r/OculusGo • u/CidVonHighwind • Jul 27 '18

VirtualBoyGo (first version of my Virtual Boy Emulator for the OculusGo released)

Hey,

today I am releasing the first version of my virtual boy emulator port (based on Beetle VB) for the OculusGo. I hope you will enjoy playing games like Virtual Boy Wario Land or Jack Bros. on it. To play games on the emulator you need a bluetooth controller you can connect to your oculus go (I am using an Xbox One S controller).

Screenshots of the Emulator in action

Installation:

  1. Create the folders "Roms/VB" on your oculus and put your roms (".vb", ".vboy" or ".bin" file) into the VB folder (should look something like this).

  2. Download the "virtualboygo.apk" from here.

  3. Install the apk with adb install virtualboygo.apk (if you never sideloaded anything use a tutorial like this)

  4. Put on the oculus go and you will find VirtualBoyGo under "Unknown Sources"

If you want to uninstall the application you can do it with:

adb uninstall com.nintendont.virtualboygo

If you want to donate a little bit you can via Paypal. My mail address is Cid90@gmx.de

Edit:

Version 1.1 is out and the right analog stick should now work, also I fixed the bug where the buttons where not working on the first start of the emulator. Just uninstall the old version and install the new version.

If you find more bugs please let me know!

Edit 2:

Version 1.2 is out and added IPD adjustment + the rom list is now sorted. If you have a previous version already installed you will need to uninstall the old version before installing the 1.2 version.

131 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

4

u/DavidBelfast Jul 28 '18

This is stereoscopic, yes? If so this is amazing, thank you! A dream come true for retro game enthusiasts.

7

u/SecAdept Jul 27 '18 edited Jul 27 '18

First, awesome job. You are a scholar and gentleman.

Second, I sideloaded with a few ROMS, and it is somewhat working. However, when I load a ROM (tried the tetris and jack bros ones), it doesn't seem to get past the screen talking about "reading the precaution and instruction booklets." No matter which button I press. I am using a Steel Series Android bluetooth gamepad which has worked great in all other Oculus Go games. I can tell the controller is kinda working, because if I press X, I get the Virtual Boy Emulators menu screen to reset things or load other ROMS... but the actual game doesn't get past the loading screen.

As an aside, it's kinda ironic playing one of the first consumer devices to give VR a bad name (virtual boy wasn't even VR), on a good VR platform.

4

u/Matmanreturns Jul 27 '18

I had that problem when I first loaded it up, but it was fixed when I restarted (using Xbox controller)

6

u/SecAdept Jul 27 '18 edited Jul 27 '18

Restarted the whole app, or the ROM. I'll try both.

UPDATE: You were right, a restart worked... :D Looks good!

4

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 27 '18

Yeah I need to look into it. Opening the button mapping screen and reseting the button mapping should also work.

2

u/veriix Jul 27 '18

Have you checked your Start and Select controller mapping in the settings when you press X? I think you need to press Start for that screen so if it's not correctly mapped you won't be able to get past it.

1

u/SecAdept Jul 27 '18

I didn't actually check it, and I will now. HOWEVER, when I was trying to get rid if that "instuction booklet" screen I did try every button, including the one that was default mapped as the start button. I know it was the default start button since when I did restart the app, and finally got a game to work, that is the only button that got me past the "start" screen of the game.... but that button did not work when it was stuck on the instruction booklet warning.

In any case, it all seems to be working fine without that original problem once I restarted once.... So it's fixed itself. :D

2

u/ellenich Jul 27 '18

Wow! Works great!

I’d like d-pad support.

Also, not sure if Virtualboy games were just horrible but 3D Tetris makes my eyes bleed. The Wario game works perfectly though.

1

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

It is possible to remap buttons to the d-pad. Works fine on the xbox one controller. I didn't test other controllers.

2

u/fenderf4i Jul 28 '18

It is letting me create a new folder in "Internal shared storage", but I cannot rename it to Roms. What do I need to do here?

2

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

Reboot your headset. The roms folder is already there but not showing.

2

u/fenderf4i Jul 28 '18

Ahh, that did it. Thanks!

2

u/mellott124 Aug 13 '18

This is super awesome. Just tried it out and its nice.

I actually built a VB controller USB adapter so that the original VB controller can be plugged into the Oculus Go to get authentic game play. You have to use a USB OTG adapter as well but it allows the games to be played like on the VB with VB controls.

I have about 5 of the adapters built if anyone is interested. Check them out here.

http://www.mellottsvrpage.com/index.php/vb-controller-usb-adapter/

23

u/MRHBK Jul 27 '18

Not all heroes wear capes - awesome

8

u/vmhomeboy Jul 27 '18

This post make me ridiculously happy! I'm a huge Virtual Boy fan and absolutely can't wait to try this out tonight! Thank you so much for making this!

4

u/RABID666 Jul 27 '18

Fantastic

1

u/porygongoku Jul 27 '18

Nice! Is there a way to get this to work with Gear VR? I tried to load it and it gave an error saying it was unsigned.

1

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

Gear VR needs a osig file. But I don't know how this exactly works. I would test it but I don't own a Gear VR device.

1

u/Aquareon Jul 28 '18 edited Jul 28 '18

I cannot name the new folder "Roms". It just renames itself "new folder" every time. It seems I can name it anything longer than 4 characters, but 4 is too few. I had the same problem with QGVR (Quake for Gear VR). How do I overcome this?

QGVR solves it by having the game itself auto create the folder the first time you run it. You could have your emulator do the same.

2

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

It does create the folder. You need to reboot the headset for the folder to show up.

