- FB Alpha RL (Retro Loader)
[by @CaptainCPS-X, 2013]- FB Alpha Retro Loader Core: v1.03
- RetroArch Core: v0.9.9.6
- FB Alpha Core: v0.2.97.30
FB Alpha is an arcade emulator supporting the following platforms;- Capcom CPS-1
- Capcom CPS-2
- Capcom CPS-3
- Cave
- Data East DEC-0, DEC-8 and DECO IC16 based games
- Galaxian based hardware
- Irem M62, M63, M72, M90 and M92 hardware
- Kaneko 16
- Konami
- Neo-Geo
- Pacman based hardware
- PGM
- Psikyo 68EC020 and SH-2 based hardware
- Sega System 1, System 16 (and similar), System 18, X-Board and Y-Board
- Toaplan 1
- Toaplan 2
- Taito F2, X, Z and others
- Miscellaneous drivers for lots of other hardware
FB Alpha also has a WIP console drivers for Sega Megadrive/Genesis and also PC-Engine/TurboGrafx 16/SuperGrafx.
FB Alpha (for Windows), can currently be obtained from http://www.barryharris.me.uk.
What is FB Alpha Retro Loader ?- FB Alpha RL is a PS3 homebrew application coded from scratch, and not based in any other public source code by other developers. It is a result of many hours of dedication and research.
- It is in no way a dirty hack of RetroArch or something similar. By the contrary, FB Alpha RL serves as a independent frontend to RetroArch and provides features not incorporated in it.
- I did had to make a modified RetroArch core to be included along my application, so it could process the arguments or new commands that FB Alpha RL will be sending to it.
Objective of FB Alpha RL (Retro Loader):- As a dev from the official FB Alpha Team, FB Alpha RL was made with a objective in mind, to keep the original experience from the official FB Alpha (for Windows OS) on the PS3 system. Please, read the technical info (tab) for more details.
- FB Alpha Retro Loader Core: v1.03
Technical Info:- Signed for CFW 3.4X / 4.XX (should work for everyone).
- Tested @ 1080p / 720p / 480p resolutions via HDMI.
- FB Alpha RL uses a custom 'burn_drivers.cpp' file that was generated by modifying the official windows version of FB Alpha with a routine to generate such file on launch.
- The file have a big structure with all the information for all supported drivers in FB Alpha v0.2.97.30.
- Information such as:
Future release will have a custom generated file with all the ROM information as well, so the application will be able to verify every romset with precise CRC32 checks (as in the official FB Alpha for Windows).- Romset Name (Ex. kof2002)
- Parent ROM (Ex. sf2)
- Year
- Manufacturer (Ex. Capcom)
- System (Ex. Neo Geo)
- Max players
- Game Screen Resolution
- Game Screen Aspect Ratio
NOTE: You don't need the official RetroArch installed, this already has my own modified build incorporated into FB Alpha RL installation directory. So you can safely install the official RetroArch and it won't interfere.
Usage (Game List Specific):- Use / to navigate Game List.
- Use Left Analog / to navigate Game List.
- Press / to toggle game system filter.
- Press / for quick Game List navigation.
- Press to view ZIP information.
- Press to view ROM Information.
- Press to Load the selected Game.
- Press to return to Main Menu.
- Press to Rescan ROM(s).
Main Features:- Neo-Geo UNI-BIOS support (must be present in neogeo.zip)
- FTP support
- ROMs paths directory browser.
- Input Preset CFG file browser.
- Game List cache feature.
- Missing games listing.
- Alternate key combo to access RetroArch core menu.
- 1080p / 720p / 480p display modes supported.
- Game Preview display feature (hover a game to see its preview).
- Game System Filtering for easier game selection.
- Custom Game System Filtering available in the options menu.
- Auto configure screen Aspect Ratio on game load.
- Quick ROM(s) scanning / re-scanning in extensive path locations.
- Romset validation against FB Alpha v0.2.97.28 drivers library.
- Checking for duplicate ROM(s).
- Detailed info about listed ROM(s).
- ZIP Content Information display.
- Full game name display for easier navigation.
- Game Information (Year, Company, etc...).
- Direct loading of ROM(s).
- Support for Screenshots (press (PS) and look in XMB photo column).
- GUI based on OpenGL / PSGL textures (Thanks to Squarepusher / Twinaphex for the tips).
- more...(read the change logs for more features)
- Custom Themes
- Display Extended ROM information by pressing (/).
- MAME history DAT parsing support.
- Title / Flyers image display feature.
Changelog:
1.03 (September 22, 2013)- Signed for CFW 3.4X / 4.XX and tested on
- Rebug 4.46 REX / CEX
- MiraLaTijera 4.40 (3.2.0)
- Added version and IP address display on the Main Menu.
- Whole new theme for this release of FB Alpha.
- Added Iris Manager (official) to the Main Menu load options.
- Added proper 'Preview' image aspect ratio calculation.
- Incorporated RetroArch and FBA libretro source code into FB Alpha RL Git, and with just one makefile everything is built.
To clean (all cores):- Ported my custom mods to the latest RetroArch Core v0.9.9.6.
- (O) is the new 'Game List' button to return to 'Main Menu'.
- Added shadow effect to all rendered text, in preparation for future 'Custom Theme' feature.
- Fixed a problem with CPS-3 External / Stereo sound on libretro, now it sounds great
- [src] Source code has been greatly re-organized.
- [src] 'miniz.cpp' ZIP library is used the 'proper' way, so now I can use its modules everywhere I need.
- [src] 'burn_drivers.h' was renamed as 'burn_drivers.cpp' and is now compiled, allowing access to its data everywhere I need.
- Added support for Neo-Geo UNI-BIOS (need to be present in neogeo.zip).
- Added check for file existence on game selection, if the game listed is not found for some reason, like for example, if you disconnected the USB with the games, it will prompt you with a message to re-scan. The system will not lock / freeze anymore.
- Added check for fb_alpha.SELF core existence on game selection, if for some reason you don't have it or can't access, the application will let you know and prompt you to re-install it.
- Fixed libretro core default inputs for Neo-Geo and Capcom fighting games, now they are correctly assigned.
- Fixed the Save Custom Inputs feature on RetroArch core, now it will not include the annoying 'example' text, it will use the currently loaded name, so you can save quickly and continue playing.
- Added FTP support.
- Using latest FB Alpha v0.2.97.30 source, adapted to compile as libretro (romset is synched with MAME v149).
- Doesn't include all 'optimizations' from recent libretro Git, since some of them cause some problems with a few games.
- Updated with latest FBA Libretro Core (v0.2.97.28), it should improve compatibility and emulation performance. If you had a game that presented emulation problems, try it now, it might be fixed on this release.
- Added option to Enable / Disable display if missing games.
- Fixed USB Storage Device scanning, now they will be displayed correctly on the Directory / CFG file browser.
- Fixed issue with ROMs rescan, now it will work fine by pressing START button on the Game List.
- Added information text display for selected options.
- Added ROMs path directory browser.
- Added Input Preset CFG file browser.
- Added confirmation dialog when exiting FB Alpha RL.
- Added feature to display Missing Games.
- Added Game List Cache feature to avoid having to rescan ROMs every time FB Alpha RL is launched.
- Added option to use alternate key combo to access RetroArch core menu, Main Menu(SELECT + TRIANGLE) and In-Game Menu (SELECT + SQUARE).
- Updated + Modded latest RetroArch commits (Feb 10, 2013)
- Updated fba-libretro core with latest commits (Feb 10, 2013)
- Added Custom System Filter (go to options and select the systems to filter in that category).
- Added support for 1080p / 720p / 480p display modes (all tested).
- Added Game Preview display feature (hover a game to see its preview).
- Included most game previews with package (thanks to Sturn and JacKc @ NeoSource forums)
- Added new Options Menu.
- Added module to save / read settings to 'FBA_RL.ini'.
- Added Option to configure 12 custom directories to scan for ROMs, you decide where you want FB Alpha RL to look for ROMs .
