Retro-Go: Emulator launcher with improved emulators

[ducalex]

Not sure I understand. If the odroid player 2 is receiving all vinput from odroid player 1, how could player 2 have died on an enemy which was avoided on player 1 odroid?

I can imagine many things leading to that issue but I think it's futile to debug that at this point. The test code is gone and the new code hasn't been written yet. But if it can clear things, this is what network-test-2 does.

[puggile]

Rom name shouldn't be an issue. I'm attaching a new test build that fixes more problems I found and adds some debug info. If it still doesn't work I will need a serial log to trace the issue.

To do that connect the GO to your computer and open a serial console* to its port at baud 115200. Then start the game and wait for it to crash and after that copy all the output to https://pastebin.com/ or similar.

* On Windows Termite and PuTTY are simple to use. Let me know if you use another OS and need help.

Thanks a lot for help.
Logs for:
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (USA, Europe) (GBC)
logs: https://pastebin.com/embed_js/p7r2WWUE
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (USA, Europe) (GBC)
logs: https://pastebin.com/embed_js/eM3mGGKZ

[ducalex]

Thank you that was helpful. The trace suggests that the launcher crashes in a path-related function as you suspected. I'm still not able to replicate the crash myself using the rom name you provided, but I have reworked all the path-handling functions and increased the path lengths where I could. I'm attaching a test build to this post.

If it doesn't work then please send me a log again, I have added some more debug messages that could help me.

Thanks!

[puggile]

Thank you that was helpful. The trace suggests that the launcher crashes in a path-related function as you suspected. I'm still not able to replicate the crash myself using the rom name you provided, but I have reworked all the path-handling functions and increased the path lengths where I could. I'm attaching a test build to this post.

If it doesn't work then please send me a log again, I have added some more debug messages that could help me.

Thanks!

Thans a lot ducalex, now work for both games!

[lordhardware]

Hey Ducalex, the updates to the netplay code are very clear and concise, and the documentation made it really easy to follow your mindset.

I bought a copy of Micro Mages for the NES to test the next build once it's ready

[ducalex]

Hey Ducalex, the updates to the netplay code are very clear and concise, and the documentation made it really easy to follow your mindset.

I bought a copy of Micro Mages for the NES to test the next build once it's ready

Thanks!
I wasn't feeling well lately so I'm a bit behind but I think I'll still be able to meet my original estimate and have NES/SMS (2 players) working within the next week. There really isn't that much left to do to reach that goal.

Isn't it nice how new games are still being made for the old consoles .

[lordhardware]

Oh yeah for sure, smspower has some incredible new Master System games too!

And don't stress, I've had a migraine all weekend, so haven't gotten anything done.

I've set up another laptop as I didn't want to put all the programming environments on my work laptop, so once the eBay charger for that arrives I'm going to have a go at porting NeoPop

[lordcy]

ducalex,

This is great. Just wanted to chime in. I've tried the latest Retro-Go firmware this morning and I was able to play some NES games that did not play on any other firmware (e.g. Final Fantasy). Thank you for your great work with the odroid-go!

I did want to ask, does the firmware you put out on the 29th also include debugs that could help you resolve issues if games don't work or is it only enabled on the firmware you attached on the 28th (20200328-2)?

Thanks,
LordCy

[ducalex]

I did want to ask, does the firmware you put out on the 29th also include debugs that could help you resolve issues if games don't work or is it only enabled on the firmware you attached on the 28th (20200328-2)?

All versions have some basic debug output. If you notice a crash (blue screen) then a serial log is helpful indeed! But for glitches or broken games the log would probably show nothing, a save game or instructions to replicate is more useful.

I've been working mostly on netplay lately (slow progress), but once it's working I'll get back to fixing the broken games mentioned here so feel free to report any additional problematic games .

