The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Driving & Racing Cabinets => Topic started by: geecab on September 08, 2013, 09:03:33 am
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Hi all!
Sega Monaco GP has yet to be emulated so I decided to write a simulator as I am a massive fan of the game. Monaco GP Remake (MGPr) is free, complete, highly configurable, and can be played with keyboard, mouse, joystick or a steering wheel. No arcade ROMs are required to run MGPr and the background artwork (As seen in the teaser trailers) is shipped with the package - So everything should work straight off the bat!
MGPr features 4 game modes:
Monaco GP (1979):
100% faithful to the 1979 "Monaco GP" arcade version.
Pro Monaco GP (1980):
100% faithful to the 1980 "Pro Monaco GP" arcade version.
Monaco Pursuit (2024):
Enhancement of the original arcade version.
Includes police cars, new roads, water levels, car damage, gridstart,
high score table, racing stats, check points and a goal line finish.
Monaco Stunt Park (2024):
Enhancement of the original arcade version.
This is a very long single track, looped. Its starts off easy and gets
increasingly more difficult as less time gets awarded with each lap and
opponents get faster. Features jumps, new tracks, water levels,
gridstart, pit lane, planes and new opponents.
Running MGPr should be as easy as:
1. Download the game package and unzip it into a folder of your choice.
2. Run the mgpr.exe (or mgpr.sh for Linux) file and choose the game configuration you want to play.
Default keys are LeftArrow = Steer left, RightArrow = Steer Right, A = Accelerate, S = Gear, 5 or 6 = Insert Coin, 1 = Start Button, TAB = In game configuration editor, R = Reset hiscores (Hold for 10 seconds during attract mode).
It is recommended that you read the release notes before running MGPr. The release notes describe installation, configuration and all the special features you should be aware of.
Each time I make a new version, I will update this post so that it contains a link to the latest version of the game!
* Latest Version *
For Windows:
This release supports WindowsXP/Vista/Windows7/Windows10/Windows11:
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1 for Windows (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UJCnKQ5hUeS_m8L6jDaOi_c4uo8f0ro1/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoQShueYgv20f0fZlEtKLXQFd-8UQFuM/view?usp=drive_link).
For Linux and Raspberry Pi:
The release supports x86 Linux PCs Ubuntu 24.04 based distros (e.g. Linux Mint 22) and ARM Linux Debian 12 ('Bookworm') based distros (e.g. latest Raspberry Pi OS) 32-bit & 64-bit:
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1 for Linux & Raspberry Pi (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ImkE9sIuJj8lIHPAtHQPaLQ4nngLLapw/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoQShueYgv20f0fZlEtKLXQFd-8UQFuM/view?usp=drive_link).
Many thanks for Neil Davis for making the Linux and Raspberry Pi release possible! Check out Neil's Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/neilsnonsense/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/NeilsNonsense) channel for more of his cool projects retrofitting arcade games into vintage handhelds! :cheers:
* Obsolete Versions *
NOTE. Please be prepared should you download via a mediafire download page. You might get adverts for other software appear, encouraging you to download something else. Just make sure you
only click on the big blue 'Download' button near to top right of the page, and the file that you download to your computer is called something like "mgpr_v1_4_6.zip" (Its about 16MB in size).
For Windows:
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.0 (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sz4rt2-nQIdsnQMNVkC3ZPE7ofUw_-Ip/view?usp=drive_link)
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 (Download via Mediafire) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/9sdj2nfee7bwuus/mgpr_v1_4_6.zip)
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.5 (Download via Mediafire) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/8b5sog8ld5b8hry/mgpr_v1_4_5.zip)
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.1 (Download via Mediafire) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/xn3mqlrclaz5ak5/mgpr_v1_4_1.zip)
Monaco GP Remake v1.3.2 (Download via Zippyshare) (http://www30.zippyshare.com/v/57068933/file.html)
Monaco GP Remake v1.3 (Download via Zippyshare) (http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/76592859/file.html)
Monaco GP Remake v1.2 (Download via Zippyshare) (http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/91395425/file.html)
Monaco GP Remake v1.0 / Also known as 'Monaco GP 2013' (Download via Zippyshare) (http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/35244485/file.html)
For Linux:
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 for Linux (Download via Mediafire) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/0c68v3eb4m4wgbd/mgpr_v1_4_6_linux_04_04_2016.tar.gz)
Note. The 1.4.6 Linux package contains builds for both 32bit and 64bit Linux). It was tested on Ubuntu (v14.04.4 and v15.10) and Mint (v17.3) although it may work on other versions.
* Disclaimer *
'Monaco GP Remake is NOT a SEGA product. 'Monaco GP Remake' is a fan made simulation of SEGA's 'Monaco GP' (1979) arcade game. Making money from 'Monaco GP Remake' in any way is strictly prohibited. The author of 'Monaco GP Remake' has observed due diligence in creating and testing the game, but cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by it.
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Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 5 - Dual-Screen Scoreboard Artwork:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 5 - Dual-Screen Scoreboard Artwork (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbrnI1PTlzc#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 4 - Stunt Park (With Haunted House & Blue Shark Cabinets):
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 4 - Stunt Park (With Haunted House & Blue Shark Cabinets) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Bu96lUWwM#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 3 - New Artwork for MonacoGP/ProMonacoGP game modes:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 3 - New Artwork for MonacoGP/ProMonacoGP game modes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA_KIUaqfe0#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 2 - HiScores/EnterYourName:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 2 - HiScores/EnterYourName (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtiaYgcCmpU#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 1 - Gridstart/Damage/BoatHouse:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 1 - Gridstart/Damage/BoatHouse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTwbpIaQzSk#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Running on Raspberry Pi inside Tomy "Demon Driver" handheld game (1978)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Running on Raspberry Pi inside Tomy "Demon Driver" handheld game (1978) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWjTkotoec)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Classic" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Classic" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htwGiwCc4AY#ws)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Pro" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Pro" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puX4dTZcxWA#ws)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Pursuit" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Pursuit" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqyeUTbsDWA#ws)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Stunt Park" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Stunt Park" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QllSzY8rR38#ws)
Attract mode comparison between the Monaco GP Remake and the arcade:
Monaco GP Remake (v1.3) Attract mode - Remake VS Arcade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhQVhh39GE#ws)
Arduino testing - I modified the "scoreboard_reader" source code (Provided in the download package v1.4.5 and newer) to, instead of printing the score information to screen, send the scoreboard information to the Arduino's serial port.
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - Arduino Testing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrhSvm4ZGs#ws)
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I've tested it on WinXP, Vista and Windows 7. The slowest PC I've run it successfully on is a Intel Core2Duo 2.2GHz, I haven't tested it on anything slower. Also, similar to mame, you will need to have the original Monaco GP roms (which I can not provide you with) in order to run the game. If you fancy giving it a try you can download v1.0 here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Click on the orange 'Download Now' button to the right of the page and download "monaco_gp_2013_v1_0.zip".
Then-
1. Extract the zip file.
2. Copy the original 1979 or 1980 Monaco GP ROMs into the 'roms' directory.
3. Run mgp2013.exe
You might want to have a read of the release_notes.txt in the zip file to find out the keys and other interesting stuff.
Enjoy!
-=Disclaimer=-
'Monaco GP 2013' is NOT a SEGA product. 'Monaco GP 2013' is a simulation of SEGA's 'Monaco GP' (1979) arcade game. 'Monaco GP 2013' is available to those who legally own a copy of the original arcade game. Making money from 'Monaco GP 2013' in any way is strictly prohibited. 'Monaco GP 2013' has been tested on WinXP, Vista and Windows 7. The author of 'Monaco GP 2013' has observed due diligence in creating and testing the game, but cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by it.
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Thanks for doing this, I will give it a try.
I presume the roms from HBMAME will work.
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Cool, just been reading about HBMAME, I didn't know that existed, I shall try it out more when I have a bit of spare time :) About a year ago I tried MisfitMame and was sad to hear no more development was happening on it. I tried Monaco GP at the time and it wasn't really playable, that's what spurred me on to make my simulator.
Anyways, I've just downloaded HBMAME, yep the roms that work with my remake work with HBMAME. One thing to remember, my remake looks for the individual ".bin" files in its 'roms' directory. For HBMAME, you probably had all the Monaco GP roms zipped up into one "monaco.zip" file. If this is the case, you'll need to extract the rom files out of your zip, copy them into the 'roms' directory of my remake, and maybe rename their filenames slightly. Hope that makes sense!
These are the Monaco GP rom filenames that my remake will look for in its 'roms' directory:
"pra125.bin" (or "prb-01.bin")
"pra126.bin" (or "prb-02.bin")
"pra127.bin" (or "prb-13.bin")
"pra128.bin" (or "prb-03.bin")
"pra129.bin"
"pra130.bin" (or "prb-14.bin")
"pra132.bin" (or "prb-15.bin")
"pra140.bin"
"pra141.bin" (or "prb-16.bin")
"pra138.bin" (or "prb-10.bin")
"pra139.bin" (or "prb-11.bin")
"pra133.bin" (or "prb-05.bin")
"pra136.bin" (or "prb-08.bin")
"pra135.bin" (or "prb-07.bin")
"pra134.bin" (or "prb-06.bin")
"pra137.bin" (or "prb-09.bin")
If you run the mgp2013.exe at the command like, its pretty helpful and it will tell you what roms are missing (if any).
Hope this helps!
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Ok, tried this on my windows 7, with mixed results.
Got the roms, renamed them as required.
Started the game, found that M changed gears but no other controls worked. So, read the instructions, find that the mouse is needed. Try this, car crashes at the start then disappears off the screen, never to return. Hmm.
Next thing to try was setting the controls for the keyboard. This seemed to work much better, and the car stays around. Noticed a few things that were not on the original machine (such as the ending score display).
For a first release this seems pretty good. Not sure if you can fix (or replicate) the mouse problem.
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Hi! So it sounds like you got it working fine with keys :) but not with mouse :(
Started the game, found that M changed gears but no other controls worked. So, read the instructions, find that the mouse is needed
Yup, like it says in the release notes its mouse control by default. Mouse 'x' axis to steer, LMB accelerate, RMB change gear, Key '5' or '6' to insert coin.
Try this, car crashes at the start then disappears off the screen, never to return. Hmm
I've tried this, but I can't recreate this on my win7 64bit laptop. No matter how erratic my mouse or even touch pad movements are, the player's car always returns to the correct position.
What happens if you start the game without touching the mouse at all. Does the player "disappears off the screen, never to return", or do you have to move the mouse to make that happen?
You could try slowing down your mouse speed (via the windows control panel) and see if it makes any difference. Maybe try a different mouse if you have one?
Noticed a few things that were not on the original machine (such as the ending score display)
Yup, you can disable the hi-score table in the config.txt file if you rather not see it. It is not possible to disable the ending score / racing stats yet but adding an option for that won't be difficult (You can always skip past it by holding down the '1' key anyways).
Hope this helps!
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Very nice & thank you. It gives me the "feel" of the original. A nice bezel and LED simulation would be nice ;)
One question, is there a way to remove the filtered effect? I changed the bi-linear filtering to '0' in the config file but it still looks the same. I guess I'm in the minority, but I would like it nice and sharp.
Please keep improving it. It brings back memories for me. :cheers:
Thanks again.
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Very nice & thank you. It gives me the "feel" of the original. A nice bezel and LED simulation would be nice
Thanks bosco! Hearing you say that makes all my efforts seem worthwhile. I'll probably do something about the bezel / LED simulation for the next release as it seems quite an important feature for a few people.
One question, is there a way to remove the filtered effect? I changed the bi-linear filtering to '0' in the config file but it still looks the same. I guess I'm in the minority, but I would like it nice and sharp.
Whoops, yes this is a bug. I'll fix this in the next release.
Please keep improving it. It brings back memories for me.
Will do. Please keep the ideas how to improve coming in :) I'm thinking for the next release I shall include an configuration option for 'standard' or 'enhanced' gameplay. 'Enhanced' will be what the current version is like (I.e. Pretty much like the original arcade version, but with a high score table, racing stats when your game ends, some extra vehicles, some new tracks, and a 'goal' making the game possible to complete). The 'Standard' version be as close to the arcade version as I can make it (shouldn't be too difficult to remove the extras I added). Might even add a 'Grand Theft Auto' mode where you can shoot and steal other cars and drive the fire engine... Just kidding.. but thinking about it that would be quite cool actually ;)
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Just in case you didn't know. Zorg has some nice vectors Monaco stuff. ;)
http://vectorlib.free.fr/MonacoGP/ (http://vectorlib.free.fr/MonacoGP/)
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Background + LED stuff is getting there. I've added a menu (you can see it in the second pic, its a bit rough around the edges at the moment) that lets you move stretch/shrink the position of all the bitmaps around while the game is running. You'll be able to display whatever you want as a background, you'll also be able you change the bitmaps I created for each LED digit if you don't like the ones I made.
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That is cool!
Any plans to support analog 270° PC wheels?
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Any plans to support analog 270° PC wheels?
Yes I'd like to add something for that. I don't have a 270 degree wheel though so it might not be right the first time. I guess if I added support for an analogue joystick (and also an option to alter its sensitivity) then you'd be able to get it working with a 270 degree wheel?
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It would work, yes: a 270° wheel sends it's input via a single turn, linear potentiometer like a joypad axis ;)
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Looking sweet Geecab. Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next release. :applaud:
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Wow, this is super cool!!!
Noticed this was done in Allegro 5, which means no Dos support (but does support Linux). Ever thought of doing a Linux build?
Keep up the awesome work!!
-Bill
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Wow, this is super cool!!!
Noticed this was done in Allegro 5, which means no Dos support (but does support Linux). Ever thought of doing a Linux build?
Keep up the awesome work!!
-Bill
Thanks!
At some point I might try and port to Linux. I must admit, I almost bought a Raspberry pi the other day as I quite fancy getting MonacoGP running on that. I think for now, I'm just going to get the game totally finished on windows before I start thinking about Linux :)
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Hi! Just a quick update on my progress and a few questions:
- I've cleaned up the in-game menu, categorized the options (Display, Sound, Gameplay, Control, LEDs). Everything is now pretty much configurable in the game (you shouldn't need to edit the configuration file by hand but you still can if you like). Similar to mame, you'll be able to load a configuration file at the command line, if no configuration file is found one will be created with default settings, and if you change any options using the in-game menu it will be automatically saved when you exit the game.
- I've added 270 degree wheel (joystick) support. It works so that when your wheel is centered, the car will move straight forward, turn the wheel slightly to the left and the car will move continuously slowly to the left, turn the wheel hard right and the car will move continuously quickly to the right, etc.. Playing about with the joystick sensitivity, its quite difficult/challenging to play like this. To feel more 'direct' like the arcade (and more like the way the game plays with mouse), I would like to somehow make the player car move to a fixed to a position on the screen depending on where you are pointing the steering wheel (Thus your wheel centered will always mean the car will be in the center of the road). I can add an option to make it work in this way, but the problem is what to do about the player car starting position after you crash. In the arcade you always start off on right grass verge. I'm not sure what to do about this, maybe I should just add an option for the car to start in the center of the road at the beginning of the game and after you crash.. Any thoughts??
- I was thinking about analogue accelerator pedals the other day. There is no support for them at the moment. You can use only keys, mouse buttons or joystick buttons to accelerate. Just wondered if that was going to cause anyone any problems??
- Last but by no means least, I sent an email to Zorg of http://vectorlib.free.fr/MonacoGP/ (http://vectorlib.free.fr/MonacoGP/) and he's happy for me to include his MonacoGP bezel artwork into my next release which is cool and a massive thanks to him for that!! :) I must admit, playing the game with his artwork there really makes such a big difference :) So I will be putting together a few default configurations in the next release that will have the Bezel+Game+FlashingLEDs all correctly positioned. In-game options will still be present allowing to reposition/resize/change everything that is displayed. I did notice that having the artwork displayed at high screen resolutions does have an impact on performance (my rubbish graphics card might be the reason for this though!). In any case, I shall also include a basic configuration file which will setup up everything very low res with no artwork (same as the current version) if your system can not handle the artwork changes.
:)
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Nice to see progress. Will the filter effect be fixed with the next release? It would be nice to be able to turn it off.
Thanks for all your hard work.
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Yes will definitely make that filter effect work (or rather not work) in the next release. I reckon in a couple of weeks I'll have the new version ready :)
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OK! The new version of the Monaco GP Remake (v1.2) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Click on the orange 'Download Now' button to the right of the page and download "mgpr_v1_2.zip".
Please read the release notes after downloading as it describes using the on screen menu and how to load/save configuration files. I've included some example configurations I made so I'd recommend trying a few of these initially as they should give you an idea how artworks can be positioned correctly. For instance, from the command line in the directory where the 'mgpr.exe' resides, try running this "mgpr.exe -cfg example_1024x768.cfg" (Note, you do not need supply a path to the configuration file, my remake expects the location of configuration files to be in its 'cfg' directory). A window should appear with playfield, Bezel & LEDs all correctly positioned and the game should be running in the attract (Deposit coin) mode. You can then hit TAB to view the menu, and use the arrow keys to change various settings. You do not need to 'apply' the changes you make, as soon as you make a change it will take immediate effect and will be saved that way. Having said that, some of the configuration settings (I.e. Window/Fullscreen mode, screen resolution and Filter) will require you to restart my remake before they take effect.
New in v1.2:
- On Screen Menu (Can only be viewed during the attract mode, not during actual gameplay)
- Ability to load/save different configuration files.
- Ability to add Bezel & LED artwork (Everything can be repositioned/resized using the on screen menu)
- New Attract mode sequence
If you wait 10 seconds the road will start scrolling, showing you a sequence of tracks (day, night, wet etc..). I tried to copy the same sequence I observed on a youtube clip I found. In a addition to this, if you have LED artwork enabled, the LEDs should flash in a nice sequence.
- Joystick support.
I've only tested this with PPJoyMouse program as I don't have a joystick. Seems to work though the game is difficult to play.
- Opponent cars now rebound off the Firetruck in the event of a collision
In another YouTube clip I observed opponent cars rebound off the Firetruck, so I thought my remake had better do the same.
- Bridge section improvements to make it more like the arcade:
1. The bridge is thinner (it was too easy to overtake on the outside previously).
2. Opponent cars X position alternate from being fixed in one position (for about 2 seconds), to weaving left&right (for 1 second).
3. After the player car crashes it is placed floating above the water to the right of the bridge. They are then given 5 seconds grace period to get back on the track.
- Fixed the Filter
I think that is pretty much everything. There is still lots I plan to do which I'll enjoy looking into over Xmas!
Hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks for sharing :woot
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Thanks for sharing :woot
No worries, glad you're liking it :)
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Hopefully quite soon I'll be adding a ProMonacoGP option that will allow for slightly different scoring and a few more LEDs. Thought I'd have a go and making the Bezel artwork. I took Zorg's original MonacoGP bezel as a starting point. Unfortunately, I haven't got a hi-res scan of the ProMonacoGP bezel, but I did find an pretty good photo of it on ebay that I've tried to copy. I couldn't find perfect font matches and I'm not sure exactly what that trophy&wreath symbol should look like so was forced to use a bit of imagination here and there. If any knows of better matches, it would great if you could let me know :) Anyways, thought I'd post a low-res copy of how it looks so far:
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WOW! You did an outstanding job on this program. Thank you very much. I have a Monaco GP cabaret that kind of works (only displays a few screens). I was looking to convert it to a Monaco GP simulator using the the Sega Saturn version. However, your version is much better (especially how the competitor cars move on the track). My plan is to "gut" the cabaret and install a computer with your Monaco GP.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for your efforts. Job well done!!!
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WOW! You did an outstanding job on this program. Thank you very much. I have a Monaco GP cabaret that kind of works (only displays a few screens). I was looking to convert it to a Monaco GP simulator using the the Sega Saturn version. However, your version is much better (especially how the competitor cars move on the track). My plan is to "gut" the cabaret and install a computer with your Monaco GP.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for your efforts. Job well done!!!
Thanks xfassa!
Its really great that you're planning on putting the remake in your Cab! I am honored :) Please please post loads of pictures of your progress as I would be absolutely fascinated to see them! I have to say though, I'd strongly recommend keeping hold of everything you strip from the cab as it doesn't sound like there is too much wrong with it, you'd probably be able to resurrect it all at some point in the future!
Just been thinking about those LED displays on your cab. I have no idea how to do it, but I wonder if there is a simple way to hook up the LEDs to my remake somehow... I'll have a think about it some more if that's something that appeals to you??
Its very reassuring to know a MonacoGP cab owner such as yourself likes the competitor cars movement :) Together with what I remember from playing it countless times in the arcade, I think I've watched every youtube clip running MonacoGP to try and get the distribution/movement about right. I'm still not 100% happy with it, but that is just the way I am ;)
Once again, thanks for posting!
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I've got a couple pinball restorations going on but I plan to squeeze in some Monaco GP work along the way. I will provide some pics to document the progress.
I'm not quite sure how to display the hi-scores, timer, etc on the upper marquee. I was thinking about using another monitor (extended display) to replace the entire marquee . That way it could display an image of the marquee and allow the scores, timer, etc to be displayed too. Just an idea....
As for the controller, I plan to connect a SlikStik Tornado spinner (http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement_products/arcade_game_parts/95-2657-00 (http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement_products/arcade_game_parts/95-2657-00)) to the steering wheel. I have one of these spinners on my MAME cabinet. I tested your Monaco GP with the spinner and it works GREAT!.
I'm not sure my "guts" are worth saving. The game went from working to just a few screens working. The board repairs are too complex for me to troubleshoot. Even if I get it working, Monaco GP is notorious for breaking down. I am very thankful for your simulator. Honestly, it may be more fun than the original. I really like your idea of an original and enhanced version too. If you port to Linux, even better. Anyway, keep up the excellent work. You have brought back some excellent childhood memories. Thank you.
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I was thinking about your dual monitor idea too. Either replacing the entire marquee, or if it was correct size maybe you could place it behind the marquee to use it as both a backlight and to display the scores. I'll find about a bit more about dual monitor support and Allegro (The graphics library I use) as I'm interested in this now.
Trust me, your MonacoGP guts are worth saving! Please don't throw them away, but if you must then please feel free to throw them in my direction as I would happily spend ages trying to get them back into life :)
Thanks again for the kind words about the remake, I'll be working on it some more over Xmas so any modifications/enhancements you'd like to see in the next version just let me know!
Good luck with your pinball and MonacoGP restorations!
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geecab, did you ever hear back from the guy who owned the Pro Monaco GP?
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Nothing yet. I couldn't find a direct email address on "davesgameroom.com", but found a link to his company website (digitalherogames.com), still no direct email but found a "contact us" section that allows you to fill out a form and send a message. So I filled that form out and sent it. That was a couple of weeks ago..
Just had another look at digitalherogames.com, went to their facebook page and found Dave is on facebook, so I'm going to request the guy as a friend and send him a message (Just done this).
BTW. Anyone else who can help unravel the mystery of the ProMonacoGP bezel (see this topic -> http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0) ) it would be most appreciated :)
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Thanks for the improvements. Can you make it where you can just play full screen without having to manually adjust the playfield position?
I never really understood the whole x y thing. What would my full screen settings be if my monitor is 1600 x 900? Is it different if I want to add the bezel overlay in full screen ?
Please keep up the good work :applaud:
Thanks Geecab
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Hi bosco!
>>Can you make it where you can just play full screen without having to manually adjust the playfield position?
Can you try the "example_1360x768_nofilter.cfg" configuration by running this at the command line:
mgpr.exe -cfg example_1360x768_nofilter.cfg
Then, while its running, go into the Display Options, then set Window to NO. Then exit the program, and restart). Can you let me know if that looks ok?
>>Is it different if I want to add the bezel overlay in full screen ?
Can you try the "example_1360x768.cfg" configuration by running this at the command line:
mgpr.exe -cfg example_1360x768.cfg
Then, while its running, go into the Display Options, then set Window to NO. Then exit the program, and restart). Can you let me know if that looks ok?
>>I never really understood the whole x y thing.
While the game is running, go into the menu and try changing the playfield_x and playfield_y values (with the arrow keys) and see how that effects the position of the playfield.
>>What would my full screen settings be if my monitor is 1600 x 900?
As 1600 x 900 is a 16:9 ratio, and the 1360 x 768 is also a 16:9 ratio, I think the example configurations for 1360x768 should look ok (those configurations look pretty good on my 1920 x 1080 screen (incidentally also 16:9 ratio)).
Hope this helps :)
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My apologies Geecab. I never realized that there was an internal adjustments with the tab button. I thought you had to manually alter the cfg file. I got it working perfect. Thanks for responding and thanks for you hard work :applaud:
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I was thinking about your dual monitor idea too. Either replacing the entire marquee, or if it was correct size maybe you could place it behind the marquee to use it as both a backlight and to display the scores. I'll find about a bit more about dual monitor support and Allegro (The graphics library I use) as I'm interested in this now.
Trust me, your MonacoGP guts are worth saving! Please don't throw them away, but if you must then please feel free to throw them in my direction as I would happily spend ages trying to get them back into life :)
Thanks again for the kind words about the remake, I'll be working on it some more over Xmas so any modifications/enhancements you'd like to see in the next version just let me know!
Good luck with your pinball and MonacoGP restorations!
Geecab - Well the journey has finally begun. I have my Monaco GP cabaret torn down. I am currently converting the wheel, shifter, and foot pedal over to modern electronics. Specifically, I am using a Suzo-Happ usb spinner board (Part # 95-2780-00) to read the original encoder for the car movement. Also, I am using the Ultimarc usb I-PAC for the shifter, foot pedal, coin slots, and start game play. Ideally, the foot pedal should be a potentiometer but my I-PAC only handles digital (would need to get an A-PAC for analog). My foot is typically full on the pedal anyway. ;-)
As for the monitor......still figuring that part out. For now, I plan to get it working with the single display using the original tube monitor. It would be nice to have the LED scores, timer, etc working but not a mandatory requirement right now.
As for the software, it is really p*ssing me off (in a good way). It is waaaaay more challenging than the original. Your simulator continues to get me to play "just one more game". Well done! With that said, I was wondering if you could add a few features. Would it be possible to minimize the time the car is "paralyzed" after hitting water puddles on the road? or at least minimize the number of water puddles that appear on the road? Honestly, it would be great if these were all user adjustable options.
Also, the original didn't encounter the bridge until after the extended session started. Again, you have done an outstanding job creating this simulator. Very well done. ;-)
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Finally found the needed files (wasnt easy) to play this. After a few name issues resolved (good thing I know dos a bit).. I finally got it started. After a brief play, AVG went bonkers and deleted it. (This was the 1st link version)
I loaded v2 and it plays without AVG going ape. However, I cant figure out the Config settings, because the instructions are missing the command properties. I tried to put Mouse as the steering device, but to no avail. Tried mouse1. Nothing.
Defaults to a window? Why?
I also agree that the puddle seems to effect the car way too long.
Also, was analog pedal support added? And can you select a full axis travel, rather than half axis?
As I cant see playing this game without analog pedal support. Thats almost as bad as playing the game with keyboard steering...
And finally, if its hooked up to a geared optical sensor, can mouse resolution be adjusted? As it stands, it seems the mouse is one to one. As far as I remember, In the arcade, you had to spin the wheel quite a few rotations to get the car to move from one side of the road to the other.
Appreciate the efforts,
Thanks
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As far as I remember, In the arcade, you had to spin the wheel quite a few rotations to get the car to move from one side of the road to the other.
On my original Monaco GP, I can move the car side to side without having to spin the wheel. If the car is located in the center of the screen, a quarter turn in each direction is enough to move the car side to side.
As for the foot pedal, analog is ideal. However, once you get used to the on/off acceleration/deceleration, you will find it is works pretty well. Other than the bridge, there aren't many times you need to hold the accelerator at a slower speed. At least, that is my experience. :-)
Again, pretty amazing simulator that keeps bringing me back to play. Geecab - How about a Monaco GP construction kit that allows users to program the track?
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I think the problem is that you shouldnt rely on a computer formula to reduce speed or gain it. That should be down to the game programming, and the persons control.
There are many times when reducing speed is a good idea, such as when on Ice (Which I believe is more dangerous on the original), as well as when there are a number of cars on the screen.. that you are unsure of their behavior... and or are about to cross your path. Sometimes, you just need to slow down a hair, rather than a full on brake. Sometimes a harsh speed drop is needed. It again, should be up to the user.. and also, I dont see why you would make a reamake of a game without its proper analog controls. All the remakes with Spy Hunter, are completely unplayable... and they are by the original company. Its a sad joke.
I especially cant see replacing an original, without at very least, having all the controls be proper.
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Geecab - Well the journey has finally begun. I have my Monaco GP cabaret torn down. I am currently converting the wheel, shifter, and foot pedal over to modern electronics. Specifically, I am using a Suzo-Happ usb spinner board (Part # 95-2780-00) to read the original encoder for the car movement. Also, I am using the Ultimarc usb I-PAC for the shifter, foot pedal, coin slots, and start game play. Ideally, the foot pedal should be a potentiometer but my I-PAC only handles digital (would need to get an A-PAC for analog). My foot is typically full on the pedal anyway. ;-)
As for the monitor......still figuring that part out. For now, I plan to get it working with the single display using the original tube monitor. It would be nice to have the LED scores, timer, etc working but not a mandatory requirement right now.
As for the software, it is really p*ssing me off (in a good way). It is waaaaay more challenging than the original. Your simulator continues to get me to play "just one more game". Well done! With that said, I was wondering if you could add a few features. Would it be possible to minimize the time the car is "paralyzed" after hitting water puddles on the road? or at least minimize the number of water puddles that appear on the road? Honestly, it would be great if these were all user adjustable options.
Cool, sounds like its all going well xfassa! I must confess, I never bothered with analog pedal support because my driving cab only has microswitched pedals. I'm pretty sure I'll be adding analog pedal support in the next version anyways.
Totally agree with you regarding the puddle paralyze time. I'll put some options for that in the next version. Just been watching a youtube clip to see if I can work out just what actually happened when you hit a puddle. This clip in particular, the car hits a puddle at time 0:11 and again at 0:41, but apart from the tire squeak noise, the player seems in total control of the car and the speed of the car doesn't change (sounds as if it keeps accelerating)...
Monaco GP (1979 SEGA) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZY_LPhkzUk#)
So I'm just wondering what the actual disadvantage was regarding hitting a puddle on the arcade version? Since you own an original machine, I was hoping you might be able to remember?
Also, the original didn't encounter the bridge until after the extended session started.
Geecab - How about a Monaco GP construction kit that allows users to program the track?
Agreed, the bridge should only appear during extended play, I must sort that in the next version. And yes I think it would be cool to add a construction kit / track editor. In my source code, the track type, length, number of cars etc.. are all stored in a big table. Probably the easiest solution for me is if I read that table from a txt file when you start the game, and you could edit that txt file however you choose :)
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After a brief play, AVG went bonkers and deleted it. (This was the 1st link version) I loaded v2 and it plays without AVG going ape.
Hi Xiauo2! That's a shame, did AVG give you a reason why it delete it? I can personally vow that Norton, Avira and ESET NOD32 are all fine with both links.
However, I cant figure out the Config settings, because the instructions are missing the command properties. I tried to put Mouse as the steering device, but to no avail. Tried mouse1. Nothing.
"Mouse" and "mouse1", won't work. It needs to be something like "mouse axis x". Its best you use the in-game menu to set up your controls (so that you can see what is available). Pressing 'TAB' whilst the game is running in attract mode, then using the arrow keys navigate to the CONTROL sub menu, and change STEERING_DEVICE to a mouse axis of your choice.
Defaults to a window? Why?
I experienced a strange display problem when running the game on an really old PC in full screen mode that didn't happen when running the game in windowed mode. I fixed the problem, but figured to give the game the most chance of success of running first time on every ones video hardware the default should probably be best left as windowed.
Also, was analog pedal support added?
Not yet, I'll add it in the next version.
Thanks for giving it a try :)
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So I'm just wondering what the actual disadvantage was regarding hitting a puddle on the arcade version? Since you own an original machine, I was hoping you might be able to remember?
I remember just a momentary delay when hitting a puddle. I will hook my machine back up this weekend to check it out.
The game is quite fun now that I have the wheel, pedal, and shifter. I look forward to your updates. Thanks so much for taking the time to make this simulator. ;-)
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I have to say... I never noticed before... But Spy Hunter looks and reacts very similar to Monaco GP.
Same view, same acceleration effect of putting you deeper into the screen, same awesome top speed..
and Id be willing to bet the puddle effect is nearly identical. SH also has the Ice sliding too.
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Geecab - Signed up for the forum just to drop you a note on how outstanding your Monaco GP sim is. Awesome job all around.
Years ago (2002 maybe?) I used my GP boards to recreate a Monaco GP resource page:
http://www.arcademagnetz.com/monaco/monaco.htm (http://www.arcademagnetz.com/monaco/monaco.htm)
I assisted Phil Stroffolino in his simulator (somewhere I have a trail of dozens of emails on the play mechanics of the original game - timing, when the roads change, etc.). However, I never got to try the final version of his sim because I could never get it to compile correctly.
I really like your version of the game better than the orginal, with the police car and all!
Here are a few thoughts I had while playing it as compared to the original TTL game:
1. I believe there is one complete section of road missing (see attached pics). The car makes the screetch sound during this section, and the car "wobbles" (like going on the road shoulder) UNLESS the car is in the solid light blue road strip section (toward the left), then no wobble. I did not see this section in your remake on your Youtube video or when I played it - sorry if I missed it and it is in there.
2. The car "wobble" on the road shoulder is too slow (should wobble a bit faster).
3. As mentioned by others in this thread, the puddle should animate and be gone quicker.
4. The "extended time" blinking/sound should be more rapid.
5. In all of the original games I have played, the firetruck ALWAYS comes from the just right of center position (the right 2/3 of the road).
Other than that, at first play it felt spot-on.
I'll try to get a chance to reopen my archived emails and see if there is any good stuff in there.
Again, all I can say is WOW on the remake and it is MUST APPRECIATED by all of us Moncaco GP fans! I know a lot of hard work went into it.
Best Regards
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Hey camilty67!
I can not tell you how many times I have visited your excellent resource page in the past. Its been really helpful site to me and probably one of the reasons why I set out to make my remake in the first place :) Thank you so much for posting. You have raised a lot of great points, and yes absolutely any details you find in old emails regarding you and Phil's remake please please post them too!
I've always thought the road section you mentioned looked more like faulty hardware (board fault) rather than being an actual road. Now that I understand it is an actual road type I can not wait to add it! I've been making quite a few changes recently, and am hoping to upload a new version either this weekend or next. I am definitely going to put the new road into the new version as well as additional configuration options for other points you mentioned!!
Thanks again for posting!
:)
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Thought I'd mention the status of the next version. I'll edit this list as I make progress. Hope to upload the new version either this weekend or next :)
- Analog Accelerator Support options (Complete)
Analog pedal support for the accelerator. You can choose any axis, any ranges ("0 to +1", "-1 to 0" or "-1 to +1"), and you may also invert the axis.
- Steering sensitivity option (Complete)
Lowering the steering sensitivity, means you'll have to turn the wheel/spinner more to move the car, but you'll get more precise (less jumpy) steering.
- Steering weight option (Complete)
After having played Arkanoid on my driving cab, I really liked how the 'bat' moved when I rapidly moved my steering wheel from side to side. When you move the wheel very fast, the bat takes a short while to catch up, and when you stop spinning the wheel suddenly, the bat doesn't stop dead straight away. This setting allows you to configure that same effect when moving the player car from left to right. With just a tiny amount of weight set, the game feels more like the arcade to me when running on my driving cab. You can configure the weight to be zero in which case the steering will be immediate like previous versions of the remake
- Puddle effect time option (Complete)
How long the effects of the puddle last.
- Steering weight after hitting a puddle option (Complete)
Momentarily making the car's steering heavier than normal after hitting a puddle thus giving the impression of a slippery surface.
- Pro-Monaco GP mode option (Complete)
‘Top score over 10000 points’ LED section and ‘16 Successively cars overtaken’ LED section added. Trying to work out how these LED sections should work (see http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0) for more information) I managed to get in contact with Dave (http://davesgameroom.com/GameDetail.aspx?GID=5 (http://davesgameroom.com/GameDetail.aspx?GID=5)), a member of this forum kindly sent me his email address. Unfortunately, Dave's ProMonacoGP is currently not working, and he can’t remember how the extra LEDs operate or what they used to show. So I had to guess how things might have looked/worked. In my remake, you’ll get 200 points for each 16 cars you pass successively, the points are awarded to your score immediately. The spot LED bitmap I used to indicate a single overtake is configurable. Scores over ‘10000’ do not get ranked (and they will never appear in the 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th ‘Today Best’ LED sections as they can only cater for a 4 digit score).
- Enable/disable sounds during attract mode (Complete)
There were no car or firetruck passing sounds during the arcade version’s attract mode, but I thought I’d add an option to allow them.
- Arcade or linear car speed positioning option (Complete)
Closer inspection of the arcade being played I noticed how the player car's position would move up the screen more rapidly at certain speed ranges than others. I've tried to recreate this. Thus...
Liner car speed positioning:
0mph to 200mph : player's car is positioned between the bottom and 1/2 of the way up the screen. This was the only option in previous versions of my remake.
Arcade car speed positioning:
0mph to 50mph : player's car is positioned between the bottom and 1/5 of the way up the screen.
50 to 100mph : player's car is positioned at 1/5 of the way up the screen.
100mph to 150mph : player's car is positioned between 1/5 to 1/2 of the way up the screen.
150mph to 200mph : player's car is positioned at 1/2 of the way up the screen.
- Scoring options (Complete)
How many points are award for when the player's car travels a full length of the screen. How many points are awarded for passing a car. How many points are award for passing a car on the bridge.
- Editable track (Complete)
The attract mode track layout, and game track layouts are read from a text file which maybe edited.
- Player car 'wobble’ rate option (Complete)
The rate at which the car twists from side to side when driving on sides of the road and through a marsh
- 'extended time' blink time option (Complete)
The rate at which the ‘extended time’ notification flashes on and off
- Configurable Firetruck positions (Complete)
Configurable in the track layout file. You can choose "RANDOM" or provide a specific position
- Added new 'Marsh' road (Complete)
Road that is sectioned into dark (marsh) areas and light (normal) areas. Driving on marsh causes the car to wobble (Looks the same as driving too fast on the side of the road). You can configure the speed at which driving on 'the marsh' starts to effecting the car. You can also configure how the car is effected when driving over marsh (the rate of slow down and the amount of steering weight).
- Give the track editor the ability to 'loop' at track rather than always have to add a 'goal' finish line (Complete)
So that tracks can be designed that theoretically could go on for ever.
- Give the track editor the ability to set road width and road position to random (Complete)
In the track text file, I want to be able to set the road width/position changes to be random for an indeterminate amount of miles. Currently, you have to explicitly state the road width should be <some value> at a certain mileage, then at x miles later the road width shall merge to <some value>, then a x miles later the road width shall merge to <some value>, and so on. Which is quite a hassle. It shouldn't take me too long to add something that you can state you want random road width changes within a minimum and maximum width range for x amount of miles.
Just doing some final testing, will upload the new version shortly :)
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Geecab - you just made my weekend (or next weekend). I really look forward to the update. Thanks again for this awesome remake. It really is more addictive than the original. Believe it or not, I have not yet reached the end. My best game is 95% complete. The night bridge is tough!
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95% is good going xfassa! Once again, really good to hear you are liking the remake!!
By the way, I haven't forgotten about the possibility of dual monitors for a future release. I was checking out virtual pinball machines the other day (I really think I might build one at some point), and I thought would it be cool if I could make Monaco GP run on it too, using the pinball back screen to display something similar to the bezel & LEDs artwork :)
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Very Cool Geecab. Looking forward to trying your updated versions! I will look for those old emails soon and let you now what I come up with. I've have to update that page soon also!
Best Regards
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The good news: My Monaco GP project is underway.
The bad news: I removed most of the internals
I hated to do it but the game just never worked properly and all the internal components are garbage (and unsafe). I look forward to rebuilding the cabaret with modern electronics running Geecab's awesome Monaco GP remake. Note: the cab will still use all the original hardware (wheel, shifter, foot pedal, etc.). I have a lot to figure out but it will be a fun project.
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Looking good so far, new 'Marsh' track running in ProMonacoGP mode :)
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Geecab - The new version looks great!!! Can't wait to install on my upgraded cabaret. ;-)
After a day and a half of all work on this project, some significant progress has been made. See crappy phone pics below. Once I get this thing fully restored, I will provide much better images and video.
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Wow xfassa, thanks for posting the pics, it is looking great!!!
I've just been thinking, with your current screen set up (and the fact I've not really worked out how I'm going to do the dual monitor thing), its a shame that you can't get the benefit of the LED/bezel artwork stuff thats been added. If you did want to add the artwork stuff, as a sort of 'quick fix', what if at random intervals during the attract mode, the game screen could fade into a screen showing the LED/bezel artwork (with and maybe a miniaturized version of the game still visible), then after a moment it returns back to the normal view. You could also force it to switch between views by, say, stepping on the accelerator peddle during the attract mode? Do you think that would be a good idea?? I'm probably over thinking things ;)
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Geecab - I came to the same conclusion about the artwork. I decided to remove the original bezel and use the full LCD display. This allows me to include the artwork and led displays. It looks fantastic!!! I will try to make a new bezel to cover up the edges of my LCD display. Thanks so much for your help.
Lots of family/friends will be over today for the holiday. Monaco GP will be getting lots of play! :-)
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Looking good xfassa :) One thing I'd probably suggest is to slightly tweak your configuration a little using the on-screen menu (Marginally changing the size & positions of the bezel, leds & playfield), just to make the most use of your screen?
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Geecab - Thanks for the screen tip. The adjusted screen size looks much better. ;-)
My Monaco GP cabaret got lots of play over the holiday break. Everyone was amazed how well your simulator played. Honestly, your simulator is preferred over the original. Thanks again.
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Great Stuff again xfassa :) Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Thought I'd write a quick update. Everything I wanted to add to the new version has been added. There is just one last thing:
In the track text file, I want to be able to set the road width/position changes to be random for an indeterminate amount of miles. Currently, you have to explicitly state the road width should be <some value> at a certain mileage, then at x miles later the road width shall merge to <some value>, then a x miles later the road width shall merge to <some value>, and so on. Which is quite a hassle. It shouldn't take me too long to add something that you can state you want random road width changes within a minimum and maximum width range for x amount of miles.
Was really hoping to get the new version uploaded before the weekend but I've been a bit busy so unfortunately that hasn't happened. I've got a bit of spare time this weekend though so really expect on Sunday I will have the new the version uploaded :)
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OK! The new version of the Monaco GP Remake (v1.3) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Please be a little prepared as you visit the zippyshare site, you might get adverts for other software appear, trying to fool you to download something else. Just make sure you only click on the orange 'Download Now' button to the right of the zippyshare page, and the file that you download to your computer is called "mgpr_v1_3.zip". I apologize for using such a poor filesharing host, but it is free!
Once you've unzipped the file, you'll see I have created separate MonacoGP and ProMonacoGP example configurations (found in the 'cfg' directory), all with the Bezels and LED artwork correctly positioned. So first off I'd suggest giving these a try. Say, if you wanted to run the game using the 'pro_monaco_gp_1360x768.cfg' configuration, you would specify "mgpr -cfg pro_monaco_gp_1360x768.cfg" at the command line. Please note, all the example configurations are configured to run the game fullscreen, if you want them to be windowed, you will have to use the on screen menu to change the 'Window' Display setting to "Yes", then restart MGPr.
There is now a 'track' directory that contains the track data for the attract mode ('attract_mode.trk') and the actual game ('remake.trk'). I also made a start trying to create a track that is more faithful to the arcade ('arcade.trk') but its not finished. These .trk files are just text files, you should be able to get the basic idea how they work by viewing them in notepad. I'll post exactly what everything means in the .trk files later.
New in v1.3:
- Analog Accelerator Support options
- Steering sensitivity option
- Steering weight option
- Puddle effect time option
- Steering weight after hitting a puddle option
- Pro-Monaco GP mode option
- Enable/disable sounds during attract mode
- Arcade or linear car speed positioning option
- Scoring options
- Editable tracks
- Player car 'wobble’ rate option
- 'extended time' and 'game over' blink time option
- Configurable Firetruck positions (edit .trk for this)
- Added new 'Marsh' road
- At the beginning of the race, your timer starts counting down as soon as the accelerator is pressed, or after 10 seconds you'll hear a beep and the timer will start anyway.
- Handle consecutive games better (when you have multiple credits), so that you will always see the game over screen for a few seconds before a new game starts.
Hope you enjoy it!
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Perfect timing! I just got done adding a potentiometer to my foot pedal. I will get the new software installed and it give it a go. Thanks!!!
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Hi! I had a bit of spare time so thought I'd make a start, try and document what is going on in those *.trk files located in the ‘track’ directory. I plan to copy this into the readme.txt located in the 'track' directory for the next release.
Quick Overview
You should read track files from the bottom upwards. If you open ‘remake.trk’ with notepad you’ll see the last line of text in the file is “ROAD_DESERT,GREY,45,1,4,20,-60,60,SNAP”. That is where the track begins. This line of text is known as a RoadChange. Associated with each RoadChange are RoadEvents. RoadEvents are set to occur at specific distances after a RoadChange has occurred. Although it has no function other than to make my track files more readable, I’ve Tab indented the RoadEvents in my track files so that its easy to spot which RoadEvents are associated with which RoadChange.
The track ends when the last RoadChange (at the top of the track file) has run its distance. After that, the track will loop back to the very first RoadChange, or to the RoadChange that has been prefixed with the '*' character. For example:
*ROAD_FOREST,GREY,45,1,4,20,-60,60,MERGE
If you don't want the track to loop back to an old RoadChange, you can the trigger the completion of the game by adding an EVENT_GOAL RoadEvent.
If you switch the TRACK_DEBUG gameplay configuration option on, this will switch off car collisions and also output useful information to the console window the about the RoadChanges and RoadEvents that are as the occur. It also outputs the Cars current distance. Helps if you are designing a track, working out the best distances for particular events to occur.
More about RoadChanges
A RoadChange comprises of 9 comma separated values.
Name, Colour, Distance, MinCars, MaxCars, Difficulty, LBarrier, RBarrier, InitBarrierState
Where,
Name - The name of the road which can be one of the following:
ROAD_DESERT
ROAD_FOREST_ICE
ROAD_TUNNEL
ROAD_TUNNEL_ICE
ROAD_HARBOUR
ROAD_BRIDGE
ROAD_BRIDGE_NIGHT
ROAD_BEACH
ROAD_SNOW
ROAD_MARSH
ROAD_MARSH_ICE
ROAD_GOAL
Colour - The base/tarmac colour of the track. This is not applicable to ROAD_***_ICE type tracks, but you still have to provide a value. Possible colour values are:
GREY
NAVY
Disatance - How many miles the road continues for.
MinCars - When the game decides to feed cars randomly onto the screen, this is the minimum amount that will appear.
MaxCars - When the game decides to feed cars randomly onto the screen, this is the maximum amount that will appear.
Difficulty - This is a bit of a magic value, it reflects how fast the opponent cars travel towards you. I usually choose values between 20 (easy) to 40(hard)
LBarrier - Given the center of the screen on the X axis is 0, this value indicates where the Left barrier should be positioned when the road first appears.
RBarrier - Given the center of the screen on the X axis is 0, this value indicates where the Right barrier should be positioned when the road first appears.
InitBarrierState - When the new road appears, should the barrier position snap immediately to that new position (for instance, when approaching a bridge) , or to merge new position over the nest few miles. Possible InitBarrierState values are:
MERGE
SNAP
More about RoadEvents
EVENT_BARRIER_CHANGE – To change barrier to a specific width.
A barrier change comprises of 5 comma separated values:
EVENT_BARRIER_CHANGE,Distance, LBarrier, RBarrier, InitBarrierState
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
LBarrier - Given the centre of the screen on the X axis is 0, this value indicates the proposed Left barrier position
RBarrier - Given the centre of the screen on the X axis is 0, this value indicates the proposed Right barrier position
InitBarrierState - Should the barrier position snap immediately to the proposed position, or gradually merge to it. Possible InitBarrierState values are:
MERGE
SNAP
EVENT_BARRIER_RANDOM - To randomly and continuously change the width and position of the barriers. Once set, the barriers will continue to change until the next RoadChange, or an EVENT_BARRIER_CHANGE.
A barrier random event comprises of 4 comma separated values:
EVENT_BARRIER_RANDOM,Distance,MinBarrier,MaxBarrier
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
MinBarrierWidth - The minimum amount of width random roads may have
MaxBarrierWidth - The maximum amount of width random roads may have
EVENT_BRIDGE_SIGN - Enables the flashing bridge sign until the next RoadChange. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_BRIDGE_SIGN,Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
EVENT_SNOW_DRIFT - A snow drift will appear at a random place in the road. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_SNOW_DRIFT,Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
EVENT_PUDDLE - A puddle will appear at a random place in the road. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_PUDDLE,Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
EVENT_POLICE_ON - The police will be after you if you go too slow and this event occurs. Once enabled, they will remain enabled until the end of the race. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_POLICE_ON,Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
EVENT_PRINT - Print something out to the console window. Comprises of 3 comma separated values:
EVENT_PRINT,Distance,<YourMessage>
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
<YourMessage> - Can be any text you want, but it must be just one word.
EVENT_EXTENDED_PLAY - Trigger the Extended Play sig and award the player with extra time. Note. If you design a track that continuously loops, and the Extended Play event is in that loop, extra time will be keep being awarded. The amount of time awarded each time maybe lessoned each lap by a certain amount. This amount can be set by the TIME_EXTENDED_SEQUENT Gameplay option. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_EXTENDED_PLAY,Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
EVENT_AMBULANCE - Trigger the Ambulance. Comprises of 3 comma separated values:
EVENT_AMBULANCE, Distance, Positon
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
Position - Can either be set to 'RANDOM' or a specific value from 0 to 240 (where 120 will be the center of the road).
EVENT_FIRETRUCK - Trigger the Firetruck. Comprises of 3 comma separated values:
EVENT_FIRETRUCK, Distance, Position
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
Position - Can either be set to 'RANDOM' or a specific value from 0 to 240 (where 120 will be the center of the road).
EVENT_CAMERA_SPEED - This event is only applicable when viewing the track in attract mode. It speed or slows the camera down. Comprises of 3 comma separated values:
EVENT_CAMERA_SPEED, Distance, Speed
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
Speed - Speed of the Camara. If set to zero and the EX_SHOW_HISCORE Gameplay option is enabled, the car will come to a standstill at the hiscores will be shown, after which the
attract mode track will repeat again. If the speed of the camera is set to zero and the EX_SHOW_HISCORE Gameplay option is disabled, this event is ignored.
