Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

[aweigh]

upping gamma won't solve it you need to tweak the width and height of both the horizontal and the vertical lines (if you're using vertical lines) and the contrast/brightness parameters for each one

but i mean i also don't like using combo filters like what you're describing i like having 1 shader/filter for every single seperate thing so i can spend 10 hours tweaking every setting of each filter then 1 hour playing the game like a real emulation enthusiast :D

 

[Great Deceiver]

Well, it's a multipass shader, so every single aspect of it is configurable, just the way you're saying. I also play a lot less than I tweak, but I remember CRTs from my youth and I'll go to great lengths to replicate the 'feel' that I got from them and that's not simply evenly spaced scanlines or shitty geometry. The way phosphor-based displays constructed their image is really hard to approximate, which is why I can't go back to simple single pipeline filters after Retroarch.

Here are some more captures:

GTUv50, a little brighter:

CRT-glow w/ a Lanczos pass. See, this might be considered "better" by some, but it's quite distant from what an actual consumer CRT would produce - dithering is especially noticeable and this sharpness around the edges wasn't really there. I prefer a softer look:

 

[aweigh]

GTUvwhatever wqith brighter parameters looks p. good, if you can lessen the effects of the lancoze pass and combine it with the 1st pic then that would look just about perfect. so what shader is this, like the default one that comes with Retroarch?

i tried using retro arch a while ago but i was too lazy then to bother with all the setup shit yes i know someone is going to post OMG U ONLY NEED TO CLICK DOWNLOAD CORES HUEHUE but even so it's still way more setup involved than just using whatever leading emu there is for that console and firing it up and downloading whatever shader pack is currently being praised the most.

 

[Great Deceiver]

There's definitely more setup involved than most stand-alone emulators to get it running just right, but it's worth it. The timing/sync backend on Retroarch is just peerless, I'm very sensitive to input delay and no other emulator comes even remotely close. On most cores, I get only 3 frames of delay (before video output), which is great. Some cores have extra delay (Mednafen Saturn comes to mind, that has something like 5-6 frames of delay but it's getting better), but mostly it's awesome.

As for shaders, there's no default one, you get a library spanning different categories (CRT, de-dithering, antialiasing, etc), each shader usually comprises a multi-pass preset of multiple individual shaders, and parameters are very configurable. Takes some tinkering to find one that clicks with you - you can save per-core configurations too, I use different shaders for different cores. I prefer the one I mentioned, GTUv50 for consoles, as I used to play those on TVs over composite and prefer the softer look. However, for arcade games I use CRT-Royale, which more closely resembles an RGB arcade monitor. There are also very faithful shaders for portable systems.

Retroarch also has a robust skinning/library function, excluding the need for external library software like Hyperspin or some bullshit like that. All it takes is some patience to edit some text files, I made a lot of AutoHotKey scripts to parse my MAME roms into custom categories for example (i.e. beat em up, vertical shmups, horizontal shmups, fighting games, etc.), all with personalized icons and screenshots. Looks pretty awesome. I can't see myself ever going back to standalone emulators unless the libretro port is just awful (PPSSPP was a recent example, the libretro port was very outdated but late last year they finally updated it).

 

[pakoito]

There's definitely more setup involved than most stand-alone emulators to get it running just right, but it's worth it. The timing/sync backend on Retroarch is just peerless, I'm very sensitive to input delay and no other emulator comes even remotely close. On most cores, I get only 3 frames of delay (before video output), which is great. Some cores have extra delay (Mednafen Saturn comes to mind, that has something like 5-6 frames of delay but it's getting better), but mostly it's awesome.

As for shaders, there's no default one, you get a library spanning different categories (CRT, de-dithering, antialiasing, etc), each shader usually comprises a multi-pass preset of multiple individual shaders, and parameters are very configurable. Takes some tinkering to find one that clicks with you - you can save per-core configurations too, I use different shaders for different cores. I prefer the one I mentioned, GTUv50 for consoles, as I used to play those on TVs over composite and prefer the softer look. However, for arcade games I use CRT-Royale, which more closely resembles an RGB arcade monitor. There are also very faithful shaders for portable systems.

Retroarch also has a robust skinning/library function, excluding the need for external library software like Hyperspin or some bullshit like that. All it takes is some patience to edit some text files, I made a lot of AutoHotKey scripts to parse my MAME roms into custom categories for example (i.e. beat em up, vertical shmups, horizontal shmups, fighting games, etc.), all with personalized icons and screenshots. Looks pretty awesome. I can't see myself ever going back to standalone emulators unless the libretro port is just awful (PPSSPP was a recent example, the libretro port was very outdated but late last year they finally updated it).

I still have issues with 3-5 cores per console whose name is cut off on the screen and deciding which one's the right one. Also, looking for roms in directories.

 

[flyingjohn]

Retroarch biggest flaw is the controls setup.There is no way to setup per console and the default that you setup will obviously not work for some consoles.
So you have to setup each core controls manually in game.Yes ,you only have to do ti once but it is still annoying.
Also there is no dedicated turbo button per console,which is annoying.

 

[SCO]

For retroarch, recent versions have a 'unified menu controls' - which re-enables old behavior where the controls for menus and game are the same as far as they're used (up, down, select, cancel) - and 'game focus' toogle - which allows cores which use the keyboard natively to disable retroarch only shortcuts.


Personally, my single greatest beef with retroarch is taking emulators out of context into their framework and getting features broken or 'doing the wrong thing by default'. Mostly the scanner.

Example: scanner checks DOS execs checksums (looool) for launching later mounting the exec dir in dosbox and starting the exec ( instead of searching for 'conf' files extensions to find and exec games ). This is part of their idea to have metadata for all games... which isn't very valuable when you setup the games wrong or don't find several valid ones due to hacks.

Example: scanner checksums of scummvm games 'works' by placing a new text file with the scummvm engine name to launch instead of using the already in the core code scummvm scanner - this makes for a lot of work for the user that will only get worse if scummvm supports engines like ags in the future (2500 games) and results in mediocre metadata on engines that support more than one game. Granted it's not so easy 'just reuse the scummvm scanner'. For one that one has some false positives... but better than the cognitive load of letting your users place one of 200 files on one of 200 directories... and growing.

Example: UAE has superior alternatives that provide automatic configuration - fs-uae - without (as much) problems with keyboard control. With a crc scanner to add insult to injury (this first requires that the emulators don't write to the underlying rom files but be redirected somehow, which is another thing that RA doesn't bother with and a reason why their database for systems with games using diskettes or hard drive image files is completely useless - i work around this in linux with a copy-on-write drive that i mount the roms on).

Example: until recently (didn't test recently) the .gdi (a sort of cue file) scanner for dreamcast TOSEC images was full of duplicates simply because TOSEC screwed up when doing it's gdi files : they don't mention the name of the game at all (except on the filename) and that information is not part of the data checksummed. This actually should have been caught when building the scanner database, since duplicate primary key is not subtle but i understand this check is not done because several dumping projects reuse files but change the name... i guess the idea is a further filename check or some shit.

Example: scanner taking hours to scan a large collection because it's using whole file crcs like the application is supposed to be a replacement for file verification from romcenter.
In fact i suppose it's quite possible that they're insane enough to scan all files regardless of size when trying to match crcs, which would be dumb (most times cue suffice to match dumps, except in particular cases like the gdi above that can be caught at database creation time by checking for duplicate crcs) but i can see that matching the degenerate behavior i saw when i tested this out. Not that that restriction would help a lot since several dumps are only iso (1 huge file) and they have to be scanned.
Similarly, using crcs looks to me like the wrong default over using console serials, because indexing settings and configuration files to match them to any hack, version or game modification, will only work if the crc matched is not on a 'modified' file (ie, on a cue, not a bin). There are alternatives to this on the 'big' consoles that will recognize games even in different dump formats.
The root of this is this idea that the scanner must 'find everything, for every console in one pass'. Which it doesn't, of course, and in the meanwhile, wait some hours because you didn't bother to create more reliable methods to reduce the # of files that are actually fully scanned.

I'd prefer that the 'full' scanner:
1. Match crc for a file *only* if the matching size and format (extension) for that size exist on the database. The crc database matches a hashcode to a single dump, so this works, but i rather suspect they checksum before doing this filtering. Shouldn't give too much of a filter, but it's a no-false positives filter. This info, btw, already exists on the dats they use.
2. First try to match 'known serials' by parsing them out. This can be made (mostly) dump agnostic actually. Doesn't work for all cases or all systems. Link metadata that exists associated to the serial because it's most likely a hack if it wasn't caught in 1)
3. Of all the remaining cases *don't* crc the files, just ask the user for what's the system that it's for, if any and make a synthetic no metadata entry.
4. Finally create a 'lite' option if you don't care about metadata that the user just chooses a dir and system, and it searches for appropriate extensions that can be 'serial' scanned. Any metadata that exists associated to those serials gets filled in, any that doesn't is missing, and the game is marked 'unavailable' for netplay without a further checksum *before* the netplay, instead.


I'm also annoyed because retroarch mednafen core in RA runs worse than the standalone here, but that may be because it's been forked for a while or just RA not liking my system much.

 

[lightbane]

So, I finally upgraded my PC and now I'm ready to use most, if not all of the most advanced emulators! I'll need to carefully inspect the info in this page, since I only used a few ones like snesx, the Epsxe one and little else and now there are a shitton of them it seems, with the Retroarch one seemingly an all-encompassing emulator. Any recommendations for noobs?

Also, is LoZ: Breath of the Wild fully playable with the latest DLCs as well?

 

[damicore]

So, I finally upgraded my PC and now I'm ready to use most, if not all of the most advanced emulators! I'll need to carefully inspect the info in this page, since I only used a few ones like snesx, the Epsxe one and little else and now there are a shitton of them it seems, with the Retroarch one seemingly an all-encompassing emulator. Any recommendations for noobs?

Also, is LoZ: Breath of the Wild fully playable with the latest DLCs as well?

I get like average 35FPS with my 7 year old i5 2500k slightly overclocked. Look up "wiiu usb helper" to get all dlcs and stuff, and be sure to get the fps+ graphic pack for BoTW.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

Also, is LoZ: Breath of the Wild fully playable with the latest DLCs as well?

Yup, although it is a bigger pain to get it to run just right compared to other cemu games and older emulators.

 

[Nathir]

How do I set up the RPCS3 emulator? What are all the things I need to download?

 

[deuxhero]

How do I set up the RPCS3 emulator? What are all the things I need to download?

Officially documentation literally tells you how to get and install everything except the games. BIOS files are actually ripped from the freely available update files.

 

[senhua1980]

Yuzu - An experimental open-source emulator for the Nintendo Switch from the creators of Citra

yuzu is a work-in-progress Nintendo Switch emulator. yuzu is an open-source project, licensed under the GPLv2 (or any later version). yuzu has been designed with portability in mind, with builds available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The project was started in spring of 2017 by bunnei, one of the original authors of the popular Citra 3DS emulator, to experiment with and research the Nintendo Switch. Due to the similarities between Switch and 3DS, yuzu was developed as a fork of Citra. This means that it uses the same project architecture, and both emulators benefit from shared improvements. During the early months of development, work was done in private, and progress was slow. However, as Switch reverse-engineering and homebrew development became popular, work on yuzu began to take off as well.

In January of 2018, the yuzu team was formed out of several Citra developers, and the decision was made to release the project publicly. As an emulator, yuzu is in its infancy, and is only currently useful for Switch reverse-engineering and homebrew development.

Can I play Switch games?

No – at this time, yuzu does not run any commercial Switch games. yuzu can boot some games, to varying degrees of success, but does not implement any of the necessary GPU features to render 3D graphics.

When will yuzu run games?

In short – we do not know how soon games might run. While yuzu is making great progress, Switch emulation is very complex. Running games is one of the team’s top priorities, so we are actively working toward that goal!

Where does the name come from?

Citrus junos, or yuzu (from Japanese ユズ), is a citrus fruit, most commonly used in Asian cuisines. This name was chosen as an homage to Citra and its developers, whose work gave the foundation for this project.

Homepage: https://yuzu-emu.org/
Source code: https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yuzuemu
Source: https://www.resetera.com/threads/yu...endo-switch-from-the-creators-of-citra.16337/

 

[Morgoth]

I hope Yuzu will be ready for Metroid Prime 4 launch.

 

[Taxnomore]

Call me when Switch has a worthwhile exclusive.

 

[Muty]

Call me when Switch has a worthwhile exclusive.

edit: img fixrd

 

[Damned Registrations]

Ok Crispy explain this one to me, because I just needed to use it to get Cemu to run:



What the ever loving fuck. I give up on learning how to computer. That's bullshit.

 

[Crispy]

Fuck if I know. That Frenchman is obviously circumventing some sort of exception error by manipulating the .dll in some way. Just follow what he did and shrug it off.

 

[Damned Registrations]

That's the thing. There was no manipulation. I literally just did what he did in the video, I looked at the details of the security certificate and closed it again. No more exception.

 

[Great Deceiver]

So after finishing my replay of Blood Omen (last time I did it was 20 years ago), I want to play the entire Legacy of Kain series as the details of the story really flew over my head the first time around. I feel it's worth playing through the series to sort things out.

I vaguely remember the first Soul Reaver (played it through to the end when it first came out, but that was also almost 20 years ago) - I played it on the Dreamcast back then (still have the original disc), and as I understand it's the best version.

However, there's a problem in that Dreamcast emulators are not that reliable. The one that runs Soul Reaver the best, Demul, does not render the soundtrack correctly. Soul Reaver has an awesome, dynamic MIDI soundtrack by Kurt Harland that changes according to game states - in a fight, in the spirit realm, etc. This does not get emulated properly at all, and the end result is a garbled mess. The PC version lacks the soundtrack completely and is overall a very shoddy port, so that's out of the question. The (correct) music is a big part of the atmosphere for me.

So I've decided to play the original PSX version, which is emulated perfectly with Beetle PSX. However, this poses two problems - one, the original game's framerate is terrible (frequently dipping in the low 10s). Second, the internal resolution is obviously awful - which is a shame since the assets are of pretty high quality, and the art direction is really good; the game also suffers from severely pared back draw distance compared to the DC version, which makes it kind of tough to see what's going on.

I've managed to reach a decent compromise by using the Hardware renderer version of Beetle under Retroarch (Beetle PSX HW). With this setup, I can play with increased internal resolution, perspective-corrected textures and I can also overclock the PSX CPU to get locked 30fps. It's pretty good so far and I feel this is a good middle ground with perfect emulated audio and decent visuals. Some screens:

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

Hello.

Has anyone tried playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2) via emulation? What emulator and what version of it (on Windows) did you use? What pc hardware did you have? How good was the performance (I mean the fps)? Were there bugs, freezes, graphics or sound issues etc while you were playing? Or maybe you think it's better played on a real console (which I actually have, but I do prefer playing on PC nevertheless) rather than via emulation, considering my pc is rather shit (i5-6600k, 8 gb ram, hd 5770 1 gb)?


UPD allright I've read the wiki article on https://wiki.pcsx2.net, seems I got lucky.

 

[spekkio]

Has anyone tried playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2) via emulation?

Yes. Quite a lot of people.

What emulator and what version of it (on Windows) did you use?

Grab newest version of pcsx2.

What pc hardware did you have?

Any PC able to run games from 3-4 years ago (aka mine) should do. Your rig should do just fine.

How good was the performance (I mean the fps)?

Pretty great.

Were there bugs, freezes, graphics or sound issues etc while you were playing?

ATM game should work. p. much flawless.

Or maybe you think it's better played on a real console (which I actually have)

No, game looks great in high res, as long as you enable the Progressive Scan Mode cheat.

Now, next time try being less of a helpless newfag and try all these things yourself.

 

[Niektory]

DOSBox-X can now emulate PC-98! Well, only partially for now. But some games already work.

 

[Abu Antar]

WTF!? Open source Vita emulator in the works.

https://github.com/Vita3K/Vita3K

2018 seemingly going to be great for emulation.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Finished Soul Reaver. The game was surprisingly difficult (some puzzles were not obvious at all), I thought I had completed it all those years ago but the later half of the game didn't ring a bell at all, so I guess I hadn't. The last portion of the game (the clock chamber/dungeon) was definitely the weakest. Still, a great game that pushed the hardware to its absolute limits. Plus, I don't think there's a comparable plot or script writing quality in all of gaming (I'm talking about the entire series). The story beats are all really amazing, and the cliffhanger ending works without feeling cheap.

Unfortunately, a lot of the optional content of the game is absolutely worthless - as combat is so easy, you don't need the upgrades. The Metroid-like progression could have required an extra couple of items/abilities to be unlocked in order to progress. As it is, you don't need any of the glyphs or indeed any of the health increases. One of the optional areas is actually pretty cool (the human city), I guess they had to wrap up the game for release and some stuff just kind of hangs without much purpose. Oh well.

Oh, and this game was directed, produced and written by a woman, back when women could actually develop video games - 20 years ago. Makes all the recent autistic screechers who describe themselves as 'game developers' for writing a few lines of complete rubbish, to play the victim when people call them out on their bullshit, all the more pathetic. Amy Hennig. Too bad she declined so badly and went to write 2nd rate Indiana Jones pulp schlock later on.

Soul Reaver 2 next. I've never played it, so it should be great.