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Retro EMULATORS for Xbox Series X|S / One - Download Links, NO MODDING, NO DEV-MODE

Calverz

Member
I had this issue as well. I followed one of the videos in the OP and it recommended going to video settings and setting “Force resolution on UWP” to ON. It took me a while but I‘m pretty sure this is the issue and it doesnt need to be changed for this version of retroarch/dolphin. It should be set to OFF. If you can somehow load that zoomed-in config file and navigate to this setting you can change it, otherwise it might be easier to create a new one with just the d3d11/12 setting changed. That’s been working fine for me with Windwaker and Mario Strikers.
Ah ok. I’m still getting the issue. It’s driving me crazy because I hve to create a new config file each time. Also every time I close content, while running dolphin game, retroarch crashes.
 

nkarafo

Member
Because it is small. The 0.139 I would have to trim down a lot. But it is not just new games, the same ones will have different roms build?
As MAME gets updated, not only it adds new games but it fixes older ones. Just recently they fixed Contra and now behaves like the arcade (some levels were too easy before the fix).

You are not going to get the fix in 0.78 or 0.139. The fix was introduced in 0.232. So you need MAME 0.232 or newer.

Romsets also get updated/change, which is why it's so bothersome to update MAME. The bigger the version gap between roms/emulator, the more games won't work. If you use MAME 0.233 with a decade old romset like 0.139 you should expect that half of the games might not even load. So you need the emulator and roms to be as close as possible. Ideally, you want them to be the same version obviously.

The thing is that both 0.78 or 0.139 are severely outdated. There have been tons of fixes in older games since then, especially sound wise. The only reason to use them would be performance but the Series X is a capable machine. It's not a raspberry. So why not take advantage of it's power and have a more accurate emulation experience?

Sure, newer romsets can be huge (0.233 arcade set is 60+ GB without the CHDs). MAME was also fused with MESS in 2015 and now also has a big sofware list romset but you should avoid that. Just focus on the arcade romset and the bios files. Then trim it down to fit where you want.
 

Neo_GAF

Banned
in hope someone can answer me this really quick:
how good is dreamcast, saturn and ps2 emulation on an xbox one x?
i dont have any clue about emulation, the last time i used emulation was almost 10years ago, and ps2,dc and saturn emulation were pretty shit or you needed a beefy pc.

i couldnt find any quick answer to those.
i would love to replay some old shmups without much of an hassle on my hd-screen.

oh and will there be any problem with ms/my account if use this on my xbox?
 
I still can’t get neo geo games to work and I’m at a loss as to why. Can someone give me a quick bullet list of what I need to do? I’ve tried getting the full latest romset for mame 0.233. I have the neogeo.zip file in the same dir as my roms. I tried A bunch of different mame and fb cores but nothing works. Do I need to unsip the neo geo zip? Should it be in a particular folder inside system?
 

TLZ

Banned
Ah ok. I’m still getting the issue. It’s driving me crazy because I hve to create a new config file each time. Also every time I close content, while running dolphin game, retroarch crashes.
Yea. We need the latest nightly builds for dolphin and Pcsx2 to avoid this. I tried copying them over but it didn't work. If I knew how to compile executables I would put the latest cores and done it.
 

kurisu_1974

is on perm warning for being a low level troll
I still can’t get neo geo games to work and I’m at a loss as to why. Can someone give me a quick bullet list of what I need to do? I’ve tried getting the full latest romset for mame 0.233. I have the neogeo.zip file in the same dir as my roms. I tried A bunch of different mame and fb cores but nothing works. Do I need to unsip the neo geo zip? Should it be in a particular folder inside system?

I don't really use MAME (I do use MESS though, for FM Towns and CDI) but Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD are working fine with FinalBurn Neo on RetroArch.
 
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01011001

Banned
in hope someone can answer me this really quick:
how good is dreamcast, saturn and ps2 emulation on an xbox one x?
i dont have any clue about emulation, the last time i used emulation was almost 10years ago, and ps2,dc and saturn emulation were pretty shit or you needed a beefy pc.

i couldnt find any quick answer to those.
i would love to replay some old shmups without much of an hassle on my hd-screen.

oh and will there be any problem with ms/my account if use this on my xbox?

Dreamcast runs decently
Saturn should run alright as well
PS2 will give you major issues

for PS2, Wii and GameCube you will need at least a Series S to run games at full speed. on One X you might be able to play stuff like Persona 4 at a decent enough framerate for it to be bearable, but that's about the limit.

