A multi-system emulator written in C#. As well as quality-of-life features for casual players, it also has recording/playback and debugging tools, making it the first choice for TASers (Tool-Assisted Speedrunners).
[](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/issues)
Click `BizHawk-<version>.zip` to download it. Also note the changelog, the full version of which is [here at TASVideos](http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk/ReleaseHistory.html). Extract it anywhere, but **don't mix different versions** of BizHawk, keep each version in its own folder. Run `EmuHawk.exe` to start. You may move or rename the folder containing `EmuHawk.exe`, even to another drive — as long as you keep all the files together, and the prerequisites are installed when you go to run it.
EmuHawk does have some prerequisites which it can't work without (it will let you know if they're missing). The list is [here](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk-Prereqs/blob/master/README), and we've made an all-in-one installer which you can get [here](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk-Prereqs/releases/latest). You should only have to run this once per machine, unless the changelog says we need something extra.
We will be [following Microsoft](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet) in dropping Windows support, that is, we reserve the right to ignore your problems unless you've updated to at least Win10 1909 or Win8.1 KB4550961.
A "backport" release, [1.13.2](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/releases/tag/1.13.2), is available for users of Windows XP, 7, or 8.1 32-bit. It has many bugs that will never be fixed and it doesn't have all the features of the later versions.
**IMPORTANT**: Unix support is a work-in-progress! It is *not* complete, does *not* look very nice, and is *not* ready for anything that needs accuracy.
You'll need to either build BizHawk yourself (see [*Building*](#unix-1) below), or download a dev build (see [*Testing*](#testing) below; please note some features are broken in dev builds for unknown reasons).
The runtime dependencies are: Mono "complete", Mono VB.NET, ~~`libwine`~~, glibc, OpenAL, NVIDIA's `cgc` utility, and your distro's LSB implementation (you do *not* need .NET Core at runtime, only Mono). Run `EmuHawkMono.sh` to start Mono with the right env. vars—you can run it from anywhere, so creating a .desktop file to wrap the script is fine.
The systems that currently work are: GB + GBC (GBHawk), NES (NesHawk), SMS, Atari 7800, and some classic home computers. See [#1430](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/issues/1430) for progress.
If you don't have Git, download [an archive of `master`](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/archive/master.zip). If you have WSL, Git BASH, or similar, clone the repo with:
For anything more complicated than just building, you'll need an IDE like [VS Community 2019](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community), currently the best free C# IDE (you may prefer Rider, MonoDevelop, or something else). To build with VS, open `BizHawk.sln` and use the toolbar to choose `Release | Any CPU | BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk` and click the Start button. See [*Compiling* at TASVideos](http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk/Compiling.html) for more detailed instructions (warning: somewhat outdated).
Before you can build, you'll need the .NET Core SDK 3.1 (package name is usually `dotnet-sdk-3.1`, see [full instructions](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/dotnet/core/install/sdk?pivots=os-linux)). You may need to uninstall MSBuild first. Once it's installed, run:
The assemblies are put in `BizHawk_master/output`, so if you have the runtime dependencies (see [*Installing*](#unix)) you can call `BizHawk_master/output/EmuHawkMono.sh`. The shell script may yell at you, it should be safe to ignore. stdout is redirected to `BizHawk_master/output/EmuHawkMono_laststdout.txt` by default, pass `--mono-no-redirect`**as the first flag** to disable this.
Put all your dumped firmware files in the `Firmware` folder and everything will be automatically detected and loaded when you try to load a game (filenames and subfolders aren't enforced, you can just throw them in there). If you're missing required or optional firmware, you will see a "You are missing the needed firmware files [...]" dialog.
If you want to customise firmware (when there are alternative firmwares, for example) go to `Config` > `Firmwares...`, right-click the line of the firmware you want to change, click "Set Customization", and open the file.
You can change where BizHawk looks for firmware by going to `Config` > `Paths...` and changing "Firmware" in the "Global" tab to the new location. This allows multiple BizHawk releases to use the same folder.
There are two keybind windows, `Config` > `Controllers...` and `Config` > `Hotkeys...`. These let you bind your keyboard and controllers to virtual controllers and to frontend functions, respectively.
Using them is simple, click in a box next to an action and press the button (or bump the axis) you want bound to that action. If the "Auto Tab" checkbox at the bottom of the window is checked, the next box will be selected automatically and whatever button you press will be bound to *that* action, and so on down the list. If "Auto Tab" is unchecked, clicking a filled box will let you bind another button to the same action. Keep in mind there are multiple tabs of actions.
To change which core is used for NES, SNES, GB, or GBA, go to `Config` > `Cores`. There, you'll also find the `GB in SGB` item, which is a checkbox that makes GB games run with the *Super Game Boy* on an SNES.
