Category Archives: Gaming

How to add Android as a separate platform in Daijisho

Android, Gaming, Retro, , , , , , , , , ,

Copy the text below and save it as Android.json

{
    "databaseVersion": 8,
    "platform": {
        "name": "Android",
        "uniqueId": "android",
        "shortname": "android",
        "description": null,
        "acceptedFilenameRegex": "^.*$",
        "scraperSourceList": [
            "RAW:Android"
        ],
        "boxArtAspectRatioId": 0,
        "useCustomBoxArtAspectRatio": false,
        "customBoxArtAspectRatio": null,
        "screenAspectRatioId": 0,
        "useCustomScreenAspectRatio": false,
        "customScreenAspectRatio": null,
        "retroAchievementsAlias": null,
        "extra": ""
    },
    "playerList": [
        {
            "name": "android - activity component player",
            "description": "Android activity component player",
            "acceptedFilenameRegex": "^$",
            "amStartArguments": "-n {android.activity}\n",
            "killPackageProcesses": false,
            "killPackageProcessesWarning": true,
            "extra": ""
        }
    ]
}

Open Daijishou > Settings > (Under All settings) Library > Import Platform > Select the Android.json file.

Now go to the Android Platform > Path > Sync

Note: It is not an official platform and you can flag whether an app is a game or not if you go to daijisho apps section and then long press on an app and mark it as a game/not a game. It will show up in this android platform after syncing. By default the emulators themselves will likely be wrongly flagged as games.

How to fix Dolphin GameCube controller button mappings and keep them from being overwritten by RetroBat or Emulation Station

Gaming, , , , , , , , , , , ,

RetroBat and Emulation Station do a great job of mapping controller buttons straight out of the box but sometimes these settings do not map correctly onto specific emulators.

Dolphin’s GameCube is one such emulator that seems to get the buttons jumbled.

If you have ever tried to fix the button mappings via Dolphin directly you might have been frustrated that your manual settings have not stuck as next time you run a game you are back to the same wrong button layout.

This is because RetroBat or Emulation Stations front-end settings take precedence over the individual emulator settings, i.e. the expectation is you will set the emulator settings via these front-ends not in the emulators individually. Mostly this works great however some of the more detailed settings cannot be set via the front-ends and the front-ends overwrite the emulators with incorrect default settings.

To solve the GameCube button mapping problem do the following:

Open Dolphin directly, there are various means to achieve this one being via the RetroBat settings.

Click on the Controller icon.

For each port (controller you have connected) click on the “Configure” icon.

In the “Device” drop down select your controller.

In the GameCube Controller options set the buttons as follows:

For a PlayStation controller:

A : Cross

B : Square

X : Circle

Y : Triangle

Z : R1

Start: Start (Options)

For a XBox controller:

A : A

B : X

X : B

Y : Y

Z : Right Bumper

Start: Start

Now save the settings as a profile.

Reopen RetroBat/Emulation Station and press Start on your controller.

From the Main Menu:

Game Settings > Per System Advanced Configuration > GameCube > Autoconfigure Controllers = “OFF”

This should resolve the problem going forward.

PlayStation 1 not showing up as an option in “Consoles” Tab of GarlicOS

Gaming, GarlicOS, OS, RG35XX, , , , , , , , , ,

If you have populated your RG35XX PS folder with games yet GarlicOS has not presented PlayStation as a console option this is likely due to GarlicOS not having the functionality to read sub folders and that your games each have dedicated folders. For GarlicOS to see your games all your games must be directly in the console folder.

However typically PS games are in .bin format and are saved in folders because even single disk games will have at least two associated files i.e. the .bin files and the .cue file. For multi disk games, where there is a .bin file and a .cue file for each disk, and potentially a .m3u file to handle multi disk operation, the problem is exacerbated.

One solution would be to convert your PS games to the .chd format. Converting the PS “disks”, i.e. pairs of .cue and .bin files to the .chd format will result in a single file per disk which is also compressed taking up much less space.

To convert “disks” to .chd download the zip of the software “CHDMAN” below:

https://archive.org/details/chdman

Unzipping the file will create a folder CHDMAN.

In this folder open the batch file called “Cue or GDI to CHD” with a text editor and replace the line:

for /r %%i in (*.cue, *.gdi) do chdman createcd -i “%%i” -o “%%~ni.chd”

with:

for /r %%i in (*.cue, *.gdi, *.iso) do chdman createcd -i “%%i” -o “%%~ni.chd”

This update allows the batch file to work with ISO files too.

Now to convert “disks” simply drag and drop the .cue and .bin files into the CHDMAN folder and then double click the batch file “Cue or GDI to CHD” to run it.

This will produce a single .chd file you can then save to the PS folder of your GarlicOS games directory.

An Icon for a Playstation controller

Do PS4 controllers work with the PS3 console?

Gaming, , , , , ,

No!!!

No they do not!!!

If my car only drove in reverse and started 80% of the time would you consider that “working”?

Certainly not if I was trying to convince you to buy the car at full market price. You wouldn’t consider it working because it has partial functionality paired with unreliability. And that describes the PS4 controller connected to a PS3 console.

Unfortunately there’s a plethora of videos on YouTube hosted by snot-nosed teens demonstrating PS4 controllers “working” on the PS3 console. They’re not faking it they really are controlling the games with the PS4 controller but that’s not the whole story.

What they typically forget to mention is that the PS button doesn’t work. You’re probably thinking that just means you can’t wake the PlayStation with the controller. That’s no big deal though right? No oddly that’s the only thing the PS button can do. Which suggests that the button can communicate with the console but after that, possibly deliberately, it has no functionality. Without the PS button you can’t enter the controller settings, you can’t turn the console off, you can’t exit a game once you’ve entered it, and there’s no guarantee all the other controller buttons will work as expected once you’re in a game. Some games won’t let you in at all.

