ScummVM standalone package for PSClassic

[subcon959]

I've compiled a package that lets you boot your Playstation Classic straight into ScummVM.

It's using lolhack so you will need a compatible FAT32 USB stick (drive label must be SONY).

The boot script should take you from the bios logo to the ScummVM menu, by loading the RetroArch ScummVM core automatically.

Everything should be configured already, so you can go straight to adding games (use /scummvm folder). I've included the freeware game "Beneath a Steel Sky" for testing so the archive size is a bit bigger than usual (91MB).

https://www7.zippyshare.com/v/ObEm3vgD/file.html

Credits to all the individual authors, I've only compiled and hacked some stuff together.

 

[subcon959]

Just a quick tip for anyone who tries this. The boot up delay can vary a lot based on the USB drive being used. I based it on my particular stick but for you it might be too slow or too fast. If you want to experiment with the setting to get the perfect timing then edit the lolhack.sh file in the lolhack folder.

sleep 5

Just change the number higher if your bios logo is cutting off too soon, or lower it if you are going into the health and safety warning screen.

Don't use notepad to edit the file. It is important to maintain proper unix line endings (I use notepad++)

 

[DjoeN]

Thanks

 

[notimp]

Set up an installation of it yesterday. Works wonderfully, thank you.

If you are new to this, make sure you adjust the mouse pointer speed in game by pressing start+select and venturing into game options. Also enable threaded video in video options.

Threaded audio is a possibility as well and prevents some stutter in the Broken Sword 1 menu, but also introduces some audio stutter (less) insome other instances, so better leave that turned off, unless you know, that you need it.

Gabriel Knight 2 btw. is unplayable - because of slowdown, so those are the limitations of the hardware other games I've tested ran well so far.

(GK2 works well on cpasjustes switch port, btw. )

 

[fixingmytoys]

can you use the "core" in the bleem setup of retroarch ?

 

[notimp]

Probably. Not tested.

There is one oddity, that ist doesnt load up if you start the core empty - but that should be solvable. (Probably load it with a game (google how to set up scummvm games in retroarch - they basically require a launcher file), the the fronend should be running, and you can load all games from there.). And they should be compatible.

PS4 Controller analog stocks over 8bitdo adapter work wonderfully at 3x mouse speed with Broken Sword. As in "it feels really good". Lucasarts adventures work fine as well, and since the controller mouse speed is tweakable...

 

[fixingmytoys]

Probably. Not tested.

thank you for your reply , question , could this be the 3rd boot option for bleem etc ie pick between bleem , retro and scummvm , and that way people can just use on USB hard drive/stick , just thinking that was all, i love it it works well, but wiuld love to have it all on the one hard drive if that makes scence

 

[notimp]

Here is the calculation for anyone that isnt so adapt in what the cost/benefit ratio currently is on the PS classic.

PS Classic 40 USD
8Bitdo 12 USD
USB Stick 128 GB 25 USD
PS4 Controller 45 USD

Get 2 USB Cotrollers with 10 action buttons for free.
Better speed than RaspPi as well.

8Bitdo dongle PS4 Controller and USB Stick are future proofing as well. The first two work on any PC, or the Switch, or...


Input lag not so sure. Not much different I guess. Havent tested extensively.

The PS Classic is the better RaspPi currently. For emulation purposes. I have both.

 

[TunaKetchup]

Here is the calculation for anyone that isnt so adapt in what the cost/benefit ratio currently is on the PS classic.

PS Classic 40 USD
8Bitdo 12 USD
Memory Stick 128 GB 25 USD
PS4 Controller 45 USD

Get 2 USB Cotrollers with 10 action buttons for free.
Better speed than RaspPi as well.

Input lag not so sure. Not much different I guess. Havent tested extensively.

The PS Classic is the better RaspPi currently. For emulation purposes. I have both.

Buy a Psone (comes with DualShock controller) $10
Buy 50 blank CD-R $10
Buy old CRT-TV off Craigslist $10
Buy MM3 modchip $8
3rd party 16 block memory card - $2
Go to favorite rom/iso site - $0
Burn favorite ps1 games to CD-R - $0

Enjoy

 

[notimp]

thank you for your reply , question , could this be the 3rd boot option for bleem etc ie pick between bleem , retro and scummvm , and that way people can just use on USB hard drive/stick , just thinking that was all, i love it it works well, but wiuld love to have it all on the one hard drive if that makes scence

I've set it up that way using a script on my Mac to switch between them. I put the USB stick in my mac, launch the script, choose an option, it renames some folders, and as a result the next direct boot is into whatever I want to boot.

