NES RessurctionXtras 2.0 Project (thread previously titled: Does anybody work on Emulators to fix broken games here?)

Capeman

@gamez-fan said in Does anybody work on Emulators to fix broken games here?:

@capeman said in Does anybody work on Emulators to fix broken games here?:

I'd personally like to see somebody make RadMobile work on Mame2003, haha.

What's the problem with Rad Mobile exactly..??

As far as my testing goes, any game running on Sega's system32 is slooooooooowwww on a raspberry pi if it works at all.

arcadez2003

@capeman said in Does anybody work on Emulators to fix broken games here?:

As far as my testing goes, any game running on Sega's system32 is slooooooooowwww on a raspberry pi if it works at all.

Although my V60 will be different from the one in MAME78 aka 2003 with regards to clock devides this should work it's a trick i used to speed up
these games on the xbox when using the newer Segas32 video code which is very resource heavy, in MAME2003 you have the older faster video
code so hopefully underclocking the main CPU will get you a nice performance boost to make these games playable.

If you can compile your own source do the following and then make a new build, in drivers/system32.c find..............

static MACHINE_DRIVER_START( system32 )

/* basic machine hardware */
MDRV_CPU_ADD(V60, OSC_A/2/12) // Reality is 16.somethingMHz, use magic /12 factor to get approximate speed

And replace with

static MACHINE_DRIVER_START( system32 )

/* basic machine hardware */
MDRV_CPU_ADD(V60, 12000000 )// should be 16mhz but make it this to speed things up for the Xbox

If the above works we can likely do the same for the Sega Multi32 games eg Outrunners etc etc

Used2BeRX

Strangely enough, gamefaqs seems to have the "best" brief description for the games out of mobygames and launchbox and gamefaqs in a majority of the cases. I started out looking at gamefaqs last, but now that's the first place I check.

Somebody must have added some cool blurbs about most of the official licensed games on their site at some point over the years, because when I was using that site to do this years ago it was mostly generic descriptions just saying the name of the game, what type of game it was made, the developer and publisher and the date of release.

My original NES synopsis collection size was MUCH larger. Because of the nature of the gamelist.xml and how EmulationStation handles them, a smaller size is necessary. Even with this smaller size per-game, this body information might have to be left out of the entries on a Pi Zero, but hopefully with a Pi3 there won't be any problems with the massive amount of titles that will be included.

The amount of game titles and the combined size of the synopsis that was made 10 years ago: 1,769 files at 3.83MB

New files and size: 2,020 files at 2.29MB

I'm hoping to get this well under 2MB when it's done.

Used2BeRX

Synopsis Update:

US Licensed completely updated. Every single field of information is filled in for every single game, and are as follows for Official Licensed releases.

[Full Game Title] (Synopsis First Line on XBox, Romlist Name on RetroPie)
Platform:
Region:
Media:
Controller:
Genre:
Gametype:
Release Year:
Developer:
Publisher:
Players:

The only data that will be double checked and/or altered are Genre and Players. I will be verifying by hand the number of players for all Official games when I re-test them on the Pi. I will also homogenize the Genre field when I can see this displayed in the romlist on the Pi.

TOTAL US LICENSED SYNOPSIS FILES: 648
TOTAL US LICENSED SYNOPSIS SIZE: 529kb

TOTAL SYNOPSIS FILES: 2,020
TOTAL SYNOPSIS SIZE: 2.25mb

Every body text has been reduced in size to keep each individual games under 1kb (1024 characters or less). In many cases one of the 3 websites I cited before had a great description as-is. In quite a few other cases I edited these down by removing superfluous information to keep the file size per game down.

I still have around 300 Licensed games to go through, including Europe and Japan games that aren't clones of US games, as well as Zapper games and VS Arcade System games.

After that, I will be going through all of the unofficial games including Translations, Hacks, Unlicensed, Prototypes, Pirates and then it's on to Famicom Disk System releases.

Still working on the spreadsheet. I hope to release that soon. :)

Oh... and I've been reducing the original synopsis files made years ago. This is because we only need the small blurb about the game in the romlist and the "novels" we used to have would likely cause a lot of problems when the gamelist.xml files by system would be needlessly huge, even with a Pi3.

Original files and size: 1,769 files at 3.83MB
Current files and size: 2,020 files at 2.24MB

Hoping to get this well under 2.00MB by the time it's done. :)

Used2BeRX

I just finished testing NES US Licensed games (not zapper or power pad). 100% of the games work on a Pi Zero with proper CPU clock settings and smooth video set. The only one that has any problems at all that I could see is Goal! II. Quicknes won't even play it, fceumm plays it slow and Nestopia has some audio stutter. Plays best in Nestopia though, and is still entirely playable.

