Vouching for this method, one of your previous videos inspired my setup! After lots of configuring with emulators and streaming, using an Apple TV with Moonlight and Bigbox is really the best for playing anything in my living room. I have my PS5 controller connected to my host pc instead of the Apple TV to save milliseconds of input lag, but they both work. Also I had to disable variable fresh rate on my TV/streaming display to have the most seamless experience with the least input lag. Eventually I'll get one of those iPhone controllers or maybe hack my Switch to play on the go...
Thanks for vouching for me! No matter how many game streaming videos I make, there always seems to be some naysayers who take it as a personal attack on their lifestyle, so I appreciate you vouching for me and commenting. It's free to give it a try so I have no idea why people get upset about it. And once you try it out, you quickly realize it's pretty awesome, especially once you get multiple devices in the mix. On the topic of phone controllers, they are a great idea in theory, but I haven't yet found one that I prefer to a standard xbox controller paired with a phone clamp. Especially if you already have an xbox controller lying around, that's definitely the way to go in my opinion. I explain it more in my video on the BackBone One. Cheers!
This is definitely the way to go, especially when you consider using multiple devices. Having to manually transfer save data, battery life, etc can all be avoided by game streaming, especially when considering multiple devices. Great vid as always! Big box will be my next purchase.
How do you setup your emulators for different controllers on different mediums? When I stream to my MacBook at work, then to my Xbox at home, I have to re-configure controller settings between the two every time for Cemu
Video on syncing save files across devices would be great! Also, would it be possible to go in to the configuration of BigBox for stubborn emulators like Cemu? Those do not want to exit with ease without some sort of script. The goal is to use the controller and only the controller as much as possible without a keyboard. Videos have been great, keep it up!
game streaming has been a blessing for my emulation games, id rather play my games with their 4k texture instead packs and upscaling, especially when it comes to the big screen. it’s also so convenient to hop between devices seamlessly without ever closing the game or having to transfer roms and picking up exactly where i was
@@dylanmacintosh exactly! the only time i couldn’t use it is if i’m offline somewhere but it’s not like i’m going out in the middle of nowhere or on an airplane all the time!
@@tparty2123 Precisely. Like my tongue-in-cheek camping trip mention near the end of the video where we are clearly having a terrible time with no internet, tossing the frisbee in the water over some cold drinks 😋😋 There's plenty of other things to do when there's no internet haha.
@@dylanmacintosh exactly! tbh when i first saw nintendo switch trailers i never understood the part where they’re playing at camping trips and such, at that point i’d rather enjoy that mountains! that’s why game streaming is an awesome option because i only ever need a handheld when i have internet anyway!
This method is great. I recently started using my Apple TV instead of steam deck for moonlight and it’s worked awesome so far. The only gripe I have, is that I use my Apple TV for regular media as well, and having to switch to game mode requires the regular tv controller and takes a bit of extra effort. Have you thought of any solutions for this?
Hmmm that’s a tricky one because the picture mode comes down to the TV. And even if you did have a tv model that could “remember” to turn on game mode when you switch to the Apple TV, that might not be the best mode for when you’re turning on the Apple TV to watch a movie or something else other than a game… so you’d need the Moonlight app on Apple TV to be able to change picture modes of your tv… definitely a tricky one to automate.
I've been slowly working on all this. I've got it working, but my biggest issue so far has been getting the controller to automatically work. for instance if I"m using a controller bluetooth connected to my apple tv, then I later play on my pc with a hard wired controller, that controller won't work immediately. I have to go to the host and use the keyboard to change the controller, many times I have to re-pair the controller as well. This also happens if I'm playing on my tv streaming to the apple tv, but I connect my controller directly to my pc bluetooth (less lag). If the controller starts to run low on battery and I plug it in, bigbox no longer works with it (in my experience) and I again have to use the keyboard to navigate around and change the controller.
