Homebrew RetroArch - A new multi-system emulator

[LibretroRetroArc]

Ok, I'll wait to download it later.

Edit: I see in the changelog "Samples are now looked for - should be in 'samples' subdirectory."

What does this mean?

Some drivers use 'sample packs' - that is, instead of emulating audio hardware for certain sounds they just playback a 'WAV file' or something similar. That's basically a 'sample ZIP'.

Old early '80s games like Donkey Kong and other very old early '80s games might need those sample packs.

 

[MassiveRican]

Which answers the question does Donkey Kong work... It does I think lol

 

[Charco]

Some drivers use 'sample packs' - that is, instead of emulating audio hardware for certain sounds they just playback a 'WAV file' or something similar. That's basically a 'sample ZIP'.

Old early '80s games like Donkey Kong and other very old early '80s games might need those sample packs.

Ah I see, learn something new every day, thanks.

I see aswell that Super Smart Joy is supported in this release. Is this for Wii? I have one of these with an old SNES pad that I use for my PC to play emulators and Streets of Rage Remake, will this work via USB for RetroArch?

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Ah I see, learn something new every day, thanks.

I see aswell that Super Smart Joy is supported in this release. Is this for Wii? I have one of these with an old SNES pad that I use for my PC to play emulators and Streets of Rage Remake, will this work via USB for RetroArch?

It's for Android - I think itstates that in the CHANGELOG as well.

 

[Charco]

Cool, thanks. I might try it on my Galaxy SIII in that case.

 

[littlecubba]

Donkey Kong does work, but the sound is messed up on (RetroArch v9.7.1)
not bothered to update to latest version, unsure as to which version of romsets FBAcore uses!

still holding my breath for MAME!

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

not bothered to update to latest version, unsure as to which version of romsets FBAcore uses!

It will always use bleeding-edge MAME/MESS romsets.

And yes, some of these MAME romset changes can be quite idiotic - I've seen one recently where they just dicked around with changing the rom's filenames around.

 

[littlecubba]

It will always use bleeding-edge MAME/MESS romsets.

And yes, some of these MAME romset changes can be quite idiotic - I've seen one recently where they just dicked around with changing the rom's filenames around.

call me old fashioned, i kinda like the bleeding-edge

 

[B.B.Link]

OK so messing around a little bit more and it finally start saving dipswitches (demo sounds on Marvel super heroes confirms it), now if it can just save hi-scores.......

Also is it a better way to access service mode and the quick keys(reset, savestates)? Maybe just hold one of the ZR or ZL buttons to access them rather than all the shoulder buttons.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Once ToadKing gets back from school he is going to release a new version of RetroArch Wii which has these EEPROM things fixed in FBA Cores CPS2/Neo.

Also - I think I'm going to go ahead and release the Gamecube version as well. Please note - you can report issues regarding this version and that's all fine and well - HOWEVER - I am making NO PROMISES with regard to whether or not I will look into them or fix them - it's not a very high priority port for me given the low amount of RAM on the thing which is the main big drawback (CPU power is not so bad - actually it can compete decently with an Android Cortex A8 tablet). Some cores will not fit into memory (such as prBoom) - so that take that into consideration.

The Gamecube version will simply be - a downscaled Wii port - it's EXACTLY the same version - just without any of the Wii additions. Nothing more, nothing less. Because Gamecube is weaker and has less memory than Wii, it will never be as good as the Wii port.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

OK - I'm taking a risk here with this release - normally I can test out Gamecube builds on my 64MB SD card with a Wiikey SD Adapter, but I have lost it and my 512MB SD card is not picked up by SDLOAD.DOL (to add to the chore I also have to go through the Phantasy Star Online exploit everytime). So I have been unable to test this beforehand even though a lot of things got changed. I'm mostly assuming that since the Wii port works, the Gamecube port (being more or less the same code) will also.

So - please let me know if the Gamecube version boots at all (either by launching the cores directly from SWISS or SDLOAD or by trying to launch boot.dol) -

RetroArch GX - Gamecube - v0.9.8.3

http://multiupload.biz/lgs0a2k2jofe/retroarch-gx-gamecube-v0.9.8.3_MultiUpload.biz.zip.html

https://anonfiles.com/file/3e94a116f34cd0ec01c6ced737190351

RetroArch GX - Wii - v0.9.8.3.1 (now with FBACores CPS2/Neo EEPROM fix)

https://anonfiles.com/file/bb9813adc45d025edd26c7741f5fb75b

http://multiupload.biz/gw6us5ux8oko/retroarch-wii-v0.9.8.3.1_MultiUpload.biz.zip.html

ToadKing: go ahead and update the OP with this as well.

 

[Charco]

Played all the way through Starfox earlier, absolutely awesome job! Thanks guys!!

 

[MassiveRican]

Haha, all is quiet on the Retro-Front so people must be enjoying playing games lol.

Thanks a lot for this great update! Retroarch is a great project.

I would like to propose a Menu flow:

Spoiler

Really love the way this looks, it's simple and flows well. I'm sure the devs are working on better things far more important than the GUI but maybe they'll take a look at it and consider it too if they like it. It has my vote

 

[the_randomizer]

Played all the way through Starfox earlier, absolutely awesome job! Thanks guys!!

Well I'll be damned.

