Hacking The Great Quest for Wiiflow Plugins™ - A call for adventurers!

[RunningSnakes]

Question for everyone:
Some plugins require the game data to be in the apps/ folder and not in root. So in these cases the dol files could also be launched from apps/..., instead of wiiflow/plugins/...
Is it ok for you? Or do you prefer to have a copy of every dol in wiiflow/plugins/... ?
It seems we have to include the apps folders in the pack anyway

I'm ok with dol only in apps/ if it is required. It will keep pack lighter/cleaner without confusion of which dol is actually needed.

 

[Hakaisha]

Question for everyone:
Some plugins require the game data to be in the apps/ folder and not in root. So in these cases the dol files could also be launched from apps/..., instead of wiiflow/plugins/...
Is it ok for you? Or do you prefer to have a copy of every dol in wiiflow/plugins/... ?
It seems we have to include the apps folders in the pack anyway

I think this is fine. In a perfect world we could have all the dol/ini files in a neat single folder. But, sometimes exceptions and workarounds are necessary.

Regardless of the dol directory, the plugin's corresponding ini file would still be found alongside the other plugin ini files, which still keeps the setup organized as far as I'm concerned.

99% of the times a user needs to make a change to a plugin, they are seeking out the ini file. Whether it be a romdir modification, magic number, or rompartition change, the ini will still be easily found with all the other ini files.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

I agree with you.
A minor issue on prboom 1.7.6, some garbled graphics before the title screen.
Unfortunately it's the only plugin wiiflow friendly. However it's just a minor issue

 

[RunningSnakes]

A little off topic, but was wondering if others are using chd files or plan on converting Sega CD & PCE CD bin/cue to chd? I've started with Sega CD and RA supports chd but I get frame drops with all 5-6 games I have tested. The stand alone Gens Plus GX seems to play chd very well so far & the compression file size in most cases is 40-50%. Going to test PCE CD with RA in a moment.

 

[biggzsizzle]

So have we come far enough that there can be a collective update pack of the plugins to be downloaded yet? I anxiously await what u guys put together!

 

[niuus]

Snes and Satellaview:
I can safely say that Snes9x RX is the best option for both.
It's the best for performance and features. Furthermore, it's the only plugin that properly boots into the BS games!
It requires the Satellaview bios in the snes9xgx folder, but Roms can be placed anywhere else.
Really excellent work @niuus

Glad you are enjoying it, @Tetsuo Shima. Protip: you don't even need the BS-X / Satellaview BIOS, in case you want a cleaner setup.

A little off topic, but was wondering if others are using chd files or plan on converting Sega CD & PCE CD bin/cue to chd? I've started with Sega CD and RA supports chd but I get frame drops with all 5-6 games I have tested. The stand alone Gens Plus GX seems to play chd very well so far & the compression file size in most cases is 40-50%. Going to test PCE CD with RA in a moment.

I am using CHD since a couple of months ago, in fact. I am even waiting for raz0red to have some time to integrate CHD support to WiiMednafen

No frame drops at all with Sega CD, though i never use RA for anything but arcade games. Have never tested PCE CD games in CHD in RA. Did it work for you?

 

[RunningSnakes]

I am using CHD since a couple of months ago, in fact. I am even waiting for raz0red to have some time to integrate CHD support to WiiMednafen

No frame drops at all with Sega CD, though i never use RA for anything but arcade games. Have never tested PCE CD games in CHD in RA. Did it work for you?

Both RA PCEngine cores boot up CHD. Gate of Thunder plays full speed but the audio is looping a very loud scratch/shuffle noise over normal music. I also tried Gradius II & it boots to start screen then goes black screen freeze if you press start. I figured that was enough testing to confirm CHD was supported but not working.

CHD on WiiMednafen? Oh now you got my head spinning of the possibilities.

 

[niuus]

Both RA PCEngine cores boot up CHD. Gate of Thunder plays full speed but the audio is looping a very loud scratch/shuffle noise over normal music. I also tried Gradius II & it boots to start screen then goes black screen freeze if you press start. I figured that was enough testing to confirm CHD was supported but not working.

So, according to Tetsuo Shima, the best version for Turbografx 16/PC Engine is 1.7.6 stable, which is what you used, isn't it? I'll test later my PCE CD game to see if the buzzing CD audio bug is still there.

CHD on WiiMednafen? Oh now you got my head spinning of the possibilities.

Yeah, there is an issue open already, raz0red said he will look into it, so as long as we are patient, we could get that incredibly useful feature.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I tested with 176 (both cores) then 182 (Fast) & 181 (SGFX). The 176 cores are lighter weight & I don't think the is any benefit with the later cores although 181 SGFX runs great. I'm sticking with 176 just so my testing will coincide with Tetsuo.

 

[Wiimpathy]

I've already said it and that may not be the most important stuff but USB controller support (PS3 etc) is broken in 1.7.6.
It was fixed around 1.7.8

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

I've already said it and that may not be the most important stuff but USB controller support (PS3 etc) is broken in 1.7.6.
It was fixed around 1.7.8

I did some research and the HID fix was released in the third 1.7.8 revision, at the end of august 2019.
So I'm downloading the 1.7.8 stable which is dated september 2019.
I don't know if I'll be able to test USB controllers though. My Wii has usb port0 busted, and games running from port1. I could move some roms to SD and try a PS2 Dualshock through an USB adapter in port1.
But first I'll try to see if the games are working

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

It seems that RA 1.7.8 is where the Pcengine CD starts having issues. Cracky audio and some video skipping.
Fba works, except for CPS2 which constantly code dumps.
I tried Snes9x2010 with snes roms in my SD card to test my PS2 Dualshock (original) in port 1. Black screen.
Maybe I'm not the best one for testing HID support, given my particular setup (d2x v10-beta 53 alt cIOS - port0 busted).
Some confirmation would be needed.
However those 2 cores were essentials. And I don't like the idea to mix 1.7.6 with 1.7.8 cores. I'm leaning towards reverting back to 1.7.6... what do you think?

