Hotkey options for direct save/load states

[kimimaru4000]

First and foremost consider this:

• Only RetroArch bugs should be filed here. Not core bugs or game bugs
• This is not a forum or a help section, this is strictly developer oriented

Description

This is a follow-up to https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/12144. I would like to discuss the possibility of adding hotkeys for direct save and load states into RetroArch. I have added it to my own fork, and you can see what it l looks like in the image below:

Reasons I want to discuss this feature:

• As mentioned in the other issue, I run a Twitch Plays channel, and separate slots make it much easier to control permissions for individual savestates.
• Some people, including myself, prefer direct states as opposed to changing save slots then saving or loading. Other emulators have this feature as well.
• What I have now has only 6 slots present at all times. It may be better if the number of available slots were user-defined to a certain limit - say 10. There could be a menu option to enable direct saving/loading, and the menu options for each slot could be visible based on this option.
• Implementation-wise, everything is in place for this feature, so it'd be trivial to add. It leverages existing code to set the current save slot to a given number then save or load it.

I am fully willing to work on a PR for this, considering I have already done a large chunk of the work implementing it. I hope to discuss this further with you soon!

[i30817]

Sounds good, the dolphin way is cool.

You probably don't want these set up by default though. RA hotkey menu is a mess and you can't even reset them (this is problem imo), so most position you chose in a keyboard or controller by default would conflict with others, or in the case of the computer emulation cores conflict with text input (1-0 keys particularly but even the F-keys are not free of this).

Speaking personally, i nuke all the hotkeys except the savestates, menu toggle and fps counter, and now that the quit key is not insane that too (though i probably should).

Dolphin uses the shift or ctrl (iirc) keys to override a save or a load state. RA will not be able to do this iirc, so you have even less key real estate here that expected.

I suppose most people will want FKeys to save and 1-5 keys to load but that sounds slightly overwrite or 'load when you wanted to save' dangerous to me.

[i30817]

In short i kind of suggest that if you implement this you also add a reset option. Individual or for all, not sure.

[kimimaru4000]

I agree about keeping them unmapped by default. There are only so many keys/buttons and this is a new feature that users shouldn't expect to have mapped, considering the existing savestate system has been in place for so long.

RetroArch already supports unmapping inputs with the delete key on desktop (unsure about consoles and mobile). Go to the action you want on the menu and simply press delete, without selecting it to map it. Even if it weren't implemented, that should be a separate issue as it's not directly related to this one.

[i30817]

Yes, i was confused at first (it's not delete for me but 'a' as in the controller), but i wasn't thinking about only resetting to nil. I was thinking about resetting it to default. Fair enough about it being another issue though.

[kimimaru4000]

Sounds good! I will work on a PR with the additional options.