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Wii U emulator Cemu plans to go open source and support Linux

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Most emulators nowadays have their source code nicely open, and the vast majority of them fully support Linux too but Cemu has been a bit of a holdout. Not for long though.

On their official roadmap, which many people emailed in excitedly, they put up their plans and who can blame people for being excited on this? Scrolling down a bit, a Linux port is clearly mentioned. It has been an "ongoing side-project" already but quite slow as it was low-priority and it depended on other things being done. The good news is that they say it's about "70%" of the way there already. Having Linux support of course will also be great for the Steam Deck, since it comes with SteamOS 3 (based on Arch Linux).

Just as exciting is the plan for Cemu to go open source! This is planned to happen in 2022 and going open source was "originally promised". No exact ETA on when they plan to do it, as they will also be restructuring the source code. They've been continuing to rewrite various parts of the C code into much newer C++20/23. They also plan to move from Visual Studio to cmake, which is another step towards supporting more operating systems.

So they have a lot of work ahead but it will be worth it. Having it properly open source will ensure it's preservation, just like what it does for old hardware like the Wii U.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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21 comments
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jens Jan 17, 2022
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From my own experience in software development: for the last 10% you’ll need 90% of the time. ;)
Jpxe Jan 17, 2022
This is amazing news for game preservation. Wii U is the only popular console without a good open source emulator.
whizse Jan 17, 2022
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Wohoo!
legluondunet Jan 17, 2022
Very good news!
It's impressive how emulation dev changed their habits, some emulators are even out on Linux before Windows.
If DEMUL (NAOMI 2 emulator) dev could follow the move...


Last edited by legluondunet on 17 January 2022 at 3:26 pm UTC
seanbutnotheard Jan 17, 2022
Looking forward to continuing my nearly 4-year-old BotW save file with one less layer of emulation!
Cyril Jan 17, 2022
ljrk Jan 17, 2022
QuoteThey've been continuing to rewrite various parts of the C code into much newer C++20/23.

Maybe kind of a nitpick, but to me this kind of implies that C++ would be some kind of "updated" Version of C. The next C standard is likely C23, so will it then be "more modern" than C++20?

These are simply two different languages that evolve separately although the workgroups do coordinate development together.
rcrit Jan 17, 2022
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Quoting: ljrkMaybe kind of a nitpick, but to me this kind of implies that C++ would be some kind of "updated" Version of C. The next C standard is likely C23, so will it then be "more modern" than C++20?

These are simply two different languages that evolve separately although the workgroups do coordinate development together.

So in C a trailing ++ adds one after use which means that C++ is 11 to C's 10. It's for when you're coding and need that one little push over the cliff[1], you've got 11. C++.

[1] apologies to Spinal Tap
Purple Library Guy Jan 17, 2022
Quoting: jensFrom my own experience in software development: for the last 10% you’ll need 90% of the time. ;)
Of the time, yes . . . but probably not 90% of the calendar days. That's when people start frantically packing in the hours, like "But it should be done already!"
hardpenguin Jan 17, 2022
Quoting: JpxsonThis is amazing news for game preservation. Wii U is the only popular console without a good open source emulator.
Xbox?
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