I give up on Retroarch

[Bakuma1997]

I only have multi emulators for cases the single emulator is not worth neither (Looking at you Saturn and Turbo Grafx CD), and i agree, my brother has Retro Arch in his PC and PS3, then again, he is using Linux, so AFAIK he could hack Fort Knox if he got bored (For legal reasons JK)

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I have a love/hate relationship with RetroArch. My biggest issues are fucking around with keybindings that seem impossible to revert if you mess up and don't want to make everything default again, adding hacked games to your game list and having to redo them whenever you scan for new files and just an overwhelming amount of emulators for some systems. I only use cores that support RetroAchievements, so at least that narrows down the options some, which end up only amounting to Sega consoles and the DS/I. Otherwise I just stick to standalone emulators when possible.

 

[JustLooking123]

Nowadays, i use RetroArch only for systems that their stand-alone emulators are even harder to use!
Especially 3ds stand-alone emulator, there's no fast forward key! no key bindings for saving/loading save-states in a sensible way!
RetroArch with its unified usage shines here.
But yes, i prefer to use stand-alone for most of systems.

 

[thanonyx]

I only have multi emulators for cases the single emulator is not worth neither (Looking at you Saturn and Turbo Grafx CD), and i agree, my brother has Retro Arch in his PC and PS3, then again, he is using Linux, so AFAIK he could hack Fort Knox if he got bored (For legal reasons JK)

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!?!

How is there no viable Turbografx-16/Turbo CD/PC-Engine/PC-Engine/CD-ROM2 emulator and no viable Saturn emulator other than Mednafen?

I also would like a a better standalone WonderSwan/WonderSwan Color emulator besides Mesen, ares, Mednafen, or Bizhawk. I've heard StoicGoose is getting there. Also, does anyone know if there even is a Lynx emulator that isn't Handy? Handy has been dead in the water for quite some time. Oh, and while we're at it how about a decent Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket emulator too? I'm still using NeoPop for God's sake!

Ok, rant over.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

I’m not in love with it on desktop pcs and prefer standalone emus, but I love the mobile version on my phone and it has become my preferred method of emulating anything up to the n64 these days. I’ve basically retired my psp completely because it’s so much more comfy to play on a phone with a Bluetooth controller.

 

[RedNin3]

I’m not in love with it on desktop pcs and prefer standalone emus, but I love the mobile version on my phone and it has become my preferred method of emulating anything up to the n64 these days. I’ve basically retired my psp completely because it’s so much more comfy to play on a phone with a Bluetooth controller.

I don't game on my phone cause mine can't run anything without dedying the battery.
But it seems the consensus is that RArch goes better on a phone, or a Vita, etc. Will try it once I get a new phone of this decade.

 

[Jeff]

I tried using RetroArch, but the UI and navigation are too complicated. I just use OpenEmu as that has an organized UI showcasing your download games from Atari to Gamecube. It will also show the game's boxart when inserting the rom file to the UI menu and if you downloaded a romhack or a translated game, you can add an image of your own. I prefer to stick with v2.3.3 or lower as v2.4.1 has some hiccups such as a blank screen when rewinding Genesis and GBA games. Also, standalone emulators such as Dolphin, SameBoy, FCemu, SnesX9/BSnes, Kega Fusion, Stella, ReDream, Vice, DosBox/Boxer, Vita3k, PCSX2, Xemu and RPCS3 are better options.

 

[RageBurner]

Retroarch is a pain to use, at least on desktop, so I completely understand. It's also not really an emulator per se, it's more of an emulator aggregator that doubles as a frontend, thanks to the libretro core system.

 

[jakecr]

Weird I seem to be the only one that loves Retroarch and finds it intuitive, I never had any problems with learning how to use it and what the different options mean/do (most of them have descriptions that you can see at any time pressing Select/Options/Back), in fact once you learn how to use it, it is very powerful, way more than standalone emulators and way more convenient too.

