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[oni-link]

This is exactly correct. The SNES and NES both used a 256x224 resolution by default (8:7) stretched to 4:3. But it gets complicated for a few reasons. #1: SNES didn't actually use a fixed resolution. Quite a few games had slightly different resolutions or even switched resolutions for certain things (Secret of Mana and SD3 uses Hi-res 512x224 mode whenever text appears to make text easier to read. This is still squished down to a 4:3 aspect ratio on your TV).

As for "how the developers intended"... that's also complicated. Many developers took the time to account for the 8:7 stretched to 4:3. Many others however, didn't. So by large, the result is inconsistent.

The link above in Johnny's post shows wonderfully just how inconsistent it can be.


So TLDR is simply Nintendo didn't have a standard that developers had to adhere to, so 4:3 and 8:7 is inconsistent between, and sometimes within the same, games. So go with what looks best to you. I personally waffle back and forth between beautiful clean square pixels, and CRT-like filters that look more 'correct' in 4:3.

Thanks, very insightful post

I suppose I'll just go with what looks best to me on a game by game basis then

On another issue, I started playing Chrono Trigger today, and after an hour or so I noticed a little thermometer on the right of the screen

I think that is the Pi telling me it's too hot and needs to cool down, but can someone verify this?

I'd left the system on my TV stand well away from anything else, and I was only playing the SNES game for an hour, so I'm surprised it was giving me a heat warning

I felt the system and while it was warm, I wouldn't say it was hot

The warning was only present for about 20 seconds, and it disappeared after I closed the game down. I loaded up another ROM and played for a minute or so to see if the warning would reappear, but it didn't

I still turned it off after that just in case

Can anyone shed any light on this?

 

[amnesiac]

Thanks, very insightful post

I suppose I'll just go with what looks best to me on a game by game basis then

On another issue, I started playing Chrono Trigger today, and after an hour or so I noticed a little thermometer on the right of the screen

I think that is the Pi telling me it's too hot and needs to cool down, but can someone verify this?

I'd left the system on my TV stand well away from anything else, and I was only playing the SNES game for an hour, so I'm surprised it was giving me a heat warning

I felt the system and while it was warm, I wouldn't say it was hot

The warning was only present for about 20 seconds, and it disappeared after I closed the game down. I loaded up another ROM and played for a minute or so to see if the warning would reappear, but it didn't

I still turned it off after that just in case

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Are you overclocking? I've never seen the overheating icon otherwise.

You may want to consider getting some heatsinks.

 

[KojiKnight]

Are you overclocking? I've never seen the overheating icon otherwise.

You may want to consider getting some heatsinks.

It can also happen occasionally with certain cases. Heat sinks are a good idea though. Luckily my Zero W has never had that issue, but I gave up on trying to overclock because I couldn't get it stable for anything.

 

[zoodoo]

Thanks, very insightful post

I suppose I'll just go with what looks best to me on a game by game basis then

On another issue, I started playing Chrono Trigger today, and after an hour or so I noticed a little thermometer on the right of the screen

I think that is the Pi telling me it's too hot and needs to cool down, but can someone verify this?

I'd left the system on my TV stand well away from anything else, and I was only playing the SNES game for an hour, so I'm surprised it was giving me a heat warning

I felt the system and while it was warm, I wouldn't say it was hot

The warning was only present for about 20 seconds, and it disappeared after I closed the game down. I loaded up another ROM and played for a minute or so to see if the warning would reappear, but it didn't

I still turned it off after that just in case

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Mine does that too despite having heatsink and the pi not being that hot. I just ignore it. Usually it goes away after a min or 2. Might be a false warning.

 

[oni-link]

Mine does that too despite having heatsink and the pi not being that hot. I just ignore it. Usually it goes away after a min or 2. Might be a false warning.

Hmm, how odd

Oh well, I will keep and eye on it

Is there a way to change the aspect ratio on a ROM by ROM basis? I loaded up Chrono Trigger and hit A to get into settings but couldn't see an option, only a resolution output option

I want to see how it looks at forced 4:3 and forced 8:7 to see if they look better than what it defaults to

 

[ItalianJoe83]

I'd like to try this game emulation option someday..

