Games Preservation & Emulation

[Kowe]

Games Preservation & Emulation

So, finally coming around to making this topic after having planned to do so for weeks. With how the gaming industry has been shaped in the last decade, this topic is more urgent than before. And honestly the way to go for gaming in the long run. This is quite rudimentary in its first state, but will be expanded upon with more links, files from e.g. web archive, and videos/playlists over time.

Annotation 1: This is more hard-ware focused than the "Technical & Analytical Content Creators" topic. While Emulators are a form of software, they aren't a game. The other topic is game-focused.
Annotation 2: Based on research, it is recommended to use the MisterFPGA for hardware-emulation, when up to the SNES generation. They have progress with PS1 Emulation on it but not available/complete yet. So, N64 and upwards require different methods of preservation and emulation, e.g. Polymega, Mini-Consoles like TurboGrafx or NES Mini.

Physical Emulators

• MiSTer FPGA - Forum with link to its GitHub Wiki and repositories. They do seem to be able to emulate PS1 and N64 games to some extent but it isn't complete despite progress being made. Recommended for everything up to Fourth and partially Fifth Console Generation.

• RetroRGB - Retro Systems Database with articles on their versions, comparisons and additional info. Has been featured in a Retro documentary of My Life in Gaming.

• Retro Style Video Game Consoles - Wikipedia Link for now. Will see if something better can be found. Even the official mini consoles from the original developers should be moddable and hackable.

Digital Emulators

• Emulation Wiki - Instead of linking many other sites, this one lists Emulators for each system and also gives some more in-depth information about and comparisons between them. Includes both Console and PC.

DRM-Free Alternatives
This does not include the obvious GoG Store. Mostly about Steam.
PC Gaming Wiki (PCGW) - Lists technical options of games and potential fixes. Availability of each listed game on various storefronts and if it has DRM or is DRM-free (incl. workarounds).
Steam Wikia - List of DRM-Free Games - As the name indicates, lists DRM-Free games from the Steam-Store. Gets updated. Also lists the system where it is DRM-free.
Goldberg Emulator - Replaces the steam_api.dll/steam_api64.dll with its own variant. Has some more tools to allow for drm-free offline- or LAN-play.
Steamless - Tinkers with a game's executable. Not every game is supported.

Romhacks

• Romhacking.net - One of the more general Romhacking sites. Features database of Romhacks for various titles, including fan translations.

For specific titles, there are websites like SMWCentral for Super Mario World. So this one is a bit trickier to organize.

Abandonware

• My Abandonware - As the name says, Abandonware. Offers many titles for various systems, not only PC. Usually Romhacks in those other cases.

• The Collection Chamber - Focused mostly on PC games from what I could see. Functions similarly to My Abandonware.

• Old-Games.RU - PC only. In Russian or English via click on the flag in the upper right corner. Games are available on each individual game page under files.

Sourceports

• Mac Source Ports - For anyone using Mac or Silicon.

• Doom Sourceports - This is a bit specific but an example of a game's own wiki with a great deal of information on how to get it running.

Console Modding

• ConsoleMods Wiki - Best one I have found so far.
• RetroRGB - Mainly for graphical stuff.
• Emulation Wiki - Flashcarts

It is more difficult to find stuff for modding consoles, since it is less common than Emulaton, not to mention pricier. A few YT channels like Macho Nacho Productions go over this stuff. I have also heard of at least one Discord server about this stuff.

Ripping Games

• See Emulation Wiki above. Has a page on it.

Decompiled Games
Retro Reversing
Wiki List - Lists available source code and partially reconstructed ones too.

Video Game Music Rips

• Video Game Music Preservation Foundation Wiki - Has a list to various other sites where ripped music can be downloaded. The wiki itself has downloadable music too.

Content Creators

• My Life in Gaming - RGB Video Master Classes, Mods, Hardware and Tech Focused Episodes and their Marathons are recommended.

• Modern Vintage Gamer - Used to be a pirate. Is also involved in bringing back old games or series via the Carbon Engine, like Tomba and Gex. Unfortunately not very in-depth.

