OpenBOR Wii

[Qaztab]

This new build of OpenBOR 4.0 doesn't seem to have working menu controls on gamecube controller. I can move the menu up and down but none of the buttons seem to do anything making it unusbale unfortunately for me. Does anyone else have this issue?

Post automatically merged: Jun 29, 2023

That's very interesting stuff, so essentially all paks more or less have to fit exactly into the Wii's memory even though it's capable of loading truly giant levels just because it keeps older assets loaded at all times? I saw you made this post before realizing there was a 4.0 port, perhaps now those programming triggers work now?

Or perhaps is there a way to get the engine itself to free up unused assets properly or even more hackier, crash and then start loading again from the exact point where it ran out of memory, which would cause a lengthy load between stages but would at least allow you to play through an entire module without fear of being kicked back to HBC.

Is this an issue specifically only in the wii port of openbor or do all ports behave the same? if the other ports properly clear out their memory perhaps it's an oversight on the wii branch.

I did lots of testing on the PAKs I have with the prior version of OpenBOR. Mostly I stripped, down-sampled and re-PAK'd the WAV files so they were much smaller, which made a number of game PAKs playable on Wii OpenBOR without running out of memory while loading level assets. I could barely notice the WAV files had been changed almost all of the time. It also fixed that static hiss sound bug some PAKs had as well.

But of particular note I tweaked and trimmed a composite of a decent complete and as feature heavy as possible version of "Godzilla! Ultraman! Gamera!" to run in Wii OpenBOR from beginning to end without crashing. Also had to trim level assets out and changed some coding so that slow down was kept to a minimum. Of note, Hedorah has a flying form that emits smoke pollution that I had to change completely into an "arrow" because the default attack mode made each puff of smoke a single asset enemy which would cause immense slowdown extremely quick and made the boss version of him near impossible to play/enjoy.

I did upload a version of my PAK called "Godzilla Ultraman Gamera - Unofficial Lite Version" to someone here who I believe shared it. I had fun with reprogramming it and learning the OpenBOR code mostly because I really love Japanese Kaiju and tinkering with them. I was even able to discover that there was a hidden Showa Mecha-Godzilla player model that was semi-complete in the PAK that I added to the character selection screen and programmed in new flying moves for him too. My playing with GUG is how I learned all the ins and outs of that particular version of Wii OpenBOR which was the basis of that post you quoted.

Anyway, when OpenBOR 4.0 became a thing, I kind of had no desire to go back and test all the PAKs I had. What I have works for me, and there's always the possibility that newer doesn't necessarily mean leaner. I have no idea if it does PAKs more efficiently and with less overhead. I do know they added stereo capabilities for the WAV files so you no longer hear static hiss in PAKs that have stereo WAV files, which is great, but it goes back to what I said above about level asset sizes eventually causing memory issues. Yeah, it works, but will it still be working 5 levels in or at end game? 4.0 might be the best version of Wii OpenBOR ever or it might be exactly the same only with stereo WAV support, but I'll never know, I'm kind of OpenBOR'd out.

Anyway....

IIRC, the trigger to dump from memory has to be manually put in the load command in each level.txt that uses that particular asset. It's not a simple feat to add in and is kind of a real PITA if you're unfamiliar with the coding of a PAK. You'll end up intimately knowing the PAK once you're done, and that's a lot of time.

 

[Disorarara]

I did lots of testing on the PAKs I have with the prior version of OpenBOR. Mostly I stripped, down-sampled and re-PAK'd the WAV files so they were much smaller, which made a number of game PAKs playable on Wii OpenBOR without running out of memory while loading level assets. I could barely notice the WAV files had been changed almost all of the time. It also fixed that static hiss sound bug some PAKs had as well.

But of particular note I tweaked and trimmed a composite of a decent complete and as feature heavy as possible version of "Godzilla! Ultraman! Gamera!" to run in Wii OpenBOR from beginning to end without crashing. Also had to trim level assets out and changed some coding so that slow down was kept to a minimum. Of note, Hedorah has a flying form that emits smoke pollution that I had to change completely into an "arrow" because the default attack mode made each puff of smoke a single asset enemy which would cause immense slowdown extremely quick and made the boss version of him near impossible to play/enjoy.

I did upload a version of my PAK called "Godzilla Ultraman Gamera - Unofficial Lite Version" to someone here who I believe shared it. I had fun with reprogramming it and learning the OpenBOR code mostly because I really love Japanese Kaiju and tinkering with them. I was even able to discover that there was a hidden Showa Mecha-Godzilla player model that was semi-complete in the PAK that I added to the character selection screen and programmed in new flying moves for him too. My playing with GUG is how I learned all the ins and outs of that particular version of Wii OpenBOR which was the basis of that post you quoted.

