Dream features for a new PCI-e card for arcade games?

[Le Chuck]

I'd say a compliment would be:

P1
4 directional inputs
6 action inputs
1 P1 Start input
1 P1 Coin input
---
12 inputs

P2
4 directional inputs
6 action inputs
1 P2 Start input
1 P2 Coin input
---
12 inputs

P3
4 directional inputs
4 action inputs
1 P3 Start input
1 P3 Coin input
---
10 inputs

P4
4 directional inputs
4 action inputs
1 P4 Start input
1 P4 Coin input
---
10 inputs

1 Exit Input
1 Pause Input

TOTAL:  46

Will there be any sort of software interface to assign all this in each game, similar to the current MAME settings menu?  For Jamma boards that don't have on board light gun hook-ups (for example) will it be able to to tell there's a light gun present? I'm how you'll be able to interface controllers with the Jamma boards.  Interface and moving through the roms will also need to be somewhat configurable, perhaps by using the file structure present on the SD card. 

If speed is capping just north of neo-geo games a lot of the functionality of those extra analog inputs might go unused or at least underused.  I wouldn't expect this to run NFL Blitz or even CarnEvil but if it can't run Area 51 at full speed then it will be disappointing for a lot of users just on the light gun side of things. 

Another question is how will it present vector images and what sort of image adjustment if any will be onboard?  Case in point, MAME displays vector like crap.  Getting vector to look remotely decent on anything but a vector monitor is a trick.  AAE is a passable solution but is very resource intensive (not to mention a completely dead project), is this project going to be able to address this?  This isn't a have to have to but surely would be a nice to have. 

I'm down to test and hope you are able to produce a great product.   
 

 

[RetroBorg]

A few of us currently use a controller to control a servo to switch joysticks from 8-way to 4-way etc, could something like this be built into the card?

[PL1]

A few of us currently use a controller to control a servo to switch joysticks from 8-way to 4-way etc, could something like this be built into the card?

Along the same lines, maybe two outputs for monitor rotation: 1 for rotating it horizontal, another for rotating it vertical


Scott

[RetroBorg]

Has anybody mentioned LED controller?

[John Blund]

A few of us currently use a controller to control a servo to switch joysticks from 8-way to 4-way etc, could something like this be built into the card?

Well it would be fully possible to use one dedicated output for it. But you would have to connect a separate board that controls these servos. There would not be enough power for that on the main board.

[John Blund]

A few of us currently use a controller to control a servo to switch joysticks from 8-way to 4-way etc, could something like this be built into the card?

Along the same lines, maybe two outputs for monitor rotation: 1 for rotating it horizontal, another for rotating it vertical


Scott

Well that would be needed I guess, could be handy for testing purposes, and simple trouble shooting. The chip I will be using has versions that have over 600 I/O pins. The only thing is that pins that is used for more unusual things, has to have support from another board with the extra stuff needed. At this point it looks like I could place two 2x20 headers on the board for dedicated I/O stuff. Would that be enough? Any one that want to count up things?

[John Blund]

Has anybody mentioned LED controller?

What should that be used for? Any good examples?

[John Blund]

I'd say a compliment would be:

P1
4 directional inputs
6 action inputs
1 P1 Start input
1 P1 Coin input
---
12 inputs

P2
4 directional inputs
6 action inputs
1 P2 Start input
1 P2 Coin input
---
12 inputs

P3
4 directional inputs
4 action inputs
1 P3 Start input
1 P3 Coin input
---
10 inputs

P4
4 directional inputs
4 action inputs
1 P4 Start input
1 P4 Coin input
---
10 inputs

1 Exit Input
1 Pause Input

TOTAL:  46

Well that could be added. My only concern is that the main board doesn't get cluttered with odd stuff. So it has to be added in a manageable way. And things that belongs in groups, is best managed if they isn't split up on several connectors. 2x20 headers could be one way to add other boards with hard drive cables. Any one else that know ready made cables that would be good to use?

