johnparker007 Posted November 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) Just another tech update After spending the whole day reorganising stuff and writing new bits, I've finally got the office PC synced up and acting as a 'build machine'. So I'm on my bedroom PC typing this, meanwhile the office PC is chugging away rebuilding those 6 machines from last night's video. This is really handy, so I can make converter changes then rebuild the machine collection overnight (or something like a machine every 30 mins at present). It also means I can have machines building in the evenings while I'm working on new stuff for the Converter in the bedroom (I can't do anything on a PC when it's building the machines). I'll probably make the last 3 manual data layouts (lamps only) I'll be doing tomorrow for the 3 new machines... as then I need to figure out how to best generate the data layouts automatically per machine, to save my time as the collection grows (Data layouts are alternative layouts that contain just the bare minimum to relay to the 3d renderer what's going on with the lamps, reels, vfds etc)... a big old job again, but everything that can be automated, must be automated to keep my time free to work on development. Tons of work at every turn, but nice to have that separate build machine set up now I also learnt today that Perforce absolutely hates '£' characters in filenames and breaks... so that was a couple of hours writing scripts to auto-fix all that including inside .gam files etc (plus removing spaces from filenames), they're absolutely everywhere in these fruit machine layout downloads! Edited November 20, 2020 by johnparker007 3 1 1 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davep180 Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 Looks amazing. Can't wait to see how this develops. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted November 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) I didn't make the manual data layouts in the end, and just pressed on with coding the converter to generate these automatically. Turned out to be more painful than I thought, but that's often the case! There's plenty more to do (reels, vfds, alphanumerics etc) as this just places a compact scrapable lamp matrix for now, but it's a good start Anyway, here's the first machine that has it's data layout generated by the converter. I still had to record the attract mode anim manually, so that's the next big task (generating attract mode recordings as part of the automated conversion process). Edited November 23, 2020 by johnparker007 5 1 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted November 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) On 19/11/2020 at 22:46, slasher said: You can keep those shitty Reflex machines in the off state Other than that, looking great as usual! Sorry mate, they've had to go on! Just remembered I could pretty quickly knock up another 3 machine demo (as I had the converter config files set up for Eastern Promise and Fiddle A Fortune from testing something the other day). All the data layouts here were auto-generated (but I did then have to manually record their attract mode loops, so that's the next thing to automate). Edited November 23, 2020 by johnparker007 1 3 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectra666 Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 Beautiful to watch like stepping into a Wetherspoons, maybe next year lol absolutely stunning to see the progress on this and now I’ve seen three different ones together I’m more excited 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 59 minutes ago, johnparker007 said: Sorry mate, they've had to go on! Just remembered I could pretty quickly knock up another 3 machine demo (as I had the converter config files set up for Eastern Promise and Fiddle A Fortune from testing something the other day). All the data layouts here were auto-generated (but I did then have to manually record their attract mode loops, so that's the next thing to automate). Well that deserves a react but I'll rise above it No seriously, looking great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 45 minutes ago, vectra666 said: Beautiful to watch like stepping into a Wetherspoons, maybe next year lol absolutely stunning to see the progress on this and now I’ve seen three different ones together I’m more excited Just need ipubs to be emulated then it can look like spoons lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No1Stoney Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Wow, just seeing the potential with this is making me drool. Beautiful. Always loved the idea of putting virtual machine inside your own virtual arcade.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted November 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 (edited) Quick tech update Took a break from the batch conversion stuff, to do some work on the reel conversion. There are some fudged ratios for now (and so the scales are a bit off) until I can work out the maths (or just generate a lookup table to avoid that hassle )... but the reel placement and scale is still much improved now... and I think I should be able to sort out the remaining issues with another night or two on it. After that's done, I suspect I'll move onto adding, then reading, reels from the data layout (generated data layout only contains lamps at present). Then that should allow me to play one of these 3d machines and have the reels spin Edited November 25, 2020 by johnparker007 5 6 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Player Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 This is the most impressive thing I have seen in years! Thanks for sharing 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene02 Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 Thanks for the update mate. Looking good J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK45 Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 i have been following this thread and all i can say is 1 For Fruit Machine Preview Video's https://www.youtube.com/@akfortyfive4574/playlists These video's created by me are solely to showcase the talent of the creators and all who helped in bringing these machines to life,they are in no way a guide on how to play the machine or show how to exploit it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfessorDawn Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 On 26/11/2020 at 11:17, Player said: This is the most impressive thing I have seen in years! Thanks for sharing It looks so clean and crisp - never mind what it is doing here. I can only hope that one day this sees the light of day for people and that quote says everying. Great work @johnparker007. