Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

[spekkio]

Also emulators should enhance game as much as possible. Texture filtering, removing loading times where is reasonable, higher resolution.

I think best way how to preserve old games are torrents, and free ROM sites. And the thing that's most needed is a legislative that would protect old games fan distribution and voluntary preservation from copyright lawsuit.

(As long as abandonwarefags STFU about being elite archeologists, etc.) :D

Of course, that wouldn't be possible without emulators, so Gragt has a point here.

 

[Ivan]

spekkio Which build of Dolphin would you recommend? I keep updating to new ones and many don't play gc isos correctly. Thanks

 

[spekkio]

I always use the latest "stable" release (4.0.2 ATM) and the most recent build (updated from time to time).

 

[yes plz]

Anyone have any experience with Sega CD emulators? Looking to play Snatcher and I was wondering which emulator is best.

 

[spekkio]

I would go with Kega Fusion. Old but still gold, easy to use (only emulator and bios files required). Tested all my Sega CD games on it.

Phantasmal promotes Retroarch (Genesis Plus GX core). I have no experiece with it yet.

 

[dnf]

So i finally jumped on emulation bandwagon and wow, i can actually play PS2 games now with my core2duo? I only downloaded Rule of Rose and the game seems to run fine for now, but some very minor slowdowns seems to be expected. Is this game good bros?

 

[spekkio]

Phantasmal promotes Retroarch. I have no experiece with it yet.

^Fixed.

RetroArch 1.0.0.2 x64

Pros:

- (almost) everything fucking works - you just need to configure input, put bios files into the "system" folder and that's it,
- you can use multiple cores (emulators) - if you're not happy with one, use some other (if available):

- finally someone took advantage of emu development on platforms other than PC (Wii, Xbawks, Playstation) - very often there are no standalone versions for PC of such thingies (for example Genesis Plus GX was Wii only).
- GUI isn't perfect, but serviceable.

Cons:

- only some core options can be changed via GUI (much less than in original emulators) - I'm not sure if this can be circumvent with .cfg editing:

Phantasmal ?

- some cores don't work (wrong bios?) - In my case it was Mednafen-GBA, which is weird, because GBA games in Mednafen work fine (without bios)...
- windows in some cores (Mupen64, Desmume) are resized too much - you have to resize them manually or use fullscreen.

tl;dr



Count me converted.

pics

Sega CD (audio CD works only for .cue+.bin images, .iso+.mp3s aren't supported):

Sega Genesis:

TurboGrafx CD:

PS1:

Snes:

GBA (Mednafen-gba core crashes the emu):

N64:

DualScreen:

 

[A user named cat]

spekkio I hate that RetroArch GUI, it's like zsnes all over again or something straight out of early DOS-era. Having to navigate a menu without mouse support while on a PC is retarded. You should see the awful new UI they're implementing next, it's identical to Sony's clunky, side scrolling crap you find on PS3 and such.

There aren't many core options implemented for certain libretros, some of them have almost everything you need to tweak though. You can edit them via cfg with "retroarch-core-options.cfg" but you probably won't find anything in there that isn't already shown in the GUI.

I actually only just updated to the newest RA a week ago despite the decline navigation. I find Desmume in it a lot better and smoother than the standalone emu, must have something to do with RA's superior vsyncing method or something. They also recently added in PPSSPP but the audio is glitchy. If you really wanna take advantage of RA, set up per-system configs then check out the Game Boy shaders if you never have before. I don't think you need to download them though, RA comes with a shitload of shaders now to play with. Pretty awesome.

 

[spekkio]

I hate that RetroArch GUI, it's like zsnes all over again or something straight out of early DOS-era.

Still better than both Mednafen's frontends. Too bad instead of inclining it, they decided to decline it.

I find Desmume in it a lot better and smoother than the standalone emu, must have something to do with RA's superior vsyncing method or something

Funny you mention this - so far I tested only one NDS game (C:OoE) but immediately noticed that both sound and fullscreen work better than in vanilla Desmume. Interesting.
Wikifags mention the same in case of Snes:

RetroArch, which has bsnes, and Snes9x cores.
- The same points as the emulators themselves
- Amazing graphical output
* At any resolution
* At any fullscreen resolution and refresh rate
* Vast shader support
- Dynamic rate control kills off most any and all audio distortion, such as crackling.

 

[tuluse]

There's like 6 mednafen front ends out there.

I wish everyone would copy ppsspp though. Let me control the front end with a controller.

