General Emulation Discussion

Hellrazer

Ill try mednafen - Im still struggling with Retroarch - I can never get it set up right and find myself messing around with it than actually getting any gaming in!!!!

Usually I just use standalone emulators but Id really like a setup with a couple of terabytes that I can just setup once and just play.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837788#Comment_119837788

Retroarch is phenomenal when used as a backend (I don't like using it for anything other than that), and honestly, I genuinely don't understand what the setup woes people have are. I grab the cores I want, the controller autoconfigures, set up the video output (vulkan), and run a game with the associated core...then if needed, F1 into the menu, core options, and tweak any options specific to that core. I don't bother with playlists or any of that, I use Launchbox for browsing, double click any game, and it'll tell Retroarch to open it. Unfortunately, it's become a bit of a dirty word in emulation circles these days. Shame, as a concept, it's fantastic for both users AND devs.

Hellrazer

I must try again. I have a dedicated Win 10 pc here that I was going to use. Maybe I just to spend more time setting it up at the start and try not to be impatient!!!

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119838273#Comment_119838273

Yep, definitely. Don't be put off by the impression it's difficult to use it seriously isn't. Just get it set up, then forget about it and enjoy

Hellrazer

I think Ive discovered where Im going wrong with RA.

Its the initial setup and configuring the folders for roms.

So I installed it, did the required updates, downloaded the cores I wanted but then Ive no roms showing up - I then browse to the folder and I can run the game. However I cant get it to just work flawlessly if you get me.

Roms btw are all in one folder on a 1tb drive external drive in individual folders by system. I can tell RA where they are but the next time I want to run something I have to browse again to the folder and look for the rom I want to run-its a pain in the ****. Im missing a step somewhere like an auto scan for roms or something. I think this was always my issue and why I went back to standalone emulators.

Tried it on my Shield and the same thing - RA is working but it wont auto discover the roms. Is it something Im doing wrong do you think? Could I have the roms in the wrong place?

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119841086#Comment_119841086

You can set the default 'home' directory, so that all you have to do is click "load content" and the browser will begin wherever you've set it. The setting is located at settings, directory, and file browser. So set that to the root of your external drive, save the settings, and from then on no more browsing.

Again though, using a proper frontend really brings things to a better level. Launchbox in my case, it's quite streamlined and neat once set up.

Doge

L

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/09/so-long-slowdown-new-hack-runs-snes-star-fox-at-up-to-60-fps/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_brand=ars&utm_social-type=owned

Don't get your hopes up for original hardware owners, there's a reason I posted this in general emulation discussion! 😉

Retr0gamer

I'd put my snobbery aside to play Starfox in 60 FPS. Sounds like they are on the verge of have it perfect.

Inviere

LAN streaming from my PC to an Nvidia Shield in the bedroom via GeForce Now on the PC and the Moonlight client on the Shield....wow, seriously impressed with this black magic witchcraft. There's virtually no lag when playing retro games via BigBox, and that's with initial testing using a Dual Shock 4 over bluetooth. I'll use a proper hardwired controller at a later stage, but I tested lag sensitive games like Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Aladdin on the Snes, and so on....seriously impressed.

With Moonlight on the Shield, you just pair it with your PC, and then on the PC, choose which apps that Moonlight can launch. I set mine to be able to launch Big Box for browsing the library with images/videos/metadata etc, choose the system choose the game, and boom, you're playing it. There's some slight artifacting that's visible, but the stream settings are tweakable so I'd be confident a nicer quality can be achieved.

I seen it demo'd here, but had previously never heard of it - https://www.reddit.com/r/launchbox/comments/yoxtsq/showing_off_my_bigbox_setup_streaming_to_my/

Obviously you can run retroarch on the Shield directly if you choose, but this opens up high powered systems that the Shield wouldn't be able for, with the addition of your PC game library to boot.

CiDeRmAn

I installed XBSX2 on my Xbox Series X and it works a treat.

I made an ISO of my copy of Outrun: Coast 2 Coast and it is gorgeous looking, upscaled to 1080p.

A little glitchy on the menu but otherwise just fine, and at 60hz too.

Inviere

Following the release of the Atari 50 Collection, the developer of the Atari Jaguar emulator for it has been given the go ahead to release his emulator, BigPEmu. Seemingly it's got 100% compatability with the commercial Jag library too....fantastic news, it seems to have jumped to 1st place over much more seasoned Jag emulators (which were never really perfected anyway). The bad news is, he's seemingly battling cancer 😔

https://www.richwhitehouse.com/jaguar/index.php

Edit - Just tested it there, it's really impressive. Presentation and GUI are top notch too. Doom seems to run a little fast however, so I imagine that'll be addressed quick enough. New default Jag emulator without a doubt.

Retr0gamer

It's meant to be amazing, Apparently the first emulator that works with everything.

CiDeRmAn

Nice, it is one of those games I briefly had running on my AWSD cab and, by god, it looked and played amazing.

That and Super Hexagon are made for an arcade cab.

Retr0gamer

Heard a lot about how much pcsx2 has improved in the last few months so downloaded the latest stable nightly build to try it out.

It's a little bit easier to use but unfortunately every game I tried had the same issues the 1.6 build I had previously had. I swear I'm the only person that plays these weirdo games because all I keep hearing of is how the emulator is pretty much perfect now.

It was interesting reading what they are doing on their site. They seem to be tackling the most poplar games and basically applying hacks and fixes to each specific game which means it's still quite high level and inaccurate. I suppose the issues I'm experiencing won't be fixed until the accuracy is improved but with the PS2 being such a weirdo console that might be a long way away.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097305#Comment_120097305

It's so much better than before, plugin system gone, gui modernised, accuracy improved, per game config database set up with automatic fixes, efficiency improved, speed improved, automatic built in updater, and others.

