ReSys12

Namco System 12 arcade emulator for PlayStation Vita
pcsx_rearmed based · R3000A dynarec for ARMv7 · NEON GPU rasterizer · C352 sound
Support on Patreon or Ko-Fi

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Highlights
3. Supported Games
4. Download
5. Installation
6. Usage
7. Building from Source
8. Project Layout
9. Accuracy and Testing
10. License and Credits
11. Support

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1. Introduction

ReSys12 is an emulator for the Namco System 12 arcade board, the PlayStation-based hardware behind Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, Ehrgeiz, Point Blank 2 and others. The CPU, GTE and GPU come from pcsx_rearmed; the board itself (ROM banking, protection, H8/3002 sub CPU, C352 sound, EEPROM, JVS I/O) is ported from MAME.

System 12 is a PlayStation with twice the CPU clock (R3000A at 48 MHz), up to 4 MB of RAM, banked ROM instead of a CD drive, and a separate H8/3002 with a 32-voice C352 for sound. The first target is Tekken Tag Tournament at a locked 60 fps on a PS Vita at 444 MHz, without frame skipping. Every frame is emulated and drawn.

Board accuracy is kept where the player can see or hear it. Timing details that do not change what is on screen are simplified when that buys speed.

2. Highlights

Core

• ari64 R3000A dynamic recompiler for ARMv7 from pcsx_rearmed, with code cache warm-up across runs and smaller VM domain syncs.
• NEON GTE and the gpu_neon software rasterizer running on its own core, fed by an asynchronous command queue.
• Idle loop skipping for the main CPU and the H8/3002 (polling, timeout and wait loops), so waiting CPUs do not burn host time.
• H8/3002 interpreter with table-driven decoding; C352 on its own core with a lock-free ring buffer to the audio output.
• KC0xx protection and ROM DMA ported from MAME, with the DMA source fixes needed by Tekken Tag Tournament.

Rendering (vitaGL)

• The emulated GPU writes into GPU-visible texture memory; only changed VRAM rows are converted (15, 8 and 4 bpp).
• Interlaced 480-line games are drawn one field at a time.
• Vertical games (Tenkomori Shooting) are rotated on the GPU.

Frontend

• Game list with Buttons / Gun / Wheel-Lever tabs and a Playable / All / Favorites filter.
• Save states (10 slots plus quick save / load), button mapping with turbo and combo keys, duplicate key warnings.
• Gun games: aim with an analog stick, adjustable sensitivity and crosshair. Driving games: wheel on a stick, gas and brake on the shoulder buttons.
• Display options: aspect ratio, filter, border color or user artwork, frame rate counter.
• Per-game settings: save the current display and control settings for one game only.

3. Supported Games

Set names are the MAME set names. ROMs must match the MAME romset (see ROM sets); clone sets read missing files from the parent zip. System 12 has no BIOS.

Status: Playable, Partial or Not working on a PS Vita at 444 MHz. Partial sets run, but a known problem remains (listed in the notes). Full speed is 60 fps (59.94 Hz).

Game	Sets (parent first)	Year	Status	Notes
Tekken Tag Tournament	tektagt, tektagtc1a, tektagtub, tektagtuc1, tektagtjc1	1999	Playable	~60 fps, short drops in a few stages
Tekken 3	tekken3, tekken3a, tekken3b, tekken3c, tekken3d, tekken3ua, tekken3ud, tekken3ja, tekken3jd, tekken3je1	1997	Playable
Soul Calibur	soulclbr, soulclbrab, soulclbrac, soulclbrub, soulclbruc, soulclbrja2, soulclbrjb, soulclbrjc	1998	Playable
Ehrgeiz	ehrgeiz, ehrgeizua, ehrgeizja	1998	Partial	~53 fps in fights
Fighting Layer	fgtlayer, fgtlayerja	1998	Playable
Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Toukon Retsuden 3 Arcade Edition	toukon3	1997	Playable	~57 fps in matches
Libero Grande	lbgrande	1997	Playable	the game runs at 30 fps
Super World Stadium '98	sws98	1998	Playable
Super World Stadium '99	sws99	1999	Playable
Mr. Driller	mrdrillr, mrdrillrja2	1999	Playable
Aqua Rush	aquarush	1999	Playable
Tenkomori Shooting	tenkomor, tenkomorja1	1998	Playable	vertical screen
Paca Paca Passion	pacapp	1998	Partial	falling notes may be drawn twice
Paca Paca Passion 2	pacapp2	1999	Partial	as above
Paca Paca Passion Special	pacappsp	1999	Partial	as above
Derby Quiz My Dream Horse	mdhorse	1998	Playable
Kaiun Quiz	kaiunqz	1999	Playable
Point Blank 2 / Gunbarl	ptblank2, gunbarl	1999	Partial	gun on an analog stick; may stop during play
Ghoul Panic / Oh! Bakyuuun	ghlpanic, ohbakyuun	1999	Playable	gun on an analog stick
Golgo 13	golgo13	1999	Partial	the board tests its ROMs for a while after power-on
Golgo 13 Kiseki no Dandou	g13knd	2000	Partial	as above
Techno Drive	technodr	1998	Playable	wheel on an analog stick
Attack Pla Rail	aplarail	1998	Playable	lever on an analog stick
Kart Duel	kartduel, kartduelja	2000	Partial	no link play
Tekken Tag Tournament (Japan)	tektagtja3, tektagtjb	1999	Not working	bad dumps, also not working in MAME
Super World Stadium 2000 / 2001	sws2000, sws2001	2000	Not working	also not working in MAME
Um Jammer Lammy NOW!, Quest for Fame, Truck Kyosokyoku	ujlnow, questff, truckk	1999	Not working	CD-XA board, not emulated

