Would it make sense to build a newer version of Mame for Pistorm'ed Amigas?

[jeff b00toNic]

Hello everyone.

As stated in the title, older versions of MAME like 0.34 - 0.35 on Aminet run relatively well on a PiStorm-accelerated Amiga.

What do you think, how would a newer version of MAME perform on such a beast?

[stx2199]

I estimate on a pitstorm32 + R4 and a good 68k port of mame all arcade games from 1994 or older must run fine at full speed

the mame new port does not necessarily have to be very new
a port of mame 0.106 must be fine and is very compatible

and fact is I still use mameplus 0.106 on my pc which is from around 2006-2007 and I don't need nothing new

porting a current mame version or a new one should be much more complicated

btw, forget about running games as cruisn'usa or cruis' world or killer instinct, that requires lot of cpu power which the pitstorm32 and the Raspberry Pi 4 doesn't have not even close

[jeff b00toNic]

In one of his videos, MVG (Modern Vintage Gamer) talks about how he ported MAME to the first Xbox.
I believe it was version 0.60 or 0.61 that he considered particularly suitable for the Xbox.

I was searching for a suitable source code for the Amiga when I stumbled upon a 0.97 source for MorphOS.
When attempting to compile the source, I was able to compile all the PC sources at least.
However, when it came to the Amiga-specific files, the process unfortunately failed.

Since I have no programming experience, I have to admit that I have no idea
what to do to successfully compile everything. Although there were a few errors
I managed to handle along the way.

[VladR]

Out of curiosity, can you link the Git you were pulling from ?

I never ran MAME. What audio/video library is it using on PC ? Hopefully it's something reasonably multiplatform that has been compiled to run on Amiga too.

[jeff b00toNic]

It's unfortunately not from Github but from here: http://fabportnawak.free.fr/mame/?M=D/
You obviously need the PC source from mamedev.org as well

[Korban]

There's a v0.60 for 68k AmigaOS already, but its not on Aminet or anywhere else.

Its a big difference vs the versions on Aminet in terms of what works.
I use it on my Amithlon box semi regularly.
PiStorm is muuuuuuch slower, but should still be up to the task for things like MK3.

[Korban]

@VLadR

Both MAME and MESS use sdl 1.3.x up unto about v1.60 (or thereabout, cant recall exactly).
I compiled v1.21 for OS3.x/68k years ago and its actually very easy to get it to build.
I lost the binary though unfortunately.

[grelbfarlk]

I managed to build MAME2003 in Retroarch for WarpOS without really too much trouble.
I had never tried MESS much other than Amidog's version of it, so I don't know about that. Final Burn Alpha SDL is pretty easy to get built as well.

[jeff b00toNic]

Originally Posted by Korban

There's a v0.60 for 68k AmigaOS already, but its not on Aminet or anywhere else.

Its a big difference vs the versions on Aminet in terms of what works.
I use it on my Amithlon box semi regularly.
PiStorm is muuuuuuch slower, but should still be up to the task for things like MK3.

Can you upload your v0.60 68k to Aminet or the Zone?

[James]

Originally Posted by jeff b00toNic

Can you upload your v0.60 68k to Aminet or the Zone?

http://dasixk.free.fr/mame0.60LE+FRAMELIMIT.lzx

[jeff b00toNic]

Originally Posted by James

http://dasixk.free.fr/mame0.60LE+FRAMELIMIT.lzx

Thank you James!



PS:Anyone experiencing crashes with this version should increase the stack size.

[jeff b00toNic]

After testing this version, it can be said that it's better than nothing, but even a Pistom32 with an RPI4 doesn't bring 60 FPS.

CPS 1 games are well supported. For example, 'Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' runs at a full 60fps while Final Fight skips 1 to 2 frames.
It depends on the emulated CPU.
If more than one CPU is emulated, be sure that the game runs too slowly. Even R-Type, which emulates one V30 and one Z80, crawls.

I'm more interested in vertical shmups, which unfortunately all run too slowly without autoframeskip, which is really a shame.
Generally speaking, one can basically say what has already been said by others here.
Games from the mid-eighties to early nineties run quite well, everything else requires a faster processor but even on that, one can't always rely.
Nevertheless, a good emulator.

[Calabazam]

I would like to play Strider on the amiga with Mame.
I have two versions of Mame 68k and 68060 is slideshow, Vampire V2 is still slideshow.
Can the PiStorm do better?

[jeff b00toNic]

Originally Posted by Calabazam

I would like to play Strider on the amiga with Mame.
I have two versions of Mame 68k and 68060 is slideshow, Vampire V2 is still slideshow.
Can the PiStorm do better?

I would describe it as playable on an RPI4. A few frame drops here and there, but not a dealbreaker.

[Cris1997XX]

Originally Posted by Calabazam

I would like to play Strider on the amiga with Mame.
I have two versions of Mame 68k and 68060 is slideshow, Vampire V2 is still slideshow.
Can the PiStorm do better?

It'll run pretty well if you have a Pi4 or 5

[Dunny]

Originally Posted by Cris1997XX

It'll run pretty well if you have a Pi4 or 5

You can't run a PiStorm with a pi5.

[jeff b00toNic]

Finally, I was able to compile a proper 68k version that supports 8-bit screen modes and doesn't require a high stack to avoid crashing.

So, in 'the Zone' there's a freshly compiled v0.37b2 for anyone interested.

[jeff b00toNic]

One thing I really wanted was the ability to cheat, which wasn't possible with 0.37 and 0.60.

Here's another small update for V0.37b2 where the 'Cheat' menu is permanently enabled, and it works with the appropriate 'cheat.dat' file.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by jeff b00toNic

One thing I really wanted was the ability to cheat, which wasn't possible with 0.37 and 0.60.

Here's another small update for V0.37b2 where the 'Cheat' menu is permanently enabled, and it works with the appropriate 'cheat.dat' file.

Nice. Where is the PowerUp exe?

[jeff b00toNic]

Sorry to say, but I'm not targeting PowerUp-based systems.