Topic by Noxxa

Posted: 4/6/2014 6:37 PM

Quote

Noxxa

They/Them

Moderator, Expert player (4139)

Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4083
Location: The Netherlands

Warp wrote:

This looks shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.

You forgot to put up your fun avatar.

http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.

Posted: 4/6/2014 9:13 PM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

I'm running into all sorts of shouldn't-do-this-when-tired design issues and a few unexpected other issues I need to troubleshoot, so I don't know when this will even play an NES game, much less a Genesis/SMS/N64 game. There are lots of problems that require another board to be sent out for fab so getting something final is a while away yet. I'll post about it again when I have something significant to show.

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 4/13/2014 5:40 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

Code is coming along :) I also got my donor carts, so now I can use my smaller EPROMs for a clearing cart. Can someone make an NES ROM that set console RAM (0x0 - 0x7ff) to what FCEUX sets it to and maybe sets other things to power-on defaults? Edit: I made one that seems to show in emulator that it is clearing RAM to normal power on defaults for FCEUX. I tried cart swapping with reset held with Final Fantasy and I could reliably get through the first town (I never could before) - but it desynced afterward. So I'm not sure this is all that's needed, the cart swap method won't work, or there could be an emulation inaccuracy...

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 4/18/2014 4:07 PM

Quote

SoulCal

Active player (333)

Joined: 1/19/2010
Posts: 383
Location: Texas

Would it be conceivable for anyone with a SNES enabled bot to run games using the Super Gameboy? Just use the SNES controller input as a replacement for the handheld, and we could possibly verify GB titles.

Posted: 4/19/2014 2:49 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

Maybe. I have an SGB with Zelda nonDX and FFA on loan. I have been asking for a while if anyone can write a parser for VBA files or mod VBA to allow dumping control data from movie replay, but nobody seems interested. I've been busy with other things so I haven't done this myself yet, so unless someone else does it it will be a while before I do.

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 4/26/2014 10:17 PM

Quote

Buddybenj

He/Him

Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA

SoulCal wrote:

Would it be conceivable for anyone with a SNES enabled bot to run games using the Super Gameboy? Just use the SNES controller input as a replacement for the handheld, and we could possibly verify GB titles.

I've always been curious about handheld verifications. I hope we start seeing them. I'm not sure exactly how it would work, with the exception of the SGB idea mentioned.

Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.

Posted: 4/27/2014 9:17 PM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

For most handhelds, it would require modification to force contact closure on the contacts, and a sync source to sync with the device. This is possible on most handhelds. For GB/GBC specifically, we do have SGB, and as I said above I am willing to work on it but my priority right now is getting MultiReplay working. Which, speaking of MultiReplay, I just got it working =) It synced SMB3 glitched from cold power-on being powered only by the console. I also tested Double Dragon and didn't play to the end, but it synced until I stopped it. The code is a bit different from the NES Replay device so I guess this could be considered yet another implementation. A lot of work left, and a lot of cleanup, but progress is being made...

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 5/3/2014 11:06 PM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

MultiReplay progress ---- NES replay is working. SNES general and multitap are next to try out; I wrote the code for it but haven't tested it yet. Genesis control is working but I still have bugs to work out and need something to try verifying. I'll post a demo video of the UI and the device in action soon. Edit: After some changes I was able to mostly verify GhostSonic's modified Sonic 1 run. It desyncs in various areas and in fact rarely starts on my console. Like games for SNES, I may need to generate clocks to get this console to sync. Also, for anyone else wanting to directly output for Genesis, timing is a bit weird. Sonic 1 (and I suspect many games) will hold select low for about 6 microseconds, but will actually read the button state within 2 microseconds. ISR on most micros will be a bitch here. With this Genesis trial, it looks like I will be _barely_ fast enough to do N64 decoding. (With SRS, I am at just below 600ns, just in time to read the first bit...) micro500, how were you detecting N64 trying to talk to you? Polling or ISR?

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/7/2014 2:35 AM

Quote

micro500

Emulator Coder, Player (68)

Joined: 10/4/2005
Posts: 197

The microcontroller runs at 80MHz which turned out to be just enough time to handle the pulse lengths of the protocol. The microcontroller also has no interrupts, so it is just constantly listening for data. I believe I used a sort of "wait for pin to go low/high" function to pause until that state happens.