Most cores have their own settings window too, look in the menubar for the system name after `Tools`. Some have multiple windows, like Mupen64Plus which has virtual controller settings and graphics settings.
Go to `Tools` > `Lua Console`. The opened window has two parts, the loaded script list and the console output. The buttons below the menubar are shortcuts for items in the menus, hover over them to see what they do. Any script you load is added to the list, and will start running immediately. Instead of using "Open script", you can drag-and-drop .lua files onto the console or game windows.
Running scripts have a "▶️" beside their name, and stopped scripts (manually or due to an error) have a "⏹️" beside them. Using "Pause or Resume", you can temporarily pause scripts, those have a "⏸️".
"Toggle script" does just that (paused scripts are stopped). "Reload script" stops it and loads changes to the file, running scripts are then started again. "Remove script" stops it and removes it from the list.
Games may internally [save your progress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saved_game) into memory (SRAM, memory cards) or file. When this happens, BizHawk stores this in-game save in the Operating System memory and makes the `File` > `Save RAM` menu bold.
BizHawk can write in-game saves to disk - this is called flushing. Every time you save in the game (not to be confusing with *emulator savestates*), you should backup your saves! Go to `File` > `Save RAM` and hit `Flush Save Ram`. Note that some systems use SRAM for irrelevant tasks and store temporary data there, and the menu may become bold without in-game saves involved. Be aware when the game is *supposed to save* and flush accordingly.
BizHawk can be configured to flush saves to disk automatically in `Config` > `Customize` > `Advanced AutoSaveRAM`. Upon closing the ROM (which includes any core reboot) BizHawk may try to flush save RAM automatically as well.
~~This section refers to BizHawk specifically. For resources on TASing in general, see [Welcome to TASVideos](http://tasvideos.org/WelcomeToTASVideos.html).~~ This section hasn't been written yet.
For now, the best way to learn how to TAS is to browse pages like [BasicTools](http://tasvideos.org/TasingGuide/BasicTools.html) on TASVideos and watch tutorials like [Sand_Knight and dwangoAC's](https://youtu.be/6tJniMaR2Ps).
Dev builds are automated with AppVeyor, every green checkmark in the [commit history](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/commits/master) is a successful build. Clicking a checkmark and then "Details" in the box that appears takes you straight to the build page. The full list is [here](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/zeromus/bizhawk-udexo/history), in future use the "dev builds" button at the top of this readme.
A *core* is what we call the smaller bits of software that emulate just one system or family of systems, e.g. NES/Famicom. For the most part, there's a "best" core for each system, based on accuracy, but there are a few alternative cores which are *faster and less accurate*.
Amstrad CPC, Fairchild Channel F, MSX, and Nintendo DS via [melonDS](https://github.com/Arisotura/melonDS) are works-in-progress, as well as a front-end for MAME, and there is **no ETA** for any of them so don't ask. Cores for other systems are only conceptual. If you're willing and able to work on one of these, ask on IRC (see below).
A short [FAQ](http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk/FAQ.html) is provided on the [BizHawk wiki](http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk.html).
If your problem is one of the many not answered there, and you can't find it in the [issue tracker search](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/issues?q=is%3Aissue+ISSUE_KEYWORDS), check the [BizHawk forum](http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=64) at TASVideos, or ask on IRC:
If there's no easy solution, what you've got is a bug. Or maybe a feature request. Either way, [open a new issue](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/issues/new) (you'll need a GitHub account, signup is very fast).
BizHawk is Open Source Software, so you're free to modify it however you please, and if you do, we invite you to share! Under the permissive *MIT License*, this is optional, just be careful with reusing cores as some have copyleft licenses.
Not a programmer? Something as simple as reproducing bugs with different software versions is still very helpful! See [*Testing*](#testing) above to learn about dev builds if you'd rather help us get the next release out.
If you'd like to add a feature, first search the issue tracker for it. If it's a new idea, make your own feature request issue before you start coding.
For the time being, style is not enforced in PRs, only build success is. Please use CRLF, tabs, and [Allman braces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentation_style#Allman_style) in new files.
Past contrbutors to the frontend and custom-built cores are listed [here](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/graphs/contributors). See the wiki for core authors.
Emulators for other systems can be found on the [EmulatorResources page](http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources.html) at TASVideos. The [TASVideos GitHub page](https://github.com/TASVideos) also holds copies of other emulators and plugins where development happens sometimes, their upstreams may be of use.
From the [full text](https://github.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/blob/master/LICENSE):
> This repository contains original work chiefly in c# by the BizHawk team (which is all provided under the MIT License), embedded submodules from other authors with their own licenses clearly provided, other embedded submodules from other authors WITHOUT their own licenses clearly provided, customizations by the BizHawk team to many of those submodules (which is provided under the MIT license), and compiled binary executable modules from other authors without their licenses OR their origins clearly indicated.
