Cross-platform

platform

www.libretro.com
 RetroArch
• A cross-platform architecture
• The reference frontend to an API
• An app library/ecosystem of its own
• A no-strings-attached enduser
program
• A project with multiple stakeholders
 Open source development community
 Hardware vendors
 Allied open source projects (XBMC,
OpenEmu)
 RetroArch
• Goals/ambition
 Create an all-encompassing platform on top of all
existing platforms/operating systems/ecosystems
 Any time, any place, any device
 Backend and frontend compartmentalization
 1 Codebase per app
 Libretro
• A lightweight C/C++ API
• Works according to
backend/frontend principle
 Backend application talks with
frontend by way of API
• Facilitates
input/audio/video/camera/locatio
n streams
 for use in games/media
players/graphics applications
 Augmented reality
 Runs on nearly all available
platforms/operating systems
• Apps run on every platform
 With added value (shaders, rewinding, input support,
etc)
 Are loaded in as module inside the frontend app
 Dynamic library (Position Independent Code)
 No recompilation of the frontend (RetroArch)
necessary
 Dynamic or static library

Libretro RetroArch
Application core

Libretro
Libretro API
frontend
 Libretro frontend
• Reference implementation
 RetroArch
 Platform agnostic
 Performance-focused
 Advanced features (shaders, overlays, rollback, etc)
 Implements new features of the API first
 Puts a heavy emphasis on performance and code clarity
• Other implementations
 XBMC (RetroPlayer)
 Arcan
 Minir (upcoming)
 Platform context

Graphics Audio driver Input driver Menu/UI

driver context context context context

Shader Resampler Joypad

RGUI
context context context

Windowing External Overlay

Fonts
context context context
 OpenGL ES
Graphics driver OpenGL
OpenGL
context Desktop

Direct3D Direct3D 9

Direct3D 11

SDL

VideoCore
Proprietary GameCube/
Wii
TI OMAP
 Shader backend nVidia Cg
context

Microsoft HLSL

OpenGL GLSL

 Shaders
• Three totally different implementations
 1 Codebase
 Can convert Cg to GLSL through off-line conversion script
 Cg maps mostly to raw HLSL
Windowing
context
driver EGL

WGL (Windows) EGL (VideoCore)

GLX (Linux/UNIX) EGL (Blackberry)

EGL (DRM/Linux)
CoreGL CoreGL (iOS)

EGL (Android)
CoreGL (OSX)
 DirectSound
Audio driver (Microsoft)
context

Xaudio
(Microsoft)

ALSA

PulseAudio

Proprietary
 Android
Audio driver OpenSL
context
OpenMAX

Windows
Xaudio (desktop)
(Microsoft)
Windows RT

CoreAudio iOS

OSX
Input driver XInput
context
DirectInput

SDL

Android

iOS

Proprietary
 OpenGL Android
Overlay context

iOS

Windows
(Desktop)

Blackberry

Windows
Direct3D (Desktop/Metro)

Windows
RT/Phone
 RGUI RGUI
Menu/UI context

RMenu

XUI (Xbox 360)

Cocoa (OSX/iOS)

Native
Windows GUI

Android UI
 Has its own software
library of apps
• Made possible by libretro API
• Collection:
 Games
 Emulators
 Media players
 3D apps
 Augmented reality
 Usecase
• Playing games
 Game ports
 Emulators
• Movies/music/media
 Media player implementations
• Streaming
• Augmented reality
 Userbase
• Mobile (Android/iOS)
• PC (Windows/OSX)
• Game consoles
• Embedded
 WhatRetroArch/libretro is trying to
achieve
• A platform / ecosystem made available on top
of all other pre-existing platforms
• A real-time, open-source alternative for rapid-
deployment, cross-platform development
• Non-game/emulator usecases
 Gaming is going to meet CAD, home automation,
augmented reality, and more
• A bare-bones, non-restrictive alternative to
more restrictive would-be competitors
• Is already in use worldwide, now up to 300,000
hits on Google Play Store)
 Extension to libretro
• 3D rendering
 By way of OpenGL / OpenGL ES
 Crossplatform abstraction layer –
Libretro GL
 Is OpenGL not already crossplatform?
 What
do most platforms have in common
nowadays?

Allows us to write 3D graphics-based applications -

•In a platform-agnostic way
•Hardware-accelerated
•A universal language/API used worldwide by CAD developers, game
developers, app developers, etc.
 What
do these platforms NOT have in
common?
• Audio
• Input
• Shader
• Windowing implementations
• User interfaces
• Touchscreen overlays
• Camera
• Sensors
•Development environments
•And more…
 What is not-so portable about OpenGL?
• Symbol wrapper lookup (necessary on
Windows)
• Divergent subsets of API functionality (GLES
1/2/3, GL 1.5/2/3/4)
• Windowing interfacing context drivers per
platform
• Display frontend for each platform
• Post-processing by way of shaders
 What does Libretro GL provide?
• A solution to all this and more…
 Continuously growing app library
 47+ libretro cores
• C/C++ codebases
• Crossplatform
 Gifts
• Hardware products and
accessories
 For the purposes of porting
RetroArch to it, enhancing
support, features, etc.
 Also on the web
• Every app from the libretro
ecosystem available on a web-
browser
 Using Javascript
 Webbrowsers
• New platforms in their own
right
 Every platform has its own
Javascript implementation
 Recompiling C/C++ code
into Javascript
• Emscripten
• Native apps running inside
webbrowser with decent
performance
 Windows RT/Phone
support
 Being everywhere
 On any device
 A big online services
presence
• Matchmaking
• Chatlobby’s
• Live streaming
• Augmented reality
services
• Etc