Albion Online Launcher vs RetroFE

Albion Online Launcher provides access to Albion Online, a sandbox MMORPG set in the medieval fantasy world of Albion. It is free to download and play, with optional Premium subscriptions and in-game purchases. Players gather resources, craft weapons and armor, trade through local marketplaces, and build farms and furnished homes on private islands. The player-driven world lets players create nearly every weapon and building. Its equipment-based role system lets players change what they do by changing what they wear, rather than choosing from fixed classes. Activities include PvE, PvP, and large guild-versus-guild battles; danger zones use full-loot combat. The game is listed for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux. Xbox appears in the FAQ but is not on the download page’s client list. Premium status adds a Fame boost, 30 Learning Points per day, and 10,000 Focus Points per day. Account Guard sends an email security code for sign-ins from a new device or location.

RetroFE is a free, open-source front end for displaying, selecting and launching games, videos and programs, commonly used for game emulation. Collections arrange games and menu items into systems and submenus, and can show media such as box art, screenshots, logos and videos. Layouts set the front end’s appearance, with the option for collections to use their own layouts. Launcher configuration specifies an executable and arguments for starting an emulator, application or game; per-game launcher settings can override a collection’s default. Controls such as up, down, select and back are configured in a controls file. Its game information database can hold details including year, manufacturer, genre and player count. Setup involves editing global settings and controls files, then adding or editing collections. Full releases include a 32-bit Windows executable and a 64-bit Linux executable. Windows requires a recent Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio; some Linux distributions may require compiling from source. macOS users need to compile their own executable. Community-made themes are available for installation in the layouts directory, and the maker points users to forums and describes community support.