Goosestation v0.2

[hueponik]

Hi all. I’ve added instructions on how to package your own Goosestation v0.2:

https://codeberg.org/hueponik/goosestation-builder/src/tag/v0.2

• Added macOS build support
• Added Nintendo Switch build support (.nro). Native Deko3D driver for retroarch included!
• Fixed Vulkan on Windows (static lib linking)
• Updated upstream base to 54feef27d

There’s more to it, but I’m bad with changelogs.

No videoguides still, sorry. No dolphin style reports either.

Install docker, get the source (git or download from codeberg)

On windows - run:

docker build -f Dockerfile.windows -t goosestation-builder-windows . docker run --rm -v “$PWD/dist:/work/dist:Z” goosestation-builder-windows windows

On linux:

docker build -f Dockerfile.linux -t goosestation-builder-linux . docker run --rm -v “$PWD/dist:/work/dist:Z” goosestation-builder-linux linux

Or, if you’re using the best distros:

https://codeberg.org/hueponik/goosestation-overlay

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/goosestation-libretro

On mac:

make macos

And look for core files in dist folder.

Android users can build right on their phones with termux. Run these commands:

termux-setup-storage pkg install -y git git clone https://codeberg.org/hueponik/goosestation-builder.git cd goosestation-builder git checkout v0.2 ./build-in-android.sh

The core will be in your Download folder

Okay, hopefully I didn’t break anything. Let me know how it goes on your machine. Have fun!

Let’s also all pray for this post not be closed “for good people”

[petran791]

It compiles fine with first command, but with second command I get this message

docker run --rm -v “$PWD/dist:/work/dist:Z” goosestation-builder-windows windows

What’s next: *** Debug this container error with Gordon → docker ai “help me fix this container error”*** docker: Error response from daemon: create $PWD/dist: “$PWD/dist” includes invalid characters for a local volume name, only “[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]” are allowed. If you intended to pass a host directory, use absolute path

Run ‘docker run --help’ for more information

I use Win11 and WSL2.

[hueponik]

Must be a windows thing. Try using powershell? Or replace $PWD with current folder full path

[hueponik]

Could also be the quotes, probably autoformatted i

[hueponik]

Rebased to latest rolling release.

Fixed Vulkan res scaling and hopefully, windows crash

https://codeberg.org/hueponik/goosestation-builder/src/tag/v0.3

[DemitryCzarevich]

Many thanks to @hueponik for continuing to develop the Goosestation project!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get Vulkan working on Windows.

I built the core twice using the new script—the first time on a VirtualBox virtual machine running Ubuntu Server 26.04 (all necessary packages and libraries were fetched and installed from the Dockerfile.windows file and adapted to the actual package names for Ubuntu), the second time I built the core on Windows 11 Pro (with the latest updates installed) with Docker installed (version 4.73.0).

In both cases, the core only works with Software and OpenGL renders. When selecting the Vulkan renderer in the core settings, RetroArch freezes completely and can only be closed via the Task Manager. When using the OpenGL renderer in the core settings, the same issues remain as in version 0.1

A small note for those using Docker on Windows: this will help avoid errors in the early stages—when cloning the goosestation-builder repository via Git, the line endings are converted from the Unix LF format to the Windows CRLF format, which causes errors when running the build-mingw-deps.sh and goosify.sh scripts. To prevent this, following ChatGPT’s advice, run the command git config --global core.autocrlf input before cloning; this prevents the line endings from being replaced. And the second issue: you need to run the commands one at a time, making sure to wait for the previous one to finish.
Here is the correct sequence of commands:

git config --global core.autocrlf input
git clone https://codeberg.org/hueponik/goosestation-builder.git
cd goosestation-builder
docker build -f Dockerfile.windows -t goosestation-builder-windows .
docker run --rm -v "$PWD/dist:/work/dist:Z" goosestation-builder-windows windows

The period at the end of step 4 is also important—it specifies the build context (the current folder).
Please note the quotation marks in step 5—they should be regular quotation marks (" "), not typographic ones (“ ”)—this can happen when copying from a forum page, so just double-check.

[DemitryCzarevich]

Version 0.3 was released while I was writing this report

I went to test the new version

[DemitryCzarevich]

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out

I tested it again on Ubuntu Server 26.04—the problems started right from the beginning.
In the new version, after running make windows, I get this error:

==> Extracting upstream from cached tarball...
tar (child): /home/demitry/goosestation-builder/.cache/duckstation-3a10c16b10d3dd23155ccd83a3af97c421d3cab1.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
make: *** [Makefile:85: /home/demitry/goosestation-builder/src/duckstation-3a10c16b10d3dd23155ccd83a3af97c421d3cab1/.goosified] Error 2

It seems the script can’t download the source tarball (I checked the .cache folder at that point—it was empty), so it can’t unpack it into the src/ folder

But I downloaded the tarball manually, named it correctly, placed it in the .cache folder manually as well, and then the script started working normally and the build completed successfully. But as I wrote at the very beginning—Vulkan still didn’t work on Windows—it still freezes and crashes.

