Emulator gaming

I am sooo tempted to check out.... not that I need another Pi just that I don't have one to stuff around with.

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I blame this thread for my 1st world problems.

Edit: And bought... Well, went for Pi 8Gb from DIYelectronics and 5 x 64 gig SD cards from Takealot (Want to load the different Emulator distro's and see which is actually the best bang. Will update here on results.
Planning to test Lakka vs Retroarch vs RetroPie and dedicated editions like PCSX ReARMed.

If there is any you wanna compare lemme know.
 
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If anyone is interested, found a very cool Pi OS for new-comers.

Twister OS

Can mimic both Windows and Mac as well as having Retro PI pre installed/configured. I like the fact that overclocking was made easy with Commander Pi pre-installed. Also picked up my Astrum controller no issues. (Simple Plug & Play)


Only problem I had thus far, is that the desktop icons for Argon Case doesn't seem to work after running installer:

Bash: 
curl https://download.argon40.com/argon1.sh | bash

But running argonone-config in terminal worked no problem.

Edit: Pre-installed and working well
RetroPie(Tested using Mame & PSX roms), Steam, Dosbox (Installed original Doom) as well as ZSNES

I think I going to have to install this on my 8Gb Pi @ home.
 
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Final Verdict

Best Emulation OS for my Pi (For me) Also great For PC but I was looking for best fit for my Raspberry PI + Argon One Case.


See https://batocera.org/

Only because it does both. Game Emulator + Kodi Station in the bedroom.

PM me if need any help, including bios and such ;)

Edit: Forgot to mention on an AMD 7 4750 it even handles PS3 with ease.
 
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Quick question...RetroArch: downloaded. Does it play Mame games, or do I need to find specific ROMs for it?
Otherwise is Mame still a good emulator to use?

Then...can anyone recommend an inexpensive gamepad? Don't want to break the bank.
 
JohnStarr said:
Quick question...RetroArch: downloaded. Does it play Mame games,
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Yes

JohnStarr said:
or do I need to find specific ROMs for it?
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Yes, also some games needs Bios roms as well ie: neogeo

I see you blocked PM's?

JohnStarr said:
Otherwise is Mame still a good emulator to use?
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Yes, but thats just it its an emulator like retroarch, normally works well with a good fontend like Emulation Station/Launchbox....

Batocera for example is a Linux distro that use retroarch for emulation and Emulation Station as GUI

JohnStarr said:
Then...can anyone recommend an inexpensive gamepad? Don't want to break the bank.
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Used an Astrum USB till now with no problems but its actually my PS2's controller so bought this one today. Will let you know how it pans out (Useable or junk)
 
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RetroPie vs Recalbox vs Lakka vs Batocera for retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi: Which Should You Use?​


Ease of Use​

Lakka and RetroPie are fairly simple to use, but Recalbox and Batocera win with installation and set up which is incredibly easy.

Winner: Recalbox/Batocera

Customization Options​

Lakka contains the most shader options, but it’s an almost overwhelming array of choices. Recalbox and Batocera include the fewest, and RetroPie boasts a moderate amount. Striking a happy medium between too few and too many, RetroPie wins this round.

Winner: RetroPie

Best Out-of-the-Box Experience​

RetroPie, Batocera, and Recalbox are pretty similar with their out-of-the-box experience. It’s Lakka that dominates with its extremely polished first boot which doesn’t even require a gamepad configuration. It’s rather user-friendly aside from the boatload of shaders.

Winner: Lakka

Platform Compatibility​

Both Recalbox and RetroPie come in packages for several platforms including PCs and Raspberry Pi boards. However, Lakka is available on a ton of platforms from the Pi to WeTek Play 2. Thus, it’s easily got the best platform compatibility of these retro gaming OSes.

Winner: Lakka

Community​

Retro gaming operating systems feel synonymous with RetroPie. With its fertile Wiki and GitHub, replete with user feedback, it’s an awesome, resource-rich option. Lakka and Recalbox both feature solid help documents and forums, but RetroPie bests them nonetheless.

Winner: RetroPie

Overall Experience​

RetroPie takes the cake here. The scraper is phenomenal and it’s got more emulator options than Recalbox. The EmulationStation frontend handily beats out Lakka, plus it includes a few built-in titles. Moreover, you’ll find the massively popular Kodi media center within RetroPie (it’s also in Recalbox).

