Johnny 5 beta 2.5, ahk script and Daphne Plugin released!

[Howard_Casto]

Details are on the site.... same bat time, same bat channel.

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/lazarus/

[mccoy178]

Hot dog!  This is exciting!

[Buddabing]

Is there a XML version of the daphnecontrols.ini or did you code up the .ini file directly?

[Howard_Casto]

I wrote it by hand.  Sirp's database only supports mame, so it was just easier that way. 

If anyone wants to convert it to xml, though they are welcome.

[Howard_Casto]

oops!  The readme with the latest j5 release forgets a key bit of info.  I will update the current zip shortly, but since it's a waste for people to download the whole thing again for a line of text, simply add this to the bottom of the "command line options" section in the readme.....


-emu emuname= optional Emulator Name you specify.  This is used to add support for other emulators.  If a emuname is not given J5 assumes it is mame.

[Howard_Casto]

The new script has been released over at my site.

In case you don't know this nifty little script lets you call j5 within mame. 

This version adds support for the new "-emu" tag as well as some docs, so you actually know how to use it. 


Download is to the right enjoy!

[Buddabing]

Here's a daphnecontrols XML file (rename .txt to .xml)

Are you planning on doing a similar plugin for Zinc?

[Howard_Casto]

Yes.....  I also need to document the plugins for other viewers/fes/ect can use them.  The format is butt-easy to understand, it basically outputs old-school std.ini files with a slight modification for analog axis. 

The zinc one is slightly more complex due to the crazy way zinc uses it's 18 input ports.  It's almost a special case scenario for each game.  Also zinc has a bad habit of taking games that only have buttons (like the trivia games and paca paca passion) and mapping them to the directional arrows.  Hopefully I can use the code I wrote for the zinc control config and modify it to suit our purposes for a translation plugin. 


Also, unfortuantely, zinc will have to have a seperate controls.ini as well, mainly due to the useage of the direcitonal arrows I mentioned above.  However, since mame also supports these games, for many of them it's a simple matter of copying and pasting.


Thanks for doing an xml btw.... Sirp and/or Me are going to eventually create a more programatic solution so the xml files can be converted to ini and vice-versa.  It's not an issue now, but if several plugins are created it would become a real pain in the butt.

[Howard_Casto]

I appreciate the try budda... but I downloaded your xml tonight and the format is wrong.  Controls.dat "builds" controls by grouping several mame constants together. 

Let me give you an example of something rather complex, as games with just a joystick only have one control and thus aren't grouped:


<game romname="dotron" gamename="Discs of Tron (Upright)" numPlayers="2" alternating="1" mirrored="1" usesService="0" tilt="1" cocktail="0">
      <miscDetails>
      </miscDetails>
      <player number="1" numButtons="4">
         <controls>
            <control name="8-way Triggerstick">
               <constant name="joy8way"/>
               <button name="P1_BUTTON1"/>
               <button name="P1_BUTTON2"/>
            </control>
            <control name="Push/Pull Spinner">
               <constant name="dial"/>
               <button name="P1_BUTTON3"/>
               <button name="P1_BUTTON4"/>
            </control>
         </controls>
      <labels>
            <label name="P1_BUTTON1" value="Throw"/>
            <label name="P1_BUTTON2" value="Deflect"/>
            <label name="P1_BUTTON3" value="Aim Up"/>
            <label name="P1_BUTTON4" value="Aim Down"/>
            <label name="P1_JOYSTICK_UP" value="Move Tron"/>
            <label name="P1_JOYSTICK_DOWN" value="Move Tron"/>
            <label name="P1_JOYSTICK_LEFT" value="Move Tron"/>
            <label name="P1_JOYSTICK_RIGHT" value="Move Tron"/>
            <label name="P1_DIAL" value="Aim"/>
            <label name="P1_DIAL_EXT" value="Aim"/>
         </labels>
      </player>
   </game>


Note the 8-way Triggerstick which in mame has the inputs of a joy8way and two buttons.  Also note the push/pull spinner, which is "built" by taking a dail input and adding the two appropriate buttons. 

This is also done in the ini, it's just written differently. 

For your 8way trigger stick entires you have the constant of "stick" (which isn't even a mame constant) and the related buttons aren't grouped with it. 


Also you missed the skill buttons for space ace entirely.... probably because they require a new constant included with the "additional_controls_to_labels.txt" Ditto for the "hardcoded keyboard" and thayer's quest. 



Hope that helps.... I figure if you've been doing things this way then your viewer might have been giving false outputs all along. 

Now that I've actually looked at sirp's format more closely, I should be able to write a converter. 

I'm tired of coding for j5 right now though, so it's of a lower priority. 

[Buddabing]

It really should be done the way the MAME controls.xml is generated. Failing that, a program definitely is the way to go.