DuckStation is an simulator/emulator of the Sony PlayStation(TM) console, focusing on playability, speed, and long-term maintainability. The goal is to be as accurate as possible while maintaining performance suitable for low-end devices. "Hack" options are discouraged, the default configuration should support all playable games with only some of the enhancements having compatibility issues.
A "BIOS" ROM image is required to to start the emulator and to play games. You can use an image from any hardware version or region, although mismatching game regions and BIOS regions may have compatibility issues. A ROM image is not provided with the emulator for legal reasons, you should dump this from your own console using Caetla or other means.
- For the hardware renderers, a GPU capable of OpenGL 3.1/OpenGL ES 3.1/Direct3D 11 Feature Level 10.0 (or Vulkan 1.0) and above. So, basically anything made in the last 10 years or so.
- SDL, XInput or DInput compatible game controller (e.g. XB360/XBOne/XBSeries). DualShock 3 users on Windows will need to install the official DualShock 3 drivers included as part of PlayStation Now.
Binaries of DuckStation for Windows x64/ARM64, Linux x86_64 (in AppImage/Flatpak formats), and macOS Universal Binaries are available via GitHub Releases and are automatically built with every commit/push. Binaries or packages distributed through other sources may be out of date and are not supported by the developer, please speak to them for support, not us.
As of 2023/08/16, Preview releases of DuckStation **require Windows 10**. I have hit several issues in new features I am working on that are present in Qt 6.1, but not in 6.5.
For now, this only applies to the **Preview** build, the "Latest Rolling Release" will still work on Windows 7/8/8.1 for now, with the disclaimer below. Once the new in-progress features are ready for widespread use, this build will move to legacy status.
**Windows 10 is the only version of Windows supported by the developer.** Windows 7/8 may work, but is not supported. I am aware some users are still using Windows 7, but it is no longer supported by Microsoft and too much effort to get running on modern hardware. Game bugs are unlikely to be affected by the operating system, however performance issues should be verified on Windows 10 before reporting.
- Go to https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/releases/tag/latest, and download the Windows x64 build. This is a zip archive containing the prebuilt binary.
- Alternatively, direct download link: https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/releases/download/latest/duckstation-windows-x64-release.zip
- Extract the archive **to a subdirectory**. The archive has no root subdirectory, so extracting to the current directory will drop a bunch of files in your download directory if you do not extract to a subdirectory.
1. Either configure the path to a BIOS image in the settings, or copy one or more PlayStation BIOS images to the bios/ subdirectory. On Windows, by default this will be located in `C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\Documents\DuckStation\bios`. If you don't want to use the Documents directory to save the BIOS/memory cards/etc, you can use portable mode. See [User directory](#user-directories).
**If you get an error about `vcruntime140_1.dll` being missing, you will need to update your Visual C++ runtime.** You can do that from this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads. Specifically, you want the x64 runtime, which can be downloaded from https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe.
**Windows 7 users, TLS 1.2 is not supported by default and you will not be able to use the automatic updater or RetroAchievements.** This knowledge base article contains instructions for enabling TLS 1.1/1.2: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/update-to-enable-tls-1-1-and-tls-1-2-as-default-secure-protocols-in-winhttp-in-windows-c4bd73d2-31d7-761e-0178-11268bb10392
The Qt frontend includes an automatic update checker. Builds downloaded after 2020/08/07 will automatically check for updates each time the emulator starts, this can be disabled in Settings. Alternatively, you can force an update check by clicking `Help->Check for Updates`.
The only supported version of DuckStation for Linux are the AppImage and Flatpak in the releases page. Other AppImages or Flatpaks, **including Flathub**/"Discover" store **are not supported**, and if history is any indication, **likely broken** because packagers tend to modify things they don't understand.
- Go to https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/releases/tag/preview, and download `duckstation-mac-release.zip`.
- Extract the zip by double-clicking it.
- Open DuckStation.app, optionally moving it to your desired location first.
- Depending on GateKeeper configuration, you may need to right click -> Open the first time you run it, as code signing certificates are out of the question for a project which brings in zero revenue.
You will need a device with armv7 (32-bit ARM), AArch64 (64-bit ARM), or x86_64 (64-bit x86). 64-bit is preferred, the requirements are higher for 32-bit, you'll probably want at least a 1.5GHz CPU.
Google Play is the preferred distribution mechanism and will result in smaller download sizes: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.stenzek.duckstation
**No support is provided for the Android app**, it is free and your expectations should be in line with that. Please **do not** email me about issues about it, they will be ignored.
2. Add game directories by tapping the add button and selecting a directory. You can add additional directories afterwards by selecting "Edit Game Directories" from the menu.
A number of PAL region games use LibCrypt protection, requiring additional CD subchannel information to run properly. libcrypt not functioning usually manifests as hanging or crashing, but can sometimes affect gameplay too, depending on how the game implemented it.
For these games, make sure that the CD image and its corresponding SBI (.sbi) file have the same name and are placed in the same directory. DuckStation will automatically load the SBI file when it is found next to the CD image.
For example, if your disc image was named `Spyro3.cue`, you would place the SBI file in the same directory, and name it `Spyro3.sbi`.
3. Run CMake to configure the build system. Assuming a build subdirectory of `build-release`, run `cmake -Bbuild-release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`. If you have installed Ninja, add `-GNinja` at the end of the CMake command line for faster builds.
4. Compile the source code. For the example above, run `cmake --build build-release --parallel`.
**NOTE:** macOS is highly experimental and not tested by the developer. Use at your own risk; things may be horribly broken. Vulkan support may be unstable, so sticking to OpenGL or software renderer is recommended.
2. Run CMake to configure the build system: `cmake -Bbuild-release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_QT_FRONTEND=ON -DUSE_SDL2=ON`. You may need to specify `-DQt6_DIR` depending on your system. If you have installed Ninja, add `-GNinja` at the end of the CMake command line for faster builds.
So, if you were using Linux, you would place your BIOS images in `~/.local/share/duckstation/bios`. This directory will be created upon running DuckStation
for the first time.
If you wish to use a "portable" build, where the user directory is the same as where the executable is located, create an empty file named `portable.txt`
in the same directory as the DuckStation executable.
Your keyboard or game controller can be used to simulate a variety of PlayStation controllers. Controller input is supported through DInput, XInput, and SDL backends and can be changed through `Settings -> General Settings`.
To bind your input device, go to `Settings -> Controller Settings`. Each of the buttons/axes for the simulated controller will be listed, alongside the corresponding key/button on your device that it is currently bound to. To rebind, click the box next to the button/axis name, and press the key or button on your input device that you wish to bind to. When binding rumble, simply press any button on the controller you wish to send rumble to.
DuckStation releases ship with a database of game controller mappings for the SDL controller backend, courtesy of https://github.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB. The included `gamecontrollerdb.txt` file can be found in the `database` subdirectory of the DuckStation program directory.
If you are experiencing issues binding your controller with the SDL controller backend, you may need to add a custom mapping to the database file. Make a copy of `gamecontrollerdb.txt` and place it in your [user directory](#user-directories) (or directly in the program directory, if running in portable mode) and then follow the instructions in the [SDL_GameControllerDB repository](https://github.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB) for creating a new mapping. Add this mapping to the new copy of `gamecontrollerdb.txt` and your controller should then be recognized properly.
"PlayStation" and "PSX" are registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited. This project is not affiliated in any way with Sony Interactive Entertainment.
