Featured Post: Retrogaming Emulation on Apple Silicon

This featured post is in steady update. 

Last update 10 December 2024 - added short entry for the PS3, as RPCS3 now provides native builds for Silicon Macs.

19 October 2024 - added WolfMAME/MAME Action Replay Page, thank you, Mr. Unknown!

3 October 2024 - small update for Arcade, as the MAME 2003 RetroArch cores improved on Apple Silicon as well.

6 August 2024 - small update of for N64 (mupen 2.6.0 release), GameCube (RetroAchievements in Dolphin), and Darkplaces (still compiles smoothly).

23 March 2024 - added TyrQuake in the Quake for PC section for the sake of completeness.

2 March 2024 - added GBA section and applied links to the Table of Content as well as a lot of shoe polish to the entry. 

Table of Content

(links in this TOC only work in the actual blog post, but not on the homepage)

• About this Blog
• Arcade Games
• Sony Playstation (PSX)
• Sony Playstation 2 (PS2)
• Sony Playstation 3
• Nintendo Game Cube and Wii
• Nintendo 64
• Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)
• Nintendo Gameboy Advance (GBA)
• Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Quake for PC 🤘
• Philips Videopac/Odyssey2

About this Blog

Statistics tell me that my info about MAME on Apple Silicon is having highest popularity and became a kind of landing page for the entire blog. Here I give a broader overview. As emulators still improve, this blog post will be revisited from time to time. Sorted in accordance with my own experience (in particular only own dumps of my console games). 

But first - what is so peculiar about emulating old games?

In a nutshell, dedicated enthusiasts preserve gaming history for no money. As the old arcade machines increasingly wear off, emulators build virtual machines around its games. This alone is fascinating, but the community does much more: It also preserves the artwork, photos of the controllers and the PCBs, even the old manuals. And the only thing they expect from you is respect and gratitude 😊. Of course you can also contribute in other ways (like I do with this blog).

Work is mostly done under open source licenses, so this work remains free. I am a bit hesitant to (always) buy into the commercial variants, as they basically perpetuate the income from old arcade games. But there are definitely nice commercial offers: I bought the Capcom Classics (1942, 1943, etc) for Nintendo Switch, and it‘s quite comparable to the open source variants (plus an acceptable way to play it on the Switch, however e.g. both 1942 and 1943 stutter on my Switch from time to time). Other commercial offerings, such as Metal Slug on the Switch, are a bit disappointing, as they provide you a bare bones emulation without upscaling and just scanlines - they should do better.

Why this focus on MacOS emulation?

Motivation has changed through time. When I started this blog in 2016, its main purpose was to fill a huge gap by explaining how to run MAME on Macs. Documentation was scarce or non-existent back then. 

Nowadays documentation got much better, and I see Silicon Macs as a quite unique emulation platform - emulation on the Mac mini shines like never before. You are getting decent performance paired with highest energy efficiency, thus no noise or heat at all. Compared to a quite noisy and hot Nintendo Switch, a Silicon Mac is a much quieter and cooler gaming device. Gaming PCs, while more powerful, are clumsy, can be noisy and always emit a lot of warm air. With most emulation, Apple Silicon performance will just be stellar or at least very fine.

That’s why I also started to cover other than arcade emulation, simply because you can get very convincing results on Silicon Macs. I would not want to trade thus package in for something different.

What about those RetroAchievements?

I consider them as a game changer for all retrogaming. While cheevos shines on more complex console emulation, they are increasingly fun on arcades as well (with just recently brilliant achievements for 1942 and Bubble Bobble). I also discovered new things via RetroAchievements that I had not been aware of. That‘s why I will always prefer emulators supporting RetroAchievements over others.

So many words to read here - why don‘t you do videos?

Call me old-fashioned, but reading is remembering. Sure, there is great YouTube content out there, but when it comes to learning things, I prefer the written word, as you engage more actively with it. And with the more complicated configuration instructions, videos get overly complicated to make (and to use as well). I also revisit my blog entries and update them, and that seems hardly feasible with videos.

