JoeViking245

In the emulator, set it to full screen as you show you've done. Still in the emulator, open/load/run a game. Do whatever any other changes you need to do so that you are playing full screen. Got full screen? Good. Now press Alt+F4. Open a game through LaunchBox.

I would think you'd want to set the automatic [random] background image selection on a view change. Similar to the example video. Though with the timer, it would give it more of a random-change effect. I assume it would need to 'apply' the new image on view change.?. v.s. you're sitting on one view and it suddenly changes.?. Being able to change it manually by assigning a key/button would be cool.... for the 3 times it's used or until the novelty wears off shortly there after.

\n is the {Enter} key. So *cat\n sends the literal *cat and then "presses" Enter. Sometimes the 'computer' you're emulating needs a moment to think after sending *cat, so the extra \n's in there just 'hits' Enter (several more times) to 'waste' some time before sending the next command. Send the next one too fast, and it may not catch the 1st part of *exec !boot. It might just see c !boot

The one I tested was for the Model B (which uses the system file bbcb). The simplest way in LB is... Edit your MAME emulator. Then under "Associated Platforms", edit the default command-line parameter for the Platform (however you named it). So add this bbcb -autoboot_delay "2" -autoboot_command "*cat\n\n\n\n*exec !boot\n" -flop1 so that it looks like thisClick OK.

You are very welcome! Now go show off your games to your family. Well... in a SAFE manner!!!! (masks, hand washing, 'social distancing' and all that). Have fun. Be safe.

Tested with "Acorn BBC Micro Model B disks" (hash "bbcb_flop"). Good call on using the Acorn autoboot line! *cat\n\n\n\n*exec !boot\n Worked at least for "3D Bomb Alley" and "ABC".

I have never tried nor really have a desire to know how to run MAME through RA. But I know that many others do and there are numerous threads here on the forums that talk about it. That's really cool how that worked to merge the rom and the bezel/image files together! I'm adding that to my notes (because it is cool) but do have to say, you will save a lot of merge time by just putting the bezel files themselves in the "artwork" folder. By default, in mame.ini the 'artpath' is set to "artwork". Just sayin'. MAME is, I think, the only emulator that has to know exactly where the roms/bios/device/system files are located. Even though we can tell it through the command line. I guess you could say it likes to 'micro-manage' things. Note: MAME through Retroarch will have the same issue. Because MAME and LaunchBox are located on the same drive (which will be whatever the External HD gets assign to. Be it D:\ or E;\ or S:\ or Z:\), there is an easy fix to making it 'good to go' with your External HD. MAME.ini: homepath . rompath "roms;..\..\Games\Nintendo Game & Watch;..\..\Games\Arcade" hashpath hash samplepath samples artpath artwork I left the "roms" folder in there for whatever reason. I also added in the path to where your "Arcade" roms would more than like be located for your LaunchBox "Arcade" Platform. Don't forget the quotes at the beginning and the end. Also showing the "artwork" path. . Breakdown of the rompath: MAME looks for it "paths" starting in the folder from which it's executed. [no matter what drive-letter it's assigned to or any sub/sub/sub-folders it may be in] D:\LaunchBox\Emulators\MAME The 1st ..\ takes you up 1 folder to D:\LaunchBox\Emulators the 2nd ..\ takes you up one more to D:\LaunchBox now 'move down' to \Games\Nintendo Game & Watch Which results in: D:\LaunchBox\Games\Nintendo Game & Watch Hope that helps.

At this point keep the game-rom zip file and the overlay zip file separate. Do not merge them. Let's get just one of the games to work. From what I gather, you have the MAME emulator 0.222 and the MAME roms, also version 0.222 Wherever it is you have MAME located on your hard drive, there's the MAME emulator (mame64.exe) and also a folder called "roms". Put the zip file "gnw_ball.zip" that you got from your MAME roms 0.222, inside the roms folder. It should be something like this: D:\Emulators\MAME\ D:\Emulators\MAME\mame64.exe D:\Emulators\MAME\roms\ D:\Emulators\MAME\roms\gnw_ball.zip Make sure the zip file is the correct one (gnw_ball.zip will have ONLY 2 files in it). Start MAME (double-click mame64.exe). On the left side, click "Available" and you should see something like this: If you then double-click Game & Watch: Ball, you should see: If not, can you take some screenshots of what you are seeing

Your image on the right is the game. The one on the left is the artwork/bezel/overlay image stuff to make it pretty. I've never tried merging them together. Put the zip file on the right (3 files) in your "roms" folder and the one on the left (11 items) in the "artwork" folder. Edit: To be clear, put the zip files themselves in those folders. Don't unzip them. Oh and let us know if merging them together works.

