Atari/Legends Flashback Expansion Builds

[TampaBay]

13 hours ago, Batchman said:

OK, got an Atari Flashback 12 to take advantage of the updated paddles. Now can anyone direct me to the proper firmware upgrades and processes to get things fixed up with good paddles and NEXUS access?

 

(Sorry, don't keep up here as much as I used to.)

 

The stock firmware update from AtGames that fixes the paddle issues is here.  You may need some kind of login account.

 

https://firmwareupdate.atgames.net/registration

 

Scroll down to Flashback 12 Gold and you'll see the correct firmware download link.

 

Because the Flashback 12 Gold does not have an SD card slot like some of the earlier Flashback versions, you'll need about $15 worth of stuff to get around that.

 

The first is a splitter cable that allows you to plug the power supply and a USB thumb drive into the Flashback's USB port simultaneously.  I have this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FY9Z9GD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

Then you'll need a USB 3.0 thumb drive.  USB 2.0 did not work well for me, so make sure it's a USB 3.0.  I have this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015CH1JIW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

Once you have that, you can put the firmware on the thumb drive, plug it into the USB port on the Flashback and go through the firmware update process.

 

That will fix the paddles.

 

As for Nexus, you would need to install the customer firmware by @Brad_from_the_80s and then the Nexus package by @rocketfan.  I have put both of those on my Flashback 9 Gold, but I have not put them on my Flashback 12 Gold.  I've heard it works, but I haven't done it.  I can't comment either way if Brad's custom firmware has any effect on the paddle fix that is included in the AtGames stock firmware update.  Maybe Brad can comment on that.

 

Hope that helps and gets you started.

[Batchman]

Already had the splitter and the thumb drives from my FB X, and have now downloaded the 1.1.1 from Brad and the update from @Games ... now I just have to find time between work and computer stuff to actually install it! Already have Nexus 1.6 sitting on my computer, as well, so should have all up-to-date files for the moment. Though, looking forward to the new possible Easter version for even more great goodies!

[rocketfan]

The "March Edition" for the "Legends Ultimate Flashback" build for the AtGames Arcade Legends Flashbacks has been uploaded. 

 

Spoiler

https://archive.org/details/lufb-mar-10-2024

 

Here are the abbreviated release notes.

=========== Changes for March 2024
Add new Sections:
   Commodore 64 - Classic home computer and rival of Atari 8-bit computers from the 80's with a vast game library.
   Vic-20 - Early Commodore 8-bit home computer offering with minimal graphics capabilities.

Additional Games:
   -Many shareware games were added to each of the 2600 home brew, 8Bit Computer, and 7800 sections.
   -A number of new early msdos games were added. Multiple of these were Atarisoft games added for their historical value.
   -Added two ps1 games.

Other:
   -Change Colecovision to use coolcv core.  Audio seems to be a bit better.  Button mappings made to work better for two button games.
   -Performance of dosbox improved slightly.  Sound for early DOS games which used PC speaker made tolerable. 
   -Import game capability updated with better feedback as from the most recent Nexus/Atari flashback build.
   -Fixed "restore bezels" function, which had been broken for the Legends Ultimate Flashback builds.
   -Fix bug in import for square box art as done for PS1.
   -Slight reorg of main rom section: handhelds in featured, consoles under console, computers under arcade. 

 

Hopefully I didn't have anything too broken in there.  As usual it's impossible to test everything.  On the other hand, every single C64 and Vic-20 game was tested and worked, but even with those some change may have broken something since it was tested.  Please post here if you do see a problem, as I will now be moving these sections over into the next Nexus build.  I did not test every VIC-20 Mega-cart game.  Some probably need keyboard, but the few I tried did work.

 

On the Vic-20 Mega-cart, you can do a reset (hold the reset button in the lower left for 10 seconds) in the on-screen keyboard to get back to the Mega-cart's main menu.

 

Like MSDOS, for C64 and Vic-20 you will need to use the on-screen keyboard a lot in order to start games and so forth.  For the Legends Flashback use the "Z" button to bring up the keyboard.  On C64 a lot of the hacker introductions require a space bar (which has been mapped to start button) to skip to loading the real game, but then most require you to specify Y/N about whether you want cheats enabled.  Some use the fire button.  I would always test saying I want "high score mode" not "trainers" and to "reset high scores".  For Vic-20 games, a lot require F1 to start, so if in doubt try that at the game intro screen.

 

Sound is not perfect on C64, but it is fairly good and varies by game.

