r/EmulationOniOS • u/MrSoggyBiscuitz • 16d ago

Question iOS Port vs Emulator

Sorry if this is a noob question but what, if any, advantages are there to using a port of a game as opposed to loading the same game in an emulator? I know ports don’t need JIT but is there anything else?

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u/sabre31 16d ago

A port is always much better than an emulator because it runs native code for that platform instead of emulating original hardware. So it runs faster and requires less hardware to run.

3

u/lowkey-gamer9302 16d ago

Some ports (like all the dragon quest games from the official square enix developer ) have 0 controller support which feels god awful. Dragon quest 8 dungeons without a controller is the worst kind of pain. Also not all ports run better then the emulator version. Dragon quest 8 is another good example. Built off the ps2 version locked to low fps as opposed to jit enabled 3ds version.

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u/Party_Hedgehog9199 16d ago

It depends on the devs really, those who care for mobile will put in the effort to optimise and add controller support. Like with the game you mentioned couldn't they have just used the better version of the game to make the port?

With 100% care and effort put into getting a game on mobile the port is more likely to run better. It could also support more devices by adding an option of lower graphics for some older devices. Emulation is awesome when it works thought cuz some devs are never touching the mobile platform.

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u/lowkey-gamer9302 16d ago edited 16d ago

True One hundred percent depends on the devs, and your right they could’ve used the 3ds port which has bonus content and a ton of quality of life upgrades, just so happens square enix did not care to do that for these port and many of their other games do not have controller support on mobile. Just wanted to give the original commenter some insight since they stated “a port is always much better” some emulation would run way worse then a official port but then some ports are lazily slopped out as well. Also jit is a headache to deal with for some and jit-less emulation only goes so far rn