Video Games – jstookey.com

Introducing... Pimple Frenzy!

jstookey — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 07:08:08 +0000

I am very excited to announce the release of a new mobile game, called Pimple Frenzy. It's playable on iPhone, iPad, Android, and ChromeOS devices!

With the help of some friends we made the first version of this game in the 90's. 25 years later a lot of work has gone into getting this completed and into your hands! You don't want to miss out, you gotta try it!

Visit the official web site here!

How to make good-looking Windows icons

jstookey — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:52:19 +0000

Converting an image into a window .ico icon is not hard, but it's easy to do the wrong way. Before I learned the right way to do it, I exported a .ico file in the Gimp and it looked terrible. I started with a nice image like this one:

I loaded it into the Gimp paint program and exported it to "icon.ico" and attached it to my executable executable program. Much to my dismay, the resulting icon looked like this in File Explorer:

Even the higher resolution icon in Control Panel Add/Remove programs looks bad:

Terrible, right? It's shocking. What is going on here? As I understand it this created a single-resolution icon. Windows does a bad job of auto-scaling the single-size icon. The answer is to create a multi-size icon, (also called an auto-resize icon). This is a single file that contains custom icons at varying resolutions. ImageMagic will generate this multi-size icon effortlessly with the following command:

convert -background none icon.png -define icon:auto-resize icon.ico

The "-background none" option is useful if your icon has a transparent background. Here is what the resulting icon looks like in File Explorer and Control Panel Add/Remove Programs:

This looks much better than the first attempt at creating it.

Build SDL2 projects for iOS with Xcode 11

jstookey — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 05:26:09 +0000

I created a cross-platform video game. It's runs well on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. If you want to play the game, it is called Pimple Frenzy, it is super fun, and can be installed from the App Store or Google Play:

I'm using a fairly generic SDL2 configuration, so I thought I would share it in case anyone else is looking for a clean and easy approach to compiling your SDL2 project for iPhones and iPads. Thanks to LazyFoo's tutorial for getting me headed in the right direction. See below for step-by-step instructions. If you want to customize the name of your project, just replace "sdlproject" with your project name in each step.

mkdir ~/projects/sdlproject
cd ~/projects/sdlproject
Download the latest sdl2, sdl2_image, sdl2_ttf, sdl2_mixer:
wget https://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL2-2.0.12.tar.gz
wget https://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_image/release/SDL2_image-2.0.5.tar.gz
wget https://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_mixer/release/SDL2_mixer-2.0.4.tar.gz
wget https://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_ttf/release/SDL2_ttf-2.0.15.tar.gz
tar -xzf SDL2-2.0.12.tar.gz
tar -xzf SDL2_image-2.0.5.tar.gz
tar -xzf SDL2_mixer-2.0.4.tar.gz
tar -xzf SDL2_ttf-2.0.15.tar.gz
rm *.tar.gz
cp -R SDL2-2.0.12/Xcode-iOS/Template/SDL\ iOS\ Application/* ~/projects/sdlproject
find ___PROJECTNAME___.xcodeproj -type f | xargs -0 sed -i '' -e 's/___PROJECTNAME___/sdlproject/g'
mv ___PROJECTNAME___.xcodeproj sdlproject.xcodeproj

Now start up Xcode and open ~/projects/sdlproject.xcodeproj
Select the Build target and go to General and change the Display Name to sdlproject, and the Bundle Identifier to com.companyname.sdlproject.
Where it says ___PROJECTNAME___ in the build targets to the right of the Play and Stop buttons, select ___PROJECTNAME___ and select "Manage Schemes"

From the Manage Schemes window, click on the ___PROJECTNAME___ scheme, wait a few seconds, then click on it again to rename it. Rename it to sdlproject and press enter to apply the change. This should change the build target name from ___PROJECTNAME___ to sdlproject.

Remove SDL.xcodeproj from Sources
Remove main.c from sources
Add each .c and .h file from ~/projects/sdlproject (a directory containing your SDL source files) to Sources

You should end up with something like this:

Right click "Sources" -> Add Files -> Select the "Create groups" option for Added folders and add SDL2-2.x.x/Xcode-iOS/SDL/SDL.xcodeproj to Sources

Similarly, add SDL2_image-2.x.x/Xcode-iOS/SDL/SDL.xcodeproj to Sources with option, “Added folders:Create groups”
(do the same for SDL2_mixer-2.x.x and SDL2_ttf-x.x)
Set the build target to libSDL-ios and from the menu, select Product-> Build. You should see "Build Succeeded".

Set the build target to libSDL_image-ios
Sources->SDL_image.xcodeproj->Public Headers->add SDL2-2.x.x/includes as group

from the menu, select Product-> Build. You should see "Build Succeeded".
Do the same for SDL_ttf and SDL_mixer (add the SDL2 includes folder to the library's Public Headers, select the build target to the library, then Build). You should end up with something like this:

Right click "Sources" and add the SDL2 include directory as group

Right click Sources and add sdl_ttf.h, sdl_image.h, and sdl_mixer.h from each of the respective libraries

Select the sdlproject build target, then select the top sdlproject:

Select the general tab.
- Configure settings as needed. In my case I configure Target device->iPhone, iPad, iOS 8. Landscape Left, Hide Status bar, requires full screen
- Under Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content, add the following if they are not already listed (note that you may need slightly different libraries depending on what your code requires):

Under sdlproject->Signing and Capabilities,
- - Select the Team for code signing (you may need to configure this first) and Set the Bundle Identifier: com.companyname.sdlproject
Add any needed data directories or folders to Resources, taking care to select the "folder reference" option (instead of the "create groups" option we've been using for most other additions).
You may want to edit the existing images in Resources to be something appropriate for your project:

Select the sdlproject build target, and a device. In my case, I'm testing on an iPad.

