Any1 Using RetroAchievements? - Achievements on Emus

[Jagosaurus]

So I just hooked RetroAchievements to RetroArch on my on the go emulation setup (RB thread on my Android emu set up).

Curious if any other members are using this. For others that aren't, it functions similar to XB achievements or PS trophies but for retro games. There's a score for each, similar to XB gamerscore.

For example, here's 2 easy achievements I earned, worth 2 and 1 points respectively. Notice the nice pop up in top left.




Here is a list of supported emulation cores. There looks to be thousands of supported games across many systems.

Here is my RetroAchievement's profile showing my achievements if you want see how the tracking looks or how I progress.

Any1 else currently using this? For those of you who aren't, thoughts on this?

Nice add to my retro gaming setup. I think it'll add a bit to these older games for me personally. Amazing work from the retro and emu community again.

I know we have an emulation subforum, but thought this was an interesting overArching (pun intended) topic.

[lordb0rb4]

It's pretty great, i've been using since last year and it may sound cheesy but it makes old games a joy to play once again.
TheLastBorba is my tag if you care to add.

PS: Man, i don't know if you're into but there's some classy filters on Retroarch

[Jagosaurus]

It's pretty great, i've been using since last year and it may sound cheesy but it makes old games a joy to play once again.
TheLastBorba is my tag if you care to add.

PS: Man, i don't know if you're into but there's some classy filters on Retroarch

I agree. I think it adds a cool modern layer. Last week, Mrs Jago watched me try probably 30+ times to get a XB1 achievement that only 0.8% of players of that game earned. I would've never spent that much time on that specific section otherwise. We literally cheered after . It can definitely get you to sink in more time & highlight other aspects of game... or in this case perhaps makes an old game fresh. Also fun to compare yourself to others in a competitive way.

I honestly haven't dove too much into the RA filters. I've mainly tinkered with some settings such as cropping overscan & increasing sprites/eliminating flicker. Filters on my to-do, esp when I get my Pi4 TV based setup going (2020 project!) versus my mobile Android currently.

[dsheinem]

Any1 else currently using this? For those of you who aren't, thoughts on this?

Nice add to my retro gaming setup. I think it'll add a bit to these older games for me personally. Amazing work from the retro and emu community again.

One of the things I enjoy about retro games is the lack of achievements, so this isn’t something that interests me. From a “purist” standpoint, these pop-ups suck you out of the self-contained game - they weren’t designed for cheevos, they were designed to be played as isolated experiences with the “rewards” coming from the game itself...

Obviously emulation has a lot to offer that can modify or “enhance” older games (e.g. save states, a rewind feature, etc.), but for whatever they may add, almost all of them detract from the original experience as it was meant to be enjoyed. Emulation is great when it gets you as close as possible to the original hardware experience. The more features a specific emulator piles on to that experience, the further it moves from emulating the original experience.

[Jagosaurus]

I see where you're coming from a purist standpoint Dave, but I disagree in most of my personal use cases. In an immersive, cinematic game I could see that. You can easily turn off the hook or pop ups though. I'm already emulating on a mobile Android device with an XB1 controller. This may not be the original experience, but allows me to enjoy more games on my schedule for multiple reasons.

You're also getting into weird discussion zone of... does original console hardware + ROM flash cart + RGB cables we never got in U.S. + OSSC + HDMI + 4K TV mimic the original experience either. Not really...

These emu achievements will add a lot for me personally as I beat Mario Bros 3 for the 5th or so time. I'll be going after things I never would have otherwise, adding a fresh take.

In modern game dev, I highly doubt the cinematic director is involved with achievements. I bet they cringe seeing an end of level cheevo pop up with an audible noise chime as they transition into a new cinematic cutscene. That's more inherent to achievements as a whole.

[Key-Glyph]

I use RetroAchievements sometimes, and I love it. For me it's 80% about giving myself an extra challenge with games I already love, 20% a way to understand the inner workings of a game's programming.

I've learned new things about some of my favorite games that I never would have known otherwise. Ecco the Dolphin had an achievement on it for getting through Open Ocean without taking damage, which is not a thing I ever would have assumed was possible. But hey, what do you know, it actually is! Easily, too. That kind of epiphany is just so cool to me.

It's also a way of making an "easy" game into a major beast. Seriously folks, perfecting Crystal's Pony Tale is no joke. It becomes tedious pixel-perfect NES-style madness. And I loved it.

I totally understand why people don't like burner achievements ("use this ability 5000 times!") or progress achievements ("congratulations, you started the game!"), but when you find ones that push you to approach a familiar game in a new way, it can be pretty magical.

[pook99]

Not my cup of tea but I could see the draw. One of the coolest things about modern retro gaming is the way people find to add new layers to old favorites. It is always fun to revisit an old game in a new way, that is what draws me to romhacks, and I definitely see why people would be drawn to this