Anyway, when OpenBOR 4.0 became a thing, I kind of had no desire to go back and test all the PAKs I had. What I have works for me, and there's always the possibility that newer doesn't necessarily mean leaner. I have no idea if it does PAKs more efficiently and with less overhead. I do know they added stereo capabilities for the WAV files so you no longer hear static hiss in PAKs that have stereo WAV files, which is great, but it goes back to what I said above about level asset sizes eventually causing memory issues. Yeah, it works, but will it still be working 5 levels in or at end game? 4.0 might be the best version of Wii OpenBOR ever or it might be exactly the same only with stereo WAV support, but I'll never know, I'm kind of OpenBOR'd out.

Anyway....

IIRC, the trigger to dump from memory has to be manually put in the load command in each level.txt that uses that particular asset. It's not a simple feat to add in and is kind of a real PITA if you're unfamiliar with the coding of a PAK. You'll end up intimately knowing the PAK once you're done, and that's a lot of time.

Thanks for your reply, your research has not been for naught and it's very helpful especially for other, even more limited ports of OpenBOR such as dreamcast. Hopefully a kind, knowledgeable soul figures out a method for automatically clearing the memory or perhaps even better, implementing the virtual memory solution utilized by Not64/Wii64 and Retroarch. That way memory limitations cease to be an issue at all.

 

[MeXen]

I did lots of testing on the PAKs I have with the prior version of OpenBOR. Mostly I stripped, down-sampled and re-PAK'd the WAV files so they were much smaller, which made a number of game PAKs playable on Wii OpenBOR without running out of memory while loading level assets. I could barely notice the WAV files had been changed almost all of the time. It also fixed that static hiss sound bug some PAKs had as well.

But of particular note I tweaked and trimmed a composite of a decent complete and as feature heavy as possible version of "Godzilla! Ultraman! Gamera!" to run in Wii OpenBOR from beginning to end without crashing. Also had to trim level assets out and changed some coding so that slow down was kept to a minimum. Of note, Hedorah has a flying form that emits smoke pollution that I had to change completely into an "arrow" because the default attack mode made each puff of smoke a single asset enemy which would cause immense slowdown extremely quick and made the boss version of him near impossible to play/enjoy.

I did upload a version of my PAK called "Godzilla Ultraman Gamera - Unofficial Lite Version" to someone here who I believe shared it. I had fun with reprogramming it and learning the OpenBOR code mostly because I really love Japanese Kaiju and tinkering with them. I was even able to discover that there was a hidden Showa Mecha-Godzilla player model that was semi-complete in the PAK that I added to the character selection screen and programmed in new flying moves for him too. My playing with GUG is how I learned all the ins and outs of that particular version of Wii OpenBOR which was the basis of that post you quoted.

Anyway, when OpenBOR 4.0 became a thing, I kind of had no desire to go back and test all the PAKs I had. What I have works for me, and there's always the possibility that newer doesn't necessarily mean leaner. I have no idea if it does PAKs more efficiently and with less overhead. I do know they added stereo capabilities for the WAV files so you no longer hear static hiss in PAKs that have stereo WAV files, which is great, but it goes back to what I said above about level asset sizes eventually causing memory issues. Yeah, it works, but will it still be working 5 levels in or at end game? 4.0 might be the best version of Wii OpenBOR ever or it might be exactly the same only with stereo WAV support, but I'll never know, I'm kind of OpenBOR'd out.

Anyway....

IIRC, the trigger to dump from memory has to be manually put in the load command in each level.txt that uses that particular asset. It's not a simple feat to add in and is kind of a real PITA if you're unfamiliar with the coding of a PAK. You'll end up intimately knowing the PAK once you're done, and that's a lot of time.

I am only interested in TMNT Rescue Palooza and MMPR Feats of Power, any luck with those? does openBOR support 240p? is there's no shimmering or screen tearing?

 

[Qaztab]

I am only interested in TMNT Rescue Palooza and MMPR Feats of Power, any luck with those? does openBOR support 240p? is there's no shimmering or screen tearing?

I've been out of the OpenBOR scene for quite a long time.

Technically only the original release of TMNT Rescue Palooza works. There's scripting issues in later versions. Wii OpenBOR 4.0 *might*, and I stress that word heavily, alleviate some scripting issues for later versions, but I wouldn't expect much. I never tested it. IIRC, the original release had stereo WAV files, so 4.0 should fix that without needing to tweak the PAKs innards.

