Question about mame engines

[DannyN]

Hi all,

I love playing against mame engines. All of these should have built-in opening books so in the opening the computer should respond almost instantly if the moves are in its book. At least that’s the case with the real Mephisto modules I own. However, when I play the mame engines on picochess that is not the case. The computer seems to use the allotted time from the chosen level setting instead of responding instantly as I would expect. So do the mame engines actually use the built-in opening books? I tried to force it by adding a default entry in the uci (OwnBook = true) but that does not make a difference. It's no big deal but I was just wondering.

Thanks,

Danny

[RandyR]

Danny,

Ensure the PicoChess book is set to 'No Book' when using MAME engines. I'm not sure if any of the MAME Lua scripts allow for selecting a book in the rom or even turning it on or off. Perhaps Al knows the answer to that one.

Randy

[DannyN]

Hi Randy,

No book is default for me . I really only play against two "normal" engines: CT800 which has a built-in book, and Wasp 5.50 for which I've set its book file location in  the uci file so that it automatically loads when I start Wasp and returns to the default "no book"when I next choose to play against a mame engine.

Al already sent me a private mail saying that he will answer my question(s) once its a little cooler in London. The UK is suffering a heat wave with 40C. In the Netherlands, where I live it's not much better, 38C today. I hate hot weather. Too hot to think and play chess.

Apart from the fact that it looks to me that the mame engines play without the built-in books, they also seem to play without permanent brain (a lot of the Mephisto's have that option). I hope Al can provide some info on what's possible in tuning the mame engines, especially some Mephisto's (adding levels is not difficult). Whatever is possible or not, I'm still amazed  that I now have all those classic engines on my DGTPi.

Danny

Op dinsdag 19 juli 2022 om 16:54:28 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[RandyR]

Those are unusually high temperatures for that area.

I believe the only option for the MAME engines via PicoChess is setting the level, as far as I know. But, if there is a default book then it should be used. Also, I can't remember if you can use the PicoChess books and once out of book PicoChess starts sending the moves to the MAME engine. It has been a while since I played with them, but I'm sure Al will remember, once he gets out of his refrigerator. :^)

Stay cool!

Randy

[Dirk]

Hi, 

I have already answered via email but obviously the posting never get through so I will try it directly:

Hi,

Picochess V3 switches off (at least it should) the current used book automatically when choosing a mame engine.

You would have to enhance the specific Lua script by simulating pressing the buttons which are needed to set up a specific mame engine book like on the real machine (by the way this is how the times and levels are set by selecting the picochess Level defined in  the uci file)

Picochess game/move time presets are not considered by mame engines as they are not supported in general by the Lua scripts as uci parameters because it would be different for each machine.

Enjoy

Dirk 

[Dirk]

One more remark regarding mame levels/game times: as they are not set by the according to the Picochess time settings they are set by the corresponding Picochess level you choose from the menu before starting the engine. They trigger corresponding Lua commands to set a specific level or time setting. You can define more specific settings in general by enhancing the corresponding engine uci file.

Furthermore I added the possibility to set the Picochess tine settings according to a chosen level/time via the uci file.

Al added lots of these „syncing“ commands for some of the mame machines…

Dirk 

[RandyR]

Thanks for the clarification, Dirk. Another thing I can't remember - can you use the MAME GUI to press the buttons and make further changes to the machine options? I think yes but can't remember.

Randy

[Dirk]

Of course Randy - I use the mame engines on my revelation via the uci server  (and not via picochess) only by setting all needed parameters manually. I think that is the real fun part of the emulation but you have to know the machine and how tongues it very well…

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rv4s8zm12ra506b/AABeD-VlRedaBTuh_V_XLYw1a?dl=0

[Dirk]

tongues = to use.   ;-)

[Dirk]

Sorry wrong Dropbox link. This should be the correct one…

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2k4gruo2omtenlv/Mame_UCIServer.MOV?dl=0

[Randy Reade]

I guess I wasn't clear. What I meant was, start the MAME engine via PicoChess without the video -none option and, using the desktop image, and a mouse, make the button selections that aren't available via PicoChess.

