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Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
Newb-friendly list of recommended emulators + required files + other things. :obviously:

1) DOSBox Staging

The most advanced and accurate continuation of grandpa DOSBox. For more info check the link above or dedicated post by resident Staging's developer - Rincewind.

2) DOSBox-X

Another modern continuation of the original. You can check the list of its features here.

3) Retroarch - DOSBox Pure core <-convenience

Fork of DOSBox, built for RetroArch/Libretro aiming for simplicity and ease of use.

4) Daum's SVN builds

First and (for a long time) best "feature-rich" fork of DOSBox. GUI, Quicksaves, V-Sync, Direct3D & OpenglHQ Output, Glide emulation, moar peripherals, MT-32 and more. Sadly, not updated since 2015 and superseded by Staging & X.

1) PCem <-convenience

flyingjohn said:
Pcem is much more convenient and easier on the performance.

BIOS/ROM packs:
2) 86Box <-accuracy

flyingjohn said:
86 box is pure accuracy with heavy performance hits because of it.

BIOS/ROM packs:
3) Extensive turorials by TheOligopolist:

1) Vice

2) Denise

Bonus: JiffyDOS (Disk Operating System Enhancement)

1) FS-UAE <-convenience

2) WinUAE <-accuracy

BIOS/ROM packs:

1) Altirra <-convenience

2) Atari800 <-accuracy

1) Steem SSE <-convenience

2) Hatari <-accuracy

1) Retroarch - Mesen or Nestopia UE cores <-convenience

2) Mesen2 <-accuracy

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.

1) Retroarch - bsnes cores (more info) <-convenience

2) bsnes <-accuracy

3) Retroarch - Snes9x cores (for rom hacks that work only on emulators)

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.

1) Retroarch - Mupen64Plus-Next core <-convenience

Heavily modified fork of Mupen64Plus, developed as a libretro core.

2) simple64

A fork of Mupen64Plus with a custom-made Qt GUI. This is probably the easiest "just works out of the box" solution for Nintendo 64 emulation, as it comes bundled with ParaLLEl-RDP and ParaLLEl-RSP, ensuring excellent compatibility and good speed without needing to mess with plugins or settings, provided your hardware supports Vulkan. However, unlike other emulators, it does not allow you to use other plugins.

3) RMG

Rosalie's Mupen GUI aims to close the gap between Project64 and Mupen64Plus in terms of user experience. Its interface is about on par with simple64's in terms of cleanliness and ease of use, but unlike simple64, it remains a shallow fork of upstream Mupen64Plus and allows you to use other plugins.

4) Ares <-accuracy

An open-source multi-system emulator and successor to Near's higan project, with a mostly original N64 core. Unlike most other N64 emulators, it aims for high accuracy and does not employ HLE RSP or RDP emulation of any kind, nor does it use game-specific hacks. It uses Themaister's ParaLLEl-RDP Vulkan renderer (with the MAME renderer as a software-based fallback) for pixel-perfect LLE graphics. It currently passes several stringent accuracy tests the other emulators do not, also CPU & RSP timings are really, really good based on real hardware tests. But system requirements more demanding than other popular N64 emulators.

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.

1) Dolphin

2) PrimeHack + guide

Mod of Dolphin, implementing proper M+K controls for Metroid Prime - Trilogy

Consult the Compatibility list in case of trouble.

Cemu

Useful things:
Consult the Compatibility list in case of trouble.

1) Ryujinx

2) Yuzu

Gangraped by Nintendo. Goodnight Sweet Prince.

Latest builds (04.03.2024):
Other things:

1) Retroarch - SameBoy core <-convenience

2) SameBoy <-accuracy

Consider using shaders to improve graphical output:




1) Retroarch - mGBA or VBA-M cores <-convenience

2) mGBA <-accuracy

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.

Consider using shaders to reduce oversaturation in some games* and improve graphical output:



* mGBA deals with this problem with special "Color Correction" option.

1) Retroarch - melonDS or DeSmuME cores <-convenience

2) melonDS <-accuracy

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.

Citra

Teabagged by Nintendo. RIP in peace, yellow friend.

Latest builds (04.03.2024):
Other stuff:

1) Retroarch - Genesis Plus GX core <-convenience

2) Kega Fusion

Old but still good + emulates 32X.

