CannonBall 0.22a - Continuous Mode

This release features a number of new features, important fixes and other changes.

Features:

• Continuous Mode
  Play all 15 stages sequentially. This mode features its own high-score table.
• Ability to toggle the fixed audio rom in the settings menu. It should be named opr-10188.71f and be placed in the roms directory. The fixed rom can be generated using bspatch and the relevant patch file from the enhanced edition pack. 
• Fixed split axis support. XBox 360 pads should now work.
  The FAQ has some basic configuration advice. Thanks to baritonomarchetto for donating the pad. Rumble will also be supported in the future, but it means I'll have to upgrade the project to SDL 2. So it's a little more work than might be expected.

Core Engine Fixes:

• Fixed a vehicle sprite bug that affected the angle of certain traffic sprites. Info here. 
• Fixed two audio bugs that caused traffic noise to stutter under some circumstances, or not play correctly.
• Corrected the pitch of PCM samples, they were played too quickly before. 

Other Minor Enhancements:

• Ability to use controllers on other ports. This is configured in config.xml.
• Support for arcade cabinets with a separate switch for high and low gear. This can be enabled in the gear options. 
• The High Score table can display longer times to support Continuous Mode.
• Added two handy game modes to toggle between 'original arcade' and 'enhanced' presets.

Quite a lot of code ended up changing to support Continuous Mode, so let me know if I broke anything in the process. Feel free to discuss the release on the forum. 

Download it here.

Update: Fixed the reported crash in continuous mode. This was a nasty bug that only materialized on a single level, when the code was compiled in release mode. 

CannonBoard Hardware Update

Colin Davies has been making solid progress on the CannonBoard project. This is the plug and play hardware interface that allows you to cleanly swap a modern PC into an original OutRun cabinet and run CannonBall.

"The audio is now hooked up to the original connectors. There is also a power supply input and dummy experimental load resistors to keep the Outrun PSU happy as it requires a minimum load (about 1 amp / 5 watts). This is important to balance the 5v for reliability and for the rest of the electronics on board to function. It will be optional whether the board runs from the Outrun 5v or the Arduino 5v."

The analog inputs still need to be hooked up; you can see the I/O layout below.

Soon we'll be at a point where we can start running some tests with CannonBall.