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Daphne libretro core test


reznnate

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Hi guys, one of the retroarch devs is hosting an early binary test of an Android Daphne retroarch core.   I'm sharing this with the Android Hyperspin community in order to limit and focus feedback (so please don't broadcast).   Post any feedback on this forum until it's released formally.

Requirement:

Nightly Retroarch build newer than 1/30/2018 (or you'll see random crashes and audio corruption)

Installation: (if your device isn't rooted)

After installing retroarch, modify the buildbot directories in retroarch.cfg.   Easiest path is to use ADB with the following commands:

Run retroarch to extract assets.zip, etc.    Exit.

adb pull /sdcard/Android/data/com.retroarch/files/retroarch.cfg

Change these lines in retroarch.cfg to (make a note of official buildbot folders in the case you want to restore)

core_updater_buildbot_url = "http://hush.andressm.org/cores/android/armeabi-v7a/"
core_updater_buildbot_assets_url = "http://hush.andressm.org"

adb push retroarch.cfg /sdcard/Android/data/com.retroarch/files/retroarch.cfg

Re-start retroarch, download core.

Known issues:

limited core-options, some audio popping and possible lag with input/audio cues, etc. 

'Singed' game support not implemented

-Reznnate

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I did not develop this.  But I know a lot of effort went into it and particularly making it a core that many could enjoy (versus a stand-alone .apk).

Once code is open sourced, it will allow others to add features and fix any outstanding bugs.    Please post concerns if you find problems that should be fixed immediately.

To assist with perceived audio or input lag, I suggest putting your device/TV into a game-mode and avoid things like bluetooth headphones/speakers, etc.

In Retroarch, setting audio lag to 32ms on Shield works well.

For optimal video latency across cores, I use GL driver and these video options on Shield:  Threaded Video - OFF, Vsync - ON, Max swapchain images - 2, Frame Delay - 1ms, Input Poll Type - Early.

BTW - The 'seek delay' between video clips is there to emulate the actual laser disc timing.   I think he intends a core option that will remove that if you wish.

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Don't worry about taking it down -- particularly if you find an issue and video is the only good way to show it.    I doubt many will 'stumble' upon it.

The traffic here is low and so it's a great testing zone, particularly since we're all pretty hard-core too.   :-)     The core will be public soon enough so it's fine.

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If you have questions about the daphne.ini settings file, let me know.   It's the same format as other libretro cores though.

Otherwise, the hyperspin daphne setups point to roms.zip files as the way to load games.     The core assumes files are in the same locations as the pc daphne downloader.   Once difference might the framefile.txt files be in a folder named /framefile.    I think the daphne downloader puts those files in /vldp folder.   

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1 hour ago, reznnate said:

If you have questions about the daphne.ini settings file, let me know.   It's the same format as other libretro cores though.

Otherwise, the hyperspin daphne setups point to roms.zip files as the way to load games.     The core assumes files are in the same locations as the pc daphne downloader.   Once difference might the framefile.txt files be in a folder named /framefile.    I think the daphne downloader puts those files in /vldp folder.   

My daphne pc setup has a /framefile folder.

I managed to adb enable MatLog to capture logs on my phone.

Setup an info file for retroarch to launch from there direct but no info in the logs to help me. Just get failed to load content.

Copied files to phone

Roms/Daphne/astron.zip

/framefile/astron.txt

/vldp/astron/

Astron.txt

Astron515.dat

Astron512.m2v

Astron512.ogg

I'm not as "hardcore" as I should be by now :)

Retroarch info file of anyone wants it

daphne_libretro.info

Change your info directory to a readable one and online update info files. Copy above one in.

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 I have a few day old nightly but cant gwt it to run on my phone.

I will give up untill theres some more info on setup.

Interstella and astron belt working with daphne loader on pc

Copied following directories over

Roms

Pics

Sound

Framefile (nothing related to interstella)

Vldp (astron and interstellar)

Just fails to load content no errors in the log on both games.

