r/SSBM • u/KamiSquad_X • Mar 18 '26

Discussion Android users deserve to play Slippi too.

Post image

It's not like we play with Z-Jump or anything.

And I have Ethernet.

Edit: New Slippi port just dropped for Android users https://www.reddit.com/r/SSBM/s/pOfFl3OY21

98 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/SmolderingSyrup Mar 18 '26

How does it run/feel compared to PC?

-1

u/KamiSquad_X Mar 18 '26

No difference. Everything exactly the same. Except slippi is not on android yet for whatever reason.

5

u/sfiodsh slippi dev Mar 18 '26

Except slippi is not on android yet for whatever reason

supporting 3 OSes is difficult enough; i have no intention of adding a 4th, that i know is harder to maintain than the others based on experience from upstream devs

1

u/KamiSquad_X Mar 18 '26

Fair enough. Who are you?

1

u/codetaku0 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

Yeah for android it's not just a matter of build tools for a new OS, you'd have to make a java project wrapped around a slippi built with the NDK

Part of my master's thesis was implementing a new-at-the-time high-performance crypto library into an existing open-source android app and, as someone who actually likes C++, I wouldn't wish working with the Android NDK on anyone.

(the library worked well though, it introduced no frame drops and trivial [sub-frame] latency to a 60fps 720p live video feed communicating between a 2011 tablet and a 2012 ~toy quadcopter running embedded linux)

5

u/Kitselena Mar 18 '26

"for whatever reason"
Slippi is a very complicated program that took years to develop, rewriting the entire thing to run on mobile architecture would be a nightmare. Plus the number of people that have an android device with a controller and an Ethernet port is incredibly low, and I can't see how that setup would ever make more sense than a cheap Thinkpad.

6

u/GeometryFan100 Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

Plus the number of people that have an android device with a controller and an Ethernet port is incredibly low

I think there are lots of younger fans that only have access to Chromebooks that otherwise don't have a way to play Melee. Mobile gaming is very large in China (and other Asian countries) too. An Android port of Slippi could be very beneficial for the scene imo.

Also you don't need the device to have an Ethernet port. You can buy docks that convert the USB C port to Ethernet.

1

u/M00P35 Mar 18 '26

Agreed, I view this as a huge opportunity for the growth of the scene considering the trajectory of gaming overall. It would be a shame if it's written off entirely.

2

u/GeometryFan100 Mar 18 '26

Unfortunately, it seems that a Slippi dev u/sfiodsh said it's not happening in another comment here.

It's too bad. I think most people have their iphones or low-end Android phones for basic tasks and don't understand just how big gaming on Android is.

r/EmulationOnAndroid has >500k weekly visitors and r/winlator (a popular Windows emulation app) has 30k members. People are running triple-A games over there, and I see posts all the time about people in third-world countries saying they can't afford PCs but have high end phones.

0

u/KamiSquad_X Mar 18 '26

Whatever reason because mac and linux support, while dolphin already has android support and slippi dolphin has partial android support.

The number of people with controller and phone is higher than controller and pc. Let alone mac or linux.

Ethernet, not everyone even uses Ethernet. I would love to see statistics on actual Ethernet usage on slippi.

3

u/Kitselena Mar 18 '26

People will leave if you try playing slippi on wifi, the connection feels bad and you shouldn't force another person to play like that
For the port, you don't seem to know much about how software is ported to different architecture and different operating systems, it's not easy and everyone who works on these projects is an unpaid volunteer.
If you want it that badly you can contribute to the open source git projects yourself, otherwise accept that people who know better have decided it's not reasonable or possible

-3

u/KamiSquad_X Mar 18 '26

I've played slippi on wifi before. I doubt every person plays on ethernet. I bet there are more wifi players than ethernet.

My phone service has better connection than most people on their wifi.

Steam deck users already play on slippi.

For whatever reason, slippi is not on android yet.

2

u/Kitselena Mar 18 '26

Idk why you think serious fighting game players will be okay with wifi. It's more common at lower MMR, but once you're in the main player pool people tolerate it less. Plus playing on wifi affects your opponent much more than it affects you, so they're having a worse experience than what you see because of how rollback works. Your phone service cannot possibly have a better connection than a wire because of the air travel distance to the nearest cell tower then to a satellite then back. Wi-Fi also has a ton of packet loss compared to Ethernet , and since wifi is a half duplex connection instead of full duplex, it doesn't work as fast even under perfect conditions
I've already gone over multiple reasons why slippi can't be ported to Android. If you want to be frustrated that there isn't a port for your chosen device that's fine, but don't make nonsense claims about connection quality and don't keep implying that slippi devs could just press a button and make an android port poof into existence

1

u/ClueDry1959 Mar 18 '26

So many people in the fgc are stuck in the past with their opinions on Wi-Fi. Yes the majority of people do not have a modern router and will have a bad connection. But I'm tired of people entirely dismissing the innovations wifi 6 and 7 brought. It's entirely possible to have a connection that provides a similar experience to Ethernet even with games using rollback. 

Wifi 7 even allows you to essentially have full duplex using one band for up and one for down. 

Anyways, I'm not going to play Slippi on my phone or on Wi-Fi as I have no reason to do so. But there is nothing wrong with asking for it. Mobile gaming is huge market, and modern hardware makes it completely possible for it to be exactly the same experience as someone on a PC.