Homebrew Emulator MAME Wii 1.0 recompilation with newer Wiimote support + WiiFlow support via arguments for autolaunch games

[SaulFabre]

Hey there guys,

I was bored once again so i decided to recompile the emulator MAME Wii 1.0 (a port of MAME 0.134u4 for the Nintendo Wii) made originally by ToadKing, against devkitPPC r26 with some updated libOGC 1.8.16 and portlibs, also i have modified a liitle code basing on some work from other people, for bring a complete experience on MAME Wii.

The things that difference from the original MAME Wii 1.0 are:

• Compiled with devkitPPC r26 / libOGC 1.8.16 / some updated portlibs, this arcade emulator now can accept newer Wiimotes (the Wii Remote Plus ones).
• Fixed one thing in the code (PAL574 to PAL576 variable) for be able to compile on devkitPPC r26 (based on @niuus' quick fix he made for compile Descent-Wii)
• Increased ROM limit number from 150 to 10000 (thanks @DarkMatterCore for help with that).
• WiiFlow plugin support. (Thanks @Wiimpathy!)

Since there's some interest in this old but goodie emulator, i decided to recompile it and add these tiny but cool features all in one mod of this emu.

Source code of this mod can be found here: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/tree/MAME-Wii-sfg-MOD

Enjoy!

saulfabreg - @SaulFabre

 

[cheloruiz79]

Hey there guys,

I was bored once again so i decided to recompile the emulator MAME Wii 1.0 (a port of MAME 0.134u4 for the Nintendo Wii) made originally by ToadKing, against devkitPPC r26 with some updated libOGC 1.8.16 and portlibs, also i have modified a liitle code basing on some work from other people, for bring a complete experience on MAME Wii.

The things that difference from the original MAME Wii 1.0 are:

• Compiled with devkitPPC r26 / libOGC 1.8.16 / some updated portlibs, this arcade emulator now can accept newer Wiimotes (the Wii Remote Plus ones).
• Fixed one thing in the code (PAL574 to PAL576 variable) for be able to compile on devkitPPC r26 (based on @niuus' quick fix he made for compile Descent-Wii)
• Increased ROM limit number from 150 to 10000 (thanks @DarkMatterCore for help with that).
• WiiFlow plugin support. (Thanks @Wiimpathy!)

Since there's some interest in this old but goodie emulator, i decided to recompile it and add these tiny but cool features all in one mod of this emu.

Source code of this mod can be found here: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/tree/mame-wii-wf-10klimit

Enjoy!

saulfabreg - @SaulFabre

thank you very much for your great work. Is the same romset used as the previous version?

 

[SaulFabre]

thank you very much for your great work. Is the same romset used as the previous version?

@cheloruiz79

Yeah. Exactly the same romset like the original MAME Wii 1.0 and its older mods used (MAME 0.134u4).

 

[cheloruiz79]

@cheloruiz79

Yeah. Exactly the same romset like the original MAME Wii 1.0 and its older mods used (MAME 0.134u4).

thanks

 

[Tototi]

Good job, @SaulFabre . Can this emulator be split and compiled by arcade machines similar to what Wiimpathy did with Mame 2003+? The following Konami games do not run on this emulator due to a probable lack of Wii RAM, so if only the mystwarr driver were compiled they could finally be playable: http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_m...=mystwarr.cpp&arcade_only=0&current_version=0

 

[SaulFabre]

Good job, @SaulFabre . Can this emulator be split and compiled by arcade machines similar to what Wiimpathy did with Mame 2003+? The following Konami games do not run on this emulator due to a probable lack of Wii RAM, so if only the mystwarr driver were compiled they could finally be playable: http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_m...=mystwarr.cpp&arcade_only=0&current_version=0

Don't know, but the driver must be compatible with MAME 0.134u4 in order for try to add it for try to compile.

Also, im not sure if this can be playable on MAME Wii, even when recompiled with the new driver. This is because some games that work fine on MAME 0.134u4 on PC doesn't even work with MAME Wii (ex. Final Lap).

Post automatically merged: Apr 14, 2023

Update:
Please everyone redownload this MAME Wii MOD updated to r2 if you downloaded the r1, since r1 has a stupid issue that if you try to load another game from the menu after launching a game, it will crash in code dump (DSI exception).

r2 (which is just a clean recompile) fixes said issue.