Its hacked together, but I can share the script eventually (have to make sure it runs on the most current version of Macos first).

Editing the Bleemsync launcher menu isnt as trivial. This would be something that the devs would have to build in.

For your purposes it should be possible to run the core by simply copying it to the other cores in your default Reatroarch installation, and then playing around with it until you find out how to get it to launch a game (/the modern menu (which it always launches first)).

You probably have to launch it with a games launcher file first, but thats theory. Look at the scripts in this package (the one from the OP).

If you don't figure it out, hit me or the OP up again. The core should be compatible. In theory.

 

[fixingmytoys]

I've set it up that way using a script on my Mac to switch between them. I put the USB stick in my mac, launch the script, choose an option, it renames some folders, and as a result the next direct boot is into whatever I want to boot.

Its hacked together, but I can share the script eventually (have to make sure it runs on the most current version of Macos first).

Editing the Bleemsync launcher menu isnt as trivial. This would be something that the devs would have to build in.

For your purposes it should be possible to run the core by simply copying it to the other cores in your default Reatroarch installation, and then playing around with it until you find out how to get it to launch a game (/the modern menu (which it always launches first)).

You probably have to launch it with games launcher file first, but thats theory. Look at the scripts in this package (the one from the OP).

If you don't figure it out, hit me or the OP up again. The core should be compatible. In theory.

thanks, that is what i was thinking been using scummvm for years , even have it running on PHAT ps2 hard drive, so setting up "scmmvm" side i should be fine, but wll drop you a PM if needs be

 

[notimp]

Buy a Psone (comes with DualShock controller) $10
Buy 50 blank CD-R $10
Buy old CRT-TV off Craigslist $10
Buy MM3 modchip $8
3rd party 16 block memory card - $2
Go to favorite rom/iso site - $0
Burn favorite ps1 games to CD-R - $0

Enjoy

Nice. (Soldering required. And swapping disks takes time.. )

Best way to only play PSone games in emulation currently is the Vita TV. There is a hack out there that changes the default bilinear filter into something else (apparently better), which was the one main point of criticism with PSone emulation on that device. And of course one to load bins off of a Memory Stick.

Use PS3 controller (cheaper), get micro SD to Sony Memory stick adapter...

A little bit more expensive - but a potential project.

Its just, that the PS Classic with Retroarch currently beats every other emulation solution price benefit wise, and nobody is acknowledging.

I'm thinking about buying a second one just to have a dedicated Scummvm Box right now... (Too lazy to switch usb sticks.. And having 4 PS Classic controllers lying around for something in the future isnt the worst either...)

 

[notimp]

For Macos users.

This is an Applescript that draws a selector, inthis case of three items. bilon, biloff, bleemsync

Depending on what I select, it turns the bilinear filtering in the default emulator on, or off, or enables a configuration that boots into bleemsync (Reatroarch) directly.

The actual actions are all the "do shell script" parts.

She shellscript usually either create (touch) or remove (rm) a textfile from root that tells me which "mode" the stick currently is in. And then do the prerequisite changes (usually only copying a specific version of lolhack.sh over the actual lolhack.sh file, or copying a specific version of the pcsx binary (Sony emulator) over the actual pcsx file in the usual directory).

In one instance it also ads or removes a # (to comment out a line) in several versions of the lolhack.sh files - which activates/deactivates bilinear filtering (special edited versions of lolhack.sh where the action line sits where the sed command is adding or removing the #) in the original emulator as a result. (Layered complexity for no reason.. ), and then removes a backup file that gets auto created by that.

