Retro games and emulation - Discuss retro shit in case you're stuck in the past or a hipster

[Tom Nook's Gloryhole]

The Switch's biggest issue is that it's so Japan focussed that the extreme portability aspect can only really work in a high trust society. If you're Akishi (I'm just making up names here because I have no fucking clue how the naming scheme works) and have a 20 minute train ride to your workplace in Toyko then sure, you can fuck about in BOTW and maybe find a Korok seed or two. If you're Dave from Eastbourne with a 45 minute commute, you can't play it on the train because some brown person will rob you for it.

It's great if you're physically at a place that isn't your house for a few hours because you can stick a long USB C charger in and play a few rounds of Mario Kart in a hotel or on your lunch break at work, but it's a weird console because it assumes that you're able to immerse yourself and also not immerse yourself in it. It doesn't even have a fucking alarm clock on it so it can go "Hey, it's been nearly 20 minutes, you'll be at your stop soon", so you're only ever half immersed in anything you play.

 

[Stasi]

The Switch's biggest issue

My issue with it is the library.

I got mine when it released and had a lot of fun with it when it came out but it eventually went into a cupboard to gather dust.

Since its the OG version its easy to exploit and recently I decided to pick it back up and load up some pirated games on it. I was thinking hey its been a few years, there must have been dozens of bangers that came out on the system since I last played it, I'm going to have so much fun. But going through the library its 95% multi-platform games that play better on other systems or re-releases/remasters of older titles.

You could probably count the worthwhile switch releases from the last few years on one hand and still have two or three fingers left over to pick your nose with.

 

[EmpGulcasa]

I think the Switch has plenty of games worth playing. TOTK, 13 Sentinels, Unicorn Overlord, Fire Emblem Engage, all of the Xenoblade games..

Granted if you're not into JRPGs I could see the argument but all of those games were fantastic and worth the effort of emulating the system at the very least.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

View attachment 8557270
I just thought this was incredibly funny, and is relatively pertinent to the thread.
The Rayman 30th anniversary collection is likely using a frontend for Retroarch, using some basically unencrypted roms/ISOs. On the PC release, you can even swap the .bin of the PS1 release with the original to restore the original OST versus the new one. This also explains why there's no saturn support, as saturn cores in Retroarch suck noodle.

edit: Right idea, wrong frontend. It's Syrup.

IT ACTUALLY GETS WORSE:

Hello. This is a 30-second video taken from the Switch's capture button.

The bug is: The Jaguar and MS-DOS versions of Rayman literally do not save at all. Whenever you touch a save point in those versions, it says "game saved", however it does not actually write anything to memory at all. All it does is set the current emulator savestate to the moment you touched the save point. This is a significant bug because, if you ever press "Reset Game", then you can say goodbye to all of your progress in an instant. Nothing was ever saved, so you are met with an empty file select menu. (and the emulator savestate gets set to the blank file select menu for good measure)

I send this video to Ubisoft customer support and received this response:

Hello,

Thank you for reaching us back.

We appreciate that you have sent us video showing the issue where when you reset the game, your progression got deleted within the process. We apologize for the inconvenience that was caused.

Within this issue, we would like to inform you that, we have now stopped post-launch support on this game, as our development team has moved on to other projects. We have no further updates planned for this title, so this issue will most likely remain in the game.

We understand that this is not the outcome that you are looking for. We hope you will still be able to enjoy your time playing and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Since there is no further action, we are going to close this ticket. Kindly note if you have encountered any other difficulties in the future with a different issue, please don't hesitate to contact us - by re-opening this ticket or open a new ticket.

Best regards, Ubisoft Support

 

[Pissmaster]

Its honestly not bad tbh, Project64 was the best since the early 2000s. People just decompiled cause they wanted to decompile shit, N64 and psx was the first gen of games with pc compatibility and simultaneous developments. So some people are autistic enough to want Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 on pc. People even decompiled Super Mario World I think, thats how they were able to build the widescreen fix for it. Problem with Project64 is its a pain in the ass to set up with plugins n shit.

I think the whole reason Mario and Zelda 64 were decompiled in the first place was because of their longstanding, extraordinarily autistic speedrunning communities that found the craziest ways to blast through those games. I'm sure everyone here knows about Pannenkoek, the crazy person who has been on a quest, now thirteen years running, to complete Super Mario 64 by any means necessary without pressing the A button. The guy could probably recite Super Mario 64's source code by heart.

But, sure, why not recompile every N64 game. They're smooth as silk and allow mods and free cameras.

