Battletoads

[Toya]

Sergey Dvodnenko:

[AtomicShroom]

Oh fuck yeah!! Go srg320!!

[Captain FPGA]

It's finally happening!

[dcubed]

That is absolutely incredible! The Battletoads arcade hardware is basically all (very complex!) custom chips that aren't used by anything else, and the CPU is a 32bit chip that is a generation ahead of the ones used in the Midway Unit systems and is only used by literally one other arcade game that I am aware of (Revolution X). So all of this work has had to be done from scratch... all for the sake of just this one game! And it already runs this well!? Crazy!

Unbelievably impressive work!

[jca]

Thanks to Sergey.
I tried to build the core but got some errors concerning 2 missing chips: TMS34020 and TMS320C1X.
It did not take me too long to realize they were in other repositories and effectively he has 2 repositories for these 2 chips.
I am learning FPGA but this is somewhat above what I know.
If someone could help me how to proceed I would appreciate and learn something new.
In any case when I looked in the output directory I found that Sergey left the rbf and even a zip containing the rbf.
Here it is but being far from my MISTer I don't make any guarantee.
Ignore the zip: too many FPGA projects and went into the wrong one. Too much excited.

Nether the less I still need some help so I can learn.

[jca]

Back at home and having more time.
I figured out how to build the core, not that difficult.
I have the rom btoads.zip.
Am I missing something? Yes, no mra.
I remember the old times pre-mra when you had to build the rom and load it from the OSD.
Time to try that but with not much expectation as I have no idea of the magical formula to build the rom.
To be able to start the core I placed it in Others.
I started the core and the core asks to load the different parts of the rom and they must be in games/Battletoads.
I unzipped the rom, renamed 3 files (extension changed to bin) and uploaded everything to games/Battletoads, even the parts not asked for, you never know.
btc0-p0.bin
btc0-p1.bin
btc0-s.bin
From the OSD I loaded each of the 3 parts, one at a time and when done pressed the Reset from the OSD.
Yummi: a service screen poped up. Back to the OSD and time to map the controller.
Navigated the menu, ran some diagnostics but no wau to start the game.
Back to the OSD. Not much to see except Service Button set to No. Changed it to Yes et voila.
I hope that this time I posted the right zip.
Don't forget: this is WIP -> no need to report bugs.
Enjoy.

[Aspie]

Tried it jca, works great. Cheers

Is that how cores used to be loaded before mra's?

[PistolsAtDawn]

Very impressive work, Sergey! I can't wait to give this a spin!

[jca]

@ Aspie
Almost: here the rom is send to the core bit by bit which is a good thing for us to be able to use the core but in the pre-mra era you had to build the whole rom in one chunk: unzip the zip and run a provided batch or shell script to get the rom. With Sergey core you act as the mra: you start the core and send the rom to the core, like a mra does (figuratively and not technically exact). This is the reason that you have to load the rom each time you start the core, even if you save settings. Glad you enjoy it but thanks to Sergey who did a very good job.

Edit: in the pre-mra era you had to load the rom only once and Save settings remembered it. There was also a way to add the rom to the rbf.

Edit 2: At the time there was no update script, you had to watch the announcements on the forum for new cores or update to existing cores (arcade, console, computer) download it from the repository and update your MISTer. For arcades you had to also download the batch/shell, find the rom zip yourself, build the rom and update your MISTer. Being totally new to MISTer I just played with computers and consoles before daring to experiment with arcades. My main problem was to find the correct zip: download one, unzip it, run the batch file and get an error, try with another one or several (all with the same name) and try again. I remember of 3 for witch I was unable to find the correct zip, they are burned in my brain as I tried so many times: River Boat, Defender and one of the Pacman series. Luckily user created a web site where you could find them. I forgot his name but he was a life saver for me.
Nowadays you have it easy.

[Aspie]

Thanks for that jca.

I've had my MiSTer about 3 years now and have only been used to using mra's. I agree, it seems a lot easier now

[jca]

I usually check the repository on a daily basis and today there was an update:
TMS34020 Fix PIXBLT instructions.
Arcade Fix mirror addresses for sprite VRAM.

