Community The Emulation Thread - When That PC Port Just Ain't Happening

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Spent an hour or two today fucking around with RetroArch, and I just can’t make it play nice with my controllers.

Got an SN80 Pro and M30 controller that I want to use for their respective systems, but RetroArch just fucks around with inputs and I can’t work out which buttons need to be where. Add on that a terrible UI and I uninstalled it.

Back to individual emulators it is. I try RetroArch every now and then, and it just keeps getting worse in new ways.
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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You are able to save core overrides for main settings like vsync or which device is p1, p2, etc., then save core and/or game remaps etc. for button assignments. Although if you tend to connect/disconnect your controllers it may (I can't say for sure, I just had that issue with my DS4 which is used as an Xbox controller with DS4Windows but at times is recognized as a duplicate DS4 as well after apps like Windows Store refresh the controller or if I get a power cut or if my controller disconnects while playing or similar, and that changes the order of the device id as I have more connected) make it so each is assigned differently every time, but that's easy to check and the remap should stay intact still so once you switch the device to the right one for the core/game you play it should work as before. I use a Fighting Commander for FBNeo, Saturn, Genesis emulation and the DS4 for GBC, SNES, PS1, N64, Dreamcast, PSP, etc. (as well as specific games in the other cores that do use analog controls like racing and super scaler games, or Virtual On for Saturn for the Twin Stick, I also set the Fighting Commander for some Dreamcast fighting games etc.) and have no major issues. You learn it and get used to it.

Basically you go to input settings in RA and set your devices there and that's what all cores should use if it's not changed (maybe quit to ensure it applied and saved it before changing things again, I also usually disable all player devices past 2 and change it to max 2 players, just in case). Then you load a game of the core you want a different controller for, open the quick menu, go back to the main RA settings, change the input devices to what you want for that core if it's different to your default, go back to the quick menu, overrides, save core override (then again maybe quit to ensure it's all saved and applied). Then upon starting RA the devices should be set to the default yet upon loading any game with that core, it should be using the override's set devices. Similarly you can do a game override. Then in the quick menu you go to the control options to actually assign buttons, ie, my Fighting Commander's R1 and R2 are placed where the Saturn Z and C buttons are so I set those there etc., again you can save different remaps for the whole core, or per game (and also change the device it emulates, like standard controller, wheel, twin stick or whatever that console had available and the core supports).
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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I did all you described, but it kept switching buttons around. A went to B, B went to A. I’d try to fix it by switching the mappings and the behaviour went even more strange.

There is a far more simple way of doing controls. Show a picture of the controller for the system in question, and one by one highlight a button and ask the user to press a button on their controller that corresponds with the one on screen.

Then have a different default for RetroArch menus.

This is not rocket science, but RetroArch seem adamant that their UI be utterly shit, so for them it probably is.
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
Spent an hour or two today fucking around with RetroArch, and I just can’t make it play nice with my controllers.
Which RetroArch version did you use? Standalone, or Steam ?

My advice is to use the Steam version since Steam Input will do the heavy lifting, as long as your SN30 is set to XInput mode.

If you're using the standalone version, adding the executable as a Steam shortcut will achieve the same result.

If you're still having issues with button mappings, make sure you're not modifying the default autoconfig for your controller (it should be under /autoconfig/xinput directory). Either reset the Steam installation or overwrite the directory from the zip file.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Which RetroArch version did you use? Standalone, or Steam ?

My advice is to use the Steam version since Steam Input will do the heavy lifting, as long as your SN30 is set to XInput mode.

If you're using the standalone version, adding the executable as a Steam shortcut will achieve the same result.

If you're still having issues with button mappings, make sure you're not modifying the default autoconfig for your controller (it should be under /autoconfig/xinput directory). Either reset the Steam installation or overwrite the directory from the zip file.
That won’t make a difference for me as I plan to launch the games through Playnite, so SteamInput won’t be used.

