Atari/Legends Flashback Expansion Builds

[rocketfan]

@pimpmaul69 Lynx is a standard core that we got from the folks at Libretro.  Unfortunately they stopping building/adding cores that work for our architecture but most of the cores used on these devices came from when there were building them a year or two ago.  All those just support standard Retroarch keymapping.  You can see what  handy_libretro.so has documented about typical inputs here:

 

https://docs.libretro.com/library/handy/

 

retroplayer.l allow button mapping, which is called keymapping in the retroplayer.ini file.  Some info taken straight from the instruction_manual.txt file:

 

==========

#RETRO   B    Y    SLT  STA  UP   DWN  LEFT RGT  A    X    L    R    L2   R2   L3   R3
#INDEX   0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11   12   13   14   15

Here is an example of a key mapping entry.

[KeyMappingUser]
MarioBros.nesl=0, 1, 9, 8, 10, 11

Note: The special .nesl extension that is used so that the ROM is ran using the retroplayer L and buttons can be changed. In this case the A and B buttons were swapped so that this previously unplayable one-button game is now playable.

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

 

Retroplayer.l came from the legends flashback and the intent there with the button mapping is to let you assign x,y,z,a,b,c on a 6 button Megadrive pad.  So we are just abusing that to allow cores to be used with the Atari joysticks.  For the player 1 joystick I think you could only map the first button (first position) and the select button (fourth position) - to something the core would recognize.  The other positions (AFAIK) do nothing - like start is just literally start in the core, but feel free to experiment.

 

So, for lynx in your retroplayer.ini you have (for example):

BatmanReturns(USA,Europe).lnx=0, 1, 9, 8, 10, 11

 

Looking at the first position you have 0, so look that up in the table above - 0 corresponds to the B input in retroarch, so that is an attempt to make the fire button act as the B button. Looking at the fourth position you have 8, which corresponds to A in the table above, so select ought to act like the A button.  Again, the rest are don't cares, AFAIK.

 

 

[pimpmaul69]

so if you have any interest, here is the joystick and keyboard pinout for the atari flashback i got from doing all this configuring:

 

 

Player 1

––––––

Up = js2

Down = js3

Left = js0

Right = js1

Fire = js4

Select = key 5

Start = key 1

 

Player 2

–––––––

Up = js12

Down = js13

Left = js10

Right = js11

Fire = js14

 

Left difficulty b (down position) = js8

Right difficulty b (down position) = js9

Right difficulty a (up position) = tab key

i didnt test what left difficulty a was. 

 

[pimpmaul69]

46 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

@pimpmaul69 Lynx is a standard core that we got from the folks at Libretro.  Unfortunately they stopping building/adding cores that work for our architecture but most of the cores used on these devices came from when there were building them a year or two ago.  All those just support standard Retroarch keymapping.  You can see what  handy_libretro.so has documented about typical inputs here:

 

So im going to play around with the lynx and possibly swap fire and select buttons on games that need it. Batman is unplayable because you can crouch and punch with the select button. But swapping them might help. Not sure. Im guessing the player 2 fire button is untouchable in the lynx if we are following any kind of normal retroarch standards?

[pimpmaul69]

So swapping the 2 buttons fixed the problem in batman returns on the lynx but i found an issue. Pressing select and up triggers the rewind function. Is there a way to kill the rewind function for lynx or everything for that matter?

[pimpmaul69]

So i found how to get rid of rewind for atari lynx. Global setting doesnt work. I had to create an individual setting for each game. So now my goal is to go through all the lynx games and figure out which button is best on fire and on select that wont cause issues with pressing “select” and “down” at the same time

Edited September 23, 2022 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

Also the lynx retroplayer.ini is missing controls for more than 25% of the games so i fixed that too. 

[pimpmaul69]

16 hours ago, rocketfan said:

@pimpmaul69 Lynx is a standard core that we got from the folks at Libretro. 

 

 

so i fixed all the controls and removed rewind for atari lynx. i swapped all select and fire controls on lynx games as they were all backwards. this completes all strictly atari stuff for the atari fb X/9. i have a build that is only atari no coleco, legends or genesis in it for strictly atari fb if you are interested

atari fb final.zip

Edited September 23, 2022 by pimpmaul69

[rocketfan]

4 hours ago, pimpmaul69 said:

i have a build that is only atari no coleco, legends or genesis in it for strictly atari fb if you are interested

Yes, I'm interested, though TBH I am not such a purist and always liked the "bonus content" of other systems.  Even though most of them are better served on other emulation systems, playing with the Atari joystick can be fun.  There are certainly other folks who would appreciate a pure Atari build.  IMO it's better not to post builds here, as previously discussed ad nauseam.  If you want, put it on a cloud drive or something, PM me and I can put it on archive.org if you want - and either credit you there or not - your preference.  🙂

 

I'm glad you got the rewind sorted out, there were two posts on page 2 of this thread explaining the details of that.  BTW - I just noticed the post #'s have gone away!

