FB Alpha RL (Retro Loader) v1.01 Beta for PS3 CFW 3.40 / 3.55 / 4.XX

13w ago - Following his previous release, today PlayStation 3 developer CaptainCPS-X has made available a FB Alpha RL (Retro Loader) v1.01 followed by patch update v1.01a for PS3 CFW 3.40 / 3.55 / 4.XX users with details below.

Download: FB_ALPHA_RL_1.01_[20130215]_CEX340.rar (56 MB) / FB_ALPHA_RL_1.01_[20130215]_CEX355.rar (56 MB) / FB_ALPHA_RL_1.01a_[20130215]_CEX340_UPD.rar (2.43 MB) / FB_ALPHA_RL_1.01a_[20130215]_CEX355_UPD.rar (2.43 MB)

This is a Beta release and has not been tested on cfw 3.55 / 3.40, only confirmed working by me on rogero cfw 4.30 v2.05. Please, if you find issues running this release on specific cfw and / or you know how to sign them properly, post a reply or pm me, thanks!

What is FB Alpha?

FB Alpha is an arcade emulator supporting the following platforms;

• Capcom CPS-1
  
• Capcom CPS-2
  
• Capcom CPS-3
  
• Cave
  
• Data East DEC-0, DEC-8 and DECO IC16 based games
  
• Galaxian based hardware
  
• Irem M62, M63, M72, M90 and M92 hardware
  
• Kaneko 16
  
• Konami
  
• Neo-Geo
  
• Pacman based hardware
  
• PGM
  
• Psikyo 68EC020 and SH-2 based hardware
  
• Sega System 1, System 16 (and similar), System 18, X-Board and Y-Board
  
• Toaplan 1
  
• Toaplan 2
  
• Taito F2, X, Z and others
  
• Miscellaneous drivers for lots of other hardware
  

FB Alpha also has a WIP console drivers for Sega Megadrive/Genesis and also PC-Engine/TurboGrafx 16/SuperGrafx.

FB Alpha (for Windows), can currently be obtained from barryharris.me.uk.

What is FB Alpha Retro Loader ?

FB Alpha RL is a PS3 homebrew application coded from scratch, and not based in any other public source code by other developers. It is a result of many hours of dedication and research.

It is in no way a dirty hack of RetroArch or something similar. By the contrary, FB Alpha RL serves as a independent frontend to RetroArch and provides features not incorporated in it.

I did had to make a modified RetroArch core to be included along my application, so it could process the arguments or new commands that FB Alpha RL will be sending to it.

Objective of FB Alpha RL (Retro Loader):

As a dev from the official FB Alpha Team, FB Alpha RL was made with a objective in mind, to keep the original experience from the official FB Alpha (for Windows OS) on the PS3 system.

Please, read the technical info for more details.

Technical Info:

Signed for CFW 3.40 / 4.XX (should work for everyone).
Tested at 1080p / 720p / 480p resolution via HDMI.

FB Alpha RL uses a custom "burn_drivers.h" header file that was generated by modifying the official windows version of FB Alpha with a routine to generate such file on launch.

The header have a big structure with all the information for all supported drivers in FB Alpha v0.2.97.28.

Information such as:

• Romset Name (Ex. kof2002)
  
• Parent ROM (Ex. sf2)
  
• Year
  
• Manufacturer (Ex. Capcom)
  
• System (Ex. Neo Geo)
  
• Max players
  
• Game Screen Resolution
  
• Game Screen Aspect Ratio
  

Future release will have a custom generated header with all the ROM information as well, so the application will be able to verify every romset with precise CRC32 checks (as in the official FB Alpha for Windows).

NOTE: You don't need the official RetroArch installed, this already has my own modified build incorporated into FB Alpha RL installation directory. So you can safely install the official RetroArch and it won't interfere.

Usage:

• Use UP / DOWN to navigate Game List.
  
• Use Left Analog UP / DOWN to navigate Game List.
  
• Press L1 / R1 to toggle game system filter.
  
• Press L2 / R2 for quick Game List navigation.
  
• Press [ ] to view ZIP information.
  
• Press /\ to view ROM Information.
  
• Press to Load the selected Game.
  
• Press [SELECT] to return to Main Menu.
  
• Press [START] to Rescan ROM(s).
  

Features:

• ROMs paths directory browser.
  
• Input Preset CFG file browser.
  
• Game List cache feature.
  
• Missing games listing.
  
• Alternate key combo to access RetroArch core menu.
  
• 1080p / 720p / 480p display modes supported.
  
• Game Preview display feature (hover a game to see its preview).
  
• Game System Filtering for easier game selection.
  
• Custom Game System Filtering available in the options menu.
  
• Auto configure screen Aspect Ratio on game load.
  
• Quick ROM(s) scanning / re-scanning in extensive path locations.
  
• Romset validation against FB Alpha v0.2.97.28 drivers library.
  
• Checking for duplicate ROM(s).
  
• Detailed info about listed ROM(s).
  
• ZIP Content Information display.
  
• Full game name display for easier navigation.
  
• Game Information (Year, Company, etc...).
  
• Direct loading of ROM(s).
  
• Support for Screenshots (press and look in XMB photo column).
  
• GUI based on OpenGL / PSGL textures (Thanks to Squarepusher / Twinaphex for the tips).
  
• More... (read the change logs for more features)
  

WIP / Coming on future releases:

• Display Extended ROM information by pressing .
  
• MAME history DAT parsing support.
  
• Title / Flyers image display feature.
  

Changelog:

1.01 (February 15, 2013) (BETA)

• Added information text display for selected options.
  
