A New Beginning
Our Journey: From the Past to the Present—and Beyond
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the very first blog on the official Azahar Emulator Blog—your go-to destination for all news and updates related to the Azahar project.
To kick things off, I want to share the origin story of Azahar, our current progress, and a glimpse into where we’re headed.
The Past: Citra’s Final Chapter
On March 4, 2024, Tropic Haze officially discontinued development of the Citra emulator. The announcement was disheartening for many, but it also inspired a portion of the community to step up and preserve the legacy of this iconic emulator. In the wake of Citra’s shutdown, multiple forks emerged—most notably Lime3DS and a version maintained by PabloMK7.
Although both forks shared the same starting point and objectives—maintaining and enhancing what Citra left behind—they eventually branched into their own unique directions with separate leadership and development philosophies.
Lime3DS: Enhancing the Experience
The team behind Lime3DS, though passionate, had limited experience with the original Citra codebase or emulator development in general. As a result, instead of focusing heavily on the core emulation, they prioritized user-oriented features and overall usability.
Some notable enhancements in Lime3DS included:
- Customizable screen layouts
- Adjustable button sizes for better accessibility
- Haptic feedback on Android
- Bug fixes and UI tweaks, especially on the Android version, which had suffered from issues due to an incomplete Kotlin rewrite
These improvements made Lime3DS particularly appealing to casual users looking for flexibility and quality-of-life upgrades.
PabloMK7’s Fork: Deep Technical Improvements
In contrast, PabloMK7 had been directly involved in the Citra project before its discontinuation. His deep understanding of the emulator allowed him to focus on refining the low-level emulation core. While his fork retained Citra’s original interface with minimal changes, it delivered powerful backend improvements.
A standout feature from his version was the integration of Artic Base—a homebrew tool that allows users to stream game and save data directly from their 3DS console over a local network. This eliminated the need to manually dump game files, and offered a seamless way to play titles remotely, mimicking the Nintendo Switch’s hybrid functionality.
The Present: Unity and Collaboration
After months of working on our separate paths, PabloMK7 and I began discussing the idea of a collaborative effort. We realized that combining our work could create something greater than the sum of its parts. Following thoughtful conversations, brainstorming sessions, and some creative branding decisions, Azahar was born.
Merging the two forks wasn’t easy, but most of the unique contributions from both projects were preserved. A few conflicting or problematic features had to be left behind, but these were minor and unlikely to affect the user experience.
Azahar also introduces exciting new features that go beyond what either fork offered individually, including:
- eShop Access: Users can download demos and titles purchased prior to the eShop’s shutdown
- Performance Boost Hacks: New tweaks that can significantly enhance gameplay performance on select devices and games
The Future: A Unified Vision
Moving forward, our mission is to build on the momentum of both forks and drive Azahar development into a new era. By consolidating efforts, we aim to create a stable and active development environment and foster a unified community for 3DS fans, developers, and users alike.
This blog will serve as our main communication hub, where we’ll continue to post updates, share development insights, and involve the community in what comes next.
We’re excited for this next chapter—and we hope you are too. Thanks for joining us on this journey.
— The Azahar Emulator Team