synbiosfan
Enthusiast
Cab owners will need some long arms to hold the 1p while powering on 
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Not for dedicated Neos - the power switch is just below the P1 start buttonCab owners will need some long arms to hold the 1p while powering on
Besides, I'd think it'd really be holding the button during booting, meaning that as long as you're holing it at the Neo splash screen, it'd probably be fine.
SmokeMonster
Champion
I really like the sound of that. Could a jumper or menu option be added to disable the last game booting as well? I'd love to have mine boot straight to a menu.
synbiosfan
Enthusiast
I'm hoping holding down 1p for say 5 seconds at anytime will bring up the menu.Not for dedicated Neos - the power switch is just below the P1 start buttonCab owners will need some long arms to hold the 1p while powering on
I've never seen a dedicated Neo irl. Placing the power switch where the general public has easy access seems questionable. I got thrown out of an arcade for reaching back and cutting the power cause an asshole was hogging Ghouls and Ghosts. The owner let me back in after the asshole left. It was more to placate the asshole for my dick move.
PS since I wasn't calling someone here an asshole or dick, I'm assuming, in this context, it isn't too offensive.
You're grounded.
synbiosfan
Enthusiast
No, no! There's a kegger at Waldo's this weekend. It's hard enough finding him normally! I's gots to go.
Well, it's under the control panel inside the cab, but easily accessible from the front while holding the start button. Just lift the CP a bit, hold the button and flip the switch. But I agree, holding for X seconds is preferable or at least a good alternative and would be nice to have as a way to get back to the menu while in game.I'm hoping holding down 1p for say 5 seconds at anytime will bring up the menu.Not for dedicated Neos - the power switch is just below the P1 start buttonCab owners will need some long arms to hold the 1p while powering on
I've never seen a dedicated Neo irl. Placing the power switch where the general public has easy access seems questionable.
I don't drink alcohol so no sympathy. You get more grounding time just for the suggestion.
hmm the power on and holding 1PL start could be an issue depending on the cab type.
Probably best if it just boots up to the last game as-is. then you hold 1PL start for 5 seconds if you want the menu.
A jumper option could be added if you want to make it boot straight to the menu always.
when in-game, holding 1PL start will quit and go back to the menu.
For the outer case, I think to save on costs the buyer should provide the cart case. There are a billion shit carts out for that can be bought for $5. It wouldn't be possible to make a case for less than $25-$50 and then it would need to be a run of several thousand.
Probably best if it just boots up to the last game as-is. then you hold 1PL start for 5 seconds if you want the menu.
A jumper option could be added if you want to make it boot straight to the menu always.
when in-game, holding 1PL start will quit and go back to the menu.
For the outer case, I think to save on costs the buyer should provide the cart case. There are a billion shit carts out for that can be bought for $5. It wouldn't be possible to make a case for less than $25-$50 and then it would need to be a run of several thousand.
darksofter
Enthusiast
I apologize right upfront because I have no idea how this multicart design works. My understanding so far is that the members currently are discussing whether there should be an LCD built externally or whether there should be an onscreen interface such as the 161 in 1 multi carts to load the games. I don't know whether this is important right now but I think wouldn't it be more of a breakthrough to know whether one could load roms from an SD or any other Media Storage device to the card to play the games? Then one could talk about the details how one should select the games. Again please don't bash me, I am very curious about this project.
Ii believe that using an SD card for game storage had already been decided.
Currently, the idea is that there will be MVS and AES versions, games will be stored on the SD card and then flashed to memory to trick the console into thinking that it's playing the game unless a specific button press is implemented at bootup, taking the user back to the game selection menu.
BIOS will be loaded from the SD card each time, making updates in the software as easy as unzipping the new BIOS in the root directory of the card.
It seems that an LCD won't be part of the design, which I can't complain about.
I think that's really all that's been talked about.
Currently, the idea is that there will be MVS and AES versions, games will be stored on the SD card and then flashed to memory to trick the console into thinking that it's playing the game unless a specific button press is implemented at bootup, taking the user back to the game selection menu.
BIOS will be loaded from the SD card each time, making updates in the software as easy as unzipping the new BIOS in the root directory of the card.
It seems that an LCD won't be part of the design, which I can't complain about.
I think that's really all that's been talked about.
This hasn't been decided, only suggested. It would certainly be a departure from the previous projects.
Sorry for my presumption. Darksoft just seemed pretty on-board as far as that idea went, and I made an assumption, mea culpa. Upshot is that all the ideas are still just ideas - no implementation as of yet. Dare I say, 'subject to change'?
For the record before anyone makes any comparisons, this is exactly how many of the Everdrives used to work, and several still do (I believe). The main difference as far as the consumer is concerned? The Everdrives that do it this way are cheaper than the ones with 'instant loading'.
I think if its fast enough then its a decent idea. But if we can update the bios with a file on the sd card that's good also.
