Difference between revisions of "Frontends/Archive 1"

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An easier, still active alternative to Ice.
 
An easier, still active alternative to Ice.
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;[http://quickplay.sourceforge.net/ QuickPlay]:
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QuickPlay is a windows-only powerful universal emulator 'frontend-of-frontends', which has support for countless emulators and systems, old and new, with a philosophy of being quick and easy for new users, yet comprehensive and flexible for old-timers. It was written in the heyday of RAD and OO frontends (as such it's written in Delphi), and like other frontends of the time, its very powerful and able to support considerable complexity and customisation (think MAMEUI, but on steroids). However unlike many other frontends of the time, its also very flexible and adaptable, and still updated by enthusiastic supporters. It takes a fresh approach to the backend which, in particular, gives blisteringly-fast search over large and diverse romsets.
 
;[https://www.launchbox-app.com/about Launch Box]:
 
;[https://www.launchbox-app.com/about Launch Box]:
 
LaunchBox was originally built as an attractive front-end to [[DOSBox]] but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. LaunchBox aims to be the one-stop shop for gaming on your computer, for both modern and historical games. Probably the most customizable emulator on here, alongside HyperSpin, if you buy a license. You can customize the interface to however you like and the metadata of each game and comes with a metadata scraper. Has integrated support for launching from Kodi (XBMC). There is one version free, but also has a premium version that gives you access to Big Box which is an HTPC version of Launch Box along with some other features..
 
LaunchBox was originally built as an attractive front-end to [[DOSBox]] but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. LaunchBox aims to be the one-stop shop for gaming on your computer, for both modern and historical games. Probably the most customizable emulator on here, alongside HyperSpin, if you buy a license. You can customize the interface to however you like and the metadata of each game and comes with a metadata scraper. Has integrated support for launching from Kodi (XBMC). There is one version free, but also has a premium version that gives you access to Big Box which is an HTPC version of Launch Box along with some other features..

Revision as of 13:39, 5 March 2019

Frontends are programs that allow a user to execute an emulator program, usually a command-line one, using a graphical interface. Examples of such are shown below.

Note: "Frontend" can be a somewhat confusing term since it is sometimes used to refer to an emulator's internal frontend that handles video, audio, and input interaction with the user and OS, while this page refers to the "Launcher" or "Executor" kind of "frontend".


Frontends (launcher)

Name Windows Linux macOS Other
Attract-Mode
BizHawk
Bottlenose
CoinOPS
EmulationStation Raspberry Pi
GameEx
Games (Gnome)
HyperSpin
Ice
Steam Rom Manager
QuickPlay
Launch Box
Metropolis Launcher
mGalaxy
Pegasus Android, Raspberry Pi
RetroFE
skeletonKey
EmuCon

Comparisons

Attract-Mode
A graphical frontend for command line emulators such as MAME, MESS, and Nestopia. It hides the underlying operating system and is intended to be controlled with a joystick, gamepad or spin dial, making it ideal for use in arcade cabinets. Attract-Mode is open source and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
BizHawk
Main article: BizHawk
Bottlenose
Designed for UHD displays, Bottlenose is a high quality electron based front-end launcher that supports many popular video game emulators. Open source and available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
CoinOPS

Almost setup free frontend. Everything is preconfigured, just add games. Originally for Xbox but now has an early PC release.

EmulationStation
Main article: EmulationStation
GameEx

GameEx is a front end that does a lot. It is also used for commercial applications. It has a powerful in-program editor that allows you to customize the front-end's visuals to all lengths. It also has a built-in media player. It has a free version and a registered version. It is a powerful front end.

Games (Gnome)

Games is a GNOME application to browse your video games library and to easily pick and play a game from it.

HyperSpin
Main article: HyperSpin
Ice

Ice isn't really a front end, but it's more of a way to add you're old retro and arcade games as executable files that steam can run as it would a regular steam game. It lets you add your ROMs as steam games basically.

Steam Rom Manager

An easier, still active alternative to Ice.

QuickPlay

QuickPlay is a windows-only powerful universal emulator 'frontend-of-frontends', which has support for countless emulators and systems, old and new, with a philosophy of being quick and easy for new users, yet comprehensive and flexible for old-timers. It was written in the heyday of RAD and OO frontends (as such it's written in Delphi), and like other frontends of the time, its very powerful and able to support considerable complexity and customisation (think MAMEUI, but on steroids). However unlike many other frontends of the time, its also very flexible and adaptable, and still updated by enthusiastic supporters. It takes a fresh approach to the backend which, in particular, gives blisteringly-fast search over large and diverse romsets.

Launch Box

LaunchBox was originally built as an attractive front-end to DOSBox but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. LaunchBox aims to be the one-stop shop for gaming on your computer, for both modern and historical games. Probably the most customizable emulator on here, alongside HyperSpin, if you buy a license. You can customize the interface to however you like and the metadata of each game and comes with a metadata scraper. Has integrated support for launching from Kodi (XBMC). There is one version free, but also has a premium version that gives you access to Big Box which is an HTPC version of Launch Box along with some other features..

Metropolis Launcher

Metropolis Launcher has been created to be a great old-school launcher, emulation front-end and an extensive offline database of video game metadata thanks to MobyGames and their strong user base. Over 50 fields of metadata are supported by Metropolis Launcher's Main Screen. You can search-as-you-type, filter, group, and sort by any combination of them. Metropolis Launcher already ships with MobyGames based metadata, no web-scraping for this data is needed.

mGalaxy

mGalaxy is a minimalistic front end aimed at arcade cabinets. It does, however, have some really good features such as picking a random game out of your library, background music, favorites, top ten most played and more.

Pegasus

A cross-platform, customizable graphical frontend for launching emulators and managing your game collection. Runs on Linux, Windows, all Raspberries, and Odroids.

RetroFE
Main article: RetroFE
skeletonKey

skeletonKey is an open-source ROM-Library management tool which functions as both a Launcher and as a deployment backend. [mirror]

EmuCon

EmuCon is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for many emulators systems: consoles, handhelds, and computers.