PUAE LIBRETRO

Based on WinUAE 5.0.0, git commit 975a167c7636d563db1c8b3292f690b6f30e71d2

Default controls

Virtual keyboard controls

Long press for sticky keys. Stickying the third key will replace the second.

Joyport control

Some games use mouse instead of joystick. D-Pad can be switched between joystick and mouse control in several ways:

• Use the core option: Quick Menu > Core Options > RetroPad Joystick/Mouse
• Bring up the virtual keyboard with Select button, and press the key labeled J/M
• Press the default keyboard shortcut Right Control
• Assign Switch Joystick/Mouse to any RetroPad button under Quick Menu > Core Options

Configuration

The following model presets are provided:

Kickstart ROMs

The models require matching Kickstart ROMs in RetroArch system directory.

Amiga Forever and TOSEC filenames are also accepted.

Encrypted Amiga Forever ROMs require rom.key also in system directory.

The core has a somewhat compatible built-in AROS Kickstart, which is used as a fallback when the proper Kickstart is not found.

It is critical to use ROMs with the correct MD5!

CD32 requires either separate ROMs (Kickstart + extended ROM) or the combined ROM:

Resolution and rendering

These parameters control the output resolution of the core (default bolded):

With these settings all the standard resolutions are available:

When using low resolution mode, rendering will be halved horizontally and forced into "Single Line" mode. Scaling shaders looks great, but high resolution games and Workbench are badly rendered.

When using high resolution "Double Line" mode, rendering will be doubled vertically. It is compatible with high resolution games and Workbench, but scaling shaders will look ugly. "Double Line" shows interlaced fields separately (weave) and is suited for deinterlacing shaders.

When using high resolution "Single Line" mode, rendering is presented as is. It delivers the best of both worlds, and looks great with high resolution games, Workbench and shaders. "Single Line" combines interlaced fields into one field (bob), which will make high resolution images blocky and jittery.

• Automatic "Resolution" defaults to "Hires" and selects "SuperHires" when needed (practically only in Workbench and Super Skidmarks)
• Automatic "Line Mode" defaults to "Single Line" and selects "Double Line" on interlaced screens

Model overriding

You can force a specific model if a game needs one (AGA games for instance) either by the "Model" core option or by file path tags.

The "Model" core option at "Automatic" will default to A500 when booting floppy disks, A1200 when booting hard drives, and CD32 when booting compact discs.

The whole path (filename and directory) will be searched for the following tags if the model is "Automatic":

• (!) Additional tags: (Denmark), (Finland), (France), (Germany), (Italy), (Spain), (Sweden)
• (!!) Maximum 4 disks

Example: When launching "Alien Breed 2 AGA.hdf" or "AGA/Alien Breed 2.hdf" the model will be Amiga 1200.

Note: CD32 and AmigaCD are a bit misleading, since they have nothing to do with actual CDs. They are for automatically selecting the appropriate model with certain WHDLoad slaves and AmigaCD-to-HDF conversions.

Disk images, WHDLoad and M3U support

Supported formats are:

• ADF, ADZ, IPF, DMS, FDI for floppy disk images
• ISO, CUE, CCD, NRG, MDS, CHD for compact disc images
• HDF, HDZ, LHA for hard drive images
• M3U for multiple image playlist
• ZIP for various content (FD, HD, CD, WHDLoad)

Floppy drive sounds

The core has embedded internal floppy drive samples. External sound samples have to be copied from https://github.com/libretro/libretro-uae/tree/master/sources/uae_data into a directory named uae_data or uae in RetroArch system directory.

IPF support

Most full-price commercial Amiga games had some form of custom disk format and/or copy protection. For this reason, most commercial Amiga games cannot be stored in ADF files unaltered, but there is an alternative called Interchangeable Preservation Format (IPF) which was specifically designed for this purpose.

IPF support is done through CAPSIMG library. To enable it you have to put the dynamic library called capsimg.dll (Windows) or capsimg.so (Linux, macOS) in RetroArch system or executable directory.

Compatible CAPSIMG libraries for Windows, macOS and Linux can be found at http://www.softpres.org/download and https://fs-uae.net/download#plugins

Compatible CAPSIMG libraries for Android can be found at https://github.com/rsn8887/capsimg/releases/latest

Please be aware that there are 32-bits and 64-bits versions of the library. Choose the one corresponding to your RetroArch executable.