BIOS/ROM packs:

1) Retroarch - Beetle Saturn core <-convenience

2) Mednafen <-accuracy

BIOS/ROM packs:

1) Retroarch - Flycast core <-convenience

2) DEmul

As of 2022, you're better off with Flycast or redream for Dreamcast emulation as they are multi-platform and have higher compatibility with Windows CE games. Having said that, DEmul is still highly recommended for SEGA NAOMI and variants.
BIOS/ROM packs:

1) Retroarch - Beetle PCE Fast core <-convenience

2) Mednafen <-accuracy

Bios

1) Retroarch - Swanstation or Beetle PSX HW cores <-convenience

2) DuckStation

3) Mednafen <-accuracy

Bios pack

Consult the EmuGen Wiki in case of trouble.


RPCS3

Firmwares

Consult the Compatibility list in case of trouble.

PPSSPP

Other stuff:



Xenia (daily builds, github ones are obsolete)


Bonus:
Day of latest decline: 05.03.2024
 
Last edited:

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
Let me start with stating the following:

PPSSPP > Jpcsp

:obviously:

IMO two reasons are crucial: speed (all tested game work at ~100% speed) and quality of graphics (see below).
Of course compatibility is still the most important thingie, so I decided to give some games a go:

3gQUcNN.jpg


a) = PPSSPP 20131002 Win from http://www.emucr.com/
b) = Jpcsp 3402winx86 from http://buildbot.orphis.net/jpcsp/index.php (compilations from emuCR don't work for me - compilation-related crash at startup)

I went with default values for both emus, except x2 window size and filtering (linear for PPSSPP & anisotropic for Jpcsp). It also looks that PPSSPP uses enhanced internal resolution by default (probably that's why the screens look so much better).
Both music and videos work much better in PPSSPP as well (without using external codecs or sth).

1) Fat Princess - Fistful Of Cake (E) (was broken for a long time in Jpcsp)

a)

Xr7ZtC4.jpg

aTQtSt0.jpg


b) game crashes at mission start

:roll:

2) Daxter (U)

a)

6PShPkS.jpg

MYjOr56.jpg


b) graphical errors:

CQRlUOG.jpg


:roll:

3) Tekken - Dark Resurrection (U)

a)

OJQqtM1.jpg

AlzYKW1.jpg


b) graphical errors

GgUAg2Y.jpg


4) Senjou no Valkyria 3 Extra Edition (J)

a)

skLWqqY.jpg

cj4SUN5.jpg


b) GUI borked

tAcTZ0g.jpg


5) Valkyria Chronicles 2 (U)

a)

I4zXEb2.jpg

YfAp4UP.jpg


b) GUI borked

0RgbrlV.jpg


6) Jeanne D'Arc (U)

a) game no longer crashes in main menu...

gziOiNq.jpg


But units and some 2D elements are invisible...

cQTpLwr.jpg


:decline:

b) works fine, except fonts (SCO posted solution to this)

LsX4cO7.jpg


:incline:

7) Wipeout Pure (U)

a) too much bloom (lighting is broken?)

0Yufz9F.jpg

Xky4fBQ.jpg


b) white screen when ingame (even moar bloom?)

:(

8) Final Fantasy Tactics - The War Of The Lions (U)

a)

pMrixi9.jpg

L8DCe2v.jpg


b) too blurry with filtering on

4SKEFav.jpg


9) LocoRoco (E)

a) loco dudes are finally round!

S2AjSku.jpg


:yeah:

Just look at these chubby motherfuckers in high res:

eX5PwcA.jpg

qFuQpWG.jpg


:love:

b) yellow dudes are still square

V598e0G.jpg


:(

10) Silent Hill - Origins (U)

a) graphics are totally broken

AdXD9Vr.jpg


b) works, but is unplayable due to heavy flickering and slowdowns

EzwSpa7.jpg


11) Tactics Ogre - Let Us Cling Together (U)

a) looks tight as fuck

AcfPIon.jpg

Q87oOpw.jpg

odIzMCM.jpg

LE0H79z.jpg


b) right part of the screen is broken (flickering)

Dbi3ZhP.jpg


tl;dr

PPSSPP wins.

:thumbsup:

[/objectivejournalism]
 
Last edited:

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
AFAIR it worked on older versions of PPSSPP. Will check tomorrow.
 

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,299
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
Trying to play Advance Wars: Days of Ruin in DESUDESUEMU DeSmuME, running on my not that good laptop:

emu1.png


A (probably autistic) hot chick is found. She's probably jailbait though.

emu2.png


Rubinelle shells in the night.

emu3.png


Manboon machete rape gangs lurk after ITZ. Storyline has strong parallels with Cleveology, manboons roam world after ITZ rapin' lootin' and killin', sociopathic faction of hyperinteligent hominids plot something sinister bearing parallels to melonheads, only Captain Blakemore Brenner and his followers don't act like manboons and can resist the manipulation.