 

[spekkio]

There's like 6 mednafen front ends out there.

Well, I hated both MedGui and mednaffe. Some better ones BUT up to date (support for current Mednafen options) would be nice.

I wish everyone would copy ppsspp though. Let me control the front end with a controller.

Works fine in Retroarch.

 

[A user named cat]

I agree about PPSSPP, I think it's probably the best of both worlds when it comes to menu design and wish more emulators would follow suit. Having mouse and controller support works great depending on laziness and cant-reach-mouse-and-dont-want-to-get-up factor. MAME does this as well.

Speaking of Mednafen, there was an update the other day. Fixed SBI file loading for PS1, I had quite a few redumps with those so this was a helpful (I actually have a full NTSC/Pal set, over 1,800 games ffs).

 

[spekkio]

BROs, since there are a lot of "which emu is the best for X platform" posts in this thread, I've decided to prepare a simple FAQ which I plan to include in the Opening Post (tm).
The layout should be p. straightforward: platform, 1-2 emus I / we recommend + links, reasons - why should they be used lolno, maybe links to required files (plugins, bios - if these are allowed to post @ dex).
I'm basing this mostly on Emulation General Wiki, but also my own experience and stuff wrote by you (mostly Phantasmal and Gragt).
The main criterion when choosing an emu should be of course ITZ accuracy.
Any feedback is appreciated. I'm mostly fixated on Windows, since Loonixfags seem to know their shit (no help required). And other platforms are made of heresy.
It should look like this (heavy WIP):


Nintendo Entertainment System

RetroArch - Nestopia core
Stable builds
WIP builds

Or maybe not?

NES - major overscan issues with every core, they've been working on fixing it but still no luck. Either you crop the playing window or you get edge garbage. I also don't believe it supports color palettes which I find a must. I set up a custom accurate one in Nestopia to use in Mednafen.

Is this still present, Phantasmal ? If yes, then what should be used as "best NES emu", instead of RetroArch? Nestopia? puNES?

Nestopia

better than using retroarch - nestopia core?

Info about Emulation Issues


Super Nintendo Entertainment System

RetroArch - bsnes or Snes9x-Next cores
Stable builds
WIP builds

Snes9x-Next is an optimized version of Snes9x 1.52 with speedhacks and is available as a libretro core for RetroArch and ZMZ. Has an option to overclock the SuperFX chip, making games like Star Fox run at a higher FPS.

wiki

1. bsnes (higan)

The most accurate of the bunch. Should play any and all commercially released games without trouble, assuming you have the power.
Balanced works. You do NOT need the accuracy build for anything but one game. And it's just a missing shadow even for that.
ROM hacks designed around emulator quirks will most likely not work. Same as with real hardware.
LLE audio sounds amazing.

2. Snes9x

Compatible with most games, even many romhacks that make use of emulator quirks.
LLE audio, same as bsnes's.
Often buggy graphical output and shader support in standalone
Driver/GPU dependent.
Remember those diagonal lines of offset across older 3D games on certain graphics cards? Yeah. Finding a picture.
Hit and miss controller support, especially when it comes to XInput devices.

3. RetroArch, which has bsnes, and Snes9x cores.

The same points as the emulators themselves
Amazing graphical output
At any resolution
At any fullscreen resolution and refresh rate
Vast shader support
Dynamic rate control kills off most any and all audio distortion, such as crackling.
Does not require Game Folders or anything like higan standalone.

SNES & Super Famicom - as also already mentioned, bsnes cores for pure accuracy and snes9x next for some translated roms.

I also use it for bsnes libretros because byuu is a giant faggot and Higan can suck a grandma tit.

Not recommended:

5. Mednafen

The SNES core is based on bSNES 059 which is rather old from 2010. It pre-dates the performance/balanced/accuracy builds. This version is much faster than the current version.
Missing many of the LLE audio improvements that newer versions of Snes9x and Higan use currently.
The version of bsnes that Mednafen is using is missing out on many accuracy updates that particularly impacts a few edge case games such as Air Strike Patrole. The significance of this game is it was one of two games known to manipulate the PPU mid-scanline and is notoriously difficult to emulate. Some of the problems Mednafen has versus newer cores is poorly rendered text, flickering lines near the bottom of the screen, and missing shadow during flight.
While acceptable for many games its recommended to use Snes9x, Higan, or Retroarch instead.

