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/vr/ - Retro Games

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1749840

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:03:32 2014 No.1749840 [Reply] [Original]

I'm new to the board, but loving it so far. I can already see a lot of you guys prefer collecting vintage hardware rather than emulation, but let's see if you like this idea.

I'm planning on buying a Raspberry Pi to use as an emulator. I have access to a fairly high end 3d printer, so instead of the usual enclosure, it's going to be a miniature reproduction of an NES machine. Each ROM will be loaded onto an SD card which will have its own case that looks like a tiny little cartridge. Of course it will also have the retro NES looking USB controllers.

Alternately, I thought about buying a broken console, taking out the guts, and mounting the Raspberry Pi inside of it with all the games on a single SD card that will stay in the system. I know of a few folks that have built entire arcade cabinets but that seems like a bit too much effort for me.

So what do you think?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:05:47 2014 No.1749843 Sounds neat.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:08:39 2014 No.1749846 Might be cool, I say go for it

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:12:45 2014 No.1749849 Mini NES sounds awesome. The second idea would be about a hundred times easier... likewise it's already been done hundreds of times though.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:15:06 2014 No.1749852 >>1749840 >high end 3d printer What you got? A Dimension 1200es?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:17:19 2014 No.1749854 >>1749843 >>1749846 >>1749849 Cool. Well I'll post pics of the finished product probably in a couple weeks (if it doesn't come out too retarded), and also the files in case anyone else wants to do it.

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:26:47 2014 No.1749863

>>1749852
Not that high end. They've got a few set up at my work, I know they'll let me use the Makerbot Replicator 2X. They do have some professional grade ones but they probably won't let me use them (nor would I really need something *too* fancy for this).

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 03:33:37 2014 No.1749870

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php

Raspberry Pi isn't the only tiny arm unit you can find. It's probably the most widely supported and thus easiest to get what you're going for, but, this one is also pretty popular.

You will be able to run higher end systems with the additional horsepower.

Just something to mull over.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 05:01:33 2014 No.1749996 >>1749840 Is Raspberry Pi powerful enough to emulate up to SNES/Genesis and still make good use of a turbo-speed feature for RPGs?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 05:45:57 2014 No.1750057 >>1749863 Makerbot is consumer grade. Not actually high or medium. Anyways. Sounds like a fun project.

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 07:22:28 2014 No.1750202

>>1749840
>Each ROM will be loaded onto an SD card which will have its own case that looks like a tiny little cartridge.
Isn't that a bit of a waste of space? NES ROMs are like a few kilobytes each. You could probably fit the entire NES library inside a single SD card.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 08:23:50 2014 No.1750292 >>1750202 Agreed, seems wasteful. Not sure if rasberry pi can run something like hyperspin, but that's a feel of authenticity / uniqueness to each game.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 09:32:30 2014 No.1750392 I don't know the limits of this system. Could you even include SNES and other consoles on there? Would be more cost-effective.

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 10:08:04 2014 No.1750442

>>1750202
>>1750292
I'm seeing some low capacity bulk SD on aliexpress for about 78 cents each. Granted they still have more than enough space for the entire NES library on them, but it woildn't be too expensive. Maybe OP could set up his "cartridges" to auto-play the ROM that matches their label but include a "secret code" that can unlock additional games.

As everybody who emulates casually has probably found, having too much of a selection can paralyze your choice of what to play. OP might break down the library in some way, perhaps by genre or publisher or year and create some cool labels for each "multicart"

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 10:29:10 2014 No.1750461

>>1749840
the issue you would have with that plan is that the SD card is where the OS sits typically, so this would also have to include a powered USB HDD as well, the power draw on the system isnt enough to run a small USB HDD. so if you were making a slim retro looking case you wouldnt be able to use multiple SD cards withough having a larger, powered drive sitting next to. not to sure about usb sticks though. also its two usb drives could be an issue for you as well. as many previous threads have said the pi isnt too hot for emulation.

>>	Rvnx !neQZdLHW2A Tue Jul 8 10:42:14 2014 No.1750482 >>1749840 >Each ROM will be loaded onto an SD card >Raspi's linux runs off the SD card >Every ROM needs it's own linux on the SD Why not use one SD card and disguise it as some neat "1000 in 1" cardridge?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 12:42:35 2014 No.1750653 Post pictures once you complete your project!

>>	Eventsguy Tue Jul 8 12:59:26 2014 No.1750687 Wont removing the SD card while its on be bad for the Pi? It holds the OS You could get some small USB drives and use them while keeping an USB slot as a kinda Cartridge slot

>>

Anonymous Tue Jul 8 13:22:51 2014 No.1750728

>>1750482
>>1750442
In favor of these. The OS must run from the SD card, so use an external USB SD card reader and have a handful of SD cards each labeled nothing but "Sunsoft" "Nintendo" etc.

you might even be featured on kotaku or some other piece of shit

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 8 13:23:05 2014 No.1750730 >>1749840 >Each ROM will be loaded onto an SD card which will have its own case that looks like a tiny little cartridge. Very bad idea, as already hinted at. Also a proprietary card slot will dramatically increase price.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 9 06:07:40 2014 No.1752775 >>1749840 totally worth it, because not only you get a fairly decent totally quiet and power efficient emu (with HDMI output right out of the box) - you'll also learn some usefull skills along the way.

>>

Anonymous Wed Jul 9 16:53:22 2014 No.1753790
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>>1749840
Hey OP,

I went for option 2 a few months ago and I love it. Retropie on a Raspberry Pi inside a JUNK Famicom RAM cart. I had to remove excess parts like the network port, composite out, Audio out and GPIO to get it to fit well, but I was planning to only use HDMI anyway- not authentic but who's kidding who? HDMI is standard now and I just want an easy life.

I completed it with some JUNK Super Famicom controllers, where I removed the boards from inside and swapped in some fairly good USB reproduction innards. I of course kept the SuFami boards and put them in new cases, so the same number of controllers remain.

I actually really like the black cheapie USB pads though, so I tend to take one of each.

I would love to see option one, and am just waiting for 3d printing to get to the point where I can make small versions of all my consoles using tiny arm boards, or whatever the modern equivalent will be.

Either way, feel free to ask any questions!

>>

Anonymous Wed Jul 9 16:56:24 2014 No.1753795

>>1753790
One thing I forgot to mention- I would really recommend making the body a bit bigger to accommodate short (10-15cm) Male/Female Micro USB, USB and HDMI cables. This means you can reroute ports to wherever you like and they're pretty easy to replace if an accident happens.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 9 17:00:28 2014 No.1753807 >>1749840 Instead of using SD for roms, use SD for the common OS/Emulator and use either the USB or GPIO for roms.