EVENT_GOAL - Completes the game. Comprises of 2 comma separated values:
EVENT_GOAL, Distance
Where,
Distance - The event will activate after this amount of miles.
I think that is about everything for now, hope it was an interesting read! :)
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Hi Geecab -
The simulator is awesome! :applaud: I love how configurable it is!
I updated my resource page with some video I had of a Monaco GP cockpit, and I added some pics of your sim if that is okay.
A couple of things I noticed while using the latest versiom (1.3):
1. The original Monaco GP gives you extended play at 2000 points, but the extended play does not start until the original time runs out (you could have 30 seconds still remaining when the Extended Play flashes and get to play unlimited lives still until the time runs out). On the sim, it automatically goes into Extended Play mode/time with the fixed number of cars once you hit EP. Also, on the original Monaco GP, the 2000 points/extended play usually happened around just after the second tunnel (your stage 8-9).
2. The marsh/gravel road does not come up until your stage 19. On the orginal, it was much earlier than that, a couple of stages into extended play. I have not checked it against my notes on my resource page that lists out the stage sequences. It looks like you can create your own track seq with the sim, but I haven't had time to try it yet!
3. I believe the firetruck sound should occur a bit sooner that it does, giving you some milliseconds heads up it is coming. (maybe this can be configurable).
Thanks! again for the freakn'n awesome sim and all the work and time you have put into it!
camilty67
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Registered just to thank you for this remake. An excellent effort! Thank you!
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Hey camilty67!
Just checked your updated resource page, it looks excellent! Honored see my remake on your site! :)
Really glad you are liking the new version! Thanks for the points you've mentioned, funny enough, I've actually already been working on these things for the last week or two. Here is what I have been, or will be, working on for the next release:-
The original Monaco GP gives you extended play at 2000 points, but the extended play does not start until the original time runs out (you could have 30 seconds still remaining when the Extended Play flashes and get to play unlimited lives still until the time runs out). On the sim, it automatically goes into Extended Play mode/time with the fixed number of cars once you hit EP. Also, on the original Monaco GP, the 2000 points/extended play usually happened around just after the second tunnel (your stage 8-9).
Agreed. I've improved the track file editor and have modified my 'arcade.trk' file, I can now specify two different courses, the first 'easy' course will loop until the initial 90 seconds runs out. When the time runs out, if you have been awarded 2000 points or more, then the second 'hard' course will begin. You'll be able to play the hard course without a time limit. The 'extended play' sign with flash when you have earned 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 points.
2. The marsh/gravel road does not come up until your stage 19. On the orginal, it was much earlier than that, a couple of stages into extended play. I have not checked it against my notes on my resource page that lists out the stage sequences. It looks like you can create your own track seq with the sim, but I haven't had time to try it yet!
I totally agree with you, the current tracks (arcade.trk and remake.trk) are not very failthfull to the arcade. Even though the remake.trk is way off what the arcade version is like, its quite fun to play so am inclined to leave that 'as is' and just concentrate making the arcade.trk play as close to the arcade version as possible. I shall probably setup all the pro_monaco_gp_*.cfg configuration files to play the remake.trk, and all the monaco_gp_*.cfg configuration files to play the arcade.trk.
3. I believe the firetruck sound should occur a bit sooner that it does, giving you some milliseconds heads up it is coming. (maybe this can be configurable).
Good point! I will be sure to make the "firetruck sample start to firetruck appearing" time configurable
Thanks again for your comments! :)
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Registered just to thank you for this remake. An excellent effort! Thank you!
Thanks beylie! Glad you are enjoying the remake! :)
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Geecab - great stuff!
FYI. I gave your simulator a shout out over at Pinside. http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1978-sega-monaco-gp-remake-worth-checking-out (http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1978-sega-monaco-gp-remake-worth-checking-out)
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Cheers xfassa!! Very cool website too! :)
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EDIT: I've placed the questions that were in this post, together with the others in the post below :)
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Hi! I'm trying to get the next release of the Monaco GP remake as close to the arcade version as possible. I am trying desperately to find out the answers to few questions regarding the play mechanics of the original game. If you think you can answer any of the following in anyway, please do so as it would really help me out :) Here we go:-
Question1. On the Sega Saturn version of Monaco GP, at the start of the race, the red car is placed onto the 'scenery' (I.e. onto the trees and houses). It is possible to drive along the scenery until the time runs out. The road type never changes from the desert road. The player's score never increases whilst driving over the scenery. Is the arcade version the same?
Answer1. Thank you to Monaco GP owner 'guddler' of ukvac forum for answering "Yes" to this.
[youtube]Monaco GP Saturn - Normal Play, Inactive scenery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgRh2LEAlro#ws)[/youtube]
Question2. On the Sega Saturn version of Monaco GP, during Extended Play, after a crash, the red car is placed onto the roadside verge, immediately after which it is possible to move onto the 'scenery' (I.e. onto the trees and houses). Red car may move along the scenery for a certain amount of time, after which the red car will 'wobble' for a certain amount of time, after which the red car will explode. Is the arcade version the same?
Answer2. TBC
[youtube]Monaco GP Saturn - Extended Play, Inactive scenery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1jl_WjdWXA#ws)[/youtube]
Question3. On the Sega Saturn version, during Extended Play, after a crash, the red car is placed onto the roadside verge. If left at a standstill for a certain amount of time, the red car will 'wobble' for a certain amount of time, after which the red car will explode. Is the arcade version the same?
Answer3: Thank you to Monaco GP owner "c0inoppl" (clip of his working machine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw6PqbVp3Uc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw6PqbVp3Uc)) for their answer:-
"I checked what happens in extend play if the player car is at a standstill on the roadside verge.
When you start from roadside after crash you have ~ 7 sec. to leave this place and be on the road. If not your car crashes automatically.
I tested it in the situation when I crashed on the bridge too. You start in the water and you have again 7 sec to come to the bridge. If not - car crashes.
I think it can help you."
[youtube]Monaco GP Saturn - Extended Play, Standstill on verge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tANw-axUlI#ws)[/youtube]
Question4. On the Sega Saturn version, after touching the accelerator, it is not possible to bring the red car to a complete halt. Is the arcade version the same?
Answer4. Thank you to comilty67 for his video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC59GTaMhrc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC59GTaMhrc) that shows this answer to this is "Yes" (demonstrated at time 2:20)
[youtube]Monaco GP Saturn - Can not stop after accelerator has been touched (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyfGo-9-kLM#ws)[/youtube]
Question5. On the Sega Saturn version, in normal play, at the beginning of the race or after a spin, the 'scenery' (I.e. the trees and houses) is inactive (can not be crashed into) until after the red car and moved onto the road. Is the arcade version the same?
Answer5. Yes, arcade version is thought to be the same by MonacoGP owner.
[youtube]Monaco GP Saturn - Scenery active once car moves on road (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4g0qq3uU2U#ws)[/youtube]
Question6. Finally, on the arcade version, is it possible to perfectly match the player car speed with the opponent cars for the entire length of the bridge? Do the opponent cars fluctuate in speed at all when driving over the bridges??
Answer6. TBC
Many thanks for reading! Hope you can help! :)
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Geecab - keep up the awesome work. I'm doing my best to try and find answers to your questions. It's hard to find people with a fully functional Monaco GP. :-)
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Thanks for trying xfassa! :)
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First, I want to thank you for excellent Monaco GP simulator. I'm an "old school man", and there are not many games that I like to play... and your simulator is among the top three! I was looking for something like that from '90s, but you make it just last year.
1.2 is not easy to finish, but v1.3 (think) is 20% harder, default settings, only steering_sensitivity changed. I have to play 30-40 games for one completed. Few notes:
- in Pro mode, cannot remove "bonus" sign, down/left corner.
- sometimes, car explode once again just after crash; I'm not sure, but there is no move.
- I would like set the bridges always in the middle of the road, and path of the rescue cars to be more random.
- according to screenshot, there is something wrong with time bonus calculating.
- what settings is best for 1680x1050 resolution, window/full screen? I can't get the right value in cfg.
- several times crashed on the last section, finish appear, just 1-2cm road left, and no more lives... I was very angry with you! ;)
Sorry for language mistakes, it's Google Translate.
Best regards,
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Hi tomtom! Thanks for the kind words and congratulations for completing the game!
I agree that v1.3 is much more difficult than the last version. I guess I wanted to make the game nearly impossible to finish as it was impossible to finish the arcade version. If it takes you about 30-40 attempts to complete a game then I would say the level of difficultly is set about right :)
In response to your other questions:
in Pro mode, cannot remove "bonus" sign, down/left corner.
Go into the in-game menu (press TAB), go to GAMEPLAY_OPTIONS, set EX_SHOW_OVERTAKES to NO. In hindsight, I wish I'd have named this option EX_SHOW_BONUS :P
sometimes, car explode once again just after crash; I'm not sure, but there is no move.
I think this may have happened to me a few times as well. I think you have found a bug, I shall investigate.
I would like set the bridges always in the middle of the road,
I currently position the bridges to appear in the middle of the screen, under the flashing bridge sign. Just want to be clear what you are asking, you want the bridge to always appear in the middle of where the last road ends?
and path of the rescue cars to be more random.
Have a look at the remake.trk file in the track directory. View it with notepad and search for EVENT_FIRETRUCK. These events cause the rescue car to appear at certain distances during the game. Setting the last parameter to RANDOM will make the rescue appear at a random position on the screen. Thus try changing the line that reads EVENT_FIRETRUCK,3,130 to EVENT_FIRETRUCK,3,RANDOM and see if that helps?
according to screenshot, there is something wrong with time bonus calculating.
Agreed. Looks like a bug, I shall investigate.
what settings is best for 1680x1050 resolution, window/full screen? I can't get the right value in cfg.
Unfortunately, I have not created a default configuration suitable for 1680x1050 (which is a 16:10 resolution) yet. I will make a note to add one for the next release. For now, what I suggesting is running the game using the "pro_monaco_gp_1360x768.cfg", setting its resolution to 1280x800 (which is also a 16:10 resolution) using the in-game menu, then restarting the program. Once it restarts, you could use the in-game menu to tweak the bezel, led & playfield options to make everything fit your screen correctly. Let me know how you get on, if you have problems I could send you a configuration that should look nice fullscreen.
Hope this helps! :)
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in Pro mode, cannot remove "bonus" sign, down/left corner.
Go into the in-game menu (press TAB), go to GAMEPLAY_OPTIONS, set EX_SHOW_OVERTAKES to NO. In hindsight, I wish I'd have named this option EX_SHOW_BONUS :P
Works, tnx. I would never have discovered...
sometimes, car explode once again just after crash; I'm not sure, but there is no move.
I think this may have happened to me a few times as well. I think you have found a bug, I shall investigate.
Looks like buffering trouble...
I would like set the bridges always in the middle of the road,
I currently position the bridges to appear in the middle of the screen, under the flashing bridge sign. Just want to be clear what you are asking, you want the bridge to always appear in the middle of where the last road ends?
Yes. I think (original version) the bridge always appear in the middle of where the last road ends. Your version is better, more dynamic, need to follow the signs... but I beleive is good idea to keep the choices.
and path of the rescue cars to be more random.
the last parameter to RANDOM will make the rescue appear at a random position on the screen. Thus try changing the line that reads EVENT_FIRETRUCK,3,130 to EVENT_FIRETRUCK,3,RANDOM and see if that helps?
Probably. I noticed that firetruck after the first bridge (extended play) always appear in the right side, so I learn how to avoid him.
what settings is best for 1680x1050 resolution, window/full screen? I can't get the right value in cfg.
Unfortunately, I have not created a default configuration suitable for 1680x1050 (which is a 16:10 resolution) yet. I will make a note to add one for the next release. For now, what I suggesting is running the game using the
Nothing important, I am satisfied with the existing resolutions
What do you think about a way to save the game (replay), so we don't need video capture programs, etc. Is it already possible with .trk files?
PS: Oh, NOOOOO! It happened again! :)
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HI tomtom!
sometimes, car explode once again just after crash; I'm not sure, but there is no move.
I think this may have happened to me a few times as well. I think you have found a bug, I shall investigate.
Looks like buffering trouble...
I worked out how to make this happen consistently, at one particular point on the track. During extended play, when the ice road joins to the bridge road for the first time, if you crash into the bridge entrance, then move the steering wheel right before your next car appears, then your next car will explode immediately. If you don't touch the steering wheel, it works fine. Now that I can recreate the problem, shouldn't be too hard to fix :)
I would like set the bridges always in the middle of the road,
I currently position the bridges to appear in the middle of the screen, under the flashing bridge sign. Just want to be clear what you are asking, you want the bridge to always appear in the middle of where the last road ends?
Yes. I think (original version) the bridge always appear in the middle of where the last road ends. Your version is better, more dynamic, need to follow the signs... but I beleive is good idea to keep the choices.
Not sure if placing the bridge in the middle of the road is correct thing to do though, difficult to say :P I've just been watching this clip:-
Monaco GP arcade game world record performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WPuLL0b4I#)
In this clip there is fortunately a spot reflection at the top/middle of the screen surround that always lines up with the bridge & bridge sign. Looks like the bridge and bridge sign always appear in the middle of the screen to me. You could, if you really wanted to, edit the trk file so that you fix the road preceding the bridge to a fixed position/width and also edit the position of the bridge so that it appears in the middle of the road preceding it?
what settings is best for 1680x1050 resolution, window/full screen? I can't get the right value in cfg.
Unfortunately, I have not created a default configuration suitable for 1680x1050 (which is a 16:10 resolution) yet. I will make a note to add one for the next release. For now, what I suggesting is running the game using the
Nothing important, I am satisfied with the existing resolutions
Ok cool! I'll be sure to place a 16:10 configuration in the next release anyway :)
What do you think about a way to save the game (replay), so we don't need video capture programs, etc. Is it already possible with .trk files?
Unfortunately, this is not already possible. Might be a bit tricky to do/add. Have always used bandicam for video capture, which is seem pretty good for a freebie (as long as you don't want to capture more than 10mins, and you don't mind the watermark). Hm, you've got me thinking now, an action replay after you crash my be a cool addition at some point in the future...
Hope this helps! :)
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> Not sure if placing the bridge in the middle of the road is correct thing to do though, difficult to say :P I've just been watching this clip:-
I watched video and must say: the bridge IS NOT in the middle of where the last road ends, but slightly shifted to the right. In my memories, he was always in the same place - middle. Maybe in the original versions that could be adjusted somehow... Well, keep up your idea, this is good advance.
> Have always used bandicam for video capture, which is seem pretty good for a freebie
Uploaded one completed gameplay video, 25fps 340MB... who wants, can look at it:
https://mega.co.nz/# (https://mega.co.nz/#)!ZsFT1aoA!N4YvfHzfIAL1i96774zOYQGnCe73tl6BxoZKqAPC-zs
> Hm, you've got me thinking now, an action replay after you crash my be a cool addition at some point in the future...
Looking crash again?! It is the last thing I want to see! :)
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> Not sure if placing the bridge in the middle of the road is correct thing to do though, difficult to say :P I've just been watching this clip:-
I watched video and must say: the bridge IS NOT in the middle of where the last road ends, but slightly shifted to the right. In my memories, he was always in the same place - middle. Maybe in the original versions that could be adjusted somehow... Well, keep up your idea, this is good advance.
I own a Pro Monaco GP, and the bridge is always in the exact middle of the SCREEN, regardless of where the road is when the bridge starts. Also, I just posted in the other thread regarding the bonus points mystery...
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geecab, are you still working on this? I'm enjoying so much! ;D
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geecab, are you still working on this? I'm enjoying so much! ;D
Hi beylie!
Yup I haven't forgotten this. Just been working on a big project at work that kind of needs all my brain power at the moment (and I don't have that much to be honest ;))
I have made some progress though:-
I've fixed the crashing bug and the end of game scoring issue that tomtom found.
I've added some more commands into the track files, allowing you to 'loop' them at certain places. This has allowed me to make a track file much more like the arcade, that loops "Desert->ForestIce->Desert->Tunnel" roads until a 90 timer expires, then loops "Harbor->MarshIce->Harbor->Bridge->Harbor->Tunnel->Harbor->MarshGravel" roads forever (until you loose all your lives).
For the next release there will be a choice of 3 tracks:
- The Monaco GP Arcade Track (mgp.trk)
As close as the original Monaco GP as possible (For example, Looped 90 second Normal Play, Infinite time in extended play, no police cars, no overtake bonuses)
- The Pro-Monaco GP Arcade Track (promgp.trk)
As close as the original Pro-Monaco GP as possible (For example, Looped 90 second Normal Play, Infinite time in extended play, no police cars, with overtake bonuses). This will have all the correct overtake bonus and scoring behavior that Dr. Morbis kindly helped me get my head around (See this thread http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=135783.0)).
- The Remake Track (remake.trk)
Should play much the same as my remake currently does (90 seconds NonLoopedNormalPlay, 90 seconds NonLoopedExtendedPlay, Goal Finish, with police cars, with end of game race statistics).
I'm just currently working on a way for the track files to 'carry' some of the gameplay options that are currently in the configuration menu. So that it will be possible to switch easily between "mgp.trk", "promgp.trk" and "remake.trk" without have to change too much in the configuration editor, hope that makes sense.
Hopefully should be able to get back onto this very soon, talking about it again has inspired me I have to say. I'll probably be able to get back on it this weekend :)
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I own a Pro Monaco GP, and the bridge is always in the exact middle of the SCREEN, regardless of where the road is when the bridge starts. Also, I just posted in the other thread regarding the bonus points mystery...
Hi Dr Morbis! I've added those ProMonacoGP LEDs, sounds and alerts you helped clarify in the in the other post. The video clip of your ProMonacoGP really helped me work out the timing and sounds of everything. I've attached a picture of my progress. Now that its added I just have a couple more questions I was hoping you could answer:
1 - Say 13 LEDs of the top bonus strip are illuminated (like in the picture) and you overtake "cleanly" an opponent on the bridge. I understand that another LED on the bottom bonus strip will illuminate, but I'm not sure what happens to LEDs on the top bonus strip? Do they remain the same or are they cleared??
2 - Does the top bonus strip only ever clear (or count back back down) when an opponent overtakes you?
Hope you can help, many thanks! :)
EDIT: Just found the answer to '1'. This new clip of Pro Monaco GP on youtube, near the end of the clip the player does a few clean bridge overtakes and the LEDs on the top bonus strip remain the same. Still not sure about '2'.
[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5zWXmPVuA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5zWXmPVuA#ws)[/youtube]
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Thought I post a quick status update. For the next release, in addition to 3 tracks that I mentioned a few posts ago, there will be another track (not sure what to name it yet). This track has some new roads & some new obstacles. There is a twin bridge section where I thought it would be cool to have one of the bridges end and the player must use a ramp to get to the other side (or traverse to the adjacent bridge if they hit the ramp at the correct angle). Its almost impossible to land successfully, but that's what makes it feel like such an achievement when you get it right! Here are a few screens caps of the new track in action:-
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My daughter got a chance to play a real stand up Monaco at a local arcade convention this past year and fell in love with it. I'm definitely going to try to get this on a cab for her.
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This is an amazing thing I just discovered. Thanks from the bottom of my retrogame loving heart for your time and effort in doing this. I'm amazed it all went on under my radar!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!
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Is there a way i can make this configurable for a mouse. If so how do i edit the cfg file?
also how do i edit the cfg file to make use of left control, left shift, spacebar, enter key, the up/down/left/right arrows?
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Is this considered done, and now you're just providing updates? Because if you are done, I want to make sure this gets nominated for a BYOAC award. :cheers:
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My daughter got a chance to play a real stand up Monaco at a local arcade convention this past year and fell in love with it. I'm definitely going to try to get this on a cab for her.
Thanks for posting Slippyblade! Glad you're enjoying the remake :)
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Is there a way i can make this configurable for a mouse. If so how do i edit the cfg file?
also how do i edit the cfg file to make use of left control, left shift, spacebar, enter key, the up/down/left/right arrows?
Hi Duglis! Hopefully you are running the latest version (v1.3)? If so then its best not to edit the config file by hand, but instead use the in-game configuration editor to do it for you. Pressing the 'Tab' key during the attract mode (When 'Deposit Coin' is flashing) will invoke the configuration editor. Pressing 'Tab' again will return you back to the game. Exiting the game (pressing 'ESC') will save any changes you made using the configuration editor, into the configuration file that you loaded. Navigate around the options using only the arrow keys. Highlight 'CONTROL OPTIONS' and press the right arrow key to expand them. To use mouse to steer, highlight the 'STEERING_DEVICE' option and press the left or right arrow keys to iterate though all the possible steering devices available in your system (mouse axis x, mouse axis y, keys, joystick etc..). To choose a different key to accelerate, highlight the 'KEY_ACCEL' option, and press the left or right arrow key to iterate though all the possible keys you can choose. Hopefully you get the idea :) Unfortunately, its not possible to select Left Control or Left Shift in this version (but pretty much every other key is there).
Hope this helps! :)
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Is this considered done, and now you're just providing updates? Because if you are done, I want to make sure this gets nominated for a BYOAC award. :cheers:
Very kind of you yotsuya! Really great to hear that you think it should get a nomination! Its a bit tricky to say whether I consider it 'done' or not yet. The last version I released (v1.3) was complete, so that could be nominated I guess, but its still a few versions away from being where I want it to be. The new version I'm preparing (v1.4, that should be ready for download sometime during the Xmas period) is quite a big update, with many changes/improvements and is closer to what I would consider 'done'. So I guess we should hold off on the nomination until I've released that :)
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Oh yeah! Can't wait for 1.4! :D
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How do you remove the time display from on the screen output (so it only appears on the emulated LEDs)? I can't find it in the settings.
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How do you remove the time display from on the screen output (so it only appears on the emulated LEDs)? I can't find it in the settings.
Hi zxthehedgehog! Set the EX_SHOW_TIME option to 'no'. When using the in game menu, you'll find this in GAMEPLAY_OPTIONS :)
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Thank you very very much for this great remake geecab. I tried for the last 2 hours to beat my own score :)
Just a question: Could you please add a pre-made configuration file for the 800x600 resolution ? I would like to play it on my cab and the max resolution for my W&G D9400 monitor is 800x600. Thanks again.
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Thank you very very much for this great remake geecab. I tried for the last 2 hours to beat my own score :)
Just a question: Could you please add a pre-made configuration file for the 800x600 resolution ? I would like to play it on my cab and the max resolution for my W&G D9400 monitor is 800x600. Thanks again.
Thanks for posting Sky25es! No problem, I'll try and upload a config this weekend that will look decent on your monitor but please be aware the resolution of your monitor will mean the bezel & LED artwork will look rather blurred after being resized (a bit similar, though not quite as severe, as the 640x480 configurations which you might want to try out in the mean time) :)
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Thanks for posting Sky25es! No problem, I'll try and upload a config this weekend that will look decent on your monitor but please be aware the resolution of your monitor will mean the bezel & LED artwork will look rather blurred after being resized (a bit similar, though not quite as severe, as the 640x480 configurations which you might want to try out in the mean time) :)
Many thanks again :cheers:
Yeah, I already tried the 640x480 config and as you said: It looks blurry as hell. So 800x600 at least will give me a Little bit clearer image.
Hmm... High resolution Artwork is one of the few weak points of an arcade monitor in comparison to a LCD one... Well, we can't have everything, I guess ;)
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Hi Sky25es! I've done a few 800x600 configurations for you, hopefully they'll look a bit better than the 640x480 ones on your monitor. I've been working on the next version (v1.4) of the remake for quite some time, which has a lot of major changes & improvements, unfortunately it is still a few weeks away from being completed, but when its eventually finished I'll be sure to include some 800x600 configurations.
In the mean time, I'm going to upload version v1.3.2 which is pretty much the same as v1.3, but with a few bug fixes, and includes your 800x600 configurations :)
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.3.2) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
This version is identical to v1.3, but with a few minor bug fixes, and a few extra configurations made specifically for 800x600 & 1650x1050 resolutions.
Please be a little prepared as you visit the zippyshare site, you might get adverts for other software appear, trying to fool you to download something else. Just make sure you only click on the orange 'Download Now' button to the right of the zippyshare page, and the file that you download to your computer is called "mgpr_v1_3_2.zip". I apologize for using such a poor filesharing host, but it is free!
Once you've unzipped the file, you'll see I have created separate MonacoGP and ProMonacoGP example configurations (found in the 'cfg' directory), all with the Bezels and LED artwork correctly positioned. So first off I'd suggest giving these a try. Say, if you wanted to run the game using the 'pro_monaco_gp_1360x768.cfg' configuration, you would specify "mgpr -cfg pro_monaco_gp_1360x768.cfg" at the command line. Please note, all the example configurations are configured to run the game fullscreen, if you want them to be windowed, you will have to use the on screen menu to change the 'Window' Display setting to "Yes", then restart MGPr.
New in v1.3.2:
- Fixed infinite time bonus bug if you finish the game (goal) with time to spare.
- Fixed player car would occasionally explode twice if crashed into bridge entrance.
- Fixed problem after achieving a 'Best score over 10000' and the LEDs remaining off after they have been flashing.
- Added configurations; monaco_gp_800x600.cfg, pro_monaco_gp_800x600.cfg, monaco_gp_1650x1050.cfg & pro_monaco_gp_1650x1050.cfg.
:)
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mediafire is a good free place to upload files and has an easy 'less likely to be tricked' page view.
example:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/pq9bftzy7x8okp8/mameuifx32_0157.exe (http://www.mediafire.com/download/pq9bftzy7x8okp8/mameuifx32_0157.exe)
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Hey, thanks Geecab ! The new resolution works flawlessly. That's what I was looking for.
Wow! you're doing a really good job :applaud: Can't wait to see version 1.4... Keep it up! :cheers:
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That's great to hear Sky25es!
I was actually thinking about your screen & setup today, at some point I think I'll have a go at designing a few low-res configurations where the playfield (I.e. the scrolling road) stretches the full height of the screen and simplified Artwork&LEDs would be kept to one side. The result would look more like the Sega Saturn Version (See pic below). For low-res monitors this would mean you'd see more of the actual game, and the Artwork&LEDs wouldn't be blurry (as I'd draw them in the low resolution so that there is no resizing going on). Would be quite nice to have the option of either using a configuration that either looks faithful to the arcade (I.e what we have now, with the possible downside of blurry artwork), or a look where more of the game is visible (With the downside of the artwork being tailored by me :P).
Just a thought :)
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mediafire is a good free place to upload files and has an easy 'less likely to be tricked' page view.
Thanks for the tip jadder! :)
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That's great to hear Sky25es!
I was actually thinking about your screen & setup today, at some point I think I'll have a go at designing a few low-res configurations where the playfield (I.e. the scrolling road) stretches the full height of the screen and simplified Artwork&LEDs would be kept to one side. The result would look more like the Sega Saturn Version (See pic below). For low-res monitors this would mean you'd see more of the actual game, and the Artwork&LEDs wouldn't be blurry (as I'd draw them in the low resolution so that there is no resizing going on). Would be quite nice to have the option of either using a configuration that either looks faithful to the arcade (I.e what we have now, with the possible downside of blurry artwork), or a look where more of the game is visible (With the downside of the artwork being tailored by me :P).
Just a thought :)
Very, very 8)
That would really be outstanding. ``Cream of the crop´´
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Geecab
Keep up the great work! It's quite exciting to watch this project evolve. You have brought great happiness to me and my guests. Again, thanks soooo much. I look forward to your next release.
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That's great to hear Sky25es!
I was actually thinking about your screen & setup today, at some point I think I'll have a go at designing a few low-res configurations where the playfield (I.e. the scrolling road) stretches the full height of the screen and simplified Artwork&LEDs would be kept to one side. The result would look more like the Sega Saturn Version (See pic below). For low-res monitors this would mean you'd see more of the actual game, and the Artwork&LEDs wouldn't be blurry (as I'd draw them in the low resolution so that there is no resizing going on). Would be quite nice to have the option of either using a configuration that either looks faithful to the arcade (I.e what we have now, with the possible downside of blurry artwork), or a look where more of the game is visible (With the downside of the artwork being tailored by me :P).
Just a thought :)
Very, very 8)
That would really be outstanding. ``Cream of the crop´´
Cool! I'll see to it the new version has some configurations where the artwork is tailored for low res monitors (Will make them look similar to the Sega Saturn Port) :)
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Geecab
Keep up the great work! It's quite exciting to watch this project evolve. You have brought great happiness to me and my guests. Again, thanks soooo much. I look forward to your next release.
Thanks xfassa! The new version is close, it seems to be taking me ages to finish, mainly because I can not help keep changing stuff I'm not 100% happy with. Whatever state that it is in, I have decided to upload something by the end of January, though it might be a beta if I'm still not happy with it by then ;) !
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v1.4.0 is almost there!
Here are a few screen caps from the latest version using the low rez bezel/leds artworks I've put together. I seem to have gone for an 8-bit home computer theme! There are 4 'games' in the next release; Classic Track, Pro Track, Pursuit Track (Pretty much the track in the v1.3 release but with a few additions) and Stunt Track. I just need to fix a couple of silly bugs, then create a bunch of configuration files that gives everyone plenty of choice over every artwork, resolution and game combination (I'm going to auto generate these this time) :)
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Mr. Geecab,
Thank you for the 16:10 resolution, looks great in full screen and windowed. After a few dozen games and a few completed, there are no significant bugs. You gave us an unforgettable retro experience.
Regards,
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Mr. Geecab,
Thank you for the 16:10 resolution, looks great in full screen and windowed. After a few dozen games and a few completed, there are no significant bugs. You gave us an unforgettable retro experience.
Regards,
Cheers tomtom! Glad those bugs are fixed, sorry it took me ages to upload the update for v1.3!!
A quick update regarding v1.4. All the main improvements I wanted to add have now been added, and I think I've sorted all the bugs. So I just have to put all the configurations together, test them out, and it can be uploaded! Got a bit of time tonight and tomorrow to get this done. Hoping to upload the new version Sunday but don't hold me to that! ;)
EDIT: Taking a bit longer than expected, it took me ages getting my auto generation of configurations code working. Its working now though. I've also added a new command line option that allows you to easily choose and run a configuration from the ones found in the cfg directory. I'm a bit concerned my new version is a bit too easy to complete, going to spend a bit of time during the week testing everything and getting the difficulty right.
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Ahh, too easy? I must be gettting old. I can't finish it at all! ;D
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Ahh, too easy? I must be gettting old. I can't finish it at all! ;D
Oh well I think I may have set the difficulty level way too high now (Sorry beylie!!) :P Good news is everything is finished & tested, I shall upload tomorrow! :)
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.1) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Please be a little prepared as you visit the mediafire site, you might get adverts for other software appear, trying to fool you to download something else. Just make sure you only click on the big green 'Download' button near to top right of the page, and the file that you download to your computer is called "mgpr_v1_4_1.zip" (Its about 16MB in size).
Once its downloaded, unzip it, copy the original 1979 or 1980 Monaco GP ROMs into the 'roms' directory, then double click on 'mgpr_launcher.exe', choose a configuration and off you go!
Note that you can also run a specific configuration from command line (like in previous versions), running mpgr.exe using the -cfg switch. For example, if you wanted to run the pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg configuration from command line, you would specify
mgpr -cfg pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg
All the default configurations are set up for fullscreen and keyboard control (keys are Z=left, X=right, N=Accelerate, M=Gear, 5 or 6 = Coin, 1=Switch between HiScores and AttractMode).
Press the TAB key during any game's attract mode (When "Deposit coin" is flashing at you) to edit the configuration (Change Controls to Mouse, joystick, choose different artwork etc..). Some options (such as display filter, fullscreen and various audio samples and volumes) will require you to restart the game before your new settings will take effect.
My main intention for this release was to create 4 distinct games:
Monaco GP Classic - Should hopefully be very faithful to the 1979 "Monaco GP" version.
Monaco GP Pro - Should hopefully be very faithful to the 1980 "Pro Monaco GP version.
Monaco GP Pursuit - Not quite as complete as I'd like it to be. Should feel like the original Monaco GP, but include police cars, new roads, and an extra stage (There are 3 stages and a Goal at the end).
Monaco GP Stunt - Not quite as complete as I'd like it to be. Its one track, looped. Its starts off easy and gets increasingly more difficult as less time gets awarded with each lap and opponents get faster. You need to memorize where the jumps are to do more than 3 laps.
As far as difficulty goes, if you play the game with keys as is, you should be able (after a good number of goes) to get a top score, possibly get to the 3rd stage of the pursuit track, or do about 4 laps of the stunt track. So that's the sort of difficultly to aim for if you reconfigure the controls for mouse/joystick/wheel. Also, I recommended trying the different games with the '8bit' configurations I made as it does seem to give (in my option) a sort of ZX spectrum port feeling to Monaco GP (I tried to imagine if Sega had done a Monaco GP port to the spectrum, what would I have hoped it would look like). Right, I'm waffling on now, good luck and hope you enjoy it! :)
New in v1.4.1:
- Addition of 4 'Games'; Classic, Pro, Pursuit and Stunt. Artworks created to suit various screen resolutions (The 'Arcade' bezels for the Pursuit and Stunt track are not really complete, only the title is different at the moment).
- Classic and Pro games now loop 'easy' set of roads for 90 seconds. If you have scored 2000 or more you will then reach 'extended' play looped roads without time limit (as in arcade)
- Improve opponent car distribution and make it difficult for the player to speed match with the opponents during later stages of the game (when the opponents move faster).
- Impossible to make car come to a complete standstill after you've stepped on the accelerator (as in arcade). Thanks camilty67 for video clip.
- Car start position always on scenery (as in arcade)
- Player car can drive along verge scenery after crashing, but will not progress to the next road until the player car actually moves and stays on the actually road (as in arcade).
- In extended play on Classic and Pro tracks, after crashing player has 7 seconds to get of the scenery otherwise the car will explode (as in arcade)
- Addition of a windows launcher program, it does the job but looks a bit rubbish at the moment (I'll work on that).
- Road stops moving completely as soon as player car crashes or goes into a spin (as in arcade)
- Delay immediate return to GAME OVER if no time left and player crashes.
- Pro Monaco GP bonus operation closer to the arcade leds (2 layers, 15 leds on each)
- Extra lives, miles, overtake scoring set via track file
- Extended play off road scenery and verge grace times configurable.
- New mpgr_launcher.exe to help quickly run a configuration.
- Greater choice of LED tilemaps.
- More accurate Pro-Monaco GP (Trophy & Wreath symbol, star symbol and orange boarder). Thanks to Dr. Morbis for the screen capture.
- Addition of boat (Stunt Track)
- New police cars with radio chat sounds (Can be switches off in the configuration).
- New Lola T70 opponents (Will only appear during Stunt Track. Currently behave the same as police cars), with radio chat sounds (Can be switches off in the configuration).
- Roads with Twin Lanes.
- Ramps
- When a Firetrunk is encountered during a Tunnel/Night section, it can only be viewed if within the player's head light beam, otherwise only its flashing red siren can be seen (As in arcade). Thanks to Dr. Morbis for video clip.
- Track downward scrolling at high speed now the same as the arcade (Previous versions had been much to fast).
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This is ridiculous good. You have done an amazing job. Thanks so much for your hard work.
Thank You!!!!!!!
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First off Geecab, can I congratulate you on an amazing job on recreating one of my childhood favourite arcades. I remember commenting one a YouTube vid you posted along time ago now on how good this was. The attention to detail is incredible. Great to see the project is ongoing. I have two of these original cabs, one of which no longer turns on and the other has coining up and some minor graphical issues. So to have a modern software replica is great as I don't have the technical expertise to repair them.
Now I haven't read all the thread so forgive me if these questions have been asked to before:
I was thinking of hacking up one of my cabinets and placing a PC running your emulator inside using the original CRT monitor (think MAME & Soft15khz GFX card driver). I would want to display just the playfield without any bezels or score display. Is this possible? And if so, can the emulator output the original resolution?
Have you already, or do you have plans to have the software output some form of digital code that could be read by the original or equivalent external scoring display?
It would be nice to enjoy the original experience using a reliable modern(ish!) pc doing the donkey work instead of 30-odd years PCBs!!
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Great job, impressive!
I just installed it into my multigame arcade cabinet and it looks nice on a 28" CRT arcade monitor @ 640x480.
Keep up the good work!
Matteo
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great work geecab!!
just wondering, are you still working on this as in, you wouldnt class it as 'finished' yet so to speak?
any chance you could do a new youtube vid showing off all the different modes of play and some commentary perhaps (of course if you dont have time for that please dont go out of your way to do that!) :)
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Just one word: E X C E L L E N T ! ! ! :applaud:
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First off Geecab, can I congratulate you on an amazing job on recreating one of my childhood favourite arcades. I remember commenting one a YouTube vid you posted along time ago now on how good this was. The attention to detail is incredible. Great to see the project is ongoing. I have two of these original cabs, one of which no longer turns on and the other has coining up and some minor graphical issues. So to have a modern software replica is great as I don't have the technical expertise to repair them.
Now I haven't read all the thread so forgive me if these questions have been asked to before:
I was thinking of hacking up one of my cabinets and placing a PC running your emulator inside using the original CRT monitor (think MAME & Soft15khz GFX card driver). I would want to display just the playfield without any bezels or score display. Is this possible? And if so, can the emulator output the original resolution?
Have you already, or do you have plans to have the software output some form of digital code that could be read by the original or equivalent external scoring display?
It would be nice to enjoy the original experience using a reliable modern(ish!) pc doing the donkey work instead of 30-odd years PCBs!!
Thanks RetroNutz! Glad you are liking the remake and nice to hear you are thinking of putting it in one of your cabs! Yes it is still possible to play the game in its basic / non-artwork form. If you run mpgr specifying a configuration filename of your choice, that configuration filename will be created and it will be contain the default configuration settings. For example:
mgpr.exe -cfg -my_config.cfg
The default settings are:
- 640x480 horizontal
- no artwork (Score & Time etc. will be shown on the playfield which you can turn of if you wish in the DISPLAY settings)
- arcade game track and arcade attract mode track (You can change tracks in the GAMEPLAY settings)
- Po-Monaco GP mode will be off (Switching it on in the GAMEPLAY settings just means you will get overtake bonuses).
>>And if so, can the emulator output the original resolution?
Its a tricky one to answer this as I'm not sure what the resolution of the arcade screen is (do you know by any chance?). Not sure if this helps, but based on the number of pixels the car is, and taking a number of screen captures of the arcade game running, I calculated the game's playfield has a height=384 and a width=240. The display settings allow you to mirror/flip/stretch the playfield to fit any screen however you wish to suit any GFX card resolution so hopefully you should be ok.
>>Have you already, or do you have plans to have the software output some form of digital code that could be read by the original or equivalent external scoring display?
Yes its something I'd like to add. Not sure the best way to go about it though. Unfortunately I do not have a cab myself so I can't really come up with a solution that will hook up the hardware LED displays with my remake. The simplest thing I can think of is to have a dual monitor setup, placing the second monitor behind the score board. You can run multiple instances of the remake (But only one can be fullscreen and must use the primary display). I don't think it would be too much work for me to add configurations options so that 2 instances of the game share the Scoring/Time information, and also have an option to disable the game completely on the instance that you will be placing the score board. You could then use the artwork settings to position/resize the LEDs graphics so that they shine through the score board. Is this the sort of thing you were thinking of? I guess the big question is would a second monitor fit behind in the score board (I assume you have a midi upright cab?)?
:)
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This is ridiculous good. You have done an amazing job. Thanks so much for your hard work.
Thank You!!!!!!!
Cheers xfassa!! Glad you are still enjoying the remake :)
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Great job, impressive!
I just installed it into my multigame arcade cabinet and it looks nice on a 28" CRT arcade monitor @ 640x480.
Keep up the good work!
Matteo
Thanks for posting Matteo, great to hear you've added it to your cab! :)
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great work geecab!!
just wondering, are you still working on this as in, you wouldnt class it as 'finished' yet so to speak?
any chance you could do a new youtube vid showing off all the different modes of play and some commentary perhaps (of course if you dont have time for that please dont go out of your way to do that!) :)
Thanks jadder! I think you could say its finished so to speak. I'll probably release new versions at some point with some tweaks & extra options (I really want the different 'chase' cars to have their own characters (Currently, they make different sounds, but they just try and ram you), I would also really like to be able to change car (Be awarded it somehow, and perhaps driving through the pits to collect it. Not sure quite how to do this yet but it would it be cool)), but as a whole, its pretty much there.
>>any chance you could do a new youtube vid showing off all the different modes
Yes indeed this is already very high on my todo list, the one that is currently on youtube is so old isn't it! Hopefully I'll have put something together by next week, not sure about commentary though, we'll see :P
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Just one word: E X C E L L E N T ! ! ! :applaud:
Cheers Sky25es!! :)
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Here's a video of V.1.3.2 in my cabinet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnklBYsg98 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnklBYsg98)
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OMG!
Now I know why I spent so much coins 35 years ago: Yes, it's very
close to the original difficulty. Traffic is denser, safety car is
slower, bridge is narrower, race is faster...
1) v1.4.1 is actually has no end, right? In this case, a skor about
9000 is my max.
2) Is there an option to increase the braking effect? Neither low
gearchange nor accelerator/off does not help, like v1.3.2.
3) I'm not sure, it is subjective or my dual core 3Ghz is no more
enough, but it seemed to me that there are minor "glitches", like
frame skiping/interrupts only a few times in the game. As I said,
maybe this is subjective due to higher race speed; nothing important.
Tnx, geecab!
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Here's a video of V.1.3.2 in my cabinet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnklBYsg98 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnklBYsg98)
Cool!! Cheers for uploading :)
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OMG!
Now I know why I spent so much coins 35 years ago: Yes, it's very
close to the original difficulty. Traffic is denser, safety car is
slower, bridge is narrower, race is faster...
Cheers tomtom! That's good to hear!!
1) v1.4.1 is actually has no end, right? In this case, a skor about
9000 is my max.
The 'classic' and 'pro' games have no end, opponents should just get faster and more difficult to match your speed with the longer your game goes on for. My top score running the 'classic' game is 7500, so if your getting 9000 thats impressive! In my opinion, no one should really be able to reach a score of 9999 running the 'classic' game, because the scoreboard can not display anymore than that. The 'Pursuit' game does have an end/goal. I'd be interested in your opinion regarding the difficultly of the Pursuit game actually, as it seems too easy to me the more I play it.
2) Is there an option to increase the braking effect? Neither low
gearchange nor accelerator/off does not help, like v1.3.2.
I did notice that in v1.3.2 the player did slow down too rapidly when compared to the arcade, so I have changed it (Probably a bit too much :P). You could have a go at changing a few of the values in the cfg that effect braking, currently these are:
GAMEPLAY break_low_gear 1.3
GAMEPLAY break_high_gear 1.3
GAMEPLAY break_wrong_gear 1.5
I just altered them to 2.3 2.3 & 2.5, things seemed a bit better. Any more than that and things played a little weird. See how you get on and let me know what you think. I'll probably need to make a few code changes if you'd like the braking to be as it was in v1.3.2, but nothing too major so that won't be a problem :)
3) I'm not sure, it is subjective or my dual core 3Ghz is no more
enough, but it seemed to me that there are minor "glitches", like
frame skiping/interrupts only a few times in the game. As I said,
maybe this is subjective due to higher race speed; nothing important.
Its nothing to do with your PC, 3Ghz is plenty fast enough. Actually, since running it on my cab I think I see the same 'glitches' as you, its only very slight and it doesn't really effect the game. The opponents move on a kind of virtual belt, does it appear this belt sometimes jumps a pixel every now and then? Just want to confirm if we are seeing the same thing.
Thanks again for the feedback :)
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>My top score running the 'classic' game is 7500, so if your getting
>9000 thats impressive! In my opinion, no one should really be able to
>reach a score of 9999 running the 'classic' game, because the
>scoreboard can not display anymore than that.
In fact, 9480 yesterday, with mouse and steering_sensitivity 100. I don't
believe that this will ever happen again, the cars are simply
pouring... and safety car in tunnel... what else is there?! :)
>I'd be interested in your opinion regarding the difficultly of the
>Pursuit game actually, as it seems too easy to me the more I play it.
I played a few rounds, very long race, I do not remember this kind of
arcade, reached 75%. Although not too many opponent cars, it does not
seem too easy.
>GAMEPLAY break_low_gear 1.3
>GAMEPLAY break_high_gear 1.3
>GAMEPLAY break_wrong_gear 1.5
>I just altered them to 2.3 2.3 & 2.5, things seemed a bit better. Any
>more than that and things played a little weird. See how you get on
>and let me know what you think. I'll probably need to make a few code
>changes if you'd like the braking to be as it was in v1.3.2, but
>nothing too major so that won't be a problem :)
No, you should always strive original MonacoGP behavior, classic
version at least, possibly an option to increase/decrease in the cfg.
2.3,2.3,2.5 is better, tnx, will make less crashes from behind.
>The opponents move on a kind of virtual belt, does it appear this
>belt sometimes jumps a pixel every now and then? Just want to confirm
>if we are seeing the same thing.
Looks like a video buffering, sometimes getting stuck; it's
millisecond, may be an optical illusion due to the higher speed of the
race.
I noticed again about a car crash... After collision, sometimes
crashed again if the car moving off the track, but after 2-3 cm. It is
clear that should be crashed, but not so fast. Several times I have
not had time to react.
Regards,
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>>Have you already, or do you have plans to have the software output some form of digital code that could be read by the original or equivalent external scoring display?
Yes its something I'd like to add. Not sure the best way to go about it though. Unfortunately I do not have a cab myself so I can't really come up with a solution that will hook up the hardware LED displays with my remake. The simplest thing I can think of is to have a dual monitor setup, placing the second monitor behind the score board. You can run multiple instances of the remake (But only one can be fullscreen and must use the primary display). I don't think it would be too much work for me to add configurations options so that 2 instances of the game share the Scoring/Time information, and also have an option to disable the game completely on the instance that you will be placing the score board. You could then use the artwork settings to position/resize the LEDs graphics so that they shine through the score board. Is this the sort of thing you were thinking of? I guess the big question is would a second monitor fit behind in the score board (I assume you have a midi upright cab?)?
:)
Thanks for the reply and setup info for my query. I'll give it a go.
2nd display for scores/timing:
It certainly is an excellent idea which may work. Im just wondering if I could find an LCD screen small enough to fit inside the top of the cab, especially as I'd keep the CRT monitor in there. The top section of the cabaret that displays the scores is shallower than a 16:10 screen so I think I'd struggle to get one in there. I do know you can get specialised LCD panels (some guys use then for digital marquees on generic MAME arcade machines) but I think these are expensive.
Still, this is more my issue than yours. If I can think of any other ideas, I'll let you know. I'm certainly not an arcade purist and understand the need for emulation and new technology to keep alive these games of the past. However, I try to keep machines as original as possible. I don't use LCD screen in my arcade machines. It ruins the nostalgic look. Hence the reason for keeping the CRT in the Monaco GP, but I'd be happy to use an LCD for a scores display.
I understand where you got next with your software is your call, but it appears you're certainly open to suggestions. I'd be happy to assist with measurements of the cab, if it helps what you do next.
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In fact, 9480 yesterday, with mouse and steering_sensitivity 100. I don't
believe that this will ever happen again, the cars are simply
pouring... and safety car in tunnel... what else is there?! :)
9480 that is surely unbeatable! I am going to have to try and beat it though!!
I played a few rounds, very long race, I do not remember this kind of
arcade, reached 75%. Although not too many opponent cars, it does not
seem too easy.
Good to know. Maybe its not all that easy after all.
BTW. Neither the Pursuit or the Stunt track where ever in the arcade, I made them up. I just tried to imagine that if Sega had released a few more variants of Monaco GP after 1980 what they might have come up with. I've tried to remain faithful to the graphics of that time (I.e. the 'new cars ramps boat etc are all draw in the same resolution and color palette that the original game used).
No, you should always strive original MonacoGP behavior, classic
version at least, possibly an option to increase/decrease in the cfg.
2.3,2.3,2.5 is better, tnx, will make less crashes from behind.
Cool, I'll make a note to add some options regarding braking for the next release.
Looks like a video buffering, sometimes getting stuck; it's
millisecond, may be an optical illusion due to the higher speed of the
race.
If the glitch you are seeing is the same glitch I am seeing, then I think I've just fixed it. The virtual belt that all the opponent cars are on has a 'join' in it, the glitch happens when the belt spins fast in any direction, and the join leaves one end of the screen to be placed at the other. Will be fixed in the next release.
I noticed again about a car crash... After collision, sometimes
crashed again if the car moving off the track, but after 2-3 cm. It is
clear that should be crashed, but not so fast. Several times I have
not had time to react.
I think I understand what you mean. I believe this has happened because the game has decided the player car has moved enough pixels to the left of the scenery to end its "After collision, allow player car to drive over scenery" grace time. Then you've moved 1 or more pixels to the right (or the scenery has moved 1 or more pixels to the left) to trigger an apparently unfair spin/crash. I shall add a timer for this in the next release that will make you invulnerable to scenery collisions when first attempting to get on the track.
:)
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Thanks for the reply and setup info for my query. I'll give it a go.
2nd display for scores/timing:
It certainly is an excellent idea which may work. Im just wondering if I could find an LCD screen small enough to fit inside the top of the cab, especially as I'd keep the CRT monitor in there. The top section of the cabaret that displays the scores is shallower than a 16:10 screen so I think I'd struggle to get one in there. I do know you can get specialised LCD panels (some guys use then for digital marquees on generic MAME arcade machines) but I think these are expensive.
Still, this is more my issue than yours. If I can think of any other ideas, I'll let you know. I'm certainly not an arcade purist and understand the need for emulation and new technology to keep alive these games of the past. However, I try to keep machines as original as possible. I don't use LCD screen in my arcade machines. It ruins the nostalgic look. Hence the reason for keeping the CRT in the Monaco GP, but I'd be happy to use an LCD for a scores display.
I understand where you got next with your software is your call, but it appears you're certainly open to suggestions. I'd be happy to assist with measurements of the cab, if it helps what you do next
I see what you mean about fitting an LCD behind the CRT. I would be interested to know what space you have behind the scoreboard, whether an LCD screen (similar to the one xfassa used in this post http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134445.msg1434732.html#msg1434732 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134445.msg1434732.html#msg1434732) ) would fit flush behind it with the CRT in place? You would only be using the top half of the screen to display the scores, the bottom half would be hidden behind the CRT. Any chance of a few 'behind the scoreboard' pics?
I've seen those specialist marquee panels, they look nice, I have have no idea of cost, would be good if there is a cheap alternative. I've had a quick search for other displays that could be used (Google-ing things like "USB LED display adapter") but I can't find anything that seems ideal for the job. I was hoping to find a sort of generic USB LED array display found in the back of pinball cabs, that could be put behind the scoreboard but sadly no luck, I probably didn't search hard enough.
