MAME Tools 1.0.0

Plugin Features:

• See the number of 'games' you have in each filter type. (unplayable, bootleg, quiz, rhythm, mahjong etc.)
• Check the boxes for the filter types you wish to remove and click Delete to remove them from your LaunchBox collection.
• Click the number next to the filter type to show a list of the 'games' included with that filter.  (shows ROM name and game Title)
  • (optional)  Create a text file of "the list" (for whatever reason)
  • (optional)  Create a playlist from "the list" 

Notes:

• You don't need to have used the MAME Arcade Full Set Import Wizard to make use of this plugin.
• "Total Games" only takes into account your Main Games. Additional Apps (clones) are not accounted for in that number.
• When clicking Delete to remove the games in the selected filter type(s), if a game being removed has Additional Apps, those will be removed too.  
  • No ROMs will be deleted from your system.  Only the entries in your LaunchBox collection.
  • It won't delete any images associated with the removed games.  Most likely, they won't have any anyway.  If they do, simply run Clean Up Media located in the Tools menu.
• "Remove Preliminary" refers to Emulation Status and only includes games that are marked as Preliminary AND are not included any of the other filter types.
• Game Counts:
  • Some games will fall into multiple filter types.  e.g. some (but not all) Fruit games are also included in with Casino games.  
  • So don't try to add the numbers up and have them make sense.

This doesn't really expand much on the already available Arcade/MAME Playlist built-in feature in LaunchBox.   But if there's a rare instance you come across a MAME category ini file that has a 'pre-built' "filter" list and isn't already available in LB, well here you go.

Many of these files can be found at https://www.progettosnaps.net.  (Specifically, https://www.progettosnaps.net/support/)  And several more at https://mameinfo.mameworld.info (Look for the “MAMEUI 0.2xx Category-, Version and Alltime inifiles” link).  There’re probably other sources available out there too.

These files are typically (and should be) stored in the  ../MAME/ini/folders/  folder.

Notes:

• This does not work with Additional Apps (e.g. clones).  aka: It won't look in your game's Additional Apps to add to the new playlist(s).
• This adds “Arcade” to the beginning of the selected section/filter for its “Unique Name:” (to maintain consistency).  The “Nested Name” will be the same as selected section/filter.
• The Playlist will be added under Arcade (Category) in the Platform Categories list.
• If you click Create Playlist and you don’t have any existing games that match, an empty Playlist will not be created.
• If a Playlist of the same name already exists, either delete your existing Playlist or edit it and change the name.  It will not be overwritten nor modified.

Use this plugin to see what new Arcade machines (games) were added in the latest release of MAME.

Then, along with your updated ROM set, import those new machines into your LaunchBox collection without having to reimport the entire set or attempting to Scan for Added ROMs (which doesn't really work with the Arcade platform anyway).

Features:

• See what new Arcade (ONLY) games were added to a specific MAME release
  • No software list games.
• When selecting a game:
  • Click the Arcade Database logo to navigate to the site for information on that game
  • Shows if the game exists anywhere in your collection (including as an Additional App [clone])
    • Checks across ALL games in ALL platforms (by ROM filename).
    • Below it will show which platform it is in (if "existing")
    • This is useful if you're checking previous releases for that hidden gem, you didn't know you were missing
• Filter games by Status (Good, Imperfect, Preliminary)
• Import the new games (from your updated MAME ROM set)
  • Only game ROMs that physically exist will be imported
• (Optional checkbox) Force importing even if the game's ROM doesn't physically exist
  • Useful if you're using a merged set
• (Optional checkbox) Add an Additional Application direct link to the Arcade Database for the game
  • This will appear as an "Arcade Database" clickable link in the Game Details panel

Note:
All data comes from the Arcade Database. When a new MAME release comes out, you may need to wait a day or so for this information to become available.

Creating a custom xml file:
Via the MAME UI:

• Open [standalone] MAME
• In the left panel, click Category
• Select a File (these are the same ini files used in "Create Playlists from MAME ini Files")
• (optional) If available, select a Group
• Select  Return to Previous Menu
• Click the yellow floppy disk at top [“Export displayed list to a file”] and double click “Export list in XML format (like –listxml, but exclude devices)”
• The custom xml file will be saved to/as \MAME\ui\exported.xml (subsequent exports will be named "exported_0000.xml", "exported_0001.xml" etc.)

Via the Arcade Database website: (https://adb.arcadeitalia.net)

• In the left panel, click Games
• Click Additional Filters in the main panel
• In the various tabs, select/add/change filters to your desired choosing and then click Search
• Now click Options - Export the Results
• Change the "Title" to something meaningful to you
• Click MAME (xml)
• Click Export

Notes:

• The xml file MUST be laid out in a standard MAME Machines format.  MAME’s softlist xml files are formatted differently and WILL NOT work with this plugin.  (Use the other plugin)
• Scrape As for a new Platform will be set to Arcade
• After importing, use LaunchBox's built in Download Metadata and Media Wizard to get the games metadata, images and videos

This is namely to show that of all the CHD's available, just a mere handful are considered working.

Features:

• Filter on/off by status and/or show parent games only
• Included filter options are: bad dump, no dump and Software Lists ROMs (included just for reference)
• The list of CHD games can be updated (or downgraded) to match your mame.exe revision

This plugin gathers data about the game and your MAME and LaunchBox setup and provides you information to help determine what the issue may be.

Features:

• Shows the required dependency files (if any) required for the game to run (e.g. BIOS, Device and CHD files)
• Launches the game and captures the command window output [that you never see]
  • Potentially useful "Why the game isn't launching" data
• View the emulators Running Script.  (Typically, never contains "the issue". But doesn't hurt to look.)
• Verifies ROM and dependency (BIOS & Device) file(s) exists and are accessible to the emulator when launching**
  • If found, checks and verifies the zip file contents (all inner files exist and CRC32's match)
• If a CHD is required, verifies the CHD file exists and is accessible to the emulator when launching**

**  "accessible to the emulator when launching"  The plugin looks for the "rompath" setting per MAME's order of prescience.  This dictates which folder(s) MAME will look in for ROMs and dependency files.

This will NOT "fix it" for you. But should tell you everything you need to deduce "why" the game won't launch.  Once you know why, all you need to do is fix that part of the equation.

Requirements:

• Requires the games emulator to be mame.exe
• Only works with MAME Arcade machines. No software lists
• Only works with ROMs that are .zip (Not .7z)

Dependency Files and Details Viewer
(initial release: June 17, 2025)

The intent of this plugin is to show what files (other than the game's ROM) are required for the game to run and to give some details about the original Arcade machine. 

Features:

• Shows all files needed required to run the game. 
  • BIOS, Device and CHD and [optional - not required] Sample
• Shows the games' Overall and Emulation status.  (Good, Imperfect, Preliminary)
  • If it's not "Good", see why.  e.g. 
    • "sound - unemulated"
    • "graphics - imperfect"
• Details shown about the machine:
  ROM                   Genre
  Title                    Players
  Short Title          nPlayers
  Clone of             Language
  Manufacturer   Input Controls
  Series                 Input Buttons
  Year                    Screen Orientation
  Status                 Screen Resolution
   
• Provides a direct link to the machine on the Arcade Database website to see even more date about the game/machine
• Also works for games whose ROMs are MAME, but the emulator is not. 
  • e.g. Demul, SuperModel, FBNeo, Model2 etc.