This is the Future of RU discussion group.

[Kong]

Long term active users are invited to plan the future.

[ZedIsDead]

At first, I was wondering what the cryptic-sounding social group name meant. Then I saw the picture in the social group, and I had a stunning epiphany.

http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2014_12/5032.jpg

Kong is making hoverboards!

In all, seriousness, this is a good idea. I'm honored to be part of the group and will be glad to provide feedback and input.

[StarfoxFan2009]

Im honored as well. Though one thing i can reassure you on is that the Cubs will not be winning the World Series in 2015 lol :P

[Dudebro]

I think we'd need to know what your plan is first Kong.

[QAOP Spaceman]

Thanks for the invite, Kong, as I realise I'm not exactly 'long term' round here :)

Happy to help in any way, but like the man says, it would be good to know what plans you're hatching.

[Slime Slayer]

SC13 on hand and ready to share ideas.

[Kong]

The name will be changed to Retro Up - Online Games in Java Emulators (http://www.retroup.com/)
The site will have a massive cosmetic facelift.
We will switch to a more modern forum software.
The forum will be separate from the rest of the site. They will share the same user/profile/login system. But be separate beyond that. This is mostly just from my point of view and you wont notice much of a change. Though they will have different skins and probably be something like forum.retroUp.com instead of www.retroUp.com/forum. They will link to each other in the menu the same as they do now.
There will be an offline version of the games.
There may or may not be an online version.
We will support Linux, Mac, Windows, Android, iOS and Raspberry.
We will offer roms for download.
We will create rom packs. Detail below.
We will have a database of most game info. Detail below.
I will create an api allowing people to pull data from us so they can add it to their emulator front end.
It will be wiki based so users can contribute content. Mods will approve their changes before they go live.
I am adding score support to Libretro (http://www.libretro.com/). This will mean score mode will be added to more systems with fewer bugs. All of our systems will have a more uniform feel and setup and more features.





Rom Packs.
As of now if you want a complete set of roms along with a complete set of matching media files (manuals, screenshot, game description, genre, release date) you have a lot of work ahead. I will provide these for easy download. You will get all roms, no dupes (if you are a rom collector you know how confusing and annoying current complete sets are), all of the supporting files all with the same matching file name, from one place with fast easy downloads. Currently the few places where you can find complete sets are through paid download sites that try to make you pay a fee for fast easy downloads.

Game Data Base will contain.
Rom for download.
Best emulator with best settings preconfigured.
Images of box (front, back, and as a full box), cart (disk whatever), flyer (advertisement), logo, maps, marquee, snapshot, title screen, and wallpaper.
cheats (game genie, passwords, konami code etc).
pdfs - game guides (like nintendo player's guide or nintendo power guide.), manual
1 song from game
video of game play and commercial.
info - publisher, developer, release date, ports, perspective, rating, controls, players, description, world record score.

Each system will have
a description
high quality images of controller, system, logo, wallpaper, mascot.
the font for the logo.
couple minutes of video clips from iconic games.


The initial systems will be

Atari - 2600
Atari - 5200
Atari - 7800
Atari - Jaguar
Atari - Lynx
Atari - ST
Bandai - WonderSwan
Bandai - WonderSwan Color
Casio - Loopy
Casio - PV-1000
Coleco - ColecoVision
Commodore - 64
Commodore - Amiga
Commodore - Plus-4
Commodore - VIC-20
Emerson - Arcadia 2001
Entex - Adventure Vision
Epoch - Super Cassette Vision
Fairchild - Channel F
Funtech - Super Acan
GCE - Vectrex
Hartung - Game Master
Magnavox - Odyssey2
MAME
Mattel Intellivision
Microsoft - MSX
Microsoft - MSX 2
NEC - PC Engine - TurboGrafx 16
NEC - Super Grafx
Nintendo - Famicom Disk System
Nintendo - Game Boy
Nintendo - Game Boy Advance
Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (e-Cards)
Nintendo - Game Boy Color
Nintendo - Nintendo 64
Nintendo - Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo - Pokemon Mini
Nintendo - Satellaview
Nintendo - Sufami Turbo
Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo - Virtual Boy
RCA - Studio II
Sega - 32X
Sega - Game Gear
Sega - Master System - Mark III
Sega - Mega Drive - Genesis
Sega - SG-1000
Sinclair - ZX Spectrum +3
SNK - Neo Geo Pocket
SNK - Neo Geo Pocket Color
Tiger - Game.com
VTech - CreatiVision
Watara - Supervision



Design direction.
[SPOILER]
Sega Retro (http://segaretro.org/) - a typical wiki. This probably wont happen but I haven't ruled it out 100% yet.
Letterboxd (http://letterboxd.com/) - Click around on a couple pages and look at the general layout.
Torrent Butler (http://torrentbutler.eu/98566-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles) - similar to previous link.
GOG.com (http://www.gog.com/game/beyond_good_and_evil) - again similar to last 2 links. Wallpaper of game in background. Foreground = box of media with column of data, large button to play game, links, description and extra data at below, followed by comments.
OpenEmu (http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/openemu-mac-os-x-video-game-emulator-2.jpg) - I think this direction can work well for us. Column for game cats/systems. Box for table of sortable game info that belong to the selected cat. Box of media, focusing on the main game but showing smaller image of next couple games. Selecting a game would go to something more like GOG.
LaunchBox (http://www.launchbox-app.com/screenshots) - similar to above.
EmulationStation (http://www.emulationstation.org/) - the video on this page is a possible direction.
UI and design of EmulationStation (http://blog.nilsbyte.de/emulationstation-v2-emulator-frontend/) - this is an article about creating the previous link. I want to use several of the ideas from the article, not the site.
Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/genre/Free%20to%20Play/) - game list and individual game pages layout could work.



Status.

I am about to finish up creating the ROM packs. I will show them in a few days. I literally spent nearly 10 hours a day (although lots of progress bars with tv and games going at same time (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/compiling.png)) nearly every day for over a month working on these.
I have most of the updated emulator code finished.
I have started thinking of design ideas for the site reboot but no real work started yet.

[TodayIsForgotten]

looks good kong. Alex works for pretty much free and since he's Mexican you can hold him against his will...if needbe.

[StarfoxFan2009]

that's pretty awesome, Kong

[Dudebro]

There may or may not be an online version.
What does this mean exactly?

