Looks like you're doing some pretty good work. I read that your core will even surpass Gambatte in terms of accuracy!
So I will look forward to testing a fewcertainbugs once it's ready.
Maybe I will be motivated to do some SML1/2 TASing, too.
Going further in Mario Land 2: Only the first note of the coin-collecting and bell-ringing sound effects (possibly also the 1-up sound effect) plays. Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps are visible in their pipes and become invisible when they come out of their pipes. Mario remains visible inside the pipes.
I noticed hard transitions to white (like in Belmont's Revenge) are completely messed up (doesn't transition to white at all).
I've also noticed that you see the level "build up" (as in you see some kind of building transition) in Castlevania: The Adventure (original release), whereas in Gambatte, BGB and on console, the transition doesn't occur (so it's a hard transition from white). I can get a video up if I'm not clear enough. This is potentially related to the above issue I mentioned.
smellyfeetyouhave: Gambatte actually passed all audio tests and had a glaring audio issue in Belmont's Revenge (which eventually got patched).
But...yeah, pretty good work so far.
Going further in Mario Land 2: Only the first note of the coin-collecting and bell-ringing sound effects (possibly also the 1-up sound effect) plays. Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps are visible in their pipes and become invisible when they come out of their pipes. Mario remains visible inside the pipes.
I noticed hard transitions to white (like in Belmont's Revenge) are completely messed up (doesn't transition to white at all).
I've also noticed that you see the level "build up" (as in you see some kind of building transition) in Castlevania: The Adventure (original release), whereas in Gambatte, BGB and on console, the transition doesn't occur (so it's a hard transition from white). I can get a video up if I'm not clear enough. This is potentially related to the above issue I mentioned.
smellyfeetyouhave: Gambatte actually passed all audio tests and had a glaring audio issue in Belmont's Revenge (which eventually got patched).
But...yeah, pretty good work so far.
Has anyone verified the test ROMs are correct or were the issues just related to things not being tested in the test ROMs?
Also I've seen stuff similar to that "build-up" effect in a few other games I've tested (you can see it manifesting in various ways in my post on the last page) so it seems like it's probably one specific issue. Same with that one-note issue manifesting in a few other places.
The test ROMs only test things can be measured in the APU registers. There are a lot of other behaviours that aren't testable. You basically just have to play games and track down the bugs until it sounds right.
The coin bug was pretty simple. The screeching sound in Barbie is trickier. The game is setting frequency as high as possible. Presumably this gets filtered out somewhere along the way. Gambatte appears to be cheating and just setting volume to zero for these high frequencies. Normally they wouldn't even be audbile, but since the ouput is only sampled every so often, they get aliased down into the audible range. So that kind of sucks. I'll have to add in some checks to keep that from happening.
Thanks for the continued testing everyone. I see that Samus is missing in Metroid 2, but I don't see the bugs fsvgm777 describes in mario Land 2. Is that in level 1-1 or some other level?
Thanks for the continued testing everyone. I see that Samus is missing in Metroid 2, but I don't see the bugs fsvgm777 describes in mario Land 2. Is that in level 1-1 or some other level?
It's in the second level of Tree Zone, and the third left level (with the ants) in Tree Zone where I noticed the other bugs.
Thanks for the continued testing everyone. I see that Samus is missing in Metroid 2, but I don't see the bugs fsvgm777 describes in mario Land 2. Is that in level 1-1 or some other level?
It's in the second level of Tree Zone, and the third left level (with the ants) in Tree Zone where I noticed the other bugs.
Metroid 2 - Fixed
Mario Land - Fixed
Transitions (HAL Wrestling, etc.) - Fixed
Roger Rabbit - Don't know yet, it's just MBC 1
Pokemon - Needs MBC3 with RTC, not implemented yet.
Other things I noticed:
Bomberman: Can't select mode
Mortal Kombat: Freezes
Bomberman 2: Can't move right/left
Making progress!
For some reasons, Pokemon Green actually runs pretty well.
In WL-SML3, the way sprites flicker in a place with many blocks seem to be different than how it looks with Gambatte core. I'm not sure which one is more accurate tho.
Super Connard refuses to run. :P
I know GBHawk only supports DMG right not, but is there a way to force GBC games to run under DMG mode with GBHawk instead of automatically switching to Gambatte?