Cool setup.

Randy

On Tue., Jul. 19, 2022, 2:15 p.m. 'Dirk' via PicoChess, <pico...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Of course Randy - I use the mame engines on my revelation via the uci server  (and not via picochess) only by setting all needed parameters manually. I think that is the real fun part of the emulation but you have to know the machine and how tongues it very well…

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rv4s8zm12ra506b/AABeD-VlRedaBTuh_V_XLYw1a?dl=0

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[Dirk]

That how I undestood your question as well - my setup shown in the posts above would be the same with picochess and the Video desktop mame option (communication via uci interface only). 

The problem with former OS versions and picochess with mame gui that it was almost impossible to use the machine interface via the touchscreen (this maybe fixed in current os releases but I always use the revelation II uci Server if I want to see the emulated machine and want to operate it manually….

Dirk 

[Randy Reade]

Ok. Got it. Thanks!

Randy

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[DannyN]

Hi Dirk and Randy,

Thanks for the additional info. 

Dirk, you said "You would have to enhance the specific Lua script by simulating pressing the buttons which are needed to set up a specific mame engine book like on the real machine (by the way this is how the times and levels are set by selecting the picochess Level defined in  the uci file)". 

I own a Mephisto Polgar module and the built-in opening book can't be turned off or changed to another. There's only one opening book and it's always on by default. You can limit it by choosing tournament book in which case it uses only certain opening variants but it is never turned off completely. And as far as I know that is not possible or I have overlooked that feature all these years. When I play against the real Polgar (the module obvsiously ;-))  it answers almost immediately as long as it is still in the book.  The emulated Polgar does not do that, it looks like it is calculating from the beginning and I wonder why. Other mame engines do the same.

I've looked at the lua files and I'm afraid they're beyond my capacities to do anything with them. I understand what they're for and what they do (mostly)  but that's it. I can of course "use" them to see which commands are expected to add or change levels in uci files. 

The uci server looks impressive but is not something I would be interested in setting up, neither is the web or desktop version of Picochess. I like the simplicity of the display of the DGTPi (it actually reminds me of the old computers so seems appropriate for the mame engines) and the lack of cables and additional tablets, or displays etc. on my desk  with only the clock and bluetooth board when I play. If that means I'm limited in fine tuning the mame engines that's ok. The DGTPi with Picochess as it is now, is a dream come true for me and the best chess computer currently available imo. I discovered v3 about two weeks ago and was totally stunned by what you made of it (I knew pico until v0.9n). 

Thank you Dirk and Al and Randy (and Jean-Francois, Jurgen, Shiv etc.) for making that happening. 

Danny

Op dinsdag 19 juli 2022 om 21:36:44 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[Dirk]

Danny,

thanks for the kind words regarding the people who developed and tested picochess over all the years especially for my V3 of course. With this version I think the same as you: a dgtpi (I use my MolliPi - a custom made PI4 in a custom Dtg3000 limited edition case made by Wilhelm with lots of enhancement regarding the original dgtpi - see the posts in this forum) together with a nice wooden chess board is my current dream chess computer.

Regarding the polar book: the emulated machine should (and most probably does) use the internal book the same way like the original one, really.

If you see other responding times it could only because of a delayed move display because of the slow lua framework which simulates the uci interface and/or because you have set a incompatible time control in picochess regarding the time control in internal machine.

There will be always  a delay because the lua framework and it might even be the case that the original dgtpi is not able to emulate the machine in full speed (that’s why I use a PI4).

So I would suggest to test again by setting a longer game time in picochess (it will be ignored by the mame engine because the internal time/level is set by the uci parameters defined in the uci level file)and see how long it takes. 

