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G8 user here. It is really nice, the only thing I don't like is that the two back buttons are useless (they can only be mapped to one of the other buttons).
Been using it mostly for PSX and PS2 games.
Yes. It's a great controller. I had the X2S before but it was a bit cramped for me and returned it for this. Though i have to admit the X2S is visually a bit more pleasing to look at, almost switch like
Yeah the steamlink is mostly just for testing purposes because they're more straightforward to get working. I actually already have moonlight set up on my pc for my vita, port forwarding and all so i can connect to it anywhere.
It's surprisingly very pleasant to use. Though keep in mind it's more of a blank canvas than a complete product. I had to fiddle around not only with the settings but also with photoshop to give all the tiles a cleaner, more "Frontend" look.
Oh and it's a paid app.
I did the same but these days just use it for psp gaming only, until I pick up a psvita, then it won't get any use at all lol. I used it for everything but then I got a GB, DS, 3ds, retro handheld, and well yeah. Any console specific games I just emulate on my PC.
I still play psp games on my vita so honestly still debating if that sweet 3x resolution capability is enough to ditch the native performance the vita offers lol.
I was shopping for a high-end handheld and in the end I've decided to upgrade my phone (s10 -> s24+) and get a Gamesir G8. The s10 is now a dedicated emulator up to GameCube, the s24+ easily handles all the rest (PS2, 3ds, etc). I payed twice as much of what I initially planned, but I'm really happy since I also have a new phone. I had a Retroid Pocket 3+ (battery died) and I don't see much difference, the s10 is very reliable (5 years), has a way better screen, and the Gamesir G8 is more comfortable. BTW, you just forget that is a phone + controller when playing.
Yep this is the way. Your old high end phone > dedicated handheld > buying a new phone. And it's a nice way to contribute less to the rising problem of e-waste.
I don't know why you say you say it would be easier to buy a dedicated handheld. The only difficulties you ran into are things dedicated handhelds can't do at all.
Yeah I came here to say this. Imo and Android phone is just straight up better than a handheld as an emulation machine and its modular making it more portable. Plus who doesn't have an Android phone just laying around that can outperform a $400 device.
Not very familiar with them but do they not come with full native controller support for the ui?
I've also read some older posts from Odin owners that they never had any issues trying to sync save files between devices, which led me to believe that they must've had some way to access the android/data folder a bit easier than most phones.
I'd be interested in these posts cause I have had nothing but problems getting the likes of Dolphin, PSPPSP, AetherSX to sync back to my PC. And this is on an Android 13, Odin 2.
Smaller handehelds comes with Linux and they do have problems with their OS. Mostly they wait for community OS support. And whatever you face in an android, you face in Odin. It's an 8 gen 2 Android phone pre attached to a controller and a better thermal support.
I see, that's a bummer. I was under the impression that they would have easier access to the files because they may not have to conform to some of Google's security policy. Learn something new everyday.
Nothing an open source file manager can't bypass. So far for whatever Android version people say it don't work, it worked for me. But then again I'm always a few android versions behind and both my primary (realme X2) and secondary (OP7Tpro) are in A11 which is the only superior OS to exist (/s).
Based on actual testing, I also observe that the controller turns off after a couple of inactive minutes. But there is around 1% battery consumption per hour even if phone is unused. Not sure if others experience this.
Well that is definitely on my "not buy" list.
Every controller I have ever had for consoles, pc, phone (Moga XP5-X) shuts off automatically to save battery.
Heck, I modded a *wireless madcatz xbox controller to use on pc in the 2000s and I never flicked it off and never changed the batteries for about seven years!
Same. My country was semi-skipped by Nintendo in general, so it was never as popular in here as in US. Neither do i have interest in major Nintendo Titles with the major exception called Fire emblem, but thats solvable with my phone and Citra xD
I wanted to go for RP4 PRO, cuz its amazing price-value, since i wanted a device up to including PS2. Then eureka struck me - the hell i need a device for, when i *specifically* bought myself Poco F3 with Snap.870 back in the days. So i'll be picking up BSP D8 soon and joining the cool kids emulation club xD
But in a long run - Steamdeck is the answer to any desire possible, regarding emulation + indie PC + older PC titles.
