RetroArch: New Additions PCE, IMAME4all. & Sega CD support

Squarepusher (aka Twinaphex) and Themaister along with other RetroArch contributors have been hard at work. While they are leading up to the release of 0.9.7. We have an unofficial update for the PS3, Thanks to pete_uk and his unofficial compiles.. As i told you before there are some new additions to RetroArch. Today we have two new core and a updated core. The mednafen PCE core has been added to libretro (this brings TurboGrafx-16/TurboGrafx CD/Super Grafx ).Toadking brings IMAME4ALL to the PS3 (via RetroArch), games like MK II, MK III and NBA Hangtime are playing fine. There is also an update to genesis_plus_gx core which brings the version to 1.7. This update is huge as it brings Sega CD support to the PS3 and RetroArch. Please be aware these are WIP builds so some features may be missing and/or not working. Also, check out opium2k's Retro Arch DLC, where you can find tons of different skins for this great app.

mednafen_pce.SELF

Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC-Engine
Turbo-Grafx CD / PC-Engine CD
Super Grafx

genesis_plus_gx.SELF

Sega CD / Mega CD

IMAME4all.SELF

MAME Emulator (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator)
---- 0.37b5 (romset required)

Orginal Port Game List (may differ from ps3 a bit)

From Pete_uk @ ps3crunch.

RetroArch - Commit 2a9441d411425fd578d00d5ed4b030c3b8a373b3
Included Cores:

Snes9x Next - Super Nintendo
FCEU_MM - Nintendo Famicom / NES
Gambatte - Gameboy & Gameboy Color
VBA Next - Gameboy Advance
Final Burn Alpha - Arcade
PR-Boom - Doom, Doom 2 etc.
(NEW!) Genesis-Plus-GX 1.7 - Sega Genesis / Megadrive, Master System, Game Gear & Sega CD / Mega CD
(NEW!) iMame4All - Arcade (Based on Mame 0.37b5)
(NEW!) Mednafen_PCE - NEC PC-Engine / Turbo Grafix 16

Bugs & Issues

iMame4All and Mednafen_PCE are WIP and some bugs / issues do exist.
With both of these cores, they will crash if you try to load a ROM while a ROM is running. To get round this issue, when you want to change the game / ROM, Press R3 then select "Change Libretro Core" and reselect the core.
Save States are also not working on iMame4All and Mednafen_PCE at the moment.

If you find any other bugs, please report them in this thread.

Notes:

PR-BOOM - Requires PRBOOM.WAD (link) in the same same folder as your doom WAD file.

Final Burn Alpha - Based on version 0.2.97.26. Make sure you have the right ROMs or you will have problems.

Genesis-Plus-GX - Sega CD Emulation requires a sega cd bios in the same folder as your ISO / BIN files. The BIOS ROM files be named bios_CD_J.bin (Japan), bios_CD_U.bin (US) and bios_CD_E.bin (Europe)

Mednafen_PCE - PCEngine / Turbo Grafix CD Emulation requires the BIOS to be in the same folder as the ROM you are trying to load. It needs to be named SYSCARD3.PCE

iMame4All - Based on Mame Version 0.37b5, again make sure you have the right romset.

Emulated Systems via RetroArch

Spoiler

RetroArch(libretro cores)

Gambatte
---GameBoy
---GameBoy Color
VBA Next
---GameBoy Advance
Genesis Plus GX
---Sega SG-1000
---Sega Game Gear
---Sega Master System
---Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
---Sega CD / Mega Cd
FCEU Next
---Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
SNES9x Next
---Super Nintendo (SNES)
FB Alpha V0.2.97.26
---Capcom CPS-1
---Capcom CPS-2
---Capcom CPS-3
---Neo-Geo MVS/AES
---Sega System 16A
---Sega System 16B
---Sega System 18
---Sega X-Board
---Sega Y-Board
---CAVE
---Tatio
---Konami
---Psikyo 68EC020 Based Hardware
---PGM
---Toaplan
IMAME4all
---Multiple Arcade Emu. (based on 0.37b5 romset)
Mednafen_PCE
---Turbo-Grafx 16/ PC-Engine
---Turbo Grafx CD / PC-Engine CD
---Super Grafx
prBoom (Confirmed playable WADS)
---Doom
---Doom2
---TNT
---Plutonia
---Chex Quest
---Ultimate FreeDoom (Play from Ep. #2)
---Doom3: Mr. Smiley Head's Safari
---Duke Nukem Total Conv. for Doom2
---Goldeneye 007 Total Conv.
ReadMe 0.9.6 (Must Read if your new to RetroArch)