ZIP support

ZIPs are extracted to a temporary directory in saves, bypassing the default frontend extraction. The temporary directory is emptied but not removed on exit. ZIP is not repacked, which means saves and highscores are lost.

This allows:

• Automatic M3U playlist generation of all files
• The use of zipped images in M3Us
• If no compatible images are found, the ZIP will be treated as a directory

M3U support

When you have a multi disk game, you can use a M3U playlist file to be able to change disks via RetroArch Disc Control interface.

A M3U file is a simple text file with one disk per line (Wikipedia).

Example:

Simpsons, The - Bart vs. The Space Mutants.m3u

Simpsons, The - Bart vs. The Space Mutants_Disk1.adf
Simpsons, The - Bart vs. The Space Mutants_Disk2.adf

Path can be absolute or relative to the location of the M3U file.

When the game asks for it, you can change the current disk in the RetroArch "Disc Control" menu:

• Eject the current disk with "Eject Disc"
• Select the right disk index with "Current Disc Index"
• Insert the new disk with "Insert Disc"

By default, RetroArch will display the filename (without extension) of each M3U entry when selecting a disk via the Current Disc Index drop-down menu. Custom display labels may be set for each disk using the syntax: DISK_FILE|DISK_LABEL. For example, the following M3U file:

Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve.m3u

Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk1.adf|Game Disk
Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk2.adf|Data Disk
Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk3.adf|Level 1 Disk
Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk4.adf|Level 2 Disk
Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk5.adf|Level 3 Disk
Valhalla & the Fortress of Eve_Disk6.adf|Level 4 Disk

...will be shown in RetroArch's disk selection menu as:

1: Game Disk
2: Data Disk
3: Level 1 Disk
4: Level 2 Disk
5: Level 3 Disk
6: Level 4 Disk

If DISK_LABEL is intentionally left blank (i.e. DISK_FILE|) then only the disk index will be displayed.

For games that require a dedicated save disk, one may be generated automatically by entering the following line in an M3U file: #SAVEDISK:VolumeName. VolumeName is optional and may be omitted. For example, this will create a blank, unlabelled disk image at disk index 5:

Secret of Monkey Island.m3u

Secret of Monkey Island_Disk 1.adf
Secret of Monkey Island_Disk 2.adf
Secret of Monkey Island_Disk 3.adf
Secret of Monkey Island_Disk 4.adf
#SAVEDISK:

Some games require save disks to have a specific label - for example, It Came from the Desert will only save to a disk named DSAVE:

Virtual keyboard has a key labeled SVDS (CapsLock+STBR) which creates and switches to/from the save disk, which makes this step obsolete.

It Came from the Desert.m3u

It Came from the Desert_Disk 1.adf
It Came from the Desert_Disk 2.adf
It Came from the Desert_Disk 3.adf
#SAVEDISK:DSAVE

Although one save disk is normally sufficient, an arbitrary number of #SAVEDISK:VolumeName lines may be included. Save disks are located in the frontend's save directory, with the following name: [M3U_FILE_NAME].save[DISK_INDEX].adf.

Save disks generated by the #SAVEDISK: keyword are automatically assigned the label: Save Disk [SAVE_DISK_INDEX].

For games that support multiple disk drives, append "(MD)" as in "MultiDrive" to the M3U filename to insert each disk in different drives. Only possible with maximum 4 disks!

Extra features

• #SAVEDISK:<label>
  • Create a save disk in saves
• <disk>.adf|<label>
  • Set a friendly name (shown in "Disc Control")
• <disks>.zip#<disk>.adf
  • Specify a disk inside a ZIP with multiple disks (not needed with single file ZIPs)

M3U playlist supports floppy disks, hard drives (all images are mounted at once) and compact discs.

LED interface

Libretro LED interface is presented in the following order:

1. Power
2. Floppy drives
3. HD/CD/MD (NVRAM)
4. DF0
5. DF1
6. DF2
7. DF3
8. HD
9. CD/MD (NVRAM)

WHDLoad

Pre-installed WHDLoad LHA archives can be launched directly without any kind of manual preparing and downloading.

