Wiki/wiki-rtd/docs/wiki_faq/faq-rd-general.md

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2024-02-18 15:40:21 +00:00
# FAQ: RetroDECK - General Questions
<img src="../../wiki_icons/retrodeck/rd_icon_circle_192x192.png">
## What does the "b" stand for in the versioning number?
It stands for Beta.
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## What is RetroDECK cooker?
Cooker is a bleeding edge snapshot of the current commits, the action of uploading code to GitHub is called commit.
As you can understand, the code may not be always reviewed and so the cooker it's unstable by its nature, it's just suggested to testers or developer to try bleeding edge function or to contribute.
More info on the pinned post in #💙-i-want-to-help on our [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/Dz3szYsP8g).
We don't support the cooker on user side.
### Why the name cooker? 🍲
That's what cooking in the pot at this moment and not yet ready to be served (released). This name was also used by Linux Mandrake and Mandriva for the bleeding edge channel.
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## What emulators and software is included in RetroDECK?
Check: [RetroDECK: What's included?](../wiki_general/what-is-included.md)
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## Does RetroDECK include any games?
No games are included in RetroDECK at this momment.
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## Will you include Open Source games in the future?
We are looking into a ports downloader for a future update.
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## Does RetroDECK include any Firmware or BIOS?
RetroDECK only includes those BIOS and Firmware that are Open Source. All others can never be done for legal reasons.
### Can you at least point me towards where I find none Open Source: Games, Firmeware or BIOS?
For purchased titles we recommend that you use your own game backups and look into how to extract the Firmware or BIOS from your own consoles.
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## When does the next version of RetroDECK come out?
When it's ready.
### When does the version after the upcoming version come out?
After the upcoming version.
### When does the version 1.0 of RetroDECK come out?
In the future.
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## Are you related anyway to Batocera?
No, but RetroDECK had some dialog before the project started with some of the Batocera crew if there where any plans to start a Batocera non-OS application (there where no plans at that moment and their focus is to make the best retro gaming operative system). RetroDECK and Batocera also have good dialog together with representatives of each projects inside the internal development channels.
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## Are you related to EmuDeck?
No, the two projects are not related.
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### So what's the difference between RetroDECK and EmuDeck?
Apart of that from the user point of view EmuDeck and RetroDECK may sound similar but technically they're completely different.
EmuDeck is a shell script that you run in the Steam Decks desktop mode that downloads and configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources using a built in electron based gui.
RetroDECK is an all-in-one application contained in a sandboxed environment called "flatpak", that is downloaded from Discover (Flathub). This is Valves and other Linux desktops recommended way of distributing applications on the Steam Deck and Linux desktop in a safe way. It grantees for example even if Valve makes major changes to the file system in a SteamOS update, RetroDECK and its configurations will not be touched and will be safe.
RetroDECK only writes in these two folders: `~/retrodeck` for roms/configurations/bios etc.. And an hidden flatpak folder located in `~/.var/net.retrodeck.retrodeck`.
As everything is contained within those two folders it will not have conflict if you decide to install an emulator from another source like Yuzu or RetroArch with your RetroDECK setup. Even if you uninstall RetroDECK all your roms/bios/saves/etc.. are safe until you remove the `~/retrodeck` folder. So if you for some reason don't like the application after playing for a while you can easily move out your important files after an uninstall (or you can just reinstall RetroDECK again and start where you left off).
This approach of everything is in a all-in-one package will also allow RetroDECK to do tighter integrations with each bundled emulator in the future and expose all those settings when you are inside RetroDECK, so you do not need to go into Steam Decks desktop mode to do changes and tweaks. All things should be, in the long term, inside the application itself and you can already see a part of that inside the RetroDECK Configurator in the Tools menu.
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### Can I install RetroDECK if I have EmuDeck already?
Yes, as RetroDECK is completely standalone.
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### Why create RetroDECK when EmuDeck and other solutions exists?
RetroDECK is older then EmuDeck, EmuDeck was created later.
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### Batocera or EmuDeck or RetroDECK I still don't get it?
- Batocera is a retro emulation operative system that you need to boot into separately (like from an SDCard) or replace your current OS. For the Steam Deck you lose access to the SteamOS features and your emulation gaming is separate from your SteamOS gamemode gaming. That said; Batocera has many years of development time, is a great mature OS with a lot of features.
- EmuDeck is a shell script that you download and run. The script downloads & configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources for various operative systems.
- RetroDECK is an all-in-one application that already provides everything you need without to many extra steps for the user.It is on Flathub and thus allows the users to update the application via standard safe operative system update methods.
You can see RetroDECK as the in between of EmuDeck and Batocera. We hope that one day we can offer a complete Batocera-like experience right inside your operative system.
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### What is your relationship with EmulationStation Desktop Edition (ES-DE)?
ES-DE and RetroDECK are separate projects, but we collaborate to give the best possible user experience.
We have a unique partnership where inside the ES-DE code is a section just for RetroDECK specific features.
[Read more on ES-DE FAQs](https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/blob/master/FAQ.md#what-is-the-relationship-between-es-de-and-retrodeck)
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