A7800 - the Atari 7800 Emulator

[Trebor]

1 hour ago, diamax said:

I installed it on a recent laptop and my laptop is connected to a 27 inch display that is setup to be the main screen, but when i start the game with the emulator , it always displayed on the screen of my laptop and I don't want that, I want the ganm to be displayed on my 27 inches monitor , any fix for that please ?

The a7800.ini file needs to be edited and the section "OSD PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS" and highlighted "screen" option needs to be modified:

 

Under the option "screen", the word "auto" needs to reflect the display you want A7800 to utilize.

 

If A7800 is ran from the command line with the verbose option it states what the displays are called. 

 

a7800 a7800 -v -cart "C:\PATH\TO\MY ROMS\Name of ROM.a78"

 

For example, under my setup, the text that follows:

 

Video: Monitor 65588 = "\\.\DISPLAY1" (primary)
Video: Monitor 131073 = "\\.\DISPLAY2"

 

If I edit a7800.ini so that the line reads...

 

screen           \\.\DISPLAY1

 

and then save the a7800.ini file and launch A7800, the emulator runs on my primary monitor (as determined by the OS).

 

If I change that to:

screen           \\.\DISPLAY2

 

A7800 will display on the second monitor.

[zzip]

14 hours ago, diamax said:

I installed it on a recent laptop and my laptop is connected to a 27 inch display that is setup to be the main screen, but when i start the game with the emulator , it always displayed on the screen of my laptop and I don't want that, I want the ganm to be displayed on my 27 inches monitor , any fix for that please ?

If you hit tab, I'm pretty sure you can change the display on the menu that pops up.   And then either save it when you  have satisfactory results, or make the edits in the post above mine.

[Jack Burton 1]

I have the Centipede 7800 Trackball Rom and was wondering if anyone knows if you can get two player simultaneous trackballs working on this emulator just like you can on an original 7800? I'll need adapters, but I have two CX-22 trackballs. Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'd really like to be able to play this game co-op in HDMI quality output.

[Trebor]

37 minutes ago, Jack Burton 1 said:

I have the Centipede 7800 Trackball Rom and was wondering if anyone knows if you can get two player simultaneous trackballs working on this emulator just like you can on an original 7800? I'll need adapters, but I have two CX-22 trackballs. Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'd really like to be able to play this game co-op in HDMI quality output.

After it has been ensured the controller is recognized properly by your Operating System, launch A7800 with the Centipede Trakball hack ROM running and bring up the UI menu by pressing "Tab":

 

Select Controller Selection:

 

Change both controller options, joy1 & joy 2, to cx_22 trakball:

After setting both joy1 & joy2 to cx22_trakball, highlight and select the "Reset" option.

 

Once the emulator and game ROM returns from the Reset, press "Tab" to bring up the UI once again.

 

Select Console & Controller Inputs:

 

Pressing "Enter" on a input selection field to clear the current value, then use your CX22 Trakball controller to input the respective function and desired behavior:

Once all Controller input mappings are in place, go down to "Return to Previous Menu" option and press "Enter".

 

If desired, utilize the "Analog Controls" menu option to fine tune controller sensitivity and behavior options:

 

Tweak as desired:

Select "Return to Previous Menu" and press the "Tab" key to exit the UI.

 

Select a two player game and play game.

 

 

[Jack Burton 1]

16 minutes ago, Trebor said:

After it has been ensured the controller is recognized properly by your Operating System, launch A7800 with the Centipede Trakball hack ROM running and bring up the UI menu by pressing "Tab":

 

Select Controller Selection:

 

Change both controller options, joy1 & joy 2, to cx_22 trakball:

After setting both joy1 & joy2 to cx22_trakball, highlight and select the "Reset" option.

 

Once the emulator and game ROM returns from the Reset, press "Tab" to bring up the UI once again.

 

Select Console & Controller Inputs:

 

Pressing "Enter" on a input selection field to clear the current value, then use your CX22 Trakball controller to input the respective function and desired behavior:

Once all Controller input mappings are in place, go down to "Return to Previous Menu" option and press "Enter".

