emulator: XRick
type: libretro
source: "https://github.com/libretro/xrick-libretro"
profiled_date: "2026-03-18"
core_version: "1.0.0.6"
display_name: "Rick Dangerous (XRick)"
cores:
  - xrick
systems:
  - rick-dangerous

notes: |
  XRick is an open-source reimplementation of the Rick Dangerous engine (Core Design, 1989),
  ported to libretro. It is not a general-purpose emulator; it only plays Rick Dangerous.

  The core sets need_fullpath = true, valid_extensions = "*|zip", and supports launching
  without content (RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_SUPPORT_NO_GAME = true, libretro-core.c:93-97).

  Game data handling works in two modes (retro_load_game, libretro-core.c:312-360):
    1. Content provided: the content path is passed directly as the -data argument
       (line 318: snprintf "xrick" "-data" "%s"). Content can be data.zip or a directory.
    2. No content (standalone): the core builds the path {system_dir}/xrick/data.zip
       using fill_pathname_join_special_ext(RETRO_DIR, "xrick", "data", ".zip") at lines
       324-326. If this file is missing, a "game files missing" error is displayed (line 337)
       and loading fails.

  The fallback data path at line 359 confirms the expected location:
    snprintf(RPATH, ... "xrick" "-data" "%s/xrick/data.zip", RETRO_DIR)

  All game graphics, maps, tile data, entity tables, and screen layouts are compiled directly
  into the binary from dat_*.c source files (dat_ents.c, dat_maps.c, dat_picsPC.c,
  dat_picsST.c, dat_screens.c, dat_snd.c, dat_spritesPC.c, dat_spritesST.c, dat_tilesPC.c,
  dat_tilesST.c). Only the sound files are external.

  data.zip contains 29 WAV files in a sounds/ subdirectory: sound effects (bombshht, bonus,
  box, bullet, crawl, die, ent0-ent8, explode, gameover, jump, pad, sbonus1, sbonus2, stick,
  walk) and music tracks (tune0 through tune5). The data.c module handles opening files from
  either a .zip archive (via unzip.c) or a flat directory, selected by extension detection
  (data.c:56-73).

  xrick.c:23 shows the hardcoded fallback: data_setpath("data.zip") when no -data argument
  is provided.

  system_dir is obtained via RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_GET_SYSTEM_DIRECTORY (libretro-core.c:185-189),
  falling back to "." if unavailable.

  The data.zip file ships in the xrick-libretro repository root and is the original xrick
  0.21212 game data release from 2002 by BigOrno.

files:
  - name: "xrick/data.zip"
    category: game_data
    system: rick-dangerous
    description: "Rick Dangerous sound data (29 WAV files: sfx and music tracks)"
    required: true
    size: 1457440
    md5: "a471e64e9f69afbe59c10cc94ed1b184"
    sha1: "ecfc092fe6371dbf38e238a8ba5f90785b5db52d"
    source_ref: "libretro-core.c:324-326 (path construction), libretro-core.c:328-357 (missing file error), libretro-core.c:359 (final path confirmation)"
    notes: "Placed in system/xrick/data.zip. Contains sounds/ directory with 29 WAV files from the original xrick 0.21212 release. Without this file, standalone mode fails with 'XRick game files missing from frontend system directory'. Ships in the libretro repo root."

analysis:
  content_type: game_engine
  content_extensions: ["*", "zip"]
  system_directory_used: true
  supports_no_content: true
  data_files_location: "system/xrick/data.zip (standalone) or content path (with content)"
  compiled_in_data:
    - "dat_ents.c (entity/NPC tables)"
    - "dat_maps.c (level map data)"
    - "dat_picsPC.c, dat_picsST.c (background images, PC and Atari ST)"
    - "dat_screens.c (screen layout data)"
    - "dat_snd.c (sound metadata/indices)"
    - "dat_spritesPC.c, dat_spritesST.c (sprite graphics)"
    - "dat_tilesPC.c, dat_tilesST.c (tile graphics)"
  external_data:
    sounds:
      - "bombshht.wav, bonus.wav, box.wav, bullet.wav, crawl.wav, die.wav"
      - "ent0.wav through ent8.wav (9 entity sound effects)"
      - "explode.wav, gameover.wav, jump.wav, pad.wav"
      - "sbonus1.wav, sbonus2.wav, stick.wav, walk.wav"
      - "tune0.wav through tune5.wav (6 music tracks)"