 

[rocketfan]

21 hours ago, pimpmaul69 said:

Right difficulty a (up position) = tab key

This is a very interesting tidbit of information, since tab brings up the mame config menu - at least in the mame2000/.zim core.  Even on the standard Nexus build you can flip the right difficulty up (or toggle it on an FB9) and get the mame config menu to appear.  That's a feature!

[magnusfalkirk]

6 hours ago, pimpmaul69 said:

so i fixed all the controls and removed rewind for atari lynx. i swapped all select and fire controls on lynx games as they were all backwards. this completes all strictly atari stuff for the atari fb X/9. i have a build that is only atari no coleco, legends or genesis in it for strictly atari fb if you are interested.

I'd be interested in a copy of that. Where will you post it? I have a Legends Flashback Deluxe that I put the LUFB build on and have all the games that are in the Nexus build plus some.

 

magnus

Edited September 24, 2022 by magnusfalkirk

[rocketfan]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:50 PM, pimpmaul69 said:

So a 3 button genesis controller is the best approach. Aftermarket is going to be different and most likely a terrible option as far as wiring since it will have a blob chip in it. I can make one for you if you are in the u.s.but i will have to locate a controller. You would need to make an adapter as well. This can be done with 2 9 pin extension cables. 

I have been thinking about this.  although I can see that the mod is more tricky, I am MUCH more attracted to using the flashback 1 7800 style controllers on my Atari flashback for 7800 games.  There are also a lot of those available on ebay for cheap.  I am in process of getting what I need.  If there is any more "cookbook" info. you could give on making the mod, that would be helpful.

 

 

[pimpmaul69]

1 minute ago, rocketfan said:

I have been thinking about this.  although I can see that the mod is more tricky, I am MUCH more attracted to using the flashback 1 7800 style controllers on my Atari flashback for 7800 games.  There are also a lot of those available on ebay for cheap.  I am in process of getting what I need.  If there is any more "cookbook" info. you could give on making the mod, that would be helpful.

 

 

I posted a pic of the flashback 1 controller modded. I need to try to find my other one so i can try to make a better diagram of it before adding wires and diodes. 

[rocketfan]

22 hours ago, pimpmaul69 said:

Im guessing the player 2 fire button is untouchable in the lynx if we are following any kind of normal retroarch standards?

Yep, that's true.  They were sure not thinking about the Atari flashback constraints when they made their design choices.  That said, I could look at modding the core to get the player 2 fire trick going.  It's not like falling off a log.  First need to see if I can build it, then see if the mod is straightforward.  The mod was easy for the prosystem core, and very difficult for the a800 core.  My impression on that code was 5200 two button support was put in more as an afterthought.  Would it make many more games playable?  I see the Lynx has more than 2 buttons anyway...

[pimpmaul69]

29 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

 

21 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

Yep, that's true.  They were sure not thinking about the Atari flashback constraints when they made their design choices.  That said, I could look at modding the core to get the player 2 fire trick going.  It's not like falling off a log.  First need to see if I can build it, then see if the mod is straightforward.  The mod was easy for the prosystem core, and very difficult for the a800 core.  My impression on that code was 5200 two button support was put in more as an afterthought.  Would it make many more games playable?  I see the Lynx has more than 2 buttons anyway...

So the lynx is weird because its flippable for lefties and righties. Really 2 buttons should be all you need. 

[pimpmaul69]

2 hours ago, rocketfan said:

Yep, that's true.  They were sure not thinking about the Atari flashback constraints when they made their design choices.  That said, I could look at modding the core to get the player 2 fire trick going.  It's not like falling off a log.  First need to see if I can build it, then see if the mod is straightforward.  The mod was easy for the prosystem core, and very difficult for the a800 core.  My impression on that code was 5200 two button support was put in more as an afterthought.  Would it make many more games playable?  I see the Lynx has more than 2 buttons anyway...

So looking at the atari lynx ii it states this:

“OPTION 1
An optional button used in some
games. Press for autofire missiles, turbo, and
so on.“

 

so if we could add player 2 fire to use for the option 1 button it might be useful for some games

[pimpmaul69]

3 hours ago, rocketfan said:

I have been thinking about this.  although I can see that the mod is more tricky, I am MUCH more attracted to using the flashback 1 7800 style controllers on my Atari flashback for 7800 games.  There are also a lot of those available on ebay for cheap.  I am in process of getting what I need.  If there is any more "cookbook" info. you could give on making the mod, that would be helpful.