Having much better results using individual emulators anyway.
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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I did all you described, but it kept switching buttons around. A went to B, B went to A. I’d try to fix it by switching the mappings and the behaviour went even more strange.

There is a far more simple way of doing controls. Show a picture of the controller for the system in question, and one by one highlight a button and ask the user to press a button on their controller that corresponds with the one on screen.
So was the problem your configuration wouldn't save and change or that the button assignment menu isn't automated/fancy like so? Those are separate issues (and I imagine you'd ditch RA even if it had such a menu if it still changed every time). I don't see why it wouldn't save, I guess it's possible under conditions.

Just in case, be aware when SN30 is in XInput mode, even though it's labeled B, A, Y, X like a SNES pad, the buttons function as A, B, X, Y like a normal Xbox controller in layout, so if you want to have the SNES layout in RA you have to map B from the list to A, A to B and so on (while the menu will still work with the normal A B X Y layout as the main unchanged RA settings are). DInput mode is the opposite for SN30 so they're both labeled and behave as the SNES layout so in RA Nintendo cores you'll set A as A as it appears etc. and menus if not changed in main settings will work the same (confirm with Xbox B layout, labeled A). You'll have to check M30 instructions to see what the buttons labelled Z and C etc. are in either mode (like I said for my FC it's R1, R2 as only used in XInput). Changing between DInput and XInput on the fly probably changes the device ids as discussed earlier so you stick with one mode and alter it with remaps.
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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So was the problem your configuration wouldn't save and change or that the button assignment menu isn't automated/fancy like so? Those are separate issues (and I imagine you'd ditch RA even if it had such a menu if it still changed every time). I don't see why it wouldn't save, I guess it's possible under conditions.

Just in case, be aware when SN30 is in XInput mode, even though it's labeled B, A, Y, X like a SNES pad, the buttons function as A, B, X, Y like a normal Xbox controller in layout, so if you want to have the SNES layout in RA you have to map B from the list to A, A to B and so on (while the menu will still work with the normal A B X Y layout as the main unchanged RA settings are). DInput mode is the opposite for SN30 so they're both labeled and behave as the SNES layout so in RA Nintendo cores you'll set A as A as it appears etc. and menus if not changed in main settings will work the same (confirm with Xbox B layout, labeled A). You'll have to check M30 instructions to see what the buttons labelled Z and C etc. are in either mode (like I said for my FC it's R1, R2 as only used in XInput). Changing between DInput and XInput on the fly probably changes the device ids as discussed earlier so you stick with one mode and alter it with remaps.
Thank you for your detailed reply.

Sadly, the issue is RetroArch. It wasn’t saving bindings and then moving buttons around. Not even just A to B or B to A. It switched LT to RT, up was down. And it seemed to be random. I’d change the layout and launch a game and it’d go insane and not how I configured it.

I thought it might be my PC or the controllers, but I’ve used controller testing software and run other games and emulators and everything but RetroArch works and is infinitely more simple to configure.

So I’ve just spent 3 hours setting up emulators for all my systems including hot keys with reWASD and everything works perfectly. Adding it to Playnite now and we’ll see how that goes.

Meanwhile I spent the best part of 6-7 hours wrestling with RetroArch and almost giving up.

It’s not for me.
 
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ExistentialThought

Coffee Lover ♥☕
Feb 29, 2020
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I have been out of emulation for so long, not even sure what folks use anymore.

Waiting on my Steam Deck to arrive, but otherwise I have been looking into various games

So far short list:
Aconcagua (Ps1)
London Seirei Tanteidan (Ps1)
King's Field (Ps1)
Xenosaga 1-3 (PS2)
Ace Combat (Ps1)

How do the cool kids move files from Windows to Linux these days, back in my day I used PuTTY, but is Warpinator easier?
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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I have been out of emulation for so long, not even sure what folks use anymore.

