New member one question

[Vocalitus]

Hi,

New guy here, please be kind.

I have been toying with the idea of buying a 1Up arcade cabinet and adding a PC to play emulated video games.  I know the choices are Windows or Linux, a raspberry pi. etc.  I live in a small apartment and do not have room to "build" a cabinet.  Also I am on the 3rd floor with no elevator so buying an original cabinet is out of the question.

The PC is a SFF rescue and capable of running MAME.  My hope is to go back 10 years and install Windows XP and use the older emulators with a nice front end, or use something out of the box like retropie.  I have read the tired questions of what PC to use, but I want to get this job done correctly once.  I have the buttons, encoder and display adapter (I followed ETA Prime videos) and I have a choice of vertical or horizontal 1Up cabinet.

My question is the software side of things that I would like help making an informed opinion.  Older emulators or Retroarch?

If this is posted in the wrong forum apologies, in advance.

[keilmillerjr]

A pc is the best option. Running a 19 year old operating system? Time to move on if you want a good retro experience. Last month mame stopped precompiling 32-bit bins. ‘Bout time.

[Osirus23]

I have cabs running Windows XP, but only because that was the OS of choice at the time they were made and my cabs remain static throughout their lifetimes. Depending on what PC you are using it will probably be difficult to find compatible drivers and software for it if you use XP.

[leapinlew]

That's a doozy of a question!

I've used both options and I have my opinions on both.

Pie: requires some IT experience and/or patience to learn how to modify the image to do what you want. If you want to customize it at all, you'll probably need to learn how to SSH, navigate through Linux. I found it fairly easy to modify the things I needed to, but I could understand if it causes novice users some grief. I am using it for a vertical build - you can see the post where I layout the steps for my Pi here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,161128.msg1702989.html#msg1702989
It was an easy build. One annoying thing, that I didn't have to deal with since it was a single game build, is that I don't like the option to modify game settings at launch. Not sure how to get rid of that.

PC: Also requires some IT experience, but it's easier to find support when you run into a problem. You get a whole plethora of front end options.... almost too many. Doesn't take a high end PC for many of the front ends. The failure rate on PC's is a little scary to me. I've had several fail and it requires a rebuild and re-install of the OS. I may swap my Galaga cabinets PC out for a 60-n-1 or something when it finally bites it.

The other option you didn't mention was using a Jamma board and a all-in-one unit like a Pandoras box. Check it out. It's probably the easiest solution of all. My kids use an Arcade1up and a 60-n-1 board and it works great for them.

If time is available, my suggestion for you is to try a pie. It's cheap and easy to experiment with. Also try to find a free or very inexpensive PC and give that a whirl. Watch some videos on the all-in-one boards.

[Vocalitus]

That's a doozy of a question!

I've used both options and I have my opinions on both.

Pie: requires some IT experience and/or patience to learn how to modify the image to do what you want. If you want to customize it at all, you'll probably need to learn how to SSH, navigate through Linux. I found it fairly easy to modify the things I needed to, but I could understand if it causes novice users some grief. I am using it for a vertical build - you can see the post where I layout the steps for my Pi here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,161128.msg1702989.html#msg1702989
It was an easy build. One annoying thing, that I didn't have to deal with since it was a single game build, is that I don't like the option to modify game settings at launch. Not sure how to get rid of that.

PC: Also requires some IT experience, but it's easier to find support when you run into a problem. You get a whole plethora of front end options.... almost too many. Doesn't take a high end PC for many of the front ends. The failure rate on PC's is a little scary to me. I've had several fail and it requires a rebuild and re-install of the OS. I may swap my Galaga cabinets PC out for a 60-n-1 or something when it finally bites it.

The other option you didn't mention was using a Jamma board and a all-in-one unit like a Pandoras box. Check it out. It's probably the easiest solution of all. My kids use an Arcade1up and a 60-n-1 board and it works great for them.

If time is available, my suggestion for you is to try a pie. It's cheap and easy to experiment with. Also try to find a free or very inexpensive PC and give that a whirl. Watch some videos on the all-in-one boards.

Thank you for the reply.

I have a PI3+ for coding/development and a PI Zero W for Octoprint.  I have flashed Retropie and tried a couple of games, and it works ok.  I got a Space Invaders cabinet today at Walmart for $150, so it will be a vertical themed cabinet.  The problem is that the there is a slow down with Retropie on Portrait than on Landscape and I think it had something to do with resolution, so I reduced the PI output from 1080 to 640x480 and basic games like puckman and crazy kong work at full speed now.  I am not sure about Daphne or Redream as the Pi3+ is under powered.  Also The PC will not be connected to the Internet, so XP might work or Vista SP1.

I am just looking for something visually pleasing with a nice front end.

That is why I am looking at the Dell SFF as it will play the games at full speed on a vertical screen.

[leapinlew]

A PC is your best chance if you feel that what you are using is under powered.

There is a Pi forum here to ask about the performance. I didn't think the hardware was inadequate for those old games. I use one and by default I had no issues with almost all games. For Gorf, I had to switch to a newer version of Mame, but that was the only classic game that gave me any trouble.