 

[John Blund]

Will there be any sort of software interface to assign all this in each game, similar to the current MAME settings menu?  For Jamma boards that don't have on board light gun hook-ups (for example) will it be able to to tell there's a light gun present? I'm how you'll be able to interface controllers with the Jamma boards.  Interface and moving through the roms will also need to be somewhat configurable, perhaps by using the file structure present on the SD card. 

I would like to stay away from software interfaces as much as possible. One way to avoid this would be to use dedicated I/O. With this new board we don't have to stay compatible with any PC software. The only thing is the cabinets and the old games.

How to manage game switching is something that has to come from actual needs. One important need is to be able to switch games without adding anything extra to a original cabinet. Any other thoughts about that is welcome.

I would say that we use dedicated I/O for light guns.

[John Blund]

Another question is how will it present vector images and what sort of image adjustment if any will be onboard?  Case in point, MAME displays vector like crap.  Getting vector to look remotely decent on anything but a vector monitor is a trick.  AAE is a passable solution but is very resource intensive (not to mention a completely dead project), is this project going to be able to address this?  This isn't a have to have to but surely would be a nice to have. 

I'm down to test and hope you are able to produce a great product.   

Well I wont make any raster conversion of old vector games, thats for sure. If it would be possible to convert CRT's to vector monitors, than I could add support for that. If someone would like a conversion, they wold have to convert the vector-signals outside the board  Maybe I will do some conversion for testing games. But I think the real stuff is better.

[John Blund]

If speed is capping just north of neo-geo games a lot of the functionality of those extra analog inputs might go unused or at least underused.  I wouldn't expect this to run NFL Blitz or even CarnEvil but if it can't run Area 51 at full speed then it will be disappointing for a lot of users just on the light gun side of things. 

Well I don't quite understand. And I can only read between the lines. The only thing I could say is that there won't be any software emulation of things. As all things will be implemented in hardware, the only lag would be something that existed in the original game.

[John Blund]

8x analog input channels.

 Hard Drivin and Race Drivin (sit down) use a 10 turn pot for the wheel,
2 standard pots for the gear shifter, pot for gas, analog clutch and analog brake.

 Thats 6 pots per player, and two machines can be linked up.. for a total of 12 analog inputs.

 Theres actually an along seat sensor too.. but, nobody really needs that functionality,
unless you are going for full arcade level replacement.  The seat sensor is for activating an electromagnet, to lock the seat in place.


 As for optical inputs... I think 6 is about right.  There is an 8 player sprint game... but its doubtful anyone would hook that up and play it.  As said, there are games like Rampart with 3 trackballs.  Some driving games like supersprint have 3 optical wheels + 3 analog (pot) pedals.

Well I could make more analog inputs. Is 16 enough? The only concern is is that the board gets filled with stuff that cost extra and won't be used. If necessary I could add some sort of communication port to add support for enhancements.

1x VGA connector with separate graphics output, not the same signals as those on the JAMMA connector.

What about games that use multiple monitors?   TX-1 is a great multi-monitor game.  

Ninja Warriors & Darius has a few versions with 2 and 3 monitors. And if you want to run two (or more) racing cabinets linked up.. you would need more too.  (unless you are going to make it so that linked games need two separate boards + a lan style link cable...

 VGA and RGB are great.. but I also think adding component would be good too.  Its pretty easy to find a spare Component based TV for use in a cabinet.  Or at least make it so a dongle could be used to convert the VGA to a component output.

 Personally, I cant stand to see games on a typical PC monitor.  It just doesnt look right.

Well I could add support for three monitors. But in this case maybe I could make hi speed serial wires. So you could add external video DAC's. Don't want the main board to get cluttered.

1x 3.5mm stereo audiojack or 2x RCA for sound (not decided yet).

