The Virtual Jaguar app

A standalone desktop front end for the same core. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux with no RetroArch installed, and it drives the core through the same retro_* API RetroArch uses, so every core option and save state behaves the same in both. New in v3.9.0; it carries the core’s version number.

Two ways to play: the RetroArch core, or this app. The core is not going away, and nothing here changes how it works. Jump to the screenshots.

Get it

The packages are attached to each GitHub release next to the core builds, and listed in that release’s SHA256SUMS.txt. Direct links to the current files are on the Download page.

Download the app

System	Package	Notes
macOS	`VirtualJaguar-3.9.0-macos-universal.zip`	`Virtual Jaguar.app`, Apple Silicon and Intel, macOS 11 or later. Zip only, no disk image.
Windows x64	`VirtualJaguar-3.9.0-windows-x64.zip`, `...-windows-x64-setup.exe`	The zip is portable: `portable.txt` keeps settings in a `data` folder beside the program. The installer is per-user by default.
Windows ARM64	`VirtualJaguar-3.9.0-windows-arm64.zip`, `...-windows-arm64-setup.exe`	Native builds for Windows on Arm, portable zip or per-user installer. New in this release.
Linux x86_64, aarch64	`VirtualJaguar-3.9.0-linux-<arch>.AppImage`, `virtualjaguar_3.9.0_<amd64\|arm64>.deb`	Built on Ubuntu 22.04. The `.deb` installs under `/usr/lib/virtualjaguar` with a link in `/usr/bin`.
Linux x86_64 (Flatpak)	`VirtualJaguar-3.9.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak`	Install it with `flatpak install --user`; the runtime comes from Flathub. New in this release.

Or use the installer, which can install the core, the app, or both:

macOS, Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libretro/virtualjaguar-libretro/develop/tools/install.sh | sh -s -- --what app

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:VJ_WHAT = 'app'; irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libretro/virtualjaguar-libretro/develop/tools/install.ps1 | iex

--what takes core, app or both; the installer verifies each download against SHA256SUMS.txt. More options, and the PowerShell alternatives, are on the home page.

Nightlies carry the app too. Nightly app builds are rebuilt from develop on every push and linked from the pinned builds issue; the rolling nightly prerelease carries the core. Add --channel nightly to the installer to get the nightly builds. They are gated on compiling, not on the test suite.

Signing. The macOS app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper prompt. The Windows installer is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn. Builds you make yourself, and builds from forks, are unsigned until you sign them. Packaging, signing and the package-manager templates are in app/packaging/README.md.

System requirements

macOS 11 or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), 64-bit Windows (x64 or ARM64), or a 64-bit Linux desktop (x86_64 or aarch64).
A GPU and driver with OpenGL 3.3. The shaders need the librashader runtime, which the macOS and Windows packages bundle; on Linux install a librashader package (see the notes under the shader pictures).
No BIOS file is needed: the core has the boot ROM and the CD BIOS built in. A game controller is optional; the keyboard plays.

Screenshot gallery

Click a picture to enlarge it; Esc closes the viewer and the arrow keys move between pictures. The pictures are real captures of the app with a demo library (no personal data, no signed-in account).

Library & artwork

Your games on the home screen, in Cartridges, Jaguar CD and BIOS & system tabs, with search, filters and a size slider.
Identified by CRC32 against the libretro database (No-Intro, Redump); box art comes from libretro-thumbnails on demand and is cached.
Favorites and Recently played, as tabs, strips or both; a Save states tab lists every game with states.
Covers for Jaguar CD: a readable title card, or your own PNG.

The app home screen on the Cartridges tab: a Favorites strip of five games and a Recently played strip of six above a grid of Atari Jaguar box art tiles with titles. — **Home screen** Cartridges tab: Favorites and Recently played strips above the box art grid.

The Jaguar CD tab: a grid of disc tiles, each a coloured title card with the game name, and a note that libretro-thumbnails has no Jaguar CD art yet. — **Jaguar CD** Discs without upstream art get a readable title card; set your own cover with a PNG.

The Save states tab: games grouped by title, each with thumbnails of its Auto-save and numbered slots, timestamps and Delete buttons. — **Save states tab** Every game with states, with the screenshot saved with each; click one to start from it.

The BIOS and system tab: console boot ROM and Jaguar CD BIOS pickers, HLE or real BIOS choice, Boot buttons, an Import button and one BIOS file found. — **BIOS and system** Choose the boot ROM or CD BIOS the core uses, or boot one on its own.

Playing

Save states with thumbnails (F5, F6, F7) and a state manager; Resume where I left off keeps an Auto-save when you close a game.
Per-device and per-game remapping, all 12 keypad keys on a gamepad, the Tempest rotary, mice, light gun and Team Tap.
Cheats from the libretro database, plus manual codes.
Netplay for the link-cable games (Doom, BattleSphere, AirCars, Ultra Vortek) on a local network; it is not rollback netplay and not for the Internet.
Several windows at once (File > New window) for local multiplayer or netplay tests on one machine.

A dialog titled Resume where you left off asking whether to resume Alien vs Predator from the saved time, with an Always resume checkbox and Resume and Start fresh buttons over the dimmed game. — **Resume prompt** Next boot offers to continue from the automatic save, or does it at once.

The Save states window for Tempest 2000 listing numbered slots, four with a thumbnail of the saved frame and a timestamp, the rest empty, each with Save and Load buttons. — **State manager** Ten slots with thumbnails and Save and Load buttons (F5, F6, F7).