I'm seeing that one of your commits included a fix for the issue Barbie was having (unless I misread the comment) but it seems to still have the squealing.
Super Connard refuses to run. :P
I know GBHawk only supports DMG right not, but is there a way to force GBC games to run under DMG mode with GBHawk instead of automatically switching to Gambatte?
I guess they don't like emulators! The game expects to be unable to read RAM during DMA. I had the rough outlines of this implemented, but now it's implemented completely so the game runs.
I'll think about adding that option later once most of the main GB bugs are stomped out.
smellyfeetyouhave wrote:
I'm seeing that one of your commits included a fix for the issue Barbie was having (unless I misread the comment) but it seems to still have the squealing.
I thought I took that out, but listening to it again I do still hear a faint high pitched buzz. I'll look into it.
For some reasons, Pokemon Green actually runs pretty well.
Japanese versions use MBC1+RAM+BATTERY which appears to be implemented already.
Edit: Here's some more issues (all of these were on commit 63F8FC0 as I'm seeing you literally just made another commit which fixed a few of these)
-In Wario Blast featuring Bomberman! I'm unable to move right. I can move right in other games and it works fine in Gambatte
-In the intro sequence to Link's Awakening, when the logo appears there's a flickering around the edges (doesn't exist in Gambatte) https://streamable.com/vjml3
The following games don't boot (All of them are: 01 ROM+MBC1):
-Malibu Beach Volleyball
-In Wario Blast featuring Bomberman! I'm unable to move right. I can move right in other games and it works fine in Gambatte
-Malibu Beach Vollyball doesn't boot (01h ROM+MBC1)
-In the intro sequence to Link's Awakening, when the logo appears there's a flickering around the edges (doesn't exist in Gambatte) https://streamable.com/vjml3
I committed another round of updates that fixes Wario Blast as well as Bomberman and mortal kombat.
Malibu Beach Volleyball looks interesting, thanks for pointing that out, might provide a hint for Roger Rabbit as well.
Link's awakening is probably a PPU timing bug that will have to wait all the basics are done and I can focus on the minute details.
-In Wario Blast featuring Bomberman! I'm unable to move right. I can move right in other games and it works fine in Gambatte
-Malibu Beach Vollyball doesn't boot (01h ROM+MBC1)
-In the intro sequence to Link's Awakening, when the logo appears there's a flickering around the edges (doesn't exist in Gambatte) https://streamable.com/vjml3
I committed another round of updates that fixes Wario Blast as well as Bomberman and mortal kombat.
Malibu Beach Volleyball looks interesting, thanks for pointing that out, might provide a hint for Roger Rabbit as well.
Link's awakening is probably a PPU timing bug that will have to wait all the basics are done and I can focus on the minute details.
Sounds good.
I originally edited this into the other post but for clarity's sake, here's it as its own post (as you responded to the original post before the edit was posted)
These were all on commit 63f8fc0d9011d48681bf81fda696013304b9cb8f (the one before that round of fixes)
The following games don't boot (ROM+MBC1)
-Malibu Beach Volleyball
-The Adventures of Star Saver
-Amazing Penguin
-Boomer's Adventure in ASMIK World
-Castle Quest
-Double Dragon 3 - The Arcade Game
-F1 Pole Position
-F-15 Strike Eagle II (Unknown) (Proto). This one is ROM+MBC1 but it's also a prototype. The full release of the game boots fine. MD5:83D20A9C3F88F9FAA27C076CEFD38BC1
-Fish Dude
-Heavyweight Championship Boxing
-In Your Face
-Jimmy Connors Tennis
-King of Fighters, The - Heat of Battle
-The Lawnmower Man
-Lethal Weapon (goes to a black screen compared to a solid white screen like most have)
This is when I got bored. This is the results of every game officially released in the US/EU through the letter L. I'll do the M-Z at some point after these boot (as they probably share similar issues)
-Goal! boots but only plays audio. No video is output. If you press start a few times you get some corrupted video output. (01h ROM+MBC1)
-The Takara logo in the intro to Battle Arena Toshiden glitches out
-The main menu for The Final Fantasy Legend is completely corrupted (06h ROM+MBC2+BATTERY) https://narry.land/cWAJ8y.png (MBC2 unimplemented?)
