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JoeViking245
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Posts posted by JoeViking245
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1 hour ago, goosethemighty said:
I am using the built in emulator but LB uses the batrunner.exe as the emulator which in turn launches the Scummvm emulator.
Interesting. Because even with a fresh LaunchBox install, I still don't have batrunner.exe in my /ThirdParty/ScummVM/ folder. I even searched all of ../LaunchBox/. for the file and couldn't find it. So not really sure why/how yours is set up that way and has [or even uses] that file. Weird.
What version of LaunchBox are you using? Maybe older versions used a different ScummVM setup.?.
To set it up, all I did was edit he game(s) and in the Launching - ScummVM section (image above), check the one box, Browse to the folder and then selected the corresponding game.
Here's what's in my /ThirdParty/ScummVM/ folder:
There's also ../AppData/Roaming/ScummVM/ which looks like:
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1 hour ago, Phosky said:
Curiously, the PONG (which LaunchBox lists, and locates in MAME_ROMS\pong.zip), does not exist in the .dat nor does it appear in the complete non-merged romset folder. I don't understand why LaunchBox adds it.
Pong is built into MAME so you will not find a physical file in any ROM set after [somewhere around] revision 0.245. (no relation to the numbers in my name) But to Launch Pong, you still need to tell MAME what it is you want to launch. Hence LaunchBox adds a "path to the ROM". Then of course, LB only sends the file name (without extension) from that path. "pong"
Just like for clones that don't have a physical file in a merged-set, LaunchBox gets Pong (and 4 other TTL games
) ... well... All MAME games/ROM names from your physical "mame.exe" file. Using the command "mame.exe -listxml", a list of all the games for that revision of MAME is generated. From there, LB crosses with the file /LaunchBox/Metadata/Mame.xml to get other data. Both files are relatively large in size and can take a while to go through.
Here's an excerpt for Pong from the info generated via -listxml
<machine name="pong" sourcefile="atari/pong.cpp"> <description>Pong (Rev E) [TTL]</description> <year>1972</year> <manufacturer>Atari</manufacturer>
..and from /Metadata/Mame.xml
<MameFile> <FileName>pong</FileName> <Name>Pong</Name> <Status>good</Status> <Developer /> <Publisher>Atari</Publisher> <Year>1972</Year>
It's not in the .dat file because they're only [primarily] used for comparing/verifying physical files via their hashes (CRC/SHA1).
And that's how ('why') LaunchBox adds it (them).
2 hours ago, Phosky said:I'm going to keep the "non-merged" version
That's what I use. Originally because it's way more versatile, but now... because that's what I originally used. (something about "old habits"?) I do keep it updated monthly and then add/remove games from LB accordingly after perusing whatsnew.
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@Barny1100 Retro808 has been trying to suggest to you, that you remove -waitvsync from your command-line parameters.
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1 hour ago, Phosky said:
Well, I've downloaded the non-merged ROMSET from the same site as the merged romset (a 100% reliable website) and the results are much better this time. When I use the "Scan for removed roms" option, now I only get 5 ROMs, when with the merged romset it appeared that there were 1826 extra to remove. I think this is a LaunchBox problem. LB should handle romsets the same whether they are merged, non-merged or split, I believe.
The results will be better because when scanning for removed ROMs, it looks at the rom path for the game, then looks in the folder to verify if that file actually exists. With now having the non-merged set, there is a physical [.zip] file for each game entry (for both parent and clone games). So the comparison is pretty straight forward.
It's quite possible the 5 that were removed are TTL games that don't have physical ROMs as they are built directly into MAME. PONG is one of those.
With the merged set, all the clones for a particular game are embedded into the parents ROM .zip file. Your games path to a clone game will point to a "file" that is named for the clone, as MAME sees it. For example Donkey Kong Jr. The parent game will point to dkongjr.zip and the clone will point to dkongjrj.zip. In this case, the clone file doesn't physically exist, so when scanning, that game gets removed.
Conversely when launching a clone game, LB sends the filename only (minus extension) to MAME. It's MAMEs innate logic that looks for the required files (found inside the zip file(s)) via an order of precedence. First looking for dkongjrj.zip, then dkongjr.zip. The 1st physical file it finds, it then looks inside the zip for the required files. And then looking in the 2nd file in the case of a split set.
The beauty of the MAME Full Set Import Wizard is that it will import all games, parents and clones alike, regardless of the set type you have (aka, physical files).
LaunchBox doesn't know if you have a merged, non-merged or split set. Even if it did, to scan for removed ROMS it would need to know which files are required to be in each sets ROM zip-file, respectively. Then instead of just looking for the physical file, it would need to go through MAMEs logic (above) plus generate a list of the required files (found inside the zip(s)) and scan the contents of the zips. Just to verify if the game is a clone, the set-type you have, if the parent exists and has the required files for that clone. We just increased the time to Scan for Removed ROMs by at least a 100-fold.
Doesn't make good sense to me. It makes better sense to just remove the games from LaunchBox rather than removing the physical ROMs and then scan. Also, removing the physical ROMs in the case of a merged or split set can have drastic results. If I have a merged set and only play the Japan version of DK Jr., I can't delete the US version of the ROM and still be able to play the other.
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1 hour ago, goosethemighty said:
batrunner.exe is the file that launches the game from within LB.
(when you edit a game...) Are you using the built-in ScummVM feature (red box) to run your games?
