u/PawnOfGreaterSchemes

I am a college student with a passing interest in U.S. History and Politics. Something that I’ve been particularly interested in but not able to find is a history book/resource that, instead of following history as a narrative, specifically looks at the issues, political figures, and arguments of the time, why they were made and how they were incorporated or rejected by society. Does anyone know of any resources like this?

So if somebody sitting on a bench turns a flashlight on, they should see that beam of light hit some point x units of distance away after x/c units of time. But to someone jogging parallel to the bench at 0.99…9c they should see the light hit the point after x/1.99…9c and if they jog in the opposite direction then it should hit at x/0.00…01c. Does time dilation account for this or is something weird going on here?

I want a controller that I can use for emulation on PC with a flexible budget in the US. Ideally, the controller would have 6 face buttons that are laid out diagonally like they would be on Genesis or N64 with a nice D-pad for 2D games and two control sticks for 3D games. 2 separate buttons for start and select would be nice too but I can settle for just a start button. I've found a few controllers but they all have their issues: the Vader 3 Pro's buttons aren't in the orientation I'd like, The Horipad EX2 Turbo's buttons are mapped to LB and RB instead of being their own unique buttons, and the Retro Fighters Brawler 64 only has one control stick and no select button. I could settle for any one of these options but I'd like to exhaust this resource before I commit to one just in case my dream controller is somewhere out there.

While I'm playing the first stage, the game will freeze seemingly at random. It doesn't necessarily happen when a cutscene starts nor when any change in the game that is visible to me occurs, nor does it occur at consistent moments in the level. I would try to get by and just ignore it but it happens too frequently for me to get past the first level. I've fiddled with pretty much all of the settings and sometimes the game is too slow to reasonably play and all other times it eventually freezes.

I'm using the Dolphin core with JIT64 CPU Core, the other two seem to be too slow. Generally, I try to choose settings for performance though if it is labeled as important for certain game effects to work then I will enable/disable it accordingly. When the game does freeze, the game audio continues playing whatever it was playing when it crashed but I can tell that the game is actually frozen because no new sounds (like barreling into a wall) will play. It also will sometimes fully freeze retroarch as well and force me to use alt+f4 to close it, other times it will still be frozen but will respond to double escape key, and sometimes it will let me open the home menu, however when the menu is closed it remains onscreen and only the game audio resumes; I am unable to reopen the menu after this. I have no addons for Retroarch and am working completely within what's in the standard release.

Apparently this game is one that has troubles with emulators for whatever reason so I was wondering if anyone would have some better guidance as to how I could run it. If there's any crucial information that would help then I can probably provide it as well.

Edit: It seems to happen most often immediately after I stop using the targeting computer. It doesn't happen every time, but if I spam opening and closing it it does crash the game consistently.

Here's a log of the game crashing:

