Why is the system list different?

[maximus37]

Hi,

I'm fairly new at this whole retro gaming scene, and it's very exciting. Since Recalbox and Retropie are both based off Retroarch and use Emulationstation, why is it that Retropie has more system support than Recalbox? For example, they have Dreamcast, PSP, 3DO, etc...

[voljega]

@maximus37 Dreamcast and PSP are coming in 4.1.
All the other systems in Retropie and not in Recalbox such as 3DO or Jaguar are unusable they are too slow (less then 10 FPS)

[maximus37]

@voljega Thanks for the info!

[Substring]

you should also understand that it's not because we look the same that we run the same way our engine how all works below RA and ES is totally different between retropie and us

[RustyMG]

"All the other systems in Retropie and not in Recalbox such as 3DO or Jaguar are unusable they are too slow (less then 10 FPS)"

That's just not true.
Retropie emulates the Atari 5200 console and the 8 bit Atari computers (eg the 800XL) perfectly, and picking another few examples at random, the Dragon 32, Oric, and TRS computer emulators also run perfectly on Retropie.

Admittedly, the only systems I think the majority of users would like to see on Recalbox would be the Atari stuff that is missing.

[voljega]

@RustyMG Atari 5200 is already on Recalbox and I think one of the 8bit Atari computer is coming in 4.1 (not sure)

For the other systems, I simply didn't think of the ones you mentioned because I personally think they have no interest at all, beeing subpar compared to other computers with games widely availables on other platforms in better versions.
But you're right those ones are likely to work at full speed...

[RustyMG]

The Atari 5200 unfortunately is not on Recalbox - it requires very specific bios files that are not in the required list for Recalbox, confirming its absence, and the 8 bit Atari computers use the same emu core, so if it was there, the 800XL etc would also be emulated as it was effectively a 5200 with a keyboard. The Atari 8 bit computers will not be on any Recalbox release of the forseeable future going by the log files of whats coming next, which Im genuinely surprised at.
Having the PSP and Dreamcast emu's running on my Retropie setup (I have Retropie and Recalbox setups - long story....), it unfortunately doesnt look good - the Pi3 simply isnt upto the job of emulating those systems at a decent frame rate. There are only about 10 "big" PSP games that run at a decent speed and ditto with the Dreamcast.

[voljega]

@RustyMG sorry, mistook 5200 for 2600.
And you're right about Dreamcast / PSP and Pi3 but sooner or later more powerfull platforms will be supported

[RustyMG]

I forgot to say, I totally agree with you re the 3do emulation - your actually too kind to it!
I have Battlechess (the least cpu intensive game available for the 3do) and Im lucky if I see 1 to 2 frames per second on a stock Pi3 !!!
And as for the Jaguar emulation, its frames per minute youd measure it in !

[paradadf]

@RustyMG on a side note... I've heard (literally read on the retropie forum) that atari 5200 games are p**p. XD
Any particular reason to ask for it?

[RustyMG]

Its the Atari 800XL games I was looking for to be honest, and that uses the same core as the 5200, so if that was there, youd be able to run the 800XL games.
A lot of them were technically superior to the C64 versions - the same but on steroids if that makes any sense.

[maximus37]

@RustyMG said in Why is the system list different?:

The Atari 5200 unfortunately is not on Recalbox - it requires very specific bios files that are not in the required list for Recalbox, confirming its absence, and the 8 bit Atari computers use the same emu core, so if it was there, the 800XL etc would also be emulated as it was effectively a 5200 with a keyboard. The Atari 8 bit computers will not be on any Recalbox release of the forseeable future going by the log files of whats coming next, which Im genuinely surprised at.
Having the PSP and Dreamcast emu's running on my Retropie setup (I have Retropie and Recalbox setups - long story....), it unfortunately doesnt look good - the Pi3 simply isnt upto the job of emulating those systems at a decent frame rate. There are only about 10 "big" PSP games that run at a decent speed and ditto with the Dreamcast.

@RustyMG I don't understand why you say the Pi3 can't handle the Dreamcast?? I haven't tested it myself, I'm looking forward to 4.1, but I didn't come across this video series, and this guy did not overclock his Pi3, runs pretty decent too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1L4it_d7Z8link text

[RustyMG]

@maximus37 "I don't understand why you say the Pi3 can't handle the Dreamcast?? I haven't tested it myself"

can anyone else see the flaw in this reply?!