 Why not quadraphonic output?   Older 80s games like Sega's  "Turbo", has 3 speakers. I believe TX-1 has 4 speakers.  Many racers have subwoofers in the seats. And if you run two racers linked... you would also be missing the output for the other players sounds.


 Another cool project/ability would be the ability to display Vector games on a REAL Vector monitor.  There used to be a multi-vector board called the ZVG.  However, it was expensive.. and the emulation it used for the games was not that good.  They never seemed to update the software.. and the hardware runs are small to non-existent.


 Also, you didnt mention if force-feedback is included.  Many racing games use force feedback wheels.  Some use motors to move the cabinets.  Standup Outrun has a simple but awesome shaker motor assembly.  Some games have 3d lcd shutter glasses, like the Awesome Continental Circus.  Some games, like Road Riot, and Qbert have a knocker coil that fires if you have been hit / killed. Terminator 2, has 2 guns, each of which has a kicker coil that vary's its rapidfire rate based on the games energy levels.

 Personally, Id rather see things like this added.. that Mame currently has neglected... and is nearly impossible for the average to above average person, to make possible.

Well I could add more audio channels. But it has to be via standard serial communication used for DAC's or by PWM. Then you could add just one transistor and a RC filter for each extra audio channel. How many channels is needed?

Well force feedback could be supported. I don't know much about how it's controlled, I have to read up on it. Any links for reading?

[Le Chuck]

John, rather than fill this post with quotes I'll just add some comments and questions since I think we're all tracking the above:

I haven't quite wrapped my head around how all this works so my questions about controller assignment and top speed may be out of left field.  If it's all hardware run with no emulation what roms won't be supported?  Is there a year benchmark where the hardware to run the game is just too beefy?  Like Super Model 3 type stuff?  I don't know how to properly ask this question, it came from your comment about having enough RAM to support all NeoGeo games, sorry for the confusion.

There are a lot of nice to have features that are starting to get integrated into the hobby such as auto rotating 4way to 8way joysticks that cue off the ROM being played, LED lit buttons and features that display what controls to be used and provide light shows, auto rotating monitors that match the original games screen orientation; however, the original games didn't have these features.  If cramping the board is an issue I'd say that these features are top candidates for the cutting room floor.  I think that a cool phase two project would be a supplemental board that supported this kind of stuff, but these features rely on information about the ROM that is found in MAME and use software to call the hardware required (either stepper motor controller, servo controller, or LED controller board).

Like I said, vector would be nice but isn't necessary, if it gets cut because it would be a compromise I say that's fine. 

Xiaou2's Hard Drivin question is the perfect example of why being able to daisy chain the boards would be a great functionality.  I know multiple arcade games (SW Racer being one, Hard Drivin being another) that allowed machines to be connected and I think 8 analog is more than plenty.  I know the modern games used an optical cable to link but really whatever does the trick would be fine. 

Component?  Really?  X2, buy an adapter. 

Support for two monitors would be great but anything more than that and I lean back towards a link solution.  Kills clutter, add functionality, satisfies the what-if-ers. 

Having 2.1 audio should be enough. 

As for controller inputs I think that four groupings would be fine.  P1-P4.  All can share a ground or have a ground for each set.  Either way, tho most here will prefer a shared ground for all.  As for what types of connectors to use I like pins like on the Xin-Mo encoders but others prefer solder points or screw terminals.   

 


 

[John Blund]

For your insight, what I'm going to talk about down here, is the actual card that is going to be made. New hardware support can be made after the card is shipped. The difference between this solution and a PC, is that with this new stand alone card, you can make all the wiring by yourself. If you want something extra, you just have to add passive wiring to make things work (or basic components in some cases). If you want something extra, you just plug in a cable to one of the headers, and you can make all your wiring on another passive card inside your cabinet. This makes it possible to make all the connections in your cabinet before you attach the JAMMA+ board.

