MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

[venice]

Litte Text/Geo Demo:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/venic ... xt_Demo.sh

More Geo effects
https://github.com/venice1200/MiSTer_tt ... EO_Demo.sh

[MrKai]

Hi. I made a mod to this to work with my Pixelcade marquee...thanks for making this!

[rhester72]

Quick stupid question - any chance Pier Solar can be special-cased somehow? What I'm thinking is that as you're loading up the MegaCD ISO into the temp directory, _always_ copy a neighboring cart.rom (if it exists at all)...if it isn't needed, it'll be ignored.

[Mellified]

Quick stupid question - any chance Pier Solar can be special-cased somehow? What I'm thinking is that as you're loading up the MegaCD ISO into the temp directory, _always_ copy a neighboring cart.rom (if it exists at all)...if it isn't needed, it'll be ignored.

I don't think so unfortunately. The tool we use to load the games - mbc by pocomane - doesn't know anything about dual media games.

[Mellified]

Hi. I made a mod to this to work with my Pixelcade marquee...thanks for making this!

I don't have one to test, but if you submit a PR to our Github we may be able to release it.

[Captain FPGA]

Is there a way to get PC Engine CD games to autostart? It runs decent on every other platform including Arcade, cart-based consoles, and Sega CD. However every time I get to the NEC CD I get the boot screen with a prompt to press start. I checked all over the menus but couldn't find the auto launch function. Sure, if I press start manually the games load but that defeats the point of SAM.

[rhester72]

@Captain FPGA if you use the update all script, check your /media/fat/BIOS/TurboGrafx16 folder...you'll find some autoboot versions in there that can replace your normal cd_bios.rom.

[Captain FPGA]

@Captain FPGA if you use the update all script, check your /media/fat/BIOS/TurboGrafx16 folder...you'll find some autoboot versions in there that can replace your normal cd_bios.rom.

Worked like a charm!

[ANARCHY_MIKE]

When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?

[Captain FPGA]

When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?

Have you tried update all? Make sure the roms are in the proper games folder along with neo geo bios. Should be 3 files.

[ANARCHY_MIKE]

When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?

Have you tried update all? Make sure the roms are in the proper games folder along with neo geo bios. Should be 3 files.

Yep, I did.

This is basically what my folder looks like in fat\games\NeoGeo

EcV8Fpj.png (65.44 KiB) Viewed 12598 times

The ROMs are in their individual folders.

Each folder has the files like so

ZM3Sxcr.png (3.8 KiB) Viewed 12598 times

[Mellified]

NeoGeo is unfortunately picky. I can't get it working at all via CIFS for example. There is a pre-made pack out there that works for most people though.

[Sigismond0]

Small feature request--currently, it looks like the script only supports RBF files in the _Consoles directory. So any of us who keep RBFs in the root or custom folders can't use this. It'd be nice if there was a place to specify the RBF location in the ini file, just like you can with the games directory.

Examples:

gbarbfpath="/media/fat/Portables"
megacdrbfpath="/media/fat/games/CD"
nesrbfpath="/media/fat"

Otherwise I'm loving it. Thanks for the hard work! Neo Geo isn't working at all for me, which seems relatively common. I believe I'm on the same romset as the other commenter who provided screenshots. Can't get TGFX-CD or Sega CD to work either. For all three it just errors out and says there are no ROMs in the directory, despite being in the correct default location and working just fine when loaded manually.

[Mellified]

Small feature request--currently, it looks like the script only supports RBF files in the _Consoles directory. So any of us who keep RBFs in the root or custom folders can't use this. It'd be nice if there was a place to specify the RBF location in the ini file, just like you can with the games directory.

This is unlikely to be added. We consider the layout used by update_all to be standard.

Otherwise I'm loving it. Thanks for the hard work! Neo Geo isn't working at all for me, which seems relatively common. I believe I'm on the same romset as the other commenter who provided screenshots. Can't get TGFX-CD or Sega CD to work either. For all three it just errors out and says there are no ROMs in the directory, despite being in the correct default location and working just fine when loaded manually.

Only CHD format for the TGFX-CD and Sega CD is supported.

[Sigismond0]

Ahh yeah, I'm on cue/bin for the CD systems, so that explains it. Out of curiosity, is it a technical limitation with what MiSTer allows you to load up through the backend, or just something that would be needlessly difficult to implement? I assume a similar situation for NeoGeo .neo vs the recommended Darksoft format?

Bummer about the directories, especially since the update_all lets you set custom directories other than the default. But as is, 99% probably don't care, and I can't fault anyone for not catering to niche users--especially on free software!

Anyway, keep up the great work! I've left it running in the background all day while I worked, and it's a real treat.

[Mellified]

Super Attract Mode uses a third party tool to copy the selected ROM to a known location, then uses emulated keystrokes to select that ROM. It's a huge kludge because MiSTer lacks a standard method for telling a core to load a ROM. You can check out the tool we use here:
https://github.com/pocomane/MiSTer_Batch_Control

[Duffygag]

In two hours I have seen the same game I think 10 times, that randomizer needs to be changed

Also for Snes core loads up opens to load rom and remain stuck until following cycle

[Sigismond0]

Yep, I did.

This is basically what my folder looks like in fat\games\NeoGeo
EcV8Fpj.png
The ROMs are in their individual folders.

Each folder has the files like so
ZM3Sxcr.png

NeoGeo also failed for me, and I had the same setup as you. But after switching from the Darksoft format to .neo format, it works just fine. I assume this is the same limitation as why you need CHD disc games instead of bin/cue. You can just run the NeoBuilderUI tool on your current romset, or find one already in the TerraOnion format.

