RetroArch 1.4.1 Netplay

backstander

@mediamogul
Doesn't bother me. Sometime you can get a bigger picture if more than one person gives their 2 cents.

eDrinker

So has anyone managed to join a game or is everyone still scanning trying to find a compatible person/ROM/emulator?

backstander

@eDrinker
I couldn't connect to anyone when I tried last night but I hadn't downloaded the database yet. I'll probably be playing around with it later today.

eDrinker

@backstander mine apparently finished scanning but can't tell if it timed out. Is there a file saved somewhere with the list. Its a big list and I expected it to take longer.

I only saw one person online and it said no compatible games.

Best of luck, I'm going bed.

Would be interested if anyone gets it working.

mediamogul

@eDrinker

Is there a file saved somewhere with the list.

It will create a .lpl file at: /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/playlists/

eDrinker

I can't get it to work.

I first went to retroarch menu and online updater > update databases
Then back to scan content
This time the ROMs did scan and took about 30 mins to scan 1000 files as it scan files in the folder that are not ROMs as well.

I checked the lpl file and out of the 851 games it only logged around 60-100 games.

To make sure me and a friend had the same ROM and host list picked it up and mine didn't although we both have it in emulation station as an option to play. It didn't appear in my lpl and the file name changed in my friends and didn't match the same naming convention that I gave him.

It always says 100% no matched content and we did have at least one file name and line that was identical.

We tried also connecting via IP through the reteoarch menu with no success. My friends pie would crash PI2 and my PI3 would say failed to initialize.

If anyone got it working or understands how the scanning works and rewords I would be interested to know.

mediamogul

@eDrinker

I'm still a little in the dark myself, but the scanning apparently works on CRC checks, so I imagine that if you don't have the proper ROM set, it may not scan them at all. What's interesting is that this is also the method in which RetroArch adds games to it's own play library. So, I'm guessing that all homebrew games and certain ROM hacks would always need to be loaded manually through the main interface of both RetroArch and Lakka.

If you don't mind me asking and if you happen to know, what system and ROM set are you using to test?

eDrinker

@mediamogul picodrive 1.91 d6be4fa

When you say romset what exactly do you need. We were testing a few variations of golden axe 1 and 3

mediamogul

@eDrinker

When you say romset what exactly do you need.

Was it perhaps "No-Intro" or "Good Set"?

eDrinker

@mediamogul no intro

mediamogul

@eDrinker

I wouldn't think there would be any problem with No-Intro. I'm gonna take another crack at the whole thing tonight, so I'll try a mix of No-Intro and Good.

tekn0

@mediamogul Have you verified your router is allowing traffic on the select tcp/udp ports? Your firewall could be blocking you. I think it's port 55435 but I might be wrong. Verify with a site like http://www.canyouseeme.org/ or google "port forward test"

More info here for others: https://portforward.com/

mediamogul

@tekn0

Have you verified your router is allowing traffic on the select tcp/udp ports?

That's a good call, but I've already verified the port forwarding.

mediamogul

I'm currently hosting a game of Dr. Mario. If anyone wants to try and log on as the second player, my user name is Pseudoscience, I'm using lr-fceumm that I just updated and my ROM is from the "Good Set". If this is to work at all, the second user must match those specifics, start the game with the core and have it running when they try to connect with me. I'll be playing a one player game for a while and I believe it will announce when a second player joins. I'll be checking back here from time to time to read any comments that may pop up.

mediamogul

I've already had a few bites. Twice it gave an onscreen error that noted mismatched implementations. I suppose that could either be an incorrect version of lr-fceumm or RetroArch itself. I also got one error from someone that said mismatched content. I sure that was a mismatched ROM. I feel like I'm configured correctly now, it's just a matter of finding a compatible second player. I plan on playing for another 40 minutes if anyone else wants to give it a shot.

mediamogul

All in all, about seven people tried to connect to me. Everyone but one had mismatched software versions and there was that one other who had a mismatched ROM. Oh well, I think two hours is a nice round number for tonight.

eDrinker

Hello,

I just want to try and summarize although please correct me where/if possible.

I see this "Netplay" as two parts:

Part 1 - "Net Rooms" (Optional and Automatic Way To Connect To Other Players)

This thread as primary focused on understanding the database and content matching. Trying to understand how the scanning works, which files are created, how and what's it matching against etc.

My understanding of "Net Rooms" is to assist the average user.

It's to assist non technical players to find other players with the same:

Version of retroarch
Same emulator
Same exact rom

A few of us have managed to get matching content, but unable to connect.

To date no one on this thread has been able to verify this works and has connected to another player.

Part 2 - Manual Connection (either you connect as the client or the host and you connect via IP)

As per the previous posts, it would appear the old way no longer works

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Netplay

The game will crash the emulator back to ES or Attract mode if you try to launch with "Netplay"

Launching "Retroarch" menu via "Select + X" in game and attempting to connect via IP even if you have the same emulator, version of Retroarch and exact same Rom will still fail to connect.

I personally want to try the net code and syncing improvements regardless if I connect via "Net Rooms" or via "IP".

I don't believe that matched content is required to connect via IP, it's just a different way of connecting and we should focus on trying to prove if the manual way works first.

tekn0

@mediamogul retroarch seems to match the content by CRC database. This libretro database is based off of the "No-intro" rom sets.

Cattmlark

Has anyone had any luck with this yet, as i still can't get this working. Even if i find a netplay room that reports "Compatible Content" i cant connect. If i am lucky enough to find that room's external IP address out, again i still cant connect with this new method.

Additionally the old method (enabling Netplay when launching a ROM) doesn't work any more for me either, it just jumps me straight back to emulation station when i try to enable it.

mediamogul

@Cattmlark

I have a feeling that the quick connect feature is already able to function on RetroPie. It's just going to always be difficult to find a proper pairing of installations and content. The manual connection method is going to need to be fixed by the RetroPie team at some point, but unfortunately many advancements to the project will likely have to be put on hold while they deal with a scumbag trademark troll. That said, it's the -frames argument used at launch that is deprecated and causing the software to fail. Both users could try launching a game and connecting through the RetroArch GUI. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work as long as you both have the same RetroArch, core and ROM between you.