Homebrew Dosbox .conf and .map files collection for Wiiflow

[Tetsuo Shima]

I have been catching up a bit with the past and DOSBox Wii's history, i started reading some of your thread...


Didn't ever heard about this. I am really curious to do it, just for the laughs. How is it done, just open any game with the GBA already attached? Is that specific version needed?

I could never try that function, cause my GBAsp is broken
This is how it works:

- Copy you text file in your game folder. The file must be called [yourgame].txt.
The name in brackets must be as it appears in scummvm.ini. For ex., King's Quest VI CD version
is detected as [kq6-cd]. The text file must be kq6-cd.txt.

I think that feature has been left on all the later Wiimpathy 'mod' releases, but I don't know about the official ScummVM. Unfortunately, I cannot try it.

While i wouldn't ever play RTS games with such an imprecise pointer as the Wiimote, is still find it pretty cool for those who want to use that option. Very nice finding! Maybe someday a minor update could occur that squeezes a bit more performance out of it without a dynarec, or even just some sync with SVN, like it was done years ago.

I also saw in some random russian forum some talk about a DOSBox Wii mod by Wiimpathy, but a quick google search did not gave much results. Have you used it, is it better than 1.7 or based on it?

Emulation talk is always interesting, to say the least.

It depends.. games with a simpler interface could work well, if the mouse handling was on par with ScummVM for example.
Yes, an updated DosBox Wii would be really a dream.
I'm encountering more issues... for some reason, the virtual keyboard doesn't work with every game. It either doesn't work at all, or you'll be missing parts of what you typed (timing issues? but the games run perfect eg Veil of Darkness). Deleting written text is also impossible. So many games that could run decently are impossible to be actually played.
Everytime I seem to do some progress with Dosbox Wii, it punishes me throwing more issues at me. It's a nightmare!

Edit: the version that I'm using is exactly the latest version found on Wiibrew, modded by Wiimpathy which added the ability to set cycles, frameskip, and scaler, adding these buttons to the interface. Unfortunately there's a bug with it, if you change any value the scaler will be automatically be set to 'normal2x' instead of 'none', and everythig will start to be sluggish.

 

[Wiimpathy]

This GBA text reader looks like a joke. But I thought it was one of the cool way to display info on a non-multitasking system. It's very basic but does the job. Well, I known you could watch it on your smarthphone or whatever. But doing all offline on original hardware seemed funnier.
Here's the thread : https://gbatemp.net/threads/libgba-gameboy-advance-library.488984/

Except the 'kind' comments from Extrems, not so many reactions. However, for developpers you only need to recompile your homebrew with that lib and add a few lines to use it...

Regarding Wiimote pointer issues, are you talking of homebrews specific behaviours?
If that's the case, dosbox relies on sdl-wii and some parts of this lib could and has been improved indeed. Sensitivity is better now but not sure it's in the latest official build.
Here's a Dosbox-Wii with some extra : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-lite.422685/page-76#post-8580238

I'm trying to port Exile and it seems to runs quite well. Biggest issue now is savegame not working. I know almost nothing about this game. When my patience runs dry, I'll share a not so clean source code. Could someone help?

 

[SoulSpawn]

Tried today a few games. Hero Quest, Dune II and lemmings have improved control a LOT. Cannon Fodder is still unplayable due to invisible barriers (almost same behaviour than mame2003 lightgun cores).

How is that scummvm has perfect mouse implementation?

 

[niuus]

This GBA text reader looks like a joke. But I thought it was one of the cool way to display info on a non-multitasking system. It's very basic but does the job. Well, I known you could watch it on your smarthphone or whatever. But doing all offline on original hardware seemed funnier.
Here's the thread : https://gbatemp.net/threads/libgba-gameboy-advance-library.488984/

I find it super cool, to be honest, and i totally missed that release. I am gonna check it out, sounds fun to try.

Regarding Wiimote pointer issues, are you talking of homebrews specific behaviours? If that's the case, dosbox relies on sdl-wii and some parts of this lib could and has been improved indeed. Sensitivity is better now but not sure it's in the latest official build.

Oh! So i see that Oibaf improved mouse sensitivity on SDL Wii. I remembered that when i was giving reports to him regarding WUPC compatibility for FBZX, he also improved the analog sticks. Those kind of changes would probably improve the Abuse port too, since the pointing is very sensitive.

I'm trying to port Exile and it seems to runs quite well. Biggest issue now is savegame not working. I know almost nothing about this game. When my patience runs dry, I'll share a not so clean source code. Could someone help?

Holy cow, dude. You have brought really interesting things to the Wii on your own, you really know your stuff.

Well, the game has 2 save functions, a quick save (Ctrl+S) and quick restore (Ctrl+R), and a full save menu that you access with the Esc key. Are both broken, meaning that the savefile is not generated?

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Regarding Wiimote pointer issues, are you talking of homebrews specific behaviours?
If that's the case, dosbox relies on sdl-wii and some parts of this lib could and has been improved indeed. Sensitivity is better now but not sure it's in the latest official build.
Here's a Dosbox-Wii with some extra : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wiiflow-lite.422685/page-76#post-8580238

I'm trying to port Exile and it seems to runs quite well. Biggest issue now is savegame not working. I know almost nothing about this game. When my patience runs dry, I'll share a not so clean source code. Could someone help?