Kindly note

Jeet language

 

[funwithshemales69]

I think the whole reason Mario and Zelda 64 were decompiled in the first place was because of their longstanding, extraordinarily autistic speedrunning communities that found the craziest ways to blast through those games. I'm sure everyone here knows about Pannenkoek, the crazy person who has been on a quest, now thirteen years running, to complete Super Mario 64 by any means necessary without pressing the A button. The guy could probably recite Super Mario 64's source code by heart.

But, sure, why not recompile every N64 game. They're smooth as silk and allow mods and free cameras.


Jeet language

Glad to see you're back

 

[Celebrate Nite]

Within this issue, we would like to inform you that, we have now stopped post-launch support on this game, as our development team has moved on to other projects. We have no further updates planned for this title, so this issue will most likely remain in the game.

FUCKING WHAT!?!?

"Oh yea, this collection of games regarding our VERY WELL KNOWN mascot character that we JUST RELEASED is riddled with bugs, oh well FUCK IT, we don't give a shit anymore!"

Holy fucking hell!

 

[Pissmaster]

FUCKING WHAT!?!?

"Oh yea, this collection of games regarding our VERY WELL KNOWN mascot character that we JUST RELEASED is riddled with bugs, oh well FUCK IT, we don't give a shit anymore!"

Holy fucking hell!

>stock is down 93.88% from where it was 5 years ago

Gee, I wonder why

 

[Baraka Obama]

the extreme portability aspect can only really work in a high trust society.

I don't get why you pigeonhole portability into "must be out of the house."

I move my switch between two TVs docks, a dock on my desk/monitor setup, play it on my kitchen counter, on a bedroom floor while minding my sleeping kids, in my backyard at night in front of my fire pit. The extreme flexibility can't be beat.

 

[Calandrino]

I don't get why you pigeonhole portability into "must be out of the house."

I move my switch between two TVs docks, a dock on my desk/monitor setup, play it on my kitchen counter, on a bedroom floor while minding my sleeping kids, in my backyard at night in front of my fire pit. The extreme flexibility can't be beat.

Plus how else am I going to use the touch screen?

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I want to play original Game Boy games on my Android phone. I just got 8bitdo M30 (Genesis controller clone with Bluetooth) and installed My OldBoy. It seems to have everything I need. Should I bother looking for other emulators?

 

[Großmann]

2) Part of the nostalgia associated with childhood games is very tactile. Stuff like putting the big plastic cart in the console, flicking on the big chunky button, and the thing just powers on with your game ready to go. A lot of people find shrinking their entire childhood library down onto a micro SD card a little depressing. Turning on an SNES and seeing the little "Nintendo Presents" on screen instantly just hits different. Picking a game from a menu of a thousand games doesn't give a lot of people the same dopamine hit.

This is where I mostly fall. I don’t shy away from emulation, but it’s not my preferred method for some of the reasons described here and others.

• I cannot overstate how important the tactile experience of using original hardware is. It’s like going back in time to turn on an old console and see it do its thing with the game you want to play while holding the controller that was designed to function with that console. It’s something you simply can’t emulate on a PC, Steam Deck, or phone.
• Plug and play is another big reason why I will play original hardware before going emulation. Sure, once the emulator is set up, it’s simple to open the app and load the game, but setting up emulators can be frustrating, especially for those inexperienced with doing it. It also doesn’t help that many emulation communities are chock full of faggots with superiority complexes that can’t be bothered to provide some help for newfags. With original hardware, you simply plug it up and turn it on and it (mostly) just works.
• The only thing to worry about with playing on native hardware is sometimes dealing with a game not launching initially if the cart is old or the CD/DVD not reading properly. Meanwhile, if you want to do emulation, you are stuck having to hope you didn’t download some bullshit file with a virus that screws your PC up or, if you want to dump your own games, hoping you didn’t screw up your native hardware or games trying to do it.

The only times I will typically emulate is if it’s an old handheld game that I would rather play on a big screen (currently playing Shin Megami Tensei IV on emulation) or it’s a game I literally cannot get my hands on to play (like Fire Emblem 4, which is Japan-only and I don’t have a Super Famicom with the requisite fluency in Japanese to enjoy it).

 

[Baraka Obama]

like Fire Emblem 4, which is Japan-only and I don’t have a Super Famicom with the requisite fluency in Japanese to enjoy it

I could have played this on my sd2snes but somehow I thought getting repro carts for a few translated SNES RPGs was a good idea.

 

[Never Scored]

I don't get why you pigeonhole portability into "must be out of the house."