Waiting on my Steam Deck to arrive, but otherwise I have been looking into various games

So far short list:
Aconcagua (Ps1)
London Seirei Tanteidan (Ps1)
King's Field (Ps1)
Xenosaga 1-3 (PS2)
Ace Combat (Ps1)

How do the cool kids move files from Windows to Linux these days, back in my day I used PuTTY, but is Warpinator easier?
I think people use Warpinator. I’m going to use SyncThing.
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
How do the cool kids move files from Windows to Linux these days, back in my day I used PuTTY
I think you meant rsync (or scp?) because Putty is just the terminal application. :flare_think:

I run a Samba server on my NAS (running Ubuntu Server) to create network shares for all of my media. I used rsync too, to make regular backups of my Steam userdata folder and my C:\Users\ folder.

Warpinator looks interesting though. I wonder what protocol it uses (won't be surprised if it's just a wrapper for rsync though).
 
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ExistentialThought

Coffee Lover ♥☕
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I think you meant rsync (or scp?) because Putty is just the terminal application. :flare_think:

I run a Samba server on my NAS (running Ubuntu Server) to create network shares for all of my media. I used rsync too, to make regular backups of my Steam userdata folder and my C:\Users\ folder.

Warpinator looks interesting though. I wonder what protocol it uses (won't be surprised if it's just a wrapper for rsync though).
I think I had been using PuTTY SCP or pscp. It has been ages since I have used it and I only used out of familiarity at the time. Not fully sure. if it was the right tool then and especially now haha.
 
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Mivey

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Sep 20, 2018
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Warpinator or any of the SFTP clients with a basic SFTP server on Windows side.
Warpinator or Winpinator (the Windows port) is really great. Feels far better simpler than bothering with setting up an SSH or SFTP connection in a local network. It might not be quite as fast, but it's fast enough on my home network that I can send even very large files in at most 10 minutes, and anything small near instantly.

I have it set up to put its file into the Downloads folder, though. Feels easier than to bother with another new folder.
 

Cacher

Romantic Storm
Jun 3, 2020
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The state of buying used games from Japan in 2022.



The halcyon days of free shipping are long gone by now. :flare_bonfire:
Two years ago before covid, I found these two games in the bargain bin, worth only 100 yen (less than 1 USD) each
Cacher looks like HDMI input is planned, so I'll definitely keep an eye on it. :flaregalaxycat:


This scaler is going to cost as much as a 3090Ti lmao. :flare_lmao:

And this is going to be a better investment than a 3090 Ti. :blobevening:
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
$2.5k is the cost of LG C1 OLED 55" before discount lmao. I'd say go with the free TV for the absolute chad move.

But with still inferior image quality regardless. :flare_smirk:
 
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low-G

old school cool
Nov 1, 2018
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Finally tried one of the PCSX2 nightly builds recently. Man they really have nailed the bad latency issues. Now I can even play Minna No Golf series no problem! Still basically stuck at native res, unless I'm doing something wrong, in MNG4 though!
 

MegaApple

Just another Video Game Enthusiast
Sep 20, 2018
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Anyone tried the Android PS2 emulator AetherSX2?
How does it stands now?
 

FunnyJay

Powered by the Cloud
Apr 6, 2019
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Sweden
Does anyone know the status of X360 emulation? Are games playable yet?
Since PS3 emulation seems to be in a good place right now, you would think emulation of another console from the same generation (which is more Windows-like) should be feasible.
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
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Does anyone know the status of X360 emulation? Are games playable yet?
Since PS3 emulation seems to be in a good place right now, you would think emulation of another console from the same generation (which is more Windows-like) should be feasible.
Xenia has actually made some decent strides in the last year or so. but is still way behind PS3.
 
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Ibuki

MetaMember
Dec 9, 2018
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Am I crazy for hoping that Xenoblade 3 will be playable on either of the emulators? I would like to get rid of my Switch, and also play the game with respectable visuals/performance. The answer is probably that I should keep my Switch and play it on there, but there is not much left to convince me to keep it at this point.

