Alternate Launchers

Some alternate or unofficial versions of cores are supported and can be used by explicitly setting a launcher in the ZapScript on a token. Zaparoo assumes they're installed in either the default location from Update All or in the appropriate menu folder.

To use them, add the following to the end of the file path or launch command: ?launcher=<launcher ID>. For example: N64/some/game.n64?launcher=80MHzNintendo64

NeoGeoPocketColor uses the Kitrinx NGPC core when it is installed and the Jotego core otherwise. HybridDVDPlayer launches DVD images through the hybrid _Other/DVD_Player core instead of the FPGA DVD core.

To boot an alternate core without loading a game, give launch.system the same argument. Launcher IDs are matched case-insensitively:

**launch.system:Nintendo64?launcher=80MHzNintendo64

MiSTer launch commands also support set_name and set_name_same_dir advanced arguments. These map to MiSTer's MGL <setname> tag and same_dir attribute. Use set_name_same_dir=1 when you want a separate config name while keeping the normal games folder. Without set_name_same_dir=1, MiSTer also uses the set name as the games folder.

NES/Mega Man 2.nes?set_name=RA_NES&set_name_same_dir=1

To set an alternate core as the default for all tokens of a launcher (instead of per-token), use the load_path field in config.toml:

[[launchers.default]]
launcher = "Nintendo64"
load_path = "_LLAPI/N64_LLAPI"

load_path is an MGL-form RBF path relative to /media/fat, without extension. A config reload is sufficient after changing this. No service restart is required.

Launcher groups

Every alternate core family is also a launcher group, so launchers.preference can prefer a whole family and fall back to the regular core for systems that have no core from it installed:

config.toml

[launchers]
preference = ["Unstable", "RetroAchievements"]

Group	Launchers
RetroAchievements	RA* cores from _RA_Cores/Cores
DB9	DB9* cores
LLAPI	LLAPI* cores from _LLAPI
DualRAM	Dual-SDRAM cores, including DB9DualRAMPSX, DB9DualRAMSaturn, and UnstableDualRAMSaturn
Sinden	Sinden Lightgun cores
PWM	PWM* cores from _ConsolePWM
Unstable	Unstable* nightly cores

A launcher is grouped by the RBF files it loads, so DB9DualRAMPSX belongs to both DB9 and DualRAM.

RetroAchievements

RetroAchievements cores from Odelot's MiSTer FPGA RetroAchievements Cores are supported when installed in _RA_Cores/Cores.

These launchers automatically use a dedicated RA_* set name so RetroAchievements cores keep independent MiSTer configuration. Core selects the appropriate same_dir behavior for each launcher, including systems that share another system's RBF. Games continue loading from their normal system folders; you do not need to move them into RA_* folders.

To use a RetroAchievements core by default for one system in Zaparoo Frontend:

1. Highlight the system.
2. Open Options.
3. Select Change launcher.
4. Select the installed RetroAchievements launcher.

Frontend saves the selection as that system's default launcher. Select Default from the same menu to remove the override. Only launchers currently available from Core appear in the list.

All built-in RetroAchievements launchers belong to the RetroAchievements launcher group, so one launchers.preference entry prefers them across every supported system.

Launcher ID	System
RAAtari2600	Atari 2600
RAAtari7800	Atari 7800
RAFDS	Famicom Disk System
RAGameboy	Game Boy
RAGameboyColor	Game Boy Color
RAGameGear	Game Gear
RAGBA	Game Boy Advance
RAMegaDrive	Genesis/Mega Drive
RAMegaCD	Mega CD
RASMS	Master System
RANeoGeo	Neo Geo
RANeoGeoCD	Neo Geo CD
RANES	NES
RANintendo64	Nintendo 64
RAPSX	PlayStation
RAS32X	Sega 32X
RASaturn	Saturn
RASNES	SNES
RASuperGameboy	Super Game Boy
RATurboGrafx16	TurboGrafx-16
RATurboGrafx16CD	TurboGrafx-16 CD

DB9

DB9 cores are alternate MiSTer cores for DB9 controller adapters. Install them in the matching _Console core locations, then select them with ?launcher=<launcher ID> or a default launcher override.