With this in mind, let's have a look into the emulation scene with a focus on Silicon Macs.

Arcade Games

3 October 2024
Still the main focus of this Blog, and my own preferences shifted significantly through the years.

No.1 - FinalBurn Neo/RetroArch Core (excellent): My current golden standard in arcade emulation in MacOS/iOS. As soon as you have tamed RetroArch, you get best-in-class performance (also due to the 60Hz core option, which can be a live saver), HDR in Vulkan and now working screenshots, shaders (see my koko-aio repository) and RetroAchievements. Highscore support steadily increases. Emulation of some very old games and newer games is missing - here you may revert to MAME official. This RetroArch core is updated very frequently. Discord (if you like it) has a lively user community.

No.2 - MAME/RetroArch Cores (very good): These days MAME (current) is in sync with official MAME. In RetroArch, you get HDR and the shaders, and my koko-aio repository works with identical presets now. However, RetroAchievements are missing/not officially supported. Compared to offical MAME, highscore support has problems and is hard to install. This is my choice for all games that FinalBurn Neo does not support. I also mention the old MAME 2003/2003 plus cores, which are avaialble for Silicon Macs. Especially the 2003 plus core gained a lot of stability recently, and it might be a good alternative to the rather big MAME(current) core with long loading times. Highscore support is old school and similar to FinalBurn Neo, but easier to handle in RetroArch. You of course need a different romset, then it might be worth a try. 

No.3 - official MAME (very good): You may call it heresy, but I hardly use official MAME these days, as FinalBurn Neo outperforms it and the MAME (current) RetroArch core is in sync and good enough. Shaders are ok, but can no longer compete with a powerful RetroArch shader as koko-aio is. Download the official MacOS builds here - but as of MAME 262, no MacIntel builds are available (you need to compile them by yourself). Otherwise not much more to say here. But as most of the new emulation development seems to happen here, MAME official is the main reference for any technical issues you may experience e.g. with RetroArch cores. So is a game does weird things for you, always also check behavior in official MAME.

No.4 - WolfMAME (very good): Thanks to Mr. Unknown below, I became aware of WolfMAME for MacOS. Never heard of it before, and it is closely linked to the MAME Action Replay Page - which is actually a very cool thing. I also successfully compiled my own WolfMAME from the source code of the WolfMAME GitHub Repository - if you wanna be on the safe side. From my limited testing, I could record an own inp file, but so far I failed to replay any of the nice inp files from the website. It would be great to see the real masters playing my favorite games, but that seems quite tricky.

No.5 - OpenEmu (very good): With a surprise release 2.4.1 in December 2023 after two years of silence, OpenEmu is back. If you hate all this configuration effort, this emulator is definitely worth a try. While it is Intel binaries only, it runs sufficiently well on my M2 Mac mini. The MAME 250 core is in the Experimental Build of OpenEmu. Installation is like any other MacOS app, joypad configuration is very good, and shaders are loaded from within the game with the mouse. If you are fine with the MAME 250 core (probably yes for classic arcade games), you might be better of with OpenEmu compared to official MAME for an acceptable gameplay. OpenEmu also provides tons of other console emulators. But it cannot match RetroArch performance (and doesn't want to, because it wants to provide you with an out-of-the-box solution with no tweaking possibilities).

Bottom line: With so much choice, you cannot complain. All four alternatives are rock stable and provide ready binaries.

Super Mario 64 Hacks on Apple Silicon (Native)

Update 18.11.2024: Amendments to CoopDX, which really rules. First preview of the SM_OSX launcher that already now shines.

Please allow me this major digression from Arcade gaming: I still adore Super Mario 64, and from time to time and fire up my Nintendo64 only for this game. I also like the game as ported to the Nintendo Switch, but the experience is basic.

Now, there have been exiting Super Mario 64 Mods and Hacks out for a while that deliver the goods. If you are capable of the Command Line and Homebrew, they are also available for under MacOS, in particular Silicon Macs. And with a MacOS-native launcher currently in revamp, things could get easier as well.