 

If desired, utilize the "Analog Controls" menu option to fine tune controller sensitivity and behavior options:

 

Tweak as desired:

Select "Return to Previous Menu" and press the "Tab" key to exit the UI.

 

Select a two player game and play game.

 

 

Thank you so very much for taking the time to explain the process! That's very kind of you. I will be getting adapters right away!

[Jack Burton 1]

I've tried this out and I can get trackball mode working using a mouse or a usb-trackball, but only in one player mode. When I switch to two player simultaneous it doesn't seem to work. I followed all the steps and have both players assigned to cx-22.  @Treborare you able to get two player co-op working with mice or trackballs and have the players move appropriately?

[Jack Burton 1]

When I map player 1 and player 2, both controllers end up controlling player one. Regardless of weather I use a mouse or a controller. I would have thought when I mapped player 2, it would input "joy 2", but both player 1 and player 2 map to "joy 1". Does that make sense?

 

This goes for whether I am in co-op mode or alternating turns. Both controllers will only control player one, regardless of how I map them. 

[Trebor]

1 hour ago, Jack Burton 1 said:

I've tried this out and I can get trackball mode working using a mouse or a usb-trackball, but only in one player mode. When I switch to two player simultaneous it doesn't seem to work. I followed all the steps and have both players assigned to cx-22.  @Treborare you able to get two player co-op working with mice or trackballs and have the players move appropriately?

A7800 is only an extension of the mapping inputs recognition by the OS.   When setting up "Console & Controller Inputs" there should be clear distinction between the input devices.  If both are registering as "Mouse" and not "Mouse 1" and "Mouse 2", the two devices are both being managed as the same device.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, Windows needs to recognize and manage (both) devices properly for the desired behavior.  A7800 cannot override what Windows recognizes or add a capability to the equipment present that is not being recognized by Windows.

 

By default, each mouse/trakball will control the same user, in this case Player 1, and all clicks will be registered as input from a single source. Windows does not natively support the use of multiple mice(trakball) for independent control.

 

However, there are third-party software solutions.  Something like "TeamPlayer" may allow multiple trakballs to work on the same computer simultaneously, each with their own unique (trakball/mouse) input.

[Jack Burton 1]

Interesting. I will check that out. Thank you.

[Trebor]

I almost forgot, A7800 does have this type of a third party functionality built-in for such tasks...

Open the 7800.ini and enable "multimouse" by changing the default 0 to 1.

Perform mappings under "Console & Controller Inputs" and adjust (increase) sensitivity too as/if needed under the "Analog Controls" menu. 

 

There are some other tweaks too, such as changing 'auto' to 'raw' for some input settings if needed under a7800.ini.  Let's see how the above works out first.

[Jack Burton 1]

Oh cool! Thanks!

[Jack Burton 1]

Well it sort of worked, but is still unplayable. It was definitely able to map 2 separate mice as cx-22 controllers, and both of them now control a different player simultaneously. The problem is that when both mice are mapped to different players co-cop, the players move incredibly slow, even when sensitivity settings are set to the max of 255. Once you deactivate one mouse from cx-22, it works as intended. 

 

Any ideas on this one? 

[Draugr]

Hi Everyone.

 

Quick question. I am using the Attract Mode front end and A7800. Took me a while but I finally got the two working in XM mode. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the game starts in windowed mode and ALT-ENTER will place it in full screen mode. My problem is that I'm going to be using this in an arcade cabinet type setup and there won't be a keyboard available. Is there a way either through the a7800.ini or a command line switch that will allow me to force A7800 to launch in full screen mode automatically? I tried using the following switches, but none seemed to work. -fullscreen -fs -full. I figured I'd try to guess what the command switch might be if one exists, but I struck out. 

 

If anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

John

[Draugr]

Oh... one more question....

 

Can the A7800 emulator use bezels or overlays like MAME can for the arcade games? I think the A7800 emulator was once part of MAME or maybe it's MESS so I'm not sure if that feature made it over to the A7800 program.

 

John.

[Trebor]

2 hours ago, Draugr said:

Hi Everyone.

