Newly Working Games
VDrift, Super Mario 64 Co-op DX, Neverball (fixed via runtime update), SpaghettiKart, Super Mario War, Legends of Zelda: Dungeons of Infinity, Super Mario XP Remastered, Pocket Crystal League, ZGloom....and many more.
New Features
- Starboard can load port libraries beyond the core PortMaster offering. I had a number of requests for JeodC's RHH-Ports library - this now comes pre-seeded, and you can add any other library from its
source.jsonURL. Note that this is experimental++ - I don't own a lot of the games in the RHH-Ports library so game testing feedback is very much welcomed. Game compatibility will increase with future updates once I get time to work out issues. - Touch mouse support. Touch input is now supported for mouse emulation - works great on games that originally required mouse input (VanillaRA, Battle of Wesnoth, CorsixTH, NiceChess etc etc). Please test and provide feedback!
- Redesigned UI. The UI has been redesigned to showcase what Starboard is about - the games. It now sucks less, has a better game sorter and browser, and is more consistent across different screens.
Enhancements
- Game frames are now blitted on the GPU rather than the CPU. Scaling every game frame to the panel in software was mashing the CPU. This now takes place on the device GPU, providing a significant performance improvement and making games feel more responsive. Celeste Classic was my acid test for this change - it feels way snappier even on a lower-powered device like a Mangmi Air X.
- Updated gamepad control making it easier to steer around the app without using the touchscreen.
Bugfixes
- Ports that rewrite their own files on launch (ie unpack, move & delete) now work on the second and later runs (Super Mario 64 Co-op DX failed every launch after the first).
- Some games were permanently showing a mouse pointer during the game (e.g. Sonic Robo Blast), this now only shows if actually required.
- The ES-DE sync previously smashed to bits any custom
custom_systemsentries you had set up, this no longer happens and Starboard'scustom_systemsentries are merged with any you have. Fixes #12. Thanks leonstyhre! - When increasing the resolution in game settings (e.g. Neverball), the GPU-mode display surface would not re-adjust accordingly. Now works as expected, and enables you to pick the resolution for your device.
- Ports whose GL loader imports
glXGetProcAddressARB(VDrift, for example) no longer fail before the game starts. - Added missing
pm_gptokeyb_finishshim.
New Features Details
Additional Port Libraries
- Each added library get a dedicated row on the Home screen, which can be toggled on/off in the source settings.
- The same game can ship in two libraries as different builds (eg SpaghettiKart). Where that happens you'll see a short badge (
[pm],[rhh]) beside the title to tell them apart. - Installs, runtimes and save data are kept separate per library, so two builds of the same game don't overwrite each other.
Touch Mouse
- Games that declare
mouse_modein their config can now use touch mouse controls. - Enable it from the in-game slide-out.
- Two different modes: absolute (cursor goes where you touch), and relative (trackpad-style dragging).
- Touch moves the pointer, tap to left click, and long press to right-click.
- Pointer mode and sensitivity are configurable in Settings.
- Thanks MarkFeuerborn for the suggestion via #7.
Redesigned UI
- Loads of work went into showcasing what Starboard is about - the games. I hope you like using it as much as I enjoyed building it.
- The catalog now has a more useful set of filters, and every page has a home, back and search box.
- Game screenshots can be viewed full screen by tapping on the thumbnail in the catalog.
- The app settings page has been redesigned to use tabs, and is now easier to navigate.