In my case I use a separate Emulator to emulate 1, 2 (Dolphin, GC/WII) or sometimes 3 systems/platforms (like mGBA, GB/GBC/GBA) in terms of performance and compatibility.
I generally prefer separate emulators that are each specialized in one thing. It's good to have choices and it's nice to have emulators fine tuned to deliver the best experience for a particular console.
I never liked RetroArch. It's too convoluted and I hate how people just want to do away with everything else and push everyone into RetroArch. I'm never a fan of everybody just using and supporting one thing and one thing only.
I do however like ES-DE. I like how it puts different emulators under one roof in a very user friendly way, but the best part by far is how aesthetically pleasing it is (unlike RetroArch). The options you have for cover art, wallpaper, game descriptions, gameplay footage, etc. is great. Plus, you're still essentially accessing your different emulators and ES-DE's interface isn't absurdly complicated like RetroArch is.
I'm able to do a ton through just openEmu on my laptop. However, since installing other emulators, such as Redream, I play the Dreamcast games more often. I don't know why that is. Since I'm limited on what I can play at the moment (due to carpal tunnel syndrome), I installed some others yesterday just for the heck of it. I even found a site where a guy made his own emulators for many systems. Sure, there are better ways, but I kept one of his emulators too just because it simply plays the games..which in the end, is the goal. So which do you prefer? Do you find specific emulators have more features that front-ends don't have, like netplay, for example? What's the emulator you got?
I always use one emulator for each console.
I tried using an emulator that emulates multiple consoles...
That emulator was Retroarch.
I think you already know how it went.
I prefer Retroarch for most but some emulators are better stand alone.
The best front end I ever used was OpenEmu sadly it´s only for MAC and no way in hell I have to money for a mac and no way in hell im gonna get my self in to a close end eco system with a company that claims to care for environment but hates that you can repair shit which would be great if people don´t buy new shit all the time if they rely cared about environment as they say they do damn lying knobs.
I wish some one could just port OpenEmu to Win/linux.
I'm able to do a ton through just openEmu on my laptop. However, since installing other emulators, such as Redream, I play the Dreamcast games more often. I don't know why that is. Since I'm limited on what I can play at the moment (due to carpal tunnel syndrome), I installed some others yesterday just for the heck of it. I even found a site where a guy made his own emulators for many systems. Sure, there are better ways, but I kept one of his emulators too just because it simply plays the games..which in the end, is the goal. So which do you prefer? Do you find specific emulators have more features that front-ends don't have, like netplay, for example? What's the emulator you got?
Kind of depends on what I'm doing really. If I'm on my PC I'll tend to go with standalone, mostly because there's one particular game (or a handful) that I'm looking to play. If I'm going with a handheld device it'll be Retroarch with some kind of frontend.
Those authors who think juggling plugins to navigate compatibility issues is acceptable, can have their raspberry award for determination to irritate users.
I think most 2D era systems can be done just fine in a single interface. Ares is right there.
People are very likely to only experience things like RetroArch, and that isn't the most pleasant interface. However, people also grew up using stuff like Kega Fusion, which is a multi-system emulator and did it just fine.
Totally get where you're coming from. Sometimes the standalone emulators just feel better—like Redream, it’s quick, clean, and gets you straight into the game. OpenEmu’s great for organizing, but yeah, some of those extra features like netplay or better performance really shine in the dedicated ones. And hey, if that homemade emulator works, that’s all that matters! What systems did you add yesterday?
I use RetroArch for nearly everything up to PS1. I like having a uniform system for saves, hotkeys, shaders, overlays, etc. For more complex systems like PSP, DC, PS2, GCN, etc., I use standalone emulators for better performance.
That said, I also like having standalone devices for emulating different consoles (all running RetroArch in some form): Anbernic RG-ARC for Genesis/Master System/Game Gear, RG 280V for Famicom/NES, RG35XX SP for GBA, etc. It takes some effort to set up each device, but that's part of the fun to me.
Totally get where you're coming from. Sometimes the standalone emulators just feel better—like Redream, it’s quick, clean, and gets you straight into the game. OpenEmu’s great for organizing, but yeah, some of those extra features like netplay or better performance really shine in the dedicated ones. And hey, if that homemade emulator works, that’s all that matters! What systems did you add yesterday?
This was from March so a lot has changed since then haha. Then I had several on my laptop and just played around with adding different ones. Since then, I have deleted several and mainly focus on playing from my ps3, which I put HEN and retroarch on as well.
I use Retroarch, mainly because of Switchres on a VGA monitor and 240p resolutions on Linux. Most emulators lack customisation at low resolutions, with few exceptions (eg Redream and Scummvm) .
Also on Linux various emulators have issues, especially on Wayland.
On Windows it is more convenient to use separate emulators as a result
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