RetroPi on the Raspberry Pi, a Retro Based Dedicated Computer

I have been fascinated by Raspberry Pi, the world tiniest and cheapest computer ever since it was announced about three years ago. Despite its barebones fragile appearance, the Pi without a proper case looks like a delicate circuit board, I knew I wanted one. But as is typical with me I was unsure what I would do with it once I'd bought one.
 

Well that question was answered for me by PetRockBlack who wrote Emulation Station, a front end for emulators designed for Linux/Raspberry Pi. It ran ROMs from pretty much every retro console there was from 1996 and older, with the notable exception of the Saturn.

I knew I had a spare month coming up, and after reading a Lifehacker guide (that I later discovered was woefully inadequate) I began planning to build my own Raspberry Pi retro computer.

I ordered a Raspberry Pi B+, the new Plus model has 2 extra USB ports, is tidier all round. I also ordered a power cable and a pair of SNES controllers and an Nintendo 64 controller all through Amazon.

I bought a 32gb MicroSD card in a shop and waited for the packages to arrive. The first two items that came through the letterbox was the Raspberry Pi and the power lead. The computer was as tiny as I thought it would be, but the motherboard was much stronger than I expected. It was neater, only accepted MicroSD cards, whereas the previous Pi computers only accepted the SD Card. I realised that the machine would work but I had no way of connecting it to my PC monitor, so had to wait until the next day to buy a lead HDMI to DVI.

I bought the HDMI to DVI lead and connected it up from the Pi to the monitor. With 4 USB ports it mean I could add multiple devices, all of which were self powered through the Pi. I pluged in a keyboard and existing Xbox360 type USB (the Logitech Chillstream) controller to the Pi. I began to download the disk image from PetRockBlock, all the while trying to work out how I was going to get the ROMs from my laptop to the Pi. Lifehacker, and several of the other guides, recommended any router, I found two old routers, but no power lead.

I installed the disk imaging program and turned the MicroSD card into a bootable RetroPi operating system on the laptop, and plugged it into the Pi and waited for everything to light up. I was amazed it came to life instantly. Everything was automated, in the meantime I carried on with my feverish hunt for router power leads.

Eventually I found a BT Home Hub lead, but it wouldnt fire up, so I connected the power lead to an old Sky router and the lights on the router all woke up. The Pi wired connection was perfect, but I got nothing out of my laptop. Strange.

By this time RetroPi was installed and I followed the Lifehacker guide and changed a few settings. It suggested several that had no documentation to explain what they were doing. Once I realised they had given you false, incomplete and totally inadequate instructions, I Googled for better information.

I configured the controller for Emulation Station working, but it didnt work ingame. I tested Doom, CaveStory and Duke Nukem 3D all worked well, and plug in a set of speakers.

After Googling for controller set up, I set up the controller to work ingame perfectly.

I then installed CyberDuck and got it working, but couldn't get a link to the Pi. I had no idea of the IP address. I noticed no light from my laptop, and realised there was no network driver as I did a system restore about 6 months ago, and only installed the wireless driver. I had to hunt the internet and after about ten minutes I installed network driver for wired connection.

All while this was happening I was using the Pi IP address on the Pi - made a note, and had a bit of fun checking out the simple Windows front end for the the OS, I was impressed

I got Cyberduck to make the connection, and copied across 2 test ROMs across, Super Mario World and Secret of Mana

I configured the in-game controllers (fiddly) and was played Super Mario World in minutes.

It seems to run okay but does suffer from slowdown so I intend to see if I can get the Pi to run faster by overclocking and let it have access to more memory. It struggled with StarFox.

RetroPi

Just placed my order with Amazon for the all components I need to build a RetroPi computer/console.

Ive the guide ready to go from Lifehacker and will get it up and running as soon as possible.

1 Raspberry Pi
1 Powerlead (The Pi doesnt come with one, but is a USB powered source
1 Nintendo 64 USB Controller
1 2no SNES Controller

All I need is a SD Card, but I can buy one of these from a shop without going via Amazon.

Unchartered 2 Continues

Just a short update to say I am thoroughly enjoying the game and story of Uncharted 2. It flows a lot better both in terms of gameplay, cut scenes and the puzzles are more enjoyable and more epic to solve.

I do feel you are hand held through some parts but its a developer choice to aid players, but the hints come too easily and too fast.

Id say Im about half way through now, and every time I play it I see more and more of The Last of Us in the gameplay, the game that Naughty Dog would develop after Uncharted 3.

Not so sure about the 2 new antagonists voive acting ability, Chloe comes across as a tart/slut/vixen and Flynn comes across as an inept buffoon.