-The main menu for Final Fantasy Legend II is completely corrupted (03h ROM+MBC1+RAM+BATTERY) https://narry.land/tZsr6a.png
-The effect on the logo of Gremlins 2 - The New Batch doesn't work properly.
GBHawk: https://streamable.com/fkk2k
Gambatte: https://streamable.com/ftjcz
Lot's of new fixes just committed.
Fixed: Malibu Beach Volleyball, Castle Quest, Double Dragon 3, F1 pole poisition.
Working on: Goal!, Roger Rabbit, The Final Fantasy Legend
As usual, games are using all kinds of different tricks to do things, so I'm getting a lot of good test cases out of all of this.
Lot's of new fixes just committed.
Fixed: Malibu Beach Volleyball, Castle Quest, Double Dragon 3, F1 pole poisition.
Working on: Goal!, Roger Rabbit, The Final Fantasy Legend
As usual, games are using all kinds of different tricks to do things, so I'm getting a lot of good test cases out of all of this.
Those two commits fixed all of the games in that list that didn't boot. I'll go through the rest of the romset and get back with results on boot status.
Edit:
Things that are most likely just PPU timing:
-Super Hunchback's title screen is glitchy
Gambatte: https://streamable.com/joqtk
GBHawk: https://streamable.com/65hjr
-The Takara logo in World Heroes 2 Jet is buggy: https://streamable.com/n5i78
The following games have high pitched squeals
-Marble Madness
-Paperboy II
-Pit Fighter
-The Ren & Stimpy Show - Space Cadet Adventures
-The Simpsons - Bart vs. the Juggernauts
The following games don't boot
-Samurai Shodown (01h ROM+MBC1):
-X (USA) (Proto) MD5:9BFA774D2474D63FDACDBE951573375A (03h ROM+MBC1+RAM+BATTERY). The Japanese version boots fine. The USA Prototype displays the Nintendo logo, some corrupted text, then goes to a white screen with some sustained audio output.
That's it for the GB_US-EU_Romset of the No-Intro v1.0 GB Romset. I'll hit the Japanese games later
Zerd No Densetsu (JP) (03h ROM+MBC1+RAM+BATTERY) crashes while the title screen draws: https://streamable.com/qjt02
I'm assuming you don't want any unlicensed stuff for now, right?
Thanks for the continued (and detailed) testing.
Yeah many of the remaining bugs are ppu timing glitches. I'll have to look at Samurai showdown though.
Actually I was bored of staring at trace logs so I decided to implement the first unlicensed mapper, Sachen MMC2 (as defined by tauwasser): https://web.archive.org/web/20170803195356/https://wiki.tauwasser.eu/view/Sachen_Mappers
This makes Beast Fighter work (although the status bar is broken at the moment.)
So, I'll be implementing unlicensed stuff as I have the motivation and can find info about the mapper.
If anyone has a specific unlicensed game they want implemented (I know there were a few in the first page) it would greatly speed up implementation if you could link to a mapper spec.
EDIT:
Fixed:
Lawnmower Man
Samurai Showdown
Th Final Fantasy legend
EDIT2:
Fixed: Audio squeel, zerd no densetsu, X (proto), GOAL!
I tried the latest interim (commit ffbb1f339).
- The GB menu lacks the core picker (Unlike the GBA menu)
- GBHawk and Gambatte use separate gamepad config (Unlike the two GBA cores that share their config).
- Can GBHawk not run GBC games?
I tried the latest interim (commit ffbb1f339).
- The GB menu lacks the core picker (Unlike the GBA menu)
- GBHawk and Gambatte use separate gamepad config (Unlike the two GBA cores that share their config).
- Can GBHawk not run GBC games?
- The core picker is in Config->Cores only at the moment
- I dont even know where to look for the gamepad config 8D
- For now it's GB only. When GB is close to 100% maybe I'll upgrade to GBC. A lot of the trickier stuff still remains to be done.
I just implemented MBC3, so Pokemon Red and Blue should now be playable.
Pokemon Brown, a Pokemon Red hack, doesn't run. Maybe it's because it's 2MB big?
