Compatibility issues compared to stand-alone?

Libretro Lakka
#1

I have been having some pretty bad compatibility issues with some of the cores in Lakka. Most notably the cores for PPSSPP and Dolphin (with gamecube games) do not play most of the games that I try with them, however those same emulators, when downloaded on my desktop, play these games just fine.

Is this an issue with the Lakka OS configuration, or are the cores just dated or broken? To be clear, I am not talking about speed issues, but actually being able to load and start the games; and yes I do have the BIOS files installed (Lakka confirms this on the core information screen).

I tried copying the daily cores into the Cores directory, and that didn’t seem to help anything (not entirely sure they are being loaded, to be honest, since there are no version numbers I can see)

#2

This picture is a lot more complicated than you’re thinking or seeing, so here, let me help you.

Dolphin is a stand-alone emulator, which has its own set of developers. The Dolphin “core” within Retroarch/Libretro is based on one of their versions of their work. If they were interested in working with us (which, currently, they’re not), we would have the same compatibility with the stand-alone version. Since that is the case, we have to make do with what we have access with and can work with. Not all of their functionality is going to fit or work within the “framework” (i.e. the overarching “wrapper”) of Libretro/Retroarch, so certain things (like compatibility, features, etc.) are not going to be present like they would in the stand-alone versions of the same cores you’re used to.

The Dolphin stand-alone version, for example, can play Wii games with the Dolphin Mayflash USB Bar attachment. It detects Wiimotes and Nunchuck controllers and allows for Wii games to be played with those, while Retroarch does not. It’s called a “trade-off”.

Regarding your Gamecube compatibility issue, the specs needed for GC running in emulators nowadays is quite low (can honestly be done on an Intel core i3 with 4 GB of RAM). I can run most GC games on my Lakka machine with very little trouble full speed full stop (including Twilight Princess and the notoriously difficult to emulate Rogue Squadron II). So I’m kind of wondering what kind of machine you’re using to try to emulate GC games on to have the kind of headaches you’re having.

So we’re going to need some info. Specs of the machine, version of Lakka, etc.

#3

Its not that I am having troubles with performance, its that I am having trouble getting the games to play at all.

Hardware-wise there should be no reason that the games do not play. Its an x86_64 Intel CPU, STR of ~800, and 4 GB of RAM running the latest Lakka 2.1, 64bit version. I understand that performance might not be full speed for GC and Wii games, but It should start, load, and get in any game that the emulators support.

A simple sample of what I have running right now:

  • Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) runs at a rock solid 60 FPS.

  • FF:CC (Gamecube) the only GC game that I have been able to get in game on so far, runs at about 20-25 FPS depending on the action level (30 during cut scenes).

  • Sonic Colors (Wii) I get about 20-25 FPS (15 when I really start to go fast)

This hardware is not my end goal (its similar but underpowered), so I am not worried about the exact performance yet, but I am absolutely worried about compatibility, which seems to be a problem.

#4

Ummmm…that doesn’t tell me a whole lot.

What type of CPU are you running? I went back to look at my hardware Lakka thread where you made the comment about your single-thread Passmark score being the most important factor for emulation…and checked your score vs. mine. I’m literally 7 times more powerful just based on the CPU throughput alone. An Intel Atom processor isn’t going to cut it for Gamecube or PSP emulation, the demands are too high. Clock speed alone isn’t going to help you in this regard, either. You might be able to get away with N64 and Dreamcast emulation, but just barely, and I speak from experience on that one. Atom vs. Celeron processors are an entirely different bottle of wax (especially those Haswell 4th gen. Celerons in those Chromeboxes).

It’s no wonder the games won’t start. The CPU doesn’t have the power to start them, at all. Think overhead, space constraints, processing costs and everything else. Even though Lakka is designed to be minimal in just about every aspect (one of its many strengths), Atom processors usually suck at emulation. Even with graphics card support.

#5

"I’m literally 7 times more powerful just based on the CPU throughput alone. "

You should re-read through my posts. I do not have an Atom, my STR is 800 (you cannot possibly have one 7x that), and I have no issue getting 60 FPS on Dreamcast.

"The CPU doesn’t have the power to start them"

Any computer can emulate any other computer. The power requirements of either computer does not matter at all. The host computer does not need to have a certain level of performance, in fact (although its counter intuitive) the host computer can be hundreds of times slower than the computer its trying to emulate You could emulate the PS2 on the PS1 if you were so inclined. .

All this is to say that even the weakest computer, as long as the video drivers support the hardware calls that the emulators make (this is generally in the form of “Requires OpenGL version X.X support”) should be able to run any game that any other computer can run. (Of course, performance is going to be terrible on slower computers, but it should still run them)

#6

Ah, I cross-read another PC with yours. My mistake about the Intel Atom reference in Lakka 2.0. I can always cop to an honest mistake.

Shoot a log out of the machine and post it. We’ll see if it’s a bug or something.

#7

I am going to try and install both Windows and (a normal) Linux distribution with the standalone versions of the emulators on this device first and see if my compatibly is more in line with what I expect from my desktop usage. If for some reason they fail to run the same games (that work on my Desktop), then I know that there is a fundamental incompatibility with hardware features (most notably would be some special OpenGL extension that may or may not be implemented on the drivers for the graphics chip). I want to eliminate the hardware as an issue before I start digging into the logs on Lakka.

#8

For Dolphin, at least, they have a ton of per-game “settings” (I don’t think they like to call them “hacks”) in ini files that greatly improve its compatibility. I’m not sure of the status of those settings in our core, but I recall Twinaphex attempting to bake them into the program. I don’t know how successful that endeavor was.