BigPEmu v1.22 and BigInstinct v1.0 (public!)
Sorry for the 5 months of silence, I've had very little time/energy to work on my own stuff this year, but I finally got everything together for some new releases over the last couple of weekends. I've made BigInstinct public, while keeping all of the script modules Patreon-only. You can now link your Patreon account to a BigMaster account and download the latest script modules within the application. Check the BigInstinct download page for details:
https://richwhitehouse.com/ki/index.php?content=download
You can also download the latest BigPEmu here, and register for BigMaster here. I'm planning to stick to this "make the emulator free and the cool enhancement shit Patreon-only" model going forward. I've also got the thing signing content to the user as they request it on the server, so I can see who betrays me and punish them. I figure that will at least slightly discourage those people who sign up just so they can cancel immediately and throw my precious binaries all over the Internet. It would not be hard to anonymize the content and crack the emulator to run it, I'm not even using "real" encryption on the packages themselves. But hopefully no one with the requisite knowledge has that much desire to be an asshole.
I can't say writing this entire infrastructure myself has been a learning experience, but I'm still glad to have it in place, I think it will be even better suited to the stuff I'm planning for a PSX emulator.
On the personal side, I'm doing well enough medically. Mentally, I think my stress level is directly contributing to my pancreas trying to kill me on the weekly, but there's only so much one can do to reduce stress in my position. Alaura is also maintaining; she's not going to regain her sight, but so far there is no sign of tumor regrowth, which is the most we can really hope for at the moment. Still planning a Make-A-Wish-funded vacation sometime this year, but the date isn't set yet. Also still moving ahead on becoming an Irish citizen. That process is pretty convoluted, but I think I'm pretty close to regaining the Hibernian powers my family had foolishly forsaken.
As always, I love and appreciate those of you who have been hanging in here with me this whole time. Once my main work contract is done, I plan to fully dedicate myself to working on the next emulator, and a lot of what I've been working on has been setting the stage for that. I do keep flipflopping in my head on what my next focus should actually be, in part because my current contract has me thinking non-stop about how I'd approach an Xbox 360 emulator for reasons I can't presently disclose. I have no idea how Xenia is doing, if it's still the X360 emulator of choice, or if there would be any public benefit to me jumping into that domain with a brand new emulator that doesn't build off of the decade(s) of work that's already been done. Things to consider, but I'm probably still going head-first into a PSX emulator next either way. The emulator itself is the boring part, since there's so much good and freely available research available for the PSX. When I finally have my way with MGS/Bushido Blade/SotN/etc., it will all be worth it.
Comments (16)
Hey man I hope your daughter and you are doing well. I'm posting to ask about the Patreon locked scripting and subscribing. Am I able to pay once and will the settings be unlocked permanently or do I need to be a recurring subscriber to keep those unlocked? I'm only asking because disabled and on a limited income and I can't really afford to pay 20 bucks monthly. I could afford to do whatever a big update gets released just but monthly. That being said, I totally get why you have measures in place to see who pirates your hard work and honestly, it's quite clever. I have an HTPC that is setup with LaunchBox and want to add this to my setup with all the bells and whistles if they aren't subscription based.
I think you e-mailed me too, and I replied there. But yeah, for anyone else wondering, BigMaster account linkage currently persists when membership lapses, which also means updated script packages can still be downloaded. That may or may not change in the future, but for now, that's how it works.
felicitaciones por todo este trabajo amigo esta genial
Can it run on a Steamdeck?
I'm told that it can, but don't have one and can't vouch for it personally.
Is there a way to do a one time donation?
Not in a way that gets you access to the Patreon-only content, that stuff is intrinsically attached to having a Patreon account now. You can sign up for one month and cancel your membership immediately, if that's what you're after. If you're just asking about giving me money with altruistic intent, on the other hand, I do have a PayPal account: https://richwhitehouse.com/index.php?content=inc_about.php
Sorry to hear that about your daughters sight. Wish you and your family the best. Big thanks for the update, much appreciated especially with all the shit going on in your life its nice to see you still found a bit time for updating us. I have a few things in mind about some future additions/updates for BigInstinct. - screen horizontal stretch to adjust the screen to avoid that parts of the other character in one corner clipping in the other corner. Its the same on the KI cab but you can hide it behind the bezel. There is a option in mame called horiz screen stretch dunno how much work it is to implent something like that but it would be nice to have a option similar like that. - a KI/BigInstinct Bezel for non fullscreen play and a more KI Interface with KI logos for the emu itself. Just a more KI themed look would be great. - A bigger Screen Effect/Effect Options Library Especially for crt-hyllian which is already great but more Effect Options would be great to have. Also maybe something like the crt curvature look for crt-hyllian and others like crt royale etc as those are all open source i think ? Would be great to have a bigger library to choose from. One question about the simplified ki_gameplay mode. How can we avoid to play against someone online that uses cheats ? Simplified moves and programmable moves is just a way to cheat and if the ki_gameplay scipt modules arent disabled in online play its hard to spot who uses the ki_gameplay scipt or not. I dont care much about online KI play but i still don't like the idea that people could use ki_gameplay scipt for cheating in general. Enough input from my side, great update. Thanks again for updating BigInstinct again.
I think a lot of your requests here can be addressed by just using some custom screen effects. RetroArch shaders can be converted for BI/BPE using BigPShaderTool, read the customization and screen effects sections of the BPE manual: https://richwhitehouse.com/jaguar/index.php?content=userman#sect_15 You can't play online with someone unless you're both using the same scripts, and if you don't have the same options set, you'll get out of sync and won't even be seeing the same game. So cheating isn't a concern there.
"distributed simply as a zip file, because installers are for the weak and ad-ridden." 🤣
Glad to hear you’ve found some level of stability on the health front for you and your family. As always, appreciate the dedication to this project despite the personal turmoil. 🙌🏼
I've always admired the monumental work you've accomplished. A huge thank you for all your creations. 🙏 Take care.
For the users who downloaded the beta versions previously, they included some scripts like the stereo and training mode. Will they also work in the 1.0 release by placing them in the scripts folder? Ideally, based on your route, it would be interesting to try Primal Rage next, as they tried to do something similar with Moo emulator but progress was halted after one developer left this world. As for the rest, I really have no written words...
No, the old Patreon build scripts won't work with newer versions of the emulator.
Mostly been a lurker but decided to subscribe right now, sorry about what’s been going on but thank you very much for the work you’re doing, can’t wait to try out one of my favorite games
Thank you for the updates. You should nudge John and Brenda Romero in Galway, as they know a ton of Irish game devs and may be able to connect you to relevant resources. My vote for future projects is biased by how much I'm enjoying my MiSTer FPGA box - meaning, consoles like PS1 are pretty well covered via hardware emulation, but Xbox 360 emulation on Windows still has quite a few gaps in terms of compatibility and glitchiness. But my ACTUAL vote is for whatever project seems fun to you. Looking forward to whatever comes next, and please keep hanging in there and taking care of yourself.