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    Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
    portsretropie setuproms help
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    • F
      Folly @themazingness
      last edited by Folly

      @themazingness said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

      @landyvlad Yeah, this thread is getting a bit unwieldy. And the sad thing is, this forum's search features are nearly useless at finding specific content within a thread. (I tried looking for something I posted and cannot find it at all with ctrl + f or the basic forum search.)

      Indeed, It's getting harder to find the information in the thread.

      I have an idea about it.
      While being busy with a gui module script, I realized it possible to make a download gui for the legal and directly downloadable content.
      Perhaps that's one of the solutions for the future.
      I restructured a gui module-script so everything can be build upon csv data automatically making main and submenu's and execute things.

      I just made a basic script, just to see if it can work.

      For those who want to see the basics, just look at this script :
      https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/150e14ea6b8b5211bdcf1163c8e6e50f704eeebf/00-scriptmodules-00/supplementary/download_legal_stuff.sh
      Basically the main menu holds the systems and executes a submenu containing the downloadable content with a wget function, all in csv format, which can be created in exel or libreoffice and exported into csv format.

      I don't have an idea for the content that you have to login for.
      I think that's a different story.

      Edit : Seems indeed quite some work, so I leave it at this. I kept the script in, to review for others.

      ClydeC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • ClydeC
        Clyde @Folly
        last edited by

        @folly A laudable effort! 👍 However, the real challenge with projects like that is to maintain them over the many years to come. Otherwise we'll soon have an abandoned script based on an abandoned forum thread.

        F themazingnessT 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • F
          Folly @Clyde
          last edited by

          @clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

          @folly A laudable effort! 👍 However, the real challenge with projects like that is to maintain them over the many years to come. Otherwise we'll soon have an abandoned script based on an abandoned forum thread.

          Indeed, you could be right.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • themazingnessT
            themazingness @Clyde
            last edited by themazingness

            @clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

            @folly A laudable effort! 👍 However, the real challenge with projects like that is to maintain them over the many years to come. Otherwise we'll soon have an abandoned script based on an abandoned forum thread.

            It could always be turned into a Git repository. That way multiple people could work on it to keep it alive (yes, it still could be abandoned but that lessens the likelihood.)

            Edit: By it, I mean creating a project, not the script Folly made. Along the lines of this project: https://github.com/farmerbb/RED-Project/wiki

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • A
              Auster @LandyVlad
              last edited by Auster

              @landyvlad said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

              Having just seen this thread... is there somewhere that collates the various legal content sources or is it a matter of looking through the full thread?

              I'm wondering if Apple 2 and/or Atari 2600 games are legally available?

              From what I read in both the game's pages and in the forum I saw this game, Nox Archaist comes with an Apple II ROM:
              https://6502workshop.itch.io/nox-archaist
              https://store.steampowered.com/app/1509080/Nox_Archaist/
              https://www.gog.com/game/nox_archaist

              Also, apparently, the games from the MacVenture series have Apple II ROMs, but you need to extract them to run in other emulators.
              This tool should do the trick for all the games but Uninvited, but I haven't tested them so I can't be sure:
              https://github.com/blorente/MacVenture-Extract-Guide

              The MacVenture games:
              https://store.steampowered.com/app/343820/Dj_Vu_MacVenture_Series/
              [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_dejavu/WDSHD2hiX/

              https://store.steampowered.com/app/343830/Dj_Vu_II_MacVenture_Series/
              [likely DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_dejavu_two/XlkJSDo23Y/

              https://store.steampowered.com/app/343800/Shadowgate_MacVenture_Series/
              [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_shadowgate/8SLDFkj3hs/

              https://store.steampowered.com/app/343810/The_Uninvited_MacVenture_Series/
              [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_uninvited/FSDkl23sS1/

              And a bundle of all 4 games on Steam:
              https://store.steampowered.com/sub/59404/

              L A 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • L
                LandyVlad @Auster
                last edited by

                @auster
                Thank you :)

                Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be adjusted with a hammer.

                A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • A
                  Auster @LandyVlad
                  last edited by Auster

                  @landyvlad said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                  @auster
                  Thank you :)

                  Little update: I tested all the MacVenture games I listed, and all of them work in emulators, including Uninvited!

                  Following the tutorial I linked, I got Deja Vu 1's ROM from the Humble Widgets DRM free version, and the ROMs from the other 3 games from the Steam version (since it's easier to install Windows games from Steam than from msi games if you're on Linux). And the process is exactly the same for Uninvited.

                  And you can have all 4 games mounted at the same time, just place them in the slot 7 drivers (s7d2, s7d3, s7d4 and so on).

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • A
                    Auster @Auster
                    last edited by

                    @auster said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                    Orphea by Skyboy Games
                    Platform: NES
                    Link: https://skyboygames.itch.io/orphea
                    Also it's free to claim for the next ~6 days.