Hmmm that’s a tricky one, it sounds like an issue with whatever games / emulators you’re using doesn’t like to switch inputs. Is there a specific emulator you’re noticing this behavior on? For me, it was Ryujinx that had the most trouble with switching controllers because the input has to be bound in the Ryujinx settings before it can accept input for “player 1” for instance. Whereas any of my Retroarch emulators were automatic with Player 1 input.
@@dylanmacintosh Thanks for the reply! My issue is actually with bigbox itself. In the most common instance, I'll start it up streaming to my apple TV, with my PS5 controller bluetooth'd to my host PC, and my ps5 controller just won't navigate bigbox. So I'll go to the PC, disconnect the controller manually, and re-add it, then restart bigbox (all while still streaming), and it works. Although now that I type all this, I'm wondering if its not trying to pass a non-existent controller in through the apple tv as I had that setting on at first before deciding to connect the controller to the PC instead.
I think you might be onto something. The moonlight stream is trying to provide a virtual controller input, and it might end up passing your locally connected controller to player 2, if that makes sense. Just depends on how the game or emulator processes multiple controller inputs. For example, some PC games I’m playing have both controller and keyboard mouse input active for player 1 at the same time, so I can switch between them at any time and keep playing. Thats more common with single player PC games. But consoles usually map each controller to a separate “player” etc. I hope this helps!
That would be sick. You might want to take a look at the new Gamesir G8 Plus, it should fit an 8" tablet. Fits anything up to 215mm (for instance Lenovo Tab M8 8" tablet is just under 200mm) amzn.to/3YXmFCp
I respect it. You can certainly stick to emulating on the device that you're holding if that's your bag. After all, that's how I've always done it before I started messing around with self-hosted game streaming. My follow-up question to you is, would you ever hybridize your gaming setup? For example, with my ROG Ally, I will stream games when I'm just around the house, but while I'm on the go I'll play the game on the Ally itself and sync the save files later. What do you think? 🤔
Vouching for this method, one of your previous videos inspired my setup! After lots of configuring with emulators and streaming, using an Apple TV with Moonlight and Bigbox is really the best for playing anything in my living room. I have my PS5 controller connected to my host pc instead of the Apple TV to save milliseconds of input lag, but they both work. Also I had to disable variable fresh rate on my TV/streaming display to have the most seamless experience with the least input lag. Eventually I'll get one of those iPhone controllers or maybe hack my Switch to play on the go...
Thanks for vouching for me! No matter how many game streaming videos I make, there always seems to be some naysayers who take it as a personal attack on their lifestyle, so I appreciate you vouching for me and commenting. It's free to give it a try so I have no idea why people get upset about it. And once you try it out, you quickly realize it's pretty awesome, especially once you get multiple devices in the mix. On the topic of phone controllers, they are a great idea in theory, but I haven't yet found one that I prefer to a standard xbox controller paired with a phone clamp. Especially if you already have an xbox controller lying around, that's definitely the way to go in my opinion. I explain it more in my video on the BackBone One. Cheers!
This is definitely the way to go, especially when you consider using multiple devices. Having to manually transfer save data, battery life, etc can all be avoided by game streaming, especially when considering multiple devices. Great vid as always! Big box will be my next purchase.
Thanks for watching! Appreciate the support 🤍
How do you setup your emulators for different controllers on different mediums? When I stream to my MacBook at work, then to my Xbox at home, I have to re-configure controller settings between the two every time for Cemu
Video on syncing save files across devices would be great! Also, would it be possible to go in to the configuration of BigBox for stubborn emulators like Cemu? Those do not want to exit with ease without some sort of script. The goal is to use the controller and only the controller as much as possible without a keyboard. Videos have been great, keep it up!
game streaming has been a blessing for my emulation games, id rather play my games with their 4k texture instead packs and upscaling, especially when it comes to the big screen. it’s also so convenient to hop between devices seamlessly without ever closing the game or having to transfer roms and picking up exactly where i was
You see the vision! No compromises- just all your games, all the time.
@@dylanmacintosh exactly! the only time i couldn’t use it is if i’m offline somewhere but it’s not like i’m going out in the middle of nowhere or on an airplane all the time!