 

Quick question. I am using the Attract Mode front end and A7800. Took me a while but I finally got the two working in XM mode. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the game starts in windowed mode and ALT-ENTER will place it in full screen mode. My problem is that I'm going to be using this in an arcade cabinet type setup and there won't be a keyboard available. Is there a way either through the a7800.ini or a command line switch that will allow me to force A7800 to launch in full screen mode automatically? I tried using the following switches, but none seemed to work. -fullscreen -fs -full. I figured I'd try to guess what the command switch might be if one exists, but I struck out. 

 

If anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

John

Use the '-now' (No Window) switch

2 hours ago, Draugr said:

Oh... one more question....

 

Can the A7800 emulator use bezels or overlays like MAME can for the arcade games? I think the A7800 emulator was once part of MAME or maybe it's MESS so I'm not sure if that feature made it over to the A7800 program.

 

John.

Yes.  The artwork naming convention of the lay file needs to be present.   

See here... https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Layouts_and_Rendering_for_MAME_Artwork_System

...and here... https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/LAY_File_Basics_-_Part_I

...for more information.

 

I store everything in an 'artwork\a7800' folder and modify the a7800.lay file depending on what I want to see:

 

 

 

When full screen, it occupies the area eliminating the title bar.

 

These options will need to be switched manually, if/as needed:

 

[Draugr]

@Trebor Thanks for the info. That is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[Jack Burton 1]

@Trebor, Do you happen to know what kind of settings I should change from "auto" to "raw" that you mentioned earlier that might make a difference for the two player co-op trackball issue I'm having? Is changing these settings something I should do before trying the Team Player software?

 

Thank you for all your help!

[Trebor]

16 hours ago, Jack Burton 1 said:

@Trebor, Do you happen to know what kind of settings I should change from "auto" to "raw" that you mentioned earlier that might make a difference for the two player co-op trackball issue I'm having? Is changing these settings something I should do before trying the Team Player software?

 

Thank you for all your help!

The 'auto' to 'raw' modification typically helps when the device is not being recognized at all.  Unfortunately, it is likely not going to increase the sensitivity feedback when the same type of analog device is connected twice.  Though certainly could not hurt to try.

 

It is not the first time this issue has come up - even in recent versions of MAME.  It appears to be a flaw for some device/system configurations that A7800 has inherited from MAME.  Some needed the sensitivity overclocked to 500% for the system/equipment they were utilizing:

Currently, such an option to overclock sensitivity to 1000% (Or even 500%) is not present under A7800.

 

For a future version of A7800, it may be possible to implement something similar; though no ETA or promises.

[Draugr]

@Trebor Can you perhaps tell me what I'm doing wrong? I had layout files working on MAME a year or so ago, but haven't used it since. I tried using what I had for layout files back then but they are not working. I'll try listing what I've tried with A7800, please let me know if you see something obvious or perhaps if you have a working bezel/layout file you could share a copy or template that I can use as a starting point?

 

My file structure is d:\AM\emulator\a7800\artwork\default.lay (I also have ablaster.lay just in case the name of the .lay file must equal the rom file name)

ablaster is for Astro Blaster and both the layout folder and rom file is named ablaster.

When I try to execute the game in Attract Mode, it looks like it is going to launch but then drops back to the menu in Attract Mode. If I take the layout folder out the rom loads fine.

 

I did try to research the issue and saw a few suggestions on how to get full screen bezels working, but none of them helped me.

 

I'll attach the code for one of the ablaster.lay and default.lay files I tried to use.

 

Ugh. The .png files are named wrong. Mine are ablaster_bezel.png and ablaster_marquee.png, not 10_yard_fight as below. 

 

Quote

 

<!-- ablaster.lay -->

<mamelayout version="2">

<!-- Define Elements -->

    <element name="bezel">
        <image file="10_yard_fight_bezel.png" />
    </element>
    <element name="marquee">
        <image file="10yard_fight_marquee.png" />
    </element>
    
<!-- Define Views -->
    
    <view name="Upright_Artwork">
        <screen index="0">
            <bounds x="519" y="1107" width="2960" height="2220" />
        </screen>
        <collection name="Marquee">
            <element ref="marquee">
                <bounds x="0" y="-1540" width="4000" height="1490" />
            </element>
        </collection>
        <element ref="bezel">
            <bounds x="0" y="0" width="4000" height="3915" />
        </element>
    </view>
</mamelayout>

<!--

- Artwork type: Bezel, Marquee
- Bezel provided by BYOAC/CAG Artwork
- Bezel cleaned for MAME by Kiltron
- Marquee cleaned for MAME by Mr. Do
- Lay file by Mr. Do

-->

My ini file is also set as shown below.

