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It used to be about the games, maaaaan!

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gameshackingprogrammingsupport group
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  • M
    mercifulhacker
    last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 20:58

    After fiddling with Retropie for about 3-4 weeks, I've realized something horrible:

    I have WAY more fun fiddling with Retropie, emulators, config files, and build scripts than I do playing old games. Just when I get things working the way I want, I think "I bet I could get this running faster...."

    Anyone else discover this about themselves?

    M 1 Reply Last reply 9 Jan 2017, 21:15 Reply Quote 6
    • C
      Capeman
      last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 21:05

      YES! I just spend like 2 weeks making custom artworks sets and game lists for all my emulators, took too friggin long and wasn't fun. I finally got back to playing it last night and got 3 levels into Ren and Stimpy: the Quest for the Shaven Yak on game gear. Felt good to finally play it again, haha.

      Now to finish artwork for Mame and FBA... ugh. At least I never started using Attract Mode, yikes!

      Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop

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      • M
        mrbwa1
        last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 21:11

        I think it's a mindset for folks. I have been playing Forza Horizon 3 and spent a good 2 hours in the auction house the other day. I won't tell you how much time I put into car designs and paint jobs.... Then I look at the actual Elite painters (or whatever they are called) in the auction house and realize I'm finger painting in comparison!

        As for the older games. I find the 2 player games to be more fun than single player most of the time because I can play through them with my kids. Brutal arcade games are pretty fun when you have unlimited quarters to throw at them (Think 1941 Co-op).

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        • M
          meleu @mercifulhacker
          last edited by meleu 1 Sept 2017, 21:16 9 Jan 2017, 21:15

          @mercifulhacker same feeling here! :-)
          And when I finish some tweak a new one comes from nothing!

          I just don't know how, but they keep coming!!

          • Useful topics
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          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • M
            mercifulhacker
            last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 21:24

            What tweaks/hacks are keeping you busy?

            I'm currently trying to get the arcade versions of some of my favorite fighting games. Sure, the PS1 version runs fine...but the arcade version is so neat!

            After this I plan to start easing in to some over-clocking stuff. See if I can get metal slug to run a little smoother.

            M M 3 Replies Last reply 9 Jan 2017, 21:34 Reply Quote 0
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              obsidianspider
              last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 21:27

              Absolutely. Once I started getting into making things, I found the troubleshooting and problem solving and finding creative solutions to issues even more fun than playing X game. That said, the MAME ROWs that @meleu runs every week get me to check out new games I usually haven't even heard of.

              📷 @obsidianspider

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • M
                mrbwa1 @mercifulhacker
                last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 21:34

                @mercifulhacker said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                What tweaks/hacks are keeping you busy?

                I'm currently trying to get the arcade versions of some of my favorite fighting games. Sure, the PS1 version runs fine...but the arcade version is so neat!

                After this I plan to start easing in to some over-clocking stuff. See if I can get metal slug to run a little smoother.

                Make sure you have a cooling solution when you ease into Overclocking (with a Pi 3 at least!)

                I re-purposed the fan out of an old ATX power supply and direct wired it to a wall wart. It's not pretty and it sure isn't quiet, but it moves some air! (Runs about 50C at full stress on a Pi3 running 1350MHz with a 500 Mhz core&ram OC. I can probably push it to 1400-1450 MHz with this fan, but I didn't notice much difference at 1400MHz before other than overheating even on 8 and 16 bit systems (at 1350MHz i can usually run those without the fan).

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • M
                  meleu @mercifulhacker
                  last edited by meleu 1 Sept 2017, 22:12 9 Jan 2017, 22:11

                  @mercifulhacker said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                  What tweaks/hacks are keeping you busy?

                  Recently a conversation at the "Runcommand System Splashscreens!" thread gave me an idea to automate the creation of launching images for the Carbon theme. To accomplish this task I had to learn about the ImageMagick tools. I've made the script and posted about it here. And then I've got the idea to make a script to generate these images for any theme.

                  To accomplish this task I'm learning about the xmlstarlet tool. I'm really amazed with this tool, it's f*cking useful when you need to deal with xml files in shell scripts (before knowing it I was used to use sed tricks).

                  About the gaming... I think most of my real gaming time is spent trying to beat hi-scores for the MAME ROW, as @obsidianspider mentioned. :-)

                  @mercifulhacker come and join with us! Here is the post for this week: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7152/mame-row-16

                  • Useful topics
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                  M 1 Reply Last reply 9 Jan 2017, 22:13 Reply Quote 2
                  • D
                    davej
                    last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 22:12

                    Don't try writing shaders. ;)

                    I only got into retroarch because someone said Pis couldn't run a simple curved screen only shader and I thought "I bet they can". Then thought "I wonder how good a CRT shader it could run?"

                    M 1 Reply Last reply 9 Jan 2017, 23:24 Reply Quote 1
                    • M
                      mercifulhacker @meleu
                      last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 22:13

                      @meleu I shall have to check those out! They look like fun. Probably not this week though....got too much third strike to catch up on!

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                      • M
                        mrbwa1 @davej
                        last edited by 9 Jan 2017, 23:24

                        @davej said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                        Don't try writing shaders. ;)

                        I only got into retroarch because someone said Pis couldn't run a simple curved screen only shader and I thought "I bet they can". Then thought "I wonder how good a CRT shader it could run?"

