Setting up RetroArch (on an example of a kernel for PSone)

1. Setting the menu language: Settings -> User -> Language -> Russian;
2. Customizing the menu theme: Settings -> User interface -> Menu -> xmb;
3. Customizing the menu design: Settings -> User interface -> Registration -> Menu color theme, Menu shader, Background image (customize to your taste).

First of all, for the PSone emulator to work correctly, you will need to separately find and download the BIOS(-NS) prefixes. Good BIOS(-NS) are freely available and finding them will not be a problem (for PSone emulator I downloaded “scph5501.bin”). You can put the BIOS, eg, in the directory .. RetroArch downloads, after making sure, that the given directory is specified in Settings -> Directories -> System files / BIOS.

BIOS link: https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/psx/bios/?act=showonly&id=16421 (replace spaces with a period).

In the next step, you will need to customize the controls (if using an XBOX or PS gamepad, then this step can be skipped, although I highly recommend setting a hot key combination to call the emulator menu during the game: Settings -> Input -> Hotkeys -> The combination of buttons for calling up the menu -> “Hold Select (2 seconds)” – choice in my case).
so, if playing with keyboard / mouse, I'm going: Settings -> Input -> Port management 1. Pay attention to the menu items Turbo Buttons and Hot Keys, since some of the specified keys can also be used there, which will lead to undesirable consequences when using them during the game.

This concludes the basic setup of the emulator.. As you can see, unlike the ePSXe emulator, the setup in RetroArch is as simple as possible., what a definite plus to him. so, before starting the game, you need to load the emulator kernel: Main menu -> Load kernel, to start the game: Main menu -> Download content and specify the path to the games folder.

For the library of games, you can make a quick launch menu (playlists) with displaying covers and screenshots of games. This is done very simply. (using the example of my settings for PSone games):
1. put the images of the games in the directory: ..\RetroArchgames (one of the requirements is that game images must not be in iso format);
2. in the emulator itself, specify this directory as “default directory”: Settings -> Directories -> File Browser -> path to directory games (then <Use this directory>);
3. find images of games in RetroArch'e: Content import -> Manual Scan.
– Content catalog -> <Scan this directory>
– System name -> Sony – PlayStation
– The default kernel is> Sony – PlayStation (PCSX ReARMed)
Then select Start Scan. If everything is OK, then a new section of the Sony menu should appear – PlayStation with a list of all games in the specified directory.
4. add covers to games and screenshots: Settings -> User interface -> Registration -> Sketch (Boxing art) and Thumbnail on the left (Screenshot). Next, you need to create directories .. RetroArch thumbnails Sony – PlayStationNamed_Boxarts и ..RetroArchthumbnailsSony – PlayStation Named_Snaps and put covers of games in PNG format in them. note, that the name of the PNG files must match either the name of the game images, or with the given name of games in RetroArch (if you renamed them).

P.S. among shaders my favorite: crt-geom.glslp
A shader from the game is connected -> Emulator menu -> Main menu -> Quick Menu -> Shaders -> Graphics shaders (ON) -> Download -> \shaders_glslcrtcrt-geom.glslp

If you like this or that shader, you can save it as for a separate game, and globally for the selected emulator (Save -> Save Game Preset or Save Core Preset).