RetroArch coming to Steam this month – July 30

Libretro Team

RetroArch will be releasing on Steam on July 30, 2019!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118310/RetroArch/

Read our release announcement here –

So RetroArch is finally coming to Steam two weeks from now!

RetroArch is the official reference frontend of the popular Libretro API. While there is nothing particularly about RetroArch or the Libretro API that has anything to do with emulators, most do it use it for this purpose.

We want to grow our base and as of this month we have been putting a heavy focus into making sure that RetroArch can run originally bought content on game discs. There are further announcements to follow in the coming weeks, and we are open to dialogue with game developers/publishers that have the rights to original IP who want to bring their games over to Steam through the use of RetroArch.

Do note that RetroArch is an agnostic frontend/backend application that can be used to run modular programs. As such, it can run real games, media engines, and emulators, as long as these programs are converted/ported into modular pieces of software known as ‘Libretro cores’.

So, without further ado, here’s the details on our initial release:

  • Free.
  • Windows version first, Linux and macOS versions will release later. We’re a bit wary of the support burden that will come with a much wider audience, so we want to do the Windows version first to make sure we can handle the demand.
  • At the beginning, there will not be any difference between the version you can get on Steam and the one available on our own website. As such, no Steamworks SDK functionality will be present at launch or any additional Steam features. However, after the initial launch, we will begin exploring options on how we can start leveraging Steam’s functionality as a platform.
  • Release date will be approximately 30th of July.

RetroArch as a program serves as the fundamental backbone of many retro gaming machines out there in the wild. Even when it is not deliberately namechecked, chances are it’s running in the backend of said retro program. Same goes for its sister project Libretro. For instance, several programs available on Steam already, such as Grid Cartographer, and New Retro Arcade, integrate Libretro support to allow you to run the software that has been ported to the Libretro API. As for Libretro, this API is being leveraged by several retro gaming companies right now to serve as the backbone of their retro emulation services. Given all this interest and burgeoning activity, we feel now is the time to finally bring the official Libretro frontend to Steam. RetroArch is truly in a class of its own on a technical level when it comes to latency, shader features, and now soon-to-be disc loading and disc dumping. We can’t wait to bring you complete control over your retro gaming library coming this summer on Steam!

RetroArch – In Development – Touchscreen Lightgun for iOS/Android (iPhone XS Max shown)

Libretro Team

With the upcoming new RetroArch version, it will be possible to use your fingers as a lightgun on iOS and Android. Not only that, but it supports multi-touch too! (iPhone XS Max shown in this video)

What you see here in this video is a demonstration of all the cores that include support for this new feature. The device being used here is an iPhone XS Max, and it’s plenty powerful enough to even run the likes of Mednafen/Beetle Saturn!

Here is a list of the cores so far that support this (along with the systems they support) –

  • NES/Famicom (FCEUmm)
  • Super Nintendo/Super Famicom (Snes9x)
  • Sega Master System (Genesis Plus GX)
  • Sega Megadrive/Genesis (Genesis Plus GX)
  • Sony Playstation (Mednafen/Beetle PSX)
  • Sega Saturn (Mednafen/Beetle Saturn)
  • Arcade (MAME)

RetroArch Disc Project – Disc dumping to internal storage now possible!

Libretro Team

We’ve written about the RetroArch Disc Project some time ago. To refreshen your memory, we want to make it possible to play physical optical discs with RetroArch.

It is our full intent to ship an initial beta version of this in a future version of RetroArch (maybe the next one?).

So far, we have added CDROM support for the following systems:

  • PlayStation1
  • Sega CD
  • Sega Saturn
  • 3DO

Disc dumping

We’ve now added disc dumping as well! Go to the Main Menu, go to ‘Load Disc’. If you have more than one physical drive, you’ll see several disc drives. If no disk drives are detected, it will show nothing here.

Assuming you have a disc already inserted, select the disc drive menu entry and it should now start dumping your inserted media disc to RetroArch’s internal storage. During this time, you can go do something else while you wait for it to load. For instance, you can go load another core/game and just play it while waiting for the menu widget to finish.

