CitraVR (Beta) v0.6.0

[amwatson]

What's Changed

Azahar core upgrade

CitraVR now incorporates the Azahar emulator core up to 2126 RC2. This brings in a lot of upstream improvements, including:

• Improved CPU, GPU, networking, renderer accuracy.
• Reduced shader stutter, including Vulkan disk shader caching and improved parallel shader and pipeline compilation.
• Improved GPU timing emulation and fixes for timing-sensitive games.
• Better OpenGL and Vulkan rendering compatibility.
• Improved Download Play, online-module, and system-applet support.
• Arctic Base support for running games and accessing data from a real 3DS over the local network.
• System-file setup through the Artic Setup Tool.
• Support for compressed .zcia, .zcci, .z3dsx, and .zcxi files.
• Android multiplayer rooms, including private rooms, chat, and public-room browsing when an unofficial web API is configured.
• Controller auto-mapping, turbo controls, combo-button support, and improved gamepad configuration.
• Improved application management, including uninstalling updates or DLC, opening application-related folders, and deleting per-game shader caches.

UI & Input

• Added an in-VR emulator settings menu to the Settings tab of the ribbon.
  • A subset of settings can now be adjusted without leaving VR.
• Added a “Swap B and Y buttons” option for gamepads and Touch controllers.

Performance

• Vulkan is now the default renderer, with asynchronous shader compilation enabled by default to reduce shader-related stalls.
• Improved shader and pipeline-cache handling so cached work is preserved more reliably between sessions.
• Improved performance and frame pacing
• Expanded the VR statistics panel

Bug Fixes

• Fixed VR immersive modes.
• Fixed a Vulkan crash caused by attempting to create a secondary render window without a valid surface.
• Fixed returning to the menu sometimes launching the same game multiple times.

Misc.

• Added CitraVR update checking with stable and prerelease update channels.
• Playtest builds can now be installed alongside the regular release and are clearly labeled “CitraVR (Playtest).”

Notes

• Previously, CitraVR selected OpenGLES by default. This version selects Vulkan + async shader compilation by default. This setting should result in better first-time performance for many popular games, but may introduce graphics artifacts in others.
  • If you encounter an incompatibility with the defaults, let us know on the [issues page].(https://github.com/amwatson/CitraVR/issues) or on the CitraVR Discord.
  • If Vulkan causes a game-specific regression, try switching the Graphics API to OpenGL ES.
• Encrypted games are no longer supported by the Azahar core. CitraVR still recognizes the .3ds extension but the game itself must be decrypted.
• Asynchronous shader compilation can briefly display incomplete or incorrect graphics while a new shader finishes compiling. It can be disabled in Graphics settings if necessary.
• Public multiplayer-room browsing requires an unofficial web API URL. Azahar does not provide an official public-room service.

Thanks to the Azahar project and its contributors for their dedicated work to improve upon Citra.

Thanks to @qwtel for the original AzaharXR repo (which I took some merge direction from) and for their help supporting the CitraVR Discord.

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This discussion was created from the release CitraVR (Beta) v0.6.0.