Hacking The Great Quest for Wiiflow Plugins™ - A call for adventurers!

[pankos]

I recently moved my wiiflow installation with all its plugins and everything else from sd card to usb drive. I changed some settings so wiiflow is able to see all my roms and covers. But I can't get Retroarch plugins to work. Whenever I try to load anything, which uses Retroarch, it loads back to wiiflow. Can I reset Retroarch settings or edit it somehow?

 

[cheloruiz79]

I recently moved my wiiflow installation with all its plugins and everything else from sd card to usb drive. I changed some settings so wiiflow is able to see all my roms and cowers. But I cant get retroarch plugins to work. Whenever I try to load anything, which uses retroarch it loads back to wiiflow. Can I reset Retroarch settings or edit it somewhere?

go to usb/retroarch and delete all .cfg files

 

[RunningSnakes]

The way (Most) RA plugins are set up now, you must remove all cfg files from...
wiiflow/plugins/Retroarch-Wii/

Do not remove "retroarch-salamander.cfg", this file is needed for Save & Load states.
____________

For Hexaeco plugins to work again, remove all cfg files from...
ROMS/0_HEXAECO_cfg/

This should fix your issues. @pankos

Post automatically merged: Dec 18, 2022

WiiFlow Plugins Pack v13 is up in time for the holidays.

Some minor updates and a few adds. Many RA cores have been updated to 1.14.0.

 

[pankos]

Is it normal, that N64 plugins require about 30 seconds to load rom? I haven't played N64 games for quite a while, so I am not sure if it started to happen after moving my wiiflow installation from sd to usb or is it normal behaviour?

 

[RunningSnakes]

I am posting to be blunt clear!!!

If you are installing WFL plugins pack, please use This thread for help. Do not use the main WFL thread regarding to plugin questions.

First & foremost. If you have a "Clean" SD or USB device without any prior installation of the WFL plugin pack. Simply drag & drop all contents of the WFL Plugins Pack folders onto your media (SD/USB). THEN place your games/roms where they are intended. This is the ROMS folder!!!

If you are updating from previous pack, save your files before copy & paste! You know the procedure!

The very truth is, this pack cannot be handed out so clearly. YOU, as the user, must do what is necessary.

 

[RunningSnakes]

Small update/fix for V13 Plugins Pack.

Snes9xRX updated...
Atari 800/XL RA Alt added...
Atari 5200 RA Alt added...
ZX Spectrum reverted to RA 1.11.0...

This update has been merged with the full plugins pack download.

 

[Jmandawg]

Hi, sorry for the noob question, but how do you switch to different cores?

For example i see all these cores in the readme file:

NINTENDO NES - FCEU-GX 3.5.2 JUNE 16, 2022 46434555=FCEU
NINTENDO NES - FCEU-RX 1.7.0 JANURARY 20, 2019 464e5258=FNRX
NINTENDO NES - FCEUX-TX 1.1.6 SEPTEMBER 25, 2022 464e5458=FNTX
NINTENDO NES - FCEUmm RETROARCH 1.10.3 46434D4D=FCMM ZAPPER GAMES MUST BE CONFIGURED IN PORT 5
*NINTENDO NES - NESTOPIA RETROARCH 1.14.0 56434D4D=VCMM ZAPPER GAMES PORT 1 AND PORT 2 MUST BE SWITCHED
NINTENDO NES - WIIMEDNAFEN 0.3 NOVEMBER 04, 2021 4d45414e=MEAN

It is picking FCEUmm by default Is there an easy way to switch to a different NES core (Nestopia)?

Thanks.

 

[RunningSnakes]

Hi, sorry for the noob question, but how do you switch to different cores?

For example i see all these cores in the readme file:



It is picking FCEUmm by default Is there an easy way to switch to a different NES core (Nestopia)?

Thanks.

You want to change NES emulator/core, or any emulator/core change...

Select NES from wheel or button, now you see your NES games in view with art correct?

Click home button on Wiimote, now click Select Plugins. You need to scroll until you find "Nintendo NES (Nestopia-RA) and check mark the box. The FCEUmm-RA box needs to be un-checked.

Now press the B button a few times until you are back at the game screen, where your art is displayed. Press the Home button on Wiimote and click "Reload Cache".

In my experience, i usually start another game from a different system, where the cache has already been set, then exit quickly. This way, i know the settings should be saved, in fact, this is a rule i abide by each session.

Now, Nestopia should be your NES emulator and it has come a very long way over the past year, as for how well it performs in all aspects of emulation on the Wii.

I would say it is as good as FCEUmm now and that is saying something. FCEUmm is a great emulator.

As an avid NES & Sega Genesis player, which are the 2 most underappreciated libraries in the history of gaming. The Wii performs as well as any PC using emulation. If you are using a NES emulator on the Wii, you must be using FCEUTX, if you are not, fix this issue!

 

[Jmandawg]

You want to change NES emulator/core, or any emulator/core change...

Select NES from wheel or button, now you see your NES games in view with art correct?

Click home button on Wiimote, now click Select Plugins. You need to scroll until you find "Nintendo NES (Nestopia-RA) and check mark the box. The FCEUmm-RA box needs to be un-checked.

Now press the B button a few times until you are back at the game screen, where your art is displayed. Press the Home button on Wiimote and click "Reload Cache".

