Keatah Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Like it says on the bag.. Which classic console/computer has the best emulation coverage? In other words, what vintage system can be replaced through emulation and still remain satisfying and practical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I'm pretty happy with just about anything that uses SNES or simpler style digital controls and plays cartridges. As it happens, that lines up well with everything up to about 1994, excluding the Jaguar. for the most part, that makes up the default packages of Retropie. They all run on modest hardware. I enjoy putting things like Sega Model 3 arcade games on my desktop PC but don't like how they aren't compatible with potato computers like the first list. I am NOT spending new money on old computer hardware in 2017. The universe tends towards chaos and I don't want to be left holding all the "rare" machines with blown capacitors, leaky batteries, and corroded connectors. I'm as happy as can be with emulation of this stuff. Files are small and setup is easy. Runs on just about anything. Atari Video Computer System Magnavox Odyssey 2 Sega Master System Sega Game Gear Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo Game Boy Atari Lynx Handheld Atari 7800 ProSystem IBM PC DOS NEC TurboGrafx Sega Genesis Sega Genesis 32X Super Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo GameBoy Color SNK Neo Geo SNK Neo Geo Pocket SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color Nintendo GameBoy Advance Arcade games up to about 1992, depending on control scheme I don't know these well enough to know how truly faithful they are, but they look good enough to me in emulation. Apple II family Atari 8-Bit including XEGS Atari 5200 SuperSystem Commodore 64 Commodore Amiga MSX Sharp X68000 Atari ST These work well, but really need the right controllers and/or display technology. Coleco ColecoVision Mattel Intellivision GCE Vectrex Nintendo Virtual Boy I'm reasonably satisfied with emulation of these systems, but not 100%, either because of imperfections in emulation, hassles in setting them up, large files to transmit and store, or a lot of computer power is needed. Apple Macintosh (up thru Mac OS 9) Nintendo 64 Sony Playstation Sega CD Sega Dreamcast Arcade games post 1993 or so, where you need custom emulators or hassles with CHDs or other large files These have a ways to go, in terms of speed and compatibility on modest hardware. Sega Saturn Atari Jaguar Nintendo DS I'm told these are good in emulation, but I have the real thing so I never bothered to try, also the files are large. Sony Playstation 2 Nintendo GameCube Nintendo Wii 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 In thinking about.. Atari 400/800 Atari 5200 Atari 130XE Atari 8-bit overall Commodore Vic-20 & C64 Commodore Amiga 1000, 500, and 2000 ..I'd say they are very well represented. I'm rather pleased at how good the final output image looks, and how many peripherals are represented. Not to mention being cycle-exact for most if not all of the target machine. One thing lacking in almost all classic computing emulators is old-school parallel interface Dot Matrix printing. Unusually good, however, is Virtual ][, it covers a Grappler+ interface and an Epson MX-80 printer, "the standards" of the day. It's a paid for emulator for Mac OSX only, so that's effectively makes it null for the majority of users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I know it isn't the best, and not probably the most popular response, but if you're into the Gameboy Advance it's a powerhouse for lower end emulation. Flubba and Loopy alone did some insane stuff with the GBA. PocketNES, Goomba Color(GB/GBC), Cologne(Colecovision), SMS Advance (GameGear too), MSX, and even PC Engine and with ISOs even PCE CD and SuperCDs too. I did much of this over a decade ago and I used to have all sorts of things but the jaw dropper was playing Dracula X, Ys Book1+2, and the Gate of Thunder CD on my little gameboy. They all up scale fairly nicely if you're using a GB Player for TV too. There were other systems, stand alone arcade things too. Sure the DS line is beefier, but I never followed that mess as the kits were sketchy for years so I stuck with GBA. The most screwy was a no-audio SNES emulator that ran a small percent of the games at 85-100% of normal speed on non-chipped titles which was fairly impressive given the SNES overhead being thrown at the GBA hardware. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 I know it isn't the best, and not probably the most popular response, but if you're into the Gameboy Advance it's a powerhouse for lower end emulation. Flubba and Loopy alone did some insane stuff with the GBA. PocketNES, Goomba Color(GB/GBC), Cologne(Colecovision), SMS Advance (GameGear too), MSX, and even PC Engine and with ISOs even PCE CD and SuperCDs too. I did much of this over a decade ago and I used to have all sorts of things but the jaw dropper was playing Dracula X, Ys Book1+2, and the Gate of Thunder CD on my little gameboy. They all up scale fairly nicely if you're using a GB Player for TV too. There were other systems, stand alone arcade things too. Sure the DS line is beefier, but I never followed that mess as the kits