Posted: 6/10/2014 6:54 AM

Quote

jesionaj

Joined: 6/10/2014
Posts: 3

True wrote:

For most handhelds, it would require modification to force contact closure on the contacts, and a sync source to sync with the device. This is possible on most handhelds.

I'm trying my hand at making a GBA bot, but the input syncing is definitely my sticking point at the moment. How would you suggest doing it? My current strategy is to just set the inputs for an approximate vblank cycle, since I don't think there's any way to get a pulse as you'd have in a console's controller. The timings seem to be too difficult though, setting it close to a vblank (16.7 ms based on a 16.8 MHz (2^24 Hz) CPU and 280,896 cycles/vblank) leads to dropped inputs. Setting it higher shows that it works, but obviously leads to immediate desyncing. Edit: Oh, the LCD pinout has a VSYNC pin, that should give me what I need. Not sure why I didn't start looking there!

Posted: 6/12/2014 4:51 AM

Quote

SoulCal

Active player (333)

Joined: 1/19/2010
Posts: 383
Location: Texas

If you do GBA verifications, could you use the same bot to make GB and GBC verifications? Or is the hardware variation between the various gameboys going to affect things like clock speed, RNG, and how each game functions? Good luck to you, I just wish that I could help.

Posted: 6/12/2014 5:17 PM

Quote

Weatherton

Experienced player (601)

Joined: 10/23/2004
Posts: 706

Why not use the Game Boy Player and the GameCube? That or a (harder to find) Wide Boy 64 for the N64.

Current Project: - Mario Kart 64

Posted: 6/20/2014 12:23 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

REV4 MultiReplay boards finally came in. Very busy but I will try to find time to assemble one and show it off. It's also able to verify non-multitap multiplayer SNES but a few roadblocks are in my way for working fast multitap support. Conversion boards for the old NES/SNES replay device also came in so I can now use this with the same connectors as the MultiReplay to verify troublesome SNES runs until I get time to fix MultiReplay, or simply as a second device to confirm desyncs. It's really simple but I didn't want to have multiple connectors for multiple devices. (If you have the old device and want one of these, let me know) Shown with the beta REV2 device:

EDIT: New MR device soldered up. Have a schematic error that got transferred to the PCB but it can be corrected in firmware, but as long as someone gets my early dev model I'll have to have two firmwares :) But everything else seems to be working well on it. Maybe I'll make the video tomorrow...

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/22/2014 11:13 PM

Post subject: MultiReplay demo video and Rockman sync on US MegaMan cart

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

It's been shopped, you can tell from some of the pixels. Link to video

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/22/2014 11:48 PM

Quote

CoolKirby

Editor, Experienced player (608)

Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012

Very nice! Would you mind if this video was linked to in the currently published movie, or were you thinking of making a video of just the movie playing back? Also, since MultiReplay can sync NES TASes that use 2 controllers, would it be able to play back Kirby's Adventure "game end glitch"?

Posted: 6/23/2014 12:52 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

Re: 2 players, the first movie I verified was a 2 player run: [1556] NES Rush'n Attack "2 players" by Randil in 09:35.90 My old device could do that. Right now the only things this new device does that my old one doesn't do are play Genesis and support high-bitrate playback. Oh, and it doesn't require a computer to play back and is easier to set up, and the connectors don't break because you aren't soldering Nintendo's frail, unsolderable wire. I even made an adapter for the old device so I wouldn't have to deal with that (see ~3 posts back). Re: Kirby, unlike most NES games which poll only when they can use input, Kirby polls every frame, even if it lags. Now this wouldn't be an issue except for a second property, which is that timing in console is different for Kirby than it is on emulator, so it desyncs. The emulator seems slightly fast compared to console. With other games this very well may be happening at times but it is masked by not asking for input unless it can use it. For this specific run, had you read the thread, I already tried it. See here for details. Basically emulation needs to improve to verify Kirby, and when that happens the runs will need to be re-run on the new emulator.

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/23/2014 2:04 AM

Quote

CoolKirby

Editor, Experienced player (608)

Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012

I had read that topic, but I remember the discussion continuing on into another thread where you explained why the last fm2 MESHUGGAH posted didn't sync. I had read that one, but that was around a year ago, I can't find it and I didn't remember the reason why. When the Mega Man run synced when you added a second controller, I thought the problem for Kirby might have been the absence of the second controller. In any case, I appreciate your detailed explanation and I hope we get a more console-accurate emulator in the future. If I'm still around then, I could try to sync the run on it so you could test it on console. I also linked to your video from the Mega Man run's movie description (starting at 1:53). It can always be changed out in the future for a more "traditional" console-verification video with the camera just watching the TV screen, but I think it's good enough. Plus, in its current form, I think it serves as good advertising for the MultiReplay.