In my experience, i usually start another game from a different system, where the cache has already been set, then exit quickly. This way, i know the settings should be saved, in fact, this is a rule i abide by each session.

Now, Nestopia should be your NES emulator and it has come a very long way over the past year, as for how well it performs in all aspects of emulation on the Wii.

I would say it is as good as FCEUmm now and that is saying something. FCEUmm is a great emulator.

As an avid NES & Sega Genesis player, which are the 2 most underappreciated libraries in the history of gaming. The Wii performs as well as any PC using emulation. If you are using a NES emulator on the Wii, you must be using FCEUTX, if you are not, fix this issue!

Thank you that worked!

Has anyone else noticed that overlays (ie. scan lines) don't seem to work anymore?

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Thank you that worked!

Has anyone else noticed that overlays (ie. scan lines) don't seem to work anymore?

Yes, I did! I'm currently working on a small RA pack with modded cores from older RA versions, with a collection of pixel perfect scanlines for various systems (including portable consoles) and a little tutorial to set them up. Stay tuned!
@RunningSnakes don't you use the 'source menu setup'? (Home when you view a tier, then 'link source buttons to plugins'). This way you don't have to use the cache trick you described, just one click and your selection is permanent. You can also set plugins roms path.
I personally use 'Select plugins' just for quick tests with plugins

 

[RunningSnakes]

@RunningSnakes don't you use the 'source menu setup'?

Yes. I have tried the tier setup 3-4 times but just prefer the old fashioned source menu setup.

 

[pankos]

CPS1/2 controls are broken in respective RA 1.14.0 cores

 

[RunningSnakes]

CPS1/2 controls are broken in respective RA 1.14.0 cores

Classic or GameCube controllers are required by many newer RA cores.

This is why i have added (Alt) versions of some if these cores when available.

For FBA, CPS1, CPS2 gaming, HEXAECO cores run 100% with no need for Classic or GameCube controllers.

 

[Jmandawg]

... don't you use the 'source menu setup'? (Home when you view a tier, then 'link source buttons to plugins'). This way you don't have to use the cache trick you described, just one click and your selection is permanent.

This is very useful information and would be great if it was added to the instructions. Ie. "How to change default emulator cores"

 

[pankos]

Classic or GameCube controllers are required by many newer RA cores.

This is why i have added (Alt) versions of some if these cores when available.

For FBA, CPS1, CPS2 gaming, HEXAECO cores run 100% with no need for Classic or GameCube controllers.

Ok, I didn't know that and I have only wiimote and nunchuck. May I ask why these later cores were given preference as a default? Had emulation have greatly improved to consider buying classic controller to try with these newer cores?

 

[RunningSnakes]

Ok, I didn't know that and I have only wiimote and nunchuck. May I ask why these later cores were given preference as a default? Had emulation have greatly improved to consider buying classic controller to try with these newer cores?

For at least a few cores, emulation features were improved, cap32 for example allows Amstrad CPC games to auto-boot. For other cores, yes gameplay and stability have had a huge step forward.

The biggest feature improvement is the ability for individual cores to have their own dedicated input configuration.

As for the FBA cores, i do not think there are any noticeable emulation improvements and were updated only to stay as current as possible.

I always recommend using Hexaeco for FBA gaming over official RA. Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Vectrex, ZX Spectrum, Cannonball/Out Run are a few others best played using Hexaeco for various emulation reasons.

 

[SaulFabre]

For at least a few cores, emulation features were improved, cap32 for example allows Amstrad CPC games to auto-boot. For other cores, yes gameplay and stability have had a huge step forward.

The biggest feature improvement is the ability for individual cores to have their own dedicated input configuration.

As for the FBA cores, i do not think there are any noticeable emulation improvements and were updated only to stay as current as possible.

I always recommend using Hexaeco for FBA gaming over official RA. Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Vectrex, ZX Spectrum, Cannonball/Out Run are a few others best played using Hexaeco for various emulation reasons.

HEXAeco has also some arcade cores that vanilla RA Wii doesn't have, such the MAME2003+ cores and decent FBA2012 cores.

 

[Jmandawg]

For some reason metal slug 1 and metal slugX crash when using the HEX FBA neo core launched through wiiflow. It works fine using the same core launched from homebrew (downloaded from here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarch-hexaeco-emulators.600834/). The .dol files appear to be identical.

 

[RunningSnakes]

Simply, Use the RA core when you have issues with certain games. This Is the Very reason this plugin pack exists. Without being a jerk, you as the user, need to figure out simple solutions for simple issues.

I cannot fix compatibility, i only try to make available what emulators/cores work well in my testing, which is limited sometimes.

When i see issues posted of various emulators/cores, 99% of the time, the user has failed to correctly set things up.

Post automatically merged: Dec 29, 2022

I think at this time, i will step aside and give the reigns back to @Tetsuo Shima going forward. He has become more involved and i believe my contributions are not needed.

I hope i have done a sufficient job of maintaining the pack and improving some.

 

[gZa]

For some reason metal slug 1 and metal slugX crash when using the HEX FBA neo core launched through wiiflow. It works fine using the same core launched from homebrew (downloaded from here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarch-hexaeco-emulators.600834/). The .dol files appear to be identical.

I could never get some NeoGeo games to run thru RA-HEXAECO when booted via WiiFlow. I ended up just popping the ROMS into a different folder and used vanilla RetroArch to boot them.