 

The switch to the Coolcv core for Colecovision was a last minute thing.  I don't know where the original core even came from - it's not a standard retroarch core so I'm guessing it was from the stock Arcade Legends Flashback firmware.  Anyway, the sound synch with that core was always a little off to me, which you could tell when playing Galaxian.  The Coolcv core definitely works better in that way, and I also like the way it handles the number pad better.   It appears Coolcv is not open source though, which is a bummer because it means I can't mod it as needed for the Atari Flashback Nexus build.

 

Edited March 12 by rocketfan

[rocketfan]

I am happy to say I heard from an old friend of our project who has provided some greatly improved section art I will drop into the next Nexus version.  Awesome!

 

 

One other thing that would help (hint to our friend) is the customized background art for the new sections, and in particular c64 and vic20, but maybe (?) for ps1, arduboy, msdos as well.  I mean like the .../res/images/bkg_launcher.png files and so on.  so far I didn't figure out how I could replace the background piece to keep the Nexus theme consistent.

 

I also heard some other feedback of some issues. 🤔 I will check into it before pushing out a Nexus 1.7 and see if I can figure anything out.  My best guess is it relates to using the retroplayer from older Atari flashbacks on the newer units. 

[Batchman]

OK ... I think I have my new FB12 Gold updated properly.

 

Now I just want to put everything from Nexus on my thumb drive.

 

And the latest version (for the moment) is Nexus 1-6, which will do me fine until the Nexus 1-7 Atari follows the non-Atari version.

[Batchman]

Oh man, it amazes me how bad I am at games I used to be quite good at.

 

Well, I got the update 1.1.1 installed on my new FB 12 Gold, and I know it's installed properly because the paddles scroll smoothly all the way across the screen, just as they never have before.

 

I got Nexus 1-6 installed. I assume correctly, because I can access tons of games beyond the FB 12's 310 (or whatever exactly).

 

But what doesn't work is accessing the paddles and paddle games for games in NEXUS. So what I need to know is, have I done something wrong? Or is it known that NEXUS can't handle these games with paddles?

 

I've got joystick 1 in controller port 2 and the paddles in controller port 1, and can use the joystick to move to Breakout or Kaboom! in Nexus, but once in a while I'll see the notice about not using paddles except for paddle games, and nothing I do with paddles OR joystick will actually move the buckets or actually start the game. (Though again, I can do so in the stock system.)

 

So what am I missing here?

 

[rocketfan]

11 hours ago, Batchman said:

But what doesn't work is accessing the paddles and paddle games for games in NEXUS.

That's one of the issues that was mentioned to me.  This weekend  I am going to dig out my 50th anniversary edition and I will take a look at the paddle stuff along with other concerns on the preliminary 1.7 drive I have set up.

[TampaBay]

16 hours ago, Batchman said:

Oh man, it amazes me how bad I am at games I used to be quite good at.

 

Well, I got the update 1.1.1 installed on my new FB 12 Gold, and I know it's installed properly because the paddles scroll smoothly all the way across the screen, just as they never have before.

 

I got Nexus 1-6 installed. I assume correctly, because I can access tons of games beyond the FB 12's 310 (or whatever exactly).

 

But what doesn't work is accessing the paddles and paddle games for games in NEXUS. So what I need to know is, have I done something wrong? Or is it known that NEXUS can't handle these games with paddles?

 

I've got joystick 1 in controller port 2 and the paddles in controller port 1, and can use the joystick to move to Breakout or Kaboom! in Nexus, but once in a while I'll see the notice about not using paddles except for paddle games, and nothing I do with paddles OR joystick will actually move the buckets or actually start the game. (Though again, I can do so in the stock system.)

 

So what am I missing here?

 

 

I believe you're among the first to try the FB 12 with Nexus and the paddles, so this is somewhat uncharted territory. 

 

I'd be curious to see what happens if you took some paddle games that did not come stock on the FB 12, put them on a USB thumb drive, and try to play them (without booting up and using Nexus at all).  You should still be able to navigate to those games on the USB drive even without Nexus, and play them.  The reason for that test is to know whether it's Nexus that's the issue, or the custom firmware.

