libretro/emulators/supermodel.yml

emulator: Supermodel
type: standalone + libretro
core_classification: community_fork
source:
  standalone: "https://github.com/trzy/Supermodel"
  libretro: "https://git.libretro.com/libretro/Libretro-Supermodel"
upstream: "https://github.com/trzy/Supermodel"
profiled_date: "2026-09-17"
source_commit:
  standalone: "8b4de239bf3e0fd921f4383edcd3c21c2e62067b"
  libretro: "84bc106b45b279bf868a53b9232897c8dc10ca17"
upstream_commit: "8b4de239bf3e0fd921f4383edcd3c21c2e62067b"
core_version:
  standalone: "0.3a-WIP"
  libretro: "v0.3a-libretro"
display_name: "Sega - Model 3 (Supermodel)"
cores:
  - supermodel
systems:
  - sega-model3

notes: |
  Open-source Sega Model 3 arcade emulator by Bart Trzynadlowski (trzy) and
  contributors, under GPL-3.0. Emulates all three Model 3 steppings (1.0, 1.5,
  2.0/2.1) including Real3D graphics, SCSP sound, DSB1/DSB2 MPEG music boards,
  drive boards, and net board. Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS).

  The libretro core is Libretro-Supermodel, developed by sgiannop on top of
  the 2019 libretro attempt and now held under the libretro organisation on
  GitHub, mirrored at the same revision on git.libretro.com where the buildbot
  pipeline lives (.gitlab-ci.yml). It carries the whole Supermodel tree with
  its own OSD under Src/OSD/libretro and reports v0.3a-libretro. The older
  libretro/supermodel repository on GitHub keeps the full trzy history and
  received the same feature branch as its PR #2, but has no CI file and is
  not what the buildbot publishes.
  ref: Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:937-938, Docs/README.md:5-12

  Uses MAME-compatible ROM sets loaded from ZIP archives. GameLoader identifies
  games by CRC32 checksums defined in Games.xml. Parent/child ROM set
  relationships exist between regional variants of the same game, not as shared
  BIOS sets. No standalone BIOS or firmware files are loaded outside of game ZIPs.
  The core routes the ZIP reads through the libretro VFS.
  ref: Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:828-832, Src/OSD/libretro/vfs_ioapi.cpp

  Standalone: four data files of its own are read from the install tree, Config/
  and Assets/ relative to the working directory on Windows and macOS. On Linux
  the same relative directories are used when Config/ exists in the working
  directory, otherwise ~/.supermodel/ when present, otherwise the XDG data and
  config homes. Supermodel.ini is written from a compiled-in default when it is
  absent and rewritten after interactive input configuration; NVRAM/<game>.nv
  and Saves/<game>.st<slot> are written by the emulator itself.
  ref: Src/OSD/Windows/FileSystemPath.cpp:28-49, Src/OSD/OSX/FileSystemPath.cpp:28-48,
       Src/OSD/Unix/FileSystemPath.cpp:51-157, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:1394-1413,
       Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:1445, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:2233

  Libretro: retro_init joins "supermodel" to the frontend system directory and
  the core creates that directory through the VFS. Supermodel.ini, Games.xml and
  Music.xml are looked up flat in it first, then under a Config/ subdirectory
  kept for the initial port's layout. Games.xml and Supermodel.ini are also
  compiled into the binary from the repository copies, and when neither layout
  holds the file the embedded bytes are written to the flat path on first run.
  An external file is read in preference to the embedded one and never updated
  afterwards. Music.xml has no embedded copy.
  ref: Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:855-863, Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:889-894,
       Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:1113, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:166-206,
       Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:208-228, Makefile:640-653, Makefile:659-661

  Libretro NVRAM is the frontend .srm through the memory API. On the first frame
  a <game>.nv written by the standalone build is imported from the save directory
  when the .srm is empty; it is never written back. Save states are serialised in
  memory, and a state file on disk is loaded only when InitStateFile names one,
  which the core option layer leaves empty.
  ref: Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:766-781, Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:1380-1409,
       Src/OSD/libretro/libretro.cpp:1685-1690, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:479,
       Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:544-545, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroConfigProvider.h:15

  The Legacy3D renderer compiles its shaders from built-in strings and reads a
  file only when VertexShader or FragmentShader names one; both default to an
  empty string in either build.
  ref: Src/Graphics/Shader.cpp:52-63, Src/Graphics/Shader.cpp:100-108,
       Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroConfigProvider.h:22-23

  EmuDeck installs the Flatpak package (com.supermodel3.Supermodel). Config
  stored in ~/.supermodel/Config/. No checkBIOS entry in EmuDeck.

