Recommendation Cores/Emulators

[Headrush69]

Some great info on the changes recently to the Retroarch N64 cores:

Low Level RDP upscaling

Mupen64plus-next 2.1

So you have the option of using same GlideN64 as m64p, and all the extras of Retroarch. (If you like or use those)

[Nocta]

Thank you headrush for this info! So right now, using M64plus-next with the Vulkan ParaLLEl RDP renderer upscaled is kind of the best way to go if one has a decently powered computer, no?

[DjStickyBalls29]

OK, I started this project back in 2004. Due to the technology back then I put a hold on things. I started building this machine in 2019, and now with a 3080ti I think I'm ready. The problem is I had all my mame data on dvds and although I stored them right. everything is gone. If anyone could PLEASE help me.

[Joe35car]

On 3/2/2022 at 5:54 PM, DjStickyBalls29 said:

OK, I started this project back in 2004. Due to the technology back then I put a hold on things. I started building this machine in 2019, and now with a 3080ti I think I'm ready. The problem is I had all my mame data on dvds and although I stored them right. everything is gone. If anyone could PLEASE help me.

Just download them again. 

[k_rollo]

I love using LaunchBox with standalone emulators and glad it has manual configuration for them. Started with VisualBoyAdvance in 2005 so I'm good at tweaking them to my liking.

 

PC:

• N64 - Project64
• GameCube / Wii - Dolphin
• Dreamcast - Redream (paid)
• Atomiswave - Flycast (from flyinghead not libretro)
• PS1 - DuckStation
• PS2 - PCSX2
• PSP - PPSSPP

 

Android:

• GB / GBC / GBA - John GBAC (paid)
• NDS - DraStic (paid)
• NES / SNES - John NESS (paid)
• Sega MD / Mega CD - MD.emu (paid)

Edited July 2, 2022 by k_rollo

[Lordmonkus]

I guess it is time for me to update my recommendations, it's been several years.

I will still generally recommend using Retroarch when it has an available core for a system you want to emulate just for the simple objective fact it has lower input latency with adjusted frame delay and if you want to fiddle around with it, run ahead. It also has lower audio latency, you just need to adjust it as much as your CPU will allow. While not objectively a reason to use RA over stand alones shaders are a great subjective reason to use it, there are amazing looking CRT shaders available. Another great reason to use RA over most stand alone emulators is the ability to setup custom settings and controller mappings on a per game basis

Now for the list:

NES - Mesen is still king, RA or stand alone
SNES - Snes9x, Higan and BSnes are all very good and you won't go wrong with either. I still prefer Snes9x just for the performance alone, you can really push the frame delay in RA with it
Gameboy Advance - mGBA, RA or stand alone
Gameboy / Gameboy Colour - Sameboy, RA or stand alone
Gamecube / Wii - Dolphin standalone, the RA core still is no where near as good
Nintendo 64 - Mupen64plus, RA or stand alone. While PJ64 is a good emulator its nag screen garbage is awful
Sega Genesis / CD / Master System - RA with the GenesisGX core is the only real choice here, all other options have severe issues
Sega Saturn - Mednafen, RA or stand alone
Sega Dreamcast - Flycast or Redream, both are excellent
Sony Playstation - Mednafen and Duckstation are both great and equally good, use either the RA cores or stand alone options
Sony Playstation 2 - PCSX2 is the only choice here, use the stand alone over the RA core
Sony PSP - PPSSPP, use the stand alone over the RA core
Arcade - Mame stand alone, avoid the RA core, it messes with controls too much
NeoGeo - Mame stand alone or the FBN core in RA
Turbografx 16 / CD - RA or stand alone Mednafen
Atari 2600 - Stella RA or stand alone
Atari 7800 - A7800 which is a fork of Mame with everything else stripped out and adds extras
Atari 5200 - this is a tough one but I will recommend Kat5200 for its overall general ease of use without sacrificing quality
 

[k_rollo]

1 hour ago, Lordmonkus said:

While PJ64 is a good emulator its nag screen garbage is awful
 

Thanks to LaunchBox, I get to avoid the nagscreen altogether.

[Lordmonkus]

True but it shouldn't be there in the first place and the emulator is not better than Mupen64plus so why use PJ64 at all ? It's not faster, it's not better emulation, it brings nothing extra to the table.

[k_rollo]

1 hour ago, Lordmonkus said:

True but it shouldn't be there in the first place and the emulator is not better than Mupen64plus so why use PJ64 at all ? It's not faster, it's not better emulation, it brings nothing extra to the table.

