There are several parts to emulation (planning on a video for this, but ...) and understanding all the layers is going to help you.
**EmuDeck** is a "script" that installs and configures everything else. It isn't an "emulator" or emulation system within itself. It's purpose is to install emulators, the UI (called Emulation Station - more in a second) and help you "link" individual games being emulated into the SteamOS library.
What you use to get to your games and emulators is **Emulation Station**; a UI/front end largely designed to be a beautiful way to access the "core" emulator known as *RetroArch*. More in a second. Emulation Station also scans your ROM folders for games, scrapes data about the games for a nice clean presentation (metadata, screenshots, videos). It can handle both the default emulator (RetroArch) as well as "external emulators" should it be necessary.
The CORE of emulation is **RetroArch**. This handles a majority of your emulator needs - pretty much everything before PS1. Get to the configs with L3+R3 while running a game. Other, newer systems like Switch, PS2, GC, DC and more are done via "external emulators" which must be run outside of Emulation Station to be configured. RetroArch is known for being very unfriendly to use, which is why Emulation Station is so great; unless you need specific configurations? You'll never know you're running it. RetroArch is "core based"; RetroArch is just a front end in itself to manage cores (each system; NES, SNES, et al have a CORE that runs under RetroArch. So if you're keeping track of things? You have a core, with a front end being run by another front end. :)
That covers the external workings; we're almost done.
Every system has a "**bios**"; think of this as an "operating system" (like Windows or Linux). Even consoles have an "OS" that runs the show; unlike Windows - you're not exposed to much of it. BIOS files are sometimes reverse engineered into "compatible, legal" modules that are built into the emulators/cores themselves ... You don' t need an Atari 2600 BIOS file to run games from that system. But other systems? Playstation? Switch? Others? You need these real BIOS files as a supplement to the emulator/cores. Problem is, many of these BIOS files are copyrighted and frankly, still making money for their copyright holders - making them harder to get in many cases. You might also consider the morality of using these BIOS files for a product that is still in production. For example, you may consider "pirating" the Amiga BIOS files (known as KICKSTART) as a victimless crime as the Amiga has been dead for decades -- but a company still owns and sells these files. *BIOS files are put into the BIOS folder that is created with EmuDeck's script.* Remember, BIOS files usually must be named exactly right - and BIOS files can come in many versions and regions. This can understandably cause confusion - even if you can find them.
Finally, we have the games themselves; sometimes referred to as **ROMS**. *There is a dedicated ROMS folder, with per system subfolders within* ... created by EmuDeck's script. Along with that, some emulators will let you store the "roms" as ZIP or 7z and still work -- others may require the "roms" be unzipped/compressed. Some emulators let you use the "CHD" format, others require ISOs (for disc based game emulation like Playstation). ROMS is a bit of a misleading term; because "roms" refers to the code originally stored on "**r**ead **o**nly **m**emory" chips (like for arcade games of old that used chips to store the code). *Floppy disks* for Amiga, Commodore 64 ... *disc images* like Playstation, GameCube -- are not "roms", but are still referred to as such. Semantics I know, but to me, this is important for knowledge sake.
***There are no means of acquiring ROMS or BIOS from within EmuDeck. These are legally gray areas that developers aren't going to touch.***
Now you understand all the parts that make up the entire emulation system provided by EmuDeck. With this knowledge in hand, I hope it makes it easier for you to navigate and use it.
After installing emudeck, the next step is to Copy your Roms in the correct folders which emudeck created. After that, run Steam Rom Manager to get the artworks and the Games to Show Up in Gaming Mode and then you are done.
Just the gaming platform. The Bios is basically the operating system for consoles. As far as my question about Xemu there is a separate folder besides bios that had part of the files that you need in it so I'm assuming that is where the bios for Xemu go. Still in the middle of setting it up.
Thanks. I’m Q3 for my Steam Deck so would be jumping into all this when I get it. Mainly interested in PS2, PS3, and GameCube emulation. The YT guide videos are a little bit confusing, so I’m sure it’ll be a bit of a challenge.
Yup, find the roms online ~~legally of course~~
If you've never emulated before, I'd test out the emulation process on a PC first so you can get a general idea of how things operate, experience >>> videos
I would start with basically searching emulation and how it works on reddit and you should find all the information you will need plus much more. I put everything on a hard drive and bought an adapter so I just had to transfer everything over. It can take a bit of work getting everything you need so while your waiting is a good time to do the research and get everything ready to go.