Fixed, thanks for the report. (Although I was certain I remembered accounting for this already. Maybe I only thought about doing it but never did it?) 0_0
Ok, I finally found the Fix for Roger Rabbit. That game uses every available cycle for drawing and didn't leave enough time to restore access to VRAM.
Anyway, with that here is the list of issues I am currently aware of. Let me know if I need to add anything:
- Link's Awakening title effect
- Super Hunchback title effect
- Altered Space excess sprites
- Beast Fighter, no status bar (it expects window tile location to be at the bottom of the screen even though it wasn't turned on, not sure if it even works on hardware.)
Tests failed:
- hblank_ly_scx_timing-GS
- intr_2_mode0_timing_sprites
I think that's it. Making a lot of progress. Now the hard part starts figuring out those last 2 tests. (I also fail the OAM bug test, but since I don't know the corruption pattern I can't really implement it, the tests only do a checksum. Needs hardware testing.)
Went through all my other posts and re-tested everything.
Here are the issues that still persist.
EDIT -SEE SECOND POST IF YOU SAW WHAT I PUT HERE, I WAS WRONG-
-Jeopardy Teen Tournament has weird behavior where the music pauses when the screen draws an update in the intro. Gambatte handles it the same as real hardware whereas it manifests as stutters in GBHawk
New issues:
There's one frame of sprite corruption in HAL Wrestling when you start a match (this is different than the previous graphics corruption with this game I mentioned)
Gambatte and Sameboy don't experience this.
GBHawk: https://streamable.com/wviji
Gambatte: https://streamable.com/nir2t
Sameboy: https://streamable.com/ml6w2
There's a few frames of the title screen being drawn in Kirby's Dreamland before it's supposed to be drawn. It's also slightly corrupted during this time. https://streamable.com/4rmxp
Making this a second post as there was an error and I want to make sure you realize I edited it in case you saw the original. My original testing didn't have Gambatte push start on the first possible frame which changed the timing.
Some games speed up during full screen transitions. It's very clear when audio plays through the transition
Examples:
Kirby's Dream Land: https://streamable.com/nir2t
Barbie Game Girl https://streamable.com/9v15h
It seems to be linked to lag frames. Doing a quick test shows the audio issue occurs during the lag frames
https://streamable.com/yrwfw
To add to that, there's actually a significant difference in frame count if you include the lag frames which is probably leading to this issue?
Pictures of TAStudio (Both press start on the first possible frame)
Gambatte: https://narry.land/iujteu.png
GBHawk: https://narry.land/UB3hwG.png
The movies: https://narry.land/Movies.zip
The audio and frame difference issues are due to gambatte using 'use equal length frames' by default.
The Gameboy can have 'frames' (time bewteen VBLanks) that are arbitrarily long since it's not locked to a video standard like normal consoles. When these types of frames happen, typically during loading, BizHawk doesn't know how much longer a frame was then a normal frame, so it just plays the audio like it was 1 normal frame, cutting off notes and speeding things up.
Typically for TASing though you want frames that always start / end on VBlank since that leads to consistent input timing.
So, it's a trade off. Right now GBHawk only has VBlank based frames for ease of testing, so those issues won't be immediately fixed. It kind of sucks, but BizHawk doesn't have a good way to deal with it that I know of.
The audio and frame difference issues are due to gambatte using 'use equal length frames' by default.
The Gameboy can have 'frames' (time bewteen VBLanks) that are arbitrarily long since it's not locked to a video standard like normal consoles. When these types of frames happen, typically during loading, BizHawk doesn't know how much longer a frame was then a normal frame, so it just plays the audio like it was 1 normal frame, cutting off notes and speeding things up.
Typically for TASing though you want frames that always start / end on VBlank since that leads to consistent input timing.
So, it's a trade off. Right now GBHawk only has VBlank based frames for ease of testing, so those issues won't be immediately fixed. It kind of sucks, but BizHawk doesn't have a good way to deal with it that I know of.
All right well that answers that.
That just leaves the Jeopardy sound issue, the HAL Wrestling sprite corruption, and the Kirby's Dream Land title screen drawing early with corrupted graphics.
Here are the two states (latest commit as of writing this)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bxweddmcymmke90/Tree%20Zone%202.State?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ie8jwoqyhk74swl/Ants.State?dl=0
