Retrix: A Libretro port for the Xbox One

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The Xbox One now has a port of LibRetro, called Retrix. Thanks to the hard work of @Absestos , they've ported some of the LibRetro cores to UWP, which both Windows 10 and Xbox One users can use. You can currently emulate games from a wide range of systems, like the NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genesis, PlayStation 1, with even more additions planned in the future, like N64 and Dreamcast. Retrix also allows for 2 player support, as well as savestates. The project is still early in development, but has come a long way in a short amount of time.

The caveat to being able to access this, is that users will need a Developer Account, for their Xbox One. The process is simple, but requires $19.99 to activate, permanently. You then receive 3 slots to register any accounts to. You can do that by following this link.

I personally tried out the emulator myself, using the following games.

SNES:
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Works fullspeed, but crashes at random
Contra III: Runs well, but experiences slowdown during explosions
Secret of Mana: Works fullspeed
Super Mario World: Works fullspeed

GB/GBC/GBA:
All GameBoy and GameBoy Color games crashed the program.
Sonic Advance 3: Runs fullspeed.
Pokemon Fire Red: Does not boot.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Runs fullspeed.
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones: Runs fullspeed.

Master System:
All attempted titles besides Sonic Chaos resulted in a black screen.

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive/CD:
Sonic 3: Runs fine except when you lose rings, which causes slowdown
Road Rash: Runs fine until you get hit, and the game has a runtime error
Sonic CD: Works fullspeed
Shining Force CD: Works fullspeed

Steps on how to enable developer mode on your Xbox One

1. Obtain a developer account.
2. On your Xbox One, install the free "Dev Mode Activation" app from the Xbox store
3. The Xbox will then give you a 6 digit code, on your computer, go to the Dev Center hub on Microsoft's site, and put the code in there.
4. Your system will confirm the activation code, and prompt you to restart into Developer Mode

How to sideload Retrix and use it

1. After the above steps, the console will be in Developer Mode. You will then see your Xbox One's IP on the home menu.
2. Type this IP into your browser, which will take you a hub page. You can upload the .APPX for Retrix here. It'll install to your Xbox, and you'll be good to go.
3. PlayStation and Sega CD games require BIOS. You'll need these to play games from either of those systems.
4. Get a USB with a roms folder on root, put any roms and BIOS files there.
5. You're done! Select a given system from Retrix's menu, and load your rom, and it will boot.

:arrow: Discussion Thread

:arrow: Development Fundraising

:download: Github
 

wiired24

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I don't think you need to pay to sideload apps, but they could have changed it.

The Developer Activation App from the store is free but It's a one time $20 fee to Micorosoft for the developer account. After that it's permenantly yours and you can sideload as much homebrew as you'd like. Beyond just RetriX there exist several emulators/homebrew applications that you can sideload all for free. NESBOX(NES,SNES,Genesis,GB,GBA), PPSSPP,VBA10,Chip8 etc
 
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Enovale

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Seems like there's still a lot of work to do on it, and $20 is a bit steep just for this. Looks cool, anyway!
check this out. if your a student or have any sort of school email, you can get it free. if not, still read it, you can get an edu email for 5 dollars instead
I don't think you need to pay to sideload apps, but they could have changed it.
see above
 
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The Real Jdbye

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The Xbox One now has a port of LibRetro, called Retrix. Thanks to the hard work of @Absestos , they've ported some of the LibRetro cores to UWP, which both Windows 10 and Xbox One users can use. You can currently emulate games from a wide range of systems, like the NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genesis, PlayStation 1, with even more additions planned in the future, like N64 and Dreamcast. Retrix also allows for 2 player support, as well as savestates. The project is still early in development, but has come a long way in a short amount of time.

The caveat to being able to access this, is that users will need a Developer Account, for their Xbox One. The process is simple, but requires $19.99 to activate, permanently. You then receive 3 slots to register any accounts to. You can do that by following this link.

I personally tried out the emulator myself, using the following games.

SNES:
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Works fullspeed, but crashes at random
Contra III: Runs well, but experiences slowdown during explosions
Secret of Mana: Works fullspeed
Super Mario World: Works fullspeed

GB/GBC/GBA:
All GameBoy and GameBoy Color games crashed the program.
Sonic Advance 3: Runs fullspeed.
Pokemon Fire Red: Does not boot.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Runs fullspeed.
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones: Runs fullspeed.

Master System:
All attempted titles besides Sonic Chaos resulted in a black screen.