 

[cheloruiz79]

Test video. This game was released for last generation consoles 2 days ago and the version of mame 0.139u1 works perfectly with mame-wii

 

[alfonsovin]

Don't know, but the driver must be compatible with MAME 0.134u4 in order for try to add it for try to compile.

Also, im not sure if this can be playable on MAME Wii, even when recompiled with the new driver. This is because some games that work fine on MAME 0.134u4 on PC doesn't even work with MAME Wii (ex. Final Lap).

Post automatically merged: Apr 14, 2023

Update:
Please everyone redownload this MAME Wii MOD updated to r2 if you downloaded the r1, since r1 has a stupid issue that if you try to load another game from the menu after launching a game, it will crash in code dump (DSI exception).

r2 (which is just a clean recompile) fixes said issue.

I used to load games with Mame Wii but I don't like the aspect of those, resolution, fit to a 16:9 screen etc

Is there any trick with ini file to get a good aspect and fit in a LCD screen?

 

[SaulFabre]

Good job, @SaulFabre . Can this emulator be split and compiled by arcade machines similar to what Wiimpathy did with Mame 2003+? The following Konami games do not run on this emulator due to a probable lack of Wii RAM, so if only the mystwarr driver were compiled they could finally be playable: http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_m...=mystwarr.cpp&arcade_only=0&current_version=0

@Tototi
Today after some messing with the code and makefiles i could make a tiny version of MAME Wii with only most of the games running in Konami Mystic Warriors (mystwarr) driver.
But it's useless since i have tested this build by myself and still MAME Wii refuses to load them. (Maybe doesn't like my romset, or i'm using Dolphin?)
Anyways, i will post it in the attachments.
The makefile i've added for compile mystwarr driver only: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/blob/MAME-Wii-sfg-MOD/src/mame/tiny_mystwarr.mak

BONUS: I have compiled also a tiny build of MAME Wii for play only games from Namco System 2 (namcos2) driver, which i've tested Final Lap and it finally boots up but it's unplayable because 1. the game is somewhat slow and 2. the game/emulator doesn't register the pressed emulated gas pedal as a continuous pressed input.
Didn't test other Namco System 2 games though.
If anyone is interested in fixing said issue, feel free to do that and make a PR (pull request) for fix said issue.
The makefile i've added for compile namcos2 driver only: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/blob/MAME-Wii-sfg-MOD/src/mame/tiny_namcos2.mak

 

[Tototi]

WOW, I will test it as soon as possible and let you know the results here, thank you very much for that!!

If you are still working on this and want to test the deco32 driver it would be interesting to see if Night Slashers would work.

Post automatically merged: Apr 17, 2023

@SaulFabre, test results:

mystwarr driver: all games return to the homebrew channel when they finish loading, unfortunately.

namcos2 driver (I haven't tested all games): finallap: same error reported by saulfabre. luckywld: dump code.
The good news is that the following games, which only worked on mame 2000 with graphical problems, now work fine: assault, burnforc, dsaber, phelios and rthun2.

 

[SaulFabre]

If you are still working on this and want to test the deco32 driver it would be interesting to see if Night Slashers would work.

@Tototi

Today i added to the code a new Makefile for the specific driver Data East DECO32 32-bit (deco32), and seems working fine.
Tested:

• Captain America and The Avengers (captaven)
• Night Slashers (nslasher)
• Fighter's History (fghthist)

These work fine with my romset with this new build of MAME Wii designed only for run most games from DECO32 driver.
I will attach it here.

Code i've used for makefile of deco32 driver: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/blob/MAME-Wii-sfg-MOD/src/mame/tiny_deco32.mak

Please tell me your results.

 

[cheloruiz79]

@Tototi

Today i added to the code a new Makefile for the specific driver Data East DECO32 32-bit (deco32), and seems working fine.
Tested:

• Captain America and The Avengers (captaven)
• Night Slashers (nslasher)
• Fighter's History (fghthist)

These work fine with my romset with this new build of MAME Wii designed only for run most games from DECO32 driver.
I will attach it here.

Code i've used for makefile of deco32 driver: https://github.com/saulfabregwiivc/MAME-Wii/blob/MAME-Wii-sfg-MOD/src/mame/tiny_deco32.mak

Please tell me your results.

Exelent job sir thanks

work	Captain America
work	Dragon Gun
work	Fighter's History
not found	Locked 'N Loaded
work	Night Slashers
(dsi) ocurred	Tattoo Assassins

 

[SaulFabre]

not found

Locked 'N Loaded

for me Locked 'N Loaded returned me to the Homebrew Channel
Also, that game on MAME 0.134u4 is labeled as "NOT WORKING".