[rocketfan]

So, I have heard of this "ten minutes freeze" on newer units, but always thought it must have to do with the overclock.  On my own Anniversary Gold unit I tested Nexus a little but mostly used it stock then put it away and kept using my Flashback X for Nexus.  However, at this point I reproduced it and I would say it has NOTHING to do with overclocking.  I posted similar over in another thread, but here is my attempted workaround.  For anyone with an Anniversary/11/12 Atari flashback you may want to try this patch on your Nexus drive assuming you have seen that lockup effect.  I would be glad to hear if others are definitely seeing that issue and if the patch improves things for others.

 

Drop the serialinput and the retromenu.anniversary files in your /emulator folder - don't rename them 🙂.  Replace startup.sh at the root of your drive.  If the test fix is working, then when you boot it should appear like the "stock" theme for about 15 seconds, then re-start with the Nexus theme.   For me it appears to help, but I have not done a lot of testing.

 

If I hear positive feedback, then I'll think about whether a more elegant fix is even possible.

 

 

 

Still going to dig into paddle issues...

 

tenminutepatch.zip

Edited March 16 by rocketfan

[rocketfan]

@Batchman and all - I did make some headway understanding the state of paddles as far as I can.  I'm not clear why you can't do anything with paddle games with Nexus.  On my anniversary edition I'm not having that trouble and did not even before starting the experiments - though when I started paddle performance was not as good as it can be in some ways.

 

I think @TampaBay makes a good suggestion to test.  Also, if anyone is lurking out there who can play paddle games with Nexus on an Atari Flashback 12 please let us know!

 

Also though, I will be making some improvements to the build before I release 1.7 which I feel very strongly will help with paddle linearity and general quality of life when using paddles.  One of the tricky things for me is I still want to maintain a single build for everything from the Flashback 9 through the 12, so once I get things in place it will take some testing to make sure it's all good.

 

PS - For anyone in the market - there are a couple of flashback 9's on shopgoodwill at $10 (before shipping) with auctions ending in a little bit and no bids. 

[Batchman]

I'll try to do some testing tomorrow on this. No sign of the freeze-up issue, but I also haven't used the Nexus build for more than about 5 minutes, since I was only testing the paddle issues for the moment.

[Batchman]

Here's the problem ... all the paddle games that actually come to mind are already part of the system. So now I have to actually track down what some other paddle games are.

 

[edit]Stuck a thumb drive with a folder Games, filled with about 10 more paddle games ... the system doesn't even register it. So now I have to ask, any specific details about how it has to be set up? Particular file system? Special name for the drive itself? Anything else? Willing to test this, but like I say, right now the drive doesn't show up.[/edit]

Edited March 20 by Batchman
Because

[CapitanClassic]

Perhaps the Left Controller port is mapped for Player 1, as well as Paddle 1-2. Have you tried unplugging your joystick and putting the paddles in the same port?

[TampaBay]

40 minutes ago, Batchman said:

Here's the problem ... all the paddle games that actually come to mind are already part of the system. So now I have to actually track down what some other paddle games are.

 

[edit]Stuck a thumb drive with a folder Games, filled with about 10 more paddle games ... the system doesn't even register it. So now I have to ask, any specific details about how it has to be set up? Particular file system? Special name for the drive itself? Anything else? Willing to test this, but like I say, right now the drive doesn't show up.[/edit]

My USB drive has a single folder called Game, with the games in that folder.  It's capital "G" and lowercase for the rest.  I believe I've heard that capitalizatoin matters.  Also it's Game with no "s", not Games.  My USB stick is USB 3.0 and I've had trouble with USB 2.0, so I'd check that too.  I assume this is a different USB drive than your Nexus build.  When you boot up the Flashback, it should be the normal Flashback menu and interface, the only difference being a new small menu item on the left-hand menu that says "SD Card" (or something similar).

Edited March 20 by TampaBay

[Batchman]

OK, changed it to Game instead of Games. Still no SD Card option. Are the games still supposed to be named .a26?

[TampaBay]

9 minutes ago, Batchman said:

OK, changed it to Game instead of Games. Still no SD Card option. Are the games still supposed to be named .a26?

Hmmm... even if you didn't have games in it, I would think you might see that it recognizes there is a drive there.  That extension should be fine.  It should look like what I have circled in blue in the photo below.  And it's definitely a USB 3.0 drive?  You applied the Firmware from the At Games website first, before you applied Brad's firmware on top of that, correct?

 

[Batchman]

Yes, I applied the Atari firmware update first. Any chance that Brad's update broke that part? Or that all the updates are needed, not just the most recent one? (I updated directly to 1.1.1, not to 1.1, and then to 1.1.1.) Or the format of the drive? (I don't even know what its formatted as, but it's brand new.) OK, it's formatted as Fat32.

