Need help building a list of what does NOT run on the 2600+! Games -and- Hardware

[Trebor]

2 hours ago, 4_T_n said:

Astroblast seems to not have joystick controls on the 2600+, but the paddle controls work.

Indeed.

[Giles N]

On 9/15/2024 at 11:39 AM, TailChao said:

This is the easiest solution for many of the games which have nonextractable data, yes.

 

On 9/15/2024 at 11:57 PM, Ben from Plaion said:

Theoretically, this has been talked about and agreed workable in principle for CDFJ.

 

Implementation is another thing.

And then - where lies the problem?

 

Necessary agreements? (Can they be worked out?)

 

Incompatibility?,  or like very high demand on the dumper-developers to get 1 game going (even if it is by the community regarded a top title?)

[tradyblix]

12 hours ago, Trebor said:

Indeed.

Ummm... are we sure ?

 

Because my astroblast works with joystick type controllers.... I think this got fixed in one of the firmware revisions since that post you referenced was posted. 

 

 

[Trebor]

2 hours ago, tradyblix said:

Ummm... are we sure ?

 

Because my astroblast works with joystick type controllers.... I think this got fixed in one of the firmware revisions since that post you referenced was posted. 

 

 

You are correct:

Quote

1.1x-r4:

• 2600
  • Supported controller detection fix
  • Game-specific fixes:    
    • Tarzan compatibility (original dump and F6 fix)
    • Astroblast: Joystick or paddle detection (port 1)

Also, I tested with the latest 1.1x-r6.  Joystick works perfectly for Astroblast. @4_T_n

 

If posting to this thread, please ensure the 2600+ console being tested is running the latest console Firmware 1.1x-r6 and cartridge Dumper x.03.

 

Step-by-step, complete update instructions, and all necessary files, in one download archive, are here:

 

[4_T_n]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:17 PM, Trebor said:

You are correct:

Also, I tested with the latest 1.1x-r6.  Joystick works perfectly for Astroblast. @4_T_n

 

 

Apologies for the mistake. I was running r3. Time for another update!

[MikeM_]

I have to comment on this. 
 

it’s so nice to see the list shrink to where it is now. Part of why I haven’t been around much lately is because my whole library works.
 

There isn’t any troubleshooting involved anymore for me. I grab a game, pop it in, and play it. 

 

Happy to see how much attention the remaining games are getting. Keep up the good work. 👍🏼 

[Ben from Plaion]

11 hours ago, MikeM_ said:

I have to comment on this. 
 

it’s so nice to see the list shrink to where it is now. Part of why I haven’t been around much lately is because my whole library works.
 

There isn’t any troubleshooting involved anymore for me. I grab a game, pop it in, and play it. 

 

Happy to see how much attention the remaining games are getting. Keep up the good work. 👍🏼 

Phew. This is what I want to hear. Oh boy that period after launch with all the constant reports of issues streaming in was somewhat tricky to say the least.

 

Still stuff to do no doubt, but man I long for the day when all the 2600+ software work comes to a close. Imagine just concentrating efforts on new games and experiences.

[Ducko]

@Ben from Plaion is it safe to say the driving controllers will not have a fix? And @MrChickenz Also mentioned Kaboom and Super Breakout…what are you thoughts on the paddle and driving controller topics? Thanks for all the work you and your team has done this far; great work!

[+karri]

I just realized something strange.

 

I did have a newish 16k game and I wanted to add sound. The final binary had data from 0x8000 to 0xb340 and also in the top page 0xf000. The dumper claimed that there is no game!

 

I then added some garbage in the 0xc000 area. And the dumper was happy and loaded the game.

 

So there is some wrong logic that says that if the 0xc000..0xcfff is full of zeroes then the game does not exist.

[DEANJIMMY]

22 minutes ago, karri said:

I just realized something strange.

 

I did have a newish 16k game and I wanted to add sound. The final binary had data from 0x8000 to 0xb340 and also in the top page 0xf000. The dumper claimed that there is no game!

 

I then added some garbage in the 0xc000 area. And the dumper was happy and loaded the game.

 

So there is some wrong logic that says that if the 0xc000..0xcfff is full of zeroes then the game does not exist.

Does it load and then say "no Game"?

 

Just found that Brik which worked fine on dumper x02 fails on x03.

It loads and then says no game when it should start and loads again...

From the debug info it is a 32k game though.

Edited September 30 by DEANJIMMY

[+karri]

No. It fails immedistely if there is a large area with zeros in the middle of the game.

 

I also found out that as the paddle support in 7800 games is lackinh the INPUT bit will never turn on as the capacitor in the emulator does not exist.

[DEANJIMMY]

50 minutes ago, karri said:

also found out that as the paddle support in 7800 games is lackinh the INPUT bit will never turn on as the capacitor in the emulator does not exist.

