Zinc Graphics rendering

[Tiger-Heli]

Saw this post on using the Zinc Graphics engine in MAME - sounds like it could be a good option for PowerMAME - http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51467.0

[AE35]

Hi Tiger-Heli! (great name...I was crazy about that game)

I wanted to have some fighter games like Beastorizer on my next cabinet.
So, I started to make the next folder of games on my PC.

Then, for fun, I tried zinc. I couldn't get Kawaks og nebula to work(I think
MAME deserves kudos in this area) so I ran Beastorizer on zinc...WOW!!

I need something like MAME, because I need to have a coin-input and all the
games on a HDD. But what I can't understand is why no-one has made a
plugin or the like for MAME? I understand that they want to preserve the
games a accurately as possible, but they're not very fun to play that way

So what are my options?? The new cabinet is being built:)

[Tiger-Heli]

But what I can't understand is why no-one has made a
plugin or the like for MAME? I understand that they want to preserve the
games a accurately as possible, but they're not very fun to play that way

I don't think you'll ever see it in the official build.  That's why Zinc was created.  MAMEdev in general is not concerned with how fun they are to play.  OTOH, this seems to fit in with what MikeQ was working on with PowerMAME, IMHO.

So what are my options?? The new cabinet is being built:)

Any reason you can't use Zinc for the games it supports and MAME for the others - I haven't messed with Zinc, just heard lots of good things about it.  Otherwise, wait to see if MikeQ likes my suggestion.

[AE35]

Well, I can't get it to work with MaLa...

But, there must be other like this. What is powermame anyway? is that
something like it? It doesnt have to be zinc, just something similar.

Thanks,

Nicholas

[MikeQ]

But what I can't understand is why no-one has made a
plugin or the like for MAME? I understand that they want to preserve the
games a accurately as possible, but they're not very fun to play that way

I don't think you'll ever see it in the official build.  That's why Zinc was created.  MAMEdev in general is not concerned with how fun they are to play.  OTOH, this seems to fit in with what MikeQ was working on with PowerMAME, IMHO.

So what are my options?? The new cabinet is being built:)

Any reason you can't use Zinc for the games it supports and MAME for the others - I haven't messed with Zinc, just heard lots of good things about it.  Otherwise, wait to see if MikeQ likes my suggestion.

Don't really know anything about zinc and how it does it's rendering.  Might be something to look at.   It looks like they probably have spent a lot of time on optimizing the renderer. 

[mccoy178]

Some of the zinc games are really great.  Tetris Grand Master in mame has a sound issue were the warning siren never quits once it starts.  In zinc that problem is fixed.  It's my favorite game to play with anyone that visits because unlike regular Tetris, you can affect the other player.  Play that and see if you don't think zinc is worth it.  Not to mention Todjemno Crisis or whatever the name of that goofy game is.

[AE35]

I don't there's any question about it. We need this in regular MAME, as an
option. Maybe so you can set it for each game, on or off.

Nicholas

[mccoy178]

There is only about forty games.  I know that forty can be an aweful lot for this project, but it's not a couple hundred at least.

[Silver]

Just to clarify, all the games that zinc plays are actually in mame.

Zinc's great (since they fixed the 2nd player 6th button bug!), and I think there is actually a lot of to and fro between zinc and mame (At least recently - zinc start out on its own as a PSX emu I think). For example, a large speed up boost for the already zippy zinc can be achieved in system11 games by replacing the sound renderer posted by RB here:

http://www.bannister.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=001789;p=1#000000

(This makes zinc give "Soul Edge @ 40 FPS in-game with sound on a Celeron 1.3 GHz"). This new sound rendered I believe is taken from Mame and is faster than the HLE or whatever stuff they had doing the sound before.


IMHO, I don't see the point of implimenting any of zincs 'features' in mame. Practically any frontend can launch zinc, and I'm sure there are several that will launch zinc instead of mame for certain games. What would you gain? Just use zinc when you want it.

I'd much rather see time/effort spend on slower/3D games that don't come across well in software emulation being "improved".

[jcrouse]

IMHO, I don't see the point of implimenting any of zincs 'features' in mame. Practically any frontend can launch zinc, and I'm sure there are several that will launch zinc instead of mame for certain games. What would you gain? Just use zinc when you want it.

I'd much rather see time/effort spend on slower/3D games that don't come across well in software emulation being "improved".

I agree 100%.

John

[Howard_Casto]

A more important issue is the mamedevs don't condone this hack nor do the authors of the zinc plugin.  And I can see their point in both cases as the hack creates the worst of both worlds (inaccurate rendering coupled with the slower, yet more accurate processor emulation of mame). 

Not that I'm ever afraid of ticking off mame devs, but if you want to have your build blacklisted by both mame and zinc authors then adding this hack would certianly be the way to do it. 

Also, quite frankly, the hack is just that... very hackish.  I tried it before both sides pitched a fit.... VERY glitchy. 

[Tiger-Heli]

Okay, let's withdraw my suggestion and kill this idea, then!

[AE35]

Yessir! we're out of here!

(Got it to work in MaLa anyway )