[ash2fpga]

In two hours I have seen the same game I think 10 times, that randomizer needs to be changed

Also for Snes core loads up opens to load rom and remain stuck until following cycle

One "weird trick" I have been able to use to get "better" (more deviating) initial RNG results, in Lua script at least, was to iterate the RNG, say, 100 times, during initialization. Not sure if anything like that would help here.

[Reg]

Mellified, thank you for this screen saver mode - finally got it running.

May I ask for a new option or at least info on what to change please for my screen. The current view is this...

Current View.png (1.54 MiB) Viewed 13514 times

As shown, the display on m7 case is actually setback a littler behind the bezel, this is fine and down to me - outside of the bezel the view is fine.

Could we please change the view to something like this ( by a manual adjustment of the code or a swithable option )...

NewView.png (1.53 MiB) Viewed 13514 times

This means that when you're sat near the MiSTer you can see the system that it's on as well by dropping that to the bottom.

Also...

...is there any chance of making it log to a text file what games it loads in attact mode ?

The purpose of this would be for those that don't have the screen or miss the title of the screen when it shows up a new game that looks interesting what the file name was, system and perhaps time and date it showed ?

Thank you !

[Mellified]

In two hours I have seen the same game I think 10 times, that randomizer needs to be changed

That can happen for a few reasons.

1. Make sure you're using the latest version - SAM will self update if you run "MiSTer_SAM_on.sh" and let it go. We added code in the last major release to improve randomization and try to account for different ROM setups. SAM was picking from the first ZIP in the directory in some cases, which might be one game ZIPped. We added logic to look for the biggest ZIP.

2. Check to see if you have a leftover MBC file in the directory for that core. If you do - delete it. That's a temp copy used during the loading process. If the MiSTer can't overwrite it for some reason then you get the same game for that core every time.

3. Are you using ZIPped ROMs? A single ZIP or multiple? The code has to go through different pathways depending on each scenario, so I'd like to understand your ROM layout and track down the issue.

Also for Snes core loads up opens to load rom and remain stuck until following cycle

It shouldn't. I assume SNES loads fine from elsewhere? If you run this command from ssh it may give you more information:

Code: Select all

/media/fat/Scripts/MiSTer_SAM_on.sh snes next

This will load a single SNES ROM and quit. The output would be helpful to diagnose further.

One "weird trick" I have been able to use to get "better" (more deviating) initial RNG results, in Lua script at least, was to iterate the RNG, say, 100 times, during initialization. Not sure if anything like that would help here.

Last update changed the code to use /dev/urandom in Linux as the source of entropy. That should be well initialized by MiSTer's Linux.

May I ask for a new option or at least info on what to change please for my screen. The current view is this...

You can always ask! I was intentionally trying to use the whole screen, so I'm not sure the best way to handle this. Do you want text to use less of the display so it's easier to see with the bezel? Or is flipping the system and game names around sufficient? venice added a bunch of new graphical commands to tty2oled. I intend to explore these to do some fun visual effects when switching games so I'll likely incorporate this into that effort.

...is there any chance of making it log to a text file what games it loads in attact mode ?

This already exists at /tmp/SAM_Games.log. The current system and game is in SAM_Game.txt as well - useful for streamers.

EDIT to add: the /tmp directory is cleared on a "cold reboot". Your best bet is to access the log via ssh while SAM is running.

[Reg]

Many thanks for your quick reply and the location of that log, that's perfect.

With regards to the screen -flipping the system and games names around would be perfect. Thank you.

[Duffygag]

Thanks Mellified I think you are onto something in regards to the zip size... (Sam is latest version for sure also deleted everything and reinstalled)

I will follow your instructions as soon as I can give it some time and will report back, thanks for the moment

[Mellified]

Thanks Mellified I think you are onto something in regards to the zip size... (Sam is latest version for sure also deleted everything and reinstalled)

I will follow your instructions as soon as I can give it some time and will report back, thanks for the moment

SAM has no way to know which ZIP is the "good" one. We try to support as many configurations as we can - there seem to be almost as many as there are MiSTers though!

Worst case, you can change SAM's INI to point to a sub-folder and put just the games you want to cycle in there. Generally a single large ZIP works best.

[Duffygag]

So I have tried the Snes command it actually says Skipping to next game... Starting now on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Michael Jordan - Chaos in the Windy City (E) but then it does nothing or it starts the first/second rom in the list or the last one.... Something to do with the name format maybe ?

Edit: Will try with a different romset

[Duffygag]

You it was the romset

[Mellified]

Glad you got it figured out!

[Reg]

Mellified, how easy is it to add new cores in ?

I would like to add for personal use the ZX Spectrum core using .z80 snaps. I pick those as they load straight in without keyboard input.

I know it's not going to be for everybody to do this - but is it just a case of looking at the code and replicating what I see with other cores or is there something else that may need to be considered that is not obvious ?

Many thanks.

[Mellified]

Mellified, how easy is it to add new cores in ?

I would like to add for personal use the ZX Spectrum core using .z80 snaps. I pick those as they load straight in without keyboard input.

I know it's not going to be for everybody to do this - but is it just a case of looking at the code and replicating what I see with other cores or is there something else that may need to be considered that is not obvious ?

Many thanks.

You'd need to see if Pocomane' MBC utility supports it first. Then it should be as simple as adding a few bits to the arrays in SAM that define the core name and extension.
https://github.com/pocomane/MiSTer_Batch_Control

[Reg]

Thank you - I will look.