Rom Dedicated Computer [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

morphx

10-27-2004, 11:53 AM

Anyone here build a microATX computer for their entertainment center? I'm thinking about throwing one together since the price of mATX boards has dropped since the last time I checked.

morphx

10-27-2004, 01:38 PM

Well in case no one knows what the hell I'm talking about I'll link to this and let this drop.

For more info:
http://www.htpcnews.com/

Flack

10-27-2004, 02:57 PM

I was "this close" (makes little symbol with my fingers) to building a computer for my entertainment center, basically for playing games, surfing the web, checking e-mail and watching movies. Unfortunately, two things happened -- one, work gave me a really great laptop with a wireless internet card, so I could now do most of those things from my recliner, and two, the new DVD player I purchased now plays everything including MP3s and JPGs. I'd still like to build one of these eventually for streaming movies and playing games, but with the laptop in the living room now it's definitely moved to the back burner. Maybe I'll put one of these together for a really rad PVR machine or something.

morphx

10-27-2004, 03:11 PM

Yea I'm thinking about just turning this into a game machine. Basically I'm not allowed by the woman to hook up all my stuff to our nice tv, but thats where the biggest tv and my surround sound system is...I figure for around 400-500 I can put together a microatx box with a dvd drive and 80+ gigs for storing roms...Then I can just throw all the games from the systems that arent hooked up on there and enjoy it all with a wireless game pad...

The all-in-wonder ati video card series also has a nifty remote that you can control basic windows operations with.

Anexanhume

10-27-2004, 03:16 PM

Once I graduate I hope to know enough to attempt to build a game machine that can run off of one optical drive. How it will work is read the disc, determine which system it is for, and route the signal to the correct motherboard. The hardest part will be the signal interpretation, but I hope I can do something like this once I graduate. If I succeed, even if I'm not around the board anymore, I'd definitely try and come back and share my success and tips on how to do it.

morphx

10-27-2004, 04:24 PM

So you're talking about using rom images on their original hardware? That box could get big mighty fast...

On another note, my return to the emulation scene comes after a 3 year hiatus...Back then PSX emus where all in baby stages but I just dumped my Legend of Mana disk to a file and played it and it looked so damn good I don't think I'll ever have to put another disk in a drive. Just gotta dump them once and put them in the closet.

Flack

10-27-2004, 04:49 PM

Yup, ePSXe plays most games just fine from their ISO dumps.

I guess the right wireless keyboard/mouse would top off the system. Do they have wireless USB hubs? I've never heard of one before (never looked), but if they have those you could just stick a wireless USB hub on your coffee table, and then plug joysticks into it.

Hey if they don't have those yet that would be a good invention!

postulio

10-27-2004, 05:04 PM

i already planned out the box and have all my software burned on a dvd. the only thing keeping me from going ahead and building it is that a good MATX box would run around 700-800 which i dont really have right now.

Anexanhume

10-27-2004, 05:05 PM

SegaAges

10-27-2004, 05:27 PM

well in the same discussion as all of this:
i am broke, and think it would be cool to use the original controllers (at least, if not whole system), for playing games.

i know there is a gravis pad out there shaped just like a psx controller, and 1 that is shaped just like a snes controller. where would i be able to find a controller that would feel like an nes controller, or genesis controller, and are there any emus that support these. of course, i am talking all retro, and just used these as examples, so any help would rock

(I am not trying to hijack your thread bro, I just figured I could ask since this is along the same lines).

zektor

10-27-2004, 05:51 PM

Since my PC desk is right next to the TV in my living room, my PC has been my videogame entertainment center for quite a long time. I had an ATI AIW card awhile back, but was not satisfied with it's video output. Seems almost all of the cards with tv-out I have tried never take up the whole screen on the TV. Then I found that TVTool (www.tvtool.com) can be used to stretch the output to true fullscreen, but it only works with Nvidia cards. So, now I use a Geforce series card with TV-Out and the TVTool program. Works fantastic. I use PSX joysticks via a psx-usb adaptor for now, until I (hopefully) get my XArcade this Xmas. When that day comes I will definitely have to construct a way to get that monster in front of the TV!

morphx

10-27-2004, 05:53 PM

Theres a wired USB hub device out there that lets you use PS1/2 DualShocks, Saturn and DC controllers as input devices.

Flak: I had the same thought on the USB hub but I haven't found anything feasible yet.

Theres a wireless game pad on newegg that may work for a few platforms but no good outlook on using wireless native game pads.

Gamepad: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=26-127-501&depa=0

PC Magic Box: http://www.ztnetstore.com/product_info.php?ref=5&products_id=53

postulio

10-27-2004, 05:56 PM

theres a usb adapter for snes controllers too.

Jive3D

10-27-2004, 06:39 PM

The PS1 controller to USB adaptors are spot on. I use a PS1 dual shock for all my emulation and it's great. Highly recomended?

SegaAges

10-28-2004, 02:22 PM

well, I don't want to hikack your thread bro, because we are talking about similar items, but mine is a little different. I was thinking of doing something like this once.

I thought it would be cool to pull out the guts of a bunch of systems and put them in a desktop case. basically what i wanted to do is this:
where the slots in front of the case are, there will be cd drives, dvd drives, and cart slots. i am friends with an engineering major, so he said that it could be done, but i didn't want to rip apart all of my consoles, so i said oh well.

morphx

10-28-2004, 02:30 PM

I actually saw a PC like this on hardocp.com about 2 years ago...The guy had a PS1, DC and N64 all attached to his computer, bassically tore the systems apart and extended their controller inputs and media inputs to fit the case. It was a big case though full tower if I remember correctly...

