Interested in Testing Mame, FBA, FBNeo, TG-16 and PC Engine emulators for Wii. Do these emulators have the cheat support that the Retroarch emulator cores have?
Also these do support 240P resolution? as I want to run them on a CRT monitor
Hello. Yes, the emulators you mentioned certainly run at SD resolutions on the Wii. Here is a list of the resolutions the Wii supports in RetroArch, for example:
Each number to the left of the list corresponds to the ID of the respective resolution; for example, if you want to set the resolution for CPS1 and CPS2 games, you should choose `current_resolucion_id = "4"`.
This is particularly important for standard RetroArch versions other than "RetroArch HexaEco SS," as the latter is very easy to configure and allows for simple configuration saving. With other versions, if you want to save a specific configuration, it is best to do so manually on a PC by editing the configuration save file for that specific game. You can find absolutely all RetroArch HexaEco SS cores—whether in the all-in-one HexaEco core compilation or as standalone cores—here:
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/9h2hktvgyomdt/RA-SS_Modified
This `current_resolucion_id = "4"` setting must appear in the game configuration—which may be located in different folders depending on the core used. You also need to specify the specific game's video refresh rate and the exact horizontal and vertical resolution in the other configuration lines to align the screen correctly. In this instance, for example, the `aspect_ratio_index` value can be set to `22`, because the actual horizontal and vertical resolutions match those of the original game.
(Typically, there is a specific core that runs each game much better than the others; for instance, the *Zero Wing* arcade game runs far better using the FBA standalone core from RetroArch HexaEco SS, whereas *Saint Dragon* arcade runs much better on the standard RetroArch core. There are also games supposedly unplayable on the Wii—like the *GTMR2* arcade version—that can only be run using a specific HexaEco core.)
Now that I’ve explained that "Hexaeco" is the easiest version of RetroArch to use—and that RetroArch is the program to go with because it allows for far more parameter customization than any other Wii emulation software—I need to clarify one thing. Exact game resolutions—whether using RetroArch or any other Wii program—only occur in specific cases, such as with CPS1 or CPS2 titles. Generally speaking, however, the available configuration resolutions do not match the original native resolutions of the actual arcade cabinets. Take the arcade game *Exzisus*, for example; it has a resolution of 256x224p. If you look at the list of resolutions supported by RetroArch on the Wii, that specific resolution isn't available for selection. So, what do you do? You use a multiple for the horizontal resolution. Since there is no 256 horizontal resolution option, you use a multiple—in this case, 256 x 2 = 512—so you would choose 512x224p, which corresponds to `current_resolution_id = "7"`. Now, theory suggests that the vertical resolution is what matters most, and that a horizontal multiple is acceptable. However, I can assure you from my own experience that if you use the actual horizontal resolution, the game looks far more organic and spectacular. I simply don't understand why the exact horizontal resolution isn't used on the Wii when the hardware is capable of it... I'll never understand that. So, how do you set those exact resolutions on the Wii if the RetroArch configuration menu doesn't allow it? Well, you can do it yourself. As I explained regarding RetroArch Hexaeco, you can do this directly on your Wii by changing the video settings; for other versions (standard RetroArch and "Frankenstein" builds), you can do it manually on your PC by editing the configuration files. How is it done? First, rest assured that you can adjust your CRT's geometry—either via the TV's service menu or physically by opening the unit and tweaking the geometry potentiometers. Once you know this for certain, you should select the resolution closest to that of the original arcade game. For example, with *Exzisus*—where the original resolution is 256x224p—we look at the RetroArch resolution list and choose 384x224p, which corresponds to `current_resolution_id = "4"`. You might be thinking, "If I choose that horizontal resolution, the game won't look right on screen..." And indeed, that is the case, so we need to set the horizontal resolution to its exact value.
First, we select `aspect_ratio_index = "23"`, which allows us to bypass RetroArch's default resolution settings; then, for the line `custom_viewport_width = "256"`, we set the horizontal resolution to match the actual arcade value of 256. If you test this configuration on your CRT, you will see that the game screen appears very narrow, covering only about two-fifths of the CRT's horizontal display area. This is where PC geometry settings come into play, but before adjusting the geometry, we need to widen the image by changing `custom_viewport_width` from "640" to "720"—the maximum allowed by RetroArch (in RetroArch Hexaeco, this can be done via the menu, whereas in other versions, it must be done manually on the PC). We then use the `custom_viewport_x = "0"` line to shift the image and center it on the CRT screen. Now it is time to adjust the CRT's geometry. We access the service menu or adjust the physical potentiometers (by opening up the CRT casing) to set the horizontal image size so that this specific game fits the CRT screen perfectly; naturally, this involves increasing the value of the relevant geometry parameter. Once the correct size is achieved, we save the CRT settings. That’s it. It is worth noting, however, that not all TVs will support this geometry adjustment; issues with capacitors can cause image distortion when the image is stretched. If that happens, the best approach is to get a CRT TV that supports the required settings, or—failing that—adjust the CRT's screen width to its maximum horizontal extension and tweak the reconstructed resolutions in Wiiflow. For instance, a horizontal resolution of 256 might not be achievable due to CRT geometry limitations preventing the image from being stretched that far; in that case, we would need to set the resolution to 512 in RetroArch. However, we should certainly have no trouble reaching the 304 horizontal resolution used by Neo Geo games.
The reason for all this is that, inexplicably, those horizontal resolutions aren't natively implemented in the Wii versions of RetroArch. Once they are implemented, there won't be any need for this little workaround, and everything will be much easier. I hope this helps clarify the issue of SD resolutions.
As for cheat codes, I’ve never tried implementing them myself, though I have set default difficulty levels for RetroArch MAME games so I don't have to access any hidden menus. I’ve done the same for default game regions. I assume cheats could be implemented too—though I’m not sure if every core supports it—since I did notice a "Cheats" section in the RetroArch options for some of them.