Yep that was the 'modded' version I was talking about. In this version the feature that I appreciate the most is the mapper button.
I don't have pointer issues with other hb apps, just dosbox. But only in games, if I use the mapper the pointer is perfect.
I don't know if updating Dosbox with that lib could improve it, but it surely would be worth a try
Thanks for Exile, your ports are always welcomed!! I didn't know that game, I must admit at first I've read 'Exult' and my heart missed a beat or two heheh

Tried today a few games. Hero Quest, Dune II and lemmings have improved control a LOT. Cannon Fodder is still unplayable due to invisible barriers (almost same behaviour than mame2003 lightgun cores).

How is that scummvm has perfect mouse implementation?

Thanks for your efforts! You're the first one who tries to help in years! Appreciated.
Would you mind sharing your conf/map files? or post them in a spoiler tag?
Maybe I can help improving performances a bit.

 

[niuus]

How is that scummvm has perfect mouse implementation?

They are probably using the latest updated library when compiling, which probably fixed that bug.

Yep that was the 'modded' version I was talking about. In this version the feature that I appreciate the most is the mapper button.

Edit: the version that I'm using is exactly the latest version found on Wiibrew, modded by Wiimpathy which added the ability to set cycles, frameskip, and scaler, adding these buttons to the interface. Unfortunately there's a bug with it, if you change any value the scaler will be automatically be set to 'normal2x' instead of 'none', and everythig will start to be sluggish.

So that means the only bug so far with that mod is the scaler resetting to normal2x when you exit the app? That mapper looks totally useful in comparison to manual text editing, i am now curious to try it for some DOS games that never got a port to the Wii, like the Test Drive series which are really fun.

I don't have pointer issues with other hb apps, just dosbox. But only in games, if I use the mapper the pointer is perfect.
I don't know if updating Dosbox with that lib could improve it, but it surely would be worth a try
Thanks for Exile, your ports are always welcomed!! I didn't know that game, I must admit at first I've read 'Exult' and my heart missed a beat or two heheh

Not directly related to SDL, but Snes9x on Wii also suffers from the "invisible screen barriers" when you use the analog stick to emulate the mouse/gun/scope, which limits the usefulness of it to Wiimote only.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

So that means the only bug so far with that mod is the scaler resetting to normal2x when you exit the app?

yes, the bug only happens if I try to change the cycles or frameskip. It doesn't happer if I click on the mapper button.

Not directly related to SDL, but Snes9x on Wii also suffers from the "invisible screen barriers" when you use the analog stick to emulate the mouse/gun/scope, which limits the usefulness of it to Wiimote only.

That's interesting, I never tried. Even your Snes9x RX suffers from it?

 

[SoulSpawn]

Here I post some confs and maps files for my games. Also added Rebel Assault, it's playing well enough but if you can improve it you are welcome!

 

[niuus]

That's interesting, I never tried. Even your Snes9x RX suffers from it?

Yep. Maybe it is related to the libogc library. Happy to say i managed to add the mouse/gun/scope emulation movement for the sticks in the controllers that were not present around the time those ports were born, mainly the CC and WUPC.

 

[Wiimpathy]

Thanks for Exile, your ports are always welcomed!! I didn't know that game, I must admit at first I've read 'Exult' and my heart missed a beat or two heheh

Yeah, that was a typo. It is Exult. Ultima 7. right.

Well, the game has 2 save functions, a quick save (Ctrl+S) and quick restore (Ctrl+R), and a full save menu that you access with the Esc key. Are both broken, meaning that the savefile is not generated?

Yeah, I read the game's doc and know how it works. But I'd need some coding help. A linux glob equivalent needs to be written. Right now, I've hardcoded the savegame path but no way to load it without a crash.
Another issue is the game taking 40s to load....

It was a stupid 2 days challenge to port a game. Kinda mixed result. I don't see me polish this stuff for days. Some help would really be appreciated...

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@niuus That was for sure a great achievement! I'm thinking on abandoning retroarch's snes9gx in favor of your version. I don't know if it's me, but Yoshi Island does not play so well. Maybe I'm using the wrong core, RA version, or config, but I cannot accept a stuttering snes emulation in 2020!

@SoulSpawn You did a great job with the conf files. I didn't test the games yet, but I can see that the settings you used are good.
Maybe one thing that you can try is disabling all unused audio devices, except for sb:
pcspeaker=false
pcrate=22050
tandy=off
tandyrate=22050
disney=false
but I don't know if that would make a difference, probably a hardly noticeable one. I will try the games as soon as possible.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Yeah, that was a typo. It is Exult. Ultima 7. right.

wha... I missed this post yesterday. Am I still dreaming in my bed???

It's a shame I lack any coding knowledge. How I wish to be of help with this project.
But I will test the hell out of it, whenever it will be released!!

