Does Retroarch annoy anyone else?

[MrYesterday]

Seriously, I hate setting this thing up. Something always seems to break no matter what, and sometimes I can't even find core options for things I know are possible in other emulators.

 

[Jeff]

Yes. Retroarch has waaaaaay too many menu options. How is it hard to just boot up an NES game with all the core placements?

 

[Soupmancer]

I've had better experiences using it on handheld devices like a Steam Deck or Miyoo Mini+. On PC it always seems to forget my controller settings. And navigating the menus is unintuitive and Annoying. Unfortunately, it is currently the best way to emulate Saturn games :/

 

[Graw]

I don't really like it that much but I find I miss having all the options available when I've used other libretro frontends. I only really use it for 8 and 16-bit systems or obscure systems though. For other systems, n64, psx generation and up I use standalone emulators.

 

[Boo Man]

i think standalone emulators running through a frontend is a better option for most platforms
but Retroarch still has its uses and the UI is fine once you wrap your head around it
i think each core has different options

 

[Xarr]

My experience with Retroarch has been alright. I honestly don't know why people are big on Bizhawk.

 

[fourmonty]

heheheh time to make some filthy film grain screenshots

Akumajou-Dracula-X-Gekka-no-Yasoukyoku-Japan-2-M-251201-190316 hosted at ImgBB

Image Akumajou-Dracula-X-Gekka-no-Yasoukyoku-Japan-2-M-251201-190316 hosted on ImgBB

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Image Castlevania-Harmony-of-Dissonance-Visual-Improvement-v1-2-3-Chain-Whip-nco-Z-Animation-Localization- hosted on ImgBB

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Grand-Knights-History-v1-16-251201-193332 hosted at ImgBB

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[Eclipse14]

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Retroarch is a bit finicky to say the least especially if you’re just starting on emulation. However once you get the hang of it its a good way to emulate games. My advice is stay at the default settings until you get use to everything and start tinkering.

 

[Boofytan]

The xmb is easier for me to use than the other ui's for some reason, but there's always something going wrong with it. Better to use individual emulators with a front end whereever possible.

I've always liked the idea of retroarch better than retroarch. The more you want to just jump into games, the more annoying it is.

 

[Dew Prism]

Seriously, I hate setting this thing up. Something always seems to break no matter what, and sometimes I can't even find core options for things I know are possible in other emulators.

Use Playnite instead. Way easier to use frontloader than the spaghetti interface RetroArch.
I have used both, and know them like the back of my hand at this point. Playnite has way more features, and is much more intuitive.

 

[Pro Pixel Player]

I'm almost retiring from it and just using standalone emulators with better UIs. Cores has plenty of options and they're functional for the most part, but maaaan, it does feel like a job.

And also Playnite as a front-end is kinda okay, but it doesn't come close to Steam Big Picture mode IMHO.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I used it for years and I kind of know all the configs I actually want to do in it, so it doesn't give me trouble any more.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

I generally prefer standalone emulators, but Retroarch has it's uses for me too. I've had better luck with Retroarch's N64 cores then I have with standalone emulators on my potato PC, for instance.

 

[χKai]

I like what it's capable of and hate the fact that you have to be a hacker to even know how to set it up.

I still never figured out how to change my controls so I could play DOOM.

 

[zacharinolongpants]

I got it because I heard there was a good Saturn core but I just couldn't get any of the damn Saturn cores to work. Other emulators were fine and some had some good features, but I think there are standalone emulators for all the main classic consoles that are just more reliable and fun to mess with. Maybe I just don't know how to get the most out of Retroarch though.

 

[Frickinfrik]

Yeah, Retroarch has a very complicated and annoying menu. Delta has a much simpler UI.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Retroarch doesn't need to exist. There are standalone emulators that work well for any console you can think of except maybe the original Xbox, and great front ends like emulation station. They are all more user friendly than the mess that is retroarch, which you probably won't even be able to set up without watching a youtube video. Even then you'll have to make sure you never mess with any setting as that just opens up a horrible pandora's box with Retroarch.

I have no idea how this stupid thing got so popular.

