What emulators do you use?

[Ⓐaron]

We don't have a recent thread discussing emulation so I'm making one. I used to use SNES9x for the Snes, VBA for Game Boy stuff, and FCEUltra for the NES, but I think I'm going to give BizHawk a try. It covers all those platforms and much, much more, to the point where nearly everything I would want to emulate is covered by it. Seems convenient.

 

[Flintlock]

I'm not fanatical about emulator accuracy. In the past I've used ePSXe, pSX and VBA because they have worked well enough for me. It was only when researching emulators for Chrono Trigger that I read about how big the differences between emulators can be. BizHawk looks like it combines the best emulator cores into one package - it uses the same core as higan, the emulator I recommended for the SNES - which seems like a pretty good idea. The recent releases have only been for Windows, though, which is a shame.

 

[ForceStealer]

Your post definitely demonstrated how behind the times I am on emulators. I haven't used them very much recently, so I mostly have the old staples: ZSNES, Gens, VBA, ePSXe. I also have their equivalents for modded PSP. I also got a Dreamcast emulator once, but I never got it working.

I did most of it in programming class in high school. My friends and I would race through our assignments and just play emulators the rest of the time. Played through every single Genesis Sonic game, pokemon emerald, and others in that class, haha. ZSNES was, truthfully, mostly used to play Gundam Wing: Endless Duel. What a fantastic game .

 

[Lex]

I used to use ZSNES but moved on to SNES9x later.

Would recommend KegaFusion for Sega emulation but used to use Gens.

ePSXe is pretty much unrivalled in terms of what it can do to enhance PS games, but if you're looking for lightweight accuracy pSX is the way to go.

Always used VBA for GB/GBC/GBA games, never had a problem.

Project64 for N64 mainly, think I used another one previously.

Dolphin is a pretty great GC/Wii U emulator, I used that to play through Sonic Colours shortly after it came out.

Dreamcast emulation is a bit of a pain. I've used Chankast and nullDC in the past, both with success. I've forgotten which one I last used to play through SA2. Although IIRC the nicest thing about Chankast is that it has a hack that allows you to play games in true widescreen. So does Dolphin.

PS2 = PCSX2, there's really no alternative.

 

[The G'randiest' Daddy]

I use ePSXe for PS1, PCSX2 for PS2, PPSSPP for PSP.

I also use VBA for GBA/GBC/GB, but since building my new PC it seems like it can't handle the new resources? Not sure if this is possible, or if my version is just a million years old. But it always worked fine, now when I play the same games as I always used to, eg FF Tactics Advanced, it stutters, doesn't register button presses (to the point that it is unworkable with my controller, I HAVE to use my keyboard.), and the graphics are all wonky.

Gonna take a look at this BizHawk thing now too.

EDIT: I also use Project64 for N64.

UPDATE: Liking the Bizhawk so far. Loaded my GBA stuff right, and seems to register the controller better. But what BIOS should I use for PSX?

 

[Splintered]

I rarely emulate. But I have all the typical ones, psx, ePSXe, SNES9x, and Project 64. I always have issues with hooking up controllers with my computer so that kind of breaks some of my enthusiasm for playing the "newer" games.

Will look up Bizhawk now tho.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Bizhawk looks cool, esspecially as that'll be a bunch of older consoles I won't have to worry about finding emulators for now...

For PS1 games I use pSX as whenever I've tried getting ePSXe I get weird results. pSX on the other hand is good enough and is really easy to set up.

 

[Ⓐaron]

Having played through all of Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario World with it, I can recommend BizHawk. Super accurate emulation and easy to use. I doubt I'll need to open another emulator for quite some time.

 

[Lex]

RetroArch is objectively better if you're not filming TAS's (and none of you are) which is what BizHawk is designed for.

It's also multiplatform.

 

[Xelazander]

I tried to get Dolphin cause I wanted to play Super Smash but I kept getting errors when installing it.

 

[Octo]

IIRC I used Vba, snes9x - except for one game I cant remember that I had to use Zsnes for some reason.

And ePSXe and projec64, I remember being amazed that I could get them to work at all.

 

[Lex]

The thing is that if you google errors or setup problems someone has always - in every single case - written up an easy to follow tutorial with FAQ's etc.

The only one I've had problems with is PCSX2, and that's just purely because my motivation to press the issue and actually use it is greatly impacted by the fact that my laptop is so old and shitty that the games look better on an actual PS2 (which I have), so there's no point messing around with it.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I don't actually make TASes, but I like the ability to slow down games. I'm p. sure a lot of other emulators don't have that.

 

[Lex]

RetroArch does. It also has live-rewind

 

[Ⓐaron]

Oh, that's kind of cool. Maybe I'll try it out one of these days.

 

[Fangu]

The only one I've had problems with is PCSX2, and that's just purely because my motivation to press the issue and actually use it is greatly impacted by the fact that my laptop is so old and shitty that the games look better on an actual PS2 (which I have), so there's no point messing around with it.

I managed to run FFXII on my Core 2 Duo / GeForce 8600m gs card during Christmas by fiddling extensively with PCSX2, but it only baaarely runs. But I feel like - because I managed to do that, I have fiddled enough with that software for a veeerrryyyyyy long time. I'd probably rather buy a new computer than do it again

 

[Hisako]

Yeah emulators can get finicky as fuck!

I remember emulating Katamari Damacy back in the day, one of the least graphically intensive games I could think of and it still chugged. Definitely playable, but it chugged.

Then again, it is mostly about the software. Even one title back, FFX is pretty much playable with few issues. And it's amazing how far PSP emulation has come in only a few years.

Wii and NDS emulation I hear is pretty smooth too, and in the case of Dolphin it can even run them in high-definition, which really benefits bigger titles like Xenoblade.

 

[Cthulhu]

I wouldn't mind at all if legal / commercial emulators make a comeback - iirc there was Bleem or Bleep or something way back when? Orite here it is. What if Sony themselves released a legal emulator for PC? I mean it's not like they make the big bucks off of the consoles - it's game licenses, PS+ subscriptions, cuts off of PSN purchases, all that stuff they earn money from. So, if they release a legal PS3/4 compatible (and performant) emulator for PC, they will have extended their potential customer base by a nontrivial amount.

 

[Splintered]

Getting a new emulator is always an experience because it usually is about 24-48 hours of my frustrated tears, misdirected rage, and frantic googling and I still can't get all of my games to play/controllers to work.

Parasite Eve only works on psx and FFVIII only works on psXe. Why? Who the fuck knows. Can only get so far in OoT because some of the buttons on the controllers work and others don't. It does whatever the hell it wants and cares not for puny mortal needs. If I play Chrono Trigger with the music on it will crash randomly. What possible reason could cause that? Because lol.

I figure it's just karmatic justice for ripping these games (even though I did have that at one point in time).

 

[Obsidian Fire]

I've gotten FFVIII to work just fine on pSX... and the SNES version of Chrono Trigger works perfectly on BizHawk for me. The only emulator I've had trouble with is psXe, but since pSX is there... it's was no biggie.

What I have noticed with pSX is that different versions of the BIOS do effect how well the emulator runs. I know I went though a few different BIOS before I found one that ran smoothly.

 

[Octo]

I remember for fucking ages I couldn't get Chrono Trigger to work - or rather it worked but would fuck up after the trial scene. Super frustrating.

I actually have the same problem with FFVI, screws up after the opera scene on VBA- I did google the problem and it turned out it was common but I can't remember what the solution was.

 

[Abortedj]

I had just assumed this was a taboo subject on this forum. Happy to see it isn't.

ZSNES for Super Nintendo. Nestopia for NES. VisualBoyAdvance for the entire Gameboy family (original to advanced). Dosbox for old PC games, feels strange that it is now packaged with a lot of games on Steam and GoG. I used to use some Apple 2 and Commodore 64 emulators, but that has been a while and I forget the names just now.

Never have had any luck getting a PS1 emulator working, but been a long time so perhaps it is time to give it a go again. Never had any interest in a Sega one. Would like an N64, but have never really put in the effort to find one.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

^^I think it's more that no one wants to say where they get their ISOs from, rather then that no one wants to talk about emulating...

 

[Fangu]

BIOs are probably more of a problem than ISOs. Anyway it's always funny when I'm streaming FFXII and people ask me how I manage to play it on my PC. First answer, 'emulating'. Second answer, 'Google PCSX2, PS2 bios and Final Fantasy XII iso, you'll figure out the rest'

Setting up the game with a controller is a lot more pain than finding and installing shit though. If they can't get through that first part by themselves, I'm very unlikely to bother helping them. ("What is a driver?")

 

[Hisako]

BIOs are probably more of a problem than ISOs.

Basically this. Use of ISOs can usually be excused for the purposes of private backups or whatever, but when it comes to the BIOS... I mean, from what I remember, the way an emulator needs to function is that at some part of the process, someone somewhere literally had to sift through the hardware and software of an actual console to extract the BIOS for the purposes of emulating the boot process, right?
Technically it could also be excused for the purposes of creating a "backup", but generally speaking manufacturers really don't like it when people do that to their hardware for a whole host of reasons, and the last time I read up on this stuff, (like the ISO) having possession of a BIOS that came from a console that didn't belong to you is pretty illegal.