Gamestation Pro

[fluxit]

1 hour ago, nopaybob said:

I don't have any games added to my gsp yet, Why can't I get asteroids deluxe or centipede to work with the included controllers.

After the arcade game has booted, give it a few seconds to ready itself, then use the joystick's "select" button to add a coin, followed by the "start" button to begin the game.

[nopaybob]

5 minutes ago, fluxit said:

After the arcade game has booted, give it a few seconds to ready itself, then use the joystick's "select" button to add a coin, followed by the "start" button to begin the game.

Thank you!

[+Living Room Arcade]

On 11/16/2023 at 7:28 AM, Living Room Arcade said:

@Domeshtan Thank you for making and sharing this video.  I'm interested in the old B&W arcade games, too.  

 

List of Games Shown

Avalanche, Basketball, Canyon Bomber, Dominoes, Drag Race, Fire Truck, Monte Carlo, Pool Shark, Night Driver, Sky Diver, Runaway, Sky Raider, Super Bug, Tournament Table, Ultra Tank, Space Duel, Super Breakout, Warlords, I, Robot, Food Fight, Cloud 9, Atari Baseball, Atari Football, Atari Soccer

 

 

For me, this explains a lot.  The appearance of Dragster (Activision, 1980).  Now I see.  It looks exactly like the arcade.

Atari 2600 Combat looks likes Ultra Tank.  Atari 2600 Sky Diver is, well, the arcade Sky Diver.  Atari 2600 Basketball has a strong resemblance to the arcade basketball game.  Atari 2600 Surround is Dominoes.  Isn't it?  Atari 2600 Space War is Space Duel.  Isn't it?  I think I had already known about arcade Warlords.  Atari 2600 Night Driver is, well, Night Driver.  How about that!  

 

Just a quick follow up for anyone that's interested.  If you don't have a GSP and you want to try these games on your PC, do this.

 

Download and install MAME 0.174 if you don't have it..

https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Favalnche.zip

 

Download the MAME roms you want.  I recommend Archive.org.  

 

Avalanche (Atari 1978) avalnche
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Favalnche.zip

Atari Basketball (Atari 1979) bsktball
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fbsktball.zip

Canyon Bomber (Atari 1977) canyon
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fcanyon.zip

Dominos (Atari 1977) dominos
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fdominos.zip

Drag Race (Atari/Kee Games 1977) dragrace
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fdragrace.zip

Fire Truck (Atari 1978) firetrk
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Ffiretrk.zip

Monte Carlo (Atari 1979) montecar
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fmontecar.zip

Poolshark (Atari 1977) poolshrk
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fpoolshrk.zip

Night Driver (Atari 1976) nitedrvr
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fnitedrvr.zip

Sky Diver (Atari 1978) skydiver
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fskydiver.zip

Runaway (Atari 1982) runaway
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Frunaway.zip

Sky Raider (Atari 1978) skyraid
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fskyraid.zip

Super Bug (Atari/Kee Games 1977) superbug
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fsuperbug.zip

Tournament Table (Atari 1978) tourtabl (set 1) tourtab2 (set 2)
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Ftourtabl.zip
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Ftourtab2.zip

Ultra Tank (Atari/Kee Games 1978) ultratnk
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fultratnk.zip

Space Duel (Atari 1980) spacduel (version 2)
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fspacduel.zip

Super Breakout (Atari 1978) sbrkout (revision 4)
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fsbrkout.zip

Warlords (Atari 1980) warlords
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fwarlords.zip

I, Robot (Atari 1983) irobot
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Firobot.zip

Food Fight (General Computer Corporation/Atari 1982 foodf
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Ffoodf.zip

Cloud 9 (prototype) (Atari 1983) cloud9
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fcloud9.zip

Atari Baseball (Atari 1979) abaseb (set 1) abase2 (set 2)
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fabaseb.zip
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fabaseb2.zip

Atari Football (Atari 1978) atarifb (revision 2)
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fatarifb.zip

Atari Soccer (Atari 1980) soccer
https://archive.org/download/MAME_2016_Arcade_Romsets/roms.zip/roms%2Fsoccer.zip

 

Leave the MAME roms zipped and put them in the roms folder in the MAME folder wherever you installed it on your computer.  