 

[Rocket2049]

I always use standalones, they work, and much faster/easier to setup properly
Retroarch just seems like too much to just "play a game" to me.
I was making individual settings for just about every platform of console/handheld,
at that point what was the difference from individuall standalone emus?
even the simplest thing like set autofire is a mess, i literally couldn't figure it out.

i couldn't get saturn to work good, MednaFen works just great
mGBA as a standalone runs better (even using mgba core in retro, there's little stutters and sound problems)
PPSSPP is the best way to play PSP games and you couldn't convince me otherwise

and then there's Duckstation, man the standalone has a LOT of options that i couldn't find (if they have have those options) like the geometry correction and remove shaky textures and all that.

I have retroarch on my android phone and don't really mess with ANYTHING (cause its a huge mess of menus i hate scrolling through) but i don't really game on my phone (using touchscreen makes a lot of games harder than needed, and if i'm gonna use a gamepad might as well use my PC)
but i still use PPSSPP on android since its just a better interface, and Citra 3DS cause it works better

there's nothing particularly wrong with it but it's a bit complex when you can load any emulator much easily.
i've had to setup emulators for other friends and family and they also hate using retroarch lol, same thing "why use this when that already works"

 

[Dew Prism]

I'm almost retiring from it and just using standalone emulators with better UIs. Cores has plenty of options and they're functional for the most part, but maaaan, it does feel like a job.

And also Playnite as a front-end is kinda okay, but it doesn't come close to Steam Big Picture mode IMHO.

I can see where that would be great for Steam Deck, but honestly I have no use for Steam whatsoever since I don't use the platform to purchase games. Only really use my PC for emulation. All of my gaming purchases have always been Nintendo lol. Started with NES, and have been with every generation since.

Here's a quick reason why I love Playnite for my emulation needs on PC: I can have screenshots, description, playtime, and a million other things all categorized nicely.

 

[polter99]

I used to play using RetroArch early on before DuckStation was a thing, one reason I prefer RA over ePSXe is just less hassle with plugin that setting up and tweaking a miserable experience at the time. Then someone/a YouTube channel mention DuckStation for its simple UI, and performance (including enhancement) that is almost a damn witchcraft making it better than ePSXe/RA in every aspect.

At this same time, PCSX2 also got massive overhaul using the same foundation as DuckStation that also significantly improve the performance, but that's story for another time.

Couple years later, when I took interest in Princess Crown (while the English patch is in limbo) and Baroque ~Yuganda Mousou~ (after playing the PS1 version), 2 out of 3 Sega Saturn core simply doesn't work on my end to run both, and the one that is work just finnicky to setup (control, hotkey, and whatnot). I gave up at that point. At first I look for the MednafenGUI but those has horrendous UI with not-so-good setting, in the end I rawdog OG Mednafen instead. It's actually work better and easier to setup despite having no UI.

So yeah, my experience with RA has been mixed, and since then, I never look at RA again. Even on my phone to play Chrono Trigger I just use whatever SNES emulator that available (Snes9x EX+). Also, recording footage on RA is not a nice either since the hotkey overlap with my OBS hotkey, and I can't be bother to change everything.

Maybe I would "love" it if I were to install it on my PS4 or XS (if I have one), but since I have PC, there's no reason for me to install on that system.

 

[Tortuga]

Yeah retroarch know to be annoying, broken and with dogshit UI
I use standalone emulators unless i have no choice

 

[Retro Doomer]

Well Retroarch is a mixed bag its convenient if it works
some emulators work better there for me compared to the standalone like N64/Pc Engine/Snes/Sega Saturn/partially Dreamcast mostly because of the controllers.
but well there is of course a reason to use other Emulators to as it can be a little bit unstable I had a couple of problems with my Ps3 edition of Retro arch where I had to Install it 3 times already but if it works its fine.
Otherwise I also use Duckstation for my PC to play Ps1 games and I still have some other emulators to like Desmume and mgba.
Retro Arch also does not copy any Translated games for the most part and romhacks for me which can be annoying but I also use Launchbox which helps quite a bit to organize it.

 

[Kamako]

RetroArch cores are brilliant for emulating almost everything prior to the PS2 imo. PS2 games and onwards benefit more from standalone emu's.

Also, RetroArch is way, WAY easier to set up now than it was when I first tried to. Easy to link to RA, plenty of customisable menu options and the like. It's my go-to emu solution for most things nowadays.

 

[MrYesterday]

The xmb is easier for me

I wish more launchers (in general, not just for emulation) would use that ui. I don't really like Steam Big Picture or Playnite and Launchbox (even with their themes).