• Blaine Locklair - Hacking into systems for preservation and emulation purposes.

• NES Hacker - While there are videos of game code analysis, he also goes into romhacking and NES hardware architecture.

• Time Rift Arcade - 8-Bit Guy's Arcade systems channel which includes restoration of machines.

• The 8-Bit Guy - 8-Bit Guy's main channel. Features videos more weighted towards old PC systems but also covers some consoles stuff.

• MattKC - One of the better channels. Delves a bit deeper into some game's code as well as how he preserved some consoles, with footage of the inner components.

• Nathan Baggs - Coding-focused.

• Retro Game Corps - Handhelds & Controllers.

Thanks @gerey, @herkzter and @Goblin_Hammer for some links & content creators.


Will update/edit this post with more information over time.

Newest addition: Lists of decompiled games.

[Kowe]

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[Kowe]

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[gerey]

The Collection Chamber is a good resource too if you don't want to go through the trouble of setting up older games to work on modern systems yourself.

[gerey]

Here's a few content creators:

8-bit Guy's alternative channel where he restores old arcade machines:



Basement Brothers cover lots of PC-88/PC-98 games, which I feel are rather underdiscussed in the West:



Channel covers history and releases of a wide variety of arcade games.



Game Center CX is more a show about comedy than game conservation, but it offers an insight into old NES and SNES Japanese games, usually with sections about their history, trivia etc. There's also segments where they visit Japanese arcades. It's a nice look into how gaming in Japan was. Also, the presenter is great.

[rusty_shackleford]

I'm subscribed to this guy, he does a lot of videos on very old video game-related matters
https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelCoorlim/videos

[herkzter]

https://www.old-games.ru/?language=eng

this is a fantastic source of abandonware, although only the important UI elements are translated to English if you select the toggle the language option in the upper right corner

[gerey]

eXoDOS

is another, massive collection of DOS games that come preconfigured and ready to play on modern systems.

En-ROMs is a fairly comprehensive and up-to-date collection of fan-translated games over on Internet Archive.

And maybe a few projects that are worth keeping an eye on:

[Kowe]

eXoDOS is another, massive collection of DOS games that come preconfigured and ready to play on modern systems.

En-ROMs is a fairly comprehensive and up-to-date collection of fan-translated games over on Internet Archive.

And maybe a few projects that are worth keeping an eye on:

Will look more thorough into these links later. Just had a short look at the archive list and the content of some collections and it does feel a bit unfinished. That is an issue on their site anyway, since there are various collections uploaded, for single systems, with different content. Some having more titles for its library or missing out on some which other collections contain. Definitely gonna dig through their site this week and add anything good to the ROMs section. For the time being, the En-ROMs link can be put there. Along with eXoDOS. Noticed Xenich mentioned this one a while ago in a post too.

Putting some attention to single projects is kind of arduous in the long run, with how many are there for old games. Planning to use the first placeholder to still put attention to some if they also help with games preservation and emulation in general. Still have to figure out what is best for it. Best if we had some central hub for all these projects like a wiki or a database a la Moddb.

The other stuff, have to go over it or consider it to be at better use in the other topic with analytical/technical content creators. This thread is more about the things around games than the games themselves.
Bit torn on Basement Brothers' stuff, honestly. He does show how to install it and helps with games from other regions, but then goes into stuff about the games themselves.

[gerey]

No worries. I'm just taking a shotgun approach for the most part.

Though, I do have two more channels to recommend.

MattKC is mostly known as the "Lego Island guy", but he does a lot of other hacks, be it software or hardware, to get old games and programs running.





Nathan Briggs is more technical in his videos and, I feel, less charismatic than Matt, but also works on projects to make old games work on modern systems.

[Goblin_Hammer]

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[Kowe]

Added some stuff you guys linked.
While trying to install used, old games recently, noticed that this list also requires something for cracks. Pretty stupid to have the disc but lack something like the manual and its authentication key because a seller forgot to add it. Or if some services aren't available and hinder either the installation or the playing of some old titles.

After some more contemplation: More PC-focused emulators have to be added to the list. And Source-Ports.
Does anyone have any ideas on what more to add besides these ? Programs like Ollydbg ?

[Kowe]

Sorry for the double-post.

Spent a bit of time to go through the Emulation Wiki and found out it is a treasure trove of knowledge. An extremely valuable bonus to the site is that when the main page is scrolled down to the bottom, and one looks under Software Setups to the left, under FAQs and Guides, there is a link to lists of ROM & ISO dumps. This includes both dumps on Web Archive as well as websites. eXoDOS is mentioned on that page too. This Wiki can't be recommended enough.
Hence, the section of ROM sites in the first post has been removed as they are included in the Wiki.

Besides this, two apps/tools for Steam games preservation have been added. Steamless and Goldberg Emulator. Doesn't work on every game as some may have way too much DRM to bypass with these two. Have experienced this with a few of mine.

[Zothique]

No worries. I'm just taking a shotgun approach for the most part.

Though, I do have two more channels to recommend.

MattKC is mostly known as the "Lego Island guy", but he does a lot of other hacks, be it software or hardware, to get old games and programs running.





Nathan Briggs is more technical in his videos and, I feel, less charismatic than Matt, but also works on projects to make old games work on modern systems.

I'm glad you posted this! I loved Lego Island as a child, and it has stuck with me as an adult pretty hard. I don't know why. I truly miss that "era" of gaming, even if Lego Islands wasn't necessarily a good representation of it (in terms of mechanics, etc).

[Yankee Zulu]

Theres a relatively new shadPS4 emulator. Latest release shows some good progress emulating Bloodborne.

https://shadps4.net/

[Kowe]

Theres a relatively new shadPS4 emulator. Latest release shows some good progress emulating Bloodborne.

https://shadps4.net/

Yeah, has been the most promising one for PS4. They dropped update 4.0 on Halloween and according to them a lot of games work now.
It is still far from the older systems which have much higher if not perfect accuracy rate like for PS2. See shadPS4's Compatibility List.
The emulator is also listed on the Emulation Wiki though they haven't updated the Compatibility value for shadPS4 there yet.

[Kowe]

Time to bump this, after months.
While rewatching some videos concerning games and hardware preservation, a good point came up again. Hardware compatibility with software. Or in other words, the dependency of games to only be playable on certain systems. Retro gamers have a few options. It's somewhere inbetween all-in on PC or the original systems. Unfortunately, things have gotten expensive. This kind of includes Upscalers like the RetroTink to get close to the graphical fidelty one could enjoy with CRTs. Since games have been developed with that technology in mind.
Graphics aside, RetroArch has an excellent input lag reduction method in the form of Runahead. Preemptively generating frames.
Anyway, the point of the matter is that hardware has a certain lifespan. Components will have to be replaced and/or add-ons be installed. Basically hardware modding. If anyone can offer links, sites or channels to be added to the first post, it is appreciated. Older systems can also be modded or jailbroken to turn them into emulation machines. Notable systems due to their compatibility with many Emulators: PS4, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox One, PSVita. Depending on which game libraries one is interested, it is still better and cheaper to use a PC or MisterFPGA for emulation. MisterFPGA for First to Fifth (N64/PSX/SS). PC for everything up to the newest. Especially with Controller Adapters available on the market.

Update: A paragraph for Console Modding has been added. Search for good information is still undergoing. It is possible to jailbreak and mod up to PS4/Switch from what I know. Same for ripping games as back-ups.

[Valter]

Continuing from a conversation on another thread:

Yeah sure，the average switch user is certainly capable of making an emulator from scratch

Nintendo consoles get emulators way sooner than all the others for some reason

Really? I thought the Switch took pretty long to emulate? Not really followed it, just remembered people were waiting quite long for the first to come out.

Well this piqued my curiosity so I asked Grok to scrounge up some info on the state of emulation over the past couple decades.
I set the line for an emulator being "decent" when its game compatibility (fully playable without game-breaking glitches) reached over 50% of the console's library, a clear majority.
Here's a table for comparison according to the info it showed me.

