Universal emulation that allows to automagically run any classic application with just a click is not possible. At some point, it will be necessary some kind of manual intervention.
Lets consider a few points:
the classic Amiga family of computers comprises several models;
each model can come with a variety of hardware/software configurations;
lots of classic applications (most notably the majority of games and demos) strictly rely on specific hardware/software configurations.
The immediate consequence is that there is no real Amiga that can run all the classic applications. And, sometimes, even if a certain machine is capable of running a certain piece of software, still some manual configuration work is required to get everything running properly.
In the emulation world, things are not much different - actually, they might even be more complicated. In fact, even if emulation allows to create virtual machines that offer broader compatibility, still there are some key problems that make universal emulation a utopia:
some problems are intrinsically unsolvable (e.g. some applications work only on an MC68000 CPU, some others only on an MC68020 CPU);
emulation is hardly 100% faithful, so what works on real machines might not work under emulation;
emulation demands power, so, for speed/smoothness sake, sometimes it is necessary some good deal of tweaking.
A common solution is having a number of generic UAE configurations to simulate multiple machines, each capable of running a subset of the classic software. This is exactly one case of manual intervention: somebody must create those configurations. Moreover, also choosing the most suitable configuration to run a given application with is a manual operation.
Sometimes, however, such solution just does not cut it, because a certain application requires some really specific settings to run (and to do it decently). Therefore, a specific configuration needs be to created - again, somebody must take the burden.
There are also other solutions (software wrappers, database-driven GUIs, etc.), but all of them require manual fiddling at some level.
Here, the focus is on a very alternative, user-friendly solution: the glUAE helpers.
The cool and different thing about a helper is that user starts with just the helper itself (not even a copy of the application) and ends up with the application installed, configured and ready to run optimally and transparently at the cost of answering just few simple questions.
HOW HELPERS WORK
The installation procedure of a helper only requires the user to:
unpack the helper package anywhere;
launch the installer included in the package;
follow the installation process, making a few simple choices.
The helper takes care of all the rest - it even downloads the application itself! - and, when the procedure ends, the application is ready to run from a nice icon.
This video shows the game Superfrog being installed and launched.
Helpers generally require just:
Internet connection;
some room in the T: directory;
some standard AmigaDOS commands in the commands path;
SetDTool in the commands path (automatically downloaded and optionally installed, if not found);
glUAE (automatically downloaded and installed, if not found).
Depending on the application and/or the user choices, helpers might require also additional tools, which will be downloaded (and installed, if needed) automatically.
This video shows the R-Type helper taking care also of the installation and setup of SetDTool and glUAE.
NOTES
Since helpers refer to external links, they are guaranteed to perform the installation correctly only at the time of the release.
The success/quality of the emulation may depend on the version/variant of UAE used (check the README included in each helper package to see which one has been used for testing).
The performance of the emulation depends on the host system, on UAE and on the choices made during installation.
The collection of the currently available helpers is limited because each helper requires specific and manual work (had an automated process existed, they would have been totally pointless, after all). Supporting the whole project might help expand the collection.
