The arcade is open.

Yes. OpenGP contains nothing from the games, and nothing from them may ever be added: no code, data or assets, and not the recompiler's output either, since it is derived from the game. You need your own disc image of each game you want to play, the USA release of Mario Kart Arcade GP (GGPE01) or GP 2 (GGPE02). OpenGP checks the image against known good dumps before it builds anything.

No. An emulator interprets the game's machine code while it runs. OpenGP translates the whole game into C++ ahead of time, with a recompiler, and compiles that into a native program together with a runtime that stands in for the cabinet's hardware. It is the approach of Zelda64Recomp and UnleashedRecomp, applied to the Triforce arcade board. The games still run exactly their own logic; what changes is that it now runs as your computer's own code.

On a local network, yes. Up to four cabinets link, as the arcade machines did: copies of OpenGP on one PC, or on computers on the same network, and players join a race from the other cabinets while the entry timer runs. GP 2 links with GP 2 and GP with GP, on the same version of OpenGP.

Not over the internet. OpenGP only links with computers on a local network: private addresses, or a network your computer is on, such as a Radmin VPN or Hamachi network. Linked cabinets trust each other, with no password, so link on networks you trust.

GP DX is not a Triforce game, and OpenGP doesn't play it. The launcher has a page on it that says why. however. this may change in the future

OpenGP uses SDL 3, so most do. gamepads and the keyboard work as well, and gamepads rumble. racing sims with pedals and buttons map as close as possible onto the cabinet's controls, and wheels with force feedback get the cabinet's own effects: the centring spring, friction, and pushes from bumps and crashes.

In the package's user folder, next to the launcher: Mario Cards as files (one per card), the games' own data, settings, controls, screenshots and logs. Updating OpenGP keeps the folder.

OpenGP is free software under the GPL-3.0-or-later, and its repository contains no game code, data or assets. The games are built on your own computer from your own disc image, and nothing derived from them is distributed. Mario Kart and Mario Card are trademarks of Nintendo and Namco; Pac-Man and Tamagotchi are trademarks of Bandai Namco. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Bandai Namco or Sega.

Open an issue on GitHub with what happened and the game's log (the launcher's Saves and data tab has it). For anything that looks like a security problem, use the repository's Security tab instead of a public issue, as the security policy asks.