Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie
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I remembered finding quite a few new games a while ago that I couldn't confirm the emulation status of, and I think this was one of the sources I found: http://www.consoleclassics.co/?page_id=15. I have several of the games there on my wiki already (https://wiki.funkey-project.com/wiki/List_of_emulatable_games_(commercial)#ROMs_not_accessible), but haven't been able to confirm the status of those, let alone all the other ones not on my list yet. As their games are apparently "XOR" encrypted without a CUE file, a year ago someone informed me of this thread (https://steamcommunity.com/app/364840/discussions/0/520519112496664465/) mentioning how to fix N20, but they didn't know if it would work for the others (which would need their own CUE file data in either case, should they require CUE file data).
Edit: It seems that all the games listed on their website are just the IPs they own, not of all of which they ended up releasing on Steam (which are the ones I had initially listed on my wiki as having no known method of ROM extraction, other than N20). If a similar method could be used to decrypt and add CUE files to the remaining Console Classics ROMs, then that would be several more PS1 games for the list, which would be good to have.
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@cooliecoolster The decryption process works. I tested with 2 of their PS1 games, Gunbird and Sol Divide.
I just don't remember how I managed to generate working CUE files for them. All I remember is that figuring things out costed me a whole afternoon and a bit of the evening. -
@auster I'll compare the CUE file for N2O with that of a ROM dump to see if match, since if they do, coming up with the CUE file data for the remaining games should be simple and easy to share with users who bought and decrypted the accompanying BIN file on Steam.
Edit: Unfortunately they don't match, so I guess we'll just have to figure out how the CUE files are generated based on the decrypted ROMs, if we can find people who have the other ones...
Edit 2: I've gone ahead and edited the section of my commercial game list that had N20 to include the other two games and the information and files needed for decryption all on one page: https://wiki.funkey-project.com/wiki/List_of_emulatable_games_(commercial)#Individual_releases_2. Hopefully CUE files for the other games can be found as well.
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@auster Also, I see that Sol Divide seems to still be available on Steam, albeit from a different publisher: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1279450/SOL_DIVIDE_SWORD_OF_DARKNESS/. I wonder if it's the PS1 version or the Arcade version instead, as this publisher has other late 1990s games as well that could potentially be PS1 games if that one is.
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@cooliecoolster ooooh, didn't know about that. I see they have Gunbird as well: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1261970/GUNBIRD/, but it looks different from the Consoleclassics version.
Edit: In the forum of one of the dev's games, someone that game is an emulated arcade version, so perhaps that's the same for the other games.
Link of the post: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1261960/discussions/0/4379130600470584155/Edit 2: Gunbird might be a port of a port: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1261970/discussions/0/2440336502396653782/
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First, a heads up: It seems the developer Retro Souls removes his titles from Itchio every now and then, so I advise to back up the ROMs of his games whenever possible.
Now, some more games:
Claudia Adventure - https://voltopt.itch.io/claudia-adventure
Platform: NESPaws Of The West - https://pigeonaut.itch.io/paws-of-the-west
Platform: NESChronoKnight - https://artixgames.itch.io/chronoknight
Platform: NESAlien Girl - ZX Spectrum - https://javierfopiani.itch.io/aliengirl
Platform: ZX SpectrumNosy - https://javierfopiani.itch.io/nosy
Platform: ZX Spectrum 48KThe Curse of Trasmoz - https://volcanobytes.itch.io/the-curse-of-trasmoz
Platform: ZX SpectrumSpacEscape - https://volcanobytes.itch.io/spacescape
Platform: MSXNessy The NES Robot - https://danieltg.itch.io/nessy-the-nes-robot
Platform: NESNEScape! - https://khangames.itch.io/nescape
Platform: NESThe Incident [remastered] - https://khangames.itch.io/the-incident
Platform: NES -
@auster For my list at least, I try not to include games removed by their developers, as that in a way indicates that the game is no longer freely available from the perspective of the developer.
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@cooliecoolster I meant for the people that could be willing to play the games at some point, as their back ups could be the only legit source of those games.
For the wiki, I only add removed games if they still can be bought from legit stores (e.g. PS1's Sol Divide), or if they're persistent in the account and I know they can be obtained elsewhere (e.g. Prime games or Neo Turf Masters from GOG). -
@auster For the sake of game preservation, I agree entirely; just want to try to keep the list as to the book as possible to maintain as much as possible it's intended effect.
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Some Apple II programs I found today. They should work as Apple IIe programs too (at least I forgot the emulator set for Apple IIe emulation and they ran fine).
Apple ii Pixel Draw - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/apple-ii-pixel-draw
Speaking of Talking Machines: an Apple ii Book and program - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/speakingoftalkingmachines
Open sourceFandom Journey Apple //e Online Game - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/fandom-journey-apple-3-online-game
Lose Weight Formula Apple ii - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/lose-weight-formula-apple-ii
8puzzle - https://zeefour.itch.io/8puzzle
Open source12 Various Apple ii Mockingboard songs - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/10-various-mockingboard-songs
Era Ameno Knight Apple ii Demo for Mockingboard - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/era-ameno-knight-apple-ii-demo-for-mokingboard
4 Mockingboard songs for Apple ii or Emulators - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/4-mockingboard-songs-for-apple-ii-or-emulators
VISUAL APPLE II OS ENCRYPTED (OS prototype) - https://matteo-trevisan.itch.io/visual-apple-ii-os-encrypted
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I found a document saying that people are free to include ZX Spectrum 48K/128K BIOS ROMs in their emulators or even distribute these BIOS ROMs.