But as this will be a standard JAMMA+ board. You will get support for most things without any wiring at all. The JAMMA connector makes the board self sufficient. But the card also has VGA, and RCA. If you want to use this board without any cabinet. You have to use a converter (that you buy or build yourself) to add joysticks and power to the board.

I haven't quite wrapped my head around how all this works so my questions about controller assignment and top speed may be out of left field.  If it's all hardware run with no emulation what roms won't be supported?  Is there a year benchmark where the hardware to run the game is just too beefy?  Like Super Model 3 type stuff?  I don't know how to properly ask this question, it came from your comment about having enough RAM to support all NeoGeo games, sorry for the confusion.

Well NEO GEO has cartridges with ROM. For flexibility this new board (that needs a name) will load all ROM files in to RAM instead. So the machine will need at least 128Mb of RAM. There will be no emulation of hardware in software. All old hardware will be emulated in real copies of the hardware. As this is the case, there is no reason to use a benchmark. It's only a question if the card have enough gates to fit all a copy of a certain hardware. And concerning processor speed, I think it only will be possible to implement processors up to 100Mhz-140Mhz max. That will be up to anything up to about year 1997-1999. But there can be a problem to make certain mass of logic fit. It's about spending about $150 to make it able to run everything up to this around 1998. But there won't be any support for these fancy stuff for a few years anyway. Yes, someone has to make all the logic designs that copies the hardware of the original games.

There are a lot of nice to have features that are starting to get integrated into the hobby such as auto rotating 4way to 8way joysticks that cue off the ROM being played, LED lit buttons and features that display what controls to be used and provide light shows, auto rotating monitors that match the original games screen orientation; however, the original games didn't have these features.  If cramping the board is an issue I'd say that these features are top candidates for the cutting room floor.  I think that a cool phase two project would be a supplemental board that supported this kind of stuff, but these features rely on information about the ROM that is found in MAME and use software to call the hardware required (either stepper motor controller, servo controller, or LED controller board).

Well with the design I'm thinking of now, it will be possible to support almost any controllers. The issue is only to make support for all games. The issue is only to reserve I/O pins on the headers for certain things. Most of that work will be done after the hardware is released, as you can upgrade the hardware via USB. It will be the people that have these new boards, that has to come with reasonable suggestions about what is going to be implemented on what pins. Then we can make these new upgrades via USB.

Like I said, vector would be nice but isn't necessary, if it gets cut because it would be a compromise I say that's fine. 

Well support of vector displays is no problem, it can be handled by a USB-upgrade.

[...]
Support for two monitors would be great but anything more than that and I lean back towards a link solution.  Kills clutter, add functionality, satisfies the what-if-ers. 

Having 2.1 audio should be enough. 

As for controller inputs I think that four groupings would be fine.  P1-P4.  All can share a ground or have a ground for each set.  Either way, tho most here will prefer a shared ground for all.  As for what types of connectors to use I like pins like on the Xin-Mo encoders but others prefer solder points or screw terminals.   

As standard there will be 4 audio channels, and 2 monitor connections out of the box. The JAMMA connector, the VGA connector, and a RCA stereo pair will take care of this.

Anything else can get support by dedicating I/O pins on the headers. To make almost anything fit, I will put three 40pin headers on the board, that will give about 100 I/O pins, for spinners, light guns, trackballs, extra monitors, sound channels, analog inputs, servo control, led controls, force feedback, multi cabinet communication, and what ever. And all can be handled without fancy extra hardware that you cant build by yourself. It's just a USB-upgrade away.

But as you understand someone has to write all logic descriptions. And that is what I am intending to do. I can right away say that there will be support for at least 20 games minimum by the end of this year. But I will do my best to make support for over 100 in the beginning of next year. And I'm heading for 200 games to be ready by next summer. But until then it will be a lot of testing. One problem as I see it will be compile time. I will need some immense amount of commuter power to make this happen. I don't know for sure, but I think the compile time for one new game will be like an hour or more (the work done by the computer to make the design fit into the new JAMMA card).

