RetroArch 1.8.1 released!

Libretro Team


RetroArch 1.8.1 has just been released. This version sees the coming of age of the mobile UI, which now has support for thumbnails. This will bring a transformative change to the way people get to interact with the UI on Android/iOS. And the best part is that this is only the beginning, even more drastic UX enhancements are planned!

Grab it here.

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On-demand thumbnail downloading now enabled by default on Android/iOS

We’ve made the decision to enable the auto thumbnail scraping feature by default on Android/iOS since both devices are likely to be connected to the Internet. This is inline with what the majority of people on these platforms would want the default behavior to be. All other platforms remain unaffected – for systems other than Android/iOS therefore, it has to be enabled manually for it to work.

In case you are using your device offline and/or you don’t want a HTTP request to be performed every time you browse a new entry in a playlist, you can turn this setting off by going to ‘Main Menu -> Online Updater’ and turning off ‘On-Demand Thumbnail Downloads’.

MaterialUI – Thumbnail support plus more themes! The mobile UI finally grows up!

We are beyond excited to present to you even more UX enhancements for MaterialUI, the default UI for mobile devices like Android and iOS.

There is now initial thumbnail support for playlists in MaterialUI!

RetroArch 1.8.1 adds the Thumbnails and Thumbnail Upscaling Threshold options under User Interface > Appearance, and adds two new options: Portrait Thumbnail View and Landscape Thumbnail View. There are currently only list view implementations, which look something like this:

Portrait Thumbnail View

Off

List (Small)

List (Medium)

Landscape Thumbnail View

OFF

List (Small)

List (Medium)

List (Large)

Note the new ‘switch thumbnail view’ icon on the title bar (next to the search icon). This shows up when viewing any playlist provided that User Interface > Appearance > Thumbnails is set to anything other than OFF. Touching this icon switches to the next view mode (this is done independently for each screen orientation). Pressing the ‘scan’ button on a gamepad (RetroPad X) has the same effect.

On-demand thumbnail downloads are fully supported.

All loaded thumbnails have a nice ‘fade in’ animation.

A couple more screenshots –

We implore everybody that might have bounced off earlier versions of RetroArch for Android/iOS to please give this new version a chance. We are trying our best to be receptive to user feedback and whip the UX into shape so that it becomes a user interface that you will come to love instead of tolerate (at best). Thumbnail support has been missing for a long time so this is bound to be a big deal along with the other UX enhancements that version 1.8.0 already brought with it

Changes

1.8.1

  • BUGFIX/MENU: Fix menu rendering with Mali GPUs after changing video dimensions
  • CDROM: Adds pregap support to cdfs helper methods
  • CHEEVOS: Provides the new PCEngine hashing algorithm for RetroAchievements
  • LOCALIZATION: Update French translation
  • LOCALIZATION: Update Polish translation
  • LOCALIZATION: Update Spanish translation
  • MENU/MATERIALUI: Initial thumbnail support
  • MENU/MATERIALUI: Cutie / Virtual Boy theme added
  • MENU/MATERIALUI: Bugfix – Under certain extreme circumstances, entries with very long sublabel strings could have their text prematurely ‘clipped’ as the entry is scrolled beyond the top of the screen
  • MENU/MATERIALUI: Bugfix – Certain setting value strings were unnecessarily truncated (with a …) when using smooth ticker text
  • MENU/XMB: Sunbeam theme added
  • SWITCH: Accelerometer, gyroscope and illuminance sensor support
  • VITA: Accelerometer and gyroscope sensor support

What’s next?

We will be following this blog post up in the upcoming days with more about the Doom 3 core that libretro devs have been working on. Stay tuned – this core represents a big milestone for us since it is a semi-modern game running as a libretro core inside RetroArch, and our aim has always been to appeal beyond the emulation scene. We are fully supportive of even more non-emulator cores in the future, but we won’t forget about the emulation scene either, and we have some BIG announcements coming up that still remain a secret. So stay tuned and wait for further information to arrive when the time is right!

Quake 3 core ported to Libretro/RetroArch – with working online multiplayer + more!

Libretro Team

Hot on the heels of vitaQuake 2 being ported to Libretro/RetroArch, now’s the time for a full-fledged Quake 3 core to make its way to RetroArch!

