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twistedsymphony

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Obviously there are some important issues that need to be worked out, but once those are resolved I have some suggestions for improvements I'd like to see to the MultiMVS The top of this list is what I consider the most important changes with the less important changes near the bottom.

1. Add ability to disable slot change/return to menu shortcuts while in-game (so that the only way you can change slots or go to menu is to reboot and use the launch menu). it'd be nice if these could be disabled independently... so allow slot change but dis-allow return to menu. I suggest this because without this feature the cart can't really be safely installed in a public or semi-public location. I regularly have parties often with children and some guests have a uncanny ability to accidentally find the shortcut to enter system menus and muck up the settings. Without this ability my MultiMVS wont be making an appearance at any these events, and I can't imaging any arcade owner would want to install one without this ability either.

2. On initial boot add ability to disable the intro animation so we get to the menu faster. The MultiMVS's key feature during development was it's speed. watching the animation on first boot is cool the first couple of times but after that it just seems like it's wasting time and making the cart slower than it needs to be.


3. Remove the 5-second to reboot count-down after loading games (if this isn't necessary just reboot already) again, we're already sitting here waiting for the games to load... why make us wait another 5 seconds on top of that?


4. On the boot/slot selection menu, add ability to select your slot or menu while the POW is walking off screen. still have him walk off screen but at least give us the ability to select an option after the countdown but before the reboot.


4. Games list should display (and be sorted by) game name, not ROM folder name. Personally, I think it really detracts from the menu to see the ROM folders listed instead of the full game name. the ROM folders should be irrelevant to the user experience once the SD card is loaded. I can see the merit of displaying the folder name in the additional info at the bottom of the screen, but the game list should be the full game names


5. Add game genre to info box on the bottom, and add genre to filtering options. I often sort my games by genre, if I'm looking for a puzzle game or a SHMUP or a fighting game, or a run and gun It'd be nice to see a short list with just games in a particularly type.

6. Add ability to customize the game name or genre for each ROM. I'd love to be able to drop a text file in each ROM folder where the first line of the text file is the game name as it's displayed on the game list, and the second line of the text file is the game genre. This would allow people to specify the game by the name that makes the most sense to them, especially useful for those games where they have different names in different regions and people prefer one over the other, or if people want KOF games sorted by "King of Fighters" or by "The King of Fighters". And for genres, people have differing opinions on this and some people like to break down into more discrete genres. For instance someone might just want "SHMUP" but others might want two separate genres for "vertical scrolling SHMUP " and "horizontal scrolling SHMUP".
 
All solid points here. My cart is still in the mail but all of these make sense to add once the important bugs are ironed out.
 
@twistedsymphony nice points.

#1 is already implemented. Try changing slots in any game and you'll see. Also about not allowing to enter the menu, if you choose the option boot to "GAME" as oppossed to "MENU" it will try to enter the menu when you call it, but it will inmediately quick, unless you keep 1P START pressed all the time.

The other points are solid and we'll put them in our list.
 
if you choose the option boot to "GAME" as oppossed to "MENU" it will try to enter the menu when you call it, but it will inmediately quick, unless you keep 1P START pressed all the time.
I'm aware of that function, but I'd like to disable that functionality as well. I want it to run like it's a normal cart with no reaction to any shortcut, even if the user knows the shortcut/knows to hold down start.
 
On a cold boot the ddr memory has to be loaded so you still have to wait depending of how many games you have loaded on the slots.
I guess you mean completely disabling calling menu and change slot while in game, right?
 
We were talking about the same then :) I edited my post to make it more clear.
 
Maybe add a option in the menu to access the system's menu without holding down bcd on start up.

With a unibios it's easy to do a soft reset.

Having access through the cart's menu would be a nice addition. Most of my issues have been remedied by clearing the ram.
 
So far all going great.

The only thing i would change are:-

When boot into game menu , A button boots into 1 slot, B button into 2 slot, C button into 3. 1p start into menu

When in game:-
Up & start should go up to menu
Right & start should swaps to game to right side
Left £ start should swaps to game in next slot to left

I don't mind logo or tune booting up first but getting to boot to ANY slot after logo would be a bouns.
 
When boot into game menu , A button boots into 1 slot, B button into 2 slot, C button into 3. 1p start into menu
It does this already. Have you tried? You just hold the button down until you see the cart reboot.


When in game:-
Up & start should go up to menu
Right & start should swaps to game to right side
Left £ start should swaps to game in next slot to left
I like this idea actually though I don't mind the current operation since it mimics how the slots change on a MVS cabinet. I did notice there is a button to swap to previous game on some MVS pcbs that were never used in cabs.
 
When boot into game menu , A button boots into 1 slot, B button into 2 slot, C button into 3. 1p start into menu
It does this already. Have you tried? You just hold the button down until you see the cart reboot.

When in game:-
Up & start should go up to menu
Right & start should swaps to game to right side
Left £ start should swaps to game in next slot to left
I like this idea actually though I don't mind the current operation since it mimics how the slots change on a MVS cabinet. I did notice there is a button to swap to previous game on some MVS pcbs that were never used in cabs.
I only knew about quick game boot ( P1 start ) when it shows the three games and slots screen.
I still haven't read paperwork on how to use cart, just found " up & P1 " for next game and " right & P1 " To jump to menu.
Played over 12 games ( 5 hours play ) so far only spent about 10 mins total in menu.

Would love the first level rave track from Viewpoint or Zedblade on cart menu.
 
Ah, holding A, B, or C to boot into a slot only works from the screen showing the three games with the POW walking around.

Maybe you are suggesting to do it from the game load screen?
 
Ah, holding A, B, or C to boot into a slot only works from the screen showing the three games with the POW walking around.

Maybe you are suggesting to do it from the game load screen?
Thats the one, just three games listed on screen. A perfect jump to any game screen.
 
With the direct boot to "game" option and the quick load game with the "start" button I am pretty happy with how the cart works.

The main feature I would like to request is the ability to turn off in game buttoncombos. Reset back to menu and switching slots.

Reason: it changes what you can do in the game so it basically is a hack. Yes. I said it. So hit me. 8)


Maybe use a file semaphore on the SD card? If it exists in game button combos are disabled. If it doesnt it works as it does now?

Also what would be nice is a bit better movement in the game list. Right now its a bit sluggish/jerky. But it works and is usable so not that big of a priority.
 
Reason: it changes what you can do in the game so it basically is a hack
The game is not changed at all. The FPGA on the cart is sniffing for the button combination. The is no game data altered at all.
 
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