I still have to re-test any 4-Player games when I have more controllers to make sure that function works, but all of the 4-Player games work with up to 2 players for sure.

Rion

@used2berx I have to say im mighty impressed with your dedication to this project!

Have you taught about starting the same thread over at the libretro forums?

Used2BeRX

@rion I didn't even know there were libretro forums. :)

That would probably be the way to go when I conclude my NES testing and have a list of all of the non-working games though, huh?

I wasn't really expecting any problems with the Official games, especially the US/EU ones. I've got a feeling though that once I delve into the pirate/unlicensed/translations/hacks testing that there are going to be a lot of them.

Used2BeRX

Finished testing US unlicensed games (Tengen, Codemasters, Wisdom Tree, American Video Entertainment, etc.)

100% working again, although unfortunately the 1 game that seems to suffer a bit with audio stutter is Alien Syndrome that wont' run at all in Quicknes, suffers gameplay slowdown in fceumm and has some light audio stutter in Nestopia on the Pi Zero.

I don't believe that any of these games would have any problems running on a Pi 3. The Unlicensed games overall were not a huge fan of the Quicknes emulator. About half or more of them would not play at all in Quicknes. Most of these played fine in either Nestopia or fceumm though.

Used2BeRX

Does anybody know if there is light gun support for NES games on the RetroPie, and if there is, how to set it up?

I'm going to skip testing these games until somebody lets me know. Onto Europe Licensed games for now.

EDIT: I'm actually referring to the ability to use the D-Pad with a cursor on screen. Both NES emulators on the XBox allow you to do this.

I'd also be curious to know if this could be done with some sort of USB Zapper gun, and if you would need a CRT television or not to do it.

THANKS!!!

Used2BeRX

Finished testing Europe Licensed games.

Only problem game was Devil World. It plays fine, but for some reason I am unable to select 2 player mode in any of the 3 emulators. Strange.

Used2BeRX

Finished testing Japan Licensed games.

All work except for 2 controller issue games.

Hyper Sports (Requires either Hyper Shot or Zapper support - Works on XBox).
Exciting Boxing (Requires special "Pack'In" Inflatable boxer control. Doesn't work on XBox either. Saw a video on Youtube that shows it supported in an emulator, but unsure what they're using.)

Used2BeRX

Nintendo VS Arcade machine testing complete. 5 non-working games.

VS Duck Hunt, VS Freedom Force, VS Gumshoe, VS Hogan's Alley don't work because I don't know how to use the Zapper on RetroPie. Additionally, Gumeshoe doesn't seem to work at all because none of the three NES emulators will even load the game at all.

VS Ninja Jajamaru-Kun "works" very limited. Fceumm is the only emulator that will load the game, but The only way you can play the game at all is with a 2 Player game. 1st player is always non-responsive. You have to wait for 1st player to die and then you can play the 2nd player.

All of these games work on the XBox.

On the Pi, none of them work with Quicknes... most of them just kick back to romlist, some a black screen on load and some play with very bad colors. You can't seem to insert coin with Quicknes anyhow.

Nestopia plays nearly all but 3 or 4 of them. You can insert coins using the trigger buttons in either Nestopia or Quicknes.

Used2BeRX

It will be assumed unless somebody tells me otherwise that there is no support for Zapper games (via actual zapper/CRT TV, or on the gamepad). Even if there is support for Power Pad (via joystick), it's nearly impossible to map any of those games in a way that makes sense, even on the XBox, so they will be considered unsupported here as well unless somebody lets me know otherwise.

Total Official NES games tested on the Pi Zero by category:

US Licensed: 648 Total, 647 play great, 1 plays mediocre.

US Unlicensed: 79 Total, 78 play great, 1 plays mediocre.

Zapper Games (Non VS machine): 22 Total, 0 play at all (unknown if zapper supported).

Europe Licensed: 29 Total, 29 play great (although Devil World won't let you play 2 players on any emulator).

Japan Licensed: 116 Total, 114 play great. (Exciting Boxing: Unsupported Controller, Hyper Sports: Needs Hyper Shot or Zapper support).

VS Arcade Machines: 29 Total, 24 play great. (4 light gun games not supported, Gumeshoe & Ninja Jajamaru-Kun won't play right in any of the 3 emulators.

Unsuppored Controller (Mainly Power Pad): 10 Total, 0 supported.

