Fixed Layout Files

[agg23]

Some games may be functional, but the MAME default.lay files in the artwork.zip is not fully supported, and thus some titles will show graphical issues. This will typically present as the background covering up the LCD, so that you can't see anything (see #1), but there are other possible errors as well (hbw_squeeze uses special MAME constants that are not supported).

This issue is intended to be a catchall for fixed layout files. If you create a new layout file for a game to fix some issue, please create a comment and attach it here. Layouts should be trivial supporting files, so licensing shouldn't be a problem in my understanding

Please upload layout files only. No artwork

[agg23]

hbw_squeeze

hbw_squeeze_layout.zip

hbw_squeeze_rom.zip

(place the layout in the layout folder, and the rom in the ROMs folder, after renaming each of them to hbw_squeeze.zip)

The author of Squeeze was gracious enough to allow us to modify and redistribute the ROM, so here is the fixed SVG ready to reuse (just rename it to hbw_squeeze.zip)

This title creates its SVG in a different manner from all other ROMs I've seen, so unfortunately the generator still cannot parse it (the format is weird, and the paths don't have unique IDs, so they are unable to be distinguished). However, when considered without the LCD SVG, the ROM builds and displays correctly.

[terminator2k2]

gnw_cgrab.zip

gnw_cgrab

zip contains only the layout file

seems to fix crab grab

[terminator2k2]

gnw_ssparky.zip

zip contains only the layout file

seems to fix spitball sparky

[terminator2k2]

ktopgun.zip
tgaunt.zip
tinday.zip
tmegaman3.zip

Top Gun , Gauntlet , Independance Day , Megaman 3

you may need to to rename bg.png to background.png

[DrAvedi]

The new .lay file for tgaiden works insomuch as the game now loads and plays.

When compared to the actual hardware, the lcd looks as though it's shifted a bit lower than the real deal.

Crab Grab's LCD also seems to be offset from the original hardware. These issues could be a result of scaling discrepancies between the background and the LCD.

For reference:
Ninja Gaiden
Crab Grab

Thanks for getting these titles up and running. Some just need a lil tweaking to get them just right.

[agg23]

When compared to the actual hardware, the lcd looks as though it's shifted a bit lower than the real deal.

Can you please open the game in MAME and compare? I doubt there is a scaling bug on my side.

[DrAvedi]

I was referencing the zips that @terminator2k2 added to this thread

Perhaps I'm not understanding what these modified .lay files are doing. I thought they were responsible for placement of the LCD assets.

I'll have another look and get back here asap.

[agg23]

Perhaps I'm not understanding what these modified .lay files are doing. I thought they were responsible for placement of the LCD assets.

They do. I haven't checked, but I assume Terminator didn't change any of the asset positions, so they should be identical to the normal MAME ROMs (you can even compare the original artwork with the modified one, if you'd like).

[terminator2k2]

retry this one for
tgaiden.zip
tgaiden

[DrAvedi]

retry this one for

tgaiden.zip

tgaiden

Bingo! Looks great.

Crab Grab's issue is not nearly as distracting, but it is slightly off center. If I had the expertise, I'd take a stab at modifying the .lay myself.

I'll leave it to the pros

[terminator2k2]

for crab grab i didnt mess with the original values, but i just had a play and came up with :

before:

after:

so give this a try:

gnw_cgrab.zip

[DrAvedi]

for crab grab i didnt mess with the original values, but i just had a play and came up with :

before:

after:

so give this a try:

gnw_cgrab.zip

Looks much better. Thanks!

One last thing for these SuperColor titles: there should be one graphic layer in the foreground over the LCD to give the black LCD assets a unique hue for each column.

As seen here

Perhaps I should open a new issue for this

[agg23]

One last thing for these SuperColor titles: there should be one graphic layer in the foreground over the LCD to give the black LCD assets a unique hue for each column.
Perhaps I should open a new issue for this

That is covered by #1. There are blending effects used that I do not support, so the color doesn't get applied.

[DrAvedi]

One last thing for these SuperColor titles: there should be one graphic layer in the foreground over the LCD to give the black LCD assets a unique hue for each column.

Perhaps I should open a new issue for this

That is covered by #1. There are blending effects used that I do not support, so the color doesn't get applied.

Roger. I think I can live with that

[coolfox89]

I cannot get Trspider to generate a rom. I get the error "Could not find suitable view." Do you know why this might be?

[agg23]

I cannot get Trspider to generate a rom. I get the error "Could not find suitable view." Do you know why this might be?