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive/CD:
Sonic 3: Runs fine except when you lose rings, which causes slowdown
Road Rash: Runs fine until you get hit, and the game has a runtime error
Sonic CD: Works fullspeed
Shining Force CD: Works fullspeed

Steps on how to enable developer mode on your Xbox One

1. Obtain a developer account.
2. On your Xbox One, install the free "Dev Mode Activation" app from the Xbox store
3. The Xbox will then give you a 6 digit code, on your computer, go to the Dev Center hub on Microsoft's site, and put the code in there.
4. Your system will confirm the activation code, and prompt you to restart into Developer Mode

How to sideload Retrix and use it

1. After the above steps, the console will be in Developer Mode. You will then see your Xbox One's IP on the home menu.
2. Type this IP into your browser, which will take you a hub page. You can upload the .APPX for Retrix here. It'll install to your Xbox, and you'll be good to go.
3. PlayStation and Sega CD games require BIOS. You'll need these to play games from either of those systems.
4. Get a USB with a roms folder on root, put any roms and BIOS files there.
5. You're done! Select a given system from Retrix's menu, and load your rom, and it will boot.

:arrow: Discussion Thread

:arrow: Development Fundraising

:download: Github
You forgot to mention that there are ways to get a free developer account, either by using your student .edu email to sign up at https://imagine.microsoft.com/
Or by signing up for Windows Dev Essentials here https://developer.microsoft.com/en-...tbldeml_wrapup&utm_campaign=wdevessntlsq3fy17
Anyone can do the latter one. and I can confirm that it still worked a few days ago.
Seems like there's still a lot of work to do on it, and $20 is a bit steep just for this. Looks cool, anyway!
You can get it for free by signing up for Windows Dev Essentials, no .edu email needed.
 
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You forgot to mention that there are ways to get a free developer account, either by using your student .edu email to sign up at https://imagine.microsoft.com/
Or by signing up for Windows Dev Essentials here https://developer.microsoft.com/en-...tbldeml_wrapup&utm_campaign=wdevessntlsq3fy17
Anyone can do the latter one. and I can confirm that it still worked a few days ago.

You can get it for free by signing up for Windows Dev Essentials, no .edu email needed.
I tried continually to get that to work, but I ran into errors and issues each time. So I assumed it no longer worked and omitted it from the guide. Thanks for mentioning this though, I'm glad to hear it works for others.
 

wiired24

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Dumb question can you run sideloaded apps out side dev mode? If not, it isn't worth paying the 20 bucks.

No you can only run sideloaded apps and homebrew in Dev Mode. Otherwise what point would there be in having a developer mode? And again as others have pointed out you can easily get it for free if you don't want to shell out $20.
 

chartube12

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No you can only run sideloaded apps and homebrew in Dev Mode. Otherwise what point would there be in having a developer mode? And again as others have pointed out you can easily get it for free if you don't want to shell out $20.

Then it's pointless. Having to switch back and forth between dev mode and retail is too inconvenient. With the long hours i work, even 5 mins is too long of a wait.
 

wiired24

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Well, I have a developer account. How Can I use this on my pc?

It's only for Xbox One

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Then it's pointless. Having to switch back and forth between dev mode and retail is too inconvenient. With the long hours i work, even 5 mins is too long of a wait.

The average time it takes to switch between retail and Dev mode is just under 2 minutes. But I understand it's not for everyone and that's okay. :)
 
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kingtut

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can't you also run the libretro port on Windows 10, though, because of UWP?
Granted, x86 RetroArch would probably be the better choice to use on W10 (or any PC) but the option for UWP should still be there.

You are absolutely right, retrix is supported on windows 10 pc, xbox one and windows phone (and I believe HoloLens but I could be wrong) because it is uwp. In fact if you want to try this on windows 10 pc, you can do that right now and it runs very well including ps1 games. The xbox one is encountering problems because of a sandbox problem, but Albestos is currently working on it. That is why we are trying to get him an xbox one

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

can't you also run the libretro port on Windows 10, though, because of UWP?
Granted, x86 RetroArch would probably be the better choice to use on W10 (or any PC) but the option for UWP should still be there.

Coming to think of it, I still prefer retrix on pc to retroarch. If only because it is significantly easier to install. Obviously, retroarch has way more cores than retrix, but that is a given due to retrix being only a month old. As more time passed, I am sure it would get a lot more cores
 
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@shawn shy guy RetriX very much works on Windows 10 PC

As a matter of fact I started the project because I want a UWP native, mouse and keyboard friendly Libretro front end and, as of right now, do not even own an Xbox One...

The Xbox is encountering problems because apps are limited to two slow CPU cores and 1GB ram, more than by any sandboxing
 
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kingtut

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@shawn shy guy RetriX very much works on Windows 10 PC

As a matter of fact I started the project because I want a UWP native, mouse and keyboard friendly Libretro front end and, as of right now, do not even own an Xbox One...

The Xbox is encountering problems because apps are limited to two slow CPU cores and 1GB ram, more than by any sandboxing
right, Thank you for clarifiying and sorry for the mistake
 

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