I said this because after personally trying just over 90 games under N64 emulation to see for myself what was playable on Recalbox, I then tried about 30 Dreamcast games (and about 35 PSP games) and seen the results for myself - THATS why I said what I did.
Re read what I said - I said about 10 played at a decent frame rate, and that guy in the video conveniently picked only 3 games that are known to play at decent frame rate.

But, dont take my word for it - chuck a Retropie system together if you want to try, or wait for Recalbox 4.1 to see for yourself......

[GmoAndres]

For me, adition of ATARI 800 to Recalbox is more important than dreamcast or psp, ps2 etc ...
i think the "retro-value" of ATARI 800 is huge!! ; the retro-value of dreamcast is "ok" .
Since "ps2 era", games are easyly availabe in other actual platforms and, in other hand, i think RPi 3 is not enought for run correctly ps2, dreamcast or any console since "ps2 era" ...maybe i am wrong ???
If with RPi 3 runs "until" N64 and ps one correctly (and, it does! specially ps one) , is fine for me
Maybe with futures Raspberrys or similar microcomputers you can run ps3, ps4, ps5 jaja.... its only a time thing
"Saludos" from Chile

[maximus37]

@RustyMG said in Why is the system list different?:

@maximus37 "I don't understand why you say the Pi3 can't handle the Dreamcast?? I haven't tested it myself"

can anyone else see the flaw in this reply?!

I said this because after personally trying just over 90 games under N64 emulation to see for myself what was playable on Recalbox, I then tried about 30 Dreamcast games (and about 35 PSP games) and seen the results for myself - THATS why I said what I did.
Re read what I said - I said about 10 played at a decent frame rate, and that guy in the video conveniently picked only 3 games that are known to play at decent frame rate.

But, dont take my word for it - chuck a Retropie system together if you want to try, or wait for Recalbox 4.1 to see for yourself......

@RustyMG Has overclocking made a difference on DC and PSP games? Does it give a good enough boost?

[RustyMG]

@maximus37
Overclocking the Pi3 seems to be a crap shoot.
A few forums have found the majority of standard Pi3'[censored]ting 80c to 85c with nominal use, so overclocking that will just result in the machine throttling itself with the thermal protection, negating any overclock gain.
Even if you DID get a huge 20% overclock to remain stable (unlikely), 10 fps with a 20% gain is only 12fps - lightyears off a playable rate.

Oh, and I totally agree re the Atari 800 stuff - the entire Atari 800 games catalogue is probably smaller than a single audio track on a Dreamcast game.
Retropie and Recalbox is all about RETRO gaming, not systems from just a few years ago.
Maybe Im just showing my age, lol.........

[voljega]

@RustyMG Dreamcast is already more than 10 years old and close to 15....
And sorry but very very very few people are interested by Atari 800 compared to Dreamcast and PSP and even newer consoles especially when comparing the games released on those systems

[RustyMG]

The point of Recalbox and especially Retropie (as it has far more retro systems) is so that the user can play games from consoles and computers that are not widely available any more, due to either their age, rarity, or the fragile nature of the hardware.
Systems like the PSP and the Dreamcast are still readily available to buy in shops in the UK for goodness sake! (Cash Generators / Cash Converter's etc).

I guess to the younger generation the PS2 is retro gaming.......

[paradadf]

@RustyMG just you know, it is not that the developers of recalbox wouldn't include such emulator, but they are busy with many other more important stuff. As far as I know, there is no libretro port for that consoles. Implementing a standalone emulator is more complicated (requires much more work).
BUT... if anyone with the skills is willing to get their hands dirty and implement it, the devs would be more than welcome to review and merge it into the project (open source project btw!). Anyone can contribute!
Don't forget that adding a new system isn't just adding the needed packages and dependencies... you need to add configuration files, theme, test everything, etc.
It is true that recalbox if about retrogaming, but it also is about team work and we depend on the contributions of the community. If someone even adds a wii u emulator and it would be functional, the devs wouldn't have a problem adding it... so simple.

[GmoAndres]

@voljega i disagree ... a lot of gamer people between 30 and 40years old are interested in atari800 emulators

But ok, maybe this fact will change in the future...and raspberrys and other microPC´s will be more powerfull