Blast16 User Manual

USER MANUAL
LATEST REVISION: June 26th, 2019

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INDEX

1. WHAT IS BLAST16?
2. RECOMMENDED HARDWARE
3. INSTALL PROCESS
4. UPDATE PROCESS
5. MENUS EXPLAINED
6. INPUT CONFIGURATION
7. COPYING GAMES, BOXARTS AND BIOS
8. DELETING GAMES
9. BACKUP AND RESTORE SYSTEM
10. CUSTOMIZE SPLASH
11. FILESYSTEM EXPLAINED
12. SSH/FTP ACCESS
13. CHANGE KEYBOARD LAYOUT
14. TROUBLESHOOTING

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1. WHAT IS BLAST16?
Blast16 is an emulator frontend inspired by Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It currently
supports Raspberry Pi only.
Features:
 Supports Mega Drive/Genesis (.bin, .smd, .gen, and .md), Sega CD/Mega
CD (.chd, .img, .iso, single .bin + .cue, several .bin + .cue), Mega Drive
32X/Sega 32X (.bin, .32x), Master System (.sms) and Game Gear (.gg)
games.
 Zip and 7z ROM formats are also supported.
 Powered by Retroarch, and Genesis Plus GX and PicoDrive cores.
 Select different console logos.
 Load/delete save states. Limited to four slots. Save state from Retroarch.
 Display game boxarts. If a game’s boxart isn’t found, a generic one based on the
selected logo will be displayed instead.
 Background music by Loop & Pixel.
 Favourites menu.
 Scanlines effect.
 TV filter.
 Bluetooth controllers support.
 Delete games from the frontend (no need to exit to command line).
 MegaPi case compatible (reset and shutdown scripts already included).
 Exit to command prompt, shutdown and open Retroarch options available from
settings menu.
 Localization(*).
 Customizable splash image.
(*) If you want your language to be added, or if you found any translation error, please
send an email to [email protected]

2. RECOMMENDED HARDWARE
Current recommended hardware is Raspberry Pi 3 B+, 8bitdo M30 bluetooth
controller and Retroflag MEGAPi case. Older Raspberry Pi versions might have
bluetooth issues and are not officially supported.

3. INSTALL PROCESS

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Blast16 is currently distributed as a Raspberry Pi image containing Raspbian Stretch

Lite, the Blast16 frontend, Retroarch with Genesis Plus GX and PicoDrive cores, and
ImageMagick (to resize boxarts and states thumbnails to the same size, and also to
convert png boxarts to jpg).
Grab the latest SD card image from www.blast16project.com and burn it to your SD
card using a tool like Etcher.
IMPORTANT: When inserting the SD card for the first time on a Raspberry that
was working with a different SD card, you might see an error screen like this:

Don’t panic. Everything’s fine. Just remove the USB cable and plug it again. The
Raspberry Pi should boot fine from now.

4. UPDATE PROCESS
New Blast16 versions can be released as images (most of the times) or USB
updates (not always).
IMAGE UPDATE PROCESS
To install a new version from an image, you have to flash the image again, like the first
image you installed. However, flashing the microSD card again means that you’ll loose
all games, boxarts, save states, settings… Fortunately, the Backup and Restore system
were developed to avoid that.
To make a system backup:
 Connect a pendrive to your Raspberry Pi.

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 Press Start to open Options menu, then go to Tools→Backup and press A.

 Wait a few seconds until the whole backup is made and disconnect the USB
drive when finished.
Having done a backup, you can safely flash the microSD with the latest image. Once
the new image has been flashed to your microSD, you have to restore your data.
Follow these steps:
 Turn on yourRaspberry Pi.
 Connect the USB drive where your backup was made.
 Press Start to open the Options menu, then go to Tools→Restore and press A.
After a few seconds, your Raspberry Pi will reboot and all your games, boxarts,
save states and settings will be where they were.
WARNING: SD card image updates may result in bluetooth controllers being
forgotten, so you’ll have to pair them again.

USB UPDATE INSTALLATION

These updates are easier to install:
1. Download the file “USB update” from www.blast16project.com if it’s available
and copy it to your USB drive.
2. Connect the pendrive to your Raspberry Pi and turn it on. The update will
install before the Blast16 logo is displayed.
3. Disconnect the USB drive when you see Blast16 logo. If you leave it connected,
the update will be installed everytime you boot the Pi. It’s not bad, but it might
be annoying seeing all those messages on every boot.

