Microsoft - Xbox 360 (Xenia Edge)¶

Background¶

A port of Xenia Edge, an Xbox 360 emulator, to libretro. The emulator is upstream's: the core follows xenia-edge and reports upstream's version. It is experimental.

The core is built for Linux (x86_64, arm64), Windows (x64), macOS (Apple Silicon) and Android (arm64-v8a, x86_64). There is no build for Intel Macs: the x64 CPU backend needs the address space below 4 GB, which a core loaded into a frontend cannot free.

The Xenia Edge core has been authored by

Xenia team
has207 (Xenia Edge)
WizzardSK

The Xenia Edge core is licensed under

BSD

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

Requirements¶

A 64-bit CPU and a GPU with Vulkan 1.1 support, or Direct3D 12 on Windows. The Graphics API core option picks Xenia's GPU backend. The core asks the frontend for that kind of context, and RetroArch switches its video driver to match when it is allowed to (Settings > Video > Output); otherwise set the video driver to vulkan (or d3d12) yourself.

On Windows the core needs the Visual C++ 2015-2022 runtime. Direct3D 12 runs on the system's Direct3D 12 runtime.
On Linux the core needs glibc 2.35 or newer.

BIOS¶

The Xenia Edge core does not need any BIOS or firmware.

Extensions¶

Content that can be loaded by the Xenia Edge core have the following file extensions:

.iso
.xex
.zar
.xcp
.m3u

A game is loaded as a disc image (.iso), as its executable (.xex) from an extracted game, or as a .zar or .xcp package. For a game on several discs, an .m3u playlist lists its disc images, one per line and relative to the playlist's folder, and the discs are changed with the frontend's disc control.

Setup¶

Everything the core keeps is in a Xenia-Edge folder in RetroArch's system directory:

retroarch/
└── system/
    └── Xenia-Edge/
        ├── content/              (saves, title updates and DLC, laid out as in standalone Xenia)
        ├── cache/                (shader and other caches)
        ├── xbl_profilename.txt   (name of the profile the core creates)
        └── xenia.log             (Xenia's own log)

Title updates and DLC are used from content/, where standalone Xenia keeps them. The Apply Title Updates core option turns updates off.
Games that need a signed-in profile get one: the core signs in the first profile under content/, or creates one when there is none. The new profile is named after the first line of xbl_profilename.txt ("Player" when the file is missing, and the core then writes it).
Errors and warnings from xenia.log also appear in RetroArch's log.

Features¶

Frontend-level settings or features that the Xenia Edge core respects.

Feature	Supported
Restart	✔
Screenshots	✔
Saves	✕
States	✕
Rewind	✕
Netplay	✕
Core Options	✔
Memory Monitoring (achievements)	✕
RetroArch Cheats	✕
Native Cheats	✕
Controls	✔
Remapping	✔
Multi-Mouse	✕
Rumble	✔
Sensors	✕
Camera	✕
Location	✕
Subsystem	✕
Softpatching	✕
Disk Control	✔
Username	✕
Language	✕
Crop Overscan	✕
LEDs	✕

Games save to the emulated console's storage (content/), not to RetroArch save files. Save states are not supported.

Directories¶

The Xenia Edge core's library name is 'Xenia Edge'.

Frontend's System directory

Xenia-Edge/ (saves, title updates, DLC, caches, xenia.log)

Core options¶

The Xenia Edge core has the following option(s) that can be tweaked from the core options menu. The default setting is bolded. Direct3D 12 is offered by Graphics API on Windows only.

Graphics Settings¶

Graphics API (Restart) [xenia_graphics_api] (Vulkan|Direct3D 12)

The GPU backend Xenia emulates the Xbox 360 GPU with, and the context the core asks RetroArch for: RetroArch changes its video driver to match when it is allowed to (Settings > Video > Output). Applies when the content is loaded again.
Render Target Path [xenia_render_target_path] (Performance|Accuracy)

Select render target emulation mode. Performance: host render targets with fixed-function blending. Accuracy: pixel shader interlock / rasterizer-ordered views.
Draw Resolution Scale (Restart) [xenia_draw_resolution_scale] (1x (Native 720p)|2x (1440p)|3x (2160p/4K)|4x|5x|6x|7x|8x)

Scale the internal rendering resolution. Higher values improve image quality but require more GPU power. Requires restart.
Anisotropic Filtering [xenia_anisotropic_filtering] (Default (Game)|Off|2x|4x|8x|16x)

Override anisotropic filtering level for all textures. 'Default' uses the game's own settings.
Async Shader Compilation [xenia_async_shader_compilation] (ON|OFF)

Compile shaders in background threads. Reduces stutter but may cause brief rendering artifacts.
Readback Resolve [xenia_readback_resolve] (ON|OFF)

