http://www.twingalaxies.com/showthr...de-Donkey-Kong?p=946633&viewfull=1#post946633
This is a pretty huge hit for Billy Mitchell, and hell, the Donkey Kong scene as well. Post goes into more detail about different MAME rendering scenes and the differences between MAME and regualr cab.
In summary, these GIFs show that each of the Donkey Kong world record direct feed recordings presented by Billy Mitchell and verified by TG were generated in MAME and not by original Donkey Kong hardware. These scores are: 1,047,200 (the King of Kong "tape"), 1,050,200 (the Mortgage Brokers score), and 1,062,800 (the Boomers score). In order to demonstrate this, it's necessary to understand how DK images are generated by MAME versus an original PCB.
Video emulation has changed across MAME versions, but there are basically 4 eras: 0.115 and prior, 0.116 - 0.121, 0.122 - 0.126, 0.127 and newer. Each of these groups or eras show different methods of video emulation as a result of MAMEdev making various improvements. As it currently stands, video emulation is not perfect, but it's closer than it used to be.
The important bit: prior to version 0.127, MAME generated video in essentially a "snapshot" fashion. The Z80 would run for 1 frame, then the video emulation takes the "snapshot" of that point time and displays the image. Then the Z80 runs for 1 frame, the next snapshot is taken, displayed on the monitor, etc. etc. Real DK hardware, on the other hand, generates video in a "rolling shutter" fashion: the video generator scans left-to-right/bottom-to-top, while the Z80 builds the screen in memory from the opposite direction right-to-left, top-to-bottom. Both video generation and the Z80 are running concurrently with no "snapshots". The result is that it becomes fairly easy to determine WHAT generated the image based on HOW the image has been generated.
A simple analogy would be this:
-Real DK hardware generates the image in the same way you would open or close vertical window blinds...from side to side.
-Older versions of MAME (pre-0.122) generate the image in the same way you would put together a puzzle...piece by piece.
BARREL TRANSITIONS
MAME 0.115 and below MAME 0.116 to 0.121 MAME 0.122 to 0.126 MAME 0.127 to present
Billy 1.047M
Billy 1.05M
Chris Gleed 970k Direct Feed
Beyond the evidence above, it's worth pointing out some other questions and issues:
1) While clearly MAME, there is no way to tell exactly how these games were performed. It's possible they were recorded in one shot. Given the play style in Billy's videos, it's more likely that vanilla MAME's INP recording feature was abused, in which a person can re-record an INP as many times as they wish to craft their desired performance.
2) While many people have seen Billy play in public, there are no known independent, impartial, objective witnesses to any of the The Big 3 WR games. He has never scored over 1,000,000 in a live venue. Billy claimed the 1.047M was done in front of scores of people, but that he had no access to the inside of the machine...so how did he set up the direct feed? The 1.05 was supposedly done at an actual convention, but Billy was conveniently playing in another room. The 1.062 was done in arcade in Florida, but the only live footage from that day was staged (the Boomer board swap) and shows no evidence of a direct feed setup. Todd Rogers, of Dragster infamy, was a supposed witness to the 1.05M and 1.062M games.
3) It's unclear if ANYONE ever reviewed the 1.062M recording. According to Patrick Scott Patterson, the TG refs present at the IVGHOF event in Ottumwa in 2010 simply voted on whether to accept the score, without reviewing any footage. While PSP's credibility in anything DK-related is questionable, his version of those events is still worth noting.
4) For Billy, who has taken special care to point out how little he knows about DK hardware, it would have been essentially impossible to create a direct feed setup in the years he was submitting tapes. So, who would have done it for him and why has that person never been a part of any verification discussions? Creating a dual-display version for the Mortage Convention (sending quality video to another room, not just a VCR) would have required even more technical know-how.
(The remainder of this post is DKF-specific, but provided here for thoroughness)
So...PLEASE KEEP READING
In light of the evidence presented here, I am removing Billy Mitchell's current score of 1,062,800 from the Donkey Kong Forum High Score List.
This score will be replaced with his live score of 933,900, performed at the Midwest Gaming Classic on May 7, 2004. This score was performed in public and was witnessed by at least one TG member as well as Dwayne Richard.
This is a pretty huge hit for Billy Mitchell, and hell, the Donkey Kong scene as well. Post goes into more detail about different MAME rendering scenes and the differences between MAME and regualr cab.