Look inside gnw_ball.zip. Does it have these 2 files in it?

@Cauptain Game & Watch games are in with the regular MAME romsets (vs with Software Lists). The games all start with "gnw_" and then game_name.zip (i.e gnw_ball.zip). No bios is required. And there is no special command line needed. Open it just like the Arcade Machines with mame64.exe. Emulation status in MAME:

To play the tape it's just a matter of pressing F2. You can pass in the command line -autoboot_command "xxxx" where xxxx are letters/symbols/numbers. But haven't figured how to send Function-Key-2 (F2). An example for Acorn Electron cartridges is electron -skip_gameinfo -autoboot_delay "2" -autoboot_command "*tape\nchain""""""\n" -cass "name_of_the_rom" Here it skips the game info, pauses for 2 seconds, then sends *tape {Enter} (the \n you see) chain (the series of quotes is basically a long pause) {Enter} -cass "name_of_the_rom" This doesn't answer the question, but gives you an idea of how the autoboot works. If you can find out how to get it to send/register {F2}, I'm sure there are many people out there that would gladly buy you a beer or a nice tall glass of fresh lemon-aid.

Remember the issue with spacewar.zip? There's an Arcade Machine that uses that name. The exact same name is used in the following softlists: channelf vectrax cpc_flop dragon_cass a2600 apple2_cass nascom_snap arcadia jaguar spectrum_cass studio2 So basically that's 12 different "spacewar.zip" files that are not interchangeable. Also, using the respective subfolders below 'software' will make things a lot more orderly. And when you decided you don't want the softlist 'nascom_snap' anymore, you just delete the folder along with its' 67 files.

Glad you found the right studio2.zip and can now throw out the wrong studio2.zip that was right for everyone else on the planet. I've no idea what the version error thing is. Maybe the right studio2.zip is right for 0.217 but wrong for 0.222. There actually is some method to the madness that when MAME updates, so do some-to-many of the roms. So goes the ol' adage, make sure your MAME executable version matches the version of the romset you have. I personally don't use RA for MAME, because... well, MAME works. To me it's like getting in the pickup truck to haul your motorcycle down the road when you can just ride your motorcycle. But that's just me. Good luck with Loopy. MAME, either through RetroArch or stand alone is not going to be your friend on that one. But don't let that deter you from other softlist ventures. Advice: (geared towards standalone MAME, because I don't how how RA MAME works) - You only need to have one version of MAME. As long as the executable and rom versions match each other. Having the newest version every month isn't necessary, but if starting from scratch, may as well get the latest. It will NOT work less than any prior version. As long as everything matches. - If you plan to have a bunch of different softlist's (Apple, Amiga, Commodore, ZX Spectrum...), so that you don't have add each and every softlist path to the rompath line in mame.ini... in your main MAME folder, create a new subfolder and call it "software" and then add "software" to you rompath line. In that (new 'software') folder. put your softlist bios/system/device files in there. Then when you add the roms (games for the different console/computers), create a subfolder inside 'software' and name it the EXACT SAME NAME as the corresponding hash file (minus .xls) Example: D:\emulators\MAME\mame64.exe D:\emulators\MAME\software\studio2.zip D:\emulators\MAME\software\apple2gs.zip D:\emulators\MAME\software\studio2\spacewar.zip D:\emulators\MAME\software\studio2\speedway.zip D:\emulators\MAME\software\apple2gs\aaargh.zip D:\emulators\MAME\software\apple2gs\arkanoid.zip MAME automatically knows to look in subfolders of it's rompath for softlists (like studio2 and the apple2gs above). So you won't have to add each one to the rompath line. - If you plan to add a bunch of softlists to LaunchBox, you may want to look at the MAME Software List Import Tool (now that you know you can get it to work through the emulator). It should aid well for the import process. https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/2080-mame-software-lists-import-tool-plugin/ - Softlist can a pain in the neck!! But with time and patience you'll git 'er done.

