Suggestions for "control" keys on converting a Porta-Pi from RetroPie to PiPlay

Chad

I purchased a Porta-Pi. http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/the-build-page/porta-pi-arcade-kit/ It's a mini arcade cab kit that runs RetroPie but I would like to convert it over to PiPlay. It uses the GPIO pins as the input. It uses 1 joystick, 6 play buttons and 4 control buttons (two on each side).

My question or feedback I am looking for is can I use just 4 buttons to get PiPlay working? My biggest concern is MAME (probably the most played too) as it needs Player1, Player2 and coin in. The Player2 is more for alternating two players games where you take turns like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.

I was thinking it would need to be combo keys for some of the options but I was hoping to keep it simple also so other family members don't have to play Twister to hit 4 buttons or remember a bunch of combos to start a game.

The other emulators don't really need much accept maybe Select and Escape I would think?

I was just trying to get some feedback on what others are doing, how many buttons they are using and how they are using them. Basically the minimum buttons to make it fairly easy to use. Possibly how they are mapping them too.

Chad

Any suggestions? Anyone? I will be using the GPIO pins so to change the config around would take a bit more work. I was hoping to plan it out before getting into the GPIO to key mapping configuration. I want to be able to play and navigate with just the joystick and buttons. Does PiPlay have a default config file somewhere to look at the current settings?

I figured the PiPlay menu would require at a minimum an Enter and Escape button and the joystick for navigation for up/down/left right?

Is it possible to map like for example a button that might be mapped to key A for jump/fire to start an emulator from the PiPlay menu vs. using the Enter key? Is there other considerations to take into account for navigating ROMS or possibly jumping to a specific letter, etc.

I am guessing once inside the emulator then Escape would be the most widely used key to exit an emulator and return to the PiPlay menu. Do you need an Enter key to start games once in the emulator as I have never used NES emulator but there's a few classics I wouldn't mind trying, as well as a way to navigate. Does that work for NES and SNES?

The biggest challenge I keep thinking about is what I think is exclusive to MAME and that's inserting coins and starting the game. I loaded mame4all-pi and of course Retropie has no way to insert coins that I could see so I wasn't able to insert a coin or start the game as Retropie uses AdvMame which has a "free play" mode option in the config file. That's what had me thinking about some planning and feedback that others are doing with homemade cabs and stick boxes.

I only have four management buttons available (beyond the joystick and a 6 button layout for gaming) as I already built that kit, stained it, soldered it and it's ready to go. I didn't want to pop anymore holes in it so I was hoping to carefully choose the function of each button so it works with PiPlay. The next project will have a few more buttons and shouldn't be as difficult to figure out a decent layout and configuration.

mholgatem

@Chad - In the version that is coming out, I have created a new file under /home/pi/pimame/pimame-menu/controller.yaml. This will allow you to edit both the joystick and keyboard controls for the piplay interface. The default for keyboard is:

navigation - UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT
make a selection - SPACEBAR, ENTER, or RETURN
go-back/exit - ESC
popup menu - TAB

But like I said, you can change those to whatever you want. :D

so yo u really only need your joystick and 3 buttons

Chad

Thanks mholgatem, I am REALLY looking forward to the new version and some of the new features. I know what you guys do does take time but will definitely be worth the wait. "Patience Daniel-san.." ;)

Hawkins409

I am using PiPlay and it is working with the keyboard controls. I have a joystick and several arcade button controls. I also have a GPIO connector and wires. I understand the physical act of wiring the controls. But I don't understand what I will need to do for the software side.

mholgatem, any advice? Should I wait for the new version?

mholgatem

just use the adafruit retrogame utility. I have the old version here. You should also head over to Adafruit (link to the tutorial) to get the tutorial on how to run it all. It's really easy.

Chad

That tutorial explains everything nicely but if you have a question I just finished mine up.

If you download the newest version you need to run this command or it will not work.
sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev libexpat1-dev

mholgatem's link will allow it to work right out of the box with no additional downloads (i.e.- you won't need to download the above packages). Thanks mholgatem! ;)

If you're making changes to the retrogame.c file and run "make" but it says there are no changes or something to that effect. (This usually happens if you're changing it more than once). Run "make clean" and "make all" or just run "make clean all".

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