🤙

Hope that can be emulated 🤔

Let's do Software Recap🤗

[+karri]

1 hour ago, DEANJIMMY said:

🤙

Hope that can be emulated 🤔

Let's do Software Recap🤗

Just copy-paste the paddle code from Stella.

[RevEng]

10 hours ago, karri said:

Just copy-paste the paddle code from Stella.

Lets not trivialise things here. Due to architectural differences, you can't just do a straight copy and paste from one emulator into another. At the very least you need to port the code, but often it's easier just to rewrite using the original code's principles.

[John Stamos Mullet]

10 hours ago, karri said:

Just copy-paste the paddle code from Stella.

That's not how any of this works.

[+Fred_M]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:48 PM, DEANJIMMY said:

Just found that Brik which worked fine on dumper x02 fails on x03.

It loads and then says no game when it should start and loads again...

From the debug info it is a 32k game though.

Sadly I do not own that game, so I can not test it. But I have seen that behaviour with some of my 7800 cartridges, but they worked after I cleaned them again..... (even when I cleaned them a few weeks ago and the cartridges are stored in sealed bags)

[DEANJIMMY]

49 minutes ago, Fred_M said:

Sadly I do not own that game, so I can not test it. But I have seen that behaviour with some of my 7800 cartridges, but they worked after I cleaned them again..... (even when I cleaned them a few weeks ago and the cartridges are stored in sealed bags)

I am in contact and it will work on next release again🤗

[+Fred_M]

38 minutes ago, DEANJIMMY said:

I am in contact and it will work on next release again🤗

Good to hear that the problem has been found, I am sure @raz0red will fix this 👍

[DEANJIMMY]

8 minutes ago, Fred_M said:

Good to hear that the problem has been found, I am sure @raz0red will fix this 👍

Of course HE does🤗

[ForceInfinity]

Adding to the list, Drone Patrol 7800 mostly works.  Game indicates there’s supposed to be music but even when using the music player, I am not able to hear any music at all.  
 

Game however plays rather nicely and I’m quickly getting the hang of the standard level.  (Those medical vehicles  however always throw a wrench into things).   Much easier playing in the CX78 gamepad than it was the pro stick at the convention.  
 

using experimental r6, dumper v 3

Edited October 2 by ForceInfinity

[+karri]

Sorry to trivialize the paddle support in the 7800 emulator. I am a complete novice as far as the emulators are concerned.

 

My understanding is that setting VBLANK to 0 would start the measurement of all paddles.

 

If a paddle has some value N it will set its position bit high N lines later. The values are inverted. Meaning that a paddle turned to MAX will trigger the line high immadiately. A paddle turned to MIN will trigger somewhere around line 240. So for practical use the range 0..200 corresponds to lines 0..200 on the screen.

 

The range of the RC circuit is very linear for the paddles so there is no need for emulating the charging of the capacitor.

 

Once the values have been found the software sets VBLANK to 0x80 to discharge the capacitors.

[RevEng]

5 hours ago, karri said:

Sorry to trivialize the paddle support in the 7800 emulator. I am a complete novice as far as the emulators are concerned.

No worries. We have the paddle implementation I added to a7800 for reference, so it's just a matter of fitting in the work, rather than not knowing what to do. I just wanted the crowd to know it wasn't a matter of us not bothering to cut and paste.

 

You have the general idea for sure, though the passing time isn't necessarily measured in lines. In 7800basic I use RIOT's 64 cycle timer instead of counting scanlines. It's one less thing to do in your paddle polling loop, and hitting WSYNC is problematic on the 7800 if you're using interrupts or have very high DMA.

[+karri]

I tried to use paddles in a7800 but they were always reversed compared to a real 7800. So I could not use it for testing.

[Trebor]

43 minutes ago, karri said:

I tried to use paddles in a7800 but they were always reversed compared to a real 7800. So I could not use it for testing.

Pressing the 'Tab' key and then using the 'Arrow' keys along with 'Enter', go to the "Controller Selection" Menu:

 

After "paddle" is chosen...

 

...select the above "Reset" option for the system.

 

Anytime a different "joy" type is selected, the Reset option below the controller option must be performed.

 

Now, the input can be remapped to whatever is desired under "Console and Controller Inputs":

 

Or, if (undoing) reversed behavior (on the system being used) is the desired goal, leverage the "Analog Controls" menu: 

 

Change "On" under Paddle Reverse...

 

 

...to "On":

Of course, all other listed settings can be tweaked to preferred preference according to user experience.

[RevEng]

6 hours ago, karri said:

I tried to use paddles in a7800 but they were always reversed compared to a real 7800. So I could not use it for testing.

What underlying control device are you using? If I use a mouse with Circus Atari or Crazy Brix, it works normally for me. (without needing to reverse)