I think for the next release, I will be adding options for the dual monitor idea (ability to run a 'client' instance of the game, that will just show Bezel & LED artwork relating to the actual game instance running). Just in case yourself or anyone else feels like going down that path. Also, I was thinking that for the next release that if people really didn't want to go down the dual monitor path, I could include source code to a really simple C program, and that all it does is connect to a running instance of my game, and prints out the scoreboard info at a certain rate to the command window. Then theoretically anyone could edit my code, and instead of printing the scoreboard values to screen, could write the values to the addresses specified by the vendor of whatever "USB LED display adapter" thingy they had. Just need to source the all important "USB LED display adapter thingy" that will sort all our problems out ;) I'll keep searching, got be be something out there!
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> 9480 that is surely unbeatable! I am going to have to try and beat it though!!
Well, you're programmer, a very good programmer, I'm sure you'll
find a way to win your own program. Geecab, what do you think about
writing a robot module? It would be interesting to see the perfect ride
with maximum speed, since the machine always knows where the opponents
are and how to avoid them. Of course, you do not have to put in a
public issue, but only send video with perfect game. Something like
that I saw at Tetris.
> Good to know. Maybe its not all that easy after all.
> BTW. Neither the Pursuit or the Stunt track where ever in the
> arcade, I made them up. I just tried to imagine that if Sega had
> released a few more variants of Monaco GP after 1980 what they might
> have come up with. I've tried to remain faithful to the graphics of
> that time (I.e. the 'new cars ramps boat etc are all draw in the
> same resolution and color palette that the original game used).
Pursuit is a good game, with interesting obstacles, eg. two bridges,
correct/incorrect bridge, flying car. Finally, I finish it (just once)
and meet the strange car with a strange siren in the last stage. :)
Nearly 300 overtakes!
> Cool, I'll make a note to add some options regarding braking for the next release.
Just try to be as close to the original braking (no_gas and
gear_change) and we will adjust the brake itself.
> If the glitch you are seeing is the same glitch I am seeing, then I
> think I've just fixed it. The virtual belt that all the opponent
> cars are on has a 'join' in it, the glitch happens when the belt
> spins fast in any direction, and the join leaves one end of the
> screen to be placed at the other. Will be fixed in the next release.
I hope you're right. For me it's trivial glitch and don't mind.
> I think I understand what you mean. I believe this has happened
> because the game has decided the player car has moved enough pixels
> to the left of the scenery to end its "After collision, allow player
> car to drive over scenery" grace time. Then you've moved 1 or more
> pixels to the right (or the scenery has moved 1 or more pixels to
> the left) to trigger an apparently unfair spin/crash. I shall add a
> timer for this in the next release that will make you invulnerable
> to scenery collisions when first attempting to get on the track.
You're absolutely right. I even simulated crash according to your
instructions. Now, I have to be careful not to drive ONE pixel to the
right. :D
Cheers!
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Geecab, what do you think about
writing a robot module? It would be interesting to see the perfect ride
with maximum speed, since the machine always knows where the opponents
are and how to avoid them. Of course, you do not have to put in a
public issue, but only send video with perfect game. Something like
that I saw at Tetris.
I'm not quite sure what you mean. You could always put the game into "debug mode" (In the GAMEPLAY options). You'll be invincible for the whole game. Not much fun, but helpful when designing the tracks.
Pursuit is a good game, with interesting obstacles, eg. two bridges,
correct/incorrect bridge, flying car. Finally, I finish it (just once)
and meet the strange car with a strange siren in the last stage. :)
Nearly 300 overtakes!
Just try to be as close to the original braking (no_gas and
gear_change) and we will adjust the brake itself.
You're absolutely right. I even simulated crash according to your
instructions. Now, I have to be careful not to drive ONE pixel to the
right. :D
I've changed the braking, much better now I think, more like the arcade. The brakes can never be that great otherwise it makes the game too simple (Especially with an analogue pedal). The player has to feel encouraged to go faster rather than slower.
I've put in a timer for the unfair scenery crash. Car shakes rapidly for a few seconds before its about to crash/spin.
I've made the pursuit game more difficult. More cars, and a few more sections.
Going to try these new changes out on my cab this week, I'll shall upload something for you to try next week (that also has the opponent belt graphics glitch thing fixed) as it would be good to know your opinion before I put together a full release.
Once again, thanks for the feedback tomtom! :)
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I see what you mean about fitting an LCD behind the CRT. I would be interested to know what space you have behind the scoreboard, whether an LCD screen (similar to the one xfassa used in this post http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134445.msg1434732.html#msg1434732 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134445.msg1434732.html#msg1434732) ) would fit flush behind it with the CRT in place? You would only be using the top half of the screen to display the scores, the bottom half would be hidden behind the CRT. Any chance of a few 'behind the scoreboard' pics?
I've seen those specialist marquee panels, they look nice, I have have no idea of cost, would be good if there is a cheap alternative. I've had a quick search for other displays that could be used (Google-ing things like "USB LED display adapter") but I can't find anything that seems ideal for the job. I was hoping to find a sort of generic USB LED array display found in the back of pinball cabs, that could be put behind the scoreboard but sadly no luck, I probably didn't search hard enough.
I got the best photos I could without hacking up the cab.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdn63tiox0msrpe/AACQWBahLZvp8b6v57rlfIega?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdn63tiox0msrpe/AACQWBahLZvp8b6v57rlfIega?dl=0)
I saw these:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumex/ldq-m516ri/display-seven-segment-14-22mm/dp/1789269 (http://uk.farnell.com/lumex/ldq-m516ri/display-seven-segment-14-22mm/dp/1789269)
If I learned how to program a micro controller I may have chance of having the original CRT + new 7 segment display connected to a PC running your emulator!
That way I don't ruin the original aesthetic of the machine.
Any thoughts?
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>> Geecab, what do you think about
>> writing a robot module?
> I'm not quite sure what you mean.
I mean: Computer is driver. How well he can do it?
> I've changed the braking, much better now I think, more like the
> arcade. The brakes can never be that great otherwise it makes the
> game too simple (Especially with an analogue pedal). The player has
> to feel encouraged to go faster rather than slower.
The question is: Can we slow down to avoid a collision? E.g: Two or
three opponent cars on the bridge, connected side by side, overtaking
is not possible... regularly crash into them from behind. Should see
how this is done at the arcade and can you slow down enough to avoid
crash.
> I've put in a timer for the unfair scenery crash. Car shakes
> rapidly for a few seconds before its about to crash/spin.
Maybe a random decimal number between min and max time interval,
because of the dynamics and factors of uncertainty? Just saying. :)
> Going to try these new changes out on my cab this week, I'll shall
> upload something for you to try next week (that also has the
> opponent belt graphics glitch thing fixed) as it would be good to
> know your opinion before I put together a full release.
Don't hurry. It's good enough for maximum enjoyment. I also play your
remake 1.3, because it has a goal, and 1.4 because it is closer to the
original.
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I got the best photos I could without hacking up the cab.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdn63tiox0msrpe/AACQWBahLZvp8b6v57rlfIega?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdn63tiox0msrpe/AACQWBahLZvp8b6v57rlfIega?dl=0)
I saw these:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumex/ldq-m516ri/display-seven-segment-14-22mm/dp/1789269 (http://uk.farnell.com/lumex/ldq-m516ri/display-seven-segment-14-22mm/dp/1789269)
If I learned how to program a micro controller I may have chance of having the original CRT + new 7 segment display connected to a PC running your emulator!
That way I don't ruin the original aesthetic of the machine.
Any thoughts?
Cheers for the pictures. So yes, there really isn't much spare space at all behind the score board is there. The piece of wood at the back of the score board looks glued? Might be tricky just trying to get to the back of the score board :P
I must admit, it would be cool getting proper segmented displays running. The thing that is going to make it tricky is there are so many segmented displays on the score board. You need something that is going to be capable illuminating a lot of segments...
6x4x7 = 168 (for 1stPlace, 2ndPlace, 3rdPlace, 4thPlace, 5thPlace, YourScore - all have 4 digits)
2x3x7 = 42 (Ranking & PlayersToDate - both have 3 digits)
1x2x7 = 14 (time - 2 digits)
So that's 224 individual segments that you need to be able to control.
I had an idea (Just a suggestion), what if you could get a cheap 8x8x8 cube kit (512 leds so that's plenty), modify it so instead of illuminating spot leds, you'd illuminate segments of your scoreboard.
I've just been reading about these cube kits that are powered by Arduino boards. I've never heard of Arduino boards before, but they plug into you PC via USB, you can write simple programs to control what they do in C. Have a bit of a read about them here, these 8x8x8 kits seem a bit pricey though...
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&productId=2168940&catalogId=10001&avad=31303_a80efc3f&source=Avantlink (http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&productId=2168940&catalogId=10001&avad=31303_a80efc3f&source=Avantlink)
and this is a 8 page tutorial of a guy who built one of those kits, quite interesting:
http://www.pyroelectro.com/projects/8x8x8_led_cube/index.html (http://www.pyroelectro.com/projects/8x8x8_led_cube/index.html)
The basic 'starter' kit is pretty cheap, I might get one of these to mess about with, uses the same Arduino UNO R3 board that powers the 8x8x8 cube...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sintron-UNO-R3-Upgrade-Kit-with-Motor-LCD-Servo-Module-for-Arduino-AVR-Starter-/161099897306?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25824d59da (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sintron-UNO-R3-Upgrade-Kit-with-Motor-LCD-Servo-Module-for-Arduino-AVR-Starter-/161099897306?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25824d59da)
Like I said, its just a suggestion, just exploring all the options, see what you think :)
EDIT: That basic 'starter' kit I mentioned above does not come with a genuine Ardiuno board, its a cheap copy. If I was gong to get one, I think I'd want a genuine Arduino, not sure how good/safe the copies are.
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Geecab
I finally got some time to devote to this project. It is coming along nicely. I just re-engineered the accelerator to use a modern linear potentiometer that is controlled by an Ultimarc A-PAC. I now have a smooth accelerator. Also, with some minor modifications, I was able to connect the steering mechanism to a SpinTrak. So, all the hardware is working quite nicely. Just need to work on the cosmetics now.
With that said, any chance you can support a secondary monitor to act as the marquee? After reading some of your previous posts, I'm thinking a secondary display would work great on the Cabaret version to get the timer, hi-scores, game score. Of course, I have no idea what it would take to pull that off. Anyway, great job! Thanks again.
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Geecab
I finally got some time to devote to this project. It is coming along nicely. I just re-engineered the accelerator to use a modern linear potentiometer that is controlled by an Ultimarc A-PAC. I now have a smooth accelerator. Also, with some minor modifications, I was able to connect the steering mechanism to a SpinTrak. So, all the hardware is working quite nicely. Just need to work on the cosmetics now.
With that said, any chance you can support a secondary monitor to act as the marquee? After reading some of your previous posts, I'm thinking a secondary display would work great on the Cabaret version to get the timer, hi-scores, game score. Of course, I have no idea what it would take to pull that off. Anyway, great job! Thanks again.
No problem xfassa, it is going to be in the next release. There is surprisingly not a lot of work to do to pull this off actually. You'll start 2 instances of the mgpr.exe, but they'll both have different configurations. One will be configured as the game_only instance, the other will be configured as the scoreboard_only. You'll have the game_only instance displayed fullscreen on your primary display, the scoreboard_only instance will be a window (That will be the same size as you secondary display, so that is completely fills it) and with some new configuration settings (window_pos_x and window_pos_y) I've added, it will move/slide itself over to the position of your choice on the secondary display at startup. Should have this working soon :)
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Fantastic! I look forward to your next release.
Have you thought about taking donations? I am sure there are many of us willing to support all your hard work on this project. Thanks!
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Fantastic! I look forward to your next release.
Have you thought about taking donations? I am sure there are many of us willing to support all your hard work on this project. Thanks!
Cheers xfassa, real nice of you to suggest that but honestly no donations necessary! I really enjoy working on it and it brings back some great memories for me, so if yourself and others are getting enjoyment out if it too then that's really great! :)
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In my opinion, no one should really be able to reach a score of 9999 running the 'classic' game, because the scoreboard can not display anymore than that.
Richie Knucklez has the world record on the Monaco GP arcade machine with a score of 9999.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WPuLL0b4I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WPuLL0b4I)
Great job on this simulator geecab, it really plays great :applaud:
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First of all, great job, it's fantastic!
I am wondering if you have planned to develop a Linux versión.
I am building a cabinet with a raspberry pi inside it, and I'd like to have Monaco GP in it.
Anyway, once again, it's fantastic!
PD. sorry for my bad English
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Richie Knucklez has the world record on the Monaco GP arcade machine with a score of 9999.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WPuLL0b4I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WPuLL0b4I)
Great job on this simulator geecab, it really plays great :applaud:
Cool! Thanks for posting Sp3c7r3!! and yes I've seen this clip of Richie breaking the world record, he makes it look to easy! His arcade machine must have a board fault I reckon ;)
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First of all, great job, it's fantastic!
I am wondering if you have planned to develop a Linux versión.
I am building a cabinet with a raspberry pi inside it, and I'd like to have Monaco GP in it.
Anyway, once again, it's fantastic!
PD. sorry for my bad English
Cheers for posting space invader!! There is a version of Allegro (the Graphics and sound library I made the game with) that runs on the Raspberry Pi, but the problem is I've used quite a lot of the windows API to create the game so it won't be a trivial copy over and re-compile job. I'm also concerned that the Raspberry won't be fast enough to run it (even the new one). Some day I do plan getting a Raspberry Pi, then seeing just how much work would be involved to do a port. But this really is quite a long time away, probably/hopefully when I get around to doing it there will be a more attractive windows OS based equivalent board that will be a better option for everybody :)
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The dual screen support stuff is working well! Here are two instances of the game running. The 1st instance (on the left) it setup to export the scoreboard information, the 2nd instance is setup to import the scoreboard information. I've chosen to turn all the Bezel & LED artwork off in the 1st instance configuration, but you can still enable it if you so wish (So that the scoreboard information is duplicated). I shall include some example 'import' and 'export' configurations in the next release so it be easy for others to give this a try :)
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Very nice. This looks like it will work perfectly with the cabaret. I can't wait for the next release. Thanks so much for the extra effort.
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First of all, great job, it's fantastic!
I am wondering if you have planned to develop a Linux versión.
I am building a cabinet with a raspberry pi inside it, and I'd like to have Monaco GP in it.
Anyway, once again, it's fantastic!
PD. sorry for my bad English
Cheers for posting space invader!! There is a version of Allegro (the Graphics and sound library I made the game with) that runs on the Raspberry Pi, but the problem is I've used quite a lot of the windows API to create the game so it won't be a trivial copy over and re-compile job. I'm also concerned that the Raspberry won't be fast enough to run it (even the new one). Some day I do plan getting a Raspberry Pi, then seeing just how much work would be involved to do a port. But this really is quite a long time away, probably/hopefully when I get around to doing it there will be a more attractive windows OS based equivalent board that will be a better option for everybody :)
It's a pity I can not wait to have a version of monaco gp in my raspberry .
Any version for consoles ? I think only for PS2 and Saturn , but these do not have emulators on the raspberry, I think.
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It's a pity I can not wait to have a version of monaco gp in my raspberry .
Any version for consoles ? I think only for PS2 and Saturn , but these do not have emulators on the raspberry, I think.
Sorry space invader, but I'm really not sure if Raspberry Pi is fast enough to emulate these consoles. Ever thought about putting a windows PC in your cab instead, might save you a bit of a headache :)
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
My main intention for this release was to fix a few bugs that were in 1.4.1, and add support for a secondary display.
If you would like to run 2 instances of mgpr.exe, one instance running the game on one screen (the primary screen), and another instance running scoreboard artwork on the other screen (the secondary screen), then this is what I suggest you try first:
1. Run mgpr_launcher.exe and start the configuration named "classic_scoreboard_export_1024x768.cfg". This game configuration exports (shares) its scoreboard information. Note. On some windows variants, mpgr.exe will not start at this point, you'll probably see a message I wrote complaining about problems creating shared memory. If this is the case (You'll be likely to encounter this problem if you are running anything other than XP), then you'll need to give administrator privileges to mgpr.exe, mgpr_launcher.exe, and scoreboard_reader.exe.
2. With the classic_scoreboard_export_1024x768.cfg running, run the mgpr_launcher.exe again and start the configuration named "classic_scoreboard_import_1024x768.cfg"
3. You should now be able to play the game in the first instance you started, and see the scoring for it in the second instance :) So now it is just a case of positioning these instances on your 2 screens. Only one instance can be set to fullscreen mode, the other has to be a window. The instance that is set to use fullscreen will use the primary display (I should imagine you will set your game instance to fullscreen). For the other (scoreboard) instance, set the DISPLAY set_window_pos setting to "yes", and experiment with the window_pos_x and window_pos_y settings (Leave game instance running, but keep restarting the scoreboard instance each time you change the settings as these effect the start position of the window). Hopefully, after a bit of trial and error you'll be able to get the scoreboard positioned exactly where you want it.
Please be a little prepared as you visit the mediafire site, you might get adverts for other software appear, trying to fool you to download something else. Just make sure you only click on the big green 'Download' button near to top right of the page, and the file that you download to your computer is called "mgpr_v1_4_5.zip" (Its about 16MB in size).
Once its downloaded, unzip it, copy the original 1979 or 1980 Monaco GP ROMs into the 'roms' directory, then double click on 'mgpr_launcher.exe', choose a configuration and off you go!
Note that you can also run a specific configuration from command line (like in previous versions), running mpgr.exe using the -cfg switch. For example, if you wanted to run the pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg configuration from command line, you would specify
mgpr -cfg pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg
All the default configurations are set up for fullscreen and keyboard control (keys are Z=left, X=right, N=Accelerate, M=Gear, 5 or 6 = Coin, 1=Switch between HiScores and AttractMode).
Press the TAB key during any game's attract mode (When "Deposit coin" is flashing at you) to edit the configuration (Change Controls to Mouse, joystick, choose different artwork etc..). Some options (such as display filter, fullscreen and various audio samples and volumes) will require you to restart the game before your new settings will take effect.
New in v1.4.5:
- Fix opponent join belt glitch
- Sound Master Volume defaults to 70% (was defaulting 100%, which made certain sounds distort).
- More distinct ramp jump/land noise
- Timer added to avoid unfair "only just got off the scenery and then crashed again" problem.
- Braking improved, new GAMEPLAY "brake_immediate" configuration setting added. This setting controls start strength of the brakes immediately after stepping off the accelerator.
- Added new GAMEPLAY configurations settings "vertical_climb" and "vertical_fall" to limit how quickly the player's car is able to move along the y axis of the screen.
- Infinite lives symbol now shows during the first section of the Pursuit track.
- The Start button (defaults to the '1' key) can now be pressed repeatedly to hurry up the end of race statistics screen (Pursuit track only).
- New GAMEPLAY configuration settings for running multiple instances of mpgr.exe, when the game and the scoreboard information are to be displayed on separate screens:
scoreboard_mode - Can be set to "export" [This running instance mgpr.exe will share its scoreboard information for other instances to import], "import" [This running instance of mgpr.exe will display scoreboard information based on what another instance is exporting] or "private" [Default, do not attempt to import/export the scoreboard information].
window_frame - Start the window with or without a frame (Might not work with all variants of windows)
set_window_pos - "No" [Startup position of window will be center of screen] or "Yes" [window_pos_x and window_pos_y are used]
window_pos_x - Startup position of window, X position
window_pos_y - Startup position of window, Y position
- "Scoreboard_reader" executable and source code (Visual Studio 2008 Solution/Project) added for possible integration with arcade scoreboard. When executed, this program prints out any scoreboard information that is being exported by an instance of mgpr.exe. Try running it whilst running the "classic_scoreboard_export_1024x768.cfg" configuration. The idea is that the source provided can (someday) be modified so that rather than printing this information to screen, it can be used to control 7 Segment LEDs displays attached to the actual arcade scoreboard.
- Improved Pursuit track difficulty
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Perfect timing, i just picked up my secondary display to replace the marquee (AOC-15-6-widescreen-flat-panel-usb-powered-portable-led-monitor-piano-black). I will post some pics tomorrow detailing my progress.
Thanks again geecab! 😄
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geecab, will you consider making a gui for the settings/launcher? I have no idea how to remap the controls, but got my xbox 360 controller to work by using xpadder and mapping the keyboard inputs to the controller. I would like to try my Logitech G27 for the analog throttle and steering but can't figure out how?
In the .cfg it says "keys" but what do I write for analog? And how do I figure out what the written term is for wheel axis, throttle axis etc?
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Perfect timing, i just picked up my secondary display to replace the marquee (AOC-15-6-widescreen-flat-panel-usb-powered-portable-led-monitor-piano-black). I will post some pics tomorrow detailing my progress.
Thanks again geecab! 😄
Cool! That's a great screen! Are you going to completely replace the rear marquee, or are you placing the new display behind it? Either way, I really can't wait to see the pics! :)
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geecab, will you consider making a gui for the settings/launcher? I have no idea how to remap the controls, but got my xbox 360 controller to work by using xpadder and mapping the keyboard inputs to the controller. I would like to try my Logitech G27 for the analog throttle and steering but can't figure out how?
In the .cfg it says "keys" but what do I write for analog? And how do I figure out what the written term is for wheel axis, throttle axis etc?
Hey Sp3c7r3! There is actually an in-game editor that I think is what you are looking for. Run mgpr_launcher.exe, and start the game configuration that you wish to change. When that configuration starts, press the "TAB" key, this will invoke the in-game editor. Use the arrow keys to navigate around the options. In the CONTROLS section, navigate to the steering_device option, it will be configured for keys. Then using the left or right arrow keys, you can iterate through all game controllers that the program detects. When you've found the one you want, press TAB again to leave the editor and try the new settings out. When you exit the game completely, the .cfg you launched will automatically be updated with your changes.
Hope this helps :)
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Geecab - I got lat start this evening but did manage to accomplish a few tasks.
1) I successfully extracted the LED screen from the bezel/case (without destroying anything). Overall the display fits really well into the marquee opening. Despite the display width being significantly shorter. Although, the length is just enough to cover all the numeric fields (phew!).
2) I successfully installed the latest version of your Monaco GP simulator. I was even able to get the game playfield and scoring marquee to appear on their respective displays. However, I was unable to get the scoring marquee to fill the screen. The native display resolutions are 1280 x 1024 (primary display) and 1366 x 1024 (secondary display). Note, I can't change the native resolution on the secondary display. Even if I succeeded to properly display the scoring marquee, the numeric fields would not have aligned. Mainly due to the narrow width of the secondary display (see images). Is there a way to remove the Monaco GP graphic and only display the score/ranking/timer/best5 numeric fields? As you can see from my images, the "score" and "ranking" numeric fields will have to start at the very far left of the secondary display while the "Todays Best 5" numeric fields will have to fill all the way to the far right of the secondary display. Hopefully, that all makes sense.
Anyway, going to bed now, will attack it in the morning. Please let me know your thoughts. THANKS!!!!
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Geecab - I got lat start this evening but did manage to accomplish a few tasks.
1) I successfully extracted the LED screen from the bezel/case (without destroying anything). Overall the display fits really well into the marquee opening. Despite the display width being significantly shorter. Although, the length is just enough to cover all the numeric fields (phew!).
Nice! Just enough == ideal fit!!
2) I successfully installed the latest version of your Monaco GP simulator. I was even able to get the game playfield and scoring marquee to appear on their respective displays. However, I was unable to get the scoring marquee to fill the screen. The native display resolutions are 1280 x 1024 (primary display) and 1366 x 1024 (secondary display). Note, I can't change the native resolution on the secondary display. Even if I succeeded to properly display the scoring marquee, the numeric fields would not have aligned. Mainly due to the narrow width of the secondary display (see images). Is there a way to remove the Monaco GP graphic and only display the score/ranking/timer/best5 numeric fields? As you can see from my images, the "score" and "ranking" numeric fields will have to start at the very far left of the secondary display while the "Todays Best 5" numeric fields will have to fill all the way to the far right of the secondary display. Hopefully, that all makes sense.
Anyway, going to bed now, will attack it in the morning. Please let me know your thoughts. THANKS!!!!
With the scoreboard instance of mgpr.exe as your active window, press TAB to invoke its editor. Iterate through the DISPLAY_OPTIONS resolutions, is the 1366x1024 resolution in there?? If it is, leave it set to that, press ESC to close the scoreboard instance so that new resolution is saved into the .cfg file. Note that when running the scoreboard instance in windowed mode (fullscreen=no) like we are, the resolution setting controls the size of of window created when the instance starts. When you run the scoreboard instance again the window should match the size of your second display, it should then just be a case of using the ARTWORK settings (In scoreboard instance's editor again), to reposition/resize the LEDs and Bezel graphics as you wish.
>>Is there a way to remove the Monaco GP graphic and only display the score/ranking/timer/best5 numeric fields?
Yes, set ARTWORK enable_bezel_artwork to no and it should go away.
If the scorebaord instance does not allow you to set the 1366x1024 resolution then there are a few other (less elegant) things we could try:
1. You could set the window size of the scoreboard instance to a size greater than the resolution of the screen itself. Any over hang shouldn't interfere with the other game instance if the game instance is running in fullscreen mode. It should then just be a case of using the ARTWORK settings (In scoreboard instance's editor again), to reposition/resize the LEDs and Bezel graphics as you wish.
Or 2. You could make your new screen the primary display, have the scoreboard in fullscreen mode, and the game in window mode.
Or 3. I could post on the Allegro forum and find out why their game library isn't showing 1366x1024 in their list of valid resolutions. Then ask them really nicely if they would support it in future releases. FYI. 1366x1024 resolution doesn't show up on my XP system, but I think what appears in the resolution list depends on what graphics card & display drivers you have installed.
Good luck! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hopefully the 1366x1024 resolution will show up in your scoreboard instance editor and we will be home and dry :)
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Hey Sp3c7r3! There is actually an in-game editor that I think is what you are looking for. Run mgpr_launcher.exe, and start the game configuration that you wish to change. When that configuration starts, press the "TAB" key, this will invoke the in-game editor. Use the arrow keys to navigate around the options. In the CONTROLS section, navigate to the steering_device option, it will be configured for keys. Then using the left or right arrow keys, you can iterate through all game controllers that the program detects. When you've found the one you want, press TAB again to leave the editor and try the new settings out. When you exit the game completely, the .cfg you launched will automatically be updated with your changes.
Hope this helps :)
Works like a charm, thanks. Instantly got better. With the pad I could barely break the 2,000pts, regularly, to get extended play and now I get it almost every time. My best so far is just shy of 3,700pts. Those tunnels are killing me...
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geecab - Sorry, I incorrectly said the secondary display was 1366 x 1024. It is actually 1366 x 768.
I tried your recommendations. Unfortunately, I have not had success (but closer!). The maximum allowable resolution in the display options (after pressing TAB) is 1280 x 1024. So, I am left with unused space on the secondary display (1366 - 1280 = 46). I need the full 1366 so it reaches the numeric fields on the marquee.
I tried adjusting the secondary display resolution but it is locked at 1366 x 768. For reference, the driver software is special for the DisplayLink® USB graphics network device that is incorporated in the monitor.
Sooooooooo close. I will continue to mess with it. :-)
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I guess your graphics card has a max resolution of 1280x1024 ? If so then I think that's the problem. I don't suppose you have a newer graphics card knocking about that you could try?
Just thought of something, a bit of a workaround! You could run 2 scoreboard instances of "classic_scoreboard_import_1024x768.cfg", one for the left of the screen, and one for the right. They would both display the same scoreboard information (You can actually run this configuration as many times in as many windows as you like, as long as your processor can handle it).
What you could do is copy and rename the "classic_scoreboard_import_1024x768.cfg" to say:
classic_scoreboard_import_1024x768_left.cfg
classic_scoreboard_import_1024x768_right.cfg
Launch them both, then use their editors to set their position, move the LEDs around etc... I think that might work?
By the way, what OS are you running? Certain variants of windows (for example XP) allows you to disable the frame of a window (I've added an setting for this in the editor, see DISPLAY window_frame). Basically you could set window_frame to off for both scoreboard instances so that you wouldn't see where they join?
There still might be something I can do to force the single window size to 1366x768, I shall look into it :)
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I am running Win XP SP3 with an Nvidia GTS450.
I think the problem is that I am running a generic Win XP Nvidia graphics driver. Hence, the maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024. Updating driver now, keep your fingers crossed.
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Very tricky. The left and right score windows worked. I turned the window frames off so it looks seamless. Just need to align all the numeric fields. Getting REALLY close now. THANKS!
BTW....the updated video driver did nothing.
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Very tricky. The left and right score windows worked. I turned the window frames off so it looks seamless. Just need to align all the numeric fields. Getting REALLY close now. THANKS!
BTW....the updated video driver did nothing.
OK that's cool about the left and right windows :)
Just had a look here, http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gts-450/specifications the specs on your graphics card should be more than enough. After you updated the video driver, were you able to see any new (larger) resolutions to choose from in the windows display properties settings? I'm just wondering, my game might limit the window you can create based on the resolution you have chosen for your desktop display...
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Works like a charm, thanks. Instantly got better. With the pad I could barely break the 2,000pts, regularly, to get extended play and now I get it almost every time. My best so far is just shy of 3,700pts. Those tunnels are killing me...
Great stuff Sp3c7r3! It's actually really difficult to play with a wheel that has a fixed center point I think, so your score of 3700 is really good :) The game is really intended to be played with a free spinning wheel of some sort (like it was in the arcade). You'll find things a lot easier if you used, say, a spinner or your mouse.
That said, I'm thinking of adding some new settings for people who use fixed center point wheels like yours. So instead of having to always return the wheel to its center point to make the car go straight forward, your wheel will function more like a mouse. When the wheel is in the center position, the car will always be in the center of the road, then you'll sort of point with the steering wheel where you want the player car to move to (hope that makes sense). I think it could work, I might try and get this working when I have some spare time, the tricky thing is to figure out what to do about the player car's starting position (Its always on the far right of the scenery, which means the wheel needs to be locked right each time you start. Not sure what to do about this yet)...
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geecab - Nope, no additional resolutions after upgrading the driver. No worries, the left and right score windows are looking great. Just need to position the "Todays Best 5" numeric fields and I will be done. I will post some pics soon!
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Wow........that worked great! It took some time to align everything but it looks very cool. I can't thank you enough for all your terrific work.
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Excellent work xfassa! That looks spot on, can't wait to see the complete cab now!! :)
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Very good Geecab,
No more glitches, methinks. Glad to have accepted some of my
observations. Pursuit is harder, but I ended again... sorry. :)
Apropo Raspberry Pi and machines that can not run MGPR, several times
I put the flash in 2-3 15.6" Win7 laptops and it was all ok, just like
on desktop. But one day I tried Acer Aspire One AOD257, 10.1” WSVGA
(1024x600) netbook Win7-32, 2GB RAM and 320 GB HDD... It was so slow,
like slow motion movie, that I could not reach to the second tunnel -
without crash - time expired. Everything is slow: moving, car,
opponents, track, except sound and time. This laptop runs just fine MS
Office, internet and some games, but MGPR (640x480) very slow,
although it has 2 cores/4 threads 1.66 GHz speed. I think because
integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 and low dedicated
memory. Which API-tools you use for video rendering?
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Here is a quick look at it assembled. Lots of work to do yet. :-)
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Here is a quick look at it assembled. Lots of work to do yet. :-)
Absolutely awesome xfassa! This is the sort of thing I want to with my cab. Didnt think you could get an LED screen behind the marquee. Those AOC screens? What's the model number? Are they expensive? Is it 16/10 ratio? I thought the marquee/score display was too short in height to fit a screen in there.
Sorry for all the questions but it seems you've come up with a solution I can use. Do you think I could get a screen behind the marquee while keeping the original CRT in place?
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/8b5sog8ld5b8hry/mgpr_v1_4_5.zip (http://www.mediafire.com/download/8b5sog8ld5b8hry/mgpr_v1_4_5.zip)
I've just caught up with the thread and I'm really impressed with what you've done with the second display. Seems xfassa has run with it and managed to squeeze in a second display in the marquee.
Looks like this is the way to go! Once again, great job on the improvements you've made.
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RetroNutz - I will try and take some more pictures this week. As for the monitor, its an AOC 16" - E1649FWU. Once you remove the bezel/housing, it fits nicely into the marquee opening. However, the marquee holder brackets need to be adjusted to accommodate the marquee and the added thickness of the monitor.
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Here is a quick look at it assembled. Lots of work to do yet. :-)
That looks fantastic. Great job!
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Here is a quick look at it assembled. Lots of work to do yet. :-)
It really looks excellent xfassa! Just a thought, you could create a really simple bitmap that has bright yellow bars across it, that you could load with the editor and have it as your bezel, so it would kind of back light 'Monaco GP' and 'Sega' writing?
Oh and just another thought, not sure if you already know this, but you've got a choice of LED fonts to choose from, you can iterate through them by changing the ARTWORK led_filename setting. Nothing wrong with the one you have chosen (Its the best one to be honest), but just in case you ever fancy a change!
:)
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Geecab - great idea on the back lighting. Unfortunately, the display does not span the entire width of the marquee. :-(
Wow, i didn't know i could change the LED font. I kind of like the default. Although, my wife asked if it could be changed to a brighter red. :-)
Honestly, i am just thrilled how good it all looks. I would really like to do a video of the entire project. Work really gets in the way of all my hobbies. Of course, work pays for all my hobbies too!
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Very good Geecab,
No more glitches, methinks. Glad to have accepted some of my
observations. Pursuit is harder, but I ended again... sorry. :)
Apropo Raspberry Pi and machines that can not run MGPR, several times
I put the flash in 2-3 15.6" Win7 laptops and it was all ok, just like
on desktop. But one day I tried Acer Aspire One AOD257, 10.1” WSVGA
(1024x600) netbook Win7-32, 2GB RAM and 320 GB HDD... It was so slow,
like slow motion movie, that I could not reach to the second tunnel -
without crash - time expired. Everything is slow: moving, car,
opponents, track, except sound and time. This laptop runs just fine MS
Office, internet and some games, but MGPR (640x480) very slow,
although it has 2 cores/4 threads 1.66 GHz speed. I think because
integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 and low dedicated
memory. Which API-tools you use for video rendering?
Good stuff tomtom! I rely on your observations / bug finding etc.., you've helped identify some stuff that really did need fixing and the game is much better for it!
>>> Pursuit is harder, but I ended again... sorry. :)
NOOO!! 21 seconds left & 3 lives remaining - That is such a walk in park!! ;) I can complete pursuit but only once in, say, every 15 goes! I only ever have about 1 second left, and hardly any lives left??
Its got to be down to the following:-
1. I'm rubbish at my own game (I hope its not that!)
2. It must be how we've set up our controls. I use a 360 wheel that I connect up to a hacked mouse. I've have set steering_sensitivity 50, and steering_weight 68, because for me that gives me the feeling from what I remember of the arcade. Everything else I left at the default values. What control settings are you using?
>>Which API-tools you use for video rendering?
Cheers for those processor/PC stats. I use a graphics and sound library called Allegro 5 to make (render) the game. So basically, its all down to what ever Allegro 5 runs ok on. If Allegro 5 runs ok on it, so will Monaco GP Remake.
:)
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Geecab - great idea on the back lighting. Unfortunately, the display does not span the entire width of the marquee. :-(
oh yes, I see what you mean. You could just light up the Sega for now I suppose. Lets think about this another time as there is probably a solution to this... You could get yourself a custom marquee made up with a slightly narrower Monaco GP lettering ;)
>>Wow, i didn't know i could change the LED font. I kind of like the default. Although, my wife asked if it could be changed to a brighter red. :-)
Cool! Yep, I like the default one also, but yes I do kind of know where your wife is coming from, probably needs to be a little more red (or maybe you have color/gamma settings for your second monitor you can try changing)? BTW, just so you know you can make your own led graphics yourself, or edit one that already exists quite easily. They are all in the 'led' directory. Any bitmaps you save in the 'led' directory the editor will assume its a new led font and you'll be able to see it when iterating through the list of filenames. Have a look at 7segment_scanned.bmp with any paint package and you'll see how they are made up (As long as the bitmap can be divided equally width ways by 11 (to accommodate all the digit combinations), and you save it as a .bmp file, then it should look & work OK.
>>Honestly, i am just thrilled how good it all looks. I would really like to do a video of the entire project. Work really gets in the way of all my hobbies. Of course, work pays for all my hobbies too!
Great stuff, I'm really happy seeing it all coming together too, it does look like the real deal now and really pleased the second monitor you found does the job nicely! :)
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> NOOO!! 21 seconds left & 3 lives remaining - That is such a walk in
> park!! ;) I can complete pursuit but only once in, say, every 15
> goes! I only ever have about 1 second left, and hardly any lives left??
Not always so ideal. Before that I had failed 15-20 runs. The first
time I had finished, it was similar to you. Cab playing is
difficult; one hand should drive, another gearchange and foot
accelerate; more synchronization.
There's a guy on YT, who likes to breaking records in the old
arcades. I'm sure he would have done better if hi knew for MGPR
remake. /rdrunner0077/
PS: It is a coincidence, I'm not that Tom. :)
> It must be how we've set up our controls. I use a 360 wheel that
> I connect up to a hacked mouse. I've have set steering_sensitivity
> 50, and steering_weight 68, because for me that gives me the feeling
> from what I remember of the arcade. Everything else I left at the
> default values. What control settings are you using?
I said earlier, only mouse and steering_sensitivity 100 or more.
Because of high sensitivity, the hand must be calm and stable.
Many times crash happens, when a little more drag the mouse.
> So basically, its all down to what ever Allegro 5 runs ok on. If
> Allegro 5 runs ok on it, so will Monaco GP Remake.
I do not know if there is some tests or system requirements for
Allegro 5. Obviously, the best test is your program.
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Not always so ideal. Before that I had failed 15-20 runs. The first
time I had finished, it was similar to you. Cab playing is
difficult; one hand should drive, another gearchange and foot
accelerate; more synchronization.
Ok, cool, the difficulty may be 'about right' then :) I was thinking, it might be a good idea to have a simple/quick way of changing the difficulty each time the game is loaded (and this difficulty would be remembered for the next time you load the game). Say, when the Disclaimer screen appears, you would see a 5 second timer count down, and a flashing message would indicate "stop on gas and spin wheel to set difficulty" sort of thing, you'd be able to choose easy, medium, hard and impossible?
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I've made a start putting some videos together of the latest version running . I've decided to make 4 different videos, one for each of the game modes; Classic, Pro, Pursuit and Stunt. This is the first, showing the Classic game mode running on my cabinet. The quality isn't the best (Rubbish camera!), but hopefully it gives decent enough impression of the game :)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Classic" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Classic" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htwGiwCc4AY#ws)
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Stunt Park" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Stunt Park" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QllSzY8rR38#ws)
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RetroNutz & xfassa - I've decided to get an arduino board starter kit. I got interested in them whilst browsing for a hardware scoreboard display solution for RetroNuts, and these arduino boards just look like they'd be cool to mess about with and maybe I'll learn a few things along the way. I'm not sure how far I'll get and it will probably take me ages to get something going (and I'll probably blow something up in the process (I've made backups of my Monaco GP source, don't worry :P)) but just wanted to say don't ebay away your arcade display circuit board quite yet because who knows someday there might have a way of getting them going again (though you'll probably have a tricky soldering / wiring job on your hands ;)).
Got some BCD to 7 segment decoders and some shift registers on order so no turning back now!! Also, thinking I could use my display to show highscores of other mame games ((http://highscore.mameworld.info (http://highscore.mameworld.info)) buts that's a little too far down the line to think about right now, just want to get a few LEDs illuminated first!
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Nice one. Keep us posted. I'd have a go myself but the last time I programmed it was at school. COBOL and Pascal if I remember! I'm showing my age now. Really wish I'd stuck at it. I'm actually quite jealous you've made the Monaco GP remake. You've certainly got some skills!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Geecab - Good luck with the starter kit! It is always good to keep challenging yourself. ;-)
Now that everything is setup, I dedicated some time to play the game. Unfortunately, I ran into a few issues.
Setup:
Intel Core2 Quad Q8400 (2.66Ghz)
8GB ram (WinXP only recognizes 4GB)
Nvidia GTS450 (1GB) Video Card
Issue #1: When opening the three sessions (game, left side score, right side score), the game runs noticeably slower. It's playable but definitely slower. It even sounds different. My guess is the three sessions really eat up a lot of resources. My plan is to upgrade to Windows 7 (although Linux would be ideal). Anyway, I will give it a go.
Issue #2: I would like to use my Ultimarc APAC to control the foot pedal, shifter, and coin up button. However, the coin up menu setting will only let me select keyboard keys. There is no APAC options for selecting button 1. The shifter menu setting allows the APAC to be used. Any ideas?
Thanks for any/all help!
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Nice.
You may want to add sprite scaling if you are doing jumps. As thing rise up, they should scale larger... then scale back down as they fall. I didnt realize the car was jumping, until I saw the shadow shift. An animation of the cars tilt would also help.
Jumping is highly unrealistic in such a car due partially to the shocks.. and partially the landing angles. Which would make for some interesting gameplay.. however, might be too difficult. The height and distance would equate to your speed... and possibly different ramp heights / angles (use diff colors on ramp types .. if using multiples). In order to successfully land a ramp flight... one would need to hit the landing ramp (at the beginning or middle section).
To make this realistic, one shouldnt be able to steer, nor effect the screens scrolling (throttle), when you are airborne. Speed will drop a little naturally, as you have no ground to maintain it.
An easy mode, could allow steering and or speed changes... but I think the realist mode would be more rewarding. Higher risk to try a jump... and greater points awarded for landing one given. A greater adrenaline rush, and greater feeling when one lands a jump successfully.
Another option, would be to change.the car type... to a dirt-bike sytle buggy or an actual dirkbike period. That might need different steering (leaning animations) , and possible Arial tilting control. Again, use of scaling would help convey the jump. That and or scaling the background instead.(with some camera focus applied for extra pop... and or a combination of car scaling+bg scaling)
As for the use of an lcd on a real cabinet. .. it maks me cringe. =(
Maybe some filters and simulated crt curve would help some... but even then, the refresh is probably too slow.
Looking at the.vid, it.appeared that ice barely effected the steering speed.and traction. Theres no way one could drive like that on real ice. Same effect fix.also need be applied to other racers.
Environmental effects like rain, snow, and high winds would be cool.. as well as a sunset and night mode.
A section like Turbo's lit up city scape would be cool.
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Looking at the.vid, it.appeared that ice barely effected the steering speed.and traction. Theres no way one could drive like that on real ice. Same effect fix.also need be applied to other racers.
You have to remember the driving "physics" in this game are based on the original 1979 game. I like the fact Geecab has made his own tracks with new obstacles, but for me at least, you can't change how the car handles as this detracts from why I liked the original in the first place.
It's only my personal opinion of course, but I love this emulation as it replicates the original so well. If it didn't handle the way it did I probably wouldn't play it so much.
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From looking at the vid.. it didnt look like what I remembered. Maybe im mixing it up with Turbo. Ill check it out later to see.
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Geecab - Good luck with the starter kit! It is always good to keep challenging yourself. ;-)
Now that everything is setup, I dedicated some time to play the game. Unfortunately, I ran into a few issues.
Setup:
Intel Core2 Quad Q8400 (2.66Ghz)
8GB ram (WinXP only recognizes 4GB)
Nvidia GTS450 (1GB) Video Card
Issue #1: When opening the three sessions (game, left side score, right side score), the game runs noticeably slower. It's playable but definitely slower. It even sounds different. My guess is the three sessions really eat up a lot of resources. My plan is to upgrade to Windows 7 (although Linux would be ideal). Anyway, I will give it a go.
Issue #2: I would like to use my Ultimarc APAC to control the foot pedal, shifter, and coin up button. However, the coin up menu setting will only let me select keyboard keys. There is no APAC options for selecting button 1. The shifter menu setting allows the APAC to be used. Any ideas?
Thanks for any/all help!
Oh no it was all going so well ;)
Regarding Issue 1 - The scoreboard instances will require about the same processing power as the game instance itself. There are probably a few things I can do to make the scoreboard instances less processor hungry, but before we go down that route, I'm wondering if its the large resolutions that you are running the instances at that is causing resources to max out.
- Can you let me know what resolution you are running the game instance at?
- Can you try running the game and scoreboard instances at say 640x480 (or whatever the lowest resolution you can choose is). It won't look correct I know, but its a good test to see whether its my programming eating up the processor, or the resolution of the instances. Might be an idea to open the Windows Task Manager and let me know the Performance of your processors as you start each instance up?
- I really wouldn't upgrade to windows 7 just yet. I'm my experience, upgrading to a newer windows OS will only make things run slower. Linux is a no go at the moment I'm afraid.
Regarding Issue 2 - Whoops, yes the coin button thing is definitely a bug, should be easy enough to fix :)
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Looking at the.vid, it.appeared that ice barely effected the steering speed.and traction. Theres no way one could drive like that on real ice. Same effect fix.also need be applied to other racers.
You have to remember the driving "physics" in this game are based on the original 1979 game. I like the fact Geecab has made his own tracks with new obstacles, but for me at least, you can't change how the car handles as this detracts from why I liked the original in the first place.
It's only my personal opinion of course, but I love this emulation as it replicates the original so well. If it didn't handle the way it did I probably wouldn't play it so much.
Cheers RetroNuts, glad you are liking the new obstacles! I wasn't sure that everyone would like my new additions to begin with, which is why I provided distinct game modes. Classic & Pro is there for the purists, and the other games are there if you fancy a new/different challenge. I quite enjoy all the modes to be honest. I hopefully haven't gone over the top with new stuff, I've tried to be loyal to the original and my new sprites are drawn in the pixel resolution and palette as all the other sprites. I tried to imagine that if Sega had kept going another few years with there 2D Monaco GP TTL hardware, what we might have seen in the arcades :)
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Oh no it was all going so well ;)
Regarding Issue 1 - The scoreboard instances will require about the same processing power as the game instance itself. There are probably a few things I can do to make the scoreboard instances less processor hungry, but before we go down that route, I'm wondering if its the large resolutions that you are running the instances at that is causing resources to max out.
- Can you let me know what resolution you are running the game instance at?
- Can you try running the game and scoreboard instances at say 640x480 (or whatever the lowest resolution you can choose is). It won't look correct I know, but its a good test to see whether its my programming eating up the processor, or the resolution of the instances. Might be an idea to open the Windows Task Manager and let me know the Performance of your processors as you start each instance up?
- I really wouldn't upgrade to windows 7 just yet. I'm my experience, upgrading to a newer windows OS will only make things run slower. Linux is a no go at the moment I'm afraid.
Regarding Issue 2 - Whoops, yes the coin button thing is definitely a bug, should be easy enough to fix :)
Here are my resolutions/CPU usages.
LCD Display Settings in Windows XP
Primary Display: 1024x768
Secondary Display: 1366x768
Display Settings in Monaco GP
Primary Game Session: 1024x768
Secondary Game Session (Left Side of Scoreboard): 1024x768
Tertiary Game Session (Right Side of Scoreboard): 1024x768
All sessions set to 1024x768
CPU Usage (%), Page File Usage (MB)
Baseline: 1%, 257MB
Primary Session: 9%, 314MB
Secondary Session: 40%, 368MB
Tertiary Session: 56%, 421MB
All sessions set to 640x480
CPU Usage (%), Page File Usage (MB)
Baseline: 1%, 257MB
Primary Session: 6%, 306MB
Secondary Session: 19%, 353MB
Tertiary Session: 25%, 400MB
Unrelated. My "Gear_Method" is set to Lo when Held. Unfortunately, the game always starts in High gear forcing me to shift into High and the back into Low to get it to change into Low gear. Once that is done at the start of the game, the shifting works perfectly. Any ideas?
Thanks again for all your help!
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Seems like the change in resolution is having quite an effect...
Sorry, just want to confirm something (I'm easily confused :P). Take the case when you've got all resolutions set to 1024x768, are you giving me the individual CPU usage per instance, or the total CPU usage as you run the instances?
So basically do you mean this:
Primary Session: 9%, 314MB - (Implies this instance takes 9% CPU)
Secondary Session: 40%, 368MB (Implies this instance takes 40% CPU. Total CPU is thus usage is 9% + 40% = 49%)
Tertiary Session: 56%, 421MB (Implies this instance takes 56% CPU. Total CPU is thus usage is 9% + 40% + 56% = 100% (can't be anymore))
Or do you mean this:
Primary Session: 9%, 314MB - (Implies total CPU usage with 1 instance running is 9%. 91% of CPU must therefore be idle)
Secondary Session: 40%, 368MB (Implies total CPU usage with 2 instances running is 40%. 60% of CPU must therefore be idle)
Tertiary Session: 56%, 421MB (Implies total CPU usage with 3 instances running 56%. 44% of CPU must therefore be idle)
Does the game run at the correct speed with all windows at 640x480 ? If so, you might as well stick with that resolution. The only real benefit of running your game instance at 1024x768 would be if you were going to display hi-res artwork, which you are not.
I've just done a crude calculation (pic attached), I think you'd still be able to display all the LED information you want with two 640x480 scoreboard windows? You could also set the wallpaper of the 1366x768 screen to something that could light up the big Monaco GP title??
>>My "Gear_Method" is set to Lo when Held.
Whoops! Sounds like I'm not initializing this properly. Hopefully won't be too tricky to fix :)
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Sorry for the confusion. This is what i meant.
Or do you mean this:
Primary Session: 9%, 314MB - (Implies total CPU usage with 1 instance running is 9%. 91% of CPU must therefore be idle)
Secondary Session: 40%, 368MB (Implies total CPU usage with 2 instances running is 40%. 60% of CPU must therefore be idle)
Tertiary Session: 56%, 421MB (Implies total CPU usage with 3 instances running 56%. 44% of CPU must therefore be idle)
I will try changing the resolutions to 640x480 and adjust them to fit the screen properly. I will report back later tonight. Thanks!
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Thank you so very very much for this very awesome remake of this very awesome game! Your remake runs perfectly using Wine(https://www.winehq.org (https://www.winehq.org)) on my iMac. I was just wondering something. Does your remake have a pause button? If so, what is it?
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Thank you so very very much for this very awesome remake of this very awesome game! Your remake runs perfectly using Wine(https://www.winehq.org (https://www.winehq.org)) on my iMac. I was just wondering something. Does your remake have a pause button? If so, what is it?
Wow! Just clicked on your Wine link and reading about it. I've never heard of Wine before but it sounds excellent, a few people have asked for a Linux port of my remake in the past so this could be the answer! I'm interested to know, what OS are you running and what processor does your iMac have?
