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<!--
***
Recommended frontends are the best in their category.
If two frontends have different use cases they can both be recommended.
Different use cases might include: available on another platform, different interface type, etc.
***
-->
|-
|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan Nostlan]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan/releases 1.7.7]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
More links
[[File:openemu-wimp.png|thumb|[[OpenEmu]] with a <abbr title="Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer">WIMP</abbr> interface]]
[[File:attractmode-htpc.png|thumb|Attract-Mode with a HTPC interface]]
==Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)==
Frontends have different types of GUIGUIs, 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]]. ;HTPC:This type of interface is often intended for viewing on a big screen, such as a TV or arcade monitor. Normally the navigation is optimized for joysticks or game padsgamepads, although they often work with keyboard controls as well. [[RetroArch]], [[HyperSpin]] and [[MAME|MAME's]] integrated frontend ''MEWUI'' are examples of this interface.
;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.
|[http://quickplay.sourceforge.net/ QuickPlay]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/quickplay/files/latest/download?source=files 4.7.45]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[RetroFE]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[http://retrofe.nl/download/ 0.910.0]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|[[EmulationStation]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://emulationstation.org/index.html#download 2.0.1a]<br />[https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation Git {{EmulationStationVer}} (RetroPie fork)]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{~✓}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation>Only the [https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation RetroPie fork]</ref> ||{{~}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation></ref>|-|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan Nostlan]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan/releases 1.10]|WIMP, HTPC, Touch|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org/ Pegasus]
|[https://playnite.link/ Playnite]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://playnite.link/download.html 67.5]|WIMP, HTCP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.gameex.com/ GameEx]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.gameex.info/forums/files/category/33-gameex-installs/ 16.27 40 (Free)]<br />[https://www.gameex.info/forums/store/category/4-gameex-pinballx-and-spesoft-products/ Lifetime pass ($60)]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|CLI
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://romjacket.github.io/skeletonkey/index.html skeletonKeY]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/romjacket/skeletonkey 0.99x]
|WIMP/CLI
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://www.metropolis-launcher.net/ Metropolis Launcher]
|[[EmulationStation]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://emulationstation.org/index.html#download 2.0.1a]<br />[https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation Git {{EmulationStationVer}} (RetroPie fork)]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{~✓}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation>Only the [https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation RetroPie fork]</ref> ||{{~}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation></ref>
|-
|[http://attractmode.org/ Attract-Mode]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digdroid.alman.dig 1.37.1 (<abbr title="Offers in-app purchases">IAP</abbr>)]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||?
|-
|RESET Collection
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|AndroidTV}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retroloungelab.resetcollection 1.0.12 ($4.99)]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||?
===Comparisons===
<!--
*** READ THIS FIRST ***
Recommended frontends are the best in their category.
If two frontends have different (common) use cases they can both be recommended.
Different use cases might include: available on another platform, different interface type, etc.
The comparison text should compare the frontend to other frontends.
Why should or shouldn't you use this frontend?
**********************
-->
;[[LaunchBox]]
[[File:LaunchBox-Screenshot-Nintendo-64.jpg|100px|left]]
: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://attractmode.org Attract-Mode]
:A graphical frontend for command line emulators with a completely customizable appearance. 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.
;[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 slowdown free.
;[https://romjacket.github.io/skeletonkey/index.html/ skeletonKeY]
:According to the author, skeletonKeY is ''a unified interface for ROMs emulators and frontends''. A dynamic GUI provides granular options for MAME, snes9x, mednafen, emulationStation, retroFE, PegasusFE and a very comprehensive interface for retroArch (including netplay). SkeletonKeY integrates and supports the installation of hundreds of emulators. SkeletonKeY is free, open source and very ugly.
;[https://playnite.link/ Playnite]
:A great general gaming frontend for Windows. For emulation it's not yet at the same level as LaunchBox. For something similar on Linux, check out Lutris.
;[https://lutris.net/ Lutris]
:A Linux launcher for PC games and a libretro frontend. Very easy to use, almost no setup. You'll need the GNOME Settings app to be able to bulk add ROMs.
===[[MAME]]===
MAME was originally designed as a command line program. However, when the project relicensed as open source in February 2016, they merged the frontend [https://dankan1890.github.io/mewui/ MEWUI] into the main project as part of the MAME executable. MEWUI uses the ten-foot interface philosophy which accounts for large television displays where the user is expected to use a TV remote-like input device to navigate the menus. However, MAME still supports command line arguments, so many old launchers still work with newer versions.
|[http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm#download 0.99100.71]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|}
===[[Mednafen]]===
Mednafen is a command line program with no graphical interface whatsoever. These programs generally ease the process of launching games, but doesn't address things like controller configuration which is done by pressing hotkeys in-game.
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓✗}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn MedGui Reborn]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn/releases 0.110113]
|WIMP
|{{~}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~✓}}
|-
|[https://medlaunch.info/ MedLaunch]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✓}} ||?
|-
|[https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt CEN64-Qt]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt/releases 20200219-alpha]
|[[CEN64]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||?
|-
|[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,159733.msg1680224.html Sega Model 2 UI]
==See also==
* [[Comparison of Emulator Frontends]]
[[Category:FAQs]]
[[Category:Tools|*]]
[[Category:Frontends|*]]