[lordhardware]

All the koei tecmo games, Final Fantasy 7, infact all the Chinese cool bootleg games

[ducalex]

Over the past week I have spent (too) many hours trying to get the netplay network latency down but after trying every wifi and lwip settings/build settings/task priority/task affinity combinations I could think of, I have to come to the conclusion that the esp32's wifi latency simply isn't very good. I got it down to a reasonable value but it goes way up during an SPI DMA transfer (with an otherwise idle cpu) and randomly loses packets which I can't explain.

Anyway I will have to rethink the sync process to work with these constraints. In the meantime I'm attaching a test build of what I got so far. NES only and it is *almost* playable. The consoles stay in sync but you will notice stuttering to varying degree depending on the game.

Caveats (during netplay only): Scaling/filtering will be set to full/none respectively. The consoles will freeze randomly if a packet is lost. No save/load.

[lordhardware]

Over the past week I have spent (too) many hours trying to get the netplay network latency down but after trying every wifi and lwip settings/build settings/task priority/task affinity combinations I could think of, I have to come to the conclusion that the esp32's wifi latency simply isn't very good. I got it down to a reasonable value but it goes way up during an SPI DMA transfer (with an otherwise idle cpu) and randomly loses packets which I can't explain.

Anyway I will have to rethink the sync process to work with these constraints. In the meantime I'm attaching a test build of what I got so far. NES only and it is *almost* playable. The consoles stay in sync but you will notice stuttering to varying degree depending on the game.

Caveats (during netplay only): Scaling/filtering will be set to full/none respectively. The consoles will freeze randomly if a packet is lost. No save/load.

I'll give it a shot tonight, I saw all the back and forwards on your commits.
Are you still attempting sync between odroid emulator and an odroid? Or did you end up getting a second one?

[ducalex]

I'll give it a shot tonight, I saw all the back and forwards on your commits.
Are you still attempting sync between odroid emulator and an odroid? Or did you end up getting a second one?

Yeah I rewrote the history a bit to keep the noise down. I should do that before pushing but I'm not very disciplined. Anyway, network-test-3's exact code is available in a branch of the same name.
I have two Odroid GOs now so development is pretty easy and enjoyable!

[lordhardware]

I spent the weekend putting together a dev device after my old notebook got destroyed by floods earlier in the year.

I've just spent a good 4 hours trying to troubleshoot why I can't get any fw to compile and I know I've missed a step but I can't figure out where. IDF environment looks good, all commands work individually, scripts can't figure out where they've been launched from but that's standard windows fare when using bash...

The firmware steps seem to work correctly but I get 0 bytes written no matter which fw I try.

I wish I had proper backups before -_-

[ducalex]

I've made some progress with Game Boy Link-cable Netplay and it kinda works in one game, at least sometimes... I think more work will have to be done in the emulator itself to improve the cycle accuracy and serial emulation. I have made no progress at all on the NES/SMS side.

On another note; A few months ago I started working on PC Engine but quickly moved to other things. But now I'm working on it actively again. I'm using pelle7's great port of huexpress but I've stripped a lot of it to use retro-go's framework instead (so that scaling/filtering/saves/menus/etc can work like in the other emulators).

I hope to have a test build available in a few days.

PS: If someone could tell me a few games that worked well on pelle7's port it would help me while testing! Also, I'm not giving up on netplay, I just need a distraction .

[ducalex]

I spent the weekend putting together a dev device after my old notebook got destroyed by floods earlier in the year.

Have you tried the newer esp-idf tools? They added an installer that automates most of the installation/configuration process and it uses cmake so no need for bash either. Retro-Go isn't yet compatible with cmake but if you're making a new project cmake is the preferred choice now.

[concreted]

PS: If someone could tell me a few games that worked well on pelle7's port it would help me while testing! Also, I'm not giving up on netplay, I just need a distraction .

I seem to remember R-Type and Raiden worked pretty well on Retro ESP32 (I think that uses pelle7's PC Engine port?). Excited for PC Engine support!

[lordhardware]

I spent the weekend putting together a dev device after my old notebook got destroyed by floods earlier in the year.

