What if OpenBOR was included as a libretro/RetroArch core?

[CommunityPoster55]

Now just hear me out...

It's only an idea/suggestion, but it could also increase the cross-platform capabilities of the Engine itself, not to mention hardware testing/optimisation.

Along with a comprehensive easy-to-understand tutorial in the Libretro Docs on how to add mods, and assets:

Home - Libretro Docs

This is the official RetroArch documentation for users and developers. Information from sources outside of this website may be dated or incorrect.

docs.libretro.com

Maybe it can also benefit developers who want to test out their assets more quickly with a more "direct" approach...
Maybe it even gets to a point where all you have to do is open a ZIP file to play the game...

But I'm just running wild at this point. Maybe there's a reason why this can't happen.
If so, I'm curious to hear it.

 

[ABK]

What do you want to hear, im up for it even tho we have so many builds that confuse people, i think devs are worried that bugs report will be flooded and fall back on their head so thats a bit scary, its nice for players to have multiplatforms but from dev standpoints its a big mess to support sometimes.
It would be nice if openbor was available on more platforms than doom.

 

[DCurrent]

Now just hear me out...

It's only an idea/suggestion, but it could also increase the cross-platform capabilities of the Engine itself, not to mention hardware testing/optimisation.

Along with a comprehensive easy-to-understand tutorial in the Libretro Docs on how to add mods, and assets:

Home - Libretro Docs

This is the official RetroArch documentation for users and developers. Information from sources outside of this website may be dated or incorrect.

docs.libretro.com

Maybe it can also benefit developers who want to test out their assets more quickly with a more "direct" approach...
Maybe it even gets to a point where all you have to do is open a ZIP file to play the game...

But I'm just running wild at this point. Maybe there's a reason why this can't happen.
If so, I'm curious to hear it.

@bWWd spelled it out perfectly.

Unless there's a huge uptick in manpower, you can file this under "not going to happen". By that I mean people actually joining the development team on a consistent basis, and having an overall interest in the engine beyond their favorite pet rock port. Right now it's mostly just @Kratus and myself, and we're overwhelmed as it is trying to get the next release out after over three years.

In fact, when the new release does come out, we're reducing the port count (dropping official support of the PSP).

I don't mean to be harsh about it, it's just I've played this game before and even if we did possess the manpower I'd have zero interest in it.

DC

 

[CommunityPoster55]

@bWWd spelled it out perfectly.

Unless there's a huge uptick in manpower, you can file this under "not going to happen". By that I mean people actually joining the development team on a consistent basis, and having an overall interest in the engine beyond their favorite pet rock port. Right now it's mostly just @Kratus and myself, and we're overwhelmed as it is trying to get the next release out after over three years.

In fact, when the new release does come out, we're reducing the port count (dropping official support of the PSP).

I don't mean to be harsh about it, it's just I've played this game before and even if we did possess the manpower I'd have zero interest in it.

DC

Fair enough...

It was just a suggestion anyway, and at least I got my answer.

Give it another spin just in case. Who knows what might've changed in the past couple of years.

Best of luck with the newest version (and the future). I might help out with some assets if ever needed (whatever they could be).

 

[Kratus]

Fair enough...

It was just a suggestion anyway, and at least I got my answer.

Give it another spin just in case. Who knows what might've changed in the past couple of years.

Best of luck with the newest version (and the future). I might help out with some assets if ever needed (whatever they could be).

As an emulator's enthusiast and intensive Retroarch user, if one day @DCurrent decides to give a try, I certainly want to collaborate with this idea.
However, it breaks my heart, but I think it's not a good idea to have an OpenBOR core today.

The first point is, there's many changes to come. As DC said, we are working to have a solid and consistent basis, making improvements and fixing old known bugs for the engine overall.

My second point is, although OpenBOR seems to be some kind of "emulator" for many people, in fact this is a game engine. Every game is developed for a build selected by the author since the project began.

It means that Retroarch will need to have a lot of different OpenBOR core versions due to every game particularity, similar to multiple MAME cores. If a problem is found in any game, it can be a pain to discover what is a "core bug" and what is a " OpenBOR build incompatibility".

In other words, every OpenBOR game is an independent project and every author has their own way to code. In addition, there may be problems if people try to play a game that is under development or constantly updated, because the author can consider adapting your game to a different OpenBOR build without previous warning.

A last point is about OpenBOR unofficial forks. Some projects are using custom engine versions modified by your authors and may not work properly with official builds.

Of course, it's not an impossible task. Luckily some games were developed in the same OpenBOR builds and will work fine.
The authors (or the community) can adapt or update every game to work with different OpenBOR builds, but it will depend on heavy community efforts and sometimes the originality of the projects can be lost during the process.

In the case of "roms", they have a similar structure related to the system for which it was officially developed. Once you discover how to emulate it, you will only need to improve the performance and compatibility.
No changes are required in the "roms" to make it run properly, except for MAME I think.

 

[NickyP]

I do think it would be a good idea in the long run. With the recent proliferation of DIY "emulation boxes" via retropie, launchbox, emuelec, etc, I think it's an opportunity to expand our user base--players and makers. Buggy, unofficial ports are being made anyways, so it would help to kinda "regain control" of the engine too.

... That said, I'm not an engine developer, and I wouldn't be the one coding the Libretro core. So don't take this as me port begging.

 

[oldyz]

Just throwing this idea.....

would there be away to make a version of Openbor that could "adjust" to the modules trought some kind of .txt file that tells it to "become" or behave like an earlier version?

if this is possible , all that needs to be done is to edit the modules with this information.

I think Mugen has something like that for stages, some stages have information that indicates that they are for an earlier mugen, but i don't know if the engine adjusts itself...

 

[Leonardo Carneiro]

Do it, please

 

[Thatspiceguy]

Speaking as someone who dont know jack about openbor but enjoys the games, it would be awesome to have a core. it would bring many more eyes to the project. but can totally understand why its not possible.

 

[sharkytowers]

I do think it would be a good idea in the long run. With the recent proliferation of DIY "emulation boxes" via retropie, launchbox, emuelec, etc, I think it's an opportunity to expand our user base--players and makers. Buggy, unofficial ports are being made anyways, so it would help to kinda "regain control" of the engine too.

... That said, I'm not an engine developer, and I wouldn't be the one coding the Libretro core. So don't take this as me port begging.

Indeed. I too am just a lowly enthusiast, but the best way to get exposure to these wonderful games is to have a core. I speak only as someone who is pretty new to whole RetroArch thing, but for exactly the reasons stated above from my perspective it would be great. But I don't have to program anything...