It doesn't have a pause button at the moment, but it shouldn't be too difficult to implement one for the next release.
Thanks for posting :)
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I'm interested to know, what OS are you running and what processor does your iMac have?
I have an iMac running Mac OSX with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.
It doesn't have a pause button at the moment, but it shouldn't be too difficult to implement one for the next release.
Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for any future releases of your game. Thanks again.
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I have an iMac running Mac OSX with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.
Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for any future releases of your game. Thanks again.
Cheers for this kcidkcus, that's a nice high end machine you have!
I've been reading quite a bit about Wine today, not sure how its gone under my radar! I will have to give it a try sometime soon, quite interested to see how it performs when using a less powerful processor :)
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I have an iMac running Mac OSX with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor.
Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for any future releases of your game. Thanks again.
Cheers for this kcidkcus, that's a nice high end machine you have!
I've been reading quite a bit about Wine today, not sure how its gone under my radar! I will have to give it a try sometime soon, quite interested to see how it performs when using a less powerful processor :)
I have the same speed mac and after reading the above post, before trying WINE, I ran monaco GP in an instance of Win XP in VirtualBox at the highest game resolution, and there was some significant slow down. It ran fine at 640x480. I've yet to try it in wine...
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I've been getting on really well with my Arduino board! If you ever fancied getting a basic understand of electronics I really must encourage you to try one of these out for yourself! :)
After looking closely at the arcade machine's schematics (I think I understand how the scoreboard multiplexing works now), I decided to buy a few components that were similar/identical to the ones on the arcade machine's scoreboard circuit board (Shift registers, BCD to 7-Seg decoders and 7-Seg displays).
Only 2 displays working at the moment (I've run out of breadboard for anymore), but I'm kind of feel that it wouldn't be too tricky to add the rest if I wanted to. I'm kind of thinking I'd like now to scratch build a Monaco GP upright and use the Arduino circuit for the scoreboard :P
I'll go into more detail about how I got things to work when I have a bit more time. For now, here's some pics and video of things working...
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - Arduino Testing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrhSvm4ZGs#ws)
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I've been getting on really well with my Arduino board!
I'll go into more detail about how I got things to work when I have a bit more time. For now, here's some pics and video of things working...
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - Arduino Testing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrhSvm4ZGs#ws)
Frickin awesome! Nuff said!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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This simulator is really awesome. I loved this game as a kid, and am ecstatic that I can play it again.
Just a question: Is there a way to play with a mouse? I went through the config files and found CONTROL references to "keys"
What are the valid inputs here?
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This simulator is really awesome. I loved this game as a kid, and am ecstatic that I can play it again.
Just a question: Is there a way to play with a mouse? I went through the config files and found CONTROL references to "keys"
What are the valid inputs here?
Hi Neo-Rio! Thanks for posting! Hopefully you are running the latest version (v1.4.5)? If so then its best not to edit the config file by hand, but instead use the in-game configuration editor to do it for you. Pressing the 'Tab' key during the attract mode (When 'Deposit Coin' is flashing) will invoke the configuration editor. Pressing 'Tab' again will return you back to the game. Exiting the game (pressing 'ESC') will save any changes you made using the configuration editor, into the configuration file that you loaded. When you've invoked the configuration editor, lots of options should appear on the screen which you can navigate around using the arrow keys. Highlight 'CONTROL OPTIONS' and press the right arrow key to expand them. To use mouse to steer, highlight the 'STEERING_DEVICE' option and press the left or right arrow keys to iterate though all the possible steering devices available in your system (mouse axis x, mouse axis y, keys, joystick etc..). Hopefully you get the idea :)
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Yep, that works! Freakin' awesome! You're a genius.
I also love how you've modded the original out with a whole pile of new features, and have things like two-lane highways and including some jumping sections - which reminds me of the SEGA mark III version which was somewhat original in that regard.
Just curious: Is it possible to add twisty sections of road into the game, or can't the code be pushed that far? I recall playing "Lemans" on my Commodore 64 (a blatant clone of Pro Monaco GP), and it had a section (amongst the ice and tunnel sections), called the "esses". The track would start snaking left and right for a while and was pretty darn hard.
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Great stuff Neo-Rio! Glad you are liking the new features/additions! Just been looking at Lemans for the c64 on youtube, nice! I see what you mean about the twisty sections of road, I like the effect too. I'll see what I can do :)
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Finally got around to finishing the last couple of game mode videos ("Pro" and "Pursuit"). Once again, the quality it a bit rubbish but hopefully its gets the idea across. I've modified my very first few posts on page 1 of this thread, to include all the videos I've been making :)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Pro" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Pro" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puX4dTZcxWA#ws)
Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.5) "Pursuit" game mode:
Monaco GP Remake (version 1.4.5) - "Pursuit" game mode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqyeUTbsDWA#ws)
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RetroNuts & xfassa - I think I've finally come to the end of my "messing around with the Arduino" stage. Its been an enjoyable (though a bit of a nerdy) experience, and my final thoughts are that if you wanted to pursue a hardware solution to light up your scoreboard, you most definitely could (though it would take a bit of time to sort out, I think you could even make use of your existing hardware (Depending on how much you mind making "modifications" to it!)).
So for completeness, lets say sometime in the future you fancy trying to get your old display hardware working again. Then my advise would be to get a basic Arduino starter kit and some 74HC595 shift registers, and trying this tutorial out:-
http://arduino.cc/en/tutorial/ShiftOut (http://arduino.cc/en/tutorial/ShiftOut)
Once you've got 2 shift registers illuminating any sequence of 16 different LEDs, you'll start to discover that it wouldn't too much effort to add a couple more shift registers to illuminate any sequence of 32 LEDs.
Now, I reckon by using 5 shift registers you could illuminate the actual arcade display as seen in the diagram attached (I've combined the original arcade circuit diagram, with some of the symbols from the Arduino ShiftOut tutorial to help me describe). The Arduino runs very fast and can perform the shift register tasks very quickly. So looking at the diagram, the shift register at the top cycles around giving power to 1 row of digits at a time, whilst the 4 shift registers at the right illuminate the necessary segments that form the digits along that row. Hope this makes some sense!
The scoreboard_reader source code example I added in the last release could then be modified to send the scoreboard information off the Arduino device. I'd be happy to write the scoreboard_reader to Arduino interface code to suit whatever hardware design you come up with.
OK, that's everything! I'm putting my Arduino aside now, time to start working on v1.4.6 :)
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I can only thank you for the amazing effort you've put into this. Not only for the emulator in the first place but also in working out how to output to an external score board.
It's certainly information I can return to after I've finished my current project (which seems never ending!). Life in general has a habit of getting in the way! In the mean time I'm certainly having fun playing your emulator.
Keep up the good work Geecab. I look forward to seeing your future posts and updates.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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No worries at all RetroNutz, thanks for all the kind words! Like I said I've really enjoyed getting into the electronic side of things, something I've always wanted to get a better understanding of, I've learned loads in the process, and now we have a rough plan action for yourself or anyone else who feels like giving some real hardware a go in future :)
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Monaco GP Remake (v1.4.6) is ready and it can be downloaded here:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Main purpose of this release was to fix the game controller button gear shift bug, and add controller button support for Coin input (xfassa).
(kcidkcus - Apologies, I did make a start on adding a pause control but its more tricky than I had first anticipated. I will get this working eventually, but unfortunately its not in this release)
Please be a little prepared as you visit the mediafire site, you might get adverts for other software appear, trying to fool you to download something else. Just make sure you only click on the big green 'Download' button near to top right of the page, and the file that you download to your computer is called "mgpr_v1_4_6.zip" (Its about 16MB in size).
Once its downloaded, unzip it, then double click on 'mgpr_launcher.exe', choose a configuration and off you go!
Note that you can also run a specific configuration from command line (like in previous versions), running mpgr.exe using the -cfg switch. For example, if you wanted to run the pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg configuration from command line, you would specify
mgpr -cfg pro_arcade_1360x768.cfg
All the default configurations are set up for fullscreen and keyboard control (keys are Z=left, X=right, N=Accelerate, M=Gear, 5 or 6 = Coin, 1=Switch between HiScores and AttractMode).
Press the TAB key during any game's attract mode (When "Deposit coin" is flashing at you) to edit the configuration (Change Controls to Mouse, joystick, choose different artwork etc..). Some options (such as display filter, fullscreen and various audio samples and volumes) will require you to restart the game before your new settings will take effect.
Fixed in v1.4.6:
- Gear Shift HI-When-Held/LO-When-Held variables now correctly initialized when device is set to a game controller button (Mouse button, Joystick button etc..).
- "Coin A", "Coin B" and "Start" can now be configured to use game controller buttons (Previously, it was only possible to use keys).
- Pursuit track difficultly tweaked yet again.
- ROM check removed (Graphics are embedded into game executable).
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Woohoo!!! Thanks geecab. I will be installing this tonight. :-)
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Geecab - Sorry for the loooooong delay. I recently picked up a Robotron and it has consumed all my spare time over the last few weeks. My plan is to get back to the Monaco GP this week. I am excited to give your latest software a try. I will provide update, pics, and maybe some video this week. Thanks again for all your help!
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Nice one afassa! Robotron is a very cool game! Good luck with the new Monaco software, pics etc would be great to see if you have time! :)
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Geecab - I installed the new software. All the controls work perfectly now! Thank you.
Unfortunately, running three sessions of the software just kills the performance. I have to find a way to run just two sessions (main game screen and scoreboard screen). I tried setting the second screen to 1360x768 but the software wont allow it. The max resolution I can run is 1280x1024. Monitor 1 is setup for 1024x768, Monitor is setup for 1366x768. If I could just figure out how to get the second monitor (scoring screen) to run 1360x1024, I would be home free.
If you have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!
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Geecab - My bad. I failed to read your suggestion about changing the two scoreboard screens to 640x480. I will give that a try and see if it helps performance.
Also, is there a way to write a batch file that will start all three sessions? I am trying to make this thing boot straight to the game without needing the keyboard/mouse. ;-)
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Everything is now working great. Here are some pics. Note, I made the replica control panel at Kinko's and added a red start button. I think it came out pretty nice. Just need to do some body work on the cabinet and make some replica side art. Getting very close to complete. :-)
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It looks really excellent! Great job xfassa!! Nice clean job of the inside too, I like how you've connected your spinner up!
So I guess the lower scoreboard resolutions sorted the performance issues. Phew, I'm not sure what other options could be pursued otherwise. I'd still recommend holding on to your scoreboard circuits/display, it would make the ideal electronics project if you ever fancied getting into that.
The start button is a good idea, especially if you are going to add more games to it (I've been playing quite a bit of super-hang-on on my driving cab recently, the start button comes in handy for the turbo). Are you going to add a front end / other games to it?
Regarding a batch file to start the 3 sessions, try something similar to the following and see how you get on (hopefully my comments/REMs explain what's going on).
REM First 'start' (don't wait for sessions to terminate) the left and right scoreboards
start mgpr -cfg classic_scoreboard_import_left.cfg
start mgpr -cfg classic_scoreboard_import_right.cfg
REM wait 4 seconds before starting the game session to ensure game gets focus
ping 127.0.0.1
REM Now 'call' (wait for session to terminate) the game session.
call mgpr -cfg classic_scoreboard_export.cfg
REM kill the scoreboard session when the game terminates (They terminate themselves anyway after a few seconds timeout once the game session stops).
taskkill /im mgpr.exe
taskkill /im mgpr.exe
Hope this helps! :)
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Geecab - The batch file worked great! It autoboots perfectly. Again, you have done an amazing job. My Monaco GP looks/plays fantastic and the hardware/software is bulletproof. The dream has become a reality. I cant thank you enough for your efforts. Well done my friend! :-)
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That's really excellent to hear xfassa! Really pleased you've managed get it all going in your cabinet! :)
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Not trying to take anything away from this remake at all, I nevertheless feel compelled to inform everyone reading this thread that there is a MAME version of this game that can be played via Misfit MAME. :cheers:
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Did this game have roms or was it all discrete logic? I'll have to see if this exists in the latest mame (162) as I see the driver (monacogp), but no idea if playable.
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Not trying to take anything away from this remake at all, I nevertheless feel compelled to inform everyone reading this thread that there is a MAME version of this game that can be played via Misfit MAME. :cheers:
Have you played the Misfit Mame version? Not good.....
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Could not get this to work in Mame .162 (monacocp), game does not work and I cant get it to run, so I guess the mame devs dont have this working yet.
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Just pooped in to say that I'm still loving this! Best remake I ever saw! :cheers:
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Sorry to be late to the party. I never would have know about this fantastic program if I hadn't seen somebody make a Hyperspin theme for it: http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/files/file/11070-sega-monaco-gp-pc-game-smonacogp-marcoqwerty12-29-2015/ (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/files/file/11070-sega-monaco-gp-pc-game-smonacogp-marcoqwerty12-29-2015/)
Can anyone launching this game from Hyperspin advise me on how to add it to my MAME wheel? I know it's not MAME; I just have a wheel of arcade games that's all MAME stuff plus Fix It Felix Jr.
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Thank you for this!
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Hi, glad to hear you're enjoying the remake! No bugs reported in quite a while so it seems v1.4.6 is pretty solid :)
Recently bought a new printer and was messing around making a mock-up PS3 game inlay. Thought I'd post the results! I probably need to get out more ;)
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I've recently been trying Linux Mint (v17.3 64-bit "Cinnamon") on a spare PC I have. Out of curiosity, I decided to see if I could get my Monaco GP sources compiled and after a bit of hacking, the results have been encouraging. Just wondering if anyones interested in Monaco GP for Linux, and if so what Linux variant would you be running?
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As I said you last year, i'd be very interested in a port of your simulator for raspberry pi, running retropie, but I assume that it will be difficult because raspberry is arm processor based.
Anyway if you want to give it a try, I would be so pleased.
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Yes indeed I remember you asking about a pi version previously. What version of raspberry pi do you have (1,2, or 3) by the way?
I have read that allegro games don't run fast enough on the pi which sort of puts me off giving it a try. Regardless, I would quite like a raspberry pi at some point... so never say never :)
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I have Pi2, but if necessary I would buy a Pi3.
Anything to have MonacoGP on it...
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Monaco GP now fully working under Linux. Looks, sounds and plays exactly the same as the windows version. This is running on an i3-2120 (2.60Ghz) an the game uses about 7% CPU at most. Just need to figure out the best way to package it up :P
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Monaco GP now fully working under Linux. Looks, sounds and plays exactly the same as the windows version. This is running on an i3-2120 (2.60Ghz) an the game uses about 7% CPU at most. Just need to figure out the best way to package it up :P
I just got a pi3.
If you can make the source available i'd give it a compile & see how it runs.
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Wow geecab! you're the best! Can't wait to see it running on my Pi.
I have no programming knowledges so I can't help you, but I thank you a lot for your work.
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I'm kind of thinking I'd like now to scratch build a Monaco GP upright and use the Arduino circuit for the scoreboard :P
I can't believe I've missed this thread. I guess I never look in the Driving & Racing section because the only racers I like are this and Pole Position. If you ever decide to scratch build a Monaco GP upright, post all your plans and I'll copy you. :)
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Hi! The Linux version (v1.4.6) is ready. I've tested it on the following:
Linux Ubuntu v14.04.4 (32bit and 64bit)
Linux Ubuntu v15.10 (32bit and 64bit)
Linux Mint v17.3 (32bit and 64bit)
I've modified my very first post in this thread to contain links to the latest Windows and Linux packages (here (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134445.0.html)). I figured it made sense to put the latest releases there to help people find the latest release quickly (And new people who visit this thread won't accidentally download obsolete versions).
@dmckean - Cool! Glad you discovered the thread. I'll defo post my plans when I eventually start my scratch build :)
@nitrogen_widget @space invader - This Linux release won't run (I very much doubt) on a Raspberry Pi. However, someone I work with has bought a Raspberry Pi3 so I'm going to try it out on that soon I hope :)
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Ohhh, I was waiting for your next post to read good news :(
Anyway I will keep on waiting for your good job...
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I understand the appeal of a small single board, but people need to wake up about the pi. It's ~50 bucks for a high-end model with all the widgets necessary to get it running. And it has all the power of a 15-20 year old pc. That means it's crap for emulation or even simulation and pc gaming. On the other hand, take that same 50 bucks, spend it on a gently used pc from arrow direct and you've got a core duo capable of running the kind of stuff we play around here.
It makes zero sense to put a pi in a arcade cab because there is plenty of room to house a pc in there. The pi is for special use projects, most notably projects where size or power consumption is an issue.
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I understand the appeal of a small single board, but people need to wake up about the pi. It's ~50 bucks for a high-end model with all the widgets necessary to get it running. And it has all the power of a 15-20 year old pc. That means it's crap for emulation or even simulation and pc gaming. On the other hand, take that same 50 bucks, spend it on a gently used pc from arrow direct and you've got a core duo capable of running the kind of stuff we play around here.
It makes zero sense to put a pi in a arcade cab because there is plenty of room to house a pc in there. The pi is for special use projects, most notably projects where size or power consumption is an issue.
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160404/8598509dc0037299bdb199bbecca8bbc.jpg)
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The space is my main trouble, so I am forced to use RPi.
For future and bigger projects I will use a PC without any doubt.
Anyway, working with the Pi is a daily challenge, it's so funny...
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Hi Guys,
I'm a new forum's user from Brasil...
This is, in my opinion the best forever remake!
Very great work GeeCab, many thanks!!
Here a personal Monaco GP package, with some minor modifications:
http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/vfXI9emP/file.html (http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/vfXI9emP/file.html)
An icon added (the MAME icon) to the game loader. Iinteresting if you are planning to put it in the desktop area...
(Maybe a some better icon maybe with 2 cars and way boards would be great...)
A "Readme" file, compiling the Geecab explanations and the game basic rules...
A new "Configuration Files (Monitors 1366 x 768, Joystick Support).zip" - containing 20 configuration files to user of 1366 x 768 video monitors. Now using all vertical monitor area (eliminating black boards on the top and
below) and joystick configured...
Added a new file "Monaco GP (Documents and Extras).zip" containing reprocessed PDF versions of:
Monaco GP (Owner's Manual (USA)
Pro Monaco GP Owner's Manual (USA)
and
Monaco GP Photos
Wikipedia - Monaco GP (Sega, 1979)
Best regards, Ali
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Any idea why after about 20-30 seconds of Monaco GP game play the screen swaps to a black screen while the game play is in the background?
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No idea unfortunately, not seen that before. What version of Monaco GP are you running? Are you running under Linux or Windows? Have you tried the other game configurations that use different screen resolutions?
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Hello geecab,
Firstly fantastic work! I've been fascinated by this game for years. I've fairly recently tried to remake a variation of Monaco for the iPhone, and prior to that the iPad and I even had a version on the XNA Games on the XBOX 360.
Anyway, despite my best efforts I could never nail the gameplay and the LevelData. My level data went like the following, and I always maxed out the memory.
I'd love to Skype you and chat about how you implemented the level data, and solved some of the technical problems. Heck, I'd even like to work with you on this project and a patch on my iOS game (Monaco).
Hopefully we can chat, and great work.
PS; level data below from my game ;)... I think you'll see what the problem is.
05,02,02,02,02,02,02,05
04,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
06,02,02,02,02,02,02,06
04,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,08
04,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,05
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,06
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
08,02,02,02,02,02,02,08
04,02,02,02,02,02,02,04
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Thanks a lot for your great remake!! This was one of my favorite arcades from my childhood!! Thanks!!
I noticed, however, a couple of differences with the real arcade. They might be a bit subjective, but I feel them different from the real arcade:
The first one is the aspect ratio of the cars. I always remember this arcade as having a very noticeable "tall aspect ratio" for the cars (which was realistic for that time, where most arcades tended to draw almost square-ratio cars).
The second one is the sound. In particular, the sound for the crash. It had some kind of reverb with also some subtle high pitched sound on it.
You can see these two things in this clip (you can skip the introduction and go to the real gameplay):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lGUFQ6_I6c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lGUFQ6_I6c)
BTW, I use Mac OS X for everything. I'm running your Linux version through a virtual machine in VirtualBox. Let me encourage to open source this, I'd have been able to build it natively on OS X rather than running it through VirtualBox (I understand there're sometimes reasons against open sourcing a software, so don't take this as a rant, I use a lot of closed source software, but I'm just saying that if you have doubts if anybody would appreciate your remake being open source, yes, it would be very welcome, specially for porting).
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Hi! Sorry for the late response, I've been really busy with other stuff:-
@twojame - Glad you are liking the remake! I don't have an iPhone but I'd be really interested to see your 360 game in action, do you have a youtube clip of it running? I don’t do skype I’m afraid, but happy to answer any questions you have on here so please fire away. I know what you mean about the level data. To begin with, my level data looked exactly the same as yours (a big text file with a massive array of numbers) and it got a headache to maintain. In the end, I decided to make my track files human readable so that anyone could edit them and design any track layout they want to. If you interested in my level data, check out my “.trk” files in the track folder (They are just text files with a different file extension and they read from the bottom up). Check out an old post of mine on page 2 (Reply #57), its a bit out of date but it might shed some light on the content of my trk files. Btw, my track level data is as accurate as I could make them (based on countless views of youtube clips and discussions I had with Monaco GP owners on this a various other forums). Hope this helps.
@asiga - Hi & thanks for posting! I do understand what you mean, the aspect of the car does appear to be quite tall in the cockpit version of the game. But check out the cabaret version running on youtube, cars don’t look tall (So I kind of think my version is correct in that respect (or aspect ;) ). If you like, you can alter the size & width of the game section (making it slimmer and stretching it) yourself using the in-game menu (Press tab during attract mode, go into the display settings and mess about with the 'playfield' width and height) to see if you can achieve a look more desirable to you? I hear what you mean about the crash sound, its sounds more like a strike at 10-pin bowling in your youtube link. I'll try and do something about this. If you find a better wav sample, you could always replace the crash.wav file in the sounds directory and the game will use that new sound next time you run it.
:)
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Hey geecab and others...
Sorry for my late reply. I would be delighted to show a video of where I'm at with my project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bzNl3FDXbM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bzNl3FDXbM) ... As you can see it's got the essence of Monaco GP, but it's not even a patch on what you've done.
You've given me lots of ideas for the level data. The huge text file just doesn't work large scale, the game has to generate the structure of the world from an 'idea' or 'human readable' data in a file.
I'm not sure where to go next with my project, push forward with another version on the Android or just accept it was the best I could do at the time.
Take care
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Hi twojame! Cool, thanks for the link but I can't seem to play it, youtube says "This video contains content from Believe Music, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."? Any ideas?
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Hi twojame! Cool, thanks for the link but I can't seem to play it, youtube says "This video contains content from Believe Music, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."? Any ideas?
replacing 'tube' with 'pak' works for me here
https://www.youpak.com/watch?v=3bzNl3FDXbM (https://www.youpak.com/watch?v=3bzNl3FDXbM)
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twojame - Looks really good, definitely got the essence of the original! Like the check point speech and the triangular (Outrun style) route choice! You can see more of the road too, compared to the original, which benefits your game as it gives you have time to make a choice of going into the left or right lane. Great job! :)
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Sorry for the noob question; but it's possible display the game on real fullscreen without any artwork or score?
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You can remove the artwork and LED stuff in the artwork menu then increase the screen size in the display menu.
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Thank you! :cheers:
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This thing is bloody gorgeous.
Ill have to hook it up to a bass. My memory of it was it really rumbled the arcade walls.
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This thing is bloody gorgeous.
Ill have to hook it up to a bass. My memory of it was it really rumbled the arcade walls.
Cheers Hawkeye71! Glad you are enjoying the remake!
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Just discovered 2 great youtube videos made by DarthMarino! They clearly show how steering differs when running the game with a 270 degree wheel, and a 360 'free spinning' wheel. These vids might help other people out when deciding what type of wheel to go for. Thanks again DarthMarino! :)
Sega Monaco GP (arcade remake) with 270 Degree Wheel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-7_y-cL9Wg#ws)
Sega Monaco GP (arcade remake) with 360 Degree Wheel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYLtAJvm57M#ws)
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^No problem. Most people probably won't have a 360 degree wheel to play with but that would certainly be my recommendation. It worked OK with the normal 270 degree wheel but there was a decent deadzone that made it hard to be as precise. You can kind of see me struggling with it in the video. My score was instantly increased when I switched to the 360 degree setup. Is there a way to add a deadzone slider to the program? I think that would be helpful for folks using a normal wheel.
Anyway, great remake. I've had a ton of fun with it.
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Hi Geecab.
Won't you try making a port of your simulator for raspberry pi? Last year you said perhaps some day woould give a try...
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Hi Geecab, I just register to thank you for your great work :applaud:, and for ask you a question. Monaco GP is ridiculously similar to Super Speed Race /V / GP V from Taito, and i'm a big fan of both. Unfortunately, just like Monaco GP, SSR doesn't use a CPU but transistors and that's why we can't emulated them. When i saw your project running flawless i was impressed and i have to ask you the question: There's a possibility to do a remake of Super Speed Race V/GP V using your project? making a tool to replacing the sprites, making a port yourself or making the project open source? I'm a programmer as well but not as experienced as you, and always has been tricked me to someday making a videogame, or some kind of port or hack. I heard a lot of good things about Allegro, and i'm very interested in your project because i'm a Java/J2EE kind of thing developer, and I think I could do it with Allegro/C++. I'm aware that there's is an only version of SSR that does have CPU and it's partially emulated by MAME (that one with TAITO Z80 based hardware) but with no sound and with awful controls, the versions that i'm interested on is SSR V and SSR GP V, transistors based, just like Monaco GP.
Here are some references:
http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=623&page=1#1429 (http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=623&page=1#1429)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBVGzwi3WwE&t=52s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBVGzwi3WwE&t=52s)
I would love to contribute to preserve this classics, that otherwise would die.
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A remake of Speedrace woul be really great!!
I was thinking about the same question.
The 2 games are basically the same game...
An Ice track, the dark track with the light cone (actually a heart?), the ambulance...
... And the bridge (Here an essential difference: Speed Race had a 2 bridges track! Usually a hevy traffic bridge and other with very light traffic...)
But, apparently, there were many distinct versions of Speed Race, and distinct manufacturers (Taito, Midway...)
In the Internet we can find citations for Speed Race (apparently a B&W game), Super Speed Race, Speed Race CL5, Speed Race GP5:
Speed Race:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BRDxZiK-1s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BRDxZiK-1s)
https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9709 (https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9709)
http://www.arcade72.com/taito-speed-race/ (http://www.arcade72.com/taito-speed-race/)
https://www.giantbomb.com/speed-race/3030-36499/ (https://www.giantbomb.com/speed-race/3030-36499/)
Speed Race CL5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtZ9imjg2QI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtZ9imjg2QI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd4wan4Lwb4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd4wan4Lwb4)
Super Speed Race:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3douO7eJKqE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3douO7eJKqE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mI6YcXBZ0c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mI6YcXBZ0c)
Speed Race GP5:
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9710 (http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9710)
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1049 (http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1049)
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=4057 (http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=4057)
And I not sure if Speed Race (at least Super Speed Race and the other color versions) is, in fact, a non CPU game...
Super Speed Race (a Midway version!) is in MAME... a ridiculous very preliminary emulation... but it is there.
And the History file speak about a Zilog microprocessor!
But it would great to have a Speed Race Remake!!
Great idea! :applaud:
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Hey,
Over the last few months, an excellent FPGA implementation of Monaco GP has been achieved, including the possibility to control the original LED displays, as well as featuring a "Pro Monaco GP" mode with altered scoring, and (hopefully soon) the possibility to hook up the Pro cab's gauge.
While I am not the programmer behind this, I've had the honor to accompany this project, and have hooked up the FPGA (an Altera DE1) to my original cab to see how things work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_V1KSFpR8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_V1KSFpR8)
Martin
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Hi geecab,
This is an amazing effort! I am using turbo twist spinner and the remake is just identical to the game.
I know this was asked before and you mentioned it as well - are you planning to port this to the pi? If not I might have to get a Intel Nuc just for this game!!!
Thanks for all the effort and sharing.
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Its certainly superb.
Probably not the best place to ask this but it kind of links ...
Has anyone managed to get this on their Hyperspin yet? I've tried by just using HQ. Ive set up a database XML and can get as far as the file name in the wheel but nothing happens when I press enter.
The log implies it cannot find the launcher but its linked correctly.
thanks
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Hello to all MONACO GP FANS here....im testing this remake on my Driving mamecab..but i encounter some problems (one for the fullscreen and another for the pedal pot).
My settings:
- CRT 25 with emudriver and 640x480 res
Problems:
- After the launch of SMGP with 640x480 cfg (fullscreen) i see only the cmd windows ad not the game (but i hear the sound in the background) (no wa ATL+TAB the right screen show me only the cmd windows), i push ESC to back to desktop
- If i set FULLSCREEN=NO from the cfg file, i see the game (not in fullcreen) but filling completely the desktop....except the windows taskbar at bottom
- I aslo try to launch SMGP direct trounght cmd but i get the same result
- How to set a analog gas pedal with Potentiometer ?
:cheers:
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Hi just discovered this an its an excellent make - I don't seem to get very far on it thought - goes it have extended time like the old game or is it a simulation?
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So happy I've discovered this remake. I have fond memories of playing this in a local newsagents in the early 90's.
I don't suppose there's an idiots guide for adding it to Hyperspin at all is there?
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I've been playing this for a while, it is fantastic :applaud:
I got a small BAS driving cab earlier this year with a 360 spinner wheel, acc pedal and up/down shifter
I put a PC in the cab and it was originally to play some older driving games in MAME, however I only seem to be playing your remake !
It runs great, I've done a lot of tweaking with the settings and it plays really well
Got a LCD in ATM but still have the old CRT to pop back in once I get round to getting the chassis repaired
Quick question though if I write a .BAT file can I launch the game from it ?
I basically want the game to run in Classic Arcade 640x480 mode as soon as Windows starts up and avoid having to use the launcher program
Thanks again for your great remake !
EDIT : Ignore the request for running it from a .BAT file, seem to have it all sorted now
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Check at the min 6.20 ;)
Thank you for this amazing work! :notworthy:
http://youtu.be/z7pewUAAaX4?t=6m20s (http://youtu.be/z7pewUAAaX4?t=6m20s)
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Why don't you open source it? If you plan to sell it commercially, I understand. But if you don't plan to sell it, why not open source? It will make it possible to port it to many other platforms, and your work will last longer than the lifetime of the OSs that you built binaries for.
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Someone appears to be making a sort-of clone of Monaco GP on Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/752530/Close_Call_Extreme/ (http://store.steampowered.com/app/752530/Close_Call_Extreme/)
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Hi geecab
I suspect there is a little bug in your fantastic Monaco GP simulation.
I think the parameters of (back) collision detection with the ambulance isn't well implemented.
Actually, the ambulance is always faster than the car...
But sometimes, mainly in advanced stages... we must to release the car (laterally, just after the ambulance has passed...) in the ambulance direction...
In fact, the ambulance, apparently had already passed... but the car (apparently) explodes in the air!
I could to see it 5 or 6 times in the last days...
Many thanks to your fantastic work!
The best classic game remake forever!
Best regards, Ali.
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Hi Everyone!
Sorry I have be quiet for a while, I don't seem to get email updates for this website anymore?!?
Marcoqwerty - Just wanted to say, great job on your upright build, it looks fantastic! Really like the neon style front end, I really feel the need to update my frontend now! :) Great video too!
Ali - Oh, that sounds like a bug. I wonder if I'm expecting the length of the ambulance to be the same length of the Firetruck. What version of the remake are you running & I'll check my source?? If is it that I am expecting the length of the ambulance to be the same length of the Firetruck, you could always manually edit the .trk files, changing the ambulance events to be firetruck events...
asiga - Open sourcing. Yes maybe one day, when I'm certain I'm not going to use my source to make a commercial game.
:)
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Hi Everyone!
Sorry I have be quiet for a while, I don't seem to get email updates for this website anymore?!?
Ali - Oh, that sounds like a bug. I wonder if I'm expecting the length of the ambulance to be the same length of the Firetruck. What version of the remake are you running & I'll check my source?? If is it that I am expecting the length of the ambulance to be the same length of the Firetruck, you could always manually edit the .trk files, changing the ambulance events to be firetruck events...
:)
Hi geecab!
Yes! The forum e-mail alert to new messages is working fine now!
(But I think that it wasn't working some weeks ago...)
I'm using the last version available (and playing the standard version "Monaco GP")
Well... Only now I could to perceive that it's a Firetruck and no a Ambulance!! ;D :banghead:
Is there firetrucks and ambulancies in the game, really?
(Are you speaking seriously about it or were you only joking?)
It occurred always in very advanced stages (up to 6000+ points...)
And I couldn't to reproduced it now in the very initial stages...
If there is, in fact ambulancies in advanced stages... Yes, it would be a possible explanation!!
(In advanced stages I, in fact, don't look directly to the Firetrucks (Ambulancies?)... I use only my peripherical vision, concentrating in the other cars)
Best regards, Ali.
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Hi Ali!
Well... Only now I could to perceive that it's a Firetruck and no a Ambulance!! ;D :banghead:
Is there firetrucks and ambulancies in the game, really?
(Are you speaking seriously about it or were you only joking?)
Since you are playing the 'classic' track, then you'll see only firetrucks (The original arcade game only had firetrucks). The ambulance was something new I added and appears only in the 'pursuit' track (where you'll see police cars too) :)
It occurred always in very advanced stages (up to 6000+ points...)
And I couldn't to reproduced it now in the very initial stages...
If there is, in fact ambulancies in advanced stages... Yes, it would be a possible explanation!!
(In advanced stages I, in fact, don't look directly to the Firetrucks (Ambulancies?)... I use only my peripherical vision, concentrating in the other cars)
Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to recreate the problem. Based on your description, I decided to edit the classic track so that:
- Firetrucks continuously appear every 5 'screens'
- There are no opponent cars
- Player has limited lives from the start (so the car will explode if it hits the firetruck)
and I've not seen any strange explosions or collision detection issues yet.
In the zip file attached is a copy of my edited track file (Its called 'firetrunk_bug.trk'). You might want to give it a try yourself and see if you can make the problem occur? To try it out, copy the 'firetruck_bug.trk' file into the 'track' directory. Then when you run the game, press 'tab' and in the 'gameplay options' section, select the 'firetruck_bug.trk' as your game track.
Hope this helps! :)
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Many thanks Geecab!
I think that it was, possibly, a personal feeling only.
In the advanced stages of game... I was over pressure compressed in the right side of the track (between the firetruck and the right track border)... and possibly I turned to the left some sooner that I would must do it.
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Hi Geecab,
I still play your remake and recently I been running it on a PC Jamma system on my CRT monitor, it looks fantastic!!! I wanted to do a few tweaks and wondering if it is possible:
1. Is it possible to retain the highest score ever? How can I enable it? I do see a best score field but its always blank. I am running the 1.4.5 version of your game.
2. Now that RPI4 is out, do you think the game will run full speed on it? I wont mind playing it on the handheld.
Thanks again
Suv
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Was this ever ported to a pi? I'm thinking about a scratch built cabinet if it won't work on my bartop.
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Was this ever ported to a pi? I'm thinking about a scratch built cabinet if it won't work on my bartop.
I asked the autor (Geecab) for a pi port of the game, said perhaps one day will do it, but by now it is not playable on the pi. In addition, Geecab has not been here for almost two years...
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Cheers Dude, it looks like a scratch built windows based cab then! Gulp.
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Hello to all MONACO GP FANS here....im testing this remake on my Driving mamecab..but i encounter some problems (one for the fullscreen and another for the pedal pot).
My settings:
- CRT 25 with emudriver and 640x480 res
Problems:
- After the launch of SMGP with 640x480 cfg (fullscreen) i see only the cmd windows ad not the game (but i hear the sound in the background) (no wa ATL+TAB the right screen show me only the cmd windows), i push ESC to back to desktop
- If i set FULLSCREEN=NO from the cfg file, i see the game (not in fullcreen) but filling completely the desktop....except the windows taskbar at bottom
- I aslo try to launch SMGP direct trounght cmd but i get the same result
- How to set a analog gas pedal with Potentiometer ?
:cheers:
I'm having exactly the same issues on my arcade. Anybody has a fix for that?
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find the answer in this thread.
Is there a way to save the Hi Score table and the Games Played when you exit the game, so it will remember next time that you start it? Thanks.
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asiga - Open sourcing. Yes maybe one day, when I'm certain I'm not going to use my source to make a commercial game.
I moved to Debian 10, and libpng12.so is no longer available, so it's not possible to run the game in new Linux versions... this is why I suggested you to open-source it: after a few years, executables become obsolete...
Will you update the Linux executables, or open source the game?
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I just tried this for the first time and it's absolutely stunning, great work!
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I moved to Debian 10, and libpng12.so is no longer available, so it's not possible to run the game in new Linux versions... this is why I suggested you to open-source it: after a few years, executables become obsolete...
Will you update the Linux executables, or open source the game?
It works well under wine in Ubuntu 20.04LTS
Open sourcing it would be preferable though!
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Jeez!!! This is awesome!!! Only just discovered this. Used to love Monaco GP on the arcade back in the day. Loved the 'flimsy' steering wheel and remember being absolutely amazed by the "night mode" where you only have your headlights to see with.
This is a brilliant recreation. I'm supposed to be working from home so this is going to take some serious will-power to wait until the end of the day to fire this back up!!
@geecab - Thanks for sharing your hard work - very much appreciated - I'm sat here with a big smile on my face :-)
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Does anybody have the original sideart and is willing to share?
Please PM.
Kind regards,
Sascha
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This is fantastic Geecab, thank you
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I moved to Debian 10, and libpng12.so is no longer available, so it's not possible to run the game in new Linux versions... this is why I suggested you to open-source it: after a few years, executables become obsolete...
Will you update the Linux executables, or open source the game?
I hit the same problem on Linux Mint 21 (based on Ubuntu 22.04 - Jammy). I managed to solve it by manually installing libpng12. I started from this page https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/05/fix-libpng12-0-missing-in-ubuntu-1804.html (https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/05/fix-libpng12-0-missing-in-ubuntu-1804.html) but the PPA repo didn't work for me. Instead I downloaded the .deb package file from the links on the page, extracted it into a temp dir and copied the necessary files into my lib dir. After that (and installing libdumb1 which is also required) the game started up. These are the commands I used - this is for the 64-bit .deb so adjust if you want the 32-bit version:
mkdir libpng12
dpkg -x libpng12-0_1.2.54-1ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb libpng12
sudo cp libpng12/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
It would be great if @geecab could update the binaries to link to libpng16 instead, but I see from his profile that he hasn't been active here for over four years :( I'd also really like a version for ARM Linux that could run on a Raspberry Pi, and would be willing to contribute to that task if source was available. This game is far too good to let it die!
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Was this ever ported to a pi? I'm thinking about a scratch built cabinet if it won't work on my bartop.
I asked the autor (Geecab) for a pi port of the game, said perhaps one day will do it, but by now it is not playable on the pi. In addition, Geecab has not been here for almost two years...
Make that four years.
I managed to get this running on a Raspberry Pi using box86 (https://box86.org/ (https://box86.org/)) which can run x86 apps on ARM platforms, although it took more than a little work! In case it helps anyone else the basic outline is:
- Use a 32-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS. The app is built using allegro and requires X11 so the full desktop OS is easiest route, although it can also be run under xinit from the CLI mode if you know how to use it
- Use the 32-bit Linux version of the mgpr binary with the allegro library statically linked
- Build box86 for your specific Pi hardware revision (see the instructions)
- Prefix your launch command line with BOX86_LOG=1 until you get it working since it will report all the missing dependency libraries you will need to supply
- For each of the missing libraries, you need to find i386 versions of the .so libraries and place them alongside the mgpr executable so that box86 can load them and translate them to ARM code. I found the Debian package page useful (use the 'stable' i386 packages) https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages
- You will need to use a KMS display driver (not the 'Legacy' driver) to get good performance. Run sudo raspi-config, select 'Advanced Options' -> 'GL Driver' and choose either 'Full KMS' (Pi4) or 'Fake KMS' (Pi2/Pi3) - Reboot!
It's possible that this will work on a 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS, using the 64-bit Linux statically linked mgpr executable and using box64 instead of box86, but I haven't tried that yet.
With the above config I've been able to get this running (almost) perfectly, even on a Pi2B. The speed is fine, and CPU usage is still usually less than 50% but some of the text rendering on the intro screen and in the time/score banners is missing characters. Not sure why but it's related to the KMS hardware acceleration as it doesn't occur without it, (but then the game runs appallingly slowly!) This doesn't affect the gameplay at all though.
Well, I hope that helps somebody else to get this awesome remake running on a RPi, although a native version would be far more preferable. We can keep hoping :)
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For anybody that wants to play this on a Raspberry Pi but doesn't fancy trying to follow the vague outline I described above, I've put together a script to automate the process. you can find it here:
https://github.com/neildavis/mgpr-pi
Please read the README instructions thoroughly (including the DISCLAIMER) and proceed at your own risk, but feedback is appreciated. GitHub users are encouraged to report issues and/or send pull requests. I'll also check back here periodically.
Here's a video captured from a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B running at 1024x768 resolution to give you an idea of the performance:
https://youtu.be/LI3msMjCAkY (https://youtu.be/LI3msMjCAkY)
2023-01-10 - ETA: I updated the install script in GitHub to support 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS systems too. Although for RPi3 I still recommend a 32-bit OS since it doesn't seem to run well under 64-bit. No such problems with the RPi4 though where it runs like a champ! And as a bonus, the 64-bit version doesn't suffer from the 'missing characters' corruption in rendered text in e.g. intro screen, menu, score/time banners etc.
Here's a short video captured from a Raspberry Pi 4B for you to compare against the Pi 2B video above. This one is running at a slightly lower res (800x600 vs 1024x768) in 'TATE mode' with the artwork & bezel removed to optimize screen space for the game.
https://youtu.be/nVWu78MQCZE (https://youtu.be/nVWu78MQCZE)
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Thank you for this beautiful remake. I have it running already on a pc, and I wonder if there's a way to set a config. file as default, so it will boot straight to that config when I launch the game.
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Thank you for this beautiful remake. I have it running already on a pc, and I wonder if there's a way to set a config. file as default, so it will boot straight to that config when I launch the game.
Pass the name of the .cfg file on the command line with '-cfg' e.g.
mgpr -cfg classic_arcade_1680x1050.cfg
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(http://)
Thank you for this beautiful remake. I have it running already on a pc, and I wonder if there's a way to set a config. file as default, so it will boot straight to that config when I launch the game.
Pass the name of the .cfg file on the command line with '-cfg' e.g.
mgpr -cfg classic_arcade_1680x1050.cfg
Thank you for the reply, somehow, I can't figure it out, every time I pass the .cfg file's name, it says "Numbers only, try again".
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--- removed "sarcastic reply" ---
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The answer appears obvious - it's right there in your screenshot.
and since I missed it, wouldn't be nice to point to it? instead of your sarcastic reply.
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Please paste the entire command line you are using. I just verified that it works on both Windows 10 and Linux.
If you have the correct command line, you should not see the menu or prompt.
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Please paste the entire command line you are using. I just verified that it works on both Windows 10 and Linux.
If you have the correct command line, you should not see the menu or prompt.
thank you so much for being patient. here's what I get for now, I hope I'm on the right way.
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here's what I get for now, I hope I'm on the right way.
I think I see your problem. You are invoking the mgpr.exe executable from your your home directory root by passing an absolute path to it. The game needs your 'current working directory' to be the game directory, i.e. mgpr_v1_4_6
In other words, you need to invoke it like this (assuming your starting point is C:\Users\hefdh):
cd Desktop\mgpr_v1_4_6
mgpr.exe -cfg classic_8bit_1280x1024.cfg
Hope that helps.
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here's what I get for now, I hope I'm on the right way.
I think I see your problem. You are invoking the mgpr.exe executable from your your home directory root by passing an absolute path to it. The game needs your 'current working directory' to be the game directory, i.e. mgpr_v1_4_6
In other words, you need to invoke it like this (assuming your starting point is C:\Users\hefdh):
cd Desktop\mgpr_v1_4_6
mgpr.exe -cfg classic_8bit_1280x1024.cfg
Thank you so much, my folder is in my Desktop, and when I followed your instructions, I get this screen, and the cfg starts the game by itself, I then play few seconds and exit the game, launch again and the full list of cfg is there to chose from, it's not defaulting yet.
Hope that helps.
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Thank you so much, my folder is in my Desktop, and when I followed your instructions, I get this screen, and the cfg starts the game by itself, I then play few seconds and exit the game,
That message looks like a problem between the game and your sound card/driver. Unfortunately I can't help with that beyond recommending you try switching the audio output device from Windows' audio settings if you have more than one device available? When you played for a few seconds did you hear any audio output from the game?
launch again and the full list of cfg is there to chose from, it's not defaulting yet.
When you say launch again, did you use the exact same command line? Or are you expecting this setting to be 'sticky'? Because it isn't. Just to be clear, every time you launch mgpr.exe without the -cfg option, it will display the menu regardless of how you launched previously.
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Thank you so much, my folder is in my Desktop, and when I followed your instructions, I get this screen, and the cfg starts the game by itself, I then play few seconds and exit the game,
That message looks like a problem between the game and your sound card/driver. Unfortunately I can't help with that beyond recommending you try switching the audio output device from Windows' audio settings if you have more than one device available? When you played for a few seconds did you hear any audio output from the game?
launch again and the full list of cfg is there to chose from, it's not defaulting yet.
When you say launch again, did you use the exact same command line? Or are you expecting this setting to be 'sticky'? Because it isn't. Just to be clear, every time you launch mgpr.exe without the -cfg option, it will display the menu regardless of how you launched previously.
Thank you, you are absolutely correct, I thought every time I launch mgpr.exe it will go straight to the default cfg, and therefore, if I have to put that commend every time to default to my cfg, I rather delete all unwanted cfg files, and my favorite cfg will be there waiting for me to hit OK.
Thank you again, I thought for some reason that I could just hit mgpr.exe and the game starts instantly. Not a big deal, I am really enjoying this game in my son's arcade.
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The end result of my efforts to get this game working on a Raspberry Pi:
I converted an old broken Tomy 'Demon Driver' (a.k.a. 'Digital Derby' in USA) toy to play this fantastic game. Since they are were both released at around the same time (1978 for the Tomy, 1979 for MGP) I thought it would be interesting to juxtaspose the 'state-of-the-art' of the toy & arcade industries of the time.
https://youtu.be/n9reduhJ1DU (https://youtu.be/n9reduhJ1DU)
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The end result of my efforts to get this game working on a Raspberry Pi:
I converted an old broken Tomy 'Demon Driver' (a.k.a. 'Digital Derby' in USA) toy to play this fantastic game. Since they are were both released at around the same time (1978 for the Tomy, 1979 for MGP) I thought it would be interesting to juxtaspose the 'state-of-the-art' of the toy & arcade industries of the time.
https://youtu.be/n9reduhJ1DU (https://youtu.be/n9reduhJ1DU)
Hi Neil! This is incredible, I used to have Demon Driver growing up and loved it! Can you imagine if back in the day it played/looked as good as you have made this, it would be every kid's dream! You have done an amazing job getting this working. I've been reading your previous posts and I'm sorry about all the hoops you've had to jump through to get to where you are. I'm thinking of doing a build using the latest version of Raspbian desktop, would that run on all issues of Pi ? I guess people wanting to run it would have to update their Pi OS... At the time when I did my last Unix builds, I wasn't sure what to do about the shared memory stuff (Allowing you to read score board / time information as you play the game). I'm sure I could do something about that now for unix and also have it also output speedo information. Anyways, going off on a bit of a tangent now, just wanted to say absolutely superb work!
PS. I've seen your other youtube projects too, your Tomy Turbo Dashboard playing OutRun with all its dash console display, excellent stuff!
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Hi Neil!
Hey Ben! Welcome back, it's great to see you here again!
This is incredible, I used to have Demon Driver growing up and loved it! Can you imagine if back in the day it played/looked as good as you have made this, it would be every kid's dream! You have done an amazing job getting this working.
Thanks so much. That's why I do these projects. I like to imagine what the toy & game designers could have achieved back then if they had access to the kind of technology we have today. And yeah, to create the toys I wanted to see back then too!
I've been reading your previous posts and I'm sorry about all the hoops you've had to jump through to get to where you are.
No appologies necessary. You don't owe me or anyone else on here anything. We're all lucky to be able to play this game at all without an expensive original cab or FPGA remake! (OK, there are the Sega Ages versions but they have their own issues!) I went into this with eyes open knowing full well that a native version could likely become available at any time and invalidate all that work, and I still hope that happens!
I'm thinking of doing a build using the latest version of Raspbian desktop, would that run on all issues of Pi ? I guess people wanting to run it would have to update their Pi OS...
That would be amazing! Yeah, you'd probably want to target the latest Pi OS 'Bullseye' They've just moved over to the open MESA drivers for Linux native DRM/KMS GL rendering instead of the legacy proprietary VideoCore stuff they had since day one. I needed to build box86/box64 to have its wrapped GL libs use DRM/KMS to get any decent performance from the game.
You'll also probably want to make both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Only Pis made since the 3B have 64-bit SOCs but as my video shows it can run quite reasonably on a Pi 2B even under x86 user space emulation! Unfortunately - unlike Windows - a 32-bit executable will not run directly on a 64-bit OS. There is Debian multi-arch of course, but that's going to be a pain for users so better to just build both versions!
At the time when I did my last Unix builds, I wasn't sure what to do about the shared memory stuff (Allowing you to read score board / time information as you play the game). I'm sure I could do something about that now for unix and also have it also output speedo information.
I'm guessing you used the native Win32 APIs (e.g. MapViewOfFile etc) for the Arduino work on the Windows version? Linux has similar capabilities, e.g. POSIX shared memory mapping (https://www.softprayog.in/programming/interprocess-communication-using-posix-shared-memory-in-linux) If you're looking for a cross platform approach, then maybe boost::interprocess (https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_55_0/doc/html/interprocess/sharedmemorybetweenprocesses.html) could help (assuming you're working in C++ with Allegro?)
Anyways, going off on a bit of a tangent now, just wanted to say absolutely superb work!
PS. I've seen your other youtube projects too, your Tomy Turbo Dashboard playing OutRun with all its dash console display, excellent stuff!
Thanks again for your kind comments and also for making this amazing remake in the first place. I'd be happy to help/contribute in any way I can to a native Pi version. If you don't want to open source the game (and I can understand why you might not want to) I would respect any NDA you wanted to apply to source sharing if you wanted to collaborate. Feel free to reach out. There's an email address on the 'About' page on my Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@NeilsNonsense/about), or DM me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/neilsnonsense/) if you use that?
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Hi all!
