I began with some changes a French guy “ptitSeb” did for the Pandora RetroArch port. And from there I have added and improved the user experience a bunch more. So far…
Version 0.15++
menu translated into English
clarified some settings options
increased size of options window
language toggle (EN/JA)
better file list
increased size of file list window
sorted alphabetically, folders first followed by files (@ptitSeb)
left/right to jump 8 items at a time (@ptitSeb)
hold R2 for high speed browsing (@ptitSeb, @gingerbeardman)
directory traversal now remembers history
contrasting colours for directories and files
files starting with . or $ are now hidden
increased maximum number of files shown per folder
disks no longer persist between launches
there’s a new menu option to enable this if you really miss it
auto frame skip now default (@ptitSeb)
fixed some small bugs (@ptitSeb)
I really want to add key-repeat for browsing file list and add mouse emulation via keyboard before I push the changes.
It’s a lot easier if you use game disks that have been prepared with ease of use in mind. Rather than disks that will need installing, configuring, etc.
Romhacking only has a handful of English translations listed for X68k games, refuge.tokyo (I’m in love with that site design!) has a few listed as what I assume are English-language or English-friendly. I hope that over time more of the library gets translated.
Retroarch only has a single core based on PX68k and in my experience it really isn’t that good, had no end of compatibility and sprite issues. Setup details and required bios file info is all in the below if you really want to give it a go.
The best emulator is XM6 TypeG, just be sure to switch the menu to English so you can navigate everything, the latest version is “XM6 TypeG(version 3.30 L35)”.
I will have to check it out. I try to stick to original resolution for most games, which is why I use RA for most things. Does the XM6 emulator support resolution switching/custom resolutions? Also, does the X68k have many games that run in oddball resolutions or frequencies?
Also, I was reading that Sharp released the BIOS files for free (for non-commercial use) a while back. Is the BIOS included in the emulators or is there a trusted source for it? If I am mistaken on it being freely and legitimately available please disregard.
Sorry for all the N00b questions, this is just something that has been a sort of mental block for me for a long time, and I just want help getting things up and running.
Afraid not, you will have to use the core in Retroarch for that.
Yeah, the resolution is all over the place. Most are between 256x256 and 512x512 but then you have Capcom’s arcade ports that are 384x224 and games having multiple available resolutions depending on if the game is on a 15khz or 31khz monitor, requiring a particular command on boot to switch between the modes. For example Strider is 512 x 256 at 15kHz and optionally 384 x 256 or 512x256 at 31khz.
Great thread! I recently got into x68000 gaming after reading the Unauthorized History Of Japanese Game Developers Volume 2. I love discovering systems like this. Chourensha and Sol Feace have been my goto games so far.
One thing I’m really enjoying about the x68000 is the sound. It’s like a Genesis on steroids. The music and sfx on this system are awesome.
I’ve been able to play around a bit with X68000 emulation this weekend.I tried a few games in px68k and they seemed to boot and run okay, Castlevania, Gradius, and R-Type 2 were the only ones I tried. The main issue I had with the Retroarch core was that the interface is very clunky for selecting discs and some hotkeys tie back to Retroarch and and mess with the game unexpectedly.
XM6 also ran all of those fine. It had much better sound once I turned on MIDI emulation, and had a ton more options for controller and system specs. The standalone nature also allowed for a better interface so I ended up using it mostly.
Given the additional work involved in emulating an old PC like this, I will have to seek out the very best exclusives, while going for console ports wherever I can. I will continue playing around with the emulators to see if I can streamline loading and dialing things in for games, and I look forward to seeing what this has system to offer.
I agree, I’d love to build a PC in a X68k style case. I had actually drawn up a plan for a PC front panel that, paired with a slightly modified drive layout, could possibly work in a modern mid-tower case. Along the bottom I/O panel I had updated the ports to 4x USB, a 3.5mm jack, a volume knob (because you have to have one!), and an SD card slot. Here is a sketch I made.Each square is ~1" though I didn’t measure the necessary dimensions for the drives or fans, I just guessed.
The plan was to have the actual front be of thin bent steel, with the I/O panel being plastic and perforated plastic along the top and bottom for airflow. I have no idea how to go about actually making something like this professionally though.
It should be fairly easy to make, just a 1.5mm thick piece of mild steel bent into shape with a couple of cutouts and some 3D printed plastic parts. The trickiest part doing it this way would be the ‘scooped out’ portions where the LED and media drives are. I have a model I’m working on in Sketchup but if anyone has a better program to use I would appreciate hearing about it. I’d love to see something like this become available.
There’s a RetroArch option “game mode” that disables all keys (except its own key) so the game can have them.
But yes the interface inside the emulator sucks. I’ve made some personal improvements to it on my own build and I really need to make some Pull Requests to get those changes into RetroArch so they can be enjoyed by everybody.
