Hello all, How are you all doing? When it comes to emulation front end which do you prefer on Steam Deck/why? I plan to use EmuDeck, record gameplay using DeckyLoader & edit clips desktop mode on Steam Deck using Dock setup to a external monitor. Do you save ROMs to internal storage or SD Card? What console generations can these front ends run? For example I want to run xemu, xenia & PS3 emulator & planning on purchasing Steam Deck OLED model.
I prefer RetroDeck, because I like having all my ROMs contained on the same launcher.
Nice. Thanks for the reply. Is setup easy?
I cant say anything on RetroDeck as I haven’t used it. As for EmuDeck I absolutely love it. It’s super simple and guides you through the whole process of how you want to set up your emulators. If you’re new to the Deck you may have to look up where to store your ROMS, and how to add them to your Steam Library. But once you learn it, it’s really simple.
Awesome 😎. Thanks for the reply.
I’ve tried both and I liked Emudeck better for my use.
I tweak a lot of settings and like the granularity of Emudeck. Installing everything “separately” allows me to configure everything to my liking and keep those settings intact between updates. It also lets me choose versions of specific emulators and, at least when I checked, I was able to get newer versions of emulators with Emudeck vs Retrodeck.
Retrodeck is much cleaner. It’s one install, one uninstall. To get Emudeck off of my device entirely, at least early in the development cycle, it almost felt like I had to start from scratch again (although I don’t believe that’s the case any longer).
That said, still worth it for the more granular setup.
Someone else said they like Retrodeck because they like all their roms in the same launcher - I don’t know if I’m misunderstanding, but that’s how I use Emudeck. I don’t have anything in Steam past Emulation Station, and I launch all of my roms from that launcher.
Both are great options, though, just depends on your goals.
Thanks for the detailed reply & information. I am looking forward to finally getting myself Steam Deck OLED late December or Mid January for handheld gaming & as a way to create videos for Youtube channel. What is your current setup/why?
Nothing too special - I install nearly every emulator installed by default in the Emudeck experience - nothing is standalone in Steam, I’ve got everything in EmulationStation, and that launches the roms either in Retroarch or standalone, if I deem standalone to be superior.
All of my saves and my Switch (Ryujinx) user data are synchronized between my Steam Deck and a few computers in my house so I can pick up and play/continue from where I left off on another computer.
My main departure from default is that I use Ryujinx instead of Yuzu. Yuzu works better for a lot of games, but the way that DLC and updates are set up can be kind of annoying. It also recognizes games more quickly than Yuzu, which sometimes needs an update. Because of this, I like to be on the cutting edge of updates, and sometimes you have to wait with Retrodeck (unless they’ve changed something).
Cheers for the detailed reply. I plan to use Steam Deck OLED exclusively until May, when I want to invest in a new PC & been looking at an i5 build with Arc A750 GPU for editing. What are your current PC specs?