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Link to videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHSa0JS9pf4&feature=youtu.be
SRT file for the video
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638460479306444404
Organized for readability but basically the script from the tutorial video.
1) What is MAME.
MAME is a multi arcade machine emulator that emulates arcade machines, computer systems, and more. The user must supply the roms, software, and any other files needed like bios or extra data files such as chd.
You can view the main MAME site at https://mamedev.org/ or for more documentation and resources from https://docs.mamedev.org/. However the main site I recommend for this tutorial is from http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/. Arcade Italia has a search for the games and will list the status and the files needed to run them along with other useful information.
2) What a MAME arcade game zip contains.
MAME arcade zips will contain all the necessary files that completes the romset. Separate files in the form of chd files or bios files may be needed as well.
3) Difference between merged and unmerged game zips.
Romsets for arcade games come in two main flavors, merged and unmerged.
Merged romsets will combine the files together such that files are not duplicated. Non merged zips have all the files duplicated and this is what BizHawk needs.
adb.arcadeitalia.net lists out the necessary files needed to create an unmerged zip if you are unable to find a nonmerged zip for your game.
Keep in mind that MAME is updated frequently and many romsets change over time. It is important to get a romset from the same version to test. Otherwise the game might not work.
4) Game Status
In Arcade Italia, Searching the title and looking at the game status is usually enough to determine if a game will run well.
Green means Good and should always work.
Yellow means Imperfect. There can be minor issues.
Red means Preliminary. This means that the rom may not work at all. You will have play through it to the end to check for play ability. These may not boot or may crash at certain points, or have minor graphical issues.
Make sure to always avoid games that have a "bad dumb" status.
*If the save state shows not supported or imperfect BizHawk should still be able to use save states with the game perfectly. The way MAME is implemented in BizHawk would make the save states work regardless.
*In BizHawk after loading the game there a clickable icon on the bottom left that will open up a popup with dump info. If the dump is good the icon will be a green checkmark if the game works perfectly or a red exclamation point. A question mark icon will be shown if the status of the loaded file is unknown. The question mark may appear when loading through xml. The info popup window will have information like the full name, the short name, resolution, aspect ratio, framerate, status of the dump, and the individual roms.
5) Example Running Some Games5a) Karnovhttp://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=karnov&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Karnov has all Good status as well as being a good dump.
Under the required files for MAME It only requires the main romset karnov.zip.
Single romset games like this can be run by dragging and dropping the single romset zip into the BizHawk window.
Another way to run is to use
File -> Open Advanced -> In Arcade section click Launch Game.
5b) Area 51http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=area51&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Area 51 has all Good status as well as being a good dump.
By looking in the required files on the page we can see that Area 51 also requires a CHD file in addition to the romset zip area51.zip.
To run Area 51,
From the menu select Tools -> Multi-disk Bundler. The Multidisk Bundler creates an xml file that alllows Bizhawk to load multiple files at once.
Under the Name section select Browse. Browse the location you want the xml file to be created, name the file something like the same name as the game, and save.
Then Under the System dropdown select "Arcade".
Below that there is the areas to select the files that will be loaded. The Order is Romset, CHD, Bios files.
For the first file load area51.zip, and in the second load area51.chd.
Click Save, or Save and Run.
Once the xml file is created it does not need to be recreated to run the game. The xml file can be dragged and dropped into the Bizhawk window to load the game.
Download area51.xml
5c) Guilty Gear XXhttp://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=ggxx&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Guilty Gear XX has a preliminary status but it is a good dump. There are screen shots so it should run, but this game might have serious issues.
By looking in the required files on the page we can see that Guilty Gear XX requires the romset, a chd file, and various Bios files.
To run Guilty Gear XX ,
From the menu select Tools -> Multi-disk Bundler. The Multidisk Bundler creates an xml file that alllows Bizhawk to load multiple files at once.
Under the Name section select Browse. Browse the location you want the xml file to be created, name the file something like the same name as the game, and save.
Then Under the System dropdown select "Arcade".
Below that there is the areas to select the files that will be loaded. The Order is Romset, CHD, Bios files.
For the first file load ggxx.zip
In the second load gdl-0011.chd.
