One of the best reasons to use it with Retroarch is that it handles this synchro setup for you.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Best NES, SNES and GBA Emulators
- Thread starter SOLDIER
- Start date
Honestly, you all should try the ScaleFX shader man. It's fucking amazing. It's the reason I started using Retroarch atm. Some of the standalone versions for whatever do not support it.
It's better than xBRZ. It really makes these games look amazing. All those wavy jaggies are pretty much gone in old 2D games.
I really wish I could get this to work in the newest SNES9x standalone. I even reported it on their Git. The shader system in SNES9X standalone seems broken to me in some respects.
Visualboyadvance also does not seem to have options for this shader in standalone, so I may just be using retroarch from now on in games.
It's better than xBRZ. It really makes these games look amazing. All those wavy jaggies are pretty much gone in old 2D games.
I really wish I could get this to work in the newest SNES9x standalone. I even reported it on their Git. The shader system in SNES9X standalone seems broken to me in some respects.
Visualboyadvance also does not seem to have options for this shader in standalone, so I may just be using retroarch from now on in games.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I don't really like filters, so the standalone emulators are fine for me.
Can someone tell me what is going on with PSX emulation? Epsxe is what I have been using, but it has its problems and doesn't ever seem to get updated. I tried using Beetle but of course it doesn't seem to be working with my configuration and shader. What is the state of PSX emulation?
I can't even load a file with the Beetle emulator lol.
ScaleFX changed the game for me. It's make these games look like they were damn near animated today.
I can't even load a file with the Beetle emulator lol.
ScaleFX changed the game for me. It's make these games look like they were damn near animated today.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
epsxe hasn't been relevant in like ten years. the devs just reanimated the corpse to make money from mobile versions.
The best emulators for psx are Mednafen and Xebra, neither of which are particularly user friendly. I think beetle is a mednafen core, but I have no idea how up to date it is.
I use Mednafen personally. It's also the best emulator for Sega Saturn & PC Engine.
KojiKnight
Member
Pcsx reloaded supports new features like removing texture warping, so that's my go to when i feel the ps1 urge.
mindatlarge
Member
RetroArch and the many cores (emulators) it supports is a great way to play games as others have pointed out. RetroArch also supports RetroAchievements as well. NES, SNES, Mega Drive and GBA are all supported with achievements.
KojiKnight
Member
How have i not heard about scalefx before now!?
https://filthypants.blogspot.com/2016/03/new-and-updated-shaders.html?m=1
That slope... It's beautiful!
https://filthypants.blogspot.com/2016/03/new-and-updated-shaders.html?m=1
That slope... It's beautiful!
Sir_Crocodile
Member
mindatlarge
Member
It's totally optional. Just an option for those that enjoy adding something a little new to their favorite games.
Horrible.
You dislike Retroarch more cuz of its achievement implement? What. Totally optional.
LinkSlayer64
Member
It's all about the A E S T H E T I C
give me dripping blood hand and flaming window backgrounds lol.
(Nostalgia will make me bring them out, but I don't use them for serious use.)
Sir_Crocodile
Member
The Nesticle author's naming method was uh...something else
OKAY, I am SUPER happy guys.
I just converted my memory card for both visualboyadvance and epsxe over to retroarch without a hassle.
Man, feels good. The only remaining one that is a problem seems to be SNES9X, but I will try to do that later.
ScaleFX is godlike. Makes Aria of Sorrow look almost like it was made today. xBRZ is decent but it just cannot do anything with the wavy jagged lines in those games. It's accuracy is also way off when it comes to small lines and detail.
Same goes for Yoshi's Island. ScaleFX is my new to go filter.
I think I am going to start my very first playthrough of Super Metroid with ScaleFX! I think I will use Higan.
Is there a Higan I should use over the other ones? What are the differences in the Higan versions? I'm using Beetle software because HW would not even load.
I literally almost had an orgasm when my Lunar save loaded up lol.
Yeah dude, I was kinda late to the party too. But holy shit it is amazing. If I could post some pics I would, but just know that every jagged line on a rope, character, et cetera is basically smoothed over and only the faintest hints of small saw tooth jaggies remain.
That comparison is good. A really good one is Yoshi's Island too. And Aria of Sorrow benefits immensely from it. The save statues for instance are terribly wavy, as is Soma's general clothing. It looks really butchered with xBRZ. But with ScaleFX it's very modern looking, very accurate, and it makes the games a lot more immersive IMO.
It is literally a game changer IMHO. It sinks xBRZ into the abyss of nothingness despite that filter being decent.
What are you even talking about? How is that horrible in any way? They have basically found a way to fix all the wavy/jagged edges in text and straight lines in the game with a filter that looks amazing lol. You must like only pixels or something because this filter absolutely is mindblowingly beautiful on large screens.
I like the old school look too at times, but this is a great option for people that want a more modern look.
Pretty sure Beetle has all of this as well does it not?
I'm definitely using all Retroarch in the future when not playing Ishii, PSPPP, or anything super new.
I don't think Retro is viable for Dolphin because of the constant updates and need to tune so many things in that emu. Plus, I don't use filters or shaders not in the actual Ishii product and there is really no need to. PSPPP I will have to check out their core, but I doubt I will use it for that as the standalone version is very very nice. For the others I think I will use it.
My last remaining problem remains my SNES9X saves, and it might be something I cannot fix.
Funyarinpa
Member
Don't know in general, but on Android the best GBA emulator is easily MyBoy.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
What are the saves, sram or savestates?
Nevermind, it appears I have all the srm files working in SNES9X for Retroarch. Wow, what an amazing thing tonight. Got all my saves ported for all the emus I need in this thing.
Retroarch just got a whole lot better for me. And it's like having a modern PS3 UI. Sweet.
Blackpuppy
Member
To each their own of course, but this looks similar to those eagle filters where, yes, all the jaggies are fixed, but the character sprites come out looking really weird. I see Mario and the hat shadow and moustache just merge into one large blob on his neck and his ears have become triangles.
I'm not here to change your opinion, just stating why I would never use this filter. I'm more of an RGB-modded-monitor-look kinda guy.
The slope looks good but what the heck happened to Mario? Whatever that filter is it completely mangled his sprite, he looks like an incoherent formless blob.
Why do you hate RetroArch and why does a completely optional feature make you hate it even more?
Makes no sense, to be honest.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I don't "hate" it, I just dislike it. I find the interface annoying. And it doesn't help that one of the main devs is a turdburger, (which itself isn't a reason not to use it but it sure isn't an impetus). Plus I'd rather be using the most up to date versions of the emulators being used as cores.
As for achievements I find the whole psychology of them disturbing, in a similar - but not identical - fashion that I do for pay2win, but that's not really a subject for this thread.
That simply is not true at all. Mario is nothing but a few pixels in truth. You have very little to work with. When you take each screen and go back to back to analyze what is going on, this filter is actually the best out there. I don't know how people can say he looks like a formless blob. I could say the original looks like a poorly detailed and hacked up bunch of squares, but I respect each visual presentation.
In more objective cases like Yoshi's Island, this filter kicks the living shit out of anything else. Without a filter Yoshi's Island is garbage to me. It tries to approximate a coloring book but comes off as some horribly pixelated mess.
With ScaleFX Yoshi's Island looks like a modern masterpiece. It approximates the art style they were actually trying to make on a dated system. Even filters like xBRZ cannot get rid of all the jagged edges, instead turning them into wavy lines. ScaleFX makes all of that smooth and basically perfects the storybook art style. I would defy anyone to actually play YI with and without ScaleFX and say the latter is better. Hogwash unless you are some ultra purist without a soul.
You can nitpick on character detail, but in the end it is a small price to pay for all the filter actually does to make the entire game look and feel like a modern creation.
In no way whatsoever does an Eagle filter get rid of these jagged edges lol. You need to check out your filters again. This filter goes way beyond an Eagle filter LOL.
Eagle looks like a complete abomination compared to this.
nkarafo
Member
Neither RetroArch or Hyperspin are emulators. Also, you can use RetroArch cores through Hyperspin if you want.
Anyway OP you like fancy frontends with box art, etc, you should not use RetroArch's UI. Just use the RetroArch cores through Hyperspin or Launchbox.
The best emulators for these systems, at the moment, are:
NES - Mesen
SNES - Higan (ex BSNES)
GBA - mGBA
You can't go wrong with BSNES and Nestopia UE RetroArch cores though. I prefer using those personally so i can also use the shaders and other options RetroArch provides.
Anyway OP you like fancy frontends with box art, etc, you should not use RetroArch's UI. Just use the RetroArch cores through Hyperspin or Launchbox.
The best emulators for these systems, at the moment, are:
NES - Mesen
SNES - Higan (ex BSNES)
GBA - mGBA
You can't go wrong with BSNES and Nestopia UE RetroArch cores though. I prefer using those personally so i can also use the shaders and other options RetroArch provides.
Why is mGBA better than visualboyadvance?
Sir_Crocodile
Member
It's far and away the most accurate gba emulator there is. Only one that comes close is higan.
HitCtrlAltDel
Member
It is worth the few minutes to learn how to use it. Not too difficult, but not super easy either.
This is wrong. No one should use anything but higan or a BSNES core if they have a reasonable PC. SNES9x should only be used in Pi setups. mGBA is newer to the scene and most accurate. VBA Next is based on an old not accurate emulator.
This is correct and best in RetroArch.
And any input latency for nestopia is greatly reduced when used in RetroArch.
nkarafo
Member
Accuracy. And in the later versions compatibility as well.
Is it compatible with my saves from the other one?
Will Higan take my SRM saves from SNES9X?
The newest version of SNES9X is actually really good anyway and the same guy has made enhancements to it even recently so I'm not too worried there.
nkarafo
Member
The other one being VBA i assume?
I'm not sure but if not, there has to be a converter to make your saves compatible. I use a similar converter to link saves in Mupen + PJ64. Same with SNES, i'm pretty sure i did use the same saves through different emulators.
Just tried it out. Wow, that emu seems really fast and responsive. My Aria save worked perfectly! Thanks.
