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RETROARCH - The all-in-one emulator dreams are made of, son
- Thread starter Rich!
- Start date
TheGoddamn
Member
I have a perfectly working nightly of 1.2.2 from 24 September. Loads configs per game even within cores-- for example, Pokemon Red looks like this
and Pokemon Crystal looks like this
Just using one core, Gambatte.
I'm tinkering with the latest nightly (25 February 2016), and redoing my settings from scratch. But this override (in \config\Nestopia\Family Computer game name.cfg) that works perfectly in my 1.2.2:
doesn't work perfectly in my nightly 1.3.0. The build does activate the override-- because the integer scaling does happen-- but it doesn't seem to be able to find/trigger the appropriate shader.
Am I missing something? Granted, I haven't used RA in a long time, so I've probably forgotten how to use it.
and Pokemon Crystal looks like this
Just using one core, Gambatte.
I'm tinkering with the latest nightly (25 February 2016), and redoing my settings from scratch. But this override (in \config\Nestopia\Family Computer game name.cfg) that works perfectly in my 1.2.2:
Code:
video_shader = ":\shaders\shaders_cg\crt\crt-easymode-halation.cgp"
video_hard_sync_frames = "1"
video_scale_integer = "true"doesn't work perfectly in my nightly 1.3.0. The build does activate the override-- because the integer scaling does happen-- but it doesn't seem to be able to find/trigger the appropriate shader.
Am I missing something? Granted, I haven't used RA in a long time, so I've probably forgotten how to use it.
Beer Monkey
Member
How is Virtual Boy doing these days? Especially on the N3DS?
I own a VB and many games and I'm thinking I should be selling the VB before one of the mirror breaks and it is worthless. Got it out tonight and it still works great, but it sounds like they mostly die at some point.
I own a VB and many games and I'm thinking I should be selling the VB before one of the mirror breaks and it is worthless. Got it out tonight and it still works great, but it sounds like they mostly die at some point.
VB support is great on the windows build at least, and 3D works well on my 3DTV with side by side view.
I would try using a full path to the shader to rule out a relative path issue first. I use the same type of setup to have different shaders between GB and GBC and just updated to yesterday's nightly and it still works for me.
Couple of questions:
I'm going to update Retroarch tonight, as I'm using a build from at least October, I believe. When I installed it back then it was a fresh install. How do I update to the latest version while keeping all of my settings intact?
Second question is kinda basic but I like to ask from time to time: what's everyone's preferred shader for 8-bit and 16-bit games to emulate the look of playing them on a tube television? Months ago I think I was using CRT-Royale or Easymode, but I'm wondering how things have progressed since then.
I'm going to update Retroarch tonight, as I'm using a build from at least October, I believe. When I installed it back then it was a fresh install. How do I update to the latest version while keeping all of my settings intact?
Second question is kinda basic but I like to ask from time to time: what's everyone's preferred shader for 8-bit and 16-bit games to emulate the look of playing them on a tube television? Months ago I think I was using CRT-Royale or Easymode, but I'm wondering how things have progressed since then.
You can simply replace retroarch.exe to update the frontend then use the updater in the GUI to grab the latest cores. For CRT shaders, nothing beats crt-easymode-halation for me.
That's it? Wow! Thanks for letting me know!
Yep. Well, I guess sometimes you need to update your assets when new graphics are made for the XMB interface. That's easy to do from the GUI's online updater too.
Does anyone here use a Wii U pro controller with Mayflash adapter? Just wondering if the input lag is tolerable. I'm currently using an official SNES controller with a Super Smart Joy, but I think some of the buttons are going on it lately. Been missing button inputs here and there.
That's what I was using before I switched to a wired Xbox Elite and it was good. I didn't really notice a difference lag wise switching over.
charlequin
Banned
I'm not even very good at games and I 100%ed Castle in the Darkness with that controller combo, so I'm gonna say there's not much lag.