5. MENUS EXPLAINED
Blast16 is designed to be really simple. There are three different views: “All games”,
“Favourite games” and “Settings menu”.

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ALL GAMES LIST

Here you can see all your games. Press A to play a game from start, B to load a save
state, or C to mark/unmark the game as favourite. To access the Favourite games list,
press up on the D-pad. If you have more than 10 games, press L/R for quick navigation.
If you have added games from more than one system, press Down on the D-pad to go
the the next system’s first game. If you haven’t, pressing down will switch to the
Favourite games list.

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FAVOURITE GAMES LIST

Here you can see your favourite games. You’ll notice a golden frame around these
games. As in the “All games” list, press A to play a game from start and B to load a
save state. To delete the game from the list, press C. To go back to the “All games”
list, press up on the D-pad. If you have more than 10 games, press L/R for quick
navigation. If you have added games from more than one system, press Down on the
D-pad to go the the next system’s first game. If you haven’t, pressing down will switch
to the “All games” list.

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OPTIONS MENU

Here you can access Blast16 settings, a few useful tools, find out how to get help,
watch the credits, and reboot or shutdown the system (which is handy if you’re not
using a case with reset and shutdown capabilities, like MEGAPi Case).
NOTE: you can press Start at any time in Options menu and any submenu to exit to
the games list.

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SETTINGS

Here you can access general, emulation and input settings.

GENERAL SETTINGS

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Here you can change the language (please send your corrections to
[email protected]), top logo and audio output, and turn on/off music

EMULATION SETTINGS

Options:
 Autoload: if set to “Yes”, when you press A on a game on All Games list or
Favourite games list, you’ll continue right where you left it (because when you
exit a game and get back to the menu, an auto save state file is created).
NOTE: this won’t work if you turn the Raspberry Pi off while playing. You
have to exit the emulator for the autosave file to be created.
 Core: select your preferred emulator. NOTE: a save state created with
Genesis Plus GX won’t load in PicoDrive and viceversa.
 Display mode: select either pixel perfect or 4:3.
 Bilinear filter: applies a slight blur effect to the game.
 Scanline: applies a CRT effect on the screen.
 Frame: press A to enter the frame selection menu.
NOTE: Mega CD/Sega CD games always use Genesis Plus GX, and 32X games always
use PicoDrive. Changing the “Core” option will only affect Mega Drive/Genesis,
Master System and Game Gear games.

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FRAME

Set a background frame that will be displayed while playing.

INPUT SETTINGS

Here you can re-define your controller buttons, set the multiplayer config, scan for
bluetooth controllers or reset bluetooth cache.

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WARNING: This last option, “reset bluetooth cache” should only be used if you had
controllers connected but suddenly there’s no way for Blast16 to detect them. It clears
the known bluetooth devices from the Raspberry Pi bluetooth adapter, so you can
start pairing all your controllers all over again.

MULTIPLAYER CONFIGURATION

Mega Drive/Genesis had different multiplayer peripherals. Two of them were

Teamplayer and 4-WayPlay. Both could be connected to player 1 or player 2
controller port, and each game that supported these peripherals had a different way to
use them (some had the peripheral on port 1, some on port 2).
Also, you need to set the controller buttons number (3 or 6) for each mode. For any 1
or 2 players game, just use “Normal” in both ports.

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TOOLS

Here you can delete games (explained in next section), backup and restore the system,
resize all boxarts (useful if boxarts are not automatically resized on boot), open
Retroarch to change any option not available in the frontend, and exit to command
line.

6. INPUT CONFIGURATION
When Blast16 starts, it will search for wired and bluetooth controllers. To connect
your bluetooth controller, make sure it’s in pairing mode before starting Blast16.
If a new controller is detected, it will search for an input mapping preset. If no preset is
found, you will be prompted to press buttons A, B, C, X, Y, Z, Start, Select, L, R and
Hotkey (*) on the controller. If your controller doesn’t have one of those buttons, just
wait for the 5 seconds timeout to finish.
(*) Regarding “Hotkey”, this is the button that enables the emulator hotkeys
(explained in a couple of pages), like saving state (Hotkey+A), loading state
(Hotkey+B), going back to the menu (Hotkey+C), etc. You can press any button for
this. Select button is recommended, but depending on your controller you might need
to use a different one. If you press no button, Select button will be used.
If you don’t map button A, the mapping process will stop, as you could do nothing with
that controller. To start mapping again, disconnect and connect the controller again
(turn it off and on again if you’re using a bluetooth controller).

