RetroGameDev VR — Libretro Cores

This repository hosts the libretro emulator cores downloaded at runtime by RetroGameDev VR on Meta Quest. The app fetches manifest.json on launch and pulls each core from this repository the first time a user plays a ROM that needs it.

Each core is versioned independently; see the version field per core in manifest.json for the current release. When a core is revised, its source archive is republished under a new -vN.N filename matching that version.

Cores included

File	Systems	License	Upstream
libmgba_libretro.so	Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance	MPL 2.0	mgba-emu/mgba
libfceumm_libretro.so	NES	GPL v2	libretro/libretro-fceumm
libvice_x64_libretro.so	Commodore 64	GPL v2 or later	libretro/vice-libretro
libgearsystem_libretro.so	Sega Master System, Game Gear	GPL v3	drhelius/Gearsystem
libbsnes_mercury_balanced_libretro.so	Super Nintendo (SNES)	GPL v3	libretro/bsnes-mercury
libmupen64plus_next_libretro.so	Nintendo 64	GPL v3	libretro/mupen64plus-libretro-nx
libpcsx_rearmed_libretro.so	PlayStation (PS1)	GPL v2	libretro/pcsx_rearmed
libares_md_libretro.so	Sega Genesis / Mega Drive	ISC	ares-emulator/ares

All binaries are built for Android arm64-v8a (Meta Quest 3 / 3S / Pro). They are not portable to other platforms.

Repository layout

• manifest.json — catalogue read by the app's CoreInstaller. Contains per-core version, download URL, SHA-256, size, source URL, and license URL. See SOURCES.md for the schema.
• lib*_libretro.so — the core binaries.
• LICENSE-mgba.txt, LICENSE-fceumm.txt, LICENSE-vice.txt, LICENSE-gearsystem.txt, LICENSE-bsnes.txt, LICENSE-mupen64.txt, LICENSE-pcsx.txt, LICENSE-ares.txt — full license text for each core.
• source/lib*_libretro-vN.N.tar.gz — complete corresponding source for each binary at the commit it was built from. Where a core carries the project's build-time patches, they are pre-applied so the tarball is a buildable standalone snapshot matching the binary (see SOURCES.md per core).
• SOURCES.md — upstream pointers, the exact commit each tarball was produced from, the VICE patches (with rationale), and reproduce-the- build instructions.

Licensing & source

These cores carry copyleft and weak-copyleft licenses; the binaries you download are accompanied by the complete corresponding source code in source/ under GPL §3(a). For mGBA (MPL 2.0) the source is included for parity even though MPL's source-availability requirements are file-level rather than whole-program.

See SOURCES.md for upstream URLs, exact commits, and the VICE, Mupen64Plus-Next, PCSX-ReARMed and Gearsystem patch sets.

Building

These binaries are produced from the RetroGameDev VR main repo's LibretroCores/Makefile. To reproduce a binary from a source tarball in this repository, extract the tarball and follow the build commands in SOURCES.md for that core.

Issues

• Bugs in the emulators themselves are best reported to each upstream project (see the Upstream column above).
• Bugs in how RetroGameDev VR uses these cores belong on the main app repository.