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RETROARCH - The all-in-one emulator dreams are made of, son

DarkCloud

Member
Long as you have the cx4.bin file and can run x2 then x3 should work as well since they both used the same chip. Filthy pant's site had dumps of all the bsnes specific chips if i recall.

3vQy5mz.png
 

DarkCloud

Member
SUCCESS! I cannot believe how annoying that was to setup.


In case anyone else was curious how to get Super Gameboy working via steam launcher you need to follow the following command line structure.

"path to retroarch.exe" --config emulator.cfg -L "path to bsnes_balanced_libretro.dll" "path to sgb.sfc" -g "path to gameboy rom.gb"

Note that sgb emulation will only work via command line and not through rgui...and both the sgb bios and the gb rom need to be unzipped.
 

Crisium

Member
Go into video options and turn on Hard GPU Sync and make sure Hard GPU Sync Frames is at 0 (should be by default) to get the least amount of lag while maintaining vsync. Also make sure your video driver is GL instead of D3D.

The lag is still completely unacceptable to me. This greatly improves it, but anything more than 1 or 2 frames is terrible.

I'm not sure how you all can put up with all these frames of delay, but this is not how we did it in the 90s on CRT. Please, tell me there's a way to fix it. Input lag >>>> any picture quality. Absolutely. This is not the emulator for me apparently.
 

Awakened

Member
The lag is still completely unacceptable to me. This greatly improves it, but anything more than 1 or 2 frames is terrible.

I'm not sure how you all can put up with all these frames of delay, but this is not how we did it in the 90s on CRT. Please, tell me there's a way to fix it. Input lag >>>> any picture quality. Absolutely. This is not the emulator for me apparently.
I remember thinking with hard sync on that it was less laggy comparing the Genesis Plus GX core to Kega Fusion. I've never tested the SNES cores vs. ZSNES, but you might want to try an SNES9x core if you are using BSNES just to see if that's any better.

I can definitely feel some extra latency if I switch to my 60hz TV or switch my monitor from 120hz to 60hz mode, so you might want to look into a 120hz or higher monitor if you want something closer to a CRT.
 

Fredrik

Member
TV latency + HDMI latency + emulator latency + wireless controller latency

Isn't it impossible to get emulators to compare to an old school retro setup if you're picky about latency?

I've been playing quite a bit on a Raspberry Pi Retroarch setup with wireless 360 controller lately and I can definitely feel an added amount of lag, but I'm already used to it from playing two generations of console gaming on a LCD/LED TV so the upside of having a tiny box playing my favorite retro classics that Nintendo stubbornly refuse to upload to VC store won me over.

I'm actually incredibly impressed about this piece of software, and as I said earlier I've been very much against emulators up until now.
And it's even possible to run PS1 games on it, maybe I could finally find a purpose for my old NTSC PS1 collection that has been collecting dust because of a broken PS1 and region lock on PS3 Phat.

Only downside I've noticed is that using a 360 controller to play SNES, PS1 and especially C64 games kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Pushing a button to switch between PS3 and 360 controller, and/or having a GPIO card thingy for using actual SNES / Megadrive controller and a Tac-2 joystick, would be better... but sadly I'm more into playing games than fiddling with config files so I don't think I would ever get that to work.
360 controller is still light years ahead of using a keyboard though, which is my experience with emulators before this.
 
nevermind figured it out.

What shaders do you guys use to simulate old CRT tvs?

I like the NTSC svideo one, but it'd be nice to have a little bit cleaner one that simulates RGB on a CRT tv.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
I miss a GUI as well, I'm used to Linux stuff and commandline but I'd like newcomers to enjoy the beauty of Retroarch without being scared by it. Bsnes awesome emulation (dat Chrono Trigger music accurately reproduced) + CRT-interlaced-halation shader (thank you cgwg wherever you are, I love you) put me in heaven :

sanstitre6sdrh.png

I usually prefer unfiltered sprites, but this looks great. May have to give that a go.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
The Mednafen PCE core requires the CD bios file (SYSCARD3.PCE) to be in the same folder as the game.

I've tried this before, but i think its a problem with my setup or something as the Mednafen GBA core also just crashes to desktop on me just like the TG-16 one does.
 
I've tried this before, but i think its a problem with my setup or something as the Mednafen GBA core also just crashes to desktop on me just like the TG-16 one does.

my issue is that it was named incorrectly. I also pasted it into a few different directories just to be sure. System, the game directory, the main directory, and the libretro directory.
 

Foffy

Banned
SUCCESS! I cannot believe how annoying that was to setup.