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This configuration will be saved, so you don’t need to do it on every launch. You can
also re-define these buttons whenever you want by going to Options→Input→Player 1
or 2 Mapping.
If you have a controller (wired or bluetooth) connected and want to add another
bluetooth controller, put it in pairing mode and go to Options→Input→Connect
gamepad. It will search for bluetooth controllers for 10 seconds. If a controller is
found, it will attempt to pair it for another 10 seconds. Once connected, you will not
have to go to Options→Input→Connect gamepad to pair again. Just turn your
controller on and wait a few seconds until it connects. Please remember to pair
bluetooth controllers one by one.
Also, after connecting a new controller through Options→Input→Connect gamepad,
Blast16 will search for an input mapping preset as described earlier, and if not found, it
will prompt you to press all the buttons.
To avoid confusion, it is recommended that you turn the second controller on only
after the first one has been detected by Blast16, so the controllers order will be the
same while playing.
In 8bitdo and Retroflag controllers, you have to set D-input mode for all buttons to be
recognized.
If you wish to help us increase our controllers input mapping database, please follow
these stepts:
1. Connect an USB drive to your Raspberry Pi.

2. Go to Options→Tools→Backup and press A. A backup will start.

3. Once done, connect your USB drive to your computer and navigate to the
folder “blast16_backup/blast16/data/blast16/input/custom”.
4. Grab all your files in that directory and send them to [email protected].

KEYBOARD
You can control Blast16 with a keyboard. The keys are:
 Dpad = arrows.
 A = A.

 B = S.
 C=D

 Start = W.

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 L = Q.
 R = E.

HOTKEYS
Hotkeys are two-button combinations that run an action while playing. It’s always
“Hotkey button” + another button. “Hotkey button” is Select by default, but you can
change it at the very end of the input mapping process.
Here are the current combinations:
 Hotkey + Start or Home (if Home button is available): Toggle Retroarch menu.
 Hotkey + Left/Right: increase/decrease state slot.
 Hotkey + Up/Down: volume +/-.
 Hotkey + A: save state.
 Hotkey + B: load state.
 Hotkey + C: quit Retroarch and go back to Blast16.
 Hotkey + X: reset console.
 Hotkey + Y: toggle fast forward.

CURRENTLY TESTED CONTROLLERS

 All 8bitdo controllers, including M30 modkit (D-input mode).
 Retroflag Mega Drive controllers (D-input mode only).
 Xbox 360 wireless controller.
 Hyperkin GN6 USB.

7. COPYING GAMES, BOXARTS AND BIOS

IMPORTANT: while Blast16 allows adding around 1000 games with boxarts in a
1GB RAM Rasbperry Pi, it’s strongly recommended not to do it. With 100-200 games,
performance is good and browsing is still convenient. More than that, the experience
will get worse (loading times will be really long, screen could blink due to having
overloaded the GPU, etc).

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Other frontends allow adding like 8000 ROMs but Blast16 is not meant for having all
Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, Mega CD and 32X ROMs, but for turning
your Raspberry Pi into a Mega Drive mini where you can add your preferred games,
not full romsets. You also have a Favourites list for the best of your list.

1 – Get an pendrive and create the following directories in it:

 games
 games/md: put Mega Drive/Genesis ROMs here.
 games/md/boxarts: put Mega Drive/Genesis boxarts here.
 games/cd: put Mega CD/Sega CD ROMs here.
 games/cd/boxarts: put Mega CD/Sega CD boxarts here.
 games/gg: put Game Gear ROMs here.
 games/gg/boxarts: put Game Gear boxarts here.
 games/ms: put Master System ROMs here.
 games/ms/boxarts: put Master System boxarts here.
 games/32x: put Mega Drive 32x ROMs here.
 games/32x/boxarts: put Mega Drive 32x boxarts here.
 bios: put your Mega CD/Sega CD BIOS files here.
This directories structure is to allow having games from different consoles but with the
same ROM file name (i.e.: “Aladdin.smd” and “Aladdin.gg”).
IMPORTANT: if your Mega CD/Sega CD games consists of several .bin files and
one .cue file, you have to copy them into their own directory inside “games/cd”.
Your pendrive root directory should look like this:

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IMPORTANT: make sure you don’t have games with the same name in different
system. For instance: “Aladdin.bin” in “md” directory, and “Aladdin.sms” in “ms”
directory. Try to add some suffix to one of the games (for example: “Aladdin
(MS).sms”). Otherwise, one game’s savestates might overwrite the other game’s.

