Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?

Allanbuzzy

I noticed it's pretty hard to find J2ME roms around the internet for some reason. I'm not sure this'll be possible as finding J2ME roms are pretty hard and risky, as the sites I tried to find looked too suspicious and malicious.

Hex

@Allanbuzzy These sites are mostly defunct but have working links including downloads. These were optimized for mobile so might look funky on desktop. Probably thats what you are looking at rather than shady.

Most of these sites were known as "WAP sites". WAP was the internet protocol on Java phones >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Application_Protocol

Hex

@recompile
[v0.8.1]
A few changes to C :

Source is now anbu.cpp in dropbox folder
Added rotation support
Binary to be compiled as "anbu" (Call accordingly from J)
Changed command line syntax
Added help text and credits.
Added Jhat mod (needs testing)

I didnt want the name to remain "sdl_" related. Hence the change.

Syntax :

anbu width height [-i interpolator] [-r]

[] optional params
-r to rotate frame. Save this in per game config
-i nearest default

The optional params will come from J if needed. Optional params are order insensitive.

java -jar freej2me.jar game.jar width height -i nearest -r
`-----------Not for C---------' `J chks int' `--J passes all to C

Hex

@recompile I tried to run it on pi3 for the first time. The games are not that playable. Do you tweak any JVM options for smoother playback? It takes a long time to see the game update on click.

EDIT : Oracle JDK has considerably better performance.

Also are you taping into sdterr from C ?

Hex

This post is deleted!

Hex

@recompile Can you share the build files and sources. I wanted to see how the events are handled on J's end

recompile

Here's a libretro build:
http://drichardson-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/freej2me_libretro_2017-08-25.zip

For the moment, you're stuck in 240x320 mode, but you'll find quite a few games work just fine or were specifically designed for that mode (from what I can tell, it's the most common). Once I add per-game configs, you'll be able to play more.

I have some instructions in the zip, but I'll put them here for convenience.

Step 1: Install Oracle's JDK:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-jdk
sudo update-alternatives --config javac
sudo update-alternatives --config java

Step 2:
Add the files: emulators.cfg and retroarch.cfg
to: /opt/retropie/configs/j2me

Be sure to set permissions to 666:
sudo chmod 666 /opt/retropie/configs/j2me/*

Step 3: Add the following to:
/etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

  <system>
    <name>J2ME</name>
    <fullname>Java 2 MicroEdition</fullname>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/j2me</path>
    <extension>.jar</extension>
    <command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ j2me %ROM%</command>
    <platform>j2me</platform>
    <theme>j2me</theme>
  </system>

Step 4:
Copy the files: freej2me_libretro.so and freej2me-lr.jar
to: /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freej2me

Be sure to set permissions to 755:

sudo chmod 755 /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freej2me/*

Step 5: Have fun
Add a j2me directory to your roms directory and copy over your game jars. Restart EmulationStation and play some games.

RetroPad mappings are as follows (hard-coded for the moment):

D-Pad (UDLR): 2, 8, 4, 6
A: 9
B: 7
X : 0
Y: 5
Start: Soft2
Select: Soft1
L1: 1
R1: 3
L2: *
R2: #

On the keyboard, arrows work as expected, numbers are numbers, and the numpad has 123 and 789 inverted. Additional mappings: q: soft1, w: soft2, e: *, r: #

Sorry for the delay, but I had to not look at this project for a while or I'd have lost my interest.

pjft

@recompile Wow. Congrats on the launch, well done! What's the performance like on this in terms of libretro vs non-libretro, and any particular games you - or others - would recommend for the platform?

I don't have my Pi for a few weeks, but this deserves a proper celebration!

Hex

@recompile I was under the impression that we were not doing one for libretro

Does the libretro make sdl_interface obsolete?

Hex

@pjft Non lobretro supports custom resolutions and rotation support but not custom keybindings. It is great to use on PC with numpad. Libretro version is mostly targeted towards Pi.

recompile

@pjft Thanks, though I wouldn't call it a launch until the per-game configs are done. It's a solid preview, however, which I'm pretty satisfied with for the moment.

