RetroN 77

[Andromeda Stardust]

I am trying to implement a 3 second hold on the reset button (to get back to Stella launcher) but I am getting nowhere with it. I was thinking of using SDL_KEYUP and SDL_KEYDOWN events in Event::Poll() but they are grouped together for the same switch case structure. So If I change the following (original) Stella code:

SDL_Event event;
  while(SDL_PollEvent(&event))
  {
    switch(event.type)
    {
      // keyboard events
      case SDL_KEYUP:
      case SDL_KEYDOWN: 
      {
        StellaKey key  = (StellaKey)event.key.keysym.sym;
        StellaMod mod  = event.key.keysym.mod;
        bool state = event.key.type == SDL_KEYDOWN;
        bool handled = true;

To this:

 

SDL_Event event;
  while(SDL_PollEvent(&event))
  {
    switch(event.type)
    {
      // keyboard events
      case SDL_KEYUP:
      {
            // I am leaving this empty for clarity
            // but this is all I need to reproduce behavior.
      }
      break;
      case SDL_KEYDOWN: 
      {
        StellaKey key  = (StellaKey)event.key.keysym.sym;
        StellaMod mod  = event.key.keysym.mod;
        bool state = event.key.type == SDL_KEYDOWN;
        bool handled = true;

Then Stella can no longer tell when the joystick has been depressed. It sticks in one direction until I press another one. Is there a way to make keyup and keydown events go back to being mutually exclusive?

 

could you not repurpose the mostly useless "fry" button?

[gorfcadet]

 

you need to capture at 60hz and blend the frames to downsample to 30hz prior to upload so flicker sprites arent deleted.

Hey, thanks for pointing that out. I experimented and found that I can force Boinx to lock at 60. QuickTime adjusts itself, so I at least have one package that can cap Atari without losing frames and screwing up flicker effects. Mac heats up big time during, but it does the job. Edited August 2, 2018 by gorfcadet

[MrBeefy]

Yes much more can be done with something set up as a general-purpose computer. And you can run other emulators too. But I think to get a good all around experience from a Pi, it's going to cost a little more than $35. Along with some tech knowledge. I'd place it in the $100 - $150 range when all is said and done.

 

But yes I get the gist of your post.

 

I wanted (and planned) to give some of these away as prizes at our party coming up in a coupla two/three months. But with all the little issues going on.. the various proposals to fix them.. the uncertainty.. All of it tells me it's unfinished and we're not quite there yet.

 

In the future if they ever fix them all I would certainly add it to the list of trinkets and stuff. The age and demographics and history of everyone that attends points to the VCS as being a favorite. One time I bought 5 consoles from ebay, but ended up spending hours upon hours making them mint. So we decided to go with modern-day representations/repros/clones of the legend.

 

And of course there's Emulator Stella. Of which I am more than happy to give away a JumpDrive stuffed with it. I keep a small bowel (the one I ate cereal out of when I was a kid) with them for the taking. If anything just to distro-up the latest version. Emu Stella has quite the following in our area.

My switch pi build costs under $100. If I didn't get a wild hair up my butt to make an ghetto looking switch handheld it would cost less. (Not to mention this functions as both a handheld and can easily hook it up to my TV).

 

Putting Stella on it was as easy as going to settings and clicking on install.

 

It just seems like a disappointing device which is cheaply made.

 

Glad to see the updated Stella on it but how hard is that going to be to get up and running?

[Keatah]

How impressive the text interface is compared to the "modernized" GUI & icons. Yes?

[Zaltran]

 

I'll be starting a new topic and releasing the public image there

Will you put a link to the topic here, I am searching for it and don't see a reference to it

[Atari Pixel]

could you not repurpose the mostly useless "fry" button?

 

It already works like that. I was trying to implement something more convenient.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Atari Pixel

[MMarcoux66]

My Retron 77 arrives today so would love to test the new image on it . Can't wait until it is posted and thanks so much for all the work on it!

