Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance

GreenHawk84 · 8 Feb 2021, 01:04

Hello, I just recently got into Flycast to start playing all these games on my Pi4 (4GB) and I was wondering if anyone had performance tips? I do not overclock, but do you see gains from that? Also, which core(s) do you prefer? I am trying to see if making any settings tweaks like turning off anisotropic filtering makes a difference. Another example, I am testing Gigawing 2 on both Naomi and Dreamcast emu to see if there are performance benefits.

Crush · 8 Feb 2021, 02:09

@greenhawk84 said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

Hello, I just recently got into Flycast to start playing all these games on my Pi4 (4GB) and I was wondering if anyone had performance tips? I do not overclock, but do you see gains from that? Also, which core(s) do you prefer? I am trying to see if making any settings tweaks like turning off anisotropic filtering makes a difference. Another example, I am testing Gigawing 2 on both Naomi and Dreamcast emu to see if there are performance benefits.

I use lr-Flycast by default, it looks better in 480p on flycast then it does in 720p in Redream imo, also Flycast has the option to use seperate memory cards per game, with Redream everything uses one card.

I overclocked my overclock is "arm_freq=1800"
I don't see a difference clocking it higher than that, but when clocking it lower, there is a significant change for some games, so i keep it at that.

Recently some Naomi games got ported to Dreamcast, i don't know if they would run better or the same on the Raspi, might give that a go too. though i expect there's not going to be a difference.

GreenHawk84 · 8 Feb 2021, 02:25

@crush seems like Redream is a popular core as well. I think some games might do better with it, I'll have to experiment.

DreamcastKid · 8 Feb 2021, 07:05

@crush said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

Recently some Naomi games got ported to Dreamcast, i don't know if they would run better or the same on the Raspi, might give that a go too. though i expect there's not going to be a difference.

I've tried a bunch of them including Atomiswave ports to Dreamcast ... none of work at all with Redream or lr-flycast on the Raspberry Pi 4.

Even tested Redream on Windows .. no dice.

Almost all Naomi games (and Atomiswave) run great with lr-flycast on my setup.

My modest/stable overclock ... nothing crazy, temps around 40°C with a Heatsink/Fan setup.

over_voltage=6
arm_freq=1900
gpu_freq=650
v3d_freq=750
core_freq=550

Crush · 8 Feb 2021, 07:25

@dreamcastkid said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

I've tried a bunch of them including Atomiswave ports to Dreamcast ... none of work at all with Redream or lr-flycast on the Raspberry Pi 4.

Ok i tried some of the games, cause i have them, just hadn't tried them yet and they just work in lr-flycast and redream, tried King of Fighters XI, Metal slug 6 (same slowdown at the boss fight as DC version) and dolphin blue.
They all have the same hickups as the naomi and atomiswave counterparts, but they can be played in redream as well, so perhaps some of them will benefit from that.
In any event, the fault must be with your roms.

Darksavior · 8 Feb 2021, 11:06

@GreenHawk84 I overclock to 2Ghz and redream still has some severe slowdowns on some games like the first level of sonic adventure 1 and some assists/supers on mvc2, but overall it's much, much faster than flycast. I also change it to 480p inside the emulator to maximize performance.

GreenHawk84 · 2 Aug 2021, 11:58

@dreamcastkid do you see any glitches with Flycast games? Right off the bat I have issues with Zombie Revenge, Mortal Kombat Gold, and NFL Blitz 2000. I also notice some jittery motion in Gigawing 2.

quicksilver · 8 Feb 2021, 13:12

@darksavior have you noticed a performance regression with redream? It's been a while since I updated redream and it seems a few games that used to be full speed are now a little choppy.

Darksavior · 8 Feb 2021, 23:33

@quicksilver Yea, but not sure who's to blame. Redream does use their own build of mesa, I'm not sure if it has been updated lately.

DreamcastKid · 9 Feb 2021, 01:07

@crush said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

In any event, the fault must be with your roms.