HOWEVER, on an interesting side note, there is a version floating out in the ether by an enthusiastic OpenBOR forum poster who took a later official version and downgraded it to be playable on Wii and other consoles. The official creator had a big fit about it, and it was pulled very shortly after being posted, so good luck finding it. If anyone happens to have it or find it, let us, umm, know?

I think there as a version of MMPR FoP (if it's the version I'm thinking), that was on Wii Mundo Hack, but it was buggy. Something with the scripting. It'd sometimes work, and sometimes hang up mid-game, usually when loading the next level. Again, 4.0 *might* fix that.

 

[MeXen]

I've been out of the OpenBOR scene for quite a long time.

Technically only the original release of TMNT Rescue Palooza works. There's scripting issues in later versions. Wii OpenBOR 4.0 *might*, and I stress that word heavily, alleviate some scripting issues for later versions, but I wouldn't expect much. I never tested it. IIRC, the original release had stereo WAV files, so 4.0 should fix that without needing to tweak the PAKs innards.

HOWEVER, on an interesting side note, there is a version floating out in the ether by an enthusiastic OpenBOR forum poster who took a later official version and downgraded it to be playable on Wii and other consoles. The official creator had a big fit about it, and it was pulled very shortly after being posted, so good luck finding it. If anyone happens to have it or find it, let us, umm, know?

I think there as a version of MMPR FoP (if it's the version I'm thinking), that was on Wii Mundo Hack, but it was buggy. Something with the scripting. It'd sometimes work, and sometimes hang up mid-game, usually when loading the next level. Again, 4.0 *might* fix that.

WHERE? IS IT? TELL US MATE!

 

[cereal_killer]

how exactly does this work?

1 I download OpenBOR PLUS v4.0 Build 469,
2 put all of its contents to sd:/apps/OpenBOR
3 download any game(s) i want from this link https://mega.nz/folder/K5VRWCQI#pzgrtsEtBf15h8M7q7zVAg
4 put the game(s) i downloaded onto a USB (in my case my external hdd)
5 open homebrew channel or wiiflow
6 launch OpenBOR PLUS

and that's it? Or am I missing something?

 

[RunningSnakes]

how exactly does this work?

1 I download OpenBOR PLUS v4.0 Build 469,
2 put all of its contents to sd:/apps/OpenBOR
3 download any game(s) i want from this link https://mega.nz/folder/K5VRWCQI#pzgrtsEtBf15h8M7q7zVAg
4 put the game(s) i downloaded onto a USB (in my case my external hdd)
5 open homebrew channel or wiiflow
6 launch OpenBOR PLUS

and that's it? Or am I missing something?

Pretty much, yeah.

WFL supports paks on USB (HDD), so if you have the plugin pack installed, you should be good to go.

I don't know about the latest release but do know the last version i tested was broken. Here are what i believe are yor best choices...

The USB linked is the only release i know of that supports USB through HBC or channel forwarder.

 

[cereal_killer]

ok, thanx for the files, man.

So, basically if I want to run games off of my HDD I put the contents of the openbor usb.zip archive to sd:/apps then create a folder on my hdd (call it something like openbor games or something) put all the folders (logs, paks, saves, screenshots) in that folder, then put games in the paks folder and im good to go, right?

 

[MeXen]

OK, i tried the USB version, and i managed to get Beats of Power to run, now if only this program would be updated to add Vsync and 240p

 

[RunningSnakes]

I know many have tried to code OpenBOR, it must be very tough to manipulate. The Wii is a tough customer, been shot down many times but always manages to live.

 

[Oo_Ice_Deep_oO]

Hi All,

Recently, I have been trying to get openBOR to work well on my Wii. I am using the latest Wiiflow plugins pack. The games are the currated games that I think RunningSnakes put together, so they should all be compatible.

My problems is the lousy control configurations. I was using a Wii Mote, and playing He-Man. I pushed I think (-) minus to get the full menu and then went ot options. Then controller configuration. The configuration seems inaccurate... and you cannot change anything (up was up... but clearly on a wiimote held sideways right is up).

I then plugged in a classic controller. Again what seems to be inaccurate weirdness and the inability to change anything.

If you add another player mid-game... it won't let you select your character.

I am just frustrated with the controller configuration. What advice can the OGs of OpenBOR give to the relative newbie on controller configuration.

Note: I tried looking for a .ini or a .cfg file to manually configure on the backend, but I think the controller config files for OpenBOR are not text files... but binary files... which means you have to use the program to edit them.

 

[0arsoluto]

Hi All,

Recently, I have been trying to get openBOR to work well on my Wii. I am using the latest Wiiflow plugins pack. The games are the currated games that I think RunningSnakes put together, so they should all be compatible.

