Homebrew RELEASE melonDS for Switch — continuation

[dusk1911818]

Hi! I've been using this for months now and I love it so much! I only have one real problem - the time can't be changed? eg: when I open up pokemon platinum it's permanently stuck in winter? Changing the ds clock (by not booting directly and going into settings) or the switch clock doesn't seem to work but time passes as I'm playing the game. There are time-sensitive events that I can't access right now, is there a way to change the time that I'm missing? If not, are you planning on making it a feature eventually?

 

[catlover007]

Hi! I've been using this for months now and I love it so much! I only have one real problem - the time can't be changed? eg: when I open up pokemon platinum it's permanently stuck in winter? Changing the ds clock (by not booting directly and going into settings) or the switch clock doesn't seem to work but time passes as I'm playing the game. There are time-sensitive events that I can't access right now, is there a way to change the time that I'm missing? If not, are you planning on making it a feature eventually?

that's due to the MAC address being randomised every time melonDS is opened. This was done for local wireless (because each instances needs it's own MAC address), but it has the problem that games think you're switching the DS all the time so they disable timed events as an anti cheat measure. In the latest version (not yet for Switch) we added a switch to disable MAC randomisation.

 

[Nerdtendo]

that's due to the MAC address being randomised every time melonDS is opened. This was done for local wireless (because each instances needs it's own MAC address), but it has the problem that games think you're switching the DS all the time so they disable timed events as an anti cheat measure. In the latest version (not yet for Switch) we added a switch to disable MAC randomisation.

Ooh I didn't even realize this was still being worked on. What other features can we look forward to?

 

[catlover007]

Ooh I didn't even realize this was still being worked on. What other features can we look forward to?

at the moment I'm working on a new GUI. Also a lot has happened upstream, like the merge of DSi support and the improved direct mode (which makes online multiplayer possible on Switch as well). Also GBA games as a slot-2 peripheral already existed during the last release but this wasn't exposed via the GUI. So my current aim is to get up to date with upstream with the next release (including exposing all features in the GUI) with maybe some more optimisations to GPU2D I've come up with. For the following release I want to finally tackle optimising the rasteriser and geometry submission to get fullspeed in 3d games as well.

 

[nWo]

Awesome. Can't wait for that great update. Thank you man.

 

[TheXpertXD]

Anyone know if the retroarch melonds core is up to date with this yet? Would be sweet to have some nice thumbnails

 

[catlover007]

Anyone know if the retroarch melonds core is up to date with this yet? Would be sweet to have some nice thumbnails

the Switch libretro core is still lagging one version behind. Icons (as they are stored in the ROMs and are displayed in the DS boot menu) will be shown in the new GUI as well

 

[ploggy]

Awesome, love this Emulator. Having a blast chipping away at the Castlevania games
I may have already asked this but did he Deko3d thing work out? I think I remember seeing you say something about adding Deko3d?

 

[catlover007]

Awesome, love this Emulator. Having a blast chipping away at the Castlevania games
I may have already asked this but did he Deko3d thing work out? I think I remember seeing you say something about adding Deko3d?

the GUI in the last version was already rendered with deko3d instead of OpenGL/mesa. deko3d has less cpu overhead (though that's pretty minor if you're only rendering two single quad), but it also takes away far less space in the binary (mesa is huge, notice how melonDS binaries shrunk by quite a few megabytes).

I talked a little bit about a potential port of the GL renderer to deko3d, though as I said before at this stage I rather focus on optimising things so as many games as possible run at fullspeed, than focusing on enhancements.

 

[Ace88]

@catlover007

i fixed my issue. I put the bios into the wrong folder. I'm using the retroarch version with OC max.

First of all I'd like to thank you for your effort and the great work you've done!

I'd like to ask you some questions and share my experiences on some games I've tried

1) Could someone elaborate what the JIT block size / JIT Branch Optimisation / JIT Literal Optimisation does and when does it makes sense, to enable these settings?

2) Is there any general setting recomendation in terms of performance/fps ?

3) Is there an option to play 60fps games in 30 fps, to avoid slow downs?

Here my experiences regarding the performance so far:

• New Super Mario Bros:
  • Overworld/Cutszenes: 40fps
  • Ingame/lvl: constant 60fps (i hade one issue where i had 72fps and the game was speed up lol)
    
• Mario Kart:
  • Menu: constant 60fps
  • Ingame/race: 38-40 fps (not playable)
    
• Zelda Phantom hourglasses:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38- 60fps
  • gameplay: 45fps
    
• Zelda Spirit tracks:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38-40 fps
    
  • gameplay: 30- 40fps

by the way, I will never understand why Nintendo implemented such shity controlls into the zelda games. It's almost impossible to play these games with a controller does anybody know if there's some controlls patch for both Zelda games?

 

[ploggy]

the GUI in the last version was already rendered with deko3d instead of OpenGL/mesa. deko3d has less cpu overhead (though that's pretty minor if you're only rendering two single quad), but it also takes away far less space in the binary (mesa is huge, notice how melonDS binaries shrunk by quite a few megabytes).

I talked a little bit about a potential port of the GL renderer to deko3d, though as I said before at this stage I rather focus on optimising things so as many games as possible run at fullspeed, than focusing on enhancements.

