How to Play an ST game LAN/remote

[Marcopolomint1]

I don't know if this is remotely feasible or where this question should be. I'm no network expert! Me and my mates would play Speedball, Lotus Esprit Turbo challenge and stunt car racer well into the wee hours. Could I recreate this magic online/remotely?

1. With actual hardware on my ST with SidecarTridge (I'm guessing almost certainly not)
2. With hatari/Steem e.g. I can host a server, share my screen and he can see this on a web browser and have joystick inputs at his end?

Is the tech nowhere near capable of this kind of thing.....I would have though if i've got an emulator running on a PC with good connection it's just then a coding/software challenge?

sorry for ridiculous question or if it's in wrong place.

thanks,

Marco.

[Marcopolomint1]

Copilot AI says this:

Yes, it's definitely possible, but screen sharing is usually not the best way if you want both players to actively participate.

Here are the main options, from simplest to best:

Option 1: Share Your Screen + Remote Control

Use:

Microsoft Teams
Discord
Parsec
AnyDesk
TeamViewer
How it works
You run the Atari ST emulator locally.
Share your screen.
Grant your friend remote keyboard/joystick control.
Pros
Very easy to set up.
Works with almost any emulator.
No need to distribute ROMs.
Cons
Input lag.
Only one machine runs the game.
If your connection stutters, gameplay suffers.

Parsec is generally the best solution for retro gaming because it's designed for low latency.

Option 2: Emulator with Netplay (Best Gaming Experience)

Some emulators support online multiplayer directly.

Depending on the Atari ST emulator:

Hatari
Steem SSE
RetroArch (with compatible cores)

RetroArch is particularly interesting because it supports:

Netplay
Spectator mode
Synchronised gameplay

In this setup both players run the emulator and game locally, and only inputs are transmitted across the network.

Pros
Extremely low bandwidth.
Very low latency.
Better game experience.
Cons
Both players need the emulator and game files.

Option 3: Host the Emulator in a Browser

This sounds closest to what you're describing.

You could host an Atari ST emulator on a web server using:

WebAssembly
JavaScript emulator ports
Emscripten builds

Examples include browser-based retro systems such as:

EmulatorJS
js-dos
various WebAssembly emulator projects

Users would simply visit:

https://my-retro-site.com/atari


and play in the browser.

Challenge

Most browser emulators are designed for a single player.

To support two remote players you'd need:

Shared game state
WebRTC
Multiplayer input synchronisation
Or remote streaming

This becomes a custom development project.

Option 4: Cloud Gaming Style (Probably the Best Overall)

Host the emulator on:

Azure VM
AWS EC2
Home server
Gaming PC

Then stream it using:

Parsec
Sunshine + Moonlight
Steam Remote Play

Your friend connects and joins your session.

Advantages
Looks like local gameplay.
Excellent latency.
Both can use controllers.
No emulator setup on your friend's machine.

For retro games this works extremely well because the bandwidth requirements are low.

Option 5: Play Directly Inside Microsoft Teams

If you're thinking about "inside the recipient's web interface" (for example Teams or Outlook):

You could build a custom web app:

Teams Tab App
└─ Atari Emulator
└─ Shared Session
└─ WebRTC Inputs


The emulator runs in a browser tab embedded in Teams.

This is technically possible, but considerably more complex than using Parsec or RetroArch Netplay.

My Recommendation

For the least effort and best experience:

Two-player co-op

Parsec

Install emulator on your PC.
Start game.
Invite friend.
Give controller access.
If both players are technical

RetroArch Netplay

Lowest latency.
Most authentic multiplayer setup.
If you want to create a website anyone can join

EmulatorJS + WebRTC multiplayer layer

Most flexible.
Requires web development.

For an Atari ST game specifically, I'd probably use Hatari or RetroArch running on a PC and invite the friend through Parsec. That gives you a "sit-on-the-same-sofa" experience with very little setup.

[Steve]

blooming heck mate, please don't word-dump massive AI reports... at least condense the information down to something, ie; your interpretation of it.

[Marcopolomint1]

Sorry, my bad.

[Marcopolomint1]

Condensed version:

It looks like it's possible with Hatari/Steem + Parsec. Has anyone ever tried it or with similar apps?

I'd be incredulous if I was the first to discuss!!!!

[exxos]

I cannot say for definite but I think this topic has come up before a few times here, or other forums. Or something similar using serial to wifi adapters to serial links games. But thats all I remember..

[Badwolf]

Most of my Hatari work is done over SSH-tunnelled VNC on a headless virtual Debian box in Germany while I sit on various physical machines in the UK.

Admittedly that doesn't involve playing games much, but no reason it couldn't. Two people can connect to the same VNC server instance.

You may have to get creative if you want to use a physical joystick, of course, but keyboard input is not really an issue.

BW