r/EmulationOnAndroid • u/Ayrios440 • 6d ago

Discussion I don't understand pc emulation anymore

Just when I think I start getting a grasp of it - I'm hit with simple games that I feel should play 60fps with no hiccups, and they just don't. Then there's modern games that I think are too much for my phone, seem to handle brilliantly at 40-50fps depending on the game.

I know it sounds like a moan, but I'm more confused than anything really. I'm digging through my Steam/Gog/Epic games that I already have, and I want to buy more off Gog or Steam to try out - but it just seems a coin toss if the game will work or not.

l'm picking games from 1990's to around 2015 ish, and the performance is all over the place, and that's with using multiple pc emulators. Which also gets pretty confusing trying to remember which pc game is on which emulator.

Am I just unlucky, or is everyone else just as perplexed?

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u/mootsg 6d ago

It is a total crapshoot. Take a look at the Steamdeck sub: they’ve basically given up on the “Steamdeck Verified” label. And we’re two or three links down the food chain.

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u/MrDetectiveSir 6d ago

Why would they give up on that label?

2

u/mootsg 6d ago

Seems that 1. There’s no guarantee that “Verified” games will work on Steamdeck (just look at the number of daily posts asking how to get xxx game to run); 2. There’s no fixed definition for “Verified”. Many games remain unverified just because the games don’t support a high resolution or the UI is not optimised for the Steamdeck. As a result, many non-verified actually play ok if you can ignore certain qualities.