RetroPlayer: Getting started Guide

A guide for new users testing the Kodi RetroPlayer feature:

What is RetroPlayer?
Retroplayer is a new Kodi feature that allows you to play old console games using code which emulates the old “retro” games systems.

[Image: sonic_retroplayer.jpg]

Video demo
A quick intro video showing retroplayer running a few games and the new controller configuration menus


.

How do I get it?
Retroplayer is not in the stable “Krypton” release BUT it has been merged into the “Leah” development branch so you can compile it yourself or use one of these test builds:

You can find the latest builds for windows, linux and OSX here.
NOTE: As always with development builds please backup your settings before installing.

What emulators does Kodi support?
Kodi supports many different emulators through the excellent work of the Libretro team, here are a few of the most popular:

– SNES
– NES
– Gameboy
– Atari 2600
– Dreamcast
– Saturn
For a full list see the wiki here: Game_add-ons (wiki)

What controllers does Retroplayer Support?
A lot of code has gone into Kodi to support controllers and joysticks but not many people have submitted their profiles yet so as of now only these controllers are supported “out of the box”. You can of course test other controllers by setting them up.

Code:
Android
======
Shield
Xbox Pad
Sony controller
Xbox 360

Linux
====
8Bitdo_NES30_GamePad
DragonRise Inc. Generic USB Joystick
Dual PSX
Generic X-Box pad
Gravis GamePad Pro
GreenAsia_Inc. USB Joystick
HuiJia USB GamePad
Logitech Gamepad F310
Logitech Logitech Dual Action 12b
Logitech Logitech RumblePad 2
MY-POWER CO. LTD. 2In1
NVIDIA gamepad
PS3 gamepad
Wish Technologies Adaptoid 14b
Xbox 360 wireless
Mayflash GameCube Controller

[todo] include buy links here

How do I play a game?
You will need to posses some game roms first, but there are a fair few open source versions out there to test with. We suggest you test out the freeware roms first included with the build.
NOTE: This is not the appropriate forum to discuss the downloading of copyrighted ROMs that you do not own the rights to, and that such requests would be ignored/etc.

Assuming you have the default Estuary skin, simply click on:

[todo] Add source
[todo] Add rom launching test

How do I show boxart and fanart
Currently this feature is not supported, but will probably work in the same way as other media in kodi. So keeping a fanart.jpg and cover.jpg in the roms folder should eventually work.
A great source of these is this website: http://thegamesdb.net

Testing with the keyboard
You can see the key mappings below if you want to initially test with a keyboard:

Code:
<buttonmap>
    <device name="Keyboard" provider="application" index="1">
        <controller id="game.controller.default">
            <feature name="down" button="129" />
            <feature name="left" button="130" />
            <feature name="right" button="131" />
            <feature name="start" button="13" />
            <feature name="up" button="128" />
        </controller>
        <controller id="game.controller.snes">
            <feature name="a" button="90" />
            <feature name="b" button="210" />
            <feature name="down" button="129" />
            <feature name="left" button="130" />
            <feature name="leftbumper" button="32" />
            <feature name="right" button="131" />
            <feature name="rightbumper" button="88" />
            <feature name="select" button="67" />
            <feature name="start" button="53" />
            <feature name="up" button="128" />
            <feature name="x" button="212" />
            <feature name="y" button="208" />
        </controller>
    </device>
</buttonmap>

[todo] Translate those into real world keyboard buttons!!

How do I configure a new controller?
You can configure any controller by:

Settings >> Games >> Configure Keyboard

[Image: 1jAYN41.png]