 

@Domeshtan  Thanks again for sharing the info about these old Atari arcade games.  I tried several of them.  To be real, they're not as fun as I thought.  Warlords is pretty good, though.  I see what you mean.  Video Olympics for Atari 2600 is Tournament Table in the arcade.  Isn't it?  And I'm convinced that Surround for Atari 2600 is Dominos in the arcade.  And I'm now convinced that Atari 2600 Basketball is Atari Basketball 1979 arcade.  The way you hold the button down to angle your shot is the same.  Night Driver arcade is kind of exciting.  Looks like on the keyboard z, x, and c shift gears.  I honestly think Atari 2600 Sky Diver might be better than arcade Sky Diver.  More game variations.  Tighter controls.  Faster speed.  Clearly, Atari 2600 Combat (tank variations) is Ultra Tank.  Funny, as a child I had no idea when I was playing Atari 2600 Basketball, Canyon Bomber, Night Driver, Video Olympics, Space War, Surround, Warlords, Combat and Dragster that I was playing home versions of arcade classics!  I guess I thought they were original games for the home console.  In hindsight, maybe I appreciate the Atari 2600 more now.  I see now that it was bringing home the arcade games since "day 1."  (It didn't start with Asteroids, Space Invaders and Missile Command, as I thought it did.)  

Edited November 18, 2023 by Living Room Arcade

[Shannon]

The only old Atari black and white arcade games I really cared for was Sprint 1 and Sprint 2.  They are pretty good.  They other ones actually ended up being better versions on the 2600.

[Shannon]

On 11/16/2023 at 6:11 PM, Domeshtan said:

Unfortunately my rom set of Asteroids doesn't work so can't test that one. Asteroids Deluxe worked though. So unless I grabbed the wrong file somewhere.... 

 

Anyway, I got to thinking about that .cfg file stuff. I'm thinking of booting up the old version of MAME on my laptop and copying the .cfg on a game each time I run it. Like map out a different direction or button each time, copy the file, and then compare the files in a hex editor to see which byte or bytes change. Should get closer to pinning it down that way I would think.

 

You don't have a GSP to test it out?

 

 

Here you go... try this configuration for Asteroids Deluxe.  I only mapped the UP to accelerate.  I left the shield button alone.

astdelux.cfg

Edited November 18, 2023 by Shannon

[Domeshtan]

Ran another test with my setup using the USB hub with the PlayStation Classic controller and GSP joystick hooked up this morning. Yep, the USB hub has to be powered in order to work. Without it the games froze up when trying to detect it when I did the thing of pushing select and wiggling the directions around to get it to recognize it in a game. So what seems to be working for me is an Insignia 4 port POWERED USB hub. (USB 3.0 data speed... Not sure if that matters. 5V 900 mA output from each port.) PlayStation Classic controller hooked into the far left port. GSP stick hooked into the far right port. (Yes, the position seemed to matter. Otherwise it wouldn't detect the directions on the PlayStation Classic controller.) Need the GSP stick hooked up to use the home button to get out of games and navigate menus. The back I have hooked into the left controller port with a USB C adaptor I got from Wal-Mart. 

Your other option if you don't want to use the hub is to swap out the controller every time you play a game but that gets annoying fast. Powered USB hub was about $25. Cheaper than buying those other controllers if you have a PlayStation Classic system and you don't mind mashing a few buttons and waiting a few seconds for it to detect in each game.

[Domeshtan]

8 hours ago, Shannon said:

Here you go... try this configuration for Asteroids Deluxe.  I only mapped the UP to accelerate.  I left the shield button alone.

Success! Yep, that works great. Thanks! I can kinda play either way with the PlayStation Classic controller now but this feels WAY more natural playing with the GSP stick. Since that worked I'm sure the Asteroids .cfg file you made should work too. Any chance of making a .cfg file the same way for Space Duel and Gravitar? Side note, I was having problems getting the PlayStation Classic controller with Space Duel. Like it didn't want to detect it. Weird. Like I had to unplug it, use my second GSP controller for adding coins or the select button (battery powered), turn it off and then plug the PlayStation Classic controller back in to work. Strange... Only game that's really given me any issues detecting it so bad so far. Looks like this system is shaping up a bit on the Micro SD side anyway. Samples working, artwork and now and finally some proper controls in some games. Thanks again!