Spoiler

ReadMe file for RetroArch 0.9.6

RETROARCH PS3 - 0.9.6
---------------------
RetroConsole Level 2
---------------------

Themaister, Squarepusher/Twin Aphex

After over half a year of development (well, slightly more) and lots of preparation work, we can finally present you with RetroArch for PlayStation3.

HOW TO INSTALL THIS
-------------------

ON DEBUG PS3: Put the PKG file 'retroarch-ps3-v0.9.6-debug.pkg' on your USB stick, put it in your PS3. Go to the PS3 XMB - go to the Game tab - Select 'Install Packages', and install the PKG file.

ON CFW P3: Put the PKG file 'retroarch-ps3-v0.9.6-cfw.pkg' on your USB stick. Put it in your CFW PS3. Go to the PS3 XMB - go to the Game tab - select 'Install Packages', and install the PKG file.

ON CFW Kmeaw P3: Put the PKG file 'retroarch-ps3-v0.9.6-cfw-kmeaw.pkg' on your USB stick. Put it in your CFW PS3. Go to the PS3 XMB - go to the Game tab - select 'Install Packages', and install the PKG file.

HOW TO USE THIS - **For additional corrected info on BIOS and CD play please read at the bottom**
---------------

On first startup, RetroArch will select one of the dozen or so emulator/game cores. The name of the core currently loaded will be shown at the top side of the screen.

You can now select a ROM that this core supports and load it in the Filebrowser.

To select a different core in the menu - press Select to go to the Settings screen. From here, go to the 'Retro tab', and select 'Default emulator core'. Press X to go to a filebrowser where you can select a different core. Press X to confirm, then exit RetroArch. Start up again to boot up to the new emulator core.

To change to a different core ingame - press R3 to bring up the 'Quick Menu'. Select 'Change libretro core'. Press X to go to a filebrowser where you can select a different core.

WHAT IS RETROARCH?
------------------
RetroArch is a modular multi-system emulator system that is designed to be fast, lightweight and portable. It has features few other emulator frontends have, such as real-time rewinding and game-aware shading.

WHAT IS LIBRETRO?
-----------------
Libretro is the API that RetroArch uses. It makes it easy to port games and emulators to a single core backend, such as RetroArch.

For the user, this means - more ports to play with, more crossplatform portability, less worrying about developers having to reinvent the wheel writing boilerplate UI/port code - so that they can get busy with writing the emulator/porting the emulator/game.

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
--------------------
Right now it's unique in that it runs the same emulator cores on multiple systems (such as Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, etc).

For each emulator 'core', RetroArch makes use of a library API that we like to call 'libretro'.

Think of libretro as an interface for emulator and game ports. You can make a libretro port once and expect the same code to run on all the platforms that RetroArch supports. It's designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind so that the porter can worry about the port at hand instead of having to wrestle with an obfuscatory API.

The purpose of libretro is to help ease the work of the emulator/game porter by giving him an API that allows him to target multiple platforms at once without having to redo any code. He doesn't have to worry about writing input/video/audio drivers - all of that is supplied to him by RetroArch. All he has to do is to have the emulator port hook into the libretro API and that's it - we take care of the rest.

PLAYSTATION3 PORT
-----------------
The PS3 port of RetroArch is the most developed of the two right now. It has all the features the standalone PS3 emulators had, with the addition of:

- Game-aware shading in every emulator now (*)
- Real-time rewinding
- More shader features (motion blurring, etc)
- Switching between emulator cores seamlessly, and ability to install new libretro cores

Included with RetroArch PS3 are a bunch of shaders - including the latest versions of the popular xBR shader. It is possible to use two shaders simultaneously to get the best possible graphical look.