From the menu select Product->Build. If you get Build Succeeded, Select Product->Run to run the program on your iOS device. With any luck you're in business!

Troubleshooting Missing Libraries

You will see the following if you didn't include AudioToolbox.framework:
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueNewInput
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueSetProperty
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueAllocateBuffer
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueNewOutput
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueEnqueueBuffer
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueDispose
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueueStart
Undefined symbol: _AudioQueuePause

You will see the following if you didn't include AVFoundation.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_AVAudioSession
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionInterruptionTypeKey
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionCategoryAmbient
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionModeDefault
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionInterruptionNotification
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionCategorySoloAmbient
Undefined symbol: _AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback

You will see the following if you didn't include CoreBluetooth.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CBCentralManager
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CBUUID
Undefined symbol: _CBAdvertisementDataLocalNameKey

You will see the following if you didn't include CoreGraphics.framework:
Undefined symbol: _CGRectZero
Undefined symbol: _CGRectEqualToRect
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetAlphaInfo
Undefined symbol: _CGContextDrawImage
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetHeight
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetBytesPerRow
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceGetNumberOfComponents
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceGetBaseColorSpace
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceGetColorTable
Undefined symbol: _CGContextRelease
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetDataProvider
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceGetColorTableCount
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceRelease
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetWidth
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetColorSpace
Undefined symbol: _CGDataProviderCopyData
Undefined symbol: _CGBitmapContextCreate
Undefined symbol: _CGColorSpaceGetModel
Undefined symbol: _CGImageGetBitsPerPixel
Undefined symbol: _CGDataProviderCreateSequential
Undefined symbol: _CGDataProviderRelease

You will see the following if you didn't include CoreMotion.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CMMotionManager

You will see the following if you didn't include CoreServices.framework:
Undefined symbol: _UTTypeConformsTo
Undefined symbol: _kUTTypePNG
Undefined symbol: _kUTTypeJPEG
Undefined symbol: _kUTTypeTIFF
Undefined symbol: _kUTTypeGIF

You will see the following if you didn't include Foundation.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_NSMapTable
Undefined symbol: objc_destroyWeak
Undefined symbol: _objc_storeWeak
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSArray
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_NSMutableArray
Undefined symbol: NSFoundationVersionNumber
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSDate
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_NSObject
Undefined symbol: NSDefaultRunLoopMode
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSException
Undefined symbol: objc_sync_enter
Undefined symbol: __objc_empty_cache
Undefined symbol: _CFStringCreateWithCString
Undefined symbol: _objc_sync_exit
Undefined symbol: _CFRunLoopRunInMode
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSNumber
Undefined symbol: NSLog
Undefined symbol: _kCFRunLoopDefaultMode
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSBundle
Undefined symbol: kCFTypeDictionaryValueCallBacks
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_METACLASS$_NSObject
Undefined symbol: CFRunLoopGetCurrent
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSData
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_NSRunLoop
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_NSString
Undefined symbol: objc_retainAutoreleaseReturnValue
Undefined symbol: _objc_autoreleaseReturnValue
Undefined symbol: _objc_storeStrong
Undefined symbol: _objc_alloc
Undefined symbol: _objc_autoreleasePoolPush
Undefined symbol: _objc_autorelease
Undefined symbol: _objc_msgSendSuper2
Undefined symbol: _objc_release
Undefined symbol: _CFDictionaryCreate
Undefined symbol: _objc_retainAutorelease
Undefined symbol: _objc_loadWeakRetained
Undefined symbol: _objc_retainAutoreleasedReturnValue
Undefined symbol: _objc_getProperty
Undefined symbol: _objc_retain
Undefined symbol: _CFURLCreateWithFileSystemPath
Undefined symbol: _CFRelease
Undefined symbol: _objc_autoreleasePoolPop
Undefined symbol: _objc_end_catch
Undefined symbol: ___CFConstantStringClassReference
Undefined symbol: ___objc_personality_v0
Undefined symbol: _objc_begin_catch
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSFileManager
Undefined symbol: objc_msgSend
Undefined symbol: _objc_setProperty_nonatomic_copy
Undefined symbol: _objc_enumerationMutation
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSNotificationCenter
Undefined symbol: kCFTypeDictionaryKeyCallBacks
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_NSDictionary
Undefined symbol: OBJC_EHTYPE$_NSException

You will see the following if you didn't include GameController.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_GCController
Undefined symbol: _GCControllerDidConnectNotification
Undefined symbol: _GCControllerDidDisconnectNotification