 

[edit]Having looked at some update instructions, I can now say this should be working, darn it.[/edit]

Edited March 20 by Batchman

[TampaBay]

12 hours ago, Batchman said:

Yes, I applied the Atari firmware update first. Any chance that Brad's update broke that part? Or that all the updates are needed, not just the most recent one? (I updated directly to 1.1.1, not to 1.1, and then to 1.1.1.) Or the format of the drive? (I don't even know what its formatted as, but it's brand new.) OK, it's formatted as Fat32.

 

[edit]Having looked at some update instructions, I can now say this should be working, darn it.[/edit]

 

It's tough to tell.  It sure sounds like you have everything set up right.  I'm not sure either way if you needed to do the intermediate AtGames firmware.  I don't think Brad's would have done anything to break it, because I'm fairly sure on my Flashback 9 (which also runs Brad's firmware) I can boot up and use an SD card and not Nexus, and it works just fine.  Hopefully someone else reading through these posts will have an additional suggestion.

[OrangeKryptonite]

On 3/11/2024 at 8:34 PM, rocketfan said:

The "March Edition" for the "Legends Ultimate Flashback" build for the AtGames Arcade Legends Flashbacks has been uploaded. 

 

  Hide contents

https://archive.org/details/lufb-mar-10-2024

 

Here are the abbreviated release notes.

=========== Changes for March 2024
Add new Sections:
   Commodore 64 - Classic home computer and rival of Atari 8-bit computers from the 80's with a vast game library.
   Vic-20 - Early Commodore 8-bit home computer offering with minimal graphics capabilities.

Additional Games:
   -Many shareware games were added to each of the 2600 home brew, 8Bit Computer, and 7800 sections.
   -A number of new early msdos games were added. Multiple of these were Atarisoft games added for their historical value.
   -Added two ps1 games.

Other:
   -Change Colecovision to use coolcv core.  Audio seems to be a bit better.  Button mappings made to work better for two button games.
   -Performance of dosbox improved slightly.  Sound for early DOS games which used PC speaker made tolerable. 
   -Import game capability updated with better feedback as from the most recent Nexus/Atari flashback build.
   -Fixed "restore bezels" function, which had been broken for the Legends Ultimate Flashback builds.
   -Fix bug in import for square box art as done for PS1.
   -Slight reorg of main rom section: handhelds in featured, consoles under console, computers under arcade. 

 

Hopefully I didn't have anything too broken in there.  As usual it's impossible to test everything.  On the other hand, every single C64 and Vic-20 game was tested and worked, but even with those some change may have broken something since it was tested.  Please post here if you do see a problem, as I will now be moving these sections over into the next Nexus build.  I did not test every VIC-20 Mega-cart game.  Some probably need keyboard, but the few I tried did work.

 

On the Vic-20 Mega-cart, you can do a reset (hold the reset button in the lower left for 10 seconds) in the on-screen keyboard to get back to the Mega-cart's main menu.

 

Like MSDOS, for C64 and Vic-20 you will need to use the on-screen keyboard a lot in order to start games and so forth.  For the Legends Flashback use the "Z" button to bring up the keyboard.  On C64 a lot of the hacker introductions require a space bar (which has been mapped to start button) to skip to loading the real game, but then most require you to specify Y/N about whether you want cheats enabled.  Some use the fire button.  I would always test saying I want "high score mode" not "trainers" and to "reset high scores".  For Vic-20 games, a lot require F1 to start, so if in doubt try that at the game intro screen.

 

Sound is not perfect on C64, but it is fairly good and varies by game.

 

The switch to the Coolcv core for Colecovision was a last minute thing.  I don't know where the original core even came from - it's not a standard retroarch core so I'm guessing it was from the stock Arcade Legends Flashback firmware.  Anyway, the sound synch with that core was always a little off to me, which you could tell when playing Galaxian.  The Coolcv core definitely works better in that way, and I also like the way it handles the number pad better.   It appears Coolcv is not open source though, which is a bummer because it means I can't mod it as needed for the Atari Flashback Nexus build.

 

Other than the Coolcv core when is your ETA to have all the new editions ported over to the Atari Flashback Nexus build?

[rocketfan]

19 hours ago, OrangeKryptonite said:

Other than the Coolcv core when is your ETA to have all the new editions ported over to the Atari Flashback Nexus build?