Winner: RetroPie
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Full break down @ Source
 
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AlphaJohn said:
Yes


Yes, also some games needs Bios roms as well ie: neogeo

I see you blocked PM's?


Yes, but thats just it its an emulator like retroarch, normally works well with a good fontend like Emulation Station/Launchbox....

Batocera for example is a Linux distro that use retroarch for emulation and Emulation Station as GUI


Used an Astrum USB till now with no problems but its actually my PS2's controller so bought this one today. Will let you know how it pans out (Useable or junk)
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I left the account as default, but fixed it for PMs now. And thanks for this info.
 
JohnStarr said:
Then...can anyone recommend an inexpensive gamepad? Don't want to break the bank.
Click to expand...

Ok Full review on this controller.

Cheap packaging and also do not include a charging cable so if you don't have access to a USB mini, expect to buy one to charge the pre-charged internal battery.

1630741685190.png
The build in battery lasted way over 5 hours of play last night and Batocera says its still above 70% before I placed it into my PS3's charge cradle (Yes it can use Original PS3 charge docs)... Oh wait I skipped a step. Pairing it to Batocera was a breeze... Just went to pairing on the OS, pressed the "P3" button on controller to turn it on and it picked it up within seconds. The P3 works via cable and Bluetooth no problems.

Batocera does display when its connected, as well as the charge level:
1630742381647.png

It does take about 4 seconds to reconnect from power down state and also feature an Auto Power off/Sleep. On the buttons everything feels like the original PS3 controllers including the sticks, bar these:

1630742702111.png
Side buttons too soft? I don't know if its just this unit but they feel too soft and you don't get tactile feedback that you pressed them. They work perfectly fine, they just don't feel like you pressing them, if you know what I mean.

Overall verdict.
Better than Astrum but not as good as Original PS3. Would still recommend for its price. Better than some of the other clones I had before.
 
Barbarian Conan said:
It's been a while since I dabbled in MAME. 20 years to be exact.
A while ago I acquired an emulator and some ROMs, but most of the stuff I tried didn't work.

Any tips to get something set up quickly and easily, where almost everything I try will work?
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Agree with Batocera as your best choice.

The easiest way to quickly test it.
Flash the pc image to a 16/32/64gb stick and boot your existing pc with. Let it unpack the image (to the usb stick). Once it is done and batocera is working, reboot back into your os. Copy your games to the correct folders that was created for you on the stick. Every game folder will have a txt file telling you the proper extensions needed. That all.


Where do get roms: You can get almost all roms at Archive.org

If you commit to it, don't use a pi, use a refurb optiplex/small hp/lenovo pc. You'll have a better experience (like better upscaling) and access to all the emulators.
Controllers: Most cheap ps like controllers work fine. If in some emulators it don't. most of the time it just needed some extra settings in the emulator itself.

  • You can install Steam into batocera and play steam games
  • You can install steam link and stream your pc games
  • You can install flatpaks for extra linux games and linux apps
  • You can play Future pinball with batocera
  • If you have a NVidia card, all is not lost, you can set it up with batocera

All info and videos you can find at batocera nation youtube
 
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JustAsk said:
If you commit to it, don't use a pi, use a refurb optiplex/small hp/lenovo pc. You'll have a better experience (like better upscaling) and access to all the emulators.
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True but reason I went with Pi is cause I leave it on and its power consumption can't be beat with old PC's ;)

You will be surprised what it can deliver for its low power consumption. Example running Nintendo64 @ 1920x1080 and x4 with AA on and hitting 60 fps easy. Granted I did overclock to 2000hz as I have an Argon One case that is supported by the OS

Also the unit seconds as my media center in the bedroom with Kodi is pre-installed as part of Batocera.
 