The same way you could also rename or move folders, if needed. (Basic unix command line knowledge required to make use of the script at all. )

repeat
    tell application "Finder"
      
        set optionList to {"bilon", "biloff", "bleemsync"}
      
        set chosenItem to choose from list optionList with prompt "Chose bilinear mode" default items "bilon"
      
        if chosenItem is false then
            error number -128 (* user cancelled *)
        else
            set chosenItem to chosenItem's item 1 (* extract choice from list *)
        end if
      
        if chosenItem is "bilon" then
            do shell script "cp /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx_default /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx"
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/bndcp_psxdata/#bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/bndcp_psxdata/#bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/bleemsyncpcsx.txt"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/bilinearoff.txt"
            end try
            error number -128 -- user canceled
        end if
        if chosenItem is "biloff" then
            do shell script "cp /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx_biloff /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx"
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/#bndcp_psxdata/bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/#bndcp_psxdata/bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/bleemsyncpcsx.txt"
            end try
            do shell script "touch /Volumes/SONY/bilinearoff.txt"
            error number -128 -- user canceled
        end if
        if chosenItem is "bleemsync" then
            do shell script "cp /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx_bleemsync /Volumes/SONY/data/system/pcsx"
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/#bndcp_psxdata/bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "sed -i .bck '84s/#bndcp_psxdata/bndcp_psxdata/g' /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/lolhack/lolhack_ol.sh.bck"
            end try
            try
                do shell script "rm /Volumes/SONY/bilinearoff.txt"
            end try
            do shell script "touch /Volumes/SONY/bleemsyncpcsx.txt"
            error number -128 -- user canceled
        end if
    end tell
end repeat

Tested and working on the most recent version of Macos.

 

[notimp]

Another sidetrack, but I've found the clipped snippet about using a different filter option on the Playstation TV (Vita TV).

Great info in your post. And here's some good news about Adrenaline: about a month and a half ago, someone made a patch for it that adds another filter option that looks good on my TV (YMMV):
https://github.com/rsn8887/Adrenaline/releases/tag/6.7git-rsn8887.patch3

And here is some info about custom aspect ratio scaling in Adrenaline:
https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/8diseb/playstation_tv_as_a_ps1_emulator/

Should be everything you need.

edit: Its in the official Adrenaline already as of now - so just use:
https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/Adrenaline/releases/

 

[VGA]

Buy a Psone (comes with DualShock controller) $10
Buy 50 blank CD-R $10
Buy old CRT-TV off Craigslist $10
Buy MM3 modchip $8
3rd party 16 block memory card - $2
Go to favorite rom/iso site - $0
Burn favorite ps1 games to CD-R - $0

Enjoy

What prices are those, dude? And are the items going to materialise in your house, no shipping needed? If you're gonna troll, put some effort into it.

 

[TunaKetchup]

What prices are those, dude? And are the items going to materialise in your house, no shipping needed? If you're gonna troll, put some effort into it.

No trolling about it

Those prices are exactly how much I paid for my setup

I got the MM3 and memory Card off eBay and it came with free shipping
Got the CD-R off amazon and got free shipping with Prime
Got the Psone and CRT-Tv on OfferUp/Craigslist

I didn't pay to ship a single thing to me. Most I had to do was drive maybe 10 miles away to pick up the TV and Psone

 

[notimp]

I've sucessfully exchanged the retroarch core with a different version of retroarch, that allows you to toggle switch desktop display settings without crashing which is the only way you can use an updated 8bitdo Receiver dongle, without a mouse cursor icon being present on screen all the time - in PS Classic mode.

I like PS Classic mode, because with 3x mouse speed, the Broken Sword games have the ideal mouse speed.

Short PSA - if you are on firmware 1.9 of the 8bitdo receiver dongle, dont update. everything gets messed up if you do. The dongle will prevent the usb boot process when connected from now on, you get a (normally) undefeatable mouse pointer - which I finaly was able to remove with the trick mentioned above, using a different Retroarch version. (Should be this one ( https://old.reddit.com/r/Playstatio...58d/release_psc_retroboot_04_the_lightweight/ ), although probably an older build. Replaced pretty much most of the retroarch folder (dont replace save and system folders), but none of the bootup script stuff. Works.)

8bitdo hasnt released 1.19 firwmware for the dongle, and doesnt respond to email, so I had to look for the above mentioned workaround. Which still somewhat sucks, because I have to unplug the dongle to get the usb stick to reliably boot - which never was an issue before. Starting from 1.21, they let the dongle also act as a keyboard, which provokes bootup chain weirdness, and the on screen cursor all the time.

Better writeup, maybe tomorrow.
--

COMI works with threaded audio and game option "speedhack" without sound issues (yay!).

So does Myst.

Riven still stutters, and is unplayable.
Gabriel Knight 2 also stutters and is unplayable.