You will see the following if you didn't include ImageIO.framework:
Undefined symbol: _CGImageSourceCreateWithURL
Undefined symbol: _CGImageSourceCreateWithDataProvider
Undefined symbol: _CGImageSourceCreateImageAtIndex
Undefined symbol: _kCGImageSourceTypeIdentifierHint
Undefined symbol: _CGImageSourceGetType

You will see the following if you didn't include libc++.tbd:
Undefined symbol: operator new[](unsigned long)
Undefined symbol: operator new(unsigned long)
Undefined symbol: operator delete
Undefined symbol: ___gxx_personality_v0
Undefined symbol: operator delete(void*)

You will see the following if you didn't include Metal.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_MTLSamplerDescriptor
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_MTLTextureDescriptor
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_MTLRenderPassDescriptor
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_MTLVertexDescriptor
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_MTLRenderPipelineDescriptor
Undefined symbol: _MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice

You will see the following if you didn't include OpenGLES.framework:
Undefined symbol: glBlitFramebuffer
Undefined symbol: _glRenderbufferStorage
Undefined symbol: _glLabelObjectEXT
Undefined symbol: _glBufferSubData
Undefined symbol: _kEAGLColorFormatSRGBA8
Undefined symbol: _glBindRenderbuffer
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_METACLASS$_EAGLContext
Undefined symbol: glRenderbufferStorageMultisample
Undefined symbol: _glFinish
Undefined symbol: _glRotatef
Undefined symbol: _glTranslatef
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteFramebuffers
Undefined symbol: _glPushMatrix
Undefined symbol: _glCheckFramebufferStatusOES
Undefined symbol: _kEAGLColorFormatRGB565
Undefined symbol: _glBlendEquationSeparate
Undefined symbol: _glFramebufferTexture2DOES
Undefined symbol: _kEAGLDrawablePropertyColorFormat
Undefined symbol: _glBindFramebuffer
Undefined symbol: _glBindFramebufferOES
Undefined symbol: _glTexParameteriv
Undefined symbol: _glInvalidateFramebuffer
Undefined symbol: _glFramebufferRenderbuffer
Undefined symbol: _glDrawTexfOES
Undefined symbol: _glBufferData
Undefined symbol: _glReadPixels
Undefined symbol: _glBindBuffer
Undefined symbol: _glBlendEquationSeparateOES
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteBuffers
Undefined symbol: _glBlendFunc
Undefined symbol: _glGetBooleanv
Undefined symbol: _glGenBuffers
Undefined symbol: _glGenFramebuffersOES
Undefined symbol: _glGetAttribLocation
Undefined symbol: _glUseProgram
Undefined symbol: _glUniformMatrix4fv
Undefined symbol: _glUniform4f
Undefined symbol: _glUniform1i
Undefined symbol: _glTexSubImage2D
Undefined symbol: _glBlendFuncSeparate
Undefined symbol: _glShaderSource
Undefined symbol: _glShaderBinary
Undefined symbol: _kEAGLColorFormatRGBA8
Undefined symbol: _glGetUniformLocation
Undefined symbol: _glGetProgramiv
Undefined symbol: _glBindTexture
Undefined symbol: _glGetIntegerv
Undefined symbol: _glCreateProgram
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteTextures
Undefined symbol: _kEAGLDrawablePropertyRetainedBacking
Undefined symbol: _glDrawArrays
Undefined symbol: _glGetShaderiv
Undefined symbol: _glGetString
Undefined symbol: _glGetError
Undefined symbol: _glColor4f
Undefined symbol: _glResolveMultisampleFramebufferAPPLE
Undefined symbol: _glLoadIdentity
Undefined symbol: _glDisable
Undefined symbol: _glDiscardFramebufferEXT
Undefined symbol: _glLinkProgram
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteShader
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteProgram
Undefined symbol: _glBindAttribLocation
Undefined symbol: _glMatrixMode
Undefined symbol: _glVertexAttribPointer
Undefined symbol: _glEnableVertexAttribArray
Undefined symbol: _glActiveTexture
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteFramebuffersOES
Undefined symbol: _glClear Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_EAGLContext
Undefined symbol: _glGenTextures
Undefined symbol: _glOrthof
Undefined symbol: _glPopMatrix
Undefined symbol: _glDisableClientState
Undefined symbol: _glDeleteRenderbuffers
Undefined symbol: _glBlendFuncSeparateOES
Undefined symbol: _glTexCoordPointer
Undefined symbol: _glViewport
Undefined symbol: _glDisableVertexAttribArray
Undefined symbol: _glCreateShader
Undefined symbol: _glTexImage2D
Undefined symbol: _glVertexPointer
Undefined symbol: _glBlendEquationOES
Undefined symbol: _glClearColor
Undefined symbol: _glGetRenderbufferParameteriv
Undefined symbol: _glFramebufferTexture2D
Undefined symbol: _glCompileShader
Undefined symbol: _glGetShaderInfoLog
Undefined symbol: _glAttachShader
Undefined symbol: _glEnable
Undefined symbol: _glScissor
Undefined symbol: _glCheckFramebufferStatus
Undefined symbol: _glEnableClientState
Undefined symbol: _glGenFramebuffers
Undefined symbol: _glTexParameteri
Undefined symbol: _glGenRenderbuffers
Undefined symbol: _glTexEnvf
Undefined symbol: _glPixelStorei
Undefined symbol: _glGetProgramInfoLog

