AMIGA CD32 EMULATION - HOW TO -

[RustyMG]

@Ratte
Hi there!
I can confirm the instructions are perfect and that its adds CD32 functionality to Recalbox within minutes.

All the games I have tested seem to exit back to the menu perfectly. Just a pity this isnt included as part of the "standard" / default Recalbox install!

I am however having problems with a lot of games.
The ones that are "standalone" .iso files load no problem, but ones that have .wav files do not seem to play the audio.

Using [title removed] as an example, the cue file starts off with:

FILE "[title removed](Track 01 of 10)[!].iso" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2048
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Then it has the audio tracks all listed, ie
FILE "[title removed](Track 02 of 10)[!].wav" WAVE
(then track 3 to 10).

Yet, no audio plays, so I though Id just burn the iso and wav files to a cd using Nero, then re-rip the cd image to give me a .cue and .bin file like all the regular cd images for the Mega CD, PC Engine CD, PSX etc, but when I put those files in the folder, the cue file doesnt even show up as a game?!
Any help / suggestions would be most appreciated!

[Ratte]

@RustyMG
Hi,
nice to have a feedback.
Amiga seems to be not very interresting on recalbox.
However I had the same problem with multifile games.
I will update the "how to" and the archiv, with a newer version.
The solution is to change the "iso" detection in some settings and scripts against a "cue" detection and everything works fine.
At the moment I am doing some testruns with bigger multifile images.
BR
Ratte

[RustyMG]

@Ratte
I have lots of images of cd32 games with .wav and .mp3 files in addition to the .cue and .iso if you want any help with testing.

Pity every iso of Super Putty does not appear to work.
I have a lengthy list of iso's that do and don't work if anyone needs it.

[Ratte]

Actual testresults:
50+ games are working without problems.

Some games with different problems...
The Super Stardust Intro is killing UAE4ARM & Recalbox.
Others with gfx-glitches or no responce ...
Surf Ninjas
Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends Pinball
Fears
Beneath a Steel Sky
Jungle Strike - The Sequel to Desert Strike
Premiere
Gulp!
The Seven Gates of Jambala
PGA European Tour
Chambers of Shaolin
Star Crusader
Last Ninja 3
The Lost Vikings

[voljega]

@Ratte everyone of those work in amiga 600 or 1200. For Surf Ninjas try activating in the menuNTSC

[Ratte]

@RustyMG
Here is the short version of the CUE fix.

/etc/emustation/es_systems.cfg
Change the AmigaCD32 "iso" Extension section against:

    <extension>.cue .Cue .CUE</extension>

/usr/bin/uae4arm/scripts/start.sh
change line 19:

if [ "$romType" == "cue" ]; then

Thats it.
(Now, all games work with a cue file.)

[RustyMG]

@Ratte Hi,
Lines 19, 20 and 21 are:
if [ "$romType" == "iso" ]; then
if [ ! -f "$romPath/$uaeName" ]; then
exit

So, if I change the iso reference to .cue , how will all the iso files I have load, as Ive just overwritten the only reference I can see for iso loading?

If I kept the above 3 lines, but ADDED the following "loop" below, would that work?

if [ "$romType" == "cue" ]; then
if [ ! -f "$romPath/$uaeName" ]; then
exit

Also, do I not need to edit line 5 of es_systems.cfg to include a reference to .cue?
I thought Id need to change it to :

<extension>.iso .Iso .ISO .cue .Cue .CUE</extension>

No? That way, both iso AND cue files can be loaded?

Oh, I had a typo in my other post - all versions of Putty Squad dont seem to work...

[voljega]

@RustyMG yes it would work like that

[Ratte]

If you combine ISO and CUE detection, the result will be equal to the older PSX-emulation in RB4.1 pre 2017.
You will see double listed games from CUE games with ISO tracks inside ...
The better way is to use only CUE.

Simply create a CUE for your existing ISO files and everything is fine.

File:YOUR_GAME.CUE

FILE "YOUR_GAME.iso" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2048
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Thats all and it is a clean solution.

-- Also, do I not need to edit line 5 of es_systems.cfg to include a reference to .cue?

• /etc/emustation/es_systems.cfg
• Change the AmigaCD32 "iso" Extension section against:
• <extension>.cue .Cue .CUE</extension>

[RustyMG]

@Ratte Hi yeah that makes sense.
The only problem Is that I now have 64 cue files to create, and some of my iso's were .img files, which id changed to .iso to load , but, the .iso files data in the cue file for these types isn't 2048, but is 2352, so will need to try and establish exactly what files they were.
Fun fun fun.....

[Ratte]

@RustyMG
I am sorry, but hopefully it is the last "BIG" change.

[RustyMG]

@Ratte
Oh it's fine!
I've been working on my setup for 3 months, so this is only a minor job!
I now have about 40 game "rips" with .wav files to try.
Of the ones that work I intend to recode the wav files to mp3 files as the space savings will be HUGE, then it should just be a matter of changing the wav references in the cue files to mp3.
I noticed the rare Xenon 2 full cd rip with cd audio in the bin file doesn't work and I know it's an ntsc game - going by another post above, are ntsc games not booting?