If you still see a very long delay until the answer move appears it might be your Dgtpi is too slow for this emulated machine…

Dirk

[DannyN]

Hi Dirk,

I've been going through forum posts the past two weeks, reading up on things and searching for specific information and I did come across Wilhelm's work and your MolliPi and Al's ScallyPi as well. Very nice. I would be interested in upgrading to a PI4 eventually but with the current world wide shortage of raspberry pi's (nobody seems to have them) that will have to wait. For now I'm satisfied with what I have. 

I'm very curious about what the cooperation of Millennium with Ruud Martin will produce. They'll have to come up with something very special to beat the DGTPi/Picochess v3 combination for me though.

I think you're right that the delay I'm seeing is caused by the lua framework. I just tested some things. I usually play the mame engines at move in 3 or 5 seconds (whatever is available) and noticed that the emulations took almost exactly 3 or 5 seconds to respond in the opening. Being used to the instant response of my Polgar module I found that weird and thought the emulation was not using the opening book, even though it seemed to play expected book moves. Your post just now made me test 10 seconds per move and voila, it still takes 3 to 5 seconds per move in the opening to respond. So it indeed seems to be the lua framework that causes a delay and the mame engines do use the built-in books.

Of course I should have thought of testing something simple like that earlier before asking the question. I guess I can blame it on the heat (still 25C here at midnight) for not thinking more clearly about it.

Thanks,

Danny

Op dinsdag 19 juli 2022 om 23:19:06 UTC+2 schreef Dirk:

[Randy Reade]

I suspect, as Dirk mentioned, the RPi3b can't run the emulation at full speed. If you stop the picochess service and run the mame engine from the command line (with sudo) then enter some moves using standard uci commands, then exit, it should show you if it can run that rom at 100%. The command is in the armv7l/mame/<rom name> file.

Randy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/5a8e2d7b-71de-4275-9c18-a3f0cf10ceddn%40googlegroups.com.

[DannyN]

Hi Randy, 

The Polgar is a 8bit module, one of the simpler Mephisto's. I hope the DGTPi does not have trouble running these.

Anyway, I just tried what you suggested stopping the picochess service and then running the command from the file "cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation; SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/mess -skip_gameinfo -lightgunprovider none -video none -plugin chessengine polgar"

I then get:

Error in command line:
While parsing ini/polgar.ini:
Warning: unknown option in INI: gl_forcepow2texture

A lot of other warnings

Warning: -video none doesn't make much sense without -seconds_to_run
hd44780_a00.bin ROM NEEDS REDUMP
WARNING: the machine might not run correctly.

I assume the engine is started at this point and I can start typing e2 e4 e7 e5 etc. 

It may be a silly question but how do I exit the emulation? Typing exit or quit or hitting the esc key does not work.

Thanks,

Danny

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 00:59:54 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[DannyN]

Found this old post from Al when he announced mame: https://groups.google.com/g/picochess/c/v_yRzCgxTI8/m/tgF4SyVtAwAJ

In it he says: "So far we have tested MAME on a RPi3, 3b+ and 4b (all on Buster) The majority of engines run at 100% on the RPi3 models (about 6 were around half speed), however all run at 100% on my overclocked RPi 4b."

Can't imagine that the Polgar engine is among the 6 running around half speed in Al's test. I've noticed the DGTPi having trouble loading the Tasc R30's and Mephisto Risc but the rest I've tries so far loads and runs smoothly.

Al, when you've recovered from the heat, do you remember which engines ran around half speed on the RPi3?

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 07:39:21 UTC+2 schreef DannyN:

[DannyN]

A question about the lua files. Are these changed in any way or are they just copies of the ones that are in the plugins folder of the CB-Emu releases of Frank Huber? The reason I ask is that FHuber updates CB-Emu (in)frequently and sometimes he updates a plugin as well to fix a particular problem like for instance castling with an engine. Can I copy his updated lua files to the plugins folder on Picochess or would that cause problems. 

I suppose I can just try ...

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 08:59:01 UTC+2 schreef DannyN:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Yes it’s much cooler today, I’ll reply to your email later.