Here are the instructions for three solutions that worked for me. It's quite easily to loose focus with all the different repositories, so let's look into three solutions that work reliably.

1. smex: The oldest repo and manual install, but perfect for textures and rumble.

2. Render96ex: Not as impressive as under Windows with raytracing, but still powerful.

3. SM64CoopDX: Bleeding edge, a lot of mods and romhacks out there, though designed for cooperatives, you can also play it solo. Endless gaming.

This runs natively in MacOS Sequoia 15.1 at 60 fps

Teaser: With all three solutions discussed here, you get incredible Super Mario 64 gaming experience that hugely outperforms the original game. Out of the box comes 60fps and widescreen. It is not an emulation, but a re-compiled MacOS app. With this alone, you should be interested.

MacOS-specific hint: MacOS display scaling is your enemy for all these apps! In my own case, I have to set my 4K-monitor to native resolution without scaling, while normally I use MacOS with the largest scaling. But especially with custom textures, this scaling causes a lot of jittery effects in all three solutions. So prior to using any of the following solutions, be sure to switch MacOS-scaling off. It‘s only one click, leave the window open to revert after gaming - no big hassle.

By the way: That can also be very true under Windows11 in my own experience, only that I could not find such an easy solution there as with MacOS.

Turning off scaling is a must for hi-res textures.

Requirement for all solutions: Super Mario 64 (USA).z64 rom 

This July - Hot Emulation News

While during summer, computing tends to slow down a bit, this is certainly not true for the emulator scene. Let's just list the big news that also are relevant for Mac Retrogaming:

• RetroAchievements for Game Cube has landed! Download the most recent development build for MacOS (Universal build) and log into your RetroAchievements account via Tools - done! There is already a huge list of supported GameCube titles - with some luck also those of your own childhood. Needless to tell that should you have missed out on RetroAchievements, it is about time! This is absolutely breaking news. I just fired up my beloved Luigis Mansion, and RetroAchievements immediately activated on my Mac!
• PCSX2 enters a new era: The developers have completed migration to QT and thereby release version 2! Having said that, Silicon Macs still rely on Rosetta2 - but the IntelMac builds are reasonably fast and absolutely stable.
• Mupen64Plus 2.6: Believe it or not, it's the first release since 5 years. There are pre-built releases, however only for Intel64. While I could not test it, my build instructions for an Apple Silicon build should still work.
• Duckstation frequently updates: It's definitely also worth updating Duckstation to its most recent version. Besides tons of under the hood development, also further shaders landed. Also here I still need to come back later.

With that said, back into this hot summer ... enjoy some shiny summer days!

Exciting RetroArch Updates - Official Apple AppStore Availability

The RetroArch community remains very busy and provides for another big thing - RetroArch is now downloadable for iOS/iPadOS/tvOS from the official Apple App Store.

According to the libretro.com website, also an official app for MacOS is in the making, but that's not so important anyways.

But this app iOS/iPadOS/tvOS is a big step forward, as you no longer need to care about sideloading or even jailbreaking your mobile device. Installation and updates from the official Apple App Store work like a breeze. Big thanks to the libretro community for such good progress.

If you are really into RetroArch on Apple mobiles, I can highly recommend you this third-party app for all your file transfers: https://imazing.com/ - yes, it costs money, but it's worth every cent. A very smart way of managing your devices and transfering data from and to it.

At this occasion, I also updated my two RetroArch tutorials:

• Part I of the tutorial - updates mainly concern HDR screenshots and playlist improvements
• Part II of the tutorial - updates mainly concern the Cloud Sync functionality in relation to FinalBurn Neo

All in all, RetroArch continues to be a cornerstone of Mac emulation.

Welcome back, QMC2!

Update 6 May 2024 - GitHub Fork with MacOS Binaries

For easier deployment, I created a fork of the QMC2 Github Repository here:

https://github.com/estefan3112/qmc2-mame-fe-MacOS

You'll find here latest pre-compiled and code-signed versions of QMC2 for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. You'll also find Shell scripts for compiling the Upstream source code and self-sign the app. Right now only for Apple Silicon, soon for Intel Macs as well.

