Koboy - a retro emulator (gameboy, nes, md, etc...) for kobo devices

[dimitriuz]

Koboy is a retro emulator based on retroarch cores for Kobo e-readers.

Screenshots:

Spoiler:

gameboy:

megadrive:

What's in it:

* Game Boy/Color, NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, GBA, PC Engine, WonderSwan, Neo Geo Pocket, Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Pokemon Mini, Game & Watch, arcade (FBNeo)
* Page-turn buttons are A and B. Touchscreen d-pad.
* Save states, cartridge saves, screenshots
* A faceplate per system: six buttons for Mega Drive, diamond and shoulders for SNES,

Game Boy and the machines around it play well. The bigger systems run, slower.

Two Kobos are confirmed working: a Libra 2, and an Aura H2O.
Looking for testers with other devices, because Kobo has at least four ways of reporting a finger and I own one device.
If yours misbehaves, set trace_touch = true in koboy.ini and the log will tell me why.

Bring your own ROMs.
ColecoVision and Intellivision need BIOS files you supply yourself.

Download, more screenshots and docs: Github

Install

* You need NickelMenu
* Plug the Kobo into a computer over USB. It shows up as a drive.
* Unzip koboy-<version>.zip at the top level of that drive. You get one folder, .adds/koboy/, and a note at the root you can delete afterwards.
* Put your games in .adds/koboy/roms/. Subfolders work.
* Set up NickelMenu, by copying a file that's already in the folder:
copy .adds/koboy/nm-koboy to .adds/nm/koboy.
* Eject the drive and let the library scan finish. The menu entry only appears after the Kobo next restarts its reading software, because NickelMenu reads its config at startup.

[PatchyMimo]

Confirmed touch input working on Kobo Libre Colour

I wonder if theres a way to get it to "bleed" or paint the display a little less. unfortunately most of my games are under the catagory of "action" and I should perhaps invest in some slow puzzle games instead

[dimitriuz]

Originally Posted by PatchyMimo

Confirmed touch input working on Kobo Libre Colour

I wonder if theres a way to get it to "bleed" or paint the display a little less. unfortunately most of my games are under the catagory of "action" and I should perhaps invest in some slow puzzle games instead

Thanks for the test! Action games can vary on E Ink, but turn-based games and puzzles work great. Have a go at experimenting with the different ‘Greyscale’, 'Motion' and ‘Frames’ settings, which you can find in the main menu. The best settings depend on the specific game.

[PatchyMimo]

True, but I also have the health of the e-ink panel to keep in mind. I have a selection of Game And Watch type things to play that should look very good on the display given the limitations. less scrolling movement the better.

[PatchyMimo]

Originally Posted by dimitriuz

Thanks for the test! Action games can vary on E Ink, but turn-based games and puzzles work great. Have a go at experimenting with the different ‘Greyscale’, 'Motion' and ‘Frames’ settings, which you can find in the main menu. The best settings depend on the specific game.

I found lcd handheld type stuff works really well on this type of screen.