OpenBOR for MiSTer

[Sumolx]

I have ported OpenBOR v3.0 Build 3743 for the MiSTer platform. The motivation behind this port was for my daughter to enjoy some Sailor Moon homebrew games from when I was actively involved in the OpenBOR development scene on our 29" Candy Arcade Cabinet which I have a MiSTer connected via the JAMMA interface. I figured I would share my port as I'm sure others will appreciate 320x240 beat-em-up goodness.

Link to my project with instructions:
https://github.com/SumolX/MiSTer_OpenBOR/tree/main

Link to video showcasing it running (I've fixed the controls issues since the video was posted):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avzRgdTe7WY

[Retro-Nerd]

Nice port. Just tried it, but i get this error after starting via OpenBOR.sh. Any clue why this happens? Seems properly installed. Copied a very old PAK from 2008 (A Tale of Vengeance) into the "paks" folder.

edit: OK, tried a few other game .paks, but no joy. The OpenBOR frontend loads fine when the "paks" folder is empty. Can you tell us which games are compatible?

[Sumolx]

I will try that pak and get back to you with a solution.

[Sumolx]

You will need to install ScummVM as it will install additional libraries onto the root of your system which OpenBOR depends on. I had hoped this was not the case but had done so to figure out what the best approach was during my development.

So please try install ScummVM then see if it works. I had tested "A Tale of Vengeance" on my MiSTer and it ran fine.

https://github.com/bbond007/MiSTer_ScummVM

[RiotRay]

I´m sorry...but I´m very new to "Linux" and "Mister". I can find only the Windows-files for "A Tale of Vengeance". These surely won´t work??
Where do I get the "Linux"-files?

thx

[Sumolx]

You only need the "pak" file. Pak files are data modules similar to how wad files are data modules for doom. Pak files are platform independent which means they are compatible with all ports of openbor regardless of operating system.

[Retro-Nerd]

Mmh, i've used this script.

https://github.com/bbond007/MiSTer_Scum ... ScummVM.sh

Installs a lot, but i still get the same error. Do i need to install more from ScummVM?

edit: ScummVM itself works fine. Just tested Sam & Max.

[Sumolx]

No that should have done it. I will need to get a fresh SD Card to reproduce the error. Comment out the last line and insert the following:

taskset ${OPENBOR_CPU_MASK} ${OPENBOR_HOME_DIR}/${OPENBOR_EXE_NAME}

this way we can see what library its missing.

[Retro-Nerd]

Done!

[Sumolx]

Have you done an update all lately?

The no version information you can ignore. Try starting it from ssh and find the missing one.

Or... I can provide a statically linked version which brings the dependencies down to 4 libraries.

Shot in the dark but if you see a .empty file in the Paks folder delete it.

[Retro-Nerd]

I'll try the static one.

edit: I'll use update_all very regulalry. The Linux side should be current.

[Sumolx]

I've attached a snapshot of my OpenBOR directory for you to try out. The statically linked version is not running properly on mine would need to debug why it's misbehaving but if you could try my archive it would help.

tar xzvf OpenBOR.tgz will produce a OpenBOR fully populated minus the game models.... just move those to Paks/

[Retro-Nerd]

I've unpacked your folder, copied "A Tale of Vengeance" to the paks folder and i could see errors for a split seconds at the start, it's loads a bit further to a picture (dont' know if it's from the game or something) with a "ALEXDCZZ" font. Then the MiSTer freezes, have to press reset. Here's the log file, but it doesn't show any error i'm afraid.

edit: Ok, this file seems missing.

Initializing video............
'data/video.txt' not found.

[Sumolx]

OMG.... that's an engine bug.....lol you have 5 controllers connected and the engine only supports 4. I will fix this in the next update.

Try unplugging all but two if possible.

[Retro-Nerd]

Hehe, nice catch. Yep, i need my pads, mouse, mini keyboard.

[Sumolx]

I use the Antonio Jamma adapter... which is based on daemonbite arduino like yours. It should just work but you will need to reassign them

[Retro-Nerd]

I've removed some controller. Now i can enter the game. But i can't enter the "options" screen. No pad or the mini keyboard works for the directions.

[Sumolx]

Ahhh remove all files in the save directory.... that should fix it if you were using my tarball.

The engine will remember which controllers are assigned to which players once set.

Which means you should use a dedicated controller for player 1.

[Retro-Nerd]

Ah, nice. Now it works fine. Will slap some proper Retro Tink 4K CRT filter on it. Thanks for this port. Haven't tried OpenBOR in a long time.

[Sumolx]

It looks great on a CRT because most games back then where using 320x240 resolution. Only when I created the Sony PSP port did I add higher resolution for game makers.

My daughter loves it.... we were playing some games today on the Candy Cab. At least the engine saves the level you last played.... which I'm finally leveraging after all these years for playing instead of debugging the game engine....lol

I'm also guessing scummvm might have been unnecessary but only time will tell if others run into a startup issue.

[Retro-Nerd]

Will try a real CRT later. But it looks nice on a big OLED too, with CRT filter enabled (and vertical prescale for the proper look).

edit: Argh, you can't enlarge the attached picture to original size for viewing. Shame, looks great live on the TV.

[Sumolx]

You could try a few things.... OpenBOR.sh set the resolution to 640 480 or higher and in the engine's video option play with scaling options.

[Retro-Nerd]

Btw: The engine crashes when i try to select the video -> screen options in the games.

[Sumolx]

Could you share the log file. I haven't tried messing with those options because 320x240 was perfect for my scenario.

[Retro-Nerd]

Sure!

[Sumolx]

Did you modify openbor.sh to set video mode to 640 480? Prior to making changes in video options? I believe you will need to increase first prior to making changes in video menu.

[Retro-Nerd]

No, i didn't change anything at all.

But i'm fine with the video output. The 4K Tink takes it as 1920x1080p as default input. But you can correct the aspect, set the prescale to 4x and trim top/bottom. Then you get a 1280x240 output. Which looks perfectly fine on my OLED. The CRT filter+mask is properly aligned. As you can see here:

Open-BOR-Mister-Retrotink-4-K-CRT-Filter.png (3.7 MiB) Viewed 834 times

[Sumolx]

I've pushed up a fix for the original crash. We can now scan up to 16 controllers and added a safe-guard to prevent the crash. All you need to do is run Install_OpenBOR.sh to get the latest from GitHub.

[Retro-Nerd]

Works great now, with all my controllers attached. Thanks for the fast fix.

[Sumolx]

If you get a chance you should try out the Crisis Evil Series.... it's what got me into beats of rage/openbor.