You will see the following if you didn't include QuartzCore.framework:
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CAEAGLLayer
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CAMetalLayer
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_CADisplayLink

You will see the following if you didn't include UIKit.framework:
Undefined symbol: UIApplicationWillResignActiveNotification
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_METACLASS$_UIView
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIKeyCommand
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UITextField
Undefined symbol: UIKeyInputEscape
Undefined symbol: _UIKeyboardWillShowNotification
Undefined symbol: _UIKeyboardWillHideNotification
Undefined symbol: _UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification
Undefined symbol: _UITextFieldTextDidChangeNotification
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_UIPasteboard
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIApplication
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIAlertAction
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIAlertController
Undefined symbol: UIWindowLevelAlert
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_METACLASS$_UIWindow
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIWindow
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIImage
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIStoryboard
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIDevice
Undefined symbol: UIKeyboardFrameEndUserInfoKey
Undefined symbol: _UIApplicationDidBecomeActiveNotification
Undefined symbol: _UIWindowLevelNormal
Undefined symbol: _UIKeyInputDownArrow
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_UIView
Undefined symbol: UIKeyInputRightArrow
Undefined symbol: _OBJC_CLASS$_UIImageView
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIScreen
Undefined symbol: OBJC_METACLASS$_UIViewController
Undefined symbol: OBJC_CLASS$_UIViewController
Undefined symbol: _UIKeyInputUpArrow
Undefined symbol: _CGSizeFromString
Undefined symbol: _UIKeyInputLeftArrow
Undefined symbol: _UITrackingRunLoopMode
Undefined symbol: _UIApplicationMain

Stained Glass MAME Marquee

jstookey — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 06:34:52 +0000

My mother does a lot of craft work with stained glass (check out her store at www.bethanddon.com. I woke up one morning realizing that I aught to ask her to make a Mame marquee out of stained glass for my arcade cabinet. First I tried drawing out a few designs. They looked really difficult to do because I wasn't thinking about the fact that it's stained glass. I scoured the internet for ideas, and found Jim's Robby Roto Mame Machine with a stained glass marquee. He had a really simple yet perfect design for a mame marquee. I emailed him, and he said he didn't mind if I used his design.

I spoke to my mother about the idea and she was excited about it so I whipped up the design.

When I searched through her glass collection, I realized that most of her glass is made to be transparent. I couldn't find colors that would work well with a fluorescent lamp behind it. My mother was looking to order some new glass anyway, so I looked at some websites to find some I liked. Pictures on the internet couldn't tell me how the different glasses would look with a bright light behind it. My mother didn't really have to have her arm twisted for us to all hop in the car and drive (5 hours each way) to the super-stained-glass warehouse in Pennsylvania.

It was tough to find colors that would look good when backlit, but finally I found them and I think they look great (item #'s from left to right: KOKOMO 979-31D, KOKOMO 979-622D, WISSMACH 976-51G):

Here's the finished product:

...and a shot of it in the cabinet:

Download the printable version of the pattern here.

Dragon Warrior World Map

jstookey — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:51:06 +0000

Google has added a map of the world in none other than Dragon Warrior graphics. This is the best April Fools day present I ever got.

This comes at perfect timing in my own life. It just so happens that I have been working my way through the Dragon Warrior games for the last few months on my Android phone, and am currently in the middle of Dragon Warrior 3. I would totally dance a jig right now, but I don't want to lose all my magic points.

Blender to Dreamcast

jstookey — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:35:40 +0000

Importing 3d objects into the DC

I have been playing around with making video games on the Dreamcast. I wanted a way to create and import 3d models into the Dreamcast. I ended up writing my own export script for the Open Source 3D modelling program "Blender". Also, I wrote c++ class to import the 3d model into the Sega Dreamcast using KallistiOS and the KGL libraries (KGL provides very basic OpenGL functionality). This page provides some source code and my export script that could hopefully be useful for other people looking to do the same thing.

Why the Dreamcast?

The Sega Dreamcast has excellent Open Source tools for developing games on the system. The existence of KallistiOS and the gcc compiler for the Dreamcast mean that I can create whatever games I can dream up without worrying too much about licensing Official Dev Kit platforms that are generally reserved for big video game companies. The Dreamcast is great for this purpose because it can run the games off an ordinary CD-ROM without the use of a mod chip, so I can hand the game to my friends and they can play it.

Blender

I'm just getting started with 3-d modelling. I tried a few different pieces of software (Wings-3D, Maya educational version) before commiting to Blender. Blender was intimidating to me at first because when I loaded it up, I didn't intuitively know what do to. However, once I decided to give Blender a chance, it turned out to be really easy to work with, you just gotta go through a few quick tutorials first.

I took a Blender VRML '97 export script (written by Rick Kimball, Ken Miller, Steve Matthews, and Bart) and transformed it into something that exports a model into my own format. VRML had a lot of the features that I wanted, but I didn't have a good way of parsing the VRML file into the Dreamcast, so I wanted a binary format. It would probably be better to have learned an existing format and loaded that instead of creating my own, but for now this was the easiest way for me to get started. Here are the features that the script supports:

- The script exports a UV-textured 3d model, with some support for animations.
- The script exports to Jake Format (.jfm), my own simple format.
- Multiple Blender objects can be exported together into a single .jfm file.

