OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES

[darknior]

@cyperghost Excellent i love the idea :)

You are right, use the old 3600 port made by @rofl0r with save support and add it my command line trick if you don't already do it.
And the last OpenBOR port to use the last excellent games :)
I can't dream better solution to finally use OpenBOR on Retropie :)

When do you will release a package to try this stuff ?
Or will you add it to the official Retropie SETUP script fo all the users ?

[cyperghost]

@darknior welcome back!
I can write that script module indeed but I am currently on holidays till the next week.
Maybe a more advanced user like @psyke83 can take action and write that module quickly. Before doing this we may tweak the video resolution in newest openbor.

But I indeed think we should use both binaries. Rofl0rs old one with pak and save support and the newest branch brewed by @zanac

His github resp is located here
https://github.com/zanac/OpenPB4/tree/master/openbor

[zanac]

@cyperghost said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

@darknior welcome back!
I can write that script module indeed but I am currently on holidays till the next week.
Maybe a more advanced user like @psyke83 can take action and write that module quickly. Before doing this we may tweak the video resolution in newest openbor.

But I indeed think we should use both binaries. Rofl0rs old one with pak and save support and the newest branch brewed by @zanac

His github resp is located here
https://github.com/zanac/OpenPB4/tree/master/openbor

in the new fork if you can try to investigate why it work only when i force a low resolution (actually i forced 384x224).... the clean way is to remove all "bad code" that i used to force lowres ;) As i said i don't own a rasbperry to try what happens... i used 384x224 'cause this is the resolution that is used in Pandora-Allwinner (the board that i use), but it's not the right thing in rasbperry ;)

Let me know if you discover this mistery, i'm very interested in for my knowledge :)

OpenBOR is missing a command line interface, a good program should implement something like....

--help
--width x
--height h
--pak /path/to/file.pak

if someone of you implement argc/argv command line in this way i think that it's the best solution to solve all problem for rasbperry but also for my crap allwinner, 'cause i can remove from my fork the 384x224 hack :)

[cyperghost]

@zanac see the hardcoding done in openbor.c
Maybe I can investigate

I found something.
If videomode declaration in pak file does not hit any default mode then debug video mode 255 will be used. This automatically calculates resolution. But I don't not know the source. SDL screen output maybe?

[BiZzAr721]

Hey @cyperghost We're all most grateful for your contributions - you go enjoy your vacation holiday and we'll look forward to your work on your return =p

[oilusionista]

@bizzar721 said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

These are games I tried that DO NOT work (but keeping them unzipped on my PC with my fingers crossed)

Avengers United Battle Force.bor

Hello there, let me introduce myself.
I am O Ilusionista, coder of the game "Avengers United Battle Force". I am also one of the administrators of the Chronocrash (the official OpenBOR community) and recently I've joined the dev team of the OpenBOR (I am just a newbie on this subject for now).

My game won't work on this custom OpenBOR version because it was built based on a VERY OLD version - build 3400. As I am writing this, the most recent version is 6412 - so you can get how old that version is. My game, as stated on the download page, needs to be run in the version 4432 specifically. I will update the game soon, and the minimum build version needed will be 6315.
Any attempt of trying to get it run on older builds will give you an instant crash, because I am using things which aren't present on those old versions.

Btw, if anyone wants to test the game, you can download it from here http://www.brazilmugenteam.com/avengers
You need to use the provided version to run the game.

@zanac as I stated at chronocrash, I saw that this is using a non-official version done by rofl0r.
There is a long story behind it but to make it short - the guy is a pain and was kicked from the dev team.

Also, we have a rule to not let any "custom" (aka non-official) version of OpenBOR to be posted there. So I am deleting your link.
please, do not post it again here - unless you remove things from that person.

Officially, there was little interest of porting and supporting (personally, I like this idea) OpenBOR to PI. But after seeing stuff from that person to be used, the interest and support had dropped to like -100. There is nothing we can do to stop you guys, but there won't be any support from the official team too.

Anyway, good luck to your project.

Edit: sorry, english is not my native language and maybe I sounded wrong. The way I worded it sounds like ports are not allowed, which is not true. You guys just need to understand ports must be based on the official version for us to support them.

[oilusionista]

@zanac said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

OpenBOR is missing a command line interface, a good program should implement something like....

According to Damon Caskey words, "OpenBOR supports several command line arguments, though honestly I don’t recall what they are. It’s been years since anyone looked at them, including me. There are no plans for a full-scale command line interface – that’s just not something I consider worth the time. However, once I complete a current project of updating script property access, I can look into the command line arguments if it will help you out."

[zanac]

@oilusionista said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

@zanac said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

OpenBOR is missing a command line interface, a good program should implement something like....

