Retro Console

About Retro Console

Information

Developer

SiliconDevKit (generated by AI from a prompt)

Category

Media

Compatibility

macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon. Apple silicon Macs only (M1 or later), not Intel

Size

2.4 MB (.dmg)

Latest version

1.1

Price

Free

Signing

Ad-hoc signed, not notarized

The prompt behind it

This app was generated from the prompt below. Paste it into SiliconDevKit to build your own version, then change it however you like.

Build a Mac app called Retro Console, a polished retro game player for the user's own game files, based on this open-source Swift and Metal project: https://github.com/Lonkins/CODENAME The goal is a working Mac app with a game library, controller support and save states. Keep the project's own emulator integration code and cores. Do not write an emulator yourself. RESEARCH FIRST (use WebSearch and WebFetch before you write code) Read the repo's README and license, and check which systems it plays (SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, GBA, others), how each core is built, and which of them are C or C++ code, Swift code or prebuilt binaries. Read each core's own license. Where the repo or this prompt disagree with what you find, follow what you find and say what changed. HOW TO PORT IT (read this first) - The repo is in Imported/. Read its README, its package or project files, and the folders for the app, the core bridge, the Metal renderer, input and audio. Ignore tests, screenshots and docs. - It must build with Swift Package Manager, with no Xcode project and no asset catalog (the code is compiled later on the user's Mac). Turn what the repo has into a Package.swift with Swift targets for the app and the bridge, and C or C++ targets for each core whose sources are in the repo. Keep the project's own structure and file names where you can. If a core cannot be built as a package target (it needs a build system, generated files or a download you cannot make), leave it out of the build, and tell the user in the app which systems are not available and in your reply why. - Target macOS 13, Swift 5 language mode if the code does not need Swift 6, and only APIs that exist on macOS 13. Run the emulation on its own thread, never on the main thread. - Keep every license: show an About window with the project's license, each core's name and license, and the line "You must own the games you play". List all the credits the repo asks for. THE APP (use the repo's pieces; write what is missing) - A library window: drag and drop game files or whole folders onto it, or pick a folder to watch. Group games by system, with a grid and a list view, search, and recent and favorites. Identify the system by file extension and, where the core needs it, by the header. Keep the library as JSON in Application Support. Never copy, upload or download games. Games stay where the user has them. - No game files, no BIOS, no firmware, no box art from the internet are bundled or downloaded. If a core needs a BIOS file, say which file it needs, let the user choose it, and keep working for the cores that do not. - Play window: the Metal view from the repo with an integer scaling choice, a smooth or sharp filter, and an optional CRT or scanline effect written in Metal (a small shader that is easy to turn off), full screen, Pause, Reset, a speed control and a volume slider. Sound through AVAudioEngine from the core's audio buffer. - Controllers: GameController framework (GCController), with automatic setup for common pads, a mapping screen per system, and keyboard keys as the fallback. Show which controller is connected. - Save states: 4 slots per game with a screenshot thumbnail, quick save and quick load keys, in-game battery saves written next to the game's data in Application Support, never beside the user's game file. Rewind only if the repo's cores support it. - Settings: library folders, controller mapping, video filter, a Reveal in Finder for the data folder, and "Clear library" with a confirmation. - Friendly errors: file not recognized, core missing, BIOS needed, and a crash in a core (show a message and return to the library, with the details in a box). QUALITY - Modular: Library, SystemCatalog, CoreBridge, Renderer, AudioOutput, InputMapper, SaveStates and the views. Do not fake anything: no sample games and no pretend systems. If something from the repo cannot be made to work, say exactly what was left out. - In your reply, say in a few sentences what you kept from the project, what you wrote new, which systems work, and what may not work, especially the cores that could not be built, the audio timing and controllers, because the code was written without being able to play a game.

What it cost

Every AI run that made this demo, one per line. Model: Claude Sonnet 5.5. Tokens are shown as (in / out). “In” counts everything the model read, including text it had already seen in the session at a reduced price.

Credits are what a build uses on your plan. This counts AI usage only: hosting and the Mac that compiled it are not included. This demo took 2 attempts, and all of them are counted.