Bliss-box 4-play advanced and RetroArch

[SiriusVI]

Hello everyone,

I have a lot of original retro controllers at home that I would like to hook up to my computer for use with RetroArch.

Up until now, I was using various different adapters and have set up different RetroArch set-ups (basically one for each controller type I own), each configured to work perfectly with a different controller type (N64; PS2; SNES; …). However, there are multiple things that bother me:

1. I don’t want to manage / update 10 different versions of RetroArch anymore.
2. There are still a lot of controllers I can’t find reliable adapters for.
3. Some features, like rumble support, don’t reliably work with some of my adapters.

That’s why I am considering buying the Bliss-box 4-play advanced, but I am unsure how well this works with RetroArch. Ordeing the Bliss-box 4-play advanced along with all the cables I need + shipping to Germany would be over 300€ and I don’t want to spend that kind of money if I’m not certain it will work as I want it to. At this price, it needs to be virtually flawless.

Is there anyone here using the Bliss-box 4-play advanced who can give me some insight as to how this works with RetroArch?

So basicaly, what I’d like to do is this:

1. Connect SNES controllers --> start a SNES game with RetroArch --> all buttons for players 1 & 2 work perfectly out of the box.
2. Close RetroArch --> connect NES controllers --> start a NES game with RetroArch --> all buttons for players 1 & 2 work perfectly out of the box.
3. Close RetroArch --> connect N64 controllers --> start an N64 game with RetroArch --> all buttons for players 1, 2, 3, 4 work perfectly out of the box + rumble works with the rumble pack inserted on all 4 controllers
4. Close RetroArch --> connect PS2 controllers --> start a PS2 game with RetroArch --> all buttons for players 1 & 2 work perfectly out of the box + rumble works.

And so on.

Is this possible, or is there any additional set-up required inside RetroArch? Maybe someone can explain to me how this works, because it is very hard to find good documentation online.

Thank you!

EDIT: sorry, there was some weirdness with the text color.

Edited June 13 by SiriusVI

[Hazuki]

Hi,

I have a Bliss-box 4-play, the older version. I have it setup to use with Dolphin, and I have had it setup in the past with retroarch. Retroarch uses "Controller profiles", and last time i used it, they weren't updated, so some controllers wouldn't be mapped correctly. Not sure if this is fixed now or not

Rumble has worked fine with GameCube and Dreamcast controllers (haven't tried an n64 controller, but i guess it would be the same)
But PSOne/PS2 controllers use more power and require external power supply, so i just use my PS3 controllers.

I'll fire up a fresh installed Retroarch tomorrow and give it a try and get back to you then if you like
 

[Hazuki]

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response. My main SSD in my main PC died on me, so I've been a little busy getting it the PC up and running again.

I played a little Dreamcast with my Bliss-box 4-play and a Dreamcast Controller with a Jump Pack, and yes there is rumble.

I had it setup using dinput, and now and again the game stuttered a little. To me it felt like the stuttering ordered when there was rumble, but not ever time. So i can't really say if this is something to do with the Bliss-Box, Retroarch or the core.

I usually have it setup to use SDL2, but for some reason my keyboard stopped working ever time a changed it, not really sure whats going on there.

The config file that retroarch downloads are outdated, and therefore none of the controller mappings work out of the box.
Looking in retroarch github and the files are 5 years old.
The bliss-box firmware 3.xx updated all the controller buttons, making setup easier, but it looks like Retroarch never updated.

When i get around to it I will update my config files again and i am more the happy to share them here, but I don't have the time to do that just yet.

And you asked about connecting the controllers. You can swap from any controller mid game, no need to restart retroarch nor the game.

Say you are playing track and field 2 on the nes with a nes controller, its all fun and game but you want that sweet autofire. Just unplug the nes controller and plugin you snes controller and its all set up. A is A and B is B, and the you have X and Y that are autofire

Something to note is that if there isn't a controller  connected to a port, the post defaults to an atari controller. While this doesn't matter most of the time, it dose confuse retroarch.

Say you have 2 nes controllers connected to port 1 and 2. the port 3 and 4 will tell retroarch that they are atari controllers:
bliss-box Port 1: NES (1)
bliss-box Port 2: NES (2)
bliss-box Port 3: Atari (1)
bliss-box Port 4: Atari (2)

this can make Retroarch select NES(1) ans player one and Atari(1) as player 2. I find that this removes from the console like experience.
I did solve this before, but I cant remember what I did, and I formatted that PC a while back, and just haven't gotten around to setting this up yet.

I hope this helped you a little. Maybe my explanations are a little unclear, just let me know and I'll try again