In case anyone else was curious how to get Super Gameboy working via steam launcher you need to follow the following command line structure.

"path to retroarch.exe" --config emulator.cfg -L "path to bsnes_balanced_libretro.dll" "path to sgb.sfc" -g "path to gameboy rom.gb"

Note that sgb emulation will only work via command line and not through rgui...and both the sgb bios and the gb rom need to be unzipped.

How did you set up Super Game Boy? I still have no idea on what the fuck to do. :p
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
my issue is that it was named incorrectly. I also pasted it into a few different directories just to be sure. System, the game directory, the main directory, and the libretro directory.

Ah yeah, that seems to be most peoples stumbling. I've jammed that file in every which way, and it still crashes straight out. Can run the bios itself, but when I try and give Rondo a spin it just says nope.

What makes me suspicious is that the Mednafen GBA emu just does the same thing, which is why I go with the other options. My rig is Mednafen allergic it seems.
 

EasyMode

Member
I've tried this before, but i think its a problem with my setup or something as the Mednafen GBA core also just crashes to desktop on me just like the TG-16 one does.

I just want to make a correction since I was at work when I posted that after some googling. I'm at home now and just checked my Retroarch setup, and apparently I have syscard3.pce (lower case!) in the retroarch\system folder, not the game folder like I had posted.

Rondo of Blood loads up and runs fine. If I rename that bios file it crashes.

Also, if you're having problems with crashes try this. Open a command prompt and go to your Retroarch folder. Type "retroarch --menu --verbose" and hit enter. Select the core and try to load up whatever is failing. When it crashes the command prompt will show a log of whatever error it ran into. At least then you can google or post it.

What shaders do you guys use to simulate old CRT tvs?

I like the NTSC svideo one, but it'd be nice to have a little bit cleaner one that simulates RGB on a CRT tv.

In the shader\crt folder, try crt-cgwg.cg or crt-geom-flat.cg with the following settings:

shader options:
passes: 1
filter: nearest
scale: don't care

video options:
aspect ratio: 4:3
integer scale: on (is sharper, but off should be fine if you prefer it to fill vertically)
 

Awakened

Member
What makes me suspicious is that the Mednafen GBA emu just does the same thing, which is why I go with the other options. My rig is Mednafen allergic it seems.
The Mednafen GBA core doesn't work yet, but since it compiles it's included in test builds. Mednafen's GBA core is based on an old version of VBA-M's code, so it's better to use that core instead, which I think pulls from the latest VBA-M source now.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I just want to make a correction since I was at work when I posted that after some googling. I'm at home now and just checked my Retroarch setup, and apparently I have syscard3.pce (lower case!) in the retroarch\system folder, not the game folder like I had posted.

Rondo of Blood loads up and runs fine. If I rename that bios file it crashes.

Cheers for the help, but I just get a [ERROR] :: Failed to load game + rarch_main_init_wrap<> failed. syscard3.pce is in about every single folder I could think to copy it so... maybe its just a bad rip?
EDIT: Tried it with another rip, no go. Tried with converting to MP3's, no go. Seems totally busted :/
 

EasyMode

Member
Cheers for the help, but I just get a [ERROR] :: Failed to load game + rarch_main_init_wrap<> failed. syscard3.pce is in about every single folder I could think to copy it so... maybe its just a bad rip?
EDIT: Tried it with another rip, no go. Tried with converting to MP3's, no go. Seems totally busted :/

There are no other errors above that one? It could be a bad rip. I know Retroarch doesn't seem to like bin/cue+seperate audio tracks as wav/mp3. It only works with straight bin/cue rips in my experience. Oh well :/
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
There are no other errors above that one? It could be a bad rip. I know Retroarch doesn't seem to like bin/cue+seperate audio tracks as wav/mp3. It only works with straight bin/cue rips in my experience. Oh well :/

Hmmm, well technically my rip is an iso and cue, and so was another I tried. Does it have to be bin?

Edit: Hey presto! Thats the bastard. FINALLY. Sure I read some people were dealing with iso's fine, but THE BIN IS IN.
 
Seeing this thing convinced me to get back into tinkering with emulators and holy cow...it's fantastic.

Those shader settings are so goddamn wonderful, feels like I'm traveling back in time to early Saturday mornings sitting perched in front of the family television while the house sleeps.

I've come across a strange bug with the crt shader with N64 games, however. It causes a black dot to appear in the centre of the screen. I noticed another member mentioned this earlier in the thread but I didn't see any solutions.
 