 

[Tototi]

Night Slasher works.
Dragon Gun is a great shooting game and now it can be emulated for the first time on Wii.
Nice job, @SaulFabre.
Just one thing, the bug you reported in post #6 is present in the namcos2 and deco32 builds.

 

[SaulFabre]

Just one thing, the bug you reported in post #6 is present in the namcos2 and deco32 builds.

It's because MAME Wii doesn't clean the memory after exiting a game and before launching another game.
I don't know how to fix this, sorry.

 

[Tototi]

It's because MAME Wii doesn't clean the memory after exiting a game and before launching another game.
I don't know how to fix this, sorry.

The issue also appears when you just load a game and try to exit the emulator.

 

[RunningSnakes]

First i want to say beautiful work @SaulFabre as always.

The emulator is not perfect but the compatibility is much better than given credit for. I rebuilt my MAME .139 set into .134u4 set to get true accurate compatibility results. It will not replace MAME 2003 Plus or FBA but it does play some titles those emulators cannot and in some instances plays better.

I can get by the fact the emulator doesn't allow aspect ratio control but the code/stack dumps when exiting games really do kill the experience for me, especially while trying to test.

Anyhow, while this is fresh, it would be a very good idea for all of us to post what we do & don't have working compatibility list. I collected as much information as i could (250 games) and added my 80's favorites to test (180 games). I'll post my test results here tomorrow when finished. Then i will test top 90's, top shoot em ups, top beat em ups and post results.

One thing to mention, i will not be testing Neo Geo games at all and probably no CPS2 games either. I will say i have tested 3-4 CPS1 games and they all run fine, and now we can enjoy Carrier Air Wing which freezes in the middle of the 1st stage on every other Wii core/emulator.

Edit: OK i figured out there is a way to set up pause button, and save/load.

 

[Tototi]

First i want to say beautiful work @SaulFabre as always.

The emulator is not perfect but the compatibility is much better than given credit for. I rebuilt my MAME .139 set into .134u4 set to get true accurate compatibility results. It will not replace MAME 2003 Plus or FBA but it does play some titles those emulators cannot and in some instances plays better.

I can get by the fact the emulator doesn't allow aspect ratio control but the code/stack dumps when exiting games really do kill the experience for me, especially while trying to test.

Anyhow, while this is fresh, it would be a very good idea for all of us to post what we do & don't have working compatibility list. I collected as much information as i could (250 games) and added my 80's favorites to test (180 games). I'll post my test results here tomorrow when finished. Then i will test top 90's, top shoot em ups, top beat em ups and post results.

One thing to mention, i will not be testing Neo Geo games at all and probably no CPS2 games either. I will say i have tested 3-4 CPS1 games and they all run fine, and now we can enjoy Carrier Air Wing which freezes in the middle of the 1st stage on every other Wii core/emulator.

Edit: OK i figured out there is a way to set up pause button, and save/load.

Carrier Air Wing runs better and without freezes on RA-HEXAECO fbneo_cps1.

 

[RunningSnakes]

Carrier Air Wing runs better and without freezes on RA-HEXAECO fbneo_cps1.

I tested FBNEO, FBNEO CPS1 cores before and could never get anything to work. Now testing again, FBNEO CPS1 core still black screen resets but FBNEO did let me play Carrier Air Wing without freezing. However FBNEO wouldn't let me play any console games.

What types of games are you playing with these cores? I have the complete FBNEO set (Arcade & all Consoles) so i know my roms/games are good. Are the bios and roms required to be in a specific folder? Also, if you know, what is the FBNEO pacgal core for?

I wonder if @SaulFabre could compile the RA FBNeo core for the Wii like he did for NeoCD?
Now that would/could be an emulation breakthrough i never thought was possible. Wishful thinking...

 

[Tototi]

What types of games are you playing with these cores? I have the complete FBNEO set (Arcade & all Consoles) so i know my roms/games are good. Are the bios and roms required to be in a specific folder? Also, if you know, what is the FBNEO pacgal core for?

Honestly, I've only tested a few CPS1 games and I only use it for two games that are problematic on the other wii emulators, Carrier Air Wing and Forgotten Worlds, which only works with the lostwrld clone.

About the pacgal core, I never tested it, but in this post SuperrSonic explains its reason for existing: https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-gre...tm-a-call-for-adventurers.563575/post-9107765