This time I removed Arcade from the name and added the date.
If you installed the previous version just copy the rbf in the same place.

If you did not install the previous version and want to install this one see
viewtopic.php?p=71693#p71693
for instructions.

Thanks to Sergey for this core.

[Captain FPGA]

Followed the instructions as best I could from both Discord test builds and here.

All I keep getting is a jumpy black screen. If it helps I'm trying to load the core off a crt. I couldn't find an error message

Let's see I grabbed the btoads.zip, renamed the corresponding files in it with the aforementioned dot bin names.

Threw the mgl files in _Arcade mras

I had the rbf in Arcade/cores folder at one point. Eventually I placed said file in Others.

Is it my rom, crt or something else? Where did I go wrong?

[jca]

No CRT here so I cannot say.
From MISTer resolution display it says for native mode:
512x224 15.63KHz 60.8 Hz
Can your CRT do it?

[Captain FPGA]

No CRT here so I cannot say.
From MISTer resolution display it says for native mode:
512x224 15.63KHz 60.8 Hz
Does you CRT can do it?

It seems to run every other core and game on the MiSTer. If the res is higher like TMNT which starts at 320x224 at 15.63kHz it will just convert to 640x240 at like 12 kHz...

I assume it handles it, it's supposed to take the signal and down it to wherever is acceptable for my display.

[Captain FPGA]

Figured out how to get it working.

Renamed the 3 files to bin within the btoads dot zip
Placed the mgl file in the arcade folder
Placed the rgf in arcade cores folder
Put the btoads.zip in the games ===> mame

Using this method, I was unable to get the rom to work. So instead, I did placed the 3 bin files in their own folder titled Battletoads. Then I ran the mgl file from the arcade folder, NOW it works! Stompin' time!

I'm writing this just incase someone else has trouble. This method worked for me. Video Game Esoterica also had great instructions but unfortunately his guidance alone didn't get the core to run on my MiSTer. Had to combine his method with terminator2k2s instructions to get the thing to respond. At the end of the day thanks to their input it works! Great work by srg320 couldn't be a prouder patreon of his.

[jca]

But you still have to load the 3 bin files manually.

[Captain FPGA]

But you still have to load the 3 bin files manually.

Here's the weird part, I did not have to load the three bin files manually. I simply booted the game, set my button config, and switch the service button to yes. Worked like a dream!

EDIT: One other thing, I was performing a series of tests to see what's needed and not needed. Simply to see if I could make the set-up less cluttered, more efficient. Apparently, I didn't even need the mame rom. Just the 3 renamed files.

So grab the mgl and rbf, stuck them in their respective folders, finally make a Battletoads folder at the root of your MiSTer's fat directory. Throw the 3 bins in there and profit!

Video of startup below

[jca]

This is really weird.
Could you post your mgl?
Did you place the Battletoads directory in games or games/mame?
I tried to make it work like you did but the files do not load automaticxally.

[Captain FPGA]

This is really weird.
Could you post your mgl?
Did you place the Battletoads directory in games or games/mame?
I tried to make it work like you did but the files do not load automaticxally.

Certainly! Glad to help.

I put Battletoads directory at the root though. So just /media/fat

Both mgl and rbf are the same files from Terminator2k2's test build if that helps.

[neogeo81]

in the root? i place the battletoads folder in the games folder.

[jca]

@Captain FPGA Thanks for the files.
I was surprised when you said the files loaded automatically. To do so a mra would be necessary but now I see that your mgl acts as some sort of mra.
One thing I do not understand yet is the location of your Battletoads directory. I will try when I am back home.
I won't use the Arcade directory as you did but the Other directory as I described in this post: viewtopic.php?p=71693#p71693.
I will make a slight change, a la Tamagotchi, I will move the rbf to _Other/cores and place the mgl in _Other. The Battletoads directory will remain in the games directory.

Note: you could have been Stompin' 22 days ago if you had followed the instructions from the post mentioned above.
But thanks for your post as it allows automatic loading of the files.

