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I use Retroarch whenever something more than just drag and drop isn't needed because I'm just young enough to be bad at computers beyond basic functionality. I can follow instructions but I'm not getting custom shit going if I don't need to. Are frontends more or less brainlet-proof than Retroarch? I haven't looked into them.

Case by case basis

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>>12405089
a frontend is what retroarch is. if you can't wait to turn 18 before channing you could make it less obvious lol

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>>12405093
This. I do use Retrofuckered now and then, but only when there's no other choice. So I prefer small isolated emulators that do one thing well in an uncomplicated way.

Standalone. So much so I will not use an emulator if it's only available as a libretro core.

>>12405126
What if that's your only way to play the game?

Retroarch, even though I hate it. Its like a wife I can't divorce

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>>12405119
I'm turning 30 this year

>>12405071

Retroarch. Runahead, shaders/crtswitchres and cloud saving make it a no brainer for software emulation. The front end aspect of it didn't really matter to me in the beginning but over time I started to see the appeal. It gets tiresome dealing with a dozen totally different emulator and their quirks. Better to deal with one where all your saves are the same format and the UI is the same. Only dogshit aspect of Retroarch is the controller mapping. Even the convoluted menus aren't bad once you utilize the option to get rid of clutter that you'll never touch and get used to where everything is.

>>12405139
>Retroarch, even though I hate it. Its like a wife I can't divorce

LOL that's perfect. I should name my copy of RA now.
>*RA crashes again*
>*Rachel you stupid ho!*

>>12405129
Never had that problem. Every platform I've emulated has had at least one stand alone emulator.

>>12405150
>Only dogshit aspect of Retroarch is the controller mapping

Are you sure it isn't the ridiculous labyrinth of menus and the controls that invert for no reason during core setup?

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All
I keep standalone emulators and Retroarch alike installed, and I have it all tied together with Launchbox.

>>12405089
A frontend just ties files together. They're pretty simple to use.

>>12405141
oh well. 30 isn't too old to know computers though, you may be naturally bad at them no offense

>>12405157
I guess what I meant is if you want to play that game on a particular system whose only hope for playing said game is by Retrofucked.
>in b4 but standalone
Sometimes the only way to play a game is to use a core that is run by RA and that's it.

>>12405163
The only case I've found where using RA is ESSENTIAL is for Satellaview+, and that's probably just because I'm retarded and can't get the standalone options working

>>12405171
The point is that you know my pain and that's the importing part.

*important
kinda apropos typo on this board, dough

>>12405163
List one example. I genuinely cannot find any.

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i just use standalone ones. I don't use shaders or anything, so once they're setup I don't need to change any options or anything anyway so I don't need a frontend really

>>12405159

I already covered the menu part. The controller problem could be a number of things but I guarantee there's an answer for it if you Google it. If using Steam version, make sure Nintendo button layout is disabled. If not, some cores like Mesen have different controller settings, like standard nes controller or snes pad. You change those or simply create a remap file with your preferred buttons bounds. If you backup your config folder or setup a cloud saving account you will never again have to fuck with controller and core settings that you've already configured to your liking. Backup your retroarch.cfg file too.

>>12405241
>backup your config folder or setup a cloud saving account

Yeah I'm not doing any of that. I'm just gonna play Donkey Kong on my hacked Wii.

>>12405160
Did you pay for Launchbox Premium?

>>12405278
I did, years ago when it was cheaper.

>>12405119
Retroarch is so shitty that people need a frontend for their frontend.

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>>12405071
Retrobat is king for me. Been using it for 2 years now and no headache.
>Inb4 buy an ad
Fuck you

>>12405071
I fucking hate Retroshart for a host of reasons, so standalones for me, usually tied through Attract Mode, which is a nice frontend.

>>12405071
Retroarch model is the best. I always prefer to use it if possible.

>>12405392
>for a host of reasons
How come? I'm curious.

>>12405396
Retroarch can improve a few things easily but they don't. Otherwise it's mostly a user laziness problem. The real issue lately is that emulation is more heavily into later systems and RA cores aren't keeping up (Dolphin is a major offender here).

Once you learn how to use RA it's great and once you set it up it's equal to any launcher. I especially like not having to mess with the controller settings for a new system just because I want to play some random game.

