N64FlashcartMenu/README.md
Robin Jones 36647ebdec
N64 Rom autoload (#150)
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## Description
<!--- Describe your changes in detail -->
Allows the ability to autoload a specified ROM instead of the menu,
taking into account the ROM database.
If enabled, you can currently fallback to the menu by holding joypad
start on console reset.


## Motivation and Context
<!--- What does this sample do? What problem does it solve? -->
<!--- If it fixes/closes/resolves an open issue, please link to the
issue here -->
This is a better implementation of #140.

## How Has This Been Tested?
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## Screenshots
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## Types of changes
<!--- What types of changes does your code introduce? Put an `x` in all
the boxes that apply: -->
- [x] Improvement (non-breaking change that adds a new feature)
- [ ] Bug fix (fixes an issue)
- [ ] Breaking change (breaking change)
- [ ] Documentation Improvement
- [ ] Config and build (change in the configuration and build system,
has no impact on code or features)

## Checklist:
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that apply. -->
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- [ ] My code follows the code style of this project.
- [ ] My change requires a change to the documentation.
- [ ] I have updated the documentation accordingly.
- [ ] I have added tests to cover my changes.
- [ ] All new and existing tests passed.

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Signed-off-by: GITHUB_USER <GITHUB_USER_EMAIL>


<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->

## Summary by CodeRabbit

## Release Notes

- **New Features**
- Introduced ROM autoloading functionality, allowing users to enable
automatic loading of ROMs with specified paths and filenames.
- Added a settings option for managing ROM autoload preferences in the
menu.

- **User Interface Enhancements**
- Updated settings menu to display the state of the "Autoload ROM"
setting.
  - Improved context menus for toggling various settings.

- **Bug Fixes**
- Enhanced memory management by ensuring proper resource deallocation
for settings.

- **Documentation**
- Added documentation for new functions and settings related to ROM
autoloading.

<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
2024-11-05 09:27:44 +00:00

5.9 KiB

Build

N64 Flashcart Menu

An open source menu for N64 flashcarts.

Supported Flashcarts

Fully supported

  • SummerCart64
  • 64Drive

Work in Progress

  • ED64
  • ED64P

Current (notable) menu features

  • Fully Open Source.
  • Loads all known N64 games (including iQue and Aleck64 ROMs (even if they are byteswapped)).
  • Fully emulates the 64DD and loads 64DD disks (SummerCart64 only).
  • Emulator support (NES, SNES, GB, GBC) ROMs.
  • N64 ROM box image support.
  • Background image (PNG) support.
  • Comprehensive ROM save database (including HomeBrew headers).
  • Comprehensive ROM information display.
  • Real Time Clock support.
  • Music playback (MP3).
  • Menu sound effects.
  • N64 ROM autoload.

Documentation

Video showcase (as of Oct 12 2023)

N64FlashcartMenu Showcase

Aims

  • Support as many N64 FlashCarts as possible.
  • Be open source, using permissive licensed third party licensed libraries.
  • Be testable, using unit and smoke tests in ares emulated environment.
  • Encourage active development from community members and N64 FlashCart owners.
  • Support as many common mods and features as possible.

Experimental features

These features are subject to change:

N64 ROM autoload

To use the autoload function, while on the N64 ROM information display, press the R button on your joypad and select the Set ROM to autoload option. When you restart the console, it will now only load the selected ROM rather than the menu. NOTE: to return to the menu, hold joypad start button whilst powering on the console.

GamePak sprites

To use N64 GamePak sprites, place PNG files within the sd:/menu/boxart/ folder.

Supported sprites

These must be PNG files that use the following dimensions:

  • Standard N64 GamePak boxart sprites: 158x112
  • Japanese N64 GamePak boxart sprites: 112x158
  • 64DD boxart sprites: 129x112

They will be loaded by directories using each character (case-sensitive) of the full 4 character Game Code (as identified in the menu ROM information). i.e. for GoldenEye NTSC USA (NGEE), this would be sd:/menu/boxart/N/G/E/E/boxart_front.png. i.e. for GoldenEye PAL (NGEP), this would be sd:/menu/boxart/N/G/E/P/boxart_front.png.

To improve compatibility between regions (as a fallback), you may exclude the region ID (last matched directory) for GamePaks to match with 3 letter IDs instead: i.e. for GoldenEye, this would be sd:/menu/boxart/N/G/E/boxart_front.png.

Note1: Excluding the region ID may show the wrong boxart. Note2: For future support, boxart sprites should also include: boxart_back.png, boxart_top.png, boxart_bottom.png, boxart_left.png, boxart_right.png.

Compatibilty mode

If you cannot yet satisfy the correct boxart layout, The menu still has deprecated support for filenames containing the Game ID.

Note: This will add a noticeable delay for displaying parts of the menu.

Each file must be named according to the 2,3 or 4 letter GamePak ID (matched in this order). i.e.

  • for GoldenEye 4 letters, this would be sd:/menu/boxart/NGEE.png and/or sd:/menu/boxart/NGEP.png.
  • for GoldenEye 3 letters, this would be sd:/menu/boxart/NGE.png.
  • for GoldenEye 2 letters, this would be sd:/menu/boxart/GE.png.

As a starting point, here are some links to boxart packs:

Menu Settings

The Menu creates a config.ini file in sd:/menu/ which contains various settings that are used by the menu. If required, you can manually adjust the file on the SD card using your computer.

Flashcart specific

SC64

  • Ensure the cart has the latest firmware installed.
  • Download the latest sc64menu.n64 file from the releases page, then put it in the root directory of your SD card.

64drive

  • Ensure the cart has the latest firmware installed.
  • Download the latest menu.bin file from the releases page, then put it in the root directory of your SD card.

ED64 & ED64P

Currently not supported, but work is in progress (See PR's).

The aim is to replace Altra64 and ED64-UnofficialOS.

Open source software and licenses used

Sounds

See License for the following sounds: