DuckStation vs Hercules

DuckStation is a free emulator for Sony PlayStation games, available for Android, Linux, macOS and Windows. Its hardware renderer supports D3D11, D3D12, OpenGL, Vulkan and Metal, with upscaling, texture filtering and 24-bit color among the graphics options. Enhancements include PGXP geometry precision, texture replacement, adaptive downsampling and post-processing shader chains. Play options include save states, rewind, runahead, CPU overclocking and multi-disc support, along with memory-card editing and save importing. DuckStation supports RetroAchievements and Discord Rich Presence. It accepts digital and analog controllers, rumble, and up to eight devices through multitap; GunCon and Justifier lightguns can be simulated with a mouse. Supported formats include bin/cue, MAME CHD, single-track ECM, MDS/MDF, CCD and unencrypted PBP. A PS1 or PS2 BIOS image is required but not supplied, and games are not provided. The maker says users should dump a BIOS from their own console. Desktop requirements include Windows 10/11 and macOS 13.3 or newer.

Hercules is a free, open-source emulator for IBM System/370, ESA/390, and 64-bit z/Architecture mainframes. It lets a PC execute programs designed for those systems and represents mainframe I/O devices with PC resources, including DASD files and local tn3270 sessions. It does not provide an operating system, so users must supply one or run a standalone program. With legally licensed software, it can run z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE, OS/390, VM/ESA, VSE/ESA, and older related IBM operating systems. Features include dynamic reconfiguration, an integrated console, interpretive execution, debugging tools, and snapshots and restore. Guest TCP/IP networking can connect to the host through TUN/TAP and hercifc, and multiple instances can share devices. Hercules is licensed under the Q Public Licence and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows; the host list also names Solaris and FreeBSD. Documented unsupported areas include ESCON, FICON, PR/SM, coupling links, and several z/Architecture facilities. Its FAQ says it has not claimed production capability and was intended as a system programmer's toy.