• Added ROMs path directory browser.
  
• Added Input Preset CFG file browser.
  
• Added confirmation dialog when exiting FB Alpha RL.
  
• Added feature to display Missing Games.
  
• Added Game List Cache feature to avoid having to rescan ROMs every time FB Alpha RL is launched.
  
• Added option to use alternate key combo to access RetroArch core menu, Main Menu(SELECT + TRIANGLE) and In-Game Menu (SELECT + SQUARE).
  
• Updated + Modded latest RetroArch commits (Feb 10, 2013)
  
• Updated fba-libretro core with latest commits (Feb 10, 2013)
  
• Added Custom System Filter (go to options and select the systems to filter in that category).
  
• Added support for 1080p / 720p / 480p display modes (all tested).
  
• Added Game Preview display feature (hover a game to see its preview).
  
• Included most game previews with package (thanks to Sturn and JacKc at NeoSource forums)
  
• Added new Options Menu.
  
• Added module to save / read settings to "FBA_RL.ini".
  
• Added Option to configure 12 custom directories to scan for ROMs, you decide where you want FB Alpha RL to look for ROMs .
  
• Added Option to set / change Input presets for all systems, you just need to do this once.
  
• Added Option to Automatically Create basic Input preset configurations for all supported systems.
  
• Added Option to enable / disable Auto Aspect Ratio selection on game launch.
  
• Added Game System Filter (Press L1 / R1 to toggle game system filters).
  
• Added ROM(s) re-scanning module (Press [START] to re-scan ROM(s)).
  
• Rewrote FB Alpha RL to make better use of PSGL, now it supports a better GUI based on texture rendering (Thanks to Squarepusher/Twinaphex for the tips).
  
• FB Alpha RL will check for important directories needed by RetroArch on launch, and will create them as needed. If you have the official RetroArch installed and it have missing directories as well for some reason, they will be created to make sure everything work fine.
  
• Incremented number of displayed games.
  
• Added quick list navigation by pressing L2 / R2.
  
• Added Analog Stick support to navigate lists.
  
• Added Main menu with various useful items.
  
• Added ZIP Info feature (press [ ] to view ZIP info).
  
• Updated FB Alpha (libretro) core.
  
• (FBA core) Fixed graphic problems in CPS-1 driver.
  
• (FBA core) Fixed Diagnostic Menu Lock-up in some games.
  
• Added Screenshot feature (press and look in Photo XMB column).
  
• Improved application core overall and fixed some bugs.
  
• FB Alpha RL will not process WIP drivers from now on until compatibility is better(Megadrive, PCE, SNES).
  

1.00 (January 30, 2013)

• Initial Release
  

Thanks to:

• My buddies Treble Winner (Barry) / Kev / IQ_132 from the original FB Alpha Team <3.
  
• Thanks to Sturn and JacKc for the preview images at NeoSource (http://neosource.1emu.net/)
  
• PS3 Scene websites (in no order) such as: PS3HAX / PSX-Scene / PS3Crunch / Etc, for you support
  
• TheMaister / Twinaphex / Squarepusher / Company - Libretro/RetroArch is just amazing.
  
• pete_uk - for your unofficial RetroArch builds.
  
• STLcardsWS - for your support
  
• aldostools - your ps3tools for windows are the best =)
  
• deank - multiMAN helped me research / debug my application
  
• fail0verfl0w, GeoHot, etc - for all you have done for the PS3 scene
  
• Anonymous - for releasing Sony SDKs
  

Thanks to anyone else I forgot that in some way contributed to the PS3 scene and as a result I was able to do this homebrew application.

Known Issues (updated):

• Fixed - Directory / CFG file browser doesn't list other devices, just "dev_hdd0", you can configure paths manually on the FBA_RL.ini for other devices until this is fixed.
  
• Fixed - ROM rescan (pressing START on the game list) is not working fine.
  
• ROM INFO (/\) was not implemented in this beta release, this is NOT a issue, but I forgot to mention it, so just in case xD.
  

UPDATE 1: In this current release missing games cannot be hidden, I will work on that soon, my bad. I will release a small update later with these known issues resolved.

UPDATE 2: Good news! USB Storage Devices are correctly scanned now, and I fixed the problem with the ROMs rescanning via START button. I just have to add a feature / option to disable the display of missing ROMs. This will be available as a small update patch later (v1.01a)

UPDATE 3: FB Alpha RL v1.01a is available with the following changes / fixes: 1.01a (February 15, 2013)(UPDATE)

• Added option to Enable / Disable display if missing games.
  
• Fixed USB Storage Device scanning, now they will be displayed correctly on the Directory / CFG file browser.
  
• Fixed issue with ROMs rescan, now it will work fine by pressing START button on the Game List.
  

Source Code: NOTE: Source has not been posted on GitHub yet, but in the upcoming days I will release it as well.

UPDATE 4: Full v1.01a Source Code and documentation (README.md) is available at GitHub now!

Btw, I want to clarify, FB Alpha RL is a separate and completely different application than RetroArch, so this means that my EBOOT.BIN / RELOAD.SELF is a completely independent application with all code written from scratch by me. Now, fb_alpha.SELF is the RetroArch (FB Alpha) core, with simple modifications to receive commands sent via arguments from my application.

I wanted to clarify this so people understand that my work on this application is not a modified RetroArch but a separate frontend, that is why is called a "Loader". Even when FB Alpha RL is a separate application, I have to thank Squarepusher and company for making constant improvements on the RetroArch core, and for making it open source.

FB Alpha RL: github.com/CaptainCPS/FBAlphaRL

SeeYa!