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12-way rotary - current state of the world

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RobotronNut:

--- Quote ---If the inputs in the official version were changed to work with arcade machines devs would no longer be able to test or fix the games.   That's what derivative builds are for.

--- End quote ---

it would be satisfactory if there were support for multiple input devices, controlled by compile-time flags. the "official" build could be whatever the mame devs want, and the rest of us could make alternate choices, but there would be only one body of source code.

the problem with the current situation is that any change that the mame devs refuse to accept, but is needed by somebody, requires on-going parallel development and re-merging. for example, mame analog+ adds much value, but it appears that the developer who did all this work does not have the time to continually re-merge it with the official build. if he doesn't keep doing this, it will fall by the wayside as time goes by.

on the other hand, if his changes were in the official build, users who need his work would get the benefit of all future mame work, with little to no on-going work.

the same can be said for every other derivative build.

a "second best" approach would be to roll as many derivative builds as we can into one, so the on-going maintenance doesn't need to be duplicated by many different people.

RobotronNut:
back to the opriginal topic -

if anyone has more info about exactly which rotary games are working in which versions of mame, please post here. so far, we've only heard about ikari warriors, which works in MameAnalog+ 0.83.2.

MikeQ:

--- Quote from: RobotronNut on January 31, 2006, 01:23:07 pm ---
a "second best" approach would be to roll as many derivative builds as we can into one, so the on-going maintenance doesn't need to be duplicated by many different people.


--- End quote ---

Off topic again, sorry.

It is a given that people who develop custom versions of mame will at some point grow tired of the support, run out of time, go on to other hobbies, etc...

An advantage to the above suggestion is that you have a pool of people who can pick up work when someone leaves the team.  You don't have to halt a project at 0.83 of MAME because someone grew tired.  Another advantage is that MAMEdevs might take a group of developers more seriously if they looked like a cohesive team with some direction.  As individuals, we just look to them like a bunch of whiners that want to play games without contributing.

edit spelling.

Kremmit:

--- Quote from: RobotronNut on January 31, 2006, 01:23:07 pm ---
a "second best" approach would be to roll as many derivative builds as we can into one, so the on-going maintenance doesn't need to be duplicated by many different people.


--- End quote ---

I think that's more or less what TheGatesOfBill did with NoNameMAME.  I believe it got to be too much work, collecting all the different code variations every single time a new MAME version came out and then re-compiling them.

I'd love to see a BYOAC-MAME build, with all the controller inputs fixed- are Howard's input fixes available anywhere?  But who's going to do it?

It might be easier to establish a .dif file library, making it easier for people to pick and choose the features they want in a roll-your-own compile. 

Minwah:

--- Quote from: Dav on January 31, 2006, 12:43:18 pm ---It's really very simple and has been discussed many times over the years.  If the inputs in the official version were changed to work with arcade machines devs would no longer be able to test or fix the games. 

--- End quote ---

I'm sure you are right...but at the same time that argument is bull.  Making MAME work with original hardware (as it should by their accuracy and 'its not for playing games' goal) does not mean it will not work with normal PC hardware.  For most parts our arcade controls are only interfaced as keys, mice and joysticks anyway...controls which everyone has.


--- Quote ---That's what derivative builds are for.

--- End quote ---

Why should this be in derivative builds?  IMO the poor handling of controls is in direct violation of the goals the MAMEdev have set themselves.


--- Quote ---And just so you know most people do not consider this a problem.

--- End quote ---

Most people do not consider it a problem as they want to play the games and couldn't care less about how the original hardware worked.  Which is exactly my point.

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