Яндекс

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Project news. Late Backer Access. WIP screen shots.

Hello,

Some news about the project:

  • Creative part of the development is finished. New GUI works well. FSAA works well.
  • Circa 25 emulation related issues closed since the New Year beta release.
  • Currently I'm working on frame buffer emulation issues. Proper frame/depth buffer emulation is hardest part for graphics plugin with hardware rendering. The work is very tiresome, the progress is slow. I have to reproduce the result of Glide64 which I reached for years of development in much shorter time. Of course, I'm not limited by target hardware as before, but crazy creative ways of working with FB which N64 games use still can drive me mad.

Again I have to state that I very underestimate the complexity of the task I set for that project. Funds run out and I'm afraid that I'll have to release an incomplete product. However, there is a good news: the Late Backer Access is open again. It will not be open for long, as the project can't last forever. If you want to help me to prolong active development for some time and fix remaining issues, you may do it now.

Here few comparison screen shots "before - now". It's from my current frame buffer emulation work in progress.







50 comments:

  1. We all wish you luck.
    I wish you luck mainly for the Android version.

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  2. "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
    —Shigeru Miyamoto

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    1. True that...just look at both Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom. *shudders*
      Only Sonic Boom was patched.
      Where the hell is the patch for Sonic 06,or a re-release with all bugs fixed (including load times,slowdown, and a real-time mission event) and all areas made?

      The only one,or shall I say ones that are still good from being rushed is Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie which were originally meant to be one big game.
      Though both Banjo games suffer with framerate issues from missing optimizations.

      A more realistic one for delays and being good is SSBB. (Brawl)

      I hope Yoshi Story's water graphics get fixed or at least a workaround.
      (Jungle Puddle is an easy example of the issue.)

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    2. Don't forget majoras mask is what it is BECAUSE it was rushed. That was where the storyline came from. Though most rushed software doesn't turn out nearly as well.

      Maybe that's why majoras mask requires 4MB expansion, and added better effects after now having DOUBLE the ram.

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  3. >> I hope Yoshi Story's water graphics get fixed or at least a workaround.
    (Jungle Puddle is an easy example of the issue.)

    Do you have a savestate from that level?

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    1. Yoshi Story's water graphics in Jungle Puddle level:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D28D9saa_5c

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    2. YAY! Yoshi Story was the first N64 game I had.
      Extreme hope for that graphic to work on Android as well.

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  4. Frankly, my dear, I couldn't care less on how long the plugin would take. After all, I would much rather have a late plugin than an incomplete plugin. Besides, I have expectations/predictions in which GLideN64 is going to be a new standard in that mess that is the current Nintendo- 64 emulation.

    If you are going to have to rush the plugin, though, I suggest that you finish working against the Pokemon Puzzle League video issues. I say this not because the game is a Pokemon game, but because I believe that the video issues form a very important point of emulation the console. After all, even Nintendo- had to use a workaround in the official Virtual Console re-release! [I would also suggest you fix the camera issue in Pokemon Snap, once again, the issue being more related to crucial emulation issues and less related to Pokemon, but I wonder how much the bug(s) is the fault of video issues.]

    One funny thing:
    You: 'Frame/depth buffering is fricking hard.'
    Me: 'I wonder how much funding he has left, given the point of the Indiegogo.. Would others be able to fund him more?'
    You: 'I ran out of funds, hence why I am opening donations again.'

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    1. Also, the first before-after screenshot had me laugh.

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    2. Frankly, my dear, I can’t understand why you wrote so many words. “I couldn't care less” – who cares? The project funded for purpose. I don’t have time for hobbies. When funds will end the active development from my side will stop. Most of planned features have already implemented. Most of bugs fixed. Not all. You’ll have to wait when somebody with more free time will finish what is not completed by me. As I understand, you don’t mind to wait.

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    3. I had a lot to say. (My comments are usually far longer.)

      More to the point...
      'I don’t have time for hobbies.'
      That was the convincing point to me. I was surprised that you considered this a mere hobby.

      Even so, how are others going to finish what you started? Are you going to release the source?

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    4. > I was surprised that you considered this a mere hobby.
      What did you expected?

      >Are you going to release the source?
      Sure. It is clearly stated in the campaign description.

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    5. I was used to hackers willingly devoting all of their free time to a project, enjoying things all the while. Then again, I also understood that the usually had to juggle jobs with their hacking... or that they were still in school, where they usually had a lot of free time with little additional responsibility. Your depending your livelihood entirely on your Indiegogo funds was a huge surprise to me.

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  5. Hey I donated 25 before and received the new year beta how much will I have to donate again to receive this new version or access to the forum thanks :)

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    Replies
    1. 1. Thanks for your help!
      2. the new year beta is currently the latest monthly beta. The release was planned on Jan-Feb, but it is delayed.
      3. you may add 15 to get access to the forum
      4. weekly (sometimes daily) builds are for 100+ backers.
      5. release candidate will be sent to all 15+ backers (Early release perk)

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  6. With access to the forum am I able to download a newer version or is it just for discussions and announcements ?

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    1. The forum is for for discussions and announcements. New monthly beta is not planned. Release Candidate will be next milestone before public release. You may join to weekly(daily) updates if you want.

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  7. Keep it up man, you're doing excellent work!

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  8. Has there been any progress on getting Body Harvest and\or Pokemon Snap to work - especially in HLE? Body Harvest is the trickier of the two, since it currently has broken physics without pixel accurate LLE plugins.

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    1. AFAIK, no progress. I did not work on these games yet.

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  10. I would donate if you fork mupen64plus with a simple gui without messing with plugins. I just don't want to hassle with the command line app that is now mupen64plus.

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    1. Have you tried m64py for Mupen64plus? That worked well for me.

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    2. 2 problems
      1. How do I transfer saves from project 64
      2. How can I get my Xbox controller to work WITH rumble.

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    3. actually, I can't get the controller working with m64py at all

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    4. Hm the controller thing can be a hit or a miss. I could find you a configuration for your controller that you can add to the InputAutoCfg.ini in the M64py folder. Just first tell me the name of the device as windows reads it. If you're in Windows 7 go to Control Panel- Hardware and Sound- -Device and Printer- and you should see the exact name of the controller. If you tell me that, I'll try to find a configuration that will work in M64py. Don't get your hopes up though with that. I know it should support rumble, I have to find the right configuration first.

      As for saves I found that you can use PJ save states on Mupen if you take the save file from Project 64 and put it in a folder located in Username of your computer, Appdata, roaming, mupen64plus, save. I had not fully tested this method though. The method will work but some games it won't from what I researched. From there, you can make an eep or sra save through the game that the emulator will read, and you can create a mpk file that will be compatible for the emulator. I tried transferring .sra and .eep saves from there, but it didn't work for me. Could be doing something wrong. I even re-named the file to what Mupen would like. See if that will work for you.

      This emulator is just not really user friendly in the first place even though it seems more stable the PJ64 for the most part since it's not perfect either. It's as if it's made for software techies and not for mainstream use or something.

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    5. If you're indeed using an xbox 360 controller then try this. I don't know if rumble will work though. Add this to your InputAutoCfg.ini.After that, make sure in the input option of m64py set mode to "Fully automatic"!

      [Microsoft X-Box 360 pad]
      [Win32: Controller (XBOX 360 For Windows)]
      [Win32: XBOX 360 For Windows (Controller)]
      [Win32: XBOX 360 For Windows]
      [Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver]
      [OSX: Wireless 360 Controller]
      [OSX: Controller]
      [Linux: Xbox Gamepad (userspace driver)]
      plugged = True
      plugin = 2
      mouse = False
      AnalogDeadzone = 4096,4096
      AnalogPeak = 32768,32768
      DPad R = hat(0 Right) button(12)
      DPad L = hat(0 Left) button(11)
      DPad D = hat(0 Down) button(14)
      DPad U = hat(0 Up) button(13)
      Start = button(8)
      Z Trig = button(4)
      B Button = button(2)
      A Button = button(0)
      C Button R = axis(3+)
      C Button L = axis(3-) button(3)
      C Button D = axis(4+) button(1)
      C Button U = axis(4-)
      R Trig = button(5)
      L Trig = axis(2+)
      Mempak switch = button(6)
      Rumblepak switch = button(7)
      X Axis = axis(0-,0+)
      Y Axis = axis(1-,1+)

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    6. Maybe with these complications, you should develop a modified controller plugin that actually works right out of the box with Xbox controllers on windows (most popular combination)
      Right now, I use project 64 glide64 and nrage for controller.

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    7. I do think bundling this video plugin with the controller plugin and a reskined m64py naming the whole thing gliden64 have a subscript "*powered by m64py". That would do this project a lot of good as it could actually compete head on with project 64.

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    9. I can't make a plugin since I'm not a programer. Anyway, the problem here is that they wanted Mupen64plus to be so portable, that they sacrificed easy usability in the processes which is why it's command line based like this is still the 90s or something along with the lack of plugins for it. It would take others who know how to write plugins to make one that would work with it that is more friendly towards controllers. Go ask around on their github about your issue since they would help you better than I did. I was lucky enough to find a controller setup that works with my adapter.

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    10. Posted issue here http://www.emutalk.net/threads/54023-M64Py-Python-frontend-for-Mupen64Plus/page6 as that is the most likely place it would be addressed

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    12. https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-ui-python/issues/42 posted here too. That should get some attention

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    13. I actually tried adding that list to my inputautocfg.ini, but nothing worked

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    14. HOWEVER https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-input-sdl/master/data/InputAutoCfg.ini replacing the default ini in my compiled build did work! :D

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    15. Looks like an updated .ini file. At least you got something to work.

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    16. Just wondering, are you going to make a project64 port of this project?

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    17. >Just wondering, are you going to make a project64 port of this project?

      Screen shots were taken with Project64 emulator. The plugin is compatible with all main emulators for Windows.

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    18. Oh, I thought I remembered reading somewhere that development builds at least were only available for mupen64plus.

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  11. Have you tried m64py for Mupen64plus? That worked well for me.

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  13. I too look forward to an Android port of this. Has that been cancelled or is it still in the cards?

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    1. Android port development will start right after public release of PC version.

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  15. How when the plugin is available for download?

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    1. Public release will be this spring. Dev builds are for supporters.

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