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EmulationStation | A pretty UI for launching your games

M

MRORANGE

Member
http://www.emulationstation.org/
(Video)

EmulationStation is an open source front end for launching your gameswithout needing a keyboard, with it's themes and customization you can have a very slick looking front-end for you games. EmulationStation has metadata about games and supports a variety of OS's and devices including the Raspberry Pi.

6mlCYT1.png


Get boxart and info on your favorite games:

VhzW5o3.jpg



Getting started
FAQ


Example of how to get it working with RetroARCH,

You need to link what the console, parth of games and the right core in the es_systems.cfg

find it in C:\Users\USERNAME\.emulationstation

Say if I wanted to have a megadrive collection, I would do this:

Code: 
<systemList>

<system>
		<name>megadrive</name>
		<fullname>Sega Megadrive</fullname>
		<path>~\.emulationstation\roms\megadrive</path>
		<extension>.zip</extension>
		<command>%HOMEPATH%\.emulationstation\systems\retroarch\retroarch.exe -L %HOMEPATH%\.emulationstation\systems\retroarch\libretro\picodrive_libretro.dll "%ROM_RAW%"</command>
		<platform>megadrive</platform>
		<theme>megadrive</theme>	
	</system>

<system>

</systemList>

Just create another <system> tag to define another console.
 
Harlock

Harlock

Member
They need release a troo Retron being only the hardware and original cartridges plugs. No cartridges. You download the emulators cores open source and go. The games rom part would not be open source but everyone has your sins.
 
E

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
Harlock said:
They need release a troo Retron being only the hardware and original cartridges plugs. No cartridges. You download the emulators cores open source and go. The games rom part would not be open source but everyone has your sins.
Click to expand...
What?
 
T

The Llama

Member
There's a REALLY cool looking emulator called OpenEMU for Mac's, cool to see something similarish is coming out for Windows.
 
MilkLizard

MilkLizard

Member
Harlock said:
They need release a troo Retron being only the hardware and original cartridges plugs. No cartridges. You download the emulators cores open source and go. The games rom part would not be open source but everyone has your sins.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate but what the hell are you trying to tell us?
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
Beyond awesome. I've dreamed of something like this since I was a kid. Can't believe it took so long for someone to code something like this. Glad it's finally here. Looking forward to trying it.
 
S

scitek

Member
The setup process for this thing's left me in the dust. I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I feel like an idiot.
 
N

NogibTC

Banned
Recently set up RetroPie on my Raspberry Pi and it features EmulationStation. Pretty slick setup. Though configuring each emulator is a bit of a pain in the ass.
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
scitek said:
The setup process for this thing's left me in the dust. I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I feel like an idiot.
Click to expand...

You need to configure the es_systems.cfg

find it in C:\Users\USERNAME\.emulationstation

example of what I did for Megadrive

Code: 
<systemList>
	<system>
		<name>nes</name>
		<fullname>Sega Megadrive</fullname>
		<path>~\.emulationstation\roms\megadrive</path>
		<extension>.zip</extension>
		<command>%HOMEPATH%\.emulationstation\systems\retroarch\retroarch.exe -L %HOMEPATH%\.emulationstation\systems\retroarch\libretro\fceumm_libretro.dll "%ROM_RAW%"</command>
		<platform>megadrive</platform>
		<theme>megadrive</theme>	
	</system>

</systemList>

Use this for help, make sure you have something to emulate like retroarch first :http://www.emulationstation.org/gettingstarted.html#config
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
Front end looks great, got it to find my files, looking into how to theme each individual console menu, looks like it's just some html for each one.

f8sPikn.jpg
 
I

Ingueferroque

Banned
Ghost_Messiah said:
OpenEmu appears to be superior TBH. Sleeker and simpler visually. I hit the page to download it but didn't see a Windows version. Mac only?
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunately.

MRORANGE said:
You can change the fonts and colours ;)

While OpenEmu is great, this project is great for people who want to have a interface for their TV or other devices.
Click to expand...

Yes, EmulationStation looks to be designed around controlling it with a controller/on a TV. Which is cool. Reminds me of those MAME front-ends.
 
R

Rich!

Member
Had a look, but I'll be sticking with Retroarch. Easy to use, functional and still the best. My current setup:

ibjWB9SJUOLrgi.png


The core-based modular design of Retroarch is far superior to the basic frontend that emulationstation offers.
 
