RetroPie Godot Engine "Emulator"

A scriptmodule to install a Godot "emulator" for RetroPie.

Thanks to @efornara (for creating FRT - A Godot "platform" targeting single board computers) you can now play 2D games made with the Godot Engine on the Raspberry Pi (and other single-board computers) using RetroPie.

If you are running RetroPie on an x86/x86_64 Linux PC you can also play Godot games, since the Godot "emulator" is actually the official Linux/X11 export template.

Table of contents

• Where to find games made with Godot
• Compatibility list
• Setup script
• Install the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup
• Uninstall the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup
• Update the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup
• How to install Godot games
• Using a GPIO/Virtual keyboard
• Troubleshooting
• How to create a new Godot system for an EmulationStation theme
• Pre-made Godot systems

🎮 Where to find games made with Godot

There are plenty of games made with Godot, most of them hosted on https://itch.io.

You can find Godot games using the following links:

• https://itch.io/games/made-with-godot
• https://itch.io/games/tag-godot

Most games are free to dowload, some are "pay what you want" with a suggested price (including free) and a few are paid. If you like the game, consider supporting the authors 😊 .

✔️ Compatibility list

Take a look at the compatibility list to check which games work.

Everyone can contribute to the list by starting a discussion.

🛠️ Setup script

Install the script

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/hiulit/RetroPie-Godot-Game-Engine-Emulator.git
cd RetroPie-Godot-Game-Engine-Emulator/
sudo chmod +x setup-godot-engine-scriptmodule.sh

Update the script

cd ~/RetroPie-Godot-Game-Engine-Emulator/
git pull

🚀 Usage

./setup-godot-engine-scriptmodule.sh [OPTIONS]

If no options are passed, you will be prompted with a usage example:

USAGE: ./setup-godot-engine-scriptmodule.sh [OPTIONS]

Use '--help' to see all the options.

The script assumes that you are running it on a Raspberry Pi with the RetroPie-Setup folder being stored in ~/RetroPie-Setup. If your setup differs, you can pass the path where your RetroPie-Setup folder is stored as a parameter, like this:

./setup-godot-engine-scriptmodule.sh [OPTION] "/path/to/your/RetroPie-Setup"

📖 Options

• --help: Prints the help message and exit.
• --version: Shows the script version.
• --install [path]: Installs the godot-engine scriptmodule.
  • Path: The location of the RetroPie-Setup folder.
  • Default: ~/RetroPie-Setup.
• --uninstall [path]: Uninstalls the godot-engine scriptmodule.
  • Path: The location of the RetroPie-Setup folder.
  • Default: ~/RetroPie-Setup.
• --update [path]: Updates the godot-engine scriptmodule.
  • Path: The location of the RetroPie-Setup folder.
  • Default: ~/RetroPie-Setup.

Install the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup

Once you've successfully installed the scriptmodule, run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

Go to:

• Manage packages
• Manage optional packages
• godot-engine
• Install from source

The script installs all the major versions of Godot for maximum compatibility:

• 2.1.6
• 3.0.6
• 3.1.2
• 3.3.4
• 3.4

A new godot-engine folder will be created in ~/RetroPie/roms, where you can install the Godot games using the .pck and .zip extensions.

Uninstall the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup

Run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

Go to:

• Manage packages
• Manage optional packages
• godot-engine
• Remove

Update the Godot "emulator" from RetroPie-Setup

Before updating the "emulator", you must update the setup script and the scriptmodule.

Run:

# Update the setup script.
cd ~/RetroPie-Godot-Game-Engine-Emulator/
git pull
# Update the scriptmodule.
./setup-godot-engine-scriptmodule.sh --update

Then, to update the Godot "emulator", run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

Go to:

• Manage packages
• Manage optional packages
• godot-engine
• Update from source

How to install Godot games

When you download a game from https://itch.io, the downloaded .zip usually contains 2 files:

• The Godot executable.
• The game data.

The later is, most of the times, a .pck file. That's the one we want!

Those .pck files will most likely be found on the Linux downloads (maybe on the Windows downloads too).

