A "RetroPie" Is a Raspberry Pi credit-card sized computer loaded with a open-source variant of Linux known as "RetroPie" - basically an IEE (Integrated Emulataion Environment) that basically tries to gather all the emulators together, and make an all-in-one emulation solution that takes up little space, and provides a more modern way of playing your games on a high resolution HD or UHD display, and allows you to pick from your choice of a myriad of bluetooth controllers.

But the thing people forget is theese "hacker/hobbyist" solutions are not always the best bet for someone who is NOT technically inclined, aand even can be a huge challenge for those of us who ARE technically inclined (such as myself). Let me tell you, RetroPie has NOT been an easy solution - actually, building a 486 and loading it with DOS, Windows 95, windows 3.1 for Workgroups, and NESTICLE + Z26 + ESNES is faster and easier (and a lot less of a headache) than RetroPie can be.

Assembling teh unit in this kit was very easy - easier than assembling a 486 desktop. First off, heatsinks all stick on with adhesive, there are 5. The case itself has the board snap into it. the power supply is a USB-C power supply with 5a rating I believe. And I had to use a micro HDMI to HDMI adaper to connect to my Monitors and TVs. Took me all in all, about 5 minutes to put everything together really neat and professional. Had to go to CVS to get a 128GB SD Card, because this was going to be an "ultimate retro gaming" system of sorts.

See, the problem with being an early adopter of anything, is that support will take time to grow. Thankfully I waited a couple months before digging in because I wanted to see if RetroPie would finally make a release for the RP4 - which is a ARM based 64-bit machine that can actually function as an actual PC. So I had no choice but to load what was called then "raspian" O/S on it, and THEN load RetroPie like it was an application (Emulationstation basically)

This resulted in very poor emulation overall, and on top of it, the Pi 4 originally had thermal problems because of the faster CPU. This meant that I had to update...what is basically the BIOS...but called the Firmware. Once I did this, it stopped overheating as much, but it still sucked for emulating anything that was particularly taxing, which was particularly anything, because I'm running Emulation Station on top of Linux on top of a Graphical UI intended to be used as a desktop - which is running emulators on top of Emulation Station that run on top of RetroArch. Lots of layers there, hence performance issues, and the only resolution? To REMOVE those layers.

Despite firmware updates this thiing got really hot still. So one day I had an idea....drill out some holes where the RPI logo is on the top of the red/white plastic shell. This seemed to help quite a bit. So one of the main problems with the default case is that it's just a little too "closed" for the cooling on the system. So you need to open it up a bit.

The goal of this hardware was ONE thting - retrogaming - nothing else.

Likely a big part of this is how much software I have running on this thing, where most people might be running a single or a handful of emulators, mine's setup almost like Bithead1000s "Game Station" thing that some fan built for him (because it's the exact same thing) - except with less platforms (actually, I installed PC-Engine/Turbografix because of Bithead1000 talking about it, and then me finding that obnoxious and lewd game Ken and Kato Chan, LOL). This thing is meant to just live in our bedroom so I can lay there with my wife and play video games, that's it.

But the problem is, with about 15 emulators on this thing, it takes quite some time to update, and if I don't update it, I'm stuck with the same old problems, but updating introduces new ones. I'm not active in the community because as much as I love Linux and Open Source, the attitudes in the community put me off of talking to anyone if I have an issue. Computer nerds are some of the most annoying people alive despite me being one myself. "You noob! Can't you print out your configuration (for this system that I'm just starting to learn)!" - yeah, I'd say be nice to your End Users if you can or otherwise your end users might not want to use your platform. AT least advertising lures people in with "niceness". But when everyone pictures a bunch of cranky Eddie Munsons with computers sitting around a table calling everyone a "poser" because they have not yet learned how to do something basic - it's not fun for the user and makes them want to LEAVE.

Atari 2600 - Atari emulation has been the best so far. I have had very few issues with it at all. Probably the only one you'll hear me say this about except PC Engine.

Nintendo Entertainment System - Downloaded 4 different emulators because the default one was choppy. Got FCEUX working, then that became choppy and the other emulator that was default worked fine. Then there was the struggles with screen resolutions, scalers. Right now the d*** things don't even work at all, or if I get in, I can't escape via the default keypresses. GRRRR.

DOSbox - EVERYONE and their dog harasses me to use DOSbox periodically. DOSbox is not perfect, and likely never will be. I'm not knocking it, I'm just telling the truth aobut emulation. My biggest problem was having to find the RIGHT version of DOSbox for the RetroPie to get it to function correctly. This in and of itself was a pain. The main problem I had was this thing ran worse than my 286 in most versions for most DOS stuff past 1987 (ie Golden Age VGA/Adlib DOS Games). It was horrendously incapable of running Ultima VI: The False Prophet without stuttering MIDI, so I had to switch over to another port.

Apple Macintosh - Holy Mother of God this was a NIGHTMARE to configure, especially Basilisk. I wanted Mac emulation because I like seeing oldschool Mac OS and I like playing things like Sim City and Sim City 2000 there......and the SourcePort clone of Sim City is just too tiny on a 4K screen to use and not as fun as the Maxis original. But christ on a bike.

Mini VMAC was alright, and not too bad, at least the default disk image worked. Once I got a GOOD working image on there, I was happy to have my Black & White Macintosh Fix.

Now BasiliskII.....that's another story....

I spent about 2 months getting that piece of crap working. For starters, the default image file for the HDD needed it's file extention changed. It involved me installing BasiliskII on my Windows 10 computer, building a disk image theree, then transferring it over, then editing the config file in ./etc (one out of hundreds), changing the Disk file, and even then, I still have the DEFAULT disk file on there which is not even big enough to put Sim City 2000 on.

To make matters worse was installing the SIT files and all that mess. I had to build a custom folder on the Pi to put my Stuffit files into including Stuffit itself, then install Stuffit Expander - I recall having to look at a couple readmes to figure out how to emulate a Floppy Drive so I could install it from the images, either that or load up the ISO. after that, incalled the StuffIt expander, then had to Unstuff Sim City and Sim City 2000 to the VM....god what a hassle. The first install was corrupted, the second install would not install...Seriously, I was starting to think maybe putting a 2nd 486 in the room with DOS and the DOS versions on it might have been a better option.