* Check out Opium2k's manual shaders for Zelda 3 and others - you can find DLC packs for RetroArch at this site:

https://code.google.com/p/retro-arch/

EMULATOR/GAME CORES GBUNDLED WITH PS3 PORT
------------------------------------------
The following emulators have been ported to RetroArch and are included in the first PS3 release of RetroArch:

- Final Burn Alpha (Arcade - various) [version 0.2.97.26]
- FCEUmm (Nintendo Entertainment System) [recent SVN version] (*)
- Gambatte (Game Boy | Super Game Boy | Game Boy Color) [version 0.5.0 WIP]
- Genesis Plus GX (Sega SG-1000 | Master System | Game Gear | Genesis/Mega Drive) [version 1.6.0] (**)
- SNES9x Next (Super Nintendo/Super Famicom)
- VBA Next (Game Boy Advance)
- Prboom (for playing Doom 1/Doom 2/Ultimate Doom/Final Doom)

All of the emulators listed above are the latest versions currently available. Most of them have been specifically optimized so that they will run better on PS3 (some games would not reach fullspeed without these optimizations).

* This port was previously called FCEU Next.
** This port was previously called Genesis Next.

WHAT EXTENSIONS ARE SUPPORTED BY EACH CORE
------------------------------------------

- Prboom: WAD|wad
- SNES9x Next: smc|fig|sfc|gd3|gd7|dx2|bsx|swc|zip|SMC|FIG|SFC|BS X|GD3|
GD7|DX2|SWC
- Genesis Plus GX: md|smd|bin|gen|zip|MD|SMD|bin|GEN|ZIP|sms|SMS|gg|G G|sg|SG
- VBA Next: GBA|gba
- FCEUmm: nes|NES|unif|UNIF
- Gambatte: gb|gbc|dmg|zip|GB|GBC|DMG|ZIP
- Final Burn Alpha: zip|ZIP

ZIP SUPPORT
-----------
FOR EACH CORE (except for Final Burn Alpha): When you press 'X' on a ZIP file in the File Browser, its contents
will be extracted to the /dev_hdd1/ partition. From there, you can load the ROM and play.

FOR Final Burn Alpha: Selecting a ZIP file from the Filebrowser will load that game directly.

What can you expect in the future?
----------------------------------
- A public release of RetroArch Wii that is on the level of RetroArch PS3/RetroArch 360
- An official Android port of RetroArch (no, no App Store 'fee' - 'free' as in beer AND as in libre)
- Port of NxEngine to libretro - runs Cave Story (PC version is already done, now for the consoles...)
- Port of MAME 0.72 to libretro
- Port of VICE to libretro
- Port of ScummVM to libretro
- More emulators, more games that will run on RetroArch
- Lots of other crazy ideas that might or might not pan out

Credits
-------
- Mudlord for his Waterpaint/Noise shaders.
- Hyllian for the xBR shader.
- Opium2k for the nice manual shaders (bundled with PS3 release).
- Deank for assistance with RetroArch Salamander on CFW PS3s and Multiman interoperability.
- FBA devs for adopting the libretro port.
- Ekeeke for help with the Genesis Plus GX port.

Websites
--------

Twitter: libretro (libretro) on Twitter
Source: http://github.com/libretro
Homepage: RetroArch - multi-system frontend for libretro
Opium2K DLC for RetroArch: https://code.google.com/p/retro-arch/
opium2k's Retro Arch DLC

Spoiler

opium2k's Retro Arch DLC

**IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT BIOS AND CD PLAY**

All bios files need to be placed in /dev_hdd0/game/SSNE10000/USRDIR/cores/system

For Sega CD the bios files must be named **EXACTLY** like listed below

European BIOS
bios_CD_E.bin

Japanese BIOS
bios_CD_J.bin

USA BIOS
bios_CD_U.bin

As of right now I've only tested 2 bios files from the No-Intro set. The first is 1.00 which is the very first model and the second is 2.11X which is from the very last model. Don't ask where to get them from and I won't have to BS you. Google is your friend

Unfortunately, CD Audio Track support is not working 100%. I loaded Sonic CD and can play the game flawlessly, but the soundtrack does not play. I will check other games later tonight. It could be related to the PREGAP line in the CUE sheet. Not all games will use that line.