Rage - Xbox 360

A first person shooter, but with driving elements.
A stunning looking game that really pushes the IDtech engine to limit.
The FPS engine is very well done and the gunfights are very satisfying. The variety in the weapons and the customisation is excellent. If you like pistol fights then you can trick out your pistol to make it the best weapon you can.

What surprised me was that the game was available cheap second hand within months of its release. So what is so bad about the game that has players dumping it in droves. I hope to identify the key issues.

The Missions
The game sets you off on the typical fetch and return missions but does this by sending you to "dungeons" you've already visited for a second try. Now I dont have an issue with recyling levels, its just that this game does it at a higher level that any game I've ever played before. It disguises the fact that it doesnt have many levels by making you revisit the same ones again.

The game has main missions and side missions. The side missions are essentially grinding missions on the same level and get boring very quickly.

The Driving
The driving element was something new for ID to undertake, and while the graphic engine handles the driving perfectly it just doesnt sit right in an ID game. The driving between levels, the driving action you encounter en route and the specific racing levels are very well done, but they are just not welcome in a FPS. Its this sudden addition to the gameplay that can ruin a game such as Brutal Legend. An action third person game suddenly becomes a strategy war game.

The Sound
The sound is an issue in the game, but Im reviewing the Xbox version which has serious sound issues.
(a) the sound cuts out in the middle of a level, and if you save the game and reload, it reloads without the sound element as well. The only way to correct the sound bug is to reload a previous save where the sound does work.
(b) the vocal talent used for the NPCs sending you on missions are the same people from Doom 3, very lazy.
(c) during gunfights the conversations between enemies is humourous but also misleading. It happened to me once, and now is a huge issue for me. If I know there are 3 enemies in a room and I hear them chatting to each other how they are going to flank me, I change my fighting position and style to prepare for a flank. But if I kill 2 of the enemies, the conversation still remains, i.e. the 1 remaining enemy is still discussing with his dead comrades strategies that involve more than 1 person. Its misleading as it doesnt given you any audio clues as to how many of the enemies remain.

All said, the game does have some truly brilliant moments, the graphic engine is solid and robust, I have a dislike for the "bosses" in this game, but overall Id still give this game an 8/10 despite being "dumped" by ID and its fanbase. I cant comment on multiplayer as yet.

Monument Valley Android

Ive been a bit quiet over the last few days as ive been played monument valley on my android.

Despite the price tag the game offers no more than a couple of hours of gameplay but it lives up to the hype.

Beautiful mesmerising and stimulating, this reminds me of Journey on the PS3.

It does stand up to repeat playing but it doesnt unlock anything new.

10 inventive levels which unfold before your eyes in nee and original ways. Each level introduces something new.

Day of the Tentacle - CDROM

I had some bad experiences with adventure games in the 1980s, both text and graphic adventures that stopped me dead in my tracks by either having a puzzle so obscure as to be unsolveable or a puzzle that require the exact parser for the puzzle to be solved. I recall once adventure game that had a word incorrectly spelt in the parser, meaning you could only solve the puzzle by mispelling the object.

Well all that changed with Lucasarts which remapped the adventure gaming scene with Manic Mansion. I did play it, and its follow up Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders but it was only the adventure The Secret of Monkey Island did graphic adventure games become fun to play and laugh out loud funny as well.

Day of the Tentacle is essentially Manic Mansion 2. I had been meaning to play this for many years since I downloaded and install SCUMMVM (the Script Creation Utility for Manic Mansion Virtual Machine), essentially an emulator for running any of the SCUMM games and others.

Whilst some of the humour had dwindled, the spark and ingenuity hadnt, and puzzles and problems I had deliberated on for days came back to me very quickly.

Im looking forward to finding the time to play through the Sam and Max Hit the Road CD-ROM as well.

Planning for a Month Alone

My wife and children are off on holiday in August for a whole month, which gives me just over 30 days to play console games. There are quite a few I want to go through from start to finish and also games that i've yet to finish.

Ive broken them down into machines

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
Super Mario Bros Wii
De Blob - I finished the first game a few years back and semi started the sequel but never finished
LEGO series - I have all the Lego games, here is my chance to play them all - please...

Xbox360
Halo 3
Rock Band/Guitar Hero
Dead Space 1 and 2 - Ive finished 1 already and halfway through the 2nd game, but want to experience them from the start.
GTA IV - I bought this but never played it much. I bypassed it for GTAV. I will go back to it though.

PS3
Dead Space 3
Uncharted 2 and 3