[ZedIsDead]

Hmm, are we going for a more GameTap style thing here? Interesting. OpenEmu's layout is slick as hell, I wouldn't mind a facelift like that.


Game Data Base will contain.
Rom for download.
Best emulator with best settings preconfigured.
Images of box (front, back, and as a full box), cart (disk whatever), flyer (advertisement), logo, maps, marquee, snapshot, title screen, and wallpaper.
cheats (game genie, passwords, konami code etc).
pdfs - game guides (like nintendo player's guide or nintendo power guide.), manual
1 song from game
video of game play and commercial.
info - publisher, developer, release date, ports, perspective, rating, controls, players, description, world record score.

That's similar to some of the work I did at Nintendo Nerds(mostly for naught, it appears). Definitely something I'm interested in seeing.

Here's an example of NN's Lufia II page, for reference:
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - SNES - Nintendo Games Database - Nintendo Games Database - Nintendo Nerds - Home (http://www.nintendonerds.com/games/categories/snes/lufia-ii-rise-of-the-sinistrals-r1181)

I don't have much free time right now(that should change this summer), but if there's anything I can do to help, I'll do what I can.

[Kong]

@TiF. What?

My main questions.

Think about what we can do to separate ourselves from the competition. What will make us stand out from other rom, game, score etc sites.
Look at my "design direction" in my previous post. Comment.
If you are a professional designer and would like to assist let me know.
Tenser is picking a new forum software. If you think you have a knowlegable opinion of forum options or want to do some research, get with him.
If you would like to help with creating a database of game info, ask wolf how you can help.
If you understand the code of libretro.com and want to help, let me know.
Online games. I am going to do away with the current ArcadeOX. Help me make a replacement choice. This is difficult for you since it is hard to explain all the details. But if any of this strikes an opinion in you let me know. It is a huge decision for RU.A. No online games. Offline only. There will be an offline option either way.
B. Custom URL Protocols. The only examples I know are Torrent Magnet links and Web Links from Itunes Store to the Itunes program. To the user this would seem very similar to our current version of AOX. With 2 exceptions.
1. The install process. Instead of installing a browser plugin you would download the program and go through a more normal software install.
2. There are less limitations on me, easier to update, fewer bugs. Work on all systems, and all browsers.
C. Java. I already have most of the code for this done. It runs nice, it is cross browser and OS. BUT Java has a scary security warning when it launches and by default most people have it turned off so you have to explain how to turn it on.
D. Flash. Only an option if one of you is or wants to hire a CrossBridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia programmer. A good option but not really an option.
E. Use https://github.com/kripken/emscripten and javascript. This is what archive.org does. This is the best LONG term option. BUT 1. I would need to hire someone. 2. I think this is still a couple years away from providing solid frame rates and bug free experience for average user. Not a good plan this year.
F. You suggest something I haven't thought of.




---------- Post added at 05:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:22 PM ----------

Offline, just means the emulator and possibly front end are offline.

Games and game data will be available in the cloud meaning they are on our servers, not downloaded to your computer. Although you can optionally download them so you can play without internet.

Submitting scores will require internet although there might be an option to play without internet and schedule a submission when you connect at a later time.


Offline means you will not be using a browser plugin - AOX. It probably means you wont use a web browser but I might put the emulator front end in the web browser which is essentially what option 7B is.

The big definition of offline in this context is downloading and installing an exe.

[Dudebro]

I thought allowing people to make scores offline would mean they could attempt to tamper with it and make it harder to detect?

[Kong]

No, I can make it just as secure.

[QAOP Spaceman]

2. There are less limitations on me, easier to update, fewer bugs. Work on all systems, and all browsers.I have zero technical knowledge / expertise but compatibility and ease of use for user and administrator all seem real pluses to this option.

I'm afraid I'm not going to be a lot of use with much of this but:

If you would like to help with creating a database of game info, ask wolf how you can help.I did a postgraduate qualification in Information Science / Librarianship and have a bit of experience in database management so I'll give Wolf a buzz.

I think most of you are technically proficient people... I can't even run Mame without a GUI. One of the best things about RU for me when I discovered it was the ease of use for dumb-arses like myself. Whatever form it takes in the future I hope it remains as easy to use as it is now.

[Kong]

Whatever form it takes in the future I hope it remains as easy to use as it is now.That will always be a primary goal.

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

I will rephrase the online options. This should be much clearer than my last post.

A. Download and install an exe. Something very much or maybe even exactly like LaunchBox Frontend for DOSBox, Portable Games Launcher and Database (http://www.launchbox-app.com) except the roms, images etc are in cloud so you don't need a big empty hard drive and you don't have to hunt for them.

B. Download and install an exe. Search and browse for games in a web browser instead of a front end like Launchbox. Roms are stored in cloud so you don't need a big empty hard drive. Images etc are online so you don't have to set them up like you would in a normal emulator frontend.

C. Java. Besides making sure you have java updated and enabled and clicking accept at the security warning you don't need to do anything. No exe. No install. No other browser plugins. Search and browse for games in a web browser instead of a program like Launchbox. Roms are played online so you don't need a big empty hard drive.

D. We pay a CrossBridge programmer to port to flash.

E. We pay an emscripten programmer to port to javascript.

F. One of you suggests a better idea.

[Dudebro]

The first two options seem like the best options except for the downloading a program part. People don't like seeing the .exe thing from sites that aren't well known.

[TodayIsForgotten]

It was a joke towards Alexgunslinger.

Something that sets us apart from other sites is wolfs contribution to the competitions.

If you could somehow get online coop play to work flawlessly (of course ping, latency and location are crucial for this and would cost too much money) would definitely set RU apart.

Maybe some sort of community newsletter - interviews/game of the month discussions. Not sure, just something that could lead into something else.

Prostitution.

[Dudebro]

Prostitution.
Probably not much demand for gigolos who are obsessed with thirty year old video games and anime.

[Kong]

If you could somehow get online coop play to work flawlessly (of course ping, latency and location are crucial for this and would cost too much money) would definitely set RU apart.

We already have this ability in most of our systems. Just the current instructions are junk.

Switching to libretro will be an improvement. Mostly in simplified instructions. Flawless wont happen. Will come down to a matter of how severe the flaws are. Biggest issue will be user location. Australia and USA aren't going to have lagfree match ups. Will be peer to peer so user's internet speed is important, not servers. Will not cost us extra money.