Nintendo 64

Project64

Still the best when it comes to running mainstream games, IMO

RetroArch - Mupen64Plus core
Stable builds
WIP builds

In terms of compatibility with the N64's game library, vanilla Mupen64 was basically always better than Project64 1.6, with 1964 basically only working well for a few different games. Mupen64Plus improves upon Mupen64 even further, while Project64 2.1 only fixed a few things and broke others. Mupen64Plus is receiving far more updates, and will likely be the go-to emulator for general use in the future

Mupen64+ is the best overall N64 emulator, but you still need PJ64 for certain games. It lacks a native GUI, and instead is ran by dragging and dropping ROMS and editing the config with notepad++. There are GUIs made for it, but many are problematic and glitchy.

Retroarch core isn't as up-to-date as SVN versions of M64+, but at least it has gui

Info on Emulation issues


Nintendo Gamecube / Wii

Dolphin

Reason: obvious


Game Boy / Game Boy Color

RetroArch - Gambatte core
Stable builds
WIP builds

Gambatte is hands-down the most accurate Game Boy/Color emulator. It has a good range of options, though not quite as much as some other emulators.

Game Boy Advance

Visual Boy Advance-M

Visual Boy Advance-M is the best emulator for the GBA.

RetroArch - VBA-Next core
Stable builds
WIP builds

RetroArch's VBA-Next is based off an older revision of VBA-M with added speedhacks and tweaks, making it a bit less accurate in some respects, though it fixes a few games such as Advance Wars 2.

GBA - VBA Next works perfect for every game I've thrown at it.

Nintendo Dual Screen

RetroArch - DeSmuME-future core
Stable builds
WIP builds

If only DeSmuME didn't kind of suck, author seems like a blame-everyone-else dick who cannot into proper syncing or true fullscreen. Results in some games randomly jittering when scrolling which he labels as being ''accurate''. Except if you run the DeSmuME core through RetroArch, games are perfectly smooth but you don't get touch control.

What do you mean by: you don't get touch control

DeSmuME
Stable builds
WIP builds

DeSmuMe is very good, and very well developed but works best with higher end computers. This emulator aims for accuracy over speed

I just wish the author wasn't a fag and would finally implement a proper syncing method, or even better frame limiting and true fullscreen. Any of those would help nullify all the little stuttering or performance in games.

DeSmuME X

WIP builds

DeSmuME X is a modification of DeSmuME X. It adds things like non-native resolutions, newshit AA techniques and shaders.

Sega Master System / Game Gear / Genesis / 32X / Sega CD

RetroArch - GenesisPlusGx core
Stable builds
WIP builds

GenesisPlusGX is too also very good with high compatibility. The only thing it lacks is 32X support which is no big loss considering the few games available for the addon. The port for RetroArch adds shader support, dynamic sync and the other features of RetroArch.

Sega systems (Genesis, Master System and Sega CD) - Gen Plus GX is top notch, accurate and compatible with every single game I've played. Plays some Gen games that won't even run in Fusion.

The Genesis Plus GX core is also easily the best Sega CD/Gen/Master System emulator out there. It doesn't even have a standalone version either far as I know.

The best thing you'll get from RA is the Genesis Plus GX core which puts Kega Fusion to shame unless you want to play some horrible 32x games.

Kega Fusion

Kega Fusion is a very good emulator with high compatibility, coded by an ex-sega staffer! It is easy to use as well, good interface and plugin based filter support too.

Sega Saturn

SSF

The best, and only good Saturn emulator right now. Windows only and closed source sadly. Far, far better than Yabause.
It had a recent major update, 0.12, which improved compatibility for certain games but broke others. It added support for some of games like Astal (needs "Enable SH2 Cache"). Keep both versions, pre- and post-0.12 just in case. To raise compatibility, you can try with "No Bios" enabled or disabled, and you'll want to start with the MaxCompatibility (slow) option, then try with the faster options (that do not always work).

Yabause

Yabause is not a very compatible emulator, even with the amount of development that has gone into it. It's sad, because compatibility notwithstanding, this emulator has many advantages over SSF. If you use the OpenGL video driver, you can render games in HD, unlike SSF which can only render in the game's native resolution. It's multi-platform and open-source, unlike SSF, which is closed-source and Windows-exclusive. SSF only lets you run games via mounted/burned disks, while Yabause lets you open ISO files as well as run burnt/mounted disks. The UI, despite not being perfect, is also better than SSF. Sadly, what matters is compatibility, and SSF is far ahead in that regard. For the pure end-user that has access to the Windows OS, SSF is recommended for games that don't work with Yabause. But due to the potential of Yabause and option for high resolution graphics, it's recommended for games that are compatible with it. It also has HLE bios.

