https://github.com/retroachievements/ralibretro
RALibretro is a multi-emulator used to develop RetroAchievements.
https://github.com/retroachievements/ralibretro
cpp emulator libretro retroachievements retroachievements-api
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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RALibretro is a multi-emulator used to develop RetroAchievements.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/retroachievements/ralibretro
- Owner: RetroAchievements
- License: gpl-3.0
- Created: 2018-04-16T02:03:56.000Z (over 7 years ago)
- Default Branch: develop
- Last Pushed: 2025-06-24T19:16:24.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-08-31T07:34:08.957Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: cpp, emulator, libretro, retroachievements, retroachievements-api
- Language: C++
- Homepage: https://retroachievements.org
- Size: 21.9 MB
- Stars: 208
- Watchers: 10
- Forks: 39
- Open Issues: 38
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: COPYING
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README
# RALibretro
RALibretro is a multi-emulator that can be used to develop RetroAchievements and, of course, earn them.
The "multi-emulation" feature is only possible because it uses [libretro](https://github.com/libretro/) cores to do the actual emulation. What RALibretro does is to connect the emulation to the tools used to create RetroAchievements.
The integration with RetroAchievements.org site is done by the [RAIntegration](https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RAIntegration).
## Building RALibretro with MSYS2/Makefile
### Install MSYS2
1. Go to [http://www.msys2.org/](http://www.msys2.org/) and download the 32 bit version.
2. Follow the installation instructions on the site [http://www.msys2.org/](http://www.msys2.org/).
3. When on the prompt for the first time, run `pacman -Syu` (**NOTE**: at the end of this command it will ask you to close the terminal window **without** going back to the prompt.)
4. Launch the MSYS2 terminal again and run `pacman -Su`
### Install the toolchain
```
$ pacman -S make git zip mingw-w64-i686-gcc mingw-w64-i686-SDL2 mingw-w64-i686-gcc-libs
```
### Clone the repo
```
$ git clone --recursive --depth 1 https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RALibretro.git
```
### Build
```
$ cd RALibretro
$ make
```
**NOTE**: use `make` for a release build or `make DEBUG=1` for a debug build. Don't forget to run `make clean` first if switching between a release build and a debug build.
## Building RALibretro with Visual Studio
### Clone the repo
```
> git clone --recursive --depth 1 https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RALibretro.git
```
### Build
Load `RALibretro.sln` in Visual Studio and build it.
## Command Line Arguments
Argument|Description
-|-
-c [--core]|the core's name, e.g. `--core picodrive_libretro`
-s [--system]|the system id, see ConsoleID in [RAInterface/RA_Consoles.h](https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RAInterface/blob/master/RA_Consoles.h), e.g. `--system 1`
-g [--game]|full path to the game's file, e.g. `--game "C:\ROMS\GEN\Demons Of Asteborg Demo.gen"`
In order to run a game on startup, provide the core, system and game, e.g.:
`RALibretro.exe --core picodrive_libretro --system 1 --game "C:\ROMS\GEN\Demons Of Asteborg Demo.gen"`