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Stream games

Play the heavier PC games without a powerful machine of your own: a gaming PC (or our lab streaming server) runs Sunshine as the host and streams the picture to Moonlight on your laptop, phone, tablet or even another Batocera box. Low latency on the LAN, and it works from home over the WireGuard VPN.

How it works

  1. 1
    Sunshine is the host: it runs on the machine with the GPU and captures the game.
  2. 2
    Moonlight is the client: install it on whatever you want to play on.
  3. 3
    Both are free and open-source; this replaces NVIDIA's discontinued GameStream and works on AMD, Intel and NVIDIA.

Host — set up Sunshine

  1. 1
    Our lab streaming server already runs Sunshine — ask an admin for its address and your PIN, then skip to the Moonlight steps.
  2. 2
    To host yourself: install Sunshine (Windows, Linux, macOS) — full step-by-step is in the Install Sunshine guide.
  3. 3
    Open the web UI at https://localhost:47990, accept the self-signed certificate and set a username + password on first launch.
  4. 4
    Add your games under Applications (or use the auto-detected Desktop entry), then leave Sunshine running.

Client — Windows / macOS / Linux

  1. 1
    Install Moonlight from moonlight-stream.org.
  2. 2
    On the same network the host appears automatically; otherwise click Add host and type its IP.
  3. 3
    Click the host, then enter the 4-digit PIN it shows into Sunshine's PIN page to pair once.
  4. 4
    Pick a game and press Start. Set resolution / FPS / bitrate in Moonlight's settings to match your connection.

Client — Android / iOS / Android TV

  1. 1
    Install Moonlight Game Streaming from the Play Store / App Store (also on Android TV and Fire TV).
  2. 2
    Make sure you are on the same WiFi as the host (or connected to the VPN), then tap the host tile.
  3. 3
    Enter the PIN into Sunshine to pair, then launch a game. A Bluetooth controller is strongly recommended on mobile.

From home — over the VPN

  1. 1
    Bring up the WireGuard tunnel first so your device is on the lab network.
  2. 2
    In Moonlight use Add host and enter the host's VPN IP (not its local LAN IP).
  3. 3
    Pair with the PIN as usual; everything else is identical to playing on the LAN.

Tips & troubleshooting

  1. 1
    Wired Ethernet (or 5 GHz WiFi) on both ends gives the smoothest, lowest-latency stream.
  2. 2
    Stutter or lag? Lower the bitrate and resolution in Moonlight before anything else.
  3. 3
    Host not found? Confirm Sunshine is running, the VPN is up, and that ports 47984–48010 (TCP/UDP) reach the host.
  4. 4
    A controller plugged into the client is passed through to the game automatically.
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