[NoPiXaR]

On 11/6/2023 at 10:52 AM, SoulBlazer said:

Sorry for yet another post -- I thought I'd try to make things more clear.

Between the controllers I have myself, and the help of others here, I can confirm the following third party controllers DO work with the Gamestation Pro, and they will be listed in order of price:

Microsoft XBox Elite 2 Controller - $105
https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Elite-Wireless-Controller-Controllers/dp/B0BS1J43PW/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3IYDBIA9SF5VI&keywords=xbox%2Belite%2B2%2Bcontroller&qid=1699285394&s=videogames&sprefix=xbox%2Belite%2Cvideogames%2C93&sr=1-5&th=1
Microsoft XBox S Controller - $50
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BQ0VP0G/?coliid=I1RH7ZG2DTFLFB&colid=2JU4ZF3HHZBSO&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1
Sony PS4 Controller - $50
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Playstation-DUALSHOCK-Wireless-Controller/dp/B07PJ1H91G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RT9GQZ0LHZKF&keywords=playstation+4+controller&qid=1699285512&refinements=p_89%3ASony&rnid=2528832011&s=videogames&sprefix=playstation+4%2Cvideogames%2C103&sr=1-1
8bitdo Pro 2 Controller - $40
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XY86472?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Some notes:
1) All these controllers (except the last) are official first party controllers, and prices given are for refurbished units.  In my experience, they work great, but if you want new, expect to pay about $10-20 more.
2) The GSP does NOT have Bluetooth support - therefore all these controllers MUST be used in wired mode.  If you do not already have one, I STRONGLY suggest getting a 10-12 foot USB-C cable along with the controller.  (Note you need a cable with Male (the plug) ends on BOTH ends - or get an adapter also.)
3) The 8bitdo Pro 2 controller is the one I really like as it can be used with a number of other devices also - it works great with my Steam Deck, Switch, PC, phone, and even MAME cab.
4) Many third party PS4/XBox controllers, and the Atari Modern Controller, are confirmed NOT to work with the GSP.

If anyone else finds any more working controllers, please share!

I have tried this one : 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09NS1C5YQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)

With this adapter : https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09YYC6JK6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

But it does not work ...

Strange, I thought there would be no difference between wireless and wired controller ...

[Shannon]

8 hours ago, Domeshtan said:

Success! Yep, that works great. Thanks! I can kinda play either way with the PlayStation Classic controller now but this feels WAY more natural playing with the GSP stick. Since that worked I'm sure the Asteroids .cfg file you made should work too. Any chance of making a .cfg file the same way for Space Duel and Gravitar? Side note, I was having problems getting the PlayStation Classic controller with Space Duel. Like it didn't want to detect it. Weird. Like I had to unplug it, use my second GSP controller for adding coins or the select button (battery powered), turn it off and then plug the PlayStation Classic controller back in to work. Strange... Only game that's really given me any issues detecting it so bad so far. Looks like this system is shaping up a bit on the Micro SD side anyway. Samples working, artwork and now and finally some proper controls in some games. Thanks again!

 

Sure.. I'll work up some config files for those games later.  Also in theory for some games that require special setup to get going can be done as well by copying the NVRAM file. 

[VidaReborn]

I seriously need some help, everyone.  I've tried to follow instructions on how to add the MAME artwork for the GSP games, but I can't figure out what's I'm doing wrong.  Am I supposed to add a folder named "artwork" and intert it into the "games" folder I have on my microSD card?  I tried adding the "samples" folder GenXGrownUp advised to do and then added the zip folders inside of it, but it's not working.

[Domeshtan]

11 minutes ago, VidaReborn said:

I seriously need some help, everyone.  I've tried to follow instructions on how to add the MAME artwork for the GSP games, but I can't figure out what's I'm doing wrong.  Am I supposed to add a folder named "artwork" and intert it into the "games" folder I have on my microSD card?  I tried adding the "samples" folder GenXGrownUp advised to do and then added the zip folders inside of it, but it's not working.

