The NES was by far, one of the greatest gaming systems of all time. By today's standards, the console is very basic, but being responsible for the revival of video gaming in the United States and featuring some of the greatest video games of all time, it has proven to be a large driving force behind what makes video games as they are today. For those who wish to play NES multiplayer games against others over the internet, it is necessary to acquire not only an emulator, but the right one.
Nestopia v1.44
Download Below
Setting Up NetPlay
This is the trickier part of setup, but still proves to be fairly basic and straightforward. After testing the ROM, go to File, then Close to end the emulation. After that, go to Netplay, choose Connect..., click on the Add... button, and select the game.
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Necessary Downloads (Installation and Initial Setup)
(For those who already know how to use emulators and ROMs, you can skip this portion and go directly to the Setting Up Netplay section after acquiring the proper emulator for it.)
In the download section (to the right), there are two download buttons for Nestopia v1.44, which has support for online multiplayer. The download options include an installer file, which will run a setup wizard and "install" the emulator to the computer, and the second link is a .ZIP file, which a user will need to extract. Both are portable, making them able to be put on a flash drive to take your emulators/games with you, as neither make any registry changes (the installer does utilize a desktop shortcut, so technically it does alter the registry to add the shortcut, but requires no altered registry files to run).
After downloading the emulator, either install or extract the .ZIP file in the desired location. Before you can use the emulator, however, you will need to acquire ROMs of the games you wish to play. Since Net Play requires that both players have the same version of the ROM, it is recommended that you download all desired ROMs at the following website:
DopeROMs has one of the largest selections of ROMs on the Web, all of them are guaranteed virus-free, and the site even introduces gamers that are new to emulation with some useful information.
Now, run the emulator, go to File then Open, and choose the ROM, to ensure it works.
You can choose to have the game played in full screen by checking the Play in fullscreen box underneath the Game List. When you're ready, press the Launch.. button at the bottom of the window, and a new window will appear.
This is the Kaillera client, using the Anti3D and Kaillera Master Servers. This makes it easy to connect to other players, as many different servers for hosting and joining games are available.
To start, select the Master Servers List and choose a server. If you are playing with friends, you'll want to make sure you are all on the same server.
When choosing a server, it is wise to choose one with a lower ping. Ping is the time, measured in milliseconds, that it takes for the connection to reach the server. A low ping equals a faster connection to the game server, and essentially means the lower the number, the better. A poor connection could mean the game may lag, and increases the probability of an unexpected disconnection.
You can choose to add particular servers to your Local List by selecting the server and clicking the Add to local list button. This makes it easy for those who frequent a particular server or servers, and saves on time that is needed to open the Master Servers List and wait for all of them to load up.
When connecting to others via a server, there are two options for connecting with others in multiplayer. You can choose either Create, in which you host a game, and a list of your ROMs is detected and shown in a list to choose from, or Join an existing game.
Once all desired players are in the room and everyone is ready, the host should choose to Start, and the multiplayer match can begin!
It should be noted, however, that all players must have the same Connection type, as well as the same versions of the ROM for the game that is being played. The host can choose Max users and limit the room to a maximum set amount of players, as well as to Kick (kick out) other players, to Start the game, Record game, and other Options.
Now, if you're just looking to enjoy some NES gaming by yourself, or via local multiplayer, this is the end of the road. Simply configure the controller (Options->Input...) and any other options you find necessary, and go play your games! However, those who may be looking to play multiplayer over the Internet, or via a LAN connection, please continue reading, as the following content will walk you through setting up and getting started with NetPlay.
After downloading the ROM(s), open the Nestopia emulator folder, and place the ROM(s) into the ROMs folder (you can extract the ROM, but typically this is not necessary).
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