Or did you set up an Emulator (red arrow) to run them (regardless if you point the emulator to the exe in 'Third Party' or elsewhere)?
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Is BatRunner.exe something you added to make your games run? I don't seem to have that file in my setup. If it's not needed for your setup, try removing it from that folder or simply rename it to something like "OLDBatRunner.exe", then try starting a game again.
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1 hour ago, strich said:
I'm using Mesen, but had Nestopia to begin with. Neither work. Some games would work but many would not. For example Super Mario Bros 1 or 2 would not. The No-intro ones would. Maybe they need a _specific_ bios vs the ones I've got? I dunno.
I believe neither Mesen nor Nestopia directly (or even indirectly?) support MAME ROMs. Cudos on getting some to launch.
Though the content of the ROM data is [for-the-most-part] the same, how the data is stored is different. MAME Software List ROMs are just that... ROMs generated for the MAME emulator.
MAME doesn't require an NES BIOS. Not sure about the other 2 emulators.
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I can't attest to no-intro sets as I've never used them. Assuming you're using MAME as your emulator, are any of the Software Lists NES games working? Or none at all? If using a different emulator, which one?
Of MAME's softlists I've imported, NES is the only one I use MAME for. And without issue. I'm sure I had a good reason for using MAME when I set it up that way years ago, but don't remember exactly what it was. For all other MAME softlists I've imported, I use either RetroArch or a stand-alone emulator. again, without issue.
Though I really should be using no-intro for cart-based systems.
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16 minutes ago, Phosky said:
Thanks for the quick reply.
MAME releases updates every month that add ROMS, but also remove them, or rename them. Between the last version and the second to last, after deleting/moving files, about 90 new ROMS were required to be downloaded. Most were adjustments to existing ROMS.
That is, if I understand you correctly, if I download the "full" version instead of the "merged" version, would these problems disappear or would they be minimized?
You're welcome.
If you have a non-merged full set (vs. merged or split), these side-effects of MAME will not disappear. Best case-in-point example is scanning for added ROMs where the Source values are different because of where/how they are respectively obtained.
How I handle the MAME updates is, after getting the update pack (156 ROMS in .261 to .262) and running them through ClrMamePro, I'll read through "whatsnew.txt". If there are new games I feel I 'must have' in my LB collection, I'll manually add them (which doesn't happen super often). For any removed ROMs, if they're must haves, I move the ROM to a 'Removed ROMs' folder and make note of the MAME version in which it last worked. (I only have one or 2 of those.) I ignore renamed ROMs because most the time they came across a different variant of it and rename the old one (game.zip --> gameA.zip) and name the 'new' one "game.zip". No harm. No foul. No loss. Games they rename without having a new one to replace are probably not in my collection anyway.
4 hours ago, Phosky said:I'm going to test it with Nintendo 64 ROMS...
You should have no issues.
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2 hours ago, Phosky said:
It imported chess games, which LaunchBox cannot identify (for example, Addometer Calculator and Chess Companion).
These 2 particular games are 'relatively new' additions to MAME and have not yet been categorized into LaunchBox's Metadata. In fact, don't see them in the database either.
2 hours ago, Phosky said:The next thing was to select the "Scan for removed roms" option. I received a notice that 1826 ROMS were being removed.
When using the MAME Full Set Import Wizard, LaunchBox doesn't really even look at your physical ROMs (other than to count them to see that you have a [near] full set). It uses your rmame.exe to create a list of ROMs that version includes, then imports from it, based on your filters. If your set is a merged or split set, scanning for removed ROMs is going to notice that all clone ROMs are missing.
2 hours ago, Phosky said:Next, I hit "Scan for added roms" (NOT from Import>ROM Files) and 2906 new ROMS appeared.
As mentioned, the Full Set Import Wizard works differently than other [regular] import wizards.
Regarding duplicates being created after scanning for added ROMs, I'm not entirely sure what all is involved in that process (as far as what exactly is cross-checked. Source may very well be one of the checks.). That said, because of the uniqueness of MAME, it's not advised to use that feature for MAME ROMs.
Your 1st "Information" screen shot game came from the Full Set Import in which the Source came directly from the 'list' created by mame.exe. The 2nd one is most likely from the Scan for Added ROMs, where the Source is truncated, and I presume came from the LaunchBox database.
Again, because of the uniqueness of MAME and its ROMs, scanning for added or removed ROMs for the "Arcade" platform is not advised (for reasons in which you've discovered). For adding ROMs (i.e. with a MAME updated release), rerun the Full Set Import Wizard. For removed ROMs, it's not very often that MAME will remove games with its updates. And with over 3000 games in your Arcade platform, you probably won't even notice.
But if you do, select the game in LaunchBox and delete it there.
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4 hours ago, Omifi said:
Would it be possible to make a custom badge for games that are combined into one but have Retroachievements? For example many mame games after using the fullset importer have RA support but the compatible version is not always the version displayed. If this is possible could someone walk me trough on how its done.
It's not possible using this [threads] application. Additional Apps (the versions not 'displayed') don't have a property to indicate it has RetroAchievements. So there's nothing to filter to.
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Right below Search should be a combination (dropdown) box. Click the right side of it to get it to drop down 'the list'. On that list, scroll to and select Platform.
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35 minutes ago, totoro said:
Add an additional version for each table, choosing future pinball as emulator I guess?
That would be like combining Nintendo Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance into one platform.
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Another way to 'update your ROMs' in LaunchBox is to edit the ../Data/Platforms/platform