Dreamcast will vary depending on game as well. I personally only tested 1 game on a base Xbox One, which was Marvel vs Capcom 2. that ran at full speed, no issues at all.

the issue really comes down to the CPU in the Xbox One systems. while the One X has a slightly beefed up version of the Jaguar cpu, it still is pretty shit all things considered.
 
in hope someone can answer me this really quick:
how good is dreamcast, saturn and ps2 emulation on an xbox one x?
i dont have any clue about emulation, the last time i used emulation was almost 10years ago, and ps2,dc and saturn emulation were pretty shit or you needed a beefy pc.

i couldnt find any quick answer to those.
i would love to replay some old shmups without much of an hassle on my hd-screen.

oh and will there be any problem with ms/my account if use this on my xbox?
im still on one x, dont bother with ps2 or dreamcast it is unplayable the games i tried, ps1 was fine
 

Neo_GAF

Banned
im still on one x, dont bother with ps2 or dreamcast it is unplayable the games i tried, ps1 was fine
thanks a bunch.
basically, this is the only thing i would love to play.
i have a mac, and openemu is a godsend, but ps2/dc are still not included.
i dont get it why it is still impossible to have proper emulation of those two systems-.-
 

Esppiral

Member
Anyone knows why when I record clips there is no audio at all? I was recording some footage to show how good and improved the PS2 core is but the videos have no soundalso has anyone succeed running ghost hunter? It gets stuck loading.
 
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Calverz

Member
Anyone knows why when I record clips there is no audio at all? I was recording some footage to show how good and improved the PS2 core is but the videos have no soundalso has anyone succeed running ghost hunter? It gets stuck loading.
Do u mean with the Xbox capture button? Iv recorded gamecube gameplay this way fine. Not tried ps2 though
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
Thanks to the OP for this been tinkering around with for the last few days with mixed success (that's half the fun for me, getting it to work)
Anyway I just thought, I have some imported Japanese Ps2 games I bought back in the day. Could I put the disc in to my Series X and load these games via Retroarch. These games are packed away down my shed at the moment so I ain't going down tonight.
It really would make me piss myself with laughter if I could load these discs on my Series X and not on my 60gb PS3 without modding (as far as I know )
 

Calverz

Member
Thanks to the OP for this been tinkering around with for the last few days with mixed success (that's half the fun for me, getting it to work)
Anyway I just thought, I have some imported Japanese Ps2 games I bought back in the day. Could I put the disc in to my Series X and load these games via Retroarch. These games are packed away down my shed at the moment so I ain't going down tonight.
It really would make me piss myself with laughter if I could load these discs on my Series X and not on my 60gb PS3 without modding (as far as I know )
I don’t believe so but would be happy to be corrected on this
 

01011001

Banned
Thanks to the OP for this been tinkering around with for the last few days with mixed success (that's half the fun for me, getting it to work)
Anyway I just thought, I have some imported Japanese Ps2 games I bought back in the day. Could I put the disc in to my Series X and load these games via Retroarch. These games are packed away down my shed at the moment so I ain't going down tonight.
It really would make me piss myself with laughter if I could load these discs on my Series X and not on my 60gb PS3 without modding (as far as I know )

no pretty sure you can't load off of disc. if you have a disc drive on your PC you can of course rip them there and then transfer across.
 

Harlock

Member
As MAME gets updated, not only it adds new games but it fixes older ones. Just recently they fixed Contra and now behaves like the arcade (some levels were too easy before the fix).

You are not going to get the fix in 0.78 or 0.139. The fix was introduced in 0.232. So you need MAME 0.232 or newer.

Romsets also get updated/change, which is why it's so bothersome to update MAME. The bigger the version gap between roms/emulator, the more games won't work. If you use MAME 0.233 with a decade old romset like 0.139 you should expect that half of the games might not even load. So you need the emulator and roms to be as close as possible. Ideally, you want them to be the same version obviously.

The thing is that both 0.78 or 0.139 are severely outdated. There have been tons of fixes in older games since then, especially sound wise. The only reason to use them would be performance but the Series X is a capable machine. It's not a raspberry. So why not take advantage of it's power and have a more accurate emulation experience?

Sure, newer romsets can be huge (0.233 arcade set is 60+ GB without the CHDs). MAME was also fused with MESS in 2015 and now also has a big sofware list romset but you should avoid that. Just focus on the arcade romset and the bios files. Then trim it down to fit where you want.
For NeoGeo you need all this steps?


Can´t be like the Vita, where you just put the roms and work?
 

nkarafo

Member
For NeoGeo you need all this steps?


Can´t be like the Vita, where you just put the roms and work?

I don't have a Series X but in every system i tried, as long as you have the roms and correct neogeo bios in the same folder, they should work.
 

