Suggestions for ports

Impy

@quicksilver Indeed! I think I have also found a repo for a gles version:

It doesn't mention it in the readme, but I suspect those are the sources for the openpandora (hence gles) port.

I tried building that one too, but it's based on an earlier source, so it starts the errors even earlier. Would it be worthwhile to try to solve them (ie, could I expect better performance with that version)?

As for a new thread; a "Great Porting Threat" to share potential sources and tips&tricks to get them working would be welcome, I think.

VictimRLSH

@quicksilver said in Suggestions for ports:

@VictimRLSH sounds good. Should we keep discussing here or start a new thread?

Here for now, maybe start a new thread if it gets more popular. First, we need to acquire some targets. We can start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_games#Open_engine_and_free_content

Those games have free complete source code with free content, and would make ideal Ports because they can be played out of the box without the need to install ROMSs or asset files. Some of these are already available as ready to install packages in synaptic, they just need an install script and perhaps some configuration to run from Retropie.

VictimRLSH

I just scored my first victory! AstroMenace compiled (only had to hunt down 1 dev package too! alutdev installed easily via Synaptic) However, it runs DOG SLOW unless you go into the config menus and turn the quality setting to LOW, disable shadows and extra light points. It is actually a very complex shooter with a ton of ship and weapon configuration options, pilot character development, and economy. Would make a great port if we can hack together a script for it.

My system config: 4g Pi 4 no overclocking. Linux raspberrypi 4.19.118-v7l+ #1311 SMP Mon Apr 27 14:26:42 BST 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux

Installation steps I used in Terminal from Desktop:
sudo git clone https://github.com/viewizard/astromenace.git astromenace
cd ~/astromenace
sudo cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ./
sudo make -j4

It does not produce an install file, so "sudo make install" won't work, you need to start up the game by changing to the astromenace directory and running it with ./astromenace. I also needed to install libalut-dev package to get it to compile.

Is this enough information to create an install script for Retropie?
EDIT: I discovered it was running very slow because I had a full screen resolution of 1600 x 1280. Windowing it and running it in lower res was a huge performance boost.

quicksilver

@VictimRLSH looks cool, I'll have to check it out.

VictimRLSH

@quicksilver said in Suggestions for ports:

@VictimRLSH looks cool, I'll have to check it out.

Now that I got it to run much faster on the Pi 4, I'm going to try installing it on the Pi 3 controller mount and see if it runs at an acceptable speed.

EDIT: It compiled just fine, but I can't run it because it needs to open a display of at least 800x480 and my Pimoroni Hyperpixel is 720x480. I'm guess it SHOULD run, I could try it on the 3B+ on HDMI.

Unknown

I found a cool port https://www.flightgear.org/
Can anyone tell me how to download it to retro pie? I know it will work with a raspberry pi 4.

quicksilver

@Unknown instructions are here http://wiki.flightgear.org/Howto:Build_and_run_FlightGear_on_Raspberry_Pi_4

Looks neat btw, I might try to build it. I have been having an itch to play flight simulator 98 recently and this might be the closest I can get.

Unknown

@quicksilver Is this something that could be submitted to retro pie on github as a pull request?

quicksilver

@Unknown if you or someone else makes a build script for it, sure.

VictimRLSH

Got Intruders Thunder 2 working, which brings up a question. Can .jar apps be executed from a Retropie startup script without a Desktop session running?

All I had to do was download IT2.jar from Sourceforge and run it from a Desktop Terminal.

java -jar IT2.jar

mitu

@VictimRLSH said in Suggestions for ports:

Can .jar apps be executed from a Retropie startup script without a Desktop session running?

Not unless the game has been specifically programmed with a graphical library that doesn't require X11. Generally, you'll need a desktop session to run graphical Java applications - such as the game in question (which uses Java Swing, which in turn requires X11).

VictimRLSH

@mitu I see there has been attempts to get a J2ME Libretro core working.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/11441/would-you-like-to-play-nokia-j2me-games-on-retropie/303

I can play many of them on microemulator, but that itself is a Java app that requires the Desktop session...

EDIT: Found an archive with 67,000 .jar games. Some work, some don't, if I attempt to curate this it could take the next 87 years. Still, it is a largely untapped base, much like Flashpoint. If these can be made to work from Retropie with install scripts and controller configured, it would be a huge addition to Retropie's game arsenal.

quicksilver

@VictimRLSH makes me think of candystand.com. I spent a lot of time on that site around 20 years ago playing the miniature golf flash game (shockwave game?) . 😂

VictimRLSH

@quicksilver You might be able to find that game in Flashpoint Infinity if you search for the original site name in its game database. Unfortunately I currently can't run that, at the moment the Pi4 is my only computer. It is doing an outstanding job as a primary PC though.

Impy

Have been going through the makefile for Aquaria, as I found performance disappointing. Turns out they forced compiler flag -o2, changing to -ofast improved things quite a bit ^_^

There was also the option to change from sdl1 to sdl2, getting rid of the startx requirement for running the file. However, since I had to set resolution to 720x480, the screen gets rendered in the bottom left corner (both when windowed and fullscreen). Is there an easy way to get it centred and stretched to full widescreen image?

I am almost at the point that I feel confident enough in the quality for creating an install script for this game.

VictimRLSH

@quicksilver Was this the one? Atatio mini golf?

quicksilver

@VictimRLSH no, it looked like this:

VictimRLSH

@quicksilver That's definitely something you would want to look for in Flashpoint. I searched the online list and it DOES have Candystand games, so it might be there.

Impy

Has anyone been able to get the main openxcom branch running on the Pi4?

My attempt failed miserably, the compiled program locking up, merely displaying a black left-bottom corner on the screen.

VictimRLSH

I got the fan-made SNES Zelda: A Link to the Past sequel Navi's Quest to compile. The source is at http://www.zeldaroth.fr/us/dlnsq.php

You need to install libsdl-gfx 1.2-5 to get it to compile.

Unpack the archive into its own directory and open a Terminal

sudo make -j4

copy or move the ZeldaNSQ executable from the bin directory to the base directory created when you unpacked the archive. There is no install script so start the game with ./ZeldaNSQ

It ignores your sound settings and everything is at full volume so be prepared to dial it down a bit. It is currently using Keyboard controls but I hope there is a way to get it configured for a controller.

There are 4 other completely new Zelda fan games on that site, hopefully I can get the rest to compile too. Looks like a very well made game, I might even actually PLAY it. LOL...

EDIT: Return of the Hylian compiles and runs just fine too. It was made much earlier and is a lot smaller than Navi's Quest and doesn't take nowhere near as long to compile. There is no need to move the executable, the makefile builds it right in the base directory.

EDIT #2: The 5th game in the series, Zelda Picross, only has Windows sources, so no luck there. All the others compiled and ran.