General Emulation Discussion

Been ages since I looked at RetroPie but here's a few things I learned watching this video:

• It now supports Netplay (figures as it uses retroarch). Seems a bit fiddly unless you can enable an option to have it enabled by default when you run a game. That would be handy for friends who are less technical that you want to play with. Also both people need to be running the same version of RetroPie / Arch.
• It supports achievements for old games, a bit like modern consoles.
• You can use a scraper to download artwork and preview videos.
• The image is available to download and install from the official Raspberry Pi software (only upto Pi 4 models at the time of the video.)

Installed Duckstation on the Retroid Pocket 5 today and tried out Crash Bandicoot 1.

5x upscale to 1080p and loaded the NeoPixie CRT shader with curvature disabled.

Looking absolutely glorious on the AMOLED screen. Pics won't do it justice, you'll have to take my word for it!

Also been trying out Cold Winter and Black on PS2 using the NetherSX2 / AetherSX2 emulators. Able to maintain 50fps in either with 3x Upscale and it's looking mighty. I might need to download the ntsc versions to get 60fps.

Aye, some of the devices are quite powerful relatively speaking, and the software support has come on leaps and bounds. Usability is the defining function now in many ways whether thats down to screen aspect, analogue joystick support etc

That said, I'm sort of at my limit of the handheld emulation devices, and it's a bit weary seeing all the different configurations releasing on a near monthly basis. Backed, sort of on a whim, the Ayaneo Pocket DMG back in October last year, arrived around January completely non-functional and with Chinese New Year, translation issues and production schedules, I didn't receive a working unit until earlier this month. But I've lost much of any enthusiasm I had for it, so much so it's sitting there waiting on a proper setup as I'd only half-assed an ES-DE setup onto it with limited games. Yes it's running PS2, GC stuff etc but not always in a way that feels comfortable I'd have to admit. Partly due to the control setup, partly due to the form factor. Suppose it depends on the game, so opinion may vary. Anything under that level, say 16bit down, I'm more inclined to reach for an Analogue Pocket and it's relative simplicity if I need something in the hand.

I know Retroid have a Pocket Classic out now, which might well scratch the vertical form factor itch at a cheaper price level than the DMG. Not as powerful, mono audio and build quality is not supposed to be quite as good, but has an excellent screen.

Any recommendations for the Game Cube?

I remember people saying the Resident Evil 4 port is meant to be great on it. It's not a console I've explored apart from playing one or 2 games on a backwards compatible Wii.

Dolphin on the Retroid Pocket 5 is pretty much flawless. It runs pretty much any GC game at 3X resolution and there are various hacks and codes that introduce widescreen, fix bugs or add texture packs that make the game even prettier. Skies of Arcadia, Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario TTYD and Crazy Taxi all spring to mind as being excellent.

I agree with another poster that the hassle is setting up control schemes on the various emulators, sometimes that has been Nintendo or Sega's fault with their often wacky controller layouts, but other times the controls don't work, bind correctly and are just a bloomin' faff.

I might get rid of my RP5 even though it is excellent; my eyesight is not what it was!!

I am looking to use an XBox Series S as my go to emulator which seems to be to adequately emulate up to PS3/Xbox 360 and playing on a TV is easier on the eyes! However it seems very tedious to set up. Has anyone here done it?

Also forgot to mention, as you can see my RP5 at the bottom of the pic has different thumbsticks caps.

I upgraded to thumbstick caps desifned for the AYN Odin 2, a higher tier handheld which is owned by same company as Retroid. I think the base price for the Odin 2 is about €300.

Not sure if you'd be able to close the lid with the upgraded thumbsticks as they are a bit taller.

They're nice and big and grippy though.

Here's a link to the thumbstick caps, they come in packs of 4 despite saying "2" in the title:

€5.16 | Colorful Odin Big Joystick Cap For Odin 2 Portal/Odin 2 Mini/Odin 2 Game Console Joystick Rocker Replacement Caps Accessories

Also it doesnt show it in the picture but they have a shaft underneath, they're not just caps.

Oh and one last thing @o1s1n, the quality of the joysticks and buttons make the PS Vita feel like a cheap toy! None of that transparent plasticky shite. Even the triggers have a nice feel to them, despite the travel distance being a bit shorter than a regular controller.

Aside from the highly accurate emulation of PS1 and PSP games thanks to Vitas MIPS processor, there's not much reason to own one when you have an RP5.

Wow! Every post of yours in this thread tempts me more and more 😂

The only thing stopping me buying one is that I've a Switch 2 preorder to pick up in a month. I've been hovering my mouse over the buy button for a few days now though… did you get stung with customs when you ordered yours?

Anyone come across as decent handheld emulator for Sinclair spectrum stuff?

They're extremely easy to hack these days but if you don't fancy that any old cheap flashcart will play the ds version on an unmodded 3ds.

Once you've softmodded your 3DS you can install a thing on it called the Hshop which acts like the Nintendo Eshop, can download all the content you need. It's brilliant.