 

[ScOULaris]

Thanks, very insightful post

I suppose I'll just go with what looks best to me on a game by game basis then

On another issue, I started playing Chrono Trigger today, and after an hour or so I noticed a little thermometer on the right of the screen

I think that is the Pi telling me it's too hot and needs to cool down, but can someone verify this?

I'd left the system on my TV stand well away from anything else, and I was only playing the SNES game for an hour, so I'm surprised it was giving me a heat warning

I felt the system and while it was warm, I wouldn't say it was hot

The warning was only present for about 20 seconds, and it disappeared after I closed the game down. I loaded up another ROM and played for a minute or so to see if the warning would reappear, but it didn't

I still turned it off after that just in case

Can anyone shed any light on this?

I'm guessing you're using some kind of plastic enclosed case for your Pi3. The Pi3 definitely needs something to draw heat away from the board while emulating for longer stretches of time, so I recommend installing a heatsink on the CPU if you haven't already. Also helps to remove the top cover if you're using an enclosed plastic case so cool air can pass over the heatsink to draw even more heat out of the case.

 

[oni-link]

I managed to find the aspect ratio settings in the settings you get to my pressing A before the ROM loads (It was in video settings) but it only seems to have a 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 options, and no 8:7 option, so I'm not sure how I'd get to this :/

I'm guessing you're using some kind of plastic enclosed case for your Pi3. The Pi3 definitely needs something to draw heat away from the board while emulating for longer stretches of time, so I recommend installing a heatsink on the CPU if you haven't already. Also helps to remove the top cover if you're using an enclosed plastic case so cool air can pass over the heatsink to draw even more heat out of the case.

Thanks, I played another 30/40mins just now and got the warning again so I'll look into a heatsink, though I'm not sure what one of those is (this is the first PC I've ever built)

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Did you add it to /etc/fstab?

Yep. I wound up reformatting the drive and restarted the whole process. It seems to all be working now. I thought maybe it was something to do with me formatting the drive in windows, but that's how I did it this time, and NTFS still. But, yeah, all seems to be going golden now. Two days worth of head aches over some error with the drive seemingly.

 

[Johnny Ryall]

I managed to find the aspect ratio settings in the settings you get to my pressing A before the ROM loads (It was in video settings) but it only seems to have a 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 options, and no 8:7 option, so I'm not sure how I'd get to this :/



Thanks, I played another 30/40mins just now and got the warning again so I'll look into a heatsink, though I'm not sure what one of those is (this is the first PC I've ever built)

Select + top face button (SNES X). Then go to video options from that screen.

 

[oni-link]

Select + top face button (SNES X). Then go to video options from that screen.

I'm not sure what this means, but I managed to find out how to change it to 8:7 but it was in retroarch (sp) and while Chrono Trigger looks better in 8:7, as do the two other games I'm aware of having aspect ratio issues (Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World, which I tested) it's annoying that it puts every game in 8:7 now

GBA games looked fine and now they're in 8:7 unless I switch it back in the master settings each time I switch game/system

Is there no way of setting it up on a game by game (or even system by system) basis?

 

[ScOULaris]

Thanks, I played another 30/40mins just now and got the warning again so I'll look into a heatsink, though I'm not sure what one of those is (this is the first PC I've ever built)

They're just a little piece of finned metal that draws heat away from the CPU. For the pi they usually just come with double-sided thermal tape already applied to the bottom, so you just stick them onto the CPU and call it a day.

You can find them for really cheap on Amazon.

 

[KojiKnight]

I'm not sure what this means, but I managed to find out how to change it to 8:7 but it was in retroarch (sp) and while Chrono Trigger looks better in 8:7, as do the two other games I'm aware of having aspect ratio issues (Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World, which I tested) it's annoying that it puts every game in 8:7 now

GBA games looked fine and now they're in 8:7 unless I switch it back in the master settings each time I switch game/system

Is there no way of setting it up on a game by game (or even system by system) basis?

If you adjust those settings "in-game" using select+x on the gamepad, it only saves for that emulator not change for every system.

