Best Dreamcast emulator for Windows 7 PC ?

I know that probably best option would be buying the Dreamcast itself, but I'm not able to (too many problems to list). I can use only an emualtor fo now nullDC_104_r136 seems to work fine, even if it thrills me because sometimes it crashes out of nowhere, especially if I switch fullscreen/windowed or if I change video settings.
Also, there is no save-state option... I've tried other emus but they all crashed or they can't recognize bios, have limited plugins problems (sometimes no audio, sometimes DX11 video that crashes, etc.) .. sometimes they're just a mess because they need to be properly configured, they need bios, everything and it's stressful to deal with them.
I'm playing Shenmue and it has weird transparency glitches and can only run at native resolution (while other games like Virtua Striker 2 and Soul Calibur worked just fine at higher resolutions)... that isn't too bad but who knows if there is anything better on the internet? Something that works well with Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated video card (yeah, that 512mb video card that fakes to be 2GB)

Shenmue 1 & 2 remastered is available on PC, I'm not sure why you're trying to emulate this?

I heard it was originally made for Dreamcast, so I wanted the original experience. And it's good, probably I'll check the PC version as well and replay the first chapter, but also many Dreamcast games need to be experienced in their first forms, for example: Virtua Striker 2 and Soul Calibur aren't available for any other platform (only emulated). That's what I'm looking for, but to do that I'd need something a little bit higher than this low level of decency. NullDC is fine, but sometimes is very very glitchy.

oh btw, my PC can't handle the requirements of the 2018 re-issue, so I think I'll play the original version of Shenmue II too with an emulator or on the XBox

I'm not really the person that can tell you what emu to use, I mostly use real hardware.
I did have a quick look and Shenmue appears to be fully working on Reicast, have you tried that?

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Originally Posted by deadlegion

I did have a quick look and Shenmue appears to be fully working on Reicast, have you tried that?

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Their downloads section is an insane loophole, can't find the link to their windows release
Their downloads section redirects to their github page that redirects to their downloads section, lol developers these days

Probably I'll just get a real dreamcast when I have the chance then.

To my mind there are really only 3 emulators out there that can run games to any extent, even some games that work on one and not another. Reicast is probably the all round modern emulator with some options and the bios's will work with it (remember there's 2 and need to be in the right folder) another is Demul which is pretty old but runs certain games fine. And of course NullDC and that's a good version you have - runs Code Veronica very well for instance. And that's it. I don't think any of them has save state functionality though. Maybe Demul but it's broken iirc. Savestates aren't always a good idea anyways.

And yes they're all pretty much a mess. The requirements for DC emulation aren't too high and I imagine you'd be fine with that but more is better. I hate to say this but that's pretty much it as DC emulation hasn't been as cultivated as emulators have been for other systems. Reicast is the only one still being worked on iirc. And I've never been able to run Shenmue in any playable way on anything but there are other options/systems for that game. It is what it is.

Yeah save states aren't worth the potential headache. Like it gets corrupted and you're tearing your hair out, posting asking for help to fix it etc. It's just drama.
Play the games the way they were originally with the save options available :)

As for the Reicast dl issue, idk.
I only mentioned it because I looked up Shenmue on the compat list and it was listed as fully working. Plus I know it's more recent and it has an android port, so I kinda assumed it could possibly be better on PC using onboard graphics :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Zaladane

I hate to say this but that's pretty much it as DC emulation hasn't been as cultivated as emulators have been for other systems. Reicast is the only one still being worked on iirc. And I've never been able to run Shenmue in any playable way on anything but there are other options/systems for that game. It is what it is.

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Yep, and it's kinda disappointing, considering Dreamcast technology is 20 years old, as much as PS2 and Gamecube (and these last two require high-performance PC's to be emulated correctly). From a non-developer's point of view this is absurd because my PC can run Doom 3 but can't run Tenchu 3 (which requires a lot less in terms of hardware), but again it's an average player's point of view and I know emulation is something extremely complicated (depending on the emulated platform).

anyway, totally off-topic, just to cheer things up a bit and to put the ranting aside
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhOTyoonA6Y

Yeah but the reason it's so difficult to emulate and needing decent hardware is that there are so many custom built chips working together in these systems (have a look at all the components that form the emotion engine for the PS2 for example) that they all have to be emulated and then talk to each as well and all be done through programming and will obviously tax the resources from a pc beyond the basic comparable specs of said systems like clock speed, ram etc.. ;)

As time goes on the line between games system and pc is a little less blurred though.

Try using Flycast, it is fork of Reicast, it is being used in Retroarch.
Reicast has not been releasing updates due to the Emu drama the lead developer had with Flycast and Libretro. Their official statement about the future of the Reicast development can be read here: https://github.com/reicast/reicast-emulator/issues/1928

You don't need a DC BIOS for Flycast, but if you want to play NAOMI/Atomiswave games you must have corresponding BIOS files.
There are save states, I haven't tested the emulator too much. The emulator still seems buggy, but it is being updated daily. Watch out for setting the texture scaling to high and the windscreen fixes are buggy with cutscenes and FMV's.

Other than this one, there is Redream, I have not tested the emulator a lot, mainly since one needs to pay 5$ to unlock the internal resolution scaling, probably one of the best Dreamcast emulators out there, and likely worth the 5$ if you want to play a lot of DC games, or if you don't care for high-definition rendering you can try their non paid version.

Then NullDC, great emulator, but very outdated. The same lead developer as Reicast, but as you said their website is problematic, I can't even tell where to download a windows version there:Ivolt2:

Lastly Demul,great emulator also give this one a shot.