Copy render-to-texture output back into guest RAM when the CPU accesses it. Off breaks games that read it back.
Store Shaders [xenia_store_shaders] (ON|OFF)

Store compiled shaders persistently to avoid recompilation stutter on subsequent runs.
Half-Pixel Offset [xenia_half_pixel_offset] (ON|OFF)

Enable D3D9-style half-pixel offset. Correct for most games. Disable if you see shifted/blurry rendering.
Allow Invalid Fetch Constants [xenia_gpu_allow_invalid_fetch_constants] (ON|OFF)

Allow texture/vertex fetch constants with invalid type. May fix crashes in some games but is generally unsafe.
Fuzzy Alpha Epsilon (NVIDIA Fix) [xenia_use_fuzzy_alpha_epsilon] (OFF|ON)

Use approximate alpha comparison to prevent flickering on NVIDIA GPUs.
Emulated Display Refresh Rate [xenia_display_refresh] (NTSC (60Hz)|PAL (50Hz))

The refresh rate of the TV the game thinks it is on, as standalone's option. NTSC (60 Hz) is the console's. PAL (50 Hz) is a PAL TV: games run at 50 frames a second. Unlock Framerate overrides this.
Wait for the Game's Frame [xenia_wait_for_frame] (OFF|ON)

Removes 1 frame of input lag at the possible cost of the game slowing down.
Unlock Framerate [xenia_unlock_framerate] (OFF|Listed games|30 fps games at 60|60 fps games at 120|Uncapped)

Only for games whose logic is not tied to their frame rate, else they run too fast. 30 fps games at 60: two vblanks for each frame RetroArch shows. 60 fps games at 120: the core at 120 frames a second (set RetroArch and the display up for it). Uncapped: vblanks as fast as possible. Listed games: the rate system/Xenia-Edge/xenia_framerate_unlock.txt gives the running game, if it lists it. Can be changed while a game runs.

Video Settings¶

Internal Display Resolution (Restart) [xenia_internal_display_resolution] (640x480|640x576|720x480|720x576|800x600|848x480|1024x768|1152x864|1280x720 (Default)|1280x768|1280x1024|1360x768|1440x900|1680x1050|1920x540|1920x1080)

Allow games that support multiple resolutions to render at a specific resolution. Not all games support this.
Widescreen (16:9) [xenia_widescreen] (16:9 Widescreen|4:3 Standard)

Toggle between 16:9 widescreen and 4:3 standard aspect ratio.
Video Standard [xenia_video_standard] (NTSC|NTSC-J (Japan)|PAL)

Select the video signal standard. Affects region detection.
Display Gamma [xenia_display_gamma] (Linear|sRGB (CRT)|BT.709 (HDTV))

Select display gamma curve. BT.709 (HDTV) is closest to Xbox 360 on a modern display.

Audio Settings¶

Audio Output [xenia_audio_enabled] (ON|OFF)

Enable or disable audio processing and output.
Mute Audio [xenia_mute] (OFF|Enabled (Muted))

Mute all audio output while keeping audio processing active.
Audio Channels (Restart) [xenia_audio_channels] (Stereo|Surround 5.1)

Stereo: the console's 5.1 folded down to two channels. Surround 5.1: all six channels to RetroArch, whose audio output layout then decides between speakers and a fold-down. Needs a RetroArch with multi-channel audio output, else stays stereo.
XMA Decoder (Restart) [xenia_xma_decoder] (New (Default)|Old|Master|Fake (Silence))

Select the XMA audio decoder implementation. Try a different option if audio is broken in a specific game.
Dedicated XMA Thread [xenia_dedicated_xma_thread] (OFF|ON)

Use a dedicated thread for XMA audio decoding. May improve audio performance.
Music Player (XMP) [xenia_enable_xmp] (ON|OFF)

Enable the Xbox Music Player for background music playback.
Music Player Volume [xenia_xmp_default_volume] (0%|10%|20%|30%|40%|50%|60%|70%|80%|90%|100% (Default))

Default music volume if the game doesn't set it.