Have you tried the newer esp-idf tools? They added an installer that automates most of the installation/configuration process and it uses cmake so no need for bash either. Retro-Go isn't yet compatible with cmake but if you're making a new project cmake is the preferred choice now.

Lol I'm only trying to build Retro-Go at the moment, haven't started on my own project again until I know my environment isn't poorly set up.

It doesnt seem to have a natural fault point so I'm struggling to troubleshoot what I've done wrong.

You've built this with the latest stable of V3 right?

[ducalex]

I seem to remember R-Type and Raiden worked pretty well on Retro ESP32 (I think that uses pelle7's PC Engine port?). Excited for PC Engine support!

Perfect, thanks!

You've built this with the latest stable of V3 right?

Yes, 3.3 and I work through mingw32.

[lordhardware]

I seem to remember R-Type and Raiden worked pretty well on Retro ESP32 (I think that uses pelle7's PC Engine port?). Excited for PC Engine support!

Perfect, thanks!

You've built this with the latest stable of V3 right?

Yes, 3.3 and I work through mingw32.

Me too. Lol, I've done something real dumb.

Edit:
I rebooted the machine and it's building fine.... I need another coffee.

[SPTLegend]

Hi all, does anyone know what the possibility of porting over a Wonderswan emulator would be? Also would the Odroid-Go be capable of running NeoGeo pocket?

[lordhardware]

@ducalex NES sync on Aussie rules was near perfect.

Totally playable, sound was only about 5 miliseconds out, only difference was guest was about 25fps to hosts 50.

Tested for about 3 minutes, no drop in sync.

[lordhardware]

Also would the Odroid-Go be capable of running NeoGeo pocket?

Porting this is a project I'll be working on hopefully over the next couple of weeks.

I'll get a github up once I have something that's working.

[SPTLegend]

Also would the Odroid-Go be capable of running NeoGeo pocket?

Porting this is a project I'll be working on hopefully over the next couple of weeks.

I'll get a github up once I have something that's working.

That is excellent. Out of interest, what are the basics of compiling/porting an emulator from another platform. Is it easier to port an emulator from a particular OS like Android or Dingux?

[ducalex]

A first preview of PC Engine in Retro-Go is now available! So far it is ~30% faster than the original port (go-emu/pelle7), meaning that games now run at full speed (albeit still with a frame skip).

Known issues:
- Load/save not implemented yet
- Higher resolution support not implemented yet (for example R-Type)
- Currently no speed lock so games can run too fast

I invite everybody to install this preview, I didn't change much that could affect/break the other emulators.

If you find a problem please also test in go-emu to see if the issue is present (if you can!).

Thanks!

[ducalex]

That is excellent. Out of interest, what are the basics of compiling/porting an emulator from another platform. Is it easier to port an emulator from a particular OS like Android or Dingux?

The source platform doesn't matter, as long as it's written in plain/portable C or C++ and doesn't use many external libraries. I like when there's a libretro port too, it shows exactly how to access the raw framebuffer/audiobuffer/inputs.

[Nemo1984]

This is great! I tested the PC Engine a bit and the only bug there is is in Strip Fighter 2. The background are wonky. This bug is not present in Pelle7 port. The speed is excellent though, I really enjoy Slaughterhouse.

Thanks!

[SPTLegend]

That is excellent. Out of interest, what are the basics of compiling/porting an emulator from another platform. Is it easier to port an emulator from a particular OS like Android or Dingux?

The source platform doesn't matter, as long as it's written in plain/portable C or C++ and doesn't use many external libraries. I like when there's a libretro port too, it shows exactly how to access the raw framebuffer/audiobuffer/inputs.

Hi, if it is any use to you for future consideration there was a Wonderswan emulator I have used on other systems called Oswan which was very good and its programming language is C++. Link below:

https://osdn.net/projects/oswan/devel/

[ducalex]

A new PC Engine preview is ready. It's only been one day but the improvement is enough that the previous build is obsolete. Audio quality is now much improved, R-Type and other higher res games work, some more performance, and a basic speed limiter to stay around 60fps.