 

[pedro702]

just wondering why cant we map inputs to clssic controller left stick anyone? it just doesnt register for me sadly i want to map like dual analog aiming to rise of the triad since its possible due to the controller buttons scheme.

any chance for a config for rise of the triad?
using wiiu with overclock inject on dosboxwii gives great speed boost.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Strange, I can map to the left stick with no issues. I'm not on WiiU though, I don't know it it could make a difference.
However, I wouldn't waste time on games like Doom, ROTT or Hexen on Dosbox, when there's already a working source port that's better and hassle free.

 

[pedro702]

Strange, I can map to the left stick with no issues. I'm not on WiiU though, I don't know it it could make a difference.
However, I wouldn't waste time on games like Doom, ROTT or Hexen on Dosbox, when there's already a working source port that's better and hassle free.

also you guys have controll picture for duke nukem 3d games and whatnot but there is no mapper file?

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

also you guys have controll picture for duke nukem 3d games and whatnot but there is no mapper file?

You're right man, my mistake. They were not intended for dosbox but for the Source Ports. Somehow they ended up in there, I'll remove them, thanks for pointing that out.
Here's a quick list for the Wii/WiiU sourceports of the old FPS's:
-Doom I - II: prboom (retroarch) or wiidoom
-Hexen I -II: wiihexen, wiihexen2
-Rise of the Triad: wiirott
-Duke Nukem 3D: Eduke32 (check my sign).
I'm surely forgetting some..
When there's a sourceport available, it will always be preferable to use that, instead of the clunky Dosbox emulation with all its headaches. Plus, in wiirott, widoom etc. there's support for the Wii U controller.
Dosbox, on the other hand, can run older FPS's like Wolf3D with no issues at all.

 

[pedro702]

You're right man, my mistake. They were not intended for dosbox but for the Source Ports. Somehow they ended up in there, I'll remove them, thanks for pointing that out.
Here's a quick list for the Wii/WiiU sourceports of the old FPS's:
-Doom I - II: prboom (retroarch) or wiidoom
-Hexen I -II: wiihexen, wiihexen2
-Rise of the Triad: wiirott
-Duke Nukem 3D: Eduke32 (check my sign).
I'm surely forgetting some..
When there's a sourceport available, it will always be preferable to use that, instead of the clunky Dosbox emulation with all its headaches. Plus, in wiirott, widoom etc. there's support for the Wii U controller.
Dosbox, on the other hand, can run older FPS's like Wolf3D with no issues at all.

any chance you have a wiiflow file with dosbox pluggin setup that can read the games from sd? i have no luck it just says no rom found

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

oh I just saw your other post on the wiiflow tutorial thread.
Changing the conf to run from SD is very easy: you just have to edit the conf files with a text editor.
At the end of this file, you'll find the mount instructions:
mount c usb:/dosbox/games
Change it to:
mount c sd:/dosbox/games

I decided to use usb by default, because generally I prefer to avoid having games on SD. Just a personal paranoia, but there's only a limited amount of save/read cycles on Flash memories vs Hard Disks. Each time you save the game, it will write something on the SD, and if you use it a lot in this way, playing every game from SD, you'll reduce your card's life.

 

[niuus]

Yeah, I read the game's doc and know how it works. But I'd need some coding help. A linux glob equivalent needs to be written. Right now, I've hardcoded the savegame path but no way to load it without a crash.
Another issue is the game taking 40s to load....

It was a stupid 2 days challenge to port a game. Kinda mixed result. I don't see me polish this stuff for days. Some help would really be appreciated...

I think we could start a thread on their forums and seek for a hand. From what i have seen over there, it would be the only port to console (not handheld) released and working.

@niuus That was for sure a great achievement! I'm thinking on abandoning retroarch's snes9gx in favor of your version. I don't know if it's me, but Yoshi Island does not play so well. Maybe I'm using the wrong core, RA version, or config, but I cannot accept a stuttering snes emulation in 2020!

That slow gameplay in Retroarch is precisely one of the things that motivated me to start the RX fork, to maintain fps! Not playing it at full speed totally sucked, and no RA core ever changed that, at least not that i could ever find on the net.

just wondering why cant we map inputs to clssic controller left stick anyone? it just doesnt register for me sadly i want to map like dual analog aiming to rise of the triad since its possible due to the controller buttons scheme.

I have seen a Ultima VI config in @Tetsuo Shima dosbox pack that uses the analog. You probably have some typo in your map file?

any chance for a config for rise of the triad?
using wiiu with overclock inject on dosboxwii gives great speed boost.

I'l be straight honest with you: you should really use the Wii port, unless you really love DOSBox and want the extra pain of playing it there for whatever personal reason.

 

[niuus]

@niuus
Maybe one thing that you can try is disabling all unused audio devices, except for sb:
pcspeaker=false
pcrate=22050
tandy=off
tandyrate=22050
disney=false
but I don't know if that would make a difference, probably a hardly noticeable one. I will try the games as soon as possible.

I was going to ask why joystick=none disabled all inputs except a real keyboard, at least in my end, but i see that you edited so i guess i wasn't crazy after all