u/burnerphonelol

I've had a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro for about six months. I really like it - great device, feels really nice in the hands and runs what it runs really well.

However I've recently realised that I don't really like playing most retro games handheld. My nostalgia for SNES/N64/GCN is attached to playing these games on a TV while sitting on the couch, and recently I'm finding that if I want to play these systems I will play them on my docked Steam Deck with a proper controller - I enjoy them way more that way. I only really play Pokemon Emerald Rogue on the RP4P (which I could play on my 3DS or RG34XX) and Vampire Survivors (which I could play on the Deck), so it's starting to feel a bit redundant to own the RP4P.

I had the thought that I could turn it into a kind of dedicated roguelike machine with Balatro, Slay the Spire, Vampire Survivors/Crawlers etc (perfect for my commutes to work) but I'd have to either pay full price for the Android versions, or go deep into tinkering to sideload (is that the word for it?) the games which is way beyond my skillset. Sadly using Gamenative to play my Steam versions just doesn't seem to work on the RP4P either.

So my question for the gamers is: are there other use cases for the RP4P that would justify holding on to it? Is there a decent handful of non-retro games that I could install without needing to take an IT short course? What would you do in my situation?

Apologies if this a common problem but I'm struggling to find a solution.

EmuDeck is installed on my Steam Deck fully and has been running fine - I can open and play any game or emulator in Steam mode no issue. But when I try to run the AppImage in desktop mode (because I'd like to access Steam Rom Manager), I'm getting this error:

"Cannot mount AppImage, please check your FUSE setup.

You might still be able to extract the contents of this AppImage if you run it with the --appimage-extract option."

Is there any solution for this?

I built this team because I wanted to use Mr. Rime, and it seemed to me his best tools for doubles are Fake Out and Trick Room. The basic gameplan is to get both Trick Room and Aurora Veil up so that Abomasnow, Crab and/or Mamoswine can start clicking big damage attacks while moving first and being very hard to KO. I didn't explicitly set out to make a mono-ice team but I figured if snow/veil are up every mon is super bulky and really hard to one-shot (at least in theory).

Notes on individual mons:

Mr. Rime. Speed EVs are so he can still Fake Out max speed Incineroar before Trick Room goes up. Lefties + Ice Body + Protect + Snow + Veil makes Mr. Rime really hard to remove despite the horrible typing. Freeze Dry to hit Water types.

Abomasnow (Mega). Snow Warning on base and mega versions means I can reliably turn off Mega Zard's sun on turn 1 with Protect. Leaf Storm for single target damage, the SpA drop is annoying but this mon often needs to switch out to prepare to reset snow in the mid game.

Vanilluxe. Pumped the SpD because everything else on the team is more physically defensive. Imprison to turn off the opponent's Protect, which is often used against me to stall out the Trick Room / Snow / Veil turns, but tbh I don't usually get much use out of this because this mon is also switching out often.

Crabominable (Mega). Hyper Cutter to stop Incineroar's Intim/Parting Shot, and even without mega evolving this guy is bulky in snow/veil and hits like a truck. I've tried a variation with Anger Point and Frost Breath on Rime for a super gimmicky attack boost but Hyper Cutter is way more consistent.

Mamoswine. Curse to ramp up in Trick Room. Oblivious blocks Intimidate, but I have played around with both Thick Fat to become neutral to Fire and Snow Cloak + Bright Powder to be really annoying. Thinking about it, Thick Fat might be necessary to have something that isn't destroyed by Fire attacks.

Avalugg Hisui. Wide Guard bot. Sturdy is good for switching in for an emergency Wide Guard, and King's Rock is for even more flinch chances from Rock Slide and Mountain Gale (in Trick Room of course). I might try Ice Fang over Mountain Gale because that move loves to miss. This guy is a rare bring tbh, I could run regular Avalugg who is slower and gets Icicle Crash, but Avalugg Hisui has more attack, is neutral against Fire, gets STAB on Rock Slide and access to Mountain Gale.

Look, this is not a super serious team and has major problems, obviously. If I can't get Trick Room up it's a major uphill battle. I'm often clicking Fake Out with Rime turn 1 to get Aurora Veil up, so he is mostly safe to click Trick Room on Turn 2 with all the bulk, but if my opponent stops this I'm basically cooked. Mega Zard / Delphox melt everything, though it's worth noting Mr. Rime survives Heat Wave outside of Sun even without Veil up. Mega Scizor Bullet Punch and Mega Lucario Vacuum Wave wreck me as well and Farigiraf turns off Fake Out and reverses my Trick Room. Torkoal/Mega Camerupt make me nervous to click Trick Room too.

Any ideas? Should I dump Avalugg and Vanilluxe for say Mega Froslass and Weavile so the team has a non-Trick Room mode? Is there a non-Ice type that would be a good inclusion? And should I be maximising Defense EVs for the 1.5x snow multiplier or is max HP EVs better overall?

Chilly Chaplin (Mr. Rime) (M) @ Leftovers  
Ability: Ice Body  
Level: 50  
Shiny: Yes  
EVs: 32 HP / 11 Def / 23 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Fake Out  
- Trick Room  
- Protect  
- Freeze-Dry  

Brian Freeze (Vanilluxe) (M) @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Snow Warning  
Level: 50  
Shiny: Yes  
EVs: 32 HP / 2 SpA / 32 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
- Aurora Veil  
- Imprison  
- Protect  
- Blizzard  

Helga (Abomasnow-Mega) (F) @ Abomasite  
Ability: Snow Warning  
Level: 50  
EVs: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpA  
Quiet Nature  
- Aurora Veil  
- Protect  
- Blizzard  
- Leaf Storm  

Cuddles (Mamoswine) @ Never-Melt Ice  
Ability: Oblivious  
Level: 50  
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 SpD  
Brave Nature  
- Curse  
- Ice Shard  
- Icicle Crash  
- High Horsepower  

Mister Fister (Crabominable-Mega) @ Crabominite  
Ability: Hyper Cutter  
Level: 50  
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 Def  
Brave Nature  
- Drain Punch  
- Mach Punch  
- Ice Hammer  
- Thunder Punch  

Shelf (2003) (Avalugg-Hisui) @ King's Rock  
Ability: Sturdy  
Level: 50  
Shiny: Yes  
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 Def  
Brave Nature  
- Mountain Gale  
- Rock Slide  
- Wide Guard  
- Protect  

We've all lost the ability to compete, and it seems like supporter morale for these clubs is at a devastating low that has been worsening for years, with no clear light at the end of the tunnel. I can't tell if this is just me as a demoralised supporter catastrophising or do you think there is a genuine equalisation issue that needs addressing? Interested in what people think.

Edit: sorry North fans, probably shouldn't have included you guys. Go Kangas glad you're improving

Has anyone had any success at all getting Steam games to work via Gamenative on a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro? I have tried over a dozen very lightweight games and none of them open, I just get a black screen with a cursor every time. Is there some common settings I am missing? I have followed several set up guides for this and nothing is working whatsoever. Is it just that the RP4P can't handle it?