Difference between revisions of "Using RetroArch"

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Work in progress guide. Please expand upon it.
 
Work in progress guide. Please expand upon it.
  
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==Windows==
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==Basic Usage (Windows)==
  
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After downloading [[RetroArch]], start up retroarch.exe.
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After downloading [[RetroArch]],[[File:Rgui.png|thumb|205px|RGUI, RetroArch's interface]] start up retroarch.exe.
  
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Select the emulator core you'd like to use under '''Core '''and a ROM under''' Load Game'''.
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To launch a game, select the emulator core you'd like to use under '''Core''', and select a ROM under''' Load Game'''.
  
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==Linux==
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For more convenient ROM selection, setup your browser directory under '''Path Options'''.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==Installing RetroArch on Linux==
 
===Ubuntu===
 
===Ubuntu===
 
First, add the PPA for hunter-kaller/ppa (instructions [[Emulation on Ubuntu|here]]), then type the following into a terminal:
 
First, add the PPA for hunter-kaller/ppa (instructions [[Emulation on Ubuntu|here]]), then type the following into a terminal:
 
  sudo apt-get update
 
  sudo apt-get update
 
   
 
   
 +
sudo apt-get install retroarch
 
   
 
   
 
  sudo apt-get install <corename>
 
  sudo apt-get install <corename>
  
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Replace <corename> with the name of the package the core is available in. You can see all of the cores available to you either in your package manager (e.g. Synaptic, Software Center) or by visiting Launchpad.
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...where <corename> is the name of the package the core is available in. You can see all of the cores available to you either in your package manager (e.g. Synaptic, Software Center) or by visiting Launchpad.
 
  
 
https://launchpad.net/~hunter-kaller/+archive/ppa
 
https://launchpad.net/~hunter-kaller/+archive/ppa
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===Any other distro===
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===Other Distros===
 
You will have to compile from source. For Arch Linux, there are AUR packages that simplify this process, although it is not incredibly difficult otherwise. The most important part is making sure you have all the dependencies.
 
You will have to compile from source. For Arch Linux, there are AUR packages that simplify this process, although it is not incredibly difficult otherwise. The most important part is making sure you have all the dependencies.
  
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RetroArch has a robust CLI for those who prefer the command line, there are also many pages which should have been installed by default for retro-arch, retroarch-joyconfig and others. If you use the CLI be sure to configure your retroarch.cfg file before first use. This config is well commented so each option can be fully understood. Use retroarch-joyconfig command for simplified input setup. RetroArch can auto-detect inputs, which is a great feature to simplify playing with multiple/different controllers (refer to "man retroarch-joyconfig" for details). The retroarch.cfg file should be located in /etc/retroarch.cfg, your home folder or the directory where RetroArch was installed depending on your distro and compilation setup.
 
RetroArch has a robust CLI for those who prefer the command line, there are also many pages which should have been installed by default for retro-arch, retroarch-joyconfig and others. If you use the CLI be sure to configure your retroarch.cfg file before first use. This config is well commented so each option can be fully understood. Use retroarch-joyconfig command for simplified input setup. RetroArch can auto-detect inputs, which is a great feature to simplify playing with multiple/different controllers (refer to "man retroarch-joyconfig" for details). The retroarch.cfg file should be located in /etc/retroarch.cfg, your home folder or the directory where RetroArch was installed depending on your distro and compilation setup.
  
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For those who prefer the Phoenix-Gui, there are a slew of options - many of which are self explanatory. To keep your RetroArch dir clean and organized, be sure to setup all of the different directories in the General tab. Choose your preferred video and audio options. Map your input options. Make sure you tell Phoenix where to find RetroArch if it doesn't configure automatically. Choose your core and your rom and enjoy.
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==General Setup/Usage==
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===RGUI Controls===
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==OSX==
 
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????????
 
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==Nintendo Wii==
 
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If you are on a SD (not HD) [[CRT TVs|CRT TV]], then you will have the best display results (proper scanlines) in 512x240 for the NES, and 512x224 for the SNES games, and 640x224 for the Mega Drive/Genesis games.
 
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==General Setup==
 
−
RGUI
 
  
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Default keys are z and x and the arrow keys. From there you can set up controllers. RGUI is designed to be used mainly with a controller.
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Default keys for the keyboard are: x (confirm), z (back) and the arrow keys. If you're using an XInput (xbox 360) controller, your controller should already be set-up.
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===Bios===
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===BIOS===
  
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If you are going to play in a system that needs a BIOS (e.g. PS1), there's a bit more setup required. Go to 'System > General' and change the 'System directory' to wherever you'd like and place the BIOS files in there.
+
If you are going to play in a system that needs a BIOS (e.g. PS1), place the BIOS files in RetroArch's 'system' directory.
  