were sketchy for years so I stuck with GBA. I'm with you ... especially on the folding GBA SP. Minimalism at its best. I wish could trade the existing ports for a headphone jack and a microUSB or Lightning port, and it would be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Original Xbox is the most stable and reliable cross platform emulation station there is imo It's easy to work with because it is basically a PC Blown capictors & transistors can be be easily replaced with off the shelf parts, it's not much more $ than a retro Pi 3 and a hell of a lot more stable. it will do everything from pong to N64/PS1/CPSiii in 720P with component cables I know my opinion is rather biased because I mod and sell them but if there was something as cheap and as stable I would get it. There are a few new "TV" computers coming up over the last couple years from HP et al that have been rooted, I saw one of them running Demul the Dreamcast emulator at about 35 frames per second give or take so that's not too shabby but I don't know how they deal with storage above SD card size or how other emulators are performing Xbox is cheap, works great in an arcade cabinet and is easy to find parts for. I'd go with the RPi if it had a more reliable way to shut it down and had a less fussy interface when it comes to classic controllers ... seems like I am always having to remap my SNES style USB controllers with it when I switch between emus, Retro Pi was built with the intention of using wireless 360 or PS3 controllers and that shows when you don't use one as you set up the Retro Pi front end At least that's been my experience. That being said you can't just plug a SNES USB into an Xbox with a USB to Xbox adaptor, it just won't work but there are other ways to get a SNES controller to function if that's what you want 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetboot Jack Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 (edited) As a Mac fan it pains me to say I would recommend Windows for those systems Keatah... Altirra is a wonderful emulator for 400/800/XL/XE/5200 FSUAE for Amiga VICE for Commodore 8bits from PET to 128D I use LaunchBox as a FE and it is super slick and hides the mess that is Windows 10 from view! And I recommend a PS4 controller via bluetooth for controls - just the best D-Pad! sTeVE Edited February 6, 2017 by Jetboot Jack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 In thinking about.. Atari 400/800 Atari 5200 Atari 130XE Atari 8-bit overall Commodore Vic-20 & C64 Commodore Amiga 1000, 500, and 2000 ..I'd say they are very well represented. I'm rather pleased at how good the final output image looks, and how many peripherals are represented. Not to mention being cycle-exact for most if not all of the target machine. One thing lacking in almost all classic computing emulators is old-school parallel interface Dot Matrix printing. Unusually good, however, is Virtual ][, it covers a Grappler+ interface and an Epson MX-80 printer, "the standards" of the day. It's a paid for emulator for Mac OSX only, so that's effectively makes it null for the majority of users. Do you mean allowing the emulators to interface with parallel devices? (many do, I think) or having printouts that emulate dot-matrix printers on modern printers? I never thought about the latter, but would be useful for old-school apps like Print shop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 I was thinking of having emulators save the dot-matrix output in a ping or PDF file, 8.5 x 11. Then you could do what you want with it. This is essentially the same as outputting to a modern printer Computers today don't come with parallel ports. So you'd need to output to a specialized controller or ask the user to get a USB or PCIe parallel card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyth Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) In terms of accurate emulation, Gameboy is pretty damn spot on, due to Beware's bgb emulator. However, I do also believe that emulation doesn't always have to be "accurate" to the actual architecture, as long as it's functional and enjoyable without emulation related bugs. Obviously, the more accurate, the better. But a lot of stuff is enjoyable to the general public, while remaining "not perfect". I, personally, really enjoy Gamecube emulation, although most games require tweaking to run well enough on my minimal build. Edited February 7, 2017 by Lyth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I was thinking of having emulators save the dot-matrix output in a ping or PDF file, 8.5 x 11. Then you could do what you want with it. This is essentially the same as outputting to a modern printer Computers today don't come with parallel ports. So you'd need to output to a specialized controller or ask the user to get a USB or PCIe parallel card. I think you just need an inexpensive USB -> parallel cable. Today's OSes should still support parallel as a legacy device, so having the emulator support them is cake. In fact many emulators have been in development so long, parallel printers were still common when they started, so they have legacy support as well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Emulator-to-real-printer support is much less widespread than you'd