Anyone ever use the netplay feature of an emulator?

[Action_Hank]

I remember one time getting Goldeneye 64 to work with a friend, but it was local WLAN. I see all these emulators with the feature, but I wonder... where do people wanting to play together meet up?

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

My friends and I managed to play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and some Fate/Stay Night Fighting game, using PPSSPP and Gameranger. And, that's about it really.

 

[Action_Hank]

My friends and I managed to play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and some Fate/Stay Night Fighting game, using PPSSPP and Gameranger. And, that's about it really.

That seems to sum it up. Hopefully someone chimes in with a big discord group or somesuch. Hey, maybe we could start one here? Not like we're lacking the skills, tools or interest.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I remember a few threads that talked about it like this one https://retrogametalk.com/threads/netplay.3906/#post-57602, but it's been a long time. I didn't remember what games I used to play it with but I remember seeing videos of people playing some games with netplay, like this one for example

 

[Action_Hank]

I remember a few threads that talked about it like this one https://retrogametalk.com/threads/netplay.3906/#post-57602

That's pretty close to what we did with the local hosting. I know emulators like Dolphin and PCSX2 have netplay with server support. Sometimes I see people playing games, but usually I don't like the game or it's password protected. I wish we had a place here where all of us badasses could link up in emulators we have repo games for.

 

[destinyduelist]

There are usually discord servers for these kinds of things where people look for other people to play online.
I'd say RPCS3 probably has the best support for this feature, it's as easy as making an account and just going online on the game you want to play. No port forwarding, no 2 hour set up, and the best part is they have a site listing all the games people are playing online live. Usually Tekken Tag 2 breaks the 100 mark and I've seen it go to 150-160 active players. It's honestly pretty impressive that over 100 people on this world would decide to get on an old PS3 fighting game almost daily. It's a pretty nice community.
The 3DS emulators also support a very similar feature where you make an account and just play. I used to play the crap out of Smash 3DS with my friends like that (I was too poor to afford a Switch at the time, but eventually got one and Ultimate) and we also played a lot of Mario Kart, some Tri Force Heroes and I personally went on a lot of people's towns in ACNL on the old Citra.
PPSSPP has been a nightmare to set up though, and I just gave up entirely. I know years ago literally maybe 10 years or more, I managed to get on PPSSPP MHFU online. No damn idea how I did it, considering nothing works now.
Oh and forgot to mention Slippy and Dolphin, those are extremely easy to set up too and I've played a lot of Brawl on there.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

I remember a few threads that talked about it like this one https://retrogametalk.com/threads/netplay.3906/#post-57602, but it's been a long time. I didn't remember what games I used to play it with but I remember seeing videos of people playing some games with netplay, like this one for example

This sounds like fun if it’s doable outside the miyoo mini, a device I have mixed feelings on.

 

[jon2]

AFAIK, Monster Hunter 1 (Japan), 1G and Dos have private servers by the MH Oldschool Forum people, and they support both hardware and PCSX2 methods

I'll try it later if I can, after I finish the village quests in Dos...

 

[nobitakun]

First time I played netplay was with ZSNES 1.36, because newer versions had removed it due to some incompatibility issues or other shit. I was playing Seiken Densetsu 2 (mandatory game to netplay imho lol) with a friend from Germany and it was hilarious. We were using dial-up connections and we got so many desyncs that I was seeing my partner acting awkward while she was looking at what I was doing and asked me: are you crazy? what are you doing? lol. Ohhh, good old times...

 

[AncientBehemoth]

I used too play on Kailera or whatever it's called. Played nes games on it. River city Ransom, Bomberman, Contra Force etc.

 

[cruelty_sponge]

You can play the two Resident Evil Outbreak games online using PCSX2 and the Japanese-to-English translations hosted on this site. (You have to use those, because the fan servers are built around those two versions.)

The wiki to set it all up is here: https://wiki.obsrv.org/index.php?n=Network.PCSX2

Oh, and you have to register an account on obsrv.org to play. The admins are kinda slow about verifying accounts, so don't expect this to all happen in a day.

It's a real pain in the ass to set up, but I promise if you follow the instructions to the letter, have patience (and your computer can smoothly run these games offline), it'll work online.

You can even play using an actual PS2, but I hear the set-up is even more painful.

