No, there’s a mac version of retroarch. OpenEmu is a bit better in term of user interface.
And RetroArch has a history of harassing emulator devs, e.g. Stenzek who made Duckstation, were harassed by them until Stenzek went hiatus. IIRC, they might have harassed Near (developer of Snes9x), Near eventually killed themself.
Oh jeez, did some brief research and that is awful. The person in charge of Retroarch seems to be a greedy asshole, doesn’t properly credit other people’s code, and there’s direct IRC-logged evidence of abusive behavior towards emulator devs. Yikes. No wonder there are competing projects.
Time for me to never touch it again. I hear LaunchBox is a fine alternative but on my Switch I might just grab ARM builds of individual emulators; it would save time over the whole RA interface anyways.
A FOSS tag would be nice for those that care about that. Also, both Mindustry and C:DDA are missing their free tags. Overall, a good list and plenty new things that I was not previously aware of!
Whole-heartedly agree about the curator pick for factory games. Dyson Sphere Program is sooo good. Still technically in early access but I’ve put probably a hundred hours into it. I started playing it when the English translations were terrible, so some things were a bit tough to figure out, but that stuff seems better now. The way you level up your abilities and automation capabilities is great. I remember exploring my first nearby planet and being afraid I wouldn’t be able to get back, and now I’m regularly blasting off to planets 40 light years away and setting up logistics. They’ve added a bunch of stuff since then and they are adding combat around Christmas time. I’m tempted to start fresh when they add that. Can’t wait to see what the 1.0 product ends up as, it seems finished as it is.
I haven’t tried many of the other factory games because they are first person. This one feels more like a Sim City or Age of Empires, but you are controlling a mech in third person and there are ways to zoom out to see the whole planet or the whole system, star cluster.
Pros: Easier to learn (belt mechanics are a bit clearer). Belts have a Z axis which allows for even more spaghetti! Progression feels faster since you already start out with builder drones. Graphics are absolutely amazing. Multiple planets are pretty cool.
Cons: there are no trains. Logistics stations kinda ruin the late game since it makes factory planning much easier
Has anyone tried Dyson Sphere Program on Steam Deck? I haven’t played it yet because I’m a little worried about addiction to it, but fuck it if it’s on deck
Have you tried the combat update? One of the big reasons I was interested in the game was because it seemed relaxing and chill, but after learning about the added combat I feel a little turned off. Any thoughts?
DSP doesn't have builtin controller support, so I'd be leery recommending it for Deck unless you're used to more complicated manual input mapping. Hardware-wise, it's more than capable as long as you don't go megabasing postgame.
DSP also doesn't do cloud saves, so you gotta be careful with your wineprefix.
Oh boy… just heard of Derail Valley and the sound of money flying from my wallet. Since it’s early Access and not on sale I’ll wait a month, but I wishlisted it.
I looooove Transport Fever 2 and many of the management and simulator games.
I had it on my wishlist for a couple of years and never saw it go on sale. I can now say it’s well worth the price.
I’ve blown up multiple steam engines, flung myself into a valley after spending too much time reviewing my paperwork, crashed into a line of tankers after assuming a main line would be open for me (causing a chain reaction if explosions), and blown out my drivetrain from hauling too much ass down a steep hill and keeping the gearbox engaged. Great times.
The career building system is good, too. You start with a little diesel electric shunter, and can work your way up to the big boys, hauling long trains with dangerous freight. The routes are interesting and keep you on your toes, too.
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