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Emulation

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Alesh Slovak edited this page Aug 10, 2024 · 9 revisions

The Chimera web app makes it easy to add your retro games collection. Simply upload your ROM files and restart your computer. The games will appear in Steam automatically. You can also share your ROM files between multiple ChimeraOS devices, making it even easier to get started with Emulation on a new device. See the Content Sharing feature section for details.

The emulation itself is handled by RetroArch.

Emulators for the following retro consoles are included and supported out of the box:

  • 32X
  • 3DO
  • Arcade (MAME-Current)
  • Atari 2600
  • Atari 7800
  • Dreamcast
  • Game Boy
  • Game Boy Advance
  • Game Boy Color
  • GameCube
  • Game Gear
  • Genesis/Mega Drive
  • Jaguar
  • Master System
  • Neo Geo
  • Nintendo
  • Nintendo 64
  • Nintendo DS
  • PlayStation
  • PlayStation 2
  • PlayStation Portable
  • Saturn
  • Sega/Mega CD
  • Super Game Boy
  • Super Nintendo
  • Super Nintendo MSU1
  • TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine

ROMs can be uploaded from the platform-specific section of the Chimera web app's Library page. Click the large blue '+' button to add a new game. Fill out the game name, upload your ROM file, and select your preferred artwork.

ROM files should be in the correct format as expected by the respective emulator. Zip files are supported transparently as long as the ROM file is the only file inside the zip file.

For Dreamcast, PlayStation, Saturn, and Sega/Mega CD ROMs, the CHD format is highly recommended. It is a single-file format which allows easy uploading of ROMs through the Chimera web interface. Cue/Bin formatted ROMs are not supported.

Super Nintendo MSU1 ROMs are a special case as they involve a number of PCM files. In order to upload to Chimera, all of the pcm files, the msu file, and the ROM file need to be zipped together in a single-level zip file (no subfolders) named <romname>.zip, and the romname must include the extension.

Example:

gamerom.sfc.zip
|- gamerom.sfc
|- gamerom.msu
|- gamerom-1.pcm
|- gamerom-2.pcm
...
|- gamerom-999.pcm

BIOS files

The following retro console platforms require BIOS files to function. Follow the links for details on the required BIOS files or see the individual platform sections below:

BIOS files must be uploaded under their respective platforms just as if they were games. However, when entering the name, you must omit the file extension.

The final filename of the BIOS file is a combination of the name entered when uploading the file, plus the extension of the uploaded file itself. This combined file name must match what the emulator is expecting.

Some BIOSes are region-specific, in which case you must upload the BIOS for each region you will be using ROMs for.

PlayStation 2

Supported PlayStation 2 BIOS files are single file .bin files. Multi-file bios files are not supported.

You can play any region game with any region BIOS.

When uploading a BIOS file, the name you use does not matter. You can call the entry "bios", for example, or anything else that you like.

Below is a list of known working and not working bios files.

Working Name Region MD5SUM
❌ SCPH-10000 Japan acf4730ceb38ac9d8c7d8e21f2614600
❌ SCPH-30003 UK b7fa11e87d51752a98b38e3e691cbf17
✅ SCPH-30004R Europe 28922c703cc7d2cf856f177f2985b3a9
✅ SCPH-39001 USA d5ce2c7d119f563ce04bc04dbc3a323e
❌ SCPH-50000 Japan 312ad4816c232a9606e56f946bc0678a
❌ SCPH-70012 USA d333558cc14561c1fdc334c75d5f37b7

Switch

Pre-requisites

  1. You have an AppImage of Yuzu (or another Yuzu compatible emulator)
  2. You have prod and title key files
  3. You have a zipped archive of firmware files (optional, but many popular games do not function without it)

Note: Do not ask for these files. We cannot provide them for legal reasons. You are on your own in obtaining them.

Side note: F*** Nintendo for going out of their way to make it so difficult for their customers to enjoy their games in the highest available quality and comfort of a unified game library.

Enable

To enable Switch emulation, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Chimera web app of the device you wish to enable emulation on.
  2. Click on the Switch icon.
  3. Upload the following files by clicking on the blue '+' button:
  • Upload the Yuzu .AppImage file with the name yuzu
  • Upload the title.keys file with the name title
  • Upload the prod.keys file with the name prod
  • Upload the Firmware X.Y.Z.zip file with the name firmware (optional)
  • Upload any games in .nsp or .xci format.
  1. Restart the computer, otherwise the .AppImage fails to launch.

Note: It is recommended to set the AppImage, key, and firmware files as hidden so that they do not appear in your library.

Default settings are automatically applied which configure 4 connected Pro controllers. Any Steam supported gamepad can be used. Make sure that Steam Input is enabled for controllers to function correctly.

You can further adjust emulation settings by connecting a keyboard and pressing esc while a game is running to access the emulator menus.

Emulation Content Sharing

Content sharing allows a single ChimeraOS device to act as a host for ROM files and related artwork. Other ChimeraOS devices can then install games directly from the host device without having to re-upload ROM files and select artwork.

Enable content sharing

  1. Open the Chimera web app on the intended host device.
  2. Open the main menu and select "System".
  3. Scroll down and check the "Enable Content Sharing" check box.
  4. Click the Save button.
  5. Restart the device.

You will also need to have uploaded ROMs to the host device as explained in the Emulation section above.

Please make sure to only enable this feature on a single device in your network, otherwise you may experience issues with connecting to the wrong host.

Installing shared content

  1. Open the Chimera web app on a second device.
  2. Open the main menu and select "Library".
  3. Click on the Emulation platform for which you want to install a game.
  4. Click the blue '+' button with a radio/transmitter logo in the top right corner (NOTE: this button will only appear if a content sharing enabled ChimeraOS host is found on the same network).
  5. A list of available games to install will appear, click the game to be installed.
  6. Click the install button and allow the game to be installed.
  7. Open the main menu again and select "Actions".
  8. Click on "Restart Steam" to allow Steam to load the newly installed game.
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