Newbie needs help with ArcadeVGA resolution tool running a WG 9200, ArcadeVGA, S

[SmokinGun]

I recently purchased a SlikStik, ArcadeVGA and WG 9200 Arcade monitor. I downloaded MameWah and the ArcadeVGA resolution tool, and I'm using Mame32 for the emulator. After I run the resolution tool and open a game, the game starts with a huge black border around it. At first I thought it was supposed to be like this, but when I opened SFA 3 and saw it in tiny screen mode, I knew something was wrong.

Obviously this has something to do with the resolution, but I don't quite understand how all this works yet. Samurai Showdown appears fullscreen and looks great, while SFA 3 is a tiny little screen, why? Do I simply have to stretch the screen using the controls on the side of the WG 9200 or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you all for your time.

[Lilwolf]

If you don't want to use any stretching (faster, and many would say looks better).

You will get a list of all physical resolutions that you monitor / video card can handle.

Then you have the original arcade game resolution.

It will try to get as close as it can... But if you card / monitor can't handle the original resolution... You will either get some parts missing or black border.

If you have a fast enought computer.  Set hardware stretchign on.  This will solve most of your problems... But when stretching it will appear to be slightly anti-aliased (ie, blurred and pixel combines).  

I think my favorite setting on a fast computer is to try to find the 'real' resolution of the monitor.  The pixel resolution... (not 640x480 on an arcade monitor btw).   But play with each one... Then force the resolution and use hardware stretching.

This makes it so you aren't changing resolutions when going into / out of mame (faster less flashes) and I think hwstretch does about as good as the monitor internal stretching does (whatever it does)..

But for some games... when the monitor CAN handle the original resolution... You will be wasting some computer horsepower... AND probably loosing some clarity...

So really.... the best solution... Is play around until you get what you like.

but expect to use hwstretching if you don't want black bars and vertical games to run.

[Minwah]

I recently purchased a SlikStik, ArcadeVGA and WG 9200 Arcade monitor. I downloaded MameWah and the ArcadeVGA resolution tool, and I'm using Mame32 for the emulator. After I run the resolution tool and open a game, the game starts with a huge black border around it. At first I thought it was supposed to be like this, but when I opened SFA 3 and saw it in tiny screen mode, I knew something was wrong.

Obviously this has something to do with the resolution, but I don't quite understand how all this works yet. Samurai Showdown appears fullscreen and looks great, while SFA 3 is a tiny little screen, why? Do I simply have to stretch the screen using the controls on the side of the WG 9200 or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you all for your time.

A few points to check:

1) I'm not sure if MAME32 works with INI files (it didn't used to).  Try Window commandline MAME instead.
2) Make sure your PC monitor isn't plugged in at the same time as your WG.
3) Check that the resolution tool has selected a decent res for SFA3.  I think it should be 392x240, 384x288 or similar (native is 384x224).
4) I believe the D9200 keeps the size/position settings for each resolution, like a PC monitor does.  If all else fails, try adjusting your monitors size/position controls while in the problem res.

You could also try checking the video settings for the game within MAME32's gui - it should tell you the res etc. that is set for each game.

Hope that helps...

[SmokinGun]

I still don't get this.

When I run MameWah and the ArcadeVGA resolution utility, it has a list of predefined resolutions listed for every ROM.  This leads me to believe that these were the original resolutions that were used in the arcade.  If this is true, then they should all look exactly like they did in the arcade.  

When I play SFA 3, the screen is tiny with a huge black border around it.  If I am running the true arcade resolution, why was there no black border like this in the arcade?  

Also, would my CPU speed effect this?  I'm testing this setup on a slow Pentium 733 that is also running as a server.  I will be running this on a faster CPU when it's complete.  If I ran this setup on a faster machine, would the software recognze this and remove the black borders, knowing that there is a faster CPU to support it?  

[SmokinGun]

A few points to check:

1) I'm not sure if MAME32 works with INI files (it didn't used to).  Try Window commandline MAME instead.
2) Make sure your PC monitor isn't plugged in at the same time as your WG.
3) Check that the resolution tool has selected a decent res for SFA3.  I think it should be 392x240, 384x288 or similar (native is 384x224).
4) I believe the D9200 keeps the size/position settings for each resolution, like a PC monitor does.  If all else fails, try adjusting your monitors size/position controls while in the problem res.

You could also try checking the video settings for the game within MAME32's gui - it should tell you the res etc. that is set for each game.

Hope that helps...

I actually do have my regular PC monitor hooked up at the same time.  The ArcadeVGA has 2 video outs and it said a computer monitor could be hooked up, so I tried it.  I'll unplug it when I get home and see if it makes a difference.

The ArcadeVGA resolution tool asked where the .ini file was.  I did a search on my HDD and pointed it to it, so I asssume it is using one.  

I think the ArcadeVGA resolution tool is designed to get all the resolutions for you so you don't have to set them.  So, manually setting them would defeat the purpose of using the tool.

[Minwah]

I actually do have my regular PC monitor hooked up at the same time.  The ArcadeVGA has 2 video outs and it said a computer monitor could be hooked up, so I tried it.  I'll unplug it when I get home and see if it makes a difference.

The ArcadeVGA resolution tool asked where the .ini file was.  I did a search on my HDD and pointed it to it, so I asssume it is using one.  

I think the ArcadeVGA resolution tool is designed to get all the resolutions for you so you don't have to set them.  So, manually setting them would defeat the purpose of using the tool.

I can tell you having your PC monitor plugged in will detrimentally affect performance, and may be the cause of the problem you are having.

Just to re-interate what I said before, the tool is NOT designed for MAME32, so it *may* not be using the INI files.  So I just suggested that you manually check the settings in MAME32 to see what is going on.  Better than that, I recommend that you don't use MAME32 at all.

But yes, if you are running the game at native res, then there shouldn't be a border - it sounds like you have something set up wrongly atm tho so I just suggested some things to check.

[SmokinGun]

I've never really tried to use any other mame emulator besides mame32.  Would you guys recommend I use mame or is there a better emulator that I should use?

BTW, I'll try the monitor thing when I get home and let you know how it goes.  Thank you all for the help.

[KevSteele]

Once you've run the AVGA resolutions tool, it should create a custom config file for every game with the proper resolution. What I'd recommend you try is to delete the mame32.ini file in your ini folder and then run it again with the "default" MAME32 settings, making sure you turn off hardware stretch if it is enabled.

Here's the recommended settings for MAME32 from the Ultimarc.com site (http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainst.html):

Ensure the default settings in MAME32 are as follows:
Display Tab:
Run in a Window: OFF
Advanced Tab:
Stretch Using Hardware = OFF (if this is greyed out you have not switched Windows to 16 or 32-bit colour mode)
Scanlines = OFF
Resolution, Size = Auto (or select from drop-down list in game as required)
Switch Resolutions to fit = ON
Use DirectDraw = ON

You might want to try MAME (if you're intimidated by MAME, just get Emuloader -- it gives you a "MAME32-like" interface for working with the command-line MAME or MAMEPP. It's not too hard to setup, and it's just like MAME32 once you've got it running, except it uses MAME instead!)

The AVGA should auto-switch to the proper resolution for each game once the games are configured (using the AVGA "AVRES" resolution tool).

Hope this helps!

Kevin

[SmokinGun]

I think I got it.  I cleared the .ini file like Kevin said and raran the ArcadeVGA resolution software.  I did this before, but I forgot to hit the generate .ini files button to actually create the .ini files

Everything I have tried so far has looked correct, and it worked just fine for Mame32.  I downloaded Mame as well and am in the process of learning how to configure it.  

Thank you all for your help.