new game build problem

[Aeneas Verhé]

Just started again with freewpc.. installed the latest Eclipse, still had cygwin, got the build working..
So I can build the roms for existing machiens like tester, corvette, tz, .. correctly.

I've added a new machine (bsd), made the Makefile and bsd.md file in machine/bsd/ ..
Also added some empty files like /include/bsd/proto.h and sound.h

Problem is it just doesn't build. Below is the error..  it just gives an error on the first blank line it encounters.
When I copy the md file from another game it's the same problem.
When I put the contents of my bsd.md file in those of tester.md, it builds..
so the error has nothing to do with the contents of my md file but probably that it's a new machine definition and something is missing..

Any ideas what's missing ? Was there somewhere a basic setup document that explains what to do when making a new machine ?

thanks,

  Aeneas.


22:27:22 **** Build of configuration Default for project freewpc ****
make default_target
      1 [main] make 7124 find_fast_cwd: WARNING: Couldn't compute FAST_CWD pointer.  Please report this problem to
the public mailing list xxxxx
cygwin warning:
  MS-DOS style path detected: C:\Freewpc\src\
  Preferred POSIX equivalent is: /cygdrive/c/Freewpc/src/
  CYGWIN environment variable option "nodosfilewarning" turns off this warning.
  Consult the user's guide for more details about POSIX paths:
    http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#using-pathnames
Regenerating build/mach-Makefile if necessary...
machine/bsd/bsd.md:6: error: unrecognized element
 at line 6

Died at tools/genmachine line 437, <FH> line 6.
Makefile:795: recipe for target `build/mach-Makefile' failed
make: *** [build/mach-Makefile] Error 255

22:27:23 Build Finished (took 647ms)

[Aeneas Verhé]

Fixed it.. just deleted the machine/bsd folder and copied that of tester and renamed it and everything works.. probably wrong filetype or something like that.
I can continue :)

  Aeneas.

[Ewan Meadows]

Great, keep us posted with how you get on, it's really good to see
someone carry on the work. Ask away if you have any questions,
although I would pass over a bit of advice I've been given and maybe
others can elaborate on.

Don't mix shot and rule code! Stick all the code for shot detection
into a single place and keep it separate from the scoring/rules code
as it'll quickly turn into spaghetti!

Test the build copiously in Visual Pinball and get it nice and stable
before sticking it in a real machine. Bear in mind that VP coils work
'perfectly' and at the same strength, regardless of how they are
driven. So be careful that you haven't set any silly values for coil
duty. Even better, purposely weaken the coil strengths before fitting
it to a machine, then gradually turn up the coil duty/pulse times
until the mechanism works reliably with the minimum amount of
duty/pulse. Should end up pretty close to factory. Or, if you are
feeling super techy, chuck a scope on the coils of a real machine
running factory software to get the duty/pulse times.

Anyway, there's lots more I could go into, but for another time.

Good luck! It takes time but it's very rewarding, you'll see the
machine 'come alive' as you add more and more code to it ;)

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[Aeneas Verhé]

Hi Ewan,

Thanks for your reply, good to know I'm not alone here..

I made some progress :)

Had finished my machine file and made a build.. just tested it in my BSD.
I test it first in VP but then want to test every driver in my machine to make sure I'll be able to let it do what it wants,
don't want to start making game rules when the hardware part isn't complete yet.

Seems I had switched around all 4 special solenoids that are driven off the fliptronics board.
One gate didn't work at all, now it does in VP so I hope it'll also work in the real machine..

Some questions:

1/ I forked my code from the master, was that the latest version or should I take another branch ?

2/ Think I found a bug : game has an automatic shooter. Had started a game, let the ball drain,
pressed enter to go in the test menu.. but then it said the ball save was active (have it set on 5 seconds or so)
and it launched a new ball into playfield while I was already in the test menu ??
Shouldn't going in the test menu abort everything or I do need to implement something for that ?

3/ if I add a new driver, do I need to do some config ? I made a new bsdmagnet.ct file (copy of motorbank) in the drivers folder,
and in my machine file I have
MistMag: driver(bsdmagnet), sol=SOL_MIST_MOTOR, up_sw_event=SW_MAGNET_RIGHT, down_sw_event=SW_MAGNET_LEFT
this gives a build error..

MistMag: driver(motorbank), sol=SOL_MIST_MOTOR, up_sw_event=SW_MAGNET_RIGHT, down_sw_event=SW_MAGNET_LEFT
builds fine..

Anyway I'm happy I already got the motor/magnet assembly working configured as a motorbank (which is a way to look at it, it's just sideways).
It will just need much more in terms of testing / startup..

4/ how should I handle pre-loaded balls on the playfield ?
Now I have through set for 4 but then it gives ball missing error when the pinball is still locked in the right magnet pocket and won't start a game.

At startup the machine should release the magnet ball, lift the right shooter ramp and pre load a ball.
Then 3 balls are available for normal gameplay.
Do I set the through for 3 ? Or first 4, preload the magnet ball and then set it to 3 ?

5/ Are there examples of drivers for ramps that are kept up with only 1 solenoid ? The shooter ramp should get a good kick to lift it and then stay for about 3 seconds
in the up position..

 ciao,

    Aeneas.