A translucent panel over the Alien vs Predator title screen listing the Player 1 keyboard bindings: D-pad on the arrow keys, A B C on X Z C, Option on Return, and the keypad on the number row. — **Controls overlay** F3 shows the bindings in effect; it appears by itself when a game starts with a keyboard.

Settings, Input tab, Devices and players: Jaguar port 1 set to Rotary (Tempest), port 2 set to Team Tap, five player slots and tuning sliders for mouse, rotary and stick. — **Input settings** Devices and players: Tempest rotary on port 1, a Team Tap on port 2, and the player slots.

The Cheats window for Tempest 2000: the cheat set, database cheats Infinite Lives (ticked) and Start with 999999 Score, and a manual code entry row. — **Cheats** The libretro cheat database for the running game, plus manual codes.

The Netplay window over Doom: the link device choice between JagLink and Voice Modem, Host a game and Join a game tabs, a Start hosting button and a table of games that use the link. — **Netplay** Host or join link-cable play over a local network.

Skyhammer's cockpit view inside a rusty industrial structure, with green heads-up displays for fire, fuel, shield damage and altitude, a minimap and a Gatling gun gauge. — **A game running** Skyhammer, with the picture scaled to the window.

Look & feel

Dark, light or custom themes (a theme editor with a contrast check), and your choice of interface font at 11 to 24 pt.
RetroArch .slangp shader presets through librashader, with the slang-shaders CRT, scanline and interpolation families bundled; aspect fit, integer scaling or stretch.
Native menus: the macOS menu bar and Dock menu, the Windows dark title bar and Jump List, Linux desktop actions; windows can be dragged out of the main window.

The same saved moment, plain and through the bundled crt-gdv-mini-ultra-trinitron preset (an aperture-grille, Sony Trinitron style look). Both use aspect fit: the picture keeps its 4:3 shape and is letterboxed, never stretched.

The Alien vs Predator main menu (Select Character, Restore Game, High Scores, Credits) drawn sharp at its 4:3 shape inside the app window, with black bars at the sides.

The same Alien vs Predator menu through the crt-gdv-mini-ultra-trinitron shader preset, in the same 4:3 frame, with vertical aperture-grille phosphor stripes, faint scanlines and a soft glow like a Sony Trinitron tube.

Settings, Video tab: integer scaling, smooth filter, stretch, aspect ratio, VSync and fullscreen options, an Appearance section with a Dark theme choice and Customize button, a Font section with a preview, and a Shader section with crt-gdv-mini-ultra-trinitron selected. — **Video settings** Theme, interface font and the shader list, in one tab.

Shaders are optional: if a preset does not compile or librashader is missing, the app draws the plain picture and says why. Point Preset folder at a full slang-shaders checkout for the rest, and preset parameters get sliders. Platform notes: the macOS and Windows packages bundle the librashader runtime; upstream publishes no Linux build, so on Linux install a librashader package and the app finds it. The macOS universal package currently ships an arm64-only librashader, so shaders may be unavailable on Intel Macs (see the packaging notes).

RetroAchievements & Discord

RetroAchievements: sign in from the Achievements menu; the login token lives in the system keychain, never your password. Softcore by default, optional hardcore (no loading states, no cheats).
The Achievements window has your profile, the game’s list with badges, and a Jaguar games tab with your progress and a Play button for games in your library. Cartridges and .cue discs are identified.
Discord Rich Presence (Settings > Discord): shows the game you are playing, its box art, how long and your achievement progress, with a Get Virtual Jaguar button for other people. On by default, needs Discord running, and you can turn it off.
See the privacy policy and terms for what the app sends where (box art and database downloads, RetroAchievements, Discord).

Developer tools

A Tools menu for the game that is running: memory viewer and editor, palette (CLUT) editor, cheat scanner, Object Processor list, blitter log, texture browser and audio scope.
A CPU debugger with 68000, GPU and DSP tabs: registers, disassembly, breakpoints, step, step over and run to cursor (F9 breaks, F10 steps).
Writes go to RAM freely; hardware registers need a tick-box, and everything is off under RetroAchievements hardcore. RetroArch is unaffected.

The CPU debugger window halted on a 68000 instruction: data and address registers, status register flags, a disassembly with the current line marked, and a breakpoints list, with a HALTED bar at the top of the window. — **CPU debugger** 68000, GPU and DSP tabs: registers, disassembly, breakpoints, step. Shown halted.

The Memory window over Alien vs Predator: a region picker, 8, 16 or 32 bit view, a go-to box and a hex dump of main RAM with an ASCII column. — **Memory viewer** Hex view and editor over RAM and the hardware registers.

The Object list window: the decoded Object Processor display list with branch, stop and bitmap objects, their addresses, sizes and depths, and a preview of the selected bitmap. — **Object list** The whole display list decoded, with a bitmap preview.

The Cheat scanner window: a value size picker, Signed and Aligned options, an initial value mode and Start search, Undo and New search buttons. — **Cheat scanner** Search RAM for a changing value; finds become ordinary cheats.

Controller details: the input devices guide and the app README. The link-cable details are in the netlink user guide and voice-modem.md.
The app keeps its settings, saves and states in the per-user data folder (or beside the program in portable mode). Everything is listed in the app README.
To build it yourself, see app/README.md: SDL3, Dear ImGui and OpenGL 3.3, CMake 3.20 or later.
Questions and reports go in Discussions and Issues; mention that it is the app and the version shown in Help > About.