Dreamcast

I'm using Cryptic Allusions' KallistiOS KGL library to display the 3D image. The texture is loaded as an indexed 256-color .pcx file that I created using the Gimp. The program loads the .jfm file and the .pcx texture, and displays the animation. You can rotate the model using the analog stick. The code is suprisingly brief and clean, so it should be easy to understand and learn from.

Linux

The program also can be compiled for Linux using the Glut library. On my system, "make linux" builds the a.out executable for me. I'm using David Henry's pcx.c pcx file importer to load the textures. You can rotate the model using the mouse.

Other operating systems

It should be easy to compile the code for other systems that have the glut library. It should hopefully compile much like the Linux version. If you get it working on another operating system and you want to send me the result, I'd be glad to post it here.

Downloads:

kglblender.tar.gz (~1.8M)

Here is a brief description of the important files:

blender/jakeformat.py	The .jfm (Jake format) export script. Under linux, I put this file in my home directory under ".blender/scripts", and Blender added .jfm as an export menu option.
blender/dreamcast.blend	Blender object file. Load blender, and open this file. It's a model of a Sega Dreamcast. Alt-A should show the animation. File-Export->Jake Format (.jfm) will export the file.
blender/dreamcast.jpg	The texture file for the blender model.
kglgame/kglgame.cc	The main program file. This mostly just sets up the opengl stuff, and calls on the object3d object to load and display.
kglgame/Makefile	You may have to edit this file a little to compile for your system. Some good commands to use are "make" to build the dc elf, and "make linux" to create a linux "a.out" executable.
kglgame/drawables/object3d.cc	This does the loading and displaying of the .jfm file.
kglgame/romdisk/dreamcast.jfm	This is the exported Dreamcast animation that gets displayed by the program.
kglgame/romdisk/dreamcast.pcx	This is the texture image that gets loaded by the program to go with the .jfm file.
kglgame/a.out	A linux executable. This requires the romdisk/ folder to be in the same directory as a.out.
kglgame/kglgame.elf	A Dreamcast .elf file. This file contains all the data, so the romdisk folder is not required in this case. Just upload kglgame.elf to the dreamcast and run it to see the animated Dreamcast display.

Software Versions

Here are the versions of the different programs that I created this stuff with:

Blender-2.41
binutils-2.15
newlib-1.12.0
gcc-3.4.1
Kallistios-1.3.0

Links

KallistiOS Site
Blender 3D: Noob to Pro - Great place to get started working in Blender
Texturing a Castle Tutorial - Learn Blender UV Texture Mapping
Elephants Dream - a cool animated feature made using Blender.

Wells Gardner 25k7191 Arcade Monitor

jstookey — Sun, 16 Nov 2003 04:00:00 +0000

I'm putting this page up because I had a few small problems while using my Wells Gardner WGk7191 arcade monitor in my Mame cabinet. It appears that a few other people have run into the same problems, so I thought I'd keep the information here for people to find.

I am using the monitor with a VGA cable hack with the ArcadeVGA video card from Ultimarc. When I tried to run Windows 98 at 800x600 or 640x288, the display wouldn't look right. At the bottom of the screen, there was a fold where the screen would curl, and in effect I was losing the bottom part of the screen. This affected Mame games that run at certain resolutions also and runnig Windows at 800x600 or 640x288 (640x480 worked fine). On the Ultimarc message board, someone mentioned that they had fixed this same problem. (Note: this also affected certain games when I was running my monitor with the Trident Blade T64 card with AdvanceMame.)

FUSE:

I pulled out the fuse and took a look at it. The fuse in my monitor is "2A 250VAC". On the fuse, it also says, "BEL 3 SB". The monitor's circuit board where the fuse plugs in has "2A 250VAC" printed on it. There are little icons on the fuse for "SB" and "UL". I think that the "SB" stands for Slow Blow.

Click the thumbnails for full-size pictures.

	Here's a picture of the diagram that is printed on the back of my k7191 monitor.
	The schematics diagram for the Wells-Gardner Model 25K7191.
K7000 Monitor Manual (pdf)	I finally got my hands on the manual for the k7191. It's in pdf format, and actually the manual is for the k7000. However, Wells Gardner sent it to someone for use with the k7191, so I am assuming that this is the correct manual. NOTE: The schematics diagram in this manual mentions that the diagram is for the 9k7700, 13k7800, 19k7600, and 19k7900 monitors and to "Refer to other schematic diagrams for certain unique models.". See the next image for the 25k7191 schematics.
	Here's close-up of a picture of the pot that I adjusted to fix the curling problem. Note that you need a screwdriver or something to adjust it. It almost doesn't look like a pot at all (to me, but I'm not experienced with this stuff at all).
	Here's a zoom-out of the same pot.
	Here are the outputs for the monitor cable. These are the wires that need to be spliced to a VGA monitor cable hack for use with the ArcadeVGA PC video card from Ultimarc. Note that I also added a vsync wire to my VGA cable hack. This is required in order to use the Act Labs PC USB Light Gun with the arcade monitor.
	My monitor gets power from the black and white wires.
	These wires go into my isolation transformer, then back out to a wall plug.

