Hi,

I'm currently interested the SNES homebrews creations (well, that's quite a increased challenge coming from the GB!), and lately I've been wondering about alternatives distributions scheme besides the ROM / cartridge version. I'm aware that GGVM is used to release NES games on Steam, but is there any equivalent for the SNES game?

For example, I remember that a few years ago, Piko Interactive published emulated SNES games on Steam (Legend, Dorke & Yimp, etc.) - do you know what tool / emulator they are using?

However, I also remenber reading that all SNES emulators are released under some non-commercial license, preventing people to bundle them with a SNES Rom to distribute the game on PC.

So is there any current solution to legally do this?

There are many SNES emulators that can be used commercially, as long as you follow the license. BSNES/higan and mednafen are some. Piko's release used both, but the stink about that wasn't that the license didn't allow commercial usage, it was about Piko not following the license and thus being in breach of copyright.

Tldr: you can bundle a GPL emulator as long as you provide source.

Thanks a lot for your reply!

When you mean "provide source", does it mean the source code of the game? Or only the source code of the emulator used?

Source code to the emulator, including any and all changes you made to it. The FSF has a comprehensive FAQ on the GPL, if reading the legalese is not your thing:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-...

Now, if you point out that this prevents DRM, and allows any user to extract the SNES ROM, you'd be correct. If you want to DRM your ROM, you'll need to buy a commercial license to BSNES or write your own emulator (or write a native port of the game, naturally).

Thanks a lot for the clarifications - I did read the GPL license, but I couldn't understand whether it meant that the game should be open source too or not.

I don't plan on adding DRM or stuff like that - my idea was rather to distribute the rom file for people who want to use their favorite emulator / flashcart, but also provide a ".exe" version for people who don't want the hassle to seek, download an install an emulator. So I don't plan on customizing an emulator, I just wanted to provide a ROM+emulator package legally, even in the case I decide to sell the game in a digital version (like Rainwarrior did for Lizard recently for example).

Just to be sure, all of this only applies to GPL emulators (BSNES/Higan, ZSNES), but not for SNES9X as their license clearly forbid any kind of "commercial use"?

Yes, only for GPL emulators.

Thanks again for your help!

Now, I guess have to finish my SNES game project then  !