Use the "Add" button on the bottom to add additional spots to add more files.
Go through and add the additional Bios files.
Click Save, or Save and Run.
Once the xml file is created it does not need to be recreated to run the game. The xml file can be dragged and dropped into the Bizhawk window to load the game.
XML where all the files are in the same directory:
Download ggxx.xml
XML file example if the files are in different directories using relative paths. Relative paths may be phased out.
The order is: Game -> CHD -> Bios
*from Spikestuff
Guilty Gear XX as a full example of that:
Download ggxx.xml
6) Where to access dipswitches in Bizhawk
Game options for most arcade games are changed through Dipswitches which are manual electric switches. Some games have an in game menu that can change settings however.
To change dipswitch settings for a game in Bizhawk,
Load the game
Look at the top Bizhawk Menu Select Arcade -> Settings.
After making changes you should Reboot the core. Reboot the core by selecting Emulation -> Reboot Core.
7) Arcade Inputs
In BizHawk go to Config-> Controllers.
For Arcade games most require Coin inputs, then after inputting the number of coins the game needs to run an additional start button is needed. Coin and Start can be found on the Console tab.
To map the other buttons select the relevant player.
The number and type of controls can vary depending on the game. Buttons, analog controls, lightguns, and some games have up to 5 players.
8) Ram Search and Ram Watch
Ram Search (Tools->Ram Search) and Ram Watch (Tools -> Ram Watch) work as well. For the Memory Domains use the RAM domains. The SystemBus can cause de-syncs just by searching and reading the values so avoid this.
Available Memory Domains will depend on the game.
A Tutorial for Ram Search
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pM1kG5uorA8) TAStudio
In the input roll "C" is for coin and the "s" is usually the service button which might lead to other options depending on the game. Emulated machines with a lot of different inputs may have "!" for inputs. To find what those are it is necessary to test them. Robotron 2084 is an arcade game example where lots of "!" inputs would need to be tested for functionality.
To hide specific players like Player 2 inputs, in the TAStudio window select "Show Columns" then deselect the "Show Player 2" for example.
Arcade games will not show lag frames with the red coloring in TAStudio. To change the frame's color a LUA script will be needed.
Open up LuaConsole by Tools-> LuaConsole.
A script will need to be added to list and made active. You can tell if the script is active if the green play icon is displayed next to the script name.
The script needs an address that changes based on whether or not the game is accepting input. This is something game dependent.
A ManualSetLag Script can be downloaded from the link below. Just change the address on line 15 in the memory byte read. This script currently only works with Karnov so make sure to input an address that works for your game.
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638459887754146781
*Original script is from feos AKA vadosnaprimer
Introduction to TAStudio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzDjBO7_fWk
An Introduction tutorial for Lua can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUj4j0le6x8the
A Tutorial for the Lua Console can be found here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0D-OogDJOI
A Tutorial for Common Lua Functions can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1yEtXz7UqY9) Arcade Load Error Troubleshooting
If you load a game that is incomplete it is most like a merged file. When you attempt to load the game it fails to load the arcade game.
File-> Open Advanced -> "Launch Game" from the Mame Arcade area.
A "Choose File from Archive" window will pop up with the list of roms in the romset. This means the file has some sort of problem like being incomplete.
Click Cancel
An "Arcade Load Error" popup will appear that will list exactly the issue.
This will usually tell you the roms that are missing. If this is the case find a non merged romset zip for the game. Or you could find the missing files and add them to the romset zip. Make sure you also are getting the zips from the same MAME romset release version. MAME is frequently updated so trying to mix and match roms from different release sets may not work.
*Screenshots below show an example of a failed load using a merged romset zip of Karnov. It is missing several roms. Get a nonmerged romset or find the missing roms and add them to the merged romset zip to run in BizHawk.
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I want to make a tutorial(s) for using MAME in BizHawk. This post will list some ideas below. In a separate post then write up a subtitle script since those can be used with other languages. If there are any other ideas for how to explain or what to include for this please post below.
1) What is MAME.
2) What a MAME arcade game zip contains.
