Category Archives: Friday

May 16

Friday Post: Themes

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Hey all,

 I’ve spent the past week on a lot of administrative PiPlay stuff, but I do have a couple of neat things to show.

Theme Support

 Controller Config (very early)

Big thanks to Matt from the forums for coding up the theme support and Dan for helping with the controller configuration.

Desktop Arcade

On my off time (hah) I’ve been working on a desktop barcade machine.  I’ve done 2 days of 3 coats of paint, 1 day of sanding, and I’m getting ready to do another few layers of paint.

IMG_3867 IMG_3868 IMG_3871 IMG_3872 IMG_3873 IMG_3874 IMG_3875 IMG_3876 IMG_3883 IMG_3884

Have a great weekend!

-Shea

May 09

Friday Post: FUNDED!

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Hey All,

Thank you so much for your backings and support.  Over 400% funded!  What did I do to celebrate?

Icee

 I got a delicious post-Kickstarter celebratory Icee 🙂

Updates

To keep you all updated on my progress, I created this:

PiPlay Update Board

As I finish tasks (or add new ones) I will be updating this board (notice the green filled in dots at the bottom) and letting everyone know.

PiPlay Case

I got the PiPlay case in my hands last night.  It looks and feels great.  There is only a minor alteration that needs to be done.

Everyone who backed a tier with the case will receive this version that has Kickstarter Edition branding.

PiPlay Case Kickstarter Edition

 PiPlay

Lots of cool work is being done on PiPlay.  Theme support is now built in, but it does have some quirks.  We are fixing that, and it should be part of the PiPlay 0.8 beta 4 release.

Bartop

I got in a Bartop Arcade Kit from Rich’s Arcade today.  I am going to take pictures as I build it, and put that up as it’s own post.

IMG_3865

Enjoy!

-Shea Silverman

May 02

Friday Post: It’s Over 9000!

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The PiPlay Kickstarter has gone over $9000!!!!

So far, we are working on theme support, joystick support, joystick configs, auto grabbing of game screen images, screen image previews, and more emulators.

I’ve also started a joystick build so that I can test out different encoders easily.

IMG_3838 IMG_3839 IMG_3840 IMG_3841

  • $30 for the encoder, joystick, and buttons from eBay.
  • $15 for the case and $5 for the drill hole bits from Harbor Freight.
  • Ability to carry around all my stuff in a joystick case: Priceless!

 

Custom menu from the PiPlay forums:

I’m going to go celebrate!

 

-Shea

 

Apr 25

Friday Post: TechTime and things…

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Hey All,

Just got back from a neat tech talk that was put on buy a bunch of alumni/coworkers.  Some very cool things were shown, like Google Glass and Wearscript.

Kickstarter & PiPlay

11 days to go, and I’m at 298% funded.  This is crazy!  PiPlay 0.8 Beta 3 was release to positive results, and Beta 4 is being worked on as I type this.  A lot of enhancements, fixes, and some new emulators are being added to the distro.

I’ve ordered a few encoders which should be arriving by next week, and I can start implementing those into the software.

I was sent this link (http://iambuildingapicade.tumblr.com/) a few days ago, which chronicles the building of a Raspberry Pi arcade cabinet.  It’s really well written and highly detailed.

I’ve also started a mini cabinet build.  I purchased this kit and I’m looking forward to building it ( with all the extra time I have… /sarcasm )

Exciting times 🙂

-Shea

Apr 18

Friday Post: PiPlay 0.8 Beta 3

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Update: PiPlay 0.8 Beta 3 is uploaded!

Lo all,

It’s been two weeks and my Kickstarter is at 242% funded!!  This is incredible.  I’m so excited and humbled at the community support.  Thank you!

PiPlay 0.8 Beta 3

I am uploading the latest SD Card image of PiPlay.  0.8 Beta 3 includes:

  • Recompiled kernel with Xin-Mo encoder support.
  • Better GBA support.
  • Better Neo Geo support.
  • Fixed issues with Genesis and Final Burn Alpha emulators not running.
  • Genesis emulator can now use Zip files.
  • Updated PiPlay to have a better updater system.
  • 2 player keyboard support in SNES emulator.

What I’m currently working on:

  • Snapshot/screenshot support in ROM list.
  • Documentation.
  • Looking for MSX, Atari, and TG16 emulators to add.

