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1. Setup with Kodi Retroplayer

2. Basic External Setup Instructions

3. Setup with Android

4. Setup for Offline Gaming

5. Additional Stuff System by System

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Setup with RetroPlayer

IAGL should more or less work out of the box with Kodi RetroPlayer. First though, you'll need to install some game emulator addons.

You can either run the Setup Wizard in IAGL, which will walk you through this, or you can do this manually. The setup wizard will auto-run on first install. You can also run the wizard whenever you like from the addon settings if you change your setup.

For auto setup: Run the setup wizard

For manual setup:

For Windows, OSX, Android, and LibreElec users, the game emulator addons should be available in the Kodi Repository: In Kodi settings go to Add-Ons > Install from Repository > Kodi Repository (or All) > Game Add-Ons > Emulators.

You should see a list of emulators available to install like the list below: Install the emulators you're interested in playing, or all of them if you want maximum playability with IAGL.

By default, all game lists in IAGL should be set to launch with Retroplayer, so no additional steps are needed. Just select a game and press launch.

If there is a compatible player (or players) for the game in Kodi, then it will start the game or prompt you for which player to use.

If there isn't a compatible player for the game in Kodi, you'll get a message stating it can't find a compatible player. This is dependant on your OS. Some OS's dont have every game addon and some do - mainly due to ongoing development of game addons in Kodi.

For Linux users, the game emulator addons should be available in the nightly ppa. You can download the game addons individually using these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/xbmc-nightly
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt get install kodi-game-libretro-beetle-bsnes

or you can download all of them at one go:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/xbmc-nightly
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt get install kodi-game*
sudo apt get install game.libetro*
sudo apt get install kodi-peripheral*

If some of the cores you're interested in for linux are not yet available in the ppa, you can take a look here for an alternate / unofficial repository for cores.

For current status of the Retroplayer, please see the Games Support Kodi forum.

Note that some systems require BIOS files to function, and that includes the game addons for libretro. The BIOS files required are the same BIOS files listed in the libretro wiki. The BIOS files need to be installed in the appropriate game addon userdata system folder. BIOS files are required for some game addons - read the docs.

An addon to help you place the BIOS files in the appropriate spot for Kodi Retroplayer can be found here.

For example(s):

Genesis Plus GX emulator (game.libretro.genplus) requires these files to be placed in ..path_to_userdata/addon_data/game.libretro.genplus/resources/system/

Reicast (Dreamcast/Naomi) emulator (game.libretro.reicast) requires these files to be placed in ..path_to_userdata/addon_data/game.libretro.reicast/resources/system/dc/

Basic External Setup Instructions

IAGL is by default setup to launch games using Kodi RetroPlayer. You can change this to an external emulator (like Retroarch or MAME or Dolphin). First of course you need to install and setup those emulators. Below is a step by step guide focusing on Retroarch, but this should be easily followed for other emulators as well.

0. Install

See installation instructions here.

1. Configure RetroArch

There are many tutorials for getting RetroArch setup. See example videos here and here.

At a minimum, for IAGL to launch a game, it needs the following with RetroArch:

• RetroArch installed
• A RetroArch 'core' to play the game system you want. Example Nestopia core will play NES games. You need a core for every system you want to play.
• BIOS files. Some cores in RetroArch require additional files to function. These are called BIOS files. For legal reasons, the core does not come with these files included. You need to search the internet to find what you need. I can't tell you where to get BIOS files. Google is your friend.

To install the cores. When you start up RetroArch for the first time, you can download the cores you want:

• Go to ‘Online Updater’
• Then go to ‘Core Updater’
• Then update / download at least one core for every system you'd like to play. For simplicity, I suggest update/downloading all cores listed. However, thats not strictly required, only suggested for simplicity in setup.

I also recommend updating Core Info Files, Assets, Autoconfig Profiles, Cheats, Databases, Overlays, Shaders from the Online Updater Page. In other words, update/download everything the retroarch online updater allows if you just installed Retroarch for the first time.

• Now go to the Retroarch settings section, and find the settings for 'Config'. Make note of the 'Config Directory'. You will need to point IAGL to this directory and config file during setup.

• Again, please note that many Retroarch cores require BIOS files to run properly (did I mention that already?). The BIOS files must go into the 'System/BIOS Directory' thats defined in the above step. I can't tell you where to get BIOS files. Google is your friend. Copy any and all BIOS files into the Retroarch 'System/BIOS Directory'.

2. Start Kodi and Navigate to IAGL

The IAGL addon is by default setup to provide either 'Video' or 'Games' (yes, I know that this is confusing). The addon will show up as both a video addon and a game addon.I did this so the addon could provide you with all the beautiful video addon views your skin of choice provides, which in Kodi are abundant for video addons but not so much for game addons.

3. Run the Setup Wizard

On first run, IAGL will prompt you to run the setup wizard. You can run it then, or you can run it later from the addon settings, or you can just skip it all together and manually enter the required settings in the 'External Launchers' tab of addon settings.

