Raspberry Pi Gaming thread - Cheap emulation and gaming projects

Seagoon said:
I've settled on Recalbox for my setup after dabbling with RetroPie for quite some time. Recalbox has worked really well with only a few bugs such as text input in the emulationstation frontend requiring a keyboard and limited support for WiFi dongles. The latter can be solved with an $8 adapter from a site such as DX so it isn't a huge problem. The text input is only really an issue if you have scraping issues or want to setup WiFi.

Recalbox has made additions to the emulationstation frontend which make joining a Wifi network easy (assuming your adapter is supported). Connecting a bluetooth controller (such as a PS3 controller) is simply a matter of connecting a micro usb cable for 10 seconds. It also has an automatic update function which is nice. None of the emulators require any configuration (bar disabling smoothing, which is a global option)

Retropie to me at least, lacks polish and relies on the user to spend a lot of time editing configuration files. Every release seems to reduce the reliance on editing these files but there are still fundamental issues such as not being able to reconnect PS3 Bluetooth controllers after they disconnect without rebooting (unless you add some lines to rc.local to allow for that). Every time you launch or exit a game, you see the Linux command line which can be jarring if you are after that console experience. The latest release has a RetroPie menu that allows the configuration of controllers, but these are just shortcuts to configuration scripts or tools which require a keyboard.

I don't hate RetroPie - it was one of the first (maybe even the first?) out of the gate and if your are new to Linux it can be a great way of learning the basics. As time becomes more of a commodity in my life, I'm more interested in playing the games rather than refining the system they run on, Recalbox has been a blessing in that regard. Lakka looks extremely promising as well, although it seems to have a long road ahead of it.

The beauty of the RPi community at the moment is that you have options. Retropie is definitely more hackable compared with Lakka or Recalbox, but it depends what you are after. If RetroPie is your preferred distro - check out TechTipsta - his videos are invaluable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0j9NXPwJTa-_aPgyF1_eLg

The Recalbox wiki can be found here: https://github.com/digitalLumberjack/recalbox-os/wiki/Home-(EN)
Click to expand...
Great post. I'm currently using RetroPie, mostly because that's the most popular one, but I'll check out RecalBox too when I find the time. I guess it's a bit like iOS vs Android, if you just want stuff to work without hassle and really doesn't need the ability to configure every little bit of the OS you should choose an iOS device, or in this case RecalBox.
The latest RetroPie release is quite hassle free imo though, I think I've only need to configure the exit emulator buttons and wi-fi dongle on my retro console Pi. But upgrading is still a nightmare and it still seems to be recommended to start from scratch instead of doing a binary upgrade. I'm still at the first Pi2 release on my arcade cabinet because of this, I've edited way too many config files on that one.
 
Well, at $40 shipped from Amazon with a case being $8 and having all the other necessary equipment, it's hard to say no. I'm gonna try Recallbox first, and maybe Lakka since I love Retroarch so much.
 
Ordered a 10" 4:3 monitor for the Pi, at £57 it's not too bad, alas no speakers.

MdWMiwT.jpg


I should be able to power a Pi / Speakers and monitor with a DC splitter.
 
Had enough time last night to put my Pi 2 in the case I bought and setup my wifi dongle, so I remoted into a laptop from work today and loaded a few roms, hopefully I will have time to actually check it out tonight. I can't decide if I want a bluetooth dongle for my PS3 controller (it seems like not a lot of them work or not very reliably) or get a different controller.

One question, I ready that if you want to run N64 with any success at all you need to overclock, do the heatsinks make a big difference?
 
HBP said:
Had enough time last night to put my Pi 2 in the case I bought and setup my wifi dongle, so I remoted into a laptop from work today and loaded a few roms, hopefully I will have time to actually check it out tonight. I can't decide if I want a bluetooth dongle for my PS3 controller (it seems like not a lot of them work or not very reliably) or get a different controller.

One question, I ready that if you want to run N64 with any success at all you need to overclock, do the heatsinks make a big difference?
Click to expand...


