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RETROARCH(6)	      System Manager's Manual: retroarch	  RETROARCH(6)

NAME
       retroarch - The reference frontend for the libretro API.

SYNOPSIS
       retroarch [rom file(s)] [OPTIONS]...

DESCRIPTION
       retroarch  is the reference frontend for	the libretro API.  libretro is
       an abstraction of a game	system,	and can	be implemented	by  any	 fron-
       tend.   The  libretro API is designed for games,	emulators and multime-
       dia.  retroarch focuses on exposing needed functionality	for  the  game
       system  through	the  use  of command line and configuration files.  It
       also features a simple built-in UI.

EXAMPLE	COMMANDLINE
       Load content, using a specific libretro core and	config file.
	      retroarch	--config ~/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg  --libretro
	      /path/to/libretro/core.so	/path/to/rom.rom --verbose

       No command line options will start RetroArch in menu mode.
	      retroarch

       Start RetroArch in menu mode, with verbose logging.
	      retroarch	--menu --verbose

Menu
       Refers  to  the built-in	GUI system for RetroArch. It is	aimed at being
       controlled with a gamepad only.

DEFAULT	CONTROLS
       By default, only	keyboard input is accepted.

GENERAL	OPTIONS
       [rom file]
	      If no rom	file path is defined on	the  command  line,  retroarch
	      will  try	 to  load a core with no rom. This will	only work with
	      some libretro cores.  retroarch use  uncompressed	 content,  but
	      can uncompress content in	the .zip/deflate format	if support for
	      it  is  compiled	in.  Content types supported depend on the li-
	      bretro implementation used.

       --help, -h
	      Prints help text.

       --menu Starts directly in in-game menu if enabled.   Does  not  require
	      content  or  libretro  implementation  to	 be set.  These	can be
	      loaded afterwards	in the menu.  If no arguments  are  passed  to
	      retroarch,  it  is  equivalent to	calling	retroarch with this as
	      only argument.

       --features
	      Prints available features	compiled into RetroArch, then exits.

       -L PATH,	--libretro PATH
	      Path to a	libretro implementation	which is to be used.  This op-
	      tion will	override any setting in	a config file.	This option is
	      only available if	RetroArch is compiled  with  dynamic  libretro
	      loading.

       --save PATH, -s PATH
	      Overrides	 the  path  used  for  save  ram (*.srm) (deprecated).
	      Without this flag, the save ram path will	be inferred  from  the
	      rom  path	 name,	and  put in the	same directory as the rom file
	      with the extension replaced with '.srm'.	If PATH	 is  a	direc-
	      tory,  RetroArch	will  treat  this  as the save file directory,
	      where the	save file name will be inferred	from the rom name.

       --savestate PATH, -S PATH
	      Overrides	the path used for save states  (deprecated).   Without
	      this  flag,  the	save  state path will be inferred from the rom
	      path name, and put in the	same directory as the  rom  file  with
	      the  extension  replace  with '.state'.  If PATH is a directory,
	      RetroArch	will treat this	as the save state directory, where the
	      state file name will be inferred from the	 rom  name.   Do  note
	      that  save states	are bound to the libretro implementation being
	      used. Using a different libretro could invalidate	the save state
	      file.

       --fullscreen, -f
	      Always starts RetroArch in fullscreen.  Disregards  settings  in
	      configuration file.

       --config	PATH, -c PATH
	      Sets  the	 configuration file path. retroarch will use this path
	      to load the configuration	file.  Should  this  not  be  defined,
	      retroarch	 will look in platform specific	paths to attempt find-
	      ing the config file.  /etc/retroarch.cfg	(when  installed),  or
	      retroarch.cfg in the source tarball serves as a skeleton config-
	      uration  file.   /etc/retroarch.cfg  should  serve as a skeleton
	      config only.

	      Unix-like	    systems	 will	   look	     in	     $XDG_CON-
	      FIG_HOME/retroarch/retroarch.cfg	first.	If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is
	      not defined, it is assumed to be $HOME/.config as	per specifica-
	      tion. Then it will try $HOME/.retroarch.cfg. If both paths fail,
	      RetroArch	will try to create  a  new,  default  config  file  in
	      $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/retroarch/retroarch.cfg	(or  the $HOME/.config
	      default for $XDG_CONFIG_HOME).  If all fails,  default  settings
	      will  be	assumed.   If  RetroArch  creates a new	default	config
	      file,  it	 will  attempt	to  load  the  skeleton	 config	  file
	      /etc/retroarch.cfg and use that as a basis.  This	allows distri-
	      butions  to set up default paths for libretro cores, and similar
	      things.  A configuration file does not need to define every pos-
	      sible option, only those which should be overridden.

	      If config_save_on_exit  =	 true  is  set	in  the	 config	 file,
	      RetroArch	 will  overwrite the config file on exit. Settings can
	      be changed from within the menu.	If RetroArch overwrites	a con-
	      fig file,	formatting, comments, etc will be lost.	 If  RetroArch
	      creates  a default config	file, it will have config_save_on_exit
	      set automatically.

	      Windows  will  look  in  retroarch.cfg  in  same	folder	 where
	      retroarch.exe  resides.  A default config	file will also be cre-
	      ated in the same manner as Unix.

       --appendconfig PATH
	      Appends a	different set of  config  files	 to  the  config  file
	      loaded  in -c (or	default).  Multiple config files are delimited
	      by ','.  Every config file will be appended in order  where  the
	      key-value	 pairs of the next config file takes priority over the
	      old ones.