I keep notes of all testing:

I started every engine natively:
All engines running at 100% except:
arbv2 running at 70%
feag running at 60%
feagv10 running at 85%
feagv11 no %age given
feasbu running at 86%
fepriv running at 72%
fscc12 running at 60%
gen32 running at 72%
lond32t8 running at 49%
lyon32t8 running at 47%
tascr30_gideon running at 45%
tascr30_king running at 47%

A RPi 4 or CM4 will run all at 100%

————

Unfortunately it’s not as simple as copying the updated LUA files. After mame0226 they changed all LUA code which meant a simple compile of the new MAME code gave a ‘mess’ file that no longer worked on Picochess. I had to manually add all relevant chess computer additions and recompile using old lua code plus Dirk’s additions which I was able to do up to and including mame0231. I have tried to compile mame0232 several times without success. I have the full mame compiles up to the latest mame0245 but not those from mame0232 to mame0245 for Picochess.

Cheers,

Al.

[Scally]

Hi all,

Using my new Impos Royal board and the Elfacun Module, I played 2 games with the Mephisto MMV Module Vs the MAME MMV Engine on Picochess on the same board (both modules playing simultaneously).

To answer Danny’s earlier question the MAME version played its book moves within 2-3 seconds even though both MMV versions were set to level 2 with an average move of 10 seconds.

It appears the MMV book is heavily biased towards White, as White won both games easily. The first game going to the MMV MAME version and the second game going to the MMV Module. 

I’ll post at least 1 of the games on YouTube when I get a moment.

Cheers,

Al.

[DannyN]

Hi Al,

Thanks for the information about LUA and the list of engines that do not run at 100% on a RP3. I had already noticed problems with the Tasc engines; slow engine setup and very slow in responding to moves, even in the opening. I found them unplayable. 

Looking forward to your video of the MMV - MMV game. I made a wrong assumption because of the delay in response time of the emulation in the opening. I'm glad that the emulations are using their built-in books. 

I've now run engine.py, more out of curiosity than necessity. I ran it on only one engine, Wasp 5.5 as I added that one myself (Randy's image has Wasp 4) and this way I could check if the uci file I had created manually with the help of the release notes of the engine's author, would correspond with the info that engine.py provides. Good thing that I ran it because otherwise I would not have known that v5.5 has 22 levels i.s.o the 10 in v4.

Danny

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 15:10:02 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Dirk]

Hi Danny,

One more remark after Al‘s important remarks regarding the lua files.

As Al has pointed out you must take into account the corresponding mame version for which the lua Plugins have been written (big change after 0226).

I have seen a mame compilation with some of the lua files adopted fir the higher mame versions but can’t remember where (I think  it was a spanish guy who did his own windows compilations and updated the old lua files.

But as you have written: Franz with his CBEmu enhances the lua plugin from time to time and these are (like our own for picochess) eventually Not up to date.

Now for the really cool things:

a)Franz has included an important change I figured out which picochess need in his CBEmu version

b) Franz CBEmu version is based on mame 0222 or 0220 if I am correct 

=> so yes you can use in the updated lua files from his packet 

Now for the not the cool things: if I remember correct tehre we’re still some newer plugins from Franz which won’t work with our Picochess Version so please copy all lua files before and change.

The other thing is that I have optimized some plugins a little bit so that you can hear the announced moves etc, a little better with some voice enameled machines (Chester, challenger voice). So if you don’t care there will be no problem.

Dirk 

[DannyN]

Hi Dirk,

Thanks for the info. I have only about 40 emulations installed, that is to say, I do have all the available roms in the roms folder but only 40 of them listed in my engines.ini. So I plan on going through the lua files for the 40 I have installed, see if there is an updated one, if yes, copy and test.

I don't think I have any emulations with voice installed so that is of no concern to me. I prefer beeps to voices ;-).

Before I play around with engines and engine settings I always copy the whole engines folder to my pc with sftp. And I nearly always make a copy of the sdcard image after I've made changes in case the sdcard itself fails. I work in IT and learned a long time ago (the hard way)  the value of having backups.  