Maybe some sort of community newsletter - interviews/game of the month discussions. Not sure, just something that could lead into something else.Other people are welcome to spearhead that. I personally wont. I am planning on putting all games on a calendar of sorts to celebrate game anniversaries. That could be used to select a game of the month.

[Barra]

If you could somehow get online coop play to work flawlessly (of course ping, latency and location are crucial for this and would cost too much money) would definitely set RU apart.


This

---------- Post added at 06:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:24 PM ----------

I have had some people say to me they don't like RU because it is browser based. Others have said they want to put an offline frontend into their MAME cabinets, as they don't have internet in the basement or whatever, where their other arcade cabs are.
So it sounds like an offline version is the go, with the ability to connect at a later date and submit scores. Or somehow be able to transfer a file to submit your scores. No idea if that is even possible

[ZedIsDead]

Probably not much demand for gigolos who are obsessed with thirty year old video games and anime.

Don't forget terrible movies!

[Dudebro]

Don't forget terrible movies!
Good catch we shouldn't forget that.






I think the simplified online coop thing might be a really good idea. Just let people know up front that they'll have lag if they're not geographically close to each other. We wouldn't be able to have very good fighting game tournaments but something like
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara - Arcade/Coin-Op (http://www.retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/10671/)
would be awesome, for the most part. Who knows it could even revitalize the community because people like to play coop vs bad guys.

Also I was thinking about adding site wide achievements like Steam or Xbox Live. I know some people think they're terrible but if they're done right they're cool. They're also addictive. People buy games and dlc just to get 100% completion and/or higher total achievement score. It's stupid but this is not a small number of people. I'm not saying you should charge people for anything tied with this idea I'm just saying something like this could be very attractive to a lot of visitors. I know I'd like it.

[Barra]

I like the "achievements" idea, Dudebro. But it would have to be done very well

[Dudebro]

I'm sure we can all come up with some good ones. Make people actually achieve them. None of that "Start up the game for the first time!" shit. I actually have one just like that on Steam but I'm pretty sure it's meant ironically.

[Barra]

What about ones like "Achieve (x) first place scores", "Achieve (y) game clears"
Or similar

[TodayIsForgotten]

Definitely should have ones to beat the game with every character.

Your standard. Beat game. Beat game with no continue, beat game without dying and anything else that makes a game, a game.

[Barra]

I disagree, we should have as few as possible to make them more prestigious.

[DrunkN]

This is really out there, but....

Was watching tedster beat Super Ghouls and Ghosts the other day (dude is super good at it yah?) and he was talking about how his scores were usually beat out by people who kill a ton of enemies in the first few levels and then totally wimp it and die in the middle levels.

To kinda sorta fix this problem; How bout some kind of "honorary score" or "ribbon" system to accompany every game?

Example thought: if someone actually beats the game they submit a score for, they get double points towards the ribbon. If they beat it and get the fastest play through, they get triple points towards the ribbon.

Ribbons would be a stat just like 1st Place and Cleared.

This way, there's at least some system that doesn't merit farming and also promotes competitive play for games that don't have a conventional score system.

Obviously there'd be no change towards the trophies for games.

[Kong]

I was just going to throw netplay in as an afterthought, not putting effort into perfecting it. That would have been a mistake. As soon as everything is in place I will put effort into netplay. It will go along way to distinguishing us.

I think the following goals are all reasonable.
1. Easiest free emu/rom setup. There are some people that sale preconfigured hard drives for several hundred dollars. I haven't tried them but I think they would be the only similar service.
2. Emulator score system that is at least equal to anything TG can do and better than everyone else.
3. A netplay system that is technically equal or very near equal to anyone else with more games/systems than anyone else. The only places I know of have a small selection of games.
4. A retro game info database that is on par with moygames/giantbomb etc.
5. A rom download service that is equal to emuparadise.me
6. A free media download selection that is at least equal to the paid download service of HyperSpin HyperBoard - Home (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/) (their media not, frontend). What MAME progetto-SNAPS (http://www.progettosnaps.net/) does for mame but for all systems and more types of media.
7. A modern facelift.


I think all of that combined will go a long way to setting us apart from other sites and giving us a new life.

We started talking about achievements in 2007. Damn, the site hasn't changed much since 2007. Achievements are a great idea but they aren't going to happen soon. All the stuff above has to be perfected first.
http://www.retrouprising.com/private-forums/level-1/game-pets-badges/t1059/
http://www.retrouprising.com/other/programmers-developers-designers/ruv6-mmo-edition/t3453/
http://www.retrouprising.com/private-forums/moderators/kong-tasks/acheivements/t9402/


I'm not sure exactly how twitch works but if possible would be great to auto broadcast all/some game plays.

I also want to put some focus into making it work well in arcade cabinets, raspberry pis and phones.

[Barra]

Glad you have come around regarding netplay. If done right it could mean the difference.

Interesting that achievements have been discussed before. Would definitely take a lot of work and maybe something to look at after the site becomes more modernised


I also want to put some focus into making it work well in arcade cabinets

^This. I've had quite a few people ask about specifically this. An RU front end that worked in a cab would go a long way in helping out the site

[Dudebro]

I can't help with much besides brainstorming, typing in game info and achievements so I hope you don't mind if that's what I focus on in this discussion.

If we add an achievement system it wouldn't be automatic, right? From what I understand that kind of stat tracking has to be coded into the game itself and that just isn't possible for us obviously. So that means it would have to inputted by volunteers and users would have to inform us when they got one. Not ideal but I think people could get over it. I'd help with that when I can but I'd need some mod powers I believe. Maybe make a special mod rank with limited permissions called Community helper/coordinator/or something that wouldn't be required to deal with anything else.


Also don't forget about the RU Facebook page. Once the site is updated it should be revived and maintained. I'm not that social really so I struggled to keep it going but I think we could manage it if we had some kind of structured plan in place, something for people to reference and fall back on if they're stuck on what to talk about. I'd help by replying to stuff and linking stuff that might be relevant or interesting.

Also Twitter but I know so little about that I can't even offer ideas.

[Kong]

Marketing/social/facebook/twitch/twitter/etc. All that needs to be done and I don't want to do any of it myself.

tl'dr
We should do achievements but they aren't the next step and their isn't a rush to figure out the details yet but it should eventually be done.


