[EMUS] Emulators - what are your favorites?

[Draco1962]

As I am just getting started, I am finding it a bit overwhelming identifying which emulators I want to use with GameEx. I have checked various forums to try to determine which ones are actively supported, are not a major pain to configure and use, and are the most true to the original system. So far, I have enjoyed a bit of success with MAMEUI64 and Project 64. I see there are others (such as MESS) which are alleged to support a multitude of consoles, but I have yet to explore it. My concern is the fidelity to the original system it is emulating and ease of setup and maintenance. Can one program do it all and do it well?

That is why I decided to start this topic so that GameEx users of all levels of experience can share with others their favorites, issues they have encountered, and how they resolved them. I know that some of there will probably be some references to other threads, but that is OK.

[Brian Hoffman]

As I am just getting started, I am finding it a bit overwhelming identifying which emulators I want to use with GameEx. I have checked various forums to try to determine which ones are actively supported, are not a major pain to configure and use, and are the most true to the original system. So far, I have enjoyed a bit of success with MAMEUI64 and Project 64. I see there are others (such as MESS) which are alleged to support a multitude of consoles, but I have yet to explore it. My concern is the fidelity to the original system it is emulating and ease of setup and maintenance. Can one program do it all and do it well?

THat is why I decided to start this topic so that GameEx users of all levels of experience can share with others their favorites, issues they have encountered, and how they resolved them. I know that some of there will probably be some references to other threads, but that is OK.

These topics come up fairly often, there are a few threads here regarding this exact topic. If an effort to stay up to date here is a list off the top of my head. Please keep in mind the Gameex setup wizard can download 99 percent of the mentioned emulators and import the gameex configs.

SO without any more delay.

Atari 2600- Stella

Atari 5200- Mess

Atari Lynx- Handy

NES- Nestopia

Super NES- Zsnes

Sega Genesis (megadrive)- Fusion

Sega CD - Fusion

Sega 32x- Fusion

Sega Gamegear- Fusion

Sega Dreamcast- NullDC verion 1.04

Sega naomi- Makaron

Atomiswave- Demul

Nintendo Gameboy- VBA (visualboy advance)

Nintendo Gameboy Color- VBA (visualboy advance)

Nintendo Gameboy advance- VBA (visualboy advance)

Nintendo Gamecube- Dolphin

Nintendo Wii- Dolphin

Nintendo DS- No$gba

Intellivision- Bliss (I think)

Neogeo pocket- Neopop

ARCADE GAMES- MAME

Sony Playstation- PSx

Sony Playstation 2- PCSX2

Nintendo 64- Project64

[DJ Infinity]

Here's My 2 cents. Mind you this is what I play mostly

MAME (64 Bit)

Daphne

ZSNES

VirtuaNES

Kega Fusion

Project 64

SSF

NullDC

MESS

bgb

ePSXe

Psx

Pcsx2

FreeDO (Even tho it doesn't have built in joypad support)

I have others configured but haven't got to them yet.

Old School ones I lost but enjoyed in the past

Nesticle

Callus

System 16

KIAME

NeoRageX

JAS-Sys1 (Just downloaded again!) gonna try that one in DOSBox!

That's all I can think of ATM might edit and add more once memory comes back

[fRequEnCy]

Can also click on my signature. I have a list that will be frequently updated with suggested emulators for that system and their command-line. Best place to look is emulator sites since that's what their dedicated to. Lots of them out there with emulators that have been voted on and tested by the emulation community. I would start there first.

[Draco1962]

Can also click on my signature. I have a list that will be frequently updated with suggested emulators for that system and their command-line. Best place to look is emulator sites since that's what their dedicated to. Lots of them out there with emulators that have been voted on and tested by the emulation community. I would start there first.

That is a pretty good list to start from. I am sure a lot depends on what you want to emulate. I have a few friends that collect games just to say they have them - I seriously doubt they have played many in their collection. I found myself in a similar mindframe, but since I already own two console games (Original Xbox and 360) and a ton of PC games dating back to DOS 6/Win 95, I find myself debating whether or not I want to stick with just Arcade or a mix. Ultimately, I would like to build a cab (so Arcade - MAME, Daphne, CPS & Neo-Geo will most likely be the focus there) and will likely begin weeding out my collection before I am done. I am also considering an HTPC/NAS project where I can see emulating the older & popular consoles from one machine would work well, along with jukebox and movies stores, but this will be much later as I need to get the game cab bug out of my system if nothing more than to say I finally did it!

I definitely appreciate the feedback and honesty found here - the GameEx community is one of the most helpful and mature around. I won't name names or sites, but there are some that seem to encourage the feverish fanboy types with little interest in helping us noobs grow in our understanding and support of a quality program.