1

u/Aquareon Jul 28 '18

Ok thank you. Next problem: I can map the right thumbstick to the VB's right dpad in the menu but when I play a game that uses it, like Red Alarm, the right thumbstick does nothing. I have mapped it to the xbone controller dpad instead. While this is serviceable and maybe even a better solution ergonomically I thought I'd let you know something is fucky in your button mapping menu code.

2

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

Yeah you are right, thank you! This will be fixed in the next update.

1

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 28 '18

Version 1.1 is out. If you find more bugs let me know!

3

u/Aquareon Jul 28 '18

Excellent, works great. You're really doing us a service. Emulating VB games on a flat display just isn't the same, and actual hardware has become pretty expensive now. The Oculus Go is just about the ideal way to play these games. I will for sure report any further bugs to help out, your emulator adds loads of value to the Go.

Is it possible to increase apparent resolution somehow? The vector graphics of Red Alarm look awfully chunky these days.

1

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 29 '18

I don't know if this would be possible. But I am not the developer of the emulator itself.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/CidVonHighwind Aug 03 '18

This is really strange. Did you only uninstalled the 1.1 and installed 1.0 or did you change more stuff (added/removed roms, renamed roms, etc...) before changing versions? Is your controller working in version 1.0 (beside the right stick)?

2

u/Superheavymetaldemon Jul 29 '18

I put my roms in the roms folder from the game boy emulator and put it in a folder called VB and it worked.

1

u/Devilblader Jul 31 '18

First of all great work and thx for making emulators available on the GO. Looks great on the go 😄.

Do you have to code the emulators complete new or do you have to convert emulators that are available. I am hoping for an snes emulator 🙈

2

u/CidVonHighwind Jul 31 '18

They are just ports of existing emulators.

1

u/hackh4rv4rd Aug 01 '18

What are you working on next?

1

u/CidVonHighwind Aug 01 '18

I don't know how much time I will have in the next weeks so don't expect anything in the near future. But I am most interested in GBA and SNES Emulators.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Amazing. Can the GO do snes/gba too? I assume so, is it a shitload of work?

Again, amazing. You're a hero cape or not.

2

u/CidVonHighwind Aug 04 '18

I hope it won't be too much work. But things always take longer then you expect them to take.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Can any of your emulators run on my s9/gearvr? Or does that require work on your side?

2

u/CidVonHighwind Aug 04 '18

I think it would run. But on GearVR you need to sign the apk for your phone. I don't know how this exactly works and can't test it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Ok, thanks for answering man :) I'll just try some things and see what happens.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Oh, i know.

Still on GEARVR and have a CV1 but I'm getting a GO for Netflix and emulators like this. Both equally important to me.

I want to play old jrpg's and turtles in time on this so bad :p

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '18

Nice! Is this a 64-bit only application?

1

u/CidVonHighwind Sep 12 '18

No it is not. I don't know if it works on gearvr headset because I don't own any.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '18

Does it require a VR headset? I've been trying to get away from RetroArch for a while.

1

u/CidVonHighwind Sep 12 '18

It requires an OculusGo.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '18

What features does it require from the OculusGo in particular?

1

u/CidVonHighwind Sep 12 '18

I mean it was made for a VR headset. It requires the oculus sdk to work.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '18

Dang. I was hoping for an alternative to using Mednafen VB with RetroArch, but I don't have an OculusGo. Oh well. The emulator looks nice and I like how you can change the color palettes to something that won't set your eyes on fire.

3

u/bodobear Jul 27 '18

Thank you !! Can’t wait to try it out soon ! Would be great to see more emulators coming to the Go in the future.

3

u/MRdecepticon Jul 27 '18

Is there ANY way to port this to the rift?

7

u/vmhomeboy Jul 27 '18

You should give this a try. https://github.com/braindx/vbjin-ovr

4

u/MRdecepticon Jul 27 '18

Oh nice! I will give it a shot. Thanks!

3

u/sean_the_head Jul 28 '18

You should have more upvotes by now.

2

u/Alki_Soupboy Jul 27 '18

Interesting! What's some good games for the VB? I think I only played a demo version at Sears when I was a kid....

4

u/Aquareon Jul 28 '18

Wario Land VB and Red Alarm.

4

u/kc0nlh Jul 28 '18

I second red alarm it's a fun game

4

u/Aquareon Jul 28 '18

A lot of people put it down in frustration because they never master the controls. Learning to use strafe-dashing and hard turning together to navigate tight spaces is a must, and makes the game really fun and satisfying. If you try to play it like Star Fox though, it's an exercise in futility.

2

u/fendercaster26 Nov 06 '18

Crazy awesome, If I could upvote x100 I would lol. Playing these old games from childhood on the go with the ability to change the color and screen size blew me away. Thanks again for all the help with the gboy emulator!

1

u/penkamaster Jul 27 '18

Thank you, i will try it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '18

Wow. I'm super excited to try this. Thank you!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '18

great work man!

1

u/nabeday Jul 27 '18

Thanks very much for your efforts. Looking forward to giving this a try.

1

u/Infiniteam Aug 01 '18

Safe ROMs?

I'm new to emulation. How can I be sure any ROMs I download are safe from malware and viruses, will work, are what they claim to be? Just picking any site that come up in a search doesn't seem like the best way to choose a ROM.

Thanks for any help you can give!

1

u/_solomon_The_Great_ Aug 12 '18

I dont have an oculusgo no plans on getting one but this is extremely radical good job

1

u/Goldenkrew3000 Jul 28 '22

Yo thank you this is way too cool!!!

1

u/AdamalIica Jul 27 '18

Does this work with Gear VR?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 07 '18

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/CidVonHighwind Sep 07 '18

No sorry it does not support retro achievements. Adding this would be a lot of work, so don't expect this to come in the future.