Raspberry Pi Gaming thread - Cheap emulation and gaming projects

When you load a game, you have a prompt to press 'x' to change the options for the emulator or rom. In the menu listing there is an option to chane the resolution, you can also change the video options in RetroArch to stretch the image for 4:3 games.

I don't recommend up-scaling games to higher resolutions, I've found that Overlays and Shaders give back games it's original feel, even on a 50" TV

Is there an easy way to get scanlines on all the libreto emulators via retroarch/retropie ?
 
The 8bitdo SFC30 Controller + Bluetooth Dongle I synced using PiAssist:-
https://github.com/Death259/PiAssist
However although the D-Pad works in PiAssist none of the buttons will register, and the opposite occurs in EmulationStation where it wont recognise the D-Pad but will register the buttons.

Hey there,

I have a question and hopefully an answer for you:

Question (also for anyone with a Bluetooth controller)
How do you get it to connect automatically on boot? My NES30 Pro will pair if I use PiAssist but I'm looking for a no-keyboard solution so I want it to be paired when EmulationStation opens. Any tips?

Answer:
For the Nes30 Pro to be recognized, I did use the following:
cd /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/
sudo ./retroarch-joyconfig -j 0 >> /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

Follow the prompts and it will declare it as joystick 0 inside this file:
/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

The controls will be the default for all emu, you might need some editing but that will come later if you need it, just ask :)
 
Question (also for anyone with a Bluetooth controller)
How do you get it to connect automatically on boot? My NES30 Pro will pair if I use PiAssist but I'm looking for a no-keyboard solution so I want it to be paired when EmulationStation opens. Any tips?
You need to make your NES30 Pro a 'trusted' device.
I originally followed the information here:-
http://www.ctheroux.com/a-step-by-s...tooth-keyboard-and-mouse-on-the-raspberry-pi/
But then later found this:-
http://forum.8bitdo.com/thread-328-1-1.html

Basically I followed this process:-

sudo bash
update-rc.d -f dbus defaults
apt-get install bluetooth bluez-utils blueman
>Make sure your bluetooth dongle is being recognised with this command
lsusb
>Turn on your controller in discoverable mode, then enter
hcitool scan
>Copy the MAC address of controller and enter it in below commands (My controller MAC address is just listed as an example)
bluez-simple-agent hci0 01:06:84:7B:60:0F
bluez-test-device trusted 01:06:84:7B:60:0F yes
bluez-test-input connect 01:06:84:7B:60:0F

Then your controller should be trusted and will reconnect to retropie once its loaded.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks also for your suggestion, but unfortunately it didnt work for me :(

However I did find this information in the thread linked above:-
NinjaJoey said:
While loading hold start on your controller to turn it back on

your blue light should go solid when you get into emulation station

it should ask to setup a controller. ( if not use the a usb keyboard hit enter to open the options and config controller)

Hold down on the Dpad (it should say keyboard)

Only set UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT

Skip A, B, START, SELECT, LEFT BUMPER, RIGHT BUMPER

then hit ok

Now reopen the controller config and hold A (should say 8Bitdo NES30 GamePad)

skip UP,DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT ( you should be able to use your down arrow on your Dpad to skip them)

Set A, B, START, SELECT, LEFT BUMPER, RIGHT BUMPER

then hit ok and you should have a working controller.

This managed to get my controller working!

However I dont really understand why all this was necessary? Its as if the SFC30 D-pad and buttons are being registered completely seperately from one another, with the D-Pad recognised as a keyboard input, and the buttons recognised as gamepad inputs.

Can retropie not recognise hat switches on Gamepads? or is there a bug in the 8bitdo SFC30 controller firmware?
 
You need to make your NES30 Pro a 'trusted' device, I originally followed the information here

It was my mistake, I simply needed to turn off the controller and then turn it back ON while EmuStation loads to pair it. I thought it would reconnect by itself on a reboot...