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Player Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 I love to get involved in something like this. Looked at unity a long time ago, managed to get some 3d reels spinning but very basic. Nothing like this. I need to have a proper read through all of this when I get chance 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted November 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 Still a lot to do with reels, but definitely getting there with the latest test These reels are being driven from the new reel pixels on the generated data layout (so each reel has a pixel, whose brightness determines the position). There's plenty of bugs and unfinished bits, like the number reel on the feature board is showing the wrong numbers... and still not finished up the autoscaling yet so reel scales are slightly wrong... but it should all be sortable 3 4 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene02 Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 Great progress being made here mate. How will the ram files work on the server John? As I think you can do quick save in the emulator etc or even quit the machine without saving the ram? Will you have to disable those options and force the save? I know these bits are for later mate just didn’t know how you was going to manage the ram files ;)’ J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 Ooo a cheaty mirrored reel Can you also play with the mouse and click the buttons? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted November 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 24 minutes ago, A:E said: Great progress being made here mate. How will the ram files work on the server John? As I think you can do quick save in the emulator etc or even quit the machine without saving the ram? Will you have to disable those options and force the save? I know these bits are for later mate just didn’t know how you was going to manage the ram files ;)’ J Not thought too far on that, though I should hopefully be able to come up with something to stop it being too easy to cheat If someone is really determined they could still cheat in certain ways though even if I add counter measures, hackers gonna hack (I'll not detail how one would accomplish that here though, we'll rely on a little 'security by obscurity' ) 3 minutes ago, slasher said: Ooo a cheaty mirrored reel Can you also play with the mouse and click the buttons? You can't at present, but I will be adding that in at some point further down the line, I did similar in mfme2mame (clickable buttons) so it's definitely doable 2 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted December 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 (edited) More reel improvements - number reel working correctly, plus redone some fudgy ratios with more accurate maths, so closer to the approx reel diameters to match the reel windows now wrt symbols on reel and symbols visible (calced via s=rθ for those interested! ). There's still a bit more to do on this pass of the reels (better scraping of visible reel window, to deal with rounded / arched / irregular reel windows)... then I'll park that feature for the mo, as it's 'good enough for now'. Then, I think I'll be moving onto MFME lifecycle management; so that'll be about walking up to the 3 machines in attract mode, pressing Enter to 'interact' with whichever is the main machine currently in view - at which point, it'll load up MFME, and do some hacks to keep MFME hidden behind, but accepting keypresses. Also, perhaps move the player into a fixed playing position. Once say Escape is pressed, then it'll 'disengage' from the machine, so basically kill the MFME process, and return the player to normal walking around controls. So it'll be possible to play two different machines in the same video. Unfortunately no snapshot load/save in MFME as it currently stands, so we will need to wait for the machines to do their full 1 minute+ boot up process, does seem to be quite long on these newer machines (I think the older machines are quicker). Edited December 1, 2020 by johnparker007 4 1 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene02 Posted December 1, 2020 Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 Thanks for the update, awesome work JP!! J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted December 1, 2020 Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 I've been stalking this topic all day lol Thanks for the update. Looking back to the first video then the last you can really see how well it's progressing! Great work as always! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infection Posted December 1, 2020 Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 Looks awesome mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starskey Posted December 2, 2020 Report Share Posted December 2, 2020 WOW 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted December 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2020 Turns out I had more stuff to do with the reels than I thought, but now they are finally at the 'done enough' stage There were issues with horizontal reels, and some mis-scaling of some vertical single symbol reels. Horizontal reels I now have working, though I'm displaying them as vertical reels (so they move up/down for now, but the number is still correct so they are perfectly playable). Here's some gameplay on Wok 'n' Roll, which I've never played before, as is probably clear from the video! But it shows the horizontal number reel working correctly (as a vertical reel). There's also 4 other machines with their reels correctly converted from the same latest code (the off machine's reels aren't aligned to winlines etc since they aren't hooked up to anything). 3 4 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) Looking great as usual mate. Have you checked it with a flexi reel (something like DOND perfect deal perhaps?) And a disk real (barcrest mega zone) or are they to come later as they're not really that common? Not trying to piss on your cornflakes or anything but thought to be worth a mention Edited December 5, 2020 by slasher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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