Smartphone Emulation Thread

[Anonymous No.2027638]

let's discuss emulating retro games on smartphones


the controls are obviously the main problem, since it's otherwise a quite nice experience
playing strategy games (like 'advance wars' or 'pokemon') is perfectly fine though

what's your experience playing retro vidya on your phone?
which games work nicely?

also - what's your opinion on clip-on smartphone gamepads?

in my opinion they miss the point, since you could grab an actual handheld instead.
(although emulation allows for a massive game library)

[Anonymous No.2027682]

GBA Pokémon games are still the best smartphone games you can get, without even being smartphone games

[Anonymous No.2027724]

Yeah, Pokemon games and other turn based rpgs are the only playable games on phone emulators.

[Anonymous No.2027731]

>>2027682
too bad I've played so much pkmn over the years I can't touch them anymore - unless it's a new release or my actual crystal game on my gbc

[Anonymous No.2027775]

I played about 15 hours of Wild Arms on my phone. I think overall I'm not a fan of handhelds so I didn't care for the experience. But yeah outside of JRPGs it's just not worth it.

[Anonymous No.2027919]

>have Nook tablet
>makes for some of the best Gameboy emulation because it's about the same size as the original brick one

[Anonymous No.2027943]

>>2027638
I hear it's extremely popular!

[Anonymous No.2027976]

>>2027943
What does that have to do with this thread?

Fuck off, marketer

[Anonymous No.2027978]

> playing classics on a smartphone

back to /v/, all of you.

[Anonymous No.2027981]

>>2027978
Don't you have a CRT thread to post in, crybaby?

[Anonymous No.2028596]

Why haven't they made a controller that clips onto the phone and folds around it?

[Anonymous No.2028605]

>>2028596
they do. only for iphones though :(

[Anonymous No.2028634]

>you're not playing the way I play so you can't play at all

Sure is autistic in here.

[Anonymous No.2028667]

>>2027978
>he doesn't put his favorite games on every one of his devices that can play them

[Anonymous No.2028738]

>>2027638
I enjoy playing games made for handheld on my cellphone (like GBA and GB), basically to try simulating the portable experience from them, although some of them won't work smoothly because of touch controls (like Metroid games or other sidescrollers that require a good amount of finger work).

On another note (some people here will probably kill me for this and I totally get it, but fuck it) I really like to play NES games on it too. My first home console was a SNES so the hole idea and image of a home videogame is based on it. I only play SNES on my actual console or on a emulator with a proper controller. But with NES, I only started playing games of it with the Classic NES series for the GBA. The screen size and portability just felt right, I thought it would be weird to play on actual tv with those graphics (like the image is getting stretched). Also, most of the games are quite simple, even short sometimes, which is refreshing for a portable game. On the other hand, games focused more on the exploration tend to be longer, but it doesn't concern me. I just take my time and play them whenever I can.

In the case of your image OP, I tend to avoid playing home console games on the cellphone (except NES like I said), for the obvious reasons of controls and the graphics looking better on a tv or computer. But I do play some N64 actually, like Mario Kart, Hexen and some side-scrollers, probably because of some greed feeling I have. You know, I never would have imagined that after a few years I would be able to play N64 games in such small device.

And yes, best games for this kind o gameplay are RPGs/JRPGs, which are mostly what I'm playing now. Looking forward to play Glory of Heracles after I finish FFV.

[Anonymous No.2028749]

Gaming on an smartphone isn't that good, since complex games and emulators are quite taxing on the device and drain the batery faster on a device that already has poor battery life.

[Anonymous No.2029180]

>>2028749
that has no implications for the experience, other than that you might have to recharge the phone more often

which is totally ok, since the battery is there to be used
someone who uses his smartphone and recharges it every night gets more out of it than someone who's trying to preserve battery and only recharges every other night - but doesn't actually use the damn thing (to it's fullest)

>>2027724
>>2028738
Which (J)RPG's would you recommend?

