kid_snz Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 *As far as I have searched the past forums, I couldn't find it, so let me ask about the title here. I'd like to build an art piece with Atari games output on a self built LED matrix panel, by installing a 2600 emulator on a Raspberry Pi so that we can play with a Bluetooth controller. I saw some Pis with an emulator already installed on eBay and other places, but I'd like to find a best emulator and install it myself so that I could keep building my own ones. Here is a list of things I have looked into myself. RetroPiehttps://retropie.org.uk/ Stellahttps://www.engadget.com/2012-09-28-how-to-set-up-your-raspberry-pi-to-play-atari-2600-games.html PiPlay (*Stella works in it)http://piplay.org/piplay-os/ Recalboxhttps://www.recalbox.com/ For the Bluetooth controllers, I consider either of the followinghttps://atari.com/products/classic-joystickhttps://learn.adafruit.com/atarifruit-2600-joystick *This is other thing from the title question, but if anyone is familiar with connecting to a self built LED matrix panel, I'd like to know how to output from the Raspberry Pi. The friend I am asking to build this seems very anxious to see if there will be any frame rate or time lag issues. Btw if you know the best 2600 emulator for this project, please let me know! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 RetroPi, PiPlay, Recalbox are not emulators per se, more like front-ends to multiple emulators. I think there are 3 actual emulators for the 2600 that can be made to work on a Pi Stella - The best most comprehensive 2600 emulator out there z26 - pretty good, but hasn't been updated in awhile MAME - buggy last time I tried to use it for 2600, but may have improved Most likely you'll end up using stella in one form or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange808 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Latency doesn't matter. Get the hardware together and tweak the game afterwards. You have complete control over your installation, so embrace it. Relax the difficulty and nerf the game's rules if necessary. You're not targeting hard core gamers. Don't worry about it. You may also end up changing the colors in the game to suit your installation. If you have a core game together, the details should be fluid. Might consider a weighted floor mat. https://www.instructables.com/Floor-Mat-Game-Controller/ I'd use a beamer for the image. I'd actually use two beamers, a camera, a raspberry pi, and a MiSTer. Image on the wall, "game controller" image on the ground, pi processes and passes inputs from camera, and MiSTer runs the game. Everything mounts on the ceiling. Difficult to break and steal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 6 hours ago, zzip said: Most likely you'll end up using stella in one form or another. I appreciate your answer! I will use Stella as you recommend. Do you think I could just follow this article? https://www.engadget.com/2012-09-28-how-to-set-up-your-raspberry-pi-to-play-atari-2600-games.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 5 hours ago, orange808 said: Latency doesn't matter. Get the hardware together and tweak the game afterwards. You have complete control over your installation, so embrace it. Relax the difficulty and nerf the game's rules if necessary. You're not targeting hard core gamers. Don't worry about it. You may also end up changing the colors in the game to suit your installation. If you have a core game together, the details should be fluid. Might consider a weighted floor mat. https://www.instructables.com/Floor-Mat-Game-Controller/ I'd use a beamer for the image. I'd actually use two beamers, a camera, a raspberry pi, and a MiSTer. Image on the wall, "game controller" image on the ground, pi processes and passes inputs from camera, and MiSTer runs the game. Everything mounts on the ceiling. Difficult to break and steal. Thank you for your comment and yes, I will take it easy! As you said I might need to change the colors of my original games, I already saw how the colors are different on my 2600 console with old RCA tv, Stella, and Javatari on iPhones. Also thanks about the idea of the foot controller and your own setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) @zzip@orange808 Hi let me know if you know anything please! Do you know if there's a way we can connect the bluetooth controllers to Stella installed on Raspberry Pi? I just recently got this controller and tried to connect to Stella on Raspberry Pi but won't work because the controller uses its own specific type of connection and not work like HID devices. https://atari.com/products/classic-joystick Edited January 31, 2023 by kid_snz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 3:25 PM, kid_snz said: I will use Stella as you recommend. Do you think I could just follow this article? https://www.engadget.com/2012-09-28-how-to-set-up-your-raspberry-pi-to-play-atari-2600-games.html That article will probably work (Stella is still in packages), but given that it was written in 2012 it's not unreasonable to expect that things may have changed a bit when it comes to configuration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 15 hours ago, kid_snz said: @zzip@orange808 Hi let me know if you know anything please! Do you know if there's a way we can connect the bluetooth controllers to Stella installed on Raspberry Pi? I just recently got this controller and tried to connect to Stella on Raspberry Pi but won't work because the controller uses its own specific type of connection and not work like HID devices. https://atari.com/products/classic-joystick I think you need to switch that controller into PC mode first This says to push the "back" and "context menu" buttons simultaneously for 5 seconds to switch to PC mode https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Controller:Atari_VCS_Wireless_Classic_Joystick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 16 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: That article will probably work (Stella is still in packages), but given that it was written in 2012 it's not unreasonable to expect that things may have changed a bit when it comes to configuration Thank you so much for the comment! I reviewed this but it doesn't mention about the bluetooth connection, does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 2 hours ago, zzip said: I think you need to switch that controller into PC mode first This says to push the "back" and "context menu" buttons simultaneously for 5 seconds to switch to PC mode https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Controller:Atari_VCS_Wireless_Classic_Joystick Wow hope this would work for me, trying this asap, thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan1234 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 @kid_snz Did that work to connect controller? I am considering purchasing those joysticks, but figured I'd ask if there was a brick wall. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid_snz Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 22 hours ago, dan1234 said: @kid_snz Did that work to connect controller? I am considering purchasing those joysticks, but figured I'd ask if there was a brick wall. Thanks No it didn't work, unfortunately. I expected it suppose to work as a just normal bluetooth controller but it has it's own software in it or something like that. My friend who is an experienced engineer helped me out so you can trust it. So now I'm trying this. https://learn.adafruit.com/atarifruit-2600-joystick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan1234 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @kid_snz Thanks for the reply...good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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