It has been brought to my attention that there is a way to reconstruct FBNeo ROMs from the new SNK releases: https://github.com/lioneltrs/goncommand

I have yet to confirm this myself, but I will be testing the toolset next week and if it checks out, I'll add the new titles to the list.

that's interesting, but I can't see how to use it. Do I need to compile it in visual studio or something?

okay, I tried this, and it looks like mingw. I got as far as compiling the unswizzle exe file, but I can't get it to batch process anything. when I tried to do it individually, it asks for odd and even values for the bin files and I don't know what to input

to be clear, it looks like this will work, but we need some more information to figure it out. Basically, each one of the bin files in the rom set directory has been compressed so that all the "c" files are just one file and vice versa. This program basically just uncompressed those files to the individual files that older emulators expect. this tool is supposed to automate the process, but I can't figure out how to setup the directory params. I followed the github instructions

No, I think it's just gcc. Ergo, it will create a native Linux executable.

You aren't supposed to use it directly, rather though the game specific Bash scripts supplied on GitHub. If you look at those you'll see they are calling the unswizzle binary with specific values.

No idea on the exact directory structure these things expect, but I haven't yet had much time to look into it.

Those scripts look interesting, but very fragile with all the external tools that they use. I would like to know if they work at all and if they work on the GOG releases…

I wonder why they didn't use Python/Perl/Lua/Ruby or a different scripting language instead.

I think it came from this: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/samurai-shodown-v-perfect-on-real-hardware.13565/page-2#post-220216


I believe that it's the same thing as this. These releases are the same format as the earlier Windows releases on GOG that also had linux and Mac OS. We just never messed with those because there was an easier option at the time. It seems like these people didn't have the option, so they had to get creative with untangling the files

1. Have an environment that has gcc, bash, dd, split and maybe something else.
2. Compile that one weird program that is included in source code form.
3. Run the correct script for the game that you want to romify.

Obviously the easiest way would be a Linux system. Cygwin or WSL might also work.

On a mac:
* You could install gcc (and, if needed, the other mentioned packages) via homebrew
* Alternatively, you could see if that "one weird program" compiles with clang, which would allow you to use Apple's developer tools

On Android:
* Termux can be used for this purpose. Just make sure to download it from F-Droid, *not* the Play Store. (Although, if you're as strictly anti-DRM as I am, you should avoid the Play Store in general.)
* You can try running it in the default Termux environment. If that fails, there's proot-distro.

WSL, to my understanding, is basically a Linux environment that runs under Windows; in fact, WSL2 actually *is* a Linux system, running under an actual Linux kernel, inside a virtual machine.

Forgot another Windows option: mingw

I tried to do it in mingw, but I failed. I was able to compile the program, but I couldn't get it to output the roms afterwards.

I also have Ubuntu subsystem for Linux installed, so I might try and do it there. One problem with that is I'm not clear on how to go between the linux filesystem and the Windows one, and directory paths are kind of mysterious

Okay. I got the script to work. I used Magician Lord. Basically, it all works correctly, but the instructions on the Git page really suck.

First thing you need to do that they don't tell you is to manually edit the script files and enter the paths for you game's bin files (the bin containers are what the GOG emulator uses) and also the path you want them to output to.

Next thing you need to know is that you need to have the compiled unswizzle file, the unswizzle.c file, and the edited script all in the same folder, or you would need to make the folders they live in a system path which seems like not a good choice.

I'm not sure if you have to compile unswizzle on a per game basis, but then if you don't, it doesn't really make sense that they tell you to move the go*** file for the game you are decompressing into the folder when you compile it. Although a bunch of other stuff doesn't make sense, so IDK

That's pretty much it. It worked with GCC. I suspect it will work in Windows with the executable that I made, now that I realized all the file path BS and the fact that you have to manually edit the script.

Also, you have to chmod +x the go*** script if you're using linux

Hope that makes sense

Thanks for looking into it and confirming. I (still) plan to make a more sane guide and host pre-compiled binaries for that swizzle tool to sidestep the compilation requirement, but haven't had the time yet.

No, that isn't needed.

There's still the problem of following the steps otherwise outlined in the game-specific bash scripts. It sounds like too much of a hassle on Windows - even there I would use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to get things done much like one would on Linux.

No problem.

Yeah, I didn't even try. The file system syntax differences are not insurmountable, but are a bigger PITA than just doing it in a Linux environment.

Yeah, I used WSLg to do it. I had to use Chrome for WSLg (the GUI version) because I couldn't figure out another safe way to drop the files into the WSLg filesystem. I'm a little confused still about it, but I believe you can pooch WSL(g) by trying to dig into the file system from the windows side of things. I guess I could try to mount a flash drive, but whatever, emailing stuff to myself felt easier

Hey WinterSnowfall, just responding here. I am familiar with WSL and Linux, and willing to jump through some hoops. Where would this guide be posted? Sorry for my lack of knowledge, I've started to look into all of this recently

I'll post it on this thread when it's ready and refer to it from the overall ROM list (the first couple of posts in the thread). Can't give you an exact ETA, but I'll get to it eventually.

P.S.: If you can't wait, here's a link to the scripts in question.

Oh okay, thanks for all of your work. Damn, seems like they don't have support for Metal Slug 4 :(