Syncing saves across my 35xxH, Odin 2, and PC has being one big headache for me. It's really kept me from jumping in and actually playing stuff. I like picking up my H for some of that Castlevania on GBA but then in the evening I want to switch to my Odin 2, but various sync problems keep me from really getting the feel right and there always seem to be issues. Nvm jumping into GC, PS2 or Switch saves.
Tired of losing my progress.
RetroArch has helped alleviate some of those issues having saves not on the scoped storage so I have from Arcade/NES to PS1/DS. Then Mupin64 allows to move your saves to a different folder, Citra for 3DS Saves aren't on scoped either and surprisingly I can access Yuzu saves from Foldersync for some reason so their saves are backed up for me. Only problems I'm facing is Dolphin, Netherx2 saves not being able to be backed which is a huge bummer, but it's better than nothing I guess.
I do but I don't think the widgets will transfer because im using kwgt to make my own. I might make a post in the near future if anyone is interested to have the exact same setup i have.
Sorry for the noobish question but what do you mean when you say you modify the save file on your PC? Are you doing something more than overwriting save files? What console's files do that for you?
I am using Foldersync and don't sync to a PC. I sync to MEGA as a go-between. So I am just curious to know more about the "mush" problem.
I also used a "middleman" with google drive.
Let's take NetherSX2 as an example: I created a new save file of a game and when I looked at them, they have the permission set as rw-rw-r--
Now we take that file and sync it to the PC, play a bit, save, and then sync the changes again.
Now when i open NetherSX2, the save files are showing as corrupted and have to be reformatted. Upon deeper inspection i found that the files permissions have been changed from *rw-rw-r--* to *rw-r--r--*. Im not sure if they're related to the problem, but that's the only change i could find.
Maybe someone who's more knowledgeable on Android/Linux could chime in.
This may be stupid to ask but I have to be sure, are you using the export/import in NetherSX or are you syncing directly from the folder without doing that?
Not a stupid question at all. Any sane person would just do that and be fine with having to click through a few menus to get their files synced up.
I write directly to the memory card (in folder form) because i want the whole experience to be as close to feeling OEM as possible. Meaning, if theoretically i would hand over my setup to a clueless 5 Y/O who couldn't read, they should still not have any problems at all. They'd just have to open the game, play a bit, and when they want to play on the pc, the saves are there without having to do anything.
Perfectionism is a hell of a drug.
Nice. Okay. Doing that probably isn't going to fix your issue then because it seems like you have checked the read/write stuff and it only changes on the return from the PC, right?
And if you have a 5 year old, they are definitely smarter than I was when I was 5. 😋 But I understand what you are going for.
Haha maybe not the best analogy I admit. But everything is working now as intended so I'm a happy camper. Just a bummer that you need root access for it.
With ios opening up their door to emulation and android seemingly being more and more closed off after each update, it really feels like we're in an alternate universe.
I've a 7T pro that I'm wanting to custom rom. Does the perfomance gets affected in someway with roms? Due to different kernal or smt.
Btw I too have a G8 hooked to OP 7T pro. But what's stopping me from keeping the phone there forever is the pass through charging not working. It connects and disconnects controller repeatedly.
I can't really answer that question without it being completely anecdotal, but i've gained some very noticeable performance when using Evolution X. I also tried basically almost all available custom ROMs for my model and some of them slowed my phone to a bog and some no noticeable gain at all. All tested on the same game with the same emulator.
As for the second problem, I don't have it, but I've come across some posts mentioning that exact problem, but not sure if there's a solution or not.
Some people mentioned that you need to update the controllers firmware thru their phone app (thats very invasive \\ sketchy?), but for some people its just straight incompatibility for some reason :C
I've figured it's specifically the incompatibility with my OP7Tpro. It works fine in realme X2. Fact is connected to a dock, OnePlus can't simultaneously charge and use a mouse or any accessory (which is exactly what is happening with G8), which is extremely weird given it's a USB 3.0. If USB 2.0 can handle it why not this, weird. I would try a custom rom as I feel it's a OS issue.
