doctorclu Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) Alright Nukey I'm doing a quick video of how the latest Star Raiders hack is doing. You are welcome to join me here... (Or just watch it when you get around to it.) Edited December 31, 2016 by doctorclu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) Results from the test: Player 1 difficulty = Switches computer Player 2 difficulty = Switches Shields Mono /Color = Selects galactic map vs. Forward view. And for whatever reason the D-pad is not working. :/ So if there is any way we can wake the D-Pad up, and possibly make it where the default for the Mono switch is Forward view (color mode) and you hold down that button for the Galactic Map (or Mono mode) I think that will cover a lot. Edited December 31, 2016 by doctorclu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) On the D-Pad not working: Looked in the Star Raiders manual: 3. USING THE CONTROLLER Use your Joystick Controller and Video Touch Pad with this ATARI Game Program cartridge. Plug the Video Touch Pad firmly into the RIGHT CONTROLLER jack at the back of your Video Computer System game. Plug the Joystick Controller into the LEFT CONTROLLER jack... Nothing out of the usual there. Would have been silly if they made the joystick where the player 2 controller would have normally been. There are games that people have hacked, like Big Bird's Egg Catch, that was a keyboard controller game hacked to joystick controls. And those hacked games work fine on the AFP. But in the case of Star Raiders, it is the only game I know that was reading both a joystick and keyboard controller at the same time. Could it be possible that the scanning routine (?) used in this game originally for both controllers is confusing the controller emulation of the AFP, causing the D-Pad to be unresponsive? Edited December 31, 2016 by doctorclu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Both controllers and the console switches are sent through spaghetti code and saved to ram...so it's a matter of weeding though it to fix the bugs (such as the map appearing by default). If the Dpad on the portable is not working even on the original game, there could be some other issue it is having (with the ram locations used?) Are any other games glitchy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) There are a few where the dpad is not working. There is a complete compatibility list here... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dN1l_iw3N4lJ69Wq2cqoLGKAxbo-gHLMohrhlSHwYNI/edit#gid=0 In summary, here are games that had the D-Pad not working (which I list in case you are familiar with them or know how they were programmed to find a common bug in the emulation...) Game of Concentration -Atari Sentinel- Atari Shooting Arcade- Atari Secret Agent -Data Age Asteroid Fire -Home Vision Canyon Bomber -Atari Codebreaker -Atari Frisco -Home Vision G.I. Joe - Cobra Strike -Parker Brothers Gamma-Attack -Gammation Oscar's Trash Race -Atari Racing Car -Home Vision Super Challenge Baseball -INTV Human Cannonball -Atari Bachelor Party -Mystique Bachelor Party/Gigolo -Playaround Eli's Ladder -Simage Super Challenge Baseball -M Network Super Challenge Football -M Network Kool Aid Man -M Network And I will say I greatly apologize for getting you to help this far and not realizing the joystick didn't work. Kinda sucks. Was hard to tell until we had a way to switch from galactic map. If you are up for a challenge looks like the Dpad is unresponsive on Star Raiders and I will be happy to help test any revisions to get that to work on the Atari Flashback Portable. (As it stands now, you created a great hack for those that have a Atari and Harmony Cart but don't have a keyboard controller so kinda cool!) OR... There is one game I know the Dpad works and could use a similar hack to activate the weapons of Joystick #2 : Spy Hunter. Got three votes that would like to see that fully working on the AFP. Right now you can drive along, shoot cars, and bump off cars, but it is not really Spy Hunter until you have smoke screen, oil slick, and missile. (It is kinda Bump and Jump... with guns.) Edited December 31, 2016 by doctorclu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 BTW Nukey, I enjoyed what work you did on Star Raiders so much I actually won a Novice game. Got like Scout 3rd class or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Some of the games listed are not made for a directional controller...so those can be ignored unless hacks exist to change them. Something common among the others are frequent successive reads done with SWCHA/SWCHB and/or DDR flow control (SWACNT/SWBCNT). Could this be the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 First 7800-detection attempt. I gather that the portables' switch operates similarly...so try loading the game with the firebutton held (to force 7800 mode) if this does not work. Also cut down on the frequency of port reads to see if that helps the Dpad. StarRaiders(NoKeypad).bin 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) Some great results, here is the video showing what improved... Results: It works, it plays! Good work Nukey!! Edited January 1, 2017 by doctorclu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 I really liked what was learned in this case... There are a few where the dpad is not working. ... In summary, here are games that had the D-Pad not working (which I list in case you are familiar with them or know how they were programmed to find a common bug in the emulation...) Game of Concentration -Atari Sentinel- Atari Shooting Arcade- Atari Secret Agent -Data Age Asteroid Fire -Home Vision Canyon Bomber -Atari Codebreaker -Atari Frisco -Home Vision G.I. Joe - Cobra Strike -Parker Brothers Gamma-Attack -Gammation Oscar's Trash Race -Atari Racing Car -Home Vision Super Challenge Baseball -INTV Human Cannonball -Atari Bachelor Party -Mystique Bachelor Party/Gigolo -Playaround Eli's Ladder -Simage Super Challenge Baseball -M Network Super Challenge Football -M Network Kool Aid Man -M Network Some of the games listed are not made for a directional controller...so those can be ignored unless hacks exist to change them. Something common among the others are frequent successive reads done with SWCHA/SWCHB and/or DDR flow control (SWACNT/SWBCNT). Could this be the problem? ... Also cut down on the frequency of port reads to see if that helps the Dpad. And now we know. The Dpad not working in this case and in the case of others with a directional control was excessive reads and just reducing that a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 The readout missing from the production model may be due to bits 6&7 being set in VBLANK when this is no longer needed? The rank missing when you win is a glitch in the hack, tho...need to track that down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 BTW keep in mind that this is hacking against incomplete emulation...so what works in one ROM may not in another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 The readout missing from the production model may be due to bits 6&7 being set in VBLANK when this is no longer needed? One thing I want to do is narrow down the games effected by the increased screen migration between the pre-production and production models. Might help us understand what might be happening. Not all games were effected obviously. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundGammon Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Nukey, Could Game of Concentration -Atari be hacked to play like Flag Capture? Move an X over the square and press button to reveal what's underneath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) FYI, Nukey's Missile Command Arcade hack loads and seems to display fine, but the controller does not work properly on the FBP, making it unplayable. There are a few where the dpad is not working... ... Kool Aid Man -M Network ... OR... There is one game I know the Dpad works and could use a similar hack to activate the weapons of Joystick #2 : Spy Hunter. Kool-Aid Man works fine on my FPB. You have to start the game with one of the console switches (I don't remember which at the moment), so ppl commonly mistake even the actual cart as not working. Spy Hunter fourthed... although I mentioned it earlier, so I don't know if this vote counts. Edited January 2, 2017 by KevinMos3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The Missile Command hack wouldn't...it uses a second controller to fire. Fixed the rank display (I think), corrected the scanline jitter during the "complete" message for warping, and removed the offending bits sent to VSYNC: StarRaiders(NoKeypad).bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 ...or this if the 7800/portable map button got messed up with the previous one StarRaiders(NoKeypad).bin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Kool-Aid Man works fine on my FPB. You have to start the game with one of the console switches (I don't remember which at the moment), so ppl commonly mistake even the actual cart as not working. I've updated the compatibility list and changed Kool-Aid man from "unplayable" to "flawed" with the bit of advice that you gave above. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) ...or this if the 7800/portable map button got messed up with the previous one Ok, here is the test video here.. End result: Screen migration, still there, is there anything that can be done about it? Certainly don't blame Nukey for trying. The ranking is working again! Edited January 2, 2017 by doctorclu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarifan88 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Would it be possible for Nukey to switch the "smart bomb" button for Defender 2 from the player 2 fire button to one of the difficulty or b&w switch? Please? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) I've looked at Concentration years ago...and gave up on it almost immediately. Can't recall what the issue was that stopped me from going any further (or like this game, just a complete lack of any commented disassembly existing - even a partial one - to help me get a start on what is going on). It's like being lost in the forest...every so often you get a glimpse of something you think may be familiar, but have to backtrack if this is a false assumption. Which isn't very fun if it's not very interesting to begin with. Edited January 2, 2017 by Nukey Shay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) I got this comment on the Star Raiders 2600 for the AFP Test 3 video above. The answer I gave there might help some here. Comment/Question: I tried the latest ones posted to Atari Age (the same thread where you posted this video) and they are missing the status bar. Where did you get the revision 3 bin that you are testing? Answer: So as I mentioned in the video I am testing the game on the Pre-Production Atari Flashback Portable. These were the ones ATgames sold as soon as they started selling these which were a small batch that had Space Invaders and Jungle Hunt. These also, come to find out, were more faithful (but not perfect) in displaying Atari games as I showed in this video. Sadly the production models (that don't have Space Invaders) had a bit more screen migration downward which is why you didn't see the status bar. Edited January 3, 2017 by doctorclu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarifan88 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I've looked at Concentration years ago...and gave up on it almost immediately. Can't recall what the issue was that stopped me from going any further (or like this game, just a complete lack of any commented disassembly existing - even a partial one - to help me get a start on what is going on). It's like being lost in the forest...every so often you get a glimpse of something you think may be familiar, but have to backtrack if this is a false assumption. Which isn't very fun if it's not very interesting to begin with. Any idea how we could get the smart bombs on Defender 2 to work on the AFP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 FYI, Nukey's Missile Command Arcade hack loads and seems to display fine, but the controller does not work properly on the FBP, making it unplayable. Kool-Aid Man works fine on my FPB. You have to start the game with one of the console switches (I don't remember which at the moment), so ppl commonly mistake even the actual cart as not working. Spy Hunter fourthed... although I mentioned it earlier, so I don't know if this vote counts. I've updated the compatibility list and changed Kool-Aid man from "unplayable" to "flawed" with the bit of advice that you gave above. I tried both Kool Aid Man ROMs listed here at AA (NTSC & PAL) and both are not playable on my "Production" model. Yes, you have to hit the game reset button to start the game on real hardware, but if you hit the reset button on the portable, it goes to the Kool Aid Man crashing into the wall scene. Once the game starts, Kool Aid Man is stuck in the upper left hand corner and is not playable. Kevin, is yours a "Pre-Production" model? Maybe that's why it works on yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Does that same happen for the Kool Aid Man Hack that fixed the glitch when Stella was a young'un? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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