According to Damon Caskey words, "OpenBOR supports several command line arguments, though honestly I don’t recall what they are. It’s been years since anyone looked at them, including me. There are no plans for a full-scale command line interface – that’s just not something I consider worth the time. However, once I complete a current project of updating script property access, I can look into the command line arguments if it will help you out."

I ported last version 6412 Read better the work that i made. Command line is a must for integration in retropie, The only problem of 6412 is the resolution that i Force on start up and pak command line, if these thing will be include even My hack for run 6412 in retropie is not useful.

[zanac]

Dont blame o me that i based My work from the old version. This is complete false, My work was finalized to make run even last official version that using My Little hack work like a charme. Sorry i will not help again i dont want problems i have made a clean Port of last official version and they say The opposite i have not time for flames... ;(

[oilusionista]

@zanac I am not blaming you, really. Calm down :)
I was just trying to explain how port works for us. If the port is made from the official version, we will try to support it. But if contains any code from that version, we won't support it, sorry.

Don't get something personal when it isn't. Nobody is here to fighting - I am just give you an explanation of what happened :)

[zanac]

@oilusionista said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

@zanac I am not blaming you, really. Calm down :)
I was just trying to explain how port works for us. If the port is made from the official version, we will try to support it. But if contains any code from that version, we won't support it, sorry.

Don't get something personal when it isn't. Nobody is here to fighting - I am just give you an explanation of what happened :)

Read better what i done.
Retropie need two thing that i don't see in official version..... And if you Will add a command line will be solved without need hack source like i done.
The problems are... Resolution, we need to Force a specific resolution, see My hack i simply forced 384/224 in The sdl window. If you can start with a command line in which you pass width and height this will be solved.

Second, retropie use emulation station for start games so you need a command line to start a specific pak.

Stop no other problema in official release.

After that it seems that in git we dont have source of very old version, so for run old mods like Saint seiya Death and rebirth The stupid rotfl version is still needed, or Simple say where we can find old source?!

Yes i was very upset i try to help and i have work in official release, suggest Solution that is a Simple command line and you blame me. That s crazy!

[oilusionista]

@zanac I do not understand why you seem so angry. It may be a language barrier, but you seem pretty angry.
There is no need to be so aggressive - other than I have no interest in fighting, okay?

Saint Seiya game comes from the BOR (and not OpenBOR) era - it was made for the PS2 port, which was discontinued. It won't probably work on the newer versions, thanks to the changes made on the video settings. And its very outdated anyway.

I'll try to explain it one last time because I'm being polite to you but my patience has limits.

I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm explaining that whatever if a port is made using the official code, we can (it's not a guarantee) to give official support. But if there is any code, however small, that comes from that version, no. Even any mention of it in the official community will be deleted.

If you are willing to help the engine, you are welcome. As long as you use the official version and calm down, okay?

[zanac]

@oilusionista
Ok much better ;)
What do you think about cmd line interfacce? If you Will improve it we have The Solution of all retropie problems...

[oilusionista]

@zanac Phew, we finally got an agreement, lol

On adding command line, read what Damon wrote above. Actually, this is already supported, but they are punctual things, related to debug for example. Even I do not know anything about it, it's prior to my arrival at OpenBOR.

Depending on what it is, maybe it can be added.

[zanac]

@oilusionista said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

@zanac Phew, we finally got an agreement, lol

On adding command line, read what Damon wrote above. Actually, this is already supported, but they are punctual things, related to debug for example. Even I do not know anything about it, it's prior to my arrival at OpenBOR.

Depending on what it is, maybe it can be added.

Ok tomorrow i try to see the code how command line work today and how difficult is to implement it if it will miss The opts needed

I just Read about Your Avengers United Battle Force, very cool, i trust you Will update it soon for support 6412 that i ported, very nice game! But it is complete or just a demo?

[BiZzAr721]

@oilusionista First, thank you for your work in the OpenBOR community. I look forward to giving Avengers United Battle Force a try.

I just to reply on your comment below:

@oilusionista said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

Officially, there was little interest of porting and supporting (personally, I like this idea) OpenBOR to PI. But after seeing stuff from that person to be used, the interest and support had dropped to like -100. There is nothing we can do to stop you guys, but there won't be any support from the official team too.

Majority of people like myself have no knowledge of previous drama. All I know is OpenBOR is a great project with very creative and talented people making awesome mods. I do not understand why your interest and support would drop to - 100. I'm sure the ROFL-whatever build is only getting used because it works - that's it. The way I'm understanding it is that there possibly may be support if that person's build wasn't used, yet because it is used, there will be no support. I fully understand not providing support over at chronocrash forums for that build as well as I'm certain most people would like to respect your wishes and get proper support of OpenBOR on Raspberry pi.