Danny

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 18:04:35 UTC+2 schreef Dirk:

[Randy Reade]

I remember trying to get the custom artwork working on newer versions of MAME (only useful if you use the Desktop image) but I gave up. The bezels showed up but no matter what I did I couldn't get the chess pieces to show. I think it was somewhere in the layout files. This wasn't on the RPi though. I thought if I could get it working on Linux then I could compile it on the RPi but was never able to solve it. 😔

Randy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/dec88c26-121c-4fb5-bd3f-d23aa6b8e9f5n%40googlegroups.com.

[Randy Reade]

Danny, note that some of the lua modules actually load other lua modules.

Good luck.

Randy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/52695edb-2b92-440a-ae29-edfa5cedb473n%40googlegroups.com.

[Dirk]

Yes Randy, I think we have a similar problem with the artwork files:

They are mame version dependent (layout has changed several times) and for Linux we would have to adjust the path information with the files (replacing / etc.) if I remember correct.- grrrrrrr.

That is the reason I use the windows compilations of mame with up to date plugins on my rev and not picochess for the emulations if I want to see and operate the old chess computers. 

On the other hand  just for playing the old emulations picochess is perfect,

Dirk

[Randy Reade]

I agree, Dirk. You can also use Arena via CB-Emu connected to the DGT board. 😊

I suppose it may be possible to use Wine to run CB-Emu on the Pi, but it would probably only be viable on the RPi 4 and 64-bit OS.

Randy

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[DannyN]

Hi Randy,

You said :" Danny, note that some of the lua modules actually load other lua modules.".

I know. I looked at some of the Mephisto's briefly and if I remember correctly, Vancouver just points to the Lyon lua, and the Lyon lua points to the Almeria lua which has all the interface entries. A lot of the Mephisto's have similar interface modules so that's not surprising. I did note the Vancouver lua got updated and now points to the interface of the (experimental) Tournament Berlin Pro. 

I'll have fun testing things out :-).

Danny

Op woensdag 20 juli 2022 om 21:03:25 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[Scally]

Hi all,

There is a simple fix that creates any missing artwork like the pieces …

Copy all the .png files as .svg files in folder  /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/artwork/chess  

via a simple bash script:

# Copy all *.png to *.svg

cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/artwork/chess 
for f in *.png; do
    cp -- "$f" "${f%.png}.svg"
done

Al

[DannyN]

Question about the lua files. I might be overlooking or misunderstanding something but I thought that every rom needed an identically named lua file in order to work. That does not seem to be the case though. For instance, the rom for Mephisto Nigel Short (nshort) does not have a lua file at all and yet I can start it on my DGTPi and play against it.  Mephisto Dallas 16bit (dallas16) is another one I came across. Is this somehow defined in init.lua (ie. fall back on some default settings in case of no rom specific lua)? I suppose I can create lua files for both by simply pointing to the lua files of engines with the same interface but if it doesn't matter I won't bother.

Op donderdag 21 juli 2022 om 11:45:03 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Searching through the mess compile code for mame0231 I found that the Polgar module uses the montec.lua

So there’s no obvious connection apart from some engines use the same lua code as other machines.

Al.

[RandyR]

Hi Al,

That worked in the beginning but not in the later versions of MAME. I tried renaming the pieces, putting them in a Pieces.zip file, putting them in their own folder, editing the layout files inside the zip files, etc. and nothing worked.

Randy

[DannyN]

Hi Al,

You got me confused now (even more than I was ;-)). It's hard coded in mess that the Polgar module uses the montec.lua? Then what is the polgar.lua used for? It doesn't simply point to the monte carlo but defines the Polgar interface. The montec.lua is quite different. Very confused.

Can you see what the nshort and dallas16 are pointing to?

If the lua to be used is hardcoded in mess for some of the engines it would explain why nshort and dallas16 can function without an identical named lua. 

Anyway, I went throught the lua files for the 41 emulations I have installed and only Rebel 5.0 and Saitek Renaissance have different/updated lua's. I'll copy them and test them..

