[Error Setting up MAME]

Glad it was a simple fix.  The caveat to removing that Command-Line is that (I think this is how it goes) you can't use the controller in the LaunchBox Pause Menu.  The fix for that is to get an updated romset and its corresponding revision of MAME, then put the Custom Command-Line back in.

Regarding standalone MAME vs Retroarch+core, standalone MAME is what's recommended.  When using Retroarch, you're essentially using an emulator [core] to emulate an emulator [MAME] to play a game.  That's what's going on with the text in the 2 menus you see.  The differences you see in your gameplay images is the use of (or lack of) shaders and other thingy's I personally don't mess with.  For most any other Platform, Retroarch is your friend.

Welcome to the world of emulation.  And when you're staying up all night solving technical problems, don't forget to spend some of those nights staying up playing video games. 

[Error Setting up MAME]

11 hours ago, BabyBillyFreeman said:

when I try to run them nothing happens. I can run games no problem within MAME itself

I see you're using an older version of MAME.  Try removing the Default Command-Line Parameters and see if that works.

[Using Launchbox for ebooks/comics]

3 hours ago, Ron Nichols said:

Anyone else doing something similar?

Someone has...  

 

[Bezels Option Missing In My Launchbox 12.12 Installation]

29 minutes ago, HeavyDe13 said:

What's the best approach for those users running MAME64.exe?

Try renaming mame64.exe to mame.exe and then make sure to edit your emulator in LaunchBox and change the application path to point to the ["new"] mame.exe.

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

3 hours ago, MonsterKenny said:

What im trying to do is launch Keyboard2Xinput when i launch a game

Edit your game(s) and add an Additional Application that launches Keyboard2XinputGui.exe and check the box Automatically Run Before Main Application. 

That's the easy part which I gather you already figured out.  Running (closing, in this case) an application after a Steam game exits is a bit more tricky.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to launch the games exe file rather than using the Steam gameID #.  Edit the game, and in the Launching section change the Application Path to point to the games exe file.  I don't know if this affects any of the Steam interface or achievements, but the games will run this way.

Now create a new text file and in it put:

SendInput, {NumpadMult}
ExitApp

Save the file somewhere where you won't forget where it is.  Maybe in the same folder as your "Keyboard2XinputGui.exe" file is.  Like with everything else, give it a fancy name like "ExitK2X".  Now rename the file to have an .ahk file extension. like "ExitK2X.ahk".  Be careful that it doesn't get renamed "ExitK2X.ahk.txt".

[Back to editing the game in LaunchBox] Add another Additional Application.  Give it a fancy Application Name like "Exit Keyboard2XinputGui".  For the Application Path, Browse to and select "AutoHotkey.exe".  You'll find one in /LaunchBox/ThirdParty/AutoHotkey/

In the Application Command-Line Parameters field, type the full path to where you saved the .ahk file, and put it in quotes.  i.e.

"D:\Games\Keyboard2Xinput\ExitK2X.ahk"

Now check the box for Automatically Run After Main Application.  Click OK.  And Click OK again.

 

I've never personally used keyboard2xinput, but it's my understanding that the asterisk * on the keyboards' 10-key [a.k.a. the multiply button on the number pad] is what closes the program. That's where the "SendInput, {NumpadMult}" comes from.

 

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

2 hours ago, hawkfanz said:

I'd like to change key bindings with AHK when starting certain steam games and then close the ahk script on game exit.

The way that Steam launches their games, that's not really going to work.  ...the [wait for game to exit and] closing the AHK script on exit part.  Though you may be able to do that if you launch the Steam game directly from its exe file. Basically ignoring the Steam interface.  But then you may be opening the door to a lot of other issues.

You should be able to map any necessary keys for a game, in the game itself.  At least I can in all my Steam Lego games.

If you're wanting to create a key to exit the game, can't (won't, actually) help you there.  Mainly because of how easy it is to go to the in-game menu and select Exit to Windows.

