Homebrew RetroArch - A new multi-system emulator

[the_randomizer]

You can try as well I guess -

https://github.com/Themaister/RetroArch/issues/133

I posted a link to an updated version of Genesis Plus GX libretro in there (a DOL file) - changing it from 48KHz to 44KHz. Drop this into your retroarch-wii directory - you can name it whatever you like - and compare it to the old one - see if it fixes the issues you speak of.

Excellent, I can't try it right now (gotta go to work, etc) but I will test it later today. Thanks!

@the_randomizer and tacodaemon thanks a bunch for taking the time to do the ABX tests. I know it's a labor of love in your quest for better(close to perfection) emulation.

If I may I ask that u guys take it easy on the NEStopia undead author. I'm sure that ABX test compared with FCEUMM or better yet the NES console along with a subjective report will be enough. Hope all goes well guys and again thanks for your edforts as well!

@Libretoarc ... Wow full sploosh at What your capable of with SNES9X Next. Outstanding man thanks a bunch. StarFox running at full speed, I don't think anyone could have imagined that on the Wii. Well not most people anyway lol.

Well, we try Nestopia Undead is going to be tricky.

 

[tacodaemon]

If I may I ask that u guys take it easy on the NEStopia undead author. I'm sure that ABX test compared with FCEUMM or better yet the NES console along with a subjective report will be enough. Hope all goes well guys and again thanks for your edforts as well!

@Libretoarc ... Wow full sploosh at What your capable of with SNES9X Next. Outstanding man thanks a bunch. StarFox running at full speed, I don't think anyone could have imagined that on the Wii. Well not most people anyway lol.

Yes, no disprespect meant to the Nestopia Undead project. I went back to version 1.40 before Undead started and the sound was the same as 1.44 to my ears. I don't think it's changed since work on Undead started. By all accounts, I think the sounds is good enough. I should see what discussion has taken place around accurate NES sound though. For some reason I'm not a big stickler on accuracy for NES sound like I am with some other systems. My favorite emulator for NES sound is actually the stereo implementation in NesterDC SE. I'll just load up the music player in that every so often and listen to Mega Man games because it sounds so good. I've never seen such a good stereo implementation in other emulators, but I haven't spent much time looking. Listening to modern chiptunes with NES sounds in stereo really makes me regret that NES was mono, unlike the Gameboy.

Anyway, looks like there have been a bunch of excellent replies regarding the Genesis issue. LibreRetroArc, I'll test 44Khz version tonight when I have time to test carefully and not rush, and I'll review the replies on the github page. Also, thanks for your work on Starfox! Very nice to hear.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

We're in the process of adding a 'resampler type' option to all console ports of RetroArch.

You will have the option of choosing between Sinc resampler (8 tap) and Hermite (the previous default). Sinc resampler will sound superior to what you can hear now with the Hermite one. The 8-tap sinc resampler should consume around 128K of RAM - far less than the 4MB+ that the 16-tap one would have consumed (and which we couldn't have gotten away with on the Wii).

I'm thinking of doing another point release this weekend for all platforms with all of this in.

 

[Charco]

Awesome! Keep up the good work!

 

[the_randomizer]

Yes, no disprespect meant to the Nestopia Undead project. I went back to version 1.40 before Undead started and the sound was the same as 1.44 to my ears. I don't think it's changed since work on Undead started. By all accounts, I think the sounds is good enough. I should see what discussion has taken place around accurate NES sound though. For some reason I'm not a big stickler on accuracy for NES sound like I am with some other systems. My favorite emulator for NES sound is actually the stereo implementation in NesterDC SE. I'll just load up the music player in that every so often and listen to Mega Man games because it sounds so good. I've never seen such a good stereo implementation in other emulators, but I haven't spent much time looking. Listening to modern chiptunes with NES sounds in stereo really makes me regret that NES was mono, unlike the Gameboy.

Anyway, looks like there have been a bunch of excellent replies regarding the Genesis issue. LibreRetroArc, I'll test 44Khz version tonight when I have time to test carefully and not rush, and I'll review the replies on the github page. Also, thanks for your work on Starfox! Very nice to hear.