However I did find this information in the thread linked above:-
This managed to get my controller working!

However I dont really understand why all this was necessary? Its as if the SFC30 D-pad and buttons are being registered completely seperately from one another, with the D-Pad recognised as a keyboard input, and the buttons recognised as gamepad inputs.

Can retropie not recognise hat switches on Gamepads? or is there a bug in the 8bitdo SFC30 controller firmware?

I don't quite understand what that problem is. The D-Pad of your SFC30 doesn't work inside EmuStation? I don't have that behavior on my side. I'm using a NES30 Pro though...
 
My SNES30 works perfectly with all emulators and emulationstation via Bluetooth. I have also set it up to sync automatically on boot when you turn the controller on.

I should upload the config files at some point. It was easy to set up.

There isn't a bug with the controller. You have to switch modes on the controller when configuring the controls in emulationstation (select and down? I think?) As the d pad and buttons are set separately. Once configured, it works perfectly.

Never ever had any issues with it via Bluetooth. Works like a dream.
 
hey guys, thinking about setting up my rasperry pi to play games. Going to get a pretty large microSD card. I was wondering if the speed of the card matters on game performance? I've read some reviews on different classes of cards from people.

also, couldn't you use a usb stick to store games or would that be too slow?
 
hey guys, thinking about setting up my rasperry pi to play games. Going to get a pretty large microSD card. I was wondering if the speed of the card matters on game performance? I've read some reviews on different classes of cards from people.

also, couldn't you use a usb stick to store games or would that be too slow?

To be honest you might as well just buy the fastest microSD card you can, I have type10 32GB, the difference in price will be a few pounds. You can run roms from a USB stick, but you'll struggle to fill the space on a microSD card unless you are using lots of PSX ISOs ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WGpGCn9NeI
 
hey guys, thinking about setting up my rasperry pi to play games. Going to get a pretty large microSD card. I was wondering if the speed of the card matters on game performance? I've read some reviews on different classes of cards from people.

also, couldn't you use a usb stick to store games or would that be too slow?

For small games (cartridge based games are usually only a few MBs) you won't notice any difference at all since the emulators most likely just store the entire game in RAM on load-time. If you will be playing PS1 games, which are a lot larger in terms of storage, you might notice that some cards perform better than others. Regardless, even a slow card should outperform the CD player found in the PS1.

There are other reasons why you would want a fast SD card, but gaming on emulators is not really one of them.
 
Hey guys I got RetroPie up and running great on a Pi2 thanks to this thread but I'm not getting any sound anywhere. I tried forcing audio through HDMI, tried a different port on the tv and different cable with no change. I even completely wiped the sd card and started over but still no sound. Any suggestions at this point would be awesome.
 
Hey guys I got RetroPie up and running great on a Pi2 thanks to this thread but I'm not getting any sound anywhere. I tried forcing audio through HDMI, tried a different port on the tv and different cable with no change. I even completely wiped the sd card and started over but still no sound. Any suggestions at this point would be awesome.

Through the HDMI Cable? If so I had the same problem. I will check and find the fix I used.

Edit: found it

Wow - thanks so much!!

HDMI audio is finally working

1) http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting#Sound really did the trick

- in \boot\config.txt , uncomment hdmi_drive=2

2) Next I did :
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install alsa-utils
sudo modprobe snd_bcm2835

Nothing changed, but then

3) I ran this command -

amixer cset numid=3 2
(yes I put the space after the 3 and then the 2)

And sound now works beautifully

The other thing that really helped was getting the sound to come out louder. I fixed that by doing this:

Enter the command 'alsamixer' and use the control to check that the volume is up (arrow keys) and that the output is not muted (M key).

Now my sound is perfect. Thanks very much!!
 
I've been thinking about getting a pi 2 in order to do this as well as use it as a media centre. Is there any os I can load that allows the use of retropi and kodi/xmbc?