LSL7 would need a virtual keyboard, which I dont think this build has....

 

[notimp]

Successfully merged the standalone package with PSC_RetroBoot 0.4.1

Writeup to follow today.

 

[notimp]

OK, here we go.

Reasons to use PSC_RetroBoot ( https://old.reddit.com/r/Playstatio...58d/release_psc_retroboot_04_the_lightweight/ ) with the ScummVM core and support files from the first posting:

- All cores (PPSSPP should be updated to a more recent one, reicast is missing and should be added afterwards)
- Multi gamepad support via USB hub
- Auto imports existing PS Classic games and their memory cards.
- Auto reboots retroarch, should it crash (which happens)
- Full animation menu (not the 8bit nostalgia version of it)
- Still pretty fast bootup time
- Slightly different folder structure (discards the .config folder, which is a godsend for Mac users (folder was treated as hidden by MacOS)).
- Its a package thats maintained with the thought in mind to keep retroarch somewhat current.
- Doesnt change anything permanent on your stock console - so zero brick risk.

Here is an awkwardly framed video, of why you should read on and what the end result looks like:


Because it has a slightly different folder structure - setting up a "fresh" install of RetroBoot on an existing USB stick (with retroarch on it), is less of a hassle than you'd think.

Make sure you dont auto replace the /retroarch/system folder - but merge them manually, make sure you backup your saves folder > copy the saves into the new saves folder (without the .config path). Do the same with specialty cores you might have. And playlists you might have created. And thumbnails you might have collected.

The rest of the folders you can basically overwrite with the content from the Retroboot package.

Thats it for the merge with old installation procedure.

A new installation is as simple as extracting the zip file onto the USB stick (has to be formated to FAT32, has to be named SONY).
--

From the scummvm standalone package in the first posting of this thread, copy over the scummvm folder in root.

The contents of the system folder.

And the scummvm core from /retroarch/.config/retroarch/cores/ - make sure to place the core in the new core folder without the .config path.
--

If you want to autostart the scummvm menu on launch (I do), edit the /lolhack/lolhack.sh file to replace the retroarch launch line with:

/media/retroarch/retroarch --config /media/retroarch/config/retroarch.cfg -L /media/RetroArch/cores/scummvm_libretro.so &> /media/retroarch/retroarch.log

Unedited its similar to begin with so you should find it without issues.

If you are using Windows, make sure that you edit the file with notepad++ (google it, its a free text editor), and linux line endings (option in the save file dialog). This is important.
-

The Scummvm core then already is launchable from the Retroarch interface as well, should you play other games in between and then want to return to Scummvm.

But its not convenient, so lets make it convenient.

Lets create a launch target.

Create a playlist file named ScummVM.lpl in the playlists folder - put in the following:

/media/scummvm/sword1/Baphomets Fluch.scummvm
ScummVM
/media/retroarch/cores/scummvm_libretro.so
ScummVM

ScummVM.lpl

The empty line is important.

EXCEPT, that you have to link a game you have set up in ScummVM (or plan to ) in the first line. I've used the german version of Broken Sword, because when you boot into it, it boots into a fairly neutral load menu, with nice music, which you can then swiftly exit with start > exit to launcher.

The .scummvm file (the one you should link to in the first line) in the individual games folder doesnt exist by default. We have to create that as well. Its basically a textfile (with linux line endings, if you use windows, use notepad++ to create it (google it)), with a name of your choosing, that contains one simple line (word even), and that is the game id of the game in whose game folder you are creating it. For Broken Sword the ID is simply: sword1

You can find the other games ids (Game short name) using the following link:
https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/?lang=en

Save the file, edit the first line in /retroarch/playlists/ScummVM.lpl and you are done.

By doing this we are basically setting up one game as a launch target for a ScummVM menu item in Retroarch.

Choose your favorite game, or choose Broken Sword 1 as I did, because it has a pleasant neutral menu it launches into. (After you've saved ingame at least once.) To leave that game, again, you press start > exit to launcher. And you are back in scummvm proper.
--

Next we give that Retroarch menu entry a nice icon. Copy this one:

Into the following folder on the USB stick:
/retroarch/thumbnails/ScummVM/Named_Boxarts/

as ScummVM.png

And thats it, now the Retroarch menu item has an icon.
--

If you want to give icons to the PS Classic Games, RetroBoot imports the same way, you have to put them into the
/retroarch/thumbnails/Sony - Playstation/Named_Boxarts/
folder, with the exact names (and .png or .jpg extension) you see the PS Classic games appear as in Retroarch.