So I think I will need lots lots lots of help testing games, and get feed back on what is not working, to make this happen.

[emphatic]

Sign me up as a game tester. As I live near you and have cabinets to test the card in this is a no-brainer. Add to that my vast knowledge on 1985-1990 arcade games as I know most of the most known games better than my own pocket.

[John Blund]

Well I have started to design the card today. And I now have the dimensions for the board, and it's quite small. And I have also looked at what parts to fit on to the board.

But there is one drastic decision that has to be made. This is your choice...

"You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." -Morpheus

Either the card will cost about 200 euro, and you will get something that is quite okay by todays standard, it will be a little better than anything similar out there. Or you pay 400 euro and get something that will handle memory 32 times faster than anything like this. The card will get a lot easier to program also.

What do you think, 32 times faster or slower memory? I think that with the cheaper alternative you will get something that is good. But with the faster alternative, it will be something to grow in. The main difference is that it will handle 3D graphics with large textures without any problems. And it will be easier to implement games that use many more advanced CPU's at the same time. So I think it would also be easier to get more games to work, and that would speed up the pace, and bring more games to the platform.

But the card with the lower cost, could possibly gain more users in the beginning.

But I'm unsure what to do, what do you think. Double the stakes, or stay safe. What do you think honestly?

[matsadona]

Has anybody mentioned LED controller?

What should that be used for? Any good examples?

Blinking start lights (After Burner, Outrun etc), weapon lights (Spy hunter), patrol lights (Chase HQ) or a knocker (Q-Bert). Just to mention some examples =)

[Le Chuck]

That's about what a computer costs to run the more recent 3D games, if your card can keep up and run the more modern stuff + be able to natively accept the controls mentioned above I think that going with the pricey one is really the only choice.  If we're going to be crippled in speed why would we bother?  I don't want to have all these awesome controls and not be able to use them on the newer games.

Incidentally would you be able to make a board that would allow the controls mentioned to be recognized by windows?  If you could crack the real optical gun to windows/MAME nut you'd have a helluva product right there.  The only product out there that tries is called USB2Gun by Global VR and nobody seems to have gotten it working worth a damn.  A replacement is badly needed, one preferably that doesn't cost $300 either. 

[John Blund]

Has anybody mentioned LED controller?

What should that be used for? Any good examples?

Blinking start lights (After Burner, Outrun etc), weapon lights (Spy hunter), patrol lights (Chase HQ) or a knocker (Q-Bert). Just to mention some examples =)

Thanks, that clarifies.

[John Blund]

That's about what a computer costs to run the more recent 3D games, if your card can keep up and run the more modern stuff + be able to natively accept the controls mentioned above I think that going with the pricey one is really the only choice.  If we're going to be crippled in speed why would we bother?  I don't want to have all these awesome controls and not be able to use them on the newer games.

Incidentally would you be able to make a board that would allow the controls mentioned to be recognized by windows?  If you could crack the real optical gun to windows/MAME nut you'd have a helluva product right there.  The only product out there that tries is called USB2Gun by Global VR and nobody seems to have gotten it working worth a damn.  A replacement is badly needed, one preferably that doesn't cost $300 either. 

Well I could easily make a graphics card for arcade monitors. And to make it work with a optical gun would be a piece of cake. But I cant do that card right now, I have to focus. That there is no cards that works with light guns and windows, is only a good reason that they should use something that works.

Ok, with the more expensive card it would be a lot simpler to make support for newer games, thats for sure. And if we talk about 3D, I think the more expensive card even could make a playstation2 look weak if you made a dedicated game for the card.

   

[John Blund]

Sign me up as a game tester. As I live near you and have cabinets to test the card in this is a no-brainer. Add to that my vast knowledge on 1985-1990 arcade games as I know most of the most known games better than my own pocket.

