Homebrew Retroarch Emulation Thread (Nightly Builds Included)

[TimX24968B]

In case this has been missed, people using the mGBA core in Retroarch should really switch to using the official mGBA nightly build instead because LibRetro is NOT kept up to date with the latest mGBA nightly. That, and people should stick with Retroarch 1.3.3 anyway.

Use the mGBA development build from here instead,
https://mgba.io/downloads.html

I prefer the gpsp emulator for 3ds, it runs much better on Old3ds. than mgba

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Wait I got confused.
I thought we were talking about the Wii port, not the 3DS port haha, sorry.
I use mGBA through RetroArch on my Wii due to the full screen issue in the standalone build.

As for the 3DS port, how well does it run the games now?
I remember back in 1.3.6 it still had issues with FPS in games like SMA3 and Golden Sun.
Has speed been improved/dynarec been implemented?

I would suggest using gpsp on 3ds and installing it as a .cia on cfw for the best speed. I manage to get full speed on the pokemon games at least with the only real drops at battle transisitions and places that barely impact gameplay

 

[AtlasFontaine]

I prefer the gpsp emulator for 3ds, it runs much better on Old3ds. than mgba

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I would suggest using gpsp on 3ds and installing it as a .cia on cfw for the best speed. I manage to get full speed on the pokemon games at least with the only real drops at battle transisitions and places that barely impact gameplay

The thing is that it seems like GPSP is unstable at the moment and I think they have New3DS so they'll be fine with standalone mGBA.

 

[GamerUnity]

Hi,

how is the psx? Is the fps all good and what game and version did you test?

 

[geheim]

I tried the standalone mGBA (latest nightly cia version) but don't get any sound... Do I need to configure some paths to dsp driver or something like that??
Perhaps you know @sj33 or @AtlasFontaine ?? Thanks!

 

[TimX24968B]

The thing is that it seems like GPSP is unstable at the moment and I think they have New3DS so they'll be fine with standalone mGBA.

gpsp works just fine with the stable 1.3.3 Idk what you are talking about.

 

[geheim]

@TimX24968B A lot of people (me included) reported that gpsp crashes randomly if dynarec is turned on. This happens in ALL versions including stable 1.3.3.

 

[TimX24968B]

@TimX24968B A lot of people (me included) reported that gpsp crashes randomly if dynarec is turned on. This happens in ALL versions including stable 1.3.3.

Odd. Never happened to me, even with dynarec turned on. It only crashed when changing games, but it never crashed for me (at least in pokemon emerald)

 

[Giodude]

so like does anyone else get crashes from the latest gpsp stable build/ nightly? In fact nearly every retroarch core has been acting up as of late.

 

[TimX24968B]

so like does anyone else get crashes from the latest gpsp stable build/ nightly? In fact nearly every retroarch core has been acting up as of late.

I would just stick with the 1.3.3 stable. the later ones seemed to be giving me issues.

 

[Giodude]

I would just stick with the 1.3.3 stable. the later ones seemed to be giving me issues.

gpsp still crashes.

 

[TimX24968B]

gpsp still crashes.

odd. That only happens to me when i close a game then load another one.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I would suggest using gpsp on 3ds and installing it as a .cia on cfw for the best speed. I manage to get full speed on the pokemon games at least with the only real drops at battle transisitions and places that barely impact gameplay

What I don't like about gpsp is:

1. Screen tearing
2. Random crashes (although 1.3.3 hasn't given me this issue)
3. No antialiasing for audio, which mGBA has and believe me, it makes a HUGE difference!
   You can hear the music/sounds without that stupid hissing sound in the background.

So yeah, the only thing stopping me from using mGBA is that is not up to pair with FPS comparing it to gpsp.

 

[TimX24968B]

What I don't like about gpsp is:

1. Screen tearing
2. Random crashes (although 1.3.3 hasn't given me this issue)
3. No antialiasing for audio, which mGBA has and believe me, it makes a HUGE difference!
   You can hear the music/sounds without that stupid hissing sound in the background.

So yeah, the only thing stopping me from using mGBA is that is not up to pair with FPS comparing it to gpsp.

1. I only found screen tearing above 1.3.3
3. What do you mean "antialiasing" for audio? I never heard any kind of hiss in the background.

 

[ShadowOne333]

1. I only found screen tearing above 1.3.3
3. What do you mean "antialiasing" for audio? I never heard any kind of hiss in the background.

1. I'm using 1.3.3 and I still get tearing issues with SOME games, not all though. (SMA3 with the All eReader hack does this always).
2. Here's a comparison video so that you can understand what antialiasing is:

Without antialiasing:


With antialiasing:


Notice that the noisy/hissing sound present in the first video is not present anymore in the second one, giving the sound a much crisper, cleaner sound.

 

[TimX24968B]

1. I'm using 1.3.3 and I still get tearing issues with SOME games, not all though. (SMA3 with the All eReader hack does this always).
2. Here's a comparison video so that you can understand what antialiasing is:

Without antialiasing:


With antialiasing:


Notice that the noisy/hissing sound present in the first video is not present anymore in the second one, giving the sound a much crisper, cleaner sound.

When i do notice it, i just turn the volume down a bit and that usually fixes it for me. I thought it was just static from the sound being too loud for the speakers.

 

[ShadowOne333]

When i do notice it, i just turn the volume down a bit and that usually fixes it for me. I thought it was just static from the sound being too loud for the speakers.

Yeah that's the problem.
Gpsp doesn't feature antialiasing and since I play in places that tend to be somewhat loud, I cannot put the volume down or I can't hear a thing, so I either have to deal with the volume of the GBA being shit with the speakers or don't hear anything at all, while with mGBA I can listen to it without any problems at all, smooth as a baby's butt.

 

[aplant92]

Odd. Never happened to me, even with dynarec turned on. It only crashed when changing games, but it never crashed for me (at least in pokemon emerald)

From what I've gathered from your posts, you're using an O3DS, is that right? If that's the case (someone correct me if I'm wrong), Dynarec isn't supported and so wouldn't be enabled, hence no crashing. However that would also mean your emerald should run less than perfectly (sound distorting when saving, FPS dropping when changing routes etc.). I know this was the case for me on my N3DS when using emerald without Dynarec.

 

[TimX24968B]

Yeah that's the problem.
Gpsp doesn't feature antialiasing and since I play in places that tend to be somewhat loud, I cannot put the volume down or I can't hear a thing, so I either have to deal with the volume of the GBA being shit with the speakers or don't hear anything at all, while with mGBA I can listen to it without any problems at all, smooth as a baby's butt.

I just use headphones (earbuds) when im in a loud place, or i just dont use sound. I'm not too big on sound fidelity as much as something like graphical fidelity, but thats just me.

 

[aplant92]

Also to those suggesting mGBA, I've found it basically unusable given the performance on games such as Pokemon Emerald (audio slow down, constant FPS drops)

 

[TimX24968B]

From what I've gathered from your posts, you're using an O3DS, is that right? If that's the case (someone correct me if I'm wrong), Dynarec isn't supported and so wouldn't be enabled, hence no crashing. However that would also mean your emerald should run less than perfectly (sound distorting when saving, FPS dropping when changing routes etc.). I know this was the case for me on my N3DS when using emerald without Dynarec.

thanks for notifying me about this.
only fps drops i noticed were when:
1: entering a battle/encounter (drops down to 45ish fps about just on the transition)
2: main menu of emerald (drops down to 52 fps)
3: saving (entire game slows down and sound distorts, drops down to like 6fps)

However, I don't consider any of these very gameplay-impacting