Hi,
I've just read the whole thread and had some ideas about Highscore and Softdips saving possibility for each game:
As we all know, they are currently saved on mainboard's SRAM for the last played 8 games. This SRAM can be programmatically read and written from software running from the cartridge slot. A function should be added to the menu software (yes, I think a menu is definitively needed for this project) to save the name or NGH number of the selected game to a text file on the SD card (i.e. lastplayed.txt) just after it ends transferring the roms to the flash chips. Another function should be executed right when entering the menu looking for this file, and if it exists, reading the SRAM and saving the info for this game (if it's there) to a NGHXXXX.cfg file on a folder into SD. Lastly, the flash writing routine should also look for the selected game cfg file into this folder and write it back to motherboard's SRAM if it exists.
Also, a configuration section could be added to the menu, so options people have talked like booting straight to the last played game, or showing only favorite games on the list can be saved to another cfg file read at every boot of the cart.
Oh, and yes, I'm in for one too!!!
I've just read the whole thread and had some ideas about Highscore and Softdips saving possibility for each game:
As we all know, they are currently saved on mainboard's SRAM for the last played 8 games. This SRAM can be programmatically read and written from software running from the cartridge slot. A function should be added to the menu software (yes, I think a menu is definitively needed for this project) to save the name or NGH number of the selected game to a text file on the SD card (i.e. lastplayed.txt) just after it ends transferring the roms to the flash chips. Another function should be executed right when entering the menu looking for this file, and if it exists, reading the SRAM and saving the info for this game (if it's there) to a NGHXXXX.cfg file on a folder into SD. Lastly, the flash writing routine should also look for the selected game cfg file into this folder and write it back to motherboard's SRAM if it exists.
Also, a configuration section could be added to the menu, so options people have talked like booting straight to the last played game, or showing only favorite games on the list can be saved to another cfg file read at every boot of the cart.
Oh, and yes, I'm in for one too!!!
When I startet working with microcontrollers and arduinos I also bought a gameduino.. I really liked the concept of the Atmega doing all the brain-work and the display being driven by a chip that exclusively handles graphics, audio and touch-controls...
A menu on your TV-screen coming from the console requires a homebrew-coder and extensive knowledge of how the logic for game-selection is implemented in the cart-design.
Let's just pretend there is no one willing to code such a menu... and of course everyone demands an easy game-selection-feature that doesn't require a bulky cable and LCD hanging from your AES-Home-Console because the stylish simple look of the system is what it defined.
Well - why not build a menu with a touch-screen integrated into the cart using a solution like the FT800 chip...
It is very well documented, available, affordable and lat but not least it is customizable in any way - no need for buttons at all, just make menus and control it with a fingertip.
It has very good graphical capabilities, so loading ARTWORK from the SD wouldn't be a problem at all, imagine that after a game is loaded the display shows the correct label on the screen, wouldn't that be gorgeous
Some links for researching:
A menu on your TV-screen coming from the console requires a homebrew-coder and extensive knowledge of how the logic for game-selection is implemented in the cart-design.
Let's just pretend there is no one willing to code such a menu... and of course everyone demands an easy game-selection-feature that doesn't require a bulky cable and LCD hanging from your AES-Home-Console because the stylish simple look of the system is what it defined.
Well - why not build a menu with a touch-screen integrated into the cart using a solution like the FT800 chip...
It is very well documented, available, affordable and lat but not least it is customizable in any way - no need for buttons at all, just make menus and control it with a fingertip.
It has very good graphical capabilities, so loading ARTWORK from the SD wouldn't be a problem at all, imagine that after a game is loaded the display shows the correct label on the screen, wouldn't that be gorgeous
Some links for researching:
- Datasheet, Code Examples etc:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/ICs/FT800.html - Gameduino2 DEMOs, see what these chips can do while the microcontroller can do other stuff or sleep!
http://excamera.com/sphinx/gameduino2/
That's not a bad option per se, but there are some concerns. It might still be somewhat inconvenient as an AES owner to have to walk over to the console anytime you want to change the game, and moreso MVS because it would be cumbersome to fiddle with a small touchscreen inside of an arcade cabinet. Additionally the small size of the screen may make it difficult to read for those without 20/20 peepers.
There's also the possibility of touch screens failing or cracking, or the alignment going wacky, which would leave you with a non-functional piece of hardware.
Beyond that, I like the idea of having it show the game that you're playing when you play it as if it were a pretend label, and its also preferable to have it baked in rather than having a cable and separate device for the reasons you stated.
Personally, I'd say this would be option 2 with an in-game menu as option 1.
There's also the possibility of touch screens failing or cracking, or the alignment going wacky, which would leave you with a non-functional piece of hardware.
Beyond that, I like the idea of having it show the game that you're playing when you play it as if it were a pretend label, and its also preferable to have it baked in rather than having a cable and separate device for the reasons you stated.
Personally, I'd say this would be option 2 with an in-game menu as option 1.
yes... but IF a software-based-menu is not an option then you would have to walk over to the console anyways
The concept of using a screen does have some flaws as you stated, but if mounted and handled with care I still believe it's not a bad way to deal with it...
I have this:
http://www.hotmcu.com/5-graphical-lcd-touchscreen-480x272-spi-ft800-p-124.html?cPath=6_16
and I'd happily donate it for research if @Darksoft would consider playing around with it...
Screens are exchangable, I think even a PSP-display would work.
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