Naming multi-disc games

[Zombeaver]

Where a RA core is available, I prefer them for everything except for PSP, DS, DC, and in some cases 3DO. Oh, and MAME but that's for other reasons. Unless something drastic has changed recently, the PPSSPP core has never been on-par with standalone PPSSPP, both in terms of performance and stability. Audio quality in the DeSmuME core is complete garbage - and the issue isn't present in standalone DeSmuME. Reicast still isn't as good as Demul. Standalone 4DO has compatibility with some games like Crash n' Burn that don't work in the RA core (the ones that are compatible - which is most of them - I still use RA for though).

Mednafen PSX was actually the motivating factor for me moving over to RA in the first place. I'd been a long-time ePSXe user, and had kindof just accepted the fact that some games like Jumping Flash 2 just weren't ever going to look right, and then found that they were perfect in Mednafen. PSX is my favorite platform of all time (well, it and C64) and once I made the switch from ePSXe to Mednafen I never looked back. I love the hell out of Mednafen.

[Lordmonkus]

I pretty much do this but I do use the DeSmuME core because of the ability to use the right analog stick for stylus controls. I also don't play much DS anyways.

[Zombeaver]

Just now, lordmonkus said:

I pretty much do this but I do use the DeSmuME core because of the ability to use the right analog stick for stylus controls. I also don't play much DS anyways.

I wish I could, but I just can't deal with the audio in some games in the DeSmuME core. The core dev was kindof a complete jerk about it too. He can call it "bad code" all he wants, it doesn't change the fact that it sounds like crap in his core and doesn't in standalone, period. Beyond the fact that it's pretty disrespectful to bad-mouth the person upon whose work you're building, it's especially egregious, as far as I'm concerned, if he's not going to actually address/improve upon the issue that he's complaining about. The resampler thing he mentions there is a complete non-answer too - the only way you can fix it with that is to drop the high frequencies so much that it sounds like it's being played about 50 feet away from you in a cave. After messing with that for a good hour, I just said screw it and have been using standalone which sounds fine.

[Lordmonkus]

2 hours ago, CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT said:

I've only recently started using Retroarch myself, but I am slowly migrating away from the standalones for most systems since it's nice having everything in one "house". Just switched from the standalone PPSSPP to the libretro core, but keeping it around in case any issues pop-up; seems to be fine though. I must admit I am a bit leery about the cores vs. standalones still, but I'm slowly moving to the Retroarch camp for most things.

 

Stand alone PPSSPP is still better, the RA core isn't bad but PPSSPP is so damn good.

There really is no reason to be leery of the RA cores versus stand alone options. In many cases the RA cores are far more actively developed than the stand alones. Retroarch brings far better audio and input than the vast majority of stand alone emulators. They have done amazing work with synchronizing audio and input lag and their shaders are unmatched.

[CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT]

@lordmonkus @Zombeaver Thanks for all the info guys (or gals... whichever!). I'm home now so I'm going to give the PS core a spin. I've been trying out the DeSmuME core over the standalone primarily because it will auto launch into fullscreen, whereas with the standalone.... I had to configure it through RocketLauncher to get the same effect. I had previously made a VBS script, but it was ugly since you could see menus opening up while it was launching. I did see that someone here made an AHK (which I'm pretty sure is how RocketLauncher handles it) to get the seamless fullscreen boot up, so if I notice in issue with the core, I'll just switch back. I was also not a fan of the Reicast core... and now it just crashes after updating recently, so I'll be sticking with Demul for the forseeable future. And I agree, PPSSPP is a fantastic emulator, so I may switch back just because

[Zombeaver]

1 minute ago, CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT said:

because it will auto launch into fullscreen, whereas with the standalone...

There's a fix for that! I use it and it works great!

2 minutes ago, CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT said:

I had previously made a VBS script, but it was ugly since you could see menus opening up while it was launching.

Err... well maybe not then. That link is just a VBS script. You do see the emulator UI for a split second. It's really quick though.

[CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT]

36 minutes ago, Zombeaver said:

There's a fix for that! I use it and it works great!

Err... well maybe not then. That link is just a VBS script. You do see the emulator UI for a split second. It's really quick though.

No worries! RocketLauncher uses an AHK script, but I couldn't actually find the script it was running anywhere back when I first configured DeSmuME with it. Complete overkill, since I never used HyperSpin and the only emu I have ever setup in RocketLauncher was this one. That's why I was keen on the Retroarch core since it achieves that seamless transition (we get a little picky, don't we? ha ha!). I haven't messed with it much, but if the audio is horrendous, I'll just go back to the RocketLauncher setup since I still have it all ready to go, but thanks anyway!

Off topic, would either of you say that EMU Movies is worth springing for, if either of you use a premium account with the site? I have the free account, but I've been on the fence for months about getting a pay for account. I have a very large collection and I've been creating the snap videos myself with a combination of Nvidia Shadow Play (Sharing now I guess it's called), Movie Maker and Expressions Encoder 4. It's VERY time-consuming, so I've been tempted to spring for the account just to download pre-made game snaps. I have very limited skills with video editing, but it has worked thus far; just takes a long time to record, edit and add transition effects to them.

[Lordmonkus]

Personally I don't care about videos so it's an easy answer for me, i'm fine with just screen shots of the games as I go through them.

But my setup is for myself only and I pretty much know what every game is for the most part and if I don't know what a game is I don't mind loading it up. For people who have a lot of friends and family who come over and use it having those videos is nice, they show off really nicely.

[Zombeaver]

4 minutes ago, CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT said:

Off topic, would either of you say that EMU Movies is worth springing for, if either of you use a premium account with the site? I have the free account, but I've been on the fence for months about getting a pay for account. I have a very large collection and I've been creating the snap videos myself with a combination of Nvidia Shadow Play (Sharing now I guess it's called), Movie Maker and Expressions Encoder 4. It's VERY time-consuming, so I've been tempted to spring for the account just to download pre-made game snaps. I have very limited skills with video editing, but it has worked thus far; just takes a long time to record, edit and add transition effects to them.

Most people around here would say it's a worthwhile investment. I don't do premium personally though. There are enough alternatives out there, between youtube and other sites that I just don't find it necessary. I have videos for basically everything in my library, though keep in mind that's only about 3000 games across 31 platforms (because I curate everything)

Arcade Forever Youtube
Arcade Punks Youtube
MAME Video Snaps Youtube

[CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT]

@Zombeaver Awesome! Thanks for the links!

Edited November 28, 2016 by CTRL-ALT-DEFEAT

[Zombeaver]

No problem! There are other options too, you just have to dig around a bit. Emumovies is certainly the easiest/least-time-consuming option, in no small part because it's integrated directly into Launchbox, but the alternatives aren't too troublesome.