No probs, looking forward to the new ui, The Castlevania games so far play almost perfect, just some very minor speed dips every now and then.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@catlover007

i fixed my issue. I put the bios into the wrong folder. I'm using the retroarch version with OC max.

First of all I'd like to thank you for your effort and the great work you've done!

I'd like to ask you some questions and share my experiences on some games I've tried

1) Could someone elaborate what the JIT block size / JIT Branch Optimisation / JIT Literal Optimisation does and when does it makes sense, to enable these settings?

2) Is there any general setting recomendation in terms of performance/fps ?

3) Is there an option to play 60fps games in 30 fps, to avoid slow downs?

Here my experiences regarding the performance so far:

• New Super Mario Bros:
  • Overworld/Cutszenes: 40fps
  • Ingame/lvl: constant 60fps (i hade one issue where i had 72fps and the game was speed up lol)
• Mario Kart:
  • Menu: constant 60fps
  • Ingame/race: 38-40 fps (not playable)
• Zelda Phantom hourglasses:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38- 60fps
  • gameplay: 45fps
• Zelda Spirit tracks:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38-40 fps
    
  • gameplay: 30- 40fps

by the way, I will never understand why Nintendo implemented such shity controlls into the zelda games. It's almost impossible to play these games with a controller does anybody know if there's some controlls patch for both Zelda games?

@catlover007

i fixed my issue. I put the bios into the wrong folder. I'm using the retroarch version with OC max.

First of all I'd like to thank you for your effort and the great work you've done!

I'd like to ask you some questions and share my experiences on some games I've tried

1) Could someone elaborate what the JIT block size / JIT Branch Optimisation / JIT Literal Optimisation does and when does it makes sense, to enable these settings?

2) Is there any general setting recomendation in terms of performance/fps ?

3) Is there an option to play 60fps games in 30 fps, to avoid slow downs?

Here my experiences regarding the performance so far:

• New Super Mario Bros:
  • Overworld/Cutszenes: 40fps
  • Ingame/lvl: constant 60fps (i hade one issue where i had 72fps and the game was speed up lol)
• Mario Kart:
  • Menu: constant 60fps
  • Ingame/race: 38-40 fps (not playable)
• Zelda Phantom hourglasses:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38- 60fps
  • gameplay: 45fps
• Zelda Spirit tracks:
  • Menu/Start Screen/Cutscenes: 38-40 fps
    
  • gameplay: 30- 40fps

by the way, I will never understand why Nintendo implemented such shity controlls into the zelda games. It's almost impossible to play these games with a controller does anybody know if there's some controlls patch for both Zelda games?

There are indeed Patches for both Zelda games to use the dpad instead of touch controls
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-spirit-track-d-pad-patch.374773/
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-d-pad-patch.375388/

 

[catlover007]

i fixed my issue. I put the bios into the wrong folder. I'm using the retroarch version with OC max.

First of all I'd like to thank you for your effort and the great work you've done!

the libretro core is currently one version behind and not maintained by me

1) Could someone elaborate what the JIT block size / JIT Branch Optimisation / JIT Literal Optimisation does and when does it makes sense, to enable these settings?

2) Is there any general setting recomendation in terms of performance/fps ?

What do the Block Size, Branch Optimisations, Literal Optimisations and Fast Memory settings do?

Ideally they can stay enabled/at maximum all the time because they enable optimisations beneficial for the performance. But if there's an issue with the JIT recompiler it can be tracked down faster. Only touch them if something unexpected happens and mention which (if any) setting makes a difference in bug reports.

3) Is there an option to play 60fps games in 30 fps, to avoid slow downs?

no

by the way, I will never understand why Nintendo implemented such shity controlls into the zelda games. It's almost impossible to play these games with a controller does anybody know if there's some controlls patch for both Zelda games?

standalone has the option to use a joycon as a pointer for the touchscreen

 

[shouldiluvu]

I can’t seem to start any game Roms. Either it crashes, freezes or give me an error code: 2168-0002 Help please anyone.

 

[catlover007]

I can’t seem to start any game Roms. Either it crashes, freezes or give me an error code: 2168-0002 Help please anyone.

Do you use Atmosphere and use title injection to start hbmenu? Also check all of the required files twice (bios9.bin, bios7.bin, firmware.bin).

 

[shouldiluvu]

Do you use Atmosphere and use title injection to start hbmenu? Also check all of the required files twice (bios9.bin, bios7.bin, firmware.bin).

I use SX OS and yes I did.(Hold R and start the melonDS from hbmenu) I have all the required files.

 

[catlover007]

I use SX OS and yes I did.(Hold R and start the melonDS from hbmenu) I have all the required files.

SX OS is not supported

 

[Nerdtendo]

I use SX OS and yes I did.(Hold R and start the melonDS from hbmenu) I have all the required files.

Sxos works. Do you have fast memory disabled?

 

[shouldiluvu]

Sxos works. Do you have fast memory disabled?

After I tried to disable fast memory, the game finally loaded, but now it’s just a white screen

It’s progress from not loading and freezing. But yeah, still can’t play.

 

[Nerdtendo]

After I tried to disable fast memory, the game finally loaded, but now it’s just a white screen

It’s progress from not loading and freezing. But yeah, still can’t play.

What game are you trying?

 

[shouldiluvu]

What game are you trying?

Apollo Justice: Ace attorney
And
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth