SmartyPi –Emulation PCB replacement (SEGA edition)

[wahwah]

Are you thinking of making an x board version for AB Cop, GP Rider and Racing Hero together?

 

[ColinD]

What kind of FPS can we expect ?

Is the video output in sync / locked to the refresh rate ? (no tearing)

Is the sound choppy ?

Are we limited to Rpi 3 and below ?

Will anyone notice ?

Reason I ask is that there are some other pi based products that are having some issues at the moment such as the pole position boards.

 

[Equites]

Reason I ask is that there are some other pi based products that are having some issues at the moment such as the pole position boards.

Really? Interesting Col, what are the issues?

 

[ColinD]

Reason I ask is that there are some other pi based products that are having some issues at the moment such as the pole position boards.

Really? Interesting Col, what are the issues?

Video too wide (video clocks), some users has video noise / artefacts, controls were not reliable (more specific to pole position). Video didn't look smoothe to me.

Done right you can probably come quite close though.

 

[smarty]

Please see link to video demonstrating game play, audio, video and control performance of smartypi. The video is recorded in 1080p so if the YT video doesn't look great click the setting 'gear' and increase the video quality. This is a 10 minute video, showing game play for Turbo Out Run, Out Run, Super Hang-On and Space Harrier. In between the games you can what game switching looks like.

From switch on to game start is currently 38 seconds, I would like to reduce this a bit more if possible.

The Analog controls need some fine tuning to 'tighten' then up a bit within MAME settings, but my testing has shown performance to be good and reliable.

With exception of Hang-On Junior, these games all have a native resolution of 320x224, the white border of my smartypi logo is 320x224pixels and fits my Hantarax monitor fine with adjustment in H & V size, I'll be keen to see how it performs in a K7000 and other monitors that are in these cabs.

Audio is spot on, and never stutters, breaks up or lags.

Currently the Pi build is working well and has been soak tested for 72 hours it hasn't crashed or stopped working so I'm happy with that. My next steps are to integrate the Output control from MAME so Start Lamp and possibly other outputs can be integrated.

smarty2021-01-31 22:14:28

 

[Amb47uk]

Thats awesome sadly i dont have any of the cabs supported anymore to be able to use one
Would love a sega drver version daytona ect
Its getting hard/expensive to find working model boards now

I second a request for this. These daytona boards are so unreliable

Amazing work BTW, wish I had these games. Amb47uk2021-01-31 23:45:20

 

[_Matt_]

Wow, this is absolutely fantastic work, well done!

 

[Flinnster]

Can the pi even run Daytona?
Its a fair step up in processing specs there!

Seeing Space Harrier vertical movement on pedals is a thing to behold!

 

[John Bennett]

Can the pi even run Daytona?
Its a fair step up in processing specs there!

Seeing Space Harrier vertical movement on pedals is a thing to behold!

The SuperModel emulator appears to be working now.
So I’d say ‘yes’ if you offload the 3D to the GPU

Wouldn’t fancy the chances of it working in MAME as that’s defiantly pixel-plotting, unaccelerated, for best accuracy.

 

[2huwman]

Although with SuperModel you'd have Daytona 2 rather than Daytona. I don't think the model 2 emulator has been ported to anything other than Windows.

 

[John Bennett]

Although with SuperModel you'd have Daytona 2 rather than Daytona. I don't think the model 2 emulator has been ported to anything other than Windows.

Ah, I did wonder why I couldn't see a video for Daytona 1

 

[2huwman]

Although with SuperModel you'd have Daytona 2 rather than Daytona. I don't think the model 2 emulator has been ported to anything other than Windows.

Ah, I did wonder why I couldn't see a video for Daytona 1

The Dreamcast version of Daytona 1 looks to run quite well on a Pi 4 at least. The handling is a bit different, but it's a quality product.

 

[ColinD]

Please see link to video demonstrating game play, audio, video and control performance of smartypi. With exception of Hang-On Junior, these games all have a native resolution of 320x224. Audio is spot on, and never stutters, breaks up or lags.

That's really good, Hardware looks spot on too.

 

[Kev A]

just a thought, its great to have a plug n play solution, but in theory this board could be used for hundreds of games, would there be any merit in making a "generic" 2nd adapter board, say with an easily solderable jamma style edge, that way people could make their own adapters for games that aren't common enough to warrant making a dedicated adapter board.

 

[smarty]

I am toying with the idea of adding a JAMMA connector to make for easy hook ups of power, video and the digital inputs. The spec is 4 analog axis and 7 digital buttons and a control button so doesn’t really fit in to JAMMA spec for gaming there’s plenty of Pi Jamma adapters out there. The design I already have already included header connectors for the digital, analog and output signals.

 

[smarty]

That's really good, Hardware looks spot on too.

Thanks Colin.

 

[Kev A]

Ah that makes sense, are the inputs normal JST connectors? if so wouldn't be too hard for people to rig up a custom harness, obviously the adapter board is the cleanest way but nice to have as many options as possible.

 

[smarty]

Yes they're the JST NH range, so available from RS/Digikey/Farnell etc.

 

[fester]

Amazing work..I'd be interested in a Super Hangon / Hang on as back up for my Super Hang on cab

 

[vib_ribbon]

there are so many people with outrun2sp/ initial d cabs. would it be outside the realms of possibilities to adapt this to those cabs in the future?