This is the Bluetooth adapter I am using with my Recalbox and it works great.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GFX0PY/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 
Got Retropie running on my Pi2 last night after a bit of tweaking and re-installation. Thought I'd be a smartass and install the PS3 drivers before doing anything else. This kills any hope of getting the PS4 controller working afterwards. It was so easy to just trash the image and start a fresh though.

Works well with a PS4 controller and after much fiddling got a decent retro-ish image out of it. Really happy with the results. Looks great. I also completely forgot how tricky SMW is!!

btw I'm rocking the RP 3.0 beta. Seems solid.

SP0uvlY.png


RDolsMo.png


UQjmdt8.png


mmwhAxJ.png
 
Can somebody help me out on finding a good, lightweight scanline filter for Recalbox?
And where exactly should I put it?

And can I easily add retroarch systems not accounted for?
 
Vol5 said:
Got Retropie running on my Pi2 last night after

Works well with a PS4 controller and after much fiddling got a decent retro-ish image out of it. Really happy with the results. Looks great.

SP0uvlY.png
Click to expand...

Not familiar with Retropie, can you replicate those settings in other emus ?
Looks good, i'd like to know if this thing can handle NeoGeo and CPS2 stuff with those filters enabled.
 
Has anyone tried GBA and SNES games on Retropie with a Raspberry Pi model A or A+? Does it run smooth with only 256MB RAM? I'm thinking of building a Raspberry into a GBA case but the more powerfull models might be a little too big to fit.
 
Prez said:
Has anyone tried GBA and SNES games on Retropie with a Raspberry Pi model A or A+? Does it run smooth with only 256MB RAM? I'm thinking of building a Raspberry into a GBA case but the more powerfull models might be a little too big to fit.
Click to expand...

My original B had 256MB RAM, that ran GBA and SNES fine for me.
 
Bought a raspberry pi this weekend and had retropie up and running in half an hour~. This is pretty incredible stuff. Really want to build a mini mame cabinet now but will have to hold off for at least a little while!
 
With Pi2, PSU, case, good SD-card and an ok controller (iBuffalo SNES?!) I'm at ~100$.

That's kind of a lot ://
And I just have save-states but can't rewind games like I can on ZSNES on PC, right? I always thought of that feature as mind-blowing.
 
Lynn616 said:
This is the Bluetooth adapter I am using with my Recalbox and it works great.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GFX0PY/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Click to expand...

Went ahead and picked one of these up at lunch, will try it tonight. MicroCenter had an open box one for about $6.


With Pi2, PSU, case, good SD-card and an ok controller (iBuffalo SNES?!) I'm at ~100$.

That's kind of a lot ://
And I just have save-states but can't rewind games like I can on ZSNES on PC, right? I always thought of that feature as mind-blowing.
Click to expand...

That does kinda seem like a lot, I went with Pi2, Bluetooth, Wireless, Case and I am in about $55 already had a PSU, SD and Controller. I guess it depends a lot on your SD card mine is only 16GB but is good enough for now.
 
Metfanant said:
How's the performance of recalbox on the RPi2?...

Have you messed with any N64 stuff?
Click to expand...

I played around with N64 emulation a bit on RetroPie but in the end decided to abandon it after I realized that the emulation of the N64 is pretty patchy unless you intend to use to different emulators for some of the games. Mario Kart is a good example. One emulator may support split screen but has corrupted menus whereas the other emulator has correct menus but no splitscreen support. Some games such as Mario 64 work OK, but I found it too hit and miss to be enjoyable.

With Recalbox I've decided to hold off until things mature a bit.
 
MRORANGE said:
Ordered a 10" 4:3 monitor for the Pi, at £57 it's not too bad, alas no speakers.

MdWMiwT.jpg


I should be able to power a Pi / Speakers and monitor with a DC splitter.
Click to expand...

That monitor has audio in and, looks like. Audio out. Just plug your speakers into the monitor and you should be good to go....
 
Seagoon said:
I played around with N64 emulation a bit on RetroPie but in the end decided to abandon it after I realized that the emulation of the N64 is pretty patchy unless you intend to use to different emulators for some of the games. Mario Kart is a good example. One emulator may support split screen but has corrupted menus whereas the other emulator has correct menus but no splitscreen support. Some games such as Mario 64 work OK, but I found it too hit and miss to be enjoyable.