 
Mednafen is very picky about which BIOS to use. The ones that you might need are:
 
Mednafen is very picky about which BIOS to use. The ones that you might need are:
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===Super Game Boy===
 
===Super Game Boy===
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<p class="de2">Download these [http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?htga58k9rumhla9 SGB-capable bsnes cores], then [http://www.its.caltech.edu/~costis/sgb_hack/sgb_bios.bin download this], place it in the RetroArch folder, and rename it as "sgb.boot.rom". Now on RetroArch, under File > Special ROM, select a Super Game Boy ROM (they will all basically work) and a Game Boy ROM. Finally, under ROM type, select Super GameBoy, make sure you have the bsnes core you downloaded selected, and play.</p>
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<p class="de2">Download these [http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?htga58k9rumhla9 SGB-capable bsnes cores], then [http://www.its.caltech.edu/~costis/sgb_hack/sgb_bios.bin download this], place it in the RetroArch folder, and rename it as "sgb.boot.rom". Using Phoenix, under File > Special ROM, select a Super Game Boy ROM (they will all basically work) and a Game Boy ROM. Finally, under ROM type, select Super GameBoy, make sure you have the bsnes core you downloaded selected, and play.</p>
  
 
===Dual Analog Controllers===
 
===Dual Analog Controllers===
  
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PS1 games often used a set of default remappings if they didn't support it directly. Some games used both analogs as the D-pad, RetroArch doesn't support that though. Dual analogs only work in games that fully supported them, such as Ape Escape. To use dual analog for such games, go to Settings > Controllers, and change it to Dual Analog.  Alternatively, open RGUI while in RetroArch and change the gamepad type in the Input options.
+
PS1 games often used a set of default remappings if they didn't support it directly. Some games used both analogs as the D-pad, RetroArch doesn't support that though. Dual analogs only work in games that fully supported them, such as Ape Escape. To use dual analog for such games, go to Input Options, and change Device Type to '''JoyPad w/ Analog'''.
  
 
===Transfer PS1 Memory Card Files===
 
===Transfer PS1 Memory Card Files===
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*Place the new ones in the system folder.
 
*Place the new ones in the system folder.
 
===Disk Changing===
 
===Disk Changing===
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To changes disks in-game, go to RGUI > Disk Options > Disk Image Append.
+
To changes disks in-game, go to Disk Options > Disk Image Append.
  
 
'''S'''ome games like Metal Gear Solid require the disk tray to be opened before changing disks. To do this, change 'Disk Index' to 'No Disk' first.
 
'''S'''ome games like Metal Gear Solid require the disk tray to be opened before changing disks. To do this, change 'Disk Index' to 'No Disk' first.
 +
==Hotkeys==
 +
*F1 - Open RGUI
 +
*F2 - Save state
 +
*F4 - Load state
 +
*F8 - Take Screenshot
 +
*F9 - Mute Audio
 +
*F11 - Hide Cursor
 +
*Space - Turn off Frame Limiter
  
 
==Problems and Solutions==
 
==Problems and Solutions==
 
===RGUI high frame rate===
 
===RGUI high frame rate===
 
RGUI can run at a very, very high frame rate, like 500.
 
RGUI can run at a very, very high frame rate, like 500.
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===32 bit Windows===
 
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The 32-bit Windows version of RetroArch crashes. It's a known problem. Download an updated build:
 
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http://forum.themaister.net/viewtopic.php?pid=4945#p4945
 
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===NES===
 
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[[File:Retroarch_2013-08-16_06-32-24-62.png|thumb|250px|Example of faulty visuals that are exposed due to crop overscan not working. Note the blank blue area to the left and the green garbage on the right.]]'''Note:''' This issue has been fixed in the latest version of the Nestopia/FCEUmm cores. Grab the latest version in the RetroArch updater.
 
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Crop overscan does not work properly in NES games. Even if you turn it on in the options, it has no effect, likely because the NES cores have not been configured to make use of it. While this isn't always a problem, some games such as Super Mario Bros. 3 have blank areas or show garbage on the sides, quirks that would have been hidden on a real TV due to overscan. With the lack of overscan cropping, these blemishes become fully visible. If this bothers you, there are shaders which crop a certain percentage of the edge pixels, such as [[CRT-Geom]].
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
[http://forum.themaister.net/viewtopic.php?id=467 Windows Compilation Guide]
 
[http://forum.themaister.net/viewtopic.php?id=467 Windows Compilation Guide]
 +
 
[https://github.com/Themaister/RetroArch/wiki/Compilation-guide-%28Linux%29 Linux Compilation Guide]
 
[https://github.com/Themaister/RetroArch/wiki/Compilation-guide-%28Linux%29 Linux Compilation Guide]
 +
 +
[https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/wiki/RGUI RGUI Documentation]
 
[[Category:FAQs]]
 
[[Category:FAQs]]

Revision as of 19:56, 6 October 2013

Work in progress guide. Please expand upon it.

Basic Usage (Windows)

After downloading RetroArch,

RGUI, RetroArch's interface

start up retroarch.exe.

To launch a game, select the emulator core you'd like to use under Core, and select a ROM under Load Game.

For more convenient ROM selection, setup your browser directory under Path Options.


