I have been working on and planning a new retro gaming front end for some years and it has just entered the beta testing phase.
The aim of my development of the front end was:
1. Easy to use, effortless install, every system works and no configuration. install and play.
2. Platform for netplay. the cores are locked and everyone on the platform will have the same version of Retroarch(backend) and same ROM dumps so this provides opportunity for effortless netplay. its a helluva thing playing Mario Kart with someone half the world away.
3. Educational and archival reproduction. Roughly 120,000 titles spanning nearly 50 years. The games and software are downloaded on demand from the Internet Archive whom have an exemption to DMCA. Historical educational archival reproduction.
4. An Attempt at introducing Retro Gaming and software emulation to the mainstream.
========================
Retroflix For Windows x64
========================
FOSS(Free and open source software)(Have not pushed source code changes to GitHub yet. will be done in the coming week.)
Features:
On demand download and launching of games and software.
All Consoles work depending on graphics setup. new pc's with intel HD graphics may struggle with 6th generation emulation(Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Wii) and older pc with integrated graphics may struggle on the 5th generation. regardless, no configuration for the systems your pc can emulate. the linked site has a list of the working systems and ones not yet working with more to come.
Retroflix is a fork of Kodi media center front end.
Retroarch is the back end for emulation.
Playnite: is packed in for browsing of library of games already downloaded. upon launching it will scrape box art and meta data and populate the library.
Fightcade 2: client is also packed in with json files that auto download the rom of the lobby you open.(Very slow download because only 1 download thread. recommended you go get a coffee or beer and let it do its thing because minimizing it often results in a partial download..)
Fightcade comes with Final Burn Neo emulator and Flycast Dojo an amazing dreamcast emulator.
Parsec Soda: Parsec Soda is a custom open-source game streaming app that integrates with Parsec API and is focused in Host experience. Parsec is a proprietary desktop capturing application primarily used for playing games through video streaming. Using Parsec, a user can stream video game footage through an Internet connection, allowing one to run a game on one computer but play it remotely through another device. (This works shockingly well considering its done thru Remote Desktop.) Parsec Soda provides a interface for ease of hosting a game and assigning player 2 to spectator/players.
Discord Server accessible from the main menu. launches your default browser and you need not even create an account. choose a username and complete a stupid captcha and it will grant you access to what I hope to become the hub for netplay matchmaking.1 click connect and Discord Rich Presence/announce system under construction.Discord provides a platform for not only group chat but group voice and screen sharing.I am aware that many within the retro gaming communities are hardware purists and despite this I hope to win you over with the platform I have pieced together as at the least a passive alternative. It was developed with the full understanding that downloading and emulating all this great software degrades the value of the experience and my aim is to bridge the gap by developing a sort of interactive encyclopedia/library that anyone with a 64-bit windows pc can experience and enjoy.
Please check it out. I think its really cool and hope you enjoy.