Sintoid

Member
Hi everybody
I tried to put roms into an USB drive but my XSS didn't recognize it at all, I wasn't able to load a content from anything else but the internal storage folders...

Does the USB Drive have to be formatted into a specific file system or do I have to create a named folder with roms inside?

Thank you for the answers
 

Blade2.0

Member
Retroarch is on Xbox One/Series X|S for a while now. And you might have heard you can use it in Developer Mode (which costs 20€/$) or you can get whitelisted to use it in "Retail" (normal) mode


retroarchbannerdmklk.png



Well now you don't need either it seems... at least for now (who knows if MS will remove the app) so get it fast!

STEP ZERO

if you have downloaded this version before:
Called "QZARCH-[XS]" you might run into performance issues!!! this is because that upload is categorized as "App" which means it gets treated like
your standard Youtube or Netflix app on your system. These Apps do not have the full hardware power of your Xbox available to them!!!
MAKE SURE the version you have is found in your "Games" library not your "Apps" library!

So before you set it all up and have to to it all over again, uninstall the "QZARCH-[XS]" app and download the verison of Retroarch I am linking in Step 1
that version is categorized as "Game" and therefore has access to the full hardware power of your Xbox!

___________________
STEP 1

HERE IS THE DOWNLOAD LINK:
Get Retroarch69+ - Microsoft Store en-GB

(the following is a guide on PC. if you do it through a phone browser it's pretty self explanatory)

click on "Get"

tut1k2kym.png


at which point the Windows Store will open



tut2vpjlp.png

first click on install (the Store will then try to install it on your PC... stop the install by pressing the X that will appear)
then click on the 3 dots you see next to install (excuse the german store... I can't be asked to switch my PC to english for this)

if you do so this will appear
tut3exjn2.png


click on the Xbox you want to install Retroarch on. at which point the console will automatically download the app the next time you turn it on

___________________
STEP 2

next, for ease of use and easy file transfer from PC to Xbox,
click on this link and do the exact same as seen above to install the FTP app on your Xbox:
Get [DurangoFTP] - Microsoft Store en-GB

this is an FTP client, which will allow you to use a PC FTP Program like "Filezilla" or "Flash FXP" to transfer files/roms over. this is important to easily get into your bios "system" folder

IF YOU USE FlashFXP AS YOUR FTP CLIENT ON PC, BEWARE WHEN TRANSFERRING OVER MULTIPLE FOLDERS WITH SUBFOLDERS! THIS APP MIGHT SCRAMBLE AROUND THE FILES,
SO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS YOU HAVE TO MANUALLY CREATE THE FOLDER STRUCTURE (NAME EVERY FOLDER 100% CORRECTLY)
AND THEN FOLDER FOR FOLDER COPY OVER THE FILES ONE FOLDER AT A TIME!!!


USE FILEZILLA, that Client does not have these issues from my experience!

I am writing this in caps and red because it is important, especially for Dolphin and PCSX2 folders!!!
games will not launch if you didn't put every file in the exact place it needs to be.
this can be a bit annoying to do but you only have to do it once or once every few months at most, so not as bad as it first seems

it is important to do it, I didn't at first and just copied over my whole collection, and all the SNES games for example,
which I have in folders from "0-9" to "Z", were in the "0-9" folder after I bulk copied over everything.
so I had to go in, create the SNES folder, then create each folder for each letter, and then copy over all the games starting with each letter into their corresponding folders.
I now use a USB drive for almost all the ROMS, but this still applies when you copy over your PCSX2 Emulator folder, or your Dolphin folder... or your Dreamcast folder etc.

___________________
STEP 3

After installing Retroarch on your Xbox, open it for the first time (do this before attempting to copy over any files, as the following steps will create some of the file structures)

you will find a screen that will look something like this:
tut45kksl.png


not very appealing looking right? well, what you have to do is click on "Online Updater" which will lead you to the following screen:

tut5ngjj0.png


on this screen Click on EVERY SINGLE THING that says "Update..." and wait for the bar on the bottom left to complete the action for each item!
this will update all the important files needed, including the graphics and icons of the emulator
once you click on "Update Assets" Retroarch will give you a black screen for a moment, DON'T PANIC! This is normal!

and after you updated the Assets it will look like the pic below (still continue to update all the other menu points tho!)

tut6vjjyh.png


now you are basically ready to play games! BUT NOT ALL OF THEM! Some consoles/cores will need BIOS files (PS1, NEOGEO, CPS1/2, Amiga etc.)
(I will not link any, since downloading ripped BIOS files is illegal! either rip your own bios files from your own systems, or... use shadier ways)

the "Duckstation" or "Swanstation" core for PS1 for example works WITHOUT BIOS! which means if you have your ISO of your game ready, it is ready to go!