With Recalbox I've decided to hold off until things mature a bit.
Click to expand...

Sigh...maybe I'll be holding off a little bit longer then...N64 support is pretty much the biggest reason I'd like to have a retro machine...
 
ugh I tried to get this up and running, and succeed until it was time to fire up ms pacman (mame)

immediately 'files not found' followed by some kind of 'you need romset 375b' or some such. a rom i've had for years simply won't work on this thing. what the hell I thought mame was mame.

project halted while i figure this out. apparently you need a romset that is used for android or something. anyone know if there is a tool for reconfiguring roms to make this work? seems weird that a rom doesn't work on mame.

edit: forgot I actually found a maybe last night
http://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/managing-roms-with-clrmamepro/

I will be trying this and I'll update if mspacman shines forth from my pi v1 (2nd edition). I'll also post some updates about performance on the 2nd edition of the first pi.
 
catfish said:
ugh I tried to get this up and running, and succeed until it was time to fire up ms pacman (mame)

immediately 'files not found' followed by some kind of 'you need romset 375b' or some such. a rom i've had for years simply won't work on this thing. what the hell I thought mame was mame.

project halted while i figure this out. apparently you need a romset that is used for android or something. anyone know if there is a tool for reconfiguring roms to make this work? seems weird that a rom doesn't work on mame.

edit: forgot I actually found a maybe last night
http://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/managing-roms-with-clrmamepro/

I will be trying this and I'll update if mspacman shines forth from my pi v1 (2nd edition). I'll also post some updates about performance on the 2nd edition of the first pi.
Click to expand...

I've been having issues getting mame roms running as well. Snes/NES/Genesis work fine however. Going to dig into it this weekend and see if I can figure out the issue.
 
HBP said:
With a PS3 controller?
Click to expand...

Yes. You have to plug it in with USB the first time it let it associate with the Recalbox but after that you are wireless.

HBP said:
Went ahead and picked one of these up at lunch, will try it tonight. MicroCenter had an open box one for about $6.
Click to expand...

Great price.

Seagoon said:
How is the latency when using this adapter? I have a generic Bluetooth 4.0 dongle and I feel it could be better when using a PS3 controller.
Click to expand...

I am no expert but it works great for me.
 
catfish said:
ugh I tried to get this up and running, and succeed until it was time to fire up ms pacman (mame)

immediately 'files not found' followed by some kind of 'you need romset 375b' or some such. a rom i've had for years simply won't work on this thing. what the hell I thought mame was mame.

project halted while i figure this out. apparently you need a romset that is used for android or something. anyone know if there is a tool for reconfiguring roms to make this work? seems weird that a rom doesn't work on mame.

edit: forgot I actually found a maybe last night
http://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/managing-roms-with-clrmamepro/

I will be trying this and I'll update if mspacman shines forth from my pi v1 (2nd edition). I'll also post some updates about performance on the 2nd edition of the first pi.
Click to expand...

I built a 37b5 set from my later roms using clrmamepro (you need a mame exe for 37b5 to create a DAT file, if you don't have one) and it's pretty easy to do. It creates a set that can be used in quite a few android/imame emulators etc.

Just be careful that you don't output into the same folder as your more recent roms, or it will replace them all.
 
Cthulhu_Steev said:
I built a 37b5 set from my later roms using clrmamepro (you need a mame exe for 37b5 to create a DAT file, if you don't have one) and it's pretty easy to do. It creates a set that can be used in quite a few android/imame emulators etc.

Just be careful that you don't output into the same folder as your more recent roms, or it will replace them all.
Click to expand...

ah ok good to know. didn't have time to dig in tonight, but is mame.exe for 37b5 hard to come by online? I tried to get the same rom I have already from download sites or whatever and it was a virus party all over the place. I was too scared to even click google links... mame is different scene from when I built my mame cab in around 2000 sadly :(
 
Metfanant said:
Sigh...maybe I'll be holding off a little bit longer then...N64 support is pretty much the biggest reason I'd like to have a retro machine...
Click to expand...


The sad answer is just that N64 emulation is shit. Some games require changing plugins and settings and different emulators do things differently.

I couldn't get conker to work right so said fuck it and bought a rgb modded n64 for my pvm.
 