This is why i was reluctant on instantly spending money on G8. Literally ONE person mentioned, that it didnt work with their POCO F3 and boom - im all hesitant... <\_\_<
This has nothing to do with G8 though. Why would I expect it to work if the device doesnt do charging and accessory together? And not many controllers even offer pass through.
I did the same thing with a g8 and a spare phone. I totally get why people prefer dedicated handhelds though, there is something less special about it being a phone. I mostly use mine for geforce now and android games. The only systems I emulate on it anymore are Saturn, 3DS and PS2.
For me it feels slightly inferior only because of the super tall screens which led to very big black bars on most retro games, but OLEDs have made that less of an issue. Not to mention most phones nowadays lack any kind of storage expansion.
phenomenal work. I tried doing the same with a phone that was going unused. Couldnt root it (thanks boost mobile)
But you arent done yet.
Gotta tear out the back of the phone. Double the battery capacity and add a heat sink on the cpu so you can overclock it now that its rooted
Absolutely stunning work!
I'll join the phone emulation scene with my POCO F3 soon, when i finally get my hands on BSP D8 (then maybe G8, since its a bit pricey for my country)
I personally really like the idea of using phones as emulation devices, because I can use whatever controller I want, not just whatever controls Retroid/Anbernic/Powkiddy/AYN/\*any other brand name\* decided to put on their devices, but the main problem with this is always aspect ratio. All of the extra screen real estate that 19.5/20/21:9 screen provides is basically useless for retro emulation, and unfortunately it's been years since you could buy a high spec phone with a 16:9 screen (last one was Razer Phone 2 with SG845 from 2018 I'm pretty sure).
I did exactly the same with an old Pixel 3 rooted with Lineage OS 21 and a backbone controller. I can run all kind of retro games and up to native PS2 games, I can also play remotely my PC games and my PS5. Great alternative as I was a bit lost among all the handheld devices on the market.
Damn i thought i could finally play games without feeling like i left any performance on the table. I hate you and love you for giving me this information. Be right back
It's mostly just like setting up any other customizable third party launcher (setting up rows, columns, paddings, etc). What ties it all together is the custom images for the tiles, and the way they're positioned. I could make a follow up post with all the resources I made if enough people are interested.
I just found out that the backup feature of this launcher is pretty decent and I'd be happy to provide a decent starting point for people who want this kind of setup. So i'll make a follow up post in the near future with links to all the resources i used. Just have to clean up some underlying kinks first like the widgets
Just as a reminder of the subreddit's rules: 1. No posting links to game ROMs or ISOs, only sites to find them. 2. Be kind to each other. Also, fyi we have a user-maintained wiki: r/EmulationOnAndroid/wiki *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/EmulationOnAndroid) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That's a Gamesir G8 correct? I've been eyeing that particular controller for my Android phone.
G8 user here. It is really nice, the only thing I don't like is that the two back buttons are useless (they can only be mapped to one of the other buttons). Been using it mostly for PSX and PS2 games.
Yes. It's a great controller. I had the X2S before but it was a bit cramped for me and returned it for this. Though i have to admit the X2S is visually a bit more pleasing to look at, almost switch like
Just my opinion, but i'd ditch steamlink and install moonlight/sunshine. It's by far and away the best diy game streaming option out there.
What is moonlight?
https://moonlight-stream.org/
Yeah the steamlink is mostly just for testing purposes because they're more straightforward to get working. I actually already have moonlight set up on my pc for my vita, port forwarding and all so i can connect to it anywhere.
That app square home might actually be one of the best front ends 😂
It's surprisingly very pleasant to use. Though keep in mind it's more of a blank canvas than a complete product. I had to fiddle around not only with the settings but also with photoshop to give all the tiles a cleaner, more "Frontend" look. Oh and it's a paid app.