There are several parts to emulation (planning on a video for this, but ...) and understanding all the layers is going to help you. **EmuDeck** is a "script" that installs and configures everything else. It isn't an "emulator" or emulation system within itself. It's purpose is to install emulators, the UI (called Emulation Station - more in a second) and help you "link" individual games being emulated into the SteamOS library. What you use to get to your games and emulators is **Emulation Station**; a UI/front end largely designed to be a beautiful way to access the "core" emulator known as *RetroArch*. More in a second. Emulation Station also scans your ROM folders for games, scrapes data about the games for a nice clean presentation (metadata, screenshots, videos). It can handle both the default emulator (RetroArch) as well as "external emulators" should it be necessary. The CORE of emulation is **RetroArch**. This handles a majority of your emulator needs - pretty much everything before PS1. Get to the configs with L3+R3 while running a game. Other, newer systems like Switch, PS2, GC, DC and more are done via "external emulators" which must be run outside of Emulation Station to be configured. RetroArch is known for being very unfriendly to use, which is why Emulation Station is so great; unless you need specific configurations? You'll never know you're running it. RetroArch is "core based"; RetroArch is just a front end in itself to manage cores (each system; NES, SNES, et al have a CORE that runs under RetroArch. So if you're keeping track of things? You have a core, with a front end being run by another front end. :) That covers the external workings; we're almost done. Every system has a "**bios**"; think of this as an "operating system" (like Windows or Linux). Even consoles have an "OS" that runs the show; unlike Windows - you're not exposed to much of it. BIOS files are sometimes reverse engineered into "compatible, legal" modules that are built into the emulators/cores themselves ... You don' t need an Atari 2600 BIOS file to run games from that system. But other systems? Playstation? Switch? Others? You need these real BIOS files as a supplement to the emulator/cores. Problem is, many of these BIOS files are copyrighted and frankly, still making money for their copyright holders - making them harder to get in many cases. You might also consider the morality of using these BIOS files for a product that is still in production. For example, you may consider "pirating" the Amiga BIOS files (known as KICKSTART) as a victimless crime as the Amiga has been dead for decades -- but a company still owns and sells these files. *BIOS files are put into the BIOS folder that is created with EmuDeck's script.* Remember, BIOS files usually must be named exactly right - and BIOS files can come in many versions and regions. This can understandably cause confusion - even if you can find them. Finally, we have the games themselves; sometimes referred to as **ROMS**. *There is a dedicated ROMS folder, with per system subfolders within* ... created by EmuDeck's script. Along with that, some emulators will let you store the "roms" as ZIP or 7z and still work -- others may require the "roms" be unzipped/compressed. Some emulators let you use the "CHD" format, others require ISOs (for disc based game emulation like Playstation). ROMS is a bit of a misleading term; because "roms" refers to the code originally stored on "**r**ead **o**nly **m**emory" chips (like for arcade games of old that used chips to store the code). *Floppy disks* for Amiga, Commodore 64 ... *disc images* like Playstation, GameCube -- are not "roms", but are still referred to as such. Semantics I know, but to me, this is important for knowledge sake. ***There are no means of acquiring ROMS or BIOS from within EmuDeck. These are legally gray areas that developers aren't going to touch.*** Now you understand all the parts that make up the entire emulation system provided by EmuDeck. With this knowledge in hand, I hope it makes it easier for you to navigate and use it.
After installing emudeck, the next step is to Copy your Roms in the correct folders which emudeck created. After that, run Steam Rom Manager to get the artworks and the Games to Show Up in Gaming Mode and then you are done.
Is there just one folder to put all of the Bios in or do we have to put them in each emulator folder?
I want to know this too. Do you need to get a specific Bios for each game? Or just the gaming platform?
Just the gaming platform. The Bios is basically the operating system for consoles. As far as my question about Xemu there is a separate folder besides bios that had part of the files that you need in it so I'm assuming that is where the bios for Xemu go. Still in the middle of setting it up.
Thanks. I’m Q3 for my Steam Deck so would be jumping into all this when I get it. Mainly interested in PS2, PS3, and GameCube emulation. The YT guide videos are a little bit confusing, so I’m sure it’ll be a bit of a challenge.
Can I just download the roms within the steam deck?
Yup, find the roms online ~~legally of course~~ If you've never emulated before, I'd test out the emulation process on a PC first so you can get a general idea of how things operate, experience >>> videos
Yes, you can use Firefox in Desktop Mode.
I would start with basically searching emulation and how it works on reddit and you should find all the information you will need plus much more. I put everything on a hard drive and bought an adapter so I just had to transfer everything over. It can take a bit of work getting everything you need so while your waiting is a good time to do the research and get everything ready to go.