                    Free to claim again, now until June 3rd.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • A
                      Auster @Auster
                      last edited by Auster

                      Forgot to mention, but the 4 games, Déjà Vu 1 and 2, Shadowgate and Uninvited also have Macintosh 68K/Mac II ROMs, and they work fine.

                      Supposedly, they can be run on ScummVM as well, but I couldn't make them work.

                      EDIT: The Uninvited for Macintosh might have some issues? It crashes for me after a certain point. The Apple IIgs works fine after the same point.

                      @auster said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                      @landyvlad said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                      Having just seen this thread... is there somewhere that collates the various legal content sources or is it a matter of looking through the full thread?

                      I'm wondering if Apple 2 and/or Atari 2600 games are legally available?

                      From what I read in both the game's pages and in the forum I saw this game, Nox Archaist comes with an Apple II ROM:
                      https://6502workshop.itch.io/nox-archaist
                      https://store.steampowered.com/app/1509080/Nox_Archaist/
                      https://www.gog.com/game/nox_archaist

                      Also, apparently, the games from the MacVenture series have Apple II ROMs, but you need to extract them to run in other emulators.
                      This tool should do the trick for all the games but Uninvited, but I haven't tested them so I can't be sure:
                      https://github.com/blorente/MacVenture-Extract-Guide

                      The MacVenture games:
                      https://store.steampowered.com/app/343820/Dj_Vu_MacVenture_Series/
                      [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_dejavu/WDSHD2hiX/

                      https://store.steampowered.com/app/343830/Dj_Vu_II_MacVenture_Series/
                      [likely DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_dejavu_two/XlkJSDo23Y/

                      https://store.steampowered.com/app/343800/Shadowgate_MacVenture_Series/
                      [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_shadowgate/8SLDFkj3hs/

                      https://store.steampowered.com/app/343810/The_Uninvited_MacVenture_Series/
                      [DRM free] https://www.humblebundle.com/widget/v2/standalone/retro_uninvited/FSDkl23sS1/

                      And a bundle of all 4 games on Steam:
                      https://store.steampowered.com/sub/59404/

                      L A 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • L
                        LandyVlad @Auster
                        last edited by

                        @auster et al

                        Thank you :)

                        Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be adjusted with a hammer.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • A
                          Auster @Auster
                          last edited by

                          @auster said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                          Bat Lizard Bonanza by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/bat-lizard-bonanza/
                          Platform: NES
                          The rom is the file "Bat_Lizard_Bonanza.nes"

                          Free to claim until tomorrow at 1:00 AM, UTC-3.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • A
                            Auster
                            last edited by Auster

                            All freewares, but you can pay for them if you want:

                            MazezaM SNES: https://portabledev.itch.io/mazezam-snes
                            Platform: SNES
                            Download the zip file. The ROMs are the .sfc files inside (one NTSC and one PAL, both properly identified)

                            Puzzli Megadrive: https://portabledev.itch.io/puzzli-megadrive
                            Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                            Download the zip file. The ROM is the .bin file inside.

                            Chips Challenge MD: https://portabledev.itch.io/chips-challenge-md
                            Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                            Download the zip file. The ROM is the .bin file inside.

                            Rick Dangerous 2: https://portabledev.itch.io/rick-dangerous-2
                            Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                            Download the zip file. The ROM is the .bin file inside.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • A
                              Auster @Auster
                              last edited by

                              @auster said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                              Wampus by John Vanderhoef: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/wampus/
                              Platform: NES
                              The rom is the file "Wampus_DX.nes".

                              Free to claim until the next Friday, 1 AM (UTC-3)

                              themazingnessT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • themazingnessT
                                themazingness @Auster
                                last edited by

                                @auster Thank you so much for posting these itch.io NES, SNES, MD, etc. games. I wish I could keep tabs on all the roms on itch.io.

                                themazingnessT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • themazingnessT
                                  themazingness @themazingness
                                  last edited by

                                  Does anybody know of an extract tool for the Cinemaware Anthology (for the Amiga .adf files, not DOSBOX obviously)? I could've sworn I knew of one but am having no luck searching my resources, this thread, or the internet.

                                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • A
                                    Auster @themazingness
                                    last edited by Auster

                                    @themazingness said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

                                    Does anybody know of an extract tool for the Cinemaware Anthology (for the Amiga .adf files, not DOSBOX obviously)? I could've sworn I knew of one but am having no luck searching my resources, this thread, or the internet.

