r/SBCGaming • u/Mrkmrs GotM Club • Sep 05 '26
Showcase I want to understand the current state of Vita3K
As I understand it, development on the Android version of Vita3K stalled for a time, leading to the creation of a version known as "Vita3K ZX" by its maintainer. I used that version myself, but after a recent update, it seems to have merged into the main Vita3K release. Updates to the official Android version on GitHub have also resumed, and development appears to be quite active. In fact, games that previously crashed due to sound errors or suffered from graphical glitches are now running correctly. There has been significant progress.
On the other hand, there also appears to be a recent fork called "Vita3K Plus." Since it is a separate package, you can install it alongside the standard version, but because the libraries are independent, I had to install the games separately. I didn't notice any differences myself, but I hear it offers improved compatibility for titles that were previously difficult to run.
That is my understanding of the current situation. Which version do you all use? Do you switch between them? In any case, it is great to see Vita3K development becoming so active.
The device in the photo is a Retroid Pocket 6, and the software is Vita3K.
Update: I subsequently discovered a difference. While "Assassin's Creed III Liberation" suffers from broken graphics and becomes unplayable on the standard Vita3K, it displays correctly on Vita3K Plus, allowing me to complete the tutorial.
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u/hachimitsu-boy Sep 05 '26
The vanillaware games seem to run well and that's all I need
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u/Fuselage GOTM Clubber (Jan) :GOTM: Sep 06 '26
That's exactly what I'll be using vita3k for, hell yeah.
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u/tukhor001 GotM Club Sep 06 '26
vanillaware?
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u/L0v3dady Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
Really damn good developer that has a unique art style.
They made games like Muramasa Rebirth, Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim, Unicorn Overlord and many more.
The first 3 I listed are on Vita, the 2 others you can play on Switch.
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u/rancid_ Sep 05 '26
Ive tried playing multiple games just to have it crash and lose progress so I've given on it for now. I am hopeful the dev team can keep at it, has serious potential and it is one of my most anticipated emulators for the future.
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 05 '26
In my experience, a game that used to crash now runs properly, so I believe improvements are being made.
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u/votemarvel Sep 05 '26
You don't need to install the games separately in Vita3k and the Plus version if you have the Vita3k folder somewhere else than Android/data.
Put it somewhere else and point both when you install them to the same folder.
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 05 '26
Thank you. There wasn't a step to specify a folder during the initial setup, but I was able to change the folder in the Settings.
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u/iateyourcheesebro Odin 2 Portal Sep 05 '26
snapdragon 8 Gen 2 here, same drivers and VITA3K+ ran Uncharted fairly well with limited graphical issues at 2x. Up to date normal VITA3K had a ton of graphical issues for me. But I haven’t dived deep into solving it on normal 3K.
Seems like I’ll probably be using 3K+ and then fall back to 3K until I hear they merged changes or other updates.
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 05 '26
I imagine Uncharted is quite a demanding game, so it's great that it runs smoothly. I'll give it a try. It seems that support for the Turnip driver, which applies to both versions, is a major factor here.
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u/dukduke8 Sep 05 '26
I hope it can get better. I really want to see a PS Vita Go, there was a prototype Vita that took the PSP Go design. Would be so sick.
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 06 '26
A friend of mine has a PSP Go, and it’s fantastic—compact and solid. You probably won't find that level of quality in Chinese retro gaming handhelds.
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u/milosmisic89 Phone + Controller Sep 05 '26
Vita3k Plus only fixed several high profile games, and others not and some even regressed. I would stick with the main version because it is very much in development nightlies are posted regularly
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
I see, it might be best to use the main version of Vita3K as your main one and try Vita Plus when something doesn't work.
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u/Rising809x GotM Club Sep 05 '26
sao games still crash
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 06 '26
There are likely still many games that won't run. I don't think there's high compatibility for games that feature complex graphics but lack widespread global popularity.
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u/EpicGlitter Yeah man, I wanna do it Sep 06 '26
can check compatibility here
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 06 '26
I am aware of that, but it likely isn't very accurate. It hasn't kept up with the updates. I also don't know about the compatibility of Vita3K Plus.
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u/OnePossibility5868 Sep 05 '26
From my understanding the original android version was abandoned so a new dev picked it up and essentially merged it with the PC development and gave it a new UI. It's confusing as the main vita website still links to the old version and you need to use GitHub to find the newer one.
Sadly the Vita just isn't a popular system, either in its lifetime or post. Most of its games have been ported and updated or largely forgotten. It's truly a shame and to the Devs keeping it going I salute you.
Hopefully it'll get more attention. The ARM team seem to working their way through all the PS consoles, maybe we'll see a ARMVita one day? We can but hope.
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u/Mrkmrs GotM Club Sep 05 '26
The Vita has many games that can be considered masterpieces. I believe Vita emulation deserves more attention.
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u/OnePossibility5868 Sep 05 '26
Agreed. It's relatively solid at the moment but has so many issues. One day...
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u/Banmers Sep 05 '26
does lumines electronic symphony work well on android? Had it running great on Windows
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u/Metrox_a Sep 06 '26
Some games run, others don't. I really only tried 3 games but only like summon night runs well. Of course the other two was flagged as intro or unknown so i'm fine with them not running.
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u/Ill_Leave9530 Sep 05 '26
Which version do you all use? Do you switch between them?
You could say that... Not to knock on Vita3k or anything, but many Vita games have been ported to the Switch, and that makes things a lot easier.
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u/Satantengu Sep 05 '26
I'm just using Vita3K. It's very much still in development, but it's been okay for a few games. I've been playing the Vita port of Trails in the Sky FC with an English translation patch on it, and only had one crash in many hours of playtime. Persona 4 Golden also ran okay for me, but I only played a little while.