It has been suggested that loading BIN/CUE files by selecting the CUE file will break the emulator causing you to need to reinstall. I have not run into that problem yet. I believe it's due to the CUE sheet containing a line at the very top containing the word CATALOG. Some programs add this line but it is completely unnecessary. Make sure your CUE file contains only lines starting with FILE, PREGAP, TRACK, or INDEX. You can edit it with any text editor like notepad. You should also make sure that the file line points to the **EXACT** name of the BIN file. Case is important!!

-Additional notes by BahumatLord

3.55
DOWNLOAD: Link
DOWNLOAD: Mirrior

3.41
DOWNLOAD: Link

SOURCE: Ps3crunch's RetroArch unofficial Builds -- pete_uk

---------------------------------------

RetroArch/libretro Links
libretro github
libretro.org
RetroArch Twitter
RetroArch Forum
Opium2K DLC for RetroArch Link 2
Screenshots
RetroArch Official Youtube page

PSX-Scene Links
Previous RetroArch News/Release Articles
June 3rd 2012 (Official Release)
July 6th 2012 (RetroArch News)

opium2k's RetroArch DLC
PS3 Emulator Downloads / Complete Info

Other RetroArch Links
Unofficial RetroArch Builds

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bitsbubba, aldostools and LilGrim like this.

81 Comments

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 03:12 PM
- Reply
Finally some Sega CD action. Sonic CD has been calling me

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 03:24 PM
- Reply
Great work by Squarepusher, Toadking and everyone involved.. Thanks to pete_uk for the compiled version to give the scene a preview before the official 0.9.7 is released!!!!

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 04:07 PM
- Reply
Mirror Link

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 04:08 PM

Not having any luck with Sega CD. What version of the BIOS am I supposed to use? for US I've got 1.00, 1.10, 2.00, 2.00W, and 2.11X. I just tested hte 2.11X and no luck. Gonna play around with it some more but if somebody knows the answer I'd appreciate the help

Also, this does support BIN/CUE right? Here's the CUE for Sonic CD I'm trying to load and yes the file name for the bin matches exactly

Code:

FILE "Sonic CD.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    PREGAP 00:02:00
    INDEX 01 13:10:11
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 13:14:25
    INDEX 01 13:16:25
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 15:05:39
    INDEX 01 15:07:39
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 16:27:42
    INDEX 01 16:29:42
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 17:53:52
    INDEX 01 17:55:52
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 19:34:57
    INDEX 01 19:36:57
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 20:55:62
    INDEX 01 20:57:62
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 22:18:63
    INDEX 01 22:20:63
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 24:15:00
    INDEX 01 24:17:00
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 25:36:02
    INDEX 01 25:38:02
  TRACK 12 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 26:55:06
    INDEX 01 26:57:06
  TRACK 13 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 28:39:10
    INDEX 01 28:41:10
  TRACK 14 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 29:58:43
    INDEX 01 30:00:43
  TRACK 15 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 31:04:55
    INDEX 01 31:06:55
  TRACK 16 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 32:37:58
    INDEX 01 32:39:58
  TRACK 17 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 33:40:68
    INDEX 01 33:42:68
  TRACK 18 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 35:01:74
    INDEX 01 35:03:74
  TRACK 19 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 36:58:09
    INDEX 01 37:00:09
  TRACK 20 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 38:12:19
    INDEX 01 38:14:19
  TRACK 21 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 39:20:25
    INDEX 01 39:22:25
  TRACK 22 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 40:46:32
    INDEX 01 40:48:32
  TRACK 23 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 41:53:39
    INDEX 01 41:55:39
  TRACK 24 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 43:07:45
    INDEX 01 43:09:45
  TRACK 25 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 44:28:49
    INDEX 01 44:30:49
  TRACK 26 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 45:53:50
    INDEX 01 45:55:50
  TRACK 27 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 46:24:51
    INDEX 01 46:26:51
  TRACK 28 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 46:55:52
    INDEX 01 46:57:52
  TRACK 29 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 47:06:12
    INDEX 01 47:08:12
  TRACK 30 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 47:30:13
    INDEX 01 47:32:13
  TRACK 31 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 47:53:51
    INDEX 01 47:55:51
  TRACK 32 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 48:06:52
    INDEX 01 48:08:52
  TRACK 33 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 50:09:62
    INDEX 01 50:11:62
  TRACK 34 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 52:14:71
    INDEX 01 52:16:71
  TRACK 35 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 53:47:73
    INDEX 01 53:49:73