2 – Copy all your ROMs, boxarts and BIOS to their respective directories in the
pendrive. You should be able to add around 500 games with boxarts in a 512MB RAM
Raspberry Pi, and around 1000 with boxarts in a 1GB RAM Raspberry Pi without
crashing it. However, please take into account that the more games with boxarts, the
longer it takes for Blast16 to boot.
IMPORTANT: boxarts must be named after the ROM’s name. Example: “Sonic The
Hedgehog.bin” → “Sonic The Hedgehog.jpg” (or png, doesn’t matter). On Mega
CD/Sega CD games that consist of several .bin files and a single .cue file, the boxart
must be named after the .cue file.

3 – Make sure your Raspberry is turned off and connect the USB drive, then turn it on.
All files will be copied to the proper locations. The time will depend on the number of
games and how big the boxarts are. Please don’t remove the USB drive until you see
the games list. Once you’re seeing the games list, you can safely remove the USB drive.
(*) You can use both PNG and JPG images. For the best performance, before Blast16
starts, all boxarts will be resized, and PNGs will be converted to JPG.
IMPORTANT (so many important things in this chapter): for BIOS files to
work, they have to be named like this: “bios_CD_E.bin”, “bios_CD_J.bin” and
“bios_CD_U.bin”. Any other name (even “BIOS_CD_E.bin”, all capital letters) will
result in Genesis Plus GX ignoring them.
If you add games through FTP instead of USB, since version 1.0.11 boxarts won’t be
automatically resized. You have to go to Options-Tools-Resize boxarts and press A.

8. DELETING GAMES
In Options→Tools, select Delete games to open the Delete games menu.
This menu is similar to the All Games List. Press C on each game to mark it to be
deleted. When you’re done, press A to delete the selected games. You’ll be prompted
for confirmation. If you confirm, games will be deleted and Blast16 will restart.

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9. BACKUP AND RESTORE SYSTEM

The backup utility saves all your games, boxarts, bios, save states, Blast16 settings and
Retroarch config to an USB drive.

Make sure you have an USB drive plugged into the Raspberry and then go to
Options→Tools→Backup and press A. Blast16 will close and the backup process will
start. When it’s done, the system will reboot.
Restoring works the same: connect your USB drive with the backup you previously
made, go to Options→Tools→Restore and press A. Blast16 will close, restoring will
start, and when it’s done, the Raspberry will reboot.

10. CUSTOMIZE SPLASH

If you want to use your own splash image for the frontend, make sure it’s 1280x720,
rename it to “splash.png”, copy it to your USB drive root directory, then connect it to
the Raspberry Pi and turn it on.
If you want to go back to the original splash image, you can grab it from here.

11. FILESYSTEM EXPLAINED

-Blast16 path: /home/pi/blast16

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-Games: /home/pi/blast16/games
-Boxarts: /home/pi/blast16/games/boxarts
-Bios: /home/pi/blast16/bios
-Scripts (both Python and shell scripts for backup/restore, connect Bluetooth, etc):
/home/pi/blast16/scripts
-Data (settings, input mapping, etc): /home/pi/blast16/data/blast16
-Input mappings: /home/pi/blast16/data/blast16/input. Inside, “presets” directory has
default presets for some known controllers, and “custom” has your custom mappings.
-Retroarch config: /home/pi/.config/retroarch

12. SSH/FTP ACCESS

To access the Raspberry Pi through SSH or FTP, you first need to find out the IP
address. To do it, go to Options→Tools. If you’re connected through ethernet, you’ll
see your IP at the bottom.

Now we’re ready to connect through SSH/FTP. Use your favourite SSH (like Putty) or
FTP (like Filezilla or WinSCP) application to enter.
User is pi and password is blast16.

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Type “./stop.sh” to stop Blast16. To launch it again, type “run.sh”. Stop it again
pressing Ctrl+C.