I believe that now emulators will have the option of switching sinc/hermite sampling on or off, this will fix the remaining sound issues in Nestopia (even if they were trivial), since it fixes Genesis Plus 1.7.3. I don't know how they did it, but they definitely worked their magic

We're in the process of adding a 'resampler type' option to all console ports of RetroArch.

You will have the option of choosing between Sinc resampler (8 tap) and Hermite (the previous default). Sinc resampler will sound superior to what you can hear now with the Hermite one. The 8-tap sinc resampler should consume around 128K of RAM - far less than the 4MB+ that the 16-tap one would have consumed (and which we couldn't have gotten away with on the Wii).

I'm thinking of doing another point release this weekend for all platforms with all of this in.

Most excellent. Whether or not our ABX tests lead to this decision or not, I'm glad you guys were able to add the alternate audio interpolation/sampling modes. Anything else you need help testing with? I bet anything that the sinc sampling mode will fix other minor issues as well. Keep up the hard work, you, themiaster, toadking, etc have done a wonderful job.

 

[Tuddles]

do any of the included emus like nes or snes allow .cht files to be used? also anyway to get boxarts into this ?

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

do any of the included emus like nes or snes allow .cht files to be used? also anyway to get boxarts into this ?

No to both right now.

The first one has been requested and will be implemented further down the line - the last one I couldn't care less about - and there are external frontends that can do this - even on Wii with Wiiflow and the like.

 

[the_randomizer]

No to both right now.

The first one has been requested and will be implemented further down the line - the last one I couldn't care less about - and there are external frontends that can do this - even on Wii with Wiiflow and the like.

Cheat code support huh? Sounds good to me! Oh yes, and I will test Genesis Plus and report back later today. You also said mentioned something about there being an intermediate release with the sinc/Hermite sampling options released soon?

 

[Tuddles]

No to both right now.

The first one has been requested and will be implemented further down the line - the last one I couldn't care less about - and there are external frontends that can do this - even on Wii with Wiiflow and the like.

well I find wiiflow nice but wayyy to complex to even figure out the setup. other emus are simple toss covers in cover folder and cheats in cheats folder.

I looked up on how to do wiiflow and even tried premade packs of file structers all same too much reading making it over complex for the average joe

 

[seam]

Since it seemed my 'love' for SNES was being questioned by someone back on the previous page - let me just go and give you a status update -

Star Fox 1 runs fullspeed now all the time on Wii. Yes, I went through the entire game - it runs 72/76fps now on average on Wii - with 63/65fps as absolute lowest dipping point. Went through one of the courses all the way through Andross and finished it up - never once did it drop below 60fps.

So - that game is no longer a problem now.

I'll push a new version of SNES9x Next with this speed optimization/hack in the next point release for Wii.

This might be a stupid question, but can this hack or a similar one be applied to other FX-chip games.(specifically Vortex.. which seems slow to me... stuntraceFX seems a little slow as well...)

 

[aea]

Uhm, so you are planning to make another point release of this emu for all platforms? Man, don´t you even sleep? I admit that I am waiting for the gamecube build release date (in fact I had dreamed with that, serious), but I read you have had some troubles with that platform, so take your time in order to release a version the more stable/accurate you can. Anyway if you cannot release the gamecube build soon, the gc scene have an eye in your work. Keep the good work.

 

[the_randomizer]

Uhm, so you are planning to make another point release of this emu for all platforms? Man, don´t you even sleep? I admit that I am waiting for the gamecube build release date (in fact I had dreamed with that, serious), but I read you have had some troubles with that platform, so take your time in order to release a version the more stable/accurate you can. Anyway if you cannot release the gamecube build soon, the gc scene have an eye in your work. Keep the good work.

Seconded. I too would like to try out the new audio samplers in the emulator cores.

 

[the_randomizer]

Changing from 48 to 44 Khz did not fix the audio! It is imperative we await the point release where we can change the audio resampler. I should also note the bilinear filtering was not in that test build.