Well that would be a wonderful resource to make this work, and get as many games converted as possible, in the least amount of time.

[emphatic]

Btw, this will only use +12V for power, right? I want a power LED at least and perhaps some other LEDs for each major part of the card's logic components. This way, you can troubleshoot very quickly if thunder strikes and something smells burnt in your cabinet. Power LED is the most important one though.

[John Blund]

Btw, this will only use +12V for power, right? I want a power LED at least and perhaps some other LEDs for each major part of the card's logic components. This way, you can troubleshoot very quickly if thunder strikes and something smells burnt in your cabinet. Power LED is the most important one though.

Well thats a good idea. I think that you would like to know if a game is loaded and up and running or not for example.

Well it could be possible to add a diagnostics mode. This could be used to check that everything connected to the board on the headers are correctly connected and working. It could also be used to test joysticks and buttons and anything else connected to the board, it could be really handy.

The 12 volt won't be used for anything actually. I will probably only pass it though to the headers. If you want to use a more simpler power-supply, it's okay to go ahead and do that. And all extra stuff like converters and other things is something that I will cut down to a minimum. I will do anything in my power, to make the board 100% self sufficient. On the card there will be plenty and extreme good possibilities to convert any signal or video signals and other stuff. This is possible thanks to the reconfigurable nature of the hardware.  So what type of conversion for things is it that you use extra stuff for today? What would be a comprehensive list?

And there are some things that I have been thinking about, and that are image enhancing. Today if you want to by a standard monitor you have to buy a LCD. And that is in most cases not on pair with the resolutions used in arcade games. What I am thinking of doing is to use algorithms to dramatically enhance the picture quality and resolutions, with algorithms specially designed for arcade graphics. This could be used to make the picture quality much better. Or it could be used make a low res image from this enhanced graphics, compatible with the pixel size on your LCD monitor. The algorithms will we be first class with sub pixel scrolling and movement predictions, and sub pixel edge, line and field detection. All these image enhancements could be turned off, or fine-tuned.

[emphatic]

I think the up-scaling algorithms is a good idea, preferably with scanlines as the original low res games are drawn with this in mind, but I also hope that this is something that doesn't add to the price of the board. Also, will up-scaling and image processing add lag to the video if it's done the way you have in mind?

[John Blund]

I think the up-scaling algorithms is a good idea, preferably with scanlines as the original low res games are drawn with this in mind, but I also hope that this is something that doesn't add to the price of the board. Also, will up-scaling and image processing add lag to the video if it's done the way you have in mind?

Well it won't cost anything extra to do this. And it won't add any lag, it will be done in real-time in hardware, without any software intervention. Well gaps between the scan lines will be there for anyone that want this. The good thing with making functionality in real hardware logic, is that you can add things without compromising 100% speed, or add any lag. Even if you use 1, 2 and 3 processors or more, each processor will always have 100% speed. This will not be a software emulation, everything will be done in hardware. The only software will be the original ROM files from the games.

[emphatic]

Sounds great! Oh, another thing I want for the card itself is two banks of DIP switches for game settings and a TEST switch. Most older games used DIP switches to control credits, difficulty, screen flipping etc. Newer games use a TEST menu that either use the cabinets TEST switch (on the JAMMA) or an on-board test button. I think there are a couple of arcade systems that use more than 2 banks (of 10 switches), but I don't know how common they are.

[John Blund]

Sounds great! Oh, another thing I want for the card itself is two banks of DIP switches for game settings and a TEST switch. Most older games used DIP switches to control credits, difficulty, screen flipping etc. Newer games use a TEST menu that either use the cabinets TEST switch (on the JAMMA) or an on-board test button. I think there are a couple of arcade systems that use more than 2 banks (of 10 switches), but I don't know how common they are.

Well that would be an idea, if someone only want to put one ROM the SD card. That could be used to start games as on the original game cards, without any extra configuring. But i think it might be confusing if you want to have many ROM sets on the SD card. Any thoughts about that?