 

[oni-link]

If you adjust those settings "in-game" using select+x on the gamepad, it only saves for that emulator not change for every system.

Ah thanks, I'll try that later

Edit: It worked

 

[TONX]

Made my first arcade coffee table with a pi 3 and used Retropie.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgoF-slpTK/?taken-by=tonxy

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Made my first arcade coffee table with a pi 3 and used Retropie.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgoF-slpTK/?taken-by=tonxy

Looks amazing! I'm trying to come up with something for my next project. I bought a ton of woodworking tools. I might just do a 4 player bartop arcade stick with the pi inside.
Now you have me wanting to make a coffee table!

 

[reptilescorpio]

Made my first arcade coffee table with a pi 3 and used Retropie.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgoF-slpTK/?taken-by=tonxy

Wow awesome work!

 

[reptilescorpio]

How do people structure the ROMs folder for multi disc games? Loose files in the main folder or separate folders for each individual game?

 

[Redx508]

How do people structure the ROMs folder for multi disc games? Loose files in the main folder or separate folders for each individual game?

for ps1 games you can make a pbp from the iso,bin files this way you save space and you swap disc from the gui settings.

https://youtu.be/iJqMayOuzqQ

https://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/best-way-for-psx-multidisc-games/

 

[reptilescorpio]

for ps1 games you can make a pbp from the iso,bin files this way you save space and you swap disc from the gui settings.

https://youtu.be/iJqMayOuzqQ

https://blog.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/best-way-for-psx-multidisc-games/

Perfect, thanks for the links!

 

[_RT_]

Is there a general consensus on a fairly straightforward portable emulator that is an easy (relatively) build, with a solid updated parts list?
I found an old gameboy that I was thinking about bringing back to life... but the added buttons don't always look comfortable to use and I'm not convinced parting out an old gameboy is the best plan for that memorable system.

There are a ton of builds out there.... but I don't always see opinions on how the units feel to actually use (mintyPi for example).

I really want to tackle a potable emulator.

Thanks all-

 

[Big Nikus]

I'm using a Recalbox and achievements are not working with the NES. It seems to be a common issue but after two hours of research I couldn't find anything to fix it. I'm using fceumm as core, because with the other ones, I get messages like "this core doesn't support achievements" or "this game doesn't feature achievements". Fceumm is the only one who doesn't display a message and I can see the achievements list. The games appear on my retroachievements page but the chievos aren't unlocking.

edit: well it's the same for the GBA actually, and I suspect the GB too. The Super Nes and Genesis achievements are working perfectly fine.

edit2: my guess is that I have to update Retroarch. A few of my friends have the same issue. Is it possible to do that on a Recalbox ?

 

[RelentlessRolento]

Yay! got my Pi 3 today ^_^

Still waiting on my main micro SD, but using a test one for now.

Really loving this thing already and I've barely used it for anything besides running a few Neo Geo Pocket Color games I own already.

 

[noquarter]

Jumped onboard today. Great little setup.

Trying to get everything "Americanized," using Genesis and TG16 instead of the other names.

Got the Sega CD to work, but is super weird setup. Had to have the default as Genesis emulator and the ROM as Picodrive, update Retroarch and then they play. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Got the BIOS for them, just seems like a weird way to do that, and won't let me use the 'better' emulator. I've changed the BIOS names, to what they should be and checked the CRC 32 for them and the match the Retropie page.

Also, you can set up the whole thing without a USB keyboard, if you have a laptop or something to SSH with, saw that question posted on the last page.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Is there no way to get the 8bitdo N64 controller to exit the emulator?

 

[Videospel]

Pressing A to enter the emulation settings at startup doesn't work for me, I have to press a button on my keyboard. Am I doing something wrong?

And also, how do you get rumble to work in N64 games? The wiki says that the right thumb stick is supposed to insert the rumble pak but I don't get any vibration in Ocarina of Time.

 

[KojiKnight]

Pressing A to enter the emulation settings at startup doesn't work for me, I have to press a button on my keyboard. Am I doing something wrong?