here is a link with all the info for each Core and infos about BIOS files
BIOS Information Hub - Libretro Docs

___________________
USEFUL CONTROLLER SETTING

Settings > Input > Hotkeys > Menu Toggle Controller Combo

Setting this up is extremely useful. you need that to change resolution and other options for the games you play. and it's also the only way to get out of a game without closing Retroarch completely

WARNING while you are in there NEVER change the input controller in the "Port 1 Controls" settings. you can change the input method there but as soon as you change it you will lose control of the menu. the only way to undo this is to plug in a keyboard to change it back to the standard controller... or worst case you have to reinstall completely.

so just be aware of this!

changing button configurations in a game whith the quick menu is not an issue, just never change the input device

___________________
USING THE CROSS MEDIA BAR

So I bet you want to use this menu style here right?

tut7s5kwu.png


well that is easy! If you followed all the steps above, you already have it! all you need to do is select it!

first go to Settings and click on "Drivers"
tut8xfjq4.png


then click on "Menu"
tut9o8j5s.png


And from here you select the option "XMB" (standard is "ozone")
now after you did this just close Retroarch and restart it again. it now should look like the image above

(if icons are not displaying correctly in the XMB menu, you might need to change your Video driver to either GL or D3D12, you do this in the same "Drivers" menu shown above)


So, enough from me. there is a guy on Youtube who does really good tutorials on this called "Archades Games", and I will link a few of his videos here (and some from other people), just click on the spoilers below that are of interest for you!



___________________
TUTORIAL VIDEOS I FOUND ON YOUTUBE THAT WILL HELP YOU

if you want your games easy to go through and neatly lined up like this, with Icons for each console etc.
tut10uojfu.png

then click on the "PLAYLISTS" spoiler below

ftptutotial1-biostikck.png
NOTE: Games that are bigger than ~4.8GB might not be transferable through the Durango FTP app and need to be placed/copied onto your internal drive via a USB stick

UPDATE: I experimented with putting bigger games into the "Music" folder of my Profile, and the PCSX2 (PS2) Core will not like that.
some games will refuse to load. you will get a "Insert PS2 Format disc" error from the PS2.
my theory is that the Xbox spreads the folder space of these Profile folders across all the connected Drives you have formatted for your Xbox.
this means your ISO can land on an external Drive whithout you knowing. (maybe someone with no external Drives connected can clear this up

If you get that error, place the ISO inside the "Downloads" folder in your Retroarch install folder


Placing your roms inside of the Retroarch folder is not recommended! The folder of the Program has an upper size limit! (about 5-6GB)
you should instead use your "Documents" or "Downloads" folder, which are very reminiscent of the ones found in a typical Windows profile folder
you can also access these folders from within every file browser app you can get on the Xbox Store! meaning copying from USB to there is way
more straight forward!

ftptutotial2-downloady7kdb.png
__________________





If you use the Retail mode app linked here. you will have to use the FTP app I linked in order to move the files over.
Ignore all the dev mode size increase stuff and everything that has to do with DEV MODE in the video since that is irrelevant for Retail mode
also read my instructions below the link of the FTP Durango app!
which you will find in the spoiler tab labled "IMPORTANT NOTES FOR USING THE FTP APP"

once you familiarized yourself with the FTP client it should be no issue translating what is shown in the video to the retail mode app

IF YOU WANT TO PLAY PS2 GAMES YOU NEED TO USE THE D3D12 or D3D11 VIDEO DRIVER WHICH YOU CAN SELECT IN THE "DRIVERS" MENU IN THE RETROARCH SETTINGS. just don't be surprised if it doesn't work instantly, the PS2 emu is still very much work in progress. try different things if the emu crashes or gives you a black screen

ALSO PS2 games NEED to be on the internal storage! USB does not work for gams that are larger than about 2GB!





Is it still working? Or did I miss my chance?
 

Maogp

Member
Hmm cannot install it, i click on install to my xbox home console but noting happens. I restared the console still nothing.

Edit: Found a solution, had to install another app so it started downloading both apps.
me neither, I tried to install another app as you suggest but it still doesn't work.
 

Blond

Banned
If I don't receive my Polymega console this year, then I will strongly consider going this route. But I will probably leave my XSX alone and just grab a Series S to do it.
Is this STILL not out yet? I forgot I even pre ordered one till I saw this post

That being said, I got an SSD and external HDD so I’m going to replace 1Xs drive and use the external to load other stuff cause I’m not a fan of all the DRM in the SX so I guess I have a weekend project.
 

