Changes to default model configurations?

[jbl007]

Since data cache emulation has been improved in recent WinUAE versions, it's probably a good idea to remove the default non-compatible config for the 030/040/060 CPUs:
https://github.com/FrodeSolheim/fs-u...ardware.c#L213
In addition, the new

cpu_data_cache

should be used.


Could be like so:

for accuracy=1:
cpu_compatible=true
cpu_data_cache=true

for accuracy=0:
cpu_compatible=true
cpu_data_cache=false

for accuracy=-1:
cpu_compatible=false
cpu_data_cache=false

Also memory/blitter cycle exact mode should be availabe for the big box Amiga models. What about introducing a new accuracy=2 mode? (not to break compatibility with older configs)

Edit:

chipset_subpixel=true

should be configurable too, so we can finally play WormsDC without glitches. :-)
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=103212

[FrodeSolheim]

I think your ideas make a lot of sense. This should definitively be considered for FS-UAE 4.0.

The original "accuracy" mechanism in FS-UAE is quite coarse, and with the plethora accuracy-related options (compatible cpu, cycle-exact cpu, chipset and/or memory, data caches, blitter-related options, etc), it is quite hard to boil this down a slider in one dimension. So another alternative to deprecated the accuracy option, make sure the default models are as good as possible for general use, introduce more official options to tweak it from there (*).

(*) Note, it has always been possible to apply and override any UAE emulation-related by prefixing the option name as seen in WinUAE config files with

uae_

. But I also want to try keep the number of promoted options - the ones I put in the face of the user - distilled to a minimum while still being usable, because otherwise it can quickly become overwhelming. So I need to try to find the most important ones, or the most important combination of options. And the more obscure settings for rare cases can be hidden more away, or even just be available as custom options you need to type yourself.

As another example of something that (maybe) needs considering is the default accuracy of the A1200 model, at least for WHDLoad games. Since the 68020 CPU isn't accurately emulated anyway, and since the WHDLoad games are often patched to be less dependent on the speed of the CPU, maybe using an "cycle-exact" A1200 model is just making it needlessly demanding to emulate. An Raspberry Pi 400 cannot in general run cycle-exact A1200 in FS-UAE, but with cycle-exact off, there is hope. So if cycle-exact is not important in this case, maybe it should default to off.

I haven't run any extensive testing on this though. An in general, I have quite little information about how the real-world compatibility of games and software is affected by these options, especially with newer WinUAE releases (**). So, I will appreciate input in this matter, to help figure out the best default settings in 2021, and what the most useful compatibility options to tweak are

(**) It probably makes sense to actually wait before making changes, until at least WinUAE 4.4 code is merged into FS-UAE.

(@jbl007: PS:

uae_chipset_subpixel=true

might work fine in FS-UAE 4.x already)