I'm trying redefine the keys so I can use it on my arcade cabinet, but I can't find a way to assign the left ctrl and alt keys.
Is that possible somehow?
Thanks.
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Hi all!
I'm trying redefine the keys so I can use it on my arcade cabinet, but I can't find a way to assign the left ctrl and alt keys.
Is that possible somehow?
Thanks.
Hi! I'm sorry, it isn't possible with the current version. If using these keys are a must, maybe AutoHotKey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoHotkey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoHotkey) can help? (Although I haven't tried it with Monaco GP but can't see why it wouldn't work).
...I've actually just recompiled the game so that I can choose lCtrl rCtrl lAlt and rAlt keys, but now I've found a small bug. These keys work when mapped to some controls (Accelerator, steer left, steer right), but not for others (Coin A/B, Gear toggle)). Out of interest, what controls are you trying to map to these keys?
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Hi all!
I'm trying redefine the keys so I can use it on my arcade cabinet, but I can't find a way to assign the left ctrl and alt keys.
Is that possible somehow?
Thanks.
Hi! I'm sorry, it isn't possible with the current version. If using these keys are a must, maybe AutoHotKey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoHotkey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoHotkey) can help? (Although I haven't tried it with Monaco GP but can't see why it wouldn't work).
...I've actually just recompiled the game so that I can choose lCtrl rCtrl lAlt and rAlt keys, but now I've found a small bug. These keys work when mapped to some controls (Accelerator, steer left, steer right), but not for others (Coin A/B, Gear toggle)). Out of interest, what controls are you trying to map to these keys?
Thanks for your reply. I have a JPAC on my arcade which uses left ctrl and alt for Player 1 buttons. In my case I was trying to map them to acel and gear box.
I ended up using Player 2 joystick and buttons that are mapped to normal keys so I can play it without any issues.
So since it's working just by using the Player 2 controls and you are running into some issues, it should be ok.
Thanks though. I really appreciate that you took the time to look at this!
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Thanks for your reply. I have a JPAC on my arcade which uses left ctrl and alt for Player 1 buttons. In my case I was trying to map them to acel and gear box.
I ended up using Player 2 joystick and buttons that are mapped to normal keys so I can play it without any issues.
So since it's working just by using the Player 2 controls and you are running into some issues, it should be ok.
Thanks though. I really appreciate that you took the time to look at this!
Cool, no worries! I think it might be a bug in the Allegro library actually so I've wrote a post on their forum about it. Lets see what they say, would be nice to have this working though.
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Thanks for your reply. I have a JPAC on my arcade which uses left ctrl and alt for Player 1 buttons. In my case I was trying to map them to acel and gear box.
I ended up using Player 2 joystick and buttons that are mapped to normal keys so I can play it without any issues.
So since it's working just by using the Player 2 controls and you are running into some issues, it should be ok.
Thanks though. I really appreciate that you took the time to look at this!
Cool, no worries! I think it might be a bug in the Allegro library actually so I've wrote a post on their forum about it. Lets see what they say, would be nice to have this working though.
Thanks a lot!! I really appreciate it.
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Greetings everyone!
First of all, congratulations for the great work done, I would like to know if it is possible to configure it for 2 monitors, I tried to drag the artwork and the leds to the second monitor and I couldn't, is there a way to do this?
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Good morning
(My English is not up to par!!)
Bravo geecab for all the work you did to be able to play this game again. But impossible to download the original ROM monaco_gp_2013_v1_0.zip because Zippyshare no longer works. Is it possible to put it somewhere else?
Thanks in advance
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Bravo geecab for all the work you did to be able to play this game again. But impossible to download the original ROM monaco_gp_2013_v1_0.zip because Zippyshare no longer works. Is it possible to put it somewhere else?
Thanks in advance
Version 1.0 is old.
Use one of these links for the new version v1.4.6. :cheers:
-=Latest Version=-
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 for Windows (http://www.mediafire.com/download/9sdj2nfee7bwuus/mgpr_v1_4_6.zip)
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 for Linux (http://www.mediafire.com/download/0c68v3eb4m4wgbd/mgpr_v1_4_6_linux_04_04_2016.tar.gz)
Scott
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Hi all!
A new release (v1.4.7) is almost ready. There have been quite a few artwork updates since the last release, here's is a quick sneak preview showing most of them in action:
Sega Monaco GP Remake - v1.4.7 - Sneak Preview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA_KIUaqfe0)
There are lots of great looking mame bezel's available on the web that make you feel like you are infront of an arcade machine (Search youtube for "Realistic Arcade Bezels" made by "Orions Angel" on youtube to see what I mean). I wanted to see if I could take things a step further, have moving parts on the Monaco GP cabinet (revcounter/wheel/gearstick), and see if I could make the cabinets either side appear like they are running. I probably got a bit carried away :p
I am also delighted to announce neilsnonsense will be collaborating on releases for the foreseeable future! Neil has considerable expertise with Linux and Raspberry Pi's, you can see a few of his electronic handheld games retro fitted to run mame on his youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@NeilsNonsense/videos) as well his Tomy "Demon Driver" handheld running Monaco GP on a Raspberry PI.
:)
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Nice to see this project is still up and running :applaud:
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I am also delighted to announce neilsnonsense will be collaborating on releases for the foreseeable future! Neil has considerable expertise with Linux and Raspberry Pi's, you can see a few of his electronic handheld games retro fitted to run mame on his youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@NeilsNonsense/videos) as well his Tomy "Demon Driver" handheld running Monaco GP on a Raspberry PI.
:)
Very happy to be involved and contribute. There have been a few requests here over the years for updated Linux binaries, and in particular ARM versions that can run on the Raspberry Pi, so I'm glad we can finally make that happen and let even more people enjoy this fantastic game on those platforms.
As an additional sneak peak of Pi support, here's a video of my Tomy Demon Driver conversion updated to run Monaco GP Remake natively on a Raspberry Pi 2B. Yes, it runs really well even on an old Pi 2B at lower resolutions (my display is 480x800)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWjTkotoec (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWjTkotoec)
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This is really sweet regarding the game now being able to run on a Pi. Couple of requests (if possible):
1. Can we get a 240p output for all modes so it can run it on standard definition vertical arcade monitor?
2. Is it possible to have a second LCD say if using RPI4 to display the scores there? Even the LCDs on the above video looked amazing.
3. Last thing - which is a nit pick but really stands out (rest being perfect for me) - is it possible to update the scores based on player speed instead of update every unit of time currently? In the arcade original the score updates speed matches the car speed.
Thanks again both for bringing this amazing remake to pi.
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This is really sweet regarding the game now being able to run on a Pi. Couple of requests (if possible):
1. Can we get a 240p output for all modes so it can run it on standard definition vertical arcade monitor?
2. Is it possible to have a second LCD say if using RPI4 to display the scores there? Even the LCDs on the above video looked amazing.
3. Last thing - which is a nit pick but really stands out (rest being perfect for me) - is it possible to update the scores based on player speed instead of update every unit of time currently? In the arcade original the score updates speed matches the car speed.
Thanks again both for bringing this amazing remake to pi.
Hi suverman!
1 - I think the lowest resolution for Raspberry PIs is 640x480, so I think a 240p resolution (Which, after a quick google, seems to be 320x240 or 426x240) is just too low. I'm not certain though, MonacoGPRemake requests all the supported resolutions from your graphics hardware when it starts up, and using the in-game menu (TAB->Display->Resolution) you can iterate through them to see which ones are supported by your system (So it might be there...). Another issue is that MonacoGPRemake uses the Allegro Game Library for its graphics, and Allegro might have a minimum supported resolution (Although I couldn't anything specific stating this in their docs).
2 - This should be working for the next release. There might be an issue with running both instances (The game and the scoreboard instance) in 'full screen' mode on 2 separate screens. You might have to settle for having both instances running in 'window' mode, and then dragging the windows to the desired display. Guess we'll just have to try it and see :p
3 - I'm not sure I completely understand. The score does increase based on the car speed (The faster you go, the more points you get). I don't update the display at regular time intervals. As soon as something happens which you get points for, the display gets updated immediately. Thinking about this more, I award speed points based on how fast your car travels past 12 scenery tiles (a screen), perhaps if I award speed points based on how fast your car travels past a single scenery tile that would certainly make the score display more 'busy', perhaps that is the look you are after?
:)
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3 - I'm not sure I completely understand. The score does increase based on the car speed (The faster you go, the more points you get). I don't update the display at regular time intervals. As soon as something happens which you get points for, the display gets updated immediately. Thinking about this more, I award speed points based on how fast your car travels past 12 scenery tiles (a screen), perhaps if I award speed points based on how fast your car travels past a single scenery tile that would certainly make the score display more 'busy', perhaps that is the look you are after?
:)
Hi Geecab thanks for replying. If you look at this video at the time stamp it seems that the score moves very fast without noticeably skipping numbers.
https://youtu.be/hxjX7F44uW8?t=77
However on the remake the score is jumpy. I think more busy like you said makes sense. That score speed is the only thing that I think is a bit off right now.
Regarding the resolution I think I can use a downscaler worst case scenario that throw away every other lines to make it 240 not a biggie.
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Cool, thanks suverman! I totally see what you mean by the video, this will be sorted in the next release :)
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Thank you :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
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Hello,
First and foremost, thank you for the creator of this Monaco GP, I've been looking for a DOS box version of this for a long time and finally found this thread and I was able to make it work in my pc. I was playing this 2D game since I was 7 and that was back in the Philippines. So now I have a 5 year old kid and showed this game to him and he loved it. I went far back on this thread and found out that this started far back in 2013 which is 10 years ago and still seeing some ppl playing this game. I was able to download the latest version I believe is 1.4.6 and I was wandering if I can use a wheel and pads on this game. What would you recommend if I can look for it in Amazon?
Again Thank you for having this game back in life.
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Hi there! Glad you are enjoying the remake! Regarding what I would recommend to play the game, perhaps some of the other members will post what works for them. I'd say for steering, you really want a wheel that spins 360 degrees (That has no turning circle limitation). That is how the original arcade machine's wheel was. I am aware there are some quality (but a bit pricey) arcade spinners available (GroovyGameGear and Ultimarc make USB ones I believe) which I *think* the game recognises as a mouse x-axis. But even if you buy a spinner, you still probably want to fix a steering wheel to it to get the true arcade experience, so its not really a perfect solution.
Personally, I'd recommend hacking an old ps2 optical ball mouse, and connecting up to some cheap arcade steering wheel parts that you might be able source on ebay. Which is exactly what I did back in 2013 (See the link below to my Pole Position II cab build) lol!. The cab doesn't look very pretty inside, but the wheel response is very accurate and is still going strong today!
Hope this helps & good luck :)
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Hi all!
Now reaching the finishing stages of the new release which is looking like it will be v1.5.0. Thought I'd post a list of some of the new additions that this release includes:
- Intel/AMD Linux builds will be built on & initially targeted at Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- For Intel/AMD Linux, 32-bit (i386) builds have been dropped, and now a 64-bit Linux (x86_64) OS is required.
- Packaging options (Flatpak / AppImage) for wider compatibility are under investigation but may come later.
- Raspberry Pi OS support for both 'Lite' and 'Desktop' editions AND both 32-bit (armhf) & 64-bit (aarch64) architectures. Built against & targeting the 'Bullseye' OS release. New RPi OS 'Bookworm' support is experimental.
- Raspberry Pi hardware support: versions 2,3,3+,4,zero2.
- Raspberry Pi 5 hardware is supported but subject to the experimental support of the 'Bookworm' OS which is required on Pi 5.
- Scoreboard import/export modes and scoreboard reader app now working on Linux.
- LED artwork score artwork updates quicker.
- Arcade artwork moving parts (recounter/wheel/gearstick).
- 3x arcade cabinet bezel artworks (With adjacent cabs appearing to run other arcade game attract modes).
- Scenery height zoom option (To give a slightly more stretched look to the game / more like the arcade).
- Impove the define key choices (Now possible to choose 'Modifier' keys).
- Default keys are now left and right arrows (steering), 'A' and 'S' (Accel and Gear Shift).
- [promonacogp/pursuit/stunt tracks] Hiscores are saved/loaded.
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] Add car damage and engine backfire (Car gets repaired if you pick up a spanner or go in the pits).
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] Add starting grid road, starting lights & bridge.
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] Add boathouse ("car->boat/boat->car" building) and boat stages.
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] Add submaine, crocodile and shark on water stages.
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] New hiscore table shows top 10 racers and cycles through stats (Time/Distance/Stage etc..).
- [pursuit/stunt tracks] New 'enter your name' screen if your score ranks in the top 10.
:)
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Thought I'd also make a couple of videos showing some of the new changes in action. You only see this new stuff when running the Pursuit and Stunt games modes btw. The MonacoGP and ProMonacoGP games modes remain the same, faithful to the arcade.
:)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 1 - Gridstart/Damage/BoatHouse:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 1 - Gridstart/Damage/BoatHouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTwbpIaQzSk#ws)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 2 - HiScores/EnterYourName:
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 2 - HiScores/EnterYourName (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtiaYgcCmpU#ws)
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I would really like to build it on MacOS. In a few weeks, in Christmas, I'll have time for doing so if you like the idea. My guess is that the Linux version should be more or less straightforward to build. All my Macs are still Intel, though, but I can build it Universal for Intel+ARM if you wish. Would you accept giving me access to the source for doing the build?
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I would really like to build it on MacOS. In a few weeks, in Christmas, I'll have time for doing so if you like the idea. My guess is that the Linux version should be more or less straightforward to build. All my Macs are still Intel, though, but I can build it Universal for Intel+ARM if you wish. Would you accept giving me access to the source for doing the build?
Hi cesss! Thanks for your interest, I'm sorry but I can't give you access for this right now. I do plan on open sourcing the project at some point though I'm not sure when that we be :)
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Hoping to release v1.5.0 very soon. Just a couple of minor bugs that I need to fix.
In the mean time, here is a quick video showing the new artwork for the Stunt Park track. Thought I'd do my best to make it appear like there are some vintage shooting games running (Haunted House and Blue Shark) either side of the Monaco GP cab. These old shooting games should appear like they are being switched on and off randomly, giving the impression that some annoying kids are messing around with their power supplies, trying to put you off your game :)
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 4 - Stunt Park (Full Game) with Haunted House & Blue Shark arcade cabinet artwork
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 4 - Stunt Park (Full Game) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Bu96lUWwM#ws)
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Love the new mode stunt car one :) I am also hoping we can get this working on a vertical CRT like the earlier version (by rotating ofcourse) gives a really nice option. Btw, is there any chance we can edit the car sprite? Maybe if the sprite of the car is in a folder and we can just replace it? I wanted to see how it looks with Super Speed Race CL5 car - the game otherwise looks VERY similar. In any case, this is exciting, thank yo.
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Just watched the full trailer, Stunt Park is a totally different game, amazing!
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Love the new mode stunt car one :) I am also hoping we can get this working on a vertical CRT like the earlier version (by rotating ofcourse) gives a really nice option. Btw, is there any chance we can edit the car sprite? Maybe if the sprite of the car is in a folder and we can just replace it? I wanted to see how it looks with Super Speed Race CL5 car - the game otherwise looks VERY similar. In any case, this is exciting, thank yo.
Cheers suverman! Yes, you should be able to play the new game modes on a vertical screen. Your best bet will be to manually edit one of the 640x480 configurations to get the look you want, but it should definitely be possible. It has actually got me thinking, perhaps I should have created a default set of vertical configurations...
Sorry, you can't edit the car sprite currently. I might add this in future but I don't really want to make any more code changes until after I've released v1.5.0. Hopefully, the new release should be ready for download in the next few days :)
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Thank you very much, ofcourse no expectations of sprite edits anytime soon, just an idea for the future if possible. I will need to get my Turbo Twist spinner back up for 1.5.0 :D
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What a fantastic job, congratulations! One question is, is it possible to incorporate a way to connect two monitors, 1 for the game and the other just for display? With this possibility, it is possible to recreate a machine very faithful to the original using these two monitors.
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What a fantastic job, congratulations! One question is, is it possible to incorporate a way to connect two monitors, 1 for the game and the other just for display? With this possibility, it is possible to recreate a machine very faithful to the original using these two monitors.
Cheers Erpa!
Yes this should be possible. In fact, if you look back at previous posts from a few years ago, you'll see a user named 'xfassa' achieved this. He had an original non-working Monaco GP upright cabinet, he used one monitor for the game, and the other monitor for the LED artwork (He positioned the artwork such that the LED artwork shined through his original Monaco GP scoreboard Bezel). We achieved this by running 2 instances of Monaco GP, one instance is configured as EXPORT mode (Which runs the game, and saves scoreboard information to shared memory), and the other instance is configured as IMPORT mode (Which is low CPU intensive mode, where the game does not run and only the artwork elements are displayed/updated using data read from shared memory).
The game package comes with a couple of example configurations that demonstrate this working :)
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error
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error 2
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What a fantastic job, congratulations! One question is, is it possible to incorporate a way to connect two monitors, 1 for the game and the other just for display? With this possibility, it is possible to recreate a machine very faithful to the original using these two monitors.
Cheers Erpa!
Yes this should be possible. In fact, if you look back at previous posts from a few years ago, you'll see a user named 'xfassa' achieved this. He had an original non-working Monaco GP upright cabinet, he used one monitor for the game, and the other monitor for the LED artwork (He positioned the artwork such that the LED artwork shined through his original Monaco GP scoreboard Bezel). We achieved this by running 2 instances of Monaco GP, one instance is configured as EXPORT mode (Which runs the game, and saves scoreboard information to shared memory), and the other instance is configured as IMPORT mode (Which is low CPU intensive mode, where the game does not run and only the artwork elements are displayed/updated using data read from shared memory).
The game package comes with a couple of example configurations that demonstrate this working :)
I understand, but I say this, when connecting two monitors the Windows desktop is expanded, so I think that if you can put in the game the option of being able to position the display on the second monitor and with that the game is running in just one instance and the display will be adjusted (x,y) on the second monitor, just like the virtual pinball system where it is possible to connect up to 5 monitors if I'm not mistaken and adjust each part of the pinball on its respective monitor, would it be possible?
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Sorry Erpa, I trying to understand what you’re asking but I’m a bit confused. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with how Virtual Pinball machines are setup.
The graphics library MGPr is built with (Allegro) limits each game instance a single monitor to output a fullscreen display to. Currently, MGPr defaults to the monitor that the OS has decided is the Primary monitor. In a multi-monitor system, I’m not sure if Allegro will allow you to choose larger resolution than the resolution of the primary monitor.
In a multi-monitor system, where each monitor is indexed 1,2,3 etc… then with the new MGPr v1.5.0 version, it is possible to specify a “monitor_id” configuration option, so you can have a particular MGPr instance show in fullscreen on a particular monitor (Rather than just default to the Primary monitor always).
Does this help? :)
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Hi All!
Monaco GP Remake (v1.5.0) for windows is ready download from my google drive.
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
The release notes should explain everything there is to know about using Monaco GP Remake and all its new features. It should be as easy as:
1. Downloaded the game package and unzip it into a folder of your choice.
2. Double click on 'gui_launcher.exe'.
3. Choose a configuration and click the “Start” button to play.
All the configurations are set up by default for fullscreen and keyboard control. Keys are LeftArrow = Steer left, RightArrow = Steer Right, A = Accelerate, S = Gear, 5 or 6 = Instert Coin, 1 = Start Button, TAB = In game configuration editor.
Note. No arcade ROMs are required, and all of the arcade background artwork I created (As seen in the v1.5.0 teaser trailers) should work straight off the bat.
Note. The Linux / Raspberry Pi packages will be available soon (We have a few compatibility issues to sort out with a couple of distributions first).
Enjoy! 😊
-=Disclaimer=-
'Monaco GP Remake is NOT a SEGA product. 'Monaco GP Remake' is a fan made simulation of SEGA's 'Monaco GP' (1979) arcade game. Making money from 'Monaco GP Remake' in any way is strictly prohibited. The author of 'Monaco GP Remake' has observed due diligence in creating and testing the game, but cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by it.
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Thank you! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thanks for the scores updating fast like the real machine, it made it totally authentic now. Will explore the game now.
Wishlist for future:
1. High score file that can keep the high scores after reboot / program restart with option to reset it.
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Thank you! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thanks for the scores updating fast like the real machine, it made it totally authentic now. Will explore the game now.
Wishlist for future:
1. High score file that can keep the high scores after reboot / program restart with option to reset it.
Great stuff suverman, thanks for trying out the new version!
Regarding the hiscore saves. See the new HISCORES_LOADSAVE configuration option in the GAMEPLAY section. This defaults to "no" for the Original Monaco GP configurations (Because the original 1979 Cabinet did not have battery backed-up hiscores). For the Pro Monaco GP configurations, it defaults to "yes" (Because the original 1980 Pro Cabinet did have battery backed-up hiscores). I guess you've just been trying out the Original Monaco GP configurations so you'll probably want to set HISCORES_LOADSAVE to "yes".
To reset the hiscores I suggest doing one of the following:
1. Manually delete the hiscore save file (It is created in the the new 'hiscores' directory. It'll have the same filename as the configuration but with the ".hs" extension.
Or 2. Using the in-game configuration editor, set HISCORES_LOADSAVE to "no" and restart MGPr. Once its restarted, go back into the in-game editor and set HISCORES_LOADSAVE to "yes".
I should probably add this explanation in the release notes.
Hope this helps?
:)
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Too good, working like a champ, also just discovered music_config.ini, added in these lines
song=1,150,./sound/Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka.ogg
song=2,150,./sound/Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka.ogg
song=3,150,./sound/Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka.ogg
Amazing. I will try to run this on CRT next month with scores on something like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005452978779.html (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005452978779.html). Very excited.
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Great stuff suverman! Glad you like the new hiscore features.
That thin LCD screen looks cool and a very good price too! Just to make you aware, even though I've added the new video_adapter (Screen ID) configuration setting, I have noticed a few issues with running 2 instances (The game and the scoreboard instance) in 'full screen' mode on 2 separate screens (I think I mentioned this in a previous post). You might have to settle for having both instances running in 'window' mode, and then moving the windows to the desired display (There are configuration options allowing you to position the window startup position). I guess we'll have to wait until you have the new display and see what works for you :)
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Got you. I will keep the expectation in check with regards to the two monitor setup. Thanks for the heads up. If you ever commercialize this and have a mode with global scoreboard, I will def buy it :) But really this is amazing how similar it is to Monaco GP videos online also most TTL games change overtime due to ageing components so this remake will keep the game alive.
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Cheers suverman!
I don't think I'll ever be able to commercialize it in its current state, quite certain Sega wouldn't like that, but thanks a lot anyway :) I'm doing some experimenting myself now with multi-screens. Trying to get my head fully around why some things work and other things don't. I'm quite familiar with my MGPr code again so if modifications are needed to help you get good results with your new display, then it hopefully it shouldn't be too tricky add them :)
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Hi Geecab, just got the screen, did a brief testing. Looks like
"DISPLAY scoreboard_mode "export" " is crashing the export instance in my setup. The moment I change it to private or even import it runs. Tested it on couple of configurations. I am running a Windows 11 system currently.
Also IIRC back in 2016 there was a way to edit the scorecard, I have a narrow LED screen and "pro_monaco_gp_8bit.png" like stacked scorecard for example would look great on that in import mode. Is there a way I can customise the import scorecard so it looks like that? Current the scorecard is going offscreen.
Thank you :)
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Hi suverman,
>>"DISPLAY scoreboard_mode "export" " is crashing the export instance in my setup.
I imagine rather than crashing, MGPr is just exiting immediately because it can't create shared memory. If you run MGPr from command line, you'll hopefully see a helpful error message indicating why it decided to exit.
When you run a configuration in export mode, MGPr will attempt to create & write to shared memory. On Windows 7 and newer, you'll have to give mgpr.exe administrator rights to do this (Right click on mgpr.exe and choose the "Run as administrator" option).
>>Also IIRC back in 2016 there was a way to edit the scorecard, I have a narrow LED screen and "pro_monaco_gp_8bit.png" like stacked scorecard for example would look great on that in import mode. Is there a way I can customise the import scorecard so it looks like that? Current the scorecard is going offscreen.
The artwork should be fully customisable. You should be able to achieve the look you want using the in-game editor (Pressing the TAB key and having a play around with the values in the ARTWORK OPTIONS). I'm not 100% sure I understand your question, but the artwork options haven't changed for years, so hopefully all that was possible in 2016 is still possible now.
Have a play around with the in-game editor and see how you get on. If you have no joy, perhaps you could sketch out a design of what you want so I can get a better idea (Might be able to make you a configuration).
Hope this helps :)
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Geecab Hello,
I have registered especially on this forum to thank you for your fabulous remake :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
for me it evokes a lot of memories.
I tested the new version and I have problems with 2 screens Unable to display scores on the 2 screens(import/export)
I have a 270 degree model steering wheel connected to it I set the sensitivity to the maximum, it's playable but I noticed that when the car drives on the blue stripe it reacts better with the steering wheel Is it possible to add this option in the settings as well?
We look forward to hearing from you soon
sorry for my English :-\
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Geecab Hello,
I have registered especially on this forum to thank you for your fabulous remake :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
for me it evokes a lot of memories.
I tested the new version and I have problems with 2 screens Unable to display scores on the 2 screens(import/export)
I have a 270 degree model steering wheel connected to it I set the sensitivity to the maximum, it's playable but I noticed that when the car drives on the blue stripe it reacts better with the steering wheel Is it possible to add this option in the settings as well?
We look forward to hearing from you soon
sorry for my English :-\
Hi and welcome GPForverer2024!
Glad you are enjoying the remake and thanks for trying the new version.
No need to apologise for your English :)
>> I tested the new version and I have problems with 2 screens Unable to display scores on the 2 screens(import/export)
Unfortunately, there does seem to be problems when running an MGPr import instance and an MGPr export instance at the same time, both in fullscreen mode.
Please can you let me know:
1. If you run an MGPr import instance and an MGPr export instance at the same time, both in WINDOW mode, does that work ok?
2. Can you tell me a bit more about how your windows OS display settings are configured for your 2 screens? For example, what is your "Multiple Displays" option set to ("Extend these Displays" perhaps?), what desktop resolutions you have set for Screen 1 and Screen 2, how are the screens positioned (Screen 1 is positioned above Screen 2 perhaps?).
>>I have a 270 degree model steering wheel connected to it I set the sensitivity to the maximum, it's playable but I noticed that when the car drives on the blue stripe it reacts better with the steering wheel Is it possible to add this option in the settings as well?
I am a bit confused by what you are asking, but I'll have a guess :)
When you say "car drives on the blue stripe" I shall assume this is when the car drives on the Ice road or over a puddle.
When you say "I set the sensitivity to the maximum", I shall assume this means you are setting MGPr's STEERING_SENSITIVITY configuration option to maximum.
So are you are asking for a new ICE_ROAD_STEERING_SENSITIVITY (or something like that) configuration option that applies only when you drive on an Ice road or through a puddle?? Perhaps I've got the wrong idea as I did make quite a few guesses here lol!
:)
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Hello Geecab!
Thank you for your reply
So I'll try to be as clear as possible
My Windows 11 Config
1- position screen in 1920x480 landscape mode (scores), 2 Position Screen in Portrait Mode 1080x1920 Main Screen (Play)
2- mgpr.exe in Run Mode in Administrator Mode.
3- In the Windows 11 display settings in position Screen 2 is at the bottom and Screen 1 is at the top, and they are in Extend mode these displays
4- if I run an MGPR import and export instance in window mode it works
5- if I run an MGPR import and export instance in full-screen mode it doesn't work the window closes automatically
6- if I run an MGPR import instance in windowed mode and run a full-screen export instance, it works
the problem in all these tests is that I can't change the resolution of the import instance either by pressing TAB or editing the file.CFG to have the image of the scores that displays the full size of the window In the window, the image of the scores is always displayed halfway through the window, unable to change the resolution.
For the steering wheel:
1. It's when the car drives on blue ice
2. yes the configuration option STEERING_SENSITIVITY MGPr to the maximum
3. Yes is it possible to add a new configuration option ICE_ROAD_STEERING_SENSITIVITY that applies when driving on a normal road this will allow you to be able to adjust the sensitivity of the steering wheel even more 270 degree!!
Because when I'm driving on blue ice, the car responds much better.
I hope I have answered as best I can Once again, a big thank you and congratulations for your work
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Thanks for answering those questions. I think I understand a little better.
At the moment, MGPr has a limitation that will only let you create a window that is a "typical" resolution (640x480, 800x600, 1360x768 etc...). 1920x480 is an unusual size, and when you try to manually set that resolution (by editing the .cfg file to read 1920x480), unfortunately MGPr will ignore it and default to using the lowest "typical" resolution available (probably 800x600).
However, I've recently made a change that will honour whatever resolution you manually set in the .cfg file, regardless of how unusual it is. This also opens the possibility of disregarding the import/export idea, and just having 1 large window showing both the game and the scoreboard. I've done a few experiments with 2 1920×1080 monitors, where I was able to create a 1920x2160 window, and position that window so that it filled both screens. So I'm hoping this change will help you.
I'm having a little trouble understanding what you want for the steering sensitivity. Currently, you are able to set STEERING_SENSITIVITY from 0 to 200. I *think* you are saying you have this set to 200 and you are happy with that on normal roads. When you are driving on the Ice road you want even more sensitivity, say a value of 300?
So I'm thinking of making changes that will allow the following:
STEERING_SENSITIVITY (values can range from 0 to 400)
ICE_ROAD_STEERING_SENSITIVITY (values can range from 0 to 400)
Does that sound ok?
Once I get a good idea of what you are after, I can make you a debug build for you to test.
:)
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Hello GEECAB!
Thank you very much for your prompt feedback ;)
I understand better why it was possible for me to change my import window resolution for full-screen scores
For the steering wheel I explain with my 270 degree steering wheel,
I always notice a latency between the time I turn right or left on normal roads and this effect disappears when I drive on blue ice I think it comes from the fact that as the car slides you lose this visual effect of latency,
it may sound weird but it's obvious when playing that's why the idea of adding an ICE option _ROAD_SENSIVITY from 0 to 400 could make the Latency effect disappear, (which would allow to add a small sliding effect)
then for STEERING _SENSIVITY that can go from 0 to 400 is a good idea "to be tested"
I can't wait to receive a debug version so I can test it Thank you very much :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Great stuff! I think I finally understand your steering sensitivity issue. I think what would help is if I try to add an option that reduces "Steering Deadzone". If you google Steering deadzone, the best description I've found is...
'The steering deadzone is non-responsive “dead” area around the centre of your wheel's rotation; movements within this area will not cause the car to turn.'
Now I can understand why things 'seem' better on the Ice road tracks, because the car is always in motion (skidding constantly to the left or to the right) and MGPr only needs to detect a very tiny change in wheel position to make the car move/skid in another direction.
Leave this with me, I'll see what I can do :)
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Hi Geecab!
yes that's exactly it!!
You are very strong :applaud:
I can't wait to test this!!
Thank you ;)
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I am using MiSTerCast (also downscales) to capture 640 x 480 window and broadcast it to MiSTer to get a RGB output. Slight lag with this process my scores were terrible. Also since this is window, and I got scorecard on window on LED screen as well, it already seems awesome when I pair both together in the future :)
geecab: I am expecting a negative response since its a feature creep and maybe time consuming and maybe not even possible, but is it possible to add nogpu video output option for the main game screen in distant future?
https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTer
Basically only useful for people who have MiSTer FPGA, what it does it pushes video directly from gigabit ethernet port to MiSTer (1ms lag over direct ethernet) thereby bypassing the windows / linux gpu overhead and makes it very snappy. GroovyMAME has added this to the official build and the lack of lag is amazing.
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I am using MiSTerCast (also downscales) to capture 640 x 480 window and broadcast it to MiSTer to get a RGB output. Slight lag with this process my scores were terrible. Also since this is window, and I got scorecard on window on LED screen as well, it already seems awesome when I pair both together in the future :)
geecab: I am expecting a negative response since its a feature creep and maybe time consuming and maybe not even possible, but is it possible to add nogpu video output option for the main game screen in distant future?
https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTer
Basically only useful for people who have MiSTer FPGA, what it does it pushes video directly from gigabit ethernet port to MiSTer (1ms lag over direct ethernet) thereby bypassing the windows / linux gpu overhead and makes it very snappy. GroovyMAME has added this to the official build and the lack of lag is amazing.
That's cool suverman! Your scores aren't terrible btw, 4000+ (running Classic arcade mode) is pretty good :) You can always lower the difficulty setting in the gameplay options if the game feels 'unfair' with the 1ms lag. I'll have to read up about the MiSTer / GroovyMAME nogpu option as it is all new to me. Off the top of my head, it does sound like the option would need to go in the Allegro game library the I build MGPr with. Not sure how much work it would be to add that. I shall do a bit of investigation.
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Hi Geecab!
yes that's exactly it!!
You are very strong :applaud:
I can't wait to test this!!
Thank you ;)
Hi GPForverer2024!
The steering deadzone issue is rather interesting and, unfortunately, not as easy to fix as I initially thought. It appears the issue is in the Allegro game libraries that I build MGPr with. I've been discussing the issue (and the fix for it) here -> https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/618893 (https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/618893), and I've since raised the issue with the Allegro Developers on GitHub here-> https://github.com/liballeg/allegro5/issues/1538 (https://github.com/liballeg/allegro5/issues/1538). So am just waiting, keeping my fingers crossed that someone responds.
This weekend, I hope to have a go at building all the Allegro libraries from source (I'd managed to build the core stuff, to prove my deadzone fix/hack works, but to build everything I need to run MGPr is a bit of a nightmare). In the mean time, do you know if there is an option your steering wheel has for it to use the Xinput (Xbox) driver instead of DirectInput driver? I suspect (though have no proof yet) that the problem might only happen when Allegro uses the windows DirectInput driver, and might go away if you were to use the XInput.
:)
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You can always lower the difficulty setting in the gameplay options if the game feels 'unfair' with the 1ms lag.
Oh no, that 1ms would happen if the nogpu was native in the game. Currently using the general capture program "MiSTerCast" by Shane Lynch, its around 1 to 2 frames. I am looking at other options to downscale, maybe I will go with the traditional AMD groovyMAME setup with crtemudrivers, I have done that before and Monaco GP plays really well with that setup :)
PS. Also this was Pro Monaco GP ("Pro" go cut off in the overscan) and I remember getting over 5K (maybe even 8K - I didnt know of the high score save option that time) many times in the past :laugh:
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Hello Geecab!
For steering wheel it's homemade with an arduino nano and Leonardo board,
I followed this tutorial on youtube here is the link if it can help you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfH6OKrdtOY&t=99s
And I'm using the software wheel_ config 0.4.exe
Here is the link to the software tutorial that I've been following To set up the steering wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4P38G2ZlN8 and then I use joytokey to use the buttons (e.g. start, acceleration...)
Hope this helps because thanks to you I built a special racecab for MGPR
it Thank you again and congratulations on your work
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Hello Geecab!
For steering wheel it's homemade with an arduino nano and Leonardo board,
I followed this tutorial on youtube here is the link if it can help you
And I'm using the software wheel_ config 0.4.exe
Here is the link to the software tutorial that I've been following To set up the steering wheel
and then I use joytokey to use the buttons (e.g. start, acceleration...)
Hope this helps because thanks to you I built a special racecab for MGPR
it Thank you again and congratulations on your work
Hi GPForverer2024!
I've finally manged to get the Allegro 5 game library built from source and compiling with MGPr! :)
So I've made you a debug version (v1.5.0D1) to try. Hopefully it run ok on your PC (I've tried it on a Windows XP machine and a Windows 10 machine at it ran fine on both). When running this version, there should be no steering deadzone. Also, when editing the configuration files, if you set the screen display mode to 'Window' then whatever non-typical resolution you set should be honoured.
You might notice I've added a steering_deadzone option to the configuration. This currently does nothing, but I do plan to get this working soon (Just ran out of time this weekend!).
Let me know how you get on, see how the steering feels to you without the deadzone.
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
:)
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Hi Geecab!
I just tested version D1 It's impressive to see the change of direction without a dead zone!!!
I feel like I'm playing with a new GAME, but what a pleasure!!
The steering is working at 100%
On the other hand, when the car is driving on blue ice, the steering is too sensitive, the car moves very fast from left to right (maybe make the car slide slower at that time?
I also noticed that the vertical scrolling is slower than version 1.5.0 Even the car at the start of the game accelerates more smoothly than version 1.5.0, nothing too bad, the most important thing was the dead zone for the steering wheel!
I have put you a picture of the score display so that you can see the problem which is always the same Can't display it full screen in windowed mode,
nothing changes FYI the gui_lancher.exe doesn't work, the window closes on its own, I had to run an instance mgp.exe..... CFG directly from a bat file to make the game work
In any case,
a huge thank you for your work which is remarkable!!
We look forward to hearing from you soon
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Hi Geecab!
I just tested version D1 It's impressive to see the change of direction without a dead zone!!!
I feel like I'm playing with a new GAME, but what a pleasure!!
The steering is working at 100%
On the other hand, when the car is driving on blue ice, the steering is too sensitive, the car moves very fast from left to right (maybe make the car slide slower at that time?
I also noticed that the vertical scrolling is slower than version 1.5.0 Even the car at the start of the game accelerates more smoothly than version 1.5.0, nothing too bad, the most important thing was the dead zone for the steering wheel!
I have put you a picture of the score display so that you can see the problem which is always the same Can't display it full screen in windowed mode,
nothing changes FYI the gui_lancher.exe doesn't work, the window closes on its own, I had to run an instance mgp.exe..... CFG directly from a bat file to make the game work
In any case,
a huge thank you for your work which is remarkable!!
We look forward to hearing from you soon
Excellent stuff GPForverer2024!
Really pleased the deadzone issue has gone! I'm still going to add some new steering wheel options though, I think we can make it better still :)
The scrolling slow down is a bit concerning... I'm hoping its because I accidentally left some debug print statements in the code, that constantly print out the position of the joystick. If you run the game from command line, you'll see my debug output in the window that you ran mgpr.exe in. I think that's what slowing things down. You could test this theory by changing the steering device to keys, that'll stop the debug output and hopefully the scrolling will be back to normal.
Regarding the score display. I think that looks like what I'd expect (I can see a 1920x480 window has been created OK in your picture). You'll now have to use the in-game editor to stretch/move the artwork and LEDs to fill the window as you wish. While the import mode is running, press the TAB key, use the arrow keys to navigate into the ARTWORK OPTIONS. In the ARTWORK OPTIONS, try increasing the BEZEL_W from 1024 to 1920 and you should see the big monaco sign getting wider (Hold down the shift key to speed up the rate at which the values increase). Try then changing the TIME_X option to move the position of the time LED display. etc.. Also, in DISPLAY OPTIONS, try setting WINDOW_FRAME to no (That should get rid of the boarder around the window).
Hope this helps :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
I've been giving some extra thought about the things you mentioned in your last post. I think it would be good if you can let me know the following:
1. What is the total expanded desktop size of your system?
2. Are you running all this on a PC with a graphics card, a PC with onboard graphics, or a Laptop with onboard graphics?
3. When looking at your Display Settings (I.e. right click on you windows desktop and click "Display Settings"), is your 1920x480 monitor set to be screen 1 or screen 2?
4. I know it's not a major issue, but I'm curious as why the GUI Launcher isn't working for you. *I'd guess* that given my recent modification to honour the exact screen resolution set in the configuration file is causing this. Perhaps you attempted to use the GUI Launcher to run a fullscreen configuration, set to a resolution of which is not one that your graphics hardware can switch to... Quite a lot of guesses and perhaps here lol!.. The GUI Launcher shouldn't have any problems running configurations set to 'window' mode, so just to be absolutely sure, have you tried to running the scoreboard configurations using the GUI Launcher (As I know these are set to window mode)?
:)
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Hi Geecab
So I'll try to be as clear as possible
1. I have 2 screens in extended mode
2. The pc model I use brand Beelink Mini PC with Alder Lake-N95(Turbo 3.4G), 4 cores, DDR4 8GB, Dual HDMI, Graphic HD GPU
3. In Display Settings screen 1 is 1920x480 in landscape mode Screen 2 is the main screen at 1080x1920 in portrait mode
4. If I run GUI launcher and try all the configs, none of them launch, even when switching to full screen or window mode if I run all the configs in MGPR mode.... CFG Same Nothing Launches. On the other hand, if I run the MGPR config... import.cfg sa works then I run the MGPR config... export.cfg sa works!!
for the problem of displaying the scores, I followed your advice and I was able to put the scores in full screen with BEZEL_W however I left WINDOW_FRAME on YES because it would not stay in place when I restarted the import.cfg file then in the import.cfg file.
I put SCREEN 1
And the SA works, it keeps its location, no need to touch the window!!!
If I quit the game and restart it manually on the command line it works the 2 scores and game screens are well placed
For your post just before actually I have a debug window that pops up with the joystick positions and yes you may be right about the fact that it slows down the game
I hope I've answered a better :)
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Hi Geecab
So I'll try to be as clear as possible
1. I have 2 screens in extended mode
2. The pc model I use brand Beelink Mini PC with Alder Lake-N95(Turbo 3.4G), 4 cores, DDR4 8GB, Dual HDMI, Graphic HD GPU
3. In Display Settings screen 1 is 1920x480 in landscape mode Screen 2 is the main screen at 1080x1920 in portrait mode
4. If I run GUI launcher and try all the configs, none of them launch, even when switching to full screen or window mode if I run all the configs in MGPR mode.... CFG Same Nothing Launches. On the other hand, if I run the MGPR config... import.cfg sa works then I run the MGPR config... export.cfg sa works!!
for the problem of displaying the scores, I followed your advice and I was able to put the scores in full screen with BEZEL_W however I left WINDOW_FRAME on YES because it would not stay in place when I restarted the import.cfg file then in the import.cfg file.
I put SCREEN 1
And the SA works, it keeps its location, no need to touch the window!!!
If I quit the game and restart it manually on the command line it works the 2 scores and game screens are well placed
For your post just before actually I have a debug window that pops up with the joystick positions and yes you may be right about the fact that it slows down the game
I hope I've answered a better :)
Hi GPForverer2024!
Many thanks for this.
>>For your post just before actually I have a debug window that pops up with the joystick positions and yes you may be right about the fact that it slows down the game
Ok. I'll try and get another debug version to you over the weekend that doesn't output joystick state. I just want to be absolutely sure which one of the following is the reason for the scrolling slow down:
- Is it because of the joystick debug I added? Lets hope this is the reason :)
- Is it because of the way I compiled the Allegro from source when I created v1.5.0D1? I hope this is not the reason lol!
- Is it because the Beelink mini-pc onboard graphics is struggling to display the 2 (relatively large) MGPr windows? I have known running multiple MGPr windows that are 1920x<something> can impact CPU usage. If this is the case, I might suggest setting your screen 2 display as low as possible (600x800) and running the MGPr export instance in a window that size as that might help.
I'm probably getting a bit ahead of myself, but I wanted to let you know what is on my mind.
>>for the problem of displaying the scores, I followed your advice and I was able to put the scores in full screen with BEZEL_W however I left WINDOW_FRAME on YES because it would not stay in place when I restarted the import.cfg file then in the import.cfg file. I put SCREEN 1 And the SA works, it keeps its location, no need to touch the window!!!
Hmm, this sounds a strange. It sounds like you are saying that by changing only the WINDOW_FRAME option ON/OFF has an effect on where the window first appears on the desktop? I've tried to recreate this but I can't. When you run an MGPr instance in WINDOW mode, the window should appear in the centre of the screen, and its sounds like something odd is happening when MGPr calculates where the centre of the screen is on your system. You could try setting the SET_WINDOW_POS to ON and WINDOW_FRAME to OFF. That should force the top left of the MGPr window to appear in the top left corner of the screen. The WINDOW_POS_X and WINDOW_POS_Y can then be adjusted (negative values work too) to pinpoint exactly where the window first appears.
Hope this helps :)
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Hi Geecab!
About the execution of the 2 windows when I use 1.5.0 I don't have any slow motion!
only the D1 so I'm thinking about joystick debugging and I hope it's not due to the new compiled Allegro
Otherwise for the resolution of the 2 screens I tried to change the resolution to the lowest but strangely Windows has greyed out the box so impossible to change the resolution..
after yes just by modifying the option WINDOW_FRAME ON/OFF it has an effect on the place where the window appears for me it goes well to the 2 screen without having to affected SET_WINDOWS_POS and WINDOW_POS_X and WINDOW_POS_Y if I leave on PRIMARY, yes, it stays on the main screen in the middle and just by putting on SCREEN 1 it is displayed directly on the other screen and position it well!!!!
Perfect for me
I hope I was clear MDR!! :)
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Hi Geecab!
About the execution of the 2 windows when I use 1.5.0 I don't have any slow motion!
only the D1 so I'm thinking about joystick debugging and I hope it's not due to the new compiled Allegro
Otherwise for the resolution of the 2 screens I tried to change the resolution to the lowest but strangely Windows has greyed out the box so impossible to change the resolution..
after yes just by modifying the option WINDOW_FRAME ON/OFF it has an effect on the place where the window appears for me it goes well to the 2 screen without having to affected SET_WINDOWS_POS and WINDOW_POS_X and WINDOW_POS_Y if I leave on PRIMARY, yes, it stays on the main screen in the middle and just by putting on SCREEN 1 it is displayed directly on the other screen and position it well!!!!
Perfect for me
I hope I was clear MDR!! :)
Hi GPForverer2024!
I had a few spare moments this evening so I've made you a new version (Which doesn't constantly print the joystick state), v1.5.0D2...
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
>>About the execution of the 2 windows when I use 1.5.0 I don't have any slow motion!
I understand. I was thinking that perhaps you only noticed the slow down after you'd created the 1920x480 window with v1.5.0D1 (A size window that wasn't achievable using v1.5.0). No worries :)
>>Otherwise for the resolution of the 2 screens I tried to change the resolution to the lowest but strangely Windows has greyed out the box so impossible to change the resolution..
Ah that's a shame. Does it make a difference if you have Screen 2 set to landscape, perhaps then it'll let you set something different? If that works, then you could run MGPr with its ROTATE option enabled.
>>and just by putting on SCREEN 1 it is displayed directly on the other screen and position it well!!!! Perfect for me
That's all good then, if you are happy then I am too!
Good luck, I shall keep my fingers crossed that v1.5.0D2 sorts out the slow motion scrolling thing :)
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Hi Geecab!
I thought I'd be able to answer you yesterday but didn't have time with work...
otherwise I did the D2 test, good news, the game runs 20% faster than the D1!
however, it is not possible to change the image size for W and H scores so I ran the import.cfg command from the D1 and then ran the export.cfg file from the D2 and it works!!
So in conclusion, compared to the speed between version 1.5 and D2, we lost about 15% I think due to my mini PC but frankly I'm delighted with it!!
Already not having that dead zone of the steering wheel anymore is incredible
I'll try to make a video for you this weekend
I have a question
I created a bat file to launch the import, export and joytokey instances but with 3 bat files separate do you know if it is possible to make a single.bat file in order to add a pause between each command launch by start Joytokey pause 3 seconds about then start mgpr_import.cfg pause 3 seconds start mgpr_export.cfg so that I can run a single bat file at Windows startup and MGPR starts automatically?
And a little idea of adding an option to exit the game with a key that also turns off the PC at the same time would be great! What do you think?
once again GEECAB bravo for your magnificent work!! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
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Hi Geecab!
I thought I'd be able to answer you yesterday but didn't have time with work...
otherwise I did the D2 test, good news, the game runs 20% faster than the D1!
however, it is not possible to change the image size for W and H scores so I ran the import.cfg command from the D1 and then ran the export.cfg file from the D2 and it works!!
So in conclusion, compared to the speed between version 1.5 and D2, we lost about 15% I think due to my mini PC but frankly I'm delighted with it!!
Already not having that dead zone of the steering wheel anymore is incredible
I'll try to make a video for you this weekend
I have a question
I created a bat file to launch the import, export and joytokey instances but with 3 bat files separate do you know if it is possible to make a single.bat file in order to add a pause between each command launch by start Joytokey pause 3 seconds about then start mgpr_import.cfg pause 3 seconds start mgpr_export.cfg so that I can run a single bat file at Windows startup and MGPR starts automatically?
And a little idea of adding an option to exit the game with a key that also turns off the PC at the same time would be great! What do you think?
once again GEECAB bravo for your magnificent work!! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
This is excellent news GPForverer2024!!
>>however, it is not possible to change the image size for W and H scores so I ran the import.cfg command from the D1 and then ran the export.cfg file from the D2 and it works!!
Hmm... I have no idea what is going on here, I built 1.5.0D1 and 1.5.0D2 exactly the same way lol! Let me know if you want me to investigate this strangeness some more, but I think for now I'm just happy you've got a setup that works for you :)
>> So in conclusion, compared to the speed between version 1.5 and D2, we lost about 15% I think due to my mini PC but frankly I'm delighted with it!!
Good stuff! One thing I did think about was making you a 64-bit version of MGPr, built with the latest Allegro sources on my Windows 10 machine. I'd be interested to know if running that improves performance. Let me know if that is something that you like us to pursue.
>>I created a bat file to launch the import, export and joytokey instances but with 3 bat files separate do you know if it is possible to make a single.bat file in order to add a pause between each command launch by start Joytokey pause 3 seconds about then start mgpr_import.cfg pause 3 seconds start mgpr_export.cfg so that I can run a single bat file at Windows startup and MGPR starts automatically?
Yes, you can run the "ping 127.0.0.1" command in your batch file, that takes 4 seconds to complete (So its just like adding a pause between commands). Have a look at my "launch_scoreboard_instances.bat" script that's shipped in the package because I use it in there. I've put comments in the file too which hopefully explains what's happening.
>>And a little idea of adding an option to exit the game with a key that also turns off the PC at the same time would be great! What do you think?
Might be easier just to modify my launch_scoreboard_instances.bat script to suit your needs (Rather than have 3 separate batch files). You'll need to add a few lines at the top of the script to start JoytoKey (and then a pause maybe) before the MGPr instances are started. Then at the end of the script you could add a command that shuts down the PC. I've not tested this but looks like the command for an instant shutdown is "shutdown /s /t 0".
One thing I just wanted to mention was regarding the scoreboard artwork (The big MONACO sign) - It probably doesn't look very good when stretched to fit your 1920x480 monitor. If you have an artwork editor and have an artistic flair, you could make your own custom scoreboard artwork that is 1920x480, which might look a lot nicer than the one one I included in the package (found in /bezel/scoreboard.png). If you do decide to make one yourself, just copy it into the bezel directory, and set BEZEL_FILENAME appropriately.
Hope this helps :)
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Hi GEECAB!
