Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

why not automatically download emulators?


reaper71129

Recommended Posts

i recently purchased retrox for android.  i noticed it automatically downloads and sets up the emulators for you. Is there a technical reason or legal reason that launch-box doesn't do that... i prefer launch-box (if launch-box had an android version i would have gotten that). but retrox is easier to setup... just asking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose it depends where it is getting it from, if it is just initiating a download from the play store under your account, it's probably OK. I think Jason wanted to actually include it with Launchbox but that was a no no, I guess he could technically initiate the download as well, as he already links to the download page when you add Retroarch as a emulator, but i'm not sure how the Retroarch devs would take that to be honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The legal action part of it is kind of strange and rings untrue to me. Just from doing a little reading it seems like if you have an infringement case copyright lawyers work on a contingent basis as in you don't pay upfront they get paid when they win why that wouldn't apply here I have no clue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is true. Maybe the situation is too murky for lawyers to take the case and risk not getting paid - dunno. Regardless, Retroarch has saved me so much time and energy. Wish they'd just charge for it. I know that's heresy but I think $20-25 is completely fair for something so useful. Best we can do is donate or support their Patreon. Which I just did! http://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=donate

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Setting it up "automatically correctly" on a PC is a very different thing because there are so many variables in the equation. Retroarchs default settings is pretty good out of the box but the end user still has to decide which core to use.

There will be some work done in the near future to help the end user set their cores in Launchbox, the current default cores are outdated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that is true... and i think launch is awesome for allowing the amount of customization that it does..  but i know several people that after seeing my setup are really impressed but don't have the technical skills needed to learn or set it up themselves... most people (i am assuming) use the cores that are recommended on the forums... so i think just picking one that yall favor would be the best and would work for most of the people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, reaper71129 said:

that is true... and i think launch is awesome for allowing the amount of customization that it does..  but i know several people that after seeing my setup are really impressed but don't have the technical skills needed to learn or set it up themselves... most people (i am assuming) use the cores that are recommended on the forums... so i think just picking one that yall favor would be the best and would work for most of the people.

The problem there though is peoples PC specs vary. I would recommend higan for snes for example, but that needs a fairly beefy CPU to run smoothly. Where as if someone has weaker specs I may suggest the snes9x core. Unfortunately there is no "one size fits all" approach to recommending cores.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really isn't that difficult to do though and we have tons of video guides and even my written guide to walk people through the whole setup process:

I am a huge fan of teaching people and helping them when they get stuck over just making it "all done with a click of a button" when it comes to these sort of "gray area" things. Once the Retroarch default command line and core update for Launchbox gets done it should help a bit. In the mean time though we do have a thread with recommendations.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i agree... i read the forums and learned alot and have used what was recommended. but i know some people who have bought those hard drives off ebay, or pre-configured retro pies due to the easiness factor... i was just thinking it might help sales if all the older systems could be done almost automatically...  at least up to a certain level... say 8-16bit generations... most pc's can run those without any issues.

Edited by reaper71129
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fairly certain the Retroarch guys would have a fit if you we included a direct "download" button beyond the link to their site and beyond that there is nothing we can do. On the PC side of things people have to set it up themselves which as I have said is not hard and we have plenty of video and written guides to help with it, plus we are always here on the forums and discord to help out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

don't get me wrong... you guys are wonderful and a great resource... and the program is great. i love it. but i'll be honest.. i'm a nerd.. my passion for games and computers drives me to learn this stuff... some  people are lazy and others are .... lets say.... not too bright ... and would rather just buy a pre-built system or hard drive...  i know that you can only do what you can do...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...