The Advanced Guide To Setting Up A DIY Game Console With A Raspberry Pi

It’s no secret that turning a Raspberry Pi into a retro game console is hands-down the most popular, easy, and fun project you can do with a Pi. That initial guide is just the beginning though, and if you really want to get more out your little DIY console, you’ll want to dig in with some advanced tips.

Image by Sam Woolley.

This is a followup to our set up guide for RetroPie, so we’re going to assume that you’re already up and running, have your ROMs copied over, and internet access set up. You’ll also need a keyboard for much of this or you can use SSH from a desktop computer. If you don’t have any of this set up, refer back to the original guide before continuing on.

Update to the Latest Version of RetroPie

First things first, you need to make sure you have the newest version of RetroPie installed:

1. Boot up your Raspberry Pi with the RetroPie installed, then exit to the command line (Menu > Quit).
2. Type in sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh and press Enter.
3. This loads up the Setup Script. Select “Update all installed packages,” and press Enter.

Let RetroPie do its thing. This can take around 20-30 minutes if you’re not already up to date. When it’s all done, select “Perform reboot” to reboot the system.

Add Artwork For All Your Games

Artwork makes your library much more fun to search through.
After you add your ROMs to RetroPie, you can sort through a boring list to pick out a game to play. This is fine, but most people are as nostalgic for the box art as they are the games themselves. Thankfully, it’s very easy to add box art with software called a “scraper.” After you run a scraper, that bland old list now includes the box art, release dates, and more.

You have a couple of different ways to add this data to your RetroPie. The first method to try is the built-in scraper. This requires that you approve the metadata manually. You can access this right from RetroPie itself, just make sure your Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet:

1. From the main console select screen, press the Menu button.
2. Select Scraper.
3. Select Scape Now.
4. If you want to scrape for artwork for games on all systems, make sure “all” is selected under systems (or change it to whichever ones you want), then select Start.
5. Each game will pop up a prompt, tap “A” to accept the result.

Now, RetroPie will scrape for more information about all your games. Depending on how many games you have, this can take a while, so if you have a ton, this is a horrible way to scrape through them. Instead, you’ll want to sacrifice the ability to manually approve the data with an automated system that just makes a best guess and dumps it all in for you. This way, the scraper scans for artwork and other data without requiring you approve each entry. For this, you’ll need to head back to the same menu where you updated RetroPie:

1. Exit to the command line (Menu > Quit) and type in: sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh and press Enter.
2. Scroll down to Configuration / Tools and press Enter.
3. Scroll down to Scraper and press Enter. This will install Steven Selph’s Scraper tool.
4. When the installation is complete, select “Scraper” again and press Enter.

Wait for the scraper tool to complete. This can take a while, so give it some time.

Get a More “Accurate” Image with Shaders

Without shaders the images are almost to clean. Shaders add a level of (fake) authenticity.
When you first launch some games in RetroPie, you’ll notice they might seem too clear. That’s because modern LCD screens are much sharper than the old CRT screens most older games were meant for. Shaders are essentially filters made to correct for this sharper image. They add in scan lines, a bit of blurriness, and even simulate screen curvature.

RetroPie allows you to set up a shader on a system level, or make it work with specific games. Here’s how to set a shader for each game:

1. Start any game in RetroPie.
2. On your controller, tap “Select” and “X” at the same time (or whatever buttons you mapped to those keys). This pulls up the in-game menu system, which looks very archaic.
3. Select Quick Menu > Shader > Load Shader Preset.
4. Here, you’ll find a ton of different shaders that change the way your games look. Most people will be happy with the shader pictured above, crt-pi.glslp. If you’re not, experiment with the number of options available here to find one you like. When you’re done, select it with the “A” button and tap “B” to back out.
5. Select “Apply Shader Changes” and press the “A” button. Tap “B” to back out of the menu, the select “Resume” to go back to the game.

If you don’t want to do this for every game, you can configure one shader to be used in all emulators:

1. Exit to the command line (Menu > Quit) and type in: sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg and press Enter.
2. Scroll through the text file with the arrow keys and find the line # video_shader_enable = false and change it to video_shader_enable = true
3. Change # video_shader = to video_shader = pathtotheshaderyouwanttouse, for example, video_shader = /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/shader/crt-pi.glslp
4. Press Ctrl+X to save and exit. Go ahead and reboot your Raspberry Pi to make sure the effect is applied.

All games will now use that shader by default, but you can always go in and change it manually for certain games using the first method above.

Add Custom Themes and Splash Screens

Custom themes separate your emulator from the rest of the pack.
Part of the appeal of making a game console on your own is customisation. If you don’t want to use the default theme that comes with RetroPie, it’s easy enough to swap it out for something different.

First off, you have to add themes to RetroPie manually. There are quite a few to choose from, and you can find a list with screenshots over on the RetroPie Wiki. Once you know which one you want, you need to add it using the now familiar RetroPie configuration screen:

1. From the Terminal, type: sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh and press Enter.
2. Select Configuration / Tools and press Enter.
3. Select “esthemes” and press Enter.
4. Select the theme you want to install and press Enter.
5. Back in the Terminal, type in emulationstation and press Enter to restart RetroPie.
6. Tap the Menu button, then select UI Settings > Theme Set to pick the theme you installed.

If you’re not a fan of any of the premade themes, you can make your own, but be prepared for a lot of work. This guide walks you through everything you need if you’re willing to go down that road.

For something a little simpler than a totally custom theme, you might also want to update the splash screen that appears at launch. This is pretty easy to do:

1. Create an image you want to appear as a splash screen, then copy it over to the /home/pi/RetroPie/splashscreens folder from your PC. This folder is automatically already shared when you set up RetroPie, so you should be able to access it from your local network. If not, refer back to our initial set up guide.
2. On your Raspberry Pi, open up the command line and type in: sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh
3. Select Splashscreen and press Enter.
4. Select Choose Splashscreen and press Enter.
5. Select the file you copied over in step one.

Now, when you boot up your Raspberry Pi, it will display that custom image. This is especially handy if you’re making a retro console as a gift or you plan on putting it inside an arcade cabinet.

Set Up Achievements for Old Games

If you really like how you get achievements for completing tasks in modern games, you’ll be happy to know you can add that into older games too. RetroPie uses the RetroAchievements system that works for NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Boy Colour, and Game Boy Advance. Here’s how to set them up:

1. Create an account at Retro Achievements (do this from your PC).
2. Back on your Raspberry Pi, exit to the command line (Menu > Quit).
3. Type in sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg and press Enter.
4. Type the following anywhere on an empty line, replacing yourusername and yourpassword with your Retro Achievements login information:

cheevos_username = “yourusername”
cheevos_password = “yourpassword”
cheevos_enable = true

When you’re done, press Ctrl+X to save and exit.

Now, you’ll get achievements in all those old games just like you do in modern ones. You can track what you accomplish over on RetroAchievements.

With that, you’re well on your way to really customising your RetroPie game console to suit your needs. Of course, this is a Raspberry Pi project, so even this advanced guide is just scratching the surface of what’s possible. Chances are, if you can think of something you want to change in RetroPie, you probably can as long as you’re willing to dig deep into some configuration files.