What I want is a toaster sized PC that can store a ton of data and emulate (to near accuracy) most of the systems I own. It's a great little time killer.

SegaAges

10-28-2004, 03:26 PM

i can see that, that would be cool.

if you are doign n64, how do you plan to emulate the controller. i looked on the sites i was given for controllers to usb, and i didn't see a single n64 controller adapter on there

ddockery

10-28-2004, 03:36 PM

There are a few N64 -> USB adapters, the most popular being the adaptoid. I have seen adapters or USB version of 2600, Intellivision (damn I wish I had gotten one while they wee for sale), NES, SNES, Genesis, SMS, 7800, N64, Dreamcast, Ps1/2, Gamecube, and XBOX. I think that's it.

Flack

10-28-2004, 04:37 PM

I would be happy to just use a PSX controller for all my emulation.

Do you fuckers realize how much I spend due to your ideas? :)

morphx

10-28-2004, 04:42 PM

Let me talk to you about 56" plasma with fake scan lines.

whoisKeel

10-28-2004, 09:07 PM

there's a local computer shop in town (Vitality) that sells alot of refurbished systems and stuff you can't find in other computer stores (like vga silencers and those 'fish tank' mods and stuff.

anyways, they're selling some pretty nice looking p3's in a microatx box (its dell box, but still looks pretty cool, especially if you painted it). and they are only $120. i didn't look at them too closely, so i don't know all the specs, but i would look around for something like that. you'd have to upgrade the video card for sure, but would a p3 be ok for a psx emu?

morphx

10-28-2004, 10:07 PM

Me personally I'm going to go P4 just so I don't have to worry about upgrade for awhile (probably a low end P4 to cut costs). One thing not to skimp on is drivespace if youre going to dump your PS1 disks to .bin files. This will be an ongoing project for me, but I will definatly take pics of progress and keep everyone posted. I gotta buy a arcade board so I can throw mame on there too (legally that is).

XxMe2NiKxX

10-28-2004, 10:16 PM

I built a machine for the strict purpose of emulation. I got a DVD-RW, and did this.

1. Built the PC. My specs? Pentium 4 @ 2.2GHz, 1GB DDR-1 SDRAM, ATI Radeon X600 XT, 40GB HD.
2. Installed a windows 98/XP dual boot, just in case.
3. Got controllers that looked like their console counterparts for each emulator I was running.
4. Installed software, including the very useful DosBox.
5. Roms I would use would not be stored on the hard-drive; rather, I burn them all onto a DVD according to the appropriate console. If it's ever necessary for me to remove or add any, it's simple, due to the rewriting function of my DVD burner.

It's not the traditional way of doing it, I guess, but it's highly effective.

zektor

10-29-2004, 01:03 AM

I gotta buy a arcade board so I can throw mame on there too (legally that is).

Umm, so you are going to run Mame with one game? Because if legality is a concern, you must own the board for any given game you run in Mame. I am a shady character when it comes to this, so unfortunately I use Mame to play all of the games! :evil:

morphx

10-29-2004, 08:40 AM

And like I said I'd like to just run mame for a game, the one I will own. My goal is to see how many emulators I can fit on a HTPC and have the video look close to authentic on my TV.

I own just about every system (and at least 4-5 games for that system) that theres an emu for except for an arcade board.

Edit: Shadyness aside I'm more of a console gamer anyways. O_O

drdrew1469

10-29-2004, 12:40 PM

drdrew1469

10-29-2004, 12:44 PM

well in the same discussion as all of this:
i am broke, and think it would be cool to use the original controllers (at least, if not whole system), for playing games.

where would i be able to find a controller that would feel like an nes controller, or genesis controller, and are there any emus that support these. of course, i am talking all retro, and just used these as examples, so any help would rock

(I am not trying to hijack your thread bro, I just figured I could ask since this is along the same lines).

i got the nes pad and just ordered the genesis and snes ones. i know you said you're broke, but this is the original controller! it is awesome and works with all the emus i've tried.

add the link retard... http://www.sealiecomputing.com/retrozone/retropad.html

drdrew1469

10-29-2004, 12:50 PM

Anyone here build a microATX computer for their entertainment center? I'm thinking about throwing one together since the price of mATX boards has dropped since the last time I checked.

i have, although it's not hooked up yet as we just moved in. one thing I highly recommend is MyHTPC. last time i was at the site it had gone commercial, but i have the free one if anyone wants to try it. it's basically "a windows media os" clone but allows you to do sooo much more. i had it hooked up and the wife actually thought it was the coolest thing she'd seen (tech-wise) with screenshots of all your mame, nes, genesis games, ect. categories and info behind the game, however deep you want to get with it. awesome program, check it out. this is 'Meedio' but like i said, i have the MyHTPC free version of old.

http://www.meedio.com/

whoisKeel

10-29-2004, 01:51 PM

you should get a case like this

http://www.vitalitycomputer.com/coat.html

http://www.vitalitycomputer.com/coca2ca.html

they had like 5 different cases similar to these...one was $250 for the case itself tho. i wish that one was on the site.

morphx

10-29-2004, 02:51 PM

Man I got over expensive cases with my last PC I got a 200 dollar lian-li aluminum case....Damned if the thing didn't get scratched within the first week of having it.

Now some might be interested to know that microatx boards will fit inside a nes case with a few modifications...I believe TSS had a show on this a while back...