13. CHANGE KEYBOARD LAYOUT

Blast16 default keyboard layout is English(US). To change it:
1 – Go to Options→Tools→Exit and press A.
2 – Type “sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration” and press Enter.
3 – Follow the instructions.

14. HELP AND TROUBLESHOOTING

I’ll add any common problem to this list from time to time. If your case is not here,
send an email to [email protected] or catch me on Twitter.

Q. I added a lot of ROMs and the screen is blinking. What’s happening?

A. You added too many ROMs. While you can add around 1000 ROMs more or less,
it’s strongly recommended that you only add those games you truly want to play, and
use the favourites list to have a smaller list of those games. Less games results in
smoother performace and better game browsing.
Blast16 is not meant to hold all Mega Drive/32X/Sega CD/Master System/Game Gear
games, but to help people create a Mega Drive mini out of a Raspberry Pi, and like any
mini console, it’s designed to have just the right amount of games.

Q. Will you make separate game menus per console?

A. No. Blast16 is conceptually a way to turn your Raspberry Pi into a Mega Drive Mini.
The other systems are just a bonus. Since version 1.0.9, games are sorted by system
and then alphabetically, and by pressing Down you can move to the next system’s first
game.

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Q. How do I update with a new image?

A. You have to flash the image like the first one you downloaded and installed.
However, that’s a pity because you’ll erase all your games, boxarts, settings, saved
states… So you better do a “backup and restore”. Follow these steps:
1- Connect an USB drive to your Raspberry.
2- In Blast16, go to Options-Tools-Backup and press A, then confirm. Wait for the
backup to finish.
3- Connect the USB drive to your computer to make sure the backup was made
(there should be a directory named “blast16_backup”).
4- Turn your Raspberry Pi off.
5- Extract the microSD and flash the new image.
6- Insert the microSD and boot the Raspberry.
7- Connect the USB drive again.
8- Go to Options-Tools-Restore system and press A, then confirm. Wait for the
restore to be finished.
All your games, boxarts, etc should be there again.

Q. Can I change other Retroarch options that are not visible in the
frontend?
A. Yes, by going to Options-Tools-Open Retroarch. But bear in mind that any change
in Retroarch that is not doable from the frontend is not supported.

Q. Can background music be changed?

A. No.

Q. My gamepad is detected but some buttons are not.

A. Blast16 is compatible with Direct-Input (D-Input) controllers only, so you need to
check if your controller has this connection mode. For instance, Retroflag Mega Drive
controllers are set as D-input by pressing “Y” before connecting to the USB port (you
only need to do that once), and 8bitdo usually turn on on D-input mode by pressing
B+Start.

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Q. Can I enable WiFi?

A. Yes, by going to Options-Tools-Command line. Connect a keyboard to the Pi, type
“sudo raspi-config” and press Enter. Then go to Network and then WiFi and enter
your network’s name and password.

Q. Will you support Retroarchievements?

A. Not in the current roadmap.

Q. My bluetooth controller doesn’t connect after flashing the latest version.

A. When you flash a new image, all bluetooth controllers are forgotten. You have to
pair them like the first time. However, if you already paired them and put them on
pairing mode again, they can become unrecognizable by the Pi (not sure why). In those
cases, please follow these steps:
4. Connect your controller by USB to the Raspberry.
5. Go to options, settings, input.
6. Go to “Reset Bluetooth cache” and press A.
7. Turn the raspberry pi off.
8. Disconnect your controller.
9. Turn the Raspberry pi on.
10. When you see Blast16 logo, you can turn the controller on (remember to do it
in D-input mode) and hold the pairing button until it’s on pairing mode.

Q. My saved states won’t load.

A. If you saved state with one emulator and then switched to another, the saved states
won’t work. Change the emulator back to the one you originally used in
Options→Settings→Emulation.

Q. Can I use a keyboard?

A. Blast16 can be controller with a keyboard, but for playing games you'll need a
controller.

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Q. What’s the name of the background music and who wrote it?
A. It’s called “The management song” and it’s written by Loop & Pixel.

Q. I copied games and boxarts through FTP and my boxarts are still big.
A. Since version 1.0.12, the auto-resize script only works if you copy the games
through USB. You have to go to Tools-Resize boxarts and press A.

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