Complete RetroArch Guide For Noobs.

[Fromlostdays]

Authors Note:

Seems many people have moved passed the basics, and the questions are becoming more complex. So I'll leave the essentials below, and start putting the common questions up here. First, lets talk about where we're at right now. I want to personally thank Nosh, Zerojay, Austin, DrMax, DJVJ and everyone else I'm missing who are constantly putting in work. Having said that, the Retroarch module is seeing a lot of changes, added systems, etc, so in one sense we have to be patient until everything is ironed out. The RetroArch devs are also working hard to put out a new version (1.1), but they haven't given a release date yet. Instead, they are working out bugs and making nightly builds available, so here too, we have to be patient. If you're using the nightly builds, you can reasonably expect some bugs to pop up. Please Report anything that isn't directly related to Hyperlaunch on the official RetroArch site, so they can fix it on their end. I welcome any any all responses private or otherwise to the following topics so that I can update her

- RetroArch with the Mess core . I personally can't get this to work, but RetroArch itself is conflicting with my hardware at this point, and mame and mess cores both shoot out a weird error on my end about using too much gpu memory. I'm waiting for them to address this on the RetroArch side. A step by step for Mess would be golden right now.

Troubleshooting.

If you think you have everything set up correctly and you're still having trouble launching a game, there could be a few culprits.

First: check in the info file (or the core info in the gui) and make sure that your roms have an extension supported by RetroArch.

Second: Make sure that RetroArch has that extension listed in HyperlaunchHQ/Global/Emulators/RetroArch

Third: Read the module notes and the core info and make sure you have the right bios in the systems folder. The GUI is handy because if the bios is located, it will say "Present" in the GUI under Core Info.

Forth: Turn off shaders! Certain shaders will result in a black screen (usually with sound), and certain shaders will also severely slow down not only emulation, but also the RetroArch gui.

Recommended Workflow

Step 1: Open up the retroarch.cfg, find the line config_save_on_exit: and set it to "False." This seems like a good idea, but when you're setting up 30 systems it can get very confusing as to which config is actually open. Ultimately, not using this feature will most likely save you time.

Step 2: Open RetroArch (Standalone, as in not through Hyperlaunch). Load a core, and open a game for that core. If your games are 7z, unzip one. Once the game is open, press F1, open the GUI, and make your preferred shader/input changes. Also, make sure you have "save on exit" set to false there too. When everything is how you want it, manually save that config.

Step 3: Open the configs folder in the RetroArch directory and rename your new config to match the hyperlaunch naming convention.

Step 4: Launch a game through Hyperlaunch and see if your changes have taken effect.

Step 5: Repeat. This is the general work flow you should go through for all systems. There may be some shortcuts. For instance, you could TRY duplicating that first config file and renaming them to your various systems names. This will not save you time, however, unless you really do want all the same settings for all those systems. If you don't, OR if you want to change a setting for a certain system, you will have to go through the above process again, only you can do it slightly differently now.

Step 6: If you already have a config file and its launching through Hyperlaunch, you can skip steps 1 and 2, and launch a game through Hyperlaunch. Press F1, make your changes, and manually save another config, which you will then rename and delete the previous one. OR, if you have configs for all systems, you can then turn on "save on exit" and be reasonably sure that when you launch from hyperlaunch, your changes will be made in the right config file.

Thats it. There really isn't a magical way to get around having to set this up. However, once you do, you can enjoy plug and play controllers, very accurate emulation, and shaders galore on a whole lot of systems.

Ipac

Finally got the skinny on Ipac. Thanks be to Therealdealadam whose name makes me dyslexic.

You can bind Ipac buttons the same as any other controller. The only trick is to make sure you you have it set to "Retrokeyboard" instead of "Retropad." To do this, go to settings/input and find the line that says Bind Mode. That should be it. You can bind all your keys, or change them directly in the config.

Complete RetroArch Guide For Noobs.

