retropie-like script for Windows 7, 8, and 10. RetroCake

[Flerp]

UPDATE November 21
Greatly expanded the list of systems in the es_systems.cfg
Expanded ROM folders to continue the drag and drop aspect of adding roms

Added the option to install additional emulators
AppleWin
Hatari
BeebEm
XRoar
Daphne
jzIntv
PCSX2
Emulators are installed to C:\RetroCake\Emulators\

Rearranged the main menu to put System Cleanup on the bottom.

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UPDATE November 19
I have added a theme installer/updater and gallery.
I have overhauled the entire menu to make it cleaner.
When things finish you now get alerts instead of just returning to the menu.
The automated installers come in a few different flavors now.
You can setup rom directories to C:\ROMS now complementing the default ROM path installer.
Retroarch can be installed as 1.6.7 (Stable) or nightly

All details can be found in the commit log on github.

Features currently a WIP:
Custom ROM directory full setup (Edits the whole es_systems.cfg)
This is useful for people who either want to use a different partition/drive or people who don't want roms in C:\ROMS without the need to edit the es_systems.cfg by hand.
Combining both the dedicated and desktop version into one script and renaming the script to make it less ugly.

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OVERVIEW

The retropie_setup.sh script for debian based linux distros works wonderfully.
Unfortunately I always run into graphical issues like screen tearing and general quality drops compared to the standard Pi3 distro.
I have setup my own Windows RetroPie-like machine, and thought it may be appreciated by other people potentially.
This way anyone can make use of a full powered PC running Windows with proper graphics drivers.

The Link to the github repository containing the script is below

REQUIRES 7ZIP

RetroCake

What can this do?

So far this script ahs the following capabilities:

Fully install and setup EmulationStation and RetroArch from the latest builds (Or Stable Releases if chosen).
Generate a functional es_systems.cfg (Just needs ROM paths).
Manage the es_systems.cfg file to add your ROM paths.
Clean any and all files created by this script.
Individually update RetroArch and EmulationStation.
Update RetroArch cores to their latest compiled version.

Script Flavors

The Script comes in two flavors

The first is the desktop edition This one is used to isntall alongside a normal windows installation. It can be launched at will and great if you're using your regular PC and would like EmulationStation and RetroArch.

The second is meant for a dedicated Windows PC connected to a TV or other. This one differs in several key ways.

This sets up rom directories to C:\ROMS\systemname.
It shares all ROM folders for easy ROM transfer.
It sets the PC to automatically start EmulationStation on startup.
It sets the PC to automatically login. (You will be prompted for your user password.
It kills Windows Explorer on login to save resources.
It changes with PC's name to RetroCake for easier access.
The dedicated machine script should not be run on your regular day to day PC as it will make

Dedicated version is currently untested

[BuZz]

@flerp Thanks, but would prefer you to rename it since it's really has no relation to RetroPie-Setup (apart from offering some similar functionalities).

[Flerp]

@buzz updated the project name and references to RetroPie in both the script and documentation.
Lemme know if it's still not okay :)

[BuZz]

@flerp I don't mind if you mention / reference RetroPie btw (Eg saying it does a similar function). Just wanted to avoid confusion with the names. Looks good and I like the name. Thanks.

[CrazySpence]

while "graphics based issues and screen tearing on debian based distros " makes me think you're nuts... I am impressed by your insane level of .bat fu for Wintendo and may give it a whirl on my lunch break.

[detron]

very nice of you to share. as a Linux fan, I will not use it, however, some people may really enjoy this.

[CrazySpence]

I ran the script, said install ES and retroarch, it appeared to have downloaded everything then went back to the menu, nothing launched.

Searched emulation station in the start menu, it pops up in the search but i click it and it says it cant find the exe

[Flerp]

@crazyspence I completely forgot to mention in the documentation that 7zip needs to be installed :( Likely it failed to unzip the files

[CrazySpence]

but i do have 7zip!

[Flerp]

@crazyspence Go ahead and run the cleanup option.
I have updated the script to take into account 7zip in the Program Files (x86) directory.
Please lemme know if this fixes your issue.

[CrazySpence]

ES seems to be installed now and launched.