Don't worry about the score window (import.cfg) it works like this
If you'd like to create a 64-bit version then yes we can continue to test And for the bath file I'm going to try tomorrow I'm going to look at that In fact,
the idea behind adding the Shut down PC option was to add it on a button directly on my arcade machine :) But with the examples you give me I'll try to create the bat file ;)
And thanks for the idea of customizing the scoreboard
thank you GEECAB!
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Hi Geecab!
I managed to add my arcade button to turn off the PC by following your method: I created a bath file and set shutdown.exe -s -t 0
Then I was in joytokey.exe and I associated my button with the bath file and it works great!! :)
if it can help others
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Hi Geecab!
I managed to add my arcade button to turn off the PC by following your method: I created a bath file and set shutdown.exe -s -t 0
Then I was in joytokey.exe and I associated my button with the bath file and it works great!! :)
if it can help others
Sounds good to me GPForverer2024!
I've recently been adding a couple of new steering options for 270 degree wheels. I've got a configurable deadzone option working (0% to 100%. Default is 0%). I've added a steering range option (0% to 100%. Default is 100%, thus you'll use the full 270 degrees of your wheel) and a steering curve option ('linear', 'soft curve', 'medium curve' or 'hard curve'. Default is 'linear').
I might draw some diagrams to explain better what these options do.
I still need to add some sort option that will limit the player x axis movement on ice roads.
It'll probably be a week or so before I have a 64-bit version for you to try :)
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Hi Geecab!
I was wondering what you could add as an option for the steering wheel, can't wait to be able to test all this!!
and 64-bit of course !!
Thank you :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Version 1.5.0D3 is here! I've built a 32bit and a 64bit package (FYI. The 64bit version does not contain a gui_launcher at the moment).
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
It would be good to know if you notice a difference in performance when running the 64bit version.
In this debug version:
- Deadzone steering configuration option now works.
- New steering options for wheels with limited rotation; steering_curve and steering_range. Hopefully, the picture attached gives you an idea what these do. For your g29 wheel you should no longer have to set the steering sensitivity sky high anymore. I recommend setting steering sensitivity to 100%, then tweaking the steering range and curve to get the ideal response.
- Ice road response is now more like the arcade. After watching some youtube videos I noticed differences with MGPr and the actual arcade game. On the arcade version, the car does stop skidding after a short timeout if the wheel remains still (MGPr used to skid constantly when on ice). Also, as you noticed, MGPr's steering response was more sensitive when driving on ice than on normal roads, which was wrong. So I've fixed this and also added some new ice road gameplay options as I might choose to tweak these settings in future.
- Small change to the in-game editor, where if you are viewing an option with a long description, the description will scroll across the screen (rather than being cropped).
Enjoy :)
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Hi GEECAB!
I just tested the D3 version 32 Bits and 64 Bits for information as weird as it may seem impossible to launch the import instance for the 2 versions in fact it launches the game directly to me (playfield)
so I took my D2 import.cfg file and put it in the cfg D3 folder and the no window opens.
if I run the export.cfg instance, yes it works for the D3 32 Bits and D3 64Bits for speed, it's like 1.5.0 so impeccable but hard to tell because I only have a window and no score display on the second screen so no slowdown..
For the steering wheel, what an extraordinary job!! :applaud:
Yes you were right, the level of sensitivity is very high, I had to lower the values!!
Here's my setup:
Steering_sensivity: 100%
Steering_Weight: 60%
Steering_joy_Curve: Linear
Steering_joy_Range: 60%
For me the car responds very well with the 270° steering wheel
For the car driving on ice, not a good visual sensation because the car jerks!
The effect in the D2 was much nicer apart from the fact that you swipe for too long, maybe add a swipe option for the car to make sure that the car stops not too sharp, which creates the jerky effect I think?
once again, what can I say other than BRAVO and THANK YOU for this remarkable work!!
:)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
I should have mentioned, configurations made with older versions won't be compatible with V1.5.0D3, sorry about that. The configurations in the D3 package should all work OK. If you run mgpr on command line with an older config, it should tell you why the configuration is incompatible (which configuration options it is missing), and then maye you can manually add those an get it running.
Regarding the ice jerkyness, I'll look into into it. For the time being try increasing the ice_skid_time (I think that's what I called it...) to maximum.
Glad that the 64bit version ran OK 👍 🙂
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In this debug version:
- New steering options for wheels with limited rotation; steering_curve and steering_range. Hopefully, the picture attached gives you an idea what these do. For your g29 wheel you should no longer have to set the steering sensitivity sky high anymore. I recommend setting steering sensitivity to 100%, then tweaking the steering range and curve to get the ideal response.
- Ice road response is now more like the arcade. After watching some youtube videos I noticed differences with MGPr and the actual arcade game. On the arcade version, the car does stop skidding after a short timeout if the wheel remains still (MGPr used to skid constantly when on ice). Also, as you noticed, MGPr's steering response was more sensitive when driving on ice than on normal roads, which was wrong. So I've fixed this and also added some new ice road gameplay options as I might choose to tweak these settings in future.
- Small change to the in-game editor, where if you are viewing an option with a long description, the description will scroll across the screen (rather than being cropped).
Enjoy :)
Amazing, thank you!!
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Amazing, thank you!!
No worries suverman! 🙂
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Hi GPForverer2024 !
I just tested the D3 version 32 Bits and 64 Bits for information as weird as it may seem impossible to launch the import instance for the 2 versions in fact it launches the game directly to me (playfield)
I've been giving some thought to this, I think perhaps the configuration you are specifying on the cmd line may have a typo in it. If mgpr.exe doesn't find the configuration you specified in its 'cfg' directory, it'll create a default configuration (that is just the playfield) for you with the name you specified. I'm guessing I know... perhaps try running mgpr.exe without any cmd line arguments, it should list all the configurations files it finds in 'cfg', allowing you to pick one by typing in its index. Try running the configuration that way.
maybe add a swipe option for the car to make sure that the car stops not too sharp, which creates the jerky effect I think
Cool, good idea 👍I'll add an ice_skid_fade setting (or something like that) that is used too choose how fast the skid fades to a 'no skidding' state.
Hope this helps 🙂
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Hi Geecab!
That's it, the 2 64-bit screens work!!!! whaooouu :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
I had to reverse the launch of the 2 command-line instances, namely: start Mgpr...... export.cfg and call Mgpr........ import.cfg
And for the ice cream yes I found the ice option and I modified it it's much better!
Small question for the playfield my screen is in a vertical position so elongation of the image but especially of the cars, do you think it will be possible to add an option to modify the W and H of the cars??
otherwise once again BRAVO and BIG THANK YOU FOR THIS FABULOUS MGPR! ;)
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Thanks also for adding ice_skid_fade soon!
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This is excellent news GPForverer2024!
Glad you got those configs working. I could modify mgpr.exe when you try to load an old configuration to make things a little more user friendly. It could prompt you saying "You are trying to load an old config, should I update it with the latest settings? If you choose to do so, the config may not run on older versions of mgpr.exe. Continue? (Y/N)" sort of thing.
Small question for the playfield my screen is in a vertical position so elongation of the image but especially of the cars, do you think it will be possible to add an option to modify the W and H of the cars??
There is a 'zoom' option I added in somewhere (might be called playfield_zoom), in the system options. I think that might be what you are after? Let me know if not 🙂
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Hi GEECAB!
the idea is not bad for compatible configs or maybe make a backup of the config in case of MGPR update?
Will this allow us to load our config faster?
Otherwise for the zoom option that's exactly what I'm looking for!!
I also think the Stunt circuit at the start there is the checkerboard on the ground (white and black square) is it possible to shorten it because for me it hurts the eyes with the scrolling, I think a length of about 25,4 inch would be enough, it would just be a starting line. What do you think?
Geecab really thank you! :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Glad the zoom option helped👍
Great to know you are playing the stunt track! 🙂 Regarding the checkered road section, I can understand how that could hurt your eyes. Rather than shorten the section, I'd prefer to add a new config option that let's you dull it's brightness. Lets try that first and see.
Now you have been playing about with the 64bit package for a while, how do you think it compares (with regards to cpu performance) to the v1.5.0 package? Any better do you think?
🙂
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Hi GEECAB!
Since the steering wheel update, I've been having a lot of fun on it!
For the checkerboard good idea to add an option on brightness!!
Otherwise regarding the difference of v1.5.0 and the 64 bits,
v1.5.0 I have a slowdown as soon as I start the car with 2 screens!! because if only 1 screen there is no slowing down!!
For the 64 bits we see a clear improvement in the starting of the car, maybe not as good as the v1.5.0 but not negligible, for proof I can't stop playing on it lol with 2 screens!! because the same if 1 screens no slowdown
conclusion: yes it's much better :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
I've made another debug version for you to try. This is v1.5.0D4 64bit:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
I've made the following changes:
- New refresh_rate option added (Only supported when running MGPr in import mode). By default, it is set to 50 (because the game runs at 50 frames per second). If you run your import instance with refresh_rate set to say, 10, it should really free up CPU usage and allow your export instance to run at full speed. 10 frames per second might sound low but you really don't notice it when just viewing the scoreboard LEDs :)
- Renamed the ice skid options slightly, and added a new skid decay time option (The options are: ice_skid_trigger_speed, ice_skid_trigger_steer, ice_skid_intensity, ice_skid_time_active, ice_skid_time_decay). The skid decay option does seem to work well when using mouse or keys to steer. For limited rotation wheels and joysticks, it still feels a little off to me. See what you think anyway...
- New chequered_road_brightness option added. I agree with you, chequered was always a bit too bright. I've tweaked the default brightness so its less dazzling than it has been. This option allows you to darken it more if you wish.
Unfortunately, I haven't written the "update old configuration to the latest version" code yet. So you'll have to do some manual tweaking again to get your old configs working on 1.5.0D4. Sorry about that (Just turned out a bit trickier than I had first thought).
Hope this helps :)
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Hi GEECAB!
Thanks for this new debug version D4_64Bits
Frankly, you're a genius to have thought about the frame rate for import instances!
Actually I lowered it to 10 and yes no more slowdown on the other hand only (note) the revcounter jerks a lot so I raised the frame rate to 20 and the perfect one!!
By the way, I've noticed that when the car has an accident and it goes down to the bottom right of the Playfield, the needle of the Revcounter and too long to go down, maybe speed it up to go down faster?
otherwise the game runs like version 1.5.0 with 2 screens!!
-for skidding options ice_skid_trigger_speed, ice_skid_trigger_steer, ice_skid_intensity, ice_skid_time_active, ice_skid_time_decay I tested them all one by one with the steering wheel and unfortunately no feeling of slipping, on the other hand I tested with the keyboard yes it works (weird)
Regarding the option checkered_road_brightness :
it hurts the eyes less, I also think, instead of touching the white tiles for brightness, can we not do the opposite rather the black tiles and leave the white? What do you think? I hope I was able to answer your questions correctly
And don't be sorry for the configuration that has to be put back in hand! Already what you're doing is huge!!!
THANK YOU :)
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This is excellent news GPForverer2024!
Thanks so much for your kind words, honestly its a pleasure! I'm actually really enjoying investigating this steering/screen stuff. Its something I've wanted to get right for while, but just don't have the equipment, so I really appreciate you trying out all these debug builds and all your feedback :)
Just so glad you've got the export instance running at full speed. I think that 1920x480 screen you have is quite attractive for anyone building an arcade cab, so its nice to find a way to comfortably run a scoreboard instance on it. Might even get one for myself now lol!
Actually I lowered it to 10 and yes no more slowdown on the other hand only (note) the revcounter jerks a lot so I raised the frame rate to 20 and the perfect one!!
By the way, I've noticed that when the car has an accident and it goes down to the bottom right of the Playfield, the needle of the Revcounter and too long to go down, maybe speed it up to go down faster?
I know exactly what you mean and I've just fixed that. I've also made it possible to change the refresh_rate for the game instance too (Not that you want to do that, but I figured in future somebody might want to in future). The game actually plays pretty well at 25FPS, but less than that gets a bit 'interesting' (Actually feels like an Atari ST port of the game somehow!).
Regarding the ice skidding issue. I've fixed quite a bit of stuff in that area now. I've also backtracked on the whole skid timeout thing I added. I was looking at more youtube videos and I've now seen several monaco gp arcade machines that don't show the ice skid ever timing out... So its possible the arcade machine captured in the video I originally watched (That did show the skid timing out) may have had a board fault or something. I've left the options in the configuration anyway (so people can enable a skid timeout if you really want to).
Anyways, I've done another build, v1.5.0D5:-
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
I wrote this about it in the release notes:
- Fix a few bugs with the ice skid state machine.
- Modify operation of the ice_skid_time_active option, it can now be
configured to never expire when set to its maximum value (5000).
- Change ice skid default settings.
By default, skidding will only start when the steer threshold is reached.
Once started, the car will skid indefinitely (Until the car slows right
down, or crashes, or drives onto a normal road). I decided not to set a
finite skid time as default because, since I working on this, I have seen
youtube videos of arcade machines where the skid never times out. I suspect
the arcade machine I watched originally (that did have a finite skid time)
may have had a board fault. The default ice skid settings are now:-
ice_skid_trigger_speed 30
ice_skid_trigger_steer 20
ice_skid_intensity 50
ice_skid_time_active 5000
ice_skid_time_decay 0
- refresh_rate option now supports all modes.
- Fix revcounter bug when running import mode at a low refresh rate.
:)
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Hi Geecab!
I thought I'd answer yesterday but too much work sorry
I tested the D5 version and amazing the car for me reacts very well on the ice I just increase the ice_skid_intensity to 100 and the perfect one!!
For the rev counter it works very well now :applaud:
Now I'm looking for the option to display the green and red dash to display in the score window with the pursuit mode
nice job Geecab!!
THANK YOU :)
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That's great news about the ice and rev counter GPForverer2024!
Now I'm looking for the option to display the green and red dash to display in the score window with the pursuit mode
Ah, unfortunately I don't currently export the overtake LED state. Pretty sure that will be an easy thing to do so I'll add that.
Also, I'm not sure if you played any of the '3cabs' configurations, but when running the pursuit/stunt track, there are flashing artwork lights when you are being chased that I don't get exported either, but I should probably export that too. I also thought it would be cool to have something that lights up when you car is damaged (and you need a spanner), like an orange "check engine" warning light.
Something I thought of that I thought we be cool would be to have the big "Monaco GP" sign illuminate when you've entered a coin (and playing the game), but then goes dim after you've finished playing. Not sure the best way of doing this though...
:)
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Actually, I've just checked and the import/export of those overtake LEDs should work in the release you have (Although its not very obvious how to enable them). On your import instance, in GAMEPLAY OPTIONS, enable PRO_MONACO_GP_MODE and then those overtake LEDs should appear.
You'll also notice when you do this, the 'Score' LEDs strip will extend from 4 to 5 digits, and you'll get an additional 'Super Racer' 5 digit LEDs strip (Because that's what the Pro Monaco GP bezel had).
Hope this helps :)
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Hi GEECAB!
That's it, I found to add the green dashes, thanks for the info!!
Regarding the Monaco GP which lights up by adding a coin to play frankly great idea I already image it with a neon effect style it flashes 2 or 3 times before lighting up !!
For the logo excellent engine problem! And I also thought for the logo of the headlights that lights up when you switch to night mode would be great!!
I was also thinking for the starting checkerboard if it would be too complicated to add an option to shorten it?
For example, the timer starts once the line has been crossed?
(it's just an idea)
THANK YOU GEECAB
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Good stuff GPForverer2024, glad the overtake LEDs are working!
>>Regarding the Monaco GP which lights up by adding a coin to play frankly great idea I already image it with a neon effect style it flashes 2 or 3 times before lighting up !! For the logo excellent engine problem! And I also thought for the logo of the headlights that lights up when you switch to night mode would be great!!
Ok, I'll add these things. Its taking a bit of time getting the Monaco GP lettering to look like it's backlit, but I have managed to make something that looks realistic now :)
>>I was also thinking for the starting checkerboard if it would be too complicated to add an option to shorten it? For example, the timer starts once the line has been crossed? (it's just an idea)
I do understand what you are saying and I like the idea. It might be a bit tricky to implement though and I'll try to explain why...
Currently, the chequered road length is the height of 3 screens. The 'checkpoint' is triggered the first time the chequered road touches the bottom of the screen. The player car can be anywhere on the screen at that point, it doesn't need to 'cross a line', its all about how much road has passed.
To have a short strip of chequered road that, when your car's front tyres touch it, triggers a 'checkpoint' would require me to add some new collision code. it is all possible
but I'm in two minds whether its worth the effort. I do kind of like the long chequered road personally, but I might be a minority :p
Ideally, how long would you like the chequered road to be (In relation to the height of the car)?
:)
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Hi GEECAB!
Thanks for the feedback, I've put a picture for you so you can see a little bit of the result of the second screen
For the checkerboard, ideally for the length, it would be just the same height of the car, if too complicated I totally understand and thank you for the explanation already like that it's really very good so don't worry! you can leave it like this!!
but I repeat bravo for this beautiful work and I am FAN lol! ;)
See you soon
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That looks so cool GPForverer2024! I like how you've modified the bezel to accommodate the 'pro' elements, thanks for the pic!
That looks like a different screen to your previous (1920x480) one? I'm interested to know what the dimensions are of this new screen are?
Ok, I shall put the chequered board road thing aside for now. I'm thinking that once these new artwork changes I'm working on are finished (and you are happy with them), its probably a good time to release a v1.5.1 version :)
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Hi Geecab!
I see you have an eye!! :)
yes I just changed this screen for better visibility and to put all the widgets on it The screen reference: VSDISPLAY brand 1920x720 FHD 600 nit IPS HDMI Size 12.59 in x 5.21 in this screen I found on Amazon
As for the display of scores, I'm really glad you like it
I also thought for the insertion of the coins maybe add credits 1.....2....ect.. Then the Start button to play?
just an idea
Have a great weekend Geecab
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Just a quick update, I've done quite a few code changes:
Added dashboard indicator artworks for when driving on night roads, driving on ice roads, and when the car is damaged.
Added a speedo gauge artwork.
Added InsertCoin artwork (That flashes when you see 'Deposit Coin' displayed on the playfield).
Ability to set 2 bezels artworks: A Primary Bezel (Showing, say, shows the bezel fully backlit), and a secondary bezel (Showing, say, the bezel with its backlight off).
A new 'bezel mode' option that configures how the game should switch between bezels (Either, Fixed on Primary bezel (default), Switch to Primary bezel when inplay, Switch to Primary bezel when inplay with initial flicker etc...).
All of the above is fully importable/exportable.
I've fixed the police chase artwork lights so they work on import mode.
I've fixed a bug with the Pro score LEDs not working when running the Stunt and Pursuit Modes.
I've fixed the revcounter so that you don't have to have it enabled on the export mode to be able to see it on the import mode (Just a minor thing).
As you are aware, at the moment there is just a very simple scoreboard import configuration with the package.
I'm hoping that soon (Say in about a week), I will have finished some new scoreboard higher-res artworks that demonstrate this stuff working and add those as part of the package too :)
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Hi GEECAB!
Thank you for the debrief which looks so good!!
Of course really looking forward to testing this update
Congratulations and thank you :)
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After being away from this project for several years, I was thrilled to see it is still being developed. Amazing stuff Geecab! Nice to see others sharing their projects too. I did a complete overhaul on my mini (new artwork, deep cleaning of cabinet/hardware, and updated computer). I hope share some pics soon.
As I jump back into this project, I am revisiting an issue that I was never able to resolve. Randomly, while steering left or right, the car will abruptly jump in the direction you turn. Its almost like the wheel isn't registering and all of a sudden catches up and shoots the car off the road. I will provide some video soon to better explain. Just curious if anyone else has seen this problem. I have attached my steering wheel to at least 5 different brands of spinner knobs, everyone does the same thing. It's really odd....
I was going to test on my linux machine but I cant figure out how to get the dual displays (game and scoreboard). I was hoping to see if it was a windows thing. Looking forward to the the latest linux release. :-)
All that said, this is just an amazing remake that lets me revisit one of my childhood favorites. I can't thank you enough Geecab.
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After being away from this project for several years, I was thrilled to see it is still being developed. Amazing stuff Geecab! Nice to see others sharing their projects too. I did a complete overhaul on my mini (new artwork, deep cleaning of cabinet/hardware, and updated computer). I hope share some pics soon.
As I jump back into this project, I am revisiting an issue that I was never able to resolve. Randomly, while steering left or right, the car will abruptly jump in the direction you turn. Its almost like the wheel isn't registering and all of a sudden catches up and shoots the car off the road. I will provide some video soon to better explain. Just curious if anyone else has seen this problem. I have attached my steering wheel to at least 5 different brands of spinner knobs, everyone does the same thing. It's really odd....
I was going to test on my linux machine but I cant figure out how to get the dual displays (game and scoreboard). I was hoping to see if it was a windows thing. Looking forward to the the latest linux release. :-)
All that said, this is just an amazing remake that lets me revisit one of my childhood favorites. I can't thank you enough Geecab.
Hi xfassa!
Great to here from you again!
That abrupt Jumping issue you describe sounds strange. I have fixed an issue recently where, if you hit a puddle whilst making a sudden turn, you would see the car 'teleport' from position to another. Although the teleport distance I was seeing was a couple of cars widths (Nothing drastic like shooting off the road). Could this be the same thing you are seeing??
The dual display situation has continued to be a headache. I added some new options in the past that should have made things easier (New full screen modes and a new video adaptor ID setting), but since added them, GPForverer2024 and myself have observed they just don't do the job. The graphics library I use to build MGPr with just doesn't allow me to display 2 instances of the game in true fullscreen mode, on 2 different monitors.
The only reliable way to get dual displays working, is to have both MGPr instances set to WINDOW mode, and have these windows sized and positioned in such a way that they appear as being in fullscreen on the desired monitor.
I remember in the past, for your setup, we worked around a couple of issues:
1. It was not possible to set the MGPr scoreboard window dimensions to be the same size of the screen you wanted to display it on (MGPr only allowed you to choose resolutions offered by the OS, and for some reason your USB screen resolution did not show up).
2. Running one big MGPr scoreboard instance impacted CPU usage badly, so you were forced to have 2 small MGPr scoreboard instances that we managed to join together.
Now, I've recently made some changes which should help you.
1. When configured for WINDOW mode, you can now set MGPr's resolution setting to whatever dimensions you want and it will be honoured (You'll need to manually edit the config file though).
2. I noticed that reducing the refresh rate (For which there is now a configuration option for) of the MGPr scoreboard instance drastically improves CPU. By default the refresh rate is 50FPS. MGPr scoreboard instances don't really need to be updated at 50FPS. Running the MGPr scoreboard instance at, say, 25FPS looks just at good and allows the MGPr game instance to run at 50FPS just fine.
I've been making some improvements to the scoreboard artworks recently. I wanted to create some for the Stunt Park and Pursuit modes, but I wasn't happy with my attempts (and took a time-out from working on them, waiting for some inspiration, which I'm still waiting for lol!). Anyways, I was looking at what I've done up to this point and actually, I think its pretty good. So, I think I might do a new release very soon :)
-
Thought I'd upload a quick demo of the new scoreboard artworks.
Demonstrates 2 instances of MGPr running simultaneously and sharing scoreboard information. The instance on the left is the Game instance (Writing scoreboard information), the instance on the right is the Scoreboard instance (Reading scoreboard information). The video captures the Classic 1979 Monaco GP game mode, the 1980 Pro Monaco GP game mode and finally the Stunt Park game mode being played. There are a few extras I've added to the scoreboard (It lights up when game is in play, rev & speedo counter, new dashboard indicator lights). All can be disabled if it's not to your taste. The idea is that if you have 2 monitors, you could display the game on one monitor and the scoreboard on the other.
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 5 - Dual-Screen Scoreboard Artwork
Monaco GP Remake - v1.5.0 - Teaser Trailer 5 - Dual-Screen Scoreboard Artwork (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbrnI1PTlzc#ws)
:)
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Hi GEECAB!
How nice it is to read you again!!
I'm starting to worry, I was going to send you a message otherwise
I saw your video and whaoo it's exactly what I imagined and you did it!! How lucky you are to be able to do things like that! I really can't wait to test this FYI
I saw at the level of the scoreboard (ranking) the left and right ends are not like the others, i.e. near the vertical blue lines It's a small detail but frankly it's so good even the neon effect
See you soon Geecab and thank you again! ;)
___________________________________________________
Hi xfassa
For your information,
following your steering problem, sometimes it happens to me and what I do is a recalibration of the steering wheel with the wheel_config0.4.exe software and after more problems!
You can find this description on page 9 if it can help you and for the display of the 2 screens for me everything works perfectly, playing with 2 screens is really great
Geecab has explained everything well above
Have a nice day!
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Really glad you like the youtube vid! Yes, sorry for being quiet, I'd been trying to design scoreboards specifically for the Pursuit and Stunt Park game modes but everything I made just looked silly. In the end, I just made the Pro Monaco GP, Pursuit and Stunt Park games modes all use the same scoreboard design (The 2nd design that you see in the youtube vid, which is pretty much a copy of what you did - a tweaked version of the original Monaco GP scoreboard).
I know what you mean regarding the ranking section alignment, and I think you might be as much a perfectionist as me lol! I did experiment with making that ranking section larger, but it looked too stretched somehow. I think I'm going leave the design 'as is' for now, I understand it is not going to be to everyone's taste, but the scoreboard images are just PNGs files so easy enough for users to change if they want something different.
I decided to make one last debug version (v1.5.0D7) as I've made quite a few changes recently. It would be be great if you can give it a quick try, see if you can find any bugs with it, if all good then in about a week I'll make it a full v1.5.1 release.
BTW. From now on if its ok with you, I plan to go back to just making a 32bit windows package. If I recall, there wasn't much of a CPU performance win when you tried the 64bit build, and it was in fact lowering the refresh_rate on the scoreboard instance was the thing that solved your performances issues. It's also easier for me just to build a single 32bit window package :)
[@xfassa - Hopefully, if you're reading this, you can give this debug version a try too, see if that steering issue you described still exists in this version.]
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
:)
Extract from the release notes:
v1.5.0D7 (03-06-2024)
- New scoreboard import/export configurations added.
- Added dashboard indicator artworks for when driving on night, on ice, when
the engine damaged and when out of gas (Note. the gas light flashes to
indicate you need to insert a coin).
- Added a speedo gauge artwork.
- Ability to set 2 bezels artworks: A Primary Bezel (Showing, say, a bezel
image with its backlight on), and a secondary bezel (Showing, say, a bezel
image with its backlight off).
- A new 'bezel mode' option that configures how the game should switch between
bezels (Either, Switch from one to the other when in-play without flicker,
or with one flicker, or with two flickers etc...).
- Police chase artwork lights now work on import mode.
- Fixed Pro score LEDs not working when running the Stunt and Pursuit Modes.
- Fixed the revcounter so that you don't have to have it enabled on the
export mode to be able to see it on the import mode.
-
HI GEECAB !
I just tested the D7 version
So good news everything works smoothly,
you just have to think about setting the refresh rate to 25 for my part
I have a bit of trouble resizing the scoreboard because when I press TAB to be able to move the new widgets they are in black so you can't see much except the fuel one it remains to light small detail but hey it's okay
then you have to think about restarting the game otherwise you see the superposition of the 2 logo images off
and on Then I found that the pink color around the letters of Monaco GP was not very pretty personally, I think we should leave the gray white color around the letters of Monaco GP of origin, so just turn on the yellow text of Monaco GP and not the rest because it makes a blur for example on the SEGA logo after the choices the taste the colors we are all different lol
I also noticed that the RevCounter, the needle goes up too fast compared to the sound of the motor and the needle far exceeds the number 320 of the meter On the other hand,
the speedo is impeccable
otherwise what a fantastic job!
Thank you for your trust for the different tests performed for you :)
I hope I was precise in the details
Looking forward to reading you
-
Great stuff GPForverer2024!
I really appreciate you giving D7 a try and thanks so much for your feedback too! I'm a bit confused by a few things you mention so please can you help me clarify them:
>>I have a bit of trouble resizing the scoreboard because when I press TAB to be able to move the new widgets they are in black
When those dashboard indicator lights are off, you should see a very faint grey image of them. They are tricky to see, but if you lower the DISPLAY menu_contrast option that should help?
>>then you have to think about restarting the game otherwise you see the superposition of the 2 logo images off
Do you mean when you exit the in-game config editor, sometimes the wrong bezel image (primary/secondary) is showing? If so I think I've seen this.
>>I also noticed that the RevCounter, the needle goes up too fast compared to the sound of the motor and the needle far exceeds the number 320 of the meter On the other hand, the speedo is impeccable.
I think you are your saying you are happy with the gauge on the left (which is the revcounter), but there are issues with the gauge on the right (which is the speedo) exceeding the 320km/h reading? If so, I totally agree with you.
>>Then I found that the pink color around the letters of Monaco GP was not very pretty personally, I think we should leave the gray white color around the letters of Monaco GP of origin, so just turn on the yellow text of Monaco GP and not the rest
I think I understand where you are coming from. I was going for a well used/burnt bezel look, giving the impression the back lamps had been running hot for ages. I also wanted there to be light bleed / glow. Without it, the 'light-up' effect didn't look real enough. I think I was going for something similar to what you see in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dX_S9PTPy4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dX_S9PTPy4)
>>because it makes a blur for example on the SEGA logo after the choices the taste the colors we are all different lol
The glow from the Monaco GP letters shouldn't reach the sega logo (I don't think, I'll check later to make sure). Is that what you mean?
:)
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Hi GEECAB!!
sorry I'm going to be a little more precise
1) During the first configuration for the resizing of the score window by pressing Tab the new widgets you can hardly see them alone the fuel logo flashes so you have to rely on this one in value to be able to adjust the
other widgets which are in black it is still feasible but you don't have to be in a hurry to adjust everything well, it would be necessary that when you press TAB all the widgets are on, I don't know if it's feasible?
2) Yes the primary and secondary bezel are displayed at the same time during the first configuration, it is imperative once you set up to restart the game so as not to have the 2 windows displayed at the same time
3) Yes the left rev counter works perfectly the one on the right the speedometer the needle goes up too fast and exceeds 320 km/h (FYI I switched the left and right of the speedometers because the rev counter in
Europe is on the right lol)
4) you make me smile when you see I know where you're from lol Yes a burning effect would be great so I think the outline of Monaco GP should be less pink or more pale yellow right?
And yes the Sega logo is impacted by the glow of the letters of Monaco GP I hope
As soon as the new version is ready I'll make you a nice video of my MONACO GP REMAKE ARCADE
I helped you See you soon ;)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
1. Regarding the dashboard indicator lights - Have you tried going into the in-game config editor, and changing the DISPLAY OPTIONS -> MENU_CONTRAST option? If you lower its value to 0 that should help you see the dashboard indicator lights better.
2. I'm still a bit confused, but I think what you are noticing is that secondary bezel sometimes doesn't resize properly after exiting the in-game config editor. If so, I know why this is happening now, I will fix this.
3. Ah that make sense now you swapped the gauges over lol! I'll fix the speedometer exceeding 320km/h.
4. Regarding Monaco GP outline being less pink. I have to say, I quite like it 'as is' but I will have a tweak of a few things and see what I come up with. I think what might be a good I idea is if I just post my designs as images on here and you can pick the one you think looks best. Then we are both happy I'll put that design into v1.5.0D8.
Thanks again for all your help getting these bugs ironed out :)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
>>Yes a burning effect would be great so I think the outline of Monaco GP should be less pink or more pale yellow right?
How about these? Monaco GP letters I've reduced glow and redness. The Sega logo I've removed glow.
:)
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Hi Geecab!
1.Yes indeed I have modified the value of the option-Menu_Contrast and we see much better the dashboard widgets
2. yes for the first time you configure the resizing of the dashboard the secondary frame is displayed at the same time you have to reboot the game
and for the new photos of the Monaco GP which shines with these new colors for me I really like !!!! ;) thank you
:)
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Geecab,
Sorry for the delayed response. I am just catching up on all the responses/posts from the last few weeks. Looks like there may be some fixes for my issue. I will give it a try tonight. Before I read any of these posts, I made/posted a few videos of my cabinet and teleport issue. I will report back soon after trying done of the recommendations. Thanks!!!
https://youtu.be/jrE81-RN8zo?si=v9JZ9Me2s6dEE2Iq
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Teleport Videos
https://youtu.be/MAOncNgfN1w?si=o7VCACGhn0dvpnTm
https://youtu.be/J4ePDuw0bpo?si=mTIYUfwG6Xx0C8bi
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Hi Geecab!
1.Yes indeed I have modified the value of the option-Menu_Contrast and we see much better the dashboard widgets
2. yes for the first time you configure the resizing of the dashboard the secondary frame is displayed at the same time you have to reboot the game
and for the new photos of the Monaco GP which shines with these new colors for me I really like !!!! ;) thank you
:)
Great stuff GPForverer2024!
I've fixed the speedo and secondary bezel resize issue. I've also changed the scoreboard bezels that get packaged with the new ones above. I'll put together a new debug release soon (Need to try and figure out xfassa's steering issue now) :)
-
Geecab,
Sorry for the delayed response. I am just catching up on all the responses/posts from the last few weeks. Looks like there may be some fixes for my issue. I will give it a try tonight. Before I read any of these posts, I made/posted a few videos of my cabinet and teleport issue. I will report back soon after trying done of the recommendations. Thanks!!!
https://youtu.be/jrE81-RN8zo?si=v9JZ9Me2s6dEE2Iq
Hi xfassa!
Thanks for the videos, your Monaco GP cabinet looks great! But yes, shame about the steering issue. Very weird and I'm a bit baffled.
It isn't the same issue as the puddle steering issue I fixed recently. I can see you are using v1.5.0D5 so that would have the puddle steering issue fix in it anyway.
Unfortunately, I can't recreate what you are seeing yet, but I suspect it might be something to do with the way I occasionally re-position the mouse pointer (which is hidden when you play the game). I reset it to centre when it moves beyond the limits of the game window. Maybe you are seeing lots of resets due to your spinner's sensitivity. I'm just thinking out loud.
Can you post your configuration for the game instance. Can you also let me know what operating system you are using and the make/specs of the mini PC you are using . Also, I couldn't see very clearly from you video, but have you got a mouse and/or keyboard connected to you mini PC when you play the game?).
I'll do some more investigating :)
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Hi GEECAB
I made 2 short videos with the D7 version :)
Happy viewing FYI I didn't play well maybe the stress of being filmed lol ;D
https://youtube.com/shorts/AjvrURPjnlo
https://youtu.be/vq4h_o49Fl8
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Hi GEECAB
I made 2 short videos with the D7 version :)
Happy viewing FYI I didn't play well maybe the stress of being filmed lol ;D
https://youtube.com/shorts/AjvrURPjnlo
https://youtu.be/vq4h_o49Fl8
Nice work GPForverer2024!!
Thanks so much for posting these. Really like the way you've styled the cabinet side art, great job!! :applaud:
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Hi GPForverer2024 & xfassa!
I've put together another debug version.
@GPForverer2024 - Hopefully t fixes everything you mentioned recently (Speedo needle range, secondary bezel resize & scoreboard bezel lettering improvement).
@xfassa - A bit of a shot in the dark, but I've made a speculative fix to way I reset the mouse movement. It plays exactly the same for me, I'm hoping it might made a difference for you.
The 32bit package - v1.5.0D8:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
:)
Extract from the release notes:
v1.5.0D8 (18-06-2024)
- Limit speedo gauge needle to appropriate range.
- Fix secondary bezel resize issue after exiting in-game editor.
- Scoreboard bezels 'Monaco GP' lettering now have less glow and less red tint.
- Speculative fix for steering 'teleport' issue when using mouse.
-
Geecab - SUCCESS!!!!! The latest version resolved the issue. I played several games with no teleporting. I will continue evaluate and let you know if anything changes. Thank you sooooooo much for all your efffort. :-)
Unrelated, I do have one last observation (can't remember if I mentioned this in the past). From what I remember, the original arcade immediately changed terrain colors (to blue) once extended play started. It appears this version changes terrain color (to blue) only after extended play begins AND the current terrain section completes. Is it possible to replicate the transition used by the original arcade? If this is not possible, no worries. The game is awesome as it stands. I just wanted to share that observation.
Again, your time and effort are greatly appreciated. I would happily contribute if you take donations. :-)
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Wow, fantastic news xfassa! I'll keep my fingers crossed a little longer while you continue to test, but things sound good to me so far!
>>From what I remember, the original arcade immediately changed terrain colors (to blue) once extended play started. It appears this version changes terrain color (to blue) only after extended play begins AND the current terrain section completes. Is it possible to replicate the transition used by the original arcade?
Good spot! You are absolutely right, its an immediate switch over! I'm all for making the Classic Monaco GP and Pro Monaco GP game modes as authentic as possible so will definitely change this (Expect another debug version soon). Going to watch a few more youtube videos of it being played so I get the sequence correct.
Again, your time and effort are greatly appreciated. I would happily contribute if you take donations.
Very kind of you regarding donations, but honestly its my pleasure. Just really happy yourself and others are enjoying the remake, bringing back their Monaco GP memories :)
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Geecab - Everything continues to work great. As a sanity check, I played a few games on the previous versions. As expected, they all had teleporting issues. Whatever you changed in the latest version definitely did the trick. Thanks again. :-)
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Hi GEECAB!
as usual, nice work, the D8 version for me is great,
the BEZEL of the SCORES is much better in color, personally I love it!
The rev counters are impeccable
I am happy that you like my Monaco GP furniture :)
You are amazing bravo!! :applaud: :applaud:
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Many thanks Geecab!!
Great work in the 1.5.0 version!
It's no really important... only a minor cosmectical issue...
In my 2 computer screens (desktop & laptop!) there is a little bad positioning of glasses of the 2 lateral arcade machines (3 arcades mode)...
But in the vídeos I can't see it...
https://img.eselt.de/img/15655198_pVr6o38Ih2xHYgK1/ad.jpg
Best regards...
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@GPForverer2024 and @xfassa
Excellent stuff chaps! Thanks for the posts!! Hopefully, I'm not to far away from the next debug release. The normal play -> extended play switchover thing is a bit tricky but its getting there. Also, I noticed that depending on where your time runs out on the normal play (Grey) roads influences the point where you start on the extended play (Blue) roads. For example, sometimes you'll see the Blue road with gravel patches on *before* the bridge, sometimes *after* the bridge. I worked out the sequence now, I'll explain a bit better when I've implemented it all :)
@Ali
Hi again! Thanks for trying v1.5.0, glad you like it. Unfortunately, the link to your image doesn't work for me? What's the name of the configuration that you are having problems with?
:)
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Hi Geecab!!
Im using 1920 x 1080!
The problem with glasses appear on the beginning and the endings of horizontal screen (on the left of left arcade, Moon Patrol, and on the right of the right, Command)...
Best regards!
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Hi All!
I've put together another debug version. Hopefully, we are getting close to an actual v1.5.1 release!
@xfassa - I've added the immediate Normal play to Extended play road switchover thing.
@Ali - Hopefully, the default configurations fit the screen a little better now.
The game package - v1.5.0D9:
****EDIT: This version is now obsolete, please see initial post (on page 1) for download links to latest and obsolete versions****
Extract from the release notes:
v1.5.0D9 (05-07-2024)
- For Classic Monaco GP and Pro Monaco GP game modes, ensure Normal Play
(Grey roads) to Extended Play (Navy blue roads) switch over happens
immediately when the timer expires (and you have enough points).
- More precise artwork placement when self generating the default set of
configurations.
:)
-
GEECAB - Thank you for the update! The game instantly transitions to the bonus conditions when the timer hits zero. Absolutely perfect, thank you sooooooo much. :-)
-
...
@Ali - Hopefully, the default configurations fit the screen a little better now.
...
- More precise artwork placement when self generating the default set of
configurations.
:)
Many thanks Geecab!!
Superb work!!
Are you forgetting to update you 1st post?
(Or only not posting Debug versions)?
Maybe, are there people checking only the 1st, since you wrote some time ago:
"Each time I make a new version, I will update this post so that it contains a link to the latest version of the game :)
-=Latest Version=-
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 for Windows... ..."
Best Regards, Ali
-
...
@Ali - Hopefully, the default configurations fit the screen a little better now.
...
- More precise artwork placement when self generating the default set of
configurations.
:)
Many thanks Geecab!!
Superb work!!
Are you forgetting to update you 1st post?
(Or only not posting Debug versions)?
Maybe, are there people checking only the 1st, since you wrote some time ago:
"Each time I make a new version, I will update this post so that it contains a link to the latest version of the game :)
-=Latest Version=-
Monaco GP Remake v1.4.6 for Windows... ..."
Best Regards, Ali
-
Excellent stuff xfassa and Ali! Thanks for the feedback!
@Ali - Whoops, good spot, I should have updated the 1st post with v1.5.0 but got side tracked with bug fixing. I won't update it just now as I'd rather people hang on for the v1.5.1 release. And yes, I won't update the 1st post with debug versions, only full releases.
I'm going to play test v1.5.0D9 a bit more myself before releasing v1.5.1. I may tweak the difficulty levels across the game modes and make them more consistent. I think the difficulty level for the Classic Monaco GP and Pro Monaco GP is about right, but the Pursuit and Stunt game modes for me are a bit easy... This weekend, I'll put v1.5.0D9 in my cabinet (That uses a spinner / mouse hack) and decide if things need to be tweaked after that. Hopefully, in a about a week I'll be ready to do a v1.5.1 release, unless you guys find any more bugs that is :)
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Hi all!
Thought I'd write a quick update as I've noticed a few issues when running the game on my cabinet. Just a few loose ends to sort out....
- [DONE] When steering with mouse/spinner, when entering your name for the hiscore table, the cursor used to select a letter moves too fast.
- [DONE] When steering with mouse/spinner, it is possible to 'teleport' just after leaving the starting grid and after leaving the boathouse.
- [DONE] In debug mode, the car/boat wrongly takes damage.
- [DONE] The stunt park game mode is too easy because the amount time awarded at the checkpoints was never getting reduced for subsequent laps.
- [DONE] Ability to reset hiscores without using the in-game editor (Or deleting the hiscores file). To reset the hiscores, hold down the 'R' key (which is configurable) for 10 seconds during the attract mode. A countdown appears after which you hear the explosion sound to indicate the reset is complete.
- [DONE] When overtake bonuses are being awarded at the end of a Pro game, allow player to press start or accelerator to hurry this along.
- [DONE] The Stunt game had incorrect sign during the one of the boat sections.
- [DONE] On the Pursuit/Stunt games, picking up a spanner (which awards you a few extra seconds as well as fixing any damage) just after your time had run out did not allow you to continue for those few extra seconds.
- [TODO] More play testing. Almost done.
:)
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Hi All!
Monaco GP Remake (v1.5.1) for windows is ready download from my google drive. The Linux and Raspberry Pi packages will be available soon.
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1 for Windows (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UJCnKQ5hUeS_m8L6jDaOi_c4uo8f0ro1/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoQShueYgv20f0fZlEtKLXQFd-8UQFuM/view?usp=drive_link).
The release notes should explain everything there is to know about using Monaco GP Remake and all its new features. It should be as easy as:
1. Downloaded the game package and unzip it into a folder of your choice.
2. Double click on 'gui_launcher.exe'.
3. Choose a configuration and click the “Start” button to play.
Default keys are LeftArrow = Steer left, RightArrow = Steer Right, A = Accelerate, S = Gear, 5 or 6 = Insert Coin, 1 = Start Button, TAB = In game configuration editor, R = Reset hiscores (Hold for 10 seconds during attract mode).
Note. No arcade ROMs are required, and all of the arcade background artwork I created (As seen in the teaser trailers) should work straight off the bat.
Extract from the release notes version history:
v1.5.1 (04-08-2024)
- Added 'ADDITIONAL_TIME' to the GAMEPLAY configuration options. If the game
proves too difficult, give yourself a little extra time initially and at
checkpoints (The track file can also be modified for the same effect).
- Added 'KEY_RESET_HISCORES' to the CONTROL configuration options. You are
now able to reset hiscores without deleting the hiscores file. To reset the
hiscores, hold down the reset hiscores key ('R' by default) for 10 seconds
during the attract mode. A countdown appears after which you hear the
explosion sound to indicate the reset is complete.
- When steering with mouse/spinner and entering your name for the hiscore
table, the cursor used to select a letter moved too fast.
- When steering with mouse/spinner, it was possible to 'teleport' just after
leaving the starting grid and after leaving the boathouse.
- In debug mode, the car/boat wrongly took damage.
- When overtake bonuses are being awarded at the end of a Pro game, the player
may press start or accelerator to hurry this along.
- The Stunt game had incorrect sign during the one of the boat sections.
- On the Pursuit/Stunt games, picking up a spanner (which awards you a few
extra seconds as well as fixing any damage) just after your time had run
out was not allow you to continue for those few extra seconds.
- Added 270 degree wheel / analog joystick steering curve diagram to docs.
- The readme.txt found in the 'track' directory includes descriptions of
RoadChanges and TrackEvents seen in *.trk files.
- For Classic Monaco GP and Pro Monaco GP game modes, ensure Normal Play
(Grey roads) to Extended Play (Navy blue roads) switch over happens
immediately when the timer expires (and you have enough points).
- More precise artwork placement when self generating the default set of
configurations.
- Fix secondary bezel resize issue after exiting in-game editor.
- Scoreboard bezels 'Monaco GP' lettering now have less glow and less red tint.
- Fix for steering 'teleport' issue when using mouse (xfassa).
- New scoreboard import/export configurations added.
- Added dashboard indicator artworks for when driving on night, on ice, when
the engine damaged and when out of gas.
- Added a speedo gauge artwork.
- Ability to set 2 bezels artworks: A Primary Bezel (Showing, say, a bezel
image with its blacklight on), and a secondary bezel (Showing, say, a bezel
image with its backlight off).
- A new 'bezel mode' option that configures how the game should switch between
bezels (Either, Switch from one to the other when in-play without flicker,
or with one flicker, or with two flickers etc...).
- Police chase artwork lights now work on import mode.
- Fixed Pro score LEDs not working when running the Stunt and Pursuit Modes.
- Fixed the revcounter so that you don't have to have it enabled on the
export mode to be able to see it on the import mode.
- Make skidding on ice skid more like the arcade.
By default, skidding will only start when the steer threshold is reached.
Once started, the car will skid indefinitely (Until the car slows right
down, or crashes, or drives onto a normal road). I decided not to set a
finite skid time as default because, since I working on this, I have seen
youtube videos of arcade machines where the skid never times out. I suspect
the arcade machine I watched originally (that did have a finite skid time)
may have had a board fault. The default ice skid settings are now:-
ice_skid_trigger_speed 30
ice_skid_trigger_steer 20
ice_skid_intensity 50
ice_skid_time_active 5000
ice_skid_time_decay 0
- Fix revcounter bug when running import mode at a low refresh rate.
- New refresh_rate option added Helps reduce CPU usage.
- New chequered_road_brightness option added.
- Add new curve, deadzone and range steering options for limited rotation
wheels.
- In-game editor now scrolls long descriptions. Improve wording of some
config options.
- Fix brief 'teleport' after driving over a puddle bug.
Enjoy! 😊
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hello geecab!
I have just tested version 1.5.1 and of course everything works perfectly, a real treat!!!
what can I say other than a big thank you for this magnificent REMAKE and this great work!!
For your information, don't forget for what uses 2 screens to lower the refresh rate to 25 (for my part)
GEECAB The best! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
:) THANKS
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Excellent stuff GPForverer2024!!
Great to hear you're happy with v1.5.1, and thanks for your help ironing out those bugs with all the debug builds you've tested!
>>don't forget for what uses 2 screens to lower the refresh rate to 25 (for my part)
Yes indeed, I was in 2 minds whether to make the default refresh_rate 25 for the import configurations, but I just left everything at 50 in the end. However, I have wrote a 'worked example' for dual screen support in the release notes, and in that example I do use a refresh_rate of 25 and make a point of explaining why. Hopefully, if users trying out dual screen support and read the release notes, it should be pretty clear what to do should they start noticing CPU performance issues :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
Yes, you were right, it's all in the release notes.
I have a little idea to improve the arcade version!
Do you think it would be possible to add a real flashing light as soon as you hear the police or fire siren it comes on??? That would be great!!!!
Maybe by activating it via a button? I don't know, I'm not a programmer, to my great sadness... but I would very much like to be able to add a real flashing light to our terminal What do you think?
I want to be your tester
Here is a link to the flashing light
https://www.pincab.eu/gyrophares-pincab/44-gyrophare-12v-bleu.html
see you soon GEECAB! ;)
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HI GEECAB !!
I found this I don't know if it can be useful for you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26XHb_cpiAA&t=119s
;)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
Cool idea! I think it might almost be possible with v1.5.1 'as is', but it might mean you will need to learn a little about programming in C++.
In the MGPr package you should find "scoreboard_reader.exe". The source code and Visual Studio C++ project file for the scoreboard_reader.exe you'll find for this in the 'utils' directory (So you could, if you wanted to, download a free version of Visual Studio C++, open the project file (scoreboard_reader.vcproj) and compile yourself a scoreboard_reader.exe).
Anyway, scoreboard_reader.exe, is a very simple application that when you run it, it reads the shared memory of a running MGPr instance that is configured for export mode. The scoreboard_reader.exe just reads the shared memory every second and prints it as text in a command line window. Try it by running, say, MGPr with the 800x600_pursuit_export_scoreboard.cfg and whilst its running double click on scoreboard_reader.exe.
You'll see a whole bunch of stuff gets printed (The scores, car speed, time, speed, gear shift position etc...). You'll see "Police" printed which is 1 when you are being chased, 0 otherwise.
So, you could modify the scoreboard_reader.cpp source code, so that if Police changes for 0 to 1 you send the usb command to turn your flashing light on, and when Police changes from 1 to 0 you send the usb command to turn the flashing light off. I can always help modify the scoreboard_reader.cpp for you should you get stuck.
Unfortunately, at the moment, MGPr doesn't export anything to let you know when there is a FireTruck on screen, but that shouldn't too tricky for me to add.
Does that make any sense?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I'm glad you like my idea
yes it makes sense!!
I'll try to learn the basics in C++
I ordered the material as soon as I receive it I will get back to you (about 10 days)
I'm very excited about the idea of adding a rotating beacon
I hope to succeed in any case ???