Edit: May have found it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyeCQS7ITnU

I run Openelec (a media center focused OS running Kodi). Follow the instructions here to install emulators. This allows you to run view and run roms as you would, say, movies and TV shows in Kodi. Controller options might be limited until the next version of the OS is released. If there are any emulator cores that are missing you can simply extract them from Retropie and put them in the addon folder.
 
For anyone else who happens to run into it, Retroarch "freezing" at the menu (it actually just fails to recognize any key inputs) after pressing Select + Y is apparently a known issue that cropped up in the recent RetroPie build and is being looked into.

I guess that's good to know? Doesn't look like there are any issues with any other hot key functionality, luckily.
 
Through the HDMI Cable? If so I had the same problem. I will check and find the fix I used.

Edit: found it

Wow - thanks so much!!

HDMI audio is finally working

1) http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting#Sound really did the trick

- in \boot\config.txt , uncomment hdmi_drive=2

2) Next I did :
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install alsa-utils
sudo modprobe snd_bcm2835

Nothing changed, but then

3) I ran this command -

amixer cset numid=3 2
(yes I put the space after the 3 and then the 2)

And sound now works beautifully

The other thing that really helped was getting the sound to come out louder. I fixed that by doing this:

Enter the command 'alsamixer' and use the control to check that the volume is up (arrow keys) and that the output is not muted (M key).

Now my sound is perfect. Thanks very much!!

I ended up getting it to work by hitting "x" to get into the config menus for the emulator when starting a game, and then selecting I believe it was (CES 4?) for my output resolution and after doing that I had sound. I went through and did it for all my systems and it works great now. Thanks for the detailed response though, I'm sure we won't be the only people to come across this problem.
 
Which settings should I select for best video quality for PSX? I found out that I can set video output and render resolution if I click 'x' on the keyboard while a ROM is loading. Which resolution(s) should I choose? There's an additional set of options if I enter the settings (f1) while I'm in a ROM. It's confusing as hell. Any advice? If you wanna give some tips for better NES/SNES video quality as well that'd be appreciated too, thanks!
 
Which settings should I select for best video quality for PSX? I found out that I can set video output and render resolution if I click 'x' on the keyboard while a ROM is loading. Which resolution(s) should I choose? There's an additional set of options if I enter the settings (f1) while I'm in a ROM. It's confusing as hell. Any advice? If you wanna give some tips for better NES/SNES video quality as well that'd be appreciated too, thanks!

Set the display to integer scale in the retroarch menu for each emulator.
 
So, I hit x when the game was loading and accidentally switched the output resolution, not the render resolution. I set it to 1920x1080 16:9 and it works but its still 4:3 like regular psx games which is weird. I did not change the rendering resolution. What was the default output resolution? If I put 4:3 sd it wont work. Thanks! Also...how can I get the ps3 analogue sticks to work in all games?
 
So, I hit x when the game was loading and accidentally switched the output resolution, not the render resolution. I set it to 1920x1080 16:9 and it works but its still 4:3 like regular psx games which is weird. I did not change the rendering resolution. What was the default output resolution? If I put 4:3 sd it wont work. Thanks! Also...how can I get the ps3 analogue sticks to work in all games?

Use the retroarch menu.

Seriously.
 
when I do sudo nano /home/pi/RetroPie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg nothin shows up! It's just empty. Bah!

I don't understand what you are trying to do. That's not what I meant. At all. Ignore command lines. Ignore the keyboard.

Use the retroarch menu. Press select and Y whilst playing a game. Go to options and select configuration save per core. See. Options. Treat yourself.
 
I don't understand what you are trying to do. That's not what I meant. At all. Ignore command lines. Ignore the keyboard.

Use the retroarch menu. Press select and Y whilst playing a game. Go to options and select configuration save per core. See. Options. Treat yourself.

Ah, got it. Eventually got the joysticks to work with a couple lines. Though it'd be nice if i could use both the joysticks and the d pad in psx games.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get it to be 16:9 and increase the resolution. And have it stay that way. I think it's do with the save per core like you said. Well, thanks again!
 
