Homebrew Official Retroarch WiiU (wip.)

[Dakangel]

...

PPSSPP is a good Emulator on WiiU but Aliaspider has long stopped working on it, I think the plan was to get the port to a good enough state and pr the changes to the main PPSSPP repo so it could be kept updated, but the pr was never finished.

https://github.com/hrydgard/ppsspp/pull/11001 <---this

There is a continuation from this user Vaguerant but i dont know if is possible to compile one of his/her branches
https://github.com/vaguerant/ppsspp/tree/shader

 

[ploggy]

There is a continuation from this user Vaguerant but i dont know if is possible to compile one of his/her branches
https://github.com/vaguerant/ppsspp/tree/shader

I think VagueRant tried to make some additions but it never went anywhere but I may be wrong? @Vague Rant

 

[Vague Rant]

There is a continuation from this user Vaguerant but i dont know if is possible to compile one of his/her branches
https://github.com/vaguerant/ppsspp/tree/shader

I think VagueRant tried to make some additions but it never went anywhere but I may be wrong? @Vague Rant

Oh, yeah, I added 720p/1080p support and had some back and forth with AboodXD about improving the scaling on the GamePad with a shader. That part never worked out, but the 1080p support works fine. I wouldn't say it qualifies as a continuation, adding 1080p was all I did or know how to do, so the emulator is not otherwise improved in any way. That said, it does build and I included a Dockerfile with instructions in /ppsspp/tree/wiiu26/WiiU. I've also attached a build to this post since not everybody wants to set up Docker.

I want to be clear that when I say I added native resolution support, I mostly mean that the emulator can now output the original 272p image upscaled to those higher resolutions. Realistically, you can't run PSP games at increased resolutions on the Wii U, so it's purely about the scaling quality boost from not being stuck at 480p. Technically it might be possible to run something at an increased resolution, but that was really never the point. The main attraction is the fact that PPSSPP has a special mode when running at 1080p which does a 4x upscale from 270p. i.e. It crops off a single row of pixels from the top and bottom, and then 270*4 = 1080, so you get a very sharp image on the TV if you disable filtering.

 

[Maxbeta]

@Vague Rant

Your support is appreciated!
Do you know if something could be done about using other controls besides the game pad? Like maybe a Wii U Pro or even Wiimotes?

 

[Zeox-gamer]

Oh, yeah, I added 720p/1080p support and had some back and forth with AboodXD about improving the scaling on the GamePad with a shader. That part never worked out, but the 1080p support works fine. I wouldn't say it qualifies as a continuation, adding 1080p was all I did or know how to do, so the emulator is not otherwise improved in any way. That said, it does build and I included a Dockerfile with instructions in /ppsspp/tree/wiiu26/WiiU. I've also attached a build to this post since not everybody wants to set up Docker.

I want to be clear that when I say I added native resolution support, I mostly mean that the emulator can now output the original 272p image upscaled to those higher resolutions. Realistically, you can't run PSP games at increased resolutions on the Wii U, so it's purely about the scaling quality boost from not being stuck at 480p. Technically it might be possible to run something at an increased resolution, but that was really never the point. The main attraction is the fact that PPSSPP has a special mode when running at 1080p which does a 4x upscale from 270p. i.e. It crops off a single row of pixels from the top and bottom, and then 270*4 = 1080, so you get a very sharp image on the TV if you disable filtering.

This is very good, they could work on and improve it to work as a core of the retroarch wiiu, so it can even work with the pro controller, in addition to being able to have games with covers and on top of that, it runs better as it improves over time.

 

[ploggy]

New Update for the PCSX Rearmed Unai Core, speed is up please try this build and see how it performs for you guys

(Same as before. Extract this zip into your Retorarch folder and delete the cache file in your info folder if you have one before loading Retroarch)

 

[ploggy]

So how is Core performing for you guys? are you happy with the speed improvements, it should be pretty close to if not the same as WiiSX.
..and remember you can get even more fps if you mess with the Core Options

 

[september796]

I definitely noticed an improvement
I was playing toy story 2 before and it struggled a lot even with the usual tweaks, now there's still some slowdowns but overall it's better without even messing with the core options, and with the tweaks it gets very very close to perfect. Also tried Monsters inc. which also had a lot of slowdowns before, now shows an improvement too. BTW, in this game you can see that, after setting the controller as dualshock, the diagonals don't quite reach its max value (i.e. the character switches from running to walking). I'll check it with an iso of padtest later.
Also, the issue when loading isos without "close content" first is still present.

 

[ploggy]

I definitely noticed an improvement
I was playing toy story 2 before and it struggled a lot even with the usual tweaks, now there's still some slowdowns but overall it's better without even messing with the core options, and with the tweaks it gets very very close to perfect. Also tried Monsters inc. which also had a lot of slowdowns before, now shows an improvement too. BTW, in this game you can see that, after setting the controller as dualshock, the diagonals don't quite reach its max value (i.e. the character switches from running to walking). I'll check it with an iso of padtest later.
Also, the issue when loading isos without "close content" first is still present.

