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Nostalgist.js

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Nostalgist.js is a JavaScript library that allows you to run
emulators of retro consoles like NES and Sega Genesis, within web
browsers.

                    Getting StartedAPI reference

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A Quick Glance

Nostalgist.js is a JavaScript library that allows you to run
emulators of retro consoles like NES and Sega Genesis, within web
browsers.

                            console demo

Open the DevTools of your browser(maybe Ctrl + Shift + J on Windows/
Linux and [?] + [?] + J on macOS), then type this code and press Enter,
an NES emulator will appear in your browser like above (though it's
not Super Mario Bros. )!

await Nostalgist.nes('flappybird.nes')

Controls: D-Pad: | | - - Start: Enter Select: Shift B: Z A: X

Features

Launch

Launch a retro game with RetroArch emulator in a browser

import { Nostalgist } from 'nostalgist'

await Nostalgist.launch({
  core: 'fceumm',
  rom: 'flappybird.nes',
})

Related API: launch

Save & Load

Save the state of the game, then load it later

import { Nostalgist } from 'nostalgist'

const nostalgist = await Nostalgist.nes('flappybird.nes')
const { state } = await nostalgist.saveState()
nostalgist.loadState(state)

Related API: saveState, loadState

Customize

Customize any RetroArch config before launching

import { Nostalgist } from 'nostalgist'

const nostalgist = await Nostalgist.launch({
  core: 'fceumm',
  rom: 'flappybird.nes',
  retroarchConfig: {
    rewind_enable: true,
  },
  retroarchCoreConfig: {
    fceumm_turbo_enable: 'Both',
  },
})

Related API: launch#retroarchconfig

Hack

Access low level APIs of Emscripten

import { Nostalgist } from 'nostalgist'

const rom = 'https://example.com/zelda.sfc'
const nostalgist = await Nostalgist.snes(rom)
const FS = nostalgist.getEmscriptenFS()
FS.readdir('/home/web_user/retroarch/userdata/saves/Snes9x/zelda.srm')

Related API: getEmscriptenFS

Here is a simple live example.

Motivation

Nostalgist.js is built on top of RetroArch Emscripten builds.
Although there is an official RetroArch's web player, and some
third-party ones like webretro, it's still not that easy to launch
RetroArch in a browser programmatically.

The purpose of Nostalgist.js is to simplify the process of launching
an emulator to play a game, via RetroArch, in browsers. Given a ROM
and a core, the game should be launched without any additional
configuration.

Getting Started

Caveat

Nostalgist.js DO NOT privide any pirated content, like copyrighted
ROM files or BIOS files.

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