 

[MassiveRican]

You can try as well I guess -

https://github.com/Themaister/RetroArch/issues/133

I posted a link to an updated version of Genesis Plus GX libretro in there (a DOL file) - changing it from 48KHz to 44KHz. Drop this into your retroarch-wii directory - you can name it whatever you like - and compare it to the old one - see if it fixes the issues you speak of.

This is a great idea and again a great example of how responsive you are to the community even if sometimes it's over what some consider trivial and what some don't.

I think it would be awesome if you continued to post test builds for the audio issue at your discretion, that way it could avoid a potential flood of posts over the Audio "crisis", if a point release is made and people "expect" a fix. I should note guys that you shouldn't expect fixes sometimes a fix is a step in the right direction.

 

[tacodaemon]

Changing from 48 to 44 Khz did not fix the audio! It is imperative we await the point release where we can change the audio resampler. I should also note the bilinear filtering was not in that test build.

Yes, that was my experience as well. I've posted new ABX results to the Github page for verification. I'm amazed at the quick response to this with the resampler options. I'll be glad to test the new version once it's ready.

 

[the_randomizer]

Yes, that was my experience as well. I've posted new ABX results to the Github page for verification. I'm amazed at the quick response to this with the resampler options. I'll be glad to test the new version once it's ready.

Good that you posted more ABX results. The issue still exists but with the resampler version, they will be gone. Hopefully LibretroRetroArch will release the point release this weekend.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Also - you might want to try the Konami intro sound again with Sinc resampler - I think it sounds correct now on SNES9x Next.

Most of these problems were entirely resampler-related it now seems like.

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Changing from 48 to 44 Khz did not fix the audio! It is imperative we await the point release where we can change the audio resampler. I should also note the bilinear filtering was not in that test build.

What 'bilinear filtering'? Are you talking about video or something else? We fixed most of the 'bugs' with regards to PAL mode in the GX video code thanks to ekeeke's notes (and we fixed some cases where setting a resolution could be overstepping the bounds of the internal framebuffer (EFB) - that could either lead to crashes or other problems). However, we will not yet attempt any 'double strike doubling of horizontal VI width' trickery - it is up to the user to set VI resolution himself in the Settings.

 

[the_randomizer]

What 'bilinear filtering'? Are you talking about video or something else? We fixed most of the 'bugs' with regards to PAL mode in the GX video code thanks to ekeeke's notes - however, we will not yet attempt any 'double strike doubling of horizontal VI width' trickery - it is up to the user to set VI resolution himself in the Settings.

Yes, the filter in RetroArch for Genesis Plus GX was oddly missing. Imagine what the VC looks like on newer TVs, unfiltered and uneven pixel ratios. The bilinear filtering for the video wasn't missing in 1.7.3, but was in the 44 KHz version, however I'm sure it was an oversight as it was just a test build. Don't worry about it, just an observation, but I use 640 x 480 with bilinear since upscaled 240p looks like s**t on my TV. Yes the build was without the filter, but it was a rushed compiled test build as I said before. There are two options in the video settings, point-sample filtering.nearest-neighbor and bilinear. It adds a blur that simulates CRTs and how they look. The entire RA GUI looked unfiltered when I switched to the test build, but was filtered as soon as I went back to another emulator, so something you guys want to make sure before the actual bug fix is released.
I refuse to load PAL ROMs (20% slower), and has nothing to do with games, but the filter built into the emulator. Bilinear filtering was missing and got unfiltered graphics.

This menu right here, under hardware filtering. Bilinear was on but had no effect.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The point is the changing the 48 to 44 KHz did nothing, as tacodaemon reported, so we need to get a hold of the sinc filtering version to test out, you said something about being able to change the sampling filters in a recent post and a weekend release?

 

[LibretroRetroArc]

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The point is the changing the 48 to 44 KHz did nothing, as tacodaemon reported, so we need to get a hold of the sinc filtering version to test out, you said something about being able to change the sampling filters in a recent post and a weekend release?

Yeah it's coming - just be patient and allow me to get a release out this weekend.