After the first game is run on MAME the folders should be created on the Micro SD card. Put the Artwork in the Artwork folder it created. Samples in the samples folder, etc.

Also make sure your artwork and samples are for the older versions of MAME. They changed the format over time.

[Shannon]

17 hours ago, Domeshtan said:

Success! Yep, that works great. Thanks! I can kinda play either way with the PlayStation Classic controller now but this feels WAY more natural playing with the GSP stick. Since that worked I'm sure the Asteroids .cfg file you made should work too. Any chance of making a .cfg file the same way for Space Duel and Gravitar? Side note, I was having problems getting the PlayStation Classic controller with Space Duel. Like it didn't want to detect it. Weird. Like I had to unplug it, use my second GSP controller for adding coins or the select button (battery powered), turn it off and then plug the PlayStation Classic controller back in to work. Strange... Only game that's really given me any issues detecting it so bad so far. Looks like this system is shaping up a bit on the Micro SD side anyway. Samples working, artwork and now and finally some proper controls in some games. Thanks again!

 

Here you go.. Gravitar and Space Duel.  Space Duel was tricky cause getting a game started for testing requires a 2nd controller. 

 

 

gravitar.cfg spacduel.cfg

[jaymz887]

Hello

i am stumped on the game station pro.   i have watched videos on how to add games to the gs pro.  i bought a new sd card inserted it in the gs pro and then inserted it on my pc and added .26a games.  when i inserted it back on the gs pro it didnt boot up to the sd card just the games on the system.  is there a file i need to add to make the sd card work

thanks

jaime

[fluxit]

54 minutes ago, jaymz887 said:

Hello

i am stumped on the game station pro.   i have watched videos on how to add games to the gs pro.  i bought a new sd card inserted it in the gs pro and then inserted it on my pc and added .26a games.  when i inserted it back on the gs pro it didnt boot up to the sd card just the games on the system.  is there a file i need to add to make the sd card work

thanks

jaime

Make sure that the games files are in a folder called games or Games(the capitalization may or may not be important.)  Atari 2600 games should have the file extension ".a26," not ".26a" if that wasn't a typo.

 

After the GsP boots, It takes some seconds after the main menu appears before the prompt to choose the built in games, or what you have added is displayed.

 

Some say that the SD card must be formatted exFAT, but FAT32 works fine here.

[fluxit]

On 11/16/2023 at 6:07 AM, just_lou said:

Cool 😎

Now if anyone has artwork that works for Zaxxon, please post it here. 

This site has quite a variety of 'bezels' that work with the GsP, including Zaxxon.

[Domeshtan]

On 11/16/2023 at 9:07 AM, just_lou said:

Now if anyone has artwork that works for Zaxxon, please post it here.

Something I thew together this morning. I'm still learning this stuff for "creating" bezels but it's fairly close. I tried tweaking some art that someone made for my At Games Legends Gamer Pro. 

zaxxon.zip

[Domeshtan]

Well, I tried tweaking some artwork someone else made for my Legends Gamer Pro. I use an "add on" tool to add games for it on a USB stick so the menus and box art come out looking yummy like the games it comes with. (You pick your game rom, core you want to use to emulate it, bezel and box/flyer art. It throws it altogether in a useable .UCE file.) Well the Artwork that someone was kind enough to put all together, resize, make them .png... I can't remember where I got them. It's a big file. Like 1.2 Gig zipped so lots of bezel art... Or at least artwork that looks cool for the game you are playing since they all have that wide look. I looked at the MAME Artwork file for Pac-Man and tried to figure it out and tweak stuff. I got it pretty close for a few games testing so far. You needed to rotate the .png file 90 degree to the left. Next you make a mask file with a white screen and make a black rectangle where the screen will be. Next the .art file you tweak a few names so it knows what to load. (The name of the .png file for the Artwork and the .png file for the mask you are using.) Then comes the fun part! Trying to tweak the numbers at the bottom so it looks and fits right. I still haven't got it figured out 100%. Like some seem to squish the image horizontally or vertically, some seem to move the screen. After all that name your art file to the game. (For Zaxxon it has zaxxon.art, zaxxonmask.png and zaxxon.png). Zip it all up and throw it in your artwork folder on the Micro SD card. Once I had Zaxxon close I figured I could use the same mask file and just tweak a couple names to use it for Super Zaxxon, Tac-Scan, Satan's Hollow since they are all vertical games. Close enough for now. I didn't resize the original .png files. They might be a hair stretched too far vertically now. Still learning this stuff. 