No fancy filters, just 2,5x magnification. Still experiencing major slowdown at times which is why I'll probably stop playing around chapter 10. I may continue on my more powerful desktop. Hopefully the slowdown can be solved with just raw CPU power rather than the developer optimizing his emulator.

Also playing a few SNES games lately, making use of a gamepad that has recently become available to me (I also use it for DESE DESU DEE ESSU), analog sticks are actually quite good in emulated 2D titles:

emu4.png


F-Zero in ZSNES with 25% scanlines and interpolation, upscaled to whatever the res in this shot is, hi-res mode 7 is on. Doesn't look all that great on screenshots (I think the only F-Zero game to look good on those is GX/AX), but it's still quite fun and feels rather fast. US NTSC version of F-Zero of course as that one ran at a higher framerate.

emu.png


Super Castlevania IV on same settings, looks much prettier.

emu6.png


Super Metroid, pretty nice.

Biggest advantage of using 25% scanlines and interpolation over HQ, super eagle or other filters when upscaling is that text and other shapes are accurate without looking too low res. Not ideal but text doesn't look funky. It also IMO more or less matches the NTSC filter without the "fuzzyness" or "noise" of a TV screen that makes text unreadable and causing eye-strain (at least for me). I found it to be the optimal solution, close enough to what you would see on an actual TV if you had an actual SNES hooked up, while still being upscaled and not pixelated as fuck on an LCD monitor with resolution far superior to that which the SNES did output. Looks very good even on my desktop's 21 inch (or 22 inch? I forgot) widescreen LCD monitor. Of course it would be better to just use TV-out and hook up the PC to a CRT TV to get the closest to authentic visuals, but both TV-out and CRT are pretty much dead tech as of a few years ago.

Here's a comparison of ZSNES filters using Chrono Trigger, settings other than filters were unchanged, scanlines set to none in all but the interpolation+25% scanline shot:

No filters, no scanlines:


ctnone.png


Interpolation and Scanlines 25%:

ct1.png

2xSai Engine:

ct2.png


2xSuper Sai:

ct3.png


NTSC filter:

ct4.png


Super eagle:

ct5.png

HQ filter:

ct6.png


Other than interpolation and NTSC the filters have trouble with correct representation of curved shapes. In some games it isn't noticeable, but in games that use text some fonts, menus and dialog boxes may look really funky. I had this problem with Front Mission's text which is why I originally experimented with filter settings other than HQ.

I also have Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2 screenshots but they're on the desktop so I can't access them at the moment. DKC looks really fucking good since Rare pushed the SNES to the limit without using any fancy chips inside the cartridge IIRC. It's not just that everything was pre-rendered CGI, they managed to fit all those highly-detailed animated in sprites within just a few megabytes due to some fancy compression without chopping down animation frames.
 
Last edited:

Athelas

Arcane
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
4,502
I've found that Scale is the best filter. The other ones like HQ, Sai and Eagle have too much of a smushing or blurry effect.
 

dnf

Pedophile
Dumbfuck Shitposter
Joined
Nov 4, 2011
Messages
5,885
Does PSP emulation have good peformance with Core 2 Duo or not like the PS2 and gamecube?
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
It's a simpler machine, sure. Even my craptop from 2006 does it. Besides, it's all high level emulation here. Sound occasionally will not work outside of windows for now - which versions are cheating by downloading a compiled dll from sony for it; without a license - (it will soon, the reversed codec is about to be merged in ffmpeg).

On both emulators you need the official PSP fonts to play some games, so if your fonts are broken somehow, you know what to do.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
2,234
i tried locoroco but have some shitty graphic artifacts on half of my screen and tactics ogre freezes after first battle where you can command your hole team:rage:

that was always my fear with emulation. that i invest 20+hours in playing some old shit and than encounter game breaking bug or some other shit
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
i tried locoroco but have some shitty graphic artifacts on half of my screen and tactics ogre freezes after first battle where you can command your hole team:rage:

that was always my fear with emulation. that i invest 20+hours in playing some old shit and than encounter game breaking bug or some other shit
The git version of PPSSPP has a better splines/bezier options that 'fixes' those artifacts at the cost of speed, speed baby.