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

2 hours ago, Krakatoa said:

Hi,
What's a simple script I can use to send numpad keys after 20 seconds?

for example send the following numpad press 4 5 6 7 8 9 after 20 seconds of the script running.

 

Sleep, 20000
Send, {numpad4}{numpad5}{numpad6}{numpad7}{numpad8}{numpad9}

 

[MAME Full Set Importer - any way to tell it to copy roms to new folder?]

19 hours ago, machineReadable said:

'No ROM files were found to copy to the destination folder'

Edit one of the games that [now] works and look at ROM File (aka ROM Path) in the Launching section.  It should point to where you ROM is physically located (either showing a Relative path or an Absolute path). 

But since "No ROM files were found..", I'm guessing the ROM File path is pointing somewhere else.  You originally said you had them on your file server.  I personally have no knowledge about file servers to even guess as to what may or may not be an issue there.

When you copied your "MAME folder", was that your full MAME emulator folder, including ../MAME/roms/ where your ROMs are located?  Or was that just a folder that had you MAME ROMs [only] in it?

 

What I'm getting towards, depending how you have standalone MAME setup and how you have you Default Command-Line Parameters set in LaunchBox for your MAME emulator, the ROM Path in the Launching section could still work if it was:

• D:\ROMs\MAME\astdelux.zip
• X:\nowhere\specific\astdelux.zip
• astdelux.txt
• astdelux

Again, depending on how you have mame.ini setup and also the Default Command-Line Parameters in LB.

 

I just ran a test using Export/Copy as described above and it had worked (to COPY files).

• Ran the Full Set Wizard
• Imported to Arcade 2 (unique Platform name)
• Pointed to a folder that had [only] 56 MAME ROMs
• Told it to use my existing MAME emulator (Manually Configure MAME Emulator)
• Checked/Unchecked some filters and had it do its thing
• Arcade 2 had 6679 games in it.
• Selected all games (click one and then pressed Ctrl+A)
• Ran the Export/Copy feature, pointed to an empty folder
• When it was done, the 'empty' folder had 56 files in it.

 

20 hours ago, machineReadable said:

in the Arcade Platform dialog, the Game media type was not pointing to the correct folder.

That shouldn't be the case.  Especially with a fresh import to a new Platform.  Any chance the incorrect folder was one that was used in the past?

[Help with BB and Touch Screen PC]

On 6/4/2022 at 6:12 AM, The Papaw said:

I can't, that's the issue, no <ESC>, that's why I was asking how I might incorporate it in a theme. @Johnny T made a suggestion about a gesture software that might work, but not had a chance to install and look into it yet. 

Ok. I guess I got confused when you said you had BB working well with the touchscreen and that exiting it was the issue.  I think I understand now that it's not having a Back key/button (aka Esc key) to press, that's the issue.

For kicks and grins, I put a copy of LB/BB on my laptop that has a touchscreen. Started BB, made the 'mouse' active in Options. Got back to the main Platforms screen.  Wow! Using the touchscreen for BigBox is a lot cooler that I thought it would be!! lol

Anyway, I went into the Arcade Platform, scrolled up and down the games. Then, on a hunch, I did a long-press [somewhere not over a control] on the screen and BAM!  There I was at the main Platforms listing again.  Did another long-press and got to the System View.  Dragged my finger down till Exit appeared and tap-tapped it.  BigBox exited.

I'm curious if that works for you too.  Or if I just got stupid lucky on my laptop and your back to trying gestures. 😊

[Back-up Issues]

2 hours ago, starfiretbt said:

it sounds like it used to be bad for computers

Not sure. Maybe if you use some silly 3rd party virus scanner software and it thinks it is.  I've been using it for about 4-5 years now without issue.  Windows Security (Windows Defender) has never balked either.  It has a pretty small footprint (< 50MB) and is actively updated.  I know several users on the forum use it and even LB admin says it's "highly recommended".

