Moonlight - Play PC (Steam) Games on PS Vita via Remote Play

vita moonlight nividia gamestream

This guide will show you how to use the Moonlight application by xyzz for PS Vita, this will allow you to play PC and Steam games on your PS Vita via remote play using the Nvidia GameStream technology. Moonlight is a project to port the Nvidia GameStream platform to various devices and operating systems such as iOS, Android and ChromeOS. 

The PS Vita version greatly shows off he console’s potential, the gamepad buttons are already configured making it very easy to jump in play games with very little setup. In addition to PC games, Moonlight is also compatible with emulators such as Dolphin or PCSX2 to play Wii or PS2 games on your PS Vita without heavily relying on the system’s processing power. 

The main drawback of the PS Vita version of Moonlight is that you will have to depend on its relatively weak Wi-Fi card, forcing you to limit your range and video quality for smoother gameplay. All in all, Moonlight is a great addition to any hacked PS Vita and will grant you the ability play games that would not otherwise be playable on the device.

Required Downloads:

PlayStation Vita with Custom Firmware

Local Wi-Fi connection

  • Your PC will stream content to your PS Vita using the Wi-Fi connection

Windows PC with Nvidia GTX 650 or Higher Graphics Card

  • Nvidia GameStream is only compatible with the GTX 650 or better, check your Nvidia GPU’s manual if you are unsure

Nividia GeForce Experience Installed on PC

  • Nvidia GameStream is part of the GeForce Experience Windows application

Installing Moonlight

  1. On your PS Vita, launch VitaShell and press the [Select] button to activate FTP or USB modevitashell vita ftp ip address
  2. On your PC file browser, go to ux0: and create a folder called vpk if it doesn’t already existvita ux0 vpk folder
  3. Transfer Moonlight.vpk to the ux0:/vpk/ folder on your PS Vitavita vpk folder ftp
  4. When the transfer is complete, press [Circle] on your PS Vita to close FTP/USB mode
  5. In VitaShell, go to ux0: -> /vpk/ then highlight Moonlight.vpk
  6. Press [Cross] to install it and confirm the extended permissions prompt.ps vita vitashell install vpk
  7. Close VitaShell when the installation is complete
  8. Make a note of the IP address that your PS Vita displays when you enter FTP mode in VitaShell

Configuring Moonlight

  1. On your PC, go to [Start/Windows] -> search [Run] and press enterrun cmd get ip address
  2. Type cmdand press Enterrun cmd ipconfig get ip address
  3. Type ipconfig in the Command Prompt window and press Enter
  4. Make a note of the IPv4 address – this is your local IP addressget ip run cmd ipconfig
  5. Open GeForce Experience on your PC and login using your Nvidia account
  6.  Go to the [Preferences] tab and select [SHIELD] from the left menumoonlight geforce experience allow pc stream shield
  7. Enable [Allow this PC to stream games to SHIELD devices]
  8. On your PS Vita, launch the new [Moonlight] bubble in your LiveAreavita moonlight get ip address search device
  9. Select [Add manually] and enter your PC’s IP address or choose your PC from [Search devices]moonlight vita enter ip address add device
  10. Your PS Vita will display a pairing code and your PC will request the code
  11. Enter your PS Vita code into the PC pop-up windownvidia gamestream vita moonlight pair code pc
  12. Your PS Vita will now be able to connect to your PC from the Moonlight main menuvita moonlight get ip address pair device
  13. Press down the d-pad to find the Settings for many customisation options; you can configure the resolution, framerate, bitrate, configure the touchscreen and morevita moonlight settings guide
  14. Select your PC and choose the game that you wish to play on the PS Vita, the game will automatically launch on the PCvita moonlight games menu

Congratulations, you’ve now installed and setup Moonlight with Nvidia GameStream. Your PS Vita will be configured automatically to function as an XBOX 360 controller with the buttons already mapped.

Adding PC Games

Your GameStream compatible games will be in the GeForce Experience window on your PC. Go to the [Game] tab to see your list of games.
nvidia gamestream geforce experience moonlight games menu
To configure which directories GeForce Experience scans for games. Go to the [Preferences] tab and select the [Games] menu from the left
moonlight nvidia gamestream geforce experience game folders
Add your own games that are not directly compatible with GameStream in the [Preferences] -> [SHIELD] menu. Just select the executable (.exe) for the game to add it to GameStream.moonlight nvidia gamestream geforce experience games

vita moonlight add more games

Although Moonlight will emulator a XBOX 360 controller, not all PC games are compatible with game controllers. Your mouse and keyboard keys can be mapped to the PS Vita buttons using the JoyToKey application.joytokey setup vita controller

Playing Steam Games

If you’d like to play games from your Steam library, choose [Steam] from the Moonlight stream menu on your PS Vita. You will need to sign into your Steam account.steam login vita moonlight nvidia gamestream
Steam will load up in Big Picture mode, you can then start any of your games directly from the Steam library
vita moonlight steam big pictureGo to [Settings] -> [Controller Settings] -> [Define Layout] to remap your buttons specifically for Steam gamesvita moonlight steam picture controller settings
Your PS Vita will function as a XBOX 360 controller for Steam games vita moonlight big picture controller settings 2

Emulators with Moonlight

You can also play with emulators such as PCSX2 or Dolphin on your PS Vita using Moonlight. Add your emulator’s executable (.exe) to the games list in GeForce Experience. Go to the [Preferences] tab -> [SHIELD] menumoonlight nvidia gamestream geforce experience games

Launch your emulator from the Moonlight menu and wait for the emulator to launch on your PC. You will need to confirm on your PC if your emulator is set to run as administrator. Your PS Vita will function as a XBOX 360 controller but you may need to configure your controller mapping in the emulator’s settingsvita moonlight dolphin emulator nvidia gamestream

Gaming with PS Vita

VitaStick

  • You can use your Vita as a USB controller without remote play using the VitaStick app and plugin by xerpi

PlayStation 4 Remote Play

  • You can use your PS Vita to play PS4 games via remote play

RetroArch

  • In addition to streaming PC games, the PS Vita can emulate older systems such as GameBoy Advance or Sega Genesis using the RetroArch emulator package

Adrenaline

  • Adrenaline unlocks the built in PSP emulator for flawless PSP and PSX gameplay and is also compatible with PSP homebrew

Credits