(I can share a link to the stock icons, if you ask me nicely.. I'll do it on request.)
--

Settings you should change in Retroarch for Scummvm.

Quick menu > Options > Mouse sensitivity (set as you please)
Quick menu > Options > Speed hack (enable to be able to play games like COMI)
Optional:
Drivers > Video > disable Vsync (adventures arent necessarily action focused... Should give better performance and maybe less input lag)
Drivers > Video > disable bilinear filtering (otherwise Lucas Arts adventures look like crap. But I leave it on for newer (mor high res) games like Broken Sword)

Make sure you quit retroarch via the quit option (leftmost menu column), to have retroarch save those.

Threaded video (videosettings) and Driver > Audio > ****thread (****= I forgot the name of the default audio driver.. ) so the threaded audio driver, dont have to be enabled for Scummvm. The first does not provide large performance benefits, the second introduces slight sound crackly in some games. But you can play with them - If you should need the performance in other cores. Just not somethng I'd set as default for ScummVM specifically.
--


//-- Speciality section for owners of the 8bitdo USB Receiver on firmware 1.20 or higher -- and how to make its freaking mouse cursor vanish, in PS Classic mode.

(You see me get rid of the cursor first thing in the video above. If you want to see what the process looks like. It then reappears, because I exited the core, but usually you'd stay in game - and then its gone for the duration of your session. The next time it pops up again. Repeat process. )

Now - first. You can switch to Direct input, or Mac mode - and also not have the Cursor, but PS Classic mode is the only one that gives you two enabled joysticks in Retroarch. And a very nice mouse speed in Broken Sword with 3x mouse speed in Options. Thats why I like it.

8bitdo messed up royally - by adding a keyboard/mouse driver to PS Classic mode, that helps the controller to inject the "hidden emulator menu inputs" to a stock, unmodified PS Classic. At the same time it causes a mouse cursor to appear on screen all the time. The cursor can be hidden in the stock menu via a button combination (select + ABXY), but this doesnt work in Retroarch.

We all have our PS Classics modded at this point anyhow .- so thats just plain annoying - because we dont even need it (we have the menu mapped to select+triangle).

It also is responsible, for the PS Classic not booting the USB stick hack (lolhack), if the USB dongle is inserted into the console on boot, in this mode. So you have to remove the dongle prior to every boot, and insert it later which... - dont get me going..

NONE of this was an issue with firmware 1.9 of the 8bitdo USB Receiver, which was prior to them inserting the mosue/keyboard driver. The Receiver also could be downgraded, but 8bitdo hasnt released the 1.19 firmware to public (they shipped some sticks with it). And they refuse to react to support requests by email. - dont get me going.

If anyone of you has the 1.19 firmware (because apparently they've sent it out via email for a while - send me a PN).

NOW. The only way I was able to make the mouse cursor disappear in Retroarch was the following.

In the Driver section of the Retroarch menu, I think in the interface or appearence subsection (can be wrong), toggle "Disable Desktop Composition". Then the mouse curse vanishes until you start the next core.

So you'll be toggling it often. Its rather fast to do that, so its viable.

But it only works with the following build of retroarch (the binary):
https://mirrorace.com/m/2Ra7u

And not with the most recent one in Retroboot.

So you'd have to replace it with the older one linked above. Everything (other cores as well) still works as intended (as far as I can tell) - but you arent on the current version.

And it only works if threaded video isnt enabled (it isnt by default). Fun right...

Still I'm using this workaround to get rid of this annoying cursor, and it works.

Now let me tell you about the fun of having to unplug the Receiver before every boot, so the USB stick hack gets booted... - dont get me started...


Thats it - have fun.
Thanks go out to subcon959 for providing the method and the compiled core.

This is probably the best way to use a PS Classic right now, all things considered. So I hope you like Scummvm, because otherwise you arent reading this tutorial...

n.

 

[notimp]

Added a short, poorly framed video to showcase the result of all of this.

edit: Adding .pbp files (new games) to the Sony - Playstation.lpl playlist file in PSC_RetroBoot after the fact works fine as well, tested today. (Playlist doesnt get recreated on every boot.)