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--- tools:emulators [2024/12/11 07:47] – [Handhelds] Humphrey Boa-Gart
+++ tools:emulators [2024/12/12 02:59] (current) – [Multi-Platform Emulators] Humphrey Boa-Gart
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Emulators ======
-{{wst>expand}}
+Usually, if you want to run software made for a different operating system on your computer, you will be using a [[tools:vm|virtual machine]]. However, there are many cases where a VM will not be enough. Lots of operating systems //(such as those made for embedded systems, legacy computer hardware, and video game consoles)// are designed for specific chipsets that are wildly different from the chipsets that your computer or server shipped with. In these cases you will need to set up an **emulator**, which simulates the hardware of another device on your own device, allowing you to run software that you wouldn't be able to in a normal virtual machine.
+There are many types of emulators for all sorts of devices and operating systems. This article will mainly focus on emulators that you can run on your computer or smartphone.
 ===== Operating System Emulators =====
-Emulating any of these platforms on your local machine is fairly simple these days, and in most cases doesn't even require setting up a full VM!
+{{wst>expand}}
@@ Line 28: / Line 30: @@
 Back in the 80s/90s, before the market standardized on the Windows/MacOS/*nix ecosystem we know today, there were many more operating systems to choose from. Some of them were designed for hobbyists. Others were professional enterprise machines. Emulating these platforms is a little more complicated than the ones above, as they may require emulation of unique or archaic chipsets. Here's what we know:
-==== Classic MacOS ====
+==== Amiga ====
 {{wst>expand}}
@@ Line 34: / Line 37: @@
 ==== Commodore 64 ====
+{{wst>expand}}
+==== MacOS Classic ====
 {{wst>expand}}
@@ Line 40: / Line 48: @@
 ===== Video Game Emulators =====
-Emulators for **video game platforms** are a big more complex than your average OS emulator, as they generally require emulation of the entire underlying unique chipsets these platforms use. However, most of them are fairly simple to use: Simply open the emulator, and tell it which ROM file (game) to open.
+Video game emulators are probably the simplest emulators on this page to use: Simply open the software, configure your controller or keyboard, and tell it which ROM file (game) to open.
-Some of these emulators require a second ROM to run: That of the console's firmware. Most of them do not, but we will let you know if any of them do.
+Some of these emulators require a second ROM to run: That of the console's firmware/BIOS. Most of them do not, but some do, so make sure to read the documentation that comes with the software.
+Emulating video game consoles allows you to play discontinued games that are now rare or hard-to-find. Foreign titles that were not released in your region can be found this way too, oftentimes patched with fan translations. And if you travel a lot, using an emulator on your phone or laptop will help you save a lot of space in your luggage.
-==== Consoles ====
-The most reliable and stable game console emulators that we know of are as follows:
+== Finding ROM Files ==
+**//Downloading ROMs is considered a form of piracy in many regions, and distributing ROMs can open one up to all sorts of legal headaches. Because of this, we cannot give you ROM files for any of these emulators.//**
-=== Nintendo: NES/Famicom ===
+However, we have heard rumors about packages known as "GoodMerge" and "No-Intro" sets, which compile every known game for each gaming platform into massive archives. These can probably be found on P2P networks and Bittorrent. [[https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22romset%22|Archive.org]] also has many ROM sets available, presumably for, uh, scientific and historic archival purposes.
-{{ :tools:fceux.png|}}
-For NES emulation, you want **FCEUX**. It is the successor project to the infamous **FCE** and **FCE Ultra** emulators. It has been ported to all the major operating systems on its [[https://fceux.com/web/download.html|releases page]] or you can visit the project on Github at [[github>TASEmulators/fceux]].
+==== Multi-Platform Emulators ====
-For Debian/Ubuntu users, it is already in the stock repos, and you can grab it with ''apt install fceux''.
+Back in the day, emulators were made to be good at emulating a single console. Nowadays **multi-platform emulators** are an increasingly viable solution, where one emulator will cover a range of consoles. Some popular ones include:
-Another popular alternative is [[github>punesemu/puNES]], which also doubles as a player for NSF music files.
+  * [[https://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk|Bizhawk]]
+  * [[https://mednafen.github.io/|Mednafen]]
+  * [[https://www.retroarch.com/|Retroarch]]
-=== Nintendo: SNES/Super Famicom ===
+==== Nintendo 64 ====
-{{wst>expand}}
+Cross-platform N64 emulation options include [[https://www.mupen64plus.org/|Mupen64Plus]] ([[https://wiki.debian.org/Mupen64Plus|additional info]] for Debian version) and its robust fork [[https://simple64.github.io/|Simple64]].
+Windows users also have the option of the popular [[https://www.pj64-emu.com/windows-downloads|Project64]], which is very easy to set up and supports most N64 ROMs.
-=== Nintendo: N64 ===
-{{wst>expand}}
+==== Nintendo DS ====
+For Linux, Windows and MacOS, [[github>TASEmulators/desmume]].
