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Legends Core Gamer - Honest Review


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6 hours ago, bobstossaway said:

Recruit? No. Get some info from? Yes. I can see that was a pointless endeavor,

We've answered your questions.


Not all cores have [core] settings available.
You need to collect all the flashbacks RP ini files that came before, and compile a list. (because the LU is the successor of the FBs)

You need to run the emulator on a LFB with the script I gave you and look for [core] settings in the text file that generates.

You need to research libretro docs online and try some more stuff and see if the effects show in game.
You could check all the AFB Nexus ini files and take what we have complied and apply it to your project.

 


Listen, I am an Asshole. A giant dick head that doesnt play well with others online. I have personal issues that are not my fault and none of your business. But, I have no problems with anyone. Youre all cool and can think and say whatever you want to me. You can take anything i make and use it however you feel. But, I dont sugarcoat shit anymore.

 

Edited by Draxxon
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Nobody asked, but I'll share my own general-interest thoughts...

 

- Core sucks.  I don't even get it as a product.  The wireless controller *IS* nice and extraordinarily flexible (in terms of compatibility with things other than just LGP, for example).  No, it's not Happ...but it *really* isn't bad (I got the $99 LGP Walmart deal from some months back, and hells to the yes it was worth it).

 

- UCE has already been pushed about as far as it can go by _anyone_.  It's extraordinarily well-understood at this point, the only madness remaining IMHO is the core-of-the-week approach to the games.  95+% of games run perfectly fine on a single MAME 2003+ core, there's no reason to keep core-swapping "just because".  Unfortunately, the 'Chefs' have proven all-but-impossible to actually reach, it feels like nobody's actually managing anything and it's all just slapdash.

 

- Root has recently been acquired on the Legends Arcade and Gamer products, making the entire rest of the argument rather moot.  For my purposes, however, the existing CoinOpsX UI suits me just fine.  It's everything I ever wanted in a product like this - arcade-authentic control (for the most part, within practical reason), an expansive games list that incorporates very nearly all my favorites (including Daphne games!) in a single, attractive UI, high scores retention, and most importantly that "step right up" vibe that attracts people and makes for raucous impromptu house parties.  It's fun, it's available, it's accessible, and it's powerful _enough_ for the 'prosumer' without being cryptic.  It's a really, really well thought-out middle ground that continues to improve over time (who ever thought they'd allow boot directly into COX?).  There are simpler solutions, cheaper solutions, and far more advanced solutions...for as a general-purpose go-to "can't we just play games already?" box, I personally find the LGP damned near impossible to beat.  Just my $0.02.

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In my opinion the core is the LUA, its the same thing. one is the brain, the other is the brain in a cheap box. And there is nothing new here, Ive had a hyperspin setup with daphne and everything else years and years ago. the biggest issue I have with the cabinet other than the unattractive and cheap build quality in general is the control panel. Its too small and crammed with too much shit. As a pro FGC gamer. There is no room for anyone to "step right up". (LOL, thats awesome though. at my house we have a dedicated Mortal Kombat II and ask each other "You wanna get beat real quick?") No way im paying 500 bucks for that shit. The standalone stick, IDK, its okay. I dont see it as great or anything. Its still cheap and crammed, but at 100 bucks on sale, thats not bad. I totally agree with you on that part. Only the single player one, though. Nobody plays two player tank stick style.
 

Someone at AtGames said, lets get that arcade 1-up money. Thats all. Where they shine is the wifi and online leaderboards, I suggested that in one of the speculation threads, remember? BUT, its a double edged sword, because now they are gonna want a monthly subscription and $$$. Again, no way im subscribing to that shit. For me, I could totally build an arcade quality setup for the core, but its not worth it. It would be like powering a MAME machine with a retrobit super retro cade. The core is perfectly fine w/ 2 PS5 pads. These pads are awesome. They only suck sometimes navigating the menu, and thats on atgames side, it did that shit on the LFB1 and 2 as well.

Im pretty sure the hard pushback against negative opinions and all the "LUA family of products is the future" brainwashing campaign is to build that subscription service user base. $$$. HARD PASS. Wake up, people. ArcadeNet and the monthly subscription fee is the "future" they are trying to sell you. And thats totally fine if they think people will subscribe to AtGames. Who knows.

