On top of it, I have a business trip sometime this week. busy, busy boy...
Still try and get as much done as I can in the meanwhile. I have a lot more stuff to add to the Archives, more flyers, bgs, and images, and I am putting together image packs for WPCmame32 as well. Start uploading all the stuff on the 1st. YIKES!
"Attached is my version of WPCMame with clear sound... I have added World Cup '94 I have added speedup(150% boost) code based on the mame sources that works OK only for wc,dm,fs,jm,tom pinballs. I have added wave recording (-wrec) based on sources posted on mame dev list by Juergen Buchmueller. I have added option Pump Up The Volume :-) press lef shift while emulation running."
I also included the sound rom for WCS as well, but I had to rename the files as well (Wouldn't download) so I hope it's right. :P
Steve Ellenoff has just sent me a redone version of WPCmame32, now with anti-alias. Looks real good as well. It's the same link as before, so you will have to re-download the program.
Talking about Mame32, Icons for WPCmame32 have just been added, with a big thanks to MAMu_ of mameicons.com.
Here's the zip file, and here's the page to view the new icons. Nice work!
You can get the downloads at our WPCmame Homepage.
Sorry to mention this, but this is a good case for never checking your email when you want to go to bed. (Took 20 minutes) Besides, I like to bitch, and torment people that I have a new version, and you don't. :P
(I'm starting to ramble, and I still have the flu, so I will put it up tomorrow, and shut up now)
It will be up... errr.... later. it's 2:30 in the damn morning, I'm going to bed. :P
Image packs on their way. :)
DMD antialiasing (doesn't look as good as I thaught but I kept it anyway). See readme for details
Sound support for T2 and WW (Terminator 2 and Whitewater)
Improved DCS (should fix the garbled sound, still slow)
F12 patch removed
You can find the latest version at the WPCmame Homepage.
As well, Steve Ellenoff has modified the new version, with some optimizations and fixes. This version is also at the homepage, and I hope I did it right. :P The source is there as well.
I'm so happy. :)
Here's the main page: http://www.gamesurge.com/shivasite/wpcmame_games.shtml.
I also thumbnailed the images, to make it a little easier to find things. I'm still missing quite a few, so if you have some HIGH QUALITY pictures, let me know. In the meanwhile, time to get a quick nap, (I have the flu) gonna be a big day tonight. :)
Both should be here tonight (Sunday), but I'm so happy, I jumped the gun to announce it. :)
Also, both the Terminator 2 and Whitewater ROMS now have sound, with a big thank you to Steve Ellenoff, and the Addams Family ROM has been fixed, with no thanks to me, as I screwed up. :)
Also, I added a couple of Operator manuals there as well, in .pdf format (But zipped up of course) for Addams Family, and also Whitewater. Now people can work on the switch settings. :)
Merry Christmas... :)
http://www.gamesurge.com/shivasite/wpcmame_files.shtml
Here's the readme:
"All clone sets have been merged into their respective parent sets. Each set has been extracted and re-zipped using WinZip, and each file has been verified as correct using ClrMAME Pro. Even so, I haven't actually tested everything so they may not be 100% perfect. I'm pretty sure that they are fine though. I've left documentation and unsupported ROMs in the set in case they prove useful for future updates. Also, note that this is not a complete set. The following titles are not available on the Williams site, they mainly represent older revisions, betas, and custom sets:
Attack from Mars v1.13
Cactus Canyon v1.2
Monster Bash v1.06
Medieval Madness v1.09
TAF Special Collectors Edition H-3
The Shadow LX-5"
Also, thanks to Gerry Stellenberg as well. Still have 4 to add, which I just got, but would rather sleep at the moment... :(
I haven't been able to get them all, especially the test roms, but I will be retrieving them shortly.
Also, Carney has set up a virtual hard drive with the WPCmame Roms.
http://www.juston.com/public/carny_priest/WPCMAME1 http://www.juston.com/public/mackman_us_2000/WPCMAME2 http://www.juston.com/public/garthbad_tn/WPCMAME3
We are still missing some roms, in fact, a lot of sound roms from the list above, so if anyone has them, and you would like to donate them, please let me know.
This is the raw files, to be used for front end support. I went with the best quality files I could get, and a lot is missing, so if people out there have some missing pictures, please send them.
Also, it has been mentioned that it would be helpful for text versions of the switch settings, or basically, help files for each of the games. What do you guys think? and if people have done them, please send them, I will put them up.
Gonna need icons as well, and if anyone would like to send anything else, by all means. Hey, I'm not beyond begging. :P
http://www.gamesurge.com/shivasite/rulesheets.shtml
I haven't linked it to the "goodies" page yet, but it looks like we have rulesheets for just about all the supported WPCmame games, as well as a lot of other games. Just over 100 files to be exact. Not bad, huh.
