Frontends: Difference between revisions

'''Frontends''' are programs that address a quality-of-life issue that emulators may not fulfill. For example, some emulator developers skip the user interface portion of development by having the user launch them from the command line. This usually means opening Command Prompt in the folder where the emulator is installed and typing something like <code>emulator.exe game.rom</code>. From a usability perspective, this is not optimal; running emulators from a shell can be considered tedious if commands aren't already scripted by the user (and they can't be expected to know how to set up such a thing if their first time loading the program is a black window that pops up and then disappears). To avoid this, many emulators will try to incorporate some kind of ''graphical user interface (GUI)'' in their standalone builds. For the emulators that never receive one however, a separate frontend project usually emerges.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="420px" style="float: right;">

Frontends have different types of GUIs, here we have categorized them as follows:

; WIMP : [[wikipedia:WIMP (computing)|WIMP]] stands for "Windows, Icons, Menus and a Pointer". This is a GUI based on one or several window(s) and it's normally controlled by a mouse. Examples of this type of interface are [[LaunchBox]] and [[OpenEmu]].

; Touch : A touch interface is often similar to a HTPC interface, the difference is that they are intended for touch screens. This is mostly found in Android frontends intended for smartphones and tablet computers.

== Launcher types ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://www.es-de.org/#Download {{EmulationStation Desktop EditionVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://playnite.link/download.html {{PlayniteVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | WIMP • HTPC<ref group="A" name="launchbox">This feature is called ''Big Box'' and is only available in the premium (paid) version.</ref>

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://qashto.itch.io/nostlan {{NostlanVer}}]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://lutris.net/downloads 0.5.7.1]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | WIMP

  | {{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [http://guerilla.bplaced.net/x86WinSoft.html 2024.030]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://www.mgalaxy.com/download.html {{mgalaxyVer}}]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://pegasus-frontend.org/#downloads Alpha 16]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | HTPC

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Linux}}

  | WIMP

  | {{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [http://attractmode.org/download.html 2.7.0]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://sourceforge.net/projects/quickplay/files/latest/download?source=files 4.7.6]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | WIMP

  | {{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}})

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [http://retrofe.nl/download 0.10.31]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://emulationstation.org/index.html#download 2.0.1a]<br/ >[https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation RetroPie fork]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/theMK2k/MetropolisLauncher/releases git]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [http://feelfrontend.altervista.org/download 1.9.8.5]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/oldtools/skeletonkey git]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://hyperspin-fe.com/files/category/761-hyperspin-windows 1.5.1]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://emuloader.mameworld.info/downloads.htm {{Emu LoaderVer}}]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://terminallaunch.blogspot.com {{Terminal LaunchVer}}]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | HTPC

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://emuloader.mameworld.info/emucon/downloads.htm 2.7.7]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | WIMP

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [http://lusspace.free.fr/modules/news 1.23]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | HTPC • Touch

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | Touch

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}<ref group="A" name="esde">[https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/blob/master/FAQ-ANDROID.md#is-it-available-for-free-and-is-it-open-source Android release is not free and contains proprietary code.]</ref>

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | [https://github.com/oxters168/Pluvia/releases 1.3.2]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | HTPC

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{✓|text=✅}}<ref group="A" name="emulationstation">Only the [https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation RetroPie fork]</ref>

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | [https://gamehub.xiaoji.com 3.0.5]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}<ref group="A" name="gamesirgamehub">Some users have expressed concerns about the app's stability and security.</ref>

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | [http://attractmode.org/download.html 2.7.0]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | [https://pegasus-frontend.org/#downloads Alpha 16]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|AndroidTV}}

  | [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retroloungelab.resetcollection 1.1.29 (US$4.99)]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.floatingpoint.android.arcturus 1.26.1 (US$7.49)]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | [https://hyperspin-fe.com/files/category/445-hyperspin-android 1.1]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

|}

=== Comparisons ===

The comparison text should compare the frontend to other frontends. Why should, or shouldn't you use this frontend?

-->

; [[LaunchBox]] : Was originally built as an attractive front-end for [[DOSBox]] but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. It comes with an integrated metadata scraper, and the interface is highly customizable, likely the most customizable alongside HyperSpin, but only with a license for the premium version. Premium also includes Big Box, which is an HTPC version of the frontend. Launchbox can also be launched natively from Kodi.

