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RetroBIOS

SDLPAL

SDLPAL emulates The Legend of Sword and Fairy. It reads 28 files, 15 of them required: without a required file it does not start games.

About this profile
Detail Value
Type libretro
Classification Official port
Source https://github.com/sdlpal/sdlpal
Version 2.0.1, stated in libretro/libretro.c
Revision sdlpal/sdlpal@d4bf69b64d33
Profiled 2026-03-25
Profile YAML, JSON
Cores sdlpal
Systems The Legend of Sword and Fairy
Install this emulator's files

The installer finds your setup and its BIOS folder, then downloads only the files this emulator reads there and checks each one.

Open the Start menu. Type PowerShell and open it. Paste the line. Press Enter.

PowerShell
&([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://abdess.github.io/retrobios/i.ps1))) --emulator sdlpal
Technical notes

Game engine reimplementing the classic Chinese RPG PAL (Sword and Fairy) by SoftStar Inc. No BIOS or firmware required. All files are proprietary game data from the original 1995 DOS or 1998 Win95 release.

Place game files in <system_dir>/sdlpal/ or point a .cfg at the game directory. The game is available on Steam (app 1546570). Auto-detects DOS vs Win95 game data.

The libretro port disables MP3, OGG, OPUS, native MIDI, and CD audio backends (pal_config.h). Only RIX (mus.mkf) and software MIDI synthesis via Timidity/TinySoundFont (midi.mkf + user-provided soundfont) are available for music.

Files

Section titled “Files”

28 files: 15 required, 13 optional.

By kind: 28 game data.

In this collection: 28 in repo and 0 missing.

Game data

Section titled “Game data”
28 rows
FileStatus

abc.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/abc.mkf
  • Animation and battle character data archive.
Source
required in repo game data

ball.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/ball.mkf
  • Magic effect graphics archive.
Source
required in repo game data

data.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/data.mkf
  • Core game data archive (scripts, events, game logic).
Source
required in repo game data

f.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/f.mkf
  • Face/portrait graphics archive.
Source
required in repo game data

fbp.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/fbp.mkf
  • Full-screen background picture archive (cutscenes, title).
Source
required in repo game data

fire.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/fire.mkf
  • Fire/spell effect graphics archive.
Source
required in repo game data

gop.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/gop.mkf
  • Game object palette/graphics archive.
Source
required in repo game data

map.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/map.mkf
  • Map tile and layout data archive.
Source
required in repo game data

mgo.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/mgo.mkf
  • Map graphic object (sprite overlay) archive.
Source
required in repo game data

pat.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/pat.mkf
  • Palette data archive.
Source
required in repo game data

rgm.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/rgm.mkf
  • RGM graphics archive.
Source
required in repo game data

rng.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/rng.mkf
  • RNG animation/cutscene sequence archive.
Source
required in repo game data

sss.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/sss.mkf
  • SSS data archive (message offsets in chunk 3).
Source
required in repo game data

m.msg

  • Path: sdlpal/m.msg
  • Message text data (dialog, story). Opened via UTIL_OpenRequiredFile in default mode.
Source
required in repo game data

word.dat

  • Path: sdlpal/word.dat
  • Word data (menu items, status labels, item/spell names).
Source
required in repo game data

desc.dat

  • Path: sdlpal/desc.dat
  • Object description strings. DOS version only (skipped for Win95). Returns NULL if absent.
Source
optional in repo game data

wor16.asc

  • Path: sdlpal/wor16.asc
  • Chinese character code mapping for embedded font. Silently skipped if absent.
Source
optional in repo game data

wor16.fon

  • Path: sdlpal/wor16.fon
  • Chinese character bitmap font data. Used with wor16.asc for DOS font rendering.
Source
optional in repo game data

voc.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/voc.mkf
  • VOC format sound effects archive (DOS version). Preferred for DOS game data.
Source
optional in repo game data

sounds.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/sounds.mkf
  • WAV format sound effects archive (Win95 version). Preferred for Win95 game data.
Source
optional in repo game data

mus.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/mus.mkf
  • RIX/OPL music archive. Default music source, played through OPL emulation.
Source
optional in repo game data

midi.mkf

  • Path: sdlpal/midi.mkf
  • MIDI music archive. Used when Music=MIDI is configured in sdlpal.cfg.
Source
optional in repo game data

1.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/1.avi
  • Trademark screen video (Win95 only). Falls back to RNG animation if absent.
Source
optional in repo game data

2.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/2.avi
  • Splash screen video (Win95 only). Falls back to sprite animation if absent.
Source
optional in repo game data

3.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/3.avi
  • In-game event video (Win95 only).
Source
optional in repo game data

4.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/4.avi
  • Ending sequence video part 1 (Win95 only).
Source
optional in repo game data

5.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/5.avi
  • Ending sequence video part 2 (Win95 only).
Source
optional in repo game data

6.avi

  • Path: sdlpal/6.avi
  • Ending sequence video part 3 (Win95 only).
Source
optional in repo game data

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”
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Maintained by Abdess on GitHub. Report a problem.

Packs from release v2026.10.10, .

MIT for the tooling and metadata. BIOS and firmware files are third-party system software, preserved for personal backup, archival and interoperability.