Game add-ons: Difference between revisions

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=== Where do I place the BIOS files? ===
=== Where do I place the BIOS files? ===


You’ll need to place them into the System Directory.
You’ll need to place them into the System Directory (linux example for pcsx bios files: ~/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/game.libretro.pcsx-rearmed/system/ )


Alternatively, you can place the into your Content Directory next to the game you are going to play.
Alternatively, you can place the into your Content Directory next to the game you are going to play.

Revision as of 14:05, 5 May 2016

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Kodi Game ▶ Game add-ons

Status on ported currently existing game add-ons for the new Game API made available in Kodi Game branch.

Stand-alone game add-ons

Stand-alone games or emulators that does not use the Libretro API. Possible examples could be, Nvidia GameStream via Limelight or WINE capture could possible through the Game API.

Here will be a list of existing/ongoing non-libretro games or game-platforms/systems once they have been ported into game add-ons for Kodi:

  • None so far ?

Here will be a list of existing/ongoing and future/upcoming project for making new stand-alone game add-ons for Kodi:

Libretro cores

The Game API in the Kodi Game branch has a Libretro wrapper which is 1:1 compatibility with the libretro API, so all libretro cores are valid game add-ons. Libretro itself is a well defined interface to handle the communication between a frontend (Kodi with RetroPlayer) and an Emulator Core (e.g. nestopia).

Here is a list of Libretro cores which have already been ported into game add-ons for Kodi:

* License is GPLv2 compatible

If something in the core matrix needs to be changed, leave a message in the forum.

BIOS requirements

Some libretro cores require a BIOS file to work. For now you will need to find those BIOS files by yourself and and copy them to your system as it may not be fully legal to provide them bundled with each libretro core that needs them. The reason for this is that these BIOSes are usually considered to be in an legal gray-zone and can be a little difficult to aquire, at least legally. For example, since all PlayStation emulators, like Beetle PSX & PCSX ReARMed, require a closed source BIOS file to work, and its BIOS file must be placed in the system folder on your emulator software (libretro cores in this case).

The above linked table lists all the required BIOSes which some emulators requires, so if a systems BIOS is not listed here then it means that it does not require a BIOS file.

Note that most of these BIOSes are not revered engineered releases but binary ROMs ripped from the EEPROM inside of an actual game console system hardware, so it is proprietary binary blobs (precompiled software binaries) which might still be under copyright depending on the console age and origins. It may be that some of those BIOSes are can be seen as Fair use since these game consoles are no longer sold and there is probabably no commercial value of them, but that is something that the XBMC Foundation need to talk about with attorneys about before being able to distributing such BIOS files as resource add-ons or bundled with each libretro core in an official repository.

What is a BIOS?

A BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is the startup code of a system and is required for certain emulators to work.

Where do I place the BIOS files?

You’ll need to place them into the System Directory (linux example for pcsx bios files: ~/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/game.libretro.pcsx-rearmed/system/ )

Alternatively, you can place the into your Content Directory next to the game you are going to play.

Remember, since Linux is a case sensitive system, you have to rename the BIOS files according to this table so that the libretro cores will be able to find the BIOS files.

Why isn’t my BIOS working?

  1. Make sure the BIOS files are placed into the correct directory (see above).
  2. Make sure they are named correctly so the core can identify them.
  3. Make sure it’s the correct version/region of a BIOS.
  4. Make sure your files are not corrupted (bad source, broken download, etc.).
  5. Make sure to check the log for any errors.

See also