ARpiCADE 3.X (that's a ten, I thought 10 may be confusing...)

[dee2eR]

ARpiCADE 3.X is here.

If you use a low res monitor this is really worth updating for. If you have a high res monitor and don't care about BOR it's prob not...

- improved resolution switching
more accurate refresh rates, more of them (35 diff refresh rates, I think - I didn't actually count them...)
most games (I think...) should be running at or very close to their original refresh rates
this can fix little pops in audio or stutters in scrolling
non interlaced low resolutions are now all 1920 wide (previously a mix of widths)

- openBOR added
popular game engine mainly used for beat em ups, has a few limits on RPi but works well enough
there's an option in the service menu to unpack bor packs so they'l work on Pi (make sure you have plenty of space in /boot)
once they're unpacked scan them from Attract-Mode (there's no auto scanning set up for BOR yet)

- automated menu rotation Attract-Mode layouts (themes that have 'auto' in the name)
if you rotate to vertical from the service menu Attract-Mode themes supporting the feature will rotate automatically
supported by 4 themes currently:
AttracMan_auto
basic-crt_auto
SDarcadeMod_v4-auto [EDIT]this one is broken[end EDIT]
Unified-auto (and the 3 other layouts that are part of the whole Unified ecosystem)

- AdvMAME 3.9 added for games that don't play well in AdvMAME with the low res modded SDL 1.2
games in the nosdl array will now run in 3.9 - this should improve the rendering for some games

- overhauled the launchers for Retroarch cores
they now are simpler and use an external script to deal with a lot of the logic that was repeated in each script previously

- change to service menu - separated rotation from resolution options
rotation is no longer set in config.txt (unless you have to flip the screen) now uses empty boot/vert.txt to set vertical
just use the rotation option in the service menu and you don't have to worry about it...

Tested on Pi3B+ but should work on any Pi3 or Pi2.
https://mega.nz/file/xsEWlRpJ#olL0RJeF4 ... kAwJ_nMHWI

I recommend @frizzlefried guide to resizing your SD card found here: http://idahogaragecade.com/2018/02/02/h ... ory-cards/

As usual I welcome all feedback, suggestions and bug reports (hopefully I haven't added too many bugs).

EDIT bugfixes:
AdvMAME 3.9 Vert monitor fix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16kxoiW ... sp=sharing (just overwrite /boot/launchers/advmame.sh with this new one).

@cool_factor PlayStation low res width fix: https://drive.google.com/open?id=160IoQ ... PTbKkukQCE (thanks cool_factor)

ANOTHER EDIT:
NEW! ARpiCADE 3.X instructions and FAQ update: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14LQije ... sp=sharing -- still not the greatest instructions ever, sorry about that...

updated launchers for 172 and 203 to hopefully help make the MAME menu more readable: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iM4aBI ... sp=sharing -- once you have downloaded and uncompressed just overwrite the launchers in /boot/launchers/ with the 2 new ones. You may want to back up the old just in case, probably safe not to though.

YET ANOTHER EDIT:
3.X.1 update, has the fixes from above and a couple more resolutions available (including qbert). Also I've tried to make the various different res/refreshs line up with each other a bit better. There's also a better four player adaptor setup with working hotkeys and hopefully less tweaking needed.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBiiNF ... sp=sharing
it's an update to 3.X so unzip and put the update.sh and update folder into /boot/config-updater/ and then update from the service menu.
As always any feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!

[VeryApe121]

Quick question...and maybe this is the wrong thread, but I just downloaded and imaged my SD for 3.X.

Is there any way to update the MAME versions, or add a new one manually? I'd like to get .220 working if possible.

[dee2eR]

You could add MAME 0.220 (assuming there's space for it on the SD partitions).

You will need to compile it for Pi, including doing any patches you want first. Once you have MAME ready you need to add a launcher (prob easiest to copy MAME 0.203s launcher), rom folder, art folders, Attract-Mode config and any in MAME config you need. Also you will want to add it to the rom scanner...

Is there something specific you want 0.220 for? After all that it may not add much that you can't already do.

[NeoSurfer]

Detour,

This 3.X build is great!!! THANK YOU!!!

Questions:

- How do I access the main service/systems menu. Previously I held down 1player button and Sonic would exit me out so i could change HI/LOW res, or rescan my game files. I know it automatic now, my concern is I do not have videos showing game PREVIEWs in Game menus. Did not know if an old school re-scan would remedy this issue. Or should I transfer Previews from 3.83(ish).

- I would love to add Naomi to this build. (I followed your instructions to free space...worked like a charm!!) I want this emulator for Atomiswave games...and possibly Virtua Fighter/Killer instinct, Hard Driving?

Thanks for what you do!!!! OG Games forever!!!

-NeoSurfer

[dee2eR]

Detour,

This 3.X build is great!!! THANK YOU!!!

Questions:

- How do I access the main service/systems menu. Previously I held down 1player button and Sonic would exit me out so i could change HI/LOW res, or rescan my game files. I know it automatic now, my concern is I do not have videos showing game PREVIEWs in Game menus. Did not know if an old school re-scan would remedy this issue. Or should I transfer Previews from 3.83(ish).

- I would love to add Naomi to this build. (I followed your instructions to free space...worked like a charm!!) I want this emulator for Atomiswave games...and possibly Virtua Fighter/Killer instinct, Hard Driving?

Thanks for what you do!!!! OG Games forever!!!

-NeoSurfer

Exit to the service menu has changed (a while ago) to 'service' (cab button) or 'f4' (on keyboard). However, rescanning the roms won't help with your missing previews - best to copy the ones from your older build to the new one. There will be some previews on the 3.X release but there isn't space for a full set on an 8 gig image. 3.83 is getting pretty old so check the preview folders haven't changed before dumping it all in.

For Naomi and Atomiswave stuff you'll need a Pi4 and ARpiCADE 4.(whatever version) - the emulator that runs them well won't run on Pi3. I don't think I've tried Hard Drivin on Pi4 but KI is very playable (not quite perfect though and KI2 doesn't run nearly as well), the DC version of Virtua Fighter 3tb also works but the arcade versions of the Virtua Fighter games not so much (I think...).

[VeryApe121]

You could add MAME 0.220 (assuming there's space for it on the SD partitions).

You will need to compile it for Pi, including doing any patches you want first. Once you have MAME ready you need to add a launcher (prob easiest to copy MAME 0.203s launcher), rom folder, art folders, Attract-Mode config and any in MAME config you need. Also you will want to add it to the rom scanner...

Is there something specific you want 0.220 for? After all that it may not add much that you can't already do.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll have to do some digging to figure out how to do this.

Also, question about this part. Do the ROMs for AdvMAME still go in the 'mame-106' folder?

"- AdvMAME 3.9 added for games that don't play well in AdvMAME with the low res modded SDL 1.2
games in the nosdl array will now run in 3.9 - this should improve the rendering for some games"

[NeoSurfer]

D-

Thank you for the quick response. I resolved 90% of the preview issues with carry over files.

Final few Questions:
- In the 3.X build, how can I best adjust the video output of the Console PS1 titles. Play beautifully, yet only at 1/3 of the monitor.(Res issue?)

-Additionally, the in game menus on some individual Arcade games( Dip Switch/button Map etc.) are so small I cannot adjust.(Res issue?)

-Volume control. I have a speaker I adjust currently. But was not sure if as a system you could lower volume, like in older 3.8 ish builds.

Thanks

N Surfer

John

[gt7766c]

I would like to try this new build but is there a way to just update the OS without starting over and losing / having to change my various settings? Thank you.

[dee2eR]

I would like to try this new build but is there a way to just update the OS without starting over and losing / having to change my various settings? Thank you.

Unfortunately not really.

You can copy high scores files etc. from previous versions but a lot of config has changed. Trying to merge would likely break things.

What settings are you trying to save? I may be able to work in a system in the future... no guarantees though.

[dee2eR]

D-

Thank you for the quick response. I resolved 90% of the preview issues with carry over files.

Final few Questions:
- In the 3.X build, how can I best adjust the video output of the Console PS1 titles. Play beautifully, yet only at 1/3 of the monitor.(Res issue?)

-Additionally, the in game menus on some individual Arcade games( Dip Switch/button Map etc.) are so small I cannot adjust.(Res issue?)

-Volume control. I have a speaker I adjust currently. But was not sure if as a system you could lower volume, like in older 3.8 ish builds.

Thanks

N Surfer

John

System wide volume can be adjusted from the service menu (f4 or service from the game select menu).

Yeah the MAME menu bug is to do with resolution in some way, you may find swapping between 480i/ 240p or hor/vert makes the menu readable in whatever title it is. What game? And what monitor settings are you running? I can check it out, I had a quick look for menu issues before release but the games I checked didn't have the issue, I want to find a solution to this...

I will have a look at Playstation, it's probably an inadequacy of the launcher script, I'll need to know your monitor settings to check it.