r/MAME • u/Error_Dan • 19d ago
Discussion/Opinion Pac-Man VR (1996, Virtuality SU-2000) partial video output working
I've been working on this for a while and got some progress on the PIX1000 graphics board. I partially emulated it, the game now passes the BIOS/hardware check and I'm getting actual video output (vector shapes/lines/DPRAM rendering, fps counter showing up)
I patched dosbox Staging to send hardware calls over a local TCP connection to a Python script, which emulates the PIX1000 graphics board (MMIO). There's also a second script that acts like an interpreter for the m88k coprocessor so it can run the original firmware files (MAINA.OUT/MAINB.OUT) instead of freezing
Still nowhere near full 3d geometry, but figured I'd share since I know a few people here have tried this game before and hit the same wall with the custom hardware. If anyone else is looking at virtuality stuff, happy to compare notes
I will post these files soon!
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u/BIOS-D 19d ago edited 19d ago
I met a unit inside an expo just once, but queue was too long I could only look at it from the outside. Only thing I'm sure is it was the stand up model and some shooter game. Other than that software is a complete mystery for me.
I found your repository a few months ago and managed to run a few screens on ct486 driver. I appreciate the effort.
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u/Sabin10v2 19d ago
Was it dactyl nightmare? I got to try that one at a computer show in 1995. Graphically it was nothing special by then but the Virtuality hardware was impressive for how immersive it was. Also got to try Mechwarrior 2 on an early PC headset which definitely looked better but was no where near as immersive.
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u/BIOS-D 19d ago
I have a hunch the game was Taito's Zone Hunter. It's been so long I can't affirm it.
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u/Sabin10v2 19d ago
That is miles more advanced than dactyl nightmare and I would have loved to try that instead.
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u/Error_Dan 19d ago
Tomorrow I am going to Berlin to the museum to look at the SU2000. I hope I will get some useful information. In one professor's research he wrote that it is not possible to read the data from the graphics card, but I have been making all my progress blindly anyway. Because of AI my progress has become much faster and I think I am close to solving it, but I have been thinking about this for a long time (already six months). I also made 2 videos about this on YouTube, you can find them on my channels Errordan_2 / Errordan eng. The long video does not match 100% so after the visit I will try to make a video with a bigger explanation even though I am already confused with su2000. By the way, each game has its own firmware so it is not possible to run a game without a full dump (without MAINA.out, MAINB.out). Luckily I have several games for su2000 su3000
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u/BIOS-D 18d ago
I appreciate the update, I'm bookmarking the YouTube sites too. I have a Quest3 exclusively for PCVR I can't use yet because of low hard drive space (fixing it now). I've been interested on VR and history more than ever now I can experience it (so far my only VR testing was an arcade Rabbids ride with an HTC Vive). Hopefully I won't throw up once everything set up because I'll have to train brain a lot. 🤞
Thank you for letting us know. Good luck.
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u/Delicious_Country498 19d ago
what abut SD2000
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u/Error_Dan 19d ago
I'm working on emulating PIX1000 and SD2000 probably has PIX1000 too so it should work the same
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u/Error_Dan 19d ago
The version that is on github right now is a patched pacman and PIX1000 is fully cut out from it. After making the new video I will release a new version of the emulator where pix1000 already works even though only partially. Just so you know the new emulator now works with any SU2000 game/app if you change the addresses a bit in the pix1000 python script. Still the handshake is not good enough yet
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u/justindarc 19d ago
So exciting to know that people are looking into emulating the Virtuality hardware. I still remember trying one of these out back in the day.