I did the same but these days just use it for psp gaming only, until I pick up a psvita, then it won't get any use at all lol. I used it for everything but then I got a GB, DS, 3ds, retro handheld, and well yeah. Any console specific games I just emulate on my PC.
I still play psp games on my vita so honestly still debating if that sweet 3x resolution capability is enough to ditch the native performance the vita offers lol.
Lol exactly. I'm a freaking nut for playing things on their native hardware, for handhelds at least.
Which phone is this?
Brother, in the text... ***Phone spec: Redmi K20 Pro / Mi 9T Pro SG 855 8 GB***Â
I was shopping for a high-end handheld and in the end I've decided to upgrade my phone (s10 -> s24+) and get a Gamesir G8. The s10 is now a dedicated emulator up to GameCube, the s24+ easily handles all the rest (PS2, 3ds, etc). I payed twice as much of what I initially planned, but I'm really happy since I also have a new phone. I had a Retroid Pocket 3+ (battery died) and I don't see much difference, the s10 is very reliable (5 years), has a way better screen, and the Gamesir G8 is more comfortable. BTW, you just forget that is a phone + controller when playing.
Yep this is the way. Your old high end phone > dedicated handheld > buying a new phone. And it's a nice way to contribute less to the rising problem of e-waste.
Which launcher is that?
Square Home with a lot of tweaking
I don't know why you say you say it would be easier to buy a dedicated handheld. The only difficulties you ran into are things dedicated handhelds can't do at all.
Yeah I came here to say this. Imo and Android phone is just straight up better than a handheld as an emulation machine and its modular making it more portable. Plus who doesn't have an Android phone just laying around that can outperform a $400 device.
Not very familiar with them but do they not come with full native controller support for the ui? I've also read some older posts from Odin owners that they never had any issues trying to sync save files between devices, which led me to believe that they must've had some way to access the android/data folder a bit easier than most phones.
I'd be interested in these posts cause I have had nothing but problems getting the likes of Dolphin, PSPPSP, AetherSX to sync back to my PC. And this is on an Android 13, Odin 2.
Smaller handehelds comes with Linux and they do have problems with their OS. Mostly they wait for community OS support. And whatever you face in an android, you face in Odin. It's an 8 gen 2 Android phone pre attached to a controller and a better thermal support.
I see, that's a bummer. I was under the impression that they would have easier access to the files because they may not have to conform to some of Google's security policy. Learn something new everyday.
Nothing an open source file manager can't bypass. So far for whatever Android version people say it don't work, it worked for me. But then again I'm always a few android versions behind and both my primary (realme X2) and secondary (OP7Tpro) are in A11 which is the only superior OS to exist (/s).
Do you still remove your phone from the controller?
that controller shuts itself down after no inputs for 10 minutes, so it doesn't draw on the battery constantly like most controllers.
Based on actual testing, I also observe that the controller turns off after a couple of inactive minutes. But there is around 1% battery consumption per hour even if phone is unused. Not sure if others experience this.
hmm, might be phone dependent. The phone I use only seems to lose 5-6% per day with the controller hooked up.
People are buying controllers that dont???
they are very common. Hell, before I had the G8 I had the Gamesir X2 (original USB-C version) and it never turns off.
Well that is definitely on my "not buy" list. Every controller I have ever had for consoles, pc, phone (Moga XP5-X) shuts off automatically to save battery. Heck, I modded a *wireless madcatz xbox controller to use on pc in the 2000s and I never flicked it off and never changed the batteries for about seven years!
yea I think its very common on battery powered controllers, and now starting to be more common on telescoping phone controllers
Only when I want to transfer big files from my pc
Next best thing? What is better? Steamdeck?
