Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

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jimmystones
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Ouch, bad luck! That is indeed the correct way to reset it though.

To be honest I can probably add some protection against that in the future - I've got some plans working towards the eventual possibility of autosave that involve checking whether the high scores have changed, and that would allow me to stop saves if the scores are invalid.

Also worth investigating a backup script of some kind if you haven't already - I made one to back up all my saves and nvrams to a file share in Azure every time my MiSTer boots.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by alanswx »

relax wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:53 pm so i accidently saved while an arcade core was booting (galaga) and before it finished booting i had a feeling that i knew what was going to happen next and it did lol garbage in all the high scores. so i deleted the /media/fat/config/nvram/Galaga.nvm? and it seems to be ok now. is this the right way to reset this?
Deleting the file is a simple way to fix it. Does "reset settings" also delete the file?
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by relax »

alanswx wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 1:45 pm
relax wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:53 pm so i accidently saved while an arcade core was booting (galaga) and before it finished booting i had a feeling that i knew what was going to happen next and it did lol garbage in all the high scores. so i deleted the /media/fat/config/nvram/Galaga.nvm? and it seems to be ok now. is this the right way to reset this?
Deleting the file is a simple way to fix it. Does "reset settings" also delete the file?
no, i just tried that, and the high score remains.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

It's finally done :D Rally-X + New Rally-X now have high score and pause...

One of the simplest high score entries (8 whole bytes!) turned out to be the most difficult to implement so far, thanks to some very delicate VRAM!

Thanks go to Reg for providing some nice big high score dumps to test against, as there was no way I could beat the New Rally-X high score without a lot more practice!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by Reg »

Many thanks for all your work on this game - now I don't have to take pics of the scores and can just continue to challenge myself on this brilliant little game.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by hiddenbyleaves »

Brilliant!!!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Time Pilot '84 just landed (ahem) with high score save/load and pause :)

Just waiting for a PR to be approved for the next lot as well (Snap Jack, Dorodon and Cosmic Avenger)!

Any more requests for the pile?
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by mhartman »

Pause for Pac-man would be cool if you’re taking requests. Thanks for all of your hard work!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by Zeosstud »

Agreed
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by netbeui »

Sorry but I can't remember - do we need to manually go through the save option in the menu for it to save high scores? Or will the cores automatically save them?
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

It's manual still for now I'm afraid - hit Save Settings to save your scores
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

mhartman wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:54 pm Pause for Pac-man would be cool if you’re taking requests. Thanks for all of your hard work!
I'm halfway done on that already as it happens - just so many games to test on that core every time it gets an update!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Lady Bug merge is complete, so now Snap Jack, Dorodon and Cosmic Avenger all have highscore save/load and pause
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

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jimmystones wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:14 am Any more requests for the pile?
Bubble Bobble would be nice if possible please - that's a game I used to do well on the Amiga, just tried it on the Arcade core and it resets to 30,000 points upon a reboot after a save, so don't think that one is done.

Thank you. :)
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by Newsdee »

I second Bubble Bobble...
I didn't expect I would, but now I miss not having high scores in arcade cores :)
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by LamerDeluxe »

mhartman wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:54 pm Pause for Pac-man would be cool if you’re taking requests. Thanks for all of your hard work!
In the mean time, here's an interesting Pac-Man pause trick, with a cool explanation of the ghost AI
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by hiddenbyleaves »

Bubble Bobble!!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Pacman pause update has been released, so no need for complex tricks :)

(that covers Pac-Man, Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Birdiy, Crush Roller, Dream Shopper, Eeekk!, Eggor, Eyes, Gorkans, Jump Shot, Lizard Wizard, Mr. TNT, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Club, Pac-Man Plus, Pac Manic Miner Man, Ponpoko, Super Glob, Van-Van Car, and Woodpecker)
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Reg wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:27 pm
Bubble Bobble would be nice if possible please - that's a game I used to do well on the Amiga, just tried it on the Arcade core and it resets to 30,000 points upon a reboot after a save, so don't think that one is done.