The games' zip files will have a .bin file in them. And that's ok. But not studio.zip.

Ya. That won't work. You'll need find it in set (A) [if you don't already have it].

The 2 Studio II games that are showing coincidentally have the same rom (zip file) name as Arcade Machines. So what MAME thinks it's seeing are the Arcade Machines. At this point it's only looking at the physical rom (zip file) name. So when it tries to run them, it freaks out (because the roms (the files inside the zip file) are not the ones for the Arcade Machine it 'thought' it was trying to run. MAME 0.222 will open and run RCA Studio II games. Confirmed. If all went well, when you double click Studio II it would show the "17/17 software packages" as shown in the screenshot above. Note "Unfiltered" is selected, thus showing all 17 possible for Studio II). MAME [Arcade] "Machines" and MAME "Software lists" are 2 separate things. The Machines are (in general) the cabinets (or cabs) you found in your local arcade. And when people talk about MAME, this is typically what's being referred to. The Software Lists (or softlists) are your home consoles and computers (Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, RCA Studio II, Apple II... etc). So when looking for roms, you'll see something like (A) "MAME 0.222 ROMs" and (B) "MAME 0.222 Software List Roms". (A) is where you'll find the Arcade Machines (games) and also [most] "System", "Bios" and "Device" roms". (B) is where you'll find the software (games) for the various consoles and computers. For your scenario you'd find "studio2.zip" (the system file) in with (A) and the (up to 17 for Studio II) games in (B). You mentioned something about renaming the games. I hope you're just talking about the games Title inside LaunchBox. Never rename MAME zip files. There is a plugin in the downloads section here on the forums that some dude wrote/contributed that will assist in importing your Software List roms into LaunchBox. The main biggie feature is that when it imports the games into LB, it will set the games Title as per MAME's hash file (i.e. studio2.xml). But RULE #1 is to get you games working in the emulator before even thinking about testing/running them in LB. And you not there yet. In Windows Explorer, double click your studio2.zip file to look inside. Do the file names look like these?

In your mame.ini, for the rompath line, add some more quotes. Especially when you have spaces in the path. rompath "roms;"F:\Retro Games\RCA - Studio II"" Also confirm that you actually do/do-not have spaces before and after the dash ( - ). Though as I think about it, it's showing Studio II as "available". Hmmm.... Just for the heck of it, move your all your Studio II rom files (looks like 10 of them) into your ../Emulators/MAME/roms/ folder, start MAME and try double clicking Studio II.

Looks like it's thinking the "spacewar" file you have is the Arcade Machine (as denote by "1997, Cinematronics"). So when it tries to run it, you get that error. (Assuming the spacewar.zip file you have is actually the RCA version). Double click Studio II, and try Spacewar inside there. (Note the games romset name for RCA Studio II is the exact same as for the Arcade Machine)

If your XP is 64bit, this here will work.

You're welcome! I only use Steam to launch games from BigBox, not the other way around ('cause it seems backwards to me).

Joy12:: If GetKeyState("Joy11") WinClose, ahk_exe {{{StartupEXE}}} Joy11:: KeyWait, Joy11, T1 ; 1 = seconds to wait for something else to happen if (ErrorLevel) Send {Shift}{F1} Press F11 and then F12 to close. Press and hold F11 to send {Shift}{F1}. If you find you can't get to F12 fast enough, change "1" to a "2" or more. You can also something like "0.5" for 1/2 second. If you hold F11 long enough, and then press F12, it'll first send {Shift}{F1} and then close the app.

Process Close is not the best method to to close an app. It's kind of like pressing and holding the power button on your PC to shut down Windows. Try this: Joy12:: If GetKeyState("Joy11") WinClose, ahk_exe Spectaculator.exe With this button combo, you need to press [and hold] Joy11 first, then Joy12. Pressing Joy12 and then pressing Joy11 won't work.

Ohhhhh..... doesn't work 'cause you can't import them into LaunchBox. I read it as you couldn't get them to actually run/play with MAME. Well, glad you get 'em working. ?