General Emulation Discussion

Mr.Fantastic

Anyone any luck getting dolphin running on the nvidia shield tv pro well?

Its running okay but good few sound drops and some games don't play at all e.g rogue squadron.

Does it just not have enough welly? Or is that the android build isn't optimized as much?

Saw videos from the 2017 version and it looked a lot better

Inviere

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Anyone any luck getting dolphin running on the nvidia shield tv pro well?

Its running okay but good few sound drops and some games don't play at all e.g rogue squadron.

Does it just not have enough welly? Or is that the android build isn't optimized as much?

Saw videos from the 2017 version and it looked a lot better

In my experience the Shield just isn't up to GameCube emulation, outside of one or two titles. The 2017 version is essentially identical to the 2019 one, certainly when it comes to emulation anyway. I just think Dolphin is a step too far for the hardware currently.

Inviere

Always nice to see decent RPCS3 updates.

Mr.Fantastic

Inviere wrote: »

In my experience the Shield just isn't up to GameCube emulation, outside of one or two titles. The 2017 version is essentially identical to the 2019 one, certainly when it comes to emulation anyway. I just think Dolphin is a step too far for the hardware currently.

Yeah I managed to plays metroid prime okay and a few early titles. As you said maybe the hardware isn't good enough , had great success with redream for Dreamcast emulation

Inviere

Has anyone tried the new experimental Bsnes HD? It works best for Mode 7 games currently, by radically increasing the resolution of sprites, and is able to utilise some type of voodoo which gives a widescreen output. I installed the RetroArch core and loaded up F-Zero and my jaw hit the floor....utterly incredible looking.

There's widescreen patching coming for other games, but it'll require some rom hacking to get sprites to be drawn outside of the 4:3 screen space, but it's looking hugely promising! Maximise the below video to see (it's capture from an old beta, so you'll see some bugs that have already been worked out)...

Inviere

Not sure if anyone here follows libretro development, but the P-UAE core for RetroArch has seen a lot of love lately - https://github.com/libretro/libretro-uae

It's the simplest thing in the world to get running. Just download the core, 'obtain' the correct kickstarts (be sure to check the md5's match with the info in the above link), place them in your RA system directory, and start playing Amiga games. I've thrown Amiga disc images, lha's, AGA games, & CD32 games at it...nothing has not worked for me yet - plus you get the beauty of using RA with its lovely shaders, and unified controls!

Strongly thinking of moving away from FS-UAE now, and using this for everyday Amiga emulation.

The Last Bandit

I set it up recently as part of my Launchbox PC build, don't bother with ADF. They've add support for WHDLoad images so you can just use them instead.
Don't think there was much to setting it up, boot just the core and enable WHDLoad . CD32 was trickier for some reason but working now with bin/cues.

Inviere

The Last Bandit wrote: »

I set it up recently as part of my Launchbox PC build, don't bother with ADF. They've add support for WHDLoad images so you can just use them instead.
Don't think there was much to setting it up, boot just the core and enable WHDLoad . CD32 was trickier for some reason but working now with bin/cues.

Yep I mentioned lha's above, which are a WHDLoad format - they direct boot. I have a handful of ADF's because of copy-protection. Say Another World for example, the LHA for that includes the code-wheel copy protection...and I haven't found a HDF for that game which has this protection cracked. The ADF on the other hand, just accepts any combination you choose, and boots the game. Annoying, but for now, necessary.

Re CD32....yep, stick to bin/cue. They work perfectly. Actually follow that advice for any cd format, and don't bother with nasty wav/mp3. Have a look at the 'redump' series. For PS1 I've gone & converted everything over to PBP files, which contain multiple discs...so you only need to load the PBP then switch discs from within RA.