Just so there is no musunderstanding, I am not trying to argue. I appreciate you posting here and giving an explanation. I too would love to see command line support on official OpenBOR.

Last, after seeing your later posts, and the fact that you took the time to post here, thank you for your interest not being - 100 :)

[cyperghost]

@oilusionista I think the best thing would be to official support the Raspberry through the chronocrash dev team. I stated on some posts before that this seems like an official port of openbor code - like @zanac said.

If his modifications will be solid in performance and causes no other issues then I personally see no reason to stick to the version of your abandoned dev-member. So I am sure that the openbor engine soon will be updated and the old outdated version will be abolished. We can make a pull request and then it is decision of the RetroPie dev-team, at last.

I think there were much misunderstandings, RetroPie never used this old 3600 version to annoy someone. It seems to be the only version that runs on the platform but now this seems to be changing. Me, at least, was never awared of the meaning of this old code and if this was the one of the reasons to drop support for Raspberry ... Raspberry != Evil

[zanac]

@oilusionista I just investigated in the 6412 release (that is the version that i used to make this POC on rasbperry)... i confirm that openbor is missing a command line interface for start the engine with parameters needed on embedded platform like rasbperry (but also allwinner-pandora-board)...

The minimum parameters needed are:
--window / --full-screen (in case of --window it should read --width --height )
--pakfile (when used it read a full path of a pak file)

i don't own enough time to implement a getopt argc/argv interface and this is the reason why i just "bad hack" the source adding some hardcoded code to force resolution...

I trust that this requirement will be aquired by crono crash dev team and in a future relese if it will in openbor we don't need anymore hack the source to run on rasbperry or in a pandora-allwiner :)

About old release.... i use it for the Saint Seiya Death and Rebirth like i said, i know it was for PS2, but with old deprecated engine by rotfl it still run, so in my opinion retropie should let this version inside the distribution but not as default engine and with a label "unsupported", this is my opinion... any way if retropie will remove this version i will keep it in my house just for that game that will never be supported by new release :) :)

[cyperghost]

@zanac My opinion, too

[oilusionista]

@zanac said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

I just Read about Your Avengers United Battle Force, very cool, i trust you Will update it soon for support 6412 that i ported, very nice game! But it is complete or just a demo?

Thanks. The next release won't be done using build 6412, but 6315 instead - it´s the version I am using to code it. There are a plethora of things which can go wrong when you change the build and I won't have time to test all of it. And 6315 was a build which was solid among all the main ports (Windows & Android, since the game doesn't run in PSP or WII thanks to the lack of RAM). The last one before this was 4432.

If I find time, maybe I will update it , but I really doubt about it, sorry. The game is a work in progress, we are kinda 50% done and my plan is to release it in December 2018.

@bizzar721 said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

Just so there is no musunderstanding, I am not trying to argue. I appreciate you posting here and giving an explanation. I too would love to see command line support on official OpenBOR.
Last, after seeing your later posts, and the fact that you took the time to post here, thank you for your interest not being - 100 :)

Thanks. I have interest in command line too, from a developer point of view. This could help us to debug some things and to speed up the testing process, like we have in Mugen. In fact, it's already doable, but a big PAIN to do.

Honestly, I don't like the word "drama" because it sounds like two kids arguing about a toy, but the case is far worse than that. To make it short, its like I arriving here and saying "hey, retropie is full of junk, the coders doesn't knows anything about coding and I am the only who can fix it - and here is my version", basically.

@cyperghost said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

We can make a pull request and then it is decision of the RetroPie dev-team, at last.

For sure! As I said, if you guys work over the official repository, you all are more than welcome to join us. We need more human resource :) This is why there isn't an official port for PI yet - specially because ports needs someone responsible about it on the team, and we had some poeple to make ports then vanish. It had happened, for example with XBOX version.

@cyperghost said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

I think there were much misunderstandings

For sure, since english is not my native language.

@cyperghost said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

Raspberry != Evil

I never said such thing neither I believe Raspberry is Evil. And I am buying a PI3 Plus soon to have fun :)

@zanac said in OpenBOR finally working fine on RETROPIE with ES:

The minimum parameters needed are:
--window / --full-screen (in case of --window it should read --width --height )
--pakfile (when used it read a full path of a pak file)
i don't own enough time to implement a getopt argc/argv interface and this is the reason why i just "bad hack" the source adding some hardcoded code to force resolution...

Makes sense. If you (or any other person) can add it to the code without relying on that non-official, it would be awesome.

Thanks everyone.