TOTAL UNIQUE LICENSED (AND US UNLICENSED) NES GAMES: 933

TOTAL SUPPORTED/WORKING IN RETROPIE: 892

Used2BeRX

Good news so far on the Translations. 100% of the games play so far out of the first 65 of 346 translated games. This includes a few of the Chinese pirates through the letter D as well. The only one with slight problems on the Pi Zero is the pretty sweet Platformer "Armadillo" with some slight audio crackle in Nestopia, but it shouldn't be a problem for anybody with a PI 3.

It will probably be a while before I get back to testing games, but I'll try to push on whenever I get the chance.

EDIT: Sweet.... Out of curiosity, I zipped way forward to "The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods" and it works. This was a Chinese Pirate back-port of "Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" on the SNES for the Famicom that was recently translated. It didn't play in Quicknes or Nestopia, but it works in Fceumm. :)

EDIT 2: Double sweet... "Bio Hazard", in the Chinese Pirate section works too. It was a Chinese Pirate back-port of the Playstation's first Resident Evil game for the Famicom. Unfortunately, this game isn't translated yet, but one can only hope.

Don't want to jinx anything yet, but the compatibility list for the more obscure games might be better than I was thinking on the Pi.

markwkidd

@used2berx said in NES RessurctionXtras 2.0 Project (thread previously titled: Does anybody work on Emulators to fix broken games here?):

It will be assumed unless somebody tells me otherwise that there is no support for Zapper games (via actual zapper/CRT TV, or on the gamepad)

You can find instructions for how to use a USB zapper with RetroArch emulators in the docs: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices

I have only used a Wiimote with Dolphinbar zapper, but other USB zappers should work the same way.

Used2BeRX

@markwkidd Wow... that seems really complex.

Thanks for that link, but until somebody goes to the effort of making this a bit more plug-n-play, I think I'm going to have to pass on the Zapper games for now. :)

I don't actually own a USB zapper in any form. I'm not really interested in buying one either since funds are extremly limited. If I bought something right now, I'd be upgrading from a Pi Zero to a Pi 3 first.

Rather than put "Unsupported" on the Zapper games on the Spreadsheet, I will just list them as "Untested". Thanks again for the link.

Used2BeRX

So it has to be mentioned that I feel whoever chose the NES emulators to work on the RetroPie did a great job covering all of the bases. I hope I'm not jinxing myself here, but compatibility so far has been absolutely superb.

I've had quite a few games that don't work in Quicknes, which I'm using first because I have a Pi Zero, but when I start getting worried after Nestopia won't load it or plays it lousy, fceumm always seems to come to the rescue at the end.

Except for the Zapper games which I don't know if I'll be testing, and unsupported other controllers that likely don't play anywhere well without the original hardware, there has only been around maybe 3 roms so far that wouldn't play without any problems on a Pi 3. That's out of around 1,100 unique roms so far.

I have tested through the letter "I" on the Translated games, which comes out to an additional 154 games that include around a dozen Chinese Pirate carts and there haven't been any problems with them yet.

Here's hoping my luck holds and that other Console/Handheld systems had such a great selection of emulators to work with.

Nice work guys and gals. :)

Used2BeRX

So... small update, just because it's good news :)

So far I've tested all the way through the letter R in Translated NES games and every single one works on a Pi Zero in at least one of the emulators.

Only the following issues to report so far:

Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water - Minor graphical errors in all 3 emulators.

Banana: If you go to item screen, the game won't refresh right. Maybe unplayable because of this. (All 3 emulators).

I will be re-testing any of these games on the XBox to see if the problems are exclusively on the PI or if they happen elsewhere.

So far, so good. I wasn't expecting this section to go so well. That's 264 additional games working with problems on only 2 of them. :)

Used2BeRX

@used2berx Overall, great news for the NES Translations.

Out of 346 of them, only 3 seem to have problems on the Pi Zero. Unfortunately, YS III: Wanderers from Ys is one of them. It's only really playable in Nestopia, but the audio stutters. :(

Not bad at all though. There was no way I thought 343 of them wouuld seem to play fine on the Pi Zero going into this.

Still got about 700 more to test. Updates will follow.

Used2BeRX

Okay... So I did re-test Banana and Nadia on the XBox and have confirmed that the issues were there as well, so this is a rom problem and not an emulation problem. I will work on fixing these roms sometime in the near future and re-testing them. (Sometimes you got to test these things 3 or 4 times before you find a bug :) )

Great news in a way though. That means only 1 out of 346 NES Translations run poorly on a PI Zero, and the problem I'm seeing is just an audio stutter that shouldn't cause any issues on a Pi 3.

Amazing.