Whiskey_chaser Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 I'm thinking about starting a mini project with the kids, and that's building a small PC to use as a mame unit to plug in the tv. Nothing fancy just a box with a couple of arcade joysticks plugged in. Anyone have any old pc parts they're looking to offload? Any tips?
Hendo Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Raspberry Pi? Not as much building, admittedly, but cheap and you’ll have to make some effort to get it running, I believe.
Whiskey_chaser Posted April 6, 2018 Author Posted April 6, 2018 I did think that but think i'd possibly need something with a bit more grunt? I've read a few posts of people building a basic rig and struggling with the frame rate on some titles.
Hendo Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 I’ve not looked too deeply into it but I think purely for MAME stuff it should be ok?
Whiskey_chaser Posted April 6, 2018 Author Posted April 6, 2018 So I've been doing a little digging and I've just ordered a Raspberry pie. Once i've got it up and running I'm going to whack it into one of these:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arcade-2-Player-Joystick-Control-Panel-Flat-Pack-Kit-Mame-Raspberry-Pi/142349976879?hash=item2124b8452f:g:hUsAAOSww3tY8iLP
Jimboxy Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 There is a custom build of the pi os for mame I think. RetroPi!
ThreeFour Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Nice. I've got a PI with retropie on it. Runs my SNES and MegaDrive stuff. I might get a more recent one and do some 64/PS1 stuff if I can be arsed.
Hendo Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 I just came across this which sounds too good to be true. https://retrogamingbox.com/ My mate’s just bought a Megadrive all-in-one box which is very disappointing. No HDMI to TV, loads of games I was expecting that aren’t there like Streets of Rage and the whole thing feels very cheap. Pretty sure a Pi or the above thing would be a better solution.
ThreeFour Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 Was it the ATGames console? Not known for quality. Definitely do your own PI or perhaps buy this. I got all the stuff for my retro PI for around £50. Just a bit of time required to do the set up but it's not hard. I didn't add 32bit stuff as that required more effort which I couldn't be arsed with.
Hendo Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 21 minutes ago, ThreeFour said: Was it the ATGames console? Not known for quality. That’s the one. Very shoddy.
ThreeFour Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 Trying to find the format I followed to relay what was said. I'm sure it was a Eurogamer article but I may be wrong. Anyway I think it was two fold in that the emulators, N64 emulators especially, were problematic but also to get the best performance you had to over lock your PI. That also involved a cooling solution. All of that just put me off. If you're more comfortable with it go for it tho ??
ThreeFour Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 1 minute ago, Hendo said: That’s the one. Very shoddy. Thought so. I'd have steered you away, bit it serves a purpose I suppose. I heard they were doing one with HDMI but stuff that. Just PI it ??
Jimboxy Posted April 7, 2018 Posted April 7, 2018 Yeah I'll give it a bash and let you know how I get on @ThreeFour. Currently pulling RetroPi on to my Pi now. Not sure how well it will play with Open Media Vault, but we will see.
Whiskey_chaser Posted April 9, 2018 Author Posted April 9, 2018 Well I got the Pi set up with the latest build of RetroPie on it last night and configured it to work with an 8bitdo bluetooth controller. So far so good - now tinkering with MAME games though yet to try any. Did manage to get a couple of NeoGeo games running, although it seemed 50/50 if they ran ok or not. Digging about it seems MAME/Neo Geo are a bit more of a ball ache to get running. What version of Pi are you running @ThreeFour? I've got a 3B. Might give N64 a try and see how they run.
ThreeFour Posted April 9, 2018 Posted April 9, 2018 I'm sure it was 3. Aw man @Chimay you got to get it a shell of some kind ? it's like when you see an animal in poor shape on those sponsor adverts. Breaks my heart seeing it like that ?
Hendo Posted April 9, 2018 Posted April 9, 2018 Yeah I’ve been looking into cases. There’s a nice looking generic shell and one that looks like a little NES. 1
Whiskey_chaser Posted April 9, 2018 Author Posted April 9, 2018 I'm still awaiting delivery of the white and red version of the official one @Hendo has posted above as a temporary measure until the joystick cabinet arrives. I was just being impatient and wanted to get stuck in. I'm currently 70% through a 102gig Mame download. Glad i'm not tackling that on dial-up
Whiskey_chaser Posted April 9, 2018 Author Posted April 9, 2018 This is the joystick kit i'm looking at whacking in the cabinet...https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/2-Player-Arcade-Joysticks-Buttons-And-IPAC2-Wiring-Kit-No9.html#product-reviews
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