Wgk7191 Monitor - Strange Circuitboard

This circuitboard is screwed to monitor case, but isn't wired to anything. I wonder what it's for?

Somebody's asking about it, so I thought I'd post some detailed pictures. Maybe I can find out what it is.

	The circuit board connected to the monitor.
	Large top view of the circuit board.
	Smaller top view of the strange circuit board.
	Angled view.
	Shot of the underside.
	Hopefully you can read the capacitors.
	..
	..

Note:

Act Labs USB PC Light Gun is now working!

Andy Warne at Ultimarc has been running some tests with the Act Labs gun and arcade monitors. He discovered that if you use an arcade monitor and you splice the hsync and vsync wires together in your VGA cable hack, then the light gun won't work. I added a wire to my monitor's output cable for the vsync, and wired it correctly to the video card, and now I'm playing gun games on my cabinet. Sweet! By the way, according to Andy, this fact is true no matter what kind of video card you are using.

Here are some useful links:

BYOAC	The build your own arcade controls has very good info on all aspects of building arcade machines. If you have any questions, there are many helpful people in the messsage board. There is also a lot of info in the huge FAQ there.
Ultimarc's web site	This is where the ArcadeVGA card was created - totally awesome for connecting an arcade monitor to your Mame computer.

Multiple Mice in Windows using Raw Input

jstookey — Fri, 12 Sep 2003 03:43:14 +0000

Raw Input is a Microsoft API that provides applications a way to accept raw input from any HID, including the keyboard and mouse. Prior to Windows XP, Microsoft supported using multiple mice independently with DirectX, however this method of using multiple mice was removed in Windows XP and newer. The new alternative is to use Raw Input, or Raw Mouse. The primary goal was to support multiple mice and lightguns in MAME, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, but in the process a generic API was created that can be used in any application. This page provides source code and other information on using Raw Input for the following purposes:

Multiple mice in Windows XP
Multiple mice in Windows Vista
Multiple mice in Windows 10
Multiple relative input devices such as lightguns
Multiple keyboards

DOWNLOADS

Sample Raw Input Code

NOTE: These will only run properly under Windows XP or newer.

raw_mouse.c raw_mouse.h raw_mouse_test.c raw_mouse_test.exe	My raw mouse api: Here are C source files that you can include in your own C or C++ programs to make using raw mouse very easy. Also included is a demo that shows the features of the package. This is meant to be useful if you are trying to use raw input for your own applications. Compiling instructions are included in the .c file using either Gcc/Mingw or Visual C++.
rawinputsharp.zip	C# version of rawmouse Thanks to Peter Brumblay, rawinput has been ported to C#! Here are the source files and binaries (dll and demo exe). Visual Studio .net 2003 project files are included. You will need the .net runtimes and Windows XP (or newer) to run these programs. Building them may (or may not) require that you download the Microsoft Platform SDK (see links above).
HelloRawInput.c HelloRawInput.exe	Here is a minimal Raw Input program written in the C programming language. It displays the number of rawinput devices on your machine. It is a good program to use when getting your rawinput programming environment set up. Compiling instructions are included in the .c file using either Gcc/Mingw or Visual C++.
ShowMultipleMiceValues.c ShowMultipleMiceValues.exe	PacManFan's program (translated to C from the original C++). Displays the movements for all of the mice on the screen. When you run the program, pay attention to the first value (hDevice) - it identifies which mouse the information represents. I missed it the first time I ran it. It displays A LOT of info about the mice, which is very useful for figuring out how to interpret different devices (it was great for figuring out the lightgun). Compiling instructions are included in the .c file using either Gcc/Mingw or Visual C++.
ListRawInputDevices_vc++.zip ListRawInputDevices.exe	(Visual C++ Workspace) This is a useful program that lists all of the raw input devices on your computer.
Mame Analog+ Raw Mouse source code (version 1)	Here are my source code changes that make use of raw mouse in Windows XP. It supports multiple mice with buttons, and also lightguns under Windows XP. They should be applied to the MameAnalog+ version 74 source code.

LINKS

Microsoft Platform SDK	This package contains the headers & libraries needed to compile raw input stuff with visual c++ 6.0. You don't actually need all that stuff, just a few files.
Raw Input on MSDN	Combined with some working code samples, this is a good reference about what Raw Input offers.
Japanese Raw Input source	This is what finally got me successfully compiling raw input stuff. (Translated to english thanks to Dictionary.com)

NOTES:

Converting libraries from Microsoft Platform SDK to MinGW/GCC:
I couldn't believe it, but MinGW was able to use the Microsoft Platform SDK libraries, but it required some work on my part. Let me first admit that I never thought this would work, but my will was strong, and it turned out to be easy. First, I ran a program called, "reimp" (part of MinGW tools) on the MS Platform SDK "user32.lib" file. Reimp created my "libuser32.a". I replaced "libuser32.a" in my existing MinGW lib directory. Next, I moved the WinUser.h file into my MinGW include folder. I ran into 2 problems:

1) When I tried to include "winuser.h" into my programs, I got some compiler errors from "winuser.h" itself, so I made some very minor changes to the .h that might have been a little bit sketchy. With a few small changes, it compiled successfully.

