Hot take, but I don't like Retroarch that much

[RageBurner]

I don't think you get my joke...
Anyways, the list is missing games you can play one-handed, games you can take your hands off the keyboard for some time during, games with high resolution still images, and games featuring the fine figure art of Japan that is in no way not tasteful.

Yeah, I guess I missed. I'm generally pretty sharp, oh well.

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

Boy did you dance around the actual use for that machine...

That goes without saying. If it is Japanese, it can Hentai.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Yeah, most of the PC-98 games are literally for porn.
And the actual good popular games themselves are already mostly been ported to other consoles, like Elf's YU-NO and Dragon Knight IV.

 

[Sweeetja713]

I have some emulation handhelds (Miyoo Mini and Anbernic RG353PS) and having to deal with RetroArch's bullshit and how annoying it is to make saves to a specific emulator, only for it to ignore those saved settings and stretch a Gameboy game to 16:9 or something. It made me irrationally angry

Are you using custom firmware or stock?

 

[Zerpina]

I think RetroArch has it's place and is very useful for just being the centre of your emulation, but I've always disliked how it's annoying it is to change settings per emulator, and I've always preferred using standalone emulators to be able to tweak everything to my liking. But that's just me, I wanna hear your opinions about how I'm wrong and stupid

This is why i keep Telling people, use Batocera. Get a External Drive, install it on it<Have a whole PC Dedicated to it as a Emulation machine>. can edit it per System or Per game. no convoluted menus, simple set and go.

Only had a couple games that refused to work on it. and i don't even remember what they are now.

That's out of a List of 2500 <and some odd> Games
I Have every system from the Atari 2600 upto PS3 going on it. even the shit tier Jakks plug n play systems, Pokemini systems ect

 

[bonbonprince]

RetroArch is so fucking poop... It only has the purpose to play PC-98, but it doesn't do a good job either lol played LLS and that shit was so damn choppy

 

[RhymesWithOG]

The interface is really obtuse, and the control mapping is weird; it's cool that it serves as a hub for all these different emulators, but the package is really hard to figure out for me.

 

[RageBurner]

The interface is really obtuse, and the control mapping is weird; it's cool that it serves as a hub for all these different emulators, but the package is really hard to figure out for me.

It's mostly because they have a controller mapping abstraction system to try to cover every layout organically. In theory it's great... in practice, not so much.

 

[Zerpina]

Just watch this.

 

[Aisf]

I don't even know how to use retroarch lmao

 

[Zerpina]

*edit* sorry for the double post
And list of Systems it runs
https://wiki.batocera.org/systems

 

[RageBurner]

Just watch this.

How does Batocera compare to Retrobat?

 

[Vetusomaru]

I never understood the appeal of Retro Arch. And I've never figured out how the fuck it even works.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

The UI and UX are a catastrophe for sure. I would never use it on a desktop pc. I’ve had more luck on my phone. It’s less than ideal but given how closed of a system appleOS‘s are it’s the best option to easily aggregate a bunch of different emus in one app.

 

[RageBurner]

The UI and UX are a catastrophe for sure. I would never use it on a desktop pc. I’ve had more luck on my phone. It’s less than ideal but given how closed of a system appleOS‘s are it’s the best option to easily aggregate a bunch of different emus in one app.

Yeah my main beef is definitely desktop experience. Disastrously unsuitable.

 

[Zerpina]

How does Batocera compare to Retrobat?

Well, only thing Retrobat has over Batocera is it's a bootable program, like Retroarch.
Batocera has to be installed like any other OS. hence why i said External Drive for it. and why i have a PC just for it.

It's pretty simple to use, toss your bios in the Bios folder <unless stated otherwise> The wiki will tell you if it has to be in a certain folder., Roms same deal, and what format they work in <Zip/bin/cue ect>

Each system, then appears on your homescreen, after you do a simple Refresh, not a reboot.
then you can. lets say you are using a ps4 controller.

<90% Of controllers work just out of the box btw> tho you do have to Set a Home button so you can exit out of the emulators

you click the equivalent of the Select button, it brings up a menu. goto Advanced system options. you can set everything for that system there.

have a game that wont work with Duckstation? Hold Said select button on the game, it brings up the same type of menu like the systems. but just for that game. once you set whatever settings for that game. it saves that config for only that game.

Want art? hold said select button hit scrap wam it finds 3-4 different variants ect.

Don't know if you have the right bios? when you start a emulator, it'll warn you you are missing XYZ.bios
don't know which one? in the system menu, click Bios check, it'll tell you the name and MD5 checksum of it, so you get the right one

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

People either love or hate RetroArch and both opinions are valid.

 

[Deleted member 121503]

I was never super big on RetroArch either. It's great how available it is on so many devices, so I get why people like it, but it just takes too long to open a game imho. Haven't used it in a while but from what I remember you have to select the console, cores, games and it's all way too slow imho lol. I just prefer the quicker "old emulators" approach of just clicking the rom and playing lol

 

[Antihero]

Well, only thing Retrobat has over Batocera is it's a bootable program, like Retroarch.
Batocera has to be installed like any other OS. hence why i said External Drive for it. and why i have a PC just for it.

It's pretty simple to use, toss your bios in the Bios folder <unless stated otherwise> The wiki will tell you if it has to be in a certain folder., Roms same deal, and what format they work in <Zip/bin/cue ect>

Each system, then appears on your homescreen, after you do a simple Refresh, not a reboot.
then you can. lets say you are using a ps4 controller.

<90% Of controllers work just out of the box btw> tho you do have to Set a Home button so you can exit out of the emulators

you click the equivalent of the Select button, it brings up a menu. goto Advanced system options. you can set everything for that system there.

have a game that wont work with Duckstation? Hold Said select button on the game, it brings up the same type of menu like the systems. but just for that game. once you set whatever settings for that game. it saves that config for only that game.

Want art? hold said select button hit scrap wam it finds 3-4 different variants ect.

Don't know if you have the right bios? when you start a emulator, it'll warn you you are missing XYZ.bios
don't know which one? in the system menu, click Bios check, it'll tell you the name and MD5 checksum of it, so you get the right one

Wow! That's one hell of an explanation! Really appreciate it, thanks to you now I know.

 

[Trainer Red]

"Oh this again ..."

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I use Retroarch, although it's in the form of a OS that feels more like a PS3 than it does a PC (Batocera or Lakka). Other than fighting with a few settings, I've had no few issues with it, the biggest being the Cheat Engine doesn't work on Batocera; And Lakka isn't quite as up to date (and doesn't have scraping options) but works for the most part.

 

[Yoh4948]

if there’s no other option I’m fine with it, and I recently started using the mobile version which is nice, but yeah it’s not worth “all your stuff in one place” if you have to navigate a menu maze. Bizhawk is like the good version of a multi system emulator because it works like a normal program.

 

[NemissaFotia]

I actually love using RetroArch but I did spent like, 3 days setting it up to behave exactly as I wanted. It definitely asks way too much of someone who just wants to play a game but for people like me, it's an amazing frontend.

 

[notleonbelmont]

I don't think it's a hot take at all. I've always preferred using separate emulators because I'm used to just dragging and dropping anyways.

But if you really wanted, you can use Steam to add and organize emulators, as well as adding individual games the same way you'd do on a steamdeck. Steam Rom Manager slightly automates this process, but I find it a bit confusing to set up at first.

 

[Ikagura]

I don't think it's a hot take at all. I've always preferred using separate emulators because I'm used to just dragging and dropping anyways.

Same.

Even multi emulators can be tricky to use like Mednafen.