Mclaneinc

April 12

Hi folks..I'm normally good with emulators, I know Altirra forwards and backwards, but it's been years since I played with MAME. So here's the scenario, I went and got all the needed arcade games I was missing, I noticed that the Internet Archive has a claimed full set of the software list images. Many hours later I got the lot. Now I presume they are as the emulator expects, ie directory called a800 with a another folder of the named game with a zip file in that. So I went to MAME's preferences for the latest version and went to the folders options and added a pointer to the link for Software Lists to the main lump of files and folder that I made called SL with all the software list files and folders. I tried MAMEUI64 and the MAME ui from the MAME site. If I go to say a800pal on MameUI64 it shows you a list of game files on the right, on the MAME made emulator if I click on the computer it then shows a list of the same files. When I select the game I either get a running game or I get a red error dialogue saying it can't find that file. I also get an issue that if I close that game down and select another one it runs the previous game instead of the new one.

Tried the same on both emulators and they do the same.

Obviously I'm missing a step here, I looked in the Hash directory and all the xml's for the various software list folders with the games then entered as an entry, I can't see any folder pointers in the code tho.

Can someone please walk me through the way you setup software lists, I have looked everywhere and people mention them but most posts then go off on a tangent about the emulation launcher for retroarch.

Just a simple, what is the format of the grouped system ie a800 and what goes into it, any pointers to an option to poin to the said folders and files and anything I clearly have not done.

Thanks a bunch, as said, not touched MAME in at least 5 or more years, had a sudden urge and then I was stumped. All the standard are titles are fine and verified with Clrmame pro, it's purely these software list items that I stumped by.

Do an old Atarian a favour....PLEASE!!

Paul..

February 7

4 hours ago, DjayBee said:

I believe May 12th, 2023.

The site gets updates more often but also not many lately due to the fact that currently everything has to be done manually. Farb is working on a new backend with certain automatisations.

Thanks Djaybee, helpful as always..

I'll await whatever comes out, whenever that is..Can't rush perfection

Paul..

February 7

Hi folks, a rare dabble on to here.

When was the last torrent or site post of the effort so far?

I still like to keep up to date..

Hope people are safe away from the flu's cold and mad weather, keep safe people..

Paul..

February 7

I don't come on here much these days but wanted to give a small update with the Gamepack. Mine and Starwindz contributions stopped a long while back, but there is a good friend working on the gamepack and has made good progress on the content. Now this may or may not come to fruition as he has a very busy time himself. If it does happen it will be a content only increase, the front end will remain as it is.

So it's not totally dead in the water, there are some paddles still slowly turning, but it's NOT a definite update, hence I'm not saying who it is, but I will say he has a great track record...

Paul..

Long live Altirra and all the Atarians on here..

January 24

Yup, I'm no sloth when it comes to Altirra but it was well hidden

Thanks Baktra...

January 24

How can I see the global hotkey checker in action..I'm probably looking in the wrong place or misconstrued what it is / does..

January 18

On 1/16/2024 at 4:11 PM, Justin Payne said:

@phaeron Oh, LOL! I read that completely wrong. The format is [symbols] : [definition]. Wow, I can't believe I missed that.

Thanks for your assistance with this. I think I'm much better off now.

As you have found out Justin, cheating isn't as easy as it seems. You can sort of blame me for the cheat system in Altirra, I bugged Avery a lot to add a simple cheat system and he kindly did. The problem with cheating is that sometimes the programmers of the game don't want you to do it. Initial games didn't have cheat protection and to be fair, overall very few games did, but over the years across the Atari and C64 I've found little nasties to stop you doing it. Remember that the cheat on Altirra isn't a full blown thing like Cheat Engine on the PC. SO some types of cheat will require a lot of trying and trying again. Cheating stuff / tampering with code has always been my thing and whatever system I'm using, so I've seen some stuff they try. I've seen checks to see if a line of code has been altered, if it has it does some dire stuff like fill memory ((Savage Pond does a similar thing as one of its copy protection checks). Some coders use screen codes rather than the actual number of lives etc. Some use an alternative counting technique and so on and so forth. Stuff that has no visible values are tough but usually the changed or not changed get those in the end.

2 tips, get a knowledge of Hexadecimal counting as well as normal maths, secondly, a wannabe coder mentality always helps, having some coding knowledge is really useful as is reading raw code and knowing what the mnemonics mean is a godsend (but you don't need this for the Altirra cheater, it just helps in a machine code monitor like Omnimon etc).

Have fun with this, it's fun and frustrating at the same time..Paul..