 

[Wiimpathy]

The thing with Retroarch is that the stable are very often broken. HID was fixed on 12 july 2019. So just before 1.7.8.
It's guaranteed it was working at this date. Snes core was my main test.
The very bad news is that old nightly builds are not available anymore : http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/nintendo/wii/

It seems some of the work I've put in Retroarch can be sent to the dustbin. As it's hard to find a good balance of features/stability.

 

[RunningSnakes]

@SuperrSonic updated his RA-HEXAECO pack recently...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qxaagqu9f3q2tdy/RA-HEXAECO.7z/file

I did some testing with the PCE cores & they both seem to be running very well (working WFL plugins) & im pretty positive HID is working. I'm not one for testing HID support either as the only controllers i own besides Nintendo official are XBOX 360 wireless & XBOX One controllers. Going to do some more testing this evening, so far besides PCE, Gens Plus, mGBA, Gambatte, FCEUmm (Light Gun Working), Nestopia work well.

 

[xLAKITUx]

@SuperrSonic updated his RA-HEXAECO pack recently...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qxaagqu9f3q2tdy/RA-HEXAECO.7z/file

I did some testing with the PCE cores & they both seem to be running very well (working WFL plugins) & im pretty positive HID is working. I'm not one for testing HID support either as the only controllers i own besides Nintendo official are XBOX 360 wireless & XBOX One controllers. Going to do some more testing this evening, so far besides PCE, Gens Plus, mGBA, Gambatte, FCEUmm (Light Gun Working), Nestopia work well.

You are all doing the Lord's work here -- Can't wait for the fully compiled pack.

 

[Wiimpathy]

@SuperrSonic updated his RA-HEXAECO pack recently...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qxaagqu9f3q2tdy/RA-HEXAECO.7z/file

I did some testing with the PCE cores & they both seem to be running very well (working WFL plugins) & im pretty positive HID is working. I'm not one for testing HID support either as the only controllers i own besides Nintendo official are XBOX 360 wireless & XBOX One controllers. Going to do some more testing this evening, so far besides PCE, Gens Plus, mGBA, Gambatte, FCEUmm (Light Gun Working), Nestopia work well.

It seems there have been a lot of changes there. Good.

However, I know nobody gives a damn here but still no source code. Open source projects won't go very far if we all keep our fixes/improvements private. No problem that he's asking money, he put some efforts, but still...

@SuperrSonic could you upload your Retroarch & cores updates source code please?

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

I'll test RA-HEXAECO very soon. If I'm not mistaken it can live next to any RA, saving cfg in a Ret52arch folder or something.
I notice it's including the mame2003+ a-g cores, but the alt cores are strangely missing. File size is also different, were they edited?

However, I'm having an issue with genplusgx 1.7.5 rc1 (the one in fledge's pack). It boots Master System games correctly in Wiiflow, but not the Genesis or Sega CD games, staying at the select game menu.
Sometimes this kind of behaviour happens when the arguments line is wrong.
here's what I used
arguments={device}:/{path}/|{name}|{loader}

It's the same issue I'm having with other emulators, like Vectrex and Snes9xGX (only for BS games)

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

RA-HEXAECO tests on Wiiflow were a complete disaster for me.
Of all the cores I've tried (Gambatte, all FBA, PC engine / cd / sgfx, Atari Lynx) the only working one is Fba-cps2!!
All the others give black screen (sometimes returning to wiiflow, sometimes not).
Can anybody confirm?

 

[RunningSnakes]

Yes, SS Gambatte does not work as WFL plugin for me & have not tested the FBA cores recently, but the older versions never worked.
PCE cores do work for me very well & the Gens Plus core is what I am using as my WFL plugin for SG-100, Game Gear, Master System, Mega Genesis. Im using the stand alone Gens Plus GX for Sega CD games because it supports CHD in full speed where the RA core has frame drops (not horrible but they are there). Also FCEUmm is working as a WFL plugin & i have it in my NES folder as a third option. Atari Lynx, WonderSwan, Virtual Boy, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Vectrex, mGBA, Gambatte, Neo Geo Pocket, all are not worth taking a look at imo. Ill test the SNES core & FBA cores quickly to see if they are useful on my side. Im using everything through USB with no SD inserted.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Yes, SS Gambatte does not work as WFL plugin for me & have not tested the FBA cores recently, but the older versions never worked.
PCE cores do work for me very well & the Gens Plus core is what I am using as my WFL plugin for SG-100, Game Gear, Master System, Mega Genesis. Im using the stand alone Gens Plus GX for Sega CD games because it supports CHD in full speed where the RA core has frame drops (not horrible but they are there). Also FCEUmm is working as a WFL plugin & i have it in my NES folder as a third option. Atari Lynx, WonderSwan, Virtual Boy, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Vectrex, mGBA, Gambatte, Neo Geo Pocket, all are not worth taking a look at imo. Ill test the SNES core & FBA cores quickly to see if they are useful on my side. Im using everything through USB with no SD inserted.

I was wondering, where do you placed the HEXAECO folder? I have it in wiiflow/plugins. Maybe some changes were made to only work from the apps folder?

I've tried emgba, but I really don't like the filter it's using by default, and I can't disable it. Is it possible to play with original, unfiltered graphics?
The best gba experience for me is mgba (1.7.6) libretro, unfiltered with grid scanline overlay (2x scale)