Homebrew Retroarch Emulation Thread (Nightly Builds Included)

[FateForWindows]

It still crashes. Maybe it can't be solved at present. I would wait for the new version and keep trying.
Anyway,thanks.

You ARE using a new3DS, right?

 

[zwq939681378]

You ARE using a new3DS, right?

Yes

 

[DominoBright]

I don't know when they were put there, but in 1.6.7's old (not xmb) menu, three options (Favorites/Music/History I think they were) are placed on top of "Start Directory" when choosing a game. For me, it's quite annoying, so I switched back to 1.4.1, since that seems to be the best one right now. That or 1.3.3.

1. Does anyone know any major performance differences between versions 1.3.3, 1.4.1, and 1.6.7 for these cores?

FBAlpha Neo Geo
Picodrive
Gambatte

2. Files for Neo Geo games are created on the root of the SD card. What setting, if any, changes that? I can't seem to find it.

 

[FateForWindows]

I don't know when they were put there, but in 1.6.7's old (not xmb) menu, three options (Favorites/Music/History I think they were) are placed on top of "Start Directory" when choosing a game. For me, it's quite annoying, so I switched back to 1.4.1, since that seems to be the best one right now. That or 1.3.3.

1. Does anyone know any major performance differences between versions 1.3.3, 1.4.1, and 1.6.7 for these cores?

FBAlpha Neo Geo
Picodrive
Gambatte

2. Files for Neo Geo games are created on the root of the SD card. What setting, if any, changes that? I can't seem to find it.

I believe it's actually 1.3.6.

 

[Smoker1]

Anyone know how to get FBA .ini Cheats to .cht Files? They will work for all the other Systems on the 3DS and Vita Builds, but the only ones that dont run are the CPS1/CPS2/FBA Cores. I tried Renaming the File, but that did not work.
How the Cheats look in the .cht Files are shown in the Attached Image.

But when you Paste them here....
cheats = 9

cheat0_desc = "Infinite Countdown Timer"
cheat0_code = "800972DE+0063"
cheat0_enable = false

cheat1_desc = "Stop Track Timer"
cheat1_code = "800972E2+0000"
cheat1_enable = false

cheat2_desc = "Infinite Boost (On Pickup)"
cheat2_code = "80050B86+2400"
cheat2_enable = false

cheat3_desc = "Always First Place"
cheat3_code = "8009DD58+0001"
cheat3_enable = false

cheat4_desc = "Unlock All Tracks & Boats (Cheat Device 2.2 Or Higher Needed!)"
cheat4_code = "50000602+0000+800A223C+0000+300A2248+0000"
cheat4_enable = false

cheat5_desc = "Max Cash"
cheat5_code = "800966B4+FFFF"
cheat5_enable = false

cheat6_desc = "Unlock Medium Boats & Levels"
cheat6_code = "300A2245+0000+300A223D+0000+300A2240+0000"
cheat6_enable = false

cheat7_desc = "Unlock Hard Boats & Levels"
cheat7_code = "300A2243+0000+300A223F+0000+300A2244+0000"
cheat7_enable = false

cheat8_desc = "Unlock Bonus Levels & Boats"
cheat8_code = "300A223C+0000+300A223E+0000+300A2242+0000+300A2241+0000+300A2247+0000+300A2248+0000+300A2246+0000"
cheat8_enable = false

 

[Greymane]

I install only Genesis plus px

I need copy retroarch folder or I need use only cia?

You need the Retroarch folder to since it holds several needed files.

 

[Greymane]

But for use one emulator its necessary copy all folder to root SD?

Since the folder doesn't take up to much space, simply keeping the entire folder would be the easiest.

 

[SaffronXL]

But for use one emulator its necessary copy all folder to root SD?

Yes

 

[xianx_mf]

Alright, let me correct myself, Nobody is maintaining the ports of the cores for the 3ds.

Your assumptions are a bit off there. The beauty of retroarch (libretro, actually) is that the cores aren't ported. They use the same codebase for all releases of the same core. That is to say, the nestopia core that runs on the 3ds is compiled from exactly the same code as the nestopia core for the wii or pc releases. They are using different compilers, and a select few of them use architecture-specific assembly files for increased performance (like picodrive for arm devices and genesis-plus-gx for ppc), but that's it for the cores. That's why there were releases before any retroarch dev had a 3ds.

Optimization at the C-code level would benefit performance of all releases, but it's easy to find for oneself that introducing performance-oriented changes in existing emulator code is prone to introduce bugs/regressions, and overall is a very hard task. The original developers were already thinking about performance when designing and writing the emulator, and many of them are quite competent to begin with.

The 3ds isn't a very powerful machine, by today's standards... it's still the best of it's kind, by a mile, and there's more than enough great games it'll play (including the ds and 3ds library). FBAlpha2012 runs great, which is very welcome, as does picodrive, nestopia, gambatte, and mednafen-pce-fast. Genesis-plus-gx is close, but there's a bug in vsync still lingering somewhere...

 

[Transdude1996]

How much of the speed problem with Sega CD and PS1 emulation is related to having to reading files from the disc (And, is there a way for that to be improved)? After turning off the Vsync/Async settings, I'm getting to around 14-40 fps (Depending on what's being displayed) for PS1 emulation (PCSX ReARMed) and 40-50 fps on Sega CD emulation (Picodrive). However, when the game wasn't loading content from the disc, it's playing at full speed or (At most) double it's usual speed. This is on the O3DS, by the way.