I''ve found with the Gameboy bios the colours in Gameboy color games arn't as bright as on other emulators. Does anyone know if you can get another Gameboy bios? and how to install it?

Also it would help having 2 as It counts Gameboy games and Gameboy color games as the same core and so you have to change the shader each time you go between game types (green Gameboy shader and lcd shader)


I've come across a strange bug with the crt shader with N64 games, however. It causes a black dot to appear in the centre of the screen. I noticed another member mentioned this earlier in the thread but I didn't see any solutions.
Yep I've seen this too, its almost like a dead pixel. maybe its trying to emulate a dead pixel?


SUCCESS! I cannot believe how annoying that was to setup.



In case anyone else was curious how to get Super Gameboy working via steam launcher you need to follow the following command line structure.

"path to retroarch.exe" --config emulator.cfg -L "path to bsnes_balanced_libretro.dll" "path to sgb.sfc" -g "path to gameboy rom.gb"

Note that sgb emulation will only work via command line and not through rgui...and both the sgb bios and the gb rom need to be unzipped.

Could you go into a bit more detail about this, what extra files did you put where for this to work? and does this work by adding this to the exe or does it need to open through steam?
 
Trying to get a good NTSC filter without scanlines. I'm having issues with all the options, I'm finding it hard to eliminate dot crawl. Also, is there any way to changes filters while a game is running? That would make things easier. This is what I'm trying to recreate:

 
I realize one of the major points of RetroArch is running games easily without a keyboard/mouse, but I would like to set up custom keyboard mappings and it seems you can't do that via the GUI? It just doesn't detect keyboard keys at all.

I suppose I can change them in the config file, but there are a lot of already preset keys for various actions like reset, rewind and pause so I'd have to juggle all of these keys around to make a satisfying (for me at least) keyboard mapping. Is there an easier way of doing this at all?
 
I'm having issues getting games to save with the pcsx rearmed on my s4. I have the bios in the directory, but anytime I try to save state it says failed to save. Also when I save in game a save will show up on the memory card, which I can load from while in game, but as soon as I restart the game the save is gone.

Edit: Just wanted to say that saves were no longer working on my EXTSD, once I made a save directory onto my phone's internal memory it worked. I'm just confused why it was working for a couple of weeks and then stopped all of the sudden (I did not update).
 

DarkCloud

Member
How did you set up Super Game Boy? I still have no idea on what the fuck to do. :p
Sorry for the late reply. Forgot all about my post.

The biggest hurdle was learning via trial and error that you can only get sgb emulation to work via a command line interface. Retroarch is currently unable to load SGB + gb rom via the current gui setup alone. I use steam's non steam game add support to set this up.

You will need to acquire a Super Gameboy Bios (version 1, 2, or super gameboy 2). This is just like any other rom image but is of the SGB base cart.

For ease of setting this up this is how i have my directories set:

C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\Emulation\Gameboy (Place SGB compatible roms here. These roms must NOT be zipped.

C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\RetroArch\ (in this zip you will have a folder labelled system. place the extracted sgb bios rom here.)

If all files are placed as stated open up steam and go to your library and scroll to the bottom of your list. click add a non steam game and browse to the retroarch.exe file found in your newly created folder on your desktop and add it.

Next right click the created link and select properties. in the second line paste this link:

"C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\RetroArch\retroarch.exe" -L "C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\RetroArch\libretro\bsnes_balanced_libretro.dll" "C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\RetroArch\system\(insert name of sgb bios.sfc here)" -g "C:\Users\(...)\Desktop\Emulation\Gameboy\(insert name of rom.gb here)"

All listed directories should match the exact names from a freshly extracted megapack of themaister's retroarch main page.

Replace the rom with the rom of your choice (i recommend to keep the name small for space reasons. Ie Donkey Kong to dk.gb. Replace the SGB bios with whatever your file is named (i recommend sgb.sfc). And of course replace all (...) with the user your pc is running under found in the 3rd line of the added games properties.

Once you've done all this close the open window (via clicking close and not the x in the top right) and then click play on the newly created link. If all went well you should be looking at this.

 

Mindman

Member
So guys... where the hell can I find retroarch-pheonix.exe? It's not on the download package, there's no link to it on their site, etc.
 

tanuki

Member
I've got Retroarch on the PS3 now, and it's totally blowing me away. Amazing stuff. The iPad version (paired with a game pad) is pretty special too. If Apple bothered pushing controller support for iOS, it would kill all other handheld gaming stone dead.
 

Rich!