4. Download

Prebuilt binaries are published on the Releases page:

File	Platform	Contents
ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.zip	PS Vita / PS TV	ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.vpk and an empty data/resys12/roms/ folder

The releases contain the emulator only. No ROMs or game artwork are included or provided. You must supply ROM images of games you own.

5. Installation

PS Vita

Requirements:

• A PS Vita or PS TV that can install homebrew VPK files with VitaShell.
• The runtime shader compiler ur0:data/external/libshacccg.suprx. ReSys12 compiles its GPU shaders on the device, and games cannot be drawn without it. If it is missing, extract it with ShaRKBR33D or copy it from another homebrew setup guide.

Install the VPK

1. Extract ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.zip on your PC.
2. Start VitaShell on the Vita and connect it to the PC:
   • USB: press SELECT in VitaShell, connect the cable, and the memory card appears as a drive; or
   • FTP: press SELECT in VitaShell and connect an FTP client to the address shown on screen.
3. Copy ReSys12_vX.Y.Z_vita.vpk to ux0: (any folder, for example ux0:downloads/).
4. Disconnect, open the folder in VitaShell, select the .vpk and press X to install. Accept the extended permissions prompt. A ReSys12 bubble appears on the home screen (title ID RSYS00012).
5. The .vpk file can be deleted after installation.

Add ROMs

1. Copy the data folder from the zip to the root of ux0: so that the empty folder is ux0:data/resys12/roms/ (ReSys12 also creates it on first launch).
2. Put your ROM zips in that folder, unchanged and not extracted, for example ux0:data/resys12/roms/tektagt.zip.
3. Start ReSys12. The game list shows every known set, grouped by controller type.

The first start of a game unpacks its ROMs into ux0:data/resys12/cache/, which takes a few seconds. Later starts load the cache directly.

ROM sets

• ROMs must be MAME 0.260 compatible sets (romsets from MAME 0.260 or newer also work; the few sets whose files changed after 0.260 are recognized in both forms).
• Keep each set as one zip named after the set, for example tektagt.zip. Do not rename or extract them. Files inside the zip are matched by CRC32, so their names do not matter.
• Clone sets (for example tektagtub) read missing files from the parent zip (tektagt.zip), so keep the parent in the same folder, or use non-merged sets.
• No BIOS zip is needed. CHD images are not used.
• The Playable list shows only sets whose ROM zip was found; press SELECT in the list to show all supported sets.

Optional files

What	Path
Border artwork	ux0:data/resys12/artwork/<set>.png (the parent set name is tried next)

Files written by the emulator:

What	Path
Settings and favorites	ux0:data/resys12/settings.cfg, ux0:data/resys12/favorites.cfg
Per-game settings	ux0:data/resys12/cfg/<set>.cfg
EEPROM (test mode settings, records)	ux0:data/resys12/nvram/<set>.eep
Save states	ux0:data/resys12/state/<set>_<slot>.st
ROM cache	ux0:data/resys12/cache/ (safe to delete)

6. Usage

Game list

Action	Buttons
Start the selected game	Cross (or Circle, see Controls)
Change tab (Buttons / Gun / Wheel-Lever)	L / R
Page up / down	Left / Right
Add / remove favorite	Square
Filter: Playable / All / Favorites	SELECT
Options (Display, Controls)	START
About	Triangle

Options opened from the game list edit the global settings.

