Not very user friendly.

Drakaen391

I have to disagree as someone who builds PCs including at times configuring them at the code level... RetroPie is easy, though I have to sometimes ask for help, this distro can be equated to ubuntu as it has a vast and dedicated community...

the board on the other hand is another story as its not built to be easy, but the documentation is endless. (I currently have a Pi3 in a custom built case, Pi1B in limbo, and another Pi3 that is being turned into a home server)

Necrobot20XX

I watched hours of YouTube and read lots of tutorials and things online. I have everything working, it's just not how I want it. A lot of the menu options to tweak things just aren't easy to understand or it only applies to one system instead of all. If the option were easy to understand and quick to get to (like the Retron 5) I would love it. Right now it's just easier to run different emulators on my PC because the options are easier to understand and the menus are easy to get to. I was just hoping that with the pi I would be able to have a dedicated all-in-one retro emulator system that was also easy to take on trips or to a friend's house.

Ekstreme

I don't understand the statement. I dump the image, copy a few roms, disable overscanning, configure a controller and I'm done.

And I've built many RetroPi's for other people. There is a group on FB that provides images that are pre-setup but every config is slightly different. I'm also pretty sure they also include roms (tisk tisk) but each images is 32 or 64 gig. Not a smart way of spreading it around. This distribution is just lazy if you ask me

DLC

I like to believe that half the enjoyment is getting something so small and cheap to do so much with so little. I never delved into Linux or coding until the Pi and now find myself doing it as a past time. As was mentioned earlier, perhaps Recalbox or even Lakaa would be more to your liking.

Drakaen391

@Necrobot20XX said in Not very user friendly.:

I watched hours of YouTube and read lots of tutorials and things online. I have everything working, it's just not how I want it. A lot of the menu options to tweak things just aren't easy to understand or it only applies to one system instead of all. If the option were easy to understand and quick to get to (like the Retron 5) I would love it. Right now it's just easier to run different emulators on my PC because the options are easier to understand and the menus are easy to get to. I was just hoping that with the pi I would be able to have a dedicated all-in-one retro emulator system that was also easy to take on trips or to a friend's house.

I keep seeing you compare RetroPie with Retron 5...

(For those that do not know Retron 5 is a retro console)

The argument is flawed right away because Retron 5 is all its own programing... RetroPie is not.

In the RetroPie 3.8 for example you have a board and base operating system from Raspberry Pi Foundation, then you have EmulationStation which is its own group, RetroArch in its own group and the RetroPie.... None are part of the other so its impossible to do the things Retron 5 does... even using Emulators on PC cant do the same as Retron 5.

Because RetroPie uses emulators that are compatible with the ARM Architecture the selection is limited.... It is also easier to use other emulators known to work, than to program ones... and because RetroPie is done by people in their free time, not as part of a corporate company...

If you need experience with this, work on a minimal Linux build to get a sense of the backend program...

also, the reason some configurations are universal is because they are not the same emulator

Drakaen391

@Necrobot20XX said in Not very user friendly.:

I am an above average computer user and have been using emulators for years.

This is hard to believe as I know there isn't a single emulator that would work for all systems RetroPie has or even half of it...

Also Above average Computer user would know the difference between a console and computer board...