Missing modelines?

[Tusten]

Hi all   

My first post on the forum:

I have been following this forum for some time with great interest. I have a PC running XP 64 and HD 4350 with groovymame and crt_emudriver_9.3 etc. installed. Everything seems to be running smooth on my system, with 118 (?) custom modelines.

However, trying to understand the "nuts and bolts" I made a log file for R-type (attached). It made me wonder if there is something wrong with my installation. R-type/M72 games are 384 x 256 @ 55.017605 Hz. However there is no such modeline installed and groovymame switches to 384 x 256 @ 58 Hz which is the closest resolution it can find. Checking modelist.txt (attached) confirms this. Resolution request 384 x 256 @ 55.017605 Hz gives result R:OK/V:-- and mode label 384 x 256 @ 58 Hz. Several other resolution requests have similar result (i.e. modelines being dropped).

Is this normal, or is there something wrong with my installation?
Is it possible to specify which modelines should be prioritized (if this is a matter of a limited number of modelines stored)?
Is it possible to manually add/replace specific missing custom modelines (with correct refresh/Hz) after running vmmaker?

Hope this makes sense…

[Calamity]

Hi Tusten,

Is this normal, or is there something wrong with my installation?

Yes, it's normal, because you run VMMaker with the ModeTableMethod = 1 option, as required by GroovyMAME. This option ignores the refresh and just preserves the resolution. The refresh is assigned as close to 60 Hz as possible (here 58 Hz because of your monitor specs). This results in a more reasonable mode list.

But the trick is that GroovyMAME sets the right modeline right before switching resolutions, so the right refresh is used during the game:

SwitchRes: Index 54/210 modeline DALDTMCRTBCD384X256X0X58 score 98.00 matches
SwitchRes: Got Custom modeline 384x256@58.449373 - DALDTMCRTBCD384X256X0X58:
        "384x256@58" 8.160000 384 400 440 504 256 258 261 277 -HSync -VSync
SwitchRes: Setting modeline registry entry for DALDTMCRTBCD384X256X0X58
SwitchRes: Set Registry mode DALDTMCRTBCD384X256X0X58 with:
SwitchRes: (62555/62585/62555) Modeline 8.120000 384 408 448 520 256 261 264 284

Average speed: 99.94% (207 seconds)

So the mode list you create with VMMaker is just a list of dummy resolutions.

On the other hand, you can still use the old method, by setting ModeTableMethod = 0. This method preserves all the information in the video mode, so you'll end up with a list where several instances of a resolution will exist with different refresh rates, resulting in a very long mode list that VMMaker will need to trim, so many modes will be dropped.

Is it possible to specify which modelines should be prioritized (if this is a matter of a limited number of modelines stored)?

Yes, this is done by adding the specific MAME driver into MameMain.txt. Next release of VMMaker will use rom names instead of driver names in this list (beta attached). These video modes will have higher priority.

Is it possible to manually add/replace specific missing custom modelines (with correct refresh/Hz) after running vmmaker?

*After* running VMMaker you need to use the Winmodelines tool for doing this.

However you may explicitely add the modes you want to ReslList.txt before running VMMaker. These modes will have high priority too.

Check the attached beta version. Just replace the new files in the folder you're using. This versions uses separate options for xml resolutions (MAME.xml) and custom resolutions (ReslList.txt) so it's easier to control the output.

[Tusten]

Thanks Calamity!
Good expanation - very helpful.
I will try out the WMMaker beta.
Cheers