@@tparty2123 Precisely. Like my tongue-in-cheek camping trip mention near the end of the video where we are clearly having a terrible time with no internet, tossing the frisbee in the water over some cold drinks 😋😋 There's plenty of other things to do when there's no internet haha.
@@dylanmacintosh exactly! tbh when i first saw nintendo switch trailers i never understood the part where they’re playing at camping trips and such, at that point i’d rather enjoy that mountains! that’s why game streaming is an awesome option because i only ever need a handheld when i have internet anyway!
This method is great. I recently started using my Apple TV instead of steam deck for moonlight and it’s worked awesome so far. The only gripe I have, is that I use my Apple TV for regular media as well, and having to switch to game mode requires the regular tv controller and takes a bit of extra effort. Have you thought of any solutions for this?
Hmmm that’s a tricky one because the picture mode comes down to the TV. And even if you did have a tv model that could “remember” to turn on game mode when you switch to the Apple TV, that might not be the best mode for when you’re turning on the Apple TV to watch a movie or something else other than a game… so you’d need the Moonlight app on Apple TV to be able to change picture modes of your tv… definitely a tricky one to automate.
I've been slowly working on all this. I've got it working, but my biggest issue so far has been getting the controller to automatically work. for instance if I"m using a controller bluetooth connected to my apple tv, then I later play on my pc with a hard wired controller, that controller won't work immediately. I have to go to the host and use the keyboard to change the controller, many times I have to re-pair the controller as well. This also happens if I'm playing on my tv streaming to the apple tv, but I connect my controller directly to my pc bluetooth (less lag). If the controller starts to run low on battery and I plug it in, bigbox no longer works with it (in my experience) and I again have to use the keyboard to navigate around and change the controller.
Hmmm that’s a tricky one, it sounds like an issue with whatever games / emulators you’re using doesn’t like to switch inputs. Is there a specific emulator you’re noticing this behavior on? For me, it was Ryujinx that had the most trouble with switching controllers because the input has to be bound in the Ryujinx settings before it can accept input for “player 1” for instance. Whereas any of my Retroarch emulators were automatic with Player 1 input.
@@dylanmacintosh Thanks for the reply! My issue is actually with bigbox itself. In the most common instance, I'll start it up streaming to my apple TV, with my PS5 controller bluetooth'd to my host PC, and my ps5 controller just won't navigate bigbox. So I'll go to the PC, disconnect the controller manually, and re-add it, then restart bigbox (all while still streaming), and it works. Although now that I type all this, I'm wondering if its not trying to pass a non-existent controller in through the apple tv as I had that setting on at first before deciding to connect the controller to the PC instead.
I think you might be onto something. The moonlight stream is trying to provide a virtual controller input, and it might end up passing your locally connected controller to player 2, if that makes sense. Just depends on how the game or emulator processes multiple controller inputs. For example, some PC games I’m playing have both controller and keyboard mouse input active for player 1 at the same time, so I can switch between them at any time and keep playing. Thats more common with single player PC games. But consoles usually map each controller to a separate “player” etc. I hope this helps!
Something I really want to do is using an 8 inch tablet with a telescopic controller to play streaming games. It gonna look like a handheld.
That would be sick. You might want to take a look at the new Gamesir G8 Plus, it should fit an 8" tablet. Fits anything up to 215mm (for instance Lenovo Tab M8 8" tablet is just under 200mm) amzn.to/3YXmFCp
@@dylanmacintosh thanks!
Anytime.
I hope not
I like having the Emulator and Games on my Device so I can control it
Also don't have to Rely on the Internet to play Games
I respect it. You can certainly stick to emulating on the device that you're holding if that's your bag. After all, that's how I've always done it before I started messing around with self-hosted game streaming. My follow-up question to you is, would you ever hybridize your gaming setup? For example, with my ROG Ally, I will stream games when I'm just around the house, but while I'm on the go I'll play the game on the Ally itself and sync the save files later. What do you think? 🤔