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

[RunningSnakes]

@Tetsuo Shima
Both TX 1.0.9 - 1.1.0 are working for me as a plugin. Im also using TX 1.1.0 as stand-alone, so maybe WFL needs previous cfg?

 

[Wiimpathy]

Scumm Vm stable release 2.2.0 adds many cool games but it doen't return to wiiflow (black screen).
Unfortunately some scummvm games stopped working for me: lands of lore, and I have no mouth and I must scream.
I'm trying different nightly builds but they never work.

Have you tested the new games? Grim fandango? Monkey 4!? Not sure the wii build include them. And afraid of the lack of ram. But that'd be so great. And AGS games, wow. I have to test this too!!

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Have you tested the new games? Grim fandango? Monkey 4!? Not sure the wii build include them. And afraid of the lack of ram. But that'd be so great. And AGS games, wow. I have to test this too!!

only tested ultima 6 and 8. I was planning to test the longest journey tonight with 2.3.0 nightly

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@Tetsuo Shima
Both TX 1.0.9 - 1.1.0 are working for me as a plugin. Im also using TX 1.1.0 as stand-alone, so maybe WFL needs previous cfg?

Stupid mistake from me: only FDS did not work, because I was forgetting the Bios.
I had the Fceuxgx folder on both SD and USB for some unknown reason, and I placed the FDS Bios inside the one on the SD.
I have WFL+plugins on SD and games on USB. It turned out that the Bios must reside in the same partition of the games, and not in the emulator's partition.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Have you tested the new games? Grim fandango? Monkey 4!? Not sure the wii build include them. And afraid of the lack of ram. But that'd be so great. And AGS games, wow. I have to test this too!!

Tried with the Longest Journey. 'Error: No renderers have been found for this game!'

 

[Wiimpathy]

Tried with the Longest Journey. 'Error: No renderers have been found for this game!'

I quickly searched. Missing files? Try a different ScummVM?
https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/11909
Datafiles:
https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm#315-the-longest-journey-notes

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

I quickly searched. Missing files? Try a different ScummVM?
https://bugs.scummvm.org/ticket/11909
Datafiles:
https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm#315-the-longest-journey-notes

The files are all there. However I'm unsure about this part:

The 2-CD and DVD versions have some of the data files packed in installer archives. The archives need to be unpacked before they can be used.

I have the italian version on DVD. I've installed the game on my PC first, then I took all the required files but I don't know what are these archives that I have to extract.
I will try with other ScummVM builds.

I have no mouth is now working, I've tried with another copy of the game.
Lands of lore still code dumps for me. I've tried with several versions of the game, but they're all crashing after you choose your character and start the adventure. Could it be an issue with kyra.dat?

 

[0arsoluto]

Hi friends. I always use the retroarch hexaeco made by the genius Superrsonic on my wiiflow. but I have always wondered if in the hexaeco repository there is a core that corresponds to the mame2003pluscoreH core of other retroarchs. What would its corresponding core be in retroarch hexaeco? a greeting

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Hi friends. I always use the retroarch hexaeco made by the genius Superrsonic on my wiiflow. but I have always wondered if in the hexaeco repository there is a core that corresponds to the mame2003pluscoreH core of other retroarchs. What would its corresponding core be in retroarch hexaeco? a greeting

I didn't find it too. However, regarding mame2003+ I prefer to use Wiimpathy's original cores, because Hexaeco is also missing the #2 cores which were based on older cores versions. Without these cores it's impossible to play some games.
Edit: check the compatibility list

 

[RunningSnakes]

I have been doing more testing for GB/GBC/GBA, to put to sleep doubts or to solidify my prior testings. No bias opinion, just results for rankings. First i will rank GB/GBC emulators according to ...

1. Playability
2. Features

I tested every GB/GBC Wii emulator i could find. Some are very old, some are good but have not been updated as my results will show. I am also basing my results on how these emulators will work as WFL plugins. So this list starts from worst to first.!

GiiBii - A very basic emulator that works
RinWii - Dos style emulator that works OK
SameBoy RA-HEX - could be great with work
Gnuboy - Very good but no plugin support

mGBA - No palette support hurts this
vbagx - great but WFL cannot support palette fix

Gearboy RA-HEX - does everything required
WiiMednafen - Turbo buttons push above Gearboy
mGBA RA-HEX - Everything is in the settings!
Gambatte RA-HEX - Great with very minor flaws


GBA results coming soon.
EmGBA, mGBA, mGBA RA-HEX, WiiMednafen, VBAGX, VBA Next RA-HEX.

