Very confused about RetroPie.

dchurch24

Ok...I think I'm getting there.

I got to here: https://eltechs.com/retropie-raspberry-pi-retro-gaming-machine/ somehow from the docs or about - it was last night when I was reading everything I could find trying to get the keys configured.

What is RetroArch emulating?
Is MAME not emulating the hardware of the games it's executing, in the same way that say, the MegaDrive emulator is?

dchurch24

@GtBFilms Thank you. I think :p

It all seems so very confusing still.

I think I'm going to write a quick front-end that lists the roms, and lets me select them with a single button, then configure each game in its respective emulator.

I'll persevere for a little more later tonight...but I'm thinking I could have written something like that in half the time I've spent trying to get this up and running.

GtBFilms

@dchurch24 s

I think the bit that you are missing is that you could do that, but if you then gave a copy of your system to me, and I plugged in my weird-ass controller that you've never seen, it wouldn't work, as none of the emulators would recognise my controller, it would only work for your specific setup.

dchurch24

@GtBFilms True, I get your point, but then wouldn't it make sense to attempt to detect the hardware (which it does), and/or simply map the buttons right/left/select in the front-end, and then map the rest in the respective emulator(s)?

mitu

@dchurch24 MAME already comes with a front-end and also RetroArch. The latest MAME will not work very well on a PI though - but if you have a PC that's all you need.
If all you want is an Arcade emulator, then look at AdvanceMame - it's included in RetroPie but you can also install it standalone - it has a fairly simple front-end - AdvanceMenu - for the AdvanceMame arcade emulator.

I'll persevere for a little more later tonight...but I'm thinking I could have written something like that in half the time I've spent trying to get this up and running.

I doubt that, but why not ?

dchurch24

To be fair, I've just written a very simple and rudimentary example of this in C# since I wrote the last reply. It's VERY rudimentary, but it does shell a cmd line MAME and launch the game already.

I felt that if something exists to the job already, then me writing yet another would be a waste of time.
I just figured that I wasn't getting the angle at which to approach RetroPie, but for what I need, it seems that it could well be overkill.

mitu

@dchurch24 said in Very confused about RetroPie.:

I got to here: https://eltechs.com/retropie-raspberry-pi-retro-gaming-machine/ somehow from the docs or about - it was last night when I was reading everything I could find trying to get the keys configured.

That page has some wild inaccuracies about the programs included in RetroPie (also used elsewhere, not specific to Retropie). The company that runs the site used to sell an x86 emulator which ran on the Pi (https://eltechs.com/product/exagear-desktop/exagear-desktop-features-and-prices/), they no longer sell it now.

BuZz

@dchurch24 said in Very confused about RetroPie.:

@GtBFilms True, I get your point, but then wouldn't it make sense to attempt to detect the hardware (which it does), and/or simply map the buttons right/left/select in the front-end, and then map the rest in the respective emulator(s)?

There are many different USB controllers that identify with the same name but have different layouts. The current method of configuration is more reliable (We used to use the other method). You only need to configure a controller once generally, so I don't really see the issue.

If you don't like the way RetroPie works, I suggest you try out something else like Lakka or Recalbox.

dchurch24

@mitu Fair enough

@BuZz I did try Lakka, but the image wouldn't boot on a RPi3. Tried a few different SD cards as well, so I there's something up there. I'd not come across Recalbox, but will give that a try later tonight. Thank you.

I just don't understand why the fundamentals are not mapped by the user (so it would make little difference which controller is being used) - left/right/select for the front-end. It's all that is needed to get things running for users. All games require a different layout/sequence, and as such each game needs configuration in its respective emulator in any case.

It's not that I don't like the way it works, it's that I just can't get it to work without a lot of trouble. I have it working on my bar-top machine - but that took 3 of us several days to configure, and even now, it's not quite right. I scrapped it and started again a few times. One of which was my GF who has a MSc in Computer Science, and me, with 30 years as a programmer behind me - so we're not technically-challenged (so to speak). Maybe that's the problem?
I thought with that experience, that it would be easier this time around, but sadly, it's not.
I finally managed to get some keys mapped yesterday - we started at around midday, and finally gave up and went to bed at midnight - but then we found there was no way to exit a game, short of pulling the plug on the Pi and rebooting it.