• Choose your selected launch type: Either External Launching (for Retroach) or Kodi Retroplayer
• The wizard will prompt you through various settings for your specific setup
• The addon will prompt you to locate both the Retroarch program/executable and the Retroarch config file. IAGL will try to guess the correct location based on your OS, but you should make sure it guessed correctly!
• The addon will then set a default core for each game list, based on what it finds on your system (except for Android, see Android specific notes)

In about a minute the wizard should say that it has completed. For most users the games should be ready to play now! The wizard chose some default launch settings for each game list.

By default, an "Info Window" will open when you select a game (see example above). This window provides a few options:

• Launch: IAGL will download the files (if necessary) and then Launch the game.
• Game Trailer: If a game trailer is available, this button will be present. Press play to watch the game trailer.
• Download: Download the files associated with the game. Where do the files go? See here.
• Close: Close the info window and go back to the games list

There are also options to change addon views, default actions, etc in the IAGL addon settings. See here for info on what each setting does.

If you swear by the flying spaghetti monster that you followed the instructions to a T and its still not working. See here.

For some users you'll want to tweak the setup some, or the default core isn't to your liking.

:point_down: Read on below for further instructions on changing settings for each archive :point_down:

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4. Configure individual IAGL archives

Some users will want to tweak their setup. The wizard simply runs the manual steps described below. If you want to modify the standard settings, keep reading. IAGL is setup so you can edit the settings of each individual archive (game list). To do that:

• Open up the IAGL Addon
• Highlight your desired archive / game list. In this example, I’m updating "Best of NES". Bring up the context menu (right click or press C on your keyboard) and select ‘Update Launcher’.
• Select External Launcher (for use with Retroarch external to Kodi) or Kodi (for use with Kodi v18 Retroplayer)

• Another window will pop up providing options for which emulator core to try and launch games with. For our example, I’ll select Nestopia.

• Thats it! Now when you select a game, it should launch from RetroArch with your selected core. Happy Gaming!

** Review your settings **

You can easily review what command IAGL will send to launch an archive by bringing up the context menu and selecting "View List Settings". This will show you the current download and launch parameters, so you can confirm they're set to what you want.

• Repeat the above steps for each of the archives you want to update.

5. Additional Notes

If you don’t see an option for your emulator of interest, thats OK! You can also manually enter the launch command line by selecting the option "Manually entered command line" when you update the Ext Launcher Command. See some additional info in the FAQ.

Setup with Android

Setup for the addon is the same listed above, except for a few differences:

• You'll have to know what flavor of 'Android' to enter under the IAGL addon setting 'My System Type'. Your choices are Android / aarch64 / ra32. What you have installed depends on your device and OS. You should be able to discern which one you have by opening Retroarch, then selecting Information > System Information.

• In retroarch, look at the config directory defined in settings.

• Set the 'RetroArch CFG' setting in IAGL to match the Retroarch config file in the directory from the Retroarch config directory setting

Additional note for Android users: The security on Android is such that IAGL cannot interrogate what Retroarch cores you have installed. It assumes you have all of them installed. For that reason, the setup wizard may choose an external launch type that you dont have installed. Android users are highly recommended to 'View List Settings' and verify that the external launch command is what you want it to be (or better yet, manually set it to what you want it to be).

Additional note for Android users: If you want to store your games on an external storage device, see here for issues with Android permissions.

Setup for Offline Gaming

Note: These instructions are to be reworked as the IAGL addon is updated to make Offline gaming more user friendly.

IAGL can be used as a cloud-based front end, where the games aren't usually stored on your local computer, OR you can setup the addon to be used as an offline frontend, where the files are stored locally. Follow these steps to setup IAGL for offline gaming:

1. Setup folder structure on your computer

First, setup the directories on your computer. Make a folder for game files for each archive you want to keep offline. Example:

• Game_Files
  • NES
  • SNES
  • Sega_Genesis
  • Amiga
  • DOS
  • etc..

Note that for MAME Softlist systems, you must name the folder according to the way Retroarch/MAME requires. Those systems are:

• Apple 2GS: Name the folder 'apple2gs'
• CDi: Name the folder 'cdimono'
• ColecoVision: Name the folder 'coleco'
• Commodore 64: Name the folder 'c64'
• NeoGeo CD: Name the folder 'neocdz'
• PC98: Name the folder 'pc9821'
• Sharp X1: Name the folder 'x1'
• Sony x68000: Name the folder 'x68000'

2. Point each archive to your desired folder

Now, in IAGL, go to each archive listing, and bring up the context menu (right click or select C on your keyboard). Select 'Update Download Path' and point to the folder you created in step 1. Repeat this step for every archive you want to set up for offline use.

3. Change Addon Local File setting

In Kodi, select addon settings for IAGL. Change the setting 'If Game Already Exists Locally' to 'Do not Re-Download'

Thats it! Now the first time you launch a game, the associated files will be saved to your folder. Any time after that, the addon will use the local file. This is especially helpful if the game files are large. But be aware, you would have to manually delete the files later if you choose to.