Homebrew Large NeoGeo games support and CPS3 tests

[Edu64]

First of all, thank you very much for making this possible
My question is this:
When loading the games in some parts there are pauses, as if there were reading problems (especially in intense scenes like the introduction of the game), the current state of the application is that or is it a specific problem that I have?
Games are loaded from an SD card and I have tried other cards.
Games tested: Garou mark of the wolves and Real bout fatal fury 2 the newcomers
Thank you! : D

 

[Wiimpathy]

Yes, it's the current state (and final at least from me!). Fortunately, it's not too noticeable in-game.

 

[Edu64]

Yes, it's the current state (and final at least from me!). Fortunately, it's not too noticeable in-game.

Thanks for the reply

 

[SieKensou]

Thanks for the reply Wiimpathy.

Well, I guess it won't be in the official Retroarch since we don't know if Tueidj is ok or not.

That's a pity... I hope you can have an answer from Tueidj.

I don't know a good and simple way to skip the crc check but I agree that it could be useful.

Yes, it would be very useful to test the edited roms in RetroArch. Again, it's a pity that this change wasn't easy to perform... Anyway, it would be much better if new drivers could be added in files, it would be really perfect.

Regarding the names, WiiFlow can display full names thanks to a custom_titles file. I don't think it's easy and worthy modifying Retroarch browser for that.

I asked that because that would be very good to identify the games easily, it's another pity that wasn't easy to make it work on RetroArch... Maybe if someone experienced with the NeoGeo system could create a new emulator only for NeoGeo, optimized and better looking than RetroArch... that would be really great for the Wii scene.

 

[Sora3960]

Svc worked for me at first. Now every time I try to play it I get booted back to the hbc. Only way to get it working again is by deleting all of my .cnf files and save states. Is anybody else having this issue?

 

[kdash2k11]

The last Retroarch core 1.7.2 seems to be fine, at last the sound is good since 1.3.6. Can anyone compile this version of the core?.

 

[Autism Gamer]

The last Retroarch core 1.7.2 seems to be fine, at last the sound is good since 1.3.6. Can anyone compile this version of the core?.

About time they fixed it, it also fixed those loud distortion sounds.
I also checked out the other 1.7.2 cores, CPS1 is still the same as 1.3.6, though unfortunately CPS2 has some weird sound issues.

 

[kdash2k11]

About time they fixed it, it also fixed those loud distortion sounds.
I also checked out the other 1.7.2 cores, CPS1 is still the same as 1.3.6, though unfortunately CPS2 has some weird sound issues.

Yeh that CPS2 sounds really bad on Vampire games. The Scalex2 filter runs really good but the sounds is too bad.

 

[vbarros22]

How can I play Third Strike CPS3? Someone can help me?

 

[Deleted User]

How can I play Third Strike CPS3? Someone can help me?

You should look through the first 3 pages from this thread first if you haven´t already.

 

[SieKensou]

Yes, it's the current state (and final at least from me!). Fortunately, it's not too noticeable in-game.

So finally there is no response to include it in the last RetroArch cores? It would be really good for the core and the emulator for the Wii if it is included...
And I have a question, do you have access to the romdata of that FBA when you compile the core? I mean if it would be possible to "edit" the romsets or include some others before compiling the core. Games like KOF2003, Garou, or SvC Chaos can have some slowdown because they are "big files", would make things easier for the emulator and the Wii RAM if we use decrypted sets? They are smaller in size.
And my last question, when the emulator load the cache files, it does it from the RAM and the NAND, right? I ask this because, couldn't the emulator read the cache files directly from the HDD or SD?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Wiimpathy]

It won't be included because of this bloody copyrighted file. Tueidj was ok so maybe he doesn't care... I don't know he never answered.
Another technical reason is that the latest Retroarch make the dol bigger (same for the devkit) and some games won't start.

What are the sizes of those decrypted games? I don't think it'd make a big difference though.

Reading the files directly from fat devices would require writing a complex memory manager. On other platforms(psp for example), it relies on a existing function called mmap or similar that map files to RAM on the fly. That doesn't exist on Wii and having a non contiguous RAM doesn't help either. I'm not even sure there wouldn't be any slowdowns.
Using the vm nand manager is the only option, that's what wii64 is using too. And to be honest, implementing this solution was already a challenge for me.

 

[SieKensou]

First of all, thanks for the reply and for all the useful info.

It won't be included because of this bloody copyrighted file. Tueidj was ok so maybe he doesn't care... I don't know he never answered.
Another technical reason is that the latest Retroarch make the dol bigger (same for the devkit) and some games won't start.

I see, maybe the Wii dol should be optimized more and delete unuseful stuff to make it small in size.

What are the sizes of those decrypted games? I don't think it'd make a big difference though.