                                    I did some digging around, and they probably need to be extracted twice. First you need to open Anthology.exe as a zip folder and extract the .data file. After that, you probably need to extract the ROMs from the .data file's hexadecimal code.
                                    But I never extracted files from hex, so I don't know the right steps for that. Sorry. =/

                                    themazingnessT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • themazingnessT
                                      themazingness @Auster
                                      last edited by

                                      @auster That's still helpful, thanks! I still hope for an extract tool, or at least a discussion of the beginning and ending hex values, but if nobody finds them I can do the heavy lifting with this info.

                                      A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • A
                                        Auster @themazingness
                                        last edited by Auster

                                        @themazingness
                                        Disregard what I said before. I just found out how to extract the Cinemaware Anthology: 1986-1991 collection:

                                        • Use Windows or a Windows virtual machine (I couldn't make it work with Linux)

                                        • Install 7-Zip File Manager (I couldn't make it work with WinRAR)

                                        • Right click Anthology.exe, go to the option "7-Zip", click "Open compacted file" (or something like that; my Windows isn't in English, but it should be the first option)

                                        • In the window that just opened, right click the .data file and select "Open Inside"

                                        • In the new screen that just appeared, extract the whole "packaged" folder

                                        • The ROMs I know how to use are the ones in the packaged/floppy directory (and there are some bin files in the rlst and romdisk folders; still trying to figure out how they work)

                                        • The BIOS (yes, it comes with BIOS!) is the file Kick12.rom in the folder packaged/os (there's also a "rdd.rom" file in this folder, but also trying to figure out how to use it)

                                        • Besides the Amiga files, it also comes with MS-DOS games in the folder /Cinemaware Anthology 1986-1991/pc/cw (they should be ready to be used in emulators)

                                        According to the Libretro docs and the md5sum I found, the BIOS is a exact match to the "kick33180.A500" file listed in the docs, but you may need to rename it to "kick34005.A500" if the core gives an error about not finding the BIOS.

                                        Also, PSA if you're on Retroarch: to load both parts of the ROM, load disk 1 > wait for PUAE to read the disk (takes a while) > open Quick Menu > go to Disc Control > Load New Disc > select the new file and wait for the emulator to process it.

                                        And sorry I couldn't help more with the .bin files and the second .rom file.

                                        Store page of the collection : https://store.steampowered.com/app/326590/Cinemaware_Anthology_19861991/

                                        themazingnessT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • A
                                          Auster
                                          last edited by Auster

                                          Most of these games are free by default, but you can pay for them if you want:

                                          Filthy Kitchen: https://dustmop.itch.io/filthy-kitchen
                                          Platform: NES
                                          The only file available to download is the ROM. No need to rename it.

                                          GraviBots: https://retrosouls.itch.io/gravibots16bit
                                          Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                                          Has 2 ROMs in the downloadable zip file, one "normal" and one "dma safe".
                                          From a comment in the game's page:
                                          what is DMA? It's for some megadrives (new models mostly or some japan megadrives) that have dma trouble, it stop z80 during DMA that affect a music.

                                          AlterEgo: https://retrosouls.itch.io/alterego16bit
                                          Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                                          The ROM is the .bin file inside the downloadable zip file.

                                          Old Tower: https://retrosouls.itch.io/old-tower-commodore-64
                                          Platform: Commodore 64
                                          Has 2 files, a .prg and a .tap one. I'm fairly sure the .tap file is the ROM. The .prg file I'm not sure what is used for.

                                          YAZZIE: https://retrosouls.itch.io/yazzie
                                          Platform: MSX
                                          The ROM is the file inside the downloadable zip file.

                                          Misplaced: https://retrosouls.itch.io/misplaced
                                          Platform: Genesis/Megadrive
                                          Comes with 2 ROMs inside the downloadable zip file, one with the game in English, and one in Russian.

                                          Tapeworm Disco Puzzle Demo: https://lowtekgames.itch.io/tapeworm-disco-puzzle
                                          Platform: NES
                                          The downloadable file is the ROM.

                                          Flea NES Full Game: https://lowtekgames.itch.io/fleanes
                                          Platforms: NES / Dreamcast
                                          Can't check file structures as I didn't buy it yet.

                                          Leggite Luta Livre: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io/leggite-luta-livre
                                          Platform: NES
                                          The downloadable file is the ROM.

                                          Quick edit, just noticed this game also comes with a ROM:
                                          Shadow Animus [ Byte-Off 2020 Demo]: https://chronicleroflegends.itch.io/shadow-animus-byte-off-2020-demo
                                          Platform: NES
                                          The ROM is the .NES file inside. Also not sure if the final project will be a NES game, since the dev said This project is on hold at the moment while I am learning to work with a new engine, but I do want to finish it.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                          • themazingnessT
                                            themazingness @Auster
                                            last edited by

                                            @auster You are amazing! I had no idea you could just open .exe files like that with 7-zip!

                                            Thanks a ton!

                                            themazingnessT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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