 

[Clydefrosch]

Your assumptions are a bit off there. The beauty of retroarch (libretro, actually) is that the cores aren't ported. They use the same codebase for all releases of the same core. That is to say, the nestopia core that runs on the 3ds is compiled from exactly the same code as the nestopia core for the wii or pc releases. They are using different compilers, and a select few of them use architecture-specific assembly files for increased performance (like picodrive for arm devices and genesis-plus-gx for ppc), but that's it for the cores. That's why there were releases before any retroarch dev had a 3ds.

Optimization at the C-code level would benefit performance of all releases, but it's easy to find for oneself that introducing performance-oriented changes in existing emulator code is prone to introduce bugs/regressions, and overall is a very hard task. The original developers were already thinking about performance when designing and writing the emulator, and many of them are quite competent to begin with.

The 3ds isn't a very powerful machine, by today's standards... it's still the best of it's kind, by a mile, and there's more than enough great games it'll play (including the ds and 3ds library). FBAlpha2012 runs great, which is very welcome, as does picodrive, nestopia, gambatte, and mednafen-pce-fast. Genesis-plus-gx is close, but there's a bug in vsync still lingering somewhere...

i guess the problem is that the 3ds, being weaker than say, current phones, pcs and modern consoles, does require a bit of additional attention to actually improve emulation performance, but no one really wants to or can look into that. so other than the occasional 'at least now its running again', retroarch doesn't seem to have improved on the 3ds at all. since way back when on 1.3

and i understand it, its much easier to improve and add new stuff to retroarch when you have more power to work with every few months. but those improvements often only help to make the 3ds port worse.
like the much less compact gui overhaul which is clearly meant for high resolution screens.
and every other update introduces menu options you can enter on 3ds, but which trap you with no way out, forcing you to reset your system.

then theres the eternal gripe with gpsp. any other system would solve gba emulation by throwing a stronger cpu/gpu at it, 3ds needs dynamic recompiling (or frameskipping i guess) and plays the entire gba library perfectly with it. only there's probably just a tiny error or 3ds incompatible function in that compiler causing extremely random crashes, making it impossible to play most any game without savestating every other minute.

maybe we'll need to organize a bounty to improve stuff on 3ds...

 

[AtlasFontaine]

i guess the problem is that the 3ds, being weaker than say, current phones, pcs and modern consoles, does require a bit of additional attention to actually improve emulation performance, but no one really wants to or can look into that. so other than the occasional 'at least now its running again', retroarch doesn't seem to have improved on the 3ds at all. since way back when on 1.3

and i understand it, its much easier to improve and add new stuff to retroarch when you have more power to work with every few months. but those improvements often only help to make the 3ds port worse.
like the much less compact gui overhaul which is clearly meant for high resolution screens.
and every other update introduces menu options you can enter on 3ds, but which trap you with no way out, forcing you to reset your system.

then theres the eternal gripe with gpsp. any other system would solve gba emulation by throwing a stronger cpu/gpu at it, 3ds needs dynamic recompiling (or frameskipping i guess) and plays the entire gba library perfectly with it. only there's probably just a tiny error or 3ds incompatible function in that compiler causing extremely random crashes, making it impossible to play most any game without savestating every other minute.

maybe we'll need to organize a bounty to improve stuff on 3ds...

I agree with you, I still remember when people said that snes emulation couldn't be improved on the O3ds until bubble2k16 came out of nowhere. Our problem is that there are no devs willing to work on optimizations for retroarch on 3ds sadly.

 

[zwq939681378]

I agree with you, I still remember when people said that snes emulation couldn't be improved on the O3ds until bubble2k16 came out of nowhere. Our problem is that there are no devs willing to work on optimizations for retroarch on 3ds sadly.

You can try the Snes9X for O3ds,it is the best SNES emulator on O3ds.

 

[AtlasFontaine]

You can try the Snes9X for O3ds,it is the best SNES emulator on O3ds.

I know, that's why I said "until bubble2k16 came out of nowhere" lol

 

[zwq939681378]

To pcsx-rearmed, using PBP format games is better. I tried the Rockman X4 and I got 40-50fps at most when using CUE format game. But I could get almost 60 fps with frameskip 1 and audio sync off when I use PBP format game.

 

[Clydefrosch]

while we're at it, i uploaded a bunch of my crash logs to the gpsp github.
i dont know if they're actually helpful in pinpointing the issue if anyone ever tried to look into it in the future, but in case they are,
maybe more people should upload theirs

https://github.com/libretro/gpsp/issues/38

 

[Transdude1996]

To pcsx-rearmed, using PBP format games is better. I tried the Rockman X4 and I got 40-50fps at most when using CUE format game. But I could get almost 60 fps with frameskip 1 and audio sync off when I use PBP format game.

I can confirm that converting the files to PBP and turning on frameskip has increased the game speed, but it's not by much (About 2-5 fps). Though, files like the videos have doubled in speed. So far, the best running game I've tested has been Viewpoint and the worst running one is Forsaken.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I can confirm that converting the files to PBP and turning on frameskip has increased the game speed, but it's not by much (About 2-5 fps). Though, files like the videos have doubled in speed. So far, the best running game I've tested has been Viewpoint and the worst running one is Forsaken.

PBP?
What's that?

 

[Transdude1996]

PBP?
What's that?

It's the file format used to load applications on the PSP.

 

[ShadowOne333]

It's the file format used to load applications on the PSP.

Huh so you can load PBP files with PSX Rearmed?