This is great! I tested the PC Engine a bit and the only bug there is is in Strip Fighter 2. The background are wonky. This bug is not present in Pelle7 port. The speed is excellent though, I really enjoy Slaughterhouse.

Thanks!

I think I've made it worse, Strip Fighter 2 now crashes when starting a game. I'm a bit puzzled right now but I'll have it fixed for the release!

[lordhardware]

Amazing work as usual Ducalex.

Good on you for being a beacon of hope in my shitty isolation

[Nemo1984]

Yesterday's release is pure gold. I didn't find any bugs.

Thanks!

[ducalex]

Yesterday's release is pure gold. I didn't find any bugs.

Thanks!

Thanks! The forum was down yesterday so I couldn't post here .

[ducalex]

A new release 2020-04-27 is available! Attached to the top post or available on github as usual.

Changes since 2020-03-29:

• PC Engine emulation!
• Colecovision no longer needs a BIOS
• Smaller binary sizes (though the .fw is padded to the same as before)
• License is now GPL2 for all components in the project

Known issues:
- Save states support in PCE is experimental. Loading is also manual only (start a game -> Reload).

Please report any issue!

PS: If anybody knows where I can find a cover art pack for the PC Engine/Turbografx I'd like to add them to retro-go's art pack.

[ducalex]

I would like to review the games that still need fixing before I go back to netplay or other big features. Next release will include as many fixes as possible and some already in progress PCE things like save states and more fps (By fps I mean screen refreshes, emulation speed is already 100%/60fps)).

I've skimmed the whole thread and these are the still broken games:

GB/GBC:

• Fushigi no Dungeon - Fuurai no Shiren GB2 (Cutscene dialogue is not rendered/black screen and the submenus show a vertical stripe pattern on the bottom instead of the text)
• Resident Evil Gaiden (Rendering glitch in cutscenes where the text is garbled)
• Donkey Kong (Playable - End of stage stats overlay on bottom half of screen is blank) (see https://youtu.be/eSk73VPlvwA?t=71)

NES:

• Final Fantasy 7 (Mapper 163 missing)
• Gemfire (Incomplete MMC5 support)
• Bandit Kings of Ancient China (Incomplete MMC5 support)
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 (Incomplete MMC5 support)
• Double Dragon 2 (Works but need to double check glitches)

PCE

• Street Fighter II (Glitchy sprites)
• Bonk's Adventure (Runs well but strange audio growl)
• Lode Runner (Japan) - (Loads but won't start the game after showing Stage: 1)

I probably forgot a few so let me know if you have any addition and I will be updating this list with your added suggestions and my progress!

[lordhardware]

Koei problems are also missing mapper issues I think

Don't load:
- Gemfire
- Bandit Kings of Ancient China
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2

[ducalex]

Koei problems are also missing mapper issues I think

Don't load:
- Gemfire
- Bandit Kings of Ancient China
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2

Quite possibly mapper related yes. They use MMC5 which is incomplete in retro-go. Just enough to play Castlevania III and some others.
Can you just confirm that they still don't work since I fixed Castlevania III? That was a long time ago so any recent build is fine.

[lordhardware]

I tested these last night on my build (which was just prior to your sav state commit on TurboGrafx emu)

[ducalex]

Thanks. I've just finished improving PCE performance and once I get PCE save states working I'll jump on NES MMC5.

[ducalex]

A new release 2020-05-04 is available! Attached to the top post or available on github.

Changes since 2020-04-27:

• PCE: Improved performance, all tested games run at 100% speed with higher refresh rate
• PCE: Save states fully working
• NES: Enabled support for mappers 41, 42, 46, 50, 73, 93, 160, 229 (Mostly for bootleg games and multicarts)
• NES: Implemented mappers 162 and 163 (A dozen of Nanjing games)
• Smaller firmware size (3.5 to 3MB)

Note about NES mapper 162-163: Final Fantasy VII and Pokemon Yellow now boot but unfortunately they black screen soon into the game. I'm pretty sure the mapper implementation is correct so it's probably an issue elsewhere, I will have to investigate.