Edit: it's not even letting me play regular genesis games

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 04:14 PM
- Reply
I had the same problem. You will have to delete RetroArch and start again.

Don't load the .cue file, just the bin file itself

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 04:21 PM
- Reply
Still no luck. Keep getting message "an error occurred during ROM loading" What bios version are you using?

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 04:25 PM
- Reply
It's not a bad rom - I can play it on my PC. I'll look through my others and see if I can find one that is just data tracks and no audio tracks. Yeah bios is in same folder as BIN/CUE named exactly like listed above. Any chance there's a spelling/case error?

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 04:28 PM
- Reply
could be an issue with a rom..
I had an issue with TG-CD bin/cue at one time.. was just a bad bin/cue dump

Edit: sorry i keep getting fast posted...

Genesis is working.. I recommend to anyone that you delete then reinstall fresh.. Sometime there is minor issues if you don't. i have noticed on a few builds.

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 04:34 PM
- Reply
Here's what Square had told me:

You know where to put the Sega CD BIOS files right?

There is now a new directory 'system' (USRDIR/cores/system) where most libretro cores will search for BIOS files and such. You need to put the BIOS files there.

They have to be named a specific way - same filenames as for Genesis Plus GX on Wii -

bios_CD_E.bin

bios_CD_J.bin

bios_CD_U.bin

The BRAM file (Battery backup RAM) will be created for you in that same system directory as well.

Also, make sure you DELETE RetroArch and install it again as trying to load a .CUE file seems to mess up the config somewhere and you are unable to load ANY genesis or cd games.

--------------------------
Edit by: STLcardsWS
fixed (dots)

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 04:42 PM
- Reply
looks like the spelling was incorrect on the bios in the main article. be back in a minute after I check

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 04:43 PM
- Reply
3.41 solution as well here..
RetroArch 3.41

Thanks Pete_uk

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 04:44 PM
- Reply
Originally Posted by STLcardsWS

3.41 solution as well here..

Thanks Pete_uk

Does it work?

Edit - Don't worry, I cant keep up LOL

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 04:54 PM
- Reply
Got it working thanks to pete uk!! Give me a minute and I'll put proper instructions on the article

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 04:56 PM
- Reply
No problem. I might copy / link them to my thread at crunch if thats okay with you?

bitsbubba - 07-12-2012, 05:06 PM
- Reply
Oh S*** Pickle!! This is great news thanks pete,lol

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 05:08 PM
- Reply
Originally Posted by bitsbubba

Oh S*** Pickle!!

Shit Pickle

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 05:11 PM
- Reply
Genesis-Plus_gx will be called CORE.SELF (Unless you delete old copy and install fresh retroarch. then it should start @ genesis_plus_gx by default)

Pete_uk @ ps3crunch
It's called CORE.SELF until it is loaded through RetroArch. It will then be renamed to genesis_plus_gx.SELF

pete_uk - 07-12-2012, 05:16 PM
- Reply
Yeah I should have noted to delete your old install first. Thats why I included all of the cores this time

STLcardsWS - 07-12-2012, 05:21 PM
- Reply
I would update the first page but i keep getting a database error .

Edit: Thanks @ BahumatLord

BahumatLord - 07-12-2012, 05:24 PM
- Reply
I added some info about getting Sega CD working. I tried to add some info about the TG-CD but I'm getting all kinds of database errors when editing the topic. @pete_uk - feel free to use it.

If you guys have the correct name/case for all the bios files like the new TurboGrafx CD then please post it if it's not correct in the article