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On 2/6/2018 at 10:31 PM, thatman84 said:

 I will give up untill theres some more info on setup.

Daphne has always confused people, it can be tricky.

The emulator has a Daphne loader application. This is used to scan the original disk and will then process the game into a named game folder within the vldp folder. You'll see video files in there and some .txt files etc. Think of the .txt files as the .cue files we use for CD based sysems...it's a "data sheet" with the track information.

I copied across the entire emulator folder as it made life easier, Rezz explained you don't actually need all of it though.
You will have a roms folder with zips in.This is what Retroarch will load, point your Daphne.ini to this folder.
As stated before the game's video files should be within a vldp folder (e.g vldp/lair, vldp/cobra etc). Copy out the .txt files from the game folders and put them in the Framfile folder.
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART...
Open one of the .txt files. The first line is stating where these video files are located. It will most likely be incorrect as it was originally done on a PC, so would point to C:\*** or might just have a fullstop. Edit it to the path you have for your Shield TV, so it can find these video files for the games. Rinse and repeat for all the other game .txt files.

Strangely I couldn't get the games to load directly from RA by loading content, no doubt this will get resolved in the official core. I've loaded a few games from within Hyperspin though, Road Blaster, Cobra Command and some of the other "80's Anime" style games. Bega's Battle worked which was nice, that never used to work on the RPI, although it might be fixed by now. If not that's a nice one up us Shield owners finally have :)

Hopefully that's enough to get you setup and going. I've got a lot going on at home so I'll be "jacking this in" for a while now, I won't be doing videos or any "guides". Think of this as my parting gift ;)
All the best buddy

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@Honosuseri you are a star!

with a little trickery of \ vs/ I got it working. Also deleted the .dat files.

that was one hell of a journey but after a few hours over this week

IMG_3301.JPG

no time to test stuff properly but Load Recent crashes Retroarch @reznnate for the 5mins or so I played it there didn't seem to be any slow downs.will have to add the Fps counter at lunchtime 

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47 minutes ago, thatman84 said:

@Honosuseri you are a star!

Hero was also an acceptable answer! ;)

Honestly the games you are toying with are rather naff (granted everything needs testing), the true classics are essentially interactive cartoons. They are fiendishly difficult but do look incredibly cool! Not sure I'd want to play them on a touchscreen though, as there are often visual cues on the screen. My hands would impair my vision, a bluetooth gamepad would make a lot of sense to really enjoy the games. I have an 8bit do FC30 Pro, which is suitably retro and small enough to be portable for gaming on the go (I know you're away from home a lot).

All the best with it buddy. I've seen Midwan has finally got Amiberry on his Android Molly, for Amiga emulation....exciting times ahead!

 

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Well thanks then Hero!

Yeah I hate touch screen but its handy to test stuff on the phone so I dont screw my shield RA settings like you did.

My 8bitdo scf30 is not charged but its a faff to keep changing my overlay on and off so dont tend to ise it much.

Update on the fps for Astron.zip is between 25-29

Interstellar seems to get stuck on the 1st blue screen

 

Yeah I caught that Amiberry teaser by midwan. Good news

:)

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52 minutes ago, thatman84 said:

Well thanks then Hero!

afdf5c055efa6726838936cdab8ffdbc5670862f_hq.gif

I don't use overlays or any of that jazz, was no real drama to recover RetroArch. Amstrad CPC requires a custom .cfg file though to install the Caprice core, like we do with this Daphne core currently.

I can confirm Interstellar is working on my STV. You have to be careful with Daphne and the game files you are using. My friend had Dragon's lair playing with audio BUT the screen was black. Testing this will be tricky as many people will no doubt have different files because they don't create them from the original disks. As I said I'm "jacking this in" for quite some time now.

Best of luck with it guys. I'll catch up with you all, once things in my world calm down.

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