Leaf v0.11.0-beta.1 (Tester Build)

Warning

This is a beta test channel, not a public release.
Builds here are provided for testers only. They may be unstable, incomplete, or
change without notice. Do not run them as your everyday setup, and please do not
redistribute them. For a stable, supported version, install the latest release
from the main Leaf repo:
https://github.com/Utility-Muffin-Research-Kitchen/Leaf/releases/latest

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What's new in v0.11.0-beta.1

This beta introduces Fun DraStic as a second Nintendo DS emulator, an in-game shader
picker, configurable in-game shortcuts, an optional standalone Saturn emulator, and
support for installing new systems through Pak Rat.

There was no stable 0.10.1 release. Everything introduced in the
0.10.1 betas is carried forward here and still needs your testing and validation.
This build also includes everything in stable Leaf v0.10.0.

Try Fun DraStic, donated by tenlevels

A big thank you to tenlevels for creating Fun DraStic
and donating its source for Leaf to build. Fun DraStic gives you a different DS
interface, with its own menus, screen layouts, themes, and overlays. It starts with a
Leaf theme.

All issues known during the earlier beta preparation have been fixed, including the
cheat-loading problem and long cheat names drawing over other rows. The hook is now
built from tenlevels' donated source and the package includes his license and credits.
The DraStic build you were using previously remains the default while Fun DraStic is
staged as the second choice for wider testing.

Select Fun DraStic from a DS game's Core option to try it. Your in-game saves
are shared between the two DraStic choices, while their settings and save states stay
separate. You can switch back to DraStic at any time.

Please test and validate Fun DraStic. Try your usual games, menus, screen layouts,
touch controls, cheats, saves, and save states. Check audio, fast-forward, and
sleep/resume too. Report which games work and which have problems, using the exact
game and beta version in your report.

Choose shaders while you play

Open Leaf's in-game menu and choose Shader to browse recommended presets for the
system you are playing. Press A or Start to apply one, then save your choice
for the current game, content folder, core, all RetroArch games, or just this session.
Cancel leaves the current shader unchanged.

The recommendations include sharp pixels, LCD grids, scanlines, and CRT treatments
where appropriate. The bundle fixes the zfast shader loading problem and expands
recommendations across the packaged RetroArch systems. Standalone emulators keep
their own display settings.

The shader menu no longer redraws continuously while it is idle, and browsing the
list no longer applies a preset behind the frozen game preview. Advanced RetroArch
menu opens RetroArch's shader screen directly. When you return with a shader active,
Leaf asks where you want to save it.

Fugazi now makes ownership of the global shader preset visible and provides a
confirmation and recovery path when replacing a preset created elsewhere.

Set your in-game shortcuts

In Settings > Controls & Feedback > In-game Shortcuts, choose or disable the
second button for Game Switcher, Screenshot, and Recording. Menu
remains the modifier. The defaults are Menu + Select, Menu + L1, and
Menu + R1 respectively, and two enabled actions cannot use the same button.

RetroArch's own hotkey modifier is now yours to configure and defaults to Menu.
If a chord conflicts, a Leaf action takes priority when it is available; otherwise
the input reaches RetroArch. You can also bind the physical Menu button inside
RetroArch's input settings.

A standalone Saturn option with BIOS selection

YabaSanshiro standalone is available as an alternate for supported Saturn images.
It can improve performance in some games and has its own menu and save states.
RetroArch remains the Saturn default.

YabaSanshiro can now use an external Saturn BIOS for games that show a black screen
under its built-in HLE BIOS. Put 512 KiB BIOS images in BIOS/SATURN/ on either card,
select YabaSanshiro from a Saturn game's Core option, then open BIOS in the
same actions menu. You can save a choice for one game or the whole Saturn system.
HLE remains available for games that need it, and an unavailable selected BIOS stops
the launch with an explanation instead of silently falling back.