 

[Symphougi]

Was using Dolphin netplay for Timesplitters Future Perfect co-op about a week ago. PPSSPP to have some matches on Dissidia 012. RPCS3 for Tag 2 and Scott Pilgrim co-op.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Nope.

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

Well it's hard but possible. A lot of emulators add online future to their emulators.
I remember a modded version of ocarina of time on YouTube which 4 player with four colors link play there.
In fact you can easily play some games with your friend in your own PC! Well not land of course.
I know a way to play and trade games on gba. You need VBA link,use it and someone become host with a code like this:127.xx.xxx
I use it to trade and evolve my pokemons. As emulator have quick save you can make some bugs. Like start game with 10 of best pokemon in first city!

 

[ArkenDev]

Mostly used it on Dolphin to play Mario Party with friends. Depending on your connection to each other it'll either work or be completely borked, I played once with friends from Chicago and my connection was decent enough where it would very rarely if at all slow down. I unfortunately cannot say the same about my attempts to play with friends from California, it was terrible and unplayable.

More recently, I had the opportunities to play a custom Mario Kart 7 mod called "CTGP-7" on the 3DS emulator Azahar (Citra's Offspring) with the same friends from California (+1 from Canada). This time however, despite the ping it works absolutely perfect. I'm unsure if CTGP-7 has dedicated servers or if it uses P2P connections with other players but everything ran completely smoothly unlike it did on Dolphin.

 

[_Lorenzo_]

I would love to, but it's too messy. From what I understood netplayers on emulators have to use the same bios, obviously the same regional versions of the games...

 

[ArkenDev]

From what I understood netplayers on emulators have to use the same bios

No, not really. With the exception of maybe the PS3 emulator where you'd obviously need the latest firmware update to be installed to be able to play online. That or the version of the emulator itself.

 

[Crashbandi]

Me and a good friend of mine used the Netplay feature on a GBA emulator to play Pokemon Unbound which to me is the Pinnacle of Pokemon gaming. He went from no interest in competitive Pokemon battling to whooping my ass after 2 months of coaching.

Post automatically merged: Apr 22, 2025

I'm trying to figure out how to get the Netplay working on PPSSPP so I can play PSP2:I with other people.

 

[Action_Hank]

I used too play on Kailera or whatever it's called. Played nes games on it. River city Ransom, Bomberman, Contra Force etc.

I hadn't heard of Kaillera before, that's good to know.

You can play the two Resident Evil Outbreak games online using PCSX2 and the Japanese-to-English translations hosted on this site. (You have to use those, because the fan servers are built around those two versions.)

I'm not a huge RE fan, but that's really cool to know people are still running dedicated servers for console games besides phantasy star. There's also a .hack game that you have to run through similar loopholes

I remember a modded version of ocarina of time on YouTube which 4 player with four colors link play there.

The Legend of Zelda: Multiplayer Ocarina of Time - Four Swords?! - Zelda Dungeon

Ocarina of Time was released 13 years ago. Since then it has had multiple re-releases and even a full 3D remake with enhanced graphics for the 3DS and just when I thought it could not get any better, I come across this. A four swords co-op version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I have...

www.zeldadungeon.net

"CTGP-7"

They do have their own servers.

 

[ATenderLad]

Kaillera used to see a fair bit of activity, especially for people playing Smash. I spent a lot of time with SNK fighters on there, with the occasional KOF/Garou tournament thrown in. (Also Neo Bomberman and Super Dodgeball, which are great fun!)

 

[solidbatman]

I used the rpcs3 psn emulator for Demon's Souls. Ton of fun and convinced me to give the remake a go when I have the time. Of course, not a ton of people online doing that, so multiplayer was really limited to messages, but it was still fun to see it in action.

 

[Super Funky Piece]

i've been using Simple64 to run Mario Tennis netplay with a friend. it's a very straightforward process and uses actual dedicated servers for hosting so there's very rarely any lag

 

[Yankee]

Outside of clients specifically made for it like FightCade, I played Melee once on Dolphin with a friend a few hours away and it sucked.

Maybe we should have an RGT Fight Club.

 

[Graw]

. I wish we had a place here where all of us badasses could link up in emulators we have repo games for.

Why don't you start a thread for it?

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

Only used Dolphins netplay features to play Melee and Soul Calibur 2.