From what I understand that kind of stat tracking has to be coded into the game itself and that just isn't possible for us obviously. There are ways to hard code and automate it. Same way that mame/mess cheats work. Similar to game genie.

This project Pugsy's Cheats (http://cheat.retrogames.com/) is the game genie for mame/mess.

It watches for values and then changes them. We would need to adjust it to just watch for values and flag them. After setting it up someone could go through their existing cheats and convert them.

Example they have a street fighter cheat that changes the stage background. We could use that to flag when the user sees a new background. When they see them all they get a badge.

They have a code to stun player 2. Could watch for that and give a "stun badge".

And then we could also use their same process to create brand new value watches.

Would be a huge project but it is possible and after everything else is finished a worthy idea.

[Jason L. Davis]

Im here for the long haul so ima try to conjure up some solutions for this facelift!

[TodayIsForgotten]

I had an idea on the shitter or maybe it was the train.

We have a leaderboard for "most points" by playing 1-xx, why not have points for someone who takes a title from another person, sets a new hi-score, clears a game, maybe clears a game without dying.

I realize if this gets implemented in some form, when two people go back and forth maybe have a cap of 3 position changes for points per month.

I feel like it could give other people some more meaning in trying to vie for spots on a leaderboard. This would be separate from the regular board.

Just an idea. Perhaps someone can run with it, mold it and take it one step further and make it even better.

Another idea is maybe to have those points also be exchangeable (but leaderboard position stays) for board items. I know this sounds dumb but you'd be surprise how many people spend money to cloth their xbox avatars.

Another idea is to have rankings. If you beat someone's score you go up x points and that person goes down x points. Like cases ladder.

[Winnebagel]

This all sounds interesting so far gents.

---------- Post added 12-26-2014 at 02:38 PM ---------- Previous post was 12-23-2014 at 11:19 AM ----------


Online games. I am going to do away with the current ArcadeOX. Help me make a replacement choice. This is difficult for you since it is hard to explain all the details. But if any of this strikes an opinion in you let me know. It is a huge decision for RU.[INDENT]A. No online games. Offline only. There will be an offline option either way.
B. Custom URL Protocols. The only examples I know are Torrent Magnet links and Web Links from Itunes Store to the Itunes program. To the user this would seem very similar to our current version of AOX. With 2 exceptions.
1. The install process. Instead of installing a browser plugin you would download the program and go through a more normal software install.
2. There are less limitations on me, easier to update, fewer bugs. Work on all systems, and all browsers.



Games and game data will be available in the cloud meaning they are on our servers, not downloaded to your computer. Although you can optionally download them so you can play without internet.

Submitting scores will require internet although there might be an option to play without internet and schedule a submission when you connect at a later time.


Offline means you will not be using a browser plugin - AOX. It probably means you wont use a web browser but I might put the emulator front end in the web browser which is essentially what option 7B is.

The big definition of offline in this context is downloading and installing an exe.

Okay. Just saw some of this. I believe one thing that makes RU cool is the online option. Most sites don't do that, but I don't know how difficult it would be to keep that alive.

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------


Online games. I am going to do away with the current ArcadeOX. Help me make a replacement choice. This is difficult for you since it is hard to explain all the details. But if any of this strikes an opinion in you let me know. It is a huge decision for RU.[INDENT]A. No online games. Offline only. There will be an offline option either way.
B. Custom URL Protocols. The only examples I know are Torrent Magnet links and Web Links from Itunes Store to the Itunes program. To the user this would seem very similar to our current version of AOX. With 2 exceptions.
1. The install process. Instead of installing a browser plugin you would download the program and go through a more normal software install.
2. There are less limitations on me, easier to update, fewer bugs. Work on all systems, and all browsers.



Games and game data will be available in the cloud meaning they are on our servers, not downloaded to your computer. Although you can optionally download them so you can play without internet.

Submitting scores will require internet although there might be an option to play without internet and schedule a submission when you connect at a later time.


Offline means you will not be using a browser plugin - AOX. It probably means you wont use a web browser but I might put the emulator front end in the web browser which is essentially what option 7B is.

The big definition of offline in this context is downloading and installing an exe.

Okay. Just saw some of this. I believe one thing that makes RU cool is the online option. Most sites don't do that, but I don't know how difficult it would be to keep that alive.

[Kong]

I could be wrong but I don't think supporting a web browser is the most important aspect of RU.
1. ease. Everything is setup as quick and easy as possible. No hunting for roms. No complicated configuring of emulators. No researching best emulator. Best version of support files/images/info.
2. Portable. Works the same on your home, work, and friends computer. ALl your settings move with you and don't have to worry if your buddy has a mac or pc.
3. Don't need a computer expert to help you set it up.
4. Don't need a huge spare drive.
5. Secure score submission.

I think if we provide all of that we can ask the user to install whatever is needed to accomplish that.

[Kong]

Update.I took some time off but I am working again now.

ArcadeOX and the browser plugin are going away completely. Hopefully I can sell them but I think that is unlikely.

I tried several different options for replacing AOX and have finally decided on a direction that I like.

I am removing all roms from RU.
I am creating a rom site. The RU emulator will pull games from that independent site.
If any of our users want a rom site they can optionally go there but they do not need to even know about it. Our emulator will automatically find the rom. The goal is to support all level of users including those that do not even know the definition of rom.
If that new rom site ever has problems, it can go offline and the RU emulator will just point to a different existing rom site such as Emuparadise (http://www.emuparadise.me/).
RU will not be a rom site and I will have the option of not hosting roms at all.

The rom site will be completely independent from RU and needs a name. Suggestions below. Any opinions? If you want to come up with one on your own you can use this Domain Name Generator For Perfectionists (http://www.namemesh.com/)

That new rom site will allow users to map a network drive that will appear in "My Computer" and work just like a usb thumb drive. It will be a 1TB cloud drive that contains all roms. The user has access to all roms as if they are on their personal computer but without any downloads.


Keep in mind that the site will function like a hard drive in the cloud. So I was looking for names related to hard drive, cloud and easy.
All these domains are available as .coms.
xgamedrive
meRoms
romDrive
EZretro
EZroms
easyRoms
romEgg
arcadeDJ

[ZedIsDead]

Of those options, romDrive sounds the best.

[Kugyince]

I like romDrive as well.

Will the rom site require moderation?

