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Playing Games

Built-In Core Runner

Cannoli ships with a built-in libretro core runner. Press A on a game to play it.

Tip

Some platforms are not available in the built-in core runner. See Platforms for details.

Resuming a Game

If a save state exists for a game, press the Resume button to jump back in, or the Play button to start the game without using the last save state. By default A plays and X resumes; if Swap Play and Resume is enabled, X plays and A resumes.

Hold the Resume button to open the Save State Picker. Cycle through your slots with Left / Right and press the Resume button again to load the selected slot. Empty slots show as blank.

Resume is only available for games handled by Cannoli's built-in core runner.

Opening the In-Game Menu

Press the Menu button to open the In-Game Menu (IGM). It gives you access to save states, settings, achievements, and more.

In-Game Menu (IGM)

Resume

Closes the menu and returns to gameplay.

Save State

Saves a snapshot of the game to the selected slot. There's an AUTO slot plus 10 slots.

The AUTO slot is a dedicated save file, separate from the slots. When you save to it, the previous auto save is placed into the first slot. All existing save states are then pushed back by one slot. This means your slots also double as auto save history.

Use Left / Right on the D-Pad to cycle between slots. Each slot shows a screenshot of what's saved in it.

  • A saves to the selected slot
  • Y deletes a slot
  • X undoes the last save, within a one-minute grace period

Warning

When all 10 slots are full, saving to AUTO will cause the oldest slot to be deleted.

Load State

Loads a previously saved snapshot. Same slot picker as Save State.

  • A loads the selected slot
  • Y deletes a slot
  • X undoes the last load, again within a one-minute grace period

Achievements

Only appears if you're logged into RetroAchievements and the game has achievements.

See the RetroAchievements page for details.

Guide

The IGM will allow you to view .pdf, .txt, .png and .jpg / .jpeg files. This is perfect for guides, manuals, maps and the like.

This menu option will only appear if the game you are playing has at least one guide file.

If you have one file this option will open it directly. If you have multiple files you will see a list. In both cases the IGM will remember the last page and position for each file.

Cheats

Cannoli can apply RetroArch-style .cht cheat files to games running in the built-in core runner.

Place your .cht files in Cheats/<Platform>/<Game>/, mirroring the platform folder and ROM file name Cannoli already uses for box art and guides. You can also upload them through Nonna's Kitchen. Files with no readable cheats are ignored.

This menu option only appears when the current game has at least one cheat file.

Open Cheats to see every cheat, grouped by file. Highlight one and press A to toggle it On or Off; the change applies to the running game right away. Cheats your core does not support are dimmed and cannot be toggled.

Cannoli remembers which cheats you had enabled for each game. The next time you play it, press X on the Cheats screen to Restore Last Session and switch them back on.

Settings

Opens the in-game settings with five categories:

  • Video - Screen scaling, sharpness, shaders, overlays
  • Emulator - Core-specific options (varies per platform)
  • Input - Button mappings, shortcuts, and D-Pad behavior (see below)
  • Advanced - Controller type (core dependent), fast-forward speed, debug HUD
  • Info - Displays the current core, ROM path, extracted ROM path (when the game was unpacked from an archive), save path, renderer, RetroAchievements status, game ID, and detection details (when logged in)

Input

The Input category gathers everything about how your controller drives the game:

  • Button Mappings - remap the current game's controls. Mappings can be saved per platform or per game.
  • Shortcuts - assign button combos to in-game actions like Save State, Fast Forward, and Open Guide. See Shortcuts for the full list.
  • Left Stick as D-Pad - send left-stick movement as D-Pad presses, for games that only read the D-Pad.
  • D-Pad Mode (BETA) - switch between 8-Way (the default) and 4-Way, which suppresses diagonals for games built for a 4-way pad. This row only appears when Experimental Features is turned on in Settings → Advanced, and your choice is remembered per platform and per game.

Reassign Players

Only appears when 2 or more controllers are connected. Lets you change which controller is which player, including swapping two players' seats.

Switch Disc

Only appears for multi-disc games. With this row highlighted in the IGM, press Left / Right to cycle to the disc you want.

See Multi-Disc Games below for how disc bundling works.

Reset

Resets the game to its initial state. Return to the IGM and press X to undo the reset within a 30-second grace period.

Quit

Exits the game and returns to the launcher.

If Save State On Quit is enabled in Settings → Emulation, this option is labeled Save and Quit and automatically writes a save state before exiting.

Multiple Controllers

Cannoli supports up to 4 controllers. The built-in controller (on handhelds) is always Player 1. External controllers that connect after the game starts are assigned to Players 2-4 automatically.

When a controller disconnects or reconnects you'll see a notification on screen.

If 2 or more controllers are connected, the IGM Reassign Players screen lets you change which controller is which player, including swapping two players.

Multi-Disc Games

Drop the disc files into the platform's ROM folder. On the next scan, Cannoli moves them into a per-game subfolder, generates an .m3u, and shows a single entry in the game list.

The following disc markers are recognized: (Disc 1), (Disk 1), (CD1). Any disc image format works.

When a game prompts you to insert the next disc, open the In-Game Menu and use Switch Disc.

Deleting a multi-disc entry removes the entire bundle.

RetroArch / Standalone Emulators

Cannoli can also launch your games using RetroArch or a standalone emulator.

You can configure which RetroArch core or standalone emulator handles a platform under Settings → Emulation → Emulator Mapping.

Emulator Override

By default, each game uses the core or app assigned to its platform in Emulator Mapping. An emulator override lets you set a different choice for a single game, useful when one game runs better on a different core or needs a standalone app.

Open a game's context menu (Start) and select Emulator Override to pick from:

  • Cannoli's built-in cores
  • Any core installed in the selected RetroArch or RicottaArch package
  • Any compatible standalone Android app

The picker shows the source of each option (Internal, RetroArch, RicottaArch, or Standalone). To clear an override and return to the platform default, open the picker again and choose Platform Default.