Console	Release Date	Year of >50% Compatibility	How Long It Took	Current Compatibility
Nintendo DS	2004-11-21	2013	9 Years	>90%
Playstation Portable	2005-03-24	2014	9 Years	>95%
Xbox 360	2005-11-25	2021	16 Years	>90%
Playstation 3	2006-11-11	2018	12 Years	>90%
Nintendo Wii	2006-11-19	2012	6 Years	>95%
Nintendo 3DS	2011-02-26	2019	8 Years	>80%
Playstation Vita	2011-12-17	2025	14 Years	>50%
Nintendo Wii U	2012-11-18	2017	5 Years	>90%
Playstation 4	2013-11-15	N/A	N/A	>20%
Nintendo Switch	2017-03-03	2022	5 Years	>80%

As @traxtan pointed out, Microsoft has essentially abandoned the thought of giving its consoles exclusives so no one really cares about making a Xbone emulator
It's info from an AI though, so do let me know of any inconsistencies or mistakes. :weeb:

[1998]

Continuing from a conversation on another thread:

Nintendo consoles get emulators way sooner than all the others for some reason

Really? I thought the Switch took pretty long to emulate? Not really followed it, just remembered people were waiting quite long for the first to come out.

Well this piqued my curiosity so I asked Grok to scrounge up some info on the state of emulation across the past couple decades.
I set the line for an emulator being "decent" when its game compatibility (fully playable without game-breaking glitches) reached over 50% of the console's library, a clear majority.
Here's a table for comparison according to the info it showed me.

Console	Release Date	Year of >50% Compatibility	How Long It Took	Current Compatibility %
Nintendo DS	2004-11-21	2013	9 Years	>90%
Playstation Portable	2005-03-24	2014	9 Years	>95%
Xbox 360	2005-11-25	2021	16 Years	>90%
Playstation 3	2006-11-11	2018	12 Years	>90%
Nintendo 3DS	2011-02-26	2019	8 Years	>80%
Playstation Vita	2011-12-17	2025	14 Years	>50%
Playstation 4	2013-11-15	N/A	N/A	>20%
Nintendo Switch	2017-03-03	2022	5 Years	>80%

As @traxtan pointed out, Microsoft has essentially given up on giving its consoles exclusives so no one really cares about making a Xbone emulator
It's info from an AI though, so do let me know of any inconsistencies or mistakes. :weeb:

I honestly had no idea it takes so long. Good I quit console gaming in 96.

[Valter]

Continuing from a conversation on another thread:

Really? I thought the Switch took pretty long to emulate? Not really followed it, just remembered people were waiting quite long for the first to come out.

Well this piqued my curiosity so I asked Grok to scrounge up some info on the state of emulation across the past couple decades.
I set the line for an emulator being "decent" when its game compatibility (fully playable without game-breaking glitches) reached over 50% of the console's library, a clear majority.
Here's a table for comparison according to the info it showed me.

Console	Release Date	Year of >50% Compatibility	How Long It Took	Current Compatibility %
Nintendo DS	2004-11-21	2013	9 Years	>90%
Playstation Portable	2005-03-24	2014	9 Years	>95%
Xbox 360	2005-11-25	2021	16 Years	>90%
Playstation 3	2006-11-11	2018	12 Years	>90%
Nintendo 3DS	2011-02-26	2019	8 Years	>80%
Playstation Vita	2011-12-17	2025	14 Years	>50%
Playstation 4	2013-11-15	N/A	N/A	>20%
Nintendo Switch	2017-03-03	2022	5 Years	>80%

As @traxtan pointed out, Microsoft has essentially given up on giving its consoles exclusives so no one really cares about making a Xbone emulator
It's info from an AI though, so do let me know of any inconsistencies or mistakes. :weeb:

Good I quit console gaming

Me when I realized PCs had way more mods for my RPGs than consoles

[sheet]

I've been a fan of Zomb's Lair. His packages tend to fill in what I call the "Windows 98 gap" when games released after the DOS era (since DOS is easily emualated) but are often incompatible with modern Windows systems. He also has an accumulated Commodore 64 launchbox release with a bunch of games, similar to the eXoDOS releases. He's not so active anymore, but the site is still up.
https://www.zombs-lair.com/latest

Also, I haven't tested how reliable I can run games from the CD/disk images, but this Archive user keeps a running spreadsheet of each publisher's releases indicating what's been dumped and what hasn't. (Mostly early 90s publishers like MicroProse or Accolade, etc.)
https://archive.org/details/@digitoxin

Some rare, shovelware level packs for old 90s games:
https://archive.org/details/@ettingrinder

[Oyster Sauce]

The new Majora's Mask world map @13:00 is really amazing.