Ah, got it. Eventually got the joysticks to work with a couple lines. Though it'd be nice if i could use both the joysticks and the d pad in psx games.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get it to be 16:9 and increase the resolution. And have it stay that way. I think it's do with the save per core like you said. Well, thanks again!

That's cool! I would seriously advise against increasing the resolution. Keep it at 720p unless you want a framerate hit.
 
That's cool! I would seriously advise against increasing the resolution. Keep it at 720p unless you want a framerate hit.

I actually tried, and it honestly doesnt look any different! I think it's because the TV upscales the image. Weirdly enough, I've gotta actually figure out how to disable joysticks in a couple games. Crash Bandicoot and metal slug x wont work with analog and it like disables all the other buttons. Sucks. Well, you've been insanely helpful, thanks Rich!

Bonus question: are there custom textures or something I can use with ff7/8/9?
 
So I don't know if this was posted but I keep getting a rainbow square screen and see nothing else, it seems like its in a 4:3 aspect ration and its just a rainbow across the screen and can't get past it any help guys?
 
So I don't know if this was posted but I keep getting a rainbow square screen and see nothing else, it seems like its in a 4:3 aspect ration and its just a rainbow across the screen and can't get past it any help guys?

That's the low voltage warning.

Get a decent power adapter
 
So I don't know if this was posted but I keep getting a rainbow square screen and see nothing else, it seems like its in a 4:3 aspect ration and its just a rainbow across the screen and can't get past it any help guys?

If you're are booting up the Pi and getting a 4:3 square that covers the whole screen and it won't boot anything even with an SD card inserted, it might be something wrong with the SD card reader. Check to make sure the microSD card is connected correctly. It happened to me on my first Raspberry Pi.

Now if you're talking about the rainbow square that Rich! Above mentioned before me, then that is low voltage.
 
Installed reicast emulator (Dreamcast) on Pi today...

:o

zmQcgxv.jpg



:)

aX1Qzqu.jpg


:D

Hnb5KJQ.jpg


:DDD

URsxMyT.jpg



Most games are working but none are 100% full speed, more like 75% speed with lots of audio stuttering like with N64 on Raspberry Pi

Games that work:

Sega GT
UEFA Football
Ready 2 Rumble
Shenmue
Marvel vs Capcom 2

All of these work but play at different speeds, hopefully development gets better.
 
put mine together tonight and figured I'd have to come to the thread asking a million questions but WHOA IT WAS SO EASY

I'll still probably have questions but man
 
Installed reicast emulator (Dreamcast) on Pi today...

:o

zmQcgxv.jpg



:)

aX1Qzqu.jpg


:D

Hnb5KJQ.jpg


:DDD

URsxMyT.jpg



Most games are working but none are 100% full speed, more like 75% speed with lots of audio stuttering like with N64 on Raspberry Pi

Games that work:

Sega GT
UEFA Football
Ready 2 Rumble
Shenmue
Marvel vs Capcom 2

All of these work but play at different speeds, hopefully development gets better.

I would love these to all be 100% playable, still waiting on N64 increased compatability
 
Installed reicast emulator (Dreamcast) on Pi today...

:o

zmQcgxv.jpg



:)

aX1Qzqu.jpg


:D

Hnb5KJQ.jpg


:DDD

URsxMyT.jpg



Most games are working but none are 100% full speed, more like 75% speed with lots of audio stuttering like with N64 on Raspberry Pi

Games that work:

Sega GT
UEFA Football
Ready 2 Rumble
Shenmue
Marvel vs Capcom 2

All of these work but play at different speeds, hopefully development gets better.

That hair and face modelling in Shenmue - really was way ahead of its time.
 
I have my RetroPie up and running with all of my controls; It's working great! I have a few questions, though. I created a custom shader preset that I want to use for my games, but whenever I go to Save As, the Pi just freezes. Is there another way to do this?