[Captain FPGA]

@Captain FPGA Thanks for the files.
I was surprised when you said the files loaded automatically. To do so a mra would be necessary but now I see that your mgl acts as some sort of mra.
One thing I do not understand yet is the location of your Battletoads directory. I will try when I am back home.
I won't use the Arcade directory as you did but the Other directory as I described in this post: viewtopic.php?p=71693#p71693.
I will make a slight change, a la Tamagotchi, I will move the rbf to _Other/cores and place the mgl in _Other. The Battletoads directory will remain in the games directory.

Note: you could have been Stompin' 22 days ago if you had followed the instructions from the post mentioned above.
But thanks for your post as it allows automatic loading of the files.

But I didn't have time to play it 22 days ago. I was just happy to see the core and wanted to celebrate with you guys. I don't always get to read instructions and download this stuff immediately. Too much adulting, I did read your instructions soon as I was ready to download & play, they simply didn't work on my MiSTer. So, I tried different tricks which is how I wound up using this method.

It kind of worked out as now we have a simplified way of booting the game.

in the root? i place the battletoads folder in the games folder.

Ah this worked like a charm! I initially had it in games folder using the old method. The aforementioned youtuber (awesome dude btw) recommended I place it at root. Glad to see it works just fine in games.

[jca]

Thanks to @Captain FPGA it is now possible to start the game without having to manually load the 3 bin files.
He did his setup using the _Arcade directory, if you want to do the same look at one of his posts above.

On the other hand if you did the installation as described in viewtopic.php?p=71693#p71693 where you have the rbf in the _Other directory and the rom files in games/Battletoads do the following:
If you installed the Tamagotchi core you will have a _Other/cores directory, if not create one.
Move Battletoads_20230420.rbf from _Other to _Other/cores.
Download the attached zip and extract Battletoads.mgl to _Other.
That's it: when you start Battletoads from _Other the core will start, load automatically the 3 bin files and start the game.

[neogeo81]

So i tested also and you can have the rbf file in the arcade/cores folder, the mgl in wherever folder or root of arcade you want and if you put the battletoads folder with the bin files in root it will load automatically.

I have made a _99 unstable builds folder in arcade where all thes wip core go.

[pgimeno]

I may be wrong, but I believe that originally, MiSTer had a directory in the root folder for every system where you would put the ROMs, but later, the games/ (or a configurable) directory was created to organize them, yet for compatibility it still searches in the root.

In other words, I think that having it in /systemname is equivalent to having it in /games/systemname.

[AlxUnderBase]

Thank you very much @Captain FPGA & @terminator2k2 ! I succesfully load the Battletoads core !

I actually have the Battletoads pcb in my collection , but it's amazing to have it too in MiSTer FPGA !

56439177-6100-4-D12-9-F5-A-08-D4938-CFE89.jpg (2.19 MiB) Viewed 4000 times

[XtraSmiley]

How does it compare to the real PCB my friend?

[AlxUnderBase]

How does it compare to the real PCB my friend?

Brother , it looks good to me , but still is wip . Easly playable , no complains … of course , im happy with what it is !
Also,only 1 player mode i was able to use only . Overall , happy to have it !
Is much tricky to set this to use it , but , happy i understood how to install it !

[neogeo81]

i had a stroke reading that

[mhmetalheart]

Actually, needn't rename the 3 files. Just keep them, 'load' them.
Open the *.mgl file, change the rbf folder to any you like. Then, you can put the rbf in any folder you want. In the mgl file can also keep the mame file name. Needn't change.
Like this:
<mistergamedescription>
<rbf>_Arcade/cores/Battletoads</rbf>
<setname>Battletoads</setname>
<file delay="1" type="f" index="0" path="btc0-p0.u120"/>
<file delay="1" type="f" index="1" path="btc0-p1.u121"/>
<file delay="1" type="f" index="2" path="btc0-s.u109"/>
</mistergamedescription>

So, the *.mgl will find the rbf in folder: /_Arcade/cores. Then, go to the /games/Battletoads folder load 3 files one by one. Hope that's useful.
That was a little bit strange because of the load style very similar of console, not arcade. But anyway, it makes the game work!
Thanks to Sergey.