[wahoo]

As I am just getting started, I am finding it a bit overwhelming identifying which emulators I want to use with GameEx. I have checked various forums to try to determine which ones are actively supported, are not a major pain to configure and use, and are the most true to the original system. So far, I have enjoyed a bit of success with MAMEUI64 and Project 64. I see there are others (such as MESS) which are alleged to support a multitude of consoles, but I have yet to explore it. My concern is the fidelity to the original system it is emulating and ease of setup and maintenance. Can one program do it all and do it well?

That is why I decided to start this topic so that GameEx users of all levels of experience can share with others their favorites, issues they have encountered, and how they resolved them. I know that some of there will probably be some references to other threads, but that is OK.

Using emulators that support multiple systems such as MESS, Mednafen and Fusion is nice for things like setting up controllers as you can set them up across multiple systems using similar processes. Here are some I can recommend:

blueMSX:Microsoft MSX

blueMSX:Microsoft MSX 2

CCS64:Commodore - 64

Daphne:Laserdisc

FCE Ultra :Nintendo NES

FreeDo:Panasonic 3DO

Fusion:Sega 32x

Fusion:Sega CD

Fusion:Sega Genesis

Fusion:Sega Master System

Fusion:Sega SG-1000

Fusion:Sega Game Gear

geepee32:GamePark - GP32

Jum52:Atari 5200

jzintv:Mattel Intellivision

MAMEUI32:MAME

Mednafen:NEC PC-FX

Mednafen:NEC SuperGrafx

Mednafen:NEC TurboGrafx 16

Mednafen:NEC TurboGrafx CD

Mednafen:Nintendo Famicom Disk System

Mednafen:Atari Lynx

Mednafen:Bandai Wonderswan

Mednafen:Bandai Wonderswan Color

Mednafen:Nintendo GameBoy

Mednafen:Nintendo GameBoy Advance

Mednafen:Nintendo GameBoy Color

Mednafen:SNK Neo-Geo Pocket

Mednafen:SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Color

MESS:Atari 7800

MESS:Bally Astrocade

MESS:Coleco Vision

MESS:Emerson Arcadia 2001

MESS:Fairchild Channel F

MESS:GCE Vectrex

MESS:RCA Studio II

MESS:Entex Adventure Vision

MESS:Hartung Game Master

MESS:Watara Supervision

MESS:Atari 8 Bit

NeoRAGE:SNK Neo-Geo AES

NeoRAINE:SNK Neo-Geo CD

NullDC:Sega Dreamcast

O2EM:Magnavox Odyssey 2

O2EM:Philips - Videopac+

Project 64:Nintendo N64

Project Tempest:Atari Jaguar

Project Tempest:Atari Jaguar CD

psx:Sony Playstation

Reality Boy :Nintendo Virtual Boy

Sim Coupe:SAM Coupe

SSF:Sega Saturn

Stella:Atari 2600

UNZ:Fujitsu FM-Towns Marty

Winape:Amstrad CPC

WinUAE:Amiga CD32

WinUAE:Commodore CDTV

WinUAE:Commodore Amiga

WinVice:Commodore - VIC-20

ZSNES Windows :Nintendo SNES

[Draco1962]

What about for pinball? I know of the three - Future Pinball, Visual PinMAME, and Visual Pinball. Which is the best for ease of setup and use, GameEx compatibility, and realism?

[wahoo]

What about for pinball? I know of the three - Future Pinball, Visual PinMAME, and Visual Pinball. Which is the best for ease of setup and use, GameEx compatibility, and realism?

There are really two: Future Pinball and the second is Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball which are used together. Both work well with GameEx. Future Pinball is a little easier to configure and looks a little better. There are more tables for Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball and most of those look very nice as well. Future Pinball and Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball do not have the same tables so in the end you may want to use both Future Pinball and Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball. You could use an emulation group to combine them into a single "Pinball" entry under "Emulated Games" list.

[Draco1962]

There are really two: Future Pinball and the second is Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball which are used together. Both work well with GameEx. Future Pinball is a little easier to configure and looks a little better. There are more tables for Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball and most of those look very nice as well. Future Pinball and Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball do not have the same tables so in the end you may want to use both Future Pinball and Visual PinMAME/Visual Pinball. You could use an emulation group to combine them into a single "Pinball" entry under "Emulated Games" list.

Thanks for the clarification on the Visual PinMAME/Pinball. I have been looking at the site for both and they both boast quite a following! I must admit that pinball was my first love (first available long before the arcade games of my teens). I have seen some where people have actually dedicated a widescreen TC as the play field for the pinball machine being emulated with a smaller LCD screen as the scoreboard. I don't know that I wil go quite that far (unless I win a big lottery) but maybe a dedicated cab with an LCD laid out vertically somewhere the future.