[INFO] [Core]: Using content: "C:\Users\myname\Desktop\Games\ROMs\Gamecube\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).iso".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] RetroArch 1.21.0 (Git 05f94af)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 256V
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2 
[INFO] Version: 1.21.0
[INFO] Git: 05f94af
[INFO] Built: Apr 30 2025
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Core]: Loading dynamic libretro core from: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\cores\dolphin_libretro.dll"
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "C:\RetroArch-Win64\saves\dolphin-emu\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "C:\RetroArch-Win64\states\dolphin-emu\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).state".
[INFO] [Remaps]: Game-specific remap found at "C:\RetroArch-Win64\config\remaps\dolphin-emu\Gameport to USB Controller\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).rmp".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Content]: Content loading skipped. Implementation will load it on its own.
[INFO] [Environ]: SAVE_DIRECTORY: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\saves\dolphin-emu".
[INFO] [Environ]: SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\system".
[INFO] [Environ]: CORE_ASSETS_DIRECTORY: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\downloads".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_DISK_CONTROL_EXT_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[libretro INFO] 41:45:140 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:108 I[COMMON]: User Directory set to 'C:\RetroArch-Win64\saves\dolphin-emu/User'
[libretro INFO] 41:45:140 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:109 I[COMMON]: System Directory set to 'C:\RetroArch-Win64\system/dolphin-emu/Sys'
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_CORE_OPTIONS_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CORE_OPTIONS_V2.
[INFO] [Core]: Game-specific core options found at "C:\RetroArch-Win64\config\dolphin-emu\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).opt".
[ERROR] [Environ]: GET_VARIABLE: dolphin_main_cpu_thread - Invalid value.
[libretro INFO] 41:45:150 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:356 I[BOOT]: CPU Core: JIT64
[libretro INFO] 41:45:150 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:357 I[BOOT]: Fastmem enabled = Yes
[libretro INFO] 41:45:150 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:358 I[BOOT]: JIT debug enabled = No
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_PREFERRED_HW_RENDER, video driver name: d3d11.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_PREFERRED_HW_RENDER - Context callback set to RETRO_HW_CONTEXT_D3D11.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_HW_RENDER, context type: d3d11.
[INFO] Requesting D3D11 context.
[libretro INFO] 41:46:115 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:365 N[Video]: Using GFX backend: D3D
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_RUMBLE_INTERFACE.
[libretro INFO] 41:46:120 Common/FileUtil.cpp:802 I[COMMON]: CreateSysDirectoryPath: Setting to C:\RetroArch-Win64\system/dolphin-emu/Sys/
[libretro INFO] 41:46:123 Core/ConfigManager.cpp:240 N[CORE]: Active title: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GSWE64)
[libretro INFO] 41:46:125 Core/Core.cpp:1015 N[COMMON]: Want determinism <- false
[libretro INFO] 41:46:125 Core/Core.cpp:249 I[BOOT]: Starting core = GameCube mode
[libretro INFO] 41:46:125 Core/Core.cpp:250 I[BOOT]: CPU Thread separate = Yes
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [SRAM]: Skipping SRAM load.
[INFO] [Core]: Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core]: Geometry: 1280x1056, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 59.94, Sample rate: 32029.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: fullscreen.
[INFO] [Video]: Using HW render, d3d11 driver forced.
[WARN] [DInput]: Strong rumble unavailable.
[WARN] [DInput]: Weak rumble unavailable.
[INFO] [Joypad]: Found joypad driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Autoconf]: Gameport to USB Controller configured in port 1.
[INFO] [D3D11]: Device created (Feature Level: 11.0)
[INFO] [D3D11]: Flip model and tear control supported and enabled.
[INFO] [D3D11]: Requesting 1 maximum frame latency, using 1.
[INFO] [D3D11]: Found GPU at index 0: "Intel(R) Arc(TM) 140V GPU (8GB)".
[INFO] [D3D11]: Found GPU at index 1: "Microsoft Basic Render Driver".
[INFO] [D3D11]: Using GPU index 0.
[INFO] [Video]: Found display server: "win32".
[libretro WARN] 41:47:420 VideoBackends/D3DCommon/Shader.cpp:279 W[Video]: ps_5_0 compilation succeeded with warnings:
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000400ED060(72,19-42): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000400ED060(148,17-39): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000400ED060(152,17-39): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000400ED060(156,17-39): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000400ED060(160,17-39): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them
C:\RetroArc[libretro WARN] 41:47:453 VideoBackends/D3DCommon/Shader.cpp:279 W[Video]: ps_5_0 compilation succeeded with warnings:
C:\RetroArch-Win64\Shader@0x00000000076A2B30(29,5-31): warning X3557: loop only executes for 1 iteration(s), forcing loop to unroll

[libretro INFO] 41:47:480 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:267 I[Video]: Loaded 0 cached shaders from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/D3D-uber-vs-2461FFC1.cache
[libretro INFO] 41:47:480 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:267 I[Video]: Loaded 0 cached shaders from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/D3D-uber-ps-2461FFC1.cache
[libretro INFO] 41:47:481 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:267 I[Video]: Loaded 4 cached shaders from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/D3D-gs-2461FFC1.cache
[libretro INFO] 41:47:533 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:267 I[Video]: Loaded 553 cached shaders from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/D3D-specialized-vs-GSWE64-2461FFC1.cache
[libretro INFO] 41:47:560 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:267 I[Video]: Loaded 273 cached shaders from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/D3D-specialized-ps-GSWE64-2461FFC1.cache
[libretro INFO] 41:47:563 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:990 I[Video]: Read 2179 pipeline UIDs from C:/RetroArch-Win64/saves/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/GSWE64.uidcache
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 32061.03 Hz.
[INFO] [WASAPI]: Client initialized (shared, PCM, 48000Hz, 64.0ms).
[INFO] [Audio]: Started synchronous audio driver.
[INFO] [Microphone]: Initialized microphone driver.
[INFO] [Display]: Found display driver: "d3d11".
[INFO] [MIDI]: Output device: "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\content_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\content_music_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\content_video_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\content_image_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading favorites file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\content_favorites.lpl".
[libretro INFO] 41:48:074 Core/Boot/Boot.cpp:521 N[BOOT]: Booting from disc: C:/Users/myname/Desktop/Games/ROMs/Gamecube/Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).iso
[INFO] [Config]: Saved new config to "C:\RetroArch-Win64\retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 46 seconds.
[INFO] [Runtime]: Saving runtime log file: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\playlists\logs\Dolphin\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).lrtl".
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading game..
[libretro INFO] 42:50:992 VideoBackends/D3D/D3DBase.cpp:167 N[Video]: Successfully released all device references!
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [Core]: Saved game-specific core options to "C:\RetroArch-Win64\config\dolphin-emu\Star Wars - Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (USA).opt".
[INFO] [PERF]: Performance counters (RetroArch):