Inviere

'Pro Tip' for setting up keyboard based systems with RetroArch. Normally RetroArch and KB based systems will share keys, ie, space bar fast-forwards on RA at the same time as being needed in some games. To get around the problem, do the following (windows version):

Start RA, run the core you want, and then run a game using said core.
Press F1 on the KB to enter the RA menu.
Scroll down to the very bottom, and go into the Overrides section
Choose "Save Core Override".
Quit RA.
In Windows, navigate to your RA installation folder, and go into the folder called "config".
In here, you will see a folder for the name of the core you did this for, in the case of the Amiga, it'll be called "PUAE".
In this folder, there will be a config file, in this case, PUAE.cfg

Open this file with Notepad++ (don't edit using normal Notepad), and you should see that it's empty.
Paste the following four lines into the empty config file:

input_libretro_device_p2 = "3"
input_enable_hotkey = "rshift"
input_enable_hotkey_btn = "13"
input_enable_hotkey_axis = "nul"

Save the file, and quit Notepad++.
Now, restart the core and game you were doing this for, and the keyboard will function as it should for that system, meaning you can press any key on the keyboard without RA functions. To access RA functions on this core from now on, the right-shift key will act as a hotkey, meaning to get into the RA menu when running a game that you've set this override up for, hold right-shift and THEN press F1.

TLDR - the above disables retroarch keystrokes on the keyboard allowing you to use the keyboard properly for that core/system.

Doge

This info came into play for me tonight when I got a hankering to play the Amiga version of Prince Of Persia tonight on my Vita.

Unfortunately I cant seem to get PUAE to work.

I have the a1200 kickstart file in the RA system directory with the correct file name and it definitely matches the correct md5 checksum.

In Main Menu -> Information -> Core Information -> Firmwares
kick40068.A1200 is marked as (!) present, required

The other amiga computer models are marked as (!) Missing Required so i might try adding those kickstarts now.

When i go to launch an lha version of prince of persia or a hdf version retroarch crashes.

Do you want to give it a go on yours Inviere?

Doge

Okay added the other kickstarts and if i start the core I get the iconic insert Amiga Workbench 1.5 disk screen.

However if in try to “load content” and select the prince of persia lha, retroarch crashes after a much longer amount of time as if its trying to load it.

Doge

Tried an adf version of POP and got it working!
The cracktro music skips a lot but for some reason the ingame sounds as perfect!

This is actually my first time ever emulating the amiga, about time i gave it some love.

Inviere

Doge wrote: »

This info came into play for me tonight when I got a hankering to play the Amiga version of Prince Of Persia tonight on my Vita.

Unfortunately I cant seem to get PUAE to work.

I have the a1200 kickstart file in the RA system directory with the correct file name and it definitely matches the correct md5 checksum.

In Main Menu -> Information -> Core Information -> Firmwares
kick40068.A1200 is marked as (!) present, required

The other amiga computer models are marked as (!) Missing Required so i might try adding those kickstarts now.

When i go to launch an lha version of prince of persia or a hdf version retroarch crashes.

Do you want to give it a go on yours Inviere?

So basically:

Download the core (latest RetroArch, with the latest core)
Grab ALL of the kickstarts, ensuring filenames & md5's match
You have a string in the games filename as described in the link above, ie, (A1200) to force the A1200 2MB Chipram with 8MB FastRam, (A1200OG) for the same without the FastRam, (A600) for Amiga 600, and so forth. Without any of these strings, the core will default to A500 for adf's, and A600 for hdf's (it'll always use CD32 for cd images).


The fact that your ADF's are working suggests the a500 kickstart is fine, but the a600 and others could have issues if hdf's/lha's are not loading.

The actual emulation itself is pretty much perfect, I've seen no issues to date.

Inviere

Pm sent with some additional helpage

The Last Bandit

WHDLoad images need to use a A1200 configuration with (8MB) Fastram to work - same as on real hardware.
A600 is pointless and A500 is only necessary if booting an ADF that need Kickstart 1.3.

Inviere

The Last Bandit wrote: »

WHDLoad images need to use a A1200 configuration with (8MB) Fastram to work - same as on real hardware.
A600 is pointless and A500 is only necessary if booting an ADF that need Kickstart 1.3.

Exactly, so the games need to have (A1200) in the filename. That said, the core should still run WHDLoad files, but it would default to an A600 config which can be pretty slow.

I'm still not sure whether to use this as my main Amiga emulation method. The great thing about FS-UAE is it connects to a database & downloads configs for all the games...whereas with the RA core of PUAE, there's an element of manual naming to run the games at the correct spec. Though I see in the core options you can default all games to run a certain model, ie, A1200. I'm a tad hesitant to do that though because some games run too fast using the (A1200) string in the filename. Yesterday I tried Buggy Boy on both FS-UAE, and PUAE through RA....the RA core ran the game too fast compared to FS-UAE.