[emphatic]

Well, unless you want to program in a software emulator for the hardware DIPs, I don't see how configuring a game would be possible? But if some kind of frontend is made for the board, it could of course have a DIP switch tab or something for each game. Or if the scenario would play out like this:

Example game Flying Shark:

1. Press TEST button in cabinet (JAMMA)
2. Your game card opens up a dynamic menu saying:

Code: [Select]

THIS GAME USES DIP SWITCHES FOR GAME SETTINGS - USE P1 JOYSTICK AND P1 BUTTON1 TO ENABLE/DISABLE SWITCHES


BANK1 - SW01 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW02 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW03 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW04 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW05 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW06 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW07 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW08 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW09 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW10 - OFF (DEFAULT)

TO SHOW BANK2, PRESS P1 BUTTON2
TO EXIT BACK INTO GAME PRESS P1 START OR TEST BUTTON
3. Game is restarted with the new settings.

This might be better than DIP switches, especially if the switches' functions would be mapped out so the user don't need a manual to figure out the settings, just like how it is in MAME. 

[John Blund]

Well, unless you want to program in a software emulator for the hardware DIPs, I don't see how configuring a game would be possible? But if some kind of frontend is made for the board, it could of course have a DIP switch tab or something for each game. Or if the scenario would play out like this:

Example game Flying Shark:

1. Press TEST button in cabinet (JAMMA)
2. Your game card opens up a dynamic menu saying:

Code: [Select]

THIS GAME USES DIP SWITCHES FOR GAME SETTINGS - USE P1 JOYSTICK AND P1 BUTTON1 TO ENABLE/DISABLE SWITCHES


BANK1 - SW01 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW02 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW03 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW04 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW05 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW06 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW07 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW08 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW09 - OFF (DEFAULT)
BANK1 - SW10 - OFF (DEFAULT)

TO SHOW BANK2, PRESS P1 BUTTON2
TO EXIT BACK INTO GAME PRESS P1 START OR TEST BUTTON
3. Game is restarted with the new settings.

This might be better than DIP switches, especially if the switches' functions would be mapped out so the user don't need a manual to figure out the settings, just like how it is in MAME. 

Well you can have (something like BIOS for PC) that could be used for "DIP switch" settings. Well, maybe it could be frustrating to have the cab open for changing those DIP switches, and also to remember what the switches does.

Another issue is how to change games. And settings for that, could also be set in "BIOS". This "BIOS" could also be used for testing the connected hardware like joysticks and other things. And some compliment with a LED for indicating...
1) board power
2) game running
3) BIOS running
4) "short circuit detected" indication.
 

[emphatic]

Yes, some sort of SETTINGS or SETUP-like thing would be good, I just don't want to see this thing end up without access to per-game settings, especially when settings are originally only available from DIPs. Even as it will need a BIOS of sorts. Are you familiar with NEO-GEO Universal BIOS? http://unibios.free.fr/

Oh, and it would be cool to have some DSP effects to put into the sound output, like STEREO WIDENER for MONO games to take advantage of the RCA ports?

[John Blund]

Yes, some sort of SETTINGS or SETUP-like thing would be good, I just don't want to see this thing end up without access to per-game settings, especially when settings are originally only available from DIPs. Even as it will need a BIOS of sorts. Are you familiar with NEO-GEO Universal BIOS? http://unibios.free.fr/

Oh, and it would be cool to have some DSP effects to put into the sound output, like STEREO WIDENER for MONO games to take advantage of the RCA ports?

Could you tell me more what "without access to per-game settings" is in your mind? Exactly what phenomenon or consequence is it that you would like to be avoided, could you explain? Do you have any examples?

I will check out the NEO-GEO Universal BIOS. NEO-GEO game support will be one of the first things added. And I will probably try to fix that around September.