Question: I downloaded the QMC2 app, but MacOS tells me that the file is corrupted. I already tried right mouse + open at least twice, but with no success.

Answer: Sorry to hear, your QMC2 app might be in the quarantine. To lift the quarantine, please execute this command in the Terminal

xattr -cr /Applications/qmc2-sdlmame.app (please adjust the path to your QMC2.app, if required)

Enjoy.

Update March 2024 - in (far too late) Memory of Rene Reucher

Only these days, far too late, I learnt that Rene Reucher, the creator of the QMC2 frontend, passed away in spring 2023. Back in 2022, when I wrote the first version of this post, Rene has restarted his work on this quite unique MAME frontend, and it was a pleasure for me to help him out on some minor things in relation to Macs, albeit nothing crucial. From two phone calls, I remember him as a very reasonable and pleasant person. This is my very late "Sorry, and all the best, Rene."

At the same time, as fellow developers have now resumed work, it is nice to see that Rene's work will be continued. So I am happy to present new QMC2 v244 builds - and I am quite confident that Rene would accept that I link these two messages together:

AppleSilicon: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lX5UOpHGFxHPkLojg0vGYSZ8rX-0b5W/view?usp=drive_link

MacIntel: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tI12260ce9ijJKJ7R5F0nvvJuK_1CyB9/view?usp=drive_link

This time, also the MacIntel build should have proper code signatures and should even run on Apple Silicon - though there is really no need to do this.

So far it's the best version I've ever tested. History.xml is now supported, so you can update to the latest history.xml file to have great machine information. The Silicon Mac version is blazingly fast, and further bugfixing is never a bad thing. On top, the latest libraries are bundled, including the latest QT5 version. That's why I found it worth to provide new builds.

As always, please care for the instructions in the ReadMe and do report any problems back, many thanks.

I started MAME with the help of QMC2, and it is still a classic frontend experience

Original post in the following (no longer relevant and rather outdated, as it builds nicely now with Homebrew):

RetroArch Tutorial Part III - Usage 101 / Best Practices

After two tutorials on a proper RetroArch setup (Part I and Part II), this might be the most difficult Part III on best practices in RetroArch. Frankly, it's an attempt and I will see where this heads to.

Hello RetroArch!
I do hope it's fine to use your great logo here :-).

RetroArch Menu Styles

While I stick to the pragmatic new menu layout of ozone, you can also check the different layouts which RetroArch offers. Look for: Settings/User Interface/Menu (change requires a save and restart)

RetroArch 1.17 release & RetroArch Setup Tutorial - Part II

Update June 2024: Besides minor tweaks all over the document, I included a dedicated RetroArch Cloud Sync section for FinalBurn Neo, as this cannot be put into the official documentation.

This February 2024, RetroArch reached another milestone with the release of the stable version 1.17. The significance of this frontend for the emulation community cannot be overestimated - it's the foundation/inspiration for many other projects and of course the home of an ever growing list of cores that run under this frontend. But it's also a steady inspiration for new concepts and ideas - with some of these ideas remaining in an experimental mode, while others becoming very successful and influential.

This is a follow-up to this post about configuring RetroArch from scratch - Part I.

So let's start Part II of the RetroArch tutorial with a focus on Arcade games - but most of this applies to other cores as well. As you may expect, this post is work in progress and will grow over time. If you are interested in some special RetroArch topics, just leave a comment below.

Even with 1.17 being out, let me suggest to use nightly builds.

1. Use nightly MacOS builds: 

The nightly MacOS builds of RetroArch have now been stable for several years. I can recommend using them instead of the stable builds. For example, new version 1.2.7 of MoltenVK (the Vulkan layer for MacOS) just landed two days after the stable 1.17 - apparently, this plugin is essential for RetroArch in MacOS, so you would not want to miss this update. But I do not mean that you should update RetroArch every day, but if you do, download a nightly build to benefit from the latest updates.