AlphaJohn said:
True but reason I went with Pi is cause I leave it on and its power consumption can't be beat with old PC's ;)

You will be surprised what it can deliver for its low power consumption. Example running Nintendo64 @ 1920x1080 and x4 with AA on and hitting 60 fps easy. Granted I did overclock to 2000hz as I have an Argon One case that is supported by the OS

Also the unit seconds as my media center in the bedroom with Kodi is pre-installed as part of Batocera.
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That's true, the pi has its place. I definitely not knocking it at all. And in your case it seems like its working for your usercase. But the pi is not an option for the best and widest emulation experience. It plays the lower end emulators perfect, but when it comes to the higher end emulators like dreamcast, or harder to emulate games like Midnight club:dub edition for psp, it struggles. PS2/3 emulation is pretty much a no go.

Cheap Chinese mini pc's are great for the bedroom. And you can leave it on as their idle power consumption is very low. ETA Prime is reviewing a lot of them for emulation.
 
I am looking for a set of cheap arcade like controllers to use for now and was wondering if anyone has any of the following and if so what you think of them:

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They all more or less the same price (Under R1000) but would like to get the best one of the lot if possible?

I just can not get the hang of Street Fighter on a PS3 controller.


Edit: Ok, so ordered the cheapest one of the lot. Nygacn for R429. Only because its the only one that claims to have PS2 support so worse case is it goes to the PS2. If I like the idea/feel of a arcade controller on the emulator, I might just go for something more "pro".
 
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OK I got my el-cheapo nygacn arcade stick today...
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1st off, Takealot screwed up and send the wrong unit. I got the PS3/PC (NJP 308A) variant instead of the PS2/PC one I selected, no biggie. PS2 connector would have been a bonus but not really a necessity as my plan was to pop it onto the Pi for arcade games anyway.

The joystick is nice and "clicky", responds well and not to stiff. On opening the unit I do see that it uses the standard sizes and standard wiring so can always replace with better quality or even pro if you want. (One complaint I saw on the Dobe ones is that there sticks and buttons are smaller than industry standard). The suction cups makes up for the lack of weight to prevent it from "running away" during fights. Registers all my executions so I am happy.

Only complaint is the travel distance on the stick is just a tad too long, also maybe that the 2M cord is just too short to play from my couch, but nothing a 1M USB extension could not fix. Oh and L1/L2 placing is wrong compared to pro sticks.

Yes I still think it was worth the R430 I spend. Don't get me wrong if I paid R1500 for this I would not be ok with it but for under R500 you cant go wrong.

Edit: I now have the urge to 1 up myself and actually build an Arcade cabinet....
 
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Man, what a hunt to find working Gals Panic and Fantasia...

Hint... "wow roms" rocks. ;)

Its not like a "rom hustler" but still cool
 
StoneCold said:
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Good to see they working on one, but as of the time of posting I don't see the need for this yet, you can still buy a PS4 on the shelves. Same I guess as me not even looking at any Xbox emulation.... I can still play my old game without the need to jump through hoops.

That might change in a couple of years time so great for people starting the work but right now its kinda meh. :D
 
Issue I've had with Mame over the years is that I have not been able to get a decently responsive controller - for some reason neither Xbox nor the PS4 controllers work very well (imo there's too much lag which spoils the experience - yes Pengo, I'm looking at you)
 
AlphaJohn said:
OK I got my el-cheapo nygacn arcade stick today...
View attachment 1145216
1st off, Takealot screwed up and send the wrong unit. I got the PS3/PC (NJP 308A) variant instead of the PS2/PC one I selected, no biggie. PS2 connector would have been a bonus but not really a necessity as my plan was to pop it onto the Pi for arcade games anyway.

The joystick is nice and "clicky", responds well and not to stiff. On opening the unit I do see that it uses the standard sizes and standard wiring so can always replace with better quality or even pro if you want. (One complaint I saw on the Dobe ones is that there sticks and buttons are smaller than industry standard). The suction cups makes up for the lack of weight to prevent it from "running away" during fights. Registers all my executions so I am happy.

Only complaint is the travel distance on the stick is just a tad too long, also maybe that the 2M cord is just too short to play from my couch, but nothing a 1M USB extension could not fix. Oh and L1/L2 placing is wrong compared to pro sticks.

Yes I still think it was worth the R430 I spend. Don't get me wrong if I paid R1500 for this I would not be ok with it but for under R500 you cant go wrong.

Edit: I now have the urge to 1 up myself and actually build an Arcade cabinet....
Click to expand...

Have you got that connected to Mame running on a PC or a RPi?
 
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