Lag in Pokemon Unbound (patched) - RG35XX-Plus

Issues 2502 Pixie
1

Hello,

The console is: rg35xx plus with PIXIE (7c4e6a8)

I have a quite specific problem - in other games on GBA with gpsp or mgba performance with achievements and patched roms is great but specifically in Pokemon Unbound - Professor Oak Challenge the lag is horrible, it makes it unplayable.

I noticed that on patched rom when it loads the fps is below 20, but as soon as I turn off achievements for this it jumps straight to 60 (maybe more).

Maybe the issue is that this specific subset on retroachievements has the most achievements on site, if yes, is there a way to optimize the config to get back to 60fps (preferably on mGBA core)?

I tried different cores:

  • gpSP
  • mGBA(default core)

Different governors:

  • ondemand (default governor)
  • performance

The rewind function was turned off on all tests.
Tried restoring retroarch settings to default via Task Toolkit and only setting up the achievements and fps display settings (didn’t help).

Any noticeable difference in performance was when I turned off achievements in retroarch. //I would like to prevent that since achievement hunting was the main reason why I bought this console

Just to add, in one of the BEANS MuOS version when I last played I had quite good performance of this rom and this patch on gpSP (but I’m dumb and didn’t backup config before reflashing the SD card).

Not sure if I included all info, I’ll gladly answer any questions to help you help me :grinning_face:

If it’s not the right place to ask for help with this problem could someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks for help,
Ciechom

//not sure if permitted but I can edit this post to include link to the retroachievements page of this roms subset

2

did you try turning off the ingame music (in the in game start menu options)? if i remember correctly you can reset the retroarch configuration in muos setting/tweaks

3

I tried restoring retroarch settings from tweaks, and only input login and pass for retroachievements and the problem still persists.

Turning off music in game (or audio in retroarch) made very small difference ( like between 1 and 3 fps difference).

4

Have you checked the same file on another device? It may actually be your ROM rather than the emulator, device or MuOS.

5

I tried the same ROM on the same device on beans muos and it worked fine. The lag started after reflashing to the newest muos.

I also tried the same ROM on ios retroarch and on PC retroarch and everything was fine. I don’t have a simmilar device to my rg35xx plus so I can’t check it properly.

To make things clearer:
When I turn off achievements in the settings the game is at 60 FPS no problem.
As soon as I turn achievements on it drops to 25 FPS range but it’s not stable 25 but fluctuates between 20 and 25 FPS.
The specific game where it happens is Pokemon Unbound - Professor Oak Challenge (the game with most achievements on retroachievements in gba category (and the most achievements from all sets)).

One thing I can’t check is another SD card since I don’t have money for a new one at the moment.

6

I personally have no issues at all playing Unbound on the newest version of Pixie.

Something I recommend trying, try removing your save files and see if that makes a change.

7

Pokemon unbound works, the problem is with the subset to pokemon unbound: Profesor Oak Challenge