[emphatic]

With per-game settings I mean:

Coin-mode (1 coin, 2 coin, FREE PLAY etc)
Difficulty
Attract sound ON/OFF
Continue ON/OFF

Personally, I always turn FREE PLAY on, Attract sound OFF and in some cases, Continue OFF as well. So these settings are nice to have access to.

[John Blund]

With per-game settings I mean:

Coin-mode (1 coin, 2 coin, FREE PLAY etc)
Difficulty
Attract sound ON/OFF
Continue ON/OFF

Personally, I always turn FREE PLAY on, Attract sound OFF and in some cases, Continue OFF as well. So these settings are nice to have access to.

Ok, do you want these extra setting to be individual to every ROM set?

[emphatic]

Well, yes. As there's no standard per game system even, that's why I thought about adding real DIP switches for convenience, but having a DIP switch menu only, saving your settings on the memory card in it's own format (.cfg) would be better, as if you forget to change a hardware dip back to OFF, the next game you load would end up using a setting you might not want. It's worth thinking through I think.

[John Blund]

Oh, and it would be cool to have some DSP effects to put into the sound output, like STEREO WIDENER for MONO games to take advantage of the RCA ports?

Well I have been thinking about something like this as well. Maybe a multi band compressor/expander, limiter and EQ and a touch of reverb?

And a stereo widener would be a good idea also, as you mention. And i think it would be possible to control so that the sounds from left and right sounds further away also. I will try that when the time for that comes.

So in that case, there will be enhancements for sound and picture for anyone that would like that. It won't be that hard to do. 

[John Blund]

Regarding video, would it be of any use to add display port connector to the card? It would then be able to send video ans sound over the cable to a TV or display. What do you think, is it sufficient with VGA and JAMMA RGB or would displayport be of any use?

[emphatic]

Display port? Is that like, what Apple computers use?

[John Blund]

Display port? Is that like, what Apple computers use?

Yes.

And it's a royalty free standard from VESA. It's like HDMI without DRM and license fee's.

But it's unnecessary to make it mandatory, if no one wanted to use it. Signals like that could be put on one of the headers.

One thing I have been thinking about is to make a developer kit, made for new Shoot 'em up games development. As this card has some insane parallel computing power and ASIC emulation, I think it will take about 20 years before it could possibly be emulated on a PC. Any thoughts on that? As it's also possible to encrypt games that will only be able to run on one specific card. This could be used for new arcade games.

[emphatic]

What code languages would work on this kit?

[John Blund]

What code languages would work on this kit?

Well almost any language. But if I made a arcade SDK (software development kit), I will make special support for one or two languages that will make it extra easy to make games. And if anyone has suggestions then I can see what I can do.

I have been reading up what the chip I am going to use can do. And it looks like it's extra suitable to run MIPS processors. You could have at least 50 pieces of MIPS processors at 100Mhz without any problems. Each capable of 300 million instructions per second. It was MIPS processors was used for nintendo64 and playstation2.

And I 'm thinking about putting 2 real hard ARM processors on the board, each running at 800Mhz, but I don't know if the two ARM processors will fit the 400 euro budget right now, and I don't want to step over that line. But in any case, there will be loads of power in this JAMMA card.

And at the moment I'm looking a lot at different memory configurations for bigger external memories. This to maximize the preformance within this budget. It would be fun if you could outperform many of  the current systems. Making this board like a real up to date arcade platform. But the interesting thing is that you can come up with new processor configurations after this card has been shipped via USB-update. 

But how this platform can be used is somewhat depending on what people want this to go. It can change over time, after that people has bought cards. You don't need to buy any new hardware, to make this platform evolve over time and improve it's capabilities.  So if I say I think of doing this and that, doesn't say that it can be changed over time to meet what people want to use this for. The door is open for anything.

So there is basically no limitations what languages that can be used to program this platform. And as it will be capable of emulating a lot of systems directly in hardware, the possibilities is somewhat endless.