Thank you for testing yes, there's still work to do but the last changes made a big improvement, some less demanding games saw a 30+ fps boost!

As for the Dualshock Analog issue you can go into the Core Options and in the Input section change the "Analog Axis Bounds" see if that makes a difference.
and the Close Content crash is a WiiU Retroarch issue not specific to the PS1 Core


EDIT: yea changing Analog Axis Bounds from Circle to Square fixes the Controls in Monster Inc, just tried it myself
(for anyone having issues enabling Analog Controls, you have to press "Minus + L + R" the same time to toggle Analog On/OFF )

 

[AmandaRose]

So how is Core performing for you guys? are you happy with the speed improvements, it should be pretty close to if not the same as WiiSX.
..and remember you can get even more fps if you mess with the Core Options

Hey sorry had a super busy week so have only just got round to testing the latest version. Tried out Tekken 3 and it now plays at pretty much full speed. I only get slowdown/stuttering audio in the first round of the first fight. Not sure why but after the first round the issue disappears and it plays great.

 

[HelpfulHooty]

Not sure if this is right topic for this but... what's are the key differences between running RetroArch in Aroma or Tiramisu?

I mean its not that big of a deal to switch between to enviroments but I'm kinda lazy.

 

[september796]

EDIT: yea changing Analog Axis Bounds from Circle to Square fixes the Controls in Monster Inc, just tried it myself
(for anyone having issues enabling Analog Controls, you have to press "Minus + L + R" the same time to toggle Analog On/OFF )

Works now, tysm!
I don't understand what that option is for, though but shouldn't it come setup as Square by default if it works better?

btw another question, at what point does RA actually writes memory card saves to the SD Card? Is it when closing content, when closing RA? I'm afraid to lose progress if RA crashes.

 

[ploggy]

Hey sorry had a super busy week so have only just got round to testing the latest version. Tried out Tekken 3 and it now plays at pretty much full speed. I only get slowdown/stuttering audio in the first round of the first fight. Not sure why but after the first round the issue disappears and it plays great.

Thank you.. I think it has something to do with Lightrec caching, it takes a awhile for the cache to fill but once it has the game speed will equal out.

Not sure if this is right topic for this but... what's are the key differences between running RetroArch in Aroma or Tiramisu?

I mean its not that big of a deal to switch between to enviroments but I'm kinda lazy.

As of right now Tiramisu is the only way to use Retroarch properly, there are some test Cores for aroma but due to the fact the Core take ages to load it isn't worth it. Best to stick with Tiramisu for Retroarch until the Aroma issues are worked out

Works now, tysm!
I don't understand what that option is for, though but shouldn't it come setup as Square by default if it works better?

btw another question, at what point does RA actually writes memory card saves to the SD Card? Is it when closing content, when closing RA? I'm afraid to lose progress if RA crashes.

It must depend on the game, some utilise the Square method for Analog axis and some use Circle
Maybe more games use Circle and that's why its default. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure, but I guess it saves to the SD card as the game saves in game? tho if your worried you can always Quick Save for extra Save security

 

[Zeox-gamer]

Oh, yeah, I added 720p/1080p support and had some back and forth with AboodXD about improving the scaling on the GamePad with a shader. That part never worked out, but the 1080p support works fine. I wouldn't say it qualifies as a continuation, adding 1080p was all I did or know how to do, so the emulator is not otherwise improved in any way. That said, it does build and I included a Dockerfile with instructions in /ppsspp/tree/wiiu26/WiiU. I've also attached a build to this post since not everybody wants to set up Docker.

I want to be clear that when I say I added native resolution support, I mostly mean that the emulator can now output the original 272p image upscaled to those higher resolutions. Realistically, you can't run PSP games at increased resolutions on the Wii U, so it's purely about the scaling quality boost from not being stuck at 480p. Technically it might be possible to run something at an increased resolution, but that was really never the point. The main attraction is the fact that PPSSPP has a special mode when running at 1080p which does a 4x upscale from 270p. i.e. It crops off a single row of pixels from the top and bottom, and then 270*4 = 1080, so you get a very sharp image on the TV if you disable filtering.

Friend, your version runs more games like God Eater Burter works in your build and in the old ones, I just wanted to let you know that

 

[NDx]

Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike works perfectly on my wii u.

how did you get it running, if I may ask?

 

[AmandaRose]

how did you get it running, if I may ask?

You don't need to do anything other than download the game. Then start retroarch then select the Street fighter 3 3rd rom then select load archive then select FB Alpha 2012 cps-3 core wait about 20 secs for it to load. It's that simple.

