Run Philips CD-i games in Retroarch (mame_libretro) via RocketLauncher

General Guides
#12

@aorin1, How is it going? I have set up the philips CD-i since you posted this tutorial, I couple of games at that time and I quit until the logo screen. I said to myself, “I would try this philips cd-i system pretty soon”, well, that time was now lol… quite a long time lol.

I was trying some games and first thing I noticed is the mouse seems like jiggering and not responsive on the philips cd-i menu… where you have to press play to run the game after the light blue screen. Then I switch to MAME to check and the mouse works pretty well and the rest of the games too. Is there a configuration I would need to change on RA? However, MAME seems to be doing ok with the emulation.

Another issue I have found, is with the two games of Mad Dog McCree. After the light blue screen, I press play with the mouse and then I get a message saying: SORRY To play this disc your cd-i player must be equipped withg a CD-i Digital Video Cartridge

Honestly, I don’t what it is, since it is an in-game message. Or I am not sure if it is wearer MAME or RA.

Have you seen some of this issues? Regards

#13

Hey, the mouse thing seems to be connected with the cursor sensibility and I think you can lower it in MAME tab menu. Digital Video Cartridge games can’t be emulated in MAME AFAIK.

#14

Thanks, I will go back and adjust that. So I better use retroarch for the ma dog mccree games.

Thanks again for clarifying this

#15

Hey folks, Has anyone managed to get this working on a retro pie yet? I have tried so many configurations but none will work. Also how do you get chd files? I have bin and cue and also cdi files but can’t see chd. No asking for a link but a Google throws up nothing either do I have to convert them myself? I have managed to get the bin and cue working for messui under Windows. But the retro pie would be awesome!

Many thanks M

#16

I’m having issues with the Philips CD-i and getting it working on the GPD XD Plus (Android 7)

Following along with the advice here, I have converted a number of CD-i ROMS from .cue/ .bin to .chd. I have found the BIOS and placed it with my ROMS.

However, looking at the guide, it says to open up RetroArch and make changes to the following settings:

Enable Softlist (OFF) Media Type (cdrm) Boot from CLI (ON)

But, as I am using RetroRach on Android, I can not find these settings to change. Am I missing something?

There is someone on Youtube who has apparently got it working through RetroArch on their Galaxy S8+ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxsopNctAYg) and said they would write a guide, but as yet, has not posted one.

Does anyone have any advice regarding getting CD-i working through RetroArch on Android, or can you think of another way to get it working?

#17

Sounds like you need to 1st open anyother mame game with the core. Standard arcade game or something

Go into Quick Menu=>Options and set the ones required. Then save the game option file (otherwise this will be set for ALL games you load with mame core)

Go find the created .opt file RetroArch=>config=>MAME and rename it to the cdi game name listed in the .xml file for CDi in mama hash folder. (You should have that in your system folder for this all to work iirc)

Examples Screenshot_20180501-192044

Screenshot_20180501-192035

Screenshot_20180501-192111

#18

Fyi you would rename frogger.opt to “nameodcdigame”.opt

#19

Thank you for the advice and walk through. Really appreciate it. When I can, I’ll test this out and see if I can get it working. Cheers.

1 Like
#20

Thank you again for your help and pictorial guide.

I followed your instructions and was able to get an .opt file to be generated for a game running in MAME. I edited the file name to the same as the CD-I game I want to use, and made the changes to the file as shown above (I changed "media_type = “cdrm” and also changed “softlists_enabled” to “disabled” and “Boot from CLI” to “enabled” (as detailed at the top of this thread) ) but I still get RetroArch crashing when trying to launch the game.

I paced the BIOS in the same folder as my ROMs, but also put a copy in the “system” folder of RetroArch as that’s where I have my other BIOS files that RetroArch uses. I will check the BIOS I’m using and maybe try another Core.

Any further advice would be most helpful.

#21

Do you have anyother consoles seyup with mame?