I also love the shaders system that it has that now some standalone emulators have begun to emulate but has been a core part of RA for over 10yrs, also if you want to play with a CRT TV hooked to your modern PC RA is literally a requirement with its CRT Switchres and its ability to work with super resolutions.

Honestly I don't understand the argument that is hard to use when emulators normally are all hard to use at least to casual not very savvy users, it is literally the number 1 complain that console games bring when talking about emulators on PC. You have to take your time to learn how to use them and configure them to have good results, Retroarch is not any different in that regard and yet if you just want to use it quickly you can, just the download the cores you want to use for your games and the system you want to emulate and configure your controller if somehow hasn't been auto-configured already and that's it, no need to touch anything else if you don't care, although I recommend at least looking at the video/sync options or just taking 15-20minutes going through each sub-menu and learn how to configure it for your needs. To me it was never that different than configuring PCSX2, Dolphin, DuckStation, PPSSPP, old ePSXe, DeSmuME etc and setting up the BIOS files.

There's also a wiki that explains everything very clearly too including what you need for each core if you need help or info and even packs that include all the system files for every single core neatly organized in 1 archive that you just extract to the system folder which is very convenient. And once you configure it you don't have to mess with it again if you don't want to, and as long as you backup your config file you can replicate it anywhere.

 

[ATenderLad]

The most annoying thing I remember about setting up Retroarch was trying to scan in games, I wound up liking the look and auditing of Launchbox a fair bit more. It's still in use, I just don't have to rely on it to find or organize anything.

 

[ZombieFish]

Stuck here on iOS, non-jailbroken, so Retroarch is pretty much my option outside Delta and PPSSPP. It’s maybe slightly better than it was a decade ago? Ish? That said, it did let me install Win98 through DOSBox pure without much trouble, and runs Quake 2 in software pretty good. Hell, it’ll run Freespace 1. I’ve beat a few missions… What am I doing with my life?

 

[Izzy]

I got Retroarch for one reason, to play Sega Saturn games. While yes, it can be a go to emulator, I simply use it for testing and playing Saturn games. I have others I use as standalone purposes.

 

[JustLooking123]

Another good feature of RetroArch is its unified cheating system... while using it is a pain, but it's possible, especially for systems that their stand-alone emulators don't support cheat or searching feature for creating new cheats.

edit: clarified better.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I've never messed with Retroarch or really understood it, I just use standalone emulators like I always have. I'm old and stuck in my ways.

Only reason I'll use it is for Amiga, Arcade, and maybe multi disc Saturn games as Mac has no options

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

Hmmm i haven't used the official RetroArch, rather i have used Lakka and Batocera. Live USB or install as a OS replacement (which i did on a Beeline Mini S). Get link to get BIOS pack v39 and extract, and poof ready to rumble... Well almost. After an update most emulators broke until i told the API to use Vulkan and then it worked pretty much flawlessly from that point.

Still not sure about a bulk of pre-scraped game data pack....

 

[bloodywing]

Hmmm i haven't used the official RetroArch, rather i have used Lakka and Batocera. Live USB or install as a OS replacement (which i did on a Beeline Mini S). Get link to get BIOS pack v39 and extract, and poof ready to rumble... Well almost. After an update most emulators broke until i told the API to use Vulkan and then it worked pretty much flawlessly from that point.

Still not sure about a bulk of pre-scraped game data pack....

Lakka is pretty much RA.

But i don't have an issue with retroarch either, i actually prefer it over stand alone emus when possible.

 

[Tengu Plant]

I've never had a problem with the UI like other people seem to have. Loading games, savestating, changing controls and filters, it all seemed pretty straight forward to me.
My problem however is the fact that its scraper just refuses to add any altered ROM to your console lists, generate info for it, or find box art. "Did you patch the trade evolutions in Pokemon Leaf Green? Sorry we have no idea what this game is now." There are other scrapers that don't have this issue, and they even have box art for popular ROM hacks, so what's the issue here?
I guess if you're the type to just download a No Intro ROM set and call it a day you'll be fine but if you so much as want to play a fan translation you'll either have to edit the playlist data yourself or have a third party website or program do it. It's ridiculous.