 

 

Edited February 12 by Draugr

[Trebor]

One lay file for the entire console.  I have artwork\a7800 folder path.  Inside the a7800 subfolder contains a7800.lay and the applicable *.png files.

 

The MAME artwork system is directed by the system name and A7800 inherits that same structure.  Each arcade game is its own system.  For consoles (or computers) the system name needs to be the lay file name.  Cartridges/ROMs are just a part of the software list that runs under the system.

[Draugr]

Ok... I got it working and this was easy! I figured I should post my findings in case others visit these forums down the road looking for help related to the layout or bezel files for the A7800 emulator.

 

First, I found this site and downloaded this file. I opened it and followed the readme within.

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/1954-mame-atari-7800-software-system-custom-artwork-file/

I then found the bezel project, downloaded it and ran the program which asked me for my mame root folder.

After that it installed the Atari 7800 or a7800.lay file and all 7800 game png files. You can have separate png's for most if not all the retail released games or use the default Atari-7800.png

After that I ran the Attract Mode front end, launched a few games and each fit nicely within the bezel. You could always adjust the vertical and horizontal size of the view screen area to best fit your screen size.

 

[Draugr]

New question...

 

Is there a way to have separate cfg or ini files in A7800 per game? I know it can be done in MAME, but I'm not seeing any options to do that in A7800. The reason I'm asking is because I'm noticing that certain games will fit perfectly within my layout/bezel but others are too small or too wide/tall and I have to adjust the width and height of the game. The problem is that if I change it for one game it changes it for all and that ends up screwing up the viewscreen area. I hope it may be possible to have individual .cfg or .ini files for each game.

 

Any help is appreciated.

John 

PS: I just tried to make a game specific .cfg file in the A7800\cfg folder. It didn't do anything so I guess that won't work. I didn't see any other game related ini or cfg files in the other subfolders for A7800.

Edited February 12 by Draugr

[Trebor]

A7800 works like MAME, first the emulator name is specified and then the machine that is desired to run.

 

In the case, of MAME:

mame pacman --> launch mame emulator running the Pac-Man arcade machine.

A configuration file can(will) be generated as 'pacman.cfg'

 

In the case of A7800:

a7800 a7800p --> launch a7800 emulator running the Atari 7800 PAL console machine.

A configuration file can(will) be generated as 'a7800p.cfg'

 

There is no configuration files generated for the individual cartridge ROMs.

 

What can be done, though would require a lot of manual work, is specify a different cfg folder for each cartridge ROM.  A "a7800p.cfg" can be created or copied into a cfg folder "cfg\a7800p\DigDug\a7800.cfg",  "\a7800p\MsPacMan\a7800.cfg", etc.  At the command line, leveraging "-cfg_directory" switch would allow distinguishing the different cfg files for each game.

 

Again, a lot of work, though as was performed for the artwork dilemma, there may be a few third-party tools and front-end functions that could be combined.   I am not familiar with any though for the desired task.

[Jack Burton 1]

@TreborThanks for the help!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Seems one of the nVidia driver updates is messing with A7800 now. ugh. I've had this happen in the past but can't recall how I fixed it back then.

 

What happens is that when I load up A7800 now, it seems to hang up my computer for a bit and takes about 30sec before the first screen pops up to select the machine type. It pauses like this on each selection? When I do finally get a game loaded, I'm only able to play for a bit and then it causes my entire computer to reset itself?! 

 

I'm able to play much more demanding games on this PC without this happening so I'm not sure what about A7800 causes this. But as I remember it working fine before I updated the nVidia driver last, I'm assuming something in the driver isn't playing nice with A7800 now.