Rinnegatamante used his vitaQuake 3 source port as the basis for this core. Unlike the vitaQuake 2 core, there is no fallback software renderer. Unlike Quake 1/2, Quake III: Arena was the first game by id Software to require the use of a 3D videocard. For now, this core will require the OpenGL API.

So what exactly is vitaQuake 3? It’s an ioquake3 port by Rinnegatamante that was originally made for the PS Vita as a standalone release, and has now since been ported to the libretro API itself.

It currently supports the following games/mods:

  • Quake III: Arena
  • Quake III: Team Arena
  • OpenArena
  • Urban Terror
  • Q3Rally

The core is currently available on both Windows and Linux on the Libretro buildbot.

Features

  • Fixed frame steps just like the Quake 2 core. You can set the target framerate beyond 60fps in case you have a high refresh rate TV/monitor
  • Resolution can be increased up to 4K (3840×2160). We will probably increase this limit later on
  • Fully working online multiplayer support
  • Full mod support. Should work with Urban Terror, Open Arena, etc

What is not done

  • Needs keyboard/mouse control options. Right now only the gamepad is fully mapped
  • (For mobile) If we want to bring it to mobile, the GL renderer has to compile as GLES 2.0-compatible. Alternatively we could make a separate renderer specfically for this purpose.

How to get it

The core is available right now on our buildbot. It will be only available for Windows PCs, Mac and Linux for now given the OpenGL fixed function requirements right now. We will see where we can go from here.

To install this core, in RetroArch’s Main Menu, go to Online Updater. First make sure your core info files are updated. Select ‘Update Core Info Files’.

After this is done, select ‘Core Updater’. From here, you can select ‘Quake III: Arena (vitaQuake 3)’ from the list and download it.

Requirements/How to use it

You need one of the following:

  • A working version of Quake 3 Arena’s datafiles (buy it on GOG, Steam, etc)
  • A demo version of Quake 3 Arena with the datafiles extracted

We might put up the demo version of Quake 3 Arena on our Content Downloader later to simplify the process for people who just want to test this core out.

Anyway, once you have the data files unpacked somewhere on your storage device, go to RetroArch, go to ‘Load Content’, go to the directory that has the data files, go to the baseq3 folder, and open pak0.pk3.

It should start the core now.

vitaVoyager – Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Holomatch


vitaVoyager is a port of lilium-voyager, an ioquake3 fork made to be compatible with the multiplayer mode of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force.

Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force was a game made by Raven Software in the early ’00s. It uses the id Tech 3 engine, the same engine powering Quake III: Arena.

Both local and online multiplayer are fully implemented as well as game against bots.

How to get it

The core is available right now on our buildbot. It will be only available for Windows PCs, Mac and Linux for now given the OpenGL fixed function requirements right now. We will see where we can go from here.

To install this core, in RetroArch’s Main Menu, go to Online Updater. First make sure your core info files are updated. Select ‘Update Core Info Files’.

After this is done, select ‘Core Updater’. From here, you can select ‘Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force (vitaVoyager)’ from the list and download it.

Requirements/How to use it

You need one of the following:

  • A working version of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force’s multiplayer data files

Holomatch, with permission from Raven and other parties, is now fully free to download and distribute.

See this page here

Other relevant info can be found here –

“Fortunately you can play the multiplayer for free. Either you get it from the UFP, a multigaming clan or The Last Outpost, one of the last Elite Force RPG communities left.”

https://ufplanets.com/cms.php?27-Star-Trek-Voyager-Elite-Force

“UFPlanets.com LTD. has received written permission from CBS Broadcasting Inc., the current license holder of the Star Trek franchise and associated material, including the licensed material contained in these installers, to redistribute Star Trek Voyager® Elite Force™ for free via a digital download installer. “

We will have to research if it’s feasible or permissible for us to include these files on our Content Downloader. Until we have made that final determination, you can get them through one of the links above instead.

Anyway, once you have the data files unpacked somewhere on your storage device, go to RetroArch, go to ‘Load Content’, go to the directory that has the data files, go to the baseEF folder, and open pak0.pk3.

It should start the core now.

Coming tomorrow – lifting the curtains on id Tech 4

Tomorrow we’ll have a new blog post dedicated to our in-development Doom 3 libretro core. Stay tuned!