>>2028596
There are some nice ones for android phones as well (although they don't envelop the whole phone) but I think I'd rather grab my PSP than that

I want to be able to play something on my phone without having to carry any other device along with it

[Anonymous No.2029443]

I was able to play Majora's Mask on my phone entirely with touchscreen. I reached the 3rd temple and finished it but eventually I grabbed a controller to beat the swimming minigame.

[Anonymous No.2029446]

>>2027638
>small as shit screen
>your fingers hide 1/3rd of the screen

People have no fucking standard.

[Anonymous No.2029448]

>>2029180

See but the few ones they've made with built in controls usually have a sliding mechanism, which makes finding cases for the things harder.

I think they need to make a case/controller for phones. The trouble being so many phones are so many different sizes, so really they could make a clip on controller that rotates on a hinge around the phone, that way you can use the phone or play games on it

[donmai No.2029458]

I've been emulating on smartphones for a long time and it's pretty decent at times.

I have a question though, I have this emulator called DroidEmu, which is a multi-system emulator (before RetroArch) and most of the systems supprot battery saves except for its NES core, which doesn't. Is there a workaround for this or should I download another emulator or should I go to /vg/ instead and ask this?

[Anonymous No.2029513]

>>2027638
>that aspect ratio
why doesn't anybody ever get it right

it's really not difficult

[Anonymous No.2029538]

>>2027638
>emulating non-RPGs on your phone
enjoy those shit controls.

[Anonymous No.2029568]

>>2029538
I have a blackberry style phone with the keyboard.
Can play NES Mario 3 pretty well.

[Anonymous No.2029679]

>>2029568
nice, I was assuming touch screen phones though since literally nobody but you still has a blackberry.

currently enjoying DQ3 on my phone, previously played FF4 and Chrono Trigger.

[Anonymous No.2030046]

Racing games work nicely too

Try F-Zero (N64 in particular)

[Anonymous No.2030119]

>>2029513
>oh that? I dont mind it man wtf

[Anonymous No.2030286]

>>2030046
second this, wipe out and Gran turismo work well.

[Anonymous No.2030514]

I completed Phantasy Star 4 on an android tablet, using MD.Emu. That was good.

I have attempted Landstalker but the controls is awful. Beside which, I think a lot of people praise this game because of nostalgia goggles. I didn't find the gameplay or music very engaging.

I attempted Secret of Mana using a SNES emulator but gave up after a while. Not sure if I quit because touchscreen controls were frustrating or because the game itself is a bit boring.

likewise with Grandia on FPSXE. At first it was wonderful being immersed in a 32 bit JRPG but after the music and OMG factor wore off, the game was bland and too easy.

Final Fantasy Tactics on "My Boy" emulator is the shit and I'm playing it to death. Best of all has been Phantasy Star 0 on DrasTic DS emulator. But I guess that's not retro so I'll say no more.

i guess what I am getting at in a roundabout way is tablet touchscreen emulation is great, very slick at least for 8bit, 16bit, and Playstation gaming. You can manage action RPGs and some action games ok with just touchscreen controls. You can also plug in standard pc USB controllers using a micro USB adapter when the going gets tough.

[Anonymous No.2030572]

>>2027976
No, U!

U can't deny that lots of people use those for emulation and that they're very well suited for the task!?

[Anonymous No.2030696]

>>2030514
About the SNES, yeah probably because of controls (or not, maybe you just didn't like Secret of Mana). That's exactly why I don't emulate home consoles on my phone, if the controls have too many buttons it can get quite clustered on the screen, making it a frustrating experience.

[Anonymous No.2030715]

DS games that are totally reliant on touch controls work wonders.

For what it's worth, Sonic Chronicles played really well on my Galaxy.

[Anonymous No.2030750]

>>2029180
Can't recommend much, most of them are sitting on my backlog. But I can give the list of it, it's not much, mostly consisting of (J)RPG's or action RPG's.

