SAME_CDI in RetroArch: Source-Based Setup Guide for the Philips CD-i Core

SAME_CDI is a libretro core for Philips CD-i content. According to the official libretro documentation, it is a Single Arcade Machine Emulator forked from MAME libretro, which is itself a fork of MAME. It includes only the Philips CD-i driver and simplifies CD content loading to provide a plug and play experience. The documentation marks the core as a work in progress.

Prerequisites

• RetroArch with the SAME_CDI libretro core available.
• Philips CD-i content in a supported file format: .chd or .iso.
• CD-i BIOS (bootrom) files, which the documentation states are required for the core to work.
• A working directory for the BIOS files under the RetroArch system folder.

Placing the Required BIOS Files

The documentation states that SAME_CDI does require BIOS (bootrom) files to work, and that the files must be placed in a directory named bios inside a same_cdi folder under the RetroArch system folder. The documented path is ../same_cdi/bios/.

../same_cdi/bios/

The documentation lists three BIOS filenames associated with this core: cdibios.zip, cdimono1.zip, and cdimono2. The source document provides accompanying file listings for these entries but does not present a general-purpose verification procedure, so the exact set required for a given piece of content is not established here.

Running CD-i Content

• Make sure the required BIOS files are in place under the RetroArch system folder at ../same_cdi/bios/.
• Load a CD-i image with a supported extension (.chd or .iso) using the SAME_CDI core.
• Note that the documentation describes the core as simplifying CD content loading for a plug and play experience, but it does not give a numeric or step-by-step loading checklist beyond that description.

The documentation does not describe any content-download, decryption, or conversion procedures. This article therefore does not cover obtaining game data; use only legally obtained CD-i content that you own.

Feature Support

The documentation provides a feature support table for SAME_CDI. The following features are listed as supported: Restart, Screenshots, Saves, Core Options, Controls, and Remapping. The following are listed as not supported: States, Rewind, Netplay, Memory Monitoring (achievements), RetroArch Cheats, Native Cheats, Multi-Mouse, Rumble, Sensor, Camera, Location, Subsystem, Softpatching, Disk Control, Username, and Crop Overscan.

Controller Setup and Mappings

The documentation lists three controller types for the core: None, which disables input; RetroPad, a joypad; and RetroPad with Analog, a joypad. The documentation notes that there is no reason to switch to the RetroPad with Analog option for this core.

The documentation offers mappings for user 1 through 5 input descriptors. The RetroPad-to-input labels shown in the source are: B maps to Z, A maps to X, X maps to S, Y maps to A, and the D-Pad directions map to the corresponding D-Pad directions.

The documentation states that the core's provided aspect ratio is 1/1.

Core Attribution and Related Cores

The SAME_CDI core is authored by zach-morris and is licensed under GPLv2, according to the documentation. The documentation also lists MAME 2003, MAME 2003 Plus, and MAME 2010 as related cores.