[Kong]

Will the rom site require moderation?
At first no.

Eventually I want everything to operate in a wiki style. Users can edit and add games themselves. That will involve uploading files to the rom site and that will require moderation. That is the future though. Not something to think about now.

---------- Post added 02-01-2015 at 02:11 AM ---------- Previous post was 01-31-2015 at 07:16 PM ----------

Of those options, romDrive sounds the best.

Oops. romDrive isn't available. Mistake. :foot-in-mouth:

These are available.

.coms
airArcade
airRoms
arcadeDisk - arcadeDisc
arcadeDJ
arcadeDo
dropRom
everyRom
EZroms - easyRoms
gameXdrive
meRoms
pongDrive
romDrop
romFolder
romStorm
skyRoms
gameDrop.us
gameFolder.us
iRom.us



air, sky, and storm are reference to cloud. Drop is a reference to drop box.


I'm looking for something short, easy to remember, easy to read and easy to pronounce.

[StarfoxFan2009]

I like arcadeDJ

[Kugyince]

Everyvideogame.com

[ZedIsDead]

www.danielpbone.com

[Jason L. Davis]

What about EZreto? is that still available? I think thats pretty dope!

[Kong]

easyRetro is owned by frenchie. 1. EZretrp and EasyRetro would cause too much confusion. 2. Freinchie would go ballistic and start attacking us 24/7 again. 3. He would be justified. That would be a dick move.

roms.my is available. I like it plus Malaysian laws are very favorable to rom sites. Problem is .my domains are very difficult to register. Lots of paperwork and bureaucratic crap. I'll see if I can pull it off this week. If I can then roms.my will be the name. If not then back to the previous list.

[Jason L. Davis]

Glad you have come around regarding netplay. If done right it could mean the difference.

Interesting that achievements have been discussed before. Would definitely take a lot of work and maybe something to look at after the site becomes more modernised



^This. I've had quite a few people ask about specifically this. An RU front end that worked in a cab would go a long way in helping out the site
I've been asked by all my friends as well! " Can we play the multi player games together online on the site? " I think its about that time!:pray:

[Tails]

I skimmed through this so bare with me.

You want to get rid of the online feature? Personally, a big selling point when I joined here was the online feature as I didn't like downloading things in fear of viruses. I'd really love to see the option stay personally.

I know a lot about forum software and will definitely get with tender about it.

---------- Post added 02-10-2015 at 08:57 AM ---------- Previous post was 02-09-2015 at 03:42 PM ----------

I read a bit more and from what I see online games aren't ruled out and it'd just a new way of.loading that's easier on server and computer? If so I approve, I also approve of achievements. What could be cool with achievements is completing them could be a form of the jackpot mentioned in the other thread. I just fear it being dropped as I said or there's fighting yet again.

[Kong]

just a new way of.loading that's easier on server and computer?

Easier for user. Less bugs, more features, easier to update.

[Tails]

Then I approve!

I also read it will be playable on android correct? That's all I use now so awesome.

[Kong]

There will be a few different components.
1. MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) and MESS (Multiple Emulated Super System). Combined they are called UME (Universal Machine Emulator). I will use the name UME.
2. A cloud hard drive that functions like local thumb drive and contains the games
3. A website that contains the game menu and handles logging in, settings etc.
4. Own Cloud which is similar to dropbox. It will sync save states, configs, etc.
5. A program that causes all of those to communicate with each other.
6. Code inserted into UME that tracks security settings for score submission?
7. Other emulators that we use for Full Mode.

Supporting all browsers is done by default. That means Chrome is treated the same as IE.

Windows will be the system that is perfected and focused on first and the most. I have not spent much time yet looking at the other OSs. But..

1-4 above are almost identical on all platforms. There is little effort required to port them to any OS.

#4 costs each user $1 to install on Android, iPhone and iPads. That dollar goes directly to own cloud and is for syncing your saves, configs and scores with the server and your other devices. The dollar is just to enable those features. You can play with out it.

#5 has to be re-written for each OS but it is very simple code. On Windows it is about 20 lines. I will need to get someone else to port it to other systems but it is not complicated.

#6 I have not looked into enough yet. It should just come along with #1 with little additional work but will need lots of testing and since I don't have those devices the testing will be difficult to do. Which means score submission will probably not be added right away.

#7. I wont focus on this much right away. Which means UME only until it is perfected. Which means things like N64 and 32x wont be supported at first.

[Tails]

Well from what I see I like the idea.

[Kong]

Recap.
The roms will be handled similar to drop box. They will appear to your computer as an external usb hard drive. You will have instant access to all roms as if they are on your computer but they will be in the cloud.

The rom cloud drive will be a separate site. RU will have zero roms.
RU will be the emulator.
New site will be the roms.
New site needs a name.

I've spent this week trying to set the entire thing set up as a malaysian company for copyright reasons. Which is why my first choice of new name is "roms.my". But this is difficult and I'm still unsure if I can do it or not. Should know in a few days.

If I can not do a .my domain then a new name is needed. Our users will not need to go to this site, but they will see the name. Kind of how they can see we are using MAME, they will see that we are using this new site.

Currently I'm leaning towards.
airArcade .com
airRoms .com
romHD .com
arcadeHD .com
dropRom .com
romDrop .com
noRoms .com



air is reference to cloud.
HD = Hard Drive or High Definition
drop is reference to drop box.
noRoms as in you do not need normal roms

[Tails]

Why not airetro.com?

[Kong]

I've spent a lot of time this week researching international domain name laws.

Let's assume we become hugely popular one day and at that point Nintendo or whoever decides they no longer want to be friendly with us.

I think I can keep the site running no matter what they do with one exception.

The area we would be most vulnerable is the domain name. The US government can easily confiscate domain names it controls without due process. The USA controls all domains that end in .com, .net, .name, .gov, .cc, .tv, .info, .mobi, .org, .edu, .gov, .asia, .aero, .ag, .bz, .gi, .hn, .in, .lc, .me, .mn, .sc, .vc, .au, .ca, .nz, .uk, .us. So to be extra safe I want to avoid using any of those.

If they seized the domain then the site would still exist but you would only be able to find it if you knew the ip address. If that happened we would have to get a new domain, email all users and hope people find the new name.

The main site won't host roms so it should be safe to keep the current RU domain name.