- Added Option to set / change Input presets for all systems, you just need to do this once.
- Added Option to Automatically Create basic Input preset configurations for all supported systems.
- Added Option to enable / disable Auto Aspect Ratio selection on game launch.
- Added Game System Filter (Press L1 / R1 to toggle game system filters).
- Added ROM(s) re-scanning module (Press [START] to re-scan ROM(s)).
- Rewrote FB Alpha RL to make better use of PSGL, now it supports a better GUI based on texture rendering (Thanks to Squarepusher/Twinaphex for the tips).
- FB Alpha RL will check for important directories needed by RetroArch on launch, and will create them as needed. If you have the official RetroArch installed and it have missing directories as well for some reason, they will be created to make sure everything work fine.
- Incremented number of displayed games.
- Added quick list navigation by pressing L2 / R2.
- Added Analog Stick support to navigate lists.
- Added Main menu with various useful items.
- Added ZIP Info feature (press [ ] to view ZIP info).
- Updated FB Alpha (libretro) core.
- (FBA core) Fixed graphic problems in CPS-1 driver.
- (FBA core) Fixed Diagnostic Menu Lock-up in some games.
- Added Screenshot feature (press (PS) and look in Photo XMB column).
- Improved application core overall and fixed some bugs.
- FB Alpha RL will not process WIP drivers from now on until compatibility is better(Megadrive, PCE, SNES).
- Initial Release
- Signed for CFW 3.4X / 4.XX and tested on
Thanks to:- My buddies Treble Winner (Barry) / Kev / IQ_132 from the original FB Alpha Team <3.
- Thanks to Sturn and JacKc for the preview images @ NeoSource (http://neosource.1emu.net/)
- PS3 Scene websites (in no order) such as: PS3HAX / PSX-Scene / PS3Crunch / Etc, for you support
- TheMaister / Twinaphex / Squarepusher / Company - Libretro/RetroArch is just amazing.
- pete_uk - for your unofficial RetroArch builds.
- STLcardsWS - for your support
- aldostools - your ps3tools for windows are the best =)
- deank - multiMAN helped me research / debug my application
- fail0verfl0w, GeoHot, etc - for all you have done for the PS3 scene
- Annonymous - for releasing Sony SDKs
Thanks to anyone else I forgot that in some way contributed to the PS3 scene and as a result I was able to do this homebrew application.
Fba Rom Set
Fba Rom Set Download
Neo Geo Rom Set
Find a Neo-Geo romset (don't use the MAME one, use 0.2.97.39 FBA thank you ). Find the Neo Geo bios (neogeo.zip file, should be in the romset), put it in the neogeo rom folder. Copy your Neo-Geo roms over to the neogeo folder and reboot like before to see them. In that scenario, FBA 0.2.97.30 will warn that the CRC doesn't match the expected value, the user must then dismiss this warning, and the (modified) game will start. The emulator doesn't need any understanding of mslug2t, it's just FBA's willingness to launch ROMs with non-matching CRCs which RetroArch's FBA Neo Geo core seems to be lacking. Put the new renamed asia-s3.rom into neogeo.zip, replace it with the old one. Now upload the new neogeo.zip back to the Recalbox share folders, on both bios and finalburnalpha How to install it on Fbalibretro: Launch a game and enter in the retroarch menu ( Hotkey + B ) Go to Quick Menu Options and set: Neo geo mode unibios Usage: For Pifba. Arcade ROM paths. Five of the available arcade ROM paths in RetroPie are shared directories which are used by more than one emulator: arcade, mame-libretro, mame-advmame, fba, and neogeo. In order to successfully load zipped ROM sets in these locations you must specify the arcade emulator version which matches your ROMs. Neo Geo Rom Set Download; The Neo Geo is a cartridge-based arcade system board and home video game console released by SNK in 1990. See also: FinalBurn Alpha, MAME. There are a variety of arcade emulators available in RetroPie which can emulate Neo Geo games. There are significant differences in performance, compatibility, and configuration.