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A complete walkthrough keeping save files and save states in sync across a desktop, a handheld, and a laptop, so progress made on one device is exactly where you expect it on the next.
A complete walkthrough setting up RetroArch's rewind feature — instantly reversing gameplay frame by frame — plus the memory and performance tradeoffs involved in tuning it well.
A complete walkthrough getting 3-4+ player retro games working locally — configuring virtual multi-taps, assigning controllers to the right ports, and handling per-core multiplayer quirks.
A frame-perfect run suddenly hitches every time a new visual effect appears on screen. It's not a savestate or performance problem — it's your GPU driver compiling a shader for the first time, mid-frame.
A complete walkthrough hosting and joining a RetroArch netplay session, including the core-matching requirement that causes most first-time connection failures.
A step-by-step guide to enabling RetroArch's run-ahead feature correctly — including the one prerequisite that determines whether it will work at all for a given core.
A step-by-step guide to enabling and tuning shader presets in RetroArch — from picking a starting preset to adjusting scanline and curvature intensity to taste.
A complete walkthrough from a fresh RetroArch install to a properly configured, playable core — including the two steps most first-time setups skip.
The game runs, but noticeably faster or slower than it should — usually a frame-timing or region mismatch, not a broken core, and quick to isolate once you know where to look.
The controller works fine in other software, but your emulator doesn't see it — or sees it, but maps buttons incorrectly. Here's how to isolate where the problem actually is.
The game runs and looks fine, but the audio pops, crackles, or stutters. This is almost always an audio buffer or sync problem, not a broken emulator core.
On January 11, 2014, RetroArch's first stable 1.0 release launched at once across OS X, Android, iOS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and GameCube — with Windows following weeks later.
RetroArch supports dozens of systems without reimplementing shaders, netplay, or rewind for each one — because the emulator logic and everything around it are deliberately different programs.
A complete walkthrough enabling RetroAchievements — earning genuine achievements for classic games that never had them, verified against actual game memory state to prevent cheating.
A complete walkthrough adding decorative bezels around the emulated screen — arcade cabinet art, console-themed frames, or your own custom artwork — and building one from scratch.
A complete walkthrough setting up configuration that applies only to a specific game, or only to a specific core, without changing your global defaults for everything else.
Characters look too wide, too thin, or the image doesn't fill the screen correctly. This almost always traces to a pixel-aspect-ratio setting, not the emulator core rendering incorrectly.
A save state that worked before an update now fails to load, or loads into a corrupted state. This is expected behavior given how save states actually work — here's what to do about it.
The core loads but the game never appears — just a black screen, or an immediate crash back to the menu. Here's how to isolate whether it's the ROM, the core, or your video configuration.