And also, how do you get rumble to work in N64 games? The wiki says that the right thumb stick is supposed to insert the rumble pak but I don't get any vibration in Ocarina of Time.

I have to make a button on the controller many times to get it to show up. At least enough times for the display to shift towards a bit.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Is it possible to get n64 running full speed on this thing with RetroPie?

 

[reptilescorpio]

Is it possible to get n64 running full speed on this thing with RetroPie?

Some games run really well at stock, others you need to overclock. Haven't done much testing so unsure if there are some games that won't run at all.

 

[noquarter]

Anybody been using the Amiga emulators? Was looking for help to get the controller to work as a joystick. Most the stuff I'm finding on the Amiga is kind of super specific to one thing and I'm still fairly unfamiliar with pretty much all of this.

Did get Skyfox up though, so that was cool. Game is not nearly as exciting as I remember from my childhood. Still looking for the chess game I played as a kid.

Some games run really well at stock, others you need to overclock. Haven't done much testing so unsure if there are some games that won't run at all.

Reading online, it looks like Indiana Jones is one of the ones that runs like crap. Without having it overclocked, FZero X was running full speed for me. Smash looks to run full speed also.

 

[btrboyev]

Is it possible to get n64 running full speed on this thing with RetroPie?

No. N64 is the worst emulation on the Pi. The emulators are not optimized well for the PI hardware. Some games run alright but there isn't one that runs without some minor glitches. Mostly in sound.

 

[Johnny Ryall]

Looks like since the last time I tried running PS1 games they removed support for bin files without a cue file to match. Weird because it used to work but I'm sure they had reasons.

Found a utility that patches them in.

 

[PatShallBe]

I have a problem with DraStic on the newest RetroPie (Rpi3). Everytime I enter and exit the DraStic menu, the screen is blinking white every other frame and the game runs very slow. I have to exit DraStic and launch it again. Anyone knows a fix for this?

Edit: nevermind. A complete wipe of all the drastic files including the config files solved the problem!

 

[evil ways]

This thread is awesome, I'm definitely gonna jump into it this week. Already have a power supply, and 32gb card, so all I need is the Pi3 and a case and I'm good to go? Is a keyboard and mouse mandatory for initial setup? Can I write/install the OS using the micro sd adapter included with my card ir do I need a reader?

Just looking to retro game and maybe Kodi. Thanks in advanced.

 

[ZeroCoin]

This thread is awesome, I'm definitely gonna jump into it this week. Already have a power supply, and 32gb card, so all I need is the Pi3 and a case and I'm good to go? Is a keyboard and mouse mandatory for initial setup? Can I write/install the OS using the micro sd adapter included with my card ir do I need a reader?

Just looking to retro game and maybe Kodi. Thanks in advanced.

Keyboard is very helpful to get the initial setup and controllers paired. Mouse isn't needed. Micro SD adapter should be fine.

 

[zoodoo]

Finally got dreamcast to work.

Not the best performance but i got MvsC 2, CvS 2, and power stone working at playable speed. And their are the most important game for me. Setting up the snes30 was annoying but got it working.

I think I am done fiddling with the pi. I have all I wanted out of it. Now time to relax and enjoy the games.

 

[Sorta Maximus]

Finally got dreamcast to work.

Not the best performance but i got MvsC 2, CvS 2, and power stone working at playable speed. And their are the most important game for me. Setting up the snes30 was annoying but got it working.

I think I am done fiddling with the pi. I have all I wanted out of it. Now time to relax and enjoy the games.

I'd want to run Soul Reaver. I miss the Dreamcast version so much.


I might build a RetroPie as I missed out on the NES Classic but I'd really want a nice case. And I also find the retro cases that I can find disappointing. And I'd be curious how it compares to the nicer emulaters on laptops.

 

[TriAceJP]

Finally got dreamcast to work.

Not the best performance but i got MvsC 2, CvS 2, and power stone working at playable speed. And their are the most important game for me. Setting up the snes30 was annoying but got it working.

I think I am done fiddling with the pi. I have all I wanted out of it. Now time to relax and enjoy the games.

The fiddling won't end. It'll never end!

