ARMSX1 0.1.1

ARMSX1 0.1.1

Fixed an empty library on a fresh install. ARMSX1 needs "All files access" to read a game folder, but only ever asked for it if you picked a custom app data folder, so anyone who skipped that step ended up with no games listed, wherever their ROMs were. Adding a game folder now asks at the point it's needed.

Fixed the BIOS you pick during first-time setup not being saved. The wizard said it worked, but the emulator never received it, so every game refused to start with "No BIOS could be resolved". Picking a BIOS from Settings always worked, this only affected first-time setup.

The BIOS picker now checks a file really is a PlayStation 1 BIOS. It used to accept anything roughly the right size, so pointing it at a PS2 BIOS folder appeared to succeed and then failed to boot with no explanation.

Skip BIOS is now off by default, it breaks some games. Turn it on in Settings if you want to skip the startup animation.

PBP support

New: Settings --> App --> "Download cover art" fetches box art for your whole library at once and keeps it on disk, so covers appear immediately and work offline.

CHD games now show their real cover art. ARMSX1 couldn't read the disc serial out of a compressed .chd, and the serial is what art is looked up by, so most CHD libraries showed blank tiles. The serial is now read with the same disc reader that plays the game, so a .chd identifies itself exactly like a .bin or .cue. This also gives CHDs RetroAchievements identification, play-time tracking and per-game settings.

ARMSX1 0.1 Android

A new PlayStation 1 emulator for Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Linux, Web, PSVita, and more! built on @allkern psxe core with a completely new Android frontend. A first early release, keep in mind this emulator is NEW and experimental, and may not be "perfect". The goal was to offer an open source PS1 emulator that can be built up over time, similar to ARMSX2.

Interface:

Brand-new interface built in Jetpack Compose, shared with ARMSX2
Library with grid and shelf views, automatic cover art, and folder support
Themes, accent colours and custom backgrounds
Guided first-run setup for BIOS and game folders
On-screen touch layout editor, move, resize and restyle every control
Memory card manager and in-app keyboard
Live language switching, no restart needed
Detailed on-screen display: FPS, CPU/GPU load, frame timing, DMA, SPU and more

Done by @jpolo1224

Graphics

Hardware rasteriser with internal resolution upscaling up to 8×
OpenGL ES and Vulkan presentation paths, GLES is the default
PGXP (experimental) to reduce the PlayStation's polygon wobble
Aspect ratio options including a fully custom mode, plus a widescreen hack
Texture replacement, load your own upscaled textures
Fixed visible seams along polygon edges when upscaling
Custom GPU drivers, load custom Vulkan drivers (Turnip and friends) via adrenotools

Done by @jpolo1224

Shaders: librashader support for RetroArch shader presets including CRT filters, with full parameter editing and your own saved presets @jpolo1224

RetroAchievements: sign in and earn achievements, with profile, stats and unlock notifications in game @jpolo1224 (no hardcore for now, emulator is still new).

Extras

Save states with thumbnails, plus a warning when a save state and memory card have drifted out of sync @jpolo1224

Cheats (GameShark .cht), per game @jpolo1224

Full physical controller support with remappable buttons and sticks @jpolo1224

Skip BIOS for faster boots @jpolo1224

Fast-forward with its own audio and speed settings @jpolo1224

Discord Rich Presence @jpolo1224

And more! Explore the emulator to see what else is new.

Emulation accuracy, many games fixed by getting the hardware details right:

Audio now runs on the correct clock, fixes missing/broken sound in Metal Gear Solid, including alert and sentry effects
Corrected the GPU's drawing-offset readback, fixes clipped graphics in Xenogears battles
Five CD-ROM fixes covering seeking, streaming audio and read timing
Fixed controller and memory card input dropping out on shared-bus reads (Spyro and others)
Corrected unaligned stores, GPU status and register readbacks, video mode reporting, DMA interrupts, and SPU register widths
Whole-program optimisation (PGO) for better performance across the board

All done by @jpolo1224

Known issues: the widescreen hack changes the 3D projection, so some games (notably Crash Bandicoot) stop drawing scenery at the screen edges. It's off by default, turn it off if you see missing geometry on the left and right.

Cached Interpreter for better performance (done by @momo-AUX1)

All other platform compatibility (iOS,Mac, Windows, Xbox, PS Vita, etc) done by @momo-AUX1 and @allkern

Licence: ARMSX1 is free and open source under the LGPL-3.0.

Credits

@allkern (Lisandro Alarcón): original PlayStation 1 emulator core, psxe
@momo-AUX1: cached interpreter and cross-platform compatibility
@jpolo1224: everything else @momo-AUX1 will be the lead developer of this project going forward, I've been helping out, and will continue to help out where and when I can.