Emulator Setup

Cocoon Shell is the beautiful front door to your retro gaming setup — but the actual game-playing is handled by emulator apps you install separately. This page covers how to tell Cocoon which emulator to use for each system, and how to fine-tune things per game.

The Basics

When you launch a game from Cocoon, here’s what happens:

1. Cocoon figures out which emulator to use for that game.
2. It opens the emulator and hands it your game file.
3. The emulator takes over and you start playing!

When you’re done and close the emulator, you’re dropped right back into Cocoon. It even tracks how long you played!

Choosing a Default Emulator

Each gaming platform (SNES, PlayStation, GBA, etc.) can have a default emulator — the one Cocoon will use every time you launch a game from that system.

1. Open Settings (you’ll find a Settings tile on your grid, or press Y on an empty tile and pick Cocoon Settings).
2. Go to the Library & Data tab.
3. You’ll see a list of your platforms — tap the one you want to configure.
4. Pick your preferred emulator from the Default Emulator dropdown.

Cocoon only shows emulators that are actually installed on your device, so you won’t see options for apps you don’t have.

Using a Different Emulator for One Game

Sometimes you might want a specific game to use a different emulator than the rest of its platform. Maybe one emulator runs a particular game better, or you want to use a standalone emulator for one title. No problem:

1. Highlight the game on your grid.
2. Press Y to open the menu.
3. Pick Edit.
4. Find the Player option and change it to the emulator you want.
5. Hit Save.

This game will now always use that specific emulator, even though the rest of the platform uses something else.

Adding a New Platform

If one of your gaming systems isn’t showing up in Cocoon:

1. Go to Settings → Library & Data.
2. Press Y to open the Add Platform option.
3. Pick the platform you want from the list.
4. Set up its ROM folder and default emulator.

Setting Up ROM Folders

Each platform needs to know where its games are stored:

1. Go to Settings → Library & Data.
2. Tap the platform you want to configure.
3. Point it to the folder on your device where those ROMs live.
4. If your games are in subfolders, turn on Scan Subfolders so Cocoon digs deeper to find them.

Rescanning Your Library

Added new games? Moved some files around? Just rescan:

Settings → Library & Data → Rescan All Libraries

Cocoon will find any new games, clean up entries for files that are gone, and sort everything out. It’s safe to run as often as you like.

Multi-Disc Games

Got a game that spans multiple discs (like Final Fantasy VII)? Cocoon handles this nicely.

The easiest approach is to create an M3U file — a simple text file that lists all the discs:

Final Fantasy VII (Disc 1).cue
Final Fantasy VII (Disc 2).cue
Final Fantasy VII (Disc 3).cue

Save it as Final Fantasy VII.m3u in the same folder as your disc files. Cocoon will show it as one game and hide the individual discs from your library. Your emulator handles the disc-swapping from there.

Cocoon also automatically groups games with names like Game (Disc 1) and Game (Disc 2), and handles .cue/.bin and .gdi disc formats the same way.

Picking Which Screen to Launch On

If you have a dual-screen device (like a clamshell handheld), you can choose which screen your game opens on:

• At launch time: Press Y on a game → Launch → pick Top Screen or Bottom Screen.
• Per game: In the game’s Edit screen, toggle Launch on External Display.
• Per folder: Edit a folder and turn on Force Children to Bottom Screen — every game in that folder will launch on the external display.

Troubleshooting