EmuDeck 3.0 dev diary

Hello everyone, quick status update on the next EmuDeck 3.0 and how is development going.

First of all remember that this next major version of EmuDeck will bring a single codebase for every desktop operating system so development should be faster and easier in the future, specially on Windows where we will say good riddance to PowerShell.

I'm focusing on making 3.0 100% compatible with current installations so the transition from 2.x to 3.0 is seamless to the user having what I call a "compatibility wrapper" for old installs.

There's a new feature that will work on every OS: Gamepad navigable popups, have you ever started a game on your Deck connected to your TV and a CloudConfig appears forcing you to get up and close it with your handheld? No more! Now every popup / warning is going to be able to be dismissed with a controller.

This open up a lot of new possibilities, like setting emulators settings before launch, i.e. :  Set the number of players with the controller before starting the game, selecting the controller scheme (super useful for Wii games), etc. If you have any cool idea on how to use this feature please let me know!

Ok, now let's review some details for every OS:

Windows

Windows is by far the one where more problems exists because Windows just hates its users :P,  so that's why I started 3.0 with Windows. Right now almost everything works: emulator installation, game launch, CloudSync... I still need to test stuff like compressor, retro library, etc. but it is pretty much completed.

Linux

This one is a little behind windows in that only retroarch works for now :D, the rest of the emulators I'm still figuring them out, but it's not that far off from Windows. Retro Library works great, with a noticiable speed up when launching for the first time compared to 2.x

Mac

You can install emulators, (it's a little wonky because the way macOS works with DMGs), set them up and even use CloudSync too but there's still a lot to be tested on the Mac side but looks promising!

Android

I've found somebody to help me code the Android port, 3.0 will bring not one but three EmuDeck Android native apps: EmuDeck to install and setup your emulators, CloudSync to sync your saves with EmuDeck Desktop and finally RetroLibrary so you can have a nice frontend with everything integrated on it. This will be a patreon exclusive perk for some time after it launches.

One more thing...

The OS for the EmuDeck Machine is ready, a small and lean arch based linux distro with a one click app to turn it into a SteamOS experience ( Steam licensing prevents me from distributing Steam without Valve's approval and they are not responding me in any channel / medium I've tried so I had to create my own...)

The design is ready too, I'm gonna send it to some people in the community for feedback and to see if they like it. Remember that this will be a triple launch:

- Free STL for those that want to 3D print them themselves. Patrons will get some exclusive STLs

- Empty cases for sale for DIY

- Cases with preinstalled hardware and game controller for a more plug & play experience.

See you in the next update!