Daphne - RetroBIOS¶
| Type | standalone + libretro |
| Source | https://github.com/libretro/daphne |
| Version | Git |
| Profiled | 2026-03-18 |
| Cores | daphne |
| Systems | arcade-laserdisc |
No BIOS or firmware files required. This core is self-contained.
Daphne is a LaserDisc arcade game emulator ported to libretro. It emulates classic full-motion video arcade games like Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Cliff Hanger, and others that used LaserDisc players for video output.
The core does NOT require any shared system BIOS or firmware files. The libretro-core-info file (daphne_libretro.info) declares no firmware.
Each game loads its own arcade ROM set from a ZIP file named after the game short name (e.g. lair.zip, cliff.zip, bega.zip). ROM files are individual arcade chip dumps loaded via the rom_def struct in each game class (daphne-1.0-src/game/*.cpp). CRC32 verification is performed at load time (game.cpp:769-778).
Content loading path (libretro.cpp:546-637): 1. User points RetroArch to a .zip file (e.g. /Daphne/roms/lair.zip) 2. The core strips the path to derive: - rom_name: game short name (e.g. "lair"), lowercased - rom_path: parent directory 3. A home_dir is set to rom_path/.. (one level up from roms/) 4. Additional data is expected relative to home_dir: - roms/ -> game ROM ZIPs - framefile/ -> frame description files (.txt) - sound/ -> sound samples - ram/ -> SRAM saves - pics/ -> overlay graphics
Expected directory layout: Daphne/ roms/lair.zip roms/cliff.zip framefile/lair.txt framefile/cliff.txt sound/lair/ (optional, game-specific samples)
Supported games include (from README.md and libretro.cpp): lair (Dragon's Lair), ace (Space Ace), cliff (Cliff Hanger), bega (Bega's Battle), badlands (Badlands), esh (Esh's Aurunmilla), interstellar, mach3, sdq (Super Don Quix-ote), tq (Thayer's Quest), astron, galaxy, cobra, roadblaster, gpworld, lair2 (Dragon's Lair II), and many ROM revision variants.
The core is marked experimental. Savestates, cheats, and disk control are not supported. Requires full file path (retro_load_game uses path, not data buffer).
Generated on 2026-03-20T19:12:20Z