Installing RetroArch on Linux

Ubuntu

First, add the PPA for hunter-kaller/ppa (instructions here), then type the following into a terminal: 

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install retroarch

sudo apt-get install <corename>

Replace <corename> with the name of the package the core is available in. You can see all of the cores available to you either in your package manager (e.g. Synaptic, Software Center) or by visiting Launchpad.

https://launchpad.net/~hunter-kaller/+archive/ppa

Other Distros

You will have to compile from source. For Arch Linux, there are AUR packages that simplify this process, although it is not incredibly difficult otherwise. The most important part is making sure you have all the dependencies.

Dependencies: (refer to your distro's wiki or package manager for exact package names)

  • pkgconfig
  • OpenGL headers (should be on most distros by default, if not try installing libgl/mesa development package

Optional

  • libxml2 - For XML shaders and cheat support
  • freetype - TTF font rendering
  • ffmpeg/libavcodec - FFmpeg recording
  • nvidia-cg-toolkit - Cg shaders

Building from source

Libretro-super is a series of scripts used to ease the compilation and installation of each and every libretro emulation core and RetroArch itself. Thus this is the simplest route to a fully functional installation.  If you need or want to build each core individually then you can refer to the build-common.sh script for direction. 

git clone git://github.com/libretro/libretro-super.git
cd libretro-super
sh libretro-fetch.sh
sh libretro-build.sh
sh libretro-install.sh <path where you'd like RetroArch installed>

Building Phoenix-GUI (Optional for those that want point-click control)

git clone git://github.com/Themaister/RetroArch-Phoenix.git
cd RetroArch-Phoenix
make # Will build for GTK2 by default. If you're a KDE user or prefer Qt, you can build for Qt with make -f Makefile.qt.
sudo make install


Using RetroArch

RetroArch has a robust CLI for those who prefer the command line, there are also many pages which should have been installed by default for retro-arch, retroarch-joyconfig and others. If you use the CLI be sure to configure your retroarch.cfg file before first use. This config is well commented so each option can be fully understood. Use retroarch-joyconfig command for simplified input setup. RetroArch can auto-detect inputs, which is a great feature to simplify playing with multiple/different controllers (refer to "man retroarch-joyconfig" for details). The retroarch.cfg file should be located in /etc/retroarch.cfg, your home folder or the directory where RetroArch was installed depending on your distro and compilation setup.

General Setup/Usage

RGUI Controls

Default keys for the keyboard are: x (confirm), z (back) and the arrow keys. If you're using an XInput (xbox 360) controller, your controller should already be set-up.

BIOS

If you are going to play in a system that needs a BIOS (e.g. PS1), place the BIOS files in RetroArch's 'system' directory.

Mednafen is very picky about which BIOS to use. The ones that you might need are:

  • scph5500.bin
  • scph5501.bin
  • scph5502.bin

Mednafen PSX

Mednafen requires you to load games through CUE sheets. Ensure that the CUE sheet is properly set up in order for the game to run. See the Cue sheet (.cue) for more.

Mupen64Plus

The following files need to be placed in the System folder:

  • RiceVideoLinux.ini
  • Glide64mk2.ini

Download them here.

Super Game Boy

Download these SGB-capable bsnes cores, then download this, place it in the RetroArch folder, and rename it as "sgb.boot.rom". Using Phoenix, under File > Special ROM, select a Super Game Boy ROM (they will all basically work) and a Game Boy ROM. Finally, under ROM type, select Super GameBoy, make sure you have the bsnes core you downloaded selected, and play.

Dual Analog Controllers

PS1 games often used a set of default remappings if they didn't support it directly. Some games used both analogs as the D-pad, RetroArch doesn't support that though. Dual analogs only work in games that fully supported them, such as Ape Escape. To use dual analog for such games, go to Input Options, and change Device Type to JoyPad w/ Analog.

Transfer PS1 Memory Card Files

Mednafen creates memory card files for each individual game, whereas to PCSX-R/ePSXe where all game saves are stored into 2 memory card files. To transfer memory card files from PCSX-R/ePSXe to RetroArch:

  • Start game in RetroArch.
  • Go to system folder. Copy the names of the .mcr files created for the game.
  • Delete them.
  • Rename the files you want to transfer with the names of the RetroArch memcard files.
  • Place the new ones in the system folder.

Disk Changing

To changes disks in-game, go to Disk Options > Disk Image Append.

Some games like Metal Gear Solid require the disk tray to be opened before changing disks. To do this, change 'Disk Index' to 'No Disk' first.

Hotkeys

  • F1 - Open RGUI
  • F2 - Save state
  • F4 - Load state
  • F8 - Take Screenshot
  • F9 - Mute Audio
  • F11 - Hide Cursor
  • Space - Turn off Frame Limiter

Problems and Solutions

RGUI high frame rate

RGUI can run at a very, very high frame rate, like 500.

External links

Windows Compilation Guide

Linux Compilation Guide

RGUI Documentation

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