Fox Mulder said:
The sad answer is just that N64 emulation is shit. Some games require changing plugins and settings and different emulators do things differently.

I couldn't get conker to work right so said fuck it and bought a rgb nodded n64 for my pvm.
Click to expand...
Maybe by the time an RPi3 is released N64 emulation will be ironed out lol
 
Cthulhu_Steev said:
I built a 37b5 set from my later roms using clrmamepro (you need a mame exe for 37b5 to create a DAT file, if you don't have one) and it's pretty easy to do. It creates a set that can be used in quite a few android/imame emulators etc.

Just be careful that you don't output into the same folder as your more recent roms, or it will replace them all.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think that's the case for most portable versions of MAME. It was something like that was the last version that didn't use super-accurate (ie. CPU-taxing) emulation, thus best to run on mobile devices.

I never know how to get it to run, though. Need to play with it more so when I get a new device that runs MAME, I have a definitive romset.
 
Lynn616 said:
Yes. You have to plug it in with USB the first time it let it associate with the Recalbox but after that you are wireless.



Great price.



I am no expert but it works great for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the prior info, I set it up and it's working great.
 
catfish said:
ah ok good to know. didn't have time to dig in tonight, but is mame.exe for 37b5 hard to come by online? I tried to get the same rom I have already from download sites or whatever and it was a virus party all over the place. I was too scared to even click google links... mame is different scene from when I built my mame cab in around 2000 sadly :(
Click to expand...

All older versions are here: http://mamedev.org/oldrel.html

Shaneus said:
Yeah, I think that's the case for most portable versions of MAME. It was something like that was the last version that didn't use super-accurate (ie. CPU-taxing) emulation, thus best to run on mobile devices.

I never know how to get it to run, though. Need to play with it more so when I get a new device that runs MAME, I have a definitive romset.
Click to expand...

It's pretty easy to use - it's a lot easier than it used to be - but not very intuitive. This guide should get you through: http://www.mameworld.info/easyemu/clrmameguide/clrmame-guide.html

the main parts you'll use are the 'profiler' (to set up a datfile where the rom list is pulled from), the 'scanner' (to check your rom set is good) and 'rebuilder' (to create a mame/fba romset which will match the datfile version), just remember like I said, have the rebuild destination folder away from you roms folder :)

The 37b5 romset comes under 2GB, so it's a handy set to keep around seeing as all the golden age classics are in there.
 
Blergmeister said:
You need to copy a GBA BIOS file to the retropie. It should be named gba_bios.bin. The instructions said it should work in the /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS folder but this didn't work for me. It did in the /opt/retropie/emulators/gpsp folder and now I can run GBA games fine. However I can't play them fine due to controller issues.

I'm using an xbox 360 wired controller. From what I can tell when I load GBA it uses the gpSP emulator, which gets its controls from not the standard Retroarch controls that most everything else uses. I can hit F10 from within a GBA game and configure my controls from there but for some reason it won't recognize my DPad directions. I don't want to use a joystick because it's wayyyy too touchy, on top of my preference for the DPad anyways. Anyone know what's up?

I'd like to try one of the other GBA emulators that do use the Retroarch standard controls but I don't know how to switch? Some Youtube video said to hold X on the keyboard after starting a GBA game and from this menu you can change emulators. I must have downloaded an old version of Retropie because this option isn't available to me... so if anyone has any ideas?

The other thing I'm working through is Playstation games. I've ripped all my PSX games to my PC and copied them over to Retropie but I don't know how to name multi-disk games so that it works nice. Using Final Fantasy 7 as an example, I ripped all the disks naming them FF7 (disk 1), etc. I now have .BIN and .CUE files named accordingly. In Retropie I just see 3 copies of FF7, no disk names. I load up a random one, start a new game to test it out, and it says insert disk one. So...???
Click to expand...

GBA emulation, when it works, is truly wonderful. Leaf Green runs at 60 FPS for me, but fire red, sapphire, ruby, and emerald don't run at all. I've had zero issues with SNES/NES/PS1 and aside from a few things, I really haven't messed much with NeoGeo or MAME. N64 suffered from either major slow down, or just flat out not working at all.
 
