Retro Multi Tools v4

New Features

Gamepad Key Mapper Utility

A new utility for mapping gamepad buttons, sticks, and triggers to keyboard keys, mouse buttons/movement, scripts, and multi-step macros. Includes switchable mapping profiles, auto-profile switching based on the active window, profile import/export, and cross-platform input simulation (Windows, Linux, macOS).

Mednafen Emulator Integration

Full launcher support for the Mednafen emulator — on par with RetroArch and MAME. Supports 13 systems (NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis, Saturn, PC Engine, and more). Includes cross-platform auto-detection, a settings UI for browsing/configuring the Mednafen path, and launch buttons in both the ROM Browser and Big Picture Mode.

Unified Archive Manager

The separate ZIP Extractor and GZip Decompressor have been merged into a single Archive Manager. It now supports extracting ZIP, RAR, and 7z archives, plus creating ZIP archives from ROM files (single file, batch one-per-ROM, or all-in-one).

xDelta / VCDIFF ROM Patching

The ROM Patcher now supports xDelta and VCDIFF patch formats in addition to the existing IPS and BPS formats. This implements a full VCDIFF (RFC 3284) decoder with all instruction types and checksum verification.

Release Notes in Update Dialog

When checking for updates, the release notes are now displayed as rendered Markdown directly in the update dialogs (both in Settings and the startup popup).

Big Picture Mode Feature Updates

Screensaver / Attract Mode

A fullscreen artwork slideshow activates after a configurable inactivity timeout (0–30 minutes). It cycles through random game artwork every 5 seconds and dismisses on any key or gamepad input.

Quick Letter Jump (A–Z)

Press any letter key to instantly jump to the first ROM starting with that letter. A large on-screen indicator briefly shows which letter was selected.

Recently Played Quick Access Bar

Toggle a horizontal bar above the card grid showing up to 10 recently played games with thumbnails. Click to select, double-click to launch. Refreshes automatically after every play session.

Collection Statistics Overlay

A modal overlay showing total ROM count, per-system breakdown (count & size), favorites count, and total/average file sizes. Works with both filtered and unfiltered collections.

Quick System Cycle

Use [ and ] keys (or gamepad triggers) to cycle through the system filter forward/backward with wrap-around, with a brief indicator showing the selected system.

Gallery / Auto-Scroll Mode

Automatically advances through the game card grid every 3 seconds. Wraps at the end. Stops on any manual navigation or when another overlay opens.

Play Time Tracking

Automatically records how long you play each game (wall-clock time from process start to exit). Displayed in the detail panel, ROM Info overlay, and Collection Statistics. Formatted as human-readable (e.g. "2h 15m").

Fullscreen Artwork Viewer

Press V to open a fullscreen overlay cycling through box art, screenshots, and title screens at full size. Navigate with arrow keys or gamepad.

User Game Ratings

Rate games from 1 to 5 stars using number keys or a gamepad action. Ratings appear on game cards and the detail panel. A new "Sort by Rating" option is available.

Updates & Improvements

Localization & Translations

• Immediate language switching — changing the language in Settings now takes effect instantly without needing to restart the app.
• All 19 supported languages have been updated with complete translations.
• UI layouts have been adjusted to prevent translated text from being clipped in languages with longer strings.

Archive Manager

• The decompressor has been reorganized under the Archives section.

Gamepad & Controller Support

• Full gamepad mapping for all standard controller inputs in Big Picture Mode (D-Pad, sticks, triggers, bumpers).
• Gamepad dead zone changes in Settings now apply immediately at runtime (previously required restarting Big Picture Mode).
• Improved controller hotplug detection.

Big Picture Mode

• New settings toggles to enable/disable play time tracking and game ratings independently.
• The help overlay has been expanded with all new keyboard shortcuts and gamepad hints.

MAME Tools

• Disk verification and cancellation support have been improved.
• Shared helper utilities have been consolidated for better consistency.

Updater

• The updater now correctly defers replacing all its own locked files during updates (not just the executable), preventing false "update failed" messages.
• Temporary directory cleanup no longer blocks the updater's log file.
• Download progress is now clamped to 100%.

ROM Browser

• File size column sorting now works correctly by actual numeric value instead of the formatted display string.
• Scan cancellation and delete confirmation dialogs have been added.

ROM Patcher

• The BPS patcher have been optimized for faster patching of large files.

Analogue Tools

• Analogue 3D: The "Remove Artwork" and "Delete Game Pak" functions now have dedicated UI buttons.
• Mega SG / NT+Super NT: SD card folder validation has been added to check for the expected directory structure.
• Game pak list icons now update immediately after changes instead of requiring a full rescan.
• Delete confirmations have been added for destructive operations.

Emulator Config Generator

• RetroArch configs now include recommended run_ahead_secondary_instance and rewind_buffer_size settings.
• MAME config paths are now properly normalized.

RetroAchievements Writer & Playlist Utility

• Missing implementations and incomplete features have been added.

ROM Inspector & Hex Viewer

• Search functionality has been improved.
• Better error handling.

Bug Fixes

Application Stability

• Fixed multiple potential crashes caused by disposing bitmaps while still displayed in the UI (ROM Browser, ROM Inspector, Big Picture Mode).
• Fixed crashes from unhandled exceptions in asynchronous event handlers across several views (Analogue Pocket, Big Picture Mode, ROM Browser).
• Fixed a thread-safety issue where the SDL2 native library could be registered twice simultaneously, causing a crash.
• Fixed unobserved task exceptions in Discord Rich Presence that could crash the app.

Big Picture Mode Fixes

• Fixed overlays rendering in unpredictable order due to shared Z-index values.
• Fixed the card grid navigation width calculation going to zero in certain window sizes.

Gamepad Support Fixes

• Fixed controller hotplug detection and pipe communication deadlocks.
• Fixed the gamepad service not fully resetting its state between sessions.

Updater Fixes

• Fixed the updater falsely reporting "update failed" when it couldn't overwrite its own locked DLL file.
• Fixed the updater's log file preventing cleanup of the temporary directory.
• Fixed the updater fallback filename missing the .exe extension on Windows.

Localization Fixes

• Fixed language changes in Settings not taking effect until restart.
• Fixed the Native Menu (macOS) not updating when changing the language.

MAME Tools Fixes

• Fixed the DAT Editor failing to load its own saved files due to a DTD processing conflict.
• Fixed MAME volume settings being silently muted at low levels due to integer rounding.
• Fixed MAME launcher not setting the correct working directory, causing relative paths to fail.

ROM Browser & Patcher Fixes

• Fixed file size column sorting producing wrong results (sorted alphabetically instead of numerically).
• Fixed crash-prone event handlers in the ROM Browser.

Analogue Tools Fixes

• Fixed stale indicator icons after saving settings or artwork on the Analogue 3D.
• Fixed cross-platform path handling in save state listing.
• Fixed the "Set Artwork" button being enabled before selecting a game pak on the Analogue 3D.

Other Fixes

• Fixed the Cheat Code Converter not properly normalizing input.
• Fixed the DAT Verifier failing on files with DTD declarations.
• Fixed the Mednafen config generator skipping Sega Saturn settings.
• Fixed the Mednafen video.disable_composition setting being tied to the wrong option.
• Fixed the favorites system being case-sensitive on Windows (e.g. C:\Games and c:\games being treated as different).
• Fixed file cleanup errors potentially masking the original error across all patchers and utilities.
• Fixed the settings save failing silently on sandboxed platforms (macOS, Snap, Flatpak).
• Fixed temporary file leaks in the gamepad mapping storage.