Look for this SD Card image to be available tonight or tomorrow.  My laptop is locking up / freezing randomly and I’m trying to generate a more recent backup, so I have to hurry up and wait while that happens.

I will update this post when it’s uploaded!

-Shea

Apr 11

Friday Post: PyCon 2014 – Hello Montreal!

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Hey All! I’m in Montreal right now for the annual PyCon conference.  I will be presenting PiMAME PiPLAY on Sunday during the poster presentations.  I’m excited to be showing off the software and getting feedback from fellow Pythonistas.

My flight in was horrible.  Finding my way around Montreal was horrible.  But now that I’m here and settled, it’s awesome!  The first day of PyCon has been interesting.  It feels a little disconnected since we are in a new conference building with multiple floors and the hotels are seperated.  The previous ones in California were all connected and on one main floor.  Either way, I’m having fun and the talks are good.

PiMAME PiPlay Kickstarter

So, 2 pieces of big news.  My Kickstarter has been 100%+ funded.  Within 18 hours you all helped to fund my project to 100%.  It is increasing every day.  I’m overwhelmed and humbled.  Thank you all!

I have had to change the name from PiMAME to PiPlay.  As I stated in the Kickstarter update, it has come to my attention that I am possibly violating the trademark(s) of the MAMEDev team.  This is something that I never meant to do, as I have nothing but the utmost respect and awe for the team that develops MAME.

PiMAME has evolved past just MAME, and it is a perfect time and opportunity to update it.

I will be updating all the names once I get back from this conference.

Thank you all for the all the support and help.

-Shea

Apr 04

Friday Post: Captain America!

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Hey All,

Made it with a few minutes to spare to do a Friday post, but I have a good reason.  CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!  Wooo!  I love pretty much all things Marvel, and I was very happy with the sequel to the first Cap’n movie.  Go see it, and wait till they very end, there are two teasers.

PiMAME

I’m putting in time with PiMAME, I’ve gotten screen shots working, and I need to reimplement the Xing encoder kernel patch for joysticks.  Busy busy busy!

PyCon 2014

Next weekend I will be in Montreal for this years Python programming language conference, PyCon.  It’s an incredible event, full of talented people and great projects.  I will be presenting PiMAME during the poster sessions on Sunday.

That’s all for now.  I’m exhausted.

-Shea

Mar 28

Friday Post: Framebuffer Copy and new PiMAME 8 beta release

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Hey All,

Another week another PiMAME release 🙂

This is beta 2 of the new PiMAME 0.8.  I’m loving the feedback.  I know there are bugs and issues, but I’m able to iterate so much faster now.  This latest release includes:

  • Added NES support again.
  • Added C64 support again.
  • Put back in restart, shutdown, and updater tools.
  • Menu will now notify you if there are updates available.
  • PiMAME bootsplash video
  • Tankstick support

High priority features I’m working on:

  • Adding back in screenshot support
  • More joystick configuration options

Framebuffer copy

I’ve started playing with Notro’s FBTFT module again.  This allows you to use little inexpensive LCD screens for things like the console and X Windows.  The problem is that most programs expect output on framebuffer 0.  These screens operate on framebuffer 1, or /dev/fb1.  Tasanakorn has created a program called fbcp.  This mirrors the screen from the hdmi / rca port and onto the SPI based screens you see above.

It doesn’t work 100% yet for me.  I don’t know if its my screen or the program.  I’m going to purchase some more and test them out.

Little Arcade Machine

Steve Smith has created this awesome little MAME cabinet.  Plans and more images are below at the imgur link.

http://imgur.com/a/Pr4rG

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Shea

Mar 21

Friday Post: PiMAME Updater

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Hey All,

New week, new revisions to PiMAME 0.8.

The new version of the frontend now includes:

  • TankStick support.
  • Numpad support.
  • Shutdown, Restart, and Update commands.
  • A notice in the menu when a new update is available.

Please run the following on the command line:

wget -O - http://pimame.org/update.sh | bash

Have a great weekend all!

Mar 21

1 year

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Hey All,

I can’t believe it has been one year already since K and I got married.  A year has flown by.  To my wife, I love you, and too many more wonderful years going on silly adventures.

-Shea