Some suggestions on the TU's libretro content (0.16.9.1)

Suggestions
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I am a heavy emulator user and I really like TU’s libretro content. I have played TU for 100 hours and almost 80% of it was spent on libretro devices.

So I have listed my personal suggestions for reference only. If it can be achieved one day in the future, that would be great! Of course, TU’s support for libretro has already made me very satisfied. I really appreciate TU team’s hard work. I think TU is the best investment I have made on steam, surpassing GMod.

I. Missing cores
I don’t know how to add and test new libretro cores. Do I just need to put the new libretro.dll into Tower Unite\Tower\Libretro\Cores? I don’t even know if I should use RetroArch’s x86 core or x86_64 core.
So the following cores, I have not seen whether the official has tested them, but based on my experience in EmuVR, they are likely to be able to run.

1.wsc/ws mednafen_wswan_libretro.dll
2 atari lynx mednafen_lynx_libretro.dll
3.pc-fx mednafen_pcfx_libretro.dll
Since the mednafen emulator’s ngp/vb/sgx can all run well, can we try these a few more times?

4.neogeo-cd neocd_libretro.dll
neogeo is well supported in FBNeo and MAME, maybe this neocd will work too

5.ffmpeg GitHub - libretro/FFmpeg: mirror of git://source.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git
TU does not support local audio playback, which makes players like me who like to customize background music in games feel down. The ffmpeg core is very interesting. With this core, we can turn any libretro device into a local audio and video player. Although it is no longer in RetroArch’s autobuild list, it should still be able to compile a standalone core.

II. Missing models
1.gba handheld model
I know that the PSP model can be used to run GBA and other widescreen handheld games, but even NDS and 3DS have different models. Can TU official give us a 320*240 resolution horizontal handheld model specifically for handhelds? Please!

2.vb model
Nintendo officially classified vb as a handheld category. So strictly speaking, vb should appear in TU as a helmet-style handheld form.It’s so special, maybe it’s worth treating differently. And the vb emulator naturally supports left and right split screen 3D output. Maybe one day we can play 3D vb games in VR TU! That would be so cool!

III. Bugs encountered
1.atomiswave games cannot run
This bug is strange. DC games and Naomi games can run, even DC with WinCE is supported, but atomiswave games cannot run. Could this be a bug in the resolution setting? The direct consequence is that excellent works such as Metal Slug 6, Samurai Shodown 7 and King of Fighters XI cannot run and my heart is broken.

2.The scan lines in the arcade settings do not take effect
I don’t know why there is no difference between selecting scan lines on and off.I don’t know if it’s just me. I searched for scanline on the forum without any clues

Finally, I would like to thank the TU development team again for their perfect work. TU has given me the pleasure that other VR emulator front-ends cannot provide. Sincerely thank you!
BTW: Can we have a suggestion section specifically for libretro?

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It’s a bit complex, but yes, but the UI doesn’t let you just load the core normally so you have to rename an existing core while the game is running.

I can look into those cores mentioned and see if they are compatible.

I’ve seen success using atomiswave to DC ports to make it work.

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@macdguy Thank you for your reply. I will try these cores :smiley: Mum…AW to DC…Good idea!

update:
I have tested the AW GDI file and it works :smiley:

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20230525173024_11920×1080 434 KB

There are some issues:

  1. flycast unable to recognize files with the same name. If there is a file named disk.gdi in two different folders for two games, the core only recognizes the first one. Unexpectedly discovered that flycast also supports gdi files.
  2. It may be a conversion issue, as the arcade’s unique demo for waiting for coins is no longer available. :weary:
    3.Running the flycast core while running several fbneo cores at the same time may cause TU to crash, which I have encountered several times.

update 2

I rename the mednafen_lynx_libretro.dll to mednafen_ngp_libretro.dll while the game is running. No lucky…fail to load the zip rom. Same as the wsc/ws core

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II. Missing models
1.gba handheld model
I know that the PSP model can be used to run GBA and other widescreen handheld games, but even NDS and 3DS have different models. Can TU official give us a 320*240 resolution horizontal handheld model specifically for handhelds? Please!

Indeed, this is a bit annoying to be limited to a widescreen display, just to have black bars really on the side.

2.vb model
Nintendo officially classified vb as a handheld category. So strictly speaking, vb should appear in TU as a helmet-style handheld form.It’s so special, maybe it’s worth treating differently. And the vb emulator naturally supports left and right split screen 3D output. Maybe one day we can play 3D vb games in VR TU! That would be so cool!

Yes please ! Especially since they are a “Virtual Knock-off” (No offense, just meant as a no-infringing model) in Tower Unite already, including as glasses thought, this should still be limited to stationary units. I will really be interested for it, alongside the rest of the in-progress VR support in Tower Unite.

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