Theres some other steps needed…

Follow this guide and apply it to CD-i for file/bios names.

Boot to bios should be off and software lists enabled. The original guide is for windows using an external launcher…android is different

#22

Any news on launching directly from RetroArch?

#23

Should be exactly the same as neogeo cd…just changing up the bios names and such

#24

This is my setup:

Untitled-4%20copy
Untitled-4 copy.png641×512 39.1 KB

  • cdi220b.rom CRC: 279683CA
  • cdi200.rom CRC: 40C4E6B9
  • cdi220.rom CRC: 584C0AF8

Untitled-4%20copy
Untitled-4 copy.png641×512 26.5 KB

MAME settings:

  • mame_alternate_renderer = “disabled”
  • mame_altres = “640x480”
  • mame_auto_save = “disabled”
  • mame_boot_from_cli = “disabled”
  • mame_boot_to_bios = “disabled”
  • mame_boot_to_osd = “disabled”
  • mame_buttons_profiles = “enabled”
  • mame_cheats_enable = “disabled”
  • mame_media_type = “rom”
  • mame_mouse_enable = “disabled”
  • mame_read_config = “disabled”
  • mame_saves = “game”
  • mame_softlists_auto_media = “enabled”
  • mame_softlists_enable = “enabled”
  • mame_throttle = “disabled”
  • mame_write_config = “disabled”

Without success. RetroArch just closes after launching the dummy.zip

#25

Try changing the media type to CD-ROM

What format are the cd-I games anyway? Could be worth a chd conversion but I have no clue.

I do know a guy that has this working on many games so it is def possible

#26

Changeing mame_media_type = “rom” to mame_media_type = “cdrm” did not help.

Games are in chd format.

#27

In another thread @zachmorris helps me to load and run properly CD-i games in Retroarch, take a look:

Has anyone managed to run CHD Philips CD-i game under windows?

1 Like
#28

Ahhh so the games needed to be placed inside /cdimono1/ folder.

#29

So quick question, HOW do I get CDI games in this CHD format? I have been trying to run Mutant Rampage Bodyslam for ages, and I have it in both CDI and ISO formats, but never seen it in this CHD… how to get it?

#30

You can easily make the CHD with use of the chdman utility that comes bundled with the MAME Official emulator download. Have a quick search for chd conversion for all systems and you should find a recent ish thread with all the details for making chd images.

#33

I reported it in another thread but I see you managed to run the only CD-I game I’m unable to boot: The Apprentice.

How the hell did you manage to boot it ? Every other games work fine for me, but for some reason I just can’t start this one, I tried with MAME and MAME 2016, same result, can you confirm me you’re still able to boot this game with the latest MAME core update ?

I’ve been struggling for two hours, trying to check the dummy file names, the .xml listing, the .chd, I’ve got the exact same file as you, same configuration and same core options, it crashes Retroarch directly, I’m so lost and I hope you’re still around 'cause I can’t figure why this single game gives me so much trouble.

EDIT: Okay, after A LOT of trial and errors, I managed to get it to work. It works both on MAME 2016, and MAME cores, but apparently better to use MAME. Didn’t try MESS core 'cause I don’t use it at all.

Core options - All settings to NO Media Type = CDRM.

Start the game using the “.chd” file, no need for dummy file. I tried every other option, it doesn’t work except with these settings.

MAME 2016 - Game plays without problems, except minor visual glitches, but for some reason there’s no sound except, option is listed as N/A in menu and I can’t change the setting.

MAME - Game plays without problems, except minor visual glitches, and the sound is working for this version, I can change the sound effects to YES / NO in menu. Only problem I encountered, cinematic musics keeps playing sometimes when you enter the game, so let the cinematic plays to the end to avoid a music conflict between the one from the main level and the cinematic one.

It was such a pain in the ass to get this one working but I’m glad I managed to do it, the game looks pretty fun and definitely far above the usual CD-I standard. Would have been a pretty neat SNES game, too bad it never was ported on any other console.

1 Like