You do know how to compile don't you :troll:

Anyway, playing Phantom Brave now... cute. Game has nice ideas, but movement precision/ease of use is one of the worst i've ever seen in a TJRPG. Especially since characters can jump on top of objects/enemies then need to attack and can't :lol:
edit: :lol: wtf, you're encouraged to kill neutral characters in this game apparently with no consequence whatsoever.


BTW, this is probably the last generation, except possibly NDS that will be easily emulated, all subsequent ones are DRM'd up the ass, so their proprietary hardware will not be friendly to reverse engineering.
 
Last edited:

yes plz

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
2,158
Pathfinder: Wrath
I've found that Scale is the best filter. The other ones like HQ, Sai and Eagle have too much of a smushing or blurry effect.

Yeah, I've never liked those filters either. I'd much rather my game look pixelated than look like someone redrew the graphics with smudgy watercolors.

Also, how's Dolphin these days? I've never been able to run most Wii games on it at high, stable speeds and my computer is fairly decent.
 

ghostdog

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
11,079
People still bother with zsnes ? snes9x is much better. Normal scaling filter is the best IMO. snes9x has up to 4x normal scaling filter, but 3x is enough for 1080p :

Untitled_2.jpg



And if you want the old TV experience:

Untitled_2_copy.jpg
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
A retard troll at the debian maintainers 'deprecated' snes9x for zsnes even though if anything had to be deprecated it was zsnes since at least snes9x has a recent linux release that is actually ABI portable.

Result: no snes9x on official ubuntu repositories.
 

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
Hellraiser said:
Still experiencing major slowdown at times which is why I'll probably stop playing around chapter 10. I may continue on my more powerful desktop. Hopefully the slowdown can be solved with just raw CPU power rather than the developer optimizing his emulator..
You have dynamic recompiler enabled?

SCO said:
The git version of PPSSPP has a better splines/bezier options that 'fixes' those artifacts at the cost of speed, speed baby.
You do know how to compile don't you?
http://buildbot.orphis.net/ppsspp/index.php

:nocountryforshitposters:

BTW, this is probably the last generation, except possibly NDS that will be easily emulated, all subsequent ones are DRM'd up the ass...
You mean 3DS? And how about WiiU (not that it has any games) - is it really that different when comapred to itz predecessor?
 

Lerk

Learned
Joined
Jul 26, 2013
Messages
196
Location
Dunwall
My GF wants to play The Last of Us and since my PS3 got bricked last year, I really don't want to shell out for another (especially since nextgen is right around the corner)

You bros know is there a functional PS3 emu out there that would allow this game to be played? Last time I dicked around with emus was to get Zelda OoT and MM running, which was like...10 years ago, maybe :obviously:
 

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
You bros know is there a functional PS3 emu out there.
No, and chances of an PS3 emu appearing in the near future are close to 0. Various reasons, but mostly what SCO wrote above.
 

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
funkadelik said:
Pata Pata Pata?
Pon.

Q4NFeTo.jpg


Works great on PPSSPP, including sound during FMVs (missing on Jpcsp):

WE4aNjk.jpg


:obviously:

qDt9VZv.jpg


On Jpcsp the game works fine as well:

JsL4AnH.jpg
 

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,299
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
You have dynamic recompiler enabled?

I tried both with on and off, it's an issue either with the CPU (Intel Core i3-380M) or Intel's crap integrated graphics.

Anyway yes, I know Snes9x has better compatibility. Yes I know it has better sound. Yes I know it emulates the SNES more accurately. Issue is I get weird shit on my laptop if I even dare to press ESC to bring up the top menu once, probably due to lol intel integrated graphics:

bugs.png


Screen goes black at first, I move a bit and most of the image reappears but a lot of the stuff is missing as seen above. I'm guessing all the elements that don't change frame or position and thus are not redrawn. So don't hate on me for using zsnes bros, it's intel's fault. :M

Also I think interpolation+25% scanlines in zsnes looks better than TV mode+scanlines in snes9x. Probably because I can't change the ammount of scanlines, but that could just be my brain and eyes failing me.
 

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,278
^
Really? That's too bad, Soldier.
I don't think there are steep.

My specs:

gR24DOh.jpg
 

Krraloth

Prophet
Patron
Joined
Nov 20, 2009
Messages
1,220
Location
Boringland
Wasteland 2
Eh commander, the laptop has not dedicated video card and not even an HD to boot.
Need to get a better laptop but I need money but I need a job.

edit let's try again:

My laptop has a shitty integrated video card. Awesome to play old classics, but I can emulate at best a psx.
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Lololol, buy a android phone, PPSSPP works there.
 

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