With that in mind I have come up with these options for the rom site. The number after is how much they cost per year. Not too important but a small factor to consider.

arcade.vg $40
arcade.im $15

arcades.vg $40
arcades.at $18
arcades.cat $10
arcades.dk $12
arcades.gg $57
arcades.im $15
arcades.my $90
arcades.no $65
arcades.so $14

rom.gg $57

roms.vg $40
roms.cat $10
roms.gg $57
roms.im $15
roms.my $90
roms.so $14

retro.cat $10
retro.gg $57
retro.so $14

score.cat $10
score.so $14

scores.vg $40
scores.cat $10
scores.gg $57
scores.so $14

champ.vg $40
champ.cat $10
champ.gg $57
champ.so $14

champs.vg $40
champs.cat $10
champs.gg $57
champs.im $15
champs.so $14


My favorites in order are
score.cat
retro.cat - pixilated cat as logo/mascot.
arcade.vg - vg = video game
retro.gg - gg = good game
rom.gg
scores.vg
champ.gg
champ.cat

[ZedIsDead]

I'd go with Retro Cat.

[StarfoxFan2009]

i also like Retro Cat

[Kugyince]

http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2015_03/5287.jpg

Love it. Can we have Caturdays?

[Dudebro]

This should be our new logo-
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2015_03/5288.jpg

[Tails]

As long as it'd not that Nyan cat..

[Kugyince]

Best idea yet, Tails!

Nyan Cat 10 hours (original) - YouTube

[Tails]

Daniel Bryan No! No! No! - YouTube

My reply.

[Kong]

http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2015_03/5289.gif



unimportant trivia.

.cat domains are very unique. It is the first of only 4 tld based on language and culture. Catalonia originally wanted .ct but was denied because 2 letter domains are reserved for countries only and Catalonia is not. So they asked for .cat or .ctl. Most people that make the top level domains thought it shouldn't and wouldn't happen but 1 guy fought for years and eventually won .cat which is obviously way better than ctl or ct.

It is controlled by a company in Catalonia, Spain. Much better for us than USA but not as good as say Russia or Malaysia. There is not much info on how Catalonia would handle domain seizures. I don't think it has been tested yet. For our needs it should be good enough.

The one weird rule they have is I have to make at least one page dedicated to Catalonia.

[QAOP Spaceman]

I live in Catalonia, Spain.

The .cat domain name is used almost exclusively by Catalan separatists. Everyone else uses plain old .es

It therefore doesn't surprise me in the least that they insist on you having a page praising their beloved piece of turf.

I know rojadirecta.es was taken down by the authorities here, but rojadirecta.me appeared almost instantly and has been up ever since.

I think Malaysia might be a better bet than the EU.

[Kong]

Cool that you live there. Do you speak Catalan?

When that domain went down it was in the top 1,000 websites in the world and is designed to steal pay per view tv. Roms will never be that big and they wont ever piss companies off as much as stealing pay per view subscriptions does.

As far as domain seizure goes. Cat is better than .com but not as good as .my. I think it sounds better, is cheaper and requires less effort to register. For our purposes I think it's good enough. Other names that are on par with .my are .is, .sx, .ch, .cn, .hk, .ru. Most of those don't make for great sounding names.




I'm just about done setting the account stuff up. In end it will all be registered anonymously. All roms will be legally stored in a country that is ok with roms. Users will not download roms, they will be played online and physically stay where they are legal. The main site will not host or link to roms. Instead it will offer an emulator that connects to the legal rom server. If any companies try to cause copyright issues there will be warning first and it will take them time. During that time everything can be easily moved. They could file a complaint with google to try to get us banned from search results for hosting or linking to copyrighted files but since the rom site doesn't need google love and the main site doesn't link to roms that will never cause an issue. So it should be all pretty secure and legal. Also was able to set it all up for about the same in hosting that we already pay.

[Kong]

I ran into a huge time/energy suck problem that took all of March to fix and looking back I don't think it was worth it. I should have done things differently. I should probably still do things differently.

I did not realize these problems existed until I thought I had nearly finished everything. Before fixing the problems I should have stopped and asked myself why fix them. I was attached to finishing the same way I started and did not realize how much effort that was going to be.

mame = arcade emulator
mess = consoles and computers emulators
ume = combo of mame and mess.

All 3 of those use the exact same code. Make a change to one and it is automatically added to the others.

For now on I will refer to all of those as UME. The official MAME/MESS code is UME.

mameui = mame with a gui
messui = mess with a gui
umeui = ume witha gui

MAMEUI is part of the official UME code. First mistake: I assumed MESSUI and UMEUI were also part of the official UME code. MESSUI source code brakes MAMEUI and UMEUI is outdated, broken and I'm not sure if it ever worked right.

For our purposes the UI part is unimportant. Our average user wont use it. I only added it to my base code because I thought it would be easy and would add some small benefit in a few special situations. I have made a working version of UMEUI. It was totally not worth the effort and is missing one MESS feature but it is working. Huge waste of time.

Also before I realized all of that I chose to use MAMEPPKUI as my base code. MAMEPPK automatically added some features I thought were nice and I thought it was being actively developed. I chose it because I thought it would save me time. That was totally wrong.

First I'm no longer sure it is being actively developed. It is developed by one guy in Japan and is hard to get info on.

Second and bigger problem. MAMEPPKUI completely breaks MESS.

Before I knew that I added all of my work to MAMEPPKUI which means I had to rewrite it for MESS and for the UI part. It took all month to do that. It is done now but I should have started from scratch and worked with the vanilla official UME release.

mameppkui adds the following features.


Netplay through Kaillera - This was the main reason I choose MAMEPPKUI but it is not working smooth enough and I'm going to have to use a different option. Which means my #1 reason for doing this is a dud.
Scale Effects like Super Eagle. Makes games look less pixelated. - Kinda neat. Not a huge deal but cool. It is working but not sure if it will work when porting to MAC, Linux, Android.
Volume balance so all games are roughly the same loudness. - I like this.
Record to compressed AVI. - Not working right now. I haven't messed with it much yet though so might be an easy fix. Might not. Would make creating youtube videos much easier if it works. Might even be able to partially automate youtube uploads from submitted scores.
Currently when you watch score movies the buttons pressed are displayed at bottom of screen. MAMEPPK has a better display for this while playing a game. If I can get it linked to the movie playback it would be nice. Having trouble with that so far though.
Autofire in full mode.
Display time in full screen. Not that big of a deal.
Let's you add comments to specific frames of an INP/movie. Would be cool if anyone uses it but probably wont be used often.
Improved syncing of audio
Hacked arcade games and some arcade games not supported by official mame. Probably wont use any of them.
Display combos in game. Example Press a button and get a pop up that tells you how to make Ryu through a fireball. Pretty cool. Mostly used for fighting games.
Save personal high scores on your computer in full mode. Not very useful since our scores are not based on full mode.