2) Next, when I tried access certain features from the old version of "winuser.h" from existing programs (namely the existing Mame source), I got compiler errors again. I was able to copy lines from the old "winuser.h" into the new one to get it to work. Here's a specific example:
When compiling mame with the new winuser stuff for MinGW/GCC I was getting a compiler error: "GetLastError undeclared" (or something like that). I added a GetLastError line to the WinUser.h file, and wouldn't you know it? Mame compiled and ran without any noticeable problems! Now I aught to be able to freely add rawmouse code into Mame and compile it and test it.

The bottom line is that some functionality from any converted libraries is probably missing, and will somehow need to be added if you want to access more than what Mame and my programs use.

RDP_MOU (Terminal services devices)
When raw input enumerates mice and keyboards, it enumerates all the mice, keyboards, and joysticks that I have connected to my system. In addition, it enumerates one extra root device (a mouse) identified as "RDP_MOU". It also enumerates a similar keyboard device. These appear to be the Windows remote mouse and keyboard that are accessed with Terminal Services.

Note to self
Upload buffered read stuff for dual mice. Also for duel mice.

NOTE FOR MAME USERS: The Mame modifications explained here have been merged with the official version of Mame. If you are looking to use multiple trackballs, spinners, and lightguns in Mame using Windows XP then look no further than the official Mame page!

SUBNOTE FOR MAME USERS: Mame Analog+ supports Raw Mouse for some older versions of Mame, however it hasn't been updated in a while. AdvanceMame also supports multiple mice using RawInput.

This has become an issue because some of the members of Build Your Own Arcade Controls message board and I are stuck running crappy old Windows 95/98/ME on our Mame cabinets if we want to use multiple trackballs to play such great games as Marble Madness (2 trackballs), Rampart (3 trackballs), or Atari Soccer (4 trackballs). Lightguns are affected by the same problem, because Windows treats lightguns as mice (for the most part).

NEWS

2006-03-09
RawMouse is now available in the official build of Mame! Woohoo!
Derrick Renaud has reworked the code from this site so that it fits cleanly into the official version of Mame. Multiple mice can now be enjoyed without using unofficial Mame versions. This is great news - The ultimate goal of this page has been accomplished. Read the announcement here. Get Mame from here.

2006-03-05
Fixed a bug introduced when compiling with the latest MS compilers (MS VC++ Express 2005 in particular).
It looks like the wm_input messages are not reporting the relative mode flag anymore (raw->data.mouse.usFlags & MOUSE_MOVE_RELATIVE). It looks to me as though I'm supposed to assume it's a relative device unless wm_input reports otherwise. That's an easy fix. In raw_mouse.c, in the function init_raw_mouse, initialize is_absolute to 0 for the sys_mouse and currentmouse. I have updated the source code (raw_mouse.c and raw_mouse_test.exe) with the small addition. While I was at it, I initialized is_virtual_desktop to 0.

2005-10-01
Rag Doll Kung Fu has been released on Steam.
Rag Doll Kung Fu, an exciting new game that uses the raw input code from this site, is now available for download through Steam! Enjoy playing with as many as 8 players using multiple mice! Find out more here.

2005-04-24
MinGW now supports rawinput!
There is no longer a need for my winuser header/lib, because MinGW has them built-in. I updated the source files to work with the new MinGW from the Mame website.

2004-09-03
Rawmouse C# Port!
Peter Brumblay has ported the rawmouse code to C#! It consists of a dll and a demo program. As of right now, it will not support "absolute" devices such as lightguns and touchscreens. You can email him at:

See the downloads section for the files.

2004-04-23
Made a small change to yesterday's raw mouse api (raw_mouse.h, raw_mouse.c, and raw_mouse_test.c) update. I made OS detection a part of init_raw_mouse instead of making a separate function.

2004-04-22
Include RawMouse in an application without crashing under unsupported versions of Windows!
I have updated my raw mouse api (raw_mouse.h, raw_mouse.c). An exe will now run on versions of Windows that support raw input and versions that don't! The test program (raw_mouse_test.c) will now detect whether rawinput is available and exits gracefully instead of crashing. With this code, Mame Analog+ won't need 2 separate builds (one for Windows9x and one for Windows XP and newer) because it can detect which method of mouse input is available and choose accordingly.

The code was very kindly sent to me by Mark Healey and Alex Evens at Lionhead Studios. Mark emailed me awhile back because he's using my rawmouse code for his up-and-coming game, "Rag Doll Kung Fu". He has added support for up to 8 players using separate mice on a single machine. Sounds like a real mess! The game looks really incredible. You can check out the press release here, or go to the game's main website at www.ragdollkungfu.com.

2003-10-02
(2006 UPDATE: StarRoms is no longer providing the following service).

Great news! Atari (now owned by Infrogrames) has agreed to make their old arcade game roms available for purchase for use with Mame. This means that you can purchase copies of many of the multiple mouse Mame roms to play in your home!

Some of the games include Atari Football (4 trackballs), Atari Soccer (4 trackballs), Rampart (3 trackballs), Blasteroids (2 spinners), Marble Madness (2 trackballs), Warlords (4 paddles), and many more.

Most of these games have been available in the past in such packages as the Digital Eclipse Arcade Collections, but this is different because it is specifically being sold to be used with whichever emulator you choose, such as Mame: Analog+ XP with support for multiple trackballs!