I heard that Xenoblade 2 doesn't run well on either emulator, but Xenoblade Definitive actually does, so I'm not sure if there is any hope.
 
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QFNS

Plays too many card games
Nov 18, 2018
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Am I crazy for hoping that Xenoblade 3 will be playable on either of the emulators? I would like to get rid of my Switch, and also play the game with respectable visuals/performance. The answer is probably that I should keep my Switch and play it on there, but there is not much left to convince me to keep it at this point.

I heard that Xenoblade 2 doesn't run well on either emulator, but Xenoblade Definitive actually does, so I'm not sure if there is any hope.
Well, consider that the base of Xenoblade Definitive is a game that was made for the Wii, while Xenoblade 2 was made specifically for the Switch. I wouldn't hold out too much hope sadly.
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
The answer is probably that I should keep my Switch and play it on there, but there is not much left to convince me to keep it at this point.
I'd say if you have one of the hackable units, it's still worth keeping since you can make your own ROM dumps with it. Although, since the advent of Steam Deck, it's just one helluva expensive cartridge ripper these days. :flare_lmao:

FWIW, I have XC2 on Yuzu, and it's playable enough if you can stomach 30fps. At the very least, you can disable the dynamic resolution scaling via mod.
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Hmm, thinking about upgrading my CPU to get better perfs on Yuzu / Ryujinx.

For context I can stomach 30fps but without drops obviously, and this is clearly not the case on Xenoblade 1 for me right now (Ryujinx because Yuzu has shit IQ with this game). It's basically 30 with regular drops to 23-25, just often and quick enough to be urgh.

But on the other hand there is no guarantee I get better perfs, we are talking emulators for a recent system after all. So yeah. Don't really want to splurge several hundreds to see no changes. It's not like I don't want to upgrade for other reasons, but it would certainly spoils the fun.

Ryzen 2600x / Nvidia 2060 Super, tempted to go Ryzen 5800x (but it's not cheap).
 

skLaFarebear

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Dec 4, 2019
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Hmm, thinking about upgrading my CPU to get better perfs on Yuzu / Ryujinx.

For context I can stomach 30fps but without drops obviously, and this is clearly not the case on Xenoblade 1 for me right now (Ryujinx because Yuzu has shit IQ with this game). It's basically 30 with regular drops to 23-25, just often and quick enough to be urgh.

But on the other hand there is no guarantee I get better perfs, we are talking emulators for a recent system after all. So yeah. Don't really want to splurge several hundreds to see no changes. It's not like I don't want to upgrade for other reasons, but it would certainly spoils the fun.

Ryzen 2600x / Nvidia 2060 Super, tempted to go Ryzen 5800x (but it's not cheap).
You're better off honestly waiting for Yuzu/Ryu perf improvements instead, especially for the Xeno games which are the most notorious to emulate. I know Yuzu's beta testing some graphic engine overhaul to their emulation that theoretically should make the Xeno games and other more performance intensive games run better, so hopefully we're not waiting too long.
 
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skLaFarebear

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Dec 4, 2019
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speak of the devil


Just in time for Xenoblade 3 👀

Also just as an fyi to anyone on the deck, I highly recommend using the appimage over the flatpak, idk why but the latest update to the flatpak has been crashing my yuzu anytime I boot up, even after reinstalling, clearing shader cache, etc. Opted for the appimage on their site instead and it's been working flawless despite being the same version. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did with the flatpak, idk.
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Fuck. That combo of translations !
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
I don't know why Tom keep deleting their tweet. I'll edit my posts to point to the RHDN links, but that is not how you're supposed to use Twitter. :flare_lmao:
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
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I don't know why Tom keep deleting their tweet. I'll edit my posts to point to the RHDN links, but that is not how you're supposed to use Twitter. :flare_lmao:
I think he's trying to escape harassment from the other forum due to that term he used in his previous Goemon translation.
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Each time I read his name I wonder, is this the same Tom who worked in localization ? For XSEED, IIRC ? W... Wyrdward ?