 

[Tom_Turbina]

Guys, I need some help. I'm trying to run some ROMS on MAME2003+. Some roms work properly, some just give me a black screen and goes back to the Wii main menu. Two examples: Altered Beast works fine (BTW I didn't know this version was so beautiful compared to the Mega Drive one), X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtles in Time are not working.
The roms I'm using come from the "MAME 2003-Plus Reference: Full Non-Merged Romsets".
I've checked the compatibilty of all these roms and they are all compatible.
What am I doing wrong? MIssing bios? Missing configuration?

On other subject, what knowladge do I need to have to help you with plugins? I was talking to some people here in Brazil and retroarch has a new core for 32X. What can I do to help you guys implement this plugin on WiiFlow?

 

[Tom_Turbina]

Hello! I found the issue, I was missing Bios files. For those having the same problem, note that there are no specific Bios files for MAME 2003 Plus, the Bios files needed are the ones used for MAME.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Hello! I found the issue, I was missing Bios files. For those having the same problem, note that there are no specific Bios files for MAME 2003 Plus, the Bios files needed are the ones used for MAME.

Bios files for mame? hmm honestly I've never used them, but those games are perfectly working for me. That's weird!

On other subject, what knowladge do I need to have to help you with plugins? I was talking to some people here in Brazil and retroarch has a new core for 32X. What can I do to help you guys implement this plugin on WiiFlow?

Thanks for offering your help, but you don't need to do anything. I've already included the Sega32X to my Wiiflow.
I just can't release any Pack update yet, because I'm also updating a lot of other plugins and doing some fixes. Everytime I pull my hairs off, but it's better that I finish the work alone, being in the middle of the job. However I will attach the needed files for 32X to this post, with instructions to install it.

For all those who need the 32X now and don't want to wait for the update, here are the steps to correctly include it in Wiiflow:
I've attached my Picodrive.ini file. Unpack it to wiiflow/plugins/Sega32x (create this folder)
You'll also need the attached Picodrive dol file. Unpack it to wiiflow/plugins/Retroarch-Wii. It's hex-edited to not conflict with older Retroarch versions, it will write its own configuration files.
Finally, in wiiflow/plugins_data/ edit the platform.ini file.
-in the [PLUGINS] section add:

#PicoDrive libretro (Sega32x)
50444c52=SEGA32X

-in the [FLOWS] section add:

SEGA32X=cart_box

...and here's the Sega32x blank_cover, american version. It will be used when you miss the covers.
Save it and put it in wiiflow/boxcovers/blank_covers renaming it SEGA32X.png. Reload Cache afterwards in Wiiflow.

Spoiler: Sega32x.png - Blank Cover

hahaha Sega advertisements were one of the best things of the nineties

Ok @Tom_Turbina actually if you or anybody else wants to help, I could use a little help with testing some ScummVM nightly builds. The latest stable version is not supporting the recently added games (the Longest Journey, Grim Fandango, Monkey 4, Ultima games, etc...), but some of them are running really good in the nightly builds. Unfortunately, I began to have problems with some previously working games, like Lands of Lore.

ScummVm is one of the main reasons I'm so late in releasing a Pack update. If I won't find a fully working version in the nightly builds, I'm tempted to go one version back, because the latest stable is also crashing when you close it.
I would hear your thoughts.

Edit: Ah and here's the icon for source_menu:

 

[Exidous]

Just fyi the v5 pack FBA_RA-HEXAECO.ini ("other" FBA) doesnt set/have a banner sound.

 

[Brand Newman]

@Tetsuo Shima Hexaeco seems to save into a folder named "private"

Hi @davejsp ,

I know you've left the message on this thread a year ago, but I just wanted to say "thanks" for noticing Hexaeco had left settings in the "private folder.

I had messed with the config and couldn't make Hexaeco work again despite uninstalling it and putting it back, and thanks to you I found out why!

This software is really gold by the way, much more easier and faster than regular RetroArch.

Thanks a lot to @SuperrSonic , now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna read the rest of the thread and put this wonderful app to a more intensive test!

 

[Tom_Turbina]

@Tetsuo Shima Hey there! TY for patiance and sorry for taking so long to answer.

I could use a little help with testing some ScummVM nightly builds

Are these nightly builds found at "build bot.scu mmvm.o rg"? Which on should I download? (I didn't find the one Wii).

The latest stable version is not supporting the recently added games (the Longest Journey, Grim Fandango, Monkey 4, Ultima games, etc...), but some of them are running really good in the nightly builds. Unfortunately, I began to have problems with some previously working games, like Lands of Lore.

