WinCE games on Redream

AdamBeGood

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/25112/getting-the-best-n64-experience-on-a-pi-4/338?_=1615837497566 - it was mentioned here that redream is getting WinCE support some time this week so I thought I’d start a thread to see how people get on with this once that is available.

Also, I only have install from binary available as an option for this emulator... Is that the same for other people? I am slightly worried that the change will come at Source first but I’m not sure why that option is not available to me here. I don’t think I did anything peculiar while installing this core.

dankcushions

@adambegood Redream is closed source so cannot be built. the developer updates the binary at their discretion

AdamBeGood

@dankcushions said in WinCE games on Redream:

@adambegood Redream is closed source so cannot be built. the developer updates the binary at their discretion

I see, that makes perfect sense. That's one less worry for me then, I guess it is just a waiting game.

quicksilver

@adambegood the redream discord is a great place to monitor for any potential updates. Just don't ask what day it's coming as that question is asked constantly.

Edit: looks like initial support has been released for PC users. Not sure if this means pi users too. Maybe update and give it a shot?

wmarcio

I was talking to them on Discord now, they were very polite and helpful ...

According to a moderator, he has plans to add new features to the emulator in two weeks, support for windowsCE, Atomiswave and Naomi.
They just didn't tell me what functions would be added.

quicksilver

@wmarcio looks like WinCE support is up and running on the pi.

AdamBeGood

@quicksilver said in WinCE games on Redream:

@wmarcio looks like WinCE support is up and running on the pi.

Excellent, I will give that a try later! Thanks for the update.

barbudreadmon

@adambegood said in WinCE games on Redream:

I am slightly worried that the change will come at Source first

Probably not gonna happen, i remember vividly its author saying that open-source hinders the growth of emulation projects, that's not something i'm gonna forget easily since it felt like a slap in the face of open-source emulation projects.

retropieuser555

@quicksilver Hey any tips on getting this setup? I've tried pointing my script to the latest dev build at https://redream.io/download that was updated 6 hours ago but the games I've tried (virtua cop 2 & sega rally 2) aren't loading.

Edit: Nevermind, tried different roms and it worked

AdamBeGood

@retropieuser555 Weird, updating the binary worked perfectly for me.

I've got Sega Rally working. Any other good games in this subset?

retropieuser555

@adambegood Yeah I've just worked it out, .cdi or .gdi winCE roms aren't booting for me, but .chd formats are.

In terms of games that could now work here's a list:-

https://segaretro.org/Windows_CE

sirhenrythe5th

just for personal understanding: has the required emulation of WinCE within the DC-Emulation any effects on the general performance?

quicksilver

@sirhenrythe5th it should not effect non WinCE game performance as far as I understand

sirhenrythe5th

@quicksilver thank you!
As mentioned before english is not my native language, so my question was not clear :)
What i meant was: does WinCE-Emulation within DC-Emulation cost more performance, so that WinCE-Games are slower than those DC-Games which do not require WinCE?

quicksilver

@sirhenrythe5th yes WinCE games are generally more demanding. Inolen (the dev of redream) stated that not all WinCE games are running full speed on the pi yet but he is still working on it.

retropieuser555

Btw is anyone getting a crash while playing virtua cop 2? Edit: I tried the same rom in the mac version and there's no crash.

In my runcommand.log I'm getting:

[WARN]  SH4     compiling block that uses the FPU while disabled
/opt/retropie/emulators/redream/redream: line 3:  1410 Aborted

wmarcio

I just tested the Linux version, Redream version development v1.5.0-781-G6009D00 and is running windowsCE games.

sirhenrythe5th

@quicksilver said in WinCE games on Redream:

@sirhenrythe5th yes WinCE games are generally more demanding. Inolen (the dev of redream) stated that not all WinCE games are running full speed on the pi yet but he is still working on it.

Thank you for this information.
So we have a little chance of playing DC-WinCE-Games at full speed on a Pi4 in the near future.
And even if not, and we have to live with tweaks and frameskips...the Pi5 should handle this without issues ;)

inolen

@retropieuser555 when are you getting the crash in VC2? I can give it a try tonight.

inolen

As a general comment, like Quicksilver said I've been grinding out optimizations with a focus on the Pi and it's to 60 FPS in some titles, but still not there. Some less demanding titles such as RE2 and Worms are 60, while Sega Rally 2 hovers around 55 and Armada 50.

I took a break from the 60 FPS effort on the Pi to get this out for the other platforms primarily, I'll focus again on the Pi soon.