Saturday, January 05, 2013

Cannonball 0.14 - Japanese Tracks & Scanlines

As mentioned in my previous post, Japanese tracks are now supported. And yes, the Japanese version really does have those violent horizon changes - it's not a bug! You can enable Japanese tracks in the Settings -> Game Engine menu.

You will need to copy the following files to your roms subdirectory:

epr-10380.133
epr-10382.118
epr-10381.132
epr-10383.117
epr-10327.76
epr-10329.58
epr-10328.75
epr-10330.57

These files should match the romset known as outruno in MAME.

Each set of tracks has its own high-score table, as their difficulty varies. Clearing high-scores in the settings menu now clears the scores for the track you have selected.

Scanlines are also supported. I was initially reluctant to offer scanline support. I view MAME as the optimal solution for playing games with filters if you want to simulate that CRT experience. However, it was the most requested feature (alongside analog control support), so I decided to press ahead with them. And to be honest, I quite like the result.

It's the Japan course map, with scanlines.

You can toggle the scanline intensity in the config.xml file. Scanlines have two caveats: they are disabled in 'stretch mode' (i.e. when the final image is stretched to fill the entire screen, losing its proportions). In full-screen mode, there may be additional bordering to ensure the scanlines are even. Scanlines are disabled by default. 

Bugfixes: Two minor bugfixes; an issue with numerals when changing the music selection text and a bug where the Ferrari didn't rev at the start line when using custom WAVs. 

I would also like advice on a good force-feedback wheel to purchase for the PC. Ideally something we can easily hook up to Cannonball.   

6 comments:

Retro-Nerd said...

Perfect! The Scanlines effect looks great. Many thanks for this feature.

Another suggestion: Maybe you could add separate volume options for the SFX/WAV Tracks. It seems the WAV tracks are notable quieter than the SFX. Looking forward to the analog controls. :-)

yt said...

Good, glad you liked them.

The volume options you mention are indeed something I want to do.

Just have to figure out the most sensible way of allowing you to adjust the sampled sfx, alongside the sfx generated by the Yamaha chip (e.g. the coin in sound) without also adjusting the percussion etc.

They'll be a way, but I just need to spend a bit of time formulating the best plan...

ptitSeb said...

Ajusting sound will be a great option !
3 parameters to ajust volume for SFX, Music & Custom music, some kind of slider 0 - 31 for example (not sure we need a full range of value), and some sample that play each time you change value, to hear the difference,.
That would be great :)

matt said...

I have a Logitech Driving Force GT for sale as I no longer use it. It's compatible with PC, P2 and P3. Maybe even Mac? Yours for the going rate. I'm in the UK.

matt said...

That should be PC, PS2 and PS3. Editing is dodgy in this mobile blog theme on my iPhone.

yt said...

Hi Matt,

Sounds good. There's a couple of items I've got my eye on, on ebay, but let's chat:

Drop me a line here:
http://javagear.co.uk/images/email.png