CD (Beetle PCE)¶

Background¶

A PC Engine (PCE) core forked from Mednafen's PCE-Accurate emulator, this core is a bit slower than the Fast core, but it is also more accurate, with support for a few extra games that are broken on the Fast core. In addition to PCE, PCE-CD, TurboGrafx 16 and TurboGrafx 16 CD, this core also differs from the Fast version in its support for the SuperGrafx console.

The Beetle PCE core has been authored by

Mednafen Team

The Beetle PCE core is licensed under

GPLv2

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

Extensions¶

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

.pce
.sgx
.cue
.ccd
.chd
.toc
.m3u

RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the Beetle PCE core:

Features¶

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

Feature	Supported
States	✔
Rewind	✔
Netplay	✔
Core Options	✔

Directories¶

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

Core options¶

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

Video¶

Configure aspect ratio, display cropping and other image output parameters.

Color Palette [pce_palette] (RGB|Composite)

Composite tries to recreate the original console output and can show more details in some games.
Aspect Ratio [pce_aspect_ratio] (Auto|6:5|4:3|Uncorrected)

Choose the preferred content aspect ratio. This will only apply when RetroArch's aspect ratio is set to 'Core provided' in the Video settings.
Resolution Scaling [pce_scaling] (Auto|Low Resolution|High Resolution)

'Auto' will allow the resolution to change. 'Low Resolution' can crush pixels. 'High Resolution' will stay on the maximum width.
High Resolution Blending Strength [pce_hires_blend] (disabled|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8)

Blend pixels together when in High Resolution mode. Higher values will blur the picture more.
Show Horizontal Overscan [pce_h_overscan] (Auto|disabled|enabled)

'Auto' will try to adapt to games, cropping empty areas.
Initial Scanline [pce_initial_scanline] (0|1|2|3 (Default)|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40)

First rendered scanline. Higher values will crop the top of the image.
Last Scanline [pce_last_scanline] (208|209|210|211|212|213|214|215|216|217|218|219|220|221|222|223|224|225|226|227|228|229|230|231|232|233|234|235|236|237|238|239|240|241|242 (Default))

Last rendered scanline. Lower values will crop the bottom of the image.

Audio¶

Configure emulated audio devices.

PSG Audio Chip (Restart Required) [pce_psgrevision] (HuC6280|HuC6280A|Auto)

HuC6280 represents the original PC Engine, HuC6280A the SuperGrafx and CoreGrafx I.
Owl Resampler Quality [pce_resamp_quality] (0|1|2|3 (Default)|4|5|6)

Higher values give better signal-to-noise ratio and preservation of higher frequencies but increase the computation cost and may cause higher latency and clipping if the volume is set too high.
Show Advanced Input/Turbo Settings [pce_show_advanced_input_settings] (enabled|disabled)

Show Multitap, Mouse, Turbo Buttons and advanced parameters. NOTE: You may need to go back in game and re-enter the menu to refresh the list.

Input¶

Configure light gun, mouse and controller input.

Mouse Sensitivity [pce_mouse_sensitivity] (0.125|0.250|0.375|0.500|0.625|0.750|0.875|1.000|1.125|1.25|1.50|1.75|2.00|2.25|2.50|2.75|3.00|3.25|3.50|3.75|4.00|4.25|4.50|4.75|5.00)

Higher values will make the mouse cursor move faster.
Allow Opposing Directions [pce_up_down_allowed] (disabled|enabled)

Enabling this will allow pressing / quickly alternating / holding both left and right (or up and down) directions at the same time. This may cause movement-based glitches.
Disable Soft Reset (RUN+SELECT) [pce_disable_softreset] (disabled|enabled)

When RUN and SELECT are pressed simultaneously, disable both buttons temporarily instead of resetting.
Multitap 5-port Controller [pce_multitap] (enabled|disabled)

Enable up to 5-player multitap emulation. Disabling this is only needed in some cases (e.g. Cho Aniki).
P1 Default Joypad Type [pce_default_joypad_type_p1] (2 Buttons|6 Buttons)

Choose if port 1 joypad should be 2 or 6 buttons by default. This option is only applied when the core starts, if you want to switch while content is running, use the 'Mode Switch' button. NOTE: 6 buttons joypad can have weird behaviors in non compatible games.
P2 Default Joypad Type [pce_default_joypad_type_p2] (2 Buttons|6 Buttons)