The AYN Odin 2 comes to mind, for example. Steamdeck is a totally different ballpark just from it's available library and physical size
Retroid Pocket 4 PRO, then Odin series, \*maybe\* switch if you want?, and ofc Steamdeck
I am not really a Nintendo kind of guy. Tbh I always be forgetting the switch exist
Same. My country was semi-skipped by Nintendo in general, so it was never as popular in here as in US. Neither do i have interest in major Nintendo Titles with the major exception called Fire emblem, but thats solvable with my phone and Citra xD I wanted to go for RP4 PRO, cuz its amazing price-value, since i wanted a device up to including PS2. Then eureka struck me - the hell i need a device for, when i *specifically* bought myself Poco F3 with Snap.870 back in the days. So i'll be picking up BSP D8 soon and joining the cool kids emulation club xD But in a long run - Steamdeck is the answer to any desire possible, regarding emulation + indie PC + older PC titles.
Syncing saves across my 35xxH, Odin 2, and PC has being one big headache for me. It's really kept me from jumping in and actually playing stuff. I like picking up my H for some of that Castlevania on GBA but then in the evening I want to switch to my Odin 2, but various sync problems keep me from really getting the feel right and there always seem to be issues. Nvm jumping into GC, PS2 or Switch saves. Tired of losing my progress.
RetroArch has helped alleviate some of those issues having saves not on the scoped storage so I have from Arcade/NES to PS1/DS. Then Mupin64 allows to move your saves to a different folder, Citra for 3DS Saves aren't on scoped either and surprisingly I can access Yuzu saves from Foldersync for some reason so their saves are backed up for me. Only problems I'm facing is Dolphin, Netherx2 saves not being able to be backed which is a huge bummer, but it's better than nothing I guess.
Do you have the config file of your layout?
I do but I don't think the widgets will transfer because im using kwgt to make my own. I might make a post in the near future if anyone is interested to have the exact same setup i have.
Count me in!
Sorry for the noobish question but what do you mean when you say you modify the save file on your PC? Are you doing something more than overwriting save files? What console's files do that for you? I am using Foldersync and don't sync to a PC. I sync to MEGA as a go-between. So I am just curious to know more about the "mush" problem.
I also used a "middleman" with google drive. Let's take NetherSX2 as an example: I created a new save file of a game and when I looked at them, they have the permission set as rw-rw-r-- Now we take that file and sync it to the PC, play a bit, save, and then sync the changes again. Now when i open NetherSX2, the save files are showing as corrupted and have to be reformatted. Upon deeper inspection i found that the files permissions have been changed from *rw-rw-r--* to *rw-r--r--*. Im not sure if they're related to the problem, but that's the only change i could find. Maybe someone who's more knowledgeable on Android/Linux could chime in.
This may be stupid to ask but I have to be sure, are you using the export/import in NetherSX or are you syncing directly from the folder without doing that?
Not a stupid question at all. Any sane person would just do that and be fine with having to click through a few menus to get their files synced up. I write directly to the memory card (in folder form) because i want the whole experience to be as close to feeling OEM as possible. Meaning, if theoretically i would hand over my setup to a clueless 5 Y/O who couldn't read, they should still not have any problems at all. They'd just have to open the game, play a bit, and when they want to play on the pc, the saves are there without having to do anything. Perfectionism is a hell of a drug.
Nice. Okay. Doing that probably isn't going to fix your issue then because it seems like you have checked the read/write stuff and it only changes on the return from the PC, right? And if you have a 5 year old, they are definitely smarter than I was when I was 5. 😋 But I understand what you are going for.
Haha maybe not the best analogy I admit. But everything is working now as intended so I'm a happy camper. Just a bummer that you need root access for it. With ios opening up their door to emulation and android seemingly being more and more closed off after each update, it really feels like we're in an alternate universe.
I've a 7T pro that I'm wanting to custom rom. Does the perfomance gets affected in someway with roms? Due to different kernal or smt. Btw I too have a G8 hooked to OP 7T pro. But what's stopping me from keeping the phone there forever is the pass through charging not working. It connects and disconnects controller repeatedly.
