Doubles

I used AI to write a little lua script to fix this, it works like a charm. I also made a plugin that can live in the plugins folder and can be enabled perpetually without autolaunching the lua script. I never could have written this on my own. I looked through the code and it doesn't have anything else going on, but use only if you want to. launch with mame -autoboot_script /full/path/to/boulderdash_joystick.lua which would contain -- license:BSD-3-Clause -- -- Boulder Dash joystick timing compatibility fix for MAME Apple II emulation. -- -- Standalone autoboot-script version. -- -- This reproduces the KEGS/AppleWin maximum-paddle workaround used by -- Boulder Dash: when an Apple II joystick axis reaches 255, extend the -- emulated paddle timer to the equivalent of 287. -- -- Run with: -- mame apple2e ... -autoboot_script boulderdash_joystick_fix.lua local machine = manager.machine local PDL_UNIT_SEC = 10.8e-6 local NATIVE_MAX = 255 local EXTENDED_MAX = 287 local C064 = 0xc064 -- paddle 0 / joystick X local C065 = 0xc065 -- paddle 1 / joystick Y local C070 = 0xc070 -- paddle trigger local C07F = 0xc07f -- trigger mirrors local function now() return machine.time:as_double() end local function find_port_by_suffix(suffix) for tag, port in pairs(machine.ioport.ports) do if tag == suffix or tag:sub(-#suffix) == suffix then return port end end end local joy_x = find_port_by_suffix("joystick_1_x") local joy_y = find_port_by_suffix("joystick_1_y") if not joy_x or not joy_y then return end local maincpu = machine.devices[":maincpu"] if not maincpu or not maincpu.spaces or not maincpu.spaces["program"] then return end local space = maincpu.spaces["program"] local x_native_expiry = 0.0 local y_native_expiry = 0.0 local x_extended_expiry = 0.0 local y_extended_expiry = 0.0 local function trigger_paddles() if machine:side_effects_disabled() then return end local t = now() local x = joy_x:read() & 0xff local y = joy_y:read() & 0xff -- Match the 558 one-shot behavior: do not restart an active timer. if t >= x_native_expiry then x_native_expiry = t + (x * PDL_UNIT_SEC) x_extended_expiry = t + (((x >= NATIVE_MAX) and EXTENDED_MAX or x) * PDL_UNIT_SEC) end if t >= y_native_expiry then y_native_expiry = t + (y * PDL_UNIT_SEC) y_extended_expiry = t + (((y >= NATIVE_MAX) and EXTENDED_MAX or y) * PDL_UNIT_SEC) end end local trigger_read_tap local trigger_write_tap local paddle_read_tap trigger_read_tap = space:install_read_tap( C070, C07F, "Boulder Dash paddle trigger read", function(offset, data, mask) trigger_paddles() return data end ) trigger_write_tap = space:install_write_tap( C070, C07F, "Boulder Dash paddle trigger write", function(offset, data, mask) trigger_paddles() return data end ) paddle_read_tap = space:install_read_tap( C064, C065, "Boulder Dash paddle timing extension", function(offset, data, mask) if machine:side_effects_disabled() then return data end local t = now() if offset == C064 and t >= x_native_expiry and t < x_extended_expiry then return data | 0x80 end if offset == C065 and t >= y_native_expiry and t < y_extended_expiry then return data | 0x80 end return data end ) -- Reinstall taps if MAME replaces address-space handlers. local reinstalling = false local change_notifier change_notifier = space:add_change_notifier(function(kind) if reinstalling then return end reinstalling = true if trigger_read_tap then trigger_read_tap:reinstall() end if trigger_write_tap then trigger_write_tap:reinstall() end if paddle_read_tap then paddle_read_tap:reinstall() end reinstalling = false end)

To follow up my own post, sorry, it looks like AppleWin has a specific line of code to deal with this. The keyboard emulating the joystick and going from 128 (joystick in the middle, no direction pressed) to 255 has some issue with timing in mame's implementation. In AppleWin it's re-timed so that it falls within an emulation window for the hardware. I don't know if MAME would allow a per-game fix for this, or if they'd consider this a bug. It seems like an issue with joystick->keyboard emulation, not an issue with true old hardware (Apple IIe) emulation. Looks like the AppleWin fix came from KEGS // This is from KEGS. It helps games like Championship Lode Runner, Boulderdash & Learning with Leeper(GH#1128) if (pdlPos >= 255) pdlPos = 287; I'll submit this as a MAME issue on the github, I'll see what they say.

Hello everyone! I ran across this issue with Boulder Dash II using Mame 0.289 as well. Down and to the right seem to move, pause, move, pause, move. The game is unplayable since he needs to be able to run past two stacked boulders heading downwards and go faster than the falling boulder! Up and to the left work just fine. I modified the X and Y sensitivity, return to 0 settings, no change. I flipped the X and Y axis, and while they keys are reversed, it's still right and down that have a pause. I changed the system setting for key repeats. I also mapped the keys to IJKL instead of the arrow keys, still happens. I didn't see a post about this on MAME Testers, but I'm likely missing it. I didn't see an active github issue post either, and was thinking about posting it there. This slowdown doesn't happen with AppleWin, so it seems to be a way that MAME emulates the joysticks. Did anyone find a solution, or have any tips on fixing this? I'm happy to make an account and post this to MAME Testers (again?) if not. My best, Doubles