; [http://quickplay.sourceforge.net QuickPlay] : An excellent FOSS alternative to LaunchBox. It has a WIMP style interface and is Windows only. Compared to LaunchBox it has less eye-candy but it requires a lot less system resources, it's blazing-fast and slow down-free.

; [https://playnite.link Playnite] : A great general gaming frontend for Windows. Version 9 greatly expanded emulation support, and better arcade support is planned. For something similar on Linux, check out Lutris.

; [https://lutris.net Lutris] : A great general gaming frontend for GNU/Linux, with support for running Windows games with [[Wine]] and [[Proton]]. However, for the emulation use cases it has some downsides, such as: there is no bulk import for ROMs. There is a [https://github.com/hwangeug/lutris-bulk-adder lutris-bulk-adder] script which might solve this.

== Integrated emulator types ==

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|macOS}}

  | [http://openemu.org {{OpenEmuVer}}]

  | WIMP

  | {{Green}} {{License|BSD3}} ({{License|Permissive}})

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Win}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://www.emudeck.com/#download {{EmuDeckVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | [https://www.lakka.tv {{LakkaVer}}]

  | HTPC

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Linux}}<ref group="I" name="retropie">RetroPie for x86 Linux is only available for Ubuntu- (16.04 LTS or later) and Debian-based distributions. See these [https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Debian installation instructions].</ref>

  | [https://retropie.org.uk/download {{RetroPieVer}}]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | [http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk.html {{BizHawkVer}}]

  | WIMP

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://www.retrobat.org/download/ {{RetroBatVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|iOS}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|AppleTV}}

  | [https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance/releases {{ProvenanceVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | [https://retropie.org.uk/download {{RetroPieVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Android}}

  | [https://www.emudeck.com/#download 2.1.0]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Xbox}}

  | {{Unknown}}

  | {{TBD}}

  | {{TBD}}

|}

=== Comparisons ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://github.com/doZennn/steam-rom-manager/releases 2.5.29]

  | {{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/scottrice/Ice/releases 1.0.0]

  | {{Green}} {{License|MIT}} ({{License|Permissive}})

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

|}

=== Comparisons ===

; Steam ROM Manager : A tool that adds emulator launching capabilities to the Steam client.

== Project-specific frontends ==

=== [[Libretro]] ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 95%;"

  |-

  |-

  | [https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=Full<ref group="B" name="retroarch">Limited by system hardware.</ref>}}

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://github.com/libretro/ludo/releases {{LudoVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games/Documentation#Installing_Games 3.36]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/Aftnet/RetriX/releases/tag/RetriX-2.1.77.0 2.1.77.0]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://github.com/Alcaro/minir git]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://github.com/team-phoenix/Phoenix/releases git (pre-alpha)]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  |-

  | [https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]

  | HTPC • Touch

  | {{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | Genesis Plus GX • PicoDrive

  | HTPC

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | Snes9x?

  | HTPC

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|LinuxARM}}

  | [https://github.com/libretro/ludo/releases git]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Win}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Win10Phone}}

  | [https://github.com/Aftnet/RetriX/releases/tag/RetriX-2.1.77.0 2.1.77.0]

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  |-

  | style="width: 22em;" | {{Icon|XboxOne}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Xbox}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|PS4}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|PS3}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|PS2}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|PSVita}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|PSP}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Switch}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|WiiU}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Wii}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|GameCube}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|3DS}}

  | [https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]

  | HTPC

  | {{Green}} {{License|GPLv3}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|XboxOne}}

  | [https://github.com/Aftnet/RetriX/releases/tag/RetriX-2.1.77.0]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

|}

==== Comparison ====

; [http://sneses.tripware.es SNESES] : Same as Blast16 but for [[Super Nintendo emulators|Super Nintendo]] games.

=== [[MAME]] ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame/files {{pfeMAMEVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [http://erockus.elementfx.com/arcade.html {{Erockus ArcadeVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade#building {{gnome-arcadeVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | WIMP

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | WIMP

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  |-

  | WIMP

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  | {{TBD}}

==== Comparison ====

; [https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame pfeMAME] : Python front end for MAME that can run in Linux and Windows. It also includes a pretty graphical Tile View designed for MAME cabinets which allows control using joystick/gamepad. pfeMAME was written by Gareth Finch and the development project started in 2014.