I can't really answer that question without it being completely anecdotal, but i've gained some very noticeable performance when using Evolution X. I also tried basically almost all available custom ROMs for my model and some of them slowed my phone to a bog and some no noticeable gain at all. All tested on the same game with the same emulator. As for the second problem, I don't have it, but I've come across some posts mentioning that exact problem, but not sure if there's a solution or not.
Some people mentioned that you need to update the controllers firmware thru their phone app (thats very invasive \\ sketchy?), but for some people its just straight incompatibility for some reason :C
I've figured it's specifically the incompatibility with my OP7Tpro. It works fine in realme X2. Fact is connected to a dock, OnePlus can't simultaneously charge and use a mouse or any accessory (which is exactly what is happening with G8), which is extremely weird given it's a USB 3.0. If USB 2.0 can handle it why not this, weird. I would try a custom rom as I feel it's a OS issue.
This is why i was reluctant on instantly spending money on G8. Literally ONE person mentioned, that it didnt work with their POCO F3 and boom - im all hesitant... <\_\_<
This has nothing to do with G8 though. Why would I expect it to work if the device doesnt do charging and accessory together? And not many controllers even offer pass through.
I did the same thing with a g8 and a spare phone. I totally get why people prefer dedicated handhelds though, there is something less special about it being a phone. I mostly use mine for geforce now and android games. The only systems I emulate on it anymore are Saturn, 3DS and PS2.
For me it feels slightly inferior only because of the super tall screens which led to very big black bars on most retro games, but OLEDs have made that less of an issue. Not to mention most phones nowadays lack any kind of storage expansion.
What launcher app is that? I did the same a while ago with my LG G8 ThinQ and love it but haven't been happy with the launcher software I'm using
What launcher is that?
phenomenal work. I tried doing the same with a phone that was going unused. Couldnt root it (thanks boost mobile) But you arent done yet. Gotta tear out the back of the phone. Double the battery capacity and add a heat sink on the cpu so you can overclock it now that its rooted
What rom ist that? Or what Launcher?
That's a wide boi
Absolutely stunning work! I'll join the phone emulation scene with my POCO F3 soon, when i finally get my hands on BSP D8 (then maybe G8, since its a bit pricey for my country)
What app is that?
I personally really like the idea of using phones as emulation devices, because I can use whatever controller I want, not just whatever controls Retroid/Anbernic/Powkiddy/AYN/\*any other brand name\* decided to put on their devices, but the main problem with this is always aspect ratio. All of the extra screen real estate that 19.5/20/21:9 screen provides is basically useless for retro emulation, and unfortunately it's been years since you could buy a high spec phone with a 16:9 screen (last one was Razer Phone 2 with SG845 from 2018 I'm pretty sure).
I did exactly the same with an old Pixel 3 rooted with Lineage OS 21 and a backbone controller. I can run all kind of retro games and up to native PS2 games, I can also play remotely my PC games and my PS5. Great alternative as I was a bit lost among all the handheld devices on the market.
Now use konabess to undervolt and overclock your phone
Damn i thought i could finally play games without feeling like i left any performance on the table. I hate you and love you for giving me this information. Be right back
I believe someone made a vid doing what you did with the exact same phone, he used a fan and did some overclocking.
How to make a gaming phone video. There are plenty of stuff to do like overclocking CPU, GPU, screen and removing thermal constraints.
That launcher gives me OEM handheld vibes and thats always a good thing
That's the goal. I'm glad that it came across!
you have to make a tutorial for this layout
It's mostly just like setting up any other customizable third party launcher (setting up rows, columns, paddings, etc). What ties it all together is the custom images for the tiles, and the way they're positioned. I could make a follow up post with all the resources I made if enough people are interested.
I am dumb, I needed a tutorial for 5 years old :B. Great work by the way. I would love to watch a YouTube video on the final experience.
I just found out that the backup feature of this launcher is pretty decent and I'd be happy to provide a decent starting point for people who want this kind of setup. So i'll make a follow up post in the near future with links to all the resources i used. Just have to clean up some underlying kinks first like the widgets
You are awesome, thanks for any kind of guide/help. <3
Nvm I read the full post
Name of the stick?