Xaero Gravity

NEXT LEVEL lame™
Hi everybody
I tried to put roms into an USB drive but my XSS didn't recognize it at all, I wasn't able to load a content from anything else but the internal storage folders...

Does the USB Drive have to be formatted into a specific file system or do I have to create a named folder with roms inside?

Thank you for the answers
For me I have the ROMs organized in seperate folders on a USB stick, and then I find them in the D: directory when loading content
 
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Maogp

Member
what
happens when you click on the link?
It say something like "we are trying to install it on your device".
I've tried to do it from a phone, from the browser but nada. When I turn on the Xbox (or even doing it when the console is on already) nothing happen, no pending download.
 

01011001

Banned
It say something like "we are trying to install it on your device".
I've tried to do it from a phone, from the browser but nada. When I turn on the Xbox (or even doing it when the console is on already) nothing happen, no pending download.

that is weird. have you tried going on the link using the browser on the XBox? that could actually direct you into the store directly to download it. I am not sure if it does but it might.

it seems like somehow your linked Xbox simply doesn't really register correctly I guess.
 
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Maogp

Member
that is weird. have you tried going on the link using the browser on the XBox? that could actually direct you into the store directly to download it. I am not sure if it does but it might.

it seems like somehow your linked Xbox simply doesn't really register correctly I guess.
Uh, that's a smart move, I'll give a shot, could works.

Yeah, seems to me that something goes wrong when I try to download something remotely.
 

Quasicat

Member
I know Microsoft can revoke individual licenses on consoles (like when letting Gold lapse and the Games with Gold titles won’t launch). I wonder if we will see that here. I am hoping when I get home and fire this up, it still works.
 

01011001

Banned
I think it may have been removed from the Microsoft store now.

Takes me to a "Can't find what you're looking for" page :(

that is unfortunate, yesterday it still worked.

hopefully someone else will upload it again. I'll change the OP to link to a new one if I find another download link for a non-whitelisted version.

it was up for almost a month, so it had a good run lol
 
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SpiceRacz

Member
Can Microsoft disable or remove Retroarch if you have it installed? Fuck. I haven't had a chance to sit down and really play anything yet.
 

01011001

Banned
Can Microsoft disable or remove Retroarch if you have it installed? Fuck. I haven't had a chance to sit down and really play anything yet.

they could, but not sure if they will.

there once was someone who stealth released an N64 emulator as a PDF app or something along those lines, and even after it was removed the people who already had it could still use it.

what can totally happen and most likely will is that you won't be able to redownload it once you uninstall
 
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Fredrik

Member
I know Microsoft can revoke individual licenses on consoles (like when letting Gold lapse and the Games with Gold titles won’t launch). I wonder if we will see that here. I am hoping when I get home and fire this up, it still works.
Why would they do that? It’s free PR, I get that they can’t advertise it but removing the program from people’s consoles would instantly end in bad PR snowballing the gaming community. They should just pretend it doesn’t exist, they lose nothing from having it there.
 
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01011001

Banned
Why would they do that? It’s free PR, I get that they can’t advertise it but removing the program from people’s consoles would instantly end in bad PR snowballing the gaming community. They should just pretend it doesn’t exist, they lose nothing from having it there.

they totally could advertise it, they don't to not ruin their relationship with Nintendo, Sony and third parties who still sell old games on their store.

Retroarch is on many app stores, including the Amazon app store as of late, the Google Play Store and even Steam.

if Microsoft wanted they absolutely could work together with the Libretro guys to bring an official version to the Microsoft Store
 
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Fredrik

Member
they totally could advertise it, they don't to not ruin their relationship with Nintendo, Sony and third parties who still sell old games on their store.

Retroarch is on many app stores, including the Amazon app store as of late, the Google Play Store and even Steam.

if Microsoft wanted they absolutely could work together with the Libretro guys to bring an official version to the Microsoft Store
Didn’t know this. I hope they do it, an official release that is updated normally would be great, it’s a fantastic way to get emulator games to the living room. It’s a silent and powerful box and you can even use the screenshot/video capture button and use Remote play. 👌
 

01011001

Banned
Didn’t know this. I hope they do it, an official release that is updated normally would be great, it’s a fantastic way to get emulator games to the living room. It’s a silent and powerful box and you can even use the screenshot/video capture button and use Remote play. 👌

yeah, it's actually weird that Microsoft has such an issue with it. pretty sure they are scared for no reason. retroarch is everywhere so third party devs wouldn't really care I think... but I think Microsoft thinks they would

an official version would be amazing
 
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