3) Difference between merged and unmerged game zips. Explain importance of making sure the rom files are from the same MAME rom set version.
4) How to determine if a game is good or not.
5) How to determine if a MAME arcade game zip needs extra files and how to put to together a zip that is missing contents.
6) Where to access dipswitches in Bizhawk
7) Show TasStudio input buttons like Coin and the unusual "!" inputs and explain those will have to be tested for functionality.
8) Show example of a multiplayer game. I have Megaman Power Battle 2 example.
9) Show analog controls. I could show Cyber Sled example.
10) How to use the multidisk bundler for multi disk games.. Show two examples of arcade games that require other files like chd files. Show how it works in MAME first. *Note still have not been able to use the other method of zipping with the same game name successfully. Might skip this unless someone else has a video of this working which I could just drop into this section.
11) Briefly show Ram watch. Explain to only use RAM areas. Do not use SystemBus since it may change values and cause a desync.
12) Briefly show Lua script that shows slowdown. I have a script that works for Karnov that does this.
13) ????? Anything else ?????
Not sure if there should be anything else. Especially for troubleshooting.
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Liked the impressive speed going through these levels although it is difficult to really understand what is happening on some of the levels like Stray Sheep 2:43:23 where it looks like someone is digging into the ceiling then the round ends? Many levels have the camera away from the lemmings to improve speed so maybe a brief description of the less straightforward levels would help. As far as the 100% goal, the level "Out away from the tune" 2:43:23 detonates a lemming so not 100% is saved. Perhaps there is some way to get a lemmings to clip up through the ceiling and then dig down to save 100%? Two heads are better than... 2:46:43 seems like a level that requires detonation normally so 100% looks impossible.
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One other potential improvement I noticed, and this is definitely something that would have to be brute forced, is that it might be possible to manipulate the same floor tileset on each warp, since it looks like the game has to load different tilesets. It looked to me like each load takes about the same time as a warp, so it might actually be worth manipulating shorter loadless warps even if it means a couple extra warps are needed at the end.
Samsara you may be right here. Instead of trying for the maximum jumps, going for shorter loads could work to be faster.
The game is really really rng heavy and would take someone like jlun2 to really dig into it to minimize the time. As far as manipulating the end layouts you can get the end door to be quite close to you. While I do not know if the end can appear right on the tile next to you I was able to get it within a couple tiles several times, but on almost every one of those the boss was off somewhere else. Honestly the one of the most time consuming manipulations was for the Warp Rod since getting it in an unlocked chest in the first place took a long time. That would be maybe a good place to look for an improvement if someone is really looking to improve this.
Items needing to be tracked: self grid position, boss position, exit door position, jump rod status, warp rod status.
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I liked the stages that were done. The Super Monkey Ball games just seem like fun games and the variation in stage height and moving platforms keeps my interest.
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This looks like a good platformer with good level design and variation with the various creature summons. The autoscroller sections are also very short so did not get annoying like in a lot of games. Liked some the tricks used to skip damage like the falling while signing, or singing to move the camera away while a monster moved through you. Good job!
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This submission is very well optimized. I was unable to find any improvements while poking around. Resource management makes sense and paths taken look good. The positioning of the plane is spot on to get the missiles to hit all the intended grouped targets. That final plane fight looked pretty tricky to as fast as it was. Enjoyed watching this one!
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fsvgm777 wrote:
CoolHandMike wrote:
I have a question about the branch "Lunatic Perfect Scoring" though. The difficulty is Lunatic, but what does "perfect scoring" mean?
According to the submission comments, it seems "perfect scoring" is described as not losing any lives as well as not using any bombs whilst doing some scoring strats.
Right, the shmup communities have their own challenge categories. In the video comment it has (LNNFS) in it so I guess Lunatic No miss No bomb Full Spell?
Looking around this submission does seem to be the highest I can find without digging super deep for this category. The other highest scores are around~1.3 billion while this tas is ~2 billion. Very nice!
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Ok so tested the Cartwheel cancel for the elbow like the Gen version describes and it is exactly the same result. The damage rate is the same. It just alternates with multiple frames of L or R depending on what direction you want in between the elbow attack.