Here's the files in my copy of Metal Slug 6 port to DC

Do the files and file sizes match up with yours ?

I even tried converting it to CHD and still won't work with Redream on Retropie or even Redream on Windows

G30FF · 9 Feb 2021, 01:52

@dreamcastkid Make sure Redream is updated to the latest version. The latest stable builds do not run the Atomiswave conversions, but the latest development build (which you will get if you update Redream through the RetroPie-Setup script) does.

GreenHawk84 · 9 Feb 2021, 03:01

Is Redream always set to stretch video? If I select a different resolution, I can see the differences, but the picture is still 16:9 for everything. The system is set to 4:3 by default, but oddly does not display as such? Also, the cable set to "RGB" or "VGA" appears to do nothing.

DreamcastKid · 9 Feb 2021, 05:02

@g30ff said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

Make sure Redream is updated to the latest version

oops ... ah ok, tested the Windows version of Redream and now it works. Think i leave the Pi version alone.

Metal Slug 6 runs good enough for me using lr-flycast (1st boss slowed down badly on an old version, but is much better now)

and Metal Slug 6 (in the PSP Metal Slug Anthology) runs full speed and doesn't slow down using PPSSPP Stand alone.

G30FF · 9 Feb 2021, 15:00

@greenhawk84 That's a problem with your TV. When Redream launches, it overrides your TV resolution to 640x480. So check your TV and see if it's set to Wide display. If so, change it to Normal.

GreenHawk84 · 9 Feb 2021, 17:19

@g30ff I am using my Pi4 as a bartop arcade setup output to a 16:9 (1080p) AOC monitor.

quicksilver · 9 Feb 2021, 20:52

@darksavior so I figured out part of the performance drop off in redream. The visual effect for the sun in the sky is causing slow down in multiple games. As soon as the sun is off screen the games go back to fullspeed. I reported on gitlab so hopefully it's an easy fix.

GreenHawk84 · 2 Oct 2021, 02:31

I was messing around with Redream trying to get the 4:3 to display properly, and it was working good when I changed the resolution to other oddball numbers like 720x400, etc. But then it started crashing back to ES when I made too many resolution switches to test and see what looked/ran best. Now it seems to have broke Redream from changing any resolutions altogether. If I go to the menu and change it, it just crashes on everything. I tried to uninstall/reinstall thinking maybe a file got corrupted, but it remembered everything I set before, so something is sticking in the installation even upon uninstall. I happen to really like Redream performance, I feel it is superior to Flycast. Although I do not like that it doesn't use Retroarch so I cannot set overlays etc. I wish Flycast had the performance that Redream does. I am actually shocked I was able to get Soul Calibur running smoothly in 1280x720! But alas, now I have a new problem :(

GreenHawk84 · 2 Oct 2021, 12:07

Doing some testing with Flycast, it appears some games may not play nicely with Threaded Rendering/Synchronous Rendering. When I disabled it for Mortal Kombat Gold, the "screen tearing" or "game tearing" (sort of an odd visual glitch) went away and it played like butter. So I tried to do a Game Override, but apparently that does not hold for Retroarch "Options" settings. The potential is all here, but not quite there yet IMO.

Crush · 10 Feb 2021, 03:16

@dreamcastkid said in Dreamcast, Atomiswave, and Naomi Performance:

Metal Slug 6 runs good enough for me using lr-flycast (1st boss slowed down badly on an old version, but is much better now)

Thanks this has been very beneficial for me, turns out i had to update my Flycast core as well it is so much better now.

G30FF · 10 Feb 2021, 04:21

@greenhawk84 Uninstalling Redream doesn't clear out its config files, unfortunately. To get rid of your configuration, go to /opt/retropie/configs/dreamcast/redream and delete redream.cfg. You will also lose custom controller mappings you've set up.

If you can't adjust the aspect ratio of your screen, you'll need to mess with the window size in Redream. I don't advise trying to increase the internal resolution (assuming you bought a Redream license), because the Pi can't handle upscaling beyond the native 640x480 resolution.