Sanctuary
Member
So how exactly are you supposed to get multi-disc games to work correctly with Mednafen (PSX)? I followed the simple instructions, creating an M3U file, and that's what I had been loading FF9 with. Now however, I am at the point to swap to disc 2 and it keeps telling me to insert the correct disc. When I try to use the commands through the menu to switch discs that way, it says inserting disc 2 of 4, but then I still get the "insert correct disc!" message.
edit: Nvm, figured it out. Even though the discs would switch, I still had to close the tray. I thought that the entire point of the M3U file though was so that you didn't have to mess with actually trying to swap discs, that it simply jumped to the next disc on the list automatically after the disc swap screen appeared.
edit: Nvm, figured it out. Even though the discs would switch, I still had to close the tray. I thought that the entire point of the M3U file though was so that you didn't have to mess with actually trying to swap discs, that it simply jumped to the next disc on the list automatically after the disc swap screen appeared.
Do some systems run at different frequencies? I've noticed TG16 games drop (or maybe add?) a frame every so often using Mednafen PCE Fast, but every other emulator runs perfectly smooth. I also tried PC Engine Supergrafx (Mednafen SGX) and got the same result.
I've checked the video settings while running Bonk's Adventure, and the estimated monitor framerate hovers around 59.823 Hz, even though my refresh rate is locked to 60.002 Hz. Every other system I've tried matches my monitor's refresh and presents no visual hiccups.
Edit: Went back to version 1.2.2 and the problem went away.
I've checked the video settings while running Bonk's Adventure, and the estimated monitor framerate hovers around 59.823 Hz, even though my refresh rate is locked to 60.002 Hz. Every other system I've tried matches my monitor's refresh and presents no visual hiccups.
Edit: Went back to version 1.2.2 and the problem went away.
Hmm, Neo Geo games in FB Alpha don't seem to like save states. It's almost like the original state of the game is trying to run at the same time as the loaded state, everything slows down and I can hear the audio from the original state.
Also, to echo an earlier question - it looks like the scan directory feature doesn't work for neo geo games, maybe because of the size of the games? Any workarounds for that?
Also, to echo an earlier question - it looks like the scan directory feature doesn't work for neo geo games, maybe because of the size of the games? Any workarounds for that?
Radius4
Member
If you are on PC use the FBA svn core it's better and serialization works correctly.
The scanner doesn't work because the rom format is not straightforward to support.
thanks!
Radius4
Member
Well no-one looked at it, that's why it took a while, I think most of use just use one config.
The issue was rather simple but it took me a couple of hours to find were the problem was.
https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/commit/5f3b27417b866c1e38bb197fd85c9f03d89492cf
nkarafo
Member
Well, thanks for looking at it. I use configs per system as i need them for other frontends like Hyperspin and LaunchBox and i prefer using RA and it's cores the default emulator.
Just went to play Super Mario Bros 3 in Super Mario All-Stars using BSNES balanced and a Wii U pro controller using the Mayflash adapter in xinput mode (that was a mouthful). Anyway, the game wouldn't let me play a 1-player game, despite the fact that I only have one controller plugged in. I selected the 2-player battle mode just as a test, and I was performing both Mario and Luigi. Anyone know why this would be?
I switched to Mercury Balanced recently. The main reason I like it more is because it doesn't have that couple second loading time the mainline BSNES cores have when loading ROMs. But it's also got some HLE options for speeding up special chip games on slower CPUs and SuperFX overclocking for better FPS in Starfox. Those are nice options to have. It's supposed to be 20% or so faster in general without losing any accuracy too. There are more details about the differences if you scroll down on the GIT page.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
I updated to the latest stable release this weekend and the CRT filters I like all seem to be borked on N64 games. I didn't have this problem on the older version I was using before. It's not a big deal, though.
Also, I've never been able to get my Sega CD games to work with Retroarch. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, it just crashes straight away.
Also, I've never been able to get my Sega CD games to work with Retroarch. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, it just crashes straight away.
Stable 1.3 has a bug with some shaders. It's fixed in nightlies.
