I would like to request support for reading PC Engine CD-ROM games directly from a physical optical disc drive, including both commercially pressed discs and games backed up onto CD-R media.
Geargrafx already has excellent CD-ROM emulation via disc image files (CUE/BIN, CHD, etc.), which is great. However, some users, particularly collectors and preservation enthusiasts, prefer to run games from original pressed discs or personal CD-R backups rather than image files. Being able to load a disc directly from a drive would also mean there is no need to own or source real PC Engine CD-ROM hardware just to test games, since the PC's optical drive would handle that role instead. This would allow Geargrafx to function more like a true hardware replacement for people who have the games but not the console.
Ideally this would work by adding an option to select a physical disc drive as the source when loading a game, similar to how PCSX2 handles this with its "Disc" boot option. The emulator would read the disc in the drive and launch the game directly, supporting both commercially pressed discs and CD-R media.
The current workflow of ripping a disc to a CUE/BIN or CHD image first and then loading that image works well, but adds extra steps for users who just want to put a disc in their drive and play. Thanks for all the work on Geargrafx, the accuracy and feature set are impressive. Happy to help test this if it is ever taken on.
I would like to request support for reading PC Engine CD-ROM games directly from a physical optical disc drive, including both commercially pressed discs and games backed up onto CD-R media.
Geargrafx already has excellent CD-ROM emulation via disc image files (CUE/BIN, CHD, etc.), which is great. However, some users, particularly collectors and preservation enthusiasts, prefer to run games from original pressed discs or personal CD-R backups rather than image files. Being able to load a disc directly from a drive would also mean there is no need to own or source real PC Engine CD-ROM hardware just to test games, since the PC's optical drive would handle that role instead. This would allow Geargrafx to function more like a true hardware replacement for people who have the games but not the console.
Ideally this would work by adding an option to select a physical disc drive as the source when loading a game, similar to how PCSX2 handles this with its "Disc" boot option. The emulator would read the disc in the drive and launch the game directly, supporting both commercially pressed discs and CD-R media.
The current workflow of ripping a disc to a CUE/BIN or CHD image first and then loading that image works well, but adds extra steps for users who just want to put a disc in their drive and play. Thanks for all the work on Geargrafx, the accuracy and feature set are impressive. Happy to help test this if it is ever taken on.