In game

Action	Buttons
Lever	D-pad (or left stick, see Controls)
Buttons 1-4	Square, Triangle, Cross, Circle (Tekken: left punch, right punch, left kick, right kick)
Buttons 5-6	R, L (Tekken Tag Tournament: R = tag)
Coin / Start	SELECT / START
Open the in-game menu	SELECT + START
Quick save / quick load	SELECT + L / SELECT + R
Exit	L + R + SELECT + START

The in-game menu provides: Resume, Reset, Test mode (service DIP switch), Save states (10 slots), Display (frame rate counter, aspect ratio, filter, border), Controls (button mapping, turbo, combo keys, analog stick, gun / wheel / lever settings for the games that use them), per-game settings and game selection.

Turbo. Pick one Turbo key and the game button it fires (Turbo button), plus the speed. While the turbo key is held, that game button fires repeatedly.

Combo keys. A Vita button can press two game buttons at once (for example the Tekken tag throw).

Gun games. The aim follows the analog stick (stick position or stick moves the aim), R is the trigger. Golgo 13 uses L as the scope sensor.

Driving games. The wheel or lever follows an analog stick (the d-pad also works), R is gas and L is brake.

The last played game is remembered and selected on the next launch. EEPROM data is written shortly after the game changes it and again on exit.

7. Building from Source

Builds are done on Linux or WSL (Ubuntu 24.04 is used for development).

Prerequisites

sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build git python3 zlib1g-dev

• PS Vita: VitaSDK with vitashark, libpng and zlib (vdpm install-all), VITASDK set.
• vitaGL built and installed into VitaSDK.

PS Vita

bash tools/build.sh vita
# output: build-vita/resys12.vpk, build-vita/eboot.bin

Desktop test harness

A headless harness runs the System 12 core on a PC and prints per-frame video and audio hashes. It is used as the reference for every optimization.

bash tools/build.sh pc
./build-pc/harness --roms path/to/roms --game tektagt --frames 3600 --checkpoint 600

An ARM build of the harness (tools/build_arm_harness.sh, run under qemu-arm) exercises the recompiler and the NEON code with the same hashes, and creates save states in the Vita layout.

8. Project Layout

src/psx/       pcsx_rearmed subset: R3000A, ari64 recompiler, GTE, gpulib, gpu_neon, plus the System 12 shim
src/s12/       System 12 board: memory map, KC0xx protection, ROM DMA, EEPROM, RTC, JVS I/O, save states
src/h8/        H8/3002 sound / I/O CPU
src/sound/     C352
src/romload/   MAME set tables, zip reader, ROM cache
src/sys/       Vita heap and JIT memory
vita/          PS Vita port: frontend, video output (vitaGL), platform code, LiveArea assets
tools/         Build scripts, desktop harness, table generators, bench and app art tools

9. Accuracy and Testing

• Every performance change is checked against the desktop harness: frame and audio hashes are compared before and after over thousands of frames on a set of reference games.
• Changes that alter the hashes on purpose (idle-loop skipping, relaxed synchronization) are checked with save states and recorded input against reference screenshots, so that the game reaches the same scenes with the same picture and sound.
• The recompiler is compared against the interpreter in the ARM harness.
• Sound output is recorded on the device and compared with MAME.

10. License and Credits

License. ReSys12 is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 3.

• The pcsx_rearmed code and the ReSys12 code are GPL-2.0-or-later (pcsx_rearmed's license text is in src/psx/COPYING).
• The MAME parts (System 12 board, H8/3002, C352) are BSD-3-Clause.
• vitaGL and vitaShaRK, linked into the Vita build, are LGPL-3.0, so the combined program and the release packages are distributed under GPL-3.0.

The original copyright headers are kept in all imported sources.

Credits

• pcsx_rearmed (notaz, Ari64 and contributors): R3000A, ari64 recompiler, GTE, gpulib and gpu_neon.
• MAME developers: System 12 board, H8/3002, C352, AT28C16, ROM definitions and hardware research.
• VitaSDK, vitaGL and vitaShaRK (Rinnegatamante).
• JUnzip, zlib, libpng.

Trademarks. Namco, System 12 and all game titles are trademarks of their respective owners. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bandai Namco or any rights holder. No ROM images, game graphics or logos are included in this repository or in the release packages.

11. Support

ReSys12 is free software. If you want to support its development, you can do so on Patreon or Ko-Fi. Support is for the emulator work only.

ROMs are never provided, to anyone, including supporters. Do not ask for them.