I usually recommend using open source software but this is c/piracy, so, you can easily find Drastic unlocked on Mobilsm.
this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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Do you have an open source one in mind?
There's a port of melonDS to Android at https://github.com/rafaelvcaetano/melonDS-android. Keep in mind you'll need a CPU capable of running AArch64 instructions and a 64-bit OS if you want dynarec support.
I'll try it out. Does the pixel 6 have those features?
Yes it has an ARM64 processor
Yes, you can download Lemuroid through F-droid and then use one of the open source Nintendo DS cores, but they require a strong hardware.
RetroArch. Use melon core
Drastic DS Emulator on play store has been the best DS emulator in android for years.
Just make sure to Pirate it, Paid emulator Devs on Android are greedy pieces of shit, many violate GPL Licenses just to make a quick buck, don't give in, don't give them money.
In general emulators that aren't open source are also shady and should be avoided wherever possible because they:
- Can be Malicous
- Might use SDK material (not something we care about but it can be used against them).
- May violate GPL or contain stolen code from others' work, which is extremely scummy.
If it helps at all, Drastic DS is developed by Exophase, the developer behind the gpSP emulator, which is open source. Drastic is safe, and has for years been the only decent choice for Android as far as performance goes.
That said, from what I’ve just found, they’ve dropped support for Drastic, so pirating it is a good idea regardless.
They dropped support and did not open source it? Damn
Many mobile emulator Devs are like that unfortunately, no desire to improve things for the emulation community, AetherSX2's dev was like that as well, though he went a step further and sold to a Chinese dev team who put ads and malware in it.
There is no valid excuse for locking down an Emulator, it's either to hide the fact that they used SDK material or because they want to sell it later, either as a product to you or sell it to another Dev team (can't easily do that with open source as it'll be forked and the buying dev will be labelled shady or bad by the community). Saying "to prevent plagarism" is a Bullshit excuse because as well, Android did and still does have a thriving open source community, they don't do it to prevent plagarism, they do it for money or to hide their own plagiarism (SDK or copying GPL code).
Yeah I’m fairly certain exophase just charged for Drastic because they knew it was leagues better than every single open source emulator for Nintendo DS on the Arm platform, and people absolutely would pay for it.
I mean, I guess it’s fair for people to charge for their work. But I do have to wonder if the entire project was novel, Y’know?
Yeah I can't say for certain whether it was done malicously out of greed or not. I do know that in the Mobile space there's a lot of precedent for that, with other emulator Devs who build closed source projects, then swiftly abandon, sell them off, or turn them into adware.
When it comes to emulation I feel like devs should contribute to the scene via open sourcing their projects, this ensures that their work can benefit others and that it can be continued in their absence. If they still want to charge for it they can do what Fedilab did and just sell it on Google play but have it be Free on Fdroid and the Git Repo.
https://f-droid.org/repo/com.retroarch
You can install multiple cores on it.
First you have to go to the online updater and update all of your configuration files, core files, assets, everything and restart, but then you can simply go to the online updater and download any emulator core for any system.
I am playing on MelonDS which requires one fix to use the touchscreen in-game:
Core options -> screen -> change first option to Touch.
Also for pokemon specifically to have save filed work properly, you have to download a nintendoDS BIOS blob and put it in one of your retroarch folders. There are guides on that.
A little bit of configuration, bit you essentially have every single open source emulator in one app.
DraStic is amazing on midrange devices. Compatibility is excellent in my experience, there's a lot of UI customization available, and there are some nice filter and scaling options built-in. It also has full controller support.
But sadly dead.
The only DS emulator really worth using in my opinion is Drastic I tried a few other things like lemuroid and MelonDS before finally paying for Drastic.
Lemuroid emulates most handhelds, and works pretty well in my experience (S9, to give an idea of performance)
Havent tried it but Citra is an option.