Just a few years ago, it was hard to imagine playing our childhood games online. Multiplayer was limited to sofa evenings with several controllers and split screens, or even, a little later, to LAN games on PC.

Let's face it, it's hard to recapture that feeling today, so much so that we often raise the positive point when a modern game offers split-screen... Fortunately, there's now a way to network play your childhood games with your friends on Recalbox: Netplay! 🚀 Here's how to take advantage of it.

🛠️ Prerequisites

✔️ Have Recalbox up to date (9.2.3 at the time of writing).

✔️ Connect your Recalbox to the network, preferably RJ45 📶 (Wi-Fi can be unstable).

✔️ Have the same ROMs as your friends to ensure compatibility.

⚠️ Points of attention before you get started

Not all systems are compatible with Netplay ❌. Don't worry if you want to score with several people on arcade, MAME and FBNeo are compatible. Other consoles are of course compatible such as Mega Drive, NES, Super NES and many others that we are trying to update as we go along.

We invite you to watch 🎥 Fabrice's video (from 1 min 40) for more details and to join us on the Netplay channel of our Discord 💬 for the full list of compatible systems (and to find gaming partners!).

⚙️ Set up Netplay

1️⃣ Go to Game Options > Netplay Options.

2️⃣ Activate Netplay, enter your nickname and note down the port number, which you can use later.

3️⃣ Leave the Netplay Relay Server set to "None" (only useful on certain public networks).

4️⃣ Set a password to privatise your parts.

5️⃣ Activate "Hash ROMs" to guarantee compatibility with your friends.

🎲 Host a game

1️⃣ Choose your game and launch it by pressing Y (triangle on PS1) instead of A (X on PS1).

2️⃣ A pop-up will appear to set up password protection.

3️⃣ Click on Start to launch the game!

🎮 Join a game

1️⃣ Stay on the system selection screen and press Y (triangle on PS1).

2️⃣ A list of games in progress will appear: 📌

On the left: the games concerned.

👤 On the right: the host nickname + other useful info (compatibility, core used, etc.).

3️⃣ Select the game and choose whether to join as a player or spectator.

4️⃣ Enter the password provided by the host and... off you go! 🚀 ---

⚡ Maximise compatibility and reduce latency

To improve the stability of your connection, you can open the ports on your box.

1️⃣ Connect to the administrator interface of your box (specific addresses of operators at the bottom of the article under the video).

2️⃣ Add the port number indicated in the Netplay menu.

3️⃣ Result: improved compatibility and reduced latency.

📺 A detailed demonstration is available from 10 minutes in the video below, with an example on the BBox. As each box has its own settings, you can easily find tutorials on the Internet.

🏠 Netplay locally

If you have two Recalboxes connected to the same network and want to play Netplay together, you'll need:

🔧 Change the port number on one of the two Recalboxes.

📡 Add this port in the administrator interface of your Internet box.

✅ This will prevent conflicts between the two Recalboxes and ensure a stable connection!

🎉 Ready to play!

Now you're ready for your online adventure!

🎮 Whether you are using HDMI, RGB Dual or RGB JAMMA on an arcade terminal 🕹️, these different pieces of hardware do not interfere with Netplay.

💡 The main thing is to have the same ROMs (hashed), the same core and the same version of Recalbox.

📺 Below, find Fabrice's video 🎥 on which this tutorial is based.

📢 Need help? Join us on Discord 💬 !

More details on our Wiki

ACCESS YOUR BOX MANAGEMENT INTERFACE:

▪️ Orange - Livebox 4/5/6/7 : http://livebox/ Adresse IP : 192.168.1.1 Identifiant : admin Mot de passe : 8 premiers caractères de la clé WiFi

▪️ Orange - Livebox Play : http://livebox/ Adresse IP : 192.168.1.1 Identifiant : admin Mot de passe : A définir lors de la 1ère connexion

▪️ Free - Freebox (tous les modèles) : http://mafreebox.freebox.fr Adresse IP : n/a Identifiant : n/a Mot de passe : A définir lors de la 1ère connexion

▪️ SFR - NB4 / NB6 / Box Plus : n/a Adresse IP : 192.168.1.1 Identifiant : admin Mot de passe : clé de sécurité WiFi

▪️ SFR - Box THD (câble) : http://monmodem Adresse IP : 192.168.0.1 Identifiant : admin Mot de passe : Mot de passe indiqué sur l’étiquette sous la box

▪️ Bouygues Telecom Bbox (modem blanc) : https://mabbox.bytel.fr Adresse IP : 192.168.1.254 Identifiant : n/a Mot de passe : A définir lors de la 1ère connexion

▪️ Bouygues Telecom Ancienne Bbox : https://mabbox.bytel.fr Adresse IP : 192.168.1.254 Identifiant : admin Mot de passe : admin (par défaut)