Install the native Linux builds as Ports
Cartridges were under half the catalog; the rest are native builds no emulator can boot. Batocera runs Linux and its Ports system takes .sh launchers, so ebitengine, bevy, godot and love now map to ports with a per-architecture kind: linux_x64 on x86_64, linux_arm64 where a build exists. Where it does not, the engine skips the title naming the architecture rather than installing a binary that cannot start. Verified end to end against the live catalog with a local roms root: on aarch64 rabbitroller is skipped for want of a linux_arm64 asset, on x86_64 it unpacks under ports/.data/teletypegames/ with an executable bit and a working launcher. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Claude Opus 5
@@ -78,10 +78,16 @@ alone.
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## What this store installs
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Cartridges go to their emulator's ROM folder, native builds to **Ports**:
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| Catalog platform | Asset kind | Batocera system | Extension |
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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| `c64` | `cartridge` | `c64` (VICE) | `.prg` |
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| `tic80` | `cartridge` | `tic80` | `.tic` |
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| `ebitengine` | `linux_x64` / `linux_arm64` | `ports` | `.zip` |
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| `bevy` | `linux_x64` / `linux_arm64` | `ports` | `.zip` |
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| `godot` | `linux_x64` | `ports` | `.zip` |
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| `love` | `linux_x64` | `ports` | `.zip` |
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Statuses `released` and `archived`, whole catalog, no owner filter. Everything
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lands under the `teletypegames/` subfolder of each system, so a prune can never
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@@ -89,54 +95,39 @@ reach ROMs you put there yourself. To change any of it, edit
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`/userdata/system/batocera-store/ttg/config.json` on the box — the full key
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reference is in the engine's README.
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## Native games as Ports — experimental
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## Native games as Ports
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Cartridges are all this store installs by default, which is a little under half
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the catalog: the rest of our games are native builds, and an emulator cannot
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boot those. The engine can install them through Batocera's **Ports** system
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instead, but it is off here on purpose — **nobody has yet confirmed on real
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hardware that the games start**, and each one is a 30–100 MB download rather
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than a few kilobytes.
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Cartridges are a little under half the catalog; the rest of our games are native
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Linux builds, and no emulator boots those. Batocera runs Linux, so they are
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installed through its **Ports** system instead: the zip is unpacked under
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`ports/.data/teletypegames/`, and the launcher EmulationStation lists is
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`ports/teletypegames/<name>.sh`, which `cd`s into the program's directory before
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running it. They appear under *Ports ▸ Teletype Games*, and `remove` takes the
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unpacked program with it.
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To try it, add platform entries to
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`/userdata/system/batocera-store/ttg/config.json` on the box:
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Each one is a 30–100 MB download rather than the few kilobytes of a cartridge.
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```json
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"platforms": {
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"ebitengine": {
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"system": "ports",
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"install": "port",
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"kind": { "x86_64": "linux_x64", "aarch64": "linux_arm64" },
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"ext": ".zip",
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"enabled": true
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},
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"godot": { "system": "ports", "install": "port",
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"kind": { "x86_64": "linux_x64" }, "ext": ".zip", "enabled": true },
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"love": { "system": "ports", "install": "port",
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"kind": { "x86_64": "linux_x64" }, "ext": ".zip", "enabled": true },
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"bevy": { "system": "ports", "install": "port",
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"kind": { "x86_64": "linux_x64", "aarch64": "linux_arm64" },
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"ext": ".zip", "enabled": true }
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}
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**The build has to match the box.** Batocera runs on x86_64 mini-PCs as much as
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on the Raspberry Pi and the ARM handhelds, and a native binary only starts on the
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architecture it was built for. The engine detects the architecture — `list` and
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`config` both report it — and picks the asset for it; where there is none the
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title is skipped with a message naming the architecture, rather than installing
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something that cannot start:
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```
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skipped rabbitroller: no 'linux_arm64' asset in any release
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```
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Then `/userdata/system/batocera-store/ttg-store sync`. The games appear under
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*Ports ▸ Teletype Games*; `remove` takes the unpacked program with it.
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`ebitengine` and `bevy` build for both `linux_x64` and `linux_arm64`; `godot` and
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`love` are x86_64-only for now — a Godot ARM export needs a preset in the game
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repo, and LÖVE has no upstream ARM runtime. `tic80` has an ARM problem too, but
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it is installed as a cartridge, which is data for an emulator and runs anywhere.
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`phaser` ships only a web build, so it is not mapped at all.
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**Mind the architecture.** Only the platforms listed with an `aarch64` entry
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above have ARM builds today — on a Raspberry Pi or a handheld the others are
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skipped with a message naming the architecture, rather than installing something
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that cannot start. `godot`, `love` and `tic80` have no ARM build at all yet: a
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Godot ARM export needs a preset in the game repo, LÖVE has no upstream ARM
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runtime, and TIC-80's exporter has no ARM target.
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With everything that can be enabled turned on, the coverage measured on
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2026-08-17 was **13 of 15** titles on x86_64 and **9 of 15** on ARM. The two that
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stay out either way are `phaserdemo` and `trickster-tiles`: they ship only a web
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build.
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Report back what happens on a real box — that is the missing piece before this
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becomes the default.
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Statuses still apply, and they are what keeps this small today: most of our
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native titles are `demo`, which is not in `catalog.statuses`. On x86_64 the only
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native game that currently installs is `rabbitroller`. Add `"demo"` to
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`catalog.statuses` on the box to get the rest.
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## Where things land
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@@ -150,5 +141,9 @@ becomes the default.
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/userdata/roms/c64/teletypegames/ blessingofra-2.0.0.prg, rabbit-1.0.0.prg, …
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/userdata/roms/c64/teletypegames/images/ blessingofra.png, …
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/userdata/roms/c64/gamelist.xml our entries merged in
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/userdata/roms/ports/Teletype Games Store.sh
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/userdata/roms/ports/Teletype Games Store.sh the store itself
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/userdata/roms/ports/teletypegames/ rabbitroller.sh, …
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/userdata/roms/ports/teletypegames/images/ rabbitroller.png, …
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/userdata/roms/ports/.data/teletypegames/ the unpacked programs
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```
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