Homebrew CaVE Database Manager - A SNES, NES, N64, Genesis Switch Online modding App

[artjsalina5]

Wow, thanks for getting further with this!

 

[Briglia00]

Thank you for the hard work

 

[xkoeckiiej]

Thanks for your work DarkAkuma

 

[Tu40k]

Very hyped for the triumphant return of Cave. Thank you for your work DarkAkuma!

 

[AngryCinnabon]

Glad to see you back man, just remember it's always fair for you to bail out again if people end up being ungrateful jerks.

 

[TheGioGrande]

Genuinely surprised at how fast work is already being done on this. Awesome job so far.

 

[zorokenshi]

I need sleep for now, so... ill just leave word of what I have done so far in the short time ive had my hands on the files.

I got CaVE to open the N64/Genesis databases. There's only 4 new settings between the 2, and a couple things removed.

I mostly spent my time on getting into the .bnz and .dtz files. I succeeded.

I didn't want to end the day without at least trying to boot a game. I didnt succeed, but I was able to find out that I the ROM does not need to be compressed.

New N64 titlesdb options:
"GPU384MHz": false,
"cold_reset": false,
"controller_position": "right",

New Genesis titlesdb options:
"machine_country": "us",

N64 doesnt use xtx.z for images, but Genesis does.

IDK its not the greatest info, but its all I have right now until i get some sleep.

If you have done and discover all this in such a short time everyone should be thankful and just have patience you are doing such an amazing work and you should be proud for all your help to the community my thanks and respect to you

 

[hypnnos]

Any way to run it under Linux?

 

[nWo]

it needs fw 12 or above, won't work on sx os as it uses new masterkey and sdk like most new games

I think so, yeah, even when I have been patching a lot of fw13 games succesfully, with a couple of exceptions. I guess this one is another of those.

 

[KiiWii]

Fixed the thread title for you, let me know if it needs "N64 and Genesis" adding

 

[Kupie]

You're a legend DarkAkuma!

 

[DarkAkuma]

Ok... Time to dial in some expectations.

I think booting custom N64 games is possible, but its going to take more work than most would hope. Each game requires a set of files specifically created for the game.

metapack_temp\*.meta
metapack_temp\*.cfg
metapack_temp\*.nro
metapack_temp\*.spv

Those are the current minimum with my testing, but some may not be required still.

What IS required is game specific hacks like:

    "Idle" :
    [
        {
            "JmpAddr": "0x80000810",
            "JmpInst": "0x1000FFFF",
            "IsIdle": "0x1"
        }
    ],

While I may take a shot at creating such hacks... its going to largely be a communal effort. I'm going to focus my efforts on CaVE for the moment, and allowing users to supply such meta packs.

For reference, they are a .cpio archive that's .z compressed. And while the ROM itself isnt required to be compressed (.bnz when .z compressed), the meta info is. There at least seems to be some leeway with the internal naming structure though...

As for good news... Sega Genesis Online boots custom games just fine! No unlock hack needed!

I'll try to focus on getting a CaVE release out so at least Genesis databases can be made. N64 "support" will likely technically be included, but... don't expect to be booting custom games without custom .dtz's.

 

[ruagun]

Right on!
Darkakuma is the man.

 

[teusjuh]

So it would be possible to inject n64 games?

 

[artjsalina5]

So it would be possible to inject n64 games?

Well, let me try to sum up what he's saying. Yes, BUT, each ROM is going to need essentially it's own configuration. It will not be just plug and chug like the other online releases, the community will need to supply the configuration files through testing.

These configs will only be possible if a lot more people jump in and configure these roms. Similar to cheat codes, each ROM version and localization will need it's separate unique configuration to work.

The N64 has a vast library and it will take time; some would even argue why the effort as RetroArch is just plug and play.

TLDR; Yes, but it will take work.

 

[Chaosta]

Well, let me try to sum up what he's saying. Yes, BUT, each ROM is going to need essentially it's own configuration. It will not be just plug and chug like the other online releases, the community will need to supply the configuration files through testing.

These configs will only be possible if a lot more people jump in and configure these roms. Similar to cheat codes, each ROM version and localization will need it's separate unique configuration to work.

The N64 has a vast library and it will take time; some would even argue why the effort as RetroArch is just plug and play.

TLDR; Yes, but it will take work.

RetroArch runs n64 terribly in my experience. havent tried it thru linux or android though.

 

[M7L7NK7]

RetroArch runs n64 terribly in my experience. havent tried it thru linux or android though.

It's been near perfect for almost everything (minus quake 2 & killer instinct gold) for a few years now, it always comes down to your settings or using an older core.. people try it once and give up

And goldeneye is almost perfect if you use glide

 

[zorokenshi]

Well, let me try to sum up what he's saying. Yes, BUT, each ROM is going to need essentially it's own configuration. It will not be just plug and chug like the other online releases, the community will need to supply the configuration files through testing.

These configs will only be possible if a lot more people jump in and configure these roms. Similar to cheat codes, each ROM version and localization will need it's separate unique configuration to work.

The N64 has a vast library and it will take time; some would even argue why the effort as RetroArch is just plug and play.

TLDR; Yes, but it will take work.

Retroarch is a very good option when you are emulating consoles such as SNES,NES ,Psx,GBA etc etc …. But so far after all this time and work is incapable of properly run N64 decently in my opinion the community has to unite in this effort for getting the games configurations because the N64 online for the Nintendo switch is the best choice right now if we want to play the games we love or just sit and play the one or two crappy games that are given to us for the subscription service from the big N my thoughts are that the sega online catalog for this starting service was better than N64 online but the N64 emulation so far with those starting games is excellent we should help DarkAkuma in this task all of us

 

[rich333]

I'm hoping the MegaDrive/Gen one will load Master System roms. If so, would it be possible to create a seperate nsp, with new name/icon for SMS?

 

[DaniPoo]

It's been near perfect for almost everything (minus quake 2 & killer instinct gold) for a few years now, it always comes down to your settings or using an older core.. people try it once and give up

And goldeneye is almost perfect if you use glide

no it really hasn’t, especially not with frambuffer emulation. Only hope to get ”playable” speed with framebuffer emulation was to overclock and reducing resolution.
and even then it would still have occasional sound crackles and stuff.
only way I got good speed in most games was to turn the FBE off. But that would break functionality in some games.

Nintendo’s N64 emulator seems to be able to up the resolution and still use FBE without overclocking.. So far it has been a more enjoyable experience for me. Minus the widescreen hack