I also made a quick video. Sorry it's all wobbly hard to hold the phone and do the WiiU at the same time. Also yes I know my screen is dirty

 

[Vague Rant]

Friend, your version runs more games like God Eater Burter works in your build and in the old ones, I just wanted to let you know that

Oh, that's really interesting. I have a guess as to why, but it's certainly not anything I did intentionally.

The official build we've all been running for years was built "dirty"--compiled with uncommitted changes, as in the code had been changed but not submitted to GitHub. aliaspider had made some additional tweaks to the code on their computer, then made a build with those tweaks included. Without that modified code being pushed to GitHub, it was impossible for anybody else to build an exact copy of that old version.

When I started looking into building PPSSPP, I discovered this because a build of the latest commit wasn't as stable as the dirty build we were running before. Poking around aliaspider's GitHub repo, there was another branch (separate, split off version of the code) from around the same time that had some additional fixes which I knew were in the old build, like saving was broken in the main branch but already fixed in in the dirty build and in this other branch. I assume aliaspider was working on these fixes on the side and built a version of the master branch with them included, but never pushed them to the master branch for whatever reason.

So all I did was I merge those other fixes back into the master branch and build it, and that (plus the resolution fixes) are what the build I posted earlier is: the master branch plus aliaspider's extra fixes from elsewhere which seemed to be what was already included in the old dirty build. However, it may have been that aliaspider had actually fixed even more bugs in that other branch than what was in the dirty build, meaning the new build includes those extra fixes too. So it's accidentally better than intended.

That's my best guess, anyway.

 

[Zeox-gamer]

Oh, that's really interesting. I have a guess as to why, but it's certainly not anything I did intentionally.

The official build we've all been running for years was built "dirty"--compiled with uncommitted changes, as in the code had been changed but not submitted to GitHub. aliaspider had made some additional tweaks to the code on their computer, then made a build with those tweaks included. Without that modified code being pushed to GitHub, it was impossible for anybody else to build an exact copy of that old version.

When I started looking into building PPSSPP, I discovered this because a build of the latest commit wasn't as stable as the dirty build we were running before. Poking around aliaspider's GitHub repo, there was another branch (separate, split off version of the code) from around the same time that had some additional fixes which I knew were in the old build, like saving was broken in the main branch but already fixed in in the dirty build and in this other branch. I assume aliaspider was working on these fixes on the side and built a version of the master branch with them included, but never pushed them to the master branch for whatever reason.

So all I did was I merge those other fixes back into the master branch and build it, and that (plus the resolution fixes) are what the build I posted earlier is: the master branch plus aliaspider's extra fixes from elsewhere which seemed to be what was already included in the old dirty build. However, it may have been that aliaspider had actually fixed even more bugs in that other branch than what was in the dirty build, meaning the new build includes those extra fixes too. So it's accidentally better than intended.

That's my best guess, anyway.

Maybe this happened, some games that were stuck now run, but there are games that still need to be improved, like God of War, which has gray graphics on the unplayable screen and Dantes Inferno, which just has incorrect graphics, but I believe the Wiiu can run the PSP well too. You just need someone who is interested to make it right.

games I have currently tested and configured

Dantes inferno (it runs but the graphics are wrong and buggy, use the frame skip, you can even play but it's really annoying with the buggy graphics in the scenes)


God eater burst (works almost perfect, just the sky in the game is red, otherwise everything is ok)

fate extra (works perfect)

fate extra CCC (works perfect)

fate unlimited codes (works perfect)

Last lanker patched english 2.3 (works perfect)

Resistance (runs slowly but the graphics are perfect, maybe someone will fix this in a future update)

the 3rd Birthday (works perfectly in fps only the audios of the cute scenes are low and there are few stutters)

 

[ploggy]

Some light reading (thanks to @Zeox-gamer for the link)

https://clownacy.wordpress.com/2024/01/10/porting-a-nintendo-64-emulator-to-the-wii-u-at-1fps/

Post automatically merged: Mar 20, 2024

Does anyone have access to older versions of WiiU Retroarch builds? I used to be able to grab them from Archive.org but it seems they have removed them :/

I would like to have builds older than what's on the Retroarch Buildbot... pre 1.9.0.

If anyone has them or finds them can you PM me. Thanks

 

[pedro702]

Some light reading (thanks to @Zeox-gamer for the link)

https://clownacy.wordpress.com/2024/01/10/porting-a-nintendo-64-emulator-to-the-wii-u-at-1fps/

Post automatically merged: Mar 20, 2024

Does anyone have access to older versions of WiiU Retroarch builds? I used to be able to grab them from Archive.org but it seems they have removed them :/

I would like to have builds older than what's on the Retroarch Buildbot... pre 1.9.0.

If anyone has them or finds them can you PM me. Thanks

that 1 fps is crazy xD

sadly his latest commit on that core is over 2 months old.