The document: https://worldofspectrum.net/assets/amstrad-roms.txt
Is it legit?[update] A member of Libretro's group said World of Spectrum is trustworthy. Is the document likely legit, then?
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@auster Not sure; I haven't done any research into emulation regarding the ZX Spectrum myself, though from what I've seen with other documents that old is that access rights can sometimes change should the copyright fall into the hands of new, less generous owners...
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With the recent release of the updated Disney Classics Collection and the Castlevania Advance Collection, that might be another 7 games across both collections for the commercial games category. As the prior collections from Konami and Disney have had to have their ROMs extracted though, I imagine these will need to have a guide on that process as well. On the subject of Disney's releases though, I hadn't noticed it before but it seems like they actually have a lot of old games published on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&publisher=Disney. I wonder how many of those are emulated in a ROM-accessible way?
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@cooliecoolster Once I buy the games, maybe I could check their assets to see if I find anything.
About Disney's emulated games...
Jungle Book is the MS-DOS version on GOG for sure, so maybe Aladdin, Lion King and Hercules are the MS-DOS version too.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is compatible with ScummVM in the Amazon Prime version (time-limited) and Humble Trove version (delisted), but the Windows build requires extracting a file from the exe (dunno if tools like 7zip work, as I tested only with hex editors). Maybe the other Indiana Jones titles have the ScummVM-compatible files too.
And I think I saw a mention to that game about Scrooge McDuck having the NES ROM, but I need to check again.
Edit: Nvm about Scrooge McDuck's game (Ducktales Remastered). The original NES version is available on Disney Afternoon Classics (requires extracting).
Edit 2: Correct name is "The Disney Afternoon Collection", and that's the store link (all games are the NES versions): https://store.steampowered.com/app/525040/The_Disney_Afternoon_Collection/
Edit 3: For extracting the ROMs, use this tool: https://gitlab.com/vaiski/romextract/-/tree/master/ -
@auster I already have that collection listed, though one you didn't mention was Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow, one I don't have on my list at the moment. Might that be a console release, as it's not in their collection? Otherwise, I also see Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer and The Secret of Monkey Island, but I guess it would be too much luck for those to be the console versions...
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@auster And in regards to Aladdin and The Lion King, the ones I'm referring to are in the now-updated version of Disney Classic Games Aladdin & Lion King that has added SNES Aladdin and I believe the SNES version of The Jungle Book, in addition to the existing games in that collection that I listed here: https://wiki.funkey-project.com/wiki/List_of_emulatable_games_(commercial)#Collections_3. The person who wrote several of the ROM extraction tutorials wrote one for that collection as well, but now that it's updated it will probably need an updated tutorial.
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The Jungle Book will be added to Disney Classic Games on November 9th and will be another $10 USD to reflect the additional content. People who own the 2019 collection already can get The Jungle Book for another $10 as DLC. It's a great collection. Aladdin has a director's cut version, so that's a nice perk. Currently, the roms can be extracted with QuickBMS and the sf30_mbundle.bms like most Digital Eclipse collections. I assume The Jungle Book will be too.
Speaking of Digital Eclipse, I finally got around to getting the Blizzard Arcade Collection. There are 12 roms of the 5 games (the original was 3 games but it got updated for free with 2 more). The number of roms is due to the collection having both SNES and Sega variants (mostly SNES but some of the games were released on both), plus new definitive edition variants. No extraction is needed for the PC version. The SNES roms will need renaming to the .sfc/smc extension since they have the .bin extension. The folders containing the roms are located in the . . .\Blizzard Arcade Collection\assets\roms folder.
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@themazingness For the Blizzard Arcade Colection, could you break down which games are for which systems out of the 12? Don't have that collection on my list yet, so it'll be a great addition.
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@cooliecoolster Sure!
Blackthorne: SNES (original), 32x (adds 4 levels and prerendered graphics), and definitive edition (SNES; adds auto mapping and more language support)
The Lost Vikings: Genesis, SNES, and definitive edition (SNES; combines features from original SNES and Genesis)
The Lost Vikings 2: SNES
RPM Racing: SNES
Rock N Roll Racing: SNES, Genesis, Definitive Edition (SNES; adds cd quality music, new special effects, and widescreen support [might be something only the built in emulator does, IDK]), and a four player version (SNES). I'm a little unclear how the rom translates here. I just know there are two Definitive Edition roms while in the collections UI it labels one as Definitive Edition and the other as 4 player.
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@themazingness Thanks! The definitive editions, essentially ROM hacks I guess, are certainly a new thing I'll have to adjust the formatting of the Blizzard Arcade Collection entry's table for. While Blizzard has many faults, the fact that they updated the ROMs themselves, rather than just porting them without giving the consumers the option to access the product they purchased however they wish, something not many publishers would go out of the way to do, is certainly something to be commended.
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