By default right now, RetroArch will store all dumped CDROM images to the ‘Downloads’ directory of RetroArch. There might be more options for this coming up soon in the  near future.

Disc images are dumped in bin/cue format. Most of the dumped images work generally very well, but games which rely a lot on redbook audio might still have some random issues

RetroArch Netplay – FlyCast – Dreamcast Online Multiplayer gaming! Now with Windows CE support!

Libretro Team

Flycast is an amazing Dreamcast emulator that is perhaps unique for having true zero-configuration online multiplayer capabilities! Flycast WinCE has recently gained support for zero-configuration online connectivity as well, but in this video we will first teach you how to input your ISP settings (most Dreamcast games that supported online multiplayer will require that you have set this up in at least one game once).

In this video (the first of a new series dedicated to online multiplayer gaming with RetroArch), we walk you through how to setup the ‘fake’ ISP online settings that allows you to connect to unofficial Dreamcast servers for the purpose of being able to netplay against other players in online multiplayer-enabled Dreamcast games. Note that Quake III Arena, NFL 2K2 and 4×4 Evolution are some of the only games that allow you to input these ISP settings inside the game itself.

Note also that all the settings you input can be bogus, but make sure the phone number is at least a fictitious 7-digit phone number. It can literally be ‘1234567’ for all we care here.

The online multiplayer is truly cross platform – you can play against other users that are using the standalone Flycast emulator instead of the Libretro core inside RetroArch, but you can even play against people playing with their real Dreamcasts (if they happen to use the same service). To learn more about Dreamcast Live, go to their website <a href=”https://www.dreamcastlive.net/connection-guide”>here</a>.

NOTE: Some games like Starlancer (Windows CE-based game) might require you to input Dial Account 2 as well inside ISP settings. In this video, you only see us setting up Dial Account 1.

Play! Libretro core (PlayStation2 emulator) ready for download on the Libretro/RetroArch buildbot!

Libretro Team

So without further ado, upstream versions of Play!, the PlayStation2 emulator, are finally rolling out on the buildbot today!

Currently, the core is available and has been confirmed to run on:

  • Windows (64bit and 32bit)
  • Linux (64bit and 32bit)
  • Android

How to download it

Inside the main menu, go to ‘Online Updater’.

You might want to make sure first you have the latest info files by selecting ‘Update Core Info Files’ first.

From here, go to Core Updater.

Scroll down until you have found ‘Sony – PlayStation 2 (Play!)’. Download it. Go back to ‘Load Core’, and load it. Now go load a backup image file with it.

NOTE: Play! does not require any BIOS for you to dump, it uses its own HLE (High Level Emulation) BIOS.

What is Play! ?

Play! is a Work In Progress PlayStation2 emulator. Thanks to the great efforts of Zer0xFF, who took three days out of his busy schedule to port the emulator to the libretro API, we can start rolling out this emulator to our buildbot soon!

It must be stressed that Play! is a Work In Progress PS2 emulator, and we mean that literally. Don’t expect every game to run perfectly, far from it. However, it has a solid foundation and already has working dynamic recompilers for all the popular architectures, its value which cannot be understated. The libretro core also already has working savestate support.

System requirements

This core will require OpenGL on the desktop and OpenGL ES3 on mobile devices.

Your system should currently be as powerful as possible in order to get the best possible results. As time improves, system requirements will probably reduce.

Game compatibility is entirely dependent on the state of the upstream #Play! emulator. So as Play! improves, so too will the libretro core!

Help PlayStation2 emulation get better by supporting Play!

#Libretro is currently a Patreon backer of the Play! project, and we are very grateful to Zer0xFF from the Play! project for getting this port up and running in less than 3 days! Good open source PlayStation2 emulation deserves to get more funding, and we are happy to do our part. We hope you will as well!

Example video – running on RetroArch Android on a Samsung Galaxy S10+

Some example videos