22 replies to this topic

[JamesRIves]

Hi all,

 

Apologies in advance if this issue has been beaten to death.  I'm still a newbie....

 

I've read quite a few old posts regarding the Star Wards Trilogy X-wing cannon issue.  The first time the cannon is loaded, it works perfectly, but it seems it doesn't work well after you fire it once.  My question is -- was this issue fixed in any subsequent table mods that I might have missed?  Wondering whether this is an issue with the ROM, or whether it relates to the script.

 

Absolutely love the SWT table, and I really appreciate the effort the table author put into this one... but the X-wing cannon issue impacts game play at times.

 

Thanks!

 

Jim 

 

 

 

 

[STAT]

Which Table and ROM do you use ?

[JamesRIves]

I've tried JPSalas' original table, as well as the mods by Loaded Weapon.  Its a know issue.  The table post says:

 

"Sometimes the X-wing wont shoot and sometimes if a ball rolls up the ramp to load it and rolls back down it will think its loaded and rotate to fire"

 

As far as the ROM -- I use the default ROM the table script selects.  Can't recall the name/version of the ROM right now... will need to check.

 

The table is still a lot of fun, but these problems make it difficult to play at times.

 

Jim 

[dark]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe there's always been issues with the X-Wing but the thing is, it's tolerable enough to just play the game.  This has come up a few times without any concrete fixes.

[STAT]

ok, you are right, i thought this was solved in an update ... but not.

[JamesRIves]

Thanks for the responses.  I've always wondered whether those same type of issues exist in the real game or not... and whether this is something to do with the script, or the ROM?

 

Jim 

[STAT]

I think, it isnt a Issue in the Rom and not in the real Machine,

i guess there is a bit to do in the Script only ...

Edited by STAT, 06 April 2015 - 05:51 PM.

[JamesRIves]

Regardless, I'm very appreciative of all the effort that goes into constructing these tables -- so you won't find me complaining.  Thanks everyone for your hard work!  And thanks for the responses.

 

Jim 

[Dozer316]

I haven't played this table for ages but your post reminded me that this has been a problem for a while.

 

I spent some time trying to find the reason it did it today and I think I've found the cause.

 

Sometimes when the Xwing mech returns home, switch 35 which tells the game that it is home does not become active even though the mech is coded to turn the switch on at 0 degrees.  I tried setting this to a slightly higher increment and still it would not turn on so it seems to be a problem with the emulation of the mech for the cannon.

 

A quick hack which I've tested for an hour which seems to fix it is to run a timer in the back ground that constantly polls the mech position and it it moves to 5 degrees or lower to turn the switch on manually.  There's probably a nicer solution to fix it but this seems to work.

 

1) Open the table in the editor and click the timer button from the left hand side tools menu, move your mouse to the white space left of the table outlay and click the drop the timer there.
 

2) Make sure "options" is clicked on the top left of the editor and then click on the timer you just dropped to the left of the table in the editor.  Over on the right hand side in the options window, the timer should be called "timer1".   Backspace over this and type "fixwing" as the timer name (with no quotes).  Leave it enabled and at the default poll time of 100ms.

 

3) Click the script button to open the table script, scroll right down to the bottom of the script and paste the following code into the script window.  Save the table and test.

Let me know how it goes.

 

 

'----Xwing test fix------

 

Sub fixwing_Timer()

     If KickDir <= 5 and Controller.Switch(35) = False Then

     Controller.Switch(35) = True

     End If

End Sub

 

'---End Fix----

[JamesRIves]

Dozer, thanks so much!  I'll try this tonight when I get home and get back to you.  I really appreciate it!

 

Jim

[kruge99]

 

I haven't played this table for ages but your post reminded me that this has been a problem for a while.

 

I spent some time trying to find the reason it did it today and I think I've found the cause.

 

Sometimes when the Xwing mech returns home, switch 35 which tells the game that it is home does not become active even though the mech is coded to turn the switch on at 0 degrees.  I tried setting this to a slightly higher increment and still it would not turn on so it seems to be a problem with the emulation of the mech for the cannon.

 

A quick hack which I've tested for an hour which seems to fix it is to run a timer in the back ground that constantly polls the mech position and it it moves to 5 degrees or lower to turn the switch on manually.  There's probably a nicer solution to fix it but this seems to work.

 

1) Open the table in the editor and click the timer button from the left hand side tools menu, move your mouse to the white space left of the table outlay and click the drop the timer there.
 

2) Make sure "options" is clicked on the top left of the editor and then click on the timer you just dropped to the left of the table in the editor.  Over on the right hand side in the options window, the timer should be called "timer1".   Backspace over this and type "fixwing" as the timer name (with no quotes).  Leave it enabled and at the default poll time of 100ms.

 

3) Click the script button to open the table script, scroll right down to the bottom of the script and paste the following code into the script window.  Save the table and test.

Let me know how it goes.

 

 

'----Xwing test fix------

 

Sub fixwing_Timer()

     If KickDir <= 5 and Controller.Switch(35) = False Then

     Controller.Switch(35) = True

     End If

End Sub

 

'---End Fix----

 

 

Hey Dozer, would you mind adding this fix to the Table release discussion threads so that the table author/s can maybe update their tables at some point?  Thanks!!

(links to the support topics for the Star Wars Trilogy VP9.x versions that this might apply to below)

 

 

Best Regards,

Todd.

