OTA Update oh my!
You can update to this Release via WiFi! Simply click on the Check For Updates App (make sure you have a good wifi connection first please!) and you should be off to the races! As always, the Wiki pages will be updated over the coming days to include the new features. Please let us know if there are any random bugs. Dm's, GitHub issues or just spamming Reddit and Discord will all work. Huge thanks to the team, this was a big update with some really fun new features.
In other news, we are starting work on porting spruceOS to the Miyoo Flip and will be releasing a Beta version ASAP. We are still waiting for all the team members to receive their dev units but work will start full tilt very soon!
Happy gaming..........
-SundownerSport
Downloads:
Update from 3.0.0 or newer click here
Update from pre-3.0.0 click here
Changes/Additions:
General:
- Game Nursery: (Aka our simpler version of PortMaster) This is our new app to download games directly from our Ports repo on device. For now it just shows the "ready to play" ports and free homebrew we have, but we'll expand its functionality and offerings as we go. The A30 is not compatible with PortMaster, so this is our attempt to fill that void. (Ry)
- Simple Mode: (a.k.a. Kiosk mode/Kid mode) This is our first pass at a more locked down version of spruce that should be fit for a kid to keep them on rails a bit more. In this mode, the settings tile is hidden, our Advanced Settings app has a much more parsed down set of harmless options, things like x menu and more complicated features are disabled. The spruce default tap (menu)/ hold (gs) setup is used for home key. With this you can pre-configure the device how you think best prior to turning it on, and once ready turn on simple mode. (Located in the 1st tab at the end of Advanced Settings). A wiki page with more details is coming. To exit "Simple mode" perform the Konami code on the main menu. (No extra lives given) (Ry, XanXic)
- "Sapling Guide" App: this is a quick app to show the RA hotkeys, and a few simple features of Spruce. This can be hidden in adv settings. Hopefully this will help out with all those A30's destined to be stocking stuffers this holiday season! We plan to make a more robust separate guide/wiki app in the future. But we wanted to get a quick easy way to see basic info for people ASAP. (XanXic)
- M3U Generator added to the X button menu for disc-based systems. This will allow you to run an automated script to create an M3U playlist for multidisc games and have them present as a single game within spruce. (Cobalt)
- Boot Logo app rework, greatly reduce (if not outright prevent) possibility of bricking, added support for
.pngfiles. Automatically rotates, resizes and compresses the logo. (369px) - Exposed fmsx core for MSX system. (Cobalt)
- Exposed bluemsx and gearsystem cores for SG-1000. (Cobalt)
- Pico8 dat/dyn files can now be dropped on the root of your SD card and will automatically move to the proper location. (Ry)
- Added
/BIOSfolder as an alternative location to stow your Pico8 dat/dyn files. (Ry) - Made it so tap/hold actions are cancelled when other buttons are pressed when using home key. This allows the home key to be used as the hotkey enabler in RetroArch and reduces unintended behaviors in DraStic. (XanXic)
- Added universal exit hotkey combo: press home key + start (in that order). This was a bit of a late addition, so there may be odd edge cases; if so, let us know. (XanXic)
- Added joystick controls to File Management, Dino Jump, and Planet Merge. (Ry)
- Added support for hidden networks to multipass.cfg. (Gerard Szulc)
- Added DraStic config and settings to backup/restore. (thanks cvlnomen for mentioning it) (XanXic)
- Added a pause to emulation while home key is held, so the game doesn't continue while launching a hold action (OscarAu)
Advanced Settings Changes:
- "Expert" settings toggle added. In an attempt to help simplify the menu for those possibly intimidated by the many options. This will hide/show some of the more technical settings and tasks. When turning it on/off it'll apply after you save and then open it again. For existing spruce users updating to 3.2.0, this will be on by default to match your current experience; for new users, this will be off out of the box. But no settings have actually been removed. (XanXic)
- N64 controller profiles added.
- Classic: This is the legacy default configuration. To use the C buttons, you must hold R2 and press one of the face buttons corresponding to the cardinal direction.
- Action: This maps each of the C buttons to a single button on your A30. This is good for games like Zelda where the C buttons function as action buttons and you don't want to have to use button combos.
- Custom: This setting is pre-configured like the Classic setting, but will respect any changes that the user makes. This remap file is backed up whenever the user exits an N64 game while using the Custom profile, and changes to it will persist even if they switch to the other profiles (which are always respected if set) before coming back to Custom. It is also backed up by spruceBackup and so should persist across upgrades.
- Added "home" as an option for the RetroArch hotkey enable key setting. With the above change to home key behavior, now home key can be set and used as such without being interfered with by the tap/hold actions. (XanXic)
- Added 3 additional Pico8 controller profiles that swap X/O. (Thanks Thaddeus Gray for suggestion) (Ry)
- Advanced settings app now allows looping across tabs and vertically across options. (OscarAu)
- Added Prev/Next labels at the top to help communicate there's other tabs! (OscarAu)
- Added a 'use Rewind' toggle for RA replacing the slowdown toggle with rewind and turning on the rewind service. Just an FYI this can cause some performance loss, it's why we don't have it on by default but now you can easily turn it on for yourself. (XanXic)
- Added a few more tasks to help restore errors or bad RA configs. (XanXic)
- Added a task to cleanup leftover Mac files like DS_Store that will show if they are detected on the SD card. (Cobalt)
Boxart Scraper:
- Added a fallback location for the libretro boxart thumbnails we scrape from, in case the main website stops working again. (We are working on more alternatives for future updates) (Cobalt)
- Made images dynamically generated, giving improved UI experience, and removing around 150+ prebaked images from Spruce. (Cobalt)
- Fixed BoxArt Scraper not communicating the errors it was experiencing clearly, now has more error detection and specific messages. (XanXic)
Bugfixes/Removals:
- Fixed powerdown in sleep not powering down while in game switcher. (Fragbait)
- Fixed a bug where "max number of games" setting in game switcher wasn't being respected. (OscarAu)
- Fixed Pico8 carts not reliably importing from the Pico8 import script (Located in the X menu). (Ry) (thanks Thaddeus Gray for the bug report)
- Fixed updater not restoring what apps were shown/hidden prior to updating. (XanXic)
- Fixed ZX Spectrum control issues by setting input devices 2-5 to "0" none on fuse core remap file. (Thanks u/Sppire for the tip!) (Ry)
- Initialized game switcher list file to prevent freezes on first boot if no game has been added yet (Sundowner Sport)
Known Bugs:
- Previously thought fixed, we have identified background music is not being allowed to play. We've figured out the culprit and have reproduction steps, just didn't have time to fix it in this release. No known workaround at this time.
- Introduced in this release, using home as a hotkey enable in RetroArch still has some odd interactions at times. Tap/Hold actions will not fire but RetroArch isn't being properly unpaused. It tested fine but some last minute bug fixes caused an awkward interaction. We don't recommend using it just yet despite the option being available. This will be fixed in the next update.
- If using home as a hotkey and using other combos, following up with start can still fire the universal exit combo. (ie Home+R1 to save, then pressing start immediately after will exit.)