For Sega CD, it's probably a BIOS issue. The first three listed here need to be in your system folder. If you have those three and it's still not working, make sure your system folder is set correctly in the directory settings. BIN/CUE dumps of Sega CD games are generally the best to use; make sure to open up the .cue file with a text editor and see if the correct filename is set for the .bin.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
Thanks for the advice, I'll look into these. It would be nice if the program gave some verbose error messages instead of just crashing to desktop.
ScreamingTrees
Member
Bit of an odd one thing happening on me. I've been trying out the DeSmuME with a few games. I have Enable HotKeys set to right-trigger on my Xbox controller (I use Right-Trigger+Start to exit retroarch). Right-trigger is also the button to "press down" the stylus.
On NSMB and Super Princess Peach, the stylus works fine. However, on Super Mario 64 DS when I press right-trigger to activate the stylus, nothing happens. If I switch the Hotkey button to Left-Trigger, it works fine in Mario 64. Any idea why only Mario 64 doesn't like this conflict?
On NSMB and Super Princess Peach, the stylus works fine. However, on Super Mario 64 DS when I press right-trigger to activate the stylus, nothing happens. If I switch the Hotkey button to Left-Trigger, it works fine in Mario 64. Any idea why only Mario 64 doesn't like this conflict?
Radius4
Member
Yes I agree with this but it's really hard to implement since it needs to be implemented in all the cores or we need to have some signal handler or some mechanism like that.
Well, when you press "hotkey" it blocks all retropad inputs, the bug is it actually working on some titles, basically, it works when the game reacts immediately (in the same frame) to the input. Maybe in the other game input is delayed a few frames (even one frame would make it not work)
For that reason it's recommended to use a buttons that is not used for anything else. Really there is no way to solve this, if we don't block it could for instance lead to people jumping in games when trying to create a savestate, or something like that, and by blocking it causes these inconveniences.
They are under quick menu after loading content
Ahh, thank you.
Should I alter the default resolutions, integer scalings etc. to get the most out of these CRT-Shaders?
ScreamingTrees
Member
Oh ok. I actually like the way the bug works! I'll have to redo my hotkeys. Thanks
I was thinking about the DS core, could the screen options be expanded slightly? In the standalone emulator, you can switch between top/bottom, top only, bottom only, etc. on the fly using hotkeys. In Retroarch I can only switch between top only or bottom only (using quick switch). Ideally I'd like to move between top only, bottom only and top/bottom on the fly when the need arises.
Actually, my desired layout would be one screen be the "main" screen and left justified (while preserving aspect ratio) and then (on a 16:9/16:10 screen) a mini screen in the black space left and to be able to flip the two screens at will. Any way that's possible or is the idea just completely out there?
Question about refresh rate:
https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/wiki/Getting-optimal-vsync-performance
Under "problems" it says: Press accept button on the estimated refresh rate to configure RetroArch with the estimated rate. If the running average isn't drifting much anymore, it's probably a good result."
Has anyone here not done this and still experienced smooth performance across the board? Is this a necessary step? The reason I ask is lifehacker has a guide for setting up retroarch (http://lifehacker.com/how-to-set-up-an-all-in-one-retro-game-emulator-with-re-1745863517), and they don't seem to mention this step.
https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/wiki/Getting-optimal-vsync-performance
Under "problems" it says: Press accept button on the estimated refresh rate to configure RetroArch with the estimated rate. If the running average isn't drifting much anymore, it's probably a good result."
Has anyone here not done this and still experienced smooth performance across the board? Is this a necessary step? The reason I ask is lifehacker has a guide for setting up retroarch (http://lifehacker.com/how-to-set-up-an-all-in-one-retro-game-emulator-with-re-1745863517), and they don't seem to mention this step.
GAWD this is bugging me so much.
Certain NES games running in Retroarch 1.2.2 have very inconsistent frame rates: TMNT2: The Arcade Game, Metroid, Little Nemo, to name a few. Others are perfectly smooth: Castlevania 3, Super C, Super Mario Bros 3. This is using Nestopia.
Has anyone else had trouble with NES games? It seems to be the only system I can't get to run smoothly.
