Nostyra 0.1.0 — First public release

Old Worlds. New Ways.

The first public release of Nostyra, a free, open-source (GPL-3.0-or-later) retro game launcher and libretro frontend for Windows. Point it at your ROM folder, organised however you like, and it builds a library with covers and metadata. Games run through libretro emulator cores, which Nostyra downloads the first time you play a system.

This is an early release. SNES is the only system tested end to end so far. The other systems pass automated tests but are marked Experimental until they get manual testing. Feedback and bug reports are very welcome.

Download

File	Size	SHA-256
Nostyra-0.1.0-windows-x64-portable.zip	25.9 MB	7479eacc1d830d6299d380fbae31f989fd2300e633e775984eb18300443424f6

Portable: no installer. Everything (library, saves, states, cores, settings) stays in a data\ folder next to Nostyra.exe.

Highlights

• Library and launcher: add one or more ROM folders; files are classified by content, never by folder name. Moved or renamed ROMs keep their play time, favourites, metadata, saves and settings. Home, Library (search, filters, sort), Detail pages, play time and favourites.
• Metadata and artwork: identified against the bundled No-Intro / Redump DATs; covers and screenshots from libretro-thumbnails, cached locally; editable metadata.
• Play features: 10 save-state slots with thumbnails, rewind, fast-forward, run-ahead (1–2 frames), Turbo A, CRT / LCD shaders, integer / aspect / stretch scaling, all from the pause menu.
• Controls: keyboard and gamepad remapping (global or per game) and rebindable hotkeys.
• Resume: quitting saves a resume point; the next Play offers Continue or Start fresh.
• Soft patching: .ips / .ups / .bps patches (and chains) beside a cartridge ROM are applied in memory. The ROM file is never changed.
• RetroAchievements (softcore) on 14 systems: in-game overlay, unlock pop-ups with a chime, achievement list in the pause menu, launcher Achievements tab.
  • Offline sessions: a game played online once keeps its achievements without network; unlocks are sent when you are back online.
  • Patched-ROM fallback: if RetroAchievements does not recognise a soft-patched game (for example a fan translation), Nostyra uses the original ROM's achievements (softcore; on by default, can be turned off in Settings).
• Bug reports in one click: Settings → About → Create bug report zips your logs and system info.

Systems

System	Core (downloaded on first play)	Status	Achievements
Super Nintendo (SNES)	Snes9x	Stable	Yes
NES	Mesen	Experimental	Yes
Game Boy / Game Boy Color / Game Boy Advance	mGBA	Experimental	Yes
Mega Drive / Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000	Genesis Plus GX	Experimental	Yes
PlayStation	PCSX ReARMed	Experimental	Yes (not EBOOT.PBP)
Nintendo 64	Mupen64Plus-Next (OpenGL 3.3)	Experimental	Yes
Sega Dreamcast	Flycast (OpenGL 3.3)	Experimental	Yes
Sony PSP	PPSSPP (OpenGL 3.3)	Experimental	Yes
Nintendo DS	melonDS DS (decrypted dumps only)	Experimental	Yes
Nintendo GameCube / Wii	Dolphin (OpenGL 3.3)	Experimental	No

• Emulator cores are not bundled. Nostyra offers to download each core from the libretro buildbot on first play. Each core has its own licence; Snes9x and Genesis Plus GX are non-commercial.
• No games or BIOS files are included or downloaded. Use games you own. No BIOS is required; optional BIOS files can be added in Settings → BIOS.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime (built into Windows 11 and updated Windows 10). If it is missing, Windows shows an error with the download link: https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/ (choose Evergreen Bootstrapper).
• A GPU with DirectX 12 or Vulkan. Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PSP, GameCube and Wii also need OpenGL 3.3.
• Internet only for cores, artwork and achievements. Library and play work offline.

Install

1. Download the zip from this page (official releases only).
2. Optional: right-click the zip → Properties → tick Unblock → OK.
3. Extract it anywhere you can write to (not C:\Program Files) and run Nostyra.exe.
4. The exe is not code-signed, so SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info → Run anyway.

Known limitations

• Windows only for now; no macOS / Linux build yet.
• Everything except SNES is Experimental: expect bugs.
• RetroAchievements: hardcore mode is hidden until RetroAchievements approves Nostyra, so all unlocks are softcore and leaderboards are inactive. No achievements for PS1 EBOOT.PBP or GameCube / Wii. CJK characters show as boxes in the overlay. Your login token is stored unencrypted on your PC (see Privacy).
• Run-ahead and rewind are off for N64, Dreamcast, PSP, GameCube and Wii.
• Not supported yet: Sega CD, 32X, PS1 analog / DualShock / rumble, core options, controller-only launcher mode, in-app updater.

The full list is in the release notes and the README.

Privacy

No telemetry and no Nostyra account. Everything is stored locally in data\. Network requests go only to retroachievements.org (while logged in: login, unlocks, the game's RA hash, never the file), libretro-thumbnails (game name and system, for artwork) and the libretro buildbot (core downloads). Logs and bug reports never leave your PC unless you attach them. Details: Privacy.

Reporting bugs

1. Reproduce the problem, then open Settings → About → Create bug report (failed games also show this button).
2. Open a new issue and attach the zip. Describe the game (title and file type), the steps, and what you expected. Do not attach ROM, disc or BIOS files.

Licences

Nostyra is GPL-3.0-or-later; the source for this build is the v0.1.0 tag. The zip's licenses\ folder contains the licence texts of all bundled third-party code and data (Rust crates, SDL3, SQLite, glslang, SPIRV-Cross, npm packages, rcheevos, Noto Sans, libretro-database, slang shaders, Visual C++ runtime).