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Build an arcade machine at home

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Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#31

Post by LeoPanthera »

jhbadger wrote: post #29
LeoPanthera wrote: post #26

It's worth pointing out that if you want to run MAME, specifically, RetroPie is a bad choice, as is using the Raspberry Pi in general. MAME's architecture does not lend well to it being converted into a core. Several features get weakened, disabled, or broken, and they generally don't function the way they're supposed to, especially with respect to controller input. The version of MAME available for RetroPie is consi…

It all depends on the era of game you want to play though. At least for me, I can't imagine a retro game I would want to play that a Pi couldn't easily handle, given that my idea of a retro game is Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, and the like. Granted, if your idea of a retro game is a PS2 game from 2001, your mileage might vary.

It's not necessarily about the experience of the specific game. (Although many of the games you name do in fact emulate badly on RetroPie. Galaga, for example, has a glitchy starfield and incorrect sounds.)

It's also that the versions of MAMEs shipped are simply buggy, and have some features disabled. If you go digging around in the MAME menus, lots of things are not going to work properly.

Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#34

Post by CWuestefeld »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #26

It's worth pointing out that if you want to run MAME, specifically, RetroPie is a bad choice, as is using the Raspberry Pi in general. MAME's architecture does not lend well to it being converted into a core. Several features get weakened, disabled, or broken, and they generally don't function the way they're supposed to, especially with respect to controller input. The version of MAME available for RetroPie is consi…

I've built my own cabinet (using 3/4" plywood, not cardboard :) initially powered by a RPi2B+, and later upgraded to a used PC but still RetroPie.

I don't think the power of MAME is much of a concern here. RetroPie doesn't just have a single version of MAME, it support several of them, including some relatively newer ones. And while it is true that I've found a few games (Star Wars comes to mind) that wouldn't run on the default MAME, they do work on one of the alternates.

For the games MAME is trying to address, I haven't found anything for which the computational power of my RPi 2B+ was insufficient. I wound up replacing the RPi with a PC not because of MAME, but because I wanted better emulation of other systems like Dreamcast. And even there, with the used PC off ebay, it's running well.

Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#35

Post by beervirus »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #31
jhbadger wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all depends on the era of game you want to play though. At least for me, I can't imagine a retro game I would want to play that a Pi couldn't easily handle, given that my idea of a retro game is Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, and the like. Granted, if your idea of a retro game is a PS2 game from 2001, your mileage might vary.

It's not necessarily about the experience of the specific game. (Although many of the games you name do in fact emulate badly on RetroPie. Galaga, for example, has a glitchy starfield and incorrect sounds.) It's also that the versions of MAMEs shipped are simply buggy, and have some features disabled. If you go digging around in the MAME menus, lots of things are not going to work properly.

What kind of stuff is disabled?

Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#36

Post by kanobo »

markkanof wrote: post #33
kanobo wrote: post #32

I just want to share my Pi mini arcade machine because I'm very proud of how it turned out: https://imgur.com/a/ujelaO1

Really nice work. The detail cutting around the hearts at the top is incredible. How did you do the imagery on the side of the cabinet?

Thank you! It's just acrylics: https://imgur.com/a/dByhxV9 One of the reasons I did this project was to try out my new axidraw pen plotter so I drew the lines on an iPad and had my plotter draw it on the sides for me: https://imgur.com/a/FKcGV2g . Definitely unnecessary though and could have just been done by hand, but was fun.

Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#37

Post by [deleted] »

madengr wrote: post #14

You can get unfinished cabinets of furniture grade plywood. I wanted mine to look like a nice piece of furniture (wife approved for living room), and it does, after much sanding, staining, and sealing. Extra modifications too, replacing plastic with glass and aluminum. https://youtu.be/rl0-a76yN0M I don’t see how a RPi is going to work that well. I’m running a 4k monitor at over 60 Hz (freesync) with CRT emulation, a…

[deleted]

Re: Build an arcade machine at home

#38

Post by beagle3 »

There are a few old games like "Midnight Resistance" that are much more enjoyable when the joystick can rotate.... but I've never seen a single home built arcade machine that had any of those.

I'll likely buy a cabinet some day rather than make it, because I'm not so good with my hands; I hope by then I could find one that does have a rotary joystick.

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