 

[ZeroCoin]

The fiddling won't end. It'll never end!

This is the truth. My system has been running great, no issues.... And I'm going to screw it up by trying to switch the Megadrive and PC engine over to Genesis and TurboGrafx.

 

[zoodoo]

I'd want to run Soul Reaver. I miss the Dreamcast version so much.


I might build a RetroPie as I missed out on the NES Classic but I'd really want a nice case. And I also find the retro cases that I can find disappointing. And I'd be curious how it compares to the nicer emulaters on laptops.

3d games dont run well on the pi dreamcast emulator so I doubt soul reaver works. I would love it to but that's the emulator state right now.

Regarding nes, everything work perfectly. I reconfigured the controls to use y and b on my snes30 instead of a and b.

 

[KojiKnight]

I'd want to run Soul Reaver. I miss the Dreamcast version so much.


I might build a RetroPie as I missed out on the NES Classic but I'd really want a nice case. And I also find the retro cases that I can find disappointing. And I'd be curious how it compares to the nicer emulaters on laptops.

Don't be afraid to look up broken consoles on ebay and harvest them for their cases. I'd been tempted to do that. There are NES and SNES 2's that make fairly decent sleek consoles even if they are 'too big'. It just means more room to work with. Gamecubes are still pretty small and also work nice.

 

[Jhn]

So, is there any way I can get scanlines using dispmanx video on retropie? Neither shaders not overlays seems to be supported.
The input lag difference between dispmanx and gl is noticable enough that I can't really go back to gl.

 

[Sorta Maximus]

Is it wrong that I'm thinking of buying an SNES Classic to use as a case for RetroPie? I do like this case here though:

https://youtu.be/4vYxjgmiWWk

It just has a nice layout.

 

[evil ways]

I got a cheap, non working psone mini on ebay to gut and use as a case. Not gonna try anything fancy like conecting the power button or using the controller ports, since I'll probably use the PS3 or PS4 controllers via bluetooth.

 

[BriGuy]

I put one of these together over the weekend and I'm in love. Or I'm in very strong like at least. I don't know who's responsible for writing the game summaries provided by the scraping tool, but they have absolutely no self awareness. Reading some of these is the video game equivalent of having your dad stroll through the living room in his underwear when you have friends over. Why would anyone go through this when they could have just copied the blurbs on the back of the box?

Anyway, I have everything set up now except I have no idea how to get those cool overlays with the built in scanlines. How do you get them into retropie?

 

[Sorta Maximus]

Does RetroPie have save states and filters like separate PC emulators?

 

[zoodoo]

Does RetroPie have save states and filters like separate PC emulators?

Yep just like PC.

 

[zoodoo]

The fiddling won't end. It'll never end!

oh shit!

I just remembered I did not set up neogeo pocket... and atari lynx

Damn it!!

 

[orient]

Bought a Pi3 and set up RetroPie with a wireless 8bitdo FC Pro controller and I'm loving it so far. My only complaint is with fast action games I can notice the input lag (Sonic games, especially the Sonic 3 blue orb special stages) so my question is...is there anything I can do it at all to reduce lag? I'm assuming using a wired controller helps, but I'd have to get a really long connector for the 8bitdo, and I already have my TV (5 year old Bravia) set to Game Mode.

 

[Dizzy-4U]

Bought a Pi3 and set up RetroPie with a wireless 8bitdo FC Pro controller and I'm loving it so far. My only complaint is with fast action games I can notice the input lag (Sonic games, especially the Sonic 3 blue orb special stages) so my question is...is there anything I can do it at all to reduce lag? I'm assuming using a wired controller helps, but I'd have to get a really long connector for the 8bitdo, and I already have my TV (5 year old Bravia) set to Game Mode.

Yes, there are a few things that are enabled by default that produce input lag.

1) Disable threaded video Configuration Editor

Option 11 (it may have changed in recent updates)

2) You can change the video driver from gl to dispmanx but the downside of this is that you can't use filters with this driver. Still, it further reduces input lag.

Threaded video is the big one, so disable that. I tested it with rhythm games and I can play them fine.