So I went to all of that effort because I thought I was going to use Kaillera and now I am not and while some of that other stuff is cool, it mostly is just bloat that will make future updates more difficult. It will probably be easier and faster to start over with plain UME which means the past couple months were a waste of time. Right now I am going to think about that before doing anything else. :face:

[Seahawk]

vanilla official UME release.

FYI, UME is not officially provided by MAMEdev, it's a project by Haze (http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/).

[Tails]

That went over my head sadly.

[Kong]

@tails, if you just read the bold part, you will probably get the gist which is I just wasted a bunch of time.

FYI, UME is not officially provided by MAMEdev, it's a project by Haze (http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/).It is included as part of the official base code though. All you do is change target from mame to ume when compiling. MESS is also part of base mame code now, again jut change the target.

[Dudebro]

You can now embed and play MS-DOS games directly in a tweet | GamesBeat | Games | by Paul Sawers (http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/30/neat-you-can-now-embed-and-play-ms-dos-games-directly-in-a-tweet/)

This is cool and kinda worrying, should we be worried?

[Seahawk]

You can now embed and play MS-DOS games directly in a tweet | GamesBeat | Games | by Paul Sawers (http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/30/neat-you-can-now-embed-and-play-ms-dos-games-directly-in-a-tweet/)

This is cool and kinda worrying, should we be worried?

It takes only a trivial amount of effort to download any emulator for any system you want to play, as well as the binary image or ISO file for the game you want.

Nothing happens on this site anymore. What's there to worry about?

[Dudebro]

It takes only a trivial amount of effort to download any emulator for any system you want to play, as well as the binary image or ISO file for the game you want.

Nothing happens on this site anymore. What's there to worry about?
Well besides your negative attitude about RU we could be worried about this kind of thing catching on and making RU obsolete.

[Seahawk]

My implication is that as far as access to old games goes, RU is long obsolete.

[Kong]

I took summer off. I'm back. I think/hope I can still hit the original Back to the Future target date.

Official MAME changes
MAME changed their license to BSD3 which is more favorable to us.

MAME used to be the multiple arcade emulator. Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
MESS used to be the computer, console and handheld emulator. Multiple Emulator Super System
UME used to be a combination of the two. Universal Machine Emulator

Now UME (a combination of everything) is the only version that officially exists but it has been renamed MAME. The name is confusing but the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator now emulates consoles and computers, not just arcade.

Even more confusing, the old arcade only emulator and console/computer only emulators still exist but they no longer have an official build or name.

Abandoning the old MAME and MESS and focusing on UME is good. Renaming UME to MAME is strange.

I have named my fork/version RUME. RetroUp's Universal Machine Emulator.

RUME includes everything from MAME, MESS, MAMEUI, MAME Plus Plus, Kaileria, WolfMAME, and GroovyMAME.

We are jumping from MAME version 0.135 to 0.164. This jump includes many changes that I wont list.

MAMEUI


It's features WONT be used by default. It was easier to include it than to not. Advanced users can use it if they prefer it's interface.
At first, score mode WONT work through MAMEUI
At first NetPlay will ONLY work MAMEUI.

GroovyMAME


Improved video and audio synchronization that achieves truly smooth scrolling, tearing-free video and hiccup-free sound.
Automatic generation of custom video timings for CRT monitors. (probably only advanced users - I'll try to make it default setting but as of now, turning it on screws up LCD screen ratios)
Reduced input latency
Remove motion blur on 120hz monitors (advanced users only - this is mostly just high end TVs)
For best results use a monitor with variable refresh rate (very few laptops can do this, old CRT monitors are best), use an ATI Radeon video card from 7000 to the HD 4xxx family, and manually set the GroovyMAME settings (advanced users). Defaults should be good enough for all but the most die hard frame rate counters.


WolfMAME


Disable most pauses in score mode.
Disable fastforward
View inputs and record speed in inp playback.


MAME Plus!


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_scaling options, NONE, SCANLINESTV, EPXB, EPXC, SCALE2X, SCALE3X, 2XSAI, SUPER2XSAI, SUPEREAGLE, 2XPM, HQ2X, HQ2XS, HQ2XBOLD, HQ3X, HQ3XS, HQ3XBOLD, 2XBRZ, 3XBRZ, LAST (default will probably be 2XSAI)
Fixed some broken neo geo dipswitches
Autofire
Custom buttons: Assign a button or combination of buttons to a different key. This method is slightly easier than the default way to do this but the main benefit is having single game button assigned to a key for autofire and another key for regular fire.
Command list: Example, display key combination to make Ryu throw a fireball in Street Fighter.
Compressed AVI recording (through MAMEUI - advanced users. I'll eventually try to automate this so high scores are automatically uploaded to youtube)
Option to display current time when in full screen.
Additional arcade games (mostly homebrew and hacks)
Volume normalizer so all games have similar volume levels.
Ability to add comments to specific frames in movie playbacks. Can be useful in making walkthoughs. (currently only for advanced users. Later I'll add an easier user interface and try to add controls to jump, rewind, slow and fast motion etc.)
Auto pause game when recording playback ends.
Display button presses while playing. This is similar to WolfMAME's input viewer in recordings except it is better but only available while playing, not when watching recordings. I'm trying to replace WolfMAME's inputs with this, but it isn't easy.
Save your personal highscore table when in full mode. This is the in game table where you enter your initials. I might eventually make this publicly shared so in full mode everyone shares the same in game high score table. I'm experimenting with adding it to score mode, probably wont happen but I have an idea on how to maybe make it work.


Kailleria


network multi player. Works well in certain situations but I'm disappointed in how it turned out. I put a lot of work into it and it only barely works. Our previous beta version was better but too difficult to maintain between version upgrades. Will try to improve it but losing hope and patience in this ever being perfect or even decent.


If nothing else read this
RUME: This is the completely original stuff only available here.