Performance is great on my pi3, though I haven't done a side-by-side with the older attempts so I can't say with any certainty if it's better or worse.

For games you can play on it now, I can recommend Doom RPG, Orcs and Elves, ShadoWalker, Soul of Darkness, and Asphalt 6, Assassins Creed, and Castle of Magic off the top of my head.

recompile

@hex said in Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?:

I was under the impression that we were not doing one for libretro

So was I, which is why I didn't bother you with it. I didn't think you were interested.

@hex said in Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?:

Does the libretro make sdl_interface obsolete?

That's up to you. If you find value in that project, then I don't see any reason not to keep going.

Speaking of, I still owe you a build that passes all the parameters. I'll try to get that to you in the next couple of days.

Hex

@recompile Great work.

@recompile said in Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?:

So was I, which is why I didn't bother you with it. I didn't think you were interested.

I was ok with not working on it as you were more interested in maintaining a single version. Looks like we both has some miscommunication.

I liked the Icon.
The main idea of having passed parameters is that the UI updates and features can be added later without disturbing the Jar file.
Does this version have m3g support ?
Libretro support is fantastic.
Once you think it is ready upto a level or if you would like my help with java stuff then I would be glad to help. Possibly host it on github?

recompile

@hex It happens.

No m3g support yet. That's a surprisingly big project that is very likely to take longer than everything else so far. That is, if I do a complete implementation.

I'll probably stub it out and add flesh it out as I find games that use various parts over time. Just a fun fact, that's what I did for javax.microedition.lcdui.game.TiledLayer, as I haven't found a game yet that uses it. Sprite, in the same package, is also anemic for that reason. I'll bet that'll get quite a few things working, even with a minimal implementation. I stubbed out javax.microedition.wireless because a game uses it, just to make it play, even though no actual communication ever happens. The game didn't seem to mind.

Sins of the lazy.

Hex

@recompile does it print out the class is not implemented yet if a game uses it?

Stuart2773

can this be download/installed via the RetroPie Setup/Manage Packages menu?

Allanbuzzy

Will you put this in the Experimental section of the RetroPie Setup?

Hex

@stuart2773 said in Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?:

can this be download/installed via the RetroPie Setup/Manage Packages menu?

Not yet. It is still in development

Hex

@recompile A few questions:

Have you got the sound to work?
~~Is J capturing stderr from C. I was use stderr as a log for debugging and I can never get any output from C.stderr.~~ This is a Java issue. I tried with a java broadcaster and stderr was not displayed. I shall look for a workaround.
Have you tried the Anbu source. I fixed the issue with your Logitec gamepad and would like to know if it works as expected.
Do you think I should add support for all rotation angles {0, 90, 180, 270}? If yes then the parameter would be changed to [-r angle] with angle in degrees
Would you like image background support? Currently I have added Coloured Background support (Blue gray here)

0_1503709898318_Screenshot from 2017-08-25 18-11-12.png

I would like to make something like this

recompile

@hex I didn't do anything with the j2me project at all until a few days ago. All I did then was knock-out the libretro core and respective java build.

Needless to say, I haven't played with sound, or tried the latest Anbu. Things are hectic here, so it might be a few days before I can try out my controller.

I did look in to stderr for you. I haven't tested this, but it should forward stderr from C to J and write out stderr on J's process. Also, as promised, it should pass along all the parameters, with the exception of the first, passed to J.

http://drichardson-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/freej2me-rpi.jar

Backgrounds are neat. The AWT and JavaFx builds both use a background similar to your first example, the Libretro build just has whatever RetroArch can add. I don't seem to have any control over the background color from the core.

@Stuart2773 @allanbuzzy said in Would you like to play Nokia (J2ME) games on Retropie?:

Will you put this in the Experimental section of the RetroPie Setup?

I don't have any control over that. I'm not even sure who you'd ask.

The setup process might look overwhelming, but it's not really that complicated. I can help if you have any questions about installation.