Posted: 6/23/2014 2:11 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

Honestly that Kirby run may have been missing a second controller, so I'll try it again. Edit: just tried, same result, so I probably was using both controllers. Re: movie, yes there will eventually be a proper movie for Mega Man.

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/23/2014 2:53 PM

Post subject: Re: MultiReplay demo video and Rockman sync on US MegaMan cart

Quote

pirohiko

Skilled player (1768)

Joined: 5/7/2008
Posts: 187
Location: Japan

True wrote:

It's been shopped, you can tell from some of the pixels. Link to video

It is very good!

Posted: 6/24/2014 4:56 AM

Quote

True

Editor, Player (68)

Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663

Genesis Update I probed around a bit on an early Genesis Model 2 tonight and half turned on some thinking abilities to try to figure out why Sonic 1 seems to have such wildly different startups. Basically, Sonic 1 on console will have different lag periods and sometimes different frame counts at and around the opening SEGA scream. Everything is divided down from one master clock, so I was thinking it was a clock phase issue. So I probed around a bit, just to document: * The clock is still divided and running when the CPUs are reset by the main ASIC. Whatever counters are involved are not reset. Which makes sense; it doesn't realistically matter. * Holding the Z80 in reset, Sonic 1 boots and runs fine. I'm sure it's no surprise, Sonic 1 doesn't use the Z80 at all. * Every boot of Sonic 1 results in different lag timings, and sometimes different frame counts. It doesn't matter if the console is hot or cold. Two very cold attempts will still result in very different results. So what I think now is the same as what I was thinking, just with different parts: the clock phase difference between the VDP and 68K is the root cause of the non-determinism. CPU and sound clocks are divided by 7, VDP and Z80 (I think) by 15. LCM of these dividers is 105, so this might explain why Sonic 1 syncs so rarely but does sometimes sync. (This is with GhostSonic's input file; I don't know what he changed with it.) My next thing to try is a phase detect reset circuit to try to force the clocks to be in phase (as I imagine an emulator would do). With this, even if the run doesn't sync at first, I could at least see if it results in a deterministic Sonic 1 boot. And if it does, it's only a matter of shifting the offset around until we get a deterministic, repeatable sync... (Note to the console verification complainers: yes, this would mean I would have a modified console for verification. However the modification only means I don't have to try hundreds of times for a sync that IS otherwise possible on console, just one in a hundred times on average.) Would anyone mind looking at what happens during Sonic 1 boot? Is there any crazy shit going on? Anything funny with VDP registers?

true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried

Posted: 6/24/2014 1:52 PM

Quote

feos

Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)

Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU

Most of the Genesis pros I know about hang out here: http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 They certainly must know the answers.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 6/26/2014 12:20 AM

Quote

Potato_Stomper

Joined: 7/29/2009
Posts: 55

may not really belong here, but can someone test if this run plays back on console? http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/493401020/smb-114.fm2

Posted: 6/26/2014 5:14 AM

Quote

Spikestuff

They/Them

Editor, Publisher, Expert player (2292)

Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6337
Location: The land down under.

Potato Stomper wrote:

may not really belong here, but can someone test if this run plays back on console?

seconding this... I'm interested to know what the verified time would be...

WebNations/Sabih wrote:

+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.

Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.

Posted: 6/26/2014 6:49 PM

Quote

GhostSonic

He/Him

Joined: 3/14/2013
Posts: 61

Spikestuff wrote:

Potato Stomper wrote:
may not really belong here, but can someone test if this run plays back on console?
seconding this... I'm interested to know what the verified time would be...

Would it be terrible if I re-synced it the Mario + Duck Hunt rom? The standalone cart is harder to find that it needs to be.

Dirty SNES TASBot code on GitHub

Posted: 6/26/2014 9:21 PM

Quote

Potato_Stomper

Joined: 7/29/2009
Posts: 55

GhostSonic wrote:

Would it be terrible if I re-synced it the Mario + Duck Hunt rom? The standalone cart is harder to find that it needs to be.

besides that you'd need to add a few frames at the start of the movie, it should be the same, so I would appreciate it