Something else that never gets mentioned, these games are riddled with slowdown. Bubble Bobble and RodLand are two that I get far in and then the slowdown starts. And its in more than just those two games. The core/brain/whatever is NOT what you want to power your MAME Machine with. I have fun playing the core, but its like the same cheap dollar store stuff we have been messing with. Look, it beats the shit out of Acrade 1-up, but thats not hard to do. I love the idea of an arcade cabinet that is connected to the internet. But there are other, better and free ways to do that.

 

Edited by Draxxon
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You keep claiming I'm a chef. I know zero chefs other than myself. I don't even use their damn UCE files for reasons Rodney stated above. They're a shitshow. And contacting them is all but impossible.

 

I'm simply a guy who bought a Legends Ultimate that wants the best I can get out of it. Is it a toy? Yes. But it's a toy real damn similar to the LFB. Call it the successor if you'd like, it makes no difference to me. And yes. The Core and the Legends Ultimate are identical as far as chipset, CPU, and GPU. They're all RK3328 SoC. Even the Gamer Pro control panel is almost identical to the Legends Ultimate panel. And I also agree that it's too cramped.

 

I appreciate the info you did give me Draxxon. 

 

Also, who got root? I've had root on mine for months. And @Rodney Hester, I'm pushing UCE's to the limit. I have arbitrary code execution from a retroarch core packed into a UCE. We are just getting started.

 

 

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Ive had no problems contacting anyone. AtGames support has always been top notch to me.
Best advice I can give you is contact rocketfan and rodney hester for info. They are the ones in the know.

I just make art.

 

In fact, Bill L is reading this right now.
which reminds me, where can i buy a single day glow green legends gamer "steam" pad?

Edited by Draxxon
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And so I feel like we are back to square one.

The Arcade Cabinet is cheap and crammed, nowhere near $500. The sweet spot would be $300.
A lot of room space taken up for a LFB3 if you ask me. Can't take it to your friends house either.
The single player stick is cheap and crammed as well, nowhere near $250. At $99 its a steal (and probably a lot of fun.)
No one wants a welded together 2 Player "tankstick". HARD PASS

The best option was the stick for $99 at walmart. But that sale went quick and has long passed. Core for $60 is the next best option (same price as a full priced LFB1/2). Be ready to figure out a solution for pads is the downside, but youll have $440 bucks to figure it out. Supposedly there is a bundle core+pad, I cant find it anywhere and Bill L isnt telling.


No offense to anyone, but, the trackball and spinners are for dinosaurs. IDGAF about Centipede, capcom bowling or Golden T Golf. Tron and that joystick can suck a dick too. HARD PASS. That's just like, my general opinion, man, so dont kill me.

ArcadeNet subscription, HARD PASS.

 

Edited by Draxxon
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50 minutes ago, Draxxon said:

Ive had no problems contacting anyone. AtGames support has always been top notch to me.
Best advice I can give you is contact rocketfan and rodney hester for info. They are the ones in the know.

I just make art.

 

In fact, Bill L is reading this right now.
which reminds me, where can i buy a single day glow green legends gamer "steam" pad?

Fair enough. Thank you for being honest at least. 

 

I am not a chef, I promise. However understanding how UCEs work is a part of understanding the firmware. And that's what I am interested in. The firmware.

 

I'll try and contact rocketfan. I'm unusually thin skinned, so I apologize if I came off wrong. And I wasn't trying to "hijack" your thread. This one was simply the newest and most relevant. I apologize for that as well.

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Oh its cool. I was just busting your balls because your new and Im a giant dick head. No one likes me here anyways, so no worries.
And Im sorry, I read you wrong, I took all the "we" and "you" as Reddit Chefs and AA Fb modders. I think you meant LU owners and FB owners. If so, my bad.

That "having me and rocket on board as an asset" through me off. TBH.

Again, Im an asshole.