[Statesman]

Rumors of a Switch 2 Emulator already booting up games. Wonder how long it will take for Nintendo to strike.

[Goblin_Hammer]

You can remove MagiPack from this list. The creator of the site got tired of people asking him for help so he removed his site but he posted an archive of it here Magipack. He's still posting new repacks on his discord though, so contact him on X @MagitoMPG to get an invite.

[SpellSword]

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[Kowe]

Added Retro Game Corps to the first post. Owner of the channel tests various Handheld systems including Handheld PCs. He does thorough testing of each system. A few videos about Controllers. So pretty much Retro- & Emulation-focused.

Furthermore, did some research on Switch & PS4 Emulation.
Switch has the issue that only V1 Erista can be softmodded and V2 and OLED models require a modchip. Read this for more information.
PS4 requires a jailbreak method dependant on the firmware version. Here is a link from the Console Mods Wiki which goes over some information. To play the games outside of the original consoles requires PKG files. Sony has some anti-piracy measures in place but GoldHen can circumvent it, for example. As for PS4 Emulation, ShadPS4's compatibility rate is only around 13 % right now, higher than the other Emulators. Still too low, honestly.

[Xenich]

I pretty much stopped around Wii-U and PS2 for most emulation interest. Anything past that and while there are exclusives, they are modern console games and I already dislike consoles generally, so there was never any point to continue on. Anything past that is really best on PC anyway and like I said, if it is something exclusive I probably dislike it anyway.

I think the last more modern emulation I played with was for Zelda BOTW, the game ran fine on Cemu and it came with a bunch of mods (mostly technical adjustments). I was able to get it to run on triple screen though and tweak it for mouse/KB control and it looked and played really good without any issues.

[sheet]

I'll just dump my bookmarks for sites I use:

Site for old, original patches for CD-ROM games. Kind of useful if you're running old hardware and original media:
https://www.patches-scrolls.de/

Another "official files" uploader on archive if you need patches for 2000s FPSes:
https://archive.org/details/@frag-net

and another one:
https://archive.org/details/@gamepatchesarchive

GOG has a rollback feature for old versions of games, just a useful link to bookmark for reference:
https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articl ... roduct=gog

Open Source game engines:
https://osgameclones.com/

Another 90s shovelware level pack archiver:
https://archive.org/details/@kingshadow7

[Oyster Sauce]

PCSX2 being good now is a surprise. Finished off Raw Danger! on it. Tried emulating 3D Dot Game Heroes on RPCS3, but there were random crashes on scene transition. Found a Github issue page on it from 2018, and you can only imagine my fury when I reached the bottom of the page and the last post said "16 minutes ago". Wrote that off for now and moved on to a fan translation of Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 on PPSSPP (sequel to the localized Raw Danger!). Surprising, it seems to be prettier and more in depth than the prior console game. Life is good.

[Oyster Sauce]

Cemu got hackerooskied

https://rentry.org/cemu-security-psa

Special note for Israeli users:
If the malware determines that your location is Israel (it does this via locale and timezone checks) then it has a 1:6 chance that it will play a loud siren sound and run rm -rf /, essentially attempting to wipe your filesystem. This is bad, but since rm does not actively overwrite the file data, you should be able to recover your data with some effort. But this is only true as long as you don't write new data to the affected drive(s).
Do not reinstall your OS to the same drive or format it until you have attempted a file recovery first. The exact steps for this go beyond the scope of this PSA, but if you need help feel free to DM me on Discord (Exzap) or shoot me a message on reddit (/u/Exzap).