 

[Hielkenator]

Just wondering if this is present in RA's Nestopia.
From its github page', note that it is an older log:

1.08
----------------------------------------------------------------


-Fixed mapper 1, glitches gone in "Air Fortress".
-Fixed mapper 4, sound in "Startropics" & "Startropics 2 - Zoda's Revenge" works (MMC6B games which differs from MMC3).
-Fixed mapper 10, "Fire Emblem" plus others work.
-Fixed mapper 18, "Toukon Club" plus others work (minor glitches still there though).
-Fixed mapper 19, "Family Circuit '91" and "Wagan Land 3" plus others work.
-Fixed mapper 23, all valid versions of "Akumajou Special - Boku Dracula Kun" should now work.

Especially mapper 23, as I can't get this game to work on retroarch using the Nestopia core.
Maybe there's a fix ( or these may differ from nestopia dead....)
Fceu core works fine so I'll use that for now.

I also noticed some pallete scrambling is some FBA games, if you want I can pinpoint them for you.
Hard crash trying to run Drakuna rom, even with a scrambled DSI error screen.
Cool to see that ALL SFX games run faster, top screen shows ~60fps, wich is great, but also makes me wonder why most control feel sluggish.
noticeable in Doom and vortex I think. Probably related to the CC pro I'm using.

Sometimes the the rotation controls get screwed up in the RA settings, not corresponding with the actual output but this is just a minor bug I think.
Also sometimes the Wiimote can start scrolling by itself in the gui, as is it "hangs". Minor bug for the end user
Also there's a 640x480p resolution setting twice.

Also Sound is Really good even for the GBA games now!
Still hoping for future improments on the Metroid games and Zelda alttp.
Nice to see super mario advance running at 60 fps!
Also the ratio and resolution settings are much better to get right. But i should note that setting the resolution of 4:3 games to 640x448 apposed to 640x480 fixes the overscan and games are presented how they should. ( leaving overscan on 0.0 ) So no need to set the overscan manually using this 640x448 resolution, for games ins 4:3 on an lcd tv.

Sorry to be a PITA, for once again for posting these minor problems.
All in all I think it's a great release and a Huge improvement on the previous revision.
Thank you for you hard work, please take a well deserved rest!
Also I am not asking for a fix, just letting you guys know my experiences.

 

[wiismodrome]

If SNES Star Fox is running at constant 60 FPS, then isn't it running faster than on original hardware? On a real SNES it is pretty choppy - perhaps 15 FPS at times.

 

[4K_future]

OK - I'm taking a risk here with this release - normally I can test out Gamecube builds on my 64MB SD card with a Wiikey SD Adapter, but I have lost it and my 512MB SD card is not picked up by SDLOAD.DOL (to add to the chore I also have to go through the Phantasy Star Online exploit everytime). So I have been unable to test this beforehand even though a lot of things got changed. I'm mostly assuming that since the Wii port works, the Gamecube port (being more or less the same code) will also.

So - please let me know if the Gamecube version boots at all (either by launching the cores directly from SWISS or SDLOAD or by trying to launch boot.dol) -

Not working. Black screen signal loss.

Boot process Datel SD Media Launcher.

 

[Charco]

If SNES Star Fox is running at constant 60 FPS, then isn't it running faster than on original hardware? On a real SNES it is pretty choppy - perhaps 15 FPS at times.

Yeah I doubt it's 60, it was more like 15-20fps no? Anyway, I experienced no slowdown like on previous versions of the emulator or on Snes9x GX etc. What a fun game.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Not working. Black screen signal loss.

Boot process Datel SD Media Launcher.

Tried the individual DOL files as well instead of just the boot.dol?

If so, oh well then. It's far too much of a pain to test this again with SDLOAD.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Yeah I doubt it's 60, it was more like 15-20fps no? Anyway, I experienced no slowdown like on previous versions of the emulator or on Snes9x GX etc. What a fun game.

SNES9x has always ran Star Fox faster than your real SNES (which ran the game at 5fps to 8fps to 10fps) or so. So yes, the 'faster speed' is 'inaccurate' - but HONESTLY - do you REALLY WANT to play a game at a totally dogshit 5 to 8fps - a 3D on-rails shooter at that? In this case, the faster speed is a hell of an improvement - and no, Nintendo did not 'intend' 'Star Fox' to be played at 5-8fps (I just know that argument is around the corner) - the crappy hardware of the SNES forced them to bottleneck it at that speed - if they would have had better hardware it would have been flying at 30 or even 60fps - but can't really do that with a blocking SuperFX that can't be run concurrently with the SNES' CPU now can it?

And the '60fps' that you see reported by 'Debug Text' is just the emulator running at parity with a US NTSC SNES' refresh rate - it doesn't mean the game itself is running at 60fps - some games on the SNES ran internally at 30fps, some at 60, and so on it varies. (and some ran at really crap framerates like sub-10fps like Star Fox)

Anyway, I really like the faster speed that you get in SNES9x with SuperFX games.

This is what the ZSNES guys say on this issue and to be honest I think they are totally right here - 'accuracy' is not the way to go here -

http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10980&view=next

I tried the suggested WIP and got a look of the 'real' Starfox. To be honest I dont really find to be all that playable. The sub-10 fps is evident during virtually all the game and it tanks REALLY bad in some sections (controller issues more evident here too).

To compare, I like the 'faster' Starfox better because of its bearable framerate and the fast gameplay (Controller input is not that bad). It looks like what Starfox should've been on the real SNES. Perhaps if they got around that wierd clock speed issue it might've been a much more playable game.