It doesn't have any constantly running Process or Services unless you setup the RealTimeSync.  Otherwise it only runs when you start it.

It does store some data in 'C:\Users\Joe\AppData\Roaming\FreeFileSync'.  But we're talking like 12KB.  You could always become an upstanding end-user and support them by getting their "Donation Edition". That way you can install it portable (and get a couple other added features).  I tried that Edition for a couple of revisions (never the portable install though) and for me, the extra features didn't make much difference for my use. 

 

4 hours ago, starfiretbt said:

additional, possibly unsafe software that might add to my process list and slow my computer

If you're that [unnecessarily] worried about it, you could always use robocopy.  It's a Windows [built-in] command similar of copy and xcopy.  You'd need to look up the command line parameters for the mirror operation, but it will do the exact same thing as FreeFileSync.  Just without the fancy GUI.  You'd need to run it directly from the Windows Command Prompt or create a batch file (or a PowerShell or AutoHotkey script, if you're so inclined).

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

4 minutes ago, SeerOfChaos said:

How would I go about making it so only Joy11+Joy14 closes Cemu?

1Joy14::
   If GetkeyState("Joy11")
   WinClose, ahk_exe {{{StartupEXE}}}

I think this one'll work.  You'll need to press (and hold) Joy11 1st, then Joy14 (right away).

[Help with BB and Touch Screen PC]

16 hours ago, The Papaw said:

I have NO way to exit BB without plugging in a keyboard to hit <ESC>

After you enter a Platform to view its games, how do you go Back to viewing the Platforms via the touchscreen?  If you go Back from within the Platforms view, that should put you in the Option menu which includes Exit and also Shutdown.  

[Back-up Issues]

What you're wanting to do is create a 'mirror' of your C:\LaunchBox folder to your external backup E:\LaunchBox folder.

I use FreeFileSync for this on my cab.  You set your source folder and destination folders and then have it compare File Name, Time and Size [default] (and/or more detailed comparisons) between the 2 folders. It will of course recurse through subfolders as well.  Then for the synchronize options choose Mirror.  This will:

• Add any files from the source that don't exist in the destination, to the destination.
• Replace any files in the destination that have the same name as one in the source but have a different file size or date stamp.
• Remove any files in the destination that don't exist in the source. (this is the part that solves your issue)
• Skip over any files that are the same (per your compare criteria).

[Help switch from Retroarch to Mame for Intellivision]

Glad you got it working!

8 hours ago, BuffySlayer said:

Now for my final help request - does anyone using mame know which buttons to map to joystick? I have mapped most of the numbered keys to my 8 buttons, but my joystick direction is off, and there's x analog, x inc, x dec, etc - also which configuration corresponds to the side buttons on the old controller??

How did you map the numbered keys?  (rhetorical)

Launch a game.

Press tab

Select Input (this Machine)

Select which control you want to change (highlight it and press Enter [not Enter on the 10-key]) and then press the key (or move your joystick) that you want to use for that action/movement

I've never used the Intellivision controller but looking at pictures, it has 2 buttons on each side.  Looking at the choices you have to configure in MAME for it, I'm going to guess that that the 2 top side buttons do the same thing (Upper).  And the 2 lower buttons are separate (Lower-Left, Lower-Right).  Essentially meaning you have 3 buttons to assign.

The default joystick movement/assignment is pretty descriptive.  X Analog Inc = [Kbd] Right.  X Analog Dec = Left.  If you think back to your math classes and plotting x-y coordinates, it's just like that.  The 2 settings shown that don't have "Inc" or "Dec", as indicated are for using your mouse.

When you're all done, press Escape twice to exit back to the game.

You will now have in your /MAME/cfg/ folder, a file called "intv.cfg".  Anytime you run an Intellivision game, MAME will load these controller settings.