[Ratte]

@RustyMG
amigacd32/CDS/games_xxx.lst
Enter your archive name in one of the lists for req. videomode.
(btw. no longer ISO ... take the CUE-name)

This will stretch NTSC to screenfilling games.
UAE is running in a real NTSC emulation.

In future this list will be obsolete, a better idea is a CUE-file integration of videomodes.
But meanwhile ist good for testing.

BTW. I have no problems with NTSC games in PAL config ....

[RustyMG]

Update.
Ive now tested 99% of the available CD32 releases, deleting the no loaders / corrupt audio games as I went.
Of the ones that worked, I choose 3 at random with lots of large audio WAV files, and re encoded the audio tracks to 192k mp3 files, and made the necessary changes in the cue file (a global replace saves time!)
And, all 3 still seem to work perfectly, so I will be re encoding all WAV files and hope to save about 10gig of valuable space.
Clearly those games will probably no longer work on a real actual CD32, but that's not an issue for myself.

[Ratte]

The first special cd32 versions I have successfully tested.
(Not included CDTV games like Defender of the Crown I&II or WHDLoad Compilation CDs with tons of A500/1200 games)

Akira
Alfred Chicken
Alien Breed - Tower Assault
Alien Breed 3D
Alien Breed Special Edition & Qwak
Arabian Nights
Arcade Pool
Banshee
Base Jumpers
Battletoads
Beavers
Benefactor
Big 6, The
Brian the Lion Starring in Rumble in the Jungle
Brutal - Paws of Fury
Brutal Football
Bubba 'N' Stix
Bubble and Squeak
Cannon Fodder
Chaos Engine, The
Chuck Rock
Classic Lotus Trilogy, The
Clockwiser
Clue!, The
D-Generation v1.0
Dangerous Streets & Wing Commander
Darkseed v1.1
Death Mask
Deep Core v1.01
Diggers & Oscar
Disposable Hero
Emerald Mines
Exile
Fields of Glory
Final Gate, The
Fire & Ice - The Daring Adventures of Cool Coyote
Fire Force
Flink
Fly Harder
Frontier - Elite II v1.10
Fury of the Furries
Global Effect
Gloom
Grandslam Gamer Gold Collection
Guardian
Gunship 2000
Heimdall 2
International Karate
International Open Golf Championship
International Sensible Soccer - World Champions v1.2
James Pond 2 - Robocod
James Pond 3 - Operation Starfi5h
Jetstrike
John Barnes European Football
Labyrinth of Time, The
Lemmings
Manchester United - Premier League Champions v1.0CD
Mean Arenas
Microcosm
Morph
Myth - History in the Making
Naughty Ones
Nick Faldos Championship Golf
Overkill & Lunar-C
PGA European Tour
Pierre le Chef is... Out to Lunch
Pinball Fantasies
Power Drive
Prey - An Alien Encounter
Project-X & F17 Challenge v2.0
Rise of the Robots
Roadkill
Ryder Cup by Johnnie Walker, The
Sabre Team
Simon the Sorcerer
Soccer Superstars
Strip Pot
Subwar 2050
Super League Manager
Super Putty
Superfrog
Syndicate
Total Carnage
Trivial Pursuit - The CD32 Edition v1.0C
UFO - Enemy Unknown
Vital Light
Will Bridge - Practice 1 - Initiation - Junior

more to come ....

[RustyMG]

@Ratte
Hi, you beat me to it with the list.
However there are some listed there that load but do not run correctly.
I have downloaded every standalone version of Fire and Ice going and all suffer serious audio glitching.
Also, with every version of the Lotus Challenge Trilogy I have tried, Lotus 3 crashes after you have selected your car.
My list has a good few more on it (I note you have more to follow) but between us I think we will have a definitive list of working games

[lolo]

Why bother with cd32 when you can play WHDLoad package.
Many games have a Cd32 mode on the whdload slave, so you can play with the joypad. Not to mention the saving of space.

[RustyMG]

@lolo "Why bother with cd32 when you can play WHDLoad package."
Because the CD32 setup is the only one that has an "idiots guide" to setting it up, lol.

If someone has a step by guide step to showing how to get WHDloader games running with one joypad click, then shoot! I for one would be happy!

Re space, this isn't really an issue.
As mentioned in my other posts, I simply re-encoded all WAV files to mp3 and changed the reference in the cue files, and saved gigs and gigs of space.

[Substring]

@lolo most probably because finding basic amiga roms is easier than finding WHD ?

[RustyMG]

@Substring up until the weekend id have agreed....until I found an archive running into gigs that seemingly had every Amiga game of note converted and included in the archive.

All CD32 conversions / patches remember though work with a joypad, with no keyboard or mouse required.....