Please report any issue!

[Nemo1984]

Hi!

I'm a big fan. I have a request. No idea how hard it would be to implement. Family Disk System support for NES? Like .fdsT
As I understand there's a bios involved. I will help however I can.

[ducalex]

I'm a big fan. I have a request. No idea how hard it would be to implement. Family Disk System support for NES? Like .fdsT
As I understand there's a bios involved. I will help however I can.

I've looked at a the documentation and at a few other emulators and it seems doable! I can have a more serious look once I'm done with MMC5 and other tasks (could take a while). Can you give me 2-3 games in particular you would like to get running? Ideally ones that are easy to find online.

[Nemo1984]

I was thinking mostly about the real Super Mario Bros 2, Mother and some JRPG.

Thanks!

[lordhardware]

Would be worth seeing if the Earthbound USA proto now works. I didn't but I haven't tried since your first release

[Nemo1984]

Would be worth seeing if the Earthbound USA proto now works. I didn't but I haven't tried since your first release

It seems to work for me.

[Christian_Haitian]

I couldn't get Blazing Lazers to load on the PCE emulator. The rom I have loads on other portable systems through retroarch fine. I also tried a another rom dump and it just sits at the hour glass screen. Other games I've tried such as Bomberman 93, Bomberman 94, Alien Crush, and Bloody Wolf, load fine, run great, and savestates work great!

[Christian_Haitian]

Since we now have a decent emulation of PCE games on the OGO thanks to ducalex, I was able to find and convert some boxart files to go with PCE. To use, just unzip the attached pce_rom_art.zip file into romart folder of the SD card. It's not a complete collection for the PCE but it's a start. Enjoy.

btw @ducalex, Retro-Go seems to not acknowledge romart in folder 0 for PCE at least. I had to remove the leading 0 on the name of romart files and move them into the corresponding beginning alpha or numeric folder for them to be picked up by Retro-Go. Not sure if this was by design or by accident so thought I'd report it.

Thanks

[ducalex]

btw @ducalex, Retro-Go seems to not acknowledge romart in folder 0 for PCE at least. I had to remove the leading 0 on the name of romart files and move them into the corresponding beginning alpha or numeric folder for them to be picked up by Retro-Go. Not sure if this was by design or by accident so thought I'd report it.

Hey thanks! With your permission I'll add your images to the pack I host in retro-go's repo .

The CRC aren't padded/prefixed with zeros. It bothered me too at first but that's how the original go-play pack was named so I kept it that way.

I've added Blazing Lazers to the list of broken games above. I've noticed Street Fighter II is also broken/glitchy.

[Christian_Haitian]

btw @ducalex, Retro-Go seems to not acknowledge romart in folder 0 for PCE at least. I had to remove the leading 0 on the name of romart files and move them into the corresponding beginning alpha or numeric folder for them to be picked up by Retro-Go. Not sure if this was by design or by accident so thought I'd report it.

Hey thanks! With your permission I'll add your images to the pack I host in retro-go's repo .

The CRC aren't padded/prefixed with zeros. It bothered me too at first but that's how the original go-play pack was named so I kept it that way.

I've added Blazing Lazers to the list of broken games above. I've noticed Street Fighter II is also broken/glitchy.

Feel free to add them to your pack. It's my pleasure to help where I can. I didn't realize they weren't padded as the last item I read from crashoverride was that they should be. Could have saved myself a few minutes trying to accommodate leading zeros but no biggie especially since I'm still working from home anyway.

[ducalex]

You were completely right, the missing padding is an artifact of pelle7's code; Go-Play does use padding indeed. I fixed retro-go and renamed the files in your pack and recompressed them with pngquant.

Test build and new romart pack can be downloaded here:
https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/rel ... 2020-05-11

Thanks!

[Christian_Haitian]

Just found that the Japanese version of Blazing Lazers (Gunhed) loads and runs fine on this firmware.