Disable all pauses in score mode. Including the window resize/drag pause that is in WolfMAME and the previous RU score mode. This took so much time and effort but is finally perfected. This was a huge challenge for me.
Removed force direct inputs. Force direct inputs allows the use of macros, a huge cheat. By default it is off but the code is there and could easily be enabled through source or a hex editor. There are instructions online for how to use this to cheat at MARP. Verifying it's complete removal is the only way to ensure macro cheats are disabled.
Skip boot screens. Boot screens are the gibberish that appear before you can insert a coin. Two possible skip methods. 1) pre-made save states jump the game past bios. Instant but doesn't work in every game. 2) disable throttling and most emulation until game is playable. Works in all games, is fast but not instant. Both are a huge time savers/annoyance reducers. (still working on this but mostly done)
Most files live in cloud. roms, ini, dat, samples, cfg, inp, sav, nvram, etc. (still working on this but mostly done)
Increased responsiveness. Decreased lag. Most response improvements come from GroovyMAME but RUME is actually slightly better.
Improved layouts for games with multiple monitors.
Enabled better support for more than 3 simultaneous key inputs.
Improved default joystick deadzone and saturation. Improves analog controls like steering wheels, peddles, yolks, trackballs etc.
Press button 2 (x) to reload light gun instead of firing off screen.
Reduced default volume to 50%. You can still turn it up to 100. TODO: save user preference.
Removed many games. Fruit machine, pinball, mechanical, mahjong, casino, non working, most computers, foreign trivia, and many more that we will never use.
Increased overclock options. Reduces lagging that would have occurred on original hardware.
Button to display the current high score. (mostly done)
Improved fonts, colors, transparencies and messages. Some of this comes from MAMEPP.
Removed many menu options and warning messages to make it less intimidating, confusing, annoying.
Key to toggle mouse input.
Key to toggle score and full mode.
Confirmation request before resetting game.
Disable dipswitch, configs, saves, cheats, autofire, custom buttons while recording a score
Added a toggle mute button.
Change "press left then right to continue"" to "press any key"
Actively monitor framerate. If below 90%, display a warning and enable auto frameskip. If still below 90%, pause, display an error, switch to full mode and disable score submission. Impossible to submit a score if frame rate below 90%.
Todo: Increase window usb polling to reduce latency even further. (mostly done)
Todo: Change default language to English in several games.
Todo: Upload screenshot and recording to server when you submit a score. Prevent time out errors that sometime happen in the current version.


You can now embed and play MS-DOS games directly in a tweet | GamesBeat | Games | by Paul Sawers (http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/30/neat-you-can-now-embed-and-play-ms-dos-games-directly-in-a-tweet/)

This is cool and kinda worrying, should we be worried?
It uses JavaScript which if it could play at 100% framerate would be the absolute best language for the job, however it can not. It is meant as a proof of concept or a game demo, but too slow to play for fun.

However the good news, Archive is one of the largest websites in America and they are hosting ROMs. I think that's a good sign.

---------- Post added at 02:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

If anyone is interested in testing out the beta AND knows how to use MAME from command line, I'll upload a demo.

[Kugyince]

Don't you talk your dirty hippy talk to me. I have the same issue with the software engineers at work, using their fancy pants, $5 word-a-day jibber jabber.

Is the software simpler for both the customer and customer support to use? A.yes or no will suffice.

[Kong]

Final version yes.
Beta version no.

Wordy, perhaps but at least 50% wasn't jibber jabber.

[Dudebro]

Wordy, perhaps but at least 50% wasn't jibber jabber.
This all struck me as kinda funny coming from the guy who TL: DRs a well written RPG because it's too wordy ;)

[Kong]

Ok, here is tl;dr with less tech talk and slightly fewer items.

Still shooting for 10-21-15 release date.

The following are finished.



Has all features from MAME, MESS, MAMEUI, MAME Plus Plus, Kaileria, WolfMAME, and GroovyMAME.
I call it RUME and it will be available for download to use offline, independently of RU and online at RU.
NetPlay isn't working as well as I hoped. Will be for advanced users only.
Most secure emulator for score submissions. Prevents all cheating that I can imagine.
No pauses in score mode. Window drag pause removed.
Skip the annoying loading screens. Things like the sega logo, the neo geo logo, the gibberish that says RAM check etc, the random images before pac-man, and skips the confusing service checks that some arcade games have.
File storage (games, scores, settings etc) is more like DropBox.
Arcade Games with more than one screen look better and are easier to use if you only have one screen.
Can press more than 3 buttons at once.
Steering wheels in driving games work better.
Reloading the light gun is easier.
Lowered the default volume.
Press a button to view current high score so you can quickly see your target.
Less confusing menu options.
Button to enable mouse.
Button to mute game.
Monitors framerate in score mode. If It drops below 90 it tries to fix it, if it can't then score mode is disabled. You can't submit a score below 90% FPS.
Changing some games from Japanese to English.
Smoother scrolling.
Improved video/audio syncing.
More responsive controls.
Image Scaling (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_scaling)
Autofire
Press a button to display tips such as how to throw a fireball in Street Fighter.
Improved AVI exporting to make uploading to Youtube easier.
Homebrew Arcade Games

[Tails]

That sounds amazing now it's in condensed form!
Is this coming to android? I'd like to test for it if so.

[Kugyince]

Final version yes.
Beta version no.

The beta is shit. The final version is good enough.

Bad software designers love to make things complicated so they can show off how big their e-penis is.

Good software designers make things so simple their moms could use it without confusion.

[Kong]

@Tails. In theory everything I'm doing should be easy to convert to all systems, including Android. At this point that is still an untested theory. Windows will be perfected before moving on to other systems. Keep in mind, phones are weak computers. Advanced games will be slow. If you have an iphone 5 or faster, in theory SNES level games should be good.

@Ten. In final version the flow should be like this
1. Click game name. At first it will be exactly like the retroUp.com menu format.
2. Game loads or one time installer starts.
3. Site suggests you create an account.
4. Site suggests you play in score mode.
5. Site suggest you edit default settings.

If all you ever do is step 1 and 2 it should be easier than current system with less bugs.

The beta is command line only. I can upload if anyone wants.

[Tails]

I have a galaxy s4. Snes honestly is normally what I used to play regardless other than coin op.

[Kugyince]

Well, where is it?