KOF2002 encrypted in zip format is 78mb, the decrypted set is 39mb, but unzipped they are the same size, so I think you are right, it shouldn't affect nothing more than faster loading time.

Reading the files directly from fat devices would require writing a complex memory manager. On other platforms(psp for example), it relies on a existing function called mmap or similar that map files to RAM on the fly. That doesn't exist on Wii and having a non contiguous RAM doesn't help either. I'm not even sure there wouldn't be any slowdowns.
Using the vm nand manager is the only option, that's what wii64 is using too. And to be honest, implementing this solution was already a challenge for me.

Okay, I didn't know about that technical information, it's a pity it can be done the same as for the PSP and I understand it would require a lot of work.

 

[pawhtiobo]

Holy Moly.....you are awesome @Wiimpathy !!!
Very nice job, me and my friends spend this evening playing this old school fighting games, everything was smooth and no problems found, that made us remember the old days at the arcade center!

I have just one little question, in this version can we use overlay (scanlines)? I found no menu entry, I also tried to edit the cfg file, by adding some lines...but no luck...

Thank you for your great job and also for sharing this with the rest of the world!

(edit) I found the overlay settings - “Settings” => “Onscreen Overlay” => “Overlay Preset”

 

[Clive75]

First of all thank you for this amazing work. I have tested Samurai Showdown V Special, Metal Slug 3-4-5-X, Rage of the Dragons, SNK vs Capcom, Last Blade 1-2, Strikers 1945 and they all work smoothly. Last Blade 1-2 are missing the HUD for some reasons (Lifebar etc...). I found out that Retroarch keeps crashing if you load 2 big roms one after the other. To avoid that, all you need to do is let's say play Metal Slug X, then load another core (CPS1 etc...), then immediately reload the neogeo core and then launch another big game.

As for CPS3, Third Strike runs good. You can get an extra 5-10 frames if you disable audio sync in retroarch options. Game will be much smoother but with crappy audio.

 

[Radius4]

Ok so this is a set of changes to RA to allow usage of this cache thing?
And a few changes to FBA as well?

Which file is copyrighted?
What RetroArch commit was used when creating this? also what FBA 2012 commit? what is FBA 2012 neo.

I'd be interested in trying to upstream the changes but the information is... spotty.

 

[Wiimpathy]

Ok so this is a set of changes to RA to allow usage of this cache thing?
And a few changes to FBA as well?

Which file is copyrighted?
What RetroArch commit was used when creating this? also what FBA 2012 commit? what is FBA 2012 neo.

I'd be interested in trying to upstream the changes but the information is... spotty.

The changes are necessary in the cores only. The modifications in Retroarch were just made to be able to compile with different devkitPPC. The audio was bad when compiling with R27 or higher, I think it's fixed now at the core level.

The copyrighted files are wii_vm.c, wii_vm.h, and dsihandler.S.

The RetroArch commit : https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/commit/43b6ce416e2a0aef2b011a93328a4382521212e3
The FBA core used for cps3, pgm and psikyo tests from 1 November 2017 : https://github.com/libretro/fbalpha2012/commits/master
FBA neo is the seperate core just like the cps1, cps2 cores. It's this commit I guess : https://github.com/libretro/fbalpha2012_neogeo/commit/4515d37ffc2b2eeb90eec91b4550f71d7e11ce6b

Here are the sources and patches:

Neo Geo
http://www.mediafire.com/file/26s08s5rowrjm7k/FBA-VM_source.zip (fba2012_neo folder & fbaneo.patch)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/vuoiicuc2aixadw/fbaneo_R2-R3_patch.zip

CPS3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/26s08s5rowrjm7k/FBA-VM_source.zip (fbalpha2012-masterVM folder)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mwrt1ibwpey4r3q/fbacps3-r2.zip

PGM & PSIKYO
http://www.mediafire.com/file/pr6g30lfas0sp51/FBA_PGM-PSIKYO-VM_R1_Source.zip

 

[Radius4]

Thanks a lot, I'll take a look on the weekend

 

[spielvan]

@Wiimpathy Hello my friend, first of all congratulations for the great work you have done with both the NeoGeo mod and the Mame Plus 2003 plus, which have undoubtedly been perfect and have brought new possibilities to the Nintendo Wii.

A friend "Eduardo Cosma" has asked me several times to ask, if it is possible to add to the mods, option for RetroAchievements (Trophies), since it has become a craze for people to play the retrogames by conquest. Thank you and a hug, my dear.

 

[Wiimpathy]

Thanks for your kind words. To enable RetroAchievements, Retroarch has to be modified not only the core. It's a lot of work since there's no networking available for retroarch wii. It wasn't my goal anyway. But I agree that it'd be pretty cool.