 

http://www.vpforums....showtopic=23056

 

http://www.vpforums....showtopic=23057

 

http://www.vpforums....showtopic=29032

[STAT]

Aehm ok there are 3 diff. Tables ... Test: had now 3-times a XWing Shoot, should be ok for now

Dozer - THANK YOU

Edited by STAT, 08 April 2015 - 04:55 PM.

[delta6014]

Thanks Dozer. That fix works great as far as I can tell

[JamesRIves]

Still having a little trouble here... but I'll continue to test it.  When I wait for the X-wing to make one full turn (before hitting the plunger), the x-wing cannon seems to be somewhat unresponsive (there seems to be some lag).  

 

Out of curiosity -- which version of the table did you test the hack on, Dozer?  I believe there are currently three versions.

 

Thanks again for your efforts.  I'll keep trying... it could be user error on my part.

 

Jim 

[JamesRIves]

OK, tried again... and it does appear to be more responsive!  So thanks, Dozer!  I really appreciate you taking a look and offering up a fix!

 

I've also noted other issues with the cannon -- and from what I'm informed, they are well publicized (the author's notes reference these issues).  Specifically, there are times when the cannon mistakenly thinks it is loaded, and begins to rotate as if it held the ball.  You can even "fire" the cannon (even though it is not loaded).  

 

But as I've said before... these relatively minor issues don't detract from the hard work that went into this table!  I still love playing it.  Thanks again to everyone!

 

Jim

[Dozer316]

Ok, let me check out this other issue with the cannon thinking there's a ball loaded when it passes by and hopefully we can sort that out too.

 

The lag issue I'm not seeing here (the hack was implemented on the LoadedWeapon night mod version of the table but it should work on any of them as the core code for the cannon is not changed during a night mod conversion.)

 

I'll spend some time on it this evening.  I just had to replace a hub on my network so I'm getting all my stuff up and connected again

 

Dozer.

[JamesRIves]

Wow, much appreciated!

 

Jim

[Dozer316]

Ok spent a few hours on this tonight and this morning.

 

(Problem 1) - (Working pretty well.)

That timer hack seems to sort the home position of the cannon which allows it to fire each time a ball is loaded.   What was happening before was when the cannon went home the home switch wasn't activating at times so when a ball was loaded into the cannon on subsequent attempts the cannon would detect the ball but then go into a test mode until it found home again.  This seems to be working better.

 

(Problem 2) -  When a left ramp shot is made but the ball doesn't go up far enough the ramp for the magnet to pull it over into the left return ramp, the game goes into "shoot" mode and you have to wait for the cycle to finish even though there's no ball in the cannon.   This one is weird.  I don't know whether this is by design but I would suspect that the cannon should only go into "shoot" mode if there is a ball loaded in it.    There are two switches on the left ramp (24 - Ramp low) and (22 Ramp high).    24 is at the bottom of the ramp and if the "Xwing" light is flashing indicating that the cannon can be loaded and only this switch is hit, the diverter on the left ramp opens and the cannon goes into shoot mode.    Usually there would be a "ramp made" switch that tells the game that the ramp had actually been shot properly and the ball had no other option than to enter the cannon but with this game it appears that the game thinks that if the bottom ramp switch is hit then the ball is going to make it.  Weird.

 

I suspect that there is an emulation problem here or a switch timing problem perhaps.  Without the real game handy though, I'm just guessing what the behavior is meant to be with this arrangement.  What would be handy is for someone who has the real game to get the xwing light lit (cannon ready to be loaded) and then manually roll the ball through bottom ramp switch 24 only to see what the cannon and diverter does.  My guess would be that the diverter opens but then when the cannon doesn't see a ball loaded, the game goes back to normal play.   

 

The other issue with the cannon going into shoot mode when a ball passes by it on the left return ramp seems to have nothing to do with the ball passing the cannon, it seems to be triggered when the top vuk shoots a ball out and it's just coincidental that the ball rolls past the cannon at the same time it goes into shoot mode.  Sometimes the xwing light on the top vuk is lit when this happens so I am assuming that the cannon should be ready to accept balls when the vuk shoots the ball out.  Perhaps the ball is travelling too fast out of the VUK and misses the diverter but because of the other issue with the cannon just blindly thinking it has a ball in it causes it to go into shoot mode.

 

At any rate, we really need someone with the real game to document these behaviors so we can see what the real issue is.   This game seems to rely on very tight timings with the rate of ball speed vs when diverters etc. open and ramps are made as the left return ramp which feeds the cannon has no logic on it to determine when a ball is actually on it.

 

The rom test also tells me to check cannon home and cannon enabled which means it's not seeing the proper switch timing so that may be the issue as well.   If anyone owns one of these as has some time to put into sorting this out, yell out and we'll try to fix it once and for all.  I guess at the moment at least you can shoot the cannon more reliably.

 

Dozer. 

Edited by Dozer316, 10 April 2015 - 04:16 AM.

[STAT]

I hope i get it: maybe the switches are not at correct Places ? Or we miss another 3th Switch (or a Trigger at the Cannon?) to Check this "in the Middle" (Cannon yes/no) ?

 

Btw. with your Fix, Table is on 99,99%

Edited by STAT, 10 April 2015 - 06:17 AM.

[Dozer316]

Hello Stat, I think all switches are in place as I checked the manual pretty thoroughly.

 

The cannon only has 1 home position and an enable switch as well.  The enable switch prevents the cannon from firing too early in the sweep and hitting the ramp.

 

I think the switches are ok, but I don't think the timing is ok for them otherwise the rom would not complain about checking them.

 

Anyway, if we can get our hands on the real game I can check properly.

 

Dozer.