My problems is the lousy control configurations. I was using a Wii Mote, and playing He-Man. I pushed I think (-) minus to get the full menu and then went ot options. Then controller configuration. The configuration seems inaccurate... and you cannot change anything (up was up... but clearly on a wiimote held sideways right is up).

I then plugged in a classic controller. Again what seems to be inaccurate weirdness and the inability to change anything.

If you add another player mid-game... it won't let you select your character.

I am just frustrated with the controller configuration. What advice can the OGs of OpenBOR give to the relative newbie on controller configuration.

Note: I tried looking for a .ini or a .cfg file to manually configure on the backend, but I think the controller config files for OpenBOR are not text files... but binary files... which means you have to use the program to edit them.

Maybe what you are explaining is related to my problem with not being able to play with a gamecube controller when I launch openbor through wiiflow
https://gbatemp.net/threads/gamecube-controller-in-openbor-from-wiiflow.665877/

 

[RunningSnakes]

Hi All,

Recently, I have been trying to get openBOR to work well on my Wii. I am using the latest Wiiflow plugins pack. The games are the currated games that I think RunningSnakes put together, so they should all be compatible.

My problems is the lousy control configurations. I was using a Wii Mote, and playing He-Man. I pushed I think (-) minus to get the full menu and then went ot options. Then controller configuration. The configuration seems inaccurate... and you cannot change anything (up was up... but clearly on a wiimote held sideways right is up).

I then plugged in a classic controller. Again what seems to be inaccurate weirdness and the inability to change anything.

If you add another player mid-game... it won't let you select your character.

I am just frustrated with the controller configuration. What advice can the OGs of OpenBOR give to the relative newbie on controller configuration.

Note: I tried looking for a .ini or a .cfg file to manually configure on the backend, but I think the controller config files for OpenBOR are not text files... but binary files... which means you have to use the program to edit them.

I have tested and think i have solved the issue, at least this is working for GC controller through SD. I will test USB and both Wiimote only and CC. I'll be back with update...

 

[Satmonk]

It's great to see that the openBOR development for the Wii is going on and the latest release is openBOR 4.0 7735 from May 2025. Because this release got no attention in this forum, I thought to post about this.

https://www.chronocrash.com/forum/resources/openbor.1/updates#resource-update-527

 

[MeXen]

It's great to see that the openBOR development for the Wii is going on and the latest release is openBOR 4.0 7735 from May 2025. Because this release got no attention in this forum, I thought to post about this.

https://www.chronocrash.com/forum/resources/openbor.1/updates#resource-update-527

what has changed since the last 2 years i posted in this thread?

 

[niuus]

what has changed since the last 2 years i posted in this thread?

Read the linked post and instantly find out about 4.0.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I have tested this release on both SD and USB. USB code dumps when launching the app through HBC or forwarder channel. SD does launch correctly through both HBC and forwarder but unfortunately this release has broken compatibility with all games tested sending the user back to HBC or Wii Menu when attempting to launch any game. Stick with previous working releases...I will attach working releases for both SD and USB if anyone is interested...

 

[niuus]

I have tested this release on both SD and USB. USB code dumps when launching the app through HBC or forwarder channel. SD does launch correctly through both HBC and forwarder but unfortunately this release has broken compatibility with all games tested sending the user back to HBC or Wii Menu when attempting to launch any game. Stick with previous working releases...I will attach working releases for both SD and USB if anyone is interested...

Good to know. I'll probably go back to OpenBOR sometime soon, haven't played it much since not a lot of paks are Wii compatible. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Satmonk]

I have tested this release on both SD and USB. USB code dumps when launching the app through HBC or forwarder channel. SD does launch correctly through both HBC and forwarder but unfortunately this release has broken compatibility with all games tested sending the user back to HBC or Wii Menu when attempting to launch any game. Stick with previous working releases...I will attach working releases for both SD and USB if anyone is interested...

The version you posted (4.0 Build 526) is not working correctly. Some games do not fully load (i.e. Golden Axe Warrior) and stretch to screen \ preserve aspect ratio cannot be toggled, it keeps always at full stretch.

OpenBOR 3.0 Build 6391 looks like the best version.

 

[Satmonk]

The OpenBOR version of Streets of Rage 4 is running on the Wii!
See YT video with DL link in the first comment.


It is bundled with OpenBOR 4.0 Build 526, but there is an issue with throwing enemies to other enemies (missing collision detection).

But the pak file works with OpenBOR 3.0 Build 6391 too and the collision detection is working fine with that build.