Robbie's To-Do List

• Rewrite the vp906iii driver.
• Emulate protection in Magic Fly.
• Emulate protection in 7 e Mezzo.
• Hook the inputs properly in pmpoker.c games.
• Demux and rework inputs in Magic Fly and 7 e Mezzo.
• Rewrite the ampoker2 driver.
• Fix graphics and other issues of Magic Card.
• Emulate the Royal Vegas Joker Card series.
• Add support to 3-deal version of Jolly Card.
• Re-rewrite the gdrawpkr (ex vp906iii) driver.
• Rewrite the ltcasino driver.

Details / Status

Rewrite the vp906iii driver:

• Done.
  • Rearranged GFX in two different banks.
  • Decoded GFX properly.
  • Rewrote the memory map based on program ROMs analysis.
  • Hooked two SY6520/6280 (M6821) PIAs for I/O.
  • Hooked the SY6545 (6845) CRT controller.
  • Fixed size for screen total and visible area based on SY6545 CRTC registers.
  • Added all inputs through PIAs.
  • Added proper sound through AY8910 (mapped at $0840-$0841).
  • Fixed AY8910 volume to avoid clips.
  • Proper colors through color PROM decode.
  • Demuxed inputs (thanks to Dox that pointed me in the right direction)
  • Added some game-protection workaround.
  • Added NVRAM support.
  • Renamed driver, set and description to match the real game.
  • Added technical notes.

Emulate protection in Magic Fly:

• Done.
  • Added proper emulation to the game protection that allow boot the game without patchs/hacks.

Emulate protection in 7 e Mezzo:

• Done.
  • Added proper emulation to the game protection that allow boot the game without patchs/hacks.

Hook the inputs properly in pmpoker.c games:

• Done.
  • Removed all inputs hacks.
  • Connected both PIAs properly.
  • Demuxed all inputs for each game.
  • Documented all outputs.
  • Added lamps support.
  • Created different layout files to cover each game.
  • Add NVRAM support to all games.
  • Corrected the color PROM status for each set.
  • Figured out most of the DIP switches.
  • Added diplocations to goldnpkb.
  • Replaced the remaining IPT_SERVICE with IPT_BUTTON for regular buttons.
  • Updated technical notes.
  • Cleaned up the driver. Now is better organized and documented.

Demux and rework inputs in Magic Fly and 7 e Mezzo

• Done.
  • Figured out how the protection works.
  • Removed the hacks/patchs that formerly allow boot the games.
  • Figured out how the buffered inputs works.
  • Demuxed all inputs for both games.
  • Unified the memory maps from both games.
  • Added NVRAM support to both games.
  • Crystal documented via #define.
  • CPU clock derived from #defined crystal value.
  • Changed CPU clock to 833 kHz.
  • Mapped DIP switches.
  • Found the maximum bet DIP switch in magicfly.
  • Removed flag GAME_NOT_WORKING for both games.
  • Managed the planes to get the 3bpp GFX colors accurate.
  • Renamed the ROMs acording to pcb pictures and ROM contents.
  • Cleaned up and optimized the driver.
  • Reworked/updated technical notes.

Rewrite the ampoker2 driver:

• Done.
  • Crystal documented via #define.
  • CPU and sound clocks derived from #defined crystal value.
  • Reworked TILE_GET_INFO to handle the proper tiles/color codes.
  • Fixed interrupts (NMI).
  • Corrected AY8910 frequency to 1.5 MHz to match the real thing.
  • Arranged the AY8910 volume in all games to avoid clips.
  • Corrected the screen visible area.
  • Added NVRAM support.
  • Reworked the memory map, mapping all the hardware I/O ports.
  • Reworked the Inputs for all sets.
  • Added implementation of Operator and Supervisor Keys.
  • Fixed some timing troubles.
  • Mapped the input buttons in the same way I mapped them in other poker games.
  • Added partial DIP switch support with diplocations to all sets.
  • Removed the hack in DRIVER_INIT.
  • Hooked write handlers for output ports.
  • Added watchdog routines.
  • Dumped, hooked, wired and decoded the color PROM in all sets. Colors are perfect.
  • Modified the refresh rate to 60 fps according to hardware measurements.
  • Cleaned up and renamed all sets, defining parent-clone relationship.
  • Wired the lamps for all sets. Created their respective layouts.
  • Updated flags in game drivers.
  • Splitted the driver to driver/video.
  • Other minor fixes.
  • New set dumped/added: American Poker 95.
  • New set dumped/added: American Poker 2 (bootleg, set 1).
  • New set dumped/added: Sigma Poker.
  • New set dumped/added: Sigma Poker 2000.
  • Fixed graphics/tiles in Sigma Poker 2000.
  • Rewritten the technical notes from the scratch (still in progress).
  • Added a PCB layout to the technical notes.

Fix graphics and other issues of Magic Card:

• Done.

Emulate the Royal Vegas Joker Card series:

• They come in two flavors: Fast and Slow draw. Both emulated.

Add support to 3-deal version of Jolly Card:

• Done.

Re-rewrite the gdrawpkr (ex vp906iii) driver:

A new rewrite is needed to add support for systems 903, 904, 905 & 906. These systems hold dozens of unknown/undumped games. Also the driver need a lot of changes.

(in progress...)

Rewrite the ltcasino driver:

Analyze the ltcasino & ltcasin2 program ROMs to fix all wrong aspects of emulation.