I move my switch between two TVs docks, a dock on my desk/monitor setup, play it on my kitchen counter, on a bedroom floor while minding my sleeping kids, in my backyard at night in front of my fire pit. The extreme flexibility can't be beat.

I guess it really depends on where you are in life. Like you, I like that I can play Switch downstairs on the big TV or take it upstairs and play it in my bed when one of the kids won't settle down at night or something. If you live by yourself in a smaller place, though, the portability probably doesn't matter as much around the house, I guess.

 

[Big Dick CEO]

Plug and play is another big reason why I will play original hardware before going emulation. Sure, once the emulator is set up, it’s simple to open the app and load the game, but setting up emulators can be frustrating, especially for those inexperienced with doing it. It also doesn’t help that many emulation communities are chock full of faggots with superiority complexes that can’t be bothered to provide some help for newfags. With original hardware, you simply plug it up and turn it on and it (mostly) just works.

If you haven't looked into something like retropie or batocera, I'd suggest giving them a shot. It won't get you the tactile experience you mentioned, but the system boots into emulation station, you pick the game, and you're running. Prior to installing retropie the first time my emulator experience was snes9x and Visual Boy Advance, and had never heard of retroarch. With retropie my SNES roms loaded perfectly and the most I had to do for other systems was find the right BIOS.

I know retropie works on x86-64, so you can try it in a VM and see if that feels alright. Install Ubuntu Server 24.04, then use these scripts to automate everything else: https://github.com/MizterB/RetroPie-Setup-Ubuntu. All you'll have to do is configure your controller and drop the roms in the right folders.

 

[Two Dollars]

If you haven't looked into something like retropie or batocera, I'd suggest giving them a shot. It won't get you the tactile experience you mentioned, but the system boots into emulation station, you pick the game, and you're running. Prior to installing retropie the first time my emulator experience was snes9x and Visual Boy Advance, and had never heard of retroarch. With retropie my SNES roms loaded perfectly and the most I had to do for other systems was find the right BIOS.

I know retropie works on x86-64, so you can try it in a VM and see if that feels alright. Install Ubuntu Server 24.04, then use these scripts to automate everything else: https://github.com/MizterB/RetroPie-Setup-Ubuntu. All you'll have to do is configure your controller and drop the roms in the right folders.

This, but RetroPie sucks, use Batocera instead. More user-friendly, more features, better performance (last I checked), a better interface, and wider compatibility. And you can boot it directly off a USB drive if you want. The only benefit I’ve seen with RetroPie is that it works better with CRTs.

 

[Big Dick CEO]

This, but RetroPie sucks, use Batocera instead. More user-friendly, more features, better performance (last I checked), a better interface, and wider compatibility. And you can boot it directly off a USB drive if you want. The only benefit I’ve seen with RetroPie is that it works better with CRTs.

I started with retropie, and at this point I know the quirks well enough to apply custom patches and the like. I'll completely concede on the interface being hideous though (emulation stations is fine). Since I manage my setup via ssh it's a non-issue, but sane people prefer a GUI interface.

 

[analrapist]

It seems to have everything I need. Should I bother looking for other emulators?

If it works, and you're happy, you win. To tie it in to more recent conversation, I hate EmulationStation and would rather just use straight RetroArch. I have been informed that this makes me insane.

 

[KissMyTaint]

I just got my AYN Thor this weekend and I'm currently downloading all the ROMs I wanna play. Do I keep it like the way I got it or is there a better way to handle this? This is my first time emulating on a device like this. I'm more familiar with PC emulating.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I don't get why you pigeonhole portability into "must be out of the house."

I move my switch between two TVs docks, a dock on my desk/monitor setup, play it on my kitchen counter, on a bedroom floor while minding my sleeping kids, in my backyard at night in front of my fire pit. The extreme flexibility can't be beat.

With the Nintendo Switch you don't really have the option of portability or not, that's a feature. But something like a Steam Deck is different. Unless you wanted to hook it up to the TV in the family room I guess that's one thing. The 3DS is definitely meant to be on the go, with its pedometer (and resulting tokens) and StreetPass and all that. I lost most of my 3DS data in an SD card accident but I think I only had three people with StreetPass and of those one of those was a stranger.

That being said I recently found my GBA SP and have been playing some of my old games. Haven't gotten a flash cart though. If I got a flash cart, I could merge my ROMs and saves onto it (though I would find it hard to get rid of quicksave/fast forward). Everdrive Mini, maybe? Or Pro?