Blackpuppy
Member
Thatsjustlikeyouropinionman.gif
tomwhite2004
Member
Actually the biggest recent updates to snes9x involved copying the code that Higan uses as it's open source. Honestly no reason to use snes9x unless your pc is absolutely ancient, most people should have zero issues running the bsnes balanced core in retroarch.
As long as it supports my saves I will do that.
Okay, so I just booted up BSNES and it works with my save game. Which core do I use?
Should I use the Mercury accuracy variant? I have a strong computer.
I'm gonna try Mercury balanced.
Yeah, it's an opinion born from hours of analysis at least instead of some knee jerk reaction born from no actual experience and a far less open mind. I enjoy both modes. But I enjoy ScaleFX much more all told than some pixelated approximation of the art.
There are times when I do like pixels, but not on large screens and not with mario.
I've been looking for years for a good filter on large screens. And ScaleFX is the first one that legitimately looks amazing in most scenarios. Character detail only goes so far as the pixels will take it. It is something that you get used to. It's not perfect, but I don't think it is bad either.
And things like backgrounds and objects are so massively improved it more than makes up for it.
That isn't to say it's better in all cases, or that everyone will enjoy it. For games like Yoshi's Island there is no way in hell you could ever convince me unfiltered or even a CRT approximation looks better than ScaleFX. Kinda hard to argue if you haven't played and seen both of them in action though.
tomwhite2004
Member
Wrong way round imho. ScaleFX is an approximation of the art being algorithm based, sharp pixels is as drawn by the artist and as intended. Why don't you use one of the many crt shaders to mimic how this stuff really looked or even just a simple bilinear filter if you are that opposed to the sharp edges?
tomwhite2004
Member
Mercury is a hack job, use bsnes balanced. Small tip, turn on hard gpu sync and set it to "0" and make sure you are in windowless full screen to reduce input lag.
I use bilinear with ScaleFX.
What I should have said is in their mind, their vision. YI is a game with a clear color book vision where pixels do not fit into that vision. They were necessary, but IMO totally collide with the art style and keep it from being timeless. Their sketch art did not have pixels in it.
Now other games look great with pixels even on large screens. Yoshi's Island looks absolutely terrible unfiltered, a bit better with CRT filters, but still nothing even close to as beautiful as ScaleFX.
As far as getting rid of jaggies, I don't think you realize what bilinear is capable of, because it has nothing to do with ridding the game of major jaggies.
Look at the text on Super Mario World in that image. Look how jaggy that is. Everything in every game is that jaggy if it uses straight lines. A bilinear filter will do nothing to fix that. All it does is give some things a more rounded look, which is nice I use that too along with ScaleFX, but in no way will a CRT filter or bilinear do what you see in that image.
Do you guys actually play these games, or have you actually tried these filters lol?
I mean I can post some links to comparisons for Yoshi's Island in a bit here. The difference is fairly staggering.
I'm not saying a perfect CRT look is bad or anything, but unfiltered looks totally gross to me on large screens where there are a lot of wavy lines and rounded objects. Mario games have tons of them.
It's a hack job? Okay, I guess I will use the other one then. Is there some kind of massive input lag in BSNES? I have never heard of retroarch accepting any hack job emus but I don't know. I know it was a fork, so maybe I will just use BSNES balanced.
tomwhite2004
Member
Yeah it uses a ton of hacks to remove various parts of the code to reduce cpu load. I know the higan dev byuu was and is still furious that retroarch included it.
All emulators have inherent input lag, the main benefit of using retroarch is that it has a ton or lag reduction features that the stand alone emulators do not.
Blackpuppy
Member
Look, I think that's great that you've found a way to enjoy these games with a filter that you love. I've seen the examples, I looked at a few videos and yes, they look "smooth" and if that's what you're after, that's great. But it's not for everyone.
The issue is that you're getting really defensive using words like "objectively" as to say: you MUST love Yoshi's Island with this filter or you're an old "purist" as if that's a bad thing.
I like my snes games with a light CRT filter - nothing too extreme - and in 4:3. I prefer to have the optimal vintage look because that's how I grew up playing them.
Some like nearest neighbor in a pixel perfect aspect ratio. They love the individual pixels and want each of them to be a perfect shaped square on their screen.
You like ScaleFX because you want smooth gradients.
But there's no need to get all worked up and bash everyone else. I think we can all express our opinions, give our reasons why and do so in a civilized manner.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
So people want both accuracy and graphics-altering filters? Makes no sense at all to me...
gingerbeardman
Member
The interface is highly customizable. You can use a variety of menu styles or get rid of it altogether by using another frontend. LaunchBox and BigBox work particularly great, depending on what you want them for. As for using emulators as standalone applications or cores, that's up to personal preference. Cores can be easily updated within RetroArch, though.
I didn't know about Squarepushed's comments. To be honest, I didn't even know he was a dev for Libretro. Even though what he said is deplorable, I'm not ready to condemn a whole project for the words of one individual. RetroArch is a collaborative effort and I'm sure that his ideas are not part of the group's philosophy. If it were the case, though, I wouldn't support it.