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RetroArch 1.9.12 released!

Libretro Team


RetroArch 1.9.12 has just been released.

Grab it here.

If you’d like to learn more about upcoming releases, please consult our roadmap here.

Remember that this project exists for the benefit of our users, and that we wouldn’t keep doing this were it not for spreading the love to our users. This project exists because of your support and belief in us to keep going doing great things. If you’d like to show your support, consider donating to us. Check here in order to learn more. In addition to being able to support us on Patreon, there is now also the option to sponsor us on Github Sponsors! You can also help us out by buying some of our merch on our Teespring store!

Highlights

Steam


New cores are on the verge of being approved on Steam. First out of the gates is Picodrive, a Sega Genesis/Master System/Sega CD/32X emulator. You can grab that for RetroArch right now here.

We’d also like to remind users that are still using the RetroArch Play Test version on Steam to please migrate over to the mainline Steam release now and to stop using it. The Play Test version is outdated and won’t really be updated anymore after this point.

Miyoo – Pocket Go, PowKiddy Q90-V90 and New BittBoy – Over 28 cores now

For version 1.9.11, we added support for Miyoo devices, such as the Pocket GO, PowKiddy Q90-V90 and New BitBoy. Back then, we only had one or two cores available.

Version 1.9.12 now comes with a whopping 28 cores – quite the improvement over 1.9.11.

List of all cores so far –

NOTE: We are not affiliated or have any association with the companies behind these devices.

HID subsystem unification – improvements/bugfixes

1.9.11 added a new unified HID subsystem that works on both Mac and WiiU.

Version 1.9.12 features several crucial bugfixes and additions that were plaguing the initial implementation in 1.9.11. See the CHANGELOG at the end of this blog post for more details.

Increased backwards compatibility for macOS cores

Since the migration to our new infrastructure, the minimum OS requirements for macOS cores unintentionally went up. We have since taken steps to address this.

Here are the current minimum OS requirements:

We intend to drive down the requirements even lower in the coming months. For C++-based cores, the lowest we can go is 10.9. Going lower would require installing an older SDK version. For C-based cores, the lowest we can go is 10.4 for Intel-based architectures.

Project IO – Continued

You’ve read in our previous blog post that we were working on a long-term project to wrap/abstract all file system I/O in cores, and also correct and improve cores along the way. This work has continued for version 1.9.12, and we are happy to report that various cores have been improved substantially as a result.

Below are all the cores we managed to cover so far. The ones listed in bold are the new cores we have covered since 1.9.11.

Project IO – FCEUmm improvements

We replaced all direct file access in the core with VFS routines (libretro/RetroArch#12949)

In addition, it turned out that this core had been violating the libretro API for some time by setting need_fullpath = false but then requiring the content fullpath to detect the region of iNES v1.0 ROMs. This PR fixes the issue by setting need_fullpath = true by default, but then lifting this restriction for frontends that support the RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CONTENT_INFO_OVERRIDE environment callback (which allows a valid content name to be extracted even when using a frontend-provided data buffer)

Built-in Game Genie support

FCEUmm has long supported emulation of the Game Genie cartridge add-on, but this is currently unavailable in the libretro core. 1.9.12 wires up said functionality:

A new core option Game Genie Add-On (Restart) has been added (disabled by default)
In order for the option to apply, the Game Genie ROM file named gamegenie.nes must be present in the frontend system directory
Game Genie support is disabled for FDS and arcade content
Save states do not function (and are disabled) while the Game Genie boot screen is open
After enabling Game Genie Add-On (Restart), launching a game will cause the Game Genie boot screen to appear. Codes can be entered with the gamepad (as on real hardware): D-Pad to move, A to select, B to delete. For example:

Super Mario Bros.
YSAOPE + YEAOZA + YEAPYA Start on World 8

Why would we want this functionality, when the regular cheat interface is already available? Because:

* It provides an authentic experience
* It enables cheats when using frontends that don’t support the regular cheat interface
* All the code was already in place, and it was easy to enable 🙂

In addition, during the process of implementing this, the core’s OSD messaging code was overhauled and cleaned up. OSD warnings will be displayed when appropriate if the Game Genie ROM file is missing, and also if the FDS bios is missing. OSD message durations have been shortened a little, and the core makes use of the extended messaging interface when available.

Color palette switching

At present it is difficult to compare the core’s Color Palette options, because these can only be set via the quick menu. 1.9.12 adds the ability to switch to the next/previous colour palette by holding RetroPad L2 and pressing D-Pad Left/Right while content is running.

Memory leaks fixed

Numerous memory leaks have been fixed while going over this core. This should benefit in particular all the statically linked platforms, such as game consoles.

Project IO – SameBoy improvements

1.9.12 makes the following changes to the core:

Direct file access has been replaced with VFS routines (libretro build only) (Cores with straight stdio file I/O RetroArch#12949)

The core now sets need_fullpath = false, such that content is loaded from the frontend-supplied memory buffer. (Cores that should be turned into need_fullpath = false)

Since the core no longer receives a content path, automatic ROM type detection cannot be based on file extension (.gb, .gbc). We now therefore inspect the ROM header, which means we can also distinguish SGB-enhanced content. As a result, the System – Emulated Model core option has been modified such that the Auto settings are:

Auto Detect DMG/CGB (default): Emulated hardware will be set to either Game Boy or Game Boy Color depending upon the ROM.
Auto Detect DMG/SGB/CGB: Emulated hardware will be set to either Game Boy, Super Game Boy or Game Boy Color depending upon the ROM.
A new Auto Detected SGB Model has also been added, to enable selection of which type of SGB hardware to emulate when content is detected as being SGB-enhanced.

Since it was necessary to edit the core options anyway, these have been updated to v2 and option categories have been added.
Note that all changes here (apart from two .gitignore additions) are limited to the libretro directory – no ’emulator’ code has been modified.

Fixes issue #58 – ‘Better Auto System Model Support #58’
Fixes issue #52 (since the core no longer loads ROMs directly) – ‘Can’t load ROM files with special characters in filename’

PCSX ReARMed – Improvements

Lots of improvements have been made to PCSX ReARMEd courtesy of gameblabla –

Ozone – new color themes

Solarized Light theme for Ozone menu driver
Solarized Light theme for Ozone menu driver
Solarized Dark theme – Ozone

Two new color themes got added – Solarized Light and Solarized Dark.

Libretro additions – Enable SRAM for contentless cores

Before, the saving/loading of SRAM data is disabled for contentless cores – which means that cores such as 2048 have to handle save data internally instead of utilising frontend-provided functionality.

1.9.12 simply disables this artificial and unnecessary restriction.

Changelog

1.9.12

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