                        And your shader is awesome! Well actually, it looks terrible (to me) on my 720p tv out of the box, but I made a custom config that looks good without the curved screen (have a curved screen configuration archived somewhere).

                        Come to think of it, I DO spent a lot of time tweaking little things on retropie, I am just not smart enough to do the coding stuff that others do, so I try and do what I have experience with and provide support where I can on the forums.

                        D M 2 Replies Last reply 9 Jan 2017, 23:53 Reply Quote 0
                        • D
                          davej @mrbwa1
                          last edited by davej 1 Sept 2017, 23:54 9 Jan 2017, 23:53

                          @mrbwa1 said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                          And your shader is awesome! Well actually, it looks terrible (to me) on my 720p tv out of the box, but I made a custom config that looks good without the curved screen (have a curved screen configuration archived somewhere).

                          I think it looks terrible at 720p as well. ;) If you're not using integer scaling it really needs at least 4 times the resolution to give reasonably even looking scan lines.

                          Come to think of it, I DO spent a lot of time tweaking little things on retropie, I am just not smart enough to do the coding stuff that others do, so I try and do what I have experience with and provide support where I can on the forums.

                          People helping out where they can is one of the nice things about this project/community.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • D
                            detron
                            last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 00:13

                            glad to hear I am not the only one. I do not have a lot of free time, so I am not making programs and scripts, but I still fiddle WAY more than play.

                            when I do play, it seems to be no more than 20 minutes or so.

                            Retropie is a distro that motivates learning more, and has a side effect of playing old games

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • C
                              Concat
                              last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 01:43

                              Problem solving is fun. I always have to have a project on the go to keep me from being bored. Retropie is a great project that feels never ending, so it fits the bill. Especially in winter.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • O
                                ohmycommodore
                                last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 02:26

                                My wife always says that I am "project oriented". I think a lot of folks who get into this kind of stuff are.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • H
                                  herb_fargus administrators
                                  last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 02:47

                                  Initially when I discovered retropie I was drawn by the idea of an all in one game station as video games were an important aspect of my childhood.

                                  But once I got started (back in the 1.X days) there was much more tweaking required back then I found that to be more enjoyable than the games I played. I spend 99% of my time working on docs or testing or tweaking some othet random thing. Very gratifying to just get things working and help others (who are willing to help themselves) along the way

                                  If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                                  Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
                                  • E
                                    ebtalk
                                    last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 03:36

                                    This to a T. I think I enjoy putting it together more than playing the games.

                                    Where was RetroPie when I was a kid though?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • S
                                      synack
                                      last edited by synack 1 Oct 2017, 04:21 10 Jan 2017, 03:56

                                      I've followed the emulation scene for awhile and have been able to have my nostalgia satiated for some time, but now it's about the hobby and bringing some memories and happiness to those around me. I think I gave away 4 systems this Christmas, and all of the recipients were amazed with the product that the folks here have put together.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • M
                                        mrbwa1 @mrbwa1
                                        last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 16:29

                                        @mrbwa1 said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                                        @davej said in It used to be about the games, maaaaan!:

                                        Don't try writing shaders. ;)

                                        I only got into retroarch because someone said Pis couldn't run a simple curved screen only shader and I thought "I bet they can". Then thought "I wonder how good a CRT shader it could run?"

                                        And your shader is awesome! Well actually, it looks terrible (to me) on my 720p tv out of the box, but I made a custom config that looks good without the curved screen (have a curved screen configuration archived somewhere).

                                        Come to think of it, I DO spent a lot of time tweaking little things on retropie, I am just not smart enough to do the coding stuff that others do, so I try and do what I have experience with and provide support where I can on the forums.

                                        I have done interger scaling (I read all your comments back in the day) and I have a half decent config now (I think it's non-scaled). If you would like, I can share it with you to see if it looks okay with you. I could work on a curved 720p config as well if it would help to add those into the shader repo.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • P
                                          PetroRie
                                          last edited by 10 Jan 2017, 21:13

                                          Not me but my bro is like that. Man, if he buys a game he spends more time in the options than the game itself. When he saw RetroPie for the first time, I opened up the RGUI menu and I told him "Look, there is your porn quickly go get your lube". I swear I kid you not, when I borrowed him Battlefield 4 on the PS4 he said "Did you know that there is an advanced option for the game?"

                                          Couple years ago I modded his PSP, and I told him do NOT update it... Couple days later comes to me "uhh the games won't load anymore".

                                          On his TV when he's browsing in the menu settings you'll hear an annoying beep. Guess how many times I heard that sound haha. Best part: he has no idea what he's doing lol. Yet he will complain about the most retarded thing ever like "There is an annoying line on screen and I want it gone", he's the only one who sees that line lol.

                                          I used to browse the config files and search the Wiki for what the options are etc. I did tweak some settings and made a backup of those files, whenever I reinstall everything I just copy n paste those files and I'm done with it. I'm still planning to play with the overclocking settings in the future. Going to get a large heatsink like the ones you find on the south bridges of most computer motherboards along with a fitting 5v fan. I've seen them on eBay for a couple bucks. I think those heatsinks (5cm by 5cm) are the best ones to use.

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply 10 Jan 2017, 21:38 Reply Quote 0
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