 

[lil_thang]

On desktop, I am a RetroArch stan. Though I will still install and use emulators separately on occasion.

On the Steam Deck, I am increasingly going to the side of EmuDeck, because it cuts out entirely the step of actually having to open some kind of frontend before getting into your rom. with its Steam Rom Manager, chosen roms just appear in your steam library like any other game, and (i think this is only from recent steamOS updates) even increments your hours separately per title. it can get a little jank with rarer roms or say things like romhacks, in terms of trying to populate the correct artworks automatically from steamgriddb, but that is a tiny complaint for what has otherwise been a seamless experience using EmuDeck.

 

[logvon99]

I think you'll enjoy retroarch more if you use it on Linux, I'm on Arch btw and it took me like one command to install everything, use the online updater to get my controllers running then scan for my games. easier on linux if you ask me.

also this is my first time commenting here so, Hi guys thanks for good work.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I think you'll enjoy retroarch more if you use it on Linux, I'm on Arch btw and it took me like one command to install everything, use the online updater to get my controllers running then scan for my games. easier on linux if you ask me.

also this is my first time commenting here so, Hi guys thanks for good work.

Welcome to the forum man! Enjoy your stay

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

Years ago I set up a raspberry pi to emulate on when that was the big thing and I had a similar experience. I was always messing with settings and tweaking things. It almost feels like that's half of the appeal with RetroArch.

 

[Zerpina]

Just a little rant.

I know, i know, retroarch is amazing emulator of community, simply on union of better of better of games for games.

But, i believe what is no for me, every year (and already has some) i download retroarch, i try to use her, waste hours configuring, download cores, change theme and simply I always get tired her, in point i tired to try change a small detail and opening one, two, three menus for acess a small option to change, for found what i change in core wrong.

Just he is a big emulator your configuring is confuse e tired, nothing is simple to apply, I don't like any of the themes, mainly that one ps3.

I wanted be able to like him, i try serious, but i always after getting frustrated again with retroarch, i back for normal emulators that have simple configs, for exemplo, duckstation, PCSX2. I see a lot of cool stuff the community is releasing for him, I wanted to be a part of that.

Sometimes I think I'm just dumb for not knowing how to use it. ???

I 100% Get ya. i used RA for awhile, and yeah.
Its a right pain in the Arse, and Picky...Ooo.
So, if you haven't Try out Batocera, Same thing, almost no Hassle <You will find a few picky settings, but nothing like RA>

Has Literally any Emulator you could want. no cores to DL, can quickly exit the emulator, set settings per game if you like, or the whole emulator.

You will have to get the bios, but seeing as you used RA, im guessing you have the ones you want.
and the Batocera site even tells you the MD5 checksum of each one.

G'luck hope ya try ti out, and like it.

Post automatically merged: Feb 8, 2025

Stuck here on iOS, non-jailbroken, so Retroarch is pretty much my option outside Delta and PPSSPP. It’s maybe slightly better than it was a decade ago? Ish? That said, it did let me install Win98 through DOSBox pure without much trouble, and runs Quake 2 in software pretty good. Hell, it’ll run Freespace 1. I’ve beat a few missions… What am I doing with my life?

Get a little cheap 50$ mini pc or desktop, use batocera.
will get ya by

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

Years ago I set up a raspberry pi to emulate on when that was the big thing and I had a similar experience. I was always messing with settings and tweaking things. It almost feels like that's half of the appeal with RetroArch.

I did a pi4 version for Lakka a year or two ago. Worked nice. Not good enough to go past the PS1, and the N64 it didn't like at higher resolution but otherwise worked.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

also this is my first time commenting here so, Hi guys thanks for good work.

Welcome, I like your Castlevania pfp. I'm a huge fan too

 

[fake-kun]

I wouldn't wish Retroarch on my worst enemy, and I say this as a regular user.