See you soon
Thank you GEECAB ;)
-
Excellent stuff GPForverer2024! I'm pretty confident we'll get this going, looking forward to you getting the parts! :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I received the equipment,
So I followed the tutorial in the video above and all the commands via PowerShell work manually to activate or deactivate the relay
now I modified the scoreboard_reader.cpp file as you told me with a C++ editor and I added this script at the end from line 235 and it doesn't work I know there is an error in the script but I don't know what as I am
a beginner in C++
Here is the end of the script I added:
if (police=1)
{
[Byte[]] $powerOn = 0xA0,0x01,0x01,0xA2
[Byte[]] $powerOff = 0xA0,0x01,0x00,0xA1
$usbrelay = new-Object System.IO.Ports.SerialPort COM3,9600,None,8,one
$usbrelay.Open()
$usbrelay.Write($powerOn),0,$powerOn.Count)
$usbrelay.Close()
}
#endif
if (police=0)
{
[Byte[]] $powerOn = 0xA0,0x01,0x01,0xA2
[Byte[]] $powerOff = 0xA0,0x01,0x00,0xA1
$usbrelay = new-Object System.IO.Ports.SerialPort COM3,9600,None,8,one
$usbrelay.Open()
$usbrelay.Write($powerOff),0,$powerOff.Count)
$usbrelay.Close()
}
#endif
Can't wait to read you back
Thank you GEECAB !!! ;)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I received the equipment,
So I followed the tutorial in the video above and all the commands via PowerShell work manually to activate or deactivate the relay
now I modified the scoreboard_reader.cpp file as you told me with a C++ editor and I added this script at the end from line 235 and it doesn't work I know there is an error in the script but I don't know what as I am
a beginner in C++
Here is the end of the script I added:
if (police=1)
{
[Byte[]] $powerOn = 0xA0,0x01,0x01,0xA2
[Byte[]] $powerOff = 0xA0,0x01,0x00,0xA1
$usbrelay = new-Object System.IO.Ports.SerialPort COM3,9600,None,8,one
$usbrelay.Open()
$usbrelay.Write($powerOn),0,$powerOn.Count)
$usbrelay.Close()
}
#endif
if (police=0)
{
[Byte[]] $powerOn = 0xA0,0x01,0x01,0xA2
[Byte[]] $powerOff = 0xA0,0x01,0x00,0xA1
$usbrelay = new-Object System.IO.Ports.SerialPort COM3,9600,None,8,one
$usbrelay.Open()
$usbrelay.Write($powerOff),0,$powerOff.Count)
$usbrelay.Close()
}
#endif
Can't wait to read you back
Thank you GEECAB !!! ;)
Hi GPForverer2024!
I think I understand how your relay works with your powershell commands. As we want to control your relay with the C++ program, we need to talk to it "the C++ way" (Which is a bit tricky, especially as this is your first ever C++ program lol!). Give me a few days, I've done something similar before with an Arduino, I'll write some code for you and hopefully get us started :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I wrote a program called "scoreboard_to_serial", that I think might do the job (Talks to Serial Port COM3, and writes relay power on or off data to COM3 when police cars are on or off the screen). Hopefully you'll be able to follow most of what is going in the 'main' function (See scoreboard_to_serial.cpp).
I've zipped up source code and the executable I built. I've also included the Visual Studio project file if you fancy building it / editing it yourself:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MRyH8U3os-mGbW1cczWWWntHctn6jgZO/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MRyH8U3os-mGbW1cczWWWntHctn6jgZO/view?usp=sharing)
If it doesn't work, can you run the exe from command line and let me know what the errors say.
If it does work, that's cool, I'll make that modification to the MGPr so that the 'police' element also changes when a FireTruck/Rescue vehicle is on screen.
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
You are incredible! It works !!!!!!! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
it's crazy what you manage to do, I'm FAN ;)
otherwise yes it would be nice to be able to distinguish the police and the firefighters, I'm going to buy another card but with 2 relays when do you think?
really THANK YOU GEECAB! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
Looking forward to hearing from you!
-
Wow! Can't believe it worked straight off the bat, excellent stuff GPForverer2024!
>>I'm going to buy another card but with 2 relays when do you think?
Cool! and if you decide later that you didn't like the "One light spins for firetrucks, and the other light spins for police" thing, then you/we could always modify scoreboard_to_serial.cpp to run in a mode where it makes both lights spin at the same time for police & firefrucks maybe? There could be a command line argument that scoreboard_to_serial.exe looks for to put it in the desired mode?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
yes yes I confirm that it worked the first time!! a remarkable job GEECAB BRAVO!! :applaud:
otherwise finally I bought a new card with 4 relays!
because in the idea it would be good that we can choose which relay does what?
1 relay = police flashing light
2 relays = firefighter flashing lights
3 relays = vibrating motor shaker for the steering wheel (when the car passes over puddles and also over the blue ice road)
4 relays = I don't know yet
I was inspired by Pincab's toys
I ordered the shaker too for testing
here is the link of the relay card in there is info at the bottom of the page for the config if it can help you with your C++ script
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003992496644.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller.61.49e1OgMBOgMBJd&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid=1762b301-b225-4518-85dc-d2e4fc5ea09c&_t=gps-id%3ApcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller%2Cscm-url%3A1007.40050.354490.0%2Cpvid%3A1762b301-b225-4518-85dc-d2e4fc5ea09c%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238110%231995&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%216.95%214.03%21%21%217.55%214.38%21%402103854617245742206191105e148f%2112000027669023747%21rec%21ES%21%21ABX&utparam-url=scene%3ApcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller%7Cquery_from%3A&gatewayAdapt=glo2fra
I can't wait to test all this!
I'll make you a new video
I don't know what you think?
Looking forward to reading you soon and once again a big thank you GEECAB!! ;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
That should all be fine, I think it should be pretty straight forward to modify the code to support several relays. I'll write you some code in a few days to get you started.
I might have a look into how difficult it would be to trigger force feedback / rumble effects direct to your g29 wheel at some point. There is some support for this already in Allegro, but its appears to be an at experimental stage of development, and it is not supported on XP. It would be quite nice if I could make the scoreboard_to_serial.exe talk direct to you g29 wheel. There is a force feedback plugin written by a user named 'Boomslang' discussed here https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=157734.0 (https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=157734.0), might ask some questions on that thread, maybe they'd like to support MGPr or I can somehow talk to their plugin :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
Many thanks for the new script which will have the possibility to manage 4 relays!
I just came across a small bug with scoreboard_to_serial.exe
Let me explain:
when I did the 1st try, I connected the usbrelay on my PC (personal) and I launched MGPR import then export and scoreboard_to_serial.exe and there everything works it detects my USBRELAY well and it works!!
then I connected my USBRELAY to my Arcade Terminal, the PC detects my USBRELAY but in COM5 so I modified the scoreboard_to_serial.cpp file and changed the com3 to com5 And when I launch the
scoreboard_to_serial.exe file the window opens and closes immediately without me being able to read anything. I have the impression that it can't find it while in my device manager it is well configured
I don't know what to do? :'(
Otherwise for the vibration flywheel, my flywheel doesn't have a G29, it's a flywheel (270°)made with an arduino board
Follow on a tutorial on YouTube
I bought a small 12V shaker that will be triggered with a relay when the car passes over a puddle or blue ice It's a small flat motor that I'll fix behind the steering wheel support board and that will give me the
vibrations on the steering wheel certainly not as a force feedback but simple vibrations
I hope I was accurate lol Looking forward to reading you soon!! ;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Oh that's a shame, it was all going so well!
Rather than double clicking on scoreboard_to_serial.exe, can you run it from command line. it should print some error messages when it fails and you should see them if you run it from command line. Hopefully that'll give us an idea of what is going on.
Also, just want to make sure, after you've edited the scoreboard_to_serial.cpp file, you are compiling a new exe with Visual Studio?
>>my flywheel doesn't have a G29, it's a flywheel (270°)made with an arduino board
Ah sorry, getting you confused with another user lol!
:)
-
Hi GEECAB
I'm really sorry
but could you tell me how to run the file on the command line?
And how do I compile the file?
Now I'm lost, sorry. :'(
Thank you
-
Hi GEECAB!
good news!! I found the solution
I was in device manager and change the USBrelay COM5 port to COM3 port so that I don't modify your scoreboard_to_serial.cpp file and it works!!!!
you can't know what it feels like to see the flashing light turn in the middle of a game of MGPR it's great!!!
on the other hand when the flashing light is triggered the steering wheel no longer responds left or right until the flashing light goes off and the steering wheel responds well in MGPR
Can't wait to read you
Thank you very much ;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>but could you tell me how to run the file on the command line?
Ah sorry, should have been a bit more specific. I mean run it in a windows "Command Prompt" window. Press the Windows key + R, and a Run command box should appear. Type cmd in the Run command box and click OK. A Command Prompt window should appear. From within the Command Prompt window, if you then change directory to where the scoreboard_to_serial.exe is stored (For example, cd c:\downloads\scoreboard_to_serial<enter>) and then run it by typing scoreboard_to_serial.exe<enter>.
And how do I compile the file?
Ok, might be a bit of a steep learning curve ahead. I think it is perhaps worth it in the long run, you'll be able to tweak how your relays react to the MGPr changes as you wish (Without having to wait for me to build you something) :)
To create the exe, I recommend downloading and installing "Visual Studio with C++ (Community 2022)", its free, here's the link https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/features/cplusplus/ (https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/features/cplusplus/). I'd install it on your PC (Personal) machine, not your arcade machine.
Once installed, you should be able to start "Visual Studio 2022", click on the "Open a Project File" option and select the c:\downloads\scoreboard_to_serial\windows\scoreboard_to_serial.vcprog file. Visual Studio will then say something about it needs to do a one-way upgrade to scoreboard_to_serial.vcprog, converting it to a .vcxprog file (Which is absolutely fine, just agree to it (Its because I made the vcproj using an old version of Visual Studio), it'll also say it needs create a solution file (.sln) which is fine too. Once the project has loaded, click 'Build' on top menu bar and then click on 'Build Solution'. Then wait a few seconds, and hopefully an exe will get built (You should find it in c:\downloads\scoreboard_to_serial\windows\Debug\ directory).
on the other hand when the flashing light is triggered the steering wheel no longer responds left or right until the flashing light goes off and the steering wheel responds well in MGPR
Hm, sounds like the there was good reason windows decided your relay should use COM5, probably because your wheel is using COM3 so you now have a bit of a conflict...
Let me know how you get on with the Visual Studio thing. If you don't have any joy, I could build you a scoreboard_to_serial.exe that asks you what com port it should use when it first starts up...
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I was able to build the new scoreboard_to_serial.exe file by following your top recommendations! I was able to change to COM 5 and it works!
On the other hand, always the same problem, the steering wheel moves more left and right as soon as the flashing light comes on!
I think you're right, there's a material conflict!!
I even like to change the COM port to 12 and always the same
For information I noticed that my usbrelay in the device manager had the same name as my flywheel, there is just the COM port that changes, namely:
USB-SERIAL CH340(com4)
USB-SERIAL CH340(com5)
com4 is my steering wheel and com5 usbrelay
Do you have any idea why my steering wheel doesn't react when the flashing light comes on?
thank you for your feedback
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Well done for getting the exe built, you are now a C++ programmer! :)
But yes, seems to be a conflict with having multiple ch340 devices :/
Can you let me know a few things...
1. Is your Arcade machine running windows 11 ?
2. What version of Windows is running on you PC (personal) ?
3. When you view the Properties of the "USB-SERIAL CH340" devices in Device Manager, in the "Driver" tab, what Driver Version is reported (Should be something like "3.5.2019.1")
4. When you view the Properties of the "USB-SERIAL CH340" devices in Device Manager, in the "Events" tab, what does the first line of the 'Information' window read (Should be something like "Device USB\VID_1A86&PID_7523\5&2b1d7621&0&1 was configured").
5. Also, on the relay device itself, can you read what is written on the little black chip (You might see something like "WCH CH340G") ?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
1. My Arcade machine is running Windows 11
2.My personal PC is running Windows 10
3.Driver Version 3.5.2019.1
4.The USB USB\VID_1A86&PID_7523\6&93e0c40&0&3
5.On the chip it says WCH CH340T 205895047
Thank you ;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Thanks for this. I've been reading about these WCH CH340 things, I am no expert on them, but it seems they are made in China by "Nanjing Qinheng Microelectronics Co., Ltd", and the latest drivers (02/11/2023, 3.8.2023.02) can be found here:-
https://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_ZIP.html (https://www.wch-ic.com/downloads/CH341SER_ZIP.html)
I've been reading a bit on this thread https://forum.arduino.cc/t/ch340-driver-rollback-workaround-works-on-windows-10-but-not-11/1187954 (https://forum.arduino.cc/t/ch340-driver-rollback-workaround-works-on-windows-10-but-not-11/1187954) about CH340 and the latest drivers causing problems (Mainly the CH340 failing to be recognised) on Windows 11, but I think that is only a problem for unbranded CH340 chips. I *think* if you are able to see the WCH CH340 written on both your relay device and your steering wheel device, then you should be OK try the latest version?.... Depends on how brave you feel!
Before trying to install the latest drivers, might be worth trying to tick the "Enabling the Serial Port Enumerator (SerNum)" option for both CH340 device and seeing if that makes any difference? I really don't know what this option is for, but it wouldn't hurt to try it. How to do this is described in the arduino forum thread I've put a link to above (You'll have to scroll down quite a bit to see the post, there is screenshot showing the option to tick).
Also before trying to install the latest drivers, as an experiment (And I'm not sure if this is possible for you to do or not), you could try plugging your wheel and relay into your Win10 PC and seeing if that it any different? If so, see what version of CH340 driver that it is using?
Or maybe just wait for your 4-relay device to arrive and seeing if that is any better before you start updating drivers?
Hope this helps?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
yes you're right I also think that the fact that unbranded chips are a problem
at least for me it's not the case otherwise for me it would be difficult to try with my Windows 10 PC with the connectors
For information I don't have the option to enable the serial port enumerator (sernum) I think it's in the latest version of the driver (2023) that
it's there I also think you're right, I'll wait to receive my 4 relay card which should arrive in 2 or 3 days to test this and then I'll update the driver even if I'm itching to do it right away!!
As soon as I receive the material I let you know
Thank you for the script you're coding for the 4 relays
thank you GEECAB ;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>it's there I also think you're right, I'll wait to receive my 4 relay card which should arrive in 2 or 3 days to test this and then I'll update the driver even if I'm itching to do it right away!!
A sensible choice! Wait and see how the 4 relay board performs and go from there.
>>Thank you for the script you're coding for the 4 relays
No worries, I shall have that written before your new relay arrives.
:)
-
Hi All!
Just letting you know, Monaco GP v1.5.1 for Linux and Raspberry Pi is now released!
The release supports x86 Linux PCs Ubuntu 24.04 based distros (e.g. Linux Mint 22) and ARM Linux Debian 12 ('Bookworm') based distros (e.g. latest Raspberry Pi OS) 32-bit & 64-bit:
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1 for Linux & Raspberry Pi (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ImkE9sIuJj8lIHPAtHQPaLQ4nngLLapw/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoQShueYgv20f0fZlEtKLXQFd-8UQFuM/view?usp=drive_link).
Many thanks for Neil Davis for making the Linux and Raspberry Pi release possible! Check out Neil's Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/neilsnonsense/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/NeilsNonsense) channel for more of his cool projects retrofitting arcade games into vintage handhelds! :cheers:
I've also updated the very first port of this thread with this information.
Enjoy!! :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I wrote a program called "scoreboard_to_relays", that should work with you 1xRelay device and also your 4xRelay device.
Here's the link to a zip containing the source code, Visual Studio project and a pre-built exe:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QC4cAjBHPC7KMgNF3cg8a7Q94Q4p7n94/view?usp=drive_link
You need to run the scoreboard_to_relays.exe from a windows command prompt.
If you run it without specifying any arguments, it'll display the help/usage.
Usage:
To actually run scoreboard_to_relays.exe, you'll need to supply 8 arguments:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe <r1_com> <r1_trigger> <r2_com> <r2_trigger> <r3_com> <r3_trigger> <r4_com> <r4_trigger>
Where:
r1_com = Relay 1 COM port number
r1_trigger = Relay 1 scoreboard trigger
r2_com = Relay 2 COM port number
r2_trigger = Relay 2 scoreboard trigger
r3_com = Relay 3 COM port number
r3_trigger = Relay 3 scoreboard trigger
r4_com = Relay 4 COM port number
r4_trigger = Relay 4 scoreboard trigger
Valid scoreboard triggers are:
gear
police
damage
skid
night
coin
inplay
none
Example 1:
Configure so that 1st relay COM5 triggered when inplay, 2nd relay COM6 triggered by skid, 3rd relay COM7 triggered by gear shift and 4th relay COM8 triggered at night:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 inplay 6 skid 7 gear 8 night
Example 2:
Configure so that 1st relay on COM3 triggered by police, 2nd relay on COM4 is not present, 3rd relay COM5 is not present and 4th relay COM6 is not present:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 police 4 none 5 none 6 none
Note. Running scoreboard_to_relays with your 1xRelay and using the arguments specified in Example 2 should function the same as the scoreboard_to_serial.exe tool I made.
Note. In Example 2, even though COM ports 4,5 & 6 are specified, scoreboard_to_relays will never try to connect to them because their associated trigger is set to 'none'. You are effectively saying that the relay isn't present.
Hope this helps!
:)
-
Hi Geecab!
Wow again great job!
I'm testing all this and come back to you as soon as possible!
thank you very much
FYI I sent you a message privately, had you seen it?
:)
-
Hi Geecab!
That's it, I received the 4 relay card,
I plugged everything in and unfortunately Windows 11 doesn't detect the card... so I tried on my personal PC windows 10 and same it detects nothing...
I even installed the latest ch340 drivers (2023) but nothing...
FYI I tested the 1 relay model with the latest CH340 drivers (2023) and it works with your first script scoreboard-to-serial.exe on the other hand I tried your 2 script scoreboard-to-relays.exe and it doesn't work it
can't find it here is what I put: scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 font 4 none 5 none 6 none and he writes: Trying to connect to MGPr export instance... then the window closes while scoreboard-to-serial.exe works
for the 4 relays I have contacted the supplier I am waiting for this answer
I hope to find the solution
hope this helps you
thank you Geecab :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
That's weird that windows doesn't detect the 4xRelay card... Does the Device Manager detect anything at all?
Probably a good idea to run scoreboard_to_relays.exe from command line (Using a windows command prompt window) then you'll be able to see what error is causing it to terminate.
>>I put: scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 font 4 none 5 none 6 none
I think the problem could be you have specified 'font', but that is not one of the valid triggers. Try 'police' instead of 'font'.
Note. Valid scoreboard triggers are:
gear
police
damage
skid
night
coin
inplay
none
:)
-
Hi Geecab!
sorry for the typo but yes it's not font but police that I wrote
then in device manager it detects nothing it displays nothing and I don't even have a beep sound from windows that tells me hardware connect while the 1xrelay yes it detects
For the scoreboard-to-relays.exe script the window displays Parsed Relay1 (COM3) - police Parsed Relay2 (COM4) - none Parsed Relay3 (COM5) - none Parsed Relay4 (COM6) - none Trying to connect to MGPr export
instance... Trying to connect to MGPr export instance... Trying to connect to MGPr export instance... then this closes
while scoreboard-to-serial.exe it displays Trying to connect to Serial Port... Serial Port connected OK Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Then when I launch Mgpr it works
I have the impression that script 2 can't open the com port
I think after I'm not an expert lol
if it can help you
Thank you GEECAB! :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>I have the impression that script 2 can't open the com port
The startup sequence for scoreboard_to_relays is slightly different to scoreboard_to_serial. scoreboard_to_relays actually opens the com ports *after* connecting to the MGPr export instance. From what you say is displayed in the command prompt window, it looks like you just need to run the MGPr export instance and it should spring into life.
>>then in device manager it detects nothing it displays nothing and I don't even have a beep sound from windows that tells me hardware connect
Oh dear... The 4xRelay device sounds pretty dead/faulty to me... Hopefully the supplier will be able to shed some light on this, send you a replacement perhaps...
Hope this helps!
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
Yes!! you are right the 4xrelay is defective...
I have anticipated with another card that I receive tomorrow, the advantage of this one is much more stable and to use (seen on youtube)
and the advantage is that it does not use the CH340 driver so no worries about hardware conflict!
Here is the link to the model of the map:
https://www.amazon.fr/Relais-Enfichables-Contr%C3%B4leur-Robotique-Dautomatisation/dp/B0B7294RK7/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=28C8OVICE988U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.B9r8SdP7VYCbNfENaOhPH6AWEc-0yLJ-qu3-tI55VY34J_mj9I6v5k42HGMCbOniLt--iMy9TWxmZrMOqP9z2WANX1LYzLRYLJy1kJx1j9jhaFfz54JNZCEq9gmRhJVrYwzOQUhin7snJvAPZRF6CQuZgtDAT9RwUw9V52tlI544T13ckhUGCM8i9UNNijY0rYttlq8HP-Lfxdm6AcqC21mf-yl2bJ7OPNiT_wSGOAQ8Vm_peaKEL7Lcjmi-gGN-oa4qK5vTqmodVgKyeAIOQJYEuxYPUFaRCZ8YzVC32r8.yq0bTz6gNmvaucyz6SXszmtVYDeo7IqAlTARO-CVFLE&dib_tag=se&keywords=sainsmart+8+relais&qid=1725659063&sprefix=saintsmart+8+relais%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
and below a link of the package with the drivers, a documentation for the script
I hope this helps you to be able to make a script :
https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/sain-amzn/20/20-018-910/20-018-910.rar
I really can't wait to test all this and I hope everything will work
thank you GEECAB! :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
! good news I received the new card
On the other hand,
here is the right link for the package for version 101-70-116
8-channel 12V USB Relay Module
https://docs.sainsmart.com/article/790hrr4nux-sain-smart-relay-module-sensors
I have really looking forward to reading you
Thank you GEECAB!! ;)
-
Good stuff GPForverer2024!
I've had a quick look at the documentation, but I must admit, its hard to follow :/
I'll google it some more when I have a bit more time.
Just wondering, have you tested it yourself using powershell? I'm interested to know what serial data you send it to make it work.
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I agree it doesn't look that simple, I found comments on their manufacturer's website (https://www.sainsmart.com/products/8-channel-12v-usb-relay-module#idTab3) with examples like below:
Python code to help get started :
import serial
import time
# how to use python for this
# documentation is a bit misleading for this. This is how I got it to work.
usbrelay = [
[bytearray([0xff, 0x01, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x01, 0x01])], # channel-0
[bytearray([0xff, 0x02, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x02, 0x02])], # channel-1
[bytearray([0xff, 0x03, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x03, 0x03])], # channel-2
[bytearray([0xff, 0x04, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x04, 0x04])], # channel-3
[bytearray([0xff, 0x05, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x05, 0x05])], # channel-4
[bytearray([0xff, 0x06, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x06, 0x06])], # channel-5
[bytearray([0xff, 0x07, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x07, 0x07])], # channel-6
[bytearray([0xff, 0x08, 0x00]), bytearray([0xff, 0x08, 0x08])], # channel-7
[bytearray([0x00]), bytearray([0xff])], # all channels
]
# fun fact, you can just write a bitmask in place of this to command custom channel combos in 1 write instruction
def get_bit_mask(channels : list):
mask = 0x00
for value in channels:
mask |= value
return bytearray(mask)
serial_port = serial.Serial(
'COM13',
9600
)
# first index is channel, 2nd is on/off (0 or 1
channel=0
global_channel=8
off_on=1
serial_port.write(usbrelay[channel][off_on])
# serial_port.write(usbrelay[global_channel][off_on]) # command all
# serial_port.write(get_bit_mask([ 1, 3, 5, 7])) # turn on all odds
time.sleep(1) # wait before closing serial port
serial_port.close()
and for the record,
I don't have a PowerShell command, all this is done via a small software (USB 8 Relay Manager v.1.4) from the manufacturer to be able to power this or that relay
I couldn't connect it because the card is delivered without cord....
I ordered it and I receive it on Wednesday
If too complicated I can return the card it's on amazon no worries and if you can then direct me to another relay card no worries knowing that you shouldn't use the CH340 driver for hardware conflict (because of my steering wheel)
Looking forward to reading you
big thank you GEECAB!! :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>and for the record, I don't have a PowerShell command,
Didn't you use powershell before to test your 1xRelay? Sending serial data to the 8xRelay device should be the same as sending serial data to your 1xRelay device using powershell (You are just sending different data).
>>Python code to help get started
It would be good if you can test that python code when you get the 8xRelay. Are you familiar with Python? If you run that code as it stands, it'll just send "FF,01,01" on COM13 at Baud rate of 9600 (Which will hopefully switch the first relay on). You could change the 'channel' and 'off_on' variables and re-run the script turn to on and off different relays.
>>this is done via a small software (USB 8 Relay Manager v.1.4) from the manufacturer to be able to power this or that relay
Definitely be good for you to verify the 8xRelay is fully working with this tool for sure.
:)
PS. Are you aware the 8xRelay requires a 12v DC power source? It needs this because the power available from a USB port isn't enough to switch all 8 relays at the same time. I'm wondering now, when you were testing the 4xRelay (CH340) device, I think that needed a 5v DC power source (Which I guess if you hadn't connected it up, would probably be the reason why the board appeared to be dead?). The 1xRelay didn't need an additional power source because the power from the USB port is enough to switch a single relay. Hope that makes sense?
-
Hi GEECAB!
A little recap:
1xrelay yes no need for external power supply because just USB is enough
4xrelay yes you're right you need an external power supply 5 Voltes plugged into it that's what I did and good news I bought a new usb to micro usb cable and top it works!
I immediately tried your 2 script scorebord_to_relays.exe 3 none 4 police 5 none 6 none and it works with my flashing light!!
Now if I put example: scorebord_to_relays.exe 3 damage 4 police 5 night 6 none well it doesn't work because when I look at the device manager it says com port 4 and that's it there are no other ports for the card
for me I think there is just the com port 4 for the 4 relays and that you just have to change the command in the script (I hope it has of meaning) and for the record,
I always have a problem, a hardware conflict, as soon as the flashing lights (police) are triggered, my steering wheel no longer responds... I hope we will find the solution...!!
and for the 8xrelay yes you need an external 12V power supply I'm just waiting for the cable I ordered which will arrive on Wednesday and I can test it
I hope it makes sense
thank you GEECAB
-
That's great GPForverer2024!
Glad you are aware of the external power supply required with the 'bigger' relay boards and really pleased that your 4xRelay has come to life!
Yes sorry, there is a bug scoreboard_to_relays, I wrongly assumed each relay needed its own com port lol! I'll make another version soon and I'll make it possible to switch between board types (so it sends the correct on/off byte sequence based on that).
Looking forward to Wednesday then! I'm pretty sure we'll get the new board working :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I had some spare time today, I've been reading the reviews for your new 8xRelay board and found these ones interesting (There are about 115 of them lol!):-
https://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Eight-Channel-Relay-Automation/dp/B0093Y89DE
I found a couple of reviews saying when the board is powered up, it doesn't respond to data received on its serial COM port. However, after running their Relay Manager v1.4 tool and opening the device, then it does start responding to serial COM port data. The assumption is, opening the device using Relay Manager v1.4 puts the device into some 'bit bang' mode, and leaves it in this state even when you exit Relay Manager v1.4. I *think* the board has to be in 'bit bang' mode to be able to control the relays using Serial COM port data.
I'm probably getting way ahead of myself, but I think it is good to be aware of this.
I've modified the scoreboard_to_relays tool, the command line arguments you have to supply have changed, as it now caters for different types of Relay boards (e.g. 'CH340', 'FTDI_BASIC', 'FTDI_BITBANG' etc.. The FTDI_* relates to your 8xRelay board because of the chip it uses. The operation (Including the On/Off byte sequences) of these are described in a 'supported_devices.ini' file I've added). Running scoreboard_to_relays.exe from command prompt without any arguments and you'll see the help displayed (which will hopefully explain everything).
To summarise, I reckon/hope that after you've tested the relay using the Relay Manager 1.4 tool, you should be able to run scoreboard_to_relays, specifying FTDI_BITBANG as the device and things should 'just work'.
Something else (Getting very ahead of myself now) - I've created an 'ftdi_config.exe' tool using the library files provided from the manufacturer. Running it without any arguments will just list all the FTDI devices in your system and display the help. You can run this tool and provide a couple of command line arguments to get your device into 'bit bang' mode (Which might be a simpler alternative to having to run their Relay Manager 1.4 tool and manually opening the device).
Hope this makes some sense lol!
Good luck, here is a link to the scoreboard_to_relays ftdi_config executables and source code:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13RIFnR8U8jIY_TAjRCl7nXEj7L99biVH/view?usp=drive_link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/13RIFnR8U8jIY_TAjRCl7nXEj7L99biVH/view?usp=drive_link)
:)
-
Hi Geecab!
You are a genius! even if I knew it long before that lol!
The 4xrelay works wonderfully with your new script and here is what I ran the command as a command: scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 CH340 police,skid,night,damage and it works!
The only thing is that as soon as my flashing light comes on my steering wheel goes out of order and I have to recalibrate the steering wheel,
on the other hand I noticed that when the other relays light up and there is nothing to plug into them my steering wheel still works well is it due to the small motor of the rotating beacon which would make
everything go out of tune?
If you have a solution?
For the 8xrelay I have always received the cable
I hope it makes sense
thank you GEECAB :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>You are a genius! even if I knew it long before that lol!
lol! Many thanks, you are too kind! :cheers:
>>The 4xrelay works wonderfully with your new script and here is what I ran the command as a command: scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 CH340 police,skid,night,damage and it works!
Great stuff, glad you understood the new settings. The source code is a bit messy / hard to follow at the moment. Wrote it all a bit quick. I plan to tidy it all up at some point and include it into the next MGPr package release :)
>>The only thing is that as soon as my flashing light comes on my steering wheel goes out of order and I have to recalibrate the steering wheel,on the other hand I noticed that when the other relays light up and there is nothing to plug into them my steering wheel still works well is it due to the small motor of the rotating beacon which would make
Now this is very interesting! So if you disconnect your flashing light from the relay1, and play the game with those scoreboard_to_relays settings (scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 CH340 police,skid,night,damage), is your steering wheel OK when relay1 switches on/off ? If its OK, then its like the flashing light is draining power from the steering wheel. Does the flashing light and the wheel run off the same 12v power supply? If so, what is the AMPs (Or Watt) rating of the 12v power supply (Because it sounds like it is not supplying enough AMPs)?
:)
-
GREAT JOB GEECAB !!! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
WOW WOW But of course the power supply I was on 12v 3A I changed to 12V 10A and top everything works perfectly !!
MGPR takes on a whole new dimension with the toys,
tomorrow I'm going to connect the little vibration motor to another relay and I'm going to add yet another flashing light for the firefighters and
I think for the last relay I'm going to connect a small fan to make the wind.
GEECAB you have no idea what you just did a modern-day MGPR!! I LIKE IT
plus you make me laugh when you say that you write it quickly!! it's huge!!
I'll keep you informed as soon as I connect a second toy to the second relay with the small vibration motor another
excellent job GEECAB! ;)
-
This is really excellent news GPForverer2024!!
You're creating a totally immersive Monaco GP experience!
I'm aware I still need to add a few more triggers (For when firetrucks appear. I can think of a few more, such as when the car exploding, when the car is spinning and when the car is in the air (after going over a ramp) etc... to name a few). Even if you don't want to use them, it will be good if they exist. It will require me to build a modified MGPr exe that is able to export this new information, but that shouldn't be a difficult job.
Other things that are going on in my mind, is that it might be handy for the scoreboard_to_relays parser to be handle a little bit of logic, so you could do something like:-
scoreboard_to_relays 5 CH340 police|firetruck,none,none,damage|explode|spin
Which would mean relay1 triggers if police or firetrucks are on screen, and relay4 triggers when anything bad happens to the car.
...and something else, say when anything bad happens to the car, you might want a pulsed (Quick relay on/off to feel like a "thud") effect rather that a 'fixed on' for the duration that the trigger is on for. Does that makes sense?
Anyways, these are just thoughts, see how you get on with what is currently available and we'll take it from there!
Good luck with your testing!
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
For ideas with several triggers would really be a plus!
I'm thinking, for example, of the relay that goes off just when the car passes over the puddle well all of what you said above really makes sense!!
otherwise I installed everything clean with my 12v 10A power supply in order to be able to connect my next toys to it FYI I plugged in my little 12 V motor and unfortunately it doesn't work, nothing to do with the
connection I just put the plus and the minus and the motor doesn't run..
I'm waiting to receive my 2 flashing lights to plug it into it!!
and for the 8xrelais card I didn't receive the cord maybe tomorrow
I'll keep you informed
Thank you GEECAB :)
-
Hi GEECAB
Can't believe this is still a live thread in 2024!! I remember posting my delight at seeing this remake in 2015.... Bloody 9 years ago! (I feel so old!!). I've been outa the retro gaming scene for a while, but getting back into it. So glad this is still going strong. When I get chance I will defo DL the latest version and enjoy. Keep up the great work!
-
Geecab - I just installed the latest version (V1.5.1) and everything works great. I also see you released a version for Linux/RPi that I hope to test soon. Thank you!
One quick question. I am using the original game accelerator (linear potentiometer) with the Ultimarc A-Pac. Everything works well enough but the accelerator range seems to be quite narrow. It's most notable during the bride sequence as it very difficult (if not impossible) to match the speeds of the other cars. I have my analog range set at 0 to +1. Best guess, all of the acceleration occurs in the first 30% of the pedal press. Is there a way to spread out the acceleration through 100% of the pedal press? No worries if it can't be changed. These comments were more of an observation as this game is pretty darn near perfect. :-)
Thanks again for all your hard work!
-
(linear potentiometer) with the Ultimarc Mini IPAC.
A potentiometer connected via a Mini-Pac or IPac? :dizzy:
- Did you mean to say an A-Pac or maybe a U-HID? :dunno
Everything works well enough but the accelerator range seems to be quite narrow. It's most notable during the bride sequence as it very difficult (if not impossible) to match the speeds of the other cars. I have my analog range set at 0 to +1. Best guess, all of the acceleration occurs in the first 30% of the pedal press. Is there a way to spread out the acceleration through 100% of the pedal press?
If you're running under Windows, have you tried calibrating the analog pedal in Control Panel -- Devices and Printers?
Scott
-
PL1 - Thanks for the comments.
You are correct, I meant A-Pac (corrected in original post). The A-Pac was calibrated in Windows (Game Controllers). The pedal appears to be properly calibrated as the indicator smoothly travels from right to left as I press the pedal through its full range.
-
Hi GEECAB
Can't believe this is still a live thread in 2024!! I remember posting my delight at seeing this remake in 2015.... Bloody 9 years ago! (I feel so old!!). I've been outa the retro gaming scene for a while, but getting back into it. So glad this is still going strong. When I get chance I will defo DL the latest version and enjoy. Keep up the great work!
Many thanks RetroNutz! Welcome back and hope you enjoy the new version! :)
-
PL1 - Thanks for the comments.
You are correct, I meant A-Pac (corrected in original post). The A-Pac was calibrated in Windows (Game Controllers). The pedal appears to be properly calibrated as the indicator smoothly travels from right to left as I press the pedal through its full range.
Hi xfassa!
When I read your post, like PL1, I thought it sounded like a windows calibration issue. As that's all OK, it sounds like something weird in my code. I'll dig out my analog pedal and report back soon :)
-
Geecab...
Just a note about different Pedal Assemblies:
- PCs use a 10k pot, and many of the assemblies might not even use Gearing on them.
- Arcade pedals use 5k pots, and every one that Ive encountered, uses Gearing, to be able to spin the pot more per each pedal degree depression.
- Spy Hunter , is one of the more rare games that actually uses "10 turn" pots, and a very high gearing ratio, on both the steering and pedal assemblies
Spy Hunter likely uses this setup, for a much higher resolution in its controls.
- Race Drivin also uses 10 turn pots on its steering wheel assy. Its wheel can turn like 3 full rotations, and its "Direct Drive" (no gearing).
- Race Drivin's pedals are a combination of geared Pots for the Gas, and a "Strain Gauge" (pressure sensor) for the brake pedal (I believe the brake also has
a geared pot.. and the strain gauge is read after the pedal is fully "floored".
Gearing of his original Arcade pedals, may be causing a difference in Pot Values.
Also... not sure if there is a rotational difference, between the arcades 5k pots, and PCs 10k pots.
-
Hi Xiaou2!
Thanks for that, interesting stuff :)
Something worth adding that I've just been reading about, is that Monaco GP cabinets didn't use a potentiometer for the gas pedal, they used 2 optical switches.
Its difficult to find much information about it on the web, but I did come across this video where you see the pedal assembly (See 3.37 and at 6:50):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p77IyPeNLuA
The video quality isn't great, but you can see the metal bar with holes in it, that slides in-between the 2 optical switches as you press and depress the pedal.
So I reckon the accelerator had 4 speed settings, something like:-
opt1:OFF opt2:OFF = SLOWEST
opt1:ON opt2:OFF = SLOW
opt1:ON opt2:ON = FAST
opt1:OFF opt2:ON = FASTEST
:)
-
Geecab - I just installed the latest version (V1.5.1) and everything works great. I also see you released a version for Linux/RPi that I hope to test soon. Thank you!
One quick question. I am using the original game accelerator (linear potentiometer) with the Ultimarc A-Pac. Everything works well enough but the accelerator range seems to be quite narrow. It's most notable during the bride sequence as it very difficult (if not impossible) to match the speeds of the other cars. I have my analog range set at 0 to +1. Best guess, all of the acceleration occurs in the first 30% of the pedal press. Is there a way to spread out the acceleration through 100% of the pedal press? No worries if it can't be changed. These comments were more of an observation as this game is pretty darn near perfect. :-)
Thanks again for all your hard work!
Hi xfassa!
When testing with my analog pedal, I notice when I look at the windows calibration settings (raw values), I see values from 0 to 1000 reported as I press/release the pedal. However, the game library I use gives me the pedal position values from -1.0 to 1.0. When I change MGPr's range setting to "0 to +1" I notice the same issue as you (all the acceleration happens in the first 30% of the pedal press). When I set the range to "-1 to +1" things work as I expect. Can you give the "-1 to +1" range a try?
At some point, I think I'll add a MGPr option where it can display the raw values received for all analog controls, so that'll allow users to work out what range setting is best suited them.
Personally, I'm not really happy with the way the game feels with an analog pedal. Now that I'm aware of how the original pedal assembly was designed, I'm thinking I should try and simulate that...
I'll wait and see what you think :)
-
Geecab - Thanks for the response. I set it to -1 to 1. I now have full range. Honestly, I'm not sure why I had it set to 0 to +1 (my bad). All that said, I still can't match the speeds of the other cars. It appears the other cars will adjust their speeds to either be faster or slower but not the same speed. I may be wrong but I thought you could match the speed of the other cars in the actual arcade (which is helpful on the bridge). Again, no worries, just observations. Thanks!
-
Good stuff xfassa, glad the range thing is sorted!
Yes indeed, the opponents in MGPr don't like you to speed match. If they did, then in extended play, you could just cruise behind an opponent, get faster and faster with them for ever more, building up distance points. Watching videos of arcade machine being played, it looked to me like the opponents became increasingly difficult to speed match the longer the game went on for. So with that in mind I made MGPr do this:
If the opponents notice you are speed matching, they accelerate away. If you continue to speed match, then when they reach their maximum speed they'll eventually slow down and begin that cycle again. Early on in the game, the difficulty is low, you'll hardly notice this is happening, but when you've been playing for ages (Definitely by the time you reach the 2nd bridge), the opponents will run this cycle much faster. If you keep trying to speed match, it'll be impossible to keep up with opponents when they accelerate away (So someone might drive into the back of you), and it'll be impossible to slow down as quick as they do (So you might go into the back of someone). So speed matching should only really be a temporary tactic, the only consistent thing about the opponents its that if you are driving flat out, then you'll always be able to overtake them.
I've also made the game generously award points for the faster you drive and overtake. You might be able to speed match for a longer game, but you'll never get a high score doing that.
I'm interested to know what you think to all this, what you remember from your arcade version so we can get MGPr as close to the original as possible. All I have to go on is my old memories of the game and the youtube vids that exists :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
That's it, I've done several tests and frankly what a joy to be able to add toys!!
Namely the 4xrelay works very well!!
Command line: scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 Police,None,Skid,Police when I try 2 times police in the same command line this bug because I wanted to launch the blue and red flashing light at the same time FYI
i recommended a new vibration motor which should arrive next week It's frankly great the reaction of the toys with the game!!
Otherwise I received the cable for the 8xRelay FTDI but it doesn't work because in Program Manager it detects nothing in COM port while the USB 8 Relay Manager v1.4 software works fine. FYI I ordered the 8x card
relay ch340 because it works very well I'm curious to know how you are going to add in mgpr the options with the relay card to be able to add the toys!!
What a joy to be able to add toys!!
I'll make you a new video soon with the toys you'll see it's great!! total immersion!!
especially when it's dark lol!
thank you GEECAB! :)
-
Sounds good to me GPForverer2024!! I can imagine how much it adds to the game!!
I really think CH340 relays are the way forward, they are newer technology than the dated FTDi chips, they are easier to get going straight out the box (No drivers to install, easy to understand serial port command to change the state of the relays), and they also don't do random relay switching when initialising.
>>Otherwise I received the cable for the 8xRelay FTDI but it doesn't work because in Program Manager it detects nothing in COM port while the USB 8 Relay Manager v1.4 software works fine.
Well, I guess getting the FTDi device running is less of an issue now the CH340 devices are working well. That said, I am intrigued by the FTDi 8xRelay, they do seem to be used quite widely in virtual pinball tables, yet their scetchy documentation makes them so tricky to use lol!... If you decide to still try and get it working, then I reckon you need to check (Somehow) if you have the additional VCP driver installed, this should enable us to send the send serial data to it. Have a read of this page:
https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/
After reading the stuff about VCP and D2XX drivers, I reckon you must have installed the D2XX driver ok (because the Relay Manager v1.4 works ok), but not the VCP driver. When you ran the installer, was there an option to install an additional VCP driver as part of the process? Just guessing here...
>>relay ch340 because it works very well I'm curious to know how you are going to add in mgpr the options with the relay card to be able to add the toys!!
I've almost finished a new version of scoreboard_to_relays which will give you access to a load more in-game information (When Firetrucks are on screen etc...), you'll also be able to handle some simple logic (I.e. "police|firetruck,none,none,police&firetruck" would ensure relay1 would power on when police OR firetrucks are on screen, relay4 would power on only when both police and firetruck are on screen at the same time). I'll need to give you a complete debug MGPr package next because you'll need a new mgpr.exe that exports the new information. When we are happy with everything, I won't be adding any relay options to the game, I'll just provide the scoreboard_to_relays tool (source and exe) in future MGPr packages. Hope that makes sense?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
yes indeed you are entirely right the CH340 chips are much more stable and newer than the tfdi chips which are for pincabs !!
so yes let's focus on the CH340 chips which works wonderfully!!
I'm waiting for your new mgpr debugging version with the scoreboard_to_relays tool And of course it makes sense once again
I repeat myself bravo GEECAB excellent work!
I can't wait to make a video for you soon ;)
-
Hi Xiaou2!
Thanks for that, interesting stuff :)
Something worth adding that I've just been reading about, is that Monaco GP cabinets didn't use a potentiometer for the gas pedal, they used 2 optical switches.
Its difficult to find much information about it on the web, but I did come across this video where you see the pedal assembly (See 3.37 and at 6:50):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p77IyPeNLuA
The video quality isn't great, but you can see the metal bar with holes in it, that slides in-between the 2 optical switches as you press and depress the pedal.
So I reckon the accelerator had 4 speed settings, something like:-
opt1:OFF opt2:OFF = SLOWEST
opt1:ON opt2:OFF = SLOW
opt1:ON opt2:ON = FAST
opt1:OFF opt2:ON = FASTEST
:)
Sega's "TURBO" also used the same optical pedal system. (I used to own one... but sadly, had to sell it)
Another Arcade Oddity, was TX-1.. which used optical-wheel encoders (spinners), for its Gas and Brake pedals
-
Sega's "TURBO" also used the same optical pedal system. (I used to own one... but sadly, had to sell it)
Another Arcade Oddity, was TX-1.. which used optical-wheel encoders (spinners), for its Gas and Brake pedals
I didn't know that about Turbo, thanks! I wonder what mame would do if you had that type of pedal and wanted to connect it up... Might have a look at the mame source to find out if its possible. It would be good if I could see how Turbo handles the 4 pedal positions when it comes to trying to match the speed of the opponent cars. There is a chance Turbo's gameplay was slightly modelled on Monaco GP (Both Sega and both using the same pedal). I shall investigate!
@xfassa - If you're reading this, hopefully in the next debug package I'm putting together, I'm shall try and simulate the 2 optics with your analog pedal. Currently, when you hold the gas pedal in a specific position, the car will either accelerate or decelerate to a specific speed at a rate determined by a single acceleration curve. I plan to make it so that there will be 4 acceleration curves that will come into effect depending on pedal position (1st between 0%-25%, 2nd 25%-50%, 3rd 50%-75%, 4th 75%-100%). Hopefully, the pedal will feel more responsive.
:)
-
I wonder what mame would do if you had that type of pedal and wanted to connect it up... Might have a look at the mame source to find out if its possible.
First glance looks promising . . .
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.cpp (https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.cpp)
Lines 443-448
ioport_value turbo_base_state::pedal_r()
{
// inverted 2-bit Gray code from a pair of optos in mechanical pedal
uint8_t pedal = m_pedal->read();
return (pedal >> 6) ^ (pedal >> 7) ^ 0x03;
}
Lines 739-740
PORT_START("PEDAL")
PORT_BIT( 0xff, 0, IPT_PEDAL ) PORT_SENSITIVITY(100) PORT_KEYDELTA(20)
. . . then I ran it in MAME 0.262. There's no "Machine Configuration" menu so it doesn't look like there's currently any way to use the original pedal with MAME.
The good news is that you can clearly see the four different speed settings in low gear as you adjust the pedal potentiometer. ;D
Scott
-
I wonder what mame would do if you had that type of pedal and wanted to connect it up... Might have a look at the mame source to find out if its possible.
First glance looks promising . . .
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.cpp (https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.cpp)
Lines 443-448
ioport_value turbo_base_state::pedal_r()
{
// inverted 2-bit Gray code from a pair of optos in mechanical pedal
uint8_t pedal = m_pedal->read();
return (pedal >> 6) ^ (pedal >> 7) ^ 0x03;
}
Lines 739-740
PORT_START("PEDAL")
PORT_BIT( 0xff, 0, IPT_PEDAL ) PORT_SENSITIVITY(100) PORT_KEYDELTA(20)
. . . then I ran it in MAME 0.262. There's no "Machine Configuration" menu so it doesn't look like there's currently any way to use the original pedal with MAME.
The good news is that you can clearly see the four different speed settings in low gear as you adjust the pedal potentiometer. ;D
Scott
Nice find Scott, cheers! Looking at that code I bet you could 'hack' mame to connect up the original pedal if you really wanted to. Anyways, looking forward to trying turbo out with my pedal potentiometer later :)
-
Looking at that code I bet you could 'hack' mame to connect up the original pedal if you really wanted to.
Well . . . a C++ code monkey probably could do that, but I've only evolved to the level of code paramecium. :P :lol
Found some more relevant code in turbo.cpp.
Lines 662-669 define input port "IN0", line 663 shows that port bit 0x03 relates to the pedal.
static INPUT_PORTS_START( turbo )
PORT_START("IN0") // IN0
PORT_BIT( 0x03, IP_ACTIVE_HIGH, IPT_CUSTOM ) PORT_CUSTOM_MEMBER(turbo_base_state, pedal_r)
PORT_BIT( 0x04, IP_ACTIVE_HIGH, IPT_BUTTON3 ) PORT_NAME("Gear Shift") PORT_TOGGLE
Lines 565-582 show the program/address(?) map, line 580 maps port "IN0".
void turbo_state::prg_map(address_map &map)
{
map(0x0000, 0x5fff).rom();
map(0xa000, 0xa0ff).mirror(0x0700).rw(FUNC(turbo_state::spriteram_r), FUNC(turbo_state::spriteram_w));
map(0xa800, 0xa807).mirror(0x07f8).w("outlatch", FUNC(ls259_device::write_d0));
map(0xb000, 0xb3ff).mirror(0x0400).ram().share(m_sprite_position);
map(0xb800, 0xbfff).w(FUNC(turbo_state::analog_reset_w));
map(0xe000, 0xe7ff).ram().w(FUNC(turbo_state::videoram_w)).share(m_videoram);
map(0xe800, 0xefff).w(FUNC(turbo_state::collision_clear_w));
map(0xf000, 0xf7ff).ram();
map(0xf800, 0xf803).mirror(0x00fc).rw(m_i8255[0], FUNC(i8255_device::read), FUNC(i8255_device::write));
map(0xf900, 0xf903).mirror(0x00fc).rw(m_i8255[1], FUNC(i8255_device::read), FUNC(i8255_device::write));
map(0xfa00, 0xfa03).mirror(0x00fc).rw(m_i8255[2], FUNC(i8255_device::read), FUNC(i8255_device::write));
map(0xfb00, 0xfb03).mirror(0x00fc).rw(m_i8255[3], FUNC(i8255_device::read), FUNC(i8255_device::write));
map(0xfc00, 0xfc01).mirror(0x00fe).rw("i8279", FUNC(i8279_device::read), FUNC(i8279_device::write));
map(0xfd00, 0xfdff).portr("IN0");
map(0xfe00, 0xfeff).r(FUNC(turbo_state::collision_r));
}
There are also three references to the pedal in turbo.h.
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.h (https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/sega/turbo.h)
Line 41
, m_pedal(*this, "PEDAL")
Line 47
ioport_value pedal_r();
Line 68
optional_ioport m_pedal;
. . . and that's about as far as I can take it.
No idea how to change the MAME source code from a potentiometer input to the two opto inputs or how to add a "Machine Configuration" menu item to select between a potentiometer pedal and the original optical pedal. :dunno
- There might be a clue on how to do the Machine Configuration part in the 720 source code since IIRC MAME can be configured to use either a spinner or the original controller.
Scott
-
Cheers for this Scott!
As it turns out, no hack necessary, I'd got an old version of mame that allows me to choose keys for Opto1 and Opto2, so was able to play Turbo and see where the
car moves to on screen (I'll call this a 'marker') depending on pedal position and gear. I reckon there are 7 markers (Why 7? Why not 8 you ask? Its because when you release the pedal in either high or low gear, the car drops to the very lowest (starting point) marker, if that makes sense). Anyways, I played it loads, after which I went and had a look at all Monaco GP youtube vids that exist (again), and I reckon I can definitely see something similar (If not the same thing) going on. Unfortunately, there are no vids of people messing around with pedal position in low gear (Most people are stepping right on the gas in low gear), but you can see a few videos where, in high gear, players ease off for the bridge and I can briefly see instances where the card holds position at 3 distinct markers (roughly).