Edit: should mention I'm on a PC with Windows 10. It's like random stuttering with some of the games. I'm running a 2500K with a GTX 780 and 16 gigs of ram, so my system is more that capable of playing NES games.
Edit 2: I am mostly noticing this with horizontally scrolling backgrounds.
Edit 3: I watched a YouTube 60fps vid for TMNT2 and performance was similar to what I'm getting. Checked other 60fps NES vids by the same user and the performance seemed fine. Starting to think this is just the way some of these games play. Metroid would be surprising to me, though. Does it have lots of frame rate issues?
Certain NES games running in Retroarch 1.2.2 have very inconsistent frame rates: TMNT2: The Arcade Game, Metroid, Little Nemo, to name a few. Others are perfectly smooth: Castlevania 3, Super C, Super Mario Bros 3. This is using Nestopia.
Has anyone else had trouble with NES games? It seems to be the only system I can't get to run smoothly.
Edit: should mention I'm on a PC with Windows 10. It's like random stuttering with some of the games. I'm running a 2500K with a GTX 780 and 16 gigs of ram, so my system is more that capable of playing NES games.
Edit 2: I am mostly noticing this with horizontally scrolling backgrounds.
Edit 3: I watched a YouTube 60fps vid for TMNT2 and performance was similar to what I'm getting. Checked other 60fps NES vids by the same user and the performance seemed fine. Starting to think this is just the way some of these games play. Metroid would be surprising to me, though. Does it have lots of frame rate issues?
nkarafo
Member
Just test a game that we can confirm it scrolls smoothly all the time. Try Mario Bros 1. It's perfectly smooth on my end.
Also make sure you are using US NTSC roms. PAL versions are made for 50hz TVs so they should run at 50fps. That means they can't sync perfectly if your TV doesn't support 50hz.
Also make sure you are using US NTSC roms. PAL versions are made for 50hz TVs so they should run at 50fps. That means they can't sync perfectly if your TV doesn't support 50hz.
Yeah it must be the games themselves. I've had plenty of games run smoothly, but there were just a couple lately that seemed like they'd be caused by poor emulation. I looked into Metroid and it sounds like it has always performed a bit poorly anyway, so I suspect that's what's going on with the others.
SMB1 runs great on my system.
TheMadMan007
Member
So I'm getting all my rom sets in order to make a nice clean portable install to throw on a external hard drive. What type of fileset is the best for Retoarch to read? (i.e. .zip .7z or their native file (.nes .sfc . snes .gen)?
TheGoddamn
Member
Thanks for the input! Feel a bit foolish, though, because I found the culprit. I was looking through the Quick Menu (checking to see whether I would need to manually select the shader through it) when I saw that the shader passes had actually been loaded up.
I just went back to the main retroarch.cfg file and found this
Code:
video_shader_enable = "false"Changed it to "true", which I'd forgotten about in my initial tweaking. Is the option to change this in the actual frontend? I'm probably blind.
It's got a nice professional look to it. I usually end up playing at my desktop, so an interface designed for quick mouse navigation might be preferable for me.
Yep, which is why I gravitate to grid view in Steam's desktop mode as my launcher lately. It's faster to navigate than Big Picture in that environment. It's still really nice looking with the grids I made using HyperSpin wheelart logos on top of the best artwork I could find for each game:
I think they mix well enough with the actual Steam games in my Recent list.
I have another problem: can I configure different inputs for different cores? When I did the initial control bindings it made the controls perfect for snes games but when I tried a GBA game the controls are way off and I was wondering if I can somehow bind them to my liking for just the GBA core so that when I load the core it also loads the inputs for it and if I switch cores it also switches the inputs?
nkarafo
Member
Here's the problem though, it messes with the art direction and makes everything look rounded, including assets that aren't supposed to be rounded and smooth. Look at the bricks on the platform in the Mario picture, for instance. These shouldn't be smoothed out like that. I don't think the designer would want them to look so rounded.
So, i'd say it still loses detail.