Contents

Authors Note -

What is RetorArch -

How do I control the RetroArch GUI -

Where do I download? -

Where do I get the cores? -

How do I launch games in RetorArch? -

What else can I do with RetroArch? -

Configs, Configs Everywhere! -

How do I set up RetroArch in Hyperspin? -

Tips and Tricks! -

(D3D Errors/Xaudio Errors, What Cores Do I Use, Bios Problems, Fullscreen or Windowed, Saving Per Core Settings For Use with HyperLaunch, What Cores Use What Extensions? How to use cheats?)

Tips and Tricks -

The Guide:

Authors Note

This guide is somewhat a preliminary attempt, as I wrote most of it without access to my personal computer. If anyone sees any errors or has anything to add, please let me know and I'll edit/expand and try to keep this up to date. This guide was written for the latest version of RetroArch at the time of this writing. I'm not sure what if anything will change when Version 1.1 is released. This guide was written for novices. I had a few pictures up which I know people like, but this was written in Microsoft Word and the pictures didn't paste. I'll try to add them as soon as I can.

What is RetroArch?

You should visit www.libretro.com for more information, but there a few things you need to know about RetroArch before you begin. RetroArch by itself is not an emulator. In order for RetroArch to be used as an emulator, you need to have it launch a Libretro (.lib) file, a.k.a “Core” file. Think of these core files as emulators themselves which require RetroArch.exe to launch. There are many core files, and thus RetroArch is capable of emulating a vast number of systems.

RetroArch also comes with its own GUI, graphical user interface, which you can access by launching the RetroArch.exe (in newer versions) or by pressing F1 if you’re already in a game. In summation we have three elements here: Retroarch.exe, .lib/Core files, and the built in RetroArch GUI.

How do I control the RetroArch GUI?

The only keyboard buttons you really need to know for average us is

(z) back

(x) select

(F1) open or close GUI.

(Spacebar) will fast-forward any games you have open.

Where do I download?

You can download the official version of RetroArch here: http://www.libretro.com/index.php/downloads/

You can download the buildbot nightly versions on the official RA website here: http://buildbot.libretro.com/

Note: If you’re using RetroArch on your PC, make sure you download the PC version. RetroArch is supported on Windows, Mac, and Linux as of this writing, as well as some phones/tablets.

Per Awakened: These builds aren't updated anymore, but you can still download the doom.wad for the PrBoom core, and the pak0.pak file for use with TyrQuake. (Use these files essentially like you'd use any other rom file. Load the core, then load the game. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/91sakv0qdyxjx9f/AAAKWBfDHBtIQtNfnp4rlyXea?dl=0

Where do I get the cores?

The good news is that if you downloaded the most up to date version of RetroArch from the above link, you already have a lot of cores. Version 1.0.0.2 comes with 43 different cores (read as 43 different emulators). They are located in your RetroArch install directory in the folder called “cores”.

Example: snes9x_libretro.dll

This is the core – libretro – version of the awesome emulator Snes9x. While you may very well wind up using RetroArch and its cores for your preferred emulator, take the time to visit/sign up the official sites of the emulators. Those people do a lot of work on their programs, and then the RetroArch team ports their emulators into a libretro file which works with RetroArch. Show the originals some love.

There are other “cores” available for download, and to find them I refer you to the HyperSpin forum motto: “Google is your friend.”

How do I launch games in RetroArch?

Once you open up the RetroArch GUI, you’ll see a bunch of options. In order to launch a game, all you have to do is navigate to the first option “core” and select the core you want to run.

Once that’s complete, you can navigate to “Load Game” and select the rom you want to launch. In some cases there are multiple cores that will work for one system. For instance, RetroArch comes with BSNES, SNESX9, and Mednafen cores for SNES emulation. Pick your favorite.

(If you're looking for a suggestion here this author uses BSNES-Mercury for SNES emulation)

What else can I do with RetroArch?

RetroArch has a handy little feature that will automatically Sync it with an Xbox controller. All you have to do is have the controller connected when you launch. I haven't tested this with other kinds of controllers, and on top of that I found I had to change the automatic layout anyway. However, it is nice to just be able to plug and play.

RetroArch shines with its ability to use multiple shaders. There could probably be volumes of conflicting text over what the best shader/shader combo is. This author is a huge fan of SABR + preferred CRT shader + Supereagle to fuzz the edges, but expect to spend a considerable amount of time finding what looks best for you.

As such, an entire tutorial could be written just about “video options” and probably has, so for now, at least, lets move on to something much more integral in setting this up: namely, .cfg files or “configs”.

Configs, Configs Everywhere!

Admittedly, this may be the most complicated section. As such, I’m going to try and make it as simple as possible.

First, the obvious, a .cfg. or “config” or “configuration file” is a text file that stores all of the settings you can change in the GUI.

- RetroArch has it’s own .cfg file that it will use as a default in the absence of other config files. (retroarch.cfg found in the main directory with the .exe.)

- RetroArch can save a different .cfg file for each individual core it uses. (ex: snes9x_libretreo.cfg. There will be saved by default in the retroarch/configs folder)

When RetroArch launches a core, it will first search for a config file in the “configs” folder named the same as the core. If it finds one, it will use those settings.

If you don’t have a config for that core, RetroArch will load its default retroarch.cfg and those settings. If you plan to use all the same settings and shaders for all systems, you can simply have RetroArch save its settings when it exits, and you’re done.

If not, you will need to load a core, change all your settings, and then “Save New Config”. This will create a config tied directly to the core you’re using and place that config in the retroarch/config folder. This is quite handy if you want to use different shaders for SNES than you do for NES. Let’s look at the two ways you can save config files in RetroArch, and when it’s appropriate to use either:

- You can set RetroArch to “automatically save configuration on exit”. This is under the “settings” option, and must be set manually. Once it is, RetroArch will save any changes you make to the settings in the retroarch.cfg (Or whatever other config you have open) every time you exit the emulator.

- You can also manually save a configuration by clicking “Save New Config”. This method allows you to save configurations for each core you’re using, and will save a config file named after the core in your retroarch/configs directory.

(This authors recommendation is to actually turn "save config on exit" off in RetroArch, and manually save your changes. It is just a little easier to keep track of everything that way)

Got it?

See Tips and Tricks section below for information on how to have HyperLaunch launch system specific configs automatically!

How do I set up RetroArch in HyperSpin?

For the most part, Retroarch is set up the same way as any other emulator. Open HyperLaunchHQ, go to the “Global” and then “Emulator” tab, find RetroArch, point it to the .exe

However, there are a few other things we need to do.

The first thing we need to do is go over to the “modules” tab, click RetroArch, and then click the “View Module Notes” button. Do not skip this step. This will allow you to read all of the notes created by the module’s author. Here you’ll find a lot of what’s already been in this guide, and you’ll also find tips for what bios files you may need for what systems. Do yourself a favor and take the time to read these notes.

Next, click the RetroArch Module again and then click the icon for “Global Module Settings.” You’ll notice that HyperLaunchHQ needs to be directed to your “cores” directory (found in retroarch/cores), and then to the individual cores for each system. It is a little tedious, but go ahead and point HyperLaunchHQ to all the cores you plan to use.

Congratulations, once this is done, you should have RetroArch running seamlessly through Hyperlaunch!

See Tips and Tricks! section below to help you figure out what cores to use for what systems!

Tips and Tricks!

D3D errors:

If you get an error saying anything about D3D this or that, you merely have to go to the official Microsoft website and update direct x on your computer.

What cores do I use?

The "best" core for a system is somewhat debatable, and you should plan on doing your own testing and research. However, HyperlaunchHQ comes with a handy little icon located on the Global Module Settings page, where you set the path to your cores. There is a little icon next to the paths with notes and recommended cores for each system.