[Andromeda Stardust]

Thanks to the very generously donated time and effort of folks here is a look at what the new Retron 77 Community Build UI looks like...

 

 

This new UI does look amazing. I'll probably try to flash it this weekend.

 

One potential minor issue is for people who own small TVs or sit far away, the text may be difficult to read. It's not an issue for me and my 48" TCL TV, but it may be hard for me to make out the text on my much smaller 23" ASUS monitor in my bedroom. I remember the text in Breath of the Wild was difficult to read comfortably playing from my bed. I have 20/20 with corrective lenses btw.

[Keatah]

It's great to see the console world use innovations the emulation world has enjoyed for decades. In addition to that, Stella's font-size can be changed through a setting in the "computer" version. While there are only 3 settings, I bet it could be scaled even larger with zero issues.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

There is no major problem, just a lot of work because the font is not scaled but manually defined. So one would have to define a new, extra large font.

[Keatah]

Or maybe it could be replaced entirely by a different one?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Anything goes, as long as it fits.

[MMarcoux66]

So, got it in and playing with it. I updated to the last posted community build until we are able to do the one remowilliams is going to post.

 

I am seeing a few Activision games that when fully inserted will not work. Just a black screen. Megamania is one of them. I can update with the other titles when I am finished testing. If I pull the games up just a little, they work fine. It is the same Activision titles that I had seen this behavior with on my Vader 2600 but not my 2600 Jr. I am waiting for a woody 2600 and will test on that as well.

 

Updated with games that exhibit this issue:

Megamania

Frostbite

Stampede

Seaquest

Grand Prix

Edited August 2, 2018 by MMarcoux66

[+remowilliams]

As promised here is the link to the new topic:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/281462-retron-77-community-build-image/

[doctorclu]

 

Well I always wanted to play my favorite VCS games on the Playstation 4!

 

Speaking of which, I included a small zipped file with some of the games I tried out tonight. Among which, Star Raiders. This was the Atari Flashback Portable version Nukey Shay did which allows you to use the skill, black and white, and other keys for turning on the computer, hyperspace, and so on.

 

Overall, cool and versatile device which has not met it's full potential.

 

And the joystick design is genius. Two buttons for right ot left handed players, and the rounded corners facing the gamer are great as those always dug into the palm of my hand.

 

Good stuff.

 

untitled folder 2.zip

[Mr SQL]

Screen tearing solution:

 

I was playing with RemoWilliams latest community build release and found a solution to stop the screen tearing in the software renderer and it looks like it could be patched pretty easily.

 

You can see the bug and test the solution with STARBLITZ:

 

StarBlitz_v5C.bin

 

If the title screen tears (usually) instead of rendering super smoothly, just change the aspect ratio to 4:3 and then change it back to 16:9 immediately and magic - the software renderer synchs perfectly with no tearing.

 

(you can get it to synch using 4:3 too but it's a bit harder and these games play better in 16:9)

 

If a game WAVE starts tearing this solution will often clear it for the entire WAVE!

 

Question for Retron77 players: compare STARBLITZ to the bundled DEFENDER III ROMS using 16:9 and let me know if you would like me to add motion blur reduction to them - I think HDMI displays may benefit from this more than CRT!

 

[Austin]

To those that are capturing gameplay footage, have any of you had issues with capture cards not detecting sound from the Retron77? I can get an image but zero sound. I've tried different HDMI cables as well as running it through my upscaler which I figured would fix the issue, but still no dice. No other systems I have are doing this so it seems to be R77 specific. Sound is detected when it goes straight into a monitor, but that doesn't help much when I want to capture or stream. I'm at 3.9.3 but haven't tried the community build yet. I am using an internal Elgato Game Capture HD60 but am curious if folks with other cards have had trouble.

[+stephena]

I'm just guessing, but it could be because Stella by default outputs sound at 31400Hz, which is maybe not a standard sample rate for the capture card. The next major release of Stella will include sound resampling, letting you use either 44.1 or 48 KHz output, which all devices should support.

