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

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Xarpho's Return said:
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.
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You can really easily hook a Steam Deck up to a TV and for a monitor it can use the same USB-C setup you'd use for a laptop. For lower end games I find it preferable in a lot of ways to using a full PC -- the sleep mode is killer, but not tying up my computer & some of the niceties that SteamOS has for "consolizing" PC games help. But they didn't make this experience very good, remember Steam Deck has a 16:10 1280x800 screen so when output to an external display the game needs to support adjusting on the fly to 16:9 and some just don't like doing that. Some don't even like it when you switch from built in controls to an external controller. It's the biggest failing of the platform IMO.

When it does work it's really slick though, I've spent more time than I care to admit playing Civ V (the one from 2010 that doesn't support controllers) using the Steam Deck touchpad mapped to a mouse and swapped over to my monitor / keyboard / mouse when I could be at my desk. The Linux version of that game is somehow less buggy than the later patched Windows version.
Xarpho's Return said:
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.
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3DS and DS before it, as well as Vita and PSP were/are great to use at home but much more usable when you weren't at home. It was very easy to pull one out on a bus, doing that with a full size Switch is silly and a Steam Deck or Switch 2 is even larger. Biggest issue with all of them was that you couldn't swap out to a TV, except PSPgo and I was lucky enough to get a couple docks before they got expensive; for Vita especially it would have been killer.
 
Pissmaster said:
But, sure, why not recompile every N64 game. They're smooth as silk and allow mods and free cameras.
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It's one of the main reasons why I'm so in favor of emulation, and recompiling is just the next step of that. Emulation/recomps decouple games from consoles, where you objectively get a better experience when it comes to framerates, resolution, convenience, etc. It takes these old games out of the closed-off ecosystem of consoles into an open PC platform as GOD intended all software to be.
 
I really wish Steam Deck docking was more seamless like the Switch. There’s always some problem with it, like you have to plug in the power supply after the dock or else it gets locked at 480p, or Batocera caps out at 30 FPS if you do 4K, or the sound still comes out of the Steam Deck speakers half the time, or Steam OS outputs games at 720p by default, or sleep mode just fucks everything up and you have to reboot… it’s always something. I wish I could go into BIOS and completely disable the screen and speakers when I’m not using them.
 
Two Dollars said:
I really wish Steam Deck docking was more seamless like the Switch. There’s always some problem with it, like you have to plug in the power supply after the dock or else it gets locked at 480p, or Batocera caps out at 30 FPS if you do 4K, or the sound still comes out of the Steam Deck speakers half the time, or Steam OS outputs games at 720p by default, or sleep mode just fucks everything up and you have to reboot… it’s always something. I wish I could go into BIOS and completely disable the screen and speakers when I’m not using them.
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Have you tried a different dock? Mine doesn't do any of that.
 
Two Dollars said:
I really wish Steam Deck docking was more seamless like the Switch. There’s always some problem with it, like you have to plug in the power supply after the dock or else it gets locked at 480p, or Batocera caps out at 30 FPS if you do 4K, or the sound still comes out of the Steam Deck speakers half the time, or Steam OS outputs games at 720p by default, or sleep mode just fucks everything up and you have to reboot… it’s always something. I wish I could go into BIOS and completely disable the screen and speakers when I’m not using them.
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My brother, have you ever heard the good word of our lord and saviour, the almighty Wii U? You can switch from docked to handheld mode without even getting off the couch.
 
Samuel Fuller said:
I hate Emulation Station for the rigid way it demands your ROMs be organized.

It makes it annoying when using other emulators.
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Just use symlinks, problem solved.
Baraka Obama said:
Have you tried a different dock? Mine doesn't do any of that.
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Yes, multiple. Like I said, it’s always something. Maybe you’re supposed to buy the $80 official dock if you want something that Just Werks™️, but all the reviews for third party docks say otherwise.
 
Samuel Fuller said:
I hate Emulation Station for the rigid way it demands your ROMs be organized.

It makes it annoying when using other emulators.
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ES is frustrating especially ES-DE because there's a lot of things I like about it, but a ton of really frustrating jank too. First being I hate how heavily tied it is to Retroarch, and that it defaults to RA and if you want to use non-RA emulators you have to go through a setting menu to choose that. Also the autistic way it wants ROM folders and emulator folders to be named or organized, but once you know what it's asking for, it's not that bad. My main gripe with it is that it's clearly designed for HTPCs, or as like a Steam Big Picture application for ROMs and retro games. Using a controller to navigate the menu when wanting to play a game is fine, but I feel like so much time was wasted when I organized my shit for ES-DE because I could only navigate through fucking settings menus with a controller and not my mouse, which is disabled in ES-DE. Also another annoying niggling is how it insists on some games being named when it's fetching metadata. Like for example, the Sakura Wars games, which I've been calling them that for 20 years, it insists they be called "Sakura Taisen" even though I'm using an English version of ES-DE. So EmulationStation is great, but it also really sucks in a lot of ways that make me not want to use it.
 
Großmann said:
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.
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This point gave me a thought. I had NES games when I was a kid, but it was already old by that point (early-mid 90s). I first emulated NES games when I was in my early teens. I wonder if the reason I never had this desire to play with an original controller is because I was still in my formative years when I started getting into emulation? I've probably played Mario 3 on a keyboard or other controller far, far more than an actual NES one.