files:
  - name: Games.xml
    standalone_path: "Config/Games.xml"
    mode: standalone
    required: true
    bundled: true
    size: 151626
    sha1: "6871a47de90ca67f9ff8e4e280416851a8164563"
    md5: "0c7cfc0cba2f2cd674d94e093936f9f8"
    description: "ROM set definitions"
    note: "Parsed at startup into the game database (Src/GameLoader.cpp:549-559, 1014-1017). Every ROM region, file name and CRC32 the loader matches against comes from here, so an unreadable file leaves no set to resolve and the launch returns before the emulator is built. The path is a config key, so -game-xml-file moves it. Nothing about the file is verified beyond parsing; the hash is that of the copy the pinned revision ships."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:117, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:1500, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:1957, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:2319-2329"

  - name: Games.xml
    path: "supermodel/Games.xml"
    mode: libretro
    required: false
    bundled: true
    has_builtin: true
    size: [148364, 148362]
    sha1:
      - "fa334ab5ba6366bd28168860c913e6365b9fec96"
      - "57500ad35b883acb5e7766c04f5b42e65185715c"
    md5:
      - "2d16307ceb658636a05d34c7ba935b48"
      - "29fd5bc40cea222e040c1a1cfd60ea2e"
    description: "ROM set definitions, libretro copy"
    note: "Read through the VFS from {system}/supermodel/Games.xml, or Config/Games.xml under it, and parsed from memory (Src/GameLoader.cpp:1019-1030). When the read yields nothing the bytes compiled in from Config/Games.xml are parsed instead, so the core identifies every set without a file on disk; a file that is present takes precedence. The second hash is the embedded array, which predates the indentation cleanup of the repository copy by one tab."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:187-206, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:221-222, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:822, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:834-859, Makefile:651-653"

  - name: Supermodel.ini
    path: "supermodel/Supermodel.ini"
    mode: libretro
    required: false
    bundled: true
    has_builtin: true
    size: 9421
    sha1: "cbda2b3fa65e37c5c2824a4630f95f145533c360"
    md5: "06533608174992f6ea180ae190011778"
    description: "Configuration override"
    note: "Read from {system}/supermodel/Supermodel.ini, or Config/Supermodel.ini under it, when present; a file that fails to parse aborts the load. Core options are applied over it afterwards, so it only reaches keys the options do not set and per-game sections. Extracted from the embedded copy when absent."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:187-206, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:219-220, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:812-817, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:858, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:865-866, Makefile:659-661"

  - name: p1crosshair.bmp
    standalone_path: "Assets/p1crosshair.bmp"
    mode: standalone
    size: 295992
    sha1: "581cea232c296c7bd76f3101c3ae1bffdf5abf08"
    md5: "9012018f50f707c1707009346eb5d18b"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    description: "Player 1 light gun crosshair texture"
    note: "Both bitmaps are read on every launch whatever CrosshairStyle holds, since the load runs before the style decides anything, and a null surface aborts startup ahead of the Model 3 object. 32 bit BMP with alpha, sides a multiple of 2. The libretro build opens the same two files from the Assets directory of the standalone layout, outside the frontend directories, but forces the vector style and never draws them, and its repository does not ship them."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/SDL/Crosshair.cpp:34-51, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:2372-2378, Assets/DIR.txt, Src/OSD/libretro/libretroCrosshair.cpp:36-60, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:465-471, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroConfigProvider.h:361"

  - name: p2crosshair.bmp
    standalone_path: "Assets/p2crosshair.bmp"
    mode: standalone
    size: 295992
    sha1: "13c5e692c7acf2ec8243ac421d58fdf69c6c2370"
    md5: "866dbf59a0e2d849de2365e1c953cc97"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    description: "Player 2 light gun crosshair texture"
    note: "Read in the same call as the player 1 bitmap and equally fatal when it fails to load."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/SDL/Crosshair.cpp:35, 49-51, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:2372-2378, Src/OSD/libretro/libretroCrosshair.cpp:39, 55-58"

  - name: Music.xml
    path: "supermodel/Music.xml"
    standalone_path: "Config/Music.xml"
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 9224
    sha1: "b44ed959fe2948a03d81b98e67ca32f2b4c37e78"
    md5: "ddb4e23db15dda67539eee24de23de4b"
    description: "Custom MPEG music track map"
    note: "Consulted only for a game with a DSB1 or DSB2 board, and skipped when the file is absent. Maps an MPEG ROM offset to an MP3 the user supplies. The shipped file is a commented example. The libretro core resolves it beside Games.xml and has no embedded copy."
    source_ref: "Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:118, Src/OSD/SDL/Main.cpp:943, Src/Sound/MPEG/MpegAudio.cpp:88-108, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:223, Src/OSD/libretro/LibretroWrapper.cpp:494"

exclusion_note: >
  The Sega Model 3 arcade hardware has no shared system BIOS. Each game board
  contains its own program ROMs (CROM), video ROMs (VROM), sound program, sound
  samples, and optional DSB/drive board ROMs, all contained within per-game
  MAME-format ZIP archives. Supermodel loads all required data from these game
  ZIPs via CRC32-based identification defined in Games.xml. The files listed
  above are the emulator's own data, not system ROMs.