Emulation Settings¶

Emulation Speed [xenia_time_scalar] (0.25x|0.5x|1.0x (Normal)|2.0x|4.0x)

Control emulation speed. 1.0x is normal speed.
Apply Title Updates [xenia_title_updates] (ON|OFF)

Apply title update patches if available in the content directory.
Apply Game Patches [xenia_apply_patches] (ON|OFF)

Enable custom game patching functionality.
Dialog Notifications [xenia_dialog_notifications] (ON|OFF)

A system dialog a game opens (a message box with buttons) has no window in the core, so the core answers it and shows the dialog's title and the answer given as a notification. Disabled hides those notifications; the dialogs are answered the same, and Xenia's log still records them.
License Mask [xenia_license_mask] (None|Full|All)

Set license mask for activated content (DLC, full version). None: no licenses. Full: first license. All: all licenses.
User Language [xenia_user_language] (English|Japanese|German|French|Spanish|Italian|Korean|Traditional Chinese|Portuguese|Simplified Chinese|Polish|Russian)

Set the emulated console language.
User Country [xenia_user_country] (United States|Great Britain|Japan|Germany|France|Spain|Italy|Australia|Canada|Brazil|Korea|China|Mexico|Netherlands|Russia|Sweden|Poland|Portugal|Taiwan|Hong Kong)

Set the emulated console country/region.

Compatibility Settings¶

Protect Zero Page [xenia_protect_zero] (ON|OFF)

Protect the zero page from reads and writes. Disable if a game crashes on startup.
Clear GPU Memory Page State [xenia_clear_memory_page_state] (OFF|ON)

Refresh state of memory pages for GPU written data. Off by default, as on standalone; some games need it on to render right (Ridge Racer 6, and the others xenia-manager's optimized settings list).
Disable Context Promotion [xenia_disable_context_promotion] (Disabled (Normal)|Enabled (Sports Fix))

Disable context promotion CPU optimization. May be needed for some sports games, but reduces performance.
Mount Cache Partition [xenia_mount_cache] (ON|OFF)

Enable cache partition mount. Required by some games.
Mount Scratch Partition [xenia_mount_scratch] (OFF|ON)

Enable scratch partition mount. Required by some games.
Occlusion Query [xenia_occlusion_query] (Fast|Fake|Fast-alt|Strict)

How occlusion queries (lens flares, culling, auto-exposure) are answered. Fast (default) asks the GPU without waiting; Fake writes a made-up result; Fast-alt keeps cached zero results; Strict waits for the GPU, most accurate.
Occlusion Query Full Counters [xenia_occlusion_query_full_counters] (OFF|ON)

Emulate the ZFail, StencilFail and Total occlusion counters in shaders. Some games need them; costs performance.
Fake Occlusion Lower Threshold [xenia_occlusion_query_fake_lower_threshold] (80|-1|0|1)

Lower end of the fake sample count written when occlusion queries are faked. -1 writes nothing (some games then wait forever).
Fake Occlusion Upper Threshold [xenia_occlusion_query_fake_upper_threshold] (100|0)

Upper end of the fake sample count written when occlusion queries are faked.
Depth Bias Through Shader [xenia_depth_bias_shader_offset] (OFF|ON)

Route decal draws with polygon offset through the shader instead of host depth bias. Fixes z-fighting decals in some games.
Resolution Scale Threshold [xenia_draw_resolution_scale_threshold] (0 (scale all)|256|360|512)

Render targets at or below this pitch in pixels are not upscaled by the resolution scale. Fixes some effects that break when scaled.
Allow Invalid Upload Range [xenia_gpu_allow_invalid_upload_range] (ON|OFF)

Allow games to read data from pages marked as no access.
Gamma Render Target as UNORM16 [xenia_gamma_render_target_as_unorm16] (ON|OFF)

Emulate gamma render targets with 16 bits per component where the host cannot do 8-bit piecewise gamma. Turn off if colors look wrong in a game.
Force Depth Clamp [xenia_force_depth_clamp] (OFF|ON)

Use host depth clamping instead of near and far plane clipping.
Ignore Offset for Ranged Allocations [xenia_ignore_offset_for_ranged_allocations] (OFF|ON)

Ignore the 4 KB offset for physical allocations with a provided range. Needed by a few games.
Break on Unimplemented Instructions [xenia_break_on_unimplemented_instructions] (ON|OFF)

Stop when a game runs a CPU instruction Xenia does not implement. In a core that ends RetroArch; turn off to let such games go on.
Scribble Heap [xenia_scribble_heap] (OFF|ON)

Fill newly allocated heap memory with a value, for games that rely on what is left there.
Scribble Heap Value [xenia_scribble_heap_value] (0 (random)|255)

The value Scribble Heap fills memory with. 0 is random.

Debug Settings¶

Log Level [xenia_log_level] (Error Only|Warning|Info|Debug)

Set the verbosity of logging output.

Controllers¶

Up to four Xbox 360 controllers, one per RetroArch port. Rumble goes through the frontend's rumble interface.

Joypad¶

RetroPad Inputs	Xbox 360 controller
	A
	B
	X
	Y
	Back
	Start
	D-Pad Up
	D-Pad Down
	D-Pad Left
	D-Pad Right
	LB
	RB
	LT
	RT
	Left Stick click
	Right Stick click
	Left stick
	Right stick