It's other strength is that it's designed to work with controllers and as a full-screen device, so it is most similar experience to playing on a console. Turn it on and then I can use the controller to switch games, etc, without having to get up, use a mouse, mess with settings and configs and all of that.

>>12405089
I worry people are this dumb so I don't use RetroArch by association.

>>12405403
>Turn it on and then I can use the controller to switch games, etc, without having to get up, use a mouse, mess with settings and configs and all of that.
-t. has not used any other emulator since falling in lurve with RA

I'm saying there's almost no reason to use RA. I've not had to mess with controller settings in standalone emulators for years and years.
Do better.

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>>12405396
I seriously fucking hate the interface, I hate the configuration and setup, I dislike some of the changes made my various core teams, and have had bad experiences reporting bugs to the absolute shitheads that "maintain" certain cores about games they broke and then did not give a shit about.

On top of that, I have a strong dislike of Master Control Program bullshit projects that try to swallow up all the other projects and shove them into some (often increasingly rickety) monolithic framework.

>>12405403
Retroachivement unlocked: make excuses for the worst emulator frontend

>>12405412
I use several other emulators regularly. They don't do this.

>>12405426
if you want a tr00ned-out interface you can add pink horse stickers too that's a matter of taste. in terms of functionality RA works great for finding and playing games across a variety of platforms, ie it's purpose.

>>12405071
Retroarch for just about everything. Standalone emulators for the 5 or 6 consoles it can't run.

>>12405585
>>I hate the interface
>trannies! trannies! trannies!
Time to turn off the computer, anon.

>>12405152
You... have had??? Retroarch crash?! lol wtf? I can't say I have seen that happen in 15 years of using it. Including on random shit like Anbernic devices or similar.

>>12405183
Are you playing games worse on purpose? Sad

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I've been using Retroarch for so long that I've become extremely aversive to emulating outside libretro ecosystem.

I stopped using RA after I needed to change my inputs and for some reason it didn't do anything. Don't remember what was exactly going on but I deleted RA and refuse to use it. It has nice shaders but outside of this feature it is too bad to use.

>>12405071
RetroArch erry day

>>12406485
retard's woes

>>12406549
What a coincidence! This is the standard retroarch response to a support ticket, are you on the team?

>>12405071
Launchbox has retroarch as preconfig emulator, and I use this combo for everything up to gen6.

Should I start an FPGA thread or post here?

Everytime I look into this I'm more confused than the last time. I was busy in college when mister platform started to gain popularity, and it was described to me as "not emulation" because it was replicating the chips themselves. now that crts aren't free on craigslist and the 5th gen console cores are out, these seem to be a great alternative to boxes of retro consoles.

but i've heard from fpga dev blogs that it isn't actually chip replication after all on these 5th gen consoles? is there really no point to using a mister for n64/psx compared to, say, a NUC or other mini pc?

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In handhelds I rather have a Frontend OS like MuOS or OnionOS to launch Retro Arch cores.

In PC I rather use standalone emulators, specially Duckstation whose GUI is superb to the point of becoming standard with PCSX2 as well.

Flycast could improve its GUI but it is also a great one. Much easier for begginers and simplified use than Retro Arch.

RetroArch does have the first place as the best most customisation emulation software I have, it is incredibly specific, but it takes time to master, which can be a bit frustrating and does filter a lot of users.

>>12406618
When everyone around you is calling you retarded it's time to ponder and reflect

the way retroarch handles in-game saves is retarded
https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/16237

These days I've been using duckstation and ares, it just works.

>>12405071
RetroRoach killed emulation.

I don't play games that often so I use retroarch while keeping in mind that it's important to keep it updated. Not just the frontend, but more importantly the cores themselves. But if you're serious about retro emulation on a regular basis, then have standalones too.

>>12406657
>was described to me as "not emulation" because it was replicating the chips themselves.
Technically correct, but not a very useful distinction except to mean "it will run faster than doing this in software." Whether it's correct or not is up to the developers of the core.
Being done in hardware can potentially make it easier to avoid synchronization problems in complex multi-chip architectures, too, but that's not a big deal for most emulated systems.

>>12405071
On my PC? Standalone, it's easier.
On my phone or other portable device? Retroarch, it's easier.

