NDS Full Screen of selected NDS Screen

fasthagar

As for my Batocera RPI3 installation which runs NDS games with the ‘drastic’ emulator, I can easily switch to full screen of a single NDS screen with the shoulder buttons of the connected controller.

For my PC installation, where the ‘drastic’ emulator isn’t available, I have not found a way to switch the NDS screens by the push of a button with the available emulators, any help?

Also noted, that for some games the ‘drastic’ emulator produces better outputs on the RPI3 than the other emulators do on the x86_64 engine, where stuttering etc. is present :(

fonzi

Well you do have option in setting for screen layout but as for switching while playing,yeah..dunno.

I use Libretro Desume for DS on my PC build and dont notice any stuttering,and running at 2x res too.

Some games can go higher but for me I set system as 2x.

But ofcourse I havent tested heaps of games so its possible some may not run as well as others.

Or perhaps its your PC? Did you try all the DS options and also fiddle with settings? Start at 1x res and turn all enhancements off and go from there.

Atari

Drastic is solely an ARM DS emulator. The reason it’s so performant is that it (reportedly) doesn’t even translate ARM to another instruction set, it just runs them natively via some voodoo magic.

This is not available on x86_64, quite simply. But, x86_64 machines are usually tenfolds times more powerful than mobile ARM chips. So, if you’re experiencing stuttering on x86_64, either it’s user-issue (like incorrect hertz set on the display) or you must have a really, really old and under-powered computer (perhaps a netbook?)

fasthagar

Thanks, I will have a look at the display settings.

I am not familiar with computer specs, but is my system already under-powered for systems below PS2? The computer has a 2.3GHz Intel Pentium T4500 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, Nvidia Geforce 9100M graphics processor and is retrofitted with a SSD.

joinski

fasthagar

Definitely under-powered for PS2 and above.
Even Gamecube/Wii and i guess PSP will hardly be possible in playable speeds (maybe some very lightweight games of those systems could run at full speed).
Everything up to PSX and N64 should run fine.

Atari

fasthagar Under-volted mobile chip from over a decade ago… yeah maybe it is just too weak. It is neat that you’re re-using old tech instead of throwing it out though.

fasthagar

Becoming off-topic, but… Despite the limitations of not being able to handle the last generations of emulated games and some more demanding older emulations, it is still a fine setup for a retro gaming station based on a PC.

Basically a 21.5 inch monitor with a built-in PC. And on the Windows side I managed to get Windows 11 running on the internal SSD (where also Batocera and the Roms are saved) and can do some basic Office stuff, download additional roms and browse while being in my gaming room in the basement. No cable mess, easy to relocate, hard for me to throw away 😓

Next to my RPI3 installation I am also looking for a cost effective/refurbished solution for a higher-end retro gaming PC (Lenovo ThinkCentre?)… Any suggestions?

Atari

The best recommendation would be to build your own system. The documentation has some pretty broad advice with some benchmarks, a valuable resource for someone looking into getting a new system: https://wiki.batocera.org/choose_a_desktop_computer. To quote:

If you have to choose a new GPU, recent Nvidia GTX and AMD Radeon RX cards are supported well in the main Batocera image, and usually give very good results. A combination of an Intel i5 4xxx CPU + Nvidia GT1030 GPU will support all emulators up to the PS2 for a reasonable cost.

But PC building is a very, very deep rabbit hole you can get into and I won’t even dare deliberate on what might be suitable for your budget and situation. All I’ll say is, if you go and make a PC with parts released in the last few years (ie. not resold parts from 2010s which stores are trying to get rid of), you’ll have a great gaming experience.