Libretro Core

Libretro Core

Amiberry also builds as a libretro core for RetroArch-compatible frontends. This page covers core-specific loading behavior; controller hotkeys are documented separately in RetroArch Commands.

Content types

The core advertises these loadable extensions to the frontend:

adf, adz, dms, fdi, raw, ipf, hdf, hdz, lha, lzh, zip, 7z, uae, rp9, m3u, m3u8, iso, cue, ccd, nrg, mds, chd

Recent builds support direct 7z disk loading through the libretro path as well as the standalone file browsers.

WHDLoad

WHDLoad .lha content can be loaded directly by the core. The core uses the frontend save directory for writable data, and prepares the WHDLoad save folders there.

Make sure the required WHDLoad boot files are available in the frontend system directory or bundled with the core package. The core checks the frontend system and save directories when setting up the Amiberry runtime paths.

Kickstart ROMs and rom.key

Put Kickstart ROMs where your frontend exposes them as the libretro system directory. The core also checks common Kickstarts and whdboot/save-data/Kickstarts subdirectories under the frontend system/save paths.

If your licensed ROM set uses Cloanto encryption, place rom.key alongside the ROMs. Current builds include rom.key in the libretro ROM scan so encrypted ROMs can be detected without a separate manual step.

Paths

The core maps the frontend save directory to AMIBERRY_HOME_DIR so writable Amiberry files stay under the frontend-managed save area. If the frontend does not provide a save directory, the core falls back to the system directory when possible.

Standalone path overrides from amiberry.conf are ignored in libretro builds, because host paths must stay derived from the frontend-provided directories.