The first release candidate for the Nintendo 3DS emulator, Azahar, has now been released.
Late last year, it was announced that Lime3DS and the PabloMK7 fork of Citra were combining efforts to create a single new app, Azahar. The first release candidate for the new emulator has now been released.
Release…Candidate?
Release candidates for software are versions that developers could potentially use for the first full release. They differ heavily from beta and alpha software in that they are often fully developed and ready for release but are pushed through development channels to get a final run-through from those willing to share any feedback or bugs.
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The PabloMK7 fork of Citra improved performance and added optimizations that were mostly intended to assist in Mario Kart 7 gameplay and multiplayer. Lime3DS was a fork of Citra that aimed to be a continuation of the original app after it was removed following legal pressure from Nintendo against Tropic Haze.
Now, with the two teams working in tandem, the new 3DS emulator merges the two forks in hopes of building a central, better emulator.
Azahar Changes
Today, that release candidate was released with some major differences and other key changes alongside various bug fixes and improvements.
The new RC includes some of the major differences between the aforementioned apps. Support has been dropped for the .3DS file extension and encrypted apps while adding a new way of acquiring the 3DS system files through the also-new Artic System Tool, a 3DS homebrew app, and disabling right-eye rendering, which can drastically improve performance on select 3DS titles by up to 50%.
If you would like to see the full changelog and grab the new release candidate, it can be downloaded from the new project’s GitHub page.
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