emulator: NicaiEmu
type: standalone + libretro
core_classification: frozen_snapshot
source: "https://github.com/AloysHF/CoolbarEmu"
upstream: "https://github.com/AloysHF/CoolbarEmu"
profiled_date: "2026-10-21"
source_commit: "4c9b73f7213b1537d2361a8b1d438857bdcdc798"
pin_frozen: "the nicaiemu core is this revision, the last one whose .gitlab-ci.yml sets CORENAME: nicaiemu. The next master commit, 7496d513 (PR #78, 2026-10-16), renames the project and its crates to CoolbarEmu and the buildbot recipe to CORENAME: coolbaremu, so later commits build the coolbaremu core, described by coolbaremu.yml."
core_version: "0.1.0"
display_name: "MStar - Nicai (NicaiEmu)"
cores:
  - nicaiemu
systems:
  - coolbar

notes: |
  Emulator for Nicai/MStar CBE (Cool Bar Engine) phone games written in
  Rust by AloysHF. The libretro core and the nicaiemu standalone binary
  share the nicaiemu-core crate, and the workspace builds the libretro
  core by default (Cargo.toml:13). The repository was renamed from
  AloysHF/NicaiEmu to AloysHF/CoolbarEmu with PR #78.

  A .cbe archive is read whole from its full path (need_fullpath = true,
  crates/nicaiemu-libretro/src/libretro/api.rs:181, then load_machine,
  crates/nicaiemu-libretro/src/libretro/api.rs:359-363, then
  CbeArchive::load, crates/nicaiemu-core/src/cbe/archive.rs:68-94). Files
  next to the .cbe (pay kernels, save records, update data) are indexed as
  the guest filesystem (crates/nicaiemu-core/src/machine/mod.rs:1022-1024,
  crates/nicaiemu-core/src/machine/virtual_fs.rs:58-88), and they belong
  to the game.

  Phone services are implemented in Rust
  (crates/nicaiemu-core/src/machine/services/). Text is decoded as GBK and
  rasterised from the unifont crate compiled into the core (Cargo.toml:35,
  crates/nicaiemu-core/src/machine/drawing.rs:1886). MIDI resources are
  synthesised as decaying sine tones without a sound bank
  (crates/nicaiemu-core/src/audio_engine.rs:270-275), while WAV and MP3 are
  decoded with symphonia.

  The only system directory read is nicaiemu_orientation.csv, an optional
  user list of CRC32, size and orientation for landscape titles missing
  from the built-in table (crates/nicaiemu-libretro/src/libretro/api.rs:45,
  crates/nicaiemu-libretro/src/libretro/api.rs:365-399,
  crates/nicaiemu-core/src/orientation_profile.rs:132-140). A missing file
  is logged and the built-in table applies. The standalone binary reads
  and writes only the files named on its command line, --orientation-profile,
  --screenshot, --save-state and --load-state
  (crates/nicaiemu/src/main.rs:104-107, crates/nicaiemu/src/main.rs:152-166,
  crates/nicaiemu/src/main.rs:185-186).

  The buildbot publishes nicaiemu_libretro next to coolbaremu_libretro, and
  the two cores read different system files: nicaiemu_orientation.csv here,
  coolbaremu_orientation.csv in the coolbaremu core built after the rename.

exclusion_note: "The firmware services are reimplemented in the core, glyphs come from the unifont crate and MIDI is synthesised without a bank. The system directory holds only an optional user-written orientation list, and the .info declares firmware_count = 0."
files: []