I have M64Plus FZ on Android but moved my N64 emulation on PC. Last time I checked, M64Plus didn't have a GUI on PC (let me know if you know one) so it was cumbersome to configure.

I also can't stand RetroArch haha. Cores are almost always a step back from their upstreams. Been emulating for 17 years and never needed it, pretty sure I don't need it now. Everything just works with standalones, never had to fiddle with audio for anything. I use in-game control mappings when available, true to the original console. Troubleshooting RA, wrestling with cores and its weird quirks in general are something I can happily live without. And yes, I don't care about shaders (or bezels) but that's a subjective reason.

Edited June 27, 2022 by k_rollo

[Lordmonkus]

25 minutes ago, k_rollo said:

M64Plus didn't have a GUI on PC (let me know if you know one)

https://m64p.github.io

[Suhrvivor]

1 hour ago, k_rollo said:

I have M64Plus FZ on Android but moved my N64 emulation on PC. Last time I checked, M64Plus didn't have a GUI on PC (let me know if you know one) so it was cumbersome to configure.

I also can't stand RetroArch haha. Cores are almost always a step back from their upstreams. Been emulating for 17 years and never needed it, pretty sure I don't need it now. Everything just works with standalones, never had to fiddle with audio for anything. I use in-game control mappings when available, true to the original console. Troubleshooting RA, wrestling with cores and its weird quirks in general are something I can happily live without. And yes, I don't care about shaders (or bezels) but that's a subjective reason.

Trust me you need it for the run-ahead (lowers the input-lag, sometimes makes it lower than real hardware), that alone it's enough of a reason to ditch the standalones for good.

[k_rollo]

Again, I don't need it and I've been playing 8/16bit 2D platformers just fine for years. Never had a problem with that so no point fixing what isn't broken and possibly introducing new problems I never had in the first place haha.

I know what I'm doing with emulator configs so I don't really need to rely on automatic integration. By the way, using RA cores for PSP, PS2, GameCube, and Wii generally isn't a good choice because the cores are late to receive updates/fixes from their upstreams. Having LaunchBox on top of standalones makes it just like any other unified frontend experience.

Edited June 29, 2022 by k_rollo

[tom75000]

thx for all this informations

[MoistDreams]

On 6/28/2022 at 6:31 AM, Lordmonkus said:

I guess it is time for me to update my recommendations, it's been several years.

I will still generally recommend using Retroarch when it has an available core for a system you want to emulate just for the simple objective fact it has lower input latency with adjusted frame delay and if you want to fiddle around with it, run ahead. It also has lower audio latency, you just need to adjust it as much as your CPU will allow. While not objectively a reason to use RA over stand alones shaders are a great subjective reason to use it, there are amazing looking CRT shaders available. Another great reason to use RA over most stand alone emulators is the ability to setup custom settings and controller mappings on a per game basis

Now for the list:

NES - Mesen is still king, RA or stand alone
SNES - Snes9x, Higan and BSnes are all very good and you won't go wrong with either. I still prefer Snes9x just for the performance alone, you can really push the frame delay in RA with it
Gameboy Advance - mGBA, RA or stand alone
Gameboy / Gameboy Colour - Sameboy, RA or stand alone
Gamecube / Wii - Dolphin standalone, the RA core still is no where near as good
Nintendo 64 - Mupen64plus, RA or stand alone. While PJ64 is a good emulator its nag screen garbage is awful
Sega Genesis / CD / Master System - RA with the GenesisGX core is the only real choice here, all other options have severe issues
Sega Saturn - Mednafen, RA or stand alone
Sega Dreamcast - Flycast or Redream, both are excellent
Sony Playstation - Mednafen and Duckstation are both great and equally good, use either the RA cores or stand alone options
Sony Playstation 2 - PCSX2 is the only choice here, use the stand alone over the RA core
Sony PSP - PPSSPP, use the stand alone over the RA core
Arcade - Mame stand alone, avoid the RA core, it messes with controls too much
NeoGeo - Mame stand alone or the FBN core in RA
Turbografx 16 / CD - RA or stand alone Mednafen
Atari 2600 - Stella RA or stand alone
Atari 7800 - A7800 which is a fork of Mame with everything else stripped out and adds extras
Atari 5200 - this is a tough one but I will recommend Kat5200 for its overall general ease of use without sacrificing quality
 

So far I have been following the first post whoops.
Have any recommendations for Platforms that are not up in updated!

For reference I mainly use this on Xbox Dev Mode etc (I helped test Dolphin for Xbox btw )
For example I have yet to find anything else more reliable than PicoDrive for Sega 32X 

Edited April 6, 2023 by MoistDreams