[Help switch from Retroarch to Mame for Intellivision]

10 hours ago, BuffySlayer said:

could the fact i'm using a 0.243 no nag version of mame make a difference

No.

Belated thought... since your ROMs are in .int format, they're probably named after the games proper title.  MAME looks for it 'short-name'.  So for "Armor Battle", it's looking for "armorbtl".  That's why they don't show as "Available".

A different test:

open the Windows Command Prompt to the location where you mame.exe file is located.  Type in

mame.exe intv -cart "D:\MAME\roms\intv\Armor Battle.int"

Change the path and rom name to one that actually matches one you have.  Press Enter.

 

When (if?) that works...

With using non MAME Software List ROMs, they'll still work.  But you'll need to un-Check both Remove quotes and Remove file extension and full path in your emulator settings.  You'll probably want to create a new instance of your MAME emulator in LaunchBox.  Just add a new emulator and point to the same mame.exe.  Uncheck those boxes. Then in Associated Platforms, set the platform (Mattel Intellivision?), the Default Command line to "intv -cart" and check Default.

[MAME Full Set Importer - any way to tell it to copy roms to new folder?]

2 hours ago, machineReadable said:

you used to have the option to decide whether to use the roms directly from your source, or copy them into a new folder

There's a really good explanation why copy/move ROMs is not part of the MAME full set import wizard anymore.  But I don't know [fully] what it is.

But I do know that once you've finished importing, you can select Tools, File Management, Export/Copy ROM files from selected games to new folder to do what it is you're wanting. 

[eXoDOS Lite in Big Box - is it possible to filter on only installed games?]

38 minutes ago, zorkiii said:

a method to filter on only games I've already installed

That filer is looking for the Installed 'field'.  In LaunchBox, edit one of your games.  In the lower right hand corner you'll see Installed.

It's a 3-state toggle.  Shown is the middle 'maybe' ("Indeterminate") value which I believe is default.  You'll need to manually change that for the games you want to see as Installed.    (check mark)

Installed was originally 'designed' for Steam games in which Steam's API can automagically tell LaunchBox whether you have it installed on your system or merely 'own' it through Steam.  (this may be a lie, but I do know it has something to do with Steam 😊)

The isn't really a [reasonable] way for LaunchBox to know if you have your eXoDOS games installed, so you'll need to set them manually.  Those values will then be there in BigBox and your filter will work.

 

You can bulk change the games you have installed by selecting each game in LaunchBox (click the 1st one, press and hold Ctrl, and click the others), and then click Edit to start the Bulk Editor Wizard.  Or you can edit them one-by-one.  

 

1 hour ago, zorkiii said:

is there any way to hide anything that isn't installed?

Other than the custom filter, no.  

In your eXoDOS Platform, you could mark all 'those' games as Broken (checkbox left of Installed).  Then select View, Hide Games, Marked Broken.  

I imagine there's a similar built-in filter option like this in BigBox as well. 

[Help switch from Retroarch to Mame for Intellivision]

56 minutes ago, BuffySlayer said:

still no joy with games being available

In your MAME folder should be a file "mame.ini".  [With MAME not running...] Open it with a text editor (notepad or whatever) and look for the line that says rompath.  On that line it may only have the name (folder, actually) roms.  Change that last part to  "roms;roms/intv"  including the quotes and semi-colon (with no space after it)

rompath       "roms;roms/intv"

 

 

Save, close, start MAME and try the afore mentioned steps again.

 

If you don't find a mame.ini file (look in both MAME's root folder and in the ../MAME/ini/ folder), do this instead: 

1. Start MAME
2. double click Configure Options
3. double click Save Configruation
4. Press Escape
5. Press Escape again to exit MAME
6. Now jump to the steps above to edit mame.ini

[updated to mame .244 not uploading hiscores anymore]

Sometime between 0.212 and 0.244 MAME changed where high score files are stored.  It was changed from the "hi" folder to "hiscore".