Managed to get that monitor, its pretty sweet, works amazingly well once you change the config.txt and it's nice being able to play all my games on a 4:3 screen, it has a vesa mount, I'm tempted to do what Fredrik did and turn it into a mini arcade machine.

Games work well with its resolution (800x600) and response time is pretty good, only downside that audio out? doesn't seem to be working, not sure, it never stated on the website it could do audio.

Compared to a 9" 16:9 monitor it definetly has an advantage:

9-inch-16x9-vs-10-inch-4x3.png
Click to expand...

Some screnshots:

h1rKhBP.jpg


A82GYvL.jpg


JOnvfK7.jpg


Definitely a nice pick-up for the raspberry pi.
 
I'm having a problem here.

I followed the steps until stpe 14 where the Pi froze and that I had to turn it off.

Then it wouldn't boot anymore, the PWR and ACT lights are steady lit.

I reformated my SD Card and put the image back in but it won't boot anymore.

Can you brick a pi?

I will try another SD Card
 
catfish said:
ugh I tried to get this up and running, and succeed until it was time to fire up ms pacman (mame)

immediately 'files not found' followed by some kind of 'you need romset 375b' or some such. a rom i've had for years simply won't work on this thing. what the hell I thought mame was mame.

project halted while i figure this out. apparently you need a romset that is used for android or something. anyone know if there is a tool for reconfiguring roms to make this work? seems weird that a rom doesn't work on mame.

edit: forgot I actually found a maybe last night
http://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/managing-roms-with-clrmamepro/

I will be trying this and I'll update if mspacman shines forth from my pi v1 (2nd edition). I'll also post some updates about performance on the 2nd edition of the first pi.
Click to expand...

reporting in...

I used clrmamepro as described in the link above on a random romset. success! not 100% some roms dropped/notimported, however, i'm up and running.

I have a couple issues. Using a madcatz fightstick I'm having issues mapping the buttons correctly. can't map streetfighter in the classic layout, bottom left button won't register in the mame config itself. a few more annoyances like that.

however, I'm going to purchase a bunch of buttons etc and wire up a panel. Getting quite excited about it now, think I'll also get a minipac so you can use the 'shift buttons' function. things like holding down player 1 start and pushing button 1 will trigger an 'escape' in mame so you can get back to menu.
 
Having an issue with MAME, I am able to see them in emulation station but everything I try to load it says "xx" not compatible. Any idea what I'm missing?
 
HBP said:
Having an issue with MAME, I am able to see them in emulation station but everything I try to load it says "xx" not compatible. Any idea what I'm missing?
Click to expand...

check the post above your post. sounds like you have what I have and the clrmamepro tutorial in the link will sort you out.
 
Fredrik said:
Just looking at the total cost makes me think it actually cost me way too much to be honest, like $500 or something like that :S

But mostly because I had to buy a bunch of tools. I started out fresh on this, haven't really built anything meaningful at all before this.

Material-wise including the Raspberry Pi 2 it cost me about $300.
Wood $40 (lots of stuff left though)
RPi2 + case $40
TFT $10 (from a friend)
Speakers 0$ (old iphone dock)
Stick, buttons and IPAC $120 (2 player set)
Paint etc $30
Screws, drills and mounting plates $30
Stuff I'm probably forgetting $30

But it was still worth every penny because I had tons of fun doing it :)
Click to expand...

Awesome work Fredrik,
I am planning to make an arcade cabinet as well. Regarding the arcade sticks, where did you get your parts, what exactly did you need (what's an IPAC?), and was it $120 shipped?

I was considering using X-arcade parts, but wasn't sure if it was worth buying parts or just buying the whole double stick. I would love to do it as inexpensive but high quality as possible.
http://shop.xgaming.com/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

"Only in gaming" thread
2
65
2K
JustaStupidBoulder replied
PC gaming on the Cheap!
27
2K
Itchy Tickles replied
Useless recommendations for gaming thread
0
255
Ainem Enamas replied
Update on the two Far Cry projects - (Insider Gaming)
35
2K
Magic Carpet replied
People with atypical and limited gaming palettes
2
62
3K
m14 replied
Top Bottom