Stick around. RocketFan knows his shit and is super fucking swell. The opposite of me. :)

 

Edited by Draxxon
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33 minutes ago, Draxxon said:

Oh its cool. I was just busting your balls because your new and Im a giant dick head. No one likes me here anyways, so no worries.
And Im sorry, I read you wrong, I took all the "we" and "you" as Reddit Chefs and AA Fb modders. I think you meant LU owners and FB owners. If so, my bad.

That "having me and rocket on board as an asset" through me off. TBH.

Again, Im an asshole.


Stick around. RocketFan knows his shit and is super fucking swell. The opposite of me. :)

 

There are a "we" and "us'. It isn't just me. We are extremely silent about what has been done, but we're pretty far along with things. I don't want to say too much in public because Bill hangs here, and I don't know ATGames stance on us doing some of the things we are doing. I bought the thing for my kid and was furious when I found out that emulation was so crippled on the thing and the actual chefs are so clueless, so I rooted the thing and have been chipping away at figuring out how I can make emulation better. And I have in many ways. And ATGames keeps finding ways to cripple it, so I quit updating the fucking thing and then found a way to downgrade it.

 

Suck on this, ATGames. I'm in your bootloader. Should really think about removing the header pin holes on your boards. Solder some in and hook up a serial to USB adapter. Fun stuff can ensue.

 

I'll see if I can adapt your method of figuring out the retroplayer.ini flags for cores. I'm sure I can.

Edited by bobstossaway
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Bill is cool. He's gangster as fuck though, just check his last name. lol.

I dont think AtGames cares, because no one has ever said anything. About anything.

 

hrmmm... emulation better, rebuild the core in linux. ask rocket and kmfdmaniac. 
Skip the whole Legends UI and run retroarch on it, so you have all the options, like gaster did on the retrobit SRC???

 

just snowballing here, im the art guy.

=======================================================================

I would say about atgames: leaderboards and wifi is in there, better sbc to run newer games. users can add boxart

and bezels and all the shit they asked for, so its cool. You can even have your own background and theme music so

thats neat. they were listening.

 

they just packaged it all wrong, in my opinion.

Edited by Draxxon
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11 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Bill is cool. He's gangster as fuck though, just check his last name. lol.

I dont think AtGames cares, because no one has ever said anything. About anything.

 

hrmmm... emulation better, rebuild the core in linux. ask rocket and kmfdmaniac. 
Skip the whole Legends UI and run retroarch on it, so you have all the options, like gaster did on the retrobit SRC???

 

just snowballing here, im the art guy.

=======================================================================

I would say about atgames: leaderboards and wifi is in there, better sbc to run newer games. users can add boxart

and bezels and all the shit they asked for, so its cool. You can even have your own background and theme music so

thats neat. they were listening.

 

they just packaged it all wrong, in my opinion.

I have Retroarch running on it, but it's a pain in the ass to start. It's how I map buttons on the cores I've enabled remappings on that still don't work. Once they're mapped in Retroarch, it transfers over to the UCE and RetroPlayer just fine. Nobody seems to understand 

 

I am building cores for it. I haven't spoken to kmfdmaniac, but I've used his (fantastic) work on my S/NES and PlayStation mini consoles. He does some good stuff. I have spoken with Mr. Fixit from the Rock64 forums and he's been real helpful getting makefiles setup for core building. 

 

ATGames doesn't care? In that case, I ruined the pinball machine. I got all of their pinball tables running on a Pi 4 lol. It actually runs better on the Pi. (Support for GLES3.1)

 

I got their useless and stupid hd_menu running on other platforms as well. Once I figure out how to spoof a UUID, I'll even be able to connect to their leaderboards.

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I think AtGames doesnt care if you add your own stuff or hack your menus, or even steal stuff from one flashback and plug it into another.

 

As far as cloning the systems, hacking the leaderboards, and you know, stealing the pinball table packs they sell, IDK, LOL. You fuck with peoples money and they tend to get upset. (I can tell you a big part of our project behind the scenes is watching the prices of the AFBs go up and up and up. We talk often about elevating AtGames products and hopefully, selling more systems for them if they make more available this Christmas. I have discussed cloning the menu and setting it up on the Atari Pi, but we decided not to.) But they knew people were gonna hack this thing and add content, they even included a CYA blurb in the LU that says the users is responsible for added content. They promote the Hell out of coinposX and you cant convince me thats not hyperspin 2.0. Didnt they once use Activision games they didnt have rights to on a early flashback? They way I see it, Karma is a bitch.