AFAIK it now works very good with certain games

Sega Dreamcast

DEmul

The best ATM

spekkio I was very wrong about Dreamcast emulators. I somehow confused Demul with Makaron when you brought up save states before, woops. I tried it for the first time tonight and you're right, this is better than NullDC and even easier to use. I've been recording some gameplay vids for emumovies and had to do some weird shit like Taxi 2 (French) and Space Griffin (Japanese). Neither would even boot in NullDC. Grabbed Demul, both played fine without any tinkering.

nullDC

Second best, good for some games.

Not recommended:

Makaron

I'm not sure if it even works under Win7, p. much abandoned, closed source, hard to use. Too bad, since it was my favorite, and:

Makaron is the only Dreamcast emulator that can properly play games that use Windows CE.

PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16

Mednafen

Mednafen is great. It has two PCE cores: PCE-Fast and PCE-Accurate. It also has a PC-FX core.

The best part about Mednafen are its own cores, which are pretty much the most accurate emulation you can get for those system, i.e. PC-Engine (...)

I’m not sure if other emus (Ootake) are necessary ATM.


Sony Playstation

Mednafen

Mednafen psx is an emulator focused on accuracy. It seems extremely compatible since 0.9.28WIP

The best part about Mednafen are its own cores, which are pretty much the most accurate emulation you can get for those system, i.e. (...) PSX.

ePSXe

ePSXe is a fairly standard plugin based emulator, and since it's closed source it gets only updates from the main developers. And only a few minor updates once every few years. Though 1.8.0's biggest addition was the Android version's advertisement. Closed source, focused on profit, and Windows version is outdated because development is focused on Android version.

It's like 'twas written by Gragt...

PCSX-R

PCSX-R is actively developed (though mostly OSX and Linux versions), and is open source. Also a plugin based emulator similar to ePSXe, but is active and has more features. It has a widescreen hack, rewind save feature, fewer glitches, proper multitrack CUE support, and support for superior plugins, such as LilyPad. However Windows version is currently unmaintained and has inferior feature set so if you are on Windows ePSXe may be better.

As for PCSX-R - not even worth discussing. It's always been a piece of shit and if it were updated daily for the next decade, it'd still be a piece of shit.
Neither you nor Gragt have even named any specific problems with ePSXe other than, "It's not open source. Ow, my vagina! Old, it's old!" What games can't it play? Show me first-hand proof of these supposed issues.

Not recommended:

Retroarch - based on older Mednafen source
Xebra - games that require subchannel data are not supported


Sony Playstation Portable

PPSSPP

Stable Builds
WIP Builds

PPSSPP is a fairly new emulator, but it has made tremendous progress. Compatibility is a bit lower than JPCSP, but it is significantly faster. It is only recommended to use JPCSP if the game does not work in PPSSPP.

Sony Playstation 2

Pcsx2

Stable Builds
WIP Builds

Reason: obvious

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tl;dr version - recommended emulators by platform:

NES: Nestopia or Retroarch-Nestopia
SNES: Retroarch-bsnes/Snes9x-Next cores
N64: Project64 & retroarc-Mupen64Plus core
NGC/Wii: Dolphin
GB/GBC: Retroarch-Gambatte core
GBA: VBA-M or Retroarch-Next Core
NDS: Retroarch-Desmume Future Core or vanilla Desmume
SMS/GG/GEN/32X/SCD: Retroarch-GenesisPlusGx Core or Kega Fusion
SAT: SSF or Yabause
DC: demul or Nulldc
PCE: Mednafen
PS1: Mednafen or epsxe or PCSX-R
PSP: PPSSPP
PS2: pcsx2

Todo: C64, Amiga, Atari XL/XE ST, NeoGeo, Dos, etc.

 

[iZerw]

May I add?
NES: Nintendulator or Nestopia
Sega Master System (+ Gamegear and SG-1000): TwoMbit
Sega Genesis: Exodus (not just an emulator, more like platform for the emulation of single devices or something like that)
SNES: Higan (ex-bsnes)
N64: CEN64 (not yet, in active development)

 

[spekkio]

Lean2Read.

It's about BEST EMUS ATM, not the ones you like / the ones looking promising.

Exodus is cycle-accurate, and has VERY high system requirements. It is the newest Genesis emulator, and is likely far from complete. It currently only supports the regular Sega Genesis and no other systems.

