Double Dragon boot problem!

[The-Ice-Man]

Kawaks will run all NeoGeo games and CPS1/2 games. So if you're only interested in NeoGeo, that might be a good option to keep things simple. If you're interested in other arcade systems, FBA will run a large selection of the more modern arcade games, including all the NeoGeos, MAME will run everything.

[Agozer]

What version of NeoRAGEx are you even running? Official development stopped with 0.6c IIRC; but since then there have been quite a few unofficial builds that added more games to the gamelist and introduced some additional fixes. The latest and last one is 5.4e or something like that.

[The-Ice-Man]

Yeah, 5.4 is the latest I can find mention of when I search, but I can't seem to get an actual working download of it. I was gonna try loading my copy of Double Dragon in it to see if I could recreate the problem. If you ask me all signs are pointing to a switch of emulator. Worth it I think coz Double Dragon is a good game, and you'll be able to get Garou and Fatal Fury 3 working easily too.

 

Edit: My 900th post. Only 100 more to Ultra Member. Booya. Not quite like Agozer's 19000 posts though.

Edited February 9, 2010 by The-Ice-Man

[Agozer]

Check my homepage. I think I have 5.4 there.

[Gomess]

Will 5.4 run Double Dragon and Garou then, you think?

 

I think I'd rather stick to NeoRage than get a whole new kind of emulator. The only thing I'd get for MAME other than Neo Geo games would be that four player X-Men beat 'em up. Not really worth it?

 

(Plus I heard MAME is relatively complex)

 

EDIT: Downloaded 5.4 from your site, it just wouldn't run. So I got 5.2, which is clearly more recent than the one I've been using, but Double Dragon suffers from the exact same problem, and it distorts the graphics of games which previously worked fine. I think I need to start again from the beginning... >_<

Edited February 9, 2010 by Gomess

[Agozer]

Like I said earlier, if there something wrong with the set, switching to another version of the same emulator never helps. The fact remains that NRX is more basically a relic that uses obscure and non-standard sets in order to get things rolling. It was the biggest thing since sliced bread when it first came out in 1999, and indeed emulated the arcade machine and console with unprecedented accuracy and compatibility. But that was 11 years ago. Seriously.

 

We've tried to coax you into switching to more recent and better emulators, and overhaul your romsets to the accepted "standard" in the process. Yes, MAME can be relatively complex, but complexity is often subjective when it comes to emulators. FBA and Kawaks are less complex, but again, everything is subjective. Besides, nothing should prevent you from fiddling out with their respective options and trying to grasp the chances they make and why. It's not like these emulators will cause your computer to implode if you happen to check the wrong box.

 

Besides, we're here to help people like you, so if you don't understand what a particular options does or why the emulator behaves the way it does, ask us. Personally, I haven't been here for seven years just to show off my trolling skills and stiff posture, you know.

[Gomess]

Yeah, like I said, I'm more than willing to download a new emulator if I'm sure it'll do everything the old one did.

 

So let me get this straight... MAME is an arcade emulator, so... I could play the entire library of arcade versions of Neo Geo games on it?

 

To be honest, the ability to choose 'console' or 'arcade' modes was one of the biggest draws of NRX for me. I dunno, just something that appealed to me.

 

Yeah folks, just come right out and tell me exactly what I need to play Neo Geo games, if you will. =] Am I to understand all the Neo Geo roms I have are effectively useless now then, because they were 'made' for NRX? I understand if the board has a policy on linking, but any direction to where I can get workable roms for whatever new emulator I should get would be appreciated.

 

(I appreciate you guys' time, and apologise in advance for the fact that I'll always be a question asker, not a problem solver, when it comes to emulation. )

[Agozer]

Oh, they'll do everything the old one did, and more, and better.

 

Yes, MAME is an arcade emulator and supports all Neo-Geo games known to man as well as well as a few unofficial Neo-Geo CD --> Neo-Geo MVS conversions IIRC. The only real problem I have with MAME emulating Neo-Geo games is that after a couple of updates pertaining to how MAME handles the Neo-Geo BIOs files resulted in the games constantly running in their respective Console mode instead of arcade, with no clear indication how to switch between the two. Chalk it up to me not bothering to investigate the matter further.