Inviere

I seen this on Reddit the other day - someone seems to be working on Nuance again! This Nuon emulator (the only one afaik), is incomplete after its original author died...now someone is working on it again (the original author made the source code public) and fixing bugs etc. Tempest 3K may soon be playable without random crashing! - https://www.thehelper.net/threads/resurrecting-nuance.166935/

sundodger5

Hi all as i have a bit of spare time i am finally getting around to finishing my mame build.
I have setup Hyperspin/Rocketlauncher which is working with mame through a J-Pac into my arcade monitor no problem.
Where i need help is getting RetroArch to do the same.
I think i am missing something stupidly simple in the setup.
When i fire up a SNES game in Retroarch i get the split screen thing (31Khz maybe?).
I see the exact same thing before windows loads and i have the bios screen.

Any help appreciated as i am gone cross eyed looking at youtube vids etc.
Thanks.
Mark.

Inviere

sundodger5 wrote: »

Hi all as i have a bit of spare time i am finally getting around to finishing my mame build.
I have setup Hyperspin/Rocketlauncher which is working with mame through a J-Pac into my arcade monitor no problem.
Where i need help is getting RetroArch to do the same.
I think i am missing something stupidly simple in the setup.
When i fire up a SNES game in Retroarch i get the split screen thing (31Khz maybe?).
I see the exact same thing before windows loads and i have the bios screen.

Any help appreciated as i am gone cross eyed looking at youtube vids etc.
Thanks.
Mark.

Try Settings->Video->CRT SwitchRes

Sounds like a 31Khz signal alright, that the J-Pac is splitting in two. The SwitchRes setting allows you to input a custom output

Inviere

Just a couple of vids to show how the biblical difference in visuals a simple increase in internal resolution makes to games. No shaders or anything, just a simple increase in resolution:

PS2

GameCube & Wii

N64

Dreamcast

Skerries

I have a modded Arcade1up but the sound has stopped working and I am not sure if it is the converter board or the Raspi
So I was thinking to just stick a small factor Dell into it which would give me a bigger hdd anyway
So what is the best way to do this in order for it to work with an A1up?
I was looking at RetroArch, Launchbox and Coinops Next

Inviere

Skerries wrote: »

I have a modded Arcade1up but the sound has stopped working and I am not sure if it is the converter board or the Raspi
So I was thinking to just stick a small factor Dell into it which would give me a bigger hdd anyway
So what is the best way to do this in order for it to work with an A1up?
I was looking at RetroArch, Launchbox and Coinops Next

I'm heavily biased towards Launcbox, because it's so actively developed for, easy to use, and has some fantastic features (shudder thinking back to the HyperSpin days...although that's the go-to for 15Khz displays). With BigBox (premium version only), you can use themes to have it look, feel, & sound exactly as you want...I really like minimalist themes, so BigCouch is my preferred one.

I use RetroArch for the vast majority of the systems I emulate, and then Launchbox/BigBox is configured to use RetroArch for those systems. I've never used Coinops, so can't comment on it, but again, huge thumbs up for Launchbox...ideally paired with an emumovies account for scraping.

Get RetroArch set up with the games & systems you want
Install LaunchBox
In LaunchBox, set up RetroArch as an emulator
Start adding roms & systems to Launchbox

Premium:
Make sure all the metadata & media has scrapped for your games
Install the BigBox theme of your choice
Make any adjustments you like to tailor it to your liking
Enjoy!

The beauty of running RetroArch will be no more vanilla pixels on the lcd screen, be sure enable one of the good shaders for your systems!

Final piece of advice, less is more. Try only stick to arcade games on an arcade cab. Even at that, try limit the number of games, because you'll end up playing nothing at all

The Last Bandit

What's a good general purpose shader for 8 & 16 bitters ? Have Bigbox mostly setup now, using the Colorful theme

Still struggling to get decent performance for Saturn & N64, using a A300 deskmini with a Ryzen 5 2400g so should be plenty of grunt ?