• WHDLoad helper files (Directory or HDF) will be generated to saves, WHDLoad.prefs will be generated to system
• WHDLoad.prefs & WHDLoad.key & rom.key will be copied from system to the helper image
• Kickstarts will be copied automatically to the helper image
• To update WHDLoad: simply delete the directory or the HDF

Overrides at startup

• (Red) Hold fire button for launch selector
  • For alternate .info launching
• (Red+Blue) Hold fire + 2nd fire for ReadMe + MkCustom
  • For creating default CUSTOM parameters

WHDLoad Splash Screen core option overrides

• (Blue) Hold 2nd fire for WHDLoad Config
  • Waits for user input if the slave supports splash screen configurations
• (LMB) Hold left mouse button for WHDLoad Splash
  • Briefly shows the splash screen while preloading (default WHDLoad behavior)
• (RMB) Hold right mouse button for WHDLoad Config+Splash
  • Always waits for user input at the splash screen

New WHDLoad.hdf features for old users

Major changes

• Slave no longer needs to be renamed to game.slave. The first one is selected.
• Kickstarts will be copied automatically from system if they do not exist in the helper image.
• WHDLoad.key will be copied from system if it does not exist in the helper image.
• WHDLoad.prefs will be copied from system on every run.
• Supports a file named custom in the root of the game.hdf for passing specific WHDLoad parameters when the slave does not support the config screen or when it should be the default, for example Custom1=1. It always overrides WHDLoad.prefs.
  • The easiest way to create custom is to quit WHDLoad (default Numpad*), type echo custom1=1 >custom, press enter and reboot the Amiga.
  • Script called MkCustom for simplest custom file handling. Launches after quitting WHDLoad.
  • MkCustom will create a slave-based custom_$SLAVE in WHDSaves:. Essential with readonly images.
• Supports a file named load in the root of the game.hdf which overrides the whole launch command, aimed at non-WHDLoad installs.
• If .slave is not in the root of the HDF, it will also be searched under the first found directory.
• Saves will be redirected to a separate WHDSaves.hdf. Repo provides an empty 4MiB HDF.

Minor changes

• Both HDF-files (WHDLoad.hdf & WHDSaves.hdf) can be located in either RA system or saves.
• "WHDLoad Support" core option does not need to be disabled when launching a non-WHDLoad HDF which has S/startup-sequence.
• NTSC parameter can be used with WHDLoad.
• Included ClickNot for suppressing drive clicking when drive sound emulation is enabled.
• Included MEmacs for file editing (custom & load).
• Included xpkmaster.library.
• New WHDLoad defaults:
  • ButtonWait (Waits for a button press in certain slaves when loading is so fast that you can't enjoy a picture or a tune).
  • ReadDelay=0 & WriteDelay=50 (These speed up OS switching on loadings and savings. Saves tend to corrupt HDFs with WriteDelay below 50).

Latest changes

• Downgraded WHDLoad to 18.6 due to a save related bug in 18.7
• Updated WHDLoad to the latest one (18.7 2021-10-23).
• Support for Retroplay LHA installs.
• Support for Arcadia installs (requires KS 1.2, kick33180.A500 will be copied automatically).
• Show ReadMe before running MkCustom after quitting.
• Changed HDF filesystem from OFS to FFS. Prevents image corruption on unclean shutdowns.
• Default launch method changed to WBRun.
• Better support for games with multiple icons.
• Hold down fire button at boot for .info selector. Selector will be launched always when there is no exact match for .slave.
• WHDLoad.hdf + WHDSaves.hdf + WHDLoad.prefs baked in the core. No more separate downloads!
• WHDLoad: and WHDSaves: volumes defaulted to directory mode.

Create a HDF image for a game

Not recommended or required anymore, because:

• WHDLoad specific LHA archives will work directly as a read-only hard drive image
• Directories will work as a regular hard drive image
• ZIP files will be extracted to a temporary directory and can contain any type of supported content

But if you must:

To do this you can use ADF Opus or amitools.

Example, to create a HDF file from a zipped WHDLoad game:

• Extract files from the ZIP to a directory
• Pack the directory in a HDF file with:
  • ADFOpus: see Allan Lindqvist's tutorial
  • amitools: xdftool -f <NAME_OF_HDF> pack <GAME_DIRECTORY> size=<SIZE_OF_HDF>

Note the size of the HDF specified by SIZE_OF_HDF must be greater than size of the directory to store the additional filesystem informations (f.ex a 1.25 ratio).