Danny

Op donderdag 21 juli 2022 om 15:21:16 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Sorry, when I said Polgar I meant the Nigel Short (nshort) module.

I’m multi tasking and got mixed up 🤪

Al.

[DannyN]

Thanks Al. I tested Rebel 5.0 and Saitek Renaissance with the updated lua files and both work without a problem. Franz Huber posted about these updates to the plugins on schachcomputer.info and if I remember correctly they fix issues with castling and "Schlagzüge" (don't know the English word for that).

One other thing I came across, when I installed all the roms, I grabbed them from the latest CB-Emu release. The Mephisto Monte Carlo rom and the lua are named montec.zip & montec.lua in this package. In Randy's Lite image that I used for my install, Monte Carlo tries to start monteciv and that obviously does not work with the "new" rom and lua. The fix is easy of course (rename and edit the monteciv files in armv7l/mame and the engines.ini).

Op donderdag 21 juli 2022 om 16:17:22 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Randy Reade]

You might get lucky, Danny, but the roms are matched to the drivers compiled in each version of MAME. Newer roms, marked as working, typically require newer drivers which means compiling a newer version of MAME (subtarget MESS) for armv7l. Al was able to make the modifications for earlier versions but with the move to sol3 (Lua 5.3) I think we're stuck with the older versions. However, Sandro Ronco has updated the chessengine plug-in to work for later versions of MAME so maybe it just requires some perseverance. 😊

Randy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/5218b650-aee4-4d7a-942e-2bf28642e4ecn%40googlegroups.com.

[DannyN]

Hi Randy,

 

In retrospect I might have copied older roms from the German 140 engines package. I briefly tried that install, but unlike your image, it does not seem to get updated anymore. Better to start with a more up-to-date image I thought. And of course I did not know about all the mame and lua peculiarities then.

I don't know how many roms are updated in the latest release from Franz Huber but all the 41 engines I have installed now work and that's good enough for me.

Danny

Op donderdag 21 juli 2022 om 23:07:06 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[Randy Reade]

Thinking about it some more - we could probably use the latest version of MAME with just the built-in chess graphics. It's just the custom artwork that I was having a hard time to get working. Of course, that would only be used in a GUI or via VNC so not really an issue using the Lite image.

Randy

[DannyN]

I checked what Franz Huber actually changed to the lua for the Saitek Renaissance. It seems he added code for the Sparc module (see info here: https://www.schachcomputer.info/forum/showthread.php?p=103093&highlight=renaissance#post103093). The "old" lua does not have this code and in combination with the levels set in the renaissa.uci, it only uses the internal chess engine of the Renaissance which is not very strong, elo +/- 1600. To use the full potential of the Renaissance rom the Sparc module needs to be activated. It raises the elo to +/- 2200. I checked the Sparc manual on zanchetta.net and changed to level codes in the uci according to the instructions in the manual (e1 i.s.o a1 etc. for move times; g1 i.s.o c1 etc. for game times). My uci reads now like this:

[01-5s move]
level = e1
PicoTimeControl = 5

[02-10s move]
level = e2
PicoTimeControl = 10

[03-15s move]
level = e3
PicoTimeControl = 15

[04-30s move]
level = e4
PicoTimeControl = 30

[05-60s move]
level = e5
PicoTimeControl = 60

[06-2m move]
level = e6
PicoTimeControl = 120

[07-3m move]
level = e7
PicoTimeControl = 180

[08-5m game]
level = g1
PicoTimeControl = 5 0

[09-10m game]
level = g2
PicoTimeControl = 10 0

[10-15m game]
level = g3
PicoTimeControl = 15 0

[11-30m game]
level = g5
PicoTimeControl = 30 0

[12-60m game]
level = g6
PicoTimeControl = 60 0

[13-120m game]
level = g7
PicoTimeControl = 120 0

Tested it with the updated lua and it works without a problem. 

I'm not sure if the updated lua is actually needed or that changing the level codes is enough but I'm not going to test that.