[oldpainless]

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for this - life saver!!.

One thing you might be able to help with - the scraper crashes after it scans a couple of games. I though maybe it might be down to an older version of emulationstation, so I tried option 2 on your script to update it to the latest version but the script just closes.
Any idea's?

Cheers

K

Update - Figured it out.

Update 2 - nope, not sorted. any one have any ideas?

Update 3 - beside the scraper issue, seeing every sega saturn game I've thrown at this run in high res with the crt-pi shader at a rock solid 60fps is a sight to behold!!! Thanks again.

Final Update - I managed to fix the scraper issue. It looks like the version of emulationstation that the script installs has this bug.

So, for anyone else having the same issue, download and run the script with full option (full). Then. go to https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/releases/ and download version 2.2.2.220, extract and copy the contents over emulationstation in programe files.

Right, off to play some Dreamcast :-)

[Flerp]

@oldpainless
Heya sorry for the late response, I've been swamped.
It looks like it just a bug in the current windows build of emulationstation.
I recommend using sselph's scraper.
https://github.com/sselph/scraper/releases.
It scrapes over 10 times faster and is more accurate in my opinion.
I used it to scrape everything and it took only about 2 hours (For 176,076 items).

[flop]

@flerp said in retropie-like script for Windows 7, 8, and 10. RetroCake:

The second is meant for a dedicated Windows PC connected to a TV or other. This one differs in several key ways.

Omg, looks like a Mini-PC media center will come, retropie+ps2 games/dreamcast+kodi.. :_D

Maybe a little start menu for select OS (WIN-Retro-Kodi?)

Thanks to this great community!, keep working on!

[oldpainless]

@flerp said in retropie-like script for Windows 7, 8, and 10. RetroCake:

@oldpainless
Heya sorry for the late response, I've been swamped.
It looks like it just a bug in the current windows build of emulationstation.
I recommend using sselph's scraper.
https://github.com/sselph/scraper/releases.
It scrapes over 10 times faster and is more accurate in my opinion.
I used it to scrape everything and it took only about 2 hours (For 176,076 items).

Yeah, just a shame it seems to no longer scrape mame roms.

K

[Sashby]

I can't install anything with the batch script. It just spits out a bunch of red text. Example below:

Invoke-WebRequest : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'Admin\cores\44.zip'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/windows/x ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Invoke-WebRequest], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeWebRequestCommand

[oldpainless]

@sashby said in retropie-like script for Windows 7, 8, and 10. RetroCake:

I can't install anything with the batch script. It just spits out a bunch of red text. Example below:

Invoke-WebRequest : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'Admin\cores\44.zip'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/windows/x ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Invoke-WebRequest], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeWebRequestCommand

Works fine here - are you running RetroCake_setup_Desktop.bat as an admin?

K

[Flerp]

@sashby

UPDATE
I have reqritten the entire directory structure from scratch.
This should resolve any issues with downloading and extracting.
It also make everything cleaner, as everything is contained within C:\RetroCake

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It looks like there is a problem with the %USERPROFILE% variable on your PC.
It's trying to write a ZIP file to Admin\cores\44.zip
It should be writing to C:\users\Admin\cores\44.zip or your drive letter equivalent

I'll do some testing and see if the username is an issue.
Can you also let me know what Windows OS you are running, if it's 32 bit or 64 bit.
I'll create the same OS and test the script out.

[oldpainless]

Fantastic - will download ;-)

K

Update - works perfectly here! many thanks bud - dream come true...Dreamcast, Gamcube, All PSP games, heck, even Ridge Racer at 60fps in Mame2016...now if they could turn pcsx2 into a RA core :-)

Thanks again.

[Sashby]

@flerp Wow, I didn't expect you to go to such lengths but it is greatly appreciated. Now it works flawlessly!
Windows 10 Home 64bit
You are right. I do believe my PC's user accounts have been improperly implemented. I'll do a clean install of Windows and setup the user accounts again.
FYI to anyone curious as what you should see happen when installing:

@oldpainless Exactly what I tried the first time. RetroCake_setup_Desktop.bat > right-click "Run as administrator".