For the Miles fight I tried and I cannot get a faster setup for the left side. I always get pushed out once miles is pushed right by the audience. No idea why so leaving that as is. Also for the jumping special kick I also cannot get the right spot setup. So if someone can get the positioning right that could be a spot of possible improvement. Leaving this as is since I cannot get an improvement.
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rythin wrote:
Taking hits leads to a pretty lengthy stun animation during which I can't shoot, you can see it at around 1 minute in the one damage boost of the run. To be fair I didn't time taking damage vs dodging but every boss except for mario maintains max fire rate despite jumping. Mario is the only one that loses a couple frames per jump (i believe i was like 1 or 2?), which is still a lot less time than the stun animation.
Stun looks like half a second to a second, probably a worth a check though for Masochist. As far as i can tell everything else looks good!
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Dimon12321 wrote:
I thought Genesis version was bizarre. This one... is too, but it also has better graphics and sound xD
Oh man. I had searched to see if a tas was already made, but i must have misspelled it when searching originally somehow. Bizarre how similar our strategies are! I liked that air jump into the special kick on the Miles fight. There is SOME random thing I got where I got more air when throwing a guy for some reason once, so that might improve that fight if I could throw from further away and then jump into a special kick. Might be tricky with the positioning though. Also the way the elbow spam is done is described differently in his tas. It sounds like he is using the cartwheel to cancel the elbow then repeating that. Will check into those.
Not sure how similar the Genesis version is to the Arcade, but if the weapon placement could be manipulated that one Angela fight could be improved in the Genesis version by making weapons not appear near her. Seeing how he even throws the barrel but noticing it not breaking open to give him a powerup. Maybe the Genesis version has no powerup? Also wonder if the special is cancel-able with the cartwheel in that Genesis version like the Arcade version. Not that I want to do more Pit Fighter anytime soon after this.
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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
No dipswitches were changed from default since none have any difficulty settings.
Actually, there is difficulty settings. See from the original manual, page 12:
(5) One-player game difficulties A (easiest) to E (most difficult) (Factory setting: C)
The submitted movie is already acceptable as is, with the standard difficulty. However I wanted to make sure that this reflects your intention. Are you ok with having the current submission accepted, or would you prefer to cancel it?
Yes please accept with the standard difficulty in that case.
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I think the game choice is good but have some questions.
1) Where is the hard difficulty option in the menu? Could not find it in game or videos for a Hard mode.
2) Why are the axis inverted and auto Leveling settings changed?
3) Is there significance to have 89% sensitivity instead of 100%?
4) Looks like a lot was played with a controller. How much of the game uses tas inputs?
Noticed that part with the van in the first level, how you go up pretty close to the enemies to shoot them, then slowly back up towards the door while shooting them. I tested sniping headshots all the way near the door that opens after you kill all of them and that works. I would expect activating the trigger that causes the van, then running towards the door, quickly getting the headshots from right next to it would be best. Already being where you need to be for the next trigger can help a lot.
A lot of movement also seems to be not quite taking the shortest path from point to point, but instead using curving arcs. What might help is to immediately after taking a turn is to then find the right angle immediately towards the next goal and use that. Try not to adjust the angle on the way.
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This is a good tas with some interesting things I have not seen before like the floating cross boss teleporting around. A lot of very familiar strategies shown throughout. Very similar to the PCE port. Yes vote.
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I can tell a lot of effort was put into this tas, and I enjoyed checking it out. Ground targets are high priority over air ones. One interesting thing in this game is those yellow "chaser bullets" that certain enemies fire. This chaser bullets will start chasing your ship if you you can rapidly fire on them. They seem to not go away as long as you can keep them on screen, and the shots from the ship can hit more than one on the same frame if they are close enough to each other and the shot can hit them. I do suspect the score can go up higher since those chaser can essentially be farmed for 100 points every other frame. But this would be nontrivial since those bullet patterns and the tradeoffs of not hitting ground targets could be detrimental in a lot of areas. Ground targets can range from hundreds to thousands of points. Also good job on finding all those hidden ground targets.
Example of near end before extra stage was able to loop one of the yellow shots that was missed that i was able to sync to get 7331680. This game is surprisingly friendly to make changes to which is good news for any future updates.