; [https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade gnome-arcade] : A minimal MAME frontend using GTK+ 3. On some Linux distros, you have gnome-video-arcade package: Simple MAME frontend. Available on Ubuntu 16.04+ on official repo.

; [http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron] : An [https://github.com/xinyingho/Negatron intuitive and info-oriented front-end] for MAME; & a prettier derivative of ageing MAME32/MAMEUI. For computers and consoles, it needs builds of the [http://babelsoft.net/products/negamame.htm NegaMAME] derivative. For arcade games only, you can use Negatron with regular MAME instead.

; [https://superiorcode.gitlab.io/mamefave/ MameFave] : A Windows-only frontend launched in March 2022<ref name="mamefave_reddit">Reddit thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/MAME/comments/tpsvvl/new_windows_gui_for_mame MameFave GUI for MAME]</ref>. Creator intends for this to be a simple way to manage hundreds of ROMs.<ul><li>The favorites database can be filtered to help you find the game you want to play.</li><li>Works with many versions of MAME (32 and 64-bit).</li><li>Optional artwork download includes icons and marquees for all the classics!</li><li>Links to your favorite games can be made in just a few mouse clicks.</li><li>Games can be played directly from the ROM picker and search windows.</li></ul>

=== [[DOSBox]] ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | WIMP • HTPC<ref group="D" name="launchbox">This feature is called ''Big Box'' and is only available in the premium (paid) version.</ref>

  | {{Red}} {{License|Proprietary}}

  | {{~|color=PaleGoldenrod|text=Limited}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net/Download.html 1.4.4]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://ialauncher.created.today/download.htm 2.2.1]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [http://weekendwastemonster.net/dfend/D-Fend.zip 2.0.6.2 (Build 42)]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://cboxrun.wordpress.com/download 0.51]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

|}

==== Comparison ====

; [https://dbgl.org DOSBox Game Launcher] : Another frontend based on Java that is said to be inspired by the D-Fend's.

; [https://github.com/rtts/ialauncher IA Launcher] : IA Launcher is a graphical games launcher for under 3000 MS-DOS games from old times. It uses the Internet Archive to download games on-the-fly and DOSBox to play them offline.

; [http://weekendwastemonster.net/dfend/dfend.html D-Fend] : Very old, outdated and out of support. Was reborned as D-Fend Reloaded.

; [https://cboxrun.wordpress.com CBoxRun] : Zero relevance, lack of developing, dead for a long time.

=== [[Mednafen]] ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 67%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [https://github.com/AmatCoder/mednaffe/releases {{MednaffeVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn/releases {{MedGuiRebornVer}}]

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/Asnivor/MedLaunch/releases 0.5.25.3]

  | {{✗|text=❌}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://sourceforge.net/projects/medgui/files 1.99999]

; [https://sourceforge.net/projects/medgui MedGui] : Now is a thing of the past. But it has been revived as MedGui Reborn.

=== Others ===

{| class="wikitable" style="border-width: 2px; text-align: center; width: 75%;"

  |-

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://github.com/dh4/mupen64plus-qt/releases {{Mupen64Plus-QTVer}}]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}

  | [[Mupen64Plus]]

  | WIMP

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|Linux}}&ensp;•&ensp;{{Icon|macOS}}

  | [https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt/releases git]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [http://uploaded.net/file/ryc0vp4f WIP] ({{#formatdate:2019-04-02|ISO 8601}})

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://www.sendspace.com/file/sr7f90 -r886]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://github.com/nikescar1/SupermodelAssistant/releases 0.12]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Windows}}

  | [https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/saturn/emuls/windows?act=dlmfile&id=4227&fid=1 1.8]

  | {{TBD}}

  |-

  | {{Icon|Mac}}

  | [http://www.classics-for-x.info/csx/dapplegrey/ {{DapplegreyVer}}]

  | {{Unknown}}

  | {{✓|text=✅}}

  | {{TBD}}

|}