I just tried this out and am very impressed. I got it working on my Linux desktop, the web, my Steam Deck*, and my phone. As much as I adore my beloved RetroDECK, it being on just my Steam Deck...
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I just tried this out and am very impressed. I got it working on my Linux desktop, the web, my Steam Deck*, and my phone.
As much as I adore my beloved RetroDECK, it being on just my Steam Deck can be a bit limiting. Sometimes I want to play retro games on my phone or PC too! Up until now, I’ve just kept things separate.
That said, the further I go in life, the more I appreciate the convenience of hardware-agnostic solutions. I have this with my reading setup via BookFusion and now potentially my emulation setup via Afterplay.
I’ve only played around with it for a bit, but it’s quite feature rich. It’ll automatically match BIOSes and ROM files, putting them where they need to go and downloading their metadata and whatnot. The UX is great on mouse & keyboard, though it could use some controller-specific improvements for the Deck (though you can just use the touchscreen like a mouse and that works fine). It even supports RetroAchievements, which I love.
Also, you don’t play the games themselves via streaming. When you launch a title it instead downloads the rom and emulator directly to your device, so they’re actually running natively (which is good for input lag).
One thing I really like about it is that it has an official homebrew store. So, right from the app you can buy titles from indie devs who make their own games for old consoles.
I can’t give a full endorsement since I’ve only just tried it out, but I plan to stick with it for a bit (I already plunked down the $25 for the yearly subscription). It can’t fully replace RetroDECK since there are a lot of systems I play there that aren’t available here (pretty much Dreamcast and beyond). But I do love the idea of being able to game on my phone while waiting for an appointment then pick up where I left off from my Deck (and vice versa).
If anyone’s curious and wants me to test anything out, let me know and I’m happy to do so.
*Steam Deck Note: The AppImage wouldn’t run for me when added to Steam directly. I had to install Gear Lever which then “installs” the AppImage itself. Once I did this, I was able to add Afterplay to Steam and have it run correctly in Game Mode.
Yeah, I have similar concerns. Part of me is like “that’s not allowed!” but then part of me knows you can search [game name] ROM and find dozens of longstanding websites each hosting every...
Yeah, I have similar concerns.
Part of me is like “that’s not allowed!” but then part of me knows you can search [game name] ROM and find dozens of longstanding websites each hosting every conceivable game you could think of and providing them for public distribution. Somehow those stay up too?
For Afterplay, it might be one of those “it doesn’t really get enforced” situations, or they might be able to do it simply because they’re operating in a “bring your own files” capacity.
Afterplay doesn’t provide ROMs, but does provide cloud storage for user-uploaded ROMs. What do you think about the legal line you’re walking?
Patrick: I’d push back gently on the idea of a line, because the pieces are all pretty well established. The emulator and the games are two separate things, and emulation itself has been legal and well understood for a long time.
We don’t provide ROMs at all. The storage side works like any other cloud service: you upload your own files, and you’re responsible for what you put there, the same as Dropbox or Google Drive. And everything we actually sell is properly licensed, real deals with real publishers.
One thing that does help sell me on the platform’s legitimacy is their indie game storefront. I imagine that devs and publishers wouldn’t want to touch something like this if they knew it was a legal landmine. Admittedly though, this might just be wishful thinking on my part since I’m liking the service and hope it will stick around.
That could be ok since they don't offer downloads (until they start getting a bit too greedy?), but I don't really want to risk a leak and have my name associated to dozens of uploaded Nintendo...
That could be ok since they don't offer downloads (until they start getting a bit too greedy?), but I don't really want to risk a leak and have my name associated to dozens of uploaded Nintendo games.
Your other post about RomM looks to be a cool alternative though :D
Alright, I'll admit, those AI integrations actually seem cool and useful. A translation by humans would smoke AI, especially with current translators trying (and miserably failing) to do more...
Alright, I'll admit, those AI integrations actually seem cool and useful. A translation by humans would smoke AI, especially with current translators trying (and miserably failing) to do more "human" translations. But a built-in option when none is present is nice, particularly in cases where technological limits makes fan translation exceedingly difficult. Though curious if the agent can really handle anything more complicated than say grinding in Dragon Warrior/Quest 1. Basically since LLMs became big, I've wanted one than can do the inventory management for whatever game.
I just tried this out and am very impressed. I got it working on my Linux desktop, the web, my Steam Deck*, and my phone.
As much as I adore my beloved RetroDECK, it being on just my Steam Deck can be a bit limiting. Sometimes I want to play retro games on my phone or PC too! Up until now, I’ve just kept things separate.
That said, the further I go in life, the more I appreciate the convenience of hardware-agnostic solutions. I have this with my reading setup via BookFusion and now potentially my emulation setup via Afterplay.
I’ve only played around with it for a bit, but it’s quite feature rich. It’ll automatically match BIOSes and ROM files, putting them where they need to go and downloading their metadata and whatnot. The UX is great on mouse & keyboard, though it could use some controller-specific improvements for the Deck (though you can just use the touchscreen like a mouse and that works fine). It even supports RetroAchievements, which I love.
Also, you don’t play the games themselves via streaming. When you launch a title it instead downloads the rom and emulator directly to your device, so they’re actually running natively (which is good for input lag).
One thing I really like about it is that it has an official homebrew store. So, right from the app you can buy titles from indie devs who make their own games for old consoles.
I can’t give a full endorsement since I’ve only just tried it out, but I plan to stick with it for a bit (I already plunked down the $25 for the yearly subscription). It can’t fully replace RetroDECK since there are a lot of systems I play there that aren’t available here (pretty much Dreamcast and beyond). But I do love the idea of being able to game on my phone while waiting for an appointment then pick up where I left off from my Deck (and vice versa).
If anyone’s curious and wants me to test anything out, let me know and I’m happy to do so.
*Steam Deck Note: The AppImage wouldn’t run for me when added to Steam directly. I had to install Gear Lever which then “installs” the AppImage itself. Once I did this, I was able to add Afterplay to Steam and have it run correctly in Game Mode.
Legally that seems veeeeeery borderline. You're uploading the roms on their storage, so at least I wouldn't use a Google or Apple account to login.
Yeah, I have similar concerns.
Part of me is like “that’s not allowed!” but then part of me knows you can search
[game name] ROMand find dozens of longstanding websites each hosting every conceivable game you could think of and providing them for public distribution. Somehow those stay up too?For Afterplay, it might be one of those “it doesn’t really get enforced” situations, or they might be able to do it simply because they’re operating in a “bring your own files” capacity.
I found an interview with the creator where he alludes to that idea:
One thing that does help sell me on the platform’s legitimacy is their indie game storefront. I imagine that devs and publishers wouldn’t want to touch something like this if they knew it was a legal landmine. Admittedly though, this might just be wishful thinking on my part since I’m liking the service and hope it will stick around.
That could be ok since they don't offer downloads (until they start getting a bit too greedy?), but I don't really want to risk a leak and have my name associated to dozens of uploaded Nintendo games.
Your other post about RomM looks to be a cool alternative though :D
Alright, I'll admit, those AI integrations actually seem cool and useful. A translation by humans would smoke AI, especially with current translators trying (and miserably failing) to do more "human" translations. But a built-in option when none is present is nice, particularly in cases where technological limits makes fan translation exceedingly difficult. Though curious if the agent can really handle anything more complicated than say grinding in Dragon Warrior/Quest 1. Basically since LLMs became big, I've wanted one than can do the inventory management for whatever game.