Emulators, cores, and the architecture behind preserving and playing classic games today.
How a libretro core uses the environment callback for capabilities, paths, options, logging, rendering, and graceful fallback across many frontends.
How MAME INP recordings capture emulated inputs, why machine state can desynchronize playback, and how to preserve a verifiable test or score run.
A source-level look at ScummVM engine detection tables, fingerprints, fallback detectors, target IDs, and the right way to report an unknown legitimate release.
Why Dolphin's specialized shaders can stutter, how universal shaders cover GameCube and Wii GPU state, and why hybrid mode balances latency and speed.
How MAME software lists describe known media, hashes, parts, compatibility, clones, and bad dumps without turning preservation data into ROM files.
An engineering view of emulator audio clocks, sample generation, resampling, buffer control, drift, latency, time-stretching, and deterministic testing.
A preservation-focused guide to MAME CHD hunks, codecs, hashes, parent-child images, metadata, creation, verification, extraction, and version control.
A layer-by-layer color diagnostic for emulators covering source revision, palette RAM, pixel formats, endianness, color management, shaders, and captures.
A non-destructive RTC troubleshooting workflow covering save provenance, host time, core format, latch and halt state, state conflicts, migration, and proof.
A practical distinction between HLE and LLE, firmware replacement, timing and side effects, legal provenance, hybrid systems, and compatibility testing.