A

Awakened

Member
It's really nice for what it sets out to do, but it's too text reliant for me. HyperSpin's ability to show each game's logo art instead of a boring text list puts it over the top. Plus the main system select wheel is so much more elaborate than any other frontend since you can theme each one.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
richisawesome said:
The core-based modular design of Retroarch is far superior to the basic frontend that emulationstation offers.
Click to expand...

Hmm. So OpenEmu is Mac only. EmulationStation is simply a basic front end that (according to this thread) is difficult to configure and install. I might try Retroarch then. I'd love a decent front end for my emulators but I don't really feel like spending the next hour tinkering with config files just to get it to run; only to then uninstall it afterwards.

I have some free time tonight though so I might try both anyway. With OpenEmu being Mac only Retroarch seems the best so far IMO.
 
P

Pitch Black Flint

Member
Thanks for sharing this! Seems to be just what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the emulator to load. I've got the games listed and scraped but whenever I try to load one the screen flashes and returns to the game list.

I'm using jNES and I've directed the script to its location but it just isn't working for some reason. Here's what I've got if anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong:

Code: 
<systemList>
	<system>
		<name>nes</name>
		<fullname>Nintendo Entertainment System</fullname>
		<path>~/.emulationstation/games/nes</path>
		<extension>.nes .NES</extension>
		<command>~/.emulationstation/emulators/jNES/Jnes.exe</command>
		<platform>nes</platform>
		<theme>nes</theme>
	</system>
</systemList>
 
M

MRORANGE

Member
Pitch Black Flint said:
Thanks for sharing this! Seems to be just what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the emulator to load. I've got the games listed and scraped but whenever I try to load one the screen flashes and returns to the game list.

I'm using jNES and I've directed the script to its location but it just isn't working for some reason. Here's what I've got if anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong:

Code: 
<systemList>
	<system>
		<name>nes</name>
		<fullname>Nintendo Entertainment System</fullname>
		<path>~/.emulationstation/games/nes</path>
		<extension>.nes .NES</extension>
		<command>~/.emulationstation/emulators/jNES/Jnes.exe</command>
		<platform>nes</platform>
		<theme>nes</theme>
	</system>
</systemList>
Click to expand...

You are using unix commands on Windows.

I don't know how to get games loaded on Jnes (I recommend using RetroARCH)) but it should look something like this:

(This will just launch the application, not the game)

Code: 
<systemList>

<system>
		<name>nes</name>
		<fullname>Nintendo Entertainment System</fullname>
		<path>~\.emulationstation\roms\nes</path>
		<extension>.nes .NES .zip</extension>
		<command>%HOMEPATH%\.emulationstation\systems\jnes\jnes.exe "ROM_RAW%</command>
		<platform>nes</platform>
		<theme>nes</theme>	
	</system>

</systemList>
 
P

Pitch Black Flint

Member
Hmm, it seems that everything is right then. The only difference in our code is where my folders are named differently, so I guess I just need to figure out how to load the game directly with jnes. Whenever I try to load the emulator I get the message "'/User/Username' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Pitch Black Flint said:
Hmm, it seems that everything is right then. The only difference in our code is where my folders are named differently, so I guess I just need to figure out how to load the game directly with jnes. Whenever I try to load the emulator I get the message "'/User/Username' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Click to expand...

Hmm try to put the whole command and the paths in quotes.
 
M

Mechanized

Member
Figured it out. One thing to note with Retroarch, I think old versions included the core dlls in the download, now it's a separate download.

This is really slick. The best part is how it configures controls automatically for the emulator.
You may also want to configure a button in Retroarch that exits it, I don't see how to get back to Emulationstation otherwise from inside a game.
 
H

HolyBaikal

Banned
Oh yay, I've been looking for frontends for a long time. I tried HyperSpin, but it was a little bit... well, it would take a little time for me to figure out how to use. I've never quite found a frontend I would like.

Maybe this one will work. It looks pretty.
 
M

Mesoian

Member
I've been looking for something to consolidate all of my emulators, and between this and Hyperspin, the one with the easier configuration wins.

I swear, getting this stuff to work with retroarch is such a headache.
 
me0wish

me0wish

Member
I thought retroarch is a pain to deal with and eventually gave up, but the video I posted made me set up emulationstation in 5 minutes, didn't even watch the whole thing.
 
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