It just seems that some obvious things are missing.

cyperghost

@dchurch24 Against @BuZz suggestion I would first try to stick to RetroPie - so configuration is really straight forward. You can always ask and you will get a quick answer.

dchurch24

@cyperghost Fair enough. I'm going to give it another go tonight. If I can get it configured, then job done. It's nearly there - after a lot of faffing about - I just need to work out how to get out of a game once it's been loaded.
I had another thread where some suggestions were made, so I'm going to give them a go.
Thank you.

cyperghost

@dchurch24 It is so that imho systems like Recalbox or it's fork BATOCERA may work better out of the box. I know for sure that RetroPie is more robust and it gives you a lot more ways to do configurations. The other platforms are a bit more "closed" ... It's your decision

dchurch24

@cyperghost Understood. I'd like this to work...and I appreciate the work that goes into it. I prefer to configure the keys myself.
I'm now a little wary of other front-ends as well, in case they've over-complicated it as well.
On my initial box, I tried to configure the Spectrum Emulator as well, but not a single button worked, and there was seemingly no obvious way to keymap anything from inside the emulator.
Personally, setting up each game/emulator seperately isn't much of a chore - I'm guessing RetroPie/EmulationStation is an attempt to minimise that effort, but by doing so, has rendered most of what I want to do very difficult.

BobHarris

@dchurch24 If you are using Retroarch emulators, then you quit a game by pressing both the hotkey and the start button.

BuZz

@dchurch24 You should read through the installation instructions. Things like how to exit are documented there (and in other parts of the documentation).

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/First-Installation/

dchurch24

To be honest, I've just got home and tried to configure the inputs again. Seemed to work, then I realised that I'd forgotten a button, so went to do it again...guess what? Neither of the joysticks worked.
Rebooted it. Still no joystick, but plugged a keyboard in and tried a game, pressed [esc] and the game let me come back out again, which it would not do last night.
Joystick still didn't work. Left it to go and get a drink from the fridge, came back, and now the joystick works...but I can't get out of a game once again. The select button seems to change each time I boot the Pi up.
Just tried RecalBox - it's slightly less unintuitive, but still quite a nightmare...and there's no way to get out of a game, short of plugging in a keyboard and pressing esc...which, thankfully works every time. I'm baffled. This must be one of the underlying wrappers around the emulators - I have no clue which, as it makes no sense.
For both to have the same issue is insane.
Other people must want to come out of games without having a keyboard or having to reboot the system, right?

dchurch24

@BuZz I have read the documentation and the installation instructions. The problem is, that what is documented doesn't work. Hotkey and Start don't do anything. I've assigned them, not assigned them so that Select becomes the hotkey etc... it doesn't work.
Also, why do the configs change? If I reboot it, then the button I set to [Select] no longer selects anything. If I reboot it again, then sometimes it does.
Other times, having a keyboard plugged in allows me to exit the game pressing [esc], and other times it does not. I have one ROM installed: Defender.

There appears to be no pattern to it at all. There's no way to work out how to assign buttons that stay the same every time the Pi is started, and no way to exit a game. Googling "Exit MAME game from Retropie" returns over a quarter of a million results.

I don't think I'm alone.

mitu

@dchurch24 said in Very confused about RetroPie.:

Also, why do the configs change? If I reboot it, then the button I set to [Select] no longer selects anything. If I reboot it again, then sometimes it does.

Did you use 'Save Configuration' or checked 'Save Config on Exit' from RetroArch's gui ? This has the tendency to screw up the controls.

dchurch24

@mitu It's really difficult to know. What I think is the Select button seems to change frequently, no matter what I set it up as. I could be pressing thr Save option or I could be pressing Back, or some other button that makes the menu disappear.
I'm guessing that they all use the same backend and that's where the issue is.
I think I'm at the point of giving up to be honest. It's a shame, but life is too short :p

Thanks for the help though, truly appreciate you sticking with me.

mitu

@dchurch24 You shouldn't be using "Save Configuration". If you want to re-map your input for just one game, use the Core Input Remapping from the RGUI.
This way the Physical-to-RetroPad mapping are the same (basically what you configured through Emulationstation on first setup), you just remap how the emulator interprets the RetroPad keys to the game.