i use launchbox to organize my roms and give me a visualization when i want to look through stuff, but i play on original hardware with flashcarts, odes, loaders, and burned discs.

>>12098748
>the zoomer desktop full of icons and single directory with masses of files and no organization meme is real

I used to use a frontend but just use Retroarch now and use its history feature 90% of the time.

>>12098735
Emulator folder with a folder for each console which has a roms/iso folder along with its corresponding emulator. How else would I do it?

>>12098764
I'm 44, I've been doing this since the early 2000s, and I don't know how much jenkem you've been huffing to interpret what I said as "masses of files with no organization" but I can only assume that repeated exposure to toxic anal fumes has rendered you medically retarded.

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- One directory per system
- Full ROM sets preferred (some are too large)
- Standalone emulators (no frontend BS)
- Sometimes make fun spreadsheets

I have an external hard drive where I store fullsets + any iso I've ever ripped/downloaded and later copy specific games to the device I want to play it on.

>>12098735
Just a folder, which has subfolders with each console and games in alphabetical order N64, PS2, etc. I don't bother with frontends

>>12098735
I've started adding emulated games to my steam library while I'm playing them.
It sounds stupid but it helps me focus and I like how it makes the emulator UI invisible. It doesn't feel emulated anymore, it's just a game on my computer.

Do you use abbreviations or write out the full console name?

>>12098808
this except i made my own launcher to make it easier to browse through my library

>>12098735
>one folder for the emulator
>inside that folder, a folder with the roms
Just that.

>ROMs
>console name
>games
>duckstation, dolphin, pcsx2, xemu
>retroarch for everything else
literally the only rational course of action

>>12098951
Don't ask me shit like that weirdo

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>>12098735
I use retrobat :^]

Yeah I just use Retroarch for almost everything. Anything it doesn't support I just use a standalone emulator. Folder wise it's just Console > ROMs/ISOs.

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>>12098735
I have a bunch of random emulators on my desktop, and a bunch of random roms from various systems in one big ROM folder that I just delete when I'm done playing.

I don't bother with any organization beyond that.

>>12099393
this piece of shit makes games take 20x longer to boot than just doing it through retroarch normally

>>12098735
I'm frugal: I download a game, and then delete it once I've beaten it.

Actually, it's a mess. For small ROM files, everything I play I've had the habit of putting them in the emulator's root folder, but since I've been doing that for 15+ years, I don't actually use those emulators anymore, they're old versions of old emus, and I just keep the folders for the ROMs at this point.
Then there are CD images, all CD images, and I have a seperate dedicated folder for those, and the only exception are Saturn games which get their own sub folder within that folder becauase I was sick of not knowing which versions of Resident Evil (PSX or Saturn) was which when picking it in Mednafen.
But then these days I usually delete the disc images as soon as I'm done with the game because of the lack of space, unless I really really like the game.

And then there are full ROMsets, which are usually in the sub folder of the CURRENT associated emulator I'm using (not the same one as where the loose ROM files are)

I told you it's a mess, but I know where everything is.

>>12098735
I typically use ES-DE. It's pretty nice.

I go through my emulator folder, pick out a rom, and load it up in my favorite emulator. Simple as.

>>12098764
>he thinks it's a zoomer thing

Go back to /v/ with the real zoomers.

I just finished reorganizing everything, and unearthed 26 year old saves, some of the oldest stuff as I can tell from the naming. Roms used to be put into the emulator folder and I gave them a short name as to not overflow the UI and be able to tell sequels apart.
Now it's very much different, I couldn't even bother to rename everything so I download the goodroms sets and redumps and use those full names. Romhacks get appended to the name and copies are made for each which is possible today with 20TB hard drives. I can download every single game I ever had with hacks and not even make a dent in this bad boy.
I use RetroArch where for systems that emulate well on it and standalone for more demanding systems. RetroArch is really nice for older systems too because it maps both keyboard and controller at the same time which is a pain in the ass to get working in every single standalone emulator.
Roms are in a separate game folder and MAME even has a bunch of different folders for each version because it's such dogshit. Emulators go in their own folder and for MAME also version.
No, I don't expect of anyone to read all that.

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I use ES-DE, because it makes it easy to give games a sort title for grouping games in a series the same way you would on a shelf. I like the 3D box art miximages, and I like being able to scrape and read the manuals for every game.

>>12098735
i have a folder on desktop for each game i'm currently playing. savefiles and git repositories go in there with the ROM. If I'm not going to play it for a while, I delete it until I want to play it again and get more cheevos :-)

I make a folder in Documents called "Games" with sub-folders for each system / console.

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Folders are like this. Yes, I know 3DO and the others are more "4.5" gen than "5.5", but Windows is dumb about number order. As for emulators, I do like the simple grid-like structure of game cover and name that many have, but it's not uniform.

>>12099652
What's the problem about it? Are you a zoomer that can't play a game for more than 2 minutes?

I dual boot with batocera for just about everything

>>12098735
I have a folder called "emulation" on my SSD, and within that I have separate folders for each console, within those I have the correct emulator and a folder full of games for each one.

>>12098779
>I used to use a frontend but just use Retroarch now
RetroArch is a frontend retard

>download the game
>play the game
>delete the game

simple as

I only ever play digdug, so there's just a folder named "DigDug" with Nesticle and a rom of digdug in there.

>>12101000
Hopefully you're doing that within 24 hours or you stole the game.

>>12101005
Based

In the 90's my computer used to have a DOS startup prompt that could launch the 2 pinball games my parents played

>>12098735
Used to use launchbox which is great but closed source with paid features. Now I use playnite which is a little bit more janky and needed more configuration but is open source and works great too. I also use it with steam and pirated PC games, to have the same frontend for everything.

>>12100169
Those are some nice icons, anon

is emustation better than launchbox?

>>12098735
i use directories
they are in your computer

>>12098735
If an emulator doesn't have a front-end, I simply ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist. My time is too valuable to autistically waste it fiddling with programs that are only a means to an end.

>>12100169
Icon pack?

For older games I used to use lunchbox, but got fed up with it and associate files with the corresponding emulator. For PS2,Dreamcast and Switch games I make bat files, transform them to exe then integrate them into the steam, a bit of work but once is streamlined the results are very nice.

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batocera with art book next skin

Never tried Batocera, so it's like what retropie was but for more systems, including desktop pcs. What's it's emulation backend? Libretro? Looks pretty nice from the pics I've seen.

>>12102589
>or PS2,Dreamcast and Switch games I make bat files, transform them to exe then integrate them into the steam, a bit of work but once is streamlined the results are very nice.
Steam ROM Manager. You welcome, niggrumps.

>>12102623
controller set up is a breeze and it includes easy to use tools to scrape metadata (screenscraper)

GoodSNES2.04.zip

>>12098735
A better way is to use PDF rips of old magazines to get hyped.

The eternal ROM collection kind of sucks.

Better to store all that shit on a hard drive on a machine and curate specific games for specific devices to keep the limiting factor.

To put things in perspective, me and my brother would play the same few games for fucking months between Christmas's and Birthdays.

Same vibe, but just a suggestion.

The Netflix approach never goes well.

>>12101068
Wut a fag

>>12098779
Exactly me lol
>>12100993
RA is more of an operating system