Also, for those running Kodi through RetroPi. Is there a way to get it to recognize my USB hard drive? I'm familiar with the software, but my USB drive doesn't show up. I get mostly network stuff and whatever is on the micro SD card.
 
was gonna buy a SFC30 controller for my SNES Pi console...but uh, realised it was cheaper just to swap the buttons over on my SNES30 pad lol


such an awesome controller. all the buttons and membranes inside are swappable with the official ones, which is sweet. Now it matches my console. yay.

still working with it wirelessly like a dream
 
such an awesome controller. all the buttons and membranes inside are swappable with the official ones, which is sweet. Now it matches my console. yay.

still working with it wirelessly like a dream
Wow, that's awesome! It's a shame there's not something similar that has twin-sticks as well (ideally I'd love a Saturn-style 6-button with twin analogs) but that the rubber membranes and such are swappable is awesome.
 
Installed reicast emulator (Dreamcast) on Pi today...

:o

zmQcgxv.jpg



:)

aX1Qzqu.jpg


:D

Hnb5KJQ.jpg


:DDD

URsxMyT.jpg



Most games are working but none are 100% full speed, more like 75% speed with lots of audio stuttering like with N64 on Raspberry Pi

Games that work:

Sega GT
UEFA Football
Ready 2 Rumble
Shenmue
Marvel vs Capcom 2

All of these work but play at different speeds, hopefully development gets better.

Oh man! once I hear of a 100% speed DC emulator going, I'm for sure getting one of these.
 
I got my RetroPie up and running, however my controller doesn't work properly with SNES. It put the rom in the snes folder and the buttons worked on the menu, I was able to select 1 player and such, but once the game started I could not move. I also tried snes9xrpi and I wasn't even able to get into the game. Everything worked fine on the NES emulator. I don't know if I need to configure something else.
 
I got my RetroPie up and running, however my controller doesn't work properly with SNES. It put the rom in the snes folder and the buttons worked on the menu, I was able to select 1 player and such, but once the game started I could not move. I also tried snes9xrpi and I wasn't even able to get into the game. Everything worked fine on the NES emulator. I don't know if I need to configure something else.

Which version of retropie ? 3.0 Beta 4 should configure the controls in emulation station and then automatically set the retorarch controls, assuming you use the libreto (default) snes emulator it should just work.

Might be worth mentioning what joypad you are using ..
 
Is there any way to fix the audio stutter on N64 games? I set up my Pi last night with RetroPie 2.6 and everything works great except the N64 audio.
 
Is there any way to fix the audio stutter on N64 games? I set up my Pi last night with RetroPie 2.6 and everything works great except the N64 audio.

Unfortunately this appears to be normal,

I think N64 emulation should still be under experimental, the only game I can get to work at anything near adequate is Mario 64 ...

You may have some mileage in overclocking, changing the sound quality, reducing screen resolution or trying one of the other N64 emulators that are available
 
Unfortunately this appears to be normal,

I think N64 emulation should still be under experimental, the only game I can get to work at anything near adequate is Mario 64 ...

You may have some mileage in overclocking, changing the sound quality, reducing screen resolution or trying one of the other N64 emulators that are available

I have overclocked and tried changing the HDMI audio settings, nothing really made much of a difference. No biggie, I'll focus more on the PSX stuff for it instead.
 
Which version of retropie ? 3.0 Beta 4 should configure the controls in emulation station and then automatically set the retorarch controls, assuming you use the libreto (default) snes emulator it should just work.

Might be worth mentioning what joypad you are using ..

I'm using RetroPie 2.6, with a DualShock 3 using Bluetooth. I didn't configure any of the retroarch.cfg files as I was under the impression that the input config file was automatically selected. I did just now try copying the input info into the snes retroarch.cfg file but still nothing.

Is there an easy way to upgrade to 3.0 Beta 4?
 
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