 

Every emulator that supports Neo-Geo games supports switching the emulated hardware between console and arcade.

 

As for your romsets being useless, that is and isn't the case: Many of the older games have sets that are exactly the same data-wise, since the games have never features any form of copy-protection nor has their been any issues with the actual dump that would require a redump years later. The only thing you need to do (if you want to go down that road) is to rename the files in the romset to match the naming scheme in use these days.

 

For help with that, use the MAWS MAME repository (http://maws.mameworld.info/maws) that lists all games supported by MAME, along with the full contents of each romset, their sizes and CRC/hash values among other useful things. You also need to make sure that the CRC values listed for each file in MAWS match what you have in your romset (CRC being a fingerprint of sorts, ensuring that the file hasn't been altered). You can see the CRC column in WinZip, WinRAR, etc. by enabling said column in the program's preferences.

 

It's also given that'll you'll run into a situation where the entire romset is outdated, and you need to replace the whole thing. Now, the rules of this place prevent us from flatout telling you where to get those,, since they are copyrighted works, and we'd be assisting in copyright infringement. Yeah, even if the chances of repercussions are slim, we don't play that game here for any reason. After all, we are denizens of the Internets (I have one and so do you), so Googling should be your second nature. Getting proper results isn't even as difficult as some might think.

 

Finally, you need the Neo-Geo BIOS files (often in one romset), and the ones you used in NRX don't make the cut. BIOS files fall under the same category as the above, so watch what your asking. You should be looking for the Neo-Geo BIOS package designed for MAME, as that one seems to be used in all the other emulators as well, be it FBA, Kawaks, etc.

[The-Ice-Man]

Like I said earlier, if it's just NeoGeo you're interested in, Kawaks is probably the best choice for you. It just plays NeoGeo and CPS1/CPS2. You will probably be able to find a full romset for Kawaks relatively easily if you search for Kawaks on a torrent site.

[Gomess]

Cheers, so I downloaded Kawaks and spectacularly, Double Dragon works.

 

EXCEPT

 

For some reason, the screen is covered in regular thin horizontal black lines. At first I just thought it was to recreate the authentic 90s arcade experience from my childhood, but it persisted in 'console mode' and on every other game. Is this a problem with video settings, or the fact I downloaded v1.59, and there's been four hundred updates since then? >_>

[The-Ice-Man]

Sounds like scanlines. And yeah it sort of is to make it look like an old monitor. There'll be an option to turn them off in the video settings somewhere. Again I don't actually use Kawaks so can't say exactly which menu it's under but it'll be there somewhere.

[Agozer]

The latest Kawaks version is 1.61, which uses Alternate Scanlines as the default video blitter, hence the scanlines you see in game. Change the active video blitter in the Video menu and see which one you like the best. Doesn't hurt to experiment with the other video options as well to see wha they do, especially options that manage stretching.

 

I'd also suggest changing the sound frequency to at least 44.1kHz (well, ok, it's a matter of preference, but the Neo-Geo was able to mix sound at 44.1kHz anyway). Also make sure that the Console Mode under Neo-Geo settings is set to use Arcade, if you want Arcade (although some peculiarities in the BIOS used might override the setting). Last, some games might run too slow, so overclock the 68000 processor frequency under the Misc menu a value that you feel comfortable with. Overclocking can introduce some unwanted side-effects, though.

[Gomess]

Thanks a lot both, it seems to be working just fine now!

 

And to think I actually spent ten quid on the PS1 version of Darkstalkers 3, when I could've gotten the arcade version for free. Xo

[Agozer]

Well, you did support Capcom by buying the game, plus home console versions often have extras not present in the arcades. Well, the PSX wasn't particularly good at rendering 2D, but that's another story altogether.

[The-Ice-Man]

Dalkstalkers 3 was better than any of the arcade releases in that all characters from the series were selectable, but worse coz it missed frames of animation. The best release of Darkstalkers is Vampire Chronicle for Dreamcast or PSP coz it merges all the arcade releases into one game. Glad you finally got things sorted.