Bios problems:

By default, all required bios files should be placed in your retroarch/systems folder. See module notes for more information.

Fullscreen or Windowed:

If you have RetroArch set up to save your configuration on exit, it will automatically remember whether or not the emulator was fullscreen or windowed the last time you closed it. Thus, if you want to launch fullscreen, you only have to close the emulator while it is fullscreen. Alternately you can set this in the Global Modules options via HyperlaunchHQ

Saving Per Cores Settings For Use With Hyperlaunch:

This is the question most commonly asked. Once you have everything set up, you should have some per core configurations saved in your retroarch/configs directory. If you want Hyperlaunch to read those, make a copy of that file and rename the same name as your system name, and leave that file in the same directory.

Example: snes9x_libretro.cfg

(Copy this file into the same directory which will give you another file called ‘snes9x_libretro(1).cfg.’)

Rename ‘snes9x_libretro(1).cfg’ to ‘Super Nintendo Entertainment System.cfg’.

This process will have to be repeated if you change your settings again.

Remember, Hyperlaunch will then launch the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.cfg automatically. If you have "save changes on exit" ticked, RetroArch will save all your changes to that config and not the retroarch.cfg.

What Cores Use What Extensions

If you ever find yourself needing to know what extensions a core supports, or even what bios a core requires, there's two simple ways to check:

Per Noshgar: Load a core from RGUI and go to "core information". It will list the supported extensions for that core. For required bios files, in core information it will list them under firmware or in the notes.

Alternately,

Navigate to your RetroArch/info folder. You'll see a .info file for every core you have.

Simply open up that file with notepad and it will tell you that information.

Example:

Mednafen PSX Core:

display_name = "PlayStation1 (Mednafen PSX)"

authors = "Ryphecha"

supported_extensions = "cue|toc|ccd"

corename = "Mednafen PSX"

manufacturer = "Sony"

systemname = "PlayStation"

license = "GPLv2"

permissions = ""

firmware_count = 3

firmware0_desc = "scph5500.bin (PS1 JP BIOS)"

firmware0_path = "scph5500.bin"

firmware0_opt = "false"

firmware1_desc = "scph5501.bin (PS1 US BIOS)"

firmware1_path = "scph5501.bin"

firmware1_opt = "false"

firmware2_desc = "scph5502.bin (PS1 EU BIOS)"

firmware2_path = "scph5502.bin"

firmware2_opt = "false"

How to Cheat in RetroArch

This enables you to flip through cheats but so far no ones been able to implement them in game.

For SNES at least, cheating is pretty simple.

First, go here and download the cheats.xml: https://github.com/OpenEmu/BSNES-Core/blob/master/bsnes/data/cheats.xml

Next, create a folder in your RetroArch directory called "cheats" (or whatever you want to call it) and put the above file in there.

Lastly, open up Retroarch.cfg in the main directory with wordpad, press Control+F, and search for the word "cheat". You'll have to go passed a few entries. You're looking for the line "cheat_database_path = ""

Change this line to define your path to the cheats folder. In my case it's "cheat_database_path = ":\cheats\cheats.xml" (I THINK using :\ to begin the path automatically sets it to look in the RetroArch directory, but you can probably write your full path if it makes you more comfortable.)

Lagniappe: If you used the search function, you may have noticed you passed a line that looked like "input_cheat_index_plus = "y"" When a game is open you press Y on the keyboard to access the cheats. You may be able to change that key by changing this line, but I haven't tested that.

I'm not sure if this method works for other systems or even there are even cheat xml databases for other systems, but if you know of any, I'd love to test them.

Useful Links:

This guide is very minimalist, but once you get the basics you can start really delving into what this program can do. Here are some links to tutorials and for more advanced usage:

Tutorial:

Video -

Usage:

http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Using_RetroArch

Shaders:

http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Shaders_and_Filters

[scooter1974]

Awesome, thanks

[BiLbOBaggins]

Great guide!