Member
Oh my god

I'm the one who created this thread, and since then I've built up a proper retro collection of pure hardware through RGB. Even so, I still love retroarch, which is still my go-to app for GBA and arcade on my HDTV.

so uh...

has there been any updates on the main core?
 

Awakened

Member
Oh my god

I'm the one who created this thread, and since then I've built up a proper retro collection of pure hardware through RGB. Even so, I still love retroarch, which is still my go-to app for GBA and arcade on my HDTV.

so uh...

has there been any updates on the main core?
RGUI had a ton of options added; I think everything you could change via the old Phoenix GUI or add manually to your config file is in there now.

There are software graphics filters now that are more CPU heavy vs. the shaders that use your GPU. I haven't had a reason to try them though. I think they are more useful on mobile platforms.

The Desmume core included in the latest test releases has gotten updated enough to where I like it more than the stand alone version of that emulator. It has built in cursor functionality for the touch screen controlled by the left analog stick by default, right trigger for tapping. It saves me having to set up Xpadder to achieve the same functionality in stand alone. It doesn't work well for 90 degree rotated games and I don't think the mic works yet though.

MESS and UME cores are available now which support a bunch of obscure systems, but I'm not sure if they are any easier to use than the stand alone versions.
 
So I've been messing about with Retroarch and I love the look of the multipass CRT Halation shader, however, screen curvature was never a desirable trait of a good CRT so I really want to get rid of it. How would I go about leaving everything else intact except for removing the screen curvature entirely. Is there a simple variable in the shader code I can edit?
 

EasyMode

Member
So I've been messing about with Retroarch and I love the look of the multipass CRT Halation shader, however, screen curvature was never a desirable trait of a good CRT so I really want to get rid of it. How would I go about leaving everything else intact except for removing the screen curvature entirely. Is there a simple variable in the shader code I can edit?

Yes. In crt-interlaced-halation-pass2.cg, look for #define CURVATURE and comment it out like so:

//#define CURVATURE
 
I just set this up last night on a Wii, and it's so good that I'm going to buy a damn CRT for it, lol.

I actually want to clean up and re-deploy my old Xbox to see if the version for it is even better than the fantastic Wii version.
 

EasyMode

Member
I just set this up last night on a Wii, and it's so good that I'm going to buy a damn CRT for it, lol.

I actually want to clean up and re-deploy my old Xbox to see if the version for it is even better than the fantastic Wii version.

Unlike the Wii, I believe the old XBox doesn't output 240p, which is the ideal resolution for retro gaming on a CRT.
 

Lettuce

Member
So I've been messing about with Retroarch and I love the look of the multipass CRT Halation shader, however, screen curvature was never a desirable trait of a good CRT so I really want to get rid of it. How would I go about leaving everything else intact except for removing the screen curvature entirely. Is there a simple variable in the shader code I can edit?

Try this shader....

http://www.libretro.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1843

or this one

http://www.libretro.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1843

along with this crt bezel overlay

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h73ku0wmnlyeuun/Bezel Overlay.rar

copy that overlay into a folder, i usually make a overlay folder within Retroarch directory. Once you have selected your shader to use, go into setting and then overlay and select the bezel boarder.
 
This is great once you go through the process to set it up. I wish there were prepackaged configuration files based on system with borders, filtersand file paths already set up and a simple readme for how to set up Steam shortcuts command lines per system.
 

Durante

Member
I like that over the past few years the emulation of display hardware got as much attention as the emulation of the hardware the games were running on. For some of these it's getting hard to distinguish them from a photo of the original display.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Wondering if some folks in here might be able to clear up something that's been bothering me. I've been playing some N64 and PS1 titles, and there's some visual inconsistencies I'm curious about. Here's some unedited screenshots, one of Mariokart 64 and one of CTR:



One of the things that impressed me most about the PS1 emulation in Retroarch was how crisp and pixel-perfect the sprites looked. Most emulators I've used in the past have stretched them in various ways, and they never looked quite right.

So I was a little surprised when I noticed how crummy the same kinds of sprites (character icons, weapon icons, etc) looked in Mariokart 64. Have I got a setting wrong somewhere? I notice the images are different resolutions, but that isn't the result of anything I've done that I'm aware of. It's doubly odd that the "8th"(yeah, I'm rubbish at Mariokart) looks pretty good in contrast with the other UI elements.

The images were taken one after the other, with no setting changes in-between. Any thoughts?
 

KainXVIII

Member
What about new trendy shader filters (for SNES), what arguably best for current moment? gtu-v050 preset is looking good but maybe there is better alternative?
 
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