eden/docs/user/Basics.md
lizzie f6d99e5032
[docs] initial user handbook draft (#2629)
This is the initial draft of a "User Handbook", or FAQ. Currently contains useful info on the basics, graphics, and architecture/platform info.

Archive.org OR archive.is should be used for linking external websites, especially since their content should not change. And most often than not, in a few years these could change.

Signed-off-by: lizzie <lizzie@eden-emu.dev>
Co-authored-by: crueter <crueter@eden-emu.dev>
Reviewed-on: #2629
Reviewed-by: crueter <crueter@eden-emu.dev>
Reviewed-by: CamilleLaVey <camillelavey99@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: lizzie <lizzie@eden-emu.dev>
Co-committed-by: lizzie <lizzie@eden-emu.dev>
2025-10-05 20:44:48 +02:00

57 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown

# User Handbook - The Basics
## Introduction
Eden is a very complicated piece of software, and as such there are many knobs and toggles that can be configured. Most of these are invisible to normal users, however power users may be able to leverage them to their advantage.
This handbook primarily describes such knobs and toggles. Normal configuration options are described within the emulator itself and will not be covered in detail.
## Requirements
The emulator is very demanding on hardware, and as such requires a decent mid-range computer/cellphone.
See [the requirements page](https://archive.is/sv83h) for recommended and minimum specs.
The CPU must support FMA for an optimal gameplay experience. The GPU needs to support OpenGL 4.6 ([compatibility list](https://opengl.gpuinfo.org/)), or Vulkan 1.1 ([compatibility list](https://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/)).
If your GPU doesn't support or is just behind by a minor version, see Mesa environment variables below (*nix only).
## User configuration
### Configuration directories
Eden will store configuration files in the following directories:
- **Windows**: `%AppData%\Roaming`.
- **Android**: Data is stored internally.
- **Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Solaris, OpenBSD**: `$XDG_DATA_HOME`, `$XDG_CACHE_HOME`, `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`.
If a `user` directory is present in the current working directory, that will override all global configuration directories and the emulator will use that instead.
### Environment variables
Throughout the handbook, environment variables are mentioned. These are often either global (system wide) or local (set in a script, bound only to the current session). It's heavily recommended to use them in a local context only, as this allows you to rollback changes easily (if for example, there are regressions setting them).
The recommended way is to create a `.bat` file alongside the emulator `.exe`; contents of which could resemble something like:
```bat
set "__GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1"
set "SOME_OTHER_VAR=1"
eden.exe
```
Android doesn't have a convenient way to set environment variables.
For other platforms, the recommended method is using a shell script:
```sh
export __GL_THREADED_OPTIMIZATIONS=1
export SOME_OTHER_VAR=1
./eden
```
Then just running `chmod +x script.sh && source script.sh`.
## Compatibility list
Eden doesn't mantain a compatibility list. However, [EmuReady](https://www.emuready.com/) has a more fine-grained compatibility information for multiple emulators/forks as well.