 

Not that this will help you right now on the R77, of course. Yet another reason to get the latest version of Stella on this device

[gorfcadet]

To those that are capturing gameplay footage, have any of you had issues with capture cards not detecting sound from the Retron77? I can get an image but zero sound. I've tried different HDMI cables as well as running it through my upscaler which I figured would fix the issue, but still no dice. No other systems I have are doing this so it seems to be R77 specific. Sound is detected when it goes straight into a monitor, but that doesn't help much when I want to capture or stream. I'm at 3.9.3 but haven't tried the community build yet. I am using an internal Elgato Game Capture HD60 but am curious if folks with other cards have had trouble.

I'm just using a Magewell HDMI to usb3 capture device and it gets the sound ok. Heck of a time even at 60fps of getting the flicker rate of Ms. Pac-Man and Donkey Kong VCS captured to my liking though. Do you use an HDMI splitter? if so, maybe capture the audio out of your tv through an optical wire, headset jack, or something... even nat sound from a mic in the room?

[+remowilliams]

To those that are capturing gameplay footage, have any of you had issues with capture cards not detecting sound from the Retron77? I can get an image but zero sound.

 

I tried capturing earlier with my external Elgato Game Capture HD60 and could not get it to capture sound from the Retron 77. As gorfcadet mentioned I can work around this with splitting HDMI if needed.

 

What does appear to be a larger issue (as gorfcadet also mentioned) is getting all the sprites/graphics captured in some games properly, even at 60fps.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

What does appear to be a larger issue (as gorfcadet also mentioned) is getting all the sprites/graphics captured in some games properly, even at 60fps.

That's probably because these games do not exactly do 60fps. E.g. Star Castle Arcade runs at 58.2fps.

[+stephena]

What does appear to be a larger issue (as gorfcadet also mentioned) is getting all the sprites/graphics captured in some games properly, even at 60fps.

 

If they're using phosphor mode, then this is again partly due to the old version of Stella (and the software rendering it uses). Latest version of Stella are much smarter about phosphor mode and mixing contents of the previous screen and the current one.

 

You know what I'm going to say: yet another reason to get the latest Stella running on this.

 

[Shipwreck]

So, got it in and playing with it. I updated to the last posted community build until we are able to do the one remowilliams is going to post.

 

I am seeing a few Activision games that when fully inserted will not work. Just a black screen. Megamania is one of them. I can update with the other titles when I am finished testing. If I pull the games up just a little, they work fine. It is the same Activision titles that I had seen this behavior with on my Vader 2600 but not my 2600 Jr. I am waiting for a woody 2600 and will test on that as well.

 

Updated with games that exhibit this issue:

Megamania

Frostbite

Stampede

Seaquest

Grand Prix

 

Yes, this was mentioned before. I have River Raid and Chopper Command. Both are doing this too

[MMarcoux66]

 

Yes, this was mentioned before. I have River Raid and Chopper Command. Both are doing this too

 

Cool. No issues with those 2. Both of them worked fine in mine without manipulating them in the slot. Must be just certain runs?

[Austin]

 

I tried capturing earlier with my external Elgato Game Capture HD60 and could not get it to capture sound from the Retron 77. As gorfcadet mentioned I can work around this with splitting HDMI if needed.

 

What does appear to be a larger issue (as gorfcadet also mentioned) is getting all the sprites/graphics captured in some games properly, even at 60fps.

 

Just out of curiosity, are you using current drivers with your Elgato? Thinking about updating mine but if it doesn't fix the issue then I'll probably hold off.

 

I'm just guessing, but it could be because Stella by default outputs sound at 31400Hz, which is maybe not a standard sample rate for the capture card. The next major release of Stella will include sound resampling, letting you use either 44.1 or 48 KHz output, which all devices should support.

 

Not that this will help you right now on the R77, of course. Yet another reason to get the latest version of Stella on this device

 

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for clarifying.