Official release thread for WindowCast core

Libretro Cores
#289

try adding following at the end

–rom “PathToRom\ROM.BIN”

an example

“PathToEmulator\wincast.exe” --emulator “PathToEmulator\Emu.exe” --retroarch “PathToRetroarch\retroarch.exe” --rom “PathToRom\ROM.BIN”

atm i don´t have any standalone emu installed

i have this info from the readme


if you look under pegasus frontend

it shows

launch: …\Emulators\RetroArch\wincast.exe --emulator “…\Emulators\PCSX2\pcsx2-qtx64-avx2.exe” --retroarch “…\Emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.exe” --rom “{file.path}”

(my version is just the blank command/argument and does not define a rom)

1 Like
#290

unfortunately the target field in the shortcut runs out of room and I’m not able to add the rom path

#291

hmmm

easy option …you can shorten the file/folder names :sweat_smile:

another way is maybe

run the Argument as a batch file/command if you run it as a batch file launchbox will handle it the same i guess

Just copy the full argument (the target field) into a new txt file and rename/save this txt file as

EXAMPLE.bat

copy it into the emulator folder (where the .exe is)

1 Like
#292

i tested the batch file on it’s own and it starts a game but retroarch doesn’t start. I’m not going to do this for every single game i have that I want to run with windowcast. I have hundreds of games. I think launchbox and retroarch should just impliment this automatically per system not per game

#293

i wish i could help you with that … i mostly use lauchbox as a fancy ui for retroarch without any standalone emulators :sweat_smile:

1 Like
#294

I keep hoping that windowcast will be updated so that it is a bit easier to set up.

3 Likes
#295

its kinda simple with the wrapper

i have no problem besides a way to hide the window popups (that will most likley stay) and that the capturing misses the intro/first feew moments of the game those are only problems for fancy/recording reasons anyways

otherwise it open closes all via controller , no manual keycombo or so needed anymore :smiley:

but yeah i just realized how insane the setup for a standalone emulator with even 50 roms would be if you only wan´t to use it for a few normal games and some special apps the setup isn´t that time consuming

maybe something bulk generating can be done to creat such .bat files / shortcuts

1 Like
#296

I want to use this for xemu, duckstation, pcsx2, and dolphin. All games combined is well over 1000. Having this automated via launchbox and retroarch is the goal.

2 Likes
#297

SwanStation, BeetlePSX, BeetlePSX-HW, LRPS2 and Dolphin cores via RetroArch. That should cut down on your workload significantly, wouldn’t it?

#298

Those cores are broken or don’t work right. The standalone emulators are better.

#299

In what way?

What can they do that the cores can’t?

I’m asking these questions out of genuine curiosity.

Also do you know that WindowCast adds lag? Please correct me if this is no longer the case.

#300

What’s wrong with Beetle PSX… I use it all the time?

1 Like
#301

windowcast doesn’t lag for me. inputs/button response time is fine. the duckstation and pcsx2 cores for retroarch for example don’t work right because many games have errors in emulation, glitchy graphics, broken fmv’s etc. the standalone emulators have pergame settings also. even at 1x resolution and standard native configuration for the cores many games still have problems. emulation is just more evolved for the standalone emulators. the reason for this is because certain emulator devs have abandoned support for retroarch cores.

#302

the windowcast lag is minimal not really noticeable but i guess this may be differ depending on hardware

also duckstation is working great , flawless even the lightgun games

and you would wonder what the dolphin core all handles, if setup right ! (bugs like pixelated videos as example in EA GC games can be avoided by just playing them on another system)

pcsx2 core “the precompiled version” is missing most options but improved a lot with vulkan and "most well known games " are running perfect even without core options

and xemu… i just would need it if the conker remake gets a uncut hack :upside_down_face:

#303

conkers bad fur day works well on the parallel n64 core. N64 emulation needs a massive update to and people are working on it

#304

conker can be played well enough allready on both n64 cores , and i would suggest the full uncensored version (not even voice beeps) ^^

i was talking about using xemu standalone for the remake xbox got …there was an uncensored hack in the works for but i think is canned , also last time i tried it the performance wasn´t that great

#305

I figured it out with an ahk script. woohoo. i need a beer. ok this is what you do if you want to run retroarch and load a partials.txt file pointing to your emulator window when any game launches in launchbox. this is per system platform like ps1, ps2 etc and not for each individual game. First, load launchbox. go to tools, manages emulators and double click the emulator you want to manage. click on running script. In here you’ll enter commands for an ahk script that will run retroarch and load the partials.txt file as content for your selected emulator. It will look like this:

Run, “path to retroarch exe” -L “path to windowcast core” “path to partials.txt”

for me it looks like this as an example:

Run, “F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.exe” -L “F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\cores\wgc_libretro.dll” “F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\system\windowcast\partials-duckstation.txt”

If you save a shader preset per game in this instance it will save a shader preset for that emulator based of your partials.txt The only thing I couldn’t figure out is an ahk script to select what window will be focused on. good thing though is all you have to do for now is click “Ctrl-Alt-T” to switch between retroarch and the emulator window. Also duckstation and pcsx2 have game windows of the names of the game but you can get around this so it will work with any game. For example if your using the current version of standalone duckstation just make sure this is in your partials for that emulator. Qt661QWindowIcon pcsx2 is the same because they are both based on the same Qt gui.

2 Likes
#306

I figured it out. Make sure for your emulator start up load delay is set for 3 seconds in launchbox Then this complete script will launch retroarch with it’s shaders for your emulator that is running a game and bring the retroarch window to the front so you won’t have to hit Ctrl-Alt-T. Just hit play from launchbox and you’re good to go. Just replace the paths to your own paths.

Run, "F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.exe" -L "F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\cores\wgc_libretro.dll" "F:\Game Programs\Emulators\RetroArch\system\windowcast\partials-duckstation.txt" 

Sleep, 3000 

WinActivate, RetroArch
2 Likes
#307

oh yeah WinActivate is a thing too xD

i did it this way

Sleep 2400

Send, ^!t

Sleep 1000

2 Likes
#308

Great! Now all we need is for someone like @p3st or @RetroCrisis to make a video guide, explaining all of this so a 5 year old can understand it, including the details of setting up the partial.txt file.

I think besides continued improvements that’s something that’s sorely needed for this awesome core’s potential to be fully realized!

It adds exactly 1 frame of lag over running the app natively.

The newer version aims to eliminate that.

You’re using outdated and alpha cores in your examples. The SwanStation core has advanced over the old DuckStation core, not to mention the other excellent alternatives for PS1 emulation. Instead of the old alpha PCSX2 Core, we now have the LRPS2 core which is more up to date and works much better. Then someone mentioned a working recent build of the PCSX2 Core that currently lacks core options.

So I’m afraid it seems as if you’re basing at least some of your experience and opinions on outdated information and that’s probably why other users might have experienced differently.

Everyone is free to use these things as they wish though so don’t feel like I’m pressuring you as this is merely a discussion.

In RetroArch you can set per game core options, per game configuration overrides, per game controller remaps as well as per game shader presets.

3 Likes