On top of the bar...

Star Lord

Simply ticked the HLSL tickbox in MAMEUI! Hadn't played around with it.
Here's a quick video too:

Can see a bit of judder near the boss, think that's due to having too much going on, including the FRAPS capture. Normally runs really smoothly.

Star Lord

Just hacked your settings in to the Mame.ini Steve, world of difference. Compare the overblown shots above using the default HLSL settings, and these ones. I think that the old settings were trying to replicate a worn arcade screen with too much brightness and not enough contrast, along with some colour bleeding. These are super looking now. Trying to capture video however made it almost die though!

Tried to get the same/similar shots for direct comparison purposes.






*Those are without editing the .fx files at all btw

Andrew76

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

Just hacked your settings in to the Mame.ini Steve, world of difference. Compare the overblown shots above using the default HLSL settings, and these ones. I think that the old settings were trying to replicate a worn arcade screen with too much brightness and not enough contrast, along with some colour bleeding. These are super looking now. Trying to capture video however made it almost die though!

Tried to get the same/similar shots for direct comparison purposes.






*Those are without editing the .fx files at all btw

The colours are far better in the above pics alright. Is the juddering because the HLSL lark is too much for the gfx to handle?

How good at the game are you btw? Presume that video above was just arsing about.

Star Lord

I wouldn't say I'm great, but I'm better than the video shows!
The judder was down to the combination of the HLSL and FRAPS being used to record it. Steve's HLSL settings are more intensive. Runs fine normally, but trying to record makes it entirely unplayable!

Myrddin

Finally found some time today to make some progress on this

Holes cut for intake & exhaust fans



Damo's GFX card installed & working away. Due to its bigger dimensions, I had to bring the motherboard back towards the rear of the unit, but it's fixed into its new position now. Thanks again Damo!



As for HLSL, the new card makes mince meat of it, games are running full speed & now comes the task of fine tuning the HLSL settings. There's a myriad of them, so will have to do some reading up on that...

The Last Bandit

Bloody overspray

MrVestek

Is that door on some kind of piano hinge?

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Bloody overspray

Ah sure it's on the inside, couldn't give a damn about what you can't see

MrVestek wrote: »

Is that door on some kind of piano hinge?

Nope, but the sheer brilliance of TLB's worksmanship mans the door is such a perfect fit it stays put regardless...no real need for a hinge anyway, it'll be getting closed up for good soon enough hopefully

Myrddin

Myrddin wrote: »

it'll be getting closed up for good soon enough hopefully

Big words

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

No real need for a hinge anyway, it'll be getting closed up for good soon enough hopefully

No it won't. There'll always be something you'll want to change / improve / upgrade.

Trust me from experience. ;-)

Star Lord

Myrddin wrote: »

Damo's GFX card installed & working away. Due to its bigger dimensions, I had to bring the motherboard back towards the rear of the unit, but it's fixed into its new position now. Thanks again Damo!

As for HLSL, the new card makes mince meat of it, games are running full speed & now comes the task of fine tuning the HLSL settings. There's a myriad of them, so will have to do some reading up on that...

No problem, and glad it's doing the job!
You'll have to show us some pics/vids of it up and running when your HLSL settings are all tweaked.

Despite all advice to the contrary, I tried setting up HyperSpin last weekend. Didn't seem to be as bad as I'd heard. Took a little bit of tweaking to get it running as I liked and with my wired xbox 360 controller (Thanks to xpadder) but seems to run alright! I probably benifited from using HyperLaunch 3, as opposed to hopping in earlier in it's life. Next step will be getting the CP that I got way back set up with sticks, buttons and iPAC to get it working with it, whenever I get round to that!

MrVestek

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

No problem, and glad it's doing the job!
You'll have to show us some pics/vids of it up and running when your HLSL settings are all tweaked.

Despite all advice to the contrary, I tried setting up HyperSpin last weekend. Didn't seem to be as bad as I'd heard. Took a little bit of tweaking to get it running as I liked and with my wired xbox 360 controller (Thanks to xpadder) but seems to run alright! I probably benifited from using HyperLaunch 3, as opposed to hopping in earlier in it's life. Next step will be getting the CP that I got way back set up with sticks, buttons and iPAC to get it working with it, whenever I get round to that!