2003-09-25
Hooray! Multiple mouse and lightgun support is now available for users of Windows XP in Mame: Analog+.

Features:

- Multiple Mouse Support (mameanalog -mouse -multimousexp soccer)
- Multiple Lightgun Support (mameanalog -lightgun -multimousexp policetr)
- -switchmouse, -switchaxes, -onemouse, -splitmouse, -resetmouse all work
- Support for 3 mouse buttons
- In Windowed mode, I attempt to acquire the mouse, but it's still possible to break out using
a small window, quick button presses, and fast fingers

2003-09-18
Updated the source to be compatible with Mame74. A few small changes, and it's ready to rock.

2003-9-18
Raw lightgun support for Mame! The raw mouse Mame code has been updated to work with one lightgun and should work with multiple lightguns. I can't test multiple because I only have one Act Labs PC USB Light gun. If it doesn't happen to work it'll be easy to fix.

2003-9-15
Raw mouse buttons for Mame! Finally something worth mentioning!

2003-9-12
Multiple raw mice in Mame! I created an interface raw_mouse.h and raw_mouse.c which can be included into c program very easily. I hacked the MameAnalog+ code (quick and dirty) to make use of this new raw_mouse interface, and it wasn't long before I got 4 mice to work in Mame using WindowsXP.

2003-9-11 11:40pm
I updated the MinGW/GCC lib and header files for "winuser.h" with a version that will successfully compile a runable Mame.

2003-9-11 5pm-ish
I managed to convert the raw input header and library files from the Microsoft Platform SDK (namely WinUser.dll/user32.lib/winuser.h) into something that MinGW/GCC can use. I converted PacManFan's program from C++ to C so that it will compile with the Mame MinGW compiler package (plus the updated winuser stuff) instead of Visual C++.

2003-9-11 Noon-ish
PacManFan sent me his C++ demo which displays mouse data for multiple mice via rawmouse. Thanks Steve!

I gotta love those flowered Barbie USB mice (99 cents apiece!!!) I wish I knew how useful they would be when I got them. Whoda thought I'd regret not buying more of them - I figured 20 would be enough.

Defender Control Panel for MAME

jstookey — Sat, 19 Jan 2002 06:13:20 +0000

I'm working on this for a friend who really likes Defender. It will be a desktop controller, except that it will only be useful for Defender and Stargate. It sports a Lexan (plexiglass) cover and T-Molding around the outer border. The control panel uses a keyboard hack from a blue Hot Wheels USB keyboard. I gathered a couple of low-ish resolution images of Defender control panels from the internet and put some pieces together to make it look ok with the extra buttons (the Stargate 'Inviso' button and the '25 cents' button). I printed it out on ordinary paper and put it under the lexan.

I used a two-way joystick. The 'Reverse' button would be difficult to reach if I were to use a larger 4-way joystick because the base for a regular joystick is so wide.

LIST OF INGREDIENTS

Item	Source	Price
T-Molding 6'	T-Molding Dot Com	$2.22
Giant sheet of 3/4" Plywood	Lowe's	$7.57
Wood Screws (Tons of 'em)	Lowe's	$3.57
Hardboard (Huge sheet)	Lowe's	$1.99
Buttons (9)	Happ Controls	$16.20
Joystick (2-Way Defender Reproduction)	Ebay	$10.00+s/h
Small sheet of Lexan	Lowe's	$7.57
Blue USB Hot Wheels Keyboard	package2you.com	$1.99
Glue, tape, black paint & white primer	Around the house	---
A lot of wire	???	???

IMPORTANT NOTES

USB KEYBOARD HACKS

- I have read that USB keyboards are a bad choice for doing a keyboard hack because they are limited to 6 keys being pressed at one time (and the Operating System enforces it because it's a part of the USB standard, I believe). Generally it will be possible to use more inputs with a ps/2 keyboard. However, with this control panel 6 simultaneous button pressed should be enough.

SPELLING ERROR

- On my control panel I mispelled 'Inviso' by typing 'Invisio'. I don't mind, but I fixed it in the version that is in the download section (below).

PAPER OVERLAY

- Printing the overlay on paper is cheesy. It's paper. I glued 4 sheets of computer paper together, and it looks a lot better than I expected, so I will leave it that way. If it ages, though, then perhaps getting nice printout at Kinko's or something would be in order.

DIMENSIONS

- I initially used an AutoCAD program to give the control panel the exact dimensions of the arcade version. However, I ended up straying from them a little when I made the overlay. The right-hand button cluster should use the correct dimensions. However, it's position in relation to the joystick is not quite correct, and the overall width of the panel is totally arbitrary (so it is not likely to fit in an original arcade machine).

DOWNLOADS

Control Panel Overlay 804k (zipped bitmap)

'Computer' font used for panel (I found it on the internet) 20k (.ttf format)

Blue Hot Wheels USB Keyboard matrix

LINKS

BYOAC - Build Your Own Arcade Controls: The greatest site on the web
Happ Controls - This place sells the pushbuttons (they also sell a lot of other arcade stuff)
T-Molding dot com - A nice place to get t-molding
KLOV Defender page- Some info about Defender
Defender restoration- Defender cabinet dimensions (including the control panel)
Multigame/Defender Control Panel - a really cool defender control panel