-==== Handhelds ====
+For Android, use [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsemu.drastic|DraStic]] or [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swordfish.lemuroid|Lemuroid]].
-**Handheld emulation is no different than console emulation - we just have them sorted separately for readability's sake. Our top picks are as follows:**
+==== Nintendo Famicom (NES) ====
-=== Nintendo: Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance ===
+{{ :tools:fceux.png|}}
+For NES emulation, you want **FCEUX**. It is the most popular successor project to the infamous //(and now abandoned)// **FCE** and **FCE Ultra** emulators. It enjoys regular updates and has been ported to all the major operating systems. You can find an appropriate binary for your OS on their [[https://fceux.com/web/download.html|releases page]], or you can visit the project on Github at [[github>TASEmulators/fceux]].
+For Debian/Ubuntu users, it is already in the stock repos. Just grab it with ''apt install fceux'' and you're good to go.
+Popular cross-platform alternatives include [[github>punesemu/puNES]] //(which also doubles as a player for NSF music files)// and [[https://fms.komkon.org/iNES/|iNES]].
+==== Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance ====
 {{ :tools:vba-logo.png?200|}}
 **Visual Boy Advance** has been the gold standard for Game Boy emulation for a very long time. It'll boot ROMs from the whole Game Boy Family. You can get it
- on [[https://visualboyadvance.org/download/|pretty much every major platform]], with the [[github>visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m]] fork being the most popular. Just download the appropriate version for your operating system, and you're good to go.
+ on [[https://visualboyadvance.org/download/|pretty much every major platform]], with the [[github>visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m]] fork being the most popular and up-to-date version. Just download the appropriate copy for your operating system, and you're good to go.
+For Linux users, one of these versions may already be in your distro's [[tools:package manager]]. If not //(or if it is hella outdated)// you can grab it from [[tools:flatpak|Flatpak]] with ''flatpak install visualboyadvance-m''.
+Popular cross-platform alternatives include [[https://mgba.io/|mGBA]] and [[https://fms.komkon.org/VGBA/|VGBA]].
+==== Nintendo GameCube & Wii ====
+For Linux, Windows and MacOS, use [[https://dolphin-emu.org/|Dolphin]]. There is also an [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dolphinemu.dolphinemu|Android port]].
+==== Nintendo Super Famicom (SNES) ====
+The most popular SNES emulator these days is **BSNES**, which is also the only one that is being updated for modern machines. You can get it for all major platforms at its [[https://bsnes.org/download|official website]] or from [[github>bsnes-emu/bsnes]].
+Traditionally the SNES emulation sphere has been dominated by two other emulators, neither of which are still under active development but both of which still work just as well as they did back in the day. One is the legendary cross-platform [[https://www.s9x-w32.de/dl/|Snes9x]], which now comes in [[https://www.s9x-w32.de/dl/Snes9x-1.63-x86_64.AppImage|AppImage format]] for Linux users, and even has an [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.Snes9xPlus|Android port]]. The other is the venerable [[|ZSNES]], written in [[tools:assembly|Assembly]] for x86 Windows/Linux, making it absurdly fast on older/slower machines.
+==== Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Mega-CD & 32X ====
+For the Genesis and it's various add-ons, you will be best off with [[http://www.gens.me/|Gens]], [[https://segaretro.org/Gens/GS|Gens/GS]] or [[https://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/|Kega Fusion]].
+==== Sega Master System & Game Gear ====
+The Master System and the Game Gear both used nearly identical chipsets, so emulators for these platforms generally support both systems. Your best bets are [[https://fms.komkon.org/MG/|MasterGear]] and [[https://www.carpeludum.com/kega-fusion/|Kega Fusion]].
+For Android, check out [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nostalgiaemulators.gglite|Nostalgia.GG]].
+==== Sega Saturn ====
+[[https://yabause.org/download/|Yabause]], [[https://www.uoyabause.org/|uoYabause]] and [[https://segaretro.org/SSF|SSF]].
+==== Sony PlayStation ====
+Use [[https://www.epsxe.com/download.php|ePSXe]], available for Linux, Windows & MacOS. ([[https://play.google.com/store/search?q=epsxe|Android port]])
+Alternatively, use [[https://duckstation.org/|DuckStation]], also available for Linux, Windows & MacOS. ([[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.stenzek.duckstation|Android port]])
+==== Sony PlayStation 2 ====
+Linux, Windows & MacOS, use [[https://pcsx2.net/downloads|PCSX2]].
+===== More Emulators =====
-For Linux users, one of these versions may already be in your distro's [[tools:package manager]], and if not you can find it in [[tools:flatpak|Flatpak]].
+As mentioned earlier, there are emulators for all sorts of devices and operating systems. We won't go into them here, but if you are so inclined to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, you should check out [[https://zophar.net|Zophar's Domain]]. There they have info on emulators that you can run on systems such as [[https://www.zophar.net/java.html|Java]], [[https://www.zophar.net/calculators.html|graphing calculators]] and even [[https://www.zophar.net/consoles.html|other video game consoles]].
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