I would have to see the default.lay file contained within the trspider.zip artwork zip. Most likely your version of the art doesn't have a nicely named MAME view (one of the selectable display options), and thus the tool reports that it doesn't know what to do. You could modify the default.lay to have one of the names listed here

[coolfox89]

trspider_layout.zip

[coolfox89]

This is the layout file I'm using.

[agg23]

trspider_layout.zip

This should fix that problem at least. I renamed the second to last view to be "background only (no shadow)". I imagine others here have already fixed this layout and others like it.

[coolfox89]

That worked! Thank you so much!

[Maverick-Shark]

hbw_squeeze

hbw_squeeze_layout.zip

This title creates its SVG in a different manner from all other ROMs I've seen, so unfortunately the generator still cannot parse it (the format is weird, and the paths don't have unique IDs, so they are unable to be distinguished). However, when considered without the LCD SVG, the ROM builds and displays correctly.

Hi,

I'm trying to generate .gnw file with this layout and I get the following error:

"Top and bottom screen sizes don't match"

Not sure if I'm running the command properly. I copied this default.lay on artwork zip file replacing the original one and changing top.png and botton.png file names.

fpga-gnw-romgenerator.exe --mame-path D:\fpga-gnw\ --output-path D:\fpga-gnw\ --homebrew specific hbw_squeeze

Thanks,
Shark

[agg23]

Your command is correct. You should not have to change the names of the artwork file; they're already named top.png and bottom.png.

I'm not really sure what is causing your issue, as the top and bottom images are the same sizes. Did you swap them out or something?

In any case, Squeeze requires a rebuilt SVG, which cannot be posted here. Without that rebuilt SVG, my tool cannot build the ROM.

[Maverick-Shark]

Where could I find/download the correct SVG (rebuilt)?

Thanks,
Shark

[agg23]

which cannot be posted here

It would be violating the copyright of the original game to post a modified SVG. Thus I cannot endorse any method other than doing it yourself (or applying a IPS patch, which doesn't exist to my knowledge).

We've discussed distributing IPS patches in the future to make this process easier.

[agg23]

We have obtained permission from the Squeeze creator to distribute the modified ROM. It can be found in this comment

[coolfox89]

I cannot get these two games to display properly. The games won't start. They are Shuttle Voyage and Thief in Garden. I'm attaching the layout files for them.
Shuttle_Voyage_default.zip
Thief_in_Garden_default.zip

[agg23]

This is not the correct issue to discuss your problem. Please create a new issue describing what is wrong.

[ghost]

I’m not sure if I should rename hbw_squeeze_layout.zip or hbw_squeeze_rom.zip to hbw_squeeze.zip? I’m not sure if I should put them in my windows folder or mame-gnw-opt folder? Can someone please explain what I need to do?

[agg23]

Can someone please explain what I need to do?

I have updated the instructions in the original post.

[AEFeinstein]

I'm still having trouble hbw_squeeze, even using the two files posted earlier to this ticket:

hbw_squeeze

hbw_squeeze_layout.zip

hbw_squeeze_rom.zip

(place the layout in the layout folder, and the rom in the ROMs folder, after renaming each of them to hbw_squeeze.zip)

The author of Squeeze was gracious enough to allow us to modify and redistribute the ROM, so here is the fixed SVG ready to reuse (just rename it to hbw_squeeze.zip)

I'm using version 0.2.0. The command and output are:

.\fpga-gnw-romgenerator.exe -m .\mame\ -o .\out\ --homebrew specific hbw_squeeze
-------------------------
Processing device hbw_squeeze

SVG contains invalid nested paths at None
Failing device hbw_squeeze

-------------------------
Total: 1, Success: 0, Fail: 1, Skip: 0

For completeness, my directory looks like:

│   fpga-gnw-romgenerator.exe
│   manifest.json
│
├───mame
│   ├───artwork
│   │       hbw_bride.zip
│   │       hbw_squeeze.zip
│   │
│   └───roms
│           gnw_dkjr.zip
│           gnw_mickdon.zip
│           hbw_bride.zip
│           hbw_squeeze.zip
│
└───out
        Bride.gnw

Am I doing something obviously incorrect?

[agg23]

That seems like you're not using the correct ROM zip.

[AEFeinstein]

I'm using the ROM linked above. Here's my md5 hash if you'd like to compare.

mame/roms$ md5sum gnw_mickdon.zip hbw_squeeze.zip
e6b7a2313171f0c97ca467f561e003d6  hbw_squeeze.zip
10b363cff6524b94b3e1f5359eaf13fa  gnw_mickdon.zip