GB
-Any Pokemon really, they are comfy as fuck to play on phone.
-The Legend of Zelda - Oracle of Ages
-The Legend of Zelda - Oracle of Seasons
-The Legend Zelda - Link's Awakening
-Heracles no Eikou - Ugokidashita Kamigami (Glory of Heracles - The Gods Began to Move)

GBA
-Final Fantasy I and II Advance
-Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
-Final Fantasy V Advance
-Mother 3
-Sword of Mana
-The Legend of Zelda - The Minish Cap

NES
-Chaos World
-Crystalis
-Gargoyle's Quest II
-Heracles no Eikou I - Toujin Makyou Den (The Glory of Heracles - Labors of the Divine Hero)
-Heracles no Eikou II - Titan no Metsubou (The Glory of Heracles II - Titans' Downfall)
-Moryo Senki Madara
-Radia Senki - Reimeihen
-Ys I - Ancient Ys Vanished
-Ys II - Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter

That's it, all the japanese ones I got the translation patch either from http://www.romhacking.net/ or http://agtp.romhack.net/

[Anonymous No.2030848]

>>2027638
>tfw when emulating games on an Xperia Play

[Anonymous No.2030961]

>>2030848
the experia is amazing

[Anonymous No.2030962]

Advance wars 1-2 are good games for smarthphones too.

[Anonymous No.2031809]

>>2030848
>>2030961
too bad that's the only good thing about it

[Anonymous No.2031823]

>>2029679
I needed a temporary phone, so just got a pre-paid one from a supermarket.
$19

There were keyboardless smartphones, but chose the one with keys because I thought it could work for emulation.

[Anonymous No.2031994]

>steal open source emulator code without attribution
>make a shitty port with 20FPS, horrendous audio and half the games previously supported broken
>release AndroStation XL FREE on Google Play with $10 in-app payments to use save cards, save states and higher resolution rendering + anti-aliasing
>buy reviews from a chinese marketing company with "WOW! This is workes! Best Emulator ever!!!!!!! Thumbs up <3 Crash BandieCout!!!"
>send DMCA takedown notices to take down every other emulator

Welcome to the Android emulation scene.

[Anonymous No.2033592]

http://blog.emusilent.net/2014/01/emulatorslist-android-2014/

[Anonymous No.2033617]

>>2031994
That's basically what happens to open-source code on any major platform without well-secured repositories.

[Anonymous No.2033632]

>>2028667
No. Hes right.

>playing classic games on smartphones. die

[Anonymous No.2033646]

I still have an iphone 4 with IOS 5.1.1 and emulate up to PS1 perfectly with Retroarch.

I have a Wii controller which works nicely with NES and GameBoy, but for anything above that I use a classic controller.

I usually have my backpack with me at all times so pocket space isn't an issue. I also have a tv out cable so I can hook it up at a friend's house and have instant mobile gaming. Got into a nice round of WWF Wrestlefest about a week ago with three of my buddies.

[Anonymous No.2033725]

>>2030848
>tfw my Xperia Play is too shit to use
I don't know what phone to use now

Xperia Play is just too perfect

[Anonymous No.2033976]

>>2028738
>although some of them won't work smoothly because of touch controls
yeah i end up only playing RPGs on my phone because of this.
if only there was a cheap way to connect my USB gamepad to my phone...

[Anonymous No.2035575]

>>2030750
>>2030961
>>2033725
>>2030848
Oh thank god, I just got a play since I need a phone for uni and it seemed like a good idea, but the mixed opinions made me question the descision, although I did buy the vita exclusively on the PSOne potential and loves it until it was stolen.

[Anonymous No.2037081]

Xperia Play is a godsend. The only way to go.

[Anonymous No.2037212]

>>2027638
Semi-related: I'm using a smartphone OS on my tablet (Nook Color). The screen set-up in pic related is my preferred type: no buttons blocking the game screen. Turn-based RPGs are generally fine, given the controls. Anything else is problematic. Even some of FFVI's character abilities are problematic. I have to enter Sabin's blitzes as discrete button presses, as simply rotating your thumb around the D-pad won't result in the intended series of directional key inputs.