So! I've made some modifications to MGPr that copies what I've observed, and added options so that you can specify keys/buttons for OPTO1 and OPTO2. Also, if using an analog pedal, MGPr chooses an appropriate OPTO1 and OPTO2 state depending on the analog value. For me, with an analog pedal, it plays much better, the car moves less erratically, you feel like you have more control somehow, and you don't really notice the pedal limiting to a defined set of speeds.
Just need to do some tidying up and I'll upload a new debug package with the new scoreboard_to_relays changes I've done for GPForverer2024.
BTW. just incase anyone was concerned, the game plays exactly the same if you plan to continue to use just the single button/key as the accelerator.
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024, xfassa and to whoever fancies giving this a try!
I've put together another debug version v1.5.1D1.
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1D1 for Windows (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbUJ5KCnxHoizDfvQ39ZkokLRRQqoB20/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SfamaTAOTTfOzo_WSpUNgrY7CY_Pv8Ra/view?usp=drive_link).
This debug version is the same as version v1.5.1 except for the following modifications:
- More game elements exported to shared memory (scoreboard_reader utilitly modified to display all the new imported elements).
- Added new scoreboard_to_relays utility + source code (Operates CH340 relay devices depending on things that happen in the game).
- OPTO2_DEVICE control configuration option added (See Section 7 'Accelerator Pedal' in release notes for more information regarding the 2 Opto switches used by Monaco GP's mechanical accelerator pedal).
- Fix mistake in arcade game track file that was causing a 'Number of Opponents' error to appear in the console window (Was not affecting gameplay).
- The 3cabs artworks now change from dirty glass bezels to clean glass bezels when switching between attract mode and game mode.
Regarding the scoreboard_to_relays utility - You can now specify some basic logic with the many triggers (With no brackets though, so you may need to get your head around operator precedence (I.e. "!" (NOT operator) will get processed before "&" (AND operator) will get processed before "|" (OR operator)). Also, rather than have the relay being on/off depending on a trigger being True/False, you can specify a timeout to ensure the relay only stays on for a short space of time. Actually, this is all quite difficult to explain, much easier to get an idea of what I'm talking about by looking at some examples. One other thing I need to stress is that its best to always encapsulate the triggers command line argument in quotes (Not doing so will confuse the interpreter when the argument contains unusual !&| characters). Here's the command line help for the new scoreboard_to_relays utilty, hopefully it covers everything:-
SCOREBOARD TO RELAYS - v1.0.2
=============================
Usage:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe <com> <device> "<triggers>"
Where:
com = Serial COM port number
device = The name of the relay device (E.g. 'CH340', 'KMTRONIC',
'FTDI_BASIC' or 'FTDI_BITBANG'). See supported_devices.ini
for more information about these devices.
triggers = This argument must be specified within double quotes.
It can be single trigger sequence or a list of comma separated
sequences. The 1st sequence relates to relay1, the 2nd sequence
relates to relay2 etc. Setting a sequence to 'none' ensures a
particular relay will not be used. Sequences omitted from the end
of the list for which a physical relay exists will not be used
(They are implicitly set to 'none'). The format of a sequence
is best understood by looking at the examples below.
Valid triggers:
gear
police
ice
night
coin
puddle
snow
rescueAny
rescueFiretruck
rescueAmbulance
rescueHearse
rescueSubmarine
hunterAny
hunterShark
hunterCrocodile
gameInplay
gameBonus
gameCalculateScore
gameEnterName
gameAwardScore
gameInsertCoin
gameHiscores
inplayNormal
inplaySpin
inplayCrash
inplayFlyOverMerge
inplaySlip
inplayMarsh
inplayGoal
inplayJump
inplayGridStart
inplayInBoathouse
damageNone
damageHit1Immune
damageHit1Vulnerable
damageHit2Immune
damageHit2Vulnerable
damageWaitForBackfire
damageBackfiring
damageRepairing
Example 1:
To connect to a 1xRelay CH340 device on COM5 where relay1 is triggered by
police:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 CH340 "police"
Example 2:
To connect to a 4xRelay CH340 device on COM3 where relay1 is triggered by
police and relay3 is triggered when inplay. Relay2 and Relay4 are not used:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "police,none,gameInplay,none"
Example 3:
To connect to an 8xRelay FTDI_BITBANG device on COM7 where relay1 is triggered
by police and relay6 is triggered when inplay. None of the other relays are
used:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 7 FTDI_BITBANG "police,none,none,none,none,gameInplay"
Example 4:
To connect to a 4xRelay CH340 device on COM3 where relay1 is triggered
when game is inplay and either the ice or night road is displayed. Relay4 is
triggered when the game isn't inplay and an ice road is displayed. None of the
other relays are used:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "gameInplay&ice|gameInplay&night,none,none,!gameInplay&ice"
Example 5:
To connect to a 4xRelay CH340 device on COM5 where relay1 is triggered
for 250mS when something hits the car. Relay2 is triggered for 500mS if the
car drives over a puddle or some snow. None of the other relays are used:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 5 CH340 "inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune:250,puddle|snow:500"
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
I just tried the new D1 debug
in my head it's a bit confusing
I can't understand the inplay function and the timing For example
, can you give me an example of the puddle control line and the passage on the blue strip with the same relay?
And to use the 8 relays are it in a row for the command line (ch340)?
FYI to make the whole thing work
I have to specify each exe in administrator mode for it to work Also know before
I launch first scoreboard_to_relays before MGPR and now
I have to launch MGPR before and after scoreboard_to_relays (not easy because when I launch it MGPR everything is in full screen 'I hope you see what I mean)
and when I want to quit he asks me want to close the application scoreboard_to_relays with the yes or no question for my part not practical)
Also for information I installed the small motor for the vibrations of the steering wheel buy on Aliexpress and frankly it's bleffing
really sorry GEECAB with these stupid questions :(
thank you :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>>I can't understand the inplay function and the timing For example, can you give me an example of the puddle control line and the passage on the blue strip with the same relay?
No worries, it is quite confusing!
The gameInplay, gameEnterName, gameInsertCoin etc.. are just other triggers you can make the relays switch ON and OFF to. I.e. to have relay1 switch ON only when the game is inplay (when you have control of the car), to make relay2 switch ON only when you are entering your name, and relay4 to only switch on during attract mode (When Insert Coin is flashing), you would do:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "gameInplay,gameEnterName,none,gameInsertCoin"
The trigger for the 'blue strip' road is now called simply "ice". So if you wanted relay1 to switch ON when you are driving over a puddle OR when there is a ice road, you would do:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|ice"
Note the '|' character means OR.
If you wanted the same thing to happen for all 8 relays, you would do:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice,puddle|ice"
Now using the above example, you might notice during attract mode (When the road is rolling past and Insert Coin is flashing on screen) relays will switch ON when you see an ice road. This might be undesirable, and you might only want relays to come on when the car is driving on a puddle, or when there is an ice road and you are actually playing the game. So for just a one relay device you could do:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|gameInplay&ice"
Note. The '&' character means AND. So for relay1 we are saying Switch ON if the car is driving on a puddle OR if the game is inplay AND there is an Ice road.
And to do this for all 8 relays:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice,puddle|gameInplay&ice"
Does this make anymore sense?
I >>have to specify each exe in administrator mode for it to work Also know before I launch first scoreboard_to_relays before MGPR and now I have to launch MGPR before and after scoreboard_to_relays (not easy because when I launch it MGPR everything is in full screen 'I hope you see what I mean)
You should just be starting scoreboard_to_relays before starting MGPr. You shouldn't need to start MGPr twice... I'm just thinking, can you double check and make sure when you are running scoreboard_to_relays, you are definitely encapsulating the triggers in quotation marks (As shown in my examples), not doing this will cause weird things to happen.
>>really sorry GEECAB with these stupid questions
Absolutely no trouble at all. I really appreciate you giving this stuff a go. My docs/help are very brief at the moment, I need to explain things better.
If you are starting scoreboard_to_relays and MGPr from the same batch file, perhaps you could copy/paste the contents of the batch file so I can check how you are starting scoreboard_to_relays?
Hope this helps?
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Something else that I thought might be worth mentioning (Though I worry I might be complicating things), is that if you have a look in mgpr_v1_5_1D1/utils/scoreboard_to_relays/src/scoreboard_reader.h you'll see the stuff scoreboard_to_relays generates its list of available triggers from. There are some comments in scoreboard_reader.h that might give you a better idea of what a certain trigger actually does.
For example. if you read the scoreboard_to_relays help you'll see one of the available triggers is called "inplaySlip". If you have a look in scoreboard_reader.h, you'll see something called "inplay_state" and some comments above it explaining each state, and one of these comments reads:
SLIP - Car is slipping on the verge of the road.
Another example, another available trigger is called "damageRepairing". If you have a look in scoreboard_reader.h, you'll see something called "damage_state" and some comments above it explaining each state, and one of these comments reads:
REPAIRING - Car is being repaired after picking up a spanner/lifesaver and is immune from damage.
Hopefully this helps?
:)
-
hello GEECAB!
Here I did several tests and yes it works
here is my command line:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,rescueAny,inplayCrash,damageRepairing"
The only thing I can't activate is when the car has an accident, I don't know what word to put in?
I was thinking of damagerepair but it doesn't work even for the repair key when the car and accident... you might say?
after I found the solution of the BATH file that works it's because I simply don't have the word start before...
Here is the config that works perfectly!! :
start scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,rescueAny,inplayCrash,damageRepairing"
REM First 'start' (don't wait for sessions to terminate) the artwork instance
start mgpr -cfg 1024x768_pro_monaco_gp_import_scoreboard.cfg
REM wait 4 seconds before starting the game instance to ensure game gets focus.
ping 127.0.0.1
REM Now 'call' (wait for instance to terminate) the game instance.
call mgpr -cfg 1024x768_pro_monaco_gp_export_scoreboard.cfg
REM kill the artwork instance when the game terminates (They terminate themselves anyway after a few seconds timeout once the game instance stops).
taskkill /im mgpr.exe
Then I think it's great that the relays work without playing because from a distance it makes me think when I was little in the arcade the lights that worked by themselves!
Personally I think it's great!!
I should receive a new toy (wind) this week Oh by the way,
I noticed that when you play Pursuit even if the car is not in an accident, the yellow keys still scroll, maybe they only scroll when the car is in an accident?
in any case good job GEECAB as usual!
I'm waiting to see what word to put activate the relay for the yellow keys and when the car has an accident
thank you for the description scoreboard_reader.h which was useful to me
big thank you GEECAB
the new video is coming soon a bit of suspense lol ;)
-
Sound good to me GPForverer2024!
So this is your command line:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,rescueAny,inplayCrash,damageRepairing"
This tells me you are using 6 relays. On relay5 you're using the inplayCrash trigger, this will only switch ON if the car is exploding on screen.
Say, if you want to relay5 to switch ON if the car is in any type of incident (An explosion, or a spin, or collision with another vehicle or hitting some snow), then you could do the following:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,rescueAny,inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow,damageRepairing"
Also (Sorry if I'm complicating things again...), say you didn't want relay5 to be permanently ON for the full duration of an incident... but rather you wanted it to be ON for just a short time just as the incident happens, then you could add say a 250ms timeout, like this:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,rescueAny,inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow:250,damageRepairing"
Note. The damageHit1Immune and damageHit2Immune triggers occur when you collide with another vehicle and your car gets damaged. There are 2 of them because it allows you to hit something (hit1), bounce off it and immediately hit something else (hit2). Again, have a look at the scoreboard_reader.h and see the comments for damage_state, hopefully get an idea of the process that occurs when you take some damage.
Note. I think (But not sure) that for damageRepairing to trigger, the car has to be damaged and you pick up a spanner. If your car is fine and you pick up a spanner, I don't think it'll trigger. Let me know if this is an issue for you.
>>I noticed that when you play Pursuit even if the car is not in an accident, the yellow keys still scroll, maybe they only scroll when the car is in an accident?
When you talk about the yellow keys, you are talking about the yellow spanner? If so, you are still supposed to see them even when the car isn't damaged, and they are still a good thing to collect as they always give you a few seconds extra time. I could probably change the spanner image to a yellow clock when the car isn't damaged I guess?
Hope this helps?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB
thank you for your command line but
I confirm I made a copy paste of your command line and the relay does not light up for the collision of the car even the yellow key does nothing while the other commands work I don't know what to do.
I even changed the location of the relay just in case but nothing helps
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice,inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow,night,police,damageRepairing"
and yes you're right when the car is not in an accident yes it's a good idea to change the yellow key icon to a top chrono clock
thank you GEECAB
:)
-
Hi GEECAB
I also forgot the damageRepairing doesn't work even if the car is in an accident to repair it the yellow key doesn't work
thank you GEECAB
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
This is really strange... A few things off the top of my head:
1. Can you double check the version of MGPr that is running is v1.5.1D1
2. Can you also try the following (Thus only using the first relay on the device) and see if this does anything:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow"
3. When scoreboard_to_relays is running, can you see what is displayed in its command window as you play the game? It should write when it detects you have hit something, that its attempting to switch relay1 ON. Can you see any evidence of that happening?
4. Can you run scoreboard_reader.exe, and have a look at what is displayed in its command window as you play the game? It will print the contents of the shared memory to screen, you should be able to see the damage_state change when the car is hit.
I'll keep on thinking :)
-
HI GEECAB !
yes of course I'm in version 1.5.1D1
I just understood why it doesn't work!
well quite simply I had to modify the batch file dualscreen_pursuit with the line add scoreboard and not another batch that I had created lack of logic sorry GEECAB
! and the colliding car works!!
on the other hand I added damageRepairing and nothing works
here is the scoreboard window no damageRepairing display :
Relay1 triggers: (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Connecting to COM4...OK
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
MGPr export instance connected OK
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 ON - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
Switching Relay0 OFF - (inplayCrash) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (damageRepairing)
I hope it makes sense with the language translator lol
thank you GEECAB
-
Hi GEECAB!
I just tried one by one the damage settings and I just found the only one that works for the dammages it's damageWaitForBackfire
Let me explain:
When the car is driving is hit another car (collision) the relay lights up then when I touch the yellow key the relay turns off and the car repairs so everything is fine on the other hand there is a latency between the
collision and the triggering of the relay just for this one then if the car is intact and touches a yellow key (chrono) then nothing happens
I hope this helps you
thank you GEECAB
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I've checked my MGPr source code and I've made a mistake regarding damageRepairing. Currently you won't ever see it happen with v1.5.1D1. I'll need make a small change to MGPr and do another debug release to get this working.
>>I just tried one by one the damage settings and I just found the only one that works for the dammages it's damageWaitForBackfire
I'm a bit confused with what you are trying to achieve. This might not be what you are after, but lets say you just wanted relay1 to switch ON for the entire duration that the car considered 'damaged', then there are a couple of ways to do this. The first way:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "damageHit1Immune|damageHit1Vulnerable|damageHit2Immune|damageHit2Vulnerable|damageWaitForBackfire|damageBackfiring|damageRepairing"
Note. Above, relay1 switches ON when any of the damage states occur that imply the car is currently damaged, OFF for the rest of the time.
The second (cleaner) way to do this is:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "!damageNone"
Note. Above, relay1 switches ON when damageNone is NOT (By use of the "!" character) the current damage state. If you just had "damageNone", this would switch relay1 ON when the car was undamaged, and OFF when the car was damaged. When you add the "!" character, the ON and OFF is inverted.
So, adding that to what you'd been trying originally...
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "inplayCrash|inplaySpin|!damageNone|snow"
Any of this helping? I think I'm just confusing you more lol!
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
you want to confuse me lol
Well no, because I understood your examples with the command lines that I tested and saw well for the ! which reverses the activity of the relay
well personally I really like the damageWaitForBackfire function because for the collision it works as I like it in addition when the car grazes because it is in an accident the relay cuts off and then resumes at the same
time as the animation of the car with its exhaust pipe and this adds to my vibration engine it's excellent very good feeling.
for the damageRepairing I'm glad you saw the problem can't wait to see the modification so that the relay lights up when the car touches the yellow repair key. :)
Thank you Geecab :cheers:
-
I forgot here is my command line to give you an idea :
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|damageWaitForBackfire,police,rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,night"
For now
My connections Relay 1: Vibration motor
Relay 2: Blue and Red Flashing Light
Relay 3: Orange flashing light
Relay 4: Motor Ventilation Wind
Relay 5: Small Lights
;)
-
That looks excellent GPForverer2024!
I totally understand why that command line works for you!
May I suggest one small modification:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|!inplayJump&damageWaitForBackfire,police,rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,night"
I'm thinking while the car is in the air you don't want to feel any damage vibration maybe? Up to you :)
-
Hi Geecab!
thank you for this config for the jump of the car it's excellent!
and on your side you were able to see for the yellow key in chrono and the damageRepairing?
Thank you Geecab
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I've put together another debug version v1.5.1D2.
Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1D2 for Windows (Download via My Google Drive) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rfBF57GINLO060ObP-ywNCkZPPqjHWjC/view?usp=drive_link)
Please read the release notes HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zR5BwkHeCjxB_cDil0k3nPhBD70GnWYj/view?usp=drive_link).
This debug version has the followings modifications:
- Ensure damageRepairing state is exported to shared memory.
- scoreboard_to_relays utility debug text now optional (Disabled be default,
enabled with '--debug'). Also, debug text is timestamped and indicates
True/False state of each trigger.
I decided to stop (by default) scoreboard_to_relays printing text to the console window as it switches relays on/off. You can enable the text though by setting the '--debug' command line option if you'd prefer to see it (Though I recommend only setting it for debugging purposes, just because printing stuff to console window could potentially impact scoreboard_to_relay's ability to reactive quickly to trigger changes).
Enjoy!
:)
-
Hi GEECAB
I just tested version 1.5.1D2 and it doesn't work, impossible to launch scoreboard_to_relays
The window shows:
SCOREBOARD TO RELAYS - v1.0.3
=============================
Relay1 triggers: (puddle) OR (ice) OR (inplaySpin) OR (damageHit1Immune) OR (damageHit2Immune) OR (snow) OR (!inplayJump AND damageWaitForBackfire)
Relay2 triggers: (police)
Relay3 triggers: (rescueAny) OR (gameBonus)
Relay4 triggers: (puddle) OR (ice)
Relay5 triggers: (night)
Connecting to COM4...OK
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
Trying to connect to MGPr export instance...
then closes I tried to launch it with the same config as the D1 and even try to launch it scoreboard_to_relays after launching the MGPR game in dual screen mode
could you give me an example with the config option '-debug' maybe?
thank you GEECAB
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Looks like scoreboard_to_relays is unable see any shared memory from the MGPr instance.
I tested v1.5.1D1 and v1.5.1D2 on WinXP and on Win10, everything worked fine. On win10 I had to edit the properties for mgpr.exe and scoreboard_to_relays.exe, ensuring I ticked the "Run as administrator" option for both?
If you run, say, the dualscreen_pursuit.bat, and while that is running, double click on scoreboard_reader.exe, you should see that fails to connect to the running MGPr instance, but then if you right click on scoreboard_reader.exe and select "Run as administrator", it should connect fine. Can you try this?
>>could you give me an example with the config option '-debug' maybe?
I don't think adding --debug (Its double dash by the way) will help, because that only outputs more stuff after the connection to MGPr has been made. But if you did want to set it, you'd do it like this:
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|damageWaitForBackfire,police,rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,night" --debug
Hope this helps?
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
But of course I had forgotten to put the run option in administrator mode for the scoreboard_to_relays file
and there it works Indeed without the -debug we gain latency and it's perfect I tested the damageRepairing function and now with the D2 version it works
BRAVO GEECAB (I am still impressed by your work and efficiency) :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
otherwise I think to change the yellow key logo to chrono when the car is not in an accident and if you can change the sound when it is in chrono when the car touches the chrono?
When do you think?
in any case the D2 version works very well
Thank you GEECAB!
:)
-
This is excellent to hear GPForverer2024!
Sounds like scoreboard_to_relays is working nicely. In light of the administrator thing, I shall l make a little modification to the scoreboard_reader and scoreboard_to_relays utils, so that while they display they are trying to connect every second, they also display a hint "Trying to connect to MGPr export instance (If running on WIndow 7 or newer, please ensure you are running this utility in administrator mode)..." sort of thing because its easy to forget. I won't bother doing another debug version for this though as there's no change in functionality.
Regarding the spanner / clock thing, I'm having second thoughts about suggesting this lol! The thing is, the lifesaver ring during the boat stages is the equivalent to the spanner during the cars stages. If I have the yellow spanner change to a yellow clock, I'll need to do something similar for the lifesaver, but I don't really want a clock floating on the water (Its a minor thing lol!). Also, I kind of feel that we could be introducing too many "power up" symbols appearing, which don't really benefit the player. At the moment, if there's a spanner / lifesaver nearby, you should always just pick it up because 1) you'll be invulnerable for a few seconds 2) you'll gain some extra time & 3) it'll repair your car/boat if its damaged - I suppose the more I think about it, I kind of happy the way it is?
Lets both have a think about it, see how we feel in a few days :)
-
Hi GEECAB!
yes you're right, let's give ourselves a few days to think
about it otherwise on the D2 version (I don't stop testing and I came across a small bug.
namely:
when I select ICE the relay sometimes works then the next ICE not detect sometimes the relay stay stuck continuously even if you close MGPR, for information it's the only one that beugs I even add timing in test but
this is always irregular
I have the impression that ICE is not detecting all the time
I hope it makes sense
Thank you GEECAB!
:)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Hm, could be a bug in scoreboard_to_relays, or a sticky/faulty relay...
Are you still using the following triggers for scoreboard_to_relays:
"puddle|ice|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|!inplayJump&damageWaitForBackfire,police,rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,night"
If so, because the 'ice' trigger is used on both relay1 and relay4, have you seen the problem on both relay1 and relay4, or does the problem only happen on one particular relay?
Also, what happens if you remove 'ice' from relay1 (Does that make relay4 consistently work), and visa versa (remove 'ice' from relay4, does that make relay1 consistently work)?
>>sometimes the relay stay stuck continuously even if you close MGPR
This is quite interesting, because just before scoreboard_to_relays exits it attempts to switch off any relays that it thinks is on. If it thinks a relay is already off, it won't bother sending another OFF command to it (As that would be pointless). So it sounds to me like scoreboard_to_relays thinks it has switched the relay off at some point, but at the hardware level the OFF didn't work.
It might be worth using the --debug option and seeing what is reported after you exit MGPr with a relay is stuck on. Can you run scoreboard_to_relays like this from your batch file (It will save the output from scoreboard_to_relays to a text file) and paste the contents of the output.txt that gets created:
start cmd.exe /c scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "puddle|ice|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|!inplayJump&damageWaitForBackfire,police,rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,night" --debug ^> output.txt
Hope this helps!
:)
Edit: I've just been looking at this git project https://github.com/Brasme/usb_ch340_4x_relay_control/blob/main/ch340_relay.py (https://github.com/Brasme/usb_ch340_4x_relay_control/blob/main/ch340_relay.py) written in python to control a 4xRelay CH340 device. Interestingly, there's a few comments saying "We need to add some delay. The CH340 only can handle one command at a time" and I can see their code delays every command sent to the CH340 by 100ms. scoreboard_to_relays, doesn't delay the sending of commands, they get sent immediately one after the another. So I now suspect this is the most likely reason for the problem you are seeing. I could add a new scoreboard_to_relays option to set delay in-between commands...
-
Hi GEECAB!
After trying different tests following your recommendations for the different relays all work very well,
and I found the problem if I put puddle|ice 2 times for relay 2 and relay 4 at the same time and well it doesn't work, it's random,
on the other hand if I put puddle|ice once on a single relay it works perfectly (in fact I wanted to run my fan and my vibration motor in Same time on Puddle and Ice )
Here is my configuration that works :
scoreboard_to_relays.exe 4 CH340 "rescueAny|gameBonus,puddle|ice,police,damageRepairing|inplayCrash|inplaySpin|damageHit1Immune|damageHit2Immune|snow|! inplayJump&damageWaitForBackfire,night"
and for the record when I leave MGPR everything turns off very well
Tell me if you still want the contents of the output.txt file?
thank you GEECAB
:)
-
Thanks for this GPForverer2024!
From your response, it does sound like all your relays are fine/reliable. I think its pretty safe to assume the CH340 device just has trouble processing multiple commands sent in quick succession.
No worries about getting me the output.txt. I'll make a modification to scoreboard_to_relays, allowing you to set a delay time that occurs in-between sending commands to the CH340. I think it should be fairly straight forward to make that change, give us a couple of days and I'll have something for you to try :)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
I've made a new version (v1.0.4) of scoreboard_to_relays. In this version, you can change the delay in-between commands sent to the relay device by modifying the "SendDelay" value in the 'supported_devices.ini' file. I've set the default value to 50mS, which should be enough to fix the 'ice' trigger issue:-
Here's the link to a zip containing the source code, Visual Studio project and a pre-built exe:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ryEdHlCswhSZNVMpQ29xE27NJvNObeuD/view?usp=drive_link
Hope it works ok :)
-
Hi Geecab!
I tested it for a long time and frankly wow it works very well! :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
I don't know how you make people think of things like send_delays... in any case 50 MS in time is really good
GPMR has a realism with the same objects as on a pincab, flashing lights, etc. at the top
I hope to make you soon a beautiful video that is up to your incredible skills
see you soon GEECAB
Thank you so much
;)
-
Excellent stuff GPForverer2024 and thanks again for your kind words!
Can't wait to see the finished article! Actually, with what you've managed to achieve, I think it would be pretty straightforward for anyone with a virtual Pinball pinball to add MGPr to it (Dual Screens + relays). I'd probably build myself one but I have no more space left in my house lol!
I'll hold back on doing another full release for a bit (in case you find more bugs).
:)
-
Hello GEECAB and to all of you!!
As promised here is the video of MGPR with these gadgets connect on ch340 relays,
I link you all the necessary equipment to make this machine, of course I cannot be held responsible for your connections all this is for information purposes.
Once again, a big thank you to geecab for this magnificent work. :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
without whom all this would never have been possible MGPR
has an incredible realism with all these objects FYI
yes I put the ventilation motor on my foot when the car passes on the ice funny effect lol
(GEECAB I'm sure you'll find room to build one too ;) )
Happy watching to all !
https://youtu.be/Vv5KYV4DmMY
___________________________________________________
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red led
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motor wind
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Relays ch340 8 canaux usb
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vibrating motor DC 12 volts
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feeding 12V 20A
-
Wow, that's awesome GPForverer2024!!
That wind motor sounds really powerful, so I guess the reasoning why it switches on during the ice stage is to give you a chill / cold feeling? Its a good idea, I like it! The red led that appears during the night stage works really well too! It just all looks really fun to play!
I'm not sure why, perhaps because its Halloween soon, but I kind of wish something spooky would happen during the night stage. Like you see a ghost in your headlights, then you could switch the wind motor on for that too... I don't know, I think that might be a step too far in the silly direction lol!
Great job and thanks so much for uploading the video and the parts list!! :applaud: :cheers:
-
Hi GEECAB!
Glad you like it mdr for the Halloween ghost
and yes the feeling of cold is bluffing lol
if not, do you think it will be possible to add a real tachometer in USB port?
Here is a link below I know that SymProjects knew how to do it tell me if so,
so I can order it and be your tester When do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp2bD-3fM-g
Thank you GEECAB
;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
>> do you think it will be possible to add a real tachometer in USB port?
Unfortunately, I've had a look at the SymProjects stuff. Their software/hardware only supports a certain set of games, there doesn't seem to be an interface that lets me control their stuff :/
I've never tried connecting a PC to a tachometer before, but from what I've read, they need to be sent pulses at a frequency relative to RPM. As the pulses increase in frequency, then so does the gauge needle.
I guess one way you could achieve this is would be to use a cheap Arduino (or Teensy) dev board to produce the tachometer input signal. You'd need to write some Arduino code that adjusts the frequency of signal based on serial (com port) data received. Then you'd hack the scoreboard_reader tool, so that instead of printing the revcounter value to screen, you'd send the revcounter value to the Arduino as serial data.
Sounds like it could be tricky to me. I think quite a lot of trial and error will be involved to get this working. Perhaps lets give this some more thought before purchasing anything. I can't help thinking that there must be an easier way to do this...
:)
-
Hi GEECAB!
Sorry to answer late but I've been very busy lately with work
I suspected that it would have been too complicated with the USB tachometer And yes you're right, your logic (again) would be to use an arduino board.
the Teensy I didn't know and for the record I'm not good at soldering...
I keep looking my way
I'm waiting for your feedback to know if there would be a possible possibility
See you soon
Thank you Geecab
;)
-
Hi GPForverer2024!
Just letting you know, I've just bought a cheap rev counter off ebay lol! I'll try and get it working over Xmas and will post my progress. Hopefully it won't involve too much soldering.
:)
-
Hi Geecab
excellent news !!
really looking forward to seeing your progress soon
:)
-
Can't even begin to say how awesome v1.5 is! The work is incredible! Thank you!
-
Hi Geecab
excellent news !!
really looking forward to seeing your progress soon
:)
Very cool build ! :applaud:
I do have some suggestions... Most especially, to make a change to your Vibration motor setup..
to mirror how Out Run does things:
- With Outrun.. the entire steering wheel assembly is mounted to a Sliding Plate, and can slide the wheel left to right,
about 1 inch in distance (which is a lot more Violent, than most people realize)
- The sliding mounting plate is slid left to right, using a Crank Arm on the Motor... similar to a Steam Engine / Locomotive
- The diameter of the drive wheel, attached to the motor, causes the assembly to move about One Inch from left to right
- The motor in Outrun, is a Single-Direction DC motor
- The Outrun motor, is ran at different speeds.. depending on In-Game situations:
A) Fast (Full) Rotation speed, when you crash (for the most Violent Effect possible)
B) Slower rotation speeds, when you drive "off-road" (simulating a bumpy driving surface. Speeds might also be dependent
on your Cars actual driving speed, too)
The sliding assembly is actually quite simple. Probably more so, than most would assume.
Anyway... if you could re-create it, you could also likely use it to play Outrun properly.
Also, if there is a special "output-effects" scripting type of program system.. for mame/emulators...
you could trigger the motor for other arcade games, that never actually used it.
Not sure if that type of programable system exists yet. Ive always thought that AI might make such things possible in
realtime. Such as the Automatic conversion from 2d, into Stereoscopic 3D (3DVR). And as said, adding other special
effects, like additional lighting, strobe lights, vibration and solenoid drivers, and or full blown motion-cabinet assemblies.
As far as the Icy Wind effect goes... Im not sold on that implementation. For one thing, its annoyingly loud. You
might choose to place such a loud motor, in the bottom rear of the cabinet, and surrounded in an Insulating material (fiberglass?).
Then feed the wind to the areas you want... using ducting.
Ive always had the idea to have working car air-vents, to keep players cool as they play (with actual air speed controls, and
aim-able vents). I also had that idea, used for non-driving games... that blows cool air over your buttons and joysticks,
to keep your hands dry at all times, as you play.
If you wanted to actually simulate Temperature changes... you would actually need something a little more robust.
For FAST INSTANT high-heat... an Infrared Lamp, would be the quickest way to heat a player up (great for quick flash
/ explosive effects, but NOT good for long durations.. as the player would suffer from way too much heat)
For more gradual heat, you would might want something like a Ceramic heater, heating vented Air up.
For cooling, thats not so easy to replicate. If the floor temps in your place are cool.. then piping it upwards, might help a little.
(likely not working well, in the Summer months)
But for more extreme cooling effects... you are likely going to need some sort of Refrigeration device (maybe an electric "Peltier" ? cooler)
or at very minimum, an Evaporative "Water Mist" Cooling system.
Water Misters, would also be fun for other Game effect, like Boat Driving simulations. Such as used in the Boat Stage, in Spy Hunter.
If the mist is light enough, and driven with enough air... it evaporates quick enough that you dont end up getting wet. However, its
evaporation effect will be enough to cause a cold sensation... so might need to be offset with warmer air, depending on your intended
FX use case.. and depending on how long the effects are ran.
I used to go to an Amusement park, that had a Haunted House "Dark-Ride" in it. At the very end of the ride, they had a water mister,
that would spray down onto you, right before the ride ended. It was a spooky + chilling effect, especially in total Darkness. And since
the water was so fine + evaporated instantly... it felt magical / surreal. Especially when you were a small kid, that didnt know what
an evaporative mister.. actually was (and thus, couldnt quite figure out, what the heck just happened).
Ive personally never been a fan of Center-Sprung shifters. There is something special about the feel of a Shifter, that
spring Locks into place. Center-Sprung is good for Afterburner II 's analog throttle control lever... but IMO... not the
best Option for Driving games.
Id replace that shifter with a 6 position shifter. They make "Decent" 6 way shifters, for a price that isnt totally absurd, depending
on the quality you choose. Or, you might choose to create an Analog version, modeled after the Sit-Down version of Atari's
"Race-Drivin". That game used two Pots, and lever arms that drove them. The shifter shaft itself, was welded to a Door Hinge.
It was quite an ingenious design. I believe there are programs that can translate x/y analog values, into shifter input clicks/values.
If the cabinet is capable of playing other driving games... you might also look into using a high quality sim-racing
wheel... that can also be used for 900 degree operation, as well as with actual force feedback, thats independent of the sliding plate
feedback system. General wheel feedback, is good for feeling the Road + Tire Slip, in sim-racing games. But the more violent
shaking of the Outrun sliding plate system... is FAR more fantastic, for Simulated Crashes, and more violent "Off-Road" effects.
Another cool thing to add... would be the use of Bass-Shaker Transducers. These are like speakers, but they only produce strong
vibration effects, while making virtually no sound at all. One of the best things about them... is that you do not need any special
effects drivers, to get vibrations from them. And low-frequencies in the games music and or sound effects, will drive them,
automatically. This could be from a games low engine rumble sounds... or from the sound of a Punch, in a fighting game.
Its basically like a Subwoofer... but far more localized vibration effects, without the need to disturb the entire
house (high volume sub-noise).
A lot of Sim-Racing cabinet builds, also... use Bass shakers. (at least one per corner of the cabinet. Some also add smaller
shakers to pedals / shifters, too)
One might built a Seat, and place them under the seat, and or in the rear of the seat assembly. Adding a sit down option,
would also open the opportunity for the use of Surround Sound. Though, you could also do that, using hanging speaker mounts,
attached to the top of the cabinet.
Bass Shakers could also just be added behind the Control panel, or attached to the inner sides of the bottom of the cabinet.
So long as the bass shakers are somewhat near the players controls... the vibrations should reach the player effectively.
Or you could make a 4 inch tall Riser, that you and the entire cabinet are placed on top of... in which you could place bass
shakers inside of. In that way.. any vibrations would travel right through the riser floor, right into your legs.
As far as any working controller Displays goes... like a Spedo / Tachometer... it might be better to have them mounted
much closer to the Display. As if they are directly in-line with the steering wheel, you are likely never going to see them,
in-use.
The use of a Half-Silvered Mirror.. might be an interesting option. Having the main display, behind the glass... and any
Gauges, being placed in front of the mirror... which would then appear to Hover in front of the games display.
(to prevent hover issues that potentially cover over a display, maybe use a longer glass, where the gauges are lower
than the display)
Ive thought that this would be a cool option, for displaying Arcade Front-Glass Bezels, and for other 3D effects.
In fact, if done correctly, it could also be used for glasses free stereoscopic 3d Displays (potentially to be used for
games like Continental Circuis 3D.. if anyone could hack the driver to use dual displays, rather than just the use of
LCD shutterglass display timings)
The only issue with using half silvered mirror displays, is that it makes the monitor look a lot further away from the player.
Of course, if you are using a shallow cabinet desing, that actually might be a good thing.
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Can't even begin to say how awesome v1.5 is! The work is incredible! Thank you!
Cheers beylie! I really appreciate the post, great to hear you're liking v1.5! :)
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Hi all!
Commodore Amiga fans may be interested to know, Neil Davis (Who did the recent port of MGPr for Linux and RaspberryPi), has been working on his own version of Monaco GP for the Amiga! :cheers:
Named Riviera '79 - It's free to download and runs on any amiga at an incredibly smooth 50FPS! I believe he intends to add a few more sound effects at some point, in the mean time he's added some background music which just happens to be a tune I wrote on the amiga ages ago!
For more information, visit the following links:-
Main Riviera '79 website and download page:
https://nngaming.itch.io/riviera-79
Recently entered AmigaJam 2024 competition:
https://itch.io/jam/amigamejam/entries
YouTube - Riviera '79 - v1.02 - Amiga (OCS/ECS) - AmiGameJam 2024 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT05mwjG4GM#ws)
Enjoy! :)
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Hi GEECAB
How are you?
Thank you for sharing Riviera'79, with a great job by Neil Davis Well done! :applaud:
and I was also coming to the news for the revs count with MGPR if you had time to move forward on it?
Thank you GEECAB
:)
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Hi GPForverer2024!
I'm all good thanks, hope you're having a good Xmas! Unfortunately, I've not been able to start on the rev counter yet (Just been a bit of a hectic Xmas so far!) But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it, I've got all the bits here, I'm really looking forward to seeing it work and I should be able to start on it very soon!
:)
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Hello
New to this forum.
I'm in the process of creating a Monaco GP race cab remake.
First of all, I would like to thank GEECAB for its superb work and all the participants! :applaud:
(https://i.goopics.net/xwimk3.jpg)
(https://i.goopics.net/f9sryc.jpg)
I am having some problems with my 4 relay ch340 module whose drivers are well recognized and which is tested functional under windows 11 and mgpr_v1_5_1D2 .
I am in administrator mode in properties.
But I can't get it up and running with scoreboard to relay?
I just want to use relays with on the game with a single screen 19" in 1280X1024 mode.
Can you help me?
(https://i.goopics.net/qkfba5.jpg)
(https://i.goopics.net/tkte4b.jpg)
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Hi MicroPixels!
Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting pics of your table top Monaco GP Cab, excellent work!! :applaud:
I can see from the scoreboard_to_relays.exe output that it has connected to your CH340 relay OK. The problem is scoreboard_to_relays.exe can not connect to the mgpr.exe instance that is running the game.
Before you start scoreboard_to_relays.exe, can you ensure that you have the mgpr.exe game instance running as administrator, and that its DISPLAY -> SCOREBOARD_MODE configuration option is set to EXPORT.
Note. On Windows 11, scoreboard_to_relays.exe and mgpr.exe both need to be running in administrator mode.
Hope this helps!
:)
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Hello MicroPixels !
if it can help you for I created a bath file here is:
start scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340
start mgpr -cfg 1024x768_pursuit_import_scoreboard.cfg
ping 127.0.0.1
call mgpr -cfg 1024x768_pursuit_export_scoreboard.cfg
taskkill /im mgpr.exe
For me it works
at the same time a hello to GEECAB ;)
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Hi Geecab and GPForever2024,
Thank you for your advice. ;)
I managed to get the relays to work by putting everything in administrator mode and putting Mgpr in Export mode.
On the other hand I don't have the bezel and the scores on the side anymore.
Is there anything to do to put them back?
(https://i.goopics.net/uurymt.jpg)
The project is moving forward. :)
(https://i.goopics.net/wrtfqu.jpg)
When I have all finalized I will prepare a video presentation of my project! :D
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Hi MicroPixels!
When running mgpr.exe, I think you need to specify the "1280x1024_pursuit_arcade.cfg" configuration. That will give you the pursuit game mode (With police cars etc..) with the arcade bezel artwork. You'll just need to tweak the configuration so that it is set for "export" mode.
Building on what GPForverer2024 said earlier, are you are starting all this from a batch file? If you are, then I think the contents of your batch might look something like this:-
REM start the relays.
start scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,puddle|ice"
REM wait 4 seconds before starting the game instance to ensure game gets focus.
ping 127.0.0.1
REM start the game instance.
call mgpr -cfg 1280x1024_pursuit_arcade.cfg
Hope this helps?
@GPForverer2024 - Hi there! I promise I haven't forgotten about getting the Revcounter working. I've just had loads on my plate recently. I will get it going very soon for sure!
:)
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Hi Geecab,
Thank you for your excellent work! :applaud:
It works perfectly but I'll stay on the other version because the view of the whole is bigger.
I just turned on scores and time in Options. 8)
I also have a question for GPForever2024.
I also use Joytokey to turn off the computer but I shouldn't leave the game with escape before turning everything off.
Because despite the fact that I indicate the escape key in joytokey for another button it doesn't work.
I'm waiting for 2 or 3 additions before filming my finished cabinet. :)
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Hello
1 :
open joytokey.exe
Then press your buttons to find which one is displayed in yellow then you combine the escape button to quit the game and the other button to turn off the PC directly
To turn off the PC directly you have to go to the special window and to the title Launch an external program(or web page)
You put your shutdown.bat that you will have created before.
Create your shutdown.bat
Go to Word Pad and put the following line:
shutown.exe -s -t 00
then save it for example shutdown.bat
I hope this helps!
@Geecab hello! no worries I know very well that you will be able to do this rev counter!!
See you soon and have a good weekend ;)
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Hi everyone, :)
GPForever2024 I proceeded as you indicate because you already talked about it in the topic. But I have the escape button that no longer responds while at the beginning it worked with Joytokey but it doesn't matter, I turn it off directly with Shutdown, I don't have the impression that it damages Windows.
Thank you.
Have a good weekend! ;)
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Hi MicroPixels!
>>I have the escape button that no longer responds while at the beginning it worked with Joytokey but it doesn't matter, I turn it off directly with Shutdown, I don't have the impression that it damages Windows.
I'm a bit confused with what you are trying to achieve, but I'd like to understand.
Do you just want to be able to press a joystick button that will have Monaco GP exit, and then shortly afterwards have your PC shutdown?
:)
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Hi Geecab, ;)
Exactly.
Unless there is no danger for Windows to shut down directly from the game. :)
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Hi MicroPixels!
So I reckon if you did the following things:
- Disable JoyToKey from shutting down the PC.
- Have JoyToKey trigger, say, the 'e' key when you press the Joystick button that you want to shut the PC down with.
- In the MGPr configuration, set its Exit key to 'e'.
- Modify your batch file so that after you exit MGPr, there is a 4 second wait, after which the system shuts down
I.e. modify your batch file with something like this...
REM start the relays.
start scoreboard_to_relays.exe 3 CH340 "puddle|ice,police,night,puddle|ice"
REM wait 4 seconds.
ping 127.0.0.1
REM start the game instance.
call mgpr -cfg 1280x1024_pursuit_arcade.cfg
REM Player has exited the game, wait 4 seconds for scoreboard_to_relays to terminate.
ping 127.0.0.1
REM then shut the PC down...
shutdown /s /t 0
Would that do it?
Apologies if this is what you are already doing lol! Also, please feel free to ignore if I'm complicating things :)
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Hi geecab, :)
No, thanks for the advice I'll try this! ;)
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Hi geecab, :)
What you told me is to turn off the computer as soon as Mgpr is launched.
So it doesn't work, it's not a big deal.
I'm going to continue with JoytoKey which calls a shutdown.bat file that exits the game and turns off Windows together. ;)
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Hi MicroPixels!
>>What you told me is to turn off the computer as soon as Mgpr is launched.
Hm, if your computer was shutting down as soon as MGPr was launched, then perhaps you forgot to add the 'call' keyword to launch MGPr in your batch file?
I.e. You need to be launching mgpr in your batch file like this:
call mgpr -cfg 1280x1024_pursuit_arcade.cfg
The lines of your batch file are processed from top to bottom. The 'call' keyword forces the batch file to stop at the line that runs MGPr, and only continue once MGPr exits. Thus, only when MGPr exits will the batch file continue processing the lines below it, running the command that shutdowns your PC. Does that make sense?
>>So it doesn't work, it's not a big deal. I'm going to continue with JoytoKey which calls a shutdown.bat file that exits the game and turns off Windows together.
That's cool, I'm just curious why my suggestion isn't working :)
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Hello, thank you for the awesome post of this classic game!
How do I add it to Launchbox? I tried adding the preferred cfg as the rom and the mgpr.exe as the emulator, but it wouldn't work as I kept getting a cfg error.
See error screenshot here. https://ibb.co/7xxqM7h6
Thanks in advance.
-
Hello, thank you for the awesome post of this classic game!
How do I add it to Launchbox? I tried adding the preferred cfg as the rom and the mgpr.exe as the emulator, but it wouldn't work as I kept getting a cfg error.
See error screenshot here. https://ibb.co/7xxqM7h6
Thanks in advance.
Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
Glad you are enjoying the remake!
Assuming you are running the windows version of Lunchbox, I think you need to create a batch file containing something like this:
cd c:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_stunt_park_3cabs.cfg
(You''ll obviously need to tweak the contents a little depending on where your mgpr.exe is located, and what game configuration you want to run).
Name the batch file something like "run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat". Now configure LaunchBox to launch run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat instead of mgpr.exe and and I think/hope that should do it.
:)
-
Hello, thank you for the awesome post of this classic game!
How do I add it to Launchbox? I tried adding the preferred cfg as the rom and the mgpr.exe as the emulator, but it wouldn't work as I kept getting a cfg error.
See error screenshot here. https://ibb.co/7xxqM7h6
Thanks in advance.
Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
Glad you are enjoying the remake!
Assuming you are running the windows version of Lunchbox, I think you need to create a batch file containing something like this:
cd c:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_stunt_park_3cabs.cfg
(You''ll obviously need to tweak the contents a little depending on where your mgpr.exe is located, and what game configuration you want to run).
Name the batch file something like "run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat". Now configure LaunchBox to launch run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat instead of mgpr.exe and and I think/hope that should do it.
:)
Awesome, thank you! I'll let you know how it works.
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Hello, thank you for the awesome post of this classic game!
How do I add it to Launchbox? I tried adding the preferred cfg as the rom and the mgpr.exe as the emulator, but it wouldn't work as I kept getting a cfg error.
See error screenshot here. https://ibb.co/7xxqM7h6
Thanks in advance.
Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
Glad you are enjoying the remake!
Assuming you are running the windows version of Lunchbox, I think you need to create a batch file containing something like this:
cd c:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_stunt_park_3cabs.cfg
(You''ll obviously need to tweak the contents a little depending on where your mgpr.exe is located, and what game configuration you want to run).
Name the batch file something like "run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat". Now configure LaunchBox to launch run_mgpr_stunt_park.bat instead of mgpr.exe and and I think/hope that should do it.
:)
I'm new at making batch files. but I made this one with the path to my mgpr.exe and my preferred cfg file (See screenshot link) but nothing happened when I tried to run it.
https://ibb.co/v4JS68yX
Thank you again for your help! :)
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Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
So I take it your mgpr.exe is located on your e: drive, in the directory named "mgpr_v1_5_1", correct?
If so, I think you want the contents of your batch file to be:
cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
Once you've saved your batch file and give it a name (For example, run_monaco_8bit.bat), you should be able to double-click on your batch file using windows explorer and the game will start.
Hope that does the trick! :)
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Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
So I take it your mgpr.exe is located on your e: drive, in the directory named "mgpr_v1_5_1", correct?
If so, I think you want the contents of your batch file to be:
cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
Once you've saved your batch file and give it a name (For example, run_monaco_8bit.bat), you should be able to double-click on your batch file using windows explorer and the game will start.
Hope that does the trick! :)
Thank you again for the reply.
Yes the mgpr.exe is in my mgpr_v1_5_1 folder in my E drive.
I tried setting up the batch file like this
cd E:\mgpr_v1_5_1\mgpr.exe
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit
And like this
cd E:\mgpr.exe
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit
And no luck unfortunately. I double click on the batch file and I tried running it in file explorer as well and nothing happens.
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Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
So I take it your mgpr.exe is located on your e: drive, in the directory named "mgpr_v1_5_1", correct?
If so, I think you want the contents of your batch file to be:
cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
Once you've saved your batch file and give it a name (For example, run_monaco_8bit.bat), you should be able to double-click on your batch file using windows explorer and the game will start.
Hope that does the trick! :)
I tried running it via the command line as admin and no luck. This what I get. See the screenshot link.
https://ibb.co/bjBfR180
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Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
The cd line is wrong because you've added mpgr.exe to the end of it (I.e. It should just be "cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1", not "cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1\mgpr.exe").
Also, thanks for showing me the screenshot of the command line. I now also realize I should have added a line in the batch file to change from your c: drive to your e: drive, sorry about that!
The batch file needs to be this:
e:
cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr.exe -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
I've just checked this works on my system (I too have a C and an E drive), and my E drive has a mgpr_v1_5_1 directory in it.
If I type in via command line the contents of the my batch file, line-by-line, this is what I see:
C:\Documents and Settings\qwerty\Desktop>e:
E:\>cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
E:\mgpr_v1_5_1>call mgpr.exe -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
Monaco GP Remake (v1.5.1)
Really hope this helps! :)
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Hi 80sRcadeGuy!
The cd line is wrong because you've added mpgr.exe to the end of it (I.e. It should just be "cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1", not "cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1\mgpr.exe").
Also, thanks for showing me the screenshot of the command line. I now also realize I should have added a line in the batch file to change from your c: drive to your e: drive, sorry about that!
The batch file needs to be this:
e:
cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
call mgpr.exe -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
I've just checked this works on my system (I too have a C and an E drive), and my E drive has a mgpr_v1_5_1 directory in it.
If I type in via command line the contents of the my batch file, line-by-line, this is what I see:
C:\Documents and Settings\qwerty\Desktop>e:
E:\>cd e:\mgpr_v1_5_1
E:\mgpr_v1_5_1>call mgpr.exe -cfg 1920x1080_monaco_gp_8bit.cfg
Monaco GP Remake (v1.5.1)
Really hope this helps! :)
WooHoo! It worked perfectly, Thank you again for your help! :)
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WooHoo! It worked perfectly, Thank you again for your help! :)
Great stuff 80sRcadeGuy, enjoy! :)
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I've loved playing Monaco GP back in the arcade days and just tried your Monaco GP remake for the first time. I have to say it's really great.
- Easy to use on modern PCs
- Runs super smoothly
- Added high-score saving and lots of customization options
That's exactly how arcade preservation projects should be. While I'm fully into emulation, I'm looking forward to the era of recompilation. I hope more and more retro games receive this kind of amazing treatment.
You've enhanced the player experience in every aspect while keeping the original's look, feel, and fun perfectly intact.
Well done!
-
I've loved playing Monaco GP back in the arcade days and just tried your Monaco GP remake for the first time. I have to say it's really great.
- Easy to use on modern PCs
- Runs super smoothly
- Added high-score saving and lots of customization options
That's exactly how arcade preservation projects should be. While I'm fully into emulation, I'm looking forward to the era of recompilation. I hope more and more retro games receive this kind of amazing treatment.
You've enhanced the player experience in every aspect while keeping the original's look, feel, and fun perfectly intact.
Well done!
Thanks so much for posting! Really great to hear you are enjoying the remake! :)