 

[iZerw]

They're best. And my list has no obsolete shit like snes9x.

 

[felipepepe]

ZSNES all the way, motherfuckers. Can't beat that UI:

It's part of the experience.

BTW, Dolphin stuill doesn't run Star Wars: Rogue Squadron... any alternatives?

 

[spekkio]

They're best.

Care for some explanation? Why should I add TwoMbit (SMS+GG) or Exodus (GEN) when Fusion and Retroarch are considered better / just as good and support more systems (SMS,GG,GEN,32X,SCD)?

And my list has no obsolete shit like snes9x.

Good luck with running some Snes translations / hacks on anything else than Snes9x or Zsnes... Phantasmal mentioned that in quotes above.

 

[spekkio]

BTW, Dolphin stuill doesn't run Star Wars: Rogue Squadron... any alternatives?

No:

zfreeze

Rogue Squadron uses zfreeze - a function that Dolphin's hardware renderers currently do not support - for the skydome. The lack of support for this feature makes the skydome appear over nearly everything, and gives the impression of an extremely short draw distance. The game is functional, but it is impossible to play with this issue. The software renderer supports zfreeze and this issue is not present there, but when booting this game software shows nothing but errors and a black screen.

 

[Baron Dupek]

I though that sites with games have also recommended emulators, which are also best one.
Checking that RetroArch, hope it work better on my old crap. DesMume work well but my junk need boost to play it well.

 

[iZerw]

Care for some explanation? Why should I add TwoMbit (SMS+GG) or Exodus (GEN) when Fusion and Retroarch are considered better / just as good and support more systems (SMS,GG,GEN,32X,SCD)?

Accuracy.

Good luck with running some Snes translations / hacks on anything else than Snes9x or Zsnes... Phantasmal mentioned that in quotes above.

If snes9x or zsnes were not ugly compilations of dirty hacks we wouldn't have this problem and you could play your favorite hacks on real consoles btw. If i ever face that kind of problem I'll have to make an exception.

 

[spekkio]

Tested TwoMbit. It looks great indeed, but I'm not sure if it's ohsosuperior to less l33t (not cycle-perfect) SMS/GG emus.

Screenshots (#1 - TwoMbit, #2 - Fusion):

Spoiler

Tested Exodus.
Keeps crashing at launch despite installing required C++ runtime.

 

[spekkio]

Tested Nintendulator. Choppy graphics & sound, no V-sync, no bilinear filtering (!!!).



Tested both Nestopia (screen #1) and Retroarch-Nestopia core (screen #2)

pics

So, AFAIK nothing like this:

NES - major overscan issues with every core, they've been working on fixing it but still no luck. Either you crop the playing window or you get edge garbage

Plus:

I also don't believe it supports color palettes which I find a must.

So:

 

[A user named cat]

Is this still present, Phantasmal ? If yes, then what should be used as "best NES emu", instead of RetroArch? Nestopia? puNES?

I don't think it's fixable in RA. If you want to test it, play RBI Baseball and disable overscan cropping. Get an outfield hit so the screen scrolls vertically. When you see edge garbage and pixels while the screen is moving upward, then you'll see what I mean. The only way to fix it is the crop overscan option (enabled by default) but this slightly crops the screen. Mednafen and Nestopia don't have this issue. PuNES is also good and recommended, just doesn't have many bells and whistles.

I've never heard of TwoMBit before but I don't see how it can get more accurate than Gens Plus GX in RetroArch. That libretro is a beast, I wonder why it never received a standalone Windows emulator. Exodus is okay (tried it once not long ago) but again, pretty redundant when Gens Plus core exists. That is as accurate as it gets from all the games I've played on it. Not to mention you get RA's shader support, bindable rewind/fast forward hotkeys and such too.

spekkio As for N64, at the moment there is no all-in-one solution. If you want to best emulate N64, then use the following set of emulators/plugins that I uploaded until Cen64 comes along or the indiegogo funded Glide64 plugin update is released.

N64 emulators + plugins -- includes custom RSP, updated RDB database, pokopom xinput controller plugin and everything else you'll need. Obviously you will have to tweak options yourself.
Online N64 Game Config Guideline -- follow this like your life depends on it if you want to avoid most graphic and audio glitches.

 

[spekkio]

Thanks, then I'm going to post both mine (vanilla) and yours "sets / packs" for epsxe (you posted it earlier) and N64.