Thanks Walter

[klexkavark]

How do you remove a shader after you applied it? For example in GBA i used handheld shader and i didnt like it so i want it to go back to default.

[Fromlostdays]

You can either change the shader you don't like to one that you do, or you can set the number of shader passes back down to zero which is the default. Alternately, though I don't recommend this method, you can, as a last resort, delete the config file tied to that system, but then you lose all the rest of your settings as well.

[sucramjd]

Great guide, i kinda had a mess with thi a few weeks back its a bit confusing to say the least, so what recomened emulator wise using retro arch? snes mega drive etc, i heard sega saturns not too good.

[Fromlostdays]

I'll update the guide with this: but if you open the global settings for RetroArch in HyperLaunchHQ, on the screen where you set the path to the cores if you hover over the little icons it shows you the recommended cores for each system. Truthfully I think in a lot of cases that's going to come down to a matter of preference and testing. The only thing I'd recommend is using BSNES accuracy if your system will run it, and I've tested the mednafen PS1 core pretty extensively myself and as far as I can see, its as flawless as Xebra with the bonus of shader support. By the by, putting one pass of advanced aa over both n64 and ps1 emulation is fantastic.

[dougan78]

Can you use aimtraks with retro arch?

[Awakened]

You might want to add a link to the dropbox where Lordashram posts test builds. A lot has been added and fixed since the last official build.

[gigapig]

I read the guide and then watched the vid last night, the video confused me a little and I was getting a black screen, but that was down to me stupidly using the Royale shader which isn't supported yet; I'll try Lordashrams' builds.

So thank you Walter, I was once a little apprehensive of Retroarch, I don't think the menu labels are very clear about what they do until explained. I've messed with it on and off today and got 5 systems moved over to it.

So shaders, I settled with Hyllian scanlines for all except handhelds, does anyone use anything with that? I tried a couple while running N64 and most made it look really bad.

I was also surprised to find, pressing the Xbox button on the 360 controller brings up the menu (normally F1)

Thanks again.

[frostmute]

@gigapig

Why on earth would you want scanlines on N64?

[gigapig]

@gigapig

Why on earth would you want scanlines on N64?

Because the games are damn ugly without for one, personal choice is another and surely when I played my N64 on my Sony Trinitron, it would have had scanlines. I have done the same with Saturn and PS1.

What is your opinion?

[frostmute]

Because the games are damn ugly without for one, personal choice is another and surely when I played my N64 on my Sony Trinitron, it would have had scanlines. I have done the same with Saturn and PS1.

What is your opinion?

I personally think they look fine crystal clear; I also played originally on old tvs but that looks muuuuuch better to me than simulated scanlines. I prefer them without if the display is an Lcd.

[gigapig]

I'm a ways off getting this fine tuned but here's a comparison. We should have a Scan lines, for and against pole.

With.

Without.

[Fromlostdays]

I'm actually doing a little write-up for shaders as we speak for you Giga, but the truth is everything I know about them is trial and error and I don't think its going to be particularly helpful. However, if you're using retroarch with the mupen core, try shader pass 1 - Advanced-AA Linear x1. I can't believe how good it looks.

[gigapig]

I'm actually doing a little write-up for shaders as we speak for you Giga, but the truth is everything I know about them is trial and error and I don't think its going to be particularly helpful. However, if you're using retroarch with the mupen core, try shader pass 1 - Advanced-AA Linear x1. I can't believe how good it looks.

I look forward to that.

I think I posted those screens too early, I'm still learning. I had the resolution of the core (core option) set to 640x360, increasing that to 640x480 made it look much better.

So what is a good res, or what do you guys use?

[Fromlostdays]

I always use "core config" as the resolution.

[gigapig]

I always use "core config" as the resolution.