December 30, 2023

It won't let me add a like, so many thanks Avery, seasons greetings to you and all...

December 30, 2023

To those having a hard time I can only send my heart felt best wishes, as many know I have had those sort of times and really hope things get better for you, I really do.

Thank you for the kind remarks, I'm still around but had a huge lump of time just not feeling like playing stuff, thanks to my lovely wife and daughter I'm feeling a lot more into stuff. My wife treated me to one of those GMKTec mini PC's, super small but a beast when it comes to power. It made me delve back into emulators to test how it could run them, and boy does it run them. My daughter got me and her a PS5 for Xmas. I'd not been playing because my neck is super painful due to spine issues, but I have to say I've (we have) enjoyed the PS5, the free game that comes with it, Astro's Playroom is a blast, it's a massive tech demo but there is an actual very good game in there as well. We spent hours on that. I eventually put on Ratchet and Clank : Rift Apart which is stunning to play.

Came on today because of the new Altirra but was made to smile by all the replies to the Happy Xmas thread, thank you and may the new year be amazing for you all. Take care my friends...Hope Atari Santa brought you something...

Paul..

December 20, 2023

I know I don't come on here very much these days (mostly to update a certain emulator) but I still count this place and people as very good friends, so with that in mind, let me wish you ALL season's greetings and a stonking new year.

Take care..

Paul..

November 6, 2023

Almost Altirra's 15th birthday..Amazing commitment Avery..Thank you..You creation speaks for itself (especially if you are running S.A.M.)

October 3, 2023

On 9/28/2023 at 9:47 AM, Zarxx said:

Yes. Welcome to the club.

You carry on, it's still cheaper than collecting women and less damage to the ears

September 3, 2023

On 8/30/2023 at 5:05 PM, DrVenkman said:

This.

I get the same warning every time with every new version. Avery hasn’t root-kitted my PC yet and it’s been years. I doubt he’s going to.

Sounds like a challenge to me (Obviously I jest, I'd not wish that on anyone)

September 3, 2023

No issues with Altirra in the last two updates, Windows Defender has not kicked in once, like Wrathchild, on Win10 Home..

Never used read ahead on Denise or other emulators, but it's sounds like a nice feature. If Avery adds it in the distant future then great, if not then there's probably good reason why not.

August 28, 2023

On 8/26/2023 at 7:23 AM, gnusto said:

(shout out to @Mclaneinc and others for best of collection)

Thank you, but it really should be Starwindz who gets the mention, it was his project, I just tweaked some stuff, a mention should go to Phaeron who very kindly added a set of command line options for me that made it more friendly to the gamepack.

Credit, where credits due..

Paul..

August 21, 2023

Just a little thing, latest RSS feed for 21 takes you to release 20, rather than 21.

Thanks for the release Avery...

August 13, 2023

On 8/10/2023 at 1:11 PM, TGB1718 said:

Had noticed your not here as much as usual, hope all is ok with you.

Yeah, I just lost the bug for it all, and the neck pain is a little more annoying now, so playing is hard. I just keep the files up to date in case the bug comes back. Also, if I'm not chatting Atari then I'm off topic, hence I stay off here a lot.

August 7, 2023

On 8/5/2023 at 9:58 PM, bf2k+ said:

Thank you sir...

My pleasure, I'm not here very much these days, but still like to help out where I can..

Paul..

August 5, 2023

7 hours ago, bf2k+ said:

Anyone know where I can get Blackbox firmware for use in Altirra?

There you go..

bbrom134.rom bbrom141.bin bbrom144.bin bbrom216.rom

July 22, 2023

As anyone who has followed Altirra from its very beginning will know, it was just meant as a pet project for Avery, a proof of concept I think was his term back then. Well, look at it now, as an example of emulation of a series of machines, it's just incredible. Then when you look at the actual Atari emulation side, that is also beyond amazing. His multi level knowledge just stuns me, audio, video, system structure etc etc, all so detailed. OK, he works in 'the industry' as he has said, and the stuff he works on do take up pretty much all of his time, so to be giving us Altirra, I just want to say thank you again...

June 20, 2023

On 5/23/2023 at 4:17 PM, SoulBuster said:

Hi Soullbuster, a now rare post from me. In Altirra under VIEW / ADJUST COLORS set the artifacting phase to around 347, it will show nearer to what the colours were intended to be seen as under NTSC artifacting. Just brings the experience a bit closer to home.

May 27, 2023

It is indeed..Good fun bit of software..

May 8, 2023

Well done Avery for breaking the fourth wall barrier and now communicating directly with the audience inside the emulator. Midimaze up and really working as meant...