[DemitryCzarevich]

Can you write a better core? Or fix this one so it stops being crap? No?

[petran791]

Allright, managed to compile it in Powershell, as this issue was only present in cmd

Vulkan runs this time. However there is an issue with Shader presets. They only run in OpenGL renderer

If I pick Software renderer, I get a black screen but controls and sound work fine. If I pick Vulkan and try to enable shader packs, I get this error

[hunterk]

Not sure what went on with that guy, but I’ve cleaned up the thread and given him a timeout.

Just a reminder that no one can legally distribute compiled goosestation binaries due to Duckstation’s no-derivatives license, so if someone asks for one, please do not provide it, as that would be a license violation / piracy, which is against the forum rules.

[hueponik]

Sheesh, I managed to break few things. Can’t test them all, that’s why your reports are useful, so thanks! I’ll grab my duct tape and nylon ties and get to the fixing. Stay tuned

[hueponik]

Interesting, I can’t reproduce. Make sure you select clang shaders. Btw which one did you try that caused your crash? I tried few crt, anaglyph3d etc, all worked. I’m using Nvidia 3080ti

Software renderer just works for me with both vulkan and opengl RA drivers

[petran791]

I did. Basically any slang shader ends up crashing the core. Whether simple shader presets or more complex ones. Eg the Retro Crisis one.

I use Vulkan RA output with Vulkan Goosestation output. Opengl Goosestation output loads the shaders as intended.

Software Goosestation renderer shows a black screen where game sound and controls work, yet Retroarch UI is completely black and I have to force exit.

While Vulkan Goosestation shows the above box. It shows first the Shader load bar that freezes at 17/17. Then if I press F1, the error box appears and Retroarch exits.

My Gpu is a rtx 5060 ti oc 16 GB with Windows 11 and 596 drivers. Retroarch is a few days old nightly version but it happened with 1.22 too.

[DaveTheMan1985]

is there a Video Showing what to do?

[DaveTheMan1985]

I get this Error:

D:\Programs\PortableGit>docker build -t goosestation-builder . [+] Building 0.1s (1/1) FINISHED docker:desktop-linux => [internal] load build definition from Dockerfile 0.0s => => transferring dockerfile: 2B 0.0s ERROR: failed to build: failed to solve: failed to read dockerfile: open Dockerfile: no such file or directory

View build details: docker-desktop://dashboard/build/desktop-linux/desktop-linux/ytshhxyeu7q1uuw51s54s302w

What’s next: Debug this build failure with Gordon → docker ai “help me fix this build failure”

When Building Docker Image

What have I done Wrong and how to fix it?

[DemitryCzarevich]

Thanks to @petran791 for the tip about disabling shaders when using Vulkan; I was able to test the Goosestation v0.3 core for visual differences when using OpenGL rendering. And, to be honest, I’m a little disappointed — Vulkan turned out to have the exact same issues with gradient lighting as OpenGL, but at least Vulkan doesn’t have those glitches where part of the image disappears across half the screen, or the flickering of 3D models.

I’ve done some testing, and I’d like to show you what I’m talking about with some screenshots. For the lighting test, I used the game “Roswell Conspiracies – Aliens, Myths, Legends”; there are a few spots right at the beginning that demonstrate this well. One more thing—this game doesn’t play music in levels on the Beetle PSX HW and SwanStation cores. It’s an old bug, and there are open tickets for it on GitHub, but the issue still hasn’t been resolved. Goosestation plays music in levels, so that’s a plus for it.

So, here are four screenshots taken on the Goosestation core with shaders disabled and the Vulkan renderer; all other core settings are at their defaults.

Can you see the characteristic jagged gradients in the lit areas?

Here are the same 4 screenshots on the Beetle PSX HW core:

Can you see the difference in lighting? The transitions are much smoother, and there are no sharp edges.

And finally, here are the same 4 screenshots using the SwanStation core:

The image quality is very similar to that of the Beetle PSX HW.

We also have the PCSX ReARMed core, which, by the way, also plays music during levels, but it has very limited graphics enhancement settings, so I hardly ever use it.

[DemitryCzarevich]

It looks like you have a problem right here:
D:\Programs\PortableGit>docker build -t goosestation-builder .
You’re currently in the D:\Programs\PortableGit folder, but you need to be in the goosestation-builder folder; that’s why Docker is complaining that it can’t find the file or folder.

[Telmo]

Is there any alternative to Docker? It’s a pain to install in Windows, I got all kinds of errors now and it does not recognize that virtualization is active.

[DemitryCzarevich]

Install VirtualBox and set up Linux on it. Docker wouldn’t install on my Windows 10, so I had to create a virtual machine with Ubuntu.