If you can't find a .pck file on neither the Linux nor the Windows downloads, you can try the Mac/OSX downloads. You'll have to:

• Unzip the .zip file.
• Go to Contents -> Resources (the .pck file should be in this folder).

To install it, just copy the .pck file to ~/RetroPie/roms/godot-engine.

Scraping games

A scraper for games hosted on https://itch.io is bundled with this script.

Check out its documentation.

You can find it in EmulationStation's RetroPie menu.

Using a GPIO/Virtual keyboard

⚠️ When using a GPIO/Virtual keyboard, the actual keyboard won't work anymore. But you can always remove the GPIO/Virtual keyboard (see below).

As of v1.2.0, when using the FRT "emulator", you can use a GPIO/Virtual keyboard, such as GPIOnext or Adafruit's Retrogame.

Add/Remove a GPIO/Virtual keyboard

Run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

and then go to:

• Configuration/tools
• godot-engine

Select GPIO/Virtual keyboard.

You will be prompted with a menu showing all the results from the command cat /proc/bus/input/devices. Select the GPIO/Virtual keyboard that you want.

If you want to to reverse that action, follow the same steps and select None.

ℹ️ Troubleshooting

A game doesn't launch or crashes

Useful information about errors can be found at /dev/shm/runcommand.log.

If the game you are trying to play doesn't work, it will most likely be because it was made with another version of Godot. Try changing the Godot "emulator" version in the runcommand.

If you downloaded the game from https://itch.io, there's a good chance the author stated which version of Godot that game uses.

In case none of the "emulators" work, it could be something related to the video driver.

Video issues

See VIDEO ISSUES.

Audio issues

See AUDIO ISSUES.

🎨 How to create a new Godot system for an EmulationStation theme

As there is no way to create a script to automate this, because themes don't have the same structure, the best way is to manually create a new system in your preferred theme.

• Download the Godot system.svg.
• Download the Godot controller.svg.
• Copy any system folder in your theme (e.g. /etc/emulationstation/themes/[THEME]/nes).
• Rename it as godot-engine.
• Move the Godot system.svg and controller.svg to the godot-engine/art folder.

NOTE:

The folder structure in the theme you are using might differ. Take a look at how this particular theme works to create the godot-engine folder accordingly. You might need to delete extra icons that are not needed.

🤖 Pre-made Godot systems

I've created a couple of ready-to-use Godot systems:

• For the Carbon theme, which is the default EmulationStation theme that comes with RetroPie.
• For the Pixel theme, my personal favourite theme.

If you want to add a new theme, feel free to open a pull request.

The default EmulationStation theme is installed automaticaly and can't be deleted.

To install a Godot system, copy the theme/[THEME]/godot-engine folder from this repository to /etc/emulationstation/themes/[THEME].

Or you can run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

and then go to:

• Configuration/tools
• godot-engine

Select Install themes.

Select the theme you would like to install.

Carbon theme

Pixel theme

🗒️ Changelog

See CHANGELOG.

👤 Author

hiulit

• Twitter: @hiulit
• GitHub: @hiulit

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to:

• Open an issue if you find a bug.
• Create a pull request if you have a new cool feature to add to the project.
• Start a new discussion about a feature request.

🙌 Supporting this project

If you love this project or find it helpful, please consider supporting it through any size donations to help make it better ❤️ .

If you can't, consider sharing it with the world...

... or giving it a star ⭐️ .

Thank you very much!

👏 Credits

Thanks to:

• Juan Linietsky (@reduz), Ariel Manzur (@punto-), Rémi Verschelde (@akien-mga) and all the Godot contributors - For creating and maintaining the Godot Engine.
• Emanuele Fornara (@efornara) - For creating FRT - A Godot "platform" targeting single board computers.
• Andrea Calabró - For creating the "Godot logo". Changes made to it:
  • Created an outline version.
• Alícia Folgarona Ribot (@pingudroid) - For creating the "Pixel Godot logo". Changes made to it:
  • New colors.
  • Added white outline.

📝 Licenses

• Source code: MIT License.
• Godot Engine: MIT License.
• FRT - A Godot platform targeting single board computers: MIT License.
• Godot logo: CC BY.
• Pixel Godot logo: CC BY-NC-SA.