Mac RetroArch Setup Tutorial for Arcade Games - Part I

Update June 2024: Some small, but great RetroArch news considered here. First, HDR screenshots work now! And the new function "Add To Playlist" is such an important usability improvement of RetroArch Playlists. Last section "Other Arcade Cores" also updated.

February 2024: so finally the RetroArch Tutorial Part II is out, but please be sure to have gone through this Part I first 😊

21 April 2023: Added a short section as regards the Steam version of RetroArch.

20 March 2023: RetroArch 1.5.0 a.k.a. ‚The MacOS Release‘ (just kidding) was released - it is a huge improvement for Macs - https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-1-15-0-release/ and everything in this article also applies to the new stable build. I have not tested the Steam version, though because updating the newest Nightly manually is very convenient on MacOS, as also described below.

About this posting: As the new Vulkan driver for MacOS is a game changer for Retroarch in MacOS, it became necessary to update this entry. Don't be too afraid of this lengthy article, it's a checklist of what RetroArch is capable of, and the result of this work is an unmatched gaming experience, even in old-school arcade games.

Presenting: RetroArch Arcade Presets for the koko-aio shader

Update 6 April 2023: I released v 0.3 of my Arcade koko-aio shader

https://github.com/estefan3112/koko-aio-slang/releases/tag/0.3

Important change besides new presets: The backdrop presets (see the example here - Space Imvaders Deluxe) work in the same directory.

No need to repeat all of the Release Notes here. The shader gets better and better, and so do my presets, now 52. Tested under MacOS, iPadOS and Windows 11.

v 0.2 sees old-school games with Backdrops landing