Its still a high level emulator though, so you're going to get per game fixes....youll be a LONG time waiting on an LLE for the PS2, and you'll likely never see an fpga core for it...so high level emulation will always be the approach with consoles this technically advanced. There's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with that, look at Dolphin and so on.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097720#Comment_120097720

Well there's still plugins there at the back end, it's just that the one provided by the team by default is the only one you should be using.

I understand that HLE is the only way to go with PS2 and appreciate and also fascinated by the work the team has put in. The issues is that with the esoteric nature of the PS2 hardware it means that the emulator needs to be tweaked specifically for nearly every game in the library and with a library as vast as the PS2 it becomes an issue since I don't think they will ever get it working nicely with the niche side of that machine which unfortunately for me is what I really love about the PS2 an the games I want to play.

They did manage to fix the text in BOF Dragon Quarter's menu but the menu screen text is still an unreadable mess so there is progress. I tried Echo Night Beyond which just had horrendous slowdown although I need to check if that's in the actual game. The lighting effects weren't quite accurate but it looks like they are fixing them in a lot of games from their progress reports. It's definitely getting to a nice place and looks like Jak and Daxter might actually be getting to a good place as well.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097787#Comment_120097787

Anyone saying it's perfect now is wrong, it's not perfect (is any piece of software ever truly considered perfect?). They'll get there though, the vast majority of (all?) PS2 games have been formally dumped, so it'll just take time to get to the level of something like Dolphin. Dev wise there's a resurgence of interest in PS2 though, so the future is looking bright for PS2 emulation/preservation....certainly a lot more so than it used to look maybe 3/4 years ago.

Retr0gamer

Yep they seem to be fixing stuff on a nightly basis.

I might just grin and bear the issues with dragon Quarter and play it emulated. I've a PS2 but the framemeister doesn't deal well with PS2 and I've not got the money for a retrotink.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120098228#Comment_120098228

A strange question for you in an emulation thread, but now that you've your own pad....would you not pick up a nice 21" CRT for these use cases? I picked up my 21" Trinitron for 30 quid or something, and being that size, its footprint is really fine when parked alongside some retro machines in a little display.

Technical YouTube vid about how to program an emulator for the 6502. Not for the feint hearted still worth a watch

https://youtu.be/m6l3Elk7-Hg

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120099071#Comment_120099071

I might down the line. But at the moment I haven't got anything in the front room and only got tiles down and washing machine this week so there's a lot to do before I think about a crt!

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120099773#Comment_120099773

All things considered, some glitchy text within a random pcsx2 game might be fine for a bit longer so 🙂

The_B_Man

I got a Fire Stick 4K Max for Xmas. Been using it for Netflix and streaming video etc.

Now since the Stadia controller has been opened up, I've been looking at emulation on the firestick. So far I have PPSSPP setup and, for the most part, the games run full speed at 2X resolution. Now I'm looking at a more general solution such as RetroArch.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has used the firestick for emulation. I'd be curious to know how far I can push it. I've seen videos with varying results. For example, Goldeneye on the N64 struggles (unsurprisingly), but then you can have Dreamcast games running flawlessly! I suppose it comes down to the emulator itself. I believe RetroArch has some configuration that can pick the best emulator on a per game basis. I also bought Launchbox during black friday, as it was discounted so I'm thinking of using the Android app as the frontend. It's just a matter of building a suitable ROM catalogue.

Also, after reading the posts above, I have a good laptop form work (Dell Alienware X15, I think), which has an Intel i9 (12th gen? It was bought in Jan 2022 and they got the top spec CPU available) and Geforce RTX 3080, if memory serves. I'm sure I can use Geforce Now streaming and see if Moonlight can be installed on the Firestick, which would more than replace Stadia! 😉

Retr0gamer

The best emulator is usually the most accurate one which means performance is poorer. I'm sure there should be n64 emulators that would be much higher level that would run better with a loss in accuracy.

Inviere

That BigPEmu really is some achievement. Just bursts onto the scene out of nowhere, practically nails Jaguar emulation, and then adds Jaguar CD support just for the fun of it. Granted the system is more a curio than anything else, but the author is one of those savants that just nails it.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120252978#Comment_120252978

Yeah it's nuts. I mean so few people cared about Jaguar CD that there was literally no way to play it's library in emulation until this emulator comes along and out of the gate makes the entire library playable.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253185#Comment_120253185

I just set it up there in my Launchbox installation....not a single issue, nothing, the entire library (of a whopping 19 games or so) just boot and play like it hasn't been some coding golden goose for the last ~20 years. Amazing stuff altogether.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253213#Comment_120253213

I'm glad its so good. The Jaguar CD has the same CD drive as the CDi 400 which I had to replace to fix. I think my tutorial on how fix the 400 is still the only one online but I actually followed a jaguar CD repair tutorial to fix it. Any way, basically I doubt there's a single jaguar CD out there that has an original CD drive that still works so in a way there's was almost no way to play Jag CD games until this emulator.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253733#Comment_120253733

Exactly, which gave the games a certain sense of mystique. Obviously the games are just standard Jag games just on cd (pretty sure there's no additional processing going on in the expansion unit unlike the Mega CD etc), but to see them alive again and running is a real milestone in emulation. I can only dof my hat to these wizards, and marvel at their skill.

Doge

Discovered a DOSBOX alternative called PCEm from Linus of all people. It can emulate CPUs and soundcards etc... And seems to excel at win95/98 emulation.

https://youtu.be/mWEE2RJj3YI