 

 

So a couple things the retroplayer.ini should be copied to your nexus slim build. You need 5 diodes that are only 1 direction. Try to find the tiny red ones like in my pic. Will make it a lot easier. I will try to get a schematic made up for how to build this atari flashback 1 mini 7800 joystick. Also the cable from flashback mini controller is unusable as it does not have all the wires needed. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by pimpmaul69

[rocketfan]

For the Atari purists out there, the "Nexus Pure" expansion build with only Atari system content for your AtGames Flashback 9 and X devices is now posted.  See below.

 

Spoiler

https://archive.org/details/nexus-pure-sep-25-2022

 

Thank you @pimpmaul69 for setting this up.  It is appreciated!  I know it takes a lot of time to understand the idiosyncrasies of these devices, and then to get the details dialed in.

 

The only thing I did was re-zip the content, eliminating the container folder.  This was done to be consistent with the other posts, and eliminate any possible confusion about the content landing on the root of the drive.

 

@magnusfalkirk FYI

[pimpmaul69]

6 hours ago, rocketfan said:

@pimpmaul69 for setting this up.  It is appreciated!  I know it takes a lot of time to understand the idiosyncrasies of these devices, and then to get the details dialed in.

Something you might like. Since i love modding controllers, i took some atari joystick and paddle keychain basic tv fun controllers and made mini paddles and joysticks for my flashback x. 

[rocketfan]

Do those all work??  Someplace around here I have one of the joystick keychains.  If atGames is really coming out with a Flashback 11, they should do a Gold/premium version with mini controllers just like that!

[pimpmaul69]

56 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

Do those all work??  Someplace around here I have one of the joystick keychains.  If atGames is really coming out with a Flashback 11, they should do a Gold/premium version with mini controllers just like that!

Yes they work! The paddles required new potentiometers since the original ones are only 10k ohm and the atari flashback requires 1meg ohm potentiometers like the real paddles. They are smaller in size than the original and standard potentiometers

Edited September 26, 2022 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:47 PM, rocketfan said:

Do those all work??  Someplace around here I have one of the joystick keychains.  If atGames is really coming out with a Flashback 11, they should do a Gold/premium version with mini controllers just like that!

So some 2600 games used the b/w/color switch to do special stuff. On original fb x Some games disabled rewind and had you press select + up (which activates rewind) to activate b&w to do special stuff. This is no longer the case with the emulator swapped on the console and the usb drive. Any chance that can be re-enabled on the newer stella emulator?

[pimpmaul69]

On 9/22/2022 at 8:52 PM, rocketfan said:

@pimpmaul69

 

 

so i found an issue with the atari arcade. retroplayer.9 and retroplayer.x both save the cfg files in 2 different locations. so all the configuring i did in retroplayer.9 did nothing when i switched back to retroplayer.x. also the ability to access the mame menu with tab was stored on the old default cfg. i gave retroplaer.x the ability to access the mame menu now too. so all of these need to be added to the atari fb 9/x only pack to make the controls work properly. fixed cfg files.zip

Edited October 5, 2022 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:47 PM, rocketfan said:

 

Something else i should mention. Not sure if with all this modification stuff if the stella emulator on the flashback 9 got changed or if thats still factory but i was able to sync the atari pong blast! wireless paddles to the fb9 but they didnt work on stella with and without an sd card and all the buttons on them didn’t work in mame 2000 either. So not sure if there is a way to get them to work or not on the fb9

[rocketfan]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:16 PM, pimpmaul69 said:

retroplayer.9 and retroplayer.x both save the cfg files in 2 different locations.

I believe you, but I'm not sure why that is.  I thought the cores get their idea of the environment from the retroplayer.  I would have thought that as long as the same retroplayer is used then the place where such things are saved would be same - but if you found otherwise that assumption is somehow wrong.

[rocketfan]

On 10/4/2022 at 10:32 PM, pimpmaul69 said:

stella emulator on the flashback 9 got changed or if thats still factory but i was able to sync the atari pong blast! wireless paddles to the fb9

So, the answer is no it's not the factory default for the AFB9.  The stella core from the AFBX is in use.  I'm not sure if what you are seeing relates to stella or something else, but you can experiment with that if you want.  stella_libretro.so.afb9 is in the /emulator folder, so you could rename the stella_libretro.so to stella_libretro.so.afbx and then copy or rename the afb9 one to stella_libretro.so  to see if anything changes.  The files are the same size but are not identical (different checksums). 

 

Usually controller support in these libretro environments is largely handled by the retroplayer.  In this case, retroplayer.9 (from AFB9) is already in use as the default for .a26 files.  Looking at it,there is a difference in the "gold specific" retroplayer that we never picked up on before - so maybe there is some factor there?  I attached that as retroplayer.9g.  You could rename your retroplayer.9 to retroplayer.9_standard and then rename retroplayer.9g to retroplayer.9 (all in /emulator) if you want to see if that makes any difference.

retroplayer.9g

 

 

 

PS - I do personally have an AFB9 (though I usually use the AFBX), but not a gold.

Edited October 17, 2022 by rocketfan