Choose if port 2 joypad should be 2 or 6 buttons by default. This option is only applied when the core starts, if you want to switch while content is running, use the 'Mode Switch' button. NOTE: 6 buttons joypad can have weird behaviors in non compatible games.
P3 Default Joypad Type [pce_default_joypad_type_p3] (2 Buttons|6 Buttons)

Choose if port 3 joypad should be 2 or 6 buttons by default. This option is only applied when the core starts, if you want to switch while content is running, use the 'Mode Switch' button. NOTE: 6 buttons joypad can have weird behaviors in non compatible games.
P4 Default Joypad Type [pce_default_joypad_type_p4] (2 Buttons|6 Buttons)

Choose if port 4 joypad should be 2 or 6 buttons by default. This option is only applied when the core starts, if you want to switch while content is running, use the 'Mode Switch' button. NOTE: 6 buttons joypad can have weird behaviors in non compatible games.
P5 Default Joypad Type [pce_default_joypad_type_p5] (2 Buttons|6 Buttons)

Choose if port 5 joypad should be 2 or 6 buttons by default. This option is only applied when the core starts, if you want to switch while content is running, use the 'Mode Switch' button. NOTE: 6 buttons joypad can have weird behaviors in non compatible games.
Turbo Hotkey Mode [pce_Turbo_Toggling] (disabled|Toggle|Dedicated)

Enable turbo buttons. Hotkeys (buttons III and IV) can behave as either toggle switches or dedicated (hold to use) turbo buttons.
Alternate Turbo Hotkey [pce_turbo_toggle_hotkey] (disabled|enabled)

Assign RetroPad's L3/R3 buttons as turbo hotkeys instead of buttons III and IV. Works only in 'Toggle' mode and only as long as nothing is assigned to the L3/R3 buttons. You can avoid remapping buttons III and IV when switching to 6-button controller mode with this.
Turbo Speed [pce_Turbo_Delay] (Fast|Medium|Slow)

Choose how fast button presses are repeated.
P1 Turbo I [pce_p0_turbo_I_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P1 Turbo II [pce_p0_turbo_II_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P2 Turbo I [pce_p1_turbo_I_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P2 Turbo II [pce_p1_turbo_II_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P3 Turbo I [pce_p2_turbo_I_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P3 Turbo II [pce_p2_turbo_II_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P4 Turbo I [pce_p3_turbo_I_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P4 Turbo II [pce_p3_turbo_II_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P5 Turbo I [pce_p4_turbo_I_enable] (disabled|enabled)
P5 Turbo II [pce_p4_turbo_II_enable] (disabled|enabled)

PC Engine CD¶

Configure settings related to the PC Engine CD emulation.

CD Image Cache (Restart Required) [pce_cdimagecache] (disabled|enabled)

Load the complete image into memory at startup. Can potentially decrease loading times at the cost of an increased startup time.
CD Bios (Restart Required) [pce_cdbios] (Games Express|System Card 1|System Card 2|System Card 3|System Card 2 US|System Card 3 US)

Most games can run on 'System Card 3'. 'Games Express' is needed for several unlicensed games.
Arcade Card (Restart Required) [pce_arcadecard] (enabled|disabled)

Leave this option enabled to allow enhanced modes of ACD-enhanced SCD games.
CD Speed [pce_cdspeed] (1|2|4|8)

Higher values enable faster loading times but can cause issues with a couple of games.
ADPCM precision [pce_adpcmextraprec] (10-bit|12-bit)

Full precision of 12-bits for the MSM5205 ADPCM predictor can reduce whining noise during ADPCM playback.
ADPCM Volume % [pce_adpcmvolume] (0 to 200 in steps of 10, 100)

Setting this volume control too high may cause sample clipping.
CDDA Volume % [pce_cddavolume] (0 to 200 in steps of 10, 100)

Setting this volume control too high may cause sample clipping.
CD PSG Volume % [pce_cdpsgvolume] (0 to 200 in steps of 10, 100)

Setting this volume control too high may cause sample clipping.

Emulation Hacks¶

Configure processor overclocking and emulation accuracy parameters affecting low-level performance and compatibility.

No Sprite Limit [pce_nospritelimit] (disabled|enabled)

Remove 16-sprites-per-scanline hardware limit. WARNING: May cause graphics glitching on some games (such as Bloody Wolf).
CPU Overclock Multiplier [pce_ocmultiplier] (1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|20|30|40|50)

Higher values can reduce slowdowns in games. WARNING: Can cause glitches and crashes.

Controllers¶

The Beetle PCE core supports 5 port(s). Each can be set to one of the following device types:

PCE Joypad
PCE Mouse