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Author Topic: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.  (Read 8367 times)

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F-14 Tomcat

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Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« on: May 23, 2011, 10:35:46 pm »
 ;D Hello, after searching for a Carnevil dedicated cabinet (an affordable one) for some time, I've decided to take a shot at making one. I'm going to use aimtrak guns, probably 27" TV and hopefully an affordable pc setup that will still play the game at full speed.
Since I really only intend this cab to play carnevil, (my current mame cab pc is outdated and won't) what should I look for as a pc?
I see good prices for i3 barebones kits, and even better deals on AMD quad core kits. Are either of these up to the task? Is there a failsafe # of ghz to stick with?
I am not familiar with overclocking so prefer to run stock if possible.
If people that successfully run carnevil, please chime in with pc specs. I'll have a guide line as to what I'll need. Perhaps your os and mame version too, keeping in mind my setup will use aimtraks (I don't know if that limits me or not).

Thanks in advance for any help or opinions.  :notworthy:

BadMouth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2011, 11:33:50 pm »
I used to have a 2.7ghz AMD Athlon X2.  The sound would skip at the beginning and there would be an occasional slowdown during gameplay, but it was very playable.

Upgraded to a 2.9ghz X3 (triple core) and the game runs perfectly.

I'm using the standard 32bit version of XP pro with all unnecessary  services turned off.
The game would probably get a boost from using a 64bit OS, but I only had license keys for XP32
Not sure what MAME version I have on that computer, either .137 or .139

Newegg sells the 3.2Ghz X2 for under $70 with free shipping on occasion.  (Have that one in my driving cab)
If you keep an eye on their sales and get free shipping, you should be able to build an able PC for around $250 (not including OS).
They've had some pretty good package deals as their "shell shocker" recently that included everything you'd need to build the pc.
One recent one even included Windows 7.



Nephasth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2011, 11:35:44 pm »
If you live anywhere near Virginia, you can get one for $250 right now.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=140123

themarkjohn

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2011, 11:38:22 pm »
I have carnevil running on my Intel Core 2 6700 @2.66ghz, 4GB Ram, Nvidia 8800GTX, windows vista computer. So it works on that but as far as minimum specs go i don't really know. My PC is about 4 years old now tho so whatever you have got to be able to find an equivalent for cheap cheap these days. i'm runnin mame 32 bit version 1.42 as well.

I also have an aimtrak for it. Carnevil is a 2 button gun game. One shoots, the other reloads. My Problem is that i cant map the second button in mame. I spent a couple hours reading forums and testing this and that and i still cant map the second button on my aimtrak gun. I have managed to get the offscreen reload to work for it but i'll be damned if i know exaactly what i did to get it working. I figure i better not touch it just to be safe. If you  or anybody can figure out why that second button won't map please let me know. Good luck and have fun

F-14 Tomcat

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2011, 07:04:54 pm »
I would jump on that dedicated carnevil in a heartbeat if I was a lot closer. I'm in Nova Scotia Canada.
I actually can't even get a response to my wanted ad for carnevil, offering $600.

Thanks Badmouth for the input. I'll start looking for a similar processor. Is there a benefit to choosing the triple core over the dual? Have you enabled the multiple-core feature in mame?

I will start researching the button mapping for the aimtrak for this game as well.
I should have questioned about your hard drives too. Are you using 7200rpm, or solid state drives?? Would there be any benefit?

Thanks :cheers:

scofthe7seas

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2011, 07:18:38 pm »
I should have questioned about your hard drives too. Are you using 7200rpm, or solid state drives?? Would there be any benefit?


No, not any for this. Don't buy a SSD for a mame Pc.

DirtyDachshunds

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2011, 07:21:17 pm »
You're offering $600?  You could buy the $250 cab in Virgina can get it shipped to you for $350

Nephasth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2011, 07:23:05 pm »
Last I checked he was down to $200 if it could be picked up this weekend. Can't believe he can't find somebody to take it off his hands.

BadMouth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2011, 08:44:10 pm »
Is there a benefit to choosing the triple core over the dual? Have you enabled the multiple-core feature in mame?
MAME won't use the third core, but there might be a slight improvement from it covering other stuff running in the background.  I'm not tech savvy enough to give you a definite answer.  I'd take a faster dual core over a slower triple core.  I only ended up with the triple core because it was the best bargain I could find at the time.  I use MAMEPlus to tinker with the multi-core functions on games that aren't running full speed.  I'm not sure what my settings are for Carnevil.

I should have questioned about your hard drives too. Are you using 7200rpm, or solid state drives?? Would there be any benefit?

Couldn't tell you.  I bought whatever was the biggest drive $40 could buy at the time (I think it's 500GB).
It was a seagate and died 4 months after installation.
I ran it off an ancient IDE drive while waiting for a replacement and didn't notice any difference.
I've seen some 1.5TB drives for not much more than that recently.

runawayabc123

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2011, 06:59:43 pm »
I'd make him an offer for the guts (wiring, board, guns and power supply), but they wouldn't give me an account over there and left me in some trapped poster newb forum that was ignored for 2 weeks.  Then they posted I had to donate to get an account.  Oh well.  
« Last Edit: May 26, 2011, 08:13:21 pm by runawayabc123 »

F-14 Tomcat

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #10 on: May 29, 2011, 12:27:14 pm »
I've got a dual-core 3.0ghz machine set up now. Has 2gb ram and a asus engt430 1gb video card. (Nice considering this was given to me!)
I installed the latest mameUI version and appropriate carnevil files. V1.03 I believe. Anyway, it would run but had serious sound repeat,echo. I don't think gameplay was running fullspeed either.
I overclocked the processor in the motherboard bios (it gives automated options to do so, 10%,15%,20% and 30%).
Even up to the 30% increase, which the bios said was now running 3.9ghz, the clown intro screens between levels still stutters a bit, but gameplay worked at seemingly 100%.
In the properties for both the game and the Seattle file I checked the MT multi thread box (which is proper for a dual core, isn't it???)
Also checked the auto frameskip box as well (tried both with and without).

My question is. Would it make any difference to use MAMEPLUS? If so, what version? I hear of Mameplus, mameplus extended and mameplus plus??
What are the differences? I cannot find descriptions anywhere.
If one of these versions is key, what changes or tweaks should I make to bump performance for carnevil?
Badmouth, what mameplus is it that you use?

Thank you

BadMouth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2011, 10:10:38 am »
Sounds like it's not even running as well as on my 2.7Ghz machine.
That machine ran it about how you describe it with your maximum overclock.

Not sure if MAME UI would be the issue.
Here is the version of MAME+ that I use, but I only use it for testing and setting up the games.
My front end still launches the games with the plain mame.exe (not mamep.exe)
http://www.emucr.com/2011/04/mame-plus-v0142-r4854.html  (I'm only on .139 though)
Tweaking the settings in mame only nets very slight performance gains.
I just checked my settings and they aren't tweaked at all.  I don't even have multiple threading enabled.

My guess would be that there are too many things running in the background.
(antivirus, system restore, messenger, network stuff, coupon printers  :P  )
Delete all programs that won't be used and disable all unnecessary services.
Guide to which services to disable can be found here (scroll down to "popular content")
http://www.blackviper.com/

I have no doubt the computer you're using can run it full speed without any overclocking.
Another thing to try is running the clone (v1.01) instead of the parent (v1.03)
« Last Edit: May 30, 2011, 10:30:22 pm by BadMouth »

scofthe7seas

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2011, 10:35:26 pm »
Are you running 64bit? There is a huge speed boost from the 64bit version of mame.

BadMouth

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2011, 08:47:57 am »
Are you running 64bit? There is a huge speed boost from the 64bit version of mame.

I'm using the standard 32bit version of XP pro with all unnecessary  services turned off.
The game would probably get a boost from using a 64bit OS, but I only had license keys for XP32


scofthe7seas

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2011, 02:52:41 am »
Bah, when you said that, it was allll the way up at the top of the post.
We're living in the now.

F-14 Tomcat

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #15 on: June 07, 2011, 08:26:23 pm »
Thanks for all the advice. I'm still working on this, looking for a 64bit os currently. Also going to try to strip down my 32 bit xp and see what happens.
I did however pick up a dedicated Carnevil machine on the weekend. It will surely keep me content in the meantime.

Mark Thomas

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #16 on: March 12, 2013, 08:50:13 am »
Hi folks I'm also looking to buy a PC to play Carnevil
A game that won't play on my old PC what would I need to buy? I don't want to spend a fortune but want it to play perfectly so graphics cards, mame version and OS system spec would be appreciated. My project is for a dedicated can for light gun games gonna get 2 aim trak guns and put mame, PC ports and M2 emulator on there. I'm based in UK if that has any relevance regarding places to buy.

Cheers

DLinkOZ

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Re: Want to build CARNEVIL dedicated shooter, need PC advice.
« Reply #17 on: May 07, 2013, 12:01:00 am »
I've been playing with it under .148u4 on a C2D E7300 (2.66ghz), 2gb of ram, an old NVidia 9800GT and 64bit Win8.  Runs like butter, no glitches and no stutters.