So here ya go if anybody wants to try out the Artwork I tweaked for Zaxxon, Tac-Scan, Satan's Hollow and Super Zaxxon.

zaxxon.zip tacscan.zip shollow.zip szaxxon.zip

[+Mocotechprfl]

YouTube user Johnny just posted a detailed video how to get the bezel artwork working. By the way, thanks to Domeshtan for Zaxxon!

 

 

[just_lou]

31 minutes ago, Domeshtan said:

 

So here ya go if anybody wants to try out the Artwork I tweaked for Zaxxon, Tac-Scan, Satan's Hollow and Super Zaxxon.

 

31 minutes ago, Domeshtan said:

zaxxon.zip 552.58 kB · 0 downloads tacscan.zip 643.27 kB · 0 downloads shollow.zip 606.62 kB · 1 download szaxxon.zip 594.06 kB · 1 download

Thanks. I'll check these out later tonight.

[+Mocotechprfl]

Now if there was a way to toggle between bezel and no bezel without having to create a second separate file or deleting the artwork file, that would be good to know!

[xboxiso]

10 hours ago, Shannon said:

 

Here you go.. Gravitar and Space Duel.  Space Duel was tricky cause getting a game started for testing requires a 2nd controller. 

 

 

gravitar.cfg 1.54 kB · 0 downloads spacduel.cfg 1.63 kB · 0 downloads

This is really cool. How are you editing these .cfg files?

[VidaReborn]

3 hours ago, Mocotechprfl said:

YouTube user Johnny just posted a detailed video how to get the bezel artwork working. By the way, thanks to Domeshtan for Zaxxon!

 

 

I saw that video, but he didn't add much visuals.  One thing I don't like about most youtubers is that they narrate, but there is no visuals to guide you.  Specially for newbies like me.

[Shannon]

3 hours ago, xboxiso said:

This is really cool. How are you editing these .cfg files?

 

I've been going into the Mame 2003 for retroarch core on my Xbox One and creating them from there.  However they can also be created on a PC.  So if you grab Retroarch and download the Mame 2003 core you can do the same.  However I recommend having a controller connected to your PC to make it easier.  Then you go into the MAME built in menu and change input ( this game ) for the current game.. figure out which button is assigned to the ones you want to change and then change them.  You can find the resulting .cfg file in the retroarch "saves/mame20003 (0.78)/cfg" folder.

 

This should also be great for titles like defender which back in the day used mostly buttons and a joystick that only moved up and down.

 

[Domeshtan]

Tried to convert a few more. I kinda get it with the position values. (Left, Top, Right, Bottom) It sounds easy to set the values but the game screen keeps moving around and changing size with every change. This is about as close as I can get for now. I run Mame078b on my laptop and make small changes to the .art file values at the bottom of the file. Run it, see the effect, tweak some more... Maybe someone can tweak it a little wider. It's strange... Like moving one value too far or not enough seems to change positions of other stuff. I tried to set the first two values to get the upper-left corner of the screen as close as I could to the visible upper left corner of the display. Then I play with the last two values to try and stretch it in kinda. Negative values to set the upper-left and positive values to set the lower-right. Hard to get things to line up right. Anyway, a few more to add (or tweak the values if you think you can get closer). Artwork for Super Sprint, Crystal Castles, Syvalion (one of my favorites), and Championship Sprint.

ssprint.zip ccastles.zip syvalion.zip csprint.zip

Edited November 20, 2023 by Domeshtan

[just_lou]

Has anyone gotten Arcade BattleZone and/or Defender working properly? In both both games I can't move left, and BattleZone I also can't move backwards.