For example “The Orange Box” Valve’s collection of Half Life, Portal and Team Fortress 2 on a single disk actually checks what controller you’re using when the game loads. Seems like a strange thing to check. I don’t know why they care? Anyway if the game doesn’t detect a standard PS3 controller you can’t progress. This is ironic considering one of the best ways of connecting a PS4 controller to PC is by using the Steam platform by Valve, there’s no native way to do it via Windows. If you’re thinking that’s fine I’ll progress to the in-game levels with a PS3 controller and then reassign that controller as the second controller, well that doesn’t work. The PS4 controller won’t take over as the first controller and you can’t change it manually because . . . you guessed it, you can’t bring up the controller settings on the PS4 controller because the PS button doesn’t work.

So in summary if you want to use a PS4 controller you’ll likely need to have at least a partially functioning PS3 controller to use with it, but even then some games may not work at all. If you’ve no controller and need one for the PS3 (they don’t make them anymore) you’ll have to buy used or a high quality clone (and that’s a whole other mess).

Maybe someday Sony will be cool and release a software update for the PS3 console that will allow the PS4 controller to work with it. Comment below what you think that chances of that happening are.

☮

How to use a generic PC controller with GTA 5

Gaming, System, , , , , , , , , , ,

So you plugged in the cheap PC controller you bought off eBay or Amazon (say one that is coincidentally shaped like an Xbox controller) and found it doesn’t work with GTA 5?

This is probably because the controller is using the DirectInput standard as opposed to the newer XInput standard. You can read more about these standards from Microsoft by clinking on this link.

GTA 5 (or GTA V if you’re feeling fancy) was not optimised to use the DirectInput standard unfortunately. However if you’re playing the game on PC you should be using a keyboard and mouse like a grown-up anyway, it’s way better for shooters. Ah but GTA isn’t all about the shooting I hear you say and you’re right. I’ll admit I switch to a controller for flying vehciles because they are horrible to pilot with direction keys. Analogue sticks are much better suited to aircraft.

So the workaround for being able to use the cheap generic controller is quite simple but requires using an “Xbox 360 Controller Emulator”.

Download the file x360ce_x64 from the following site by clicking on the “download for 64 bit games” button at the top of the screen.

https://www.x360ce.com/

(Be sure to test the downloaded file with whatever antivirus software you have installed)

Once you are satisfied the software is safe extract the file to the root directory of where you installed GTA 5.

(If you do not know where that folder is try searching GTAV in your Windows search bar. Note a folder called GTA V is often created in the Documents folder but this is not the correct directory.  The correct directory will have application files with the GTAV logo in it. The game maybe in a Rockstar folder or perhaps a Steam or Epic folder, it all depends on who you bought it from.)

Right click on x360ce_x64 and run the file as administrator and you should be given an option button to “Create”.

Click this button and a Xbox controller calibration window will open.

At this point if your controller has a large circular button at its center press it and make sure it lights up otherwise it may not send the right signals when the controller is being mapped.

Click “Auto” and then “Save”.

I found the A, B, X and Y face buttons were not mapped correctly and needed to be mapped manually.

To do this, beside each face button on the emulator interface there is a drop down menu. Click on it for each button and choose the option to record. The interface will highlight which button to press on your controller to map it correctly. Once the buttons are mapped correctly click “Save” again.

After following these steps you should now be able to play GTA V with the controller.

How to fix the right analog stick of a generic PC controller for Fifa Online 3

Gaming, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fifa Online 3 is a free version of Fifa that is popular in Asia as an esport title. The gameplay and visuals are a little dated but it’s still a solid experience at a great price. You won’t make it through the tutorials however if you are using a cheap generic PC controller (say one that is coincidentally shaped like an xbox controller) as you won’t be able to save penalties. This is because the right analog stick may not be recognised.

The fix is quite simple.

Download the file x360ce from the following site by clicking on the “download for 32 bit games” button at the top of the screen.

https://www.x360ce.com/

(Be sure to test the downloaded file with whatever antivirus software you have installed)

Once you are satisfied the software is safe extract the file to the root directory of where you installed the game. (Note: the game directory will probably not be called Fifa etc. it will likely be a series of numbers)

Open the file and you should be given an option button to “Create”.

Click this button and a Xbox controller calibration window will open.

Click “Auto” and then “Save”, and that should do it.

See the video below for a more visual guide, just don’t download the 64 bit file.

How to fix winhiip writing to hard drive problem

Gaming, Hardware, OS, , , , , , , , , ,

If you are trying to format a hard drive to be used by a PlayStation 2 you’ve probably already come across excellent content like the video below and the necessary tools to do the job.

 

However you might, like me, run into the problem of winhiip not being able to right to the drive which will prevent it from formatting the drive correctly.

To resolve this problem you will need to manipulate the drive in Windows “Disk Management”.

Open Disk Management (to open type disk management in Windows search and hit enter)

Find the reference to disk you want to fix and if it has not already been formatted follow these steps:

  • Initialize the disk. (If not already initialized)
  • Right click the Unallocated Space on the disk and click New Simple Volume.
  • Proceed through the New Volume Wizard, setting the Volume size to the maximum disk space and formatting the drive under the NTFS file system. (Only a quick format is needed)
  • Wait for the drive to finish formatting, then right click the healthy partition you just made and click Delete Volume.
  • Open WinHIIP and click Select Drive, then select your drive. Press OK to all errors that pop up upon loading the drive.

At this point you should be able to write to the drive with no problems.