I bet you're just using it for Mame... aren't you? :-)

Star Lord

MrVestek wrote: »

I bet you're just using it for Mame... aren't you? :-)

At the minute at least, yes! Have it set to just use Mame too, rather than the multi-system selection wheel.

Must see if I can find some of the videos for the games I've got my XML file limited down to.

MrVestek

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

At the minute at least, yes! Have it set to just use Mame too, rather than the multi-system selection wheel.

Must see if I can find some of the videos for the games I've got my XML file limited down to.

That's all pretty much preconfigured for the existing romset which conforms to a certain naming convention.

Wait until you start messing with console emulators... that's where it starts getting fun. ;-)

The Last Bandit

Yep, Hyperspin uses TOSEC naming instead of the GoodROMs so might be easier to download a new set of console roms.

MrVestek

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Yep, Hyperspin uses TOSEC naming instead of the GoodROMs so might be easier to download a new set of console roms.

What are you talking about willis? I obviously own every single console game out there for every system I've put on my bartop.

I erh... ripped them all myself and gave them all whacky names which is why it's taking so long.

Downloading a set of ROMs indeed...

Myrddin

Even still, the XML's are only configured for mostly USA releases, I've had to manually add in quite a few games by giving them an entry in the relevant XML...so there's no escaping the headaches.

I've added a small dual-USB port at the side of the bartop, so in lieu of that, I've locked the case up & test run it for the first time. Running fine, cpu @40c currently, & mobo temp is hovering around 22c

It's still nice & quiet, there's a slight 'whoosh' from the fans, but the hdd is the loudest part of it by far...something I'll have to eventually remedy,

Andrew76

Myrddin wrote: »

but the hdd is the loudest part of it by far...something I'll have to eventually remedy,

What type/make is it? Presume you can't hear it when playing games though?

Myrddin

Andrew76 wrote: »

What type/make is it? Presume you can't hear it when playing games though?

Ah it's an ancient sata 3.5" drive...you can't hear it over the games thankfully, but you can hear it clicking away while booting etc

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Ah it's an ancient sata 3.5" drive...you can't hear it over the games thankfully, but you can hear it clicking away while booting etc

Do what I do, use an SSD for the OS and a standard drive for emulators / roms etc.

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

Do what I do, use an SSD for the OS and a standard drive for emulators / roms etc.

Yeah ideally that's what I'll be looking to do. Actually, how did you mount your drives in the bartop?

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Yeah ideally that's what I'll be looking to do. Actually, how did you mount your drives in the bartop?

In a messy fashion. I've moved the drives around a fair bit since building it at the start. Everything was originally running from a 500Gb 2.5" sata drive, then I moved the boot partition to an SSD with the 500Gb as the Hyperspin drive.

Then I decided that I needed more space so I cloned the 500Gb drive onto a 3TB full sized HDD.

I used some corner bracket thingies that I found in a hardware store. Not sure what their exact name is.

Bask in my glorious cable management skills:

The Last Bandit

If you use those damping screws to mount the harddrives it will cut down on the noise a lot.

Mounting them directly to the wood like that just amplifies every noise they make.

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

If you use those damping screws to mount the harddrives it will cut down on the noise a lot.

Mounting them directly to the wood like that just amplifies every noise they make.

Any idea where I mick those up locally? Can't argue with DX [rices but the shipping time, eugh. Same goes for those mirror screws with chrome caps, any idea where I'd get them locally?

@MrVestek, I've the exact same little corner brackets on my hdd funnily enough, though only two of them...where did you get them?

MrVestek

The Last Bandit wrote: »

If you use those damping screws to mount the harddrives it will cut down on the noise a lot.

Mounting them directly to the wood like that just amplifies every noise they make.

I actually notice more noise from the case fan than I do from the HDD to be honest with you.

I might order some of those screws anyway just to make things a bit neater.

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

@MrVestek, I've the exact same little corner brackets on my hdd funnily enough, though only two of them...where did you get them?

A local DIY store. I just saw them and thought that they looked about the right size for wood screws on one side and machine screws on the other.

Not even sure what their proper names are to be honest with you.

The Last Bandit

Myrddin wrote: »

Any idea where I mick those up locally? Can't argue with DX [rices but the shipping time, eugh. Same goes for those mirror screws with chrome caps, any idea where I'd get them locally?

@MrVestek, I've the exact same little corner brackets on my hdd funnily enough, though only two of them...where did you get them?

B&Q has the mirror screws and those little angle brackets as well

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

I actually notice more noise from the case fan than I do from the HDD to be honest with you.

I might order some of those screws anyway just to make things a bit neater.

What type of fans have you got running? How they're mounted too will affect noise...the ones I got had large rubber pads surrounding the mounting holes & I find while I can still hear the wash of the air, there's no 'hum' you'd associate with fan noise

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

What type of fans have you got running? How they're mounted too will affect noise...the ones I got had large rubber pads surrounding the mounting holes & I find while I can still hear the wash of the air, there's no 'hum' you'd associate with fan noise

I actually can't hear the fan once the machine is turned on, I was just saying that in comparison if I was to really listen I'd hear that before I'd hear the HDD.

The only time I really hear the fan is when the machine is initially turned on when it's going full whack before it spins down to a regular speed.

Steve X2

I've used some Sugru as a noise dampener on some parts of my own bartop project. Using the Sugru to connect an old plastic dell hard drive mount to the bartop and noise dampening screws to attach the drive to the mount works for me. That's for the main 3TB drive, for the SSD I use Sugru to mount a SSD mount and again some noise dampening screws to connect the SSD to said mount.

Then some acoustic/vibration dampening foam around a few areas as well.

Not done yet but so far no noise or vibration from the unit. Although the normal 3TB drive only powers up when needed as all of MAME and the artwork/vids is on the SSD.

Doge

Do SSDs actually make noise?

I thought being non-mechanical they would be noise free...

MrVestek

waveform wrote: »

Do SSDs actually make noise?

They do not.

Doge

Steve SI wrote: »

for the SSD I use Sugru to mount a SSD mount and again some noise dampening screws to connect the SSD to said mount.

So basically the point of using Sugru and noise dampening screws for the SSD,
is to prevent noise due to vibration coming from elsewhere in the case I'm guessing?

Steve X2

waveform wrote: »

So basically the point of using Sugru and noise dampening screws for the SSD,
is to prevent noise due to vibration coming from elsewhere in the case I'm guessing?

Yes, and a little bit of Steve SI overkill

Doge

Steve SI wrote: »

Yes, and a little bit of Steve SI overkill

Double consoles, double games, double safe!

Myrddin

Picked out a good few Mastersystem roms there, most of the recommended ones & set the system up to use them. That's another system done.

Has anyone done GBA with Hyperspin yet? Afaik these games run in a window, so are there big black borders or can you use artwork to surround the game window etc?

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Picked out a good few Mastersystem roms there, most of the recommended ones & set the system up to use them. That's another system done.

Has anyone done GBA with Hyperspin yet? Afaik these games run in a window, so are there big black borders or can you use artwork to surround the game window etc?

You can enable a full screen mode so that it'll go to full 4:3. With Visualboy for instance you can set antialiasing on to smooth out the graphics when blown up to this size too.

You can stretch it to 16:9 but it just looks off.

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

You can enable a full screen mode so that it'll go to full 4:3. With Visualboy for instance you can set antialiasing on to smooth out the graphics when blown up to this size too.

You can stretch it to 16:9 but it just looks off.

Ah cool, I see...cheers for that.

Another thing I've noticed, is that Mame isn't saving the slider/hlsl settings when adjusted from within the tab menu of a game. An cfg for each game is created when launched, but no ini file is being created that I can see. Is this because Hyperlaunch is being used to launch/exit Mame...did I read here that I should set Mame to be launched as its own application, & not via HL?

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Ah cool, I see...cheers for that.