BTW, I got RetroArch, but none of the emulators supports this screen set-up. As far as I can tell, every single control-pad screen overlay is landscape-only. For all the emulators I've tried in RetroArch, rotating the device from landscape mode into portrait mode results in the game screen correctly rotating and scaling (good) and residing in the upper half of the device screen (better), however the control-pad sceen overlay simply rotates restretches, resulting in major distortion to the control pad (super-skinny buttons; d-pad no longer symmetrical along diagonal axis). Is there a fix to this? I tried every single option, looked through all the control pad overlays, and googled for addiitonal control pad config files, all to no avail.

[Anonymous No.2037230]

>>2031994
I seem remember that 10~15 years ago, emulation was considered highly illegal. I made a posting on IGN forums in the early 00s asking for recommendations/info on emulation of SNES games that I already owned and everyone freaked out about the illegal subject matter and told me to lock the thread, so I locked it but still got quickly banned. Granted, maybe one shitty forum's rules aren't representative of the whole time period, but it was seen as risky just talking about it. Now, you can just go on the Android marketplace and there are emulators not only publicly available on the store listing but also the vendors charge money for them! I would think that if simply providing the emulator is already legally dubious, then making money off of it is definitely illegal.

[Anonymous No.2037621]

>>2037212

What you do is stop using RetroArch and get something like Snes9x EX. Allows you to customize On-screen controls to a ridiculous degree at the expense of being a slightly outdated version of SNES 9x, closed source and not having much filter/shader support.

Also the SNES emulator is the only one of the author's emulators to not cost money so if just an FYI if you have moral objections to that. At least it's not RGUI.

[Anonymous No.2038571]

>>2037212 - me again
never mind, have since managed to solve this issue

[Anonymous No.2039886]

>>2033725
JXD-s5800

[Anonymous No.2039903]

>>2039886
here. I need to add a caveat, however: I had minor issues/complaints until I flashed a custom ROM on it; after that, no worries.

[Anonymous No.2040358]

Get a Power A Moga Pro Controller. I use it and its great and didn't cost much. Solves all input problems you might have on your phone. I've moved most of my gaming to my phone actually, since I play more retro vidya than new vidya. Shits dope.

[Anonymous No.2041608]

i have a 5s and ive never been able to emulate games properly, the ones that I have (all gba games) are maybe 10fps

[Anonymous No.2041621]

Kinda why I have a gameboy.

[Anonymous No.2041692]

>>2037230
Emulators have always been legal. There is no gray area, they were being fucking sold in the 90's but nobody bought them. The forum you were on is just very similar to near every other accountbased forum on the planet, retarded. ROMs are also legal, provided that they were dumped by you yourself. They are illegal if you download them however, but there is no way to prove you did illegal activity without physically inspecting your house, and also nobody gives a shit anyways. Selling licensed opensource code however is illegal, as is selling ROMs without permission (which companies actually do give a shit about, as do many consumers).

[Anonymous No.2041696]

>>2041621
can your gameboy run dreamcast games at 60 fps? can you use whatever controller you like, from wii to atari 2600? why are you even in this thread? to announce that you don't have anything to add to the thread?

[Let's Eat No.2041723]

>>2041692
Bleem sold. Hardware emulators sold. U r wrong l0l

[Anonymous No.2041728]

>>2041692
>ROMs are also legal, provided that they were dumped by you yourself.

Nice myth. Tell me something, do you know what copyright infringement is?

[Anonymous No.2041784]

>>2033646
I'm running on the same phone. I use a wiimote on all the games but I'm limited on what all I can carry on me and the wiimote doesn't have the same amount of buttons as a SNES controller. I was looking at the 8bitdo controller because it looks easy to keep in my pocket. Anyone have experience with one? I'm only emulating SNES on my phone.

[Anonymous No.2041796]

>>2041692
ROMs are illegal no matter what, you moron