Inviere

The Last Bandit wrote: »

What's a good general purpose shader for 8 & 16 bitters ? Have Bigbox mostly setup now, using the Colorful theme

Personally I like crt-hyllian - but it'll be personal choice. You can tailor the shaders no end also, which seems like a rabbit hole all of itself.

Still struggling to get decent performance for Saturn & N64, using a A300 deskmini with a Ryzen 5 2400g so should be plenty of grunt ?

Are you using the APU for graphics? Both of those systems can be hardware intensive, I'd imagine the CPU side of things should be fine, but might need some help on the GPU side of things? Have you a low powered/spare discreet gpu you could add in and test? How much ram in that machine also?

The Last Bandit

Made some adjustments to the cores and its playing better now. One of the best things to do is disable the FPS counter, I was noticing the frame rate dropping via the counter that weren't detectable during game play.

Tried some of the CRT filters and ya its a minefield of tweaks

Overall the setup look brilliant now with Bigbox setup.

Inviere

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Overall the setup look brilliant now with Bigbox setup.

It makes a massive difference doesn't it. A curated game collection, retroarch with a nice shader(s) handling the emulation, launchbox/bigbox for the user experience...it's about as professional and seamless as you can get in terms of emulation (controller support for exiting games back to BigBox is a lovely touch), with the added bonus of high class emulation if you have the hardware (modest hardware in this day & age is enough for a top end emulation experience outside of a few edge cases).

Doge

The Last Bandit wrote: »

What's a good general purpose shader for 8 & 16 bitters ? Have Bigbox mostly setup now, using the Colorful theme

Still struggling to get decent performance for Saturn & N64, using a A300 deskmini with a Ryzen 5 2400g so should be plenty of grunt ?

Hehe we're on the same path lately, I've been looking into buying an a300 with a ryzen 3 3200g the past week, mainly for use with Sinden light gun whenever it goes into production.

Have sourced a pre built one second hand just negotiating with the seller.

Worth trying out the built in HLSL sharers in MAME also and following Derek Moore's guides on YouTube too, they really nail the scanline effect from arcade monitors better than retroarch sharers imo.

Inviere

Doge wrote: »

Worth trying out the built in HLSL sharers in MAME also and following Derek Moore's guides on YouTube too, they really nail the scanline effect from arcade monitors better than retroarch sharers imo.

Wasn't HLSL superseded by BGFX? Or maybe it was the other way around? Can't remember! I use the MAME core within RetroArch (0.219 as of writing I believe, but works with the .220 files I have)....and use a built-in RetroArch shader. Actually redone my entire emulation setup over Christmas because of standalone MAME....I couldn't figure it out, but it was causing stutter on scrolling for certain games, and was really annoying me (I tried everything I could think of to resolve it!). I tried RetroArch's MAME core to compare, and it was buttery smooth in comparison, so that was me sold. Re the shaders, I'm not sure how the built in ones compare against BGFX/HLSL, but I think both look great when set up correctly. RA is soooo much easier when it comes to scanlines though, I'm not sure I could go back to editing config files for MAME

Doge

Inviere wrote: »

Wasn't HLSL superseded by BGFX? Or maybe it was the other way around? Can't remember! I use the MAME core within RetroArch (0.219 as of writing I believe, but works with the .220 files I have)....and use a built-in RetroArch shader. Actually redone my entire emulation setup over Christmas because of standalone MAME....I couldn't figure it out, but it was causing stutter on scrolling for certain games, and was really annoying me (I tried everything I could think of to resolve it!). I tried RetroArch's MAME core to compare, and it was buttery smooth in comparison, so that was me sold. Re the shaders, I'm not sure how the built in ones compare against BGFX/HLSL, but I think both look great when set up correctly. RA is soooo much easier when it comes to scanlines though, I'm not sure I could go back to editing config files for MAME

You can edit the shaders live by hitting the tilde key, so you have pretty much a full screen preview as you go along.

Inviere

Doge wrote: »

You can edit the shaders live by hitting the tilde key, so you have pretty much a full screen preview as you go along.

Aye I remember setting it up on a bartop I had. The HLSL shader has been ported to RetroArch I believe anyway, so it's just a matter of turning it on and tailoring it from the UI as you would MAME. Though for me, I'm more than happy with the standard RA GLSL shaders, with some tailoring where needed.