Keen on RetroPie

Here, you can get help with anything or just chat about the original Commander Keen games.
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DoomJedi
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Keen on RetroPie

Post by DoomJedi »

So, did anyone here try to play Keen on retropie (it has DosBox addon and also Commander Genius addon) ? Fun to play it on big TV (tried it), but you need keyboard and not regular joystick, so less practical.
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Se ... ander-Keen
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Nisaba
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Re: Keen on RetroPie

Post by Nisaba »

YES I do!
in fact since the funeral of my good ol' 386 PC I prefer playing KeenGames on my retropie handheld! So may I lead your attention towards this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3673&hilit=gbz#p80741

best thing is:
for this handheld you don't need a keyboard!
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Roobar
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Re: Keen on RetroPie

Post by Roobar »

Sooo, if it is using DOSBox, what's the difference? What's the point? I mean you can install DOSBox on most portable consoles anyway and when playing in DOSBox you don't have the biggest benefit of an old 386/486: authentic adlib/soundblaster music from those good old soundblaster cards.
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Nisaba
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Re: Keen on RetroPie

Post by Nisaba »

@Roobar
I think you might have misread the topic of this thread. It's about working with single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi, Cubieboard, ODROID, UDOO or the Tinkerboard just to name a few. and I think it's about the curiosity to see where you can go with those single circuit boards. for e.g. emulating some good ol' DOS games.
you are absolutely right, it's of course a different experience playing these games on the orig hardware from back in the day. we don't need to argue about that.

From my point of view it's kinda exciting too follow the progress of the hacker and maker community. I'm very much interested in hard- and software development of this scene. nowadays the so called internet of things seems to be a big deal and in this subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture you can feel the raw heartbeat of that trend. one of those many neat ideas is this customized GameBoy I was talking in my earlier post. and yes it might be true that there is a certain kind of nostalgic glow around all this...
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Commander Spleen
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Re: Keen on RetroPie

Post by Commander Spleen »

I'll add that it's nice to have a full computer in the palm of your hand. For the sake of running DOS games or certain emulators, perhaps it's redundant if you already have another common handheld console. These devices are much more versatile than that and in this case the parts can be quite easily upgraded or further modified later on. I'd be inclined to use it for open source clones like OpenTyrian. I don't think pico8 has a Pi port or I'd use it for that as well.

Haven't looked into how much this costs but I'm planning to acquire a Pyra when it's released so I'll probably hold off on acquiring one of these Gameboy devices for now. At least for myself--I may yet acquire one as a gift for my nephews at some point.
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Nisaba
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Re: Keen on RetroPie

Post by Nisaba »

pico8 runs really smooth on my pi. if you are familiar with command-line prompts it's pretty straight forward. for a GUI solution check this step-by-step tutorial: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=3935&pid=51592
that said, I'm running pico8 on my custom GameBoy as well. but there are other very interesting solutions out there as well. for e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXDizTasY6A
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