secrets

April 2012

This was another month spent trying to make it through each day.

March 2012

This month I finally finished an update the older hitbox scripts. The goal was to get them to better exploit Lua's breakpoint functions in FBA to make things as easy as currently possible for the user. Trivial in the larger scheme, or even compared to past Lua work, but the task had been hanging over my head for months. It was made more unpleasant by the need to retread the miry ground of syncing computation and display frames, and by the chronic problem that FBA and MAME don't have exactly the same timing.

In the end I didn't get much done. I still need to straighten up CPS3 before I'm ready to put aside hitbox stuff.

Hitbox wiki update

http://code.google.com/p/mame-rr/wiki/Hitboxes

• Added a demo pic to the Common box types section.
• Added a MAME-rr vs. FBA-rr discussion.
• Now that the background removal codes have been added to the mamecheat pack by Pugsy, the instructions have been simplified.
• The links to MAWS have been replaced by those to Progetto EMMA, which is like MAWS but in Italian, and overseen by people who keep their webspace intact.
• Finally added a proper section for the CPS3 script.
  • The discussion on breakpoints has been moved there since it's the only script that uses them now. Hopefully SH-2 games will get Lua BPs and it can be removed entirely.
  • Needs screenshots for NG and 2I. And then there's the Jojo games...

Hitbox script updates

http://code.google.com/p/mame-rr/source/detail?r=161

It's been so long I almost forgot what I set out to do:

• Get garou-hitboxes.lua to use FBA-rr 0.0.7's new emu.registerexec and emu.registerwrite Lua functions for breakpoints. I also used bps to remove the dodgy pseudo-disassembly for vulnerability checks and to avoid messing with the memory banking to get box data. This meant I had to go back through that maze.
• Re-fix the other scripts to draw breakpoint-triggered boxes on the correct frames. It's important not to set FBA's audio to mute or the frame sync will be off.

February 2012

So, another month gone by with no research done, and me feeling terrible for getting no work done, or even following up on some emails. The new year funk is hitting me really hard this year.

I am thinking of starting another blog to write about other topics. This would leave secrets devoted to its intended purpose, my original research, while providing an outlet for discussing books, movies, and other non-VG related subjects. Seems like a waste to crank out all this analytical juice with no place to pour it.

January 2012

Following last year's tradition, I'll take a moment to review the topics covered in 2011.

• Extensive deconstruction of the mechanics of the obscure Genesis game Battlemaster.
• Examination of the critical hit system in D&D: Shadow Over Mystara.
• Updates to MacroLua, adding as-yet useless analog support.
  • Needs maintenance for the new emu versions.
• Short piece examining in-game vs. streaming video framerates and how to reconcile them.
• Indexed all the hitbox work into a wiki page.
  • It needs an update.
• Short guide to wrangling the NeoGeo BIOS in emulators.
• Developed codes to remove the backgrounds from the hitboxed games, to aid in box- and sprite-ripping. Also improved the mutecodes for CPS1.
  • You can more easily use all of them with the updated mamecheat pack now. Thanks to Pugsy for accepting them.
• Mostly comprehensive breakdown of turbo-speed frameskip and its consequences in Capcom games.
• Completion of the Mayflash arcade stick modding project.
  • Ill-advised in retrospect—I haven't gotten to enjoy them and probably won't.
• Updated an informational HUD script for the SNES version of SimCity.
• Assorted SF2 discoveries: throwboxes, obscure mechanics, bonus-stage combos, and damage formulas.
• Updated an old frame data collector script.
  • But it's turning out to be more trouble than it's worth when a hitbox script can do much of the same more intuitively, or you can use MacroLua to do it manually.
• Made some minor contributions to some combovids that were shown at evo2k11 and Season’s Beatings: Velocity.
• Updated an old OSD script for fighting games, including 3S.
• Screenshot maps of the Genesis game Sub-Terrania.
  • They were never granted publication.
• Developed various hitbox scripts from scratch, and helped move CPS3 forward.
• Added throwboxes, with a MAME-rr debugger workaround.
  • I am trying to convert over to new FBA-rr Lua functions implemented by mz.

December 2011

For the last month I've been occupied with other matters. As things stand now the goals are the same as they were in November.

Breakpoints/watchpoints in FBA

FBA-rr 0.0.7 implements some new Lua functions:

memory.registerexec	trigger a function when a given code is executed
memory.registerread	trigger a function when given memory is accessed
memory.registerwrite
memory.getregister	read from and write to the CPU registers
memory.setregister

This effectively makes breakpoints and watchpoints available from within Lua. You can thank mz for these developments.

Most of the scripts have been updated to use these functions where applicable. In particular, if you want to see the CPS2 and Marvel throwboxes without messing around with MAME-rr, now you can.

In fact, the old method of piggybacking on the MAME-rr debugger has been removed, because I oppose writing to memory when the script is supposed to be read-only. So you have to use FBA for the bp/wp functionality now, but MAME still works for everything else.

The exceptions are garou-hitboxes.lua, since FBA's Lua can't control the NeoGeo's bank switching, and cps3-hitboxes.lua, since the new functions don't support the SH2 processor, although it's only one breakpoint at stake there. (It may be possible to get garou working in FBA by getting to script to read the box parameters exactly when the game's program does, which would obviate bank switching.)

The overhaul process was unexpectedly painstaking:

November 2011

Stuff done in October:

• Updated that old dizzy meters script, and expanded it to the SF3 series.
• Improved on the old 3rd Strike hitbox script.
• Added Warzard to it.

Next month I plan to:

• Update some old scripts to use the Lua breakpoints in the new FBA-rr.
• Add the Jojo hitboxes to the CPS3 script and correct any other imperfections.
• Update the hitbox wiki page.

WarZard/Red Earth hitboxes

Added Warzard, or Red Earth as it was called in its limited distribution outside Japan, to the CPS3 script. The object handling and hitbox system has almost nothing in common with the Street Fighter III series, and I had to work from scratch to get it out.