Using configuration files

You can pass .uae configuration files and they will be appended to the core option configuration.

If puae_libretro_[model].uae exists in RetroArch saves it will be appended to the model preset section.

If puae_libretro_global.uae exists in RetroArch saves it will be appended to the configuration.

The final generated configuration output is available in debug level log.

Note that the use of configuration files is no longer encouraged or necessary. The core has been modified to always use the core options as a base, so that all custom configurations will be appended to the created configuration, effectively overriding the core options. The problem with this is that changing any core option while the core is running will reset all duplicate configurations. Therefore only add configurations which will require a restart or do not exist in the core options, if you must use a custom uae. If there is an option missing that is a must have, please make an issue about it.

Example 1: You want to mount four non-RDB HDF files. You have one bootable 1000 MB file called System.hdf created with surfaces=1, and three non-bootable 2000 MB files called WHDGamesA.hdf, WHDGamesB.hdf, WHDGamesC.hdf created with surfaces=2. Your HDF files are located in the folder with absolute path /emuroms/amiga/hdf/. For that scenario, you should create a .uae text file with the following content:

hardfile=read-write,32,1,2,512,/emuroms/amiga/hdf/System.hdf
hardfile=read-write,32,2,2,512,/emuroms/amiga/hdf/WHDGamesA.hdf
hardfile=read-write,32,2,2,512,/emuroms/amiga/hdf/WHDGamesB.hdf
hardfile=read-write,32,2,2,512,/emuroms/amiga/hdf/WHDGamesC.hdf

Example 2: You want to mount a directory full of extracted data as a hard drive:

filesystem2=rw,DH0:data:/emuroms/amiga/,0

Windows tip:

• If paths are enclosed with quotes, Windows needs double backslashes: filesystem2=rw,DH0:data:"c:\\emuroms\\amiga",0.

Linux tip:

• Leave the ending slash to the path to make sure UAE sees it as a directory.

If you are using RDB HDF files, please use 0,0,0,512 instead of geometry numbers like 32,1,2,512. The geometry will then be read from the file. This only works for RDB HDF files.

Latest features

• Large HDF support (sonninnos)
• Full framerate double line interlace backport (sonninnos)
• Core-based ZIP extraction with automatic M3U generation (sonninnos)
• CDTV support (sonninnos)
• CD turbo speed backport (sonninnos)
• Touch control VKBD (sonninnos)
• File-based WHDLoad.hdf (sonninnos)
• Memory-based savestates (jdgleaver)
• Analog Joystick (sonninnos)
• SuperHires (sonninnos)
• Retroplay WHDLoad LHA support (sonninnos)
• CD32 support (sonninnos)
• WHDLoad.prefs override core option (sonninnos)
• Internal+external floppy drive sounds (sonninnos)
• Single line high resolution mode (sonninnos)
• Savestate support (sonninnos)
• Parallel port four player joystick adapter is emulated with working two, three and four-player controls (sonninnos and rsn8887)
• CD32 controller support (sonninnos)
• Multiple mice support using raw input driver on Windows (sonninnos)
• Autozoom and autocentering options for large game display without borders or distortion (sonninnos)
• Mappable hotkeys to bring up statusbar and on-screen keyboard (sonninnos)
• Analog stick mouse control (sonninnos and rsn8887)
• On screen keyboard with easy joystick/dpad control (sonninnos and rsn8887)
• Implement new core options with some small print explanations (sonninnos)
• Implement hotkeys for status bar and virtual keyboard that can be remapped instead of using hardcoded buttons (sonninnos)
• Allow starting the emulated Amiga without content (sonninnos)
• Add many core options, such as a cycle exact option (sonninnos and rsn8887)
• Allow to load any single, bootable .hdf hard drive file directly via load content (rsn8887)
• Allow disabling the use of system/WHDLoad.hdf (rsn8887)
• Fix quickmenu->disk control options for swapping disks on the fly (rsn8887)
• Change option defaults to more sensible values (sonninnos)
• Add Switch version of the core (rsn8887)
• ...