That's more just for information because it doesn't answer why MAME is seeing/saving high scores and they're not being uploaded.  Unless LaunchBox looks for both "hi" and "hiscore" folders (to accommodate older and newer versions of MAME) and it takes the 1st one it finds.  Which in your case may be the "hi" folder.

Assuming when you updated MAME, you also included the updated lua scripts which should direct .hi files to "hiscore".

[Getting An Error Screen That Pops Up Upon Exiting Teknoparrot]

Did you look at "exception.txt"?  (although it may look like jibberish)

You may could do a search for "teknoparrot a task was cancelled".  Or go to their GitHub page and look under "Issues" and see if there's something related listed there.

[Help switch from Retroarch to Mame for Intellivision]

5 hours ago, BuffySlayer said:

Currently have intellivision games in int. format in folder named Mattel Intellivision, with bioses zipped in same folder. I also tried creating Intv folder in Mame folder with bioses in that, no good. 

".int" format should work with standalone MAME.

Try:

Create an "intv" (lowercase i) folder inside your ../MAME/roms/ folder (MAME being the folder that has mame.exe in it)

Place you Intellivision roms and bios files in it.  (Bios files being "intv.zip" and "stic.zip")

Start mame.exe.

Type "intv" (no quotes)

Select "Intellivision"

On the left side of the screen, click "Available".

Do you see a list of 'games'?

If so, double click one of the games, see what happens and report back.

[Just another Phoenix rom launcher...]

Glad that worked for you.

17 hours ago, 3lc3z4r said:

make it stay in the original position where it was left before starting the emulator

I'm sure it's possible, but I think it'd be more work (figuring it out and implementing it) than it's worth.

You'd need to have an AHK script run (launch) before the emulator starts.  The script would capture the mouse location on the screen, pause (Sleep) a little, then set the mouse location [back] to the spot that it captured.  You can do this by setting up a "Run Before Main Application", but that's only available on a per game basis. Not per emulator.  So every game in your platform would need an Additional App that launches this.

You could create a script that does this AND launches your emulator/game for you and set that as the 'emulator' for the platform.  But that's getting a bit excessive/obsessive.

Another option is to figure out the exact coordinates (in pixels) on your monitor that starting point is, then adjust the above script to move the mouse to there.

Sleep, 5000
CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
MouseMove, 960, 540, 0

On a 1920x1080 monitor, this will place the cursor at center screen.

[Just another Phoenix rom launcher...]

8 hours ago, freeflyer454 said:

Dang.  It might only work if a hot key is set to trigger it.  I don't have a lot of experience with AutoHotKey so I'm just guessing.  Well, I'll look at adding that feature to the rom launcher in a few days.

Try putting a sleep timer in there before moving the cursor.

Sleep, 5000
MouseMove, 0, 50, 0, R

This will wait 5 seconds (5000 milliseconds) before moving the mouse.  Depending on load time, you may need to increase it.

[Virtual Jaguar quit emulation thru launchbox]

In LaunchBox, go to Tools, Manage, Emulators, select your emulator.  In the Running Script section, put

Esc::
Send, ^q

Click OK, Close. Launch a game.  Press Escape.  (Not tested)

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

19 hours ago, Mr Footlong said:

<^b::
send {Volume_Up 5}
<^n::
send {Volume_Down 5}
return

I have no idea what the < symbol is for.  But the ^ is the 'shorthand' for Ctrl.  ! is for Alt.

!b::
send {Volume_Up 5}
!n::
send {Volume_Down 5}

Also, since you have other hotkeys in there, you don't need to have a "return".  (it is implied)

Alternatively, if you know the [volume] level that works best, you can simply set it to that.

; set volume level to 35%
SoundSet, 35

 

Ideally, you should figure out how to keep it working with the BigBox bindings.  Although I'm not sure if the Volume binding in BB remains active during emulation.  And it may be that the emulator has other uses for Alt-b and Alt-n.?.