RaspberryPi Mame with PC Steam - can they share controls?

[dudesmurf]

I really want to try putting together a RaspberryPi MAME-based arcade cabinet.  I also, however, have a ton of Steam games. Can the two systems share the same arcade controls, or would I just be further off using the PC to run the MAME software and forget the RaspberryPi?

[yotsuya]

For what you want to do, stick with the PC.

[Osirus23]

What advantage is there to using a Pi?

[yotsuya]

Space and power savings, which aren't enough for me to ever consider one my my projects. They're great for small projects, I assume.

[Osirus23]

Space and power savings, which aren't enough for me to ever consider one my my projects. They're great for small projects, I assume.

I mean in this instance, since there's already going to be a PC in the cab.

[yotsuya]

Space and power savings, which aren't enough for me to ever consider one my my projects. They're great for small projects, I assume.

I mean in this instance, since there's already going to be a PC in the cab.

So then what's the point of adding the Pi? Just because?

[paigeoliver]

There is no point in using the pi in anything larger than a gameboy, yet it hasn't stopped the pi from totally sabotaging the mame community.

Space and power savings, which aren't enough for me to ever consider one my my projects. They're great for small projects, I assume.

I mean in this instance, since there's already going to be a PC in the cab.

So then what's the point of adding the Pi? Just because?

[monkeybomb]

I highly recommend that you not take anything personally and continue to ask questions before you start putting too much work into the set-up.  We've all had ideas that nobody agrees and the group is usually saving someone if they listen.

Any PC that can play steam games will be great for mame and I believe you can use attract mode as a front end for both.  No need to separate a thing if you really want those on the same monitor.  I recommend setting things up so that you play arcade games on a 4:3 monitor and steam games on a big 16:9 HD monitor.  Steam games that are gamepad compatible are especially enjoyable on a big screen television while sitting on the couch.

[yotsuya]

Yes, if you have a PC in your cab running Steam, I see no reason at all to add a Pi. Save yourself the headaches.

[BadMouth]

Yeah, skip the Pi.
I haven't tried it, but someone posted this a while back: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137507.msg1418805.html#msg1418805

I've also seen comments that the GameEx front-end has the best steam game integration.

I have steam games on my arcade cab.  For most of the games, you can just point the front-end to a shortcut linked to the exe in the game folder.  For some games though, I have to make a batch file then point the shortcut at that.  I also have a batch file that signs into steam when the PC starts up.  I'm using Mala, but it would work the same for any front-end.

I just picked up an alienware alpha for the living room.
Gonna load it up with steam and console emulators when I get time, but haven't decided how to go about it yet.
Currently updating it to windows 10, then I'll install the steam games, then the consoles.

EDIT: Relevant thread:http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134283.msg1384600.html#msg1384600
A lot of games look like they might work, but don't because of the need for analog sticks.  Still I probably have double the number of games on that list, they are almost all arcade style games though; fighting games, shmups, and a few platformers.

[ark_ader]

Get a USB Switch box.

[dudesmurf]

I highly recommend that you not take anything personally and continue to ask questions before you start putting too much work into the set-up.  We've all had ideas that nobody agrees and the group is usually saving someone if they listen.

Any PC that can play steam games will be great for mame and I believe you can use attract mode as a front end for both.  No need to separate a thing if you really want those on the same monitor.  I recommend setting things up so that you play arcade games on a 4:3 monitor and steam games on a big 16:9 HD monitor.  Steam games that are gamepad compatible are especially enjoyable on a big screen television while sitting on the couch.

Thanks monkeybomb. Nothing is taken personally. I'm a complete newbie with this stuff, so I expect to ask questions that many consider ridiculous.

To answer the common question of "why use the Pi", the main reason right now is I really like the idea of the Pi, and I don't necessarily have a spare PC that can properly run, Star Wars Battlefront II, for instance.  I would likely pick up a Pi since they are cheap, then add the PC later once I have one available.

I guess if I'm going to spend the time building and wiring the cabinet, I should do it right the first time and build in with the assumption a PC is going in.  I could always do a mini-cabinet with a Pi as a test run to see if I want to spend the time and money on building a full size unit.

Thanks for the input everyone!!

[paigeoliver]

Go to your facebook right now and post this.

"I could really use a spare computer, does anyone have an old one they would give me for a project."

As long as you are a decent human being who knows people this will probably magically produce several computers that were gathering dust in someone's closet. Build around the best one of those, then replace it later.

I highly recommend that you not take anything personally and continue to ask questions before you start putting too much work into the set-up.  We've all had ideas that nobody agrees and the group is usually saving someone if they listen.

Any PC that can play steam games will be great for mame and I believe you can use attract mode as a front end for both.  No need to separate a thing if you really want those on the same monitor.  I recommend setting things up so that you play arcade games on a 4:3 monitor and steam games on a big 16:9 HD monitor.  Steam games that are gamepad compatible are especially enjoyable on a big screen television while sitting on the couch.

Thanks monkeybomb. Nothing is taken personally. I'm a complete newbie with this stuff, so I expect to ask questions that many consider ridiculous.

To answer the common question of "why use the Pi", the main reason right now is I really like the idea of the Pi, and I don't necessarily have a spare PC that can properly run, Star Wars Battlefront II, for instance.  I would likely pick up a Pi since they are cheap, then add the PC later once I have one available.

I guess if I'm going to spend the time building and wiring the cabinet, I should do it right the first time and build in with the assumption a PC is going in.  I could always do a mini-cabinet with a Pi as a test run to see if I want to spend the time and money on building a full size unit.

Thanks for the input everyone!!

[DeLuSioNal29]

I actually have Steam installed on my MAME machine and I've ALWAYS had trouble running stuff.  More and more the newer games' developers are ignoring the older 4:3 low resolution formats (I have a Betson Multisync CRT myself).

So I'm officially doing the split very soon.  I plan on removing Steam from my MAME arcade machine, moving my more powerful PC into my "Vewlix clone" cabinet which has digital controls, and then buying the Steam Link for $50 and running that to my HDTV for other game which require analogue joysticks (driving games, etc.).

Either way, it's good idea to split the Steam and MAME machines up.

D

[jaywv1981]

Right now I have Hyperspin to launch my MAME games and then I use Steam Big Picture mode for the PC games.  I basically have a "Arcade" button and a "PC Games" button that each launch batch files/PowerShell scripts.

If I press "Arcade" it kills all instances of Steam and any PC Games running and then launches
Hyperspin. 

If I press "PC Games" it kills all instances of Hyperspin and MAME running and then launches Steam. 

This works best for me because I was having a lot of trouble getting Hyperspin to launch Steam games.