Neko Project II kai (PC-9801) core (different nekop2, meowPC98)

So I just tried launching a cmd file within LaunchBox and also directly with Retroarch. Unfortunately it didn’t work. The core launches, but I’m stuck with a black screen.

The cmd file contains: np2kai “Alone in the Dark 2 (Japan).cue”

it’s located in the same directory as the .cue and .bin files.

Any suggestions?

Sorry, at that point I’d try running the .bin instead if you haven’t already. You’re certain the game doesn’t require an .hdi or similar?

Yes I already tried running the .bin file (Alonie in the Dark has 80 bin files, so I’m not even sure which one to run, but I also tried DOOM which has only one bin file).

No I’m not surre if I require a .hdi file. All I have is a few CD based games in cue/bin format. I don’t have any .hdi files.

I also tried running the core and open the cue/bin files from the core’s own internal GUI. But that didn’t work either.

I couldn’t find the source code of NPTH but could find some hints

-> As far as I understand it, the NP2 source code NPTH is compiled from was changed in a way that every time the emulator uses some basic PC98 routine for text output it will call the WinAPi strlen function with the string which shall be outputted which can then be hooked by every text hooker tool. http://fullmotionvideo.free.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1556&hilit=npth

-> NPTH takes the output string and uses it with the lstrlenA-function https://vndb.org/t5395.415

but NPTH is too old version. I would appreciate it if you could porting it according to the latest version of the NP2kai .I want to enjoy translating pc98 games Thank you

Could you make it possible for text hooking like NPTH?

http://fullmotionvideo.free.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1498&hilit=npth https://www.acgwolf.com/viewthread.php?tid=50043 NPTH`s information are here.

Did you try NP2’s menu(not RetroArch’s) -> ‘Option’ -> ‘Fontrom hook’?
Then text will output to ‘hook_fontrom.txt’ file in BIOS directory.
(It often miss to text taking. Incompletely. Recommend retake to good.)

Text output function is only to file now. But it make to some streams, it’s funny.

I didn’t know about NPTH! Thanks.

With Ref to issue #136. Some old games are showing graphical distortions, they show multiple images superimposed on each other. By changing “DIPswtch = 3e f3 7b” to “DIPswtch = 3e 73 7b” in np2kai.cfg games which had distorted images work correctly BUT many other games (mostly old) then start showing graphical distortions (e.g. Xevious).

Is it possible to make botth sets of game work at same time? Or create an option in Retroarch NP2Kai menu where we could select one dipswitch and save it for specifc games?

Ok, so worked on the priblem a little bit more and its definately due to GDC. Some games work well with GDC set to 5.0 MHz others with GDC set to 2.5 MHz. So one set will break whenever GDC is modified. It would be really helpful if we could get another GDC option in np2kai Retroarch options menu which allows to set GDC to either 2.5 MHz or 5.0 MHz. Creating a "game override: would allow both sets of games to work.

What are the debugger/reverse engineering options for PC-98 using Neko Project II kai?

I’d like to extract 3D course data from T&E SOFT golf games. It seems to be compressed on disk. Example file: https://file.io/ZGtQyFWBUVv6 (16 KB)

This is hole 1 from Eight Lakes GC:

Is it possible to create some sort of ahk or command to insert a floppy after a set amount of time. For example, some games don’t allowPC98 to boot if the floppy is inserted. Instead, you need to boot to DOS from the hard disk and THEN insert the floppy disk. The problem is, I want to streamline the experience and avoid having to require knowing the name of the rom and scrolling through the directory to find it when inserting the disk.

I wholeheartedly support this need!

How can I load .zip games formatted as .ccd, .img, and .sub file?

Those are not supported extensions for this core even unzipped so I’m not sure why you expect them to load.

If you are asking about another core I’m fairly certain the answer is the same.

I see. Do you know which format I should convert these to in order to use them on this core?

edit: a lot of PC-98 CD games are distributed in this format by the way.

I don’t think CD emulation is supported by the core, or any PC-98 emulator, though I would be glad to be proven wrong. The PC-88 also supported CDs but only one emulator supports them. (Not the Quasi88 in RA.)

For the PC-98 it will have to be floppy or HDD images.

You can see a list of supported file extensions by loading the core and going to the information setting, or loading the core *.info in a text editor.

It is not unusual, for preservation and future proofing, for unsupported dumps to be released into the wild.

Thu Apr 7 01:56:11 -04 20221920×1080 79.8 KB

Would it be possible to make the Open… directory always be the folder from which the game was opened instead of system/np2kai?

CD is supported through .cmd file. cue+bin and ccd+img+sub both work fine in my test. I posted a demo of this core running Policenauts on reddit recently: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/tkr8by/policenauts_1994_pc9821_retroarch_with_neko/

One version requires loading floppy, harddisk image, and CD at the same time during boot-up because some game files are installed to harddrive. Another version only needs floppy with CD because MS-DOS and game files (not the entire game, only some essential stuff) are both on floppy.

np2fmgen (http://nenecchi.kirara.st/) also supports CD (I use “np21nt.exe” inside for Policenauts). It uses “Harddisk > IDE #2” to mount CD images, which is a bit confusing.

The only way I know is to use a .m3u file and load this .m3u inside .cmd text file like this -

np2kai game.m3u

In RetroArch, you can start .cmd with NP2Kai core. Once in the game, the “Open…” dialog box will immediately open the directory where .m3u is located.

In fact, you can even manually add “m3u” to np2kai_libretro.info as supported format and load .m3u directly through RetroArch’s UI (so there’s no more need for .cmd). It seems to work fine for multi-floppy games even though not officially supported. I was able to swap disks in FDD2 using “Quick Menu > Disc Control”.

Interesting. Glad to be proven wrong. I guess any file can be passed the the core on the command line independent of the extensions in the *.info.

@2V3EvG4LMJFdRe Given this information, the syntax (Or similar) that you need for the zip can be found in this thread.

https://forums.libretro.com/t/load-files-from-archive-subdirectory-mean-multiple-files-in-a-file/36463/2

It;s possible that editing the *.info and adding ccd as an extension may be enough.

Is it possible to use Sound Canvas VA with Neko Project II kai core?

I have setup RetroArch MIDI output to Sound Canvas VA in retroarch which is working with DOSBox Prue with Frontend MIDI driver setting within the core settings. However, I couldn’t find similar setting in Neko Project II kai core and same with Neko Project II core and was wondering if it’s even possible to make it work on the RetroArch core?

I know there was an update that brought Sound Canvas support to the standalone Neko Project II emulator but not sure if it’s also available with the core. But if it’s there please enlighten me.