Ok, I downloaded the binarie latest binarie for the Wii from "ww w.scum mvm.or g/dow nloads/#rel ease" and took a look at the "NEWS.md.txt" file and "New games" list inside it.

Spoiler

- Blazing Dragons.
- Griffon Legend.
- Interactive Fiction games based on the following engines:
ADRIFT (except for version 5), AdvSys, AGT, Alan 2 & 3,
Archetype (newly reimplemented for Glk from the original Pascal sources),
Hugo, JACL, Level 9, Magnetic Scrolls, Quest, Scott Adams,
ZCode (all ZCode games except the Infocom graphical version 6 games).
Currently, more than 1600 games are detected and supported.
- Operation Stealth.
- Police Quest: SWAT.
- English translation of Prince and the Coward.
- Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar.
- Ultima VI - The False Prophet.
- Ultima VIII - Pagan.

Are these the games that I should test on the nightly builds?

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@Tom_Turbina Yes this is the ScummVM buildbot: https://buildbot.scummvm.org/#/snapshots
Scroll down to Nintendo Wii and download the ScummVM latest. Everyday a new latest version replaces the previous one.
The stable version (2.2.0) is there from quite some time now, and doesn't need to be tested. It crashes when you close it, so it's not very good.
The new games I was talking about are only supported in the latest builds:

#### 2.3.0 (XXXX-XX-XX)
New games:
- Added support for Grim Fandango.
- Added support for The Longest Journey.
- Added support for Myst 3: Exile.
- Added support for Hades' Challenge.
- Added support for Little Big Adventure.
- Added support for Red Comrades 1: Save the Galaxy.
- Added support for Red Comrades 2: For the Great Justice.
- Added support for Transylvania.
- Added support for Crimson Crown.
- Added support for OO-Topos.
- Added support for Glulx interactive fiction games
- Added support for Lure of the Temptress Konami release.
- Added support for Private Eye (US release).
- Added support for Spanish Blue Force.
- Added support for Spanish Ringworld.
- Added support for Spanish Amazon: Guardians of Eden.
- Added support for AGS Games versions 2.5+

You can test any of these games. It would be incredible if we could play a game like The Longest Journey on the Wii!
The new games may work, but sometimes even the old games should be tested again, for example I have Lands of Lore crashing on me when I start a new game. Tried multiple times, with different versions.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Just fyi the v5 pack FBA_RA-HEXAECO.ini ("other" FBA) doesnt set/have a banner sound.

Yes I'm aware of this, some plugins are still without banner sound. I'm adding and updating a few sounds for the next release,I will eventually add all the missing ones. Some sounds are hard to find, and also It's not easy to decide what sound to use with multi-system plugins, like fb alpha. Any contribution will be welcome.

 

[Exidous]

Yes I'm aware of this, some plugins are still without banner sound. I'm adding and updating a few sounds for the next release,I will eventually add all the missing ones. Some sounds are hard to find, and also It's not easy to decide what sound to use with multi-system plugins, like fb alpha. Any contribution will be welcome.

My preference is probably inconsistent with yours. I replaced most of the rev5 included banner sounds that were pertinent to my setup with simpler and less pronounced sfx (some of which I randomly found online). My thinking is that the Gamecube startup sound was an unusually elegant sound effect for this usage, and the other/earlier platforms' equivalents just do not work to my satisfaction, so something else should be used.

Among the arcade plugins, they're just random beeps and boops I picked without paying attention to platform origin. N64 is the Press-A-Navi-flies-out jingle from Ocarina of Time. You get the idea.

Attached are my more recent HEXAECO FBA random-arcadeish-sounds as an example. I'm happy to offer my full pack if you're interested once it's done, I'm still picking for a few of the other systems in my setup.

I use the Master System ogg at -10 db instead of Genesis because I don't need Sega's marketing mistakes shrieking at me every time I consider playing their Genesis games. And I'm probably going to downsize it further.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@Exidous Yes, I know what you mean. Most of the time I found banner sounds to be annoying, so my actual preference is to disable them in my personal setup. They are included in the pack because people always request them.
In most cases the startup sounds are used as banner sounds, so you will hear the same jingle back again once you run the game. It's redundant.
You idea is very good, but I'd rather if they could be somehow related to their platforms, instead of being random beeps.
For example the iconic sound of Mario collecting a coin would be perfect for a Nintendo console, while the sound of Sonic collecting a ring may be less annoying than the Sega intro. But if the sound is ripped from NES, it should be used for NES only, not on the Super NES and so on...
It is easier to find iconic sounds in the most famous consoles, but it's not so easy when it comes to the old computers.