Another thing I've noticed, is that Mame isn't saving the slider/hlsl settings when adjusted from within the tab menu of a game. An cfg for each game is created when launched, but no ini file is being created that I can see. Is this because Hyperlaunch is being used to launch/exit Mame...did I read here that I should set Mame to be launched as its own application, & not via HL?

If you have a PCGames.ahk you can use that to launch it instead afaik.

It should just launch it then as it's own standalone app instead of taking any kind of management over it.

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

If you use those damping screws to mount the harddrives it will cut down on the noise a lot.

Mounting them directly to the wood like that just amplifies every noise they make.

Ordered those there from DX, hopefully they make a difference. I'd say they will, as the mechanical noise from the hdd is being transferred into the body of the bartop & then amplified.

Nearly done now with this (software aside), I've those mirror screws to pick up, black spray paint for the bezel, & the plexi that urbanledge sorted me out with (the legend that he is) & that's essentially it

Myrddin

Ok, looks like adding new systems has changed a bit from when I last added one. Is HyperHQ still used to add to Hyperspin? I'm looking to add Gameboy & Gameboy Colour...

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Ok, looks like adding new systems has changed a bit from when I last added one. Is HyperHQ still used to add to Hyperspin? I'm looking to add Gameboy & Gameboy Colour...

Yes but there's a newer version out and it has married HQ and Launch.

You're now looking for Hyperlaunch HQ, I think the most recent version is 3.

CiDeRmAn

MrVestek wrote: »

You can enable a full screen mode so that it'll go to full 4:3. With Visualboy for instance you can set antialiasing on to smooth out the graphics when blown up to this size too.

You can stretch it to 16:9 but it just looks off.

Is that the best of the GB emulators?
I'm not sure of mine but it fairly chugs, despite the Genesis emu working perfectly.

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

Yes but there's a newer version out and it has married HQ and Launch.

You're now looking for Hyperlaunch HQ, I think the most recent version is 3.

So new systems can be added from within Hyperlaunch HQ? Grand, will take a look tomorrow to see how

MrVestek

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Is that the best of the GB emulators?
I'm not sure of mine but it fairly chugs, despite the Genesis emu working perfectly.

Is it the best? Pfft... I dunno.

It's the one I use and it seems grand.

According to emulator zone it gets top marks:
http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/gba/

Then again Emulator Zone looks like a website that was designed in 2004 so. Yeah I dunno.

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

Yes but there's a newer version out and it has married HQ and Launch.

You're now looking for Hyperlaunch HQ, I think the most recent version is 3.

Myrddin wrote: »

So new systems can be added from within Hyperlaunch HQ? Grand, will take a look tomorrow to see how

Wrong

Systems are still added via HyperHQ, but configured using Hyperlaunch HQ. Just got Gameboy running there, it's barebones with no art/themes etc. but working away

MrVestek

Myrddin wrote: »

Wrong

Systems are still added via HyperHQ, but configured using Hyperlaunch HQ. Just got Gameboy running there, it's barebones with no art/themes etc. but working away

Well slather me in Peanutbutter Spank My Ass and call me Charlie. There is an 'add new system' button though. So... dunno what that's for!

Myrddin

MrVestek wrote: »

Well slather me in Peanutbutter Spank My Ass and call me Charlie.

...:eek:

There is an 'add new system' button though. So... dunno what that's for!

Can't see that button in Hyperlaunch HQ...you sure you're not mixing the two up, as it's there in HyperHQ...

Myrddin

The rubber padded hdd screws arrived from DX



I went out & got some new mounting brackets, & as luck would have it, the rubber mounts fit inside the mounting holes



Mirror screws for the plexi



Two sheets of plexi with a cardboard bezel in between them courtesy of an urbanledge I know (I got a can of matt black spray for this too)





Once everything is fit, the hardware side of the unit is done. I'm still adding systems to Hyperspin, & once done, I'll sort out themes & vids for all the systems & games. There's simply too much content now to scab themes/vids off anyone, so I'll go ahead & get a gold account on the hyperspin site & renew my sub with emumoveis at a later date.

Steve X2

You forgot the Sugru