Also, our Forum has a WPCmame Announcements board now, with more info on what's in the goodies page, as well as links to clean roms, and first word on a new version of WPCmame, this time for the MAME32 frontend. :)
I have been gathering stuff for use with it, and I will be uploading what I HAVE SO FAR later tonight. I also would like to remind people that I also have GameSurge to run, and there appears to be a rather serious problem happening there at the moment with the site, so I will have to start fixing it as well.
Still, I will try and get up what I can as soon as possible, but I have a 56k modem, and I have about 15 Megs to get, and about 30 Megs to put up, so do the math...
sigh, my life is way to busy for words. Also, I should mention that tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be put most of the day, but when I get back, I will answer all the email and stuff... hopefully.
WPCmame has gotten a huge response, and a very positive one at that, and several new things will be coming to make things a lot easier for everyone. We already have a mac version up, called MacWPCmame, and also, thanks to some people who have posted on our Forum, and also emailed me, several other interesting things are in the works. Here's a brief run-down:
Also, I have dinner ready, so this is gonna be fast. Expect more of that sidebar to the left to be filled shortly. :)
This is in the Aladdin Stuffit format (.sit) and as far as I know, the roms should work fine. There is gonna be a pretty sizeable update coming shortly, but I have GameSurge stuff to do first. :(
Since I had already grabbed all the files I needed, it wasn't a big loss in my mind, until I realized that there was no other place that had this type of collection in one place, in fact, as far as I know, I'm the only place that has such a complete collection.
So I am making them available, and at least for the moment, they are zipped by system. I believe the total is around 6000 separate instruction manuals, zipped in 25 separate files, for the various computer/home/arcade systems, and the entire manual archive weighs in at 12.8 Megs.
I will also be doing the same for the other strategy sections as well, all are public domain, and most are text, though some of the GameSurge stuff is there as well. The truly scary thing is, I still have over 25,000 strategy files to sort.
Once all the PD stuff is in, then I will start work on building pages for them all, a process that could take years. :)
Sometimes, suffering from excessive content disorder can have it's problems...
One to ask, "What is the registration number of the light bulb?."
One to ask, "Have you tried rebooting it?"
Another to ask, "Have you tried reinstalling it?"
And the last one to say, "It must be your hardware because the light bulb in our office works fine..."
[Wacky Scoop]
Thanks to everyone who wrote, I've answered the emails. If you have comments or suggestions, don't forget to use the forum instead. I'm just a old, old man, and though I know a bit about pinball and arcades in general, my knowledge on emulators are a little lacking. (I'm not the one who programed the emulator) I will try to answer the best I can though. One of the suggestions is a front end for us DOS impared people. Anyone out there have an idea?
I also got crap for not putting up certain site links. :) Just a reminder, if your a site, and you mirror the files, let me know. I will be putting up a list of other download sites, just in case of server problems here. (Highly unlikely, this is a pretty decent server we have here.)
Oh, tonight, with some luck, we will get a poll up, and I get to spend 8 hours looking at perl code, because I want to hack the forum. It's so nice to be so anal. :)
October 21st, 2000 - A new version of WPCmame has just been released. This is a minor update, with the changes being the addition of sound in The Addams Family Gold and correct names and years for each of the supported games (according to the Internet Pinball Database).I can die a happy man now, as one of the best pinball games ever made, with one of the best soundtracks ever made, has been supported. Yeap, the wife will now be awaken by the gentle strains of Raul Julia's voice reverbing throughout the house. :)
Don't forget to comment in the forum as well!
Hope everyone likes the new shivaSite, it's great to be back, without the responsibility of 10 people bitching at me through ICQ everytime I get up in the morning.
This is still very much a work in progress, as I am getting use to the new server, and it's... strangeness, and also, beginning the process of fine tuning the design, and hunting bugs.
The next couple of days will see me hunt out problems, work a bit on getting the site looking better, and loading faster, and maybe find the time to add a couple of new things, including a new version of WPCmame, which I had to retrieve directly from my ISP. (More on that below this post)
So there are a couple of minor problems, and I haven't had the time to update the new stuff yet, but they will be coming, as well as a new poll and more CGI. In the meanwhile... talk among yourselves...
The WPCmame pinball simulater allows you to "emulate" arcade pinball roms on your computer. WPCmame is built as a driver added to the MAME 0.37 beta 8 source. This WPC pinball emulator/simulator is not playable. It only emulates the electronic circuit boards and the display in the pinball machine backbox. There are no playfield and no balls.
All WPC (Williams Pinball Company) games from Dr. Dude to Cactus Canyon are supported. Supported means that the game loads and the display starts up with lamps etc. All games also enters the attract mode and you can use the Coin Door switches to enter the menus.
The WPCmame home page contains both the binaries and the source code for both the emulator, and MAME. As well, you will find rom information, a small section on MAME itself, and a small list of other emulation sites.
Also, I have built a special forum for WPCmame, as part of the GameSurge Network Forums, to answer questions, comment about the emulator, or to trade tips. There is also a Pinball forum, for those of you addicted to the silverball. I should mention you DO NOT have to register to use the GSN forums, as I have always considered it a little cheap to make people take 10 minutes to register just so they can do a one minute post...(register anyway, I tried to make it as short and painless as possible, but I also tied in a future planned mailing list as well to registered members.)
Needless to say, I have a lot to comment about with this latest installment of The Truth, so I am going to tease you with a small slice from the article:
"One of the first things I had to decide when I decided to write this installment of The Truth was to select a suitable name as a title. The End of Innocence may seem like a odd title for a article like this, but it's a truly appropriate one. This is not about the loss of innocence on my part, nor is it the loss of innocence on any individual's part, it's the loss of innocence on the entire Gaming Community's part. Just like a child, who has grown up, and realized that there is more to life than being protected by mommy and daddy, the game web community has grown up, and has come to the slow realization that the days of being shielded from life's evil is over, and that it is time to either dance with the devil, or face it in defiance.The Truth v6 - The End of Innocence not only details GameSurges history as part of the GameFan Network, but also brings you some pretty sorbid backroom dealings by express.com, and ends with a sobering note about the "free" hosting industry as well. Before you read it though, grab a cup of coffee, as this editorial is split on 8 pages. (I did say I have a lot to comment on)As a member of that community, I have done both. When I first started this website, nearly a year and a half ago, I did it fully with the hopes and dreams of a small child. I faced the trials and tribulations of this website, with the belief that what I was doing was based on pure motives, and was solely for the love of gaming. When I saw what I perceive as an injustice, I stood up, and made a stand, whether it was from a basis of being right, or from being wrong. It is with great sadness that I write to you now, because I am no longer that person."
You can also find The Truth, as well as a small selection of my other editorials listed in the editorials page. More will be added shortly.
You can also comment on this article, as well as other shivaSite features, in the General Rants Section of the forum.
Since this is the only way to contact me at the moment (scroll down for my email post), you can find the link to the forums here. It's a cheap and nasty job, but with getting 2 sites back up and running, especially GameSurge, which tips the scale at 450 Megs, is taking up a lot of my spare time. (CGI to configure, pages to build and to check)
The poll will be up shortly, just running out of time is all, trying to get everything done. (Despite what some people think, I am not a team of clones)
Also, our manual archive will be starting up again soon. I have decided to have all the file available as seperate zip files, and will be loading them in very shortly. I will then start the process of changing all the pages to match this site, and re-formatting them, so there will be additions a bit at a time. At last count, I have manuals for 28 systems, and they total around 20,000, so it could take awhile.
If you really need the manuals, I have them stored at the old, old shivaSite tripod location, bundled in zip files for downloading. That's right, gp and overload their server. (Not that it would be too tough)
Also expect some more editorials, and a new update to WPCmame as well very shortly, soon as I find the time. Sorry everyone, but too much work, and not enough shiva...
Okay, so now you know. Hope you all understand, so in the meantime, if you need a reply from me, use the General Rants forum, and I will get back to you.
Sigh, here I am, sitting on great new stuff for a change (i.e. I got off my butt, and did something) and there is no way to let anyone know. I am asking everyone that visits this site to mass ICQ and email for me, but I'm pretty sure 3 people won't make much of a difference. (And my parents don't know anyone to email anyway)
Most importantly, I finished this new site design a lot sooner than I had thought, and with GameSurge losing our server, and then finding a new host, I decided during our "downtime" to start serious work on this site, while I had the time. What you see before you is about 2 weeks of work, which is pretty good for me, as I have been known to "fiddle" with things.
With luck, this site design works fine in BOTH browsers, in fact, it actually looks better in Netscape than IE. (Yeah, I'm shocked as well) Over the next little while, i will be doing some more work, as there are graphics to crunch, and new icons to add, but the main structure is in, so I hope everyone likes it. (I do, I think it's my best work so far, even better than the Ancient Nation design)
I was gonna run a poll tonight on the design, but I'm getting too tired (It's past 2 PST here in the morning) but if you want to learn a little more about shivaSite, you will find a brief history page here and if you want the copyright and the page design info, you will find it in the site information page.
Anyway, before I start the barrage of news posts detailing some of the new things here at shivaSite, just wanted to wish everyone welcome.