Launcher ID	System
DB9AdventureVision	Adventure Vision
DB9Astrocade	Astrocade
DB9Atari5200	Atari 5200
DB9Atari7800	Atari 7800
DB9AtariLynx	Atari Lynx
DB9CasioPV1000	Casio PV-1000
DB9CDI	CD-i
DB9ColecoVision	ColecoVision
DB9CreatiVision	CreatiVision
DB9Gameboy	Game Boy
DB9Gameboy2P	Game Boy 2P
DB9GameNWatch	Game & Watch
DB9GBA	Game Boy Advance
DB9GBAAccuracy	Game Boy Advance (accuracy)
DB9GBA2P	Game Boy Advance 2P
DB9MegaDrive	Mega Drive
DB9Genesis	Genesis
DB9SMS	Master System
DB9MegaCD	Mega CD
DB9NeoGeo	Neo Geo
DB9NeoGeo24MHz	Neo Geo (24 MHz)
DB9NES	NES
DB9Odyssey2	Odyssey 2
DB9PSX	PlayStation
DB9DualRAMPSX	PlayStation (DualRAM)
DB9Sega32X	Sega 32X
DB9SuperGameboy	Super Game Boy
DB9Saturn	Saturn
DB9DualRAMSaturn	Saturn (DualRAM)
DB9SNES	SNES
DB9TurboGrafx16	TurboGrafx-16
DB9Vectrex	Vectrex

LLAPI

Bliss-Box LLAPI cores. Alternate Arcade cores can be referenced directly with their .mra files.

Launcher ID	System
LLAPIAtari2600	Atari 2600
LLAPIAtari7800	Atari 7800
LLAPIGameboy	Game Boy
LLAPIGBA	Game Boy Advance
LLAPIMegaDrive	Genesis/Mega Drive
LLAPISMS	Master System
LLAPIMegaCD	Mega CD
LLAPINeoGeo	Neo Geo
LLAPINES	NES
LLAPINintendo64	Nintendo 64
LLAPI80MHzNintendo64	Nintendo 64 (80MHz)
LLAPIPSX	PlayStation
LLAPIS32X	Sega 32X
LLAPISuperGameboy	Super Game Boy
LLAPISaturn	Saturn
LLAPISNES	SNES
LLAPITurboGrafx16	TurboGrafx-16
LLAPISuperGrafx	SuperGrafx

PWM

24-bit video PWM cores.

Launcher ID	System
PWMNintendo64	Nintendo 64
PWM80MHzNintendo64	Nintendo 64 (80MHz)
PWMPSX	PlayStation
PWM2XPSX	PlayStation (2X CPU)
PWMSaturn	Saturn

Overclock

Robert Piep's experimental overclock cores.

Launcher ID	System
80MHzNintendo64	Nintendo 64
2XPSX	PlayStation

DualRAM

Dual-SDRAM cores from TheJesusFish/Dual-Ram-Console-Cores.

Launcher ID	System
DualRAM3DO	3DO
DualRAMJaguar	Jaguar
DualRAMPSX	PlayStation
DualRAMSaturn	Saturn

Sinden Lightgun

Sinden Lightgun cores.

Info

Zaparoo looks for Sinden cores in Light Gun/<Core>-Sinden.rbf first, then the legacy _Sinden/<Core>_Sinden.rbf path. If both paths exist, Zaparoo uses the Light Gun version.

Launcher ID	System
SindenGenesis	Genesis
SindenMegaDrive	Mega Drive
SindenSMS	Master System
SindenMegaCD	Mega CD
SindenNES	NES
SindenPSX	PlayStation
SindenSNES	SNES

Unstable nightlies

Nightly builds from the unstable nightlies database, named <core>_unstable_YYYYMMDD_<hash>.rbf, get an Unstable launcher for every system their core serves, whether they sit in _Unstable or somewhere else. When several dated builds of one core exist, the newest is used. Select one with ?launcher=UnstableSNES, or prefer the whole family with the Unstable group.

Launcher IDs are Unstable followed by the system ID, such as UnstableSNES. Core knows the nightlies for 3DO, AcornAtom, AcornElectron, AliceMC10, AmigaCD32, Amstrad, AppleII, Atari2600, Atari7800, AtariLynx, C64, CDI, Chip8, ColecoVision, FDS, Gameboy, GameboyColor, GameGear, GBA, Genesis, MacPlus, MasterSystem, MegaCD, MegaDuck, MSX, NeoGeo, NeoGeoCD, NES, NESMusic, PSX, Saturn, Sega32X, SG1000, SNES, SNESMusic, SuperGrafx, TatungEinstein, TI994A, TurboGrafx16, TurboGrafx16CD, X68000, ZXNext, and ZXSpectrum, plus UnstableDualRAMSaturn for the dual-SDRAM Saturn nightly. Arcade nightlies have no launcher because arcade games launch through an MRA that names its own core.