 

You wanna know my idea for a product?

Stick the LU SBC in an Atari 800 mini shell. white joysticks. Open it up and make it a sandbox. Something like a TheC64 only more than Basic OS. The atari 800 core is already built and running on the AFB9/X if they want to use the old SBC. All the hard work is done. They have all the pieces except the shell. They could stick the LU SBC into the AFBX shell and give it wifi and leaderboards, at the very minimum. But its going to make more sense to stick that sbc into a cheap box and sell it for 250-500 bucks. So we will never see the Atari Flashback XL. (or any other atari mini). Atari is what brought me to AtGames stuff. IDGAF about any of their other/recent products. If I want an arcade stick, Ill build my own, same for an arcade cabinet, virtual pinball or emulator machine. All I want from AtGames is cheap plug and play shit that looks like mini systems of old that I can hack. Thats just me. And the reason is, not just to separate romsets to mini systems, or to even collect them and stick them on a shelf together, even though thats cool. No, I want the dedicated joypads.

Thats something else to rant about. Who is taking leaderboards seriously on a system with rewind? LOL. I realize you cant use rewind and post a score, but there are ways around everything. Also, who has time to snap a code picture with a smartphone and upload it to a leaderboard, thats fuckin' redonkulous. BTW, you got that tron looking wallpaper/background screen ripped from the LU? I wanna stick it in the Atari FB project. Ive got every atari/flashback BG but that one.

 

Edited by Draxxon
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I have almost zero intention of releasing any of the hacks I've done. I will share my progress with UCE's, and have already begun to do so in various places online. Likewise, the Retroarch core we built has been used on several Android aarch64 boards to get root, and that's nice to see as well. Mainly my sole purpose for getting their menu and pinball stuff on other platforms was to see if I could. And I can. I might build a miniature pinball machine out of the project, but otherwise, it was for my amusement. 

 

I would never hack the leaderboards. Although I'm positive some already are, I would not. It's for the same reason I've not investigated connecting my project to their servers. I'd rather not fuck with their money. I'm already invested. I own this software, damnit. 

 

5 hours ago, Draxxon said:

All I want from AtGames is cheap plug and play shit that looks like mini systems of old that I can hack. Thats just me. And the reason is, not just to separate romsets to mini systems, or to even collect them and stick them on a shelf together, even though thats cool. No, I want the dedicated joypads.

I agree with this statement. I have several of the Flashback console's, but I always just bought them for the controllers/joypads. They're perfect. Also I have the consoles on a shelf unused because they're worth more to me as showpieces than gaming units. I prefer and still use the originals of many of these, so I don't see the point. The joypads/controllers though? I wreck them. So that ATGames makes them perfectly and compatible is awesome. But shit, I still play Pong on my old Heathkit GD-1999. 

 

CoinOPS X is simply a front-end for RetroFE. No more, no less. It may be made by the same people. I do not know. I never cared for Hyperspin. I don't much care for CoinOPS X either. I don't need to be logged in and tied to their servers to play my damn games. And I can load Retroarch. Why bother with CoinOPS X?

 

Included is the "tron" background both in landscape and portrait, as well as a few controller configuration files you may find interesting. 

helpful.zip

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/11/2021 at 6:53 PM, bobstossaway said:

I've gotten an IPAC2 working with my Arcade Legends Ultimate. Everything except the trackball and spinners and power button, but I suspect I can get them working with it as well. You have to have the IPAC2 in keyboard mode and map the buttons to the correct keyboard keys. The keys are exactly what you see on the face of the Gamer Pro/Legends Ultimate control panel. A=A, B=B, etc... Joypad is wired to the arrow keys. Player 2 is mapped to the numberpad arrow keys (numpad 2, 4, 6, 8 ) and the face keys are mapped to Function keys, like F2, F3, F4, etc... Heck, you can even hook up a keyboard and navigate and play that way if you want.

 

@bobstossaway Any words of wisdom on the IPAC upgrade?  I’ve found the puck a little limiting, but the gamer pro stick itself has a lot of potential (imo) for coinops pc (and other methods).

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/3/2021 at 3:40 PM, Draxxon said:

@bobstossaway, these are all the ini file settings we have found.

 

 

MASTER_retroplayer.ini 35.54 kB · 16 downloads

Its been a while since I've looked at the Core's firmware as I focus on the Connect/Legends Ultimate 1.1. That looks to be the main one (retroplayer_ro.ini) that is used unless you specify one in the UCE 'save' folder in the ext4 partition of the UCE file! The one in the ext4 partition must be named "retroplayer.ini". It will take precedence. 

 

The keymappings are all standard SDL2, same as the Legends Flashback. Looks like you got root. Congrats! There are a few ways (I'm up to 5!) to get root. Played around inside the FlashDrive X partition yet? If so, drop a cross compiled sudo on FDX and call it from any script you want. It'll all run as root. My favorite way of leveraging root was using AddOn X. Cant patch that out, AtGames lol

On 7/5/2021 at 6:18 PM, Jimmdean said:

 

@bobstossaway Any words of wisdom on the IPAC upgrade?  I’ve found the puck a little limiting, but the gamer pro stick itself has a lot of potential (imo) for coinops pc (and other methods).

Sorry, I've been away for a while. The IPAC2 works almost flawlessly, its just a pain in the nuts to wire up. You will need to rewire the power button to some other way for power. I have it working great as a power switch for my Pi. If you need help doing that, let me know. Its fairly straight forward. However it isn't necessary if you are using a Raspberry Pi with RetroPie. It also uses LibSDL2 for encoders, so the stock encoder works flawlessly with it. The problem is that sometimes it gets confused on which one is player 1 or 2 so the joystick will stick in one direction and then no buttons work. Just turn the control panel off and back on and hope. If it doesnt work, do it again. It'll sync up eventually and work great. If you also happen to have the pinball buttons, they work independantly of every other button, which is not the case on the Legends Ultimate/Core firmware. So thats nice.

Edited by bobstossaway
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18 hours ago, Draxxon said:

nah, man. Thats just a combined ini file of all the various flashback's ini files. Both types. retroplayer.ini and retroplayer_ro.ini

 

that isnt from the core.

Can I DM you? Or is there somewhere we can chat in realtime? I'd like to help you out and make your Core more fun, but I'd rather not release it publicly just yet. I imagine its something that you and Rocket could use on the Core and possibly the Flashback.

 

I'm looking at the LFB19 firmware right now. A lot of what applies to the LFB will also apply to the Core. The main difference being that AtGames got smart and started encrypting their firmware, so you can't just unsquash the rootfs or use imgrepackerrk. You need the firmware key. Or an elevated terminal. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello,I have a question for the knowledgeable folks here.

I just purchased the single stick Atgames retro mini arcade because at $70. ss a collector I couldn't resist the price.So before I attempt anything and to avoid some frustration....

I am wondering if you can hook it up easily through an Hdmi cord to the TV to play the preinstalled games that come with the system(those are all the games I want or care about to play), or if you have to sign up to arcade net to play them.

And if I do have to hook into the arcade net system,is there a monthly fee?

Thank you for any help,it is much appreciated by me!??

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there are two sets of games. built in ones you can play free offline and an arcadenet set that costs a monthly subscription, but you can add whatever you want to the unit for free with fan made add on packs.

It is HDMI as far as the core system I got.

Edited by Draxxon
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  • 3 months later...

I actually like my Core...but if you don't add CoinOPS X you are really missing out. Plus, there are many Console packs you can add to it to really make it great. I have them all from Odyssey 2 to Atari. I just added them to the Saucey 5 build.

 

As far as getting a working Wireless controller, that is another story, most don't configure correctly or work at all, and I've tried a lot. The PS5 controller seems a bit pricey so I may try the $35 legend Gamepad.

 

As far as wired controllers the EasySMX $20 controller works great and is mapped correctly. it is available on Amazon. 

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