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638428767140434710
2) What a MAME arcade game zip contains.
MAME arcade zips will contain all the necessary files that completes the romset. Separate files in the form of chd files or bios files may be needed as well.
3) Difference between merged and unmerged game zips.
Romsets for arcade games come in two main flavors, merged and unmerged.
Merged romsets will combine the files together such that files are not duplicated. Non merged zips have all the files duplicated and this is what BizHawk needs.
adb.arcadeitalia.net lists out the necessary files needed to create an unmerged zip if you are unable to find a nonmerged zip for your game.
Keep in mind that MAME is updated frequently and many romsets change over time. It is important to get a romset from the same version to test. Otherwise the game might not work.
4) Game Status
In Arcade Italia, Searching the title and looking at the game status is usually enough to determine if a game will run well.
5) Example Running Some Games
5a) Karnov
http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=karnov&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Karnov has all Good status as well as being a good dump.
Under the required files for MAME It only requires the main romset karnov.zip.
Single romset games like this can be run by dragging and dropping the single romset zip into the BizHawk window.
Another way to run is to use
File -> Open Advanced -> In Arcade section click Launch Game.
5b) Area 51
http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=area51&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Area 51 has all Good status as well as being a good dump.
By looking in the required files on the page we can see that Area 51 also requires a CHD file in addition to the romset zip area51.zip.
To run Area 51,
5c) Guilty Gear XX
http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=ggxx&arcade_only=0&autosearch=1
Guilty Gear XX has a preliminary status but it is a good dump. There are screen shots so it should run, but this game might have serious issues.
By looking in the required files on the page we can see that Guilty Gear XX requires the romset, a chd file, and various Bios files.
To run Guilty Gear XX ,
6) Where to access dipswitches in Bizhawk
Game options for most arcade games are changed through Dipswitches which are manual electric switches. Some games have an in game menu that can change settings however.
To change dipswitch settings for a game in Bizhawk,
7) Arcade Inputs
In BizHawk go to Config-> Controllers.
For Arcade games most require Coin inputs, then after inputting the number of coins the game needs to run an additional start button is needed. Coin and Start can be found on the Console tab.
To map the other buttons select the relevant player.
The number and type of controls can vary depending on the game. Buttons, analog controls, lightguns, and some games have up to 5 players.
8) Ram Search and Ram Watch
Ram Search (Tools->Ram Search) and Ram Watch (Tools -> Ram Watch) work as well. For the Memory Domains use the RAM domains. The SystemBus can cause de-syncs just by searching and reading the values so avoid this.
Available Memory Domains will depend on the game.
A Tutorial for Ram Search
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pM1kG5uorA
8) TAStudio
In the input roll "C" is for coin and the "s" is usually the service button which might lead to other options depending on the game. Emulated machines with a lot of different inputs may have "!" for inputs. To find what those are it is necessary to test them. Robotron 2084 is an arcade game example where lots of "!" inputs would need to be tested for functionality.
To hide specific players like Player 2 inputs, in the TAStudio window select "Show Columns" then deselect the "Show Player 2" for example.
Arcade games will not show lag frames with the red coloring in TAStudio. To change the frame's color a LUA script will be needed.
Open up LuaConsole by Tools-> LuaConsole.
A script will need to be added to list and made active. You can tell if the script is active if the green play icon is displayed next to the script name.
The script needs an address that changes based on whether or not the game is accepting input. This is something game dependent.
A ManualSetLag Script can be downloaded from the link below. Just change the address on line 15 in the memory byte read. This script currently only works with Karnov so make sure to input an address that works for your game.
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638459887754146781
*Original script is from feos AKA vadosnaprimer
Introduction to TAStudio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzDjBO7_fWk
An Introduction tutorial for Lua can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUj4j0le6x8the
A Tutorial for the Lua Console can be found here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0D-OogDJOI
A Tutorial for Common Lua Functions can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1yEtXz7UqY
9) Arcade Load Error Troubleshooting
If you load a game that is incomplete it is most like a merged file. When you attempt to load the game it fails to load the arcade game.