think. There are 2 kinds of USB->Parallel, the cheap kind and the expensive kind. the cheap kind is essentially one way and doesn't handle bi-directional very well, if it all. And the more expensive type handles bi-directional, ecp, epp. Keep in mind the signaling level is touchy on these things. Crappy voltage regulation you know.. You can always get a real parallel port card for PCIe slots, starting at around $80 for a full-featured card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Host OS support is usually the last thing you need to worry about. Actually having the emulator redirect output TO a real printer or file is where the problem lies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 If anyone has a Mac Mini, the old PPC G4 versions, there is a lot you can do with them if your goall is emulators I fired mine up last month to run MorphOS which is a replacement OS for various hardware platforms including the Mac mini . It runs a ton of Amiga software. I was able to play Amiga CD 32 Games with it Only problem with it is that it ain't free. If I was not in possession of a real Amiga, I would buy it because it's not that expensive. Check it out if you have an old G4 Mac mini. There are also very good PPC Mac ports of MAME and many other emulators that work very well on that hardware. The 8 & 16bit computer emulators work particularly well on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Well, it isn't released yet, and I may be a little biased, but I feel Stella 5.0 has/will have the best 2600 emulation upon the next release. For anyone following current development, the TIA core has been rewritten from scratch, and now works in a lot more corner cases and on ROMs that don't work in any other emulator. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHairy Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I am at least as biased as Stephen, but I could not agree more In many corner cases, our new TIA implementation is much closer to real hardware than any other emulator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 I believe the way Stella starts up is good. By that I mean the way it flows from icon click, to list games, to the game itself. It's a rather smooth progression. Add in drag'n'drop, letter search/elimination, in-emulator controls, ability to customize rom parameters, rom start up options, and global options for a 1-2 punch. It all works rather smoothly and quickly. Altirra is also rich and easy to use, no funky custom menus. All straightforward windows dialogs. And it's quite comprehensive with tons of options. If you want to do something, you can do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Id say Stella is by far one the best emulators going around in general especially for 2600 it's all you need. Higan from Byuu is brilliant for Nintendo systems and Fusion is great for Sega Systems, although Steve Snake hasn't updated Fusion for the past 6 years so it would be nice if he could get back into it. I highly doubt he will though it seems he has moved on from Sega development so the next hope is to see what Byuu is going to pull out the hat as he's working on Sega cores for the Higan emulator. If he pulls off accurate Sega emulation then all i will need is 3 emulators for all my needs. Stella, Higan and DOSBOX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptenmaterial Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I'm with you ... especially on the folding GBA SP. Minimalism at its best. I wish could trade the existing ports for a headphone jack and a microUSB or Lightning port, and it would be perfect. You guys have my attention. How does it stack up to the PSP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 You guys have my attention. How does it stack up to the PSP? Poorly. PSP has a better screen and much stronger CPU than GBA SP, and emulator support is much better on a PSP with custom firmware. It's way less cute, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I believe the way Stella starts up is good. By that I mean the way it flows from icon click, to list games, to the game itself. It's a rather smooth progression. Add in drag'n'drop, letter search/elimination, in-emulator controls, ability to customize rom parameters, rom start up options, and global options for a 1-2 punch. It all works rather smoothly and quickly. Altirra is also rich and easy to use, no funky custom menus. All straightforward windows dialogs. And it's quite comprehensive with tons of options. If you want to do something, you can do it. I've been playing with emulation since the 90's. I've run stuff on Macintosh, Windows, iPad, Android, Nintendo Advance, Nintendo DS, Original XBox... I think Altirra underl Windows is the best implementation of an emulator I've seen for any platform on any platform. The attention to detail and the options and the attempt to get as close to the bare hardware as possible (to say nothing of the fact that the author wrote his own BIOS and BASIC versions) is just more than I've seen anywhere else. I don't want to diminish the other emulators out there. There are some really good ones, it's just that Altirra stands out to me. -Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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