Thank you. :)
Unfortunately Bubble Bobble is a Jotego core, and getting high score support into those is a job for the man himself, at least for now. I've been in discussions with him about it and he has a plan, but I don't think it is a priority at the moment.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by LamerDeluxe »

jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:47 am Pacman pause update has been released, so no need for complex tricks :)

(that covers Pac-Man, Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Birdiy, Crush Roller, Dream Shopper, Eeekk!, Eggor, Eyes, Gorkans, Jump Shot, Lizard Wizard, Mr. TNT, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Club, Pac-Man Plus, Pac Manic Miner Man, Ponpoko, Super Glob, Van-Van Car, and Woodpecker)
Wow, that was super fast!
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

LamerDeluxe wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:12 am Wow, that was super fast!
I'll be honest I'd already done the work when it was suggested, just had to load up and test all the games one by one and not get distracted playing them! I had a really good game of Ms. Pacman, otherwise it would have been even quicker :lol:
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by LamerDeluxe »

jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:58 am
LamerDeluxe wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:12 am Wow, that was super fast!
I'll be honest I'd already done the work when it was suggested, just had to load up and test all the games one by one and not get distracted playing them! I had a really good game of Ms. Pacman, otherwise it would have been even quicker :lol:
Hahaha, fantastic, combining the useful with the fun. You're on a roll, much appreciated.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by Reg »

jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:50 am
Reg wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:27 pm
Bubble Bobble would be nice if possible please - that's a game I used to do well on the Amiga, just tried it on the Arcade core and it resets to 30,000 points upon a reboot after a save, so don't think that one is done.

Thank you. :)
Unfortunately Bubble Bobble is a Jotego core, and getting high score support into those is a job for the man himself, at least for now. I've been in discussions with him about it and he has a plan, but I don't think it is a priority at the moment.
No worries - but thank you for all that you have done. :)
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by mhartman »

jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:47 am Pacman pause update has been released, so no need for complex tricks :)

(that covers Pac-Man, Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Birdiy, Crush Roller, Dream Shopper, Eeekk!, Eggor, Eyes, Gorkans, Jump Shot, Lizard Wizard, Mr. TNT, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Club, Pac-Man Plus, Pac Manic Miner Man, Ponpoko, Super Glob, Van-Van Car, and Woodpecker)
Thank you for your hard work!!For some reason I’m getting this now (H and HS 1s place move ). Any ideas?
D85F6986-1053-40F0-9DEA-13454C44135A.jpeg
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by netbeui »

mhartman wrote: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:02 am
jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:47 am Pacman pause update has been released, so no need for complex tricks :)

(that covers Pac-Man, Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Birdiy, Crush Roller, Dream Shopper, Eeekk!, Eggor, Eyes, Gorkans, Jump Shot, Lizard Wizard, Mr. TNT, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Club, Pac-Man Plus, Pac Manic Miner Man, Ponpoko, Super Glob, Van-Van Car, and Woodpecker)
Thank you for your hard work!!For some reason I’m getting this now (H and HS 1s place move ). Any ideas?

D85F6986-1053-40F0-9DEA-13454C44135A.jpeg
I was getting that in Ms. Pac-man, I deleted the nvram file and that fixed it
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by mhartman »

netbeui wrote: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:05 am
mhartman wrote: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:02 am
jimmystones wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:47 am Pacman pause update has been released, so no need for complex tricks :)

(that covers Pac-Man, Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Birdiy, Crush Roller, Dream Shopper, Eeekk!, Eggor, Eyes, Gorkans, Jump Shot, Lizard Wizard, Mr. TNT, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Club, Pac-Man Plus, Pac Manic Miner Man, Ponpoko, Super Glob, Van-Van Car, and Woodpecker)
Thank you for your hard work!!For some reason I’m getting this now (H and HS 1s place move ). Any ideas?

D85F6986-1053-40F0-9DEA-13454C44135A.jpeg
I was getting that in Ms. Pac-man, I deleted the nvram file and that fixed it
Cool. Thank you. I was wondering if that might be the case. The HS is from before the new version.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by jimmystones »

Ah, looks like the high score metadata was wrong in the old version. I refreshed it all automatically and looking at the MRAs the length of the nvram dump increased by 1 byte for the Pacman games...

If anyone is desperate to get their nvram fixed then send it over and i can probably repair it...but it's probably more fun just to delete it and go for an even higher score right :D
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by bigfoot53 »

This is awesome, will this work with the berzerk / frenzy cores ?
If so how do i get it working ?

Thanks

Bruce
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by killersquirel »

bigfoot53 wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:57 pm This is awesome, will this work with the berzerk / frenzy cores ?
If so how do i get it working ?

Thanks

Bruce
The high score saving does work on the Berserk / Frenzy core. What you need to do is after you get the high score go to the OSD and save your core settings. This is how you save all of the arcade high score settings.
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Re: Preserving Arcade Core High Scores

Unread post by bigfoot53 »

Thanks for the information .
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