Op vrijdag 22 juli 2022 om 00:48:24 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Good spot. In providing levels for some 100+ MAME Engines and adding the associated time parameters it’s quite possible that we missed something similar with other Engines.

Al.

[DannyN]

Hi Al,

I've not checked many yet. Eventually I'll go through all the ones I have installed but so far I've only done "my" 7 Novag's and Saitek's. 

Apart from "fixing" the Renaissance I've also added levels to the Saitek Corona (now 14), and added and fixed some levels for the Novag Diablo (20 levels now), Novag Super Expert B (20) and Novag Super Expert C (20). For the Super Expert C, I also had to add the necessary files to the armv7l\mame folder as there weren't any. Not too much work as the 3 Novag's have exactly the same levels according to the manuals on zanchetta.

All tested and work ok.

 

The fun thing is, in testing my changes, I do a few moves on some of the levels I added. I'm more familiar with the Mephistos' and Schroeder's and Lang's engines but I've discovered that I like how the Novag's play because I always ended up playing on against these :-).

I'm doing this for myself of course but if anybody is interested I can send them the uci files.

Next, 27 Mephisto's.

Danny

Op zaterdag 23 juli 2022 om 09:06:57 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Don’t forget to add any new Engines to the engines.ini file, (/opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/engines.ini) 

you can find the relevant grade of the emulation in file:

/opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/Engines.lst

Al

My Chess Computers

Picochess on my YouTube Channel

[DannyN]

No problem. I've added Novag Super Expert A and C, and Mephisto Portorose and they all run ok.

It took me an afternoon, using the levels.txt that's in Franz Huber's package (very handy) and going through lots of manuals to make sure of what I was changing and these are my changes to the uci's of the mame engines I have installed:

MMIV & MMV (12 levels): blitz levels added (they did not have any)

Polgar, Milano, Academy, Risc, Nigel Short (12 levels) : blitz 10 (I like 10 minutes blitz) & ELO Active level added (computer plays a 30 minute game at a set elo level).

Almeria, Portorose (14 levels): changed code for easy level & added more easy levels 

Roma (16 levels): changed code for levels and easy levels added 

Genius, London, Lyon, Vancouver, Berlin Pro (16 levels): changed code for easy level & added more easy levels

Monte Carlo (12 levels): changed code for levels & added more levels

Modena (15 levels): added more levels

Novag Super Expert A, B & C and Diablo (20 levels): levels added, plus each level now has in addition a selectivity value (on/off for the levels of Expert A; 1 to 7 for the levels of B, C and Diablo). I've set it so that at higher time levels the computer will play with more selectivity. 

Saitek Risc & Mephisto Montreux: these machines are identical (even the manuals are the same). Set one to using an active style and the other to normal

Everything tested and all working ok.

I'm not sure the single Easy level that was set up in the existing uci's ever worked correctly in the 32bit Mephisto's since it did not have the proper level code  that is specified in FH's levels.txt and in the level string of the lua's (it had EASY i.s.o. the expected ANFAN). Anyway, I added 5 "easy" levels to all 32bit Mephisto's which I'm sure now work as they should. The computer makes progressively less mistakes at higher "easy" levels. They're fun for quick games (average computer response 2sec) and actually not that easy to beat at the higher settings.

I'm done tinkering with the settings. I think I've got everything to my liking now.

Op zaterdag 23 juli 2022 om 19:05:54 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Scally]

Hi Danny,

Great stuff, imagine how long it would take to set every level for over 100 emulations, we just provided the basics for people like you who like to experiment ….

Al.

[DannyN]

Hi Al,

I know that you provided only the basics. It's one of the things I love about v3: I can set it up exactly to my liking. 

II only did 30 and that took me an afternoon. Big help was the levels.txt but even then I had to read manuals to check how many levels there are etc. And then testing if everything works. Doing that for more than 100, no thank you. 

Danny

Op maandag 25 juli 2022 om 10:30:14 UTC+2 schreef Scally: