the md5sum of the ADFs. Just type md5sum <filename> in the terminal to get this.

So I can just press "num lock" on the virtual keyboard, and I'll be able to use the D-pad to move then?

Maybe...

As for removing the Spacebar being mapped to B, if nothing is mapped to Y in Joystick mode (as far as I can tell), why not map it to that? Yeah, it's also there on the Pandora, but Y is a bit more comfortable to reach.

Autofire on/off is mapped to (Y).

 

[Esn]

What games would you need to move the screen around for? Shouldn't the entire screen be... uh, on the screen the whole time?

L+M+dpad is a too long combination.

Try out how it feels; I think it feels pretty natural, because "M" is easy to find with your right thumb while your left is free to move the D-pad.

I seem to bring up the keyboard command fairly often, so R is comfortable for that... if it really HAS to be something else, though, try L-trigger + K.

I still hold that L-trigger + V is a really bad idea for anything. It's awkward to reach.

Is the autofire used more frequently than the spacebar as an action button?

By the way, I think I edited my post after you started writing your reply. I had this suggestion:

By the way, since the list of controls is quite long and complex, might it make sense to copy+paste the text from the wiki and have it as a menu option in the GUI, where when you click on it, you can scroll through the list? Just so that I don't have to quit the emulator to remind myself of what the controls are. As I've had to do sometimes...

 

[john4p]

What games would you need to move the screen around for? Shouldn't the entire screen be... uh, on the screen the whole time?

The gfx are often cut off so you have to move to see everything (e.g. Pinball Dreams).
You can also use it to center the image (e.g. Turrican I&II).
Also in doubled pixels mode you don't see the whole gfx of PAL games (320x256). You can scroll up and down to see the non displayed areas.
Amiga games use many different resolutions and the screen is also often positioned differently.

I seem to bring up the keyboard command fairly often, so R is comfortable for that...

You don't use the Pandora's keyboard?

if it really HAS to be something else, though, try L-trigger + K.

Whatever tuki_cat prefers: L+V, L+K, L+R or something else. It shall still be easily available - but it'd be a huge benefit to have the R-trigger available for other stuff.

Is the autofire used more frequently than the spacebar as an action button?

Depends on the game - in games where you shoot yes.
If we "free" the R-trigger we could use R+(Y) as spacebar shortcut...

By the way, since the list of controls is quite long and complex, might it make sense to copy+paste the text from the wiki and have it as a menu option in the GUI, where when you click on it, you can scroll through the list? Just so that I don't have to quit the emulator to remind myself of what the controls are. As I've had to do sometimes...

Yes, that'd be handy.

 

[Michoko]

I'd vote for L+K, it seems to be a good way to remember that it will display a keyboard And since the virtual keyboard is mainly used for specific Amiga keys, like the HELP key, I also think it might be better to free the R button for more immediate actions.

 

[tuki_cat]

What games would you need to move the screen around for? Shouldn't the entire screen be... uh, on the screen the whole time?

The gfx are often cut off so you have to move to see everything (e.g. Pinball Dreams).
You can also use it to center the image (e.g. Turrican I&II).
Also in doubled pixels mode you don't see the whole gfx of PAL games (320x256). You can scroll up and down to see the non displayed areas.
Amiga games use many different resolutions and the screen is also often positioned differently.

I seem to bring up the keyboard command fairly often, so R is comfortable for that...

You don't use the Pandora's keyboard?

if it really HAS to be something else, though, try L-trigger + K.

Whatever tuki_cat prefers: L+V, L+K, L+R or something else. It shall still be easily available - but it'd be a huge benefit to have the R-trigger available for other stuff.

Is the autofire used more frequently than the spacebar as an action button?

Depends on the game - in games where you shoot yes.
If we "free" the R-trigger we could use R+(Y) as spacebar shortcut...

By the way, since the list of controls is quite long and complex, might it make sense to copy+paste the text from the wiki and have it as a menu option in the GUI, where when you click on it, you can scroll through the list? Just so that I don't have to quit the emulator to remind myself of what the controls are. As I've had to do sometimes...

Yes, that'd be handy.

I agree that the virtual keyboard isn't always needed (only for specific Amiga keys) and that it would be great to free up the r-trigger for other things.

With regard to the virtual keyboard command I think that both L+k & L+V are acceptable, to be honest L+K might be a better for those with smaller hands, can this command be used to open and close the virual keyboard?

I think one thing I would really like to see stay is the ability to move the screen, this is really useful, as john4p said Amiga games come in many different resolutions, so there is a need for this option.

 

[john4p]

I agree that the virtual keyboard isn't always needed (only for specific Amiga keys) and that it would be great to free up the r-trigger for other things.

Great - glad you agree.

With regard to the virtual keyboard command I think that both L+k & L+V are acceptable, to be honest L+K might be a better for those with smaller hands, can this command be used to open and close the virual keyboard?

Okay, then L+K shall it be. I can change the closing also to L+K although if anyone tries to close it with L+K they'll close it anyway as soon as they press L...
What'd you prefer?

 

[tuki_cat]

I agree that the virtual keyboard isn't always needed (only for specific Amiga keys) and that it would be great to free up the r-trigger for other things.

Great - glad you agree.

With regard to the virtual keyboard command I think that both L+k & L+V are acceptable, to be honest L+K might be a better for those with smaller hands, can this command be used to open and close the virual keyboard?

Okay, then L+K shall it be. I can change the closing also to L+K although if anyone tries to close it with L+K they'll close it anyway as soon as they press L...
What'd you prefer?

If L on it's own can close it even better. If you are working on these changes I won't PND up the version you posted last night, I can't do it until I'm home tonight anyway. I'll wait for the changes you can make above are released, is that ok?