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>>12405071
EmulationStation but with standalone emulators. Fuck Retroarch, and Launchbox eats way too much resources.

Kega Fusion

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>>12405071
https://demo.emulatorjs.org/
Always online, no need to install anything. Just load your rom and go.

>>12406915
I used EmulationStation before Launchbox and I liked it, but I found it a bit lacking when you have fullsets. For smaller collections it's still perfectly fine.
My setup with videos and full sets of images for almost 25,000 games eats up around 600 MB of RAM while it's open. If I open a game, the CPU and GPU utilization drops to almost 0.

>>12407695
>Always online
You say like it's a good thing...

>>12408008
Stop living in the past unc. There's nothing wrong with always online.

>>12405071
I prefer multi-system.
I don't like installing or creating folders for every system.

>>12408923
>There's nothing wrong with always online
There is though.

>>12405071
Retroarch for early consoles
Standalone for PS1 and later systems

Convince me dualshock 2 isn't the ultimate controller for vr emulation as a whole experience

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>>12405089

>>12406370

Switch to rgui from that soulless UI. ur doing it wrong

>>12410453
Asymmetrical sticks >>>

>>12405071
I don't particularly like retroarch but it simplifies using shaders. Its also really nice for game console homebrew scenes

>>12405071
I use retroarch because standalones are painfully lacking in basic features like latency reduction and shaders. Frontends are performative garbage.

>>12411946
yeah no
definitely not convinced

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>>12405071
>Do you prefer standalone emulators

I love them!

I got a 32bit version of RetroArch and most of the cores won't even appear for download. How gay is that.

>>12405071
I'll be completely honest, I don't wanna figure out how to use retroarch or anything like it. I know how to use the emulators I have been using for 20 years at this point and I am gonna just stick to them. Most standalones these days just werk out the box and if they do need tweeks they are well documented and easy to find. Retroarch is just a confusing mess to my brain, it would be like if I used a Mac I would have to relearn everything for an arguably worse experience.
I do see the appeal of it for a dedicated emulation machine but that's about it.

>>12413358

So you play games with raw pixels and a bunch of input lag? lmao

>>12405071
I use a frontend and just use Retroarch as an emulator

>>12414161
>a bunch of input lag
If you use runahead, you didn't beat the game.

>>12405071
I mostly use standalone emulators, but I do like mednafen. I found retroarch annoying to use, and I don't care about any of its features.

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>>12405071
RetroArch is where its at for me, having it all on one place, and making my setup feel like the PSP did, is great.

>>12418481
>feel like the PSP did,
So that's where the cancer came from

Standalone emulators. I see the merits of a multi-system front end, but I don't care enough. I only emulate maybe 5-10 games a year so I don't need a whole crazy setup.

>>12405071
RA. Took a while to learn the controller binding, mapping, remapping shitshow but it works real good for me now.

>>12405071
I mostly use RetroArch, be it on my pi, or my SteamDeck. I'll use standalone emulators for some things; like DuckStation makes good use of Gyro controls - making light gun games on the PS1 really fun to play (sure it's not the same as the GunCon - but its better than nothing).

The real answer for me is still to play things on the hardware if I can, but failing that RetroArch does a fine enough job. A place to run basically all the games I want to play? It get's out of my way and I'm playing the games I want to play in only a few minutes? Great! Anything beyond this would have be really niche to bother with.

>>12418530
What cancer? Having everything in one place is awesome, XMB is awesome, being able to play on my smartphone with a controller with the same color scheme as the PSX is awesome, I see no cancer at all.

>>12418481
Looks fookin heavy m8

This thread's probably a much smarter place to ask rather than /v/.
Does anybody have the old Cylum 2021 Rom Sets archived somewhere and could reupload them? My old HDD I had them on finally died and I didn't keep a backup. The old 1fich links are dead and on the internet archive there are a few still up but it's missing a lot of the obvious ones. Even if it's just like SNES and GBA that'd be mighty helpful, I can't seem to find a reupload of them anywhere I look but that could just be a personal failing. If you have a link to it, that would also be nice.
Thanks.

>>12420214
I'd tell you to check Myrient, but it's in the middle of dying right now.

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>>12405071
Standalone only because RetroArch reminds me of some Google Play Store garbage
I'm on a PC, so I want to start games with something that actually looks like a computer program