Großmann said:
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
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How are you fucking up emulation this hard? I'm going to sound like the people in your second point but we have No-Intro and Redump databases. This is literally what they are for. Just take the hash of your ROM and compare it to the ones in the database and if they match you're good to go.
 
Friendly Primarina said:
This point gave me a thought. I had NES games when I was a kid, but it was already old by that point (early-mid 90s). I first emulated NES games when I was in my early teens. I wonder if the reason I never had this desire to play with an original controller is because I was still in my formative years when I started getting into emulation? I've probably played Mario 3 on a keyboard or other controller far, far more than an actual NES one.
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I had much the same experience between my childhood in the mid-90s with an NES and early emulation; my real NES even "broke" (probably something with the ZIF connector) and I played NESticle with a keyboard to play Dragon Warrior 1-4, FF, Kirby, Startropic, Mega Man 1-6, etc.

Later in my life I tried playing NES on PSP and PC emulators with a 360 controller and I just found it annoying to use A/X or X/square at a sharp angle.

After I bought back into Game Boys I came to really prefer to play games intended for use with two button controls with a two button controller, for NES at first I used a dogbone AV Famicom controller (it has a slight angle to A/B matching the Game Boy) but ever since it came out the Switch Online Famicom Joycon has been a strong preference, I sync it to a bluetooth adapter for use on a real NES. The button position is identical to a real NES controller but the rounded corners are much more comfortable, and it doesn't have a tiny 3 foot hardwired cord like a standard Famicom controller.

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Friendly Primarina said:
How are you fucking up emulation this hard? I'm going to sound like the people in your second point but we have No-Intro and Redump databases. This is literally what they are for. Just take the hash of your ROM and compare it to the ones in the database and if they match you're good to go.
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I’ve been using emulation since the mid 00s. I know how to do it. I’m describing the average experience of a newfag trying to figure out things that aren’t as obvious as people who have done it for years think. Does a newfag even know what a redump is? Would they find No-Intro with an internet search? No and no.
 
Großmann said:
I’ve been using emulation since the mid 00s. I know how to do it. I’m describing the average experience of a newfag trying to figure out things that aren’t as obvious as people who have done it for years think. Does a newfag even know what a redump is? Would they find No-Intro with an internet search? No and no.
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Well, fuck newfags I guess. They can use NSO.
 
Großmann said:
I’m describing the average experience of a newfag trying to figure out things that aren’t as obvious as people who have done it for years think.
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Then you should have made this clear, since nothing in your original post suggested this:
Großmann said:
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.
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Anyway, MAME (mostly) having Sega Model 2 support is mostly old news by now, but has anyone actually tried it? I sat down recently and tried a bunch of Model 2 games. I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but it really was just such an amazing leap forward for the time.

The intro to Virtua Fighter 2 may look blocky, but I always thought the old guy doing drunken boxing while other characters show off their moves was rad. I was never into fighting games but I always had a soft spot for that attract mode. House of the Dead looks fucking amazing for 1997. Protip: If you're wondering why there are no dead scientists or zombies being blown apart in the attract mode, you are using the parent of the set (hotd). To get the attract you remember you need the clone hotdo.
 
Friendly Primarina said:
Anyway, MAME (mostly) having Sega Model 2 support is mostly old news by now, but has anyone actually tried it?
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No but incidentally Planet Harriers has been emulated for a couple months now and it's just like I always dreamed. With Space Harrier and Night Striker being on Switch already it gives me an excuse to dust off the ol' PC.
 
Two Dollars said:
I really wish Steam Deck docking was more seamless like the Switch. There’s always some problem with it, like you have to plug in the power supply after the dock or else it gets locked at 480p, or Batocera caps out at 30 FPS if you do 4K, or the sound still comes out of the Steam Deck speakers half the time, or Steam OS outputs games at 720p by default, or sleep mode just fucks everything up and you have to reboot… it’s always something. I wish I could go into BIOS and completely disable the screen and speakers when I’m not using them.
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Are you using a third party dock?

I have a Jsaux dock, and some Steam Deck update started fucking with it. If I leave the dock plugged in and then switch between gaming mode and desktop mode, the Steam Deck screen sometimes blanks out and starts flickering. I have to unplug the dock, switch modes, then reconnect to avoid the problem.
 
What's a good emulator for the Switch, 3DS, DS, or the GBA? I haven't played the Mario and Luigi games since I was a kid, and the Brothership game from the end of 2024 has piqued my interest. I'd grab it for my physical Switch, but after that abysmal Partner Showcase and the fact I haven't played with said Switch in years, I have no interest in supporting Nintendo.
 
Edward Caesar Sallow said:
What's a good emulator for the Switch, 3DS, DS, or the GBA? I haven't played the Mario and Luigi games since I was a kid, and the Brothership game from the end of 2024 has piqued my interest. I'd grab it for my physical Switch, but after that abysmal Partner Showcase and the fact I haven't played with said Switch in years, I have no interest in supporting Nintendo.
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Mgba for GBA, MelonDS for DS, Azahar for 3DS as long as you have a spare 3DS lying around.... and play fork roullete with more recent switch 1 games, though ethier yuzu fork will work if you're willing to deal with the still stunted emulation progress that it has had since the yuzu lolsuit
 
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