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NEC - PC Engine / CD (Beetle PCE FAST)

Background

Beetle/Mednafen PCE FAST is a libretro port of Mednafen PCE Fast with the PC Engine SuperGrafx module removed.

The Beetle PCE FAST core has been authored by

The Beetle PCE FAST core is licensed under

A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.

BIOS

Required or optional firmware files go in RetroArch's system directory.

Which PCE CD BIOS file the Beetle PCE FAST core will use can be configured by the 'CD BIOS' core option.

Any CD-ROM System BIOS will work, but some of them are known to be incompatible with certain games.

Filename Description md5sum
syscard3.pce Super CD-ROM2 System V3.xx - Required 38179df8f4ac870017db21ebcbf53114
syscard2.pce CD-ROM System V2.xx - Optional
syscard1.pce CD-ROM System V1.xx - Optional
gexpress.pce Game Express CD Card - Optional

Extensions

Content that can be loaded by the Beetle PCE FAST core have the following file extensions:

  • .pce
  • .cue
  • .ccd
  • .iso
  • .img
  • .bin
  • .chd

RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the [Core name] core:

Features

Frontend-level settings or features that the Beetle PCE FAST core respects.

Feature Supported
Restart
Saves
States
Rewind
Netplay
Core Options
RetroAchievements
RetroArch Cheats
Native Cheats
Controls
Remapping
Multi-Mouse
Rumble
Sensors
Camera
Location
Subsystem
Softpatching
Disk Control
Username
Language
Crop Overscan
LEDs

Directories

The Beetle PCE FAST core's library name is 'Beetle PCE Fast'

The Beetle PCE FAST core saves/loads to/from these directories.

Frontend's Save directory

File Description
*.srm Save

Frontend's State directory

File Description
*.state# State

Geometry and timing

  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's core provided FPS is 59.82
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's core provided sample rate is 44100 Hz
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's base width is 512
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's base height is 243
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's max width is 512
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's max height is 243
  • The Beetle PCE FAST core's core provided aspect ratio is 6/5

Loading PC Engine CD content

To load PC Engine CD content, Beetle PCE FAST needs a cue-sheet that points to an image file. A cue sheet, or cue file, is a metadata file which describes how the tracks of a CD or DVD are laid out.

If you have e.g. foo.bin, you should create a text file and save it as foo.cue. If you're playing a single-track Saturn game, then the cue file contents should look like this:

foobin.cue

 FILE "foo.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
   INDEX 01 00:00:00

After that, you can load the foo.cue file in RetroArch with the Beetle PCE FAST core.

Certain PC Engine content are multi-track, so their .cue files might be more complicated.

ISO + OGG and ISO + WAV format games are supported, but they require a properly formatted cue sheet. For iso files, tracks should be denoted as BINARY, for ogg files, they should be denoted as OGG, and for wav files, they should be denoted as WAVE.

CHD

Alternatively to using cue sheets with .bin/.iso files, you can convert your games to .chd (MAME Compressed Hunks of Data) to reduce file sizes and neaten up your game folder.

To convert content to CHD format, use the chdman tool found inside the latest MAME distribution and point it to a .cue file, like so:

chdman createcd --input foo.cue --output foo.chd

Core options

The Beetle PCE FAST core has the following option(s) that can be tweaked from the core options menu. The default setting is bolded.

Settings with (Restart) means that core has to be closed for the new setting to be applied on next launch.

  • CD Image Cache (Restart) [pce_fast_cdimagecache] (disabled/enabled)

    Loads the complete image in memory at startup. Can potentially decrease loading times at the cost of increased startup time.

  • CD Bios (Restart) [pce_fast_cdbios] (System Card 3/Games Express/System Card 1/System Card 2)

    Select which PC Engine CD BIOS to use.

  • No Sprite Limit (Restart) [pce_nospritelimit] (disabled/enabled")

    Remove 16-sprites-per-scanline hardware limit.

  • CPU Overclock Multiplier (Restart) [pce_ocmultiplier] (1/⅔/⅘/6/⅞/9/10/20/30/40/50)

    Overclock the emulated CPU.

  • Horizontal Overscan (352 Width Mode Only) [pce_hoverscan] (300 to 352 in increments of 2. 352 in default.)

    Modify the horizontal overscan.

  • Initial scanline [pce_initial_scanline] (0 to 40 in increments of 1. 3 is default.)

    Adjust initial display scanline.

  • Last scanline [pce_last_scanline] (208 to 242 in increments of 1. 242 is default.)

    Adjust last display scanline.

  • (CD) CDDA Volume % [pce_cddavolume] (0 to 200 in increments of 10. 100 is default.)

    Adjust CDDA Volume %.

  • (CD) ADPCM Volume % [pce_adpcmvolume] (0 to 200 in increments of 10. 100 is default.)

    Adjust ADPCM Volume %.

  • (CD) CD PSG Volume % [pce_cdpsgvolume] (0 to 200 in increments of 10. 100 is default.)

    Adjust CD PSG Volume %.

  • (CD) CD Speed [pce_cdspeed] (1/2/4/8)

    Set the speed of the emulated CD drive.

  • Turbo Delay [pce_Turbo_Delay] (Fast/Medium/Slow)

    Adjust turbo delay.

  • Turbo ON/OFF Toggle [pce_Turbo_Toggling] (disabled/enabled)

    Enables Turbo ON/OFF inputs.

    Look at the Joypad section for more information.

  • Alternate Turbo Hotkey [pce_turbo_toggle_hotkey] (disabled/enabled)

    Enables Alternate Turbo ON/OFF inputs.

    You can avoid remapping Button III and IV when switching to 6-button gamepad mode with this.

    Look at the Joypad section for more information.

  • P1 Turbo I [pce_p0_turbo_I_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P1 Turbo II [pce_p0_turbo_II_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P2 Turbo I [pce_p1_turbo_I_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P2 Turbo II [pce_p1_turbo_II_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P3 Turbo I [pce_p2_turbo_I_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P3 Turbo II [pce_p2_turbo_II_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P4 Turbo I [pce_p3_turbo_I_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P4 Turbo II [pce_p3_turbo_II_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P5 Turbo I [pce_p4_turbo_I_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

  • P5 Turbo II [pce_p4_turbo_II_enable] (disabled/enabled)

    Awaiting description.

User 1 - 2 device types

The Beetle PCE FAST core supports the following device type(s) in the controls menu, bolded device types are the default for the specified user(s):

  • None - Doesn't disable input.
  • PCE Joypad - Joypad
  • Mouse - Mouse

Joypad

RetroPad Inputs User 1 - 5 input descriptors PCE Joypad 2-button PCE Joypad 6-button
II II II
III II Turbo On/Off III
Select Select Select
Run Run Run
D-Pad Up D-Pad Up D-Pad Up
D-Pad Down D-Pad Down D-Pad Down
D-Pad Left D-Pad Left D-Pad Left
D-Pad Right D-Pad Right D-Pad Right
I I I
IV I Turbo On/Off IV
V V
VI VI
Mode Switch Mode Switch Mode Switch
Alternate II Turbo On/Off
Alternate I Turbo On/Off

Mouse

RetroMouse Inputs Mouse
Mouse Cursor Mouse Cursor
Mouse 1 Mouse Left Button
Mouse 2 Mouse Right Button

TG-16