Nexus 1.7 is very close!  Our mysterious supporter, mentor and past Mortal Kombat champion provided various new section art I have incorporated.  On the Colecovision front, I had some time this week, so I wound up taking the on-screen number pad code from the Intellivison core and hacking it into a very specialized Gearcoleco core for the Atari flashbacks.  So this is the first time (I think?) a different core is going to be in use for the Legends Flashbacks vs. Atari Flashback.  CoolCV is perfectly suited to the Genesis Pad of the Legends Flashback, whereas the hacked Gearcoleco core currently provides what's needed to play two-button games on the Atari flashback.  That said I feel like (but would have to try them side by side?) the overall sound emulation of CoolCV seems a bit better.  Gearcoleco is still a step up from the original Flashback core though.  There's some behind the scenes activity on the topic, so it may get juggled again at some point, just depends.  So far, I have been play-testing two button games. 

 

@MrChickenz - Omega Race and Space Fury work perfectly fine (IMO) with the up direction on the joystick for thrust.

 

So, essentially I'm into a testing/documenting phase, and primarily I need to find time to circle back around and try things on an AFB9. 

    

[rocketfan]

@Batchman I was just reading your problems.  Could you be using a thumb drive over 32Gig?  I believe that's the largest supported.  Not having other ideas at the moment.  I did once have one of the micro-USB to USB splitter things go bad, but it sounds like your Nexus build was recognized, so that must be working.

[Batchman]

Possibly at 32, but not over 32. 32 is the largest I have on hand at the moment.

[rocketfan]

@Batchman - another important aspect are the file extensions.  IIRC stock firmware will only recognize .a26, .A26, and .bin files in the /game folder.  So you have a /game folder in the root of your flash drive, and a few files with those extensions then it should register.

 

Infamously both Macs and Windows hide the true file extensions from you by default, so if your file browser is set to obscure those make sure you change the settings so you can see file extensions.

Edited March 23 by rocketfan

[rra]

1 hour ago, rocketfan said:

@Batchman - another important aspect are the file extensions.  IIRC stock firmware will only recognize .a26, .A26, and .bin files in the /game folder.  So you have a /game folder in the root of your flash drive, and a few files with those extensions then it should register.

 

Infamously both Macs and Windows hide the true file extensions from you by default, so if your file browser is set to obscure those make sure you change the settings so you can see file extensions.

Also, a reminder that files in the /game folder need to have a .gme extension appended to the file extension, and there can be no spaces in the filename.   So if you want to run "Air Sea Battle.a26", you need to rename the file to something like "AirSeaBattle.a26.gme" and put it in the /game folder.

[rocketfan]

55 minutes ago, rra said:

Also, a reminder that files in the /game folder need to have a .gme extension appended to the file extension, and there can be no spaces in the filename.

This is true on a Nexus build, and allows any type of game to be used in /game.  But if not using Nexus - just using a USB with some games in /game (and nothing else on the drive) the original extensions for 2600 games would have to be used.

 

Here is some more detailed information on the upcoming Nexus 1.7 build.  For Colecovision on Atari flashbacks, games have been switched to the .col extension which is tied to the gearcoleco_libretro core.  If for any reason you want to use the original flashback core, you still can by switching games back to the .cv extension.

 

You can now open an onscreen gamepad by switching the left difficulty switch down for player 1 or the right difficulty switch down for player two.  If you have selected a button in the gamepad it is "remembered" after the gamepad is closed and used each time you press select.  The gamepad button defaults to 1, and so many games can be started just by pressing select on the joystick.

 

Also, games which require two actions can be played three different ways, but by default the start button will activate the second action.  For example hit start for the smart bomb in Defender.  There are 3 options for the second action which can be set by using the gearcoleco_action2 variable in the /rom_cv/data/retroplayer.ini file.

 

These look like:

gearcoleco_action2=start

gearcoleco_action2=up

gearcoleco_action2=fire2

 

The first one (start) is not really needed, since it is the default.  However, for a game like Omega Race, where you want up, you would have to set it to up.  Also though, Omega Race actually needs the actions swapped, so there is another variable for that:

gearcoleco_swapactions=enabled

 

So in the file you have this to set it up:

[omega-race-1983.col]
gearcoleco_action2=up
gearcoleco_swapactions=enabled

 

Also though, if you are someone who built a fancy two button joystick that wires to the player two connector, or if you just prefer to keep your second joystick handy for smart bombs in defender, you could set it up like this:

[defender-1983.col]

gearcoleco_action2=fire2