🎮 Syncade Retro Platform

Syncade is a modular and extensible foundation for multi-system emulation, built upon the Libretro API. The project is designed to orchestrate emulation cores, manage virtual memory mapping, and process real-time audio/video signals using OpenGL (via GLAD/GLFW) for high-performance rendering and SDL2 for a resilient audio pipeline.

Unlike conventional frontends, Syncade is engineered as a learning and experimentation tool, allowing developers to dive deep into the host-to-guest communication, environment callbacks, and hardware abstraction layers.

Project Goals

Syncade provides a robust platform for developers and enthusiasts to:

• Understand the Libretro Architecture: Explore how environment commands, input state polling, and frame synchronization work in a real-world implementation.
• Experiment with A/V Pipelines: Implement advanced techniques such as Cubic Resampling (Catmull-Rom) for audio and OpenGL texture processing for immediate visual feedback.
• Build Decoupled Systems: Create an infrastructure where the Input system, Audio backend, and Video renderer are independent modules, making it easy to swap backends (e.g., moving to Vulkan or OpenAL).
• Multicore Abstraction: Implement dynamic library loading (.dll / .so) to allow the system to switch between different hardware architectures (Arcade, Consoles, Handhelds) transparently.

Technical Highlights

Focused on simplicity and educational value, Syncade stands out by providing:

1. Hybrid Synchronization: A "Push" model for video frame submission and a "Pull" model (via Ring Buffer) for audio, ensuring stability across varying refresh rates.

2. Audio Resilience: A robust initialization logic with automatic fallbacks and real-time resampling to ensure compatibility with any host hardware sample rate.

3. Extensible Modularity: The architecture allows contributors to implement one subsystem at a time (e.g., focusing strictly on Input or Shader passes) and see immediate results on screen.

System Architecture

The project is organized into logical modules that mirror real hardware components:

• Core Engine (LibretroCore): The central orchestrator managing the emulator lifecycle and the C/C++ bridge.
• Video Provider: Manages OpenGL context, pixel alignment (pitch), and texture transfers from the Core to the GPU.
• Audio Backend: An SDL2-based system using a circular buffer to prevent audio crackling and ensure low latency.
• Input Mapper: Translates GLFW keyboard and gamepad events into the standard Libretro Joypad map.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• C++17 Compiler (MSVC, GCC, or Clang)
• CMake (3.10+)
• Dependencies: GLFW3, GLAD, SDL2

Build Instructions

git clone [https://github.com/youruser/syncade.git](https://github.com/youruser/syncade.git)
cd syncade
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .