barryharris.me.uk
Friday, 30 July 2010, 09:15
grdians

Operation Thunderbolt

Posted on 20 March 2010 at 18:19

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

I wrote a driver for Operation Thunderbolt. It has a lot in common with Space Gun so it was quite a quick one to finish up.

Operation Thunderbolt title screen Operation Thunderbolt in-game

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Comments (4)




Statement from FB Alpha Team

Posted on 10 March 2010 at 21:47

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

Click more for the statement.

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Comments (4)




FB Alpha 0.2.97.08 Release

Posted on 28 February 2010 at 19:55

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

Finally a new release is ready. Head to the FB Alpha page to download

Click more for the rather long list of new things.

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Comments (18)




FB Alpha 0.2.97.07 Release

Posted on 24 October 2009 at 19:27

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

Finally, a new release.

Click more for the what's new.

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Comments (20)




FB Alpha 0.2.97.06 Release

Posted on 1 June 2009 at 19:11

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

This version includes a big change in the Z80 CPU interface. Specifically MAME's Z80 core is now used for all games. This should give better results and make the program more portable. We have done a lot of testing but if you notice any new problems please let us know and we can fix them.

This version also includes changes in the EEPROM code and input assignment code. As well as the changed save states for the ZET interface, these render old config and save files pretty much useless. It is advised to delete the contents of the config\games folder before using this version. Savestates are a bit hit-and-miss at the moment anyway. I plan to pay some attention to savestates in the next version and hopefully boost compatibility.

Click more for the what's new.

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Comments (28)




FB Alpha 0.2.97.05 Release

Posted on 25 April 2009 at 13:45

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

A new FB Alpha. A lot has changed, both in the program and also the files (some are now redundant), so an install into a fresh folder is recommended.

For more details click more below.

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Comments (26)




FB Alpha Megadrive Test Release

Posted on 27 March 2009 at 19:30

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

A test version of FB Alpha with just the Megadrive games enabled. There have been significant improvements to the current released version.

Click more for more information and the download.

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Comments (8)




FB Alpha 0.2.97.04 Release

Posted on 7 March 2009 at 11:27

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

Here's the what's new;

  • Moved Namco sound to it's own module and updated the Pac-Man driver [Barry]
  • Added driver for Galaga [Barry]
  • Added driver for Pass [iq_132]
  • Added a hack to get Knights of Valour 2 Plus working [XingXing]
  • Tidied up the SoftFX blitters [Barry]
    • Updated the Enhanced blitter to allow more filters
    • Added support to the ini file for long long integers to support the Enhanced blitter
    • Added hq2xS, hq3xS, hq2xBold, hq3xBold, EPXB and EPXC filters from SNES9X ReRecording
    • Added SuperEagle, 2xSaI, Super 2xSaI filters from VBA ReRecording
  • Fixed issue with board roms in ClrMAME XML DAT generation [Barry]
  • Changed ampersands in the ClrMAME XML DAT output to their HTML entity [Barry]
  • Some updates to the Megadrive driver via the online generator [nj7, JackC, arturf]
  • Fixed some rom sizes in non-working parents [Barry, pointed out by JackC]
  • Fixed license2rtf.pl to allow hyphens in URLs [Barry]
  • Matched all sets to MAME 0.129u6

Click more for the downloads.

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Comments (17)




SoftFX Blitters

Posted on 6 March 2009 at 19:33

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

The SoftFX filters were getting a bit of a mess, so I've tidied them up, and updated the enhanced blitter to support more than sixteen filters, as well as updating the configuration file to support long long integers. I have also added some more filters (see image below).

SoftFX Blitters

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Comments (1)




hiscore.dat Support

Posted on 4 March 2009 at 20:42

Posted by barry

Filed under FB Alpha

I have added support for hiscore.dat in FB Alpha. Due to the problems this file caused in MAME before support was removed I have imposed the following restrictions on it's use;

  • Support is only turned on when the option Save high scores when supported is enabled. This is off by default.
  • Support is only turned on when a driver specifically declares support for it.

The reason why I have insisted on a driver specifically declaring it's support is so that hiscore support can be tested in games and only enabled if it is verified to work well. I have currently done the Galaxian driver and only enabled hiscore support in games that work well. I do not intend on doing many more drivers as I don't have the time to test them all. I hope that users will test drivers for themselves and let us know their experiences.

To test a games hiscore support you need to place the hiscore.dat in your hiscore directory and enable the Save high scores when supported option. You also need to compile your own version of FB Alpha and enable hiscore support in the driver you want to test. To enable hiscore support in a driver you edit the BurnDriver struct and adding BDF_HISCORE_SUPPORTED to the flags member.

In pretty much any circumstance, this would involve changing;

BDF_GAME_WORKING

to;

BDF_GAME_WORKING | BDF_HISCORE_SUPPORTED

Then recompile and test the game. If hiscore saving works then let us know. The easiest way to do that would be to post at NeoSource.

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