FAQ - GregorR/RetroArch GitHub Wiki

Here's a collection of Frequently Answered Questions.

General

What is RetroArch?

RetroArch is a frontend for libretro, an open API which exposes the functionality of a game, emulator or certain kinds of multimedia applications. libretro started as libsnes with the SNES emulator bSNES, but libretro has since become a far broader API. RetroArch builds around the libretro API to provide a powerful interface for libretro cores.

Some cool features to mention are frame-by-frame rewind (Braid-style), multi-pass GPU shaders, FFmpeg on-the-fly raw video recording and netplay. All these features will work independently of the libretro implementation used.

RetroArch itself is command-line driven, and relies on a graphical frontend to deliver a GUI. RetroArch has a simple built-in GUI (RGUI). As RetroArch is designed for CLI, it is easy to launch from various dedicated launchers.

Which platforms are RetroArch available for?

RetroArch runs and is supported on GNU/Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac OSX (PPC/Intel), PlayStation 3, XBox 360, XBox 1, Raspberry Pi, Nintendo Wii, Android, iOS and Blackberry.

Where can I get help?

If you have questions or issues which cannot be resolved easily, you can pay a visit to: RetroArch forum

Are there binaries/packages provided?

RetroArch is mostly built from source. Binaries are provided for Windows (32-bit/64-bit) here. Note that these binaries can usually fairly outdated. You can usually find unofficial builds which are far more up-to-date.

OSX binaries might be available on the forums, but you are expected to build it yourself. Ubuntu users should check out the official stable/nightly packages available on Launchpad.

How do I build from source?

Linux/BSD: Compilation guide (Linux)
Windows: Compilation guide (Windows)
OS X: Compilation guide (OS X)

Which rom types are supported?

RetroArch supports uncompressed as well as zipped roms.

Does RetroArch support patching formats?

RetroArch currently supports UPS, IPS and BPS patching formats. If you load rom.bin and rom.ups, rom.ips or rom.bps is present, the ROM will be autopatched. Autopatching only takes place of the libretro implementation supports loading ROMs from memory.

Does RetroArch support video filters like HQ2x, 2xSaI, etc?

Filters are not built into RetroArch, but it supports filter plugins which you can load into RetroArch. The filter plugins are the same as used in bSNES (*.filter). Do note that RetroArch only supports the older filters from bSNES v082 and older (15-bit -> 32-bit filters). Using newer filters will most likely crash RetroArch due to the lack of means to verify if a filter is compatible. If you can, prefer using GPU shaders as they are more flexible and much better supported.

I have a bug to report! Where can I report it?

You can either report issues in the issues section, or create a thread on the forum.