Compatibility still varies. Standalone is unavailable for .m3u playlists and ZIP
archives, which continue through RetroArch, and its native disc switching has
limitations. Please compare games you know well and test BIOS selection, saves,
audio, and returning to Leaf.

Add systems through Pak Rat

Leaf now supports content paks that add a system and its emulator to your library.
ScummVM is available through Pak Rat as the first example; it is an optional
download and is not bundled in the Leaf installer.

After installing it, put your games under Roms/SCUMMVM/, with a .scummvm game-ID
file beside each game's data. Leaf and Central Scrutinizer recognize the added
system, and scraping can use the game ID without changing your displayed game name.

Also improved

• RetroArch now includes TLS support required for secure RetroAchievements connections.
• Pak Rat stops repeatedly retrying recovery operations that cannot succeed.
• ScreenScraper distinguishes a result with no artwork from a failed request, and
  sensitive signed download URLs are redacted from logs.
• SSH Server now explains that you must set a password or switch to key-only mode when
  password login is enabled without a configured password, instead of showing an empty
  error.
• B exits the System menu when you open it from a tab root.
• In-game menu navigation stays responsive without unnecessary idle redraws.

Carried forward from the 0.10.1 betas

These features and fixes have not had a stable release yet. Please keep validating them:

• Amiga support: Roms/AMIGA/ uses PUAE 2021 by default, with PUAE as an
  alternate. Supply your Kickstart firmware under BIOS/puae/. Test floppy, hard-disk,
  WHDLoad, CDTV/CD32, archives, and multi-disk .m3u content, along with scraping and
  Central Scrutinizer uploads.
• Persistent RetroArch settings: ordinary settings changed in the RetroArch app
  survive Quit, launcher restart, reboot, and managed shutdowns.
• Select as a game button: held Select no longer blocks other game input under
  Leaf's defaults, and Select + Start no longer exits RetroArch. Your own RetroArch
  hotkey choices now take precedence over those defaults.
• Faster launcher input and artwork: short D-pad presses are more dependable,
  list text animates more smoothly, and Cover Flow loads artwork in the background.
• Independent system artwork: Settings > Appearance > Layout > System Icons
  offers Automatic, Flat, and Photographic in either home layout.
  Per-system Roms/<SYSTEM>/icon.png overrides still take priority.
• DraStic D-pad fixes: fast left/right and up/down reversals no longer leave the
  previous direction held, including the reported Mario Kart steering case.
• Cleaner standalone input monitoring: standalone sessions no longer accumulate
  repeated controller-forwarding and calibration errors.
• Simplified Chinese in Thing-File: the file manager follows Leaf's language and
  displays Chinese and Japanese filenames using the shared CJK font.

Tester focus

• Fun DraStic: make this a priority. Compare both DS choices, test cheats, round-trip
  in-game saves, check separate save states, and exercise long cheat lists and names.
• Shaders: browse without changing the active preset, apply with A or Start,
  save at each scope, relaunch, test Advanced, and exercise Fugazi's replacement and
  recovery choices.
• Shortcuts: reassign and disable actions, check collisions with your RetroArch
  hotkeys, and test both the built-in controls and external controllers.
• Saturn: compare HLE and staged BIOS files per game and per system, then compare
  YabaSanshiro with RetroArch for rendering, audio, performance, saving, and disc
  switching.
• Content paks: install ScummVM through Pak Rat, launch and scrape a game, and check
  that the system remains available after restarting Leaf.
• 0.10.1 regression checks: recheck Amiga, RetroArch settings persistence, held
  Select, quick D-pad taps and reversals, artwork choices, and Thing-File in Chinese.

Installing

On an existing compatible Leaf install, open System Update, set Update Channel
to Beta, then check for and install the update.

For a fresh install, extract leaf-mlp1-sd-v0.11.0-beta.1.zip to the root of a FAT32
or ext4 SD card and boot with it inserted. Your games, saves, states, and settings are
left in place.