       --subsystem SUBSYSTEM
	      Use a subsystem of the loaded libretro  core.  Multiple  content
	      files  are loaded	as multiple arguments.	If content is skipped,
	      use a blank ("") command line argument.  Content must be	loaded
	      in an order which	depends	on the particular subsystem used.  See
	      verbose  log  output  to	learn how a particular subsystem wants
	      content to be loaded.

       --nodevice PORT,	-N PORT
	      Disconnects an input device from port number PORT. Possible val-
	      ues for PORT are 1 to 8. This may	be needed for some  odd	 games
	      to  run properly.	 If set	explicitly here, overrides config file
	      for that port.

       --dualanalog PORT, -A PORT
	      Connects a DualAnalog controller into port PORT. Possible	values
	      are 1 to 8.  If set explicitly here, overrides config  file  for
	      that port.

       --device	PORT:ID, -d PORT:ID
	      Connects a generic input device ID into port PORT. Possible val-
	      ues for port are 1 to 8.	If set explicitly here,	overrides con-
	      fig  file	for that port.	ID is an unsigned number corresponding
	      to the device for	a libretro core.

       --record	PATH, -r PATH
	      Activates	video recording	of gameplay into PATH. Using .mkv  ex-
	      tension is recommended.  Codecs used are (FFV1 or	H264 RGB loss-
	      less (x264))/FLAC, suitable for processing the material further.

       --recordconfig PATH
	      Sets path	to a config file for use during	recording.

       --size WIDTHxHEIGHT
	      Allows  specifying  the exact output width and height of record-
	      ing. This	option will override any configuration settings.   The
	      video  input is scaled with point	filtering before being encoded
	      at the correct size.

       --play-replay PATH, -P PATH
	      Play back	a movie	recorded in the	.replay	format.	Cart  ROM  and
	      movie  file  need	 to correspond.	 It also requires to play back
	      with the same libretro backend that was used for recording.

       --record-replay PATH, -R	PATH
	      Start recording  a  .replay  video  to  PATH  immediately	 after
	      startup.

       --sram-mode MODE, -M MODE
	      MODE  designates	how  to	handle SRAM.  The format of the	second
	      parameter	is {no,}load-{no,}save.	 These two boolean values tell
	      if SRAM loading and SRAM saving should take  place.   Note  that
	      noload-save  implies  that the SRAM will be overwritten with new
	      data.

       --verbose, -v
	      Activates	verbose	logging.

       --host, -H
	      Be the host of netplay. Waits until a user  connects.  The  host
	      will always assume user 1.

       --connect SERVER, -C SERVER
	      Connect to a host	of netplay. Will always	assume user 2.

       --frames	FRAMES,	-F FRAMES
	      Sync  frames  to	use  when using	netplay. More frames allow for
	      more latency, but	requires more CPU power.  Set FRAMES to	 0  to
	      have  perfect  sync. 0 frames is only suitable for LAN. Defaults
	      to 0.

       --port PORT
	      Network port used	for netplay. This defaults to 55435. This  op-
	      tion affects both	TCP and	UDP.

       --spectate
	      If netplay is used, it will go into a spectator mode.  Spectator
	      mode  allows  one	 host to live stream game playback to multiple
	      clients.	Essentially, clients receive a	live  streamed	replay
	      movie  file.   Clients  can  connect and disconnect at any time.
	      Clients thus cannot interact as user 2.  For spectating mode  to
	      work, both host and clients will need to use this	flag.

       --command CMD
	      Sends  a command over UDP	to an already running RetroArch	appli-
	      cation,  and  exit.   The	 command   is	formatted   as	 "COM-
	      MAND;HOST;PORT".	  HOST	and  PORT  are	both  optional.	 "COM-
	      MAND;HOST" will set PORT to "network_cmd_port" default  setting.
	      If  only	"COMMAND" is used, HOST	and PORT will be assumed to be
	      "localhost" and "network_cmd_port" respectively.

	      The available commands are listed	if "COMMAND" is	invalid.

       --nick NICK
	      Pick a nickname for use with netplay.  This is purely  cosmetic,
	      and only serves to help users identify each other.

       --ups PATCH, -U PATCH
	      Attempts	to apply an UPS	patch to the current content image. No
	      files are	altered.  If this flag	is  not	 specified,  RetroArch
	      will  look  for a	.ups file with same basename as	content	speci-
	      fied.

       --bps PATCH
	      Attempts to apply	a BPS patch to the current content  image.  No
	      files  are  altered.   If	 this flag is not specified, RetroArch
	      will look	for a .bps file	with same basename as  content	speci-
	      fied.

       --ips PATCH
	      Attempts	to  apply a IPS	patch to the current content image. No
	      files are	altered.  If this flag	is  not	 specified,  RetroArch
	      will  look  for a	.ips file with same basename as	content	speci-
	      fied.  Note that RetroArch cannot	perform	any error checking  if
	      patching was successful due to how IPS works.

       --xdelta	PATCH
	      Attempts	to apply an Xdelta patch to the	current	content	image.
	      No files are altered.  If	this flag is not specified,  RetroArch
	      will look	for a .xdelta file with	same basename as content spec-
	      ified.   Only  available if RetroArch was	built with Xdelta sup-
	      port.

       --no-patch
	      Disables all kinds of content patching.

       -D, --detach
	      Detach from the current console. This is currently only relevant
	      for Microsoft Windows.

RETROARCH		       November	1, 2011			  RETROARCH(6)

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