Is "Core config" in the menu? I only have "Core Option"

I dumped that Hyllian Shader, it's not good, so I've moved on to either dot mask or crt-geom-curved, both are quite subtle and look great with the AA you mentioned.

[Emu54]

Trying to set up RetroArch for Sega 32X getting black screen seen in forums about this but not sure if it ever got sorted

[jeanvion]

Thanks for the guide, it explains a lot! This might be a stupid question, but how do you configure the controls for each core if you don't use a xbox controller? I build a minipac arcade board so I mapped them to different keyboard controls.

[duff.the.dude]

To map keyboard keys you have to edit the cfg files manually (open in notepad).

[Gerurver]

I am also trying to figure this out.... not any luck yet:(

i can see the lines with notepad++ but where can you edit the line that for example the M (next shader) is gonne be the >.

i tried it with the Gui but no luck.... hope someone can help me out.

[gigapig]

Trying to set up RetroArch for Sega 32X getting black screen seen in forums about this but not sure if it ever got sorted

I have just set that up and was quite simple.

I just chose the core which is the picodrive core.

Went into settings>video and set aspect ratio to 4:3 (1.1 Par) I use bezels so I don't need full screen.

I then went back to the main menu and save the new config, you can then go in to the config folder and rename it to "Sega 32X" for Hyperlaunch.

To test select load content for Picodrive and chose a Rom.

I would recommend not choosing any shaders to begin with until you have it working.

It's also possible that you don't have the bios file which possibly go in the system folder. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that point.

[gigapig]

Trying to set up RetroArch for Sega 32X getting black screen seen in forums about this but not sure if it ever got sorted

If you look in the info folder at pico you'll see this. The default download doesn't seem to contain those bios files.

display_name = "Sega MS/GG/MD/CD/32X (Picodrive)"
authors = "notaz|fdave"
supported_extensions = "md|smd|gen|sms|gg|sg|bin|cue|ios|32x"
corename = "Picodrive"
manufacturer = "Sega"
systemname = "Sega 16bit + 32X (Various)"
license = "MAME"
permissions = "dynarec_optional"
firmware_count = 3
firmware0_desc = "bios_CD_E.bin (MegaCD EU BIOS)"
firmware0_path = "bios_CD_E.bin"
firmware0_opt = "false"
firmware1_desc = "bios_CD_U.bin (SegaCD US BIOS)"
firmware1_path = "bios_CD_U.bin"
firmware1_opt = "false"
firmware2_desc = "bios_CD_J.bin (MegaCD JP BIOS)"
firmware2_path = "bios_CD_J.bin"
firmware2_opt = "false"

EDIT: Forget that, those are clearly for Sega CD not 32X

[SIMPLYAUSTIN]

As the case with many of the systems RetroArch supports, the module is incorrect. If you have the default module it asks you to use Stella for the 32X... when in fact you SHOULD be using the PICODRIVE core. Make this change and you should be fine.

Changes really do have to be made to the module notes and setup on this sytem, its very confusing for people who are new to this and it puts people of something they really should be using for certain systems. There are also some really good new systems/cores added to this too which cant be used without a modified module. this is a simple fix but out of the reach of the average user.

Some other systems I use (My Choice) dif cores than those shown in the module are.....

GameBoy Advance = Mednafen Gba

Lynx = Handy

NEo Geo - FB Alpha

Neo Geo Pocket = Mednafen ngo

Neo Geo Pocket Clour= Medafen ngo

Super Famicom = snes9

NEC PC Engine = Mednafen PCE Fast

Sega CD = Picodrive (not tested as my games are wrong format for this, be nice to test this?)

Sega 32X = PicoDrive

Super Nintendo = snes9

NEC superGrafx = supergafx

All turbografix systems = supergrafx

Some of the above have more than one core which can be used. I am only showing the ones which work for me. Off the top of my head Sega CD and Turbo CD I cant test as I do not have the right format disk images for these to run through RetroArch... did anyone test these already?