If things turn out strange for you, you can easily downgrade by installing the stable version over the nightly build. As shown in Part I, updating the app is simple, and you will not loose any of your settings.

Arcade Emulation on Macs - Status Report December 2023

Update 13 January 2024: Further great news for all Aracade fans.

1942 has RetroAchievements! One of my all-time arcade favorites finally received nice Achievements. Needless to tell that I won't master this set at any point in time, but for all you hardcore gamers, this is definitely something to head for.

OpenEmu 2.41! After some two years, the emulator with a MacOS feeling, OpenEmu, has been finally updated again. If you download the "Experimental" version, you also receive a MAME 250 core. One word of caution: It is still Intel only. However, some initial testing on my M2 Mac mini showed nice performance. In MacOS Sonoma, OpenEmu also activates the Gaming Mode in fullscreen. I certainly will always prefer RetroArch/FinalBurn Neo, but if you want to engage into all this configuration hassles, OpenEmu is worth a try.

Update 22 December 2023: Have a good festive season with a lot of good arcade gaming! These great news will help you so spend some quality gaming time. I also tweaked the main text a bit. Cheers!

Bubble Bobble has RetroAchievements! The wait is over, and these Achievements are pure joy. RetroArch and FinalBurn Neo (don‘t forget to turn the koko-aio shaders on, and my repository of course contains dedicated artwork). It’s a great experience and raises this brilliant game to a new level.

AttractMode Plus updated to 3.0.7, the signed app for Silicon Macs is online: https://github.com/oomek/attractplus/releases/tag/3.0.7

Arcadeflow layout for AttractMode Plus updated to 16.7, grab it here: https://github.com/zpaolo11x/Arcadeflow/releases/tag/16.7

Happy holidays! And again: All here strictly non-commercial, i.e. no ads, and any comments trying to benefit will be removed.

———————

Inspired some interesting reads out there (Dolphin Emu progress reports, PCSX2 progress reports, and last but not least https://www.readonlymemo.com/) I do this status report in December 2023 on Mac Arcade emulation (including iOS emulation).  Don't get me wrong: Those emu progress reports are much more into technical stuff than this blog - still the format inspires. And it's also a very good moment to do this, as there is a lot of good things to report. And before you ask: No tvOS experience here, sorry ;-).

In short: Arcade emulation on Macs/iOS was never better than now. Let's discuss why.

(1) MacOS Sonoma: Upgrading to the latest MacOS from Ventura was hassle-free. The new OS just works, and so do all emulators so fae (and Homebrew, most importantly). For sure, you will ask about this Game Mode that landed in MacOS for the first time. Happy to report that RetroArch properly launches in Game Mode when in fullscreen (MacOS tells you this with a notification each launch). 

Apologies for Shots in German ;-).

However, MAME official does not seem to launch in Game Mode (at least no notification pops up). Don't ask me about any performance differences, which are anyways hard to measure in RetroArch. But according to the official documentation (link above), it should definitely be no disadvantage for the gaming experience. 

In short: Sonoma is good to head for.

(2) FinalBurn Neo (RetroArch Core for MacOS/iOS): This core continues to impress and remains a clear number one in Mac Arcade emulation. The RetroArch documentation provides a nice summary of the main differences between MAME and FinalBurn Neo: https://docs.libretro.com/library/fbneo/ - in short, FinalBurn Neo takes compromises on accuracy in favor of playability by accepting 'quality of life hacks' that MAME doesn't. Since my latest post on this core (actually a full setup guide on RetroArch for Arcade games), the developers took huge efforts to stay in sync with MAME official (as of this post, this is version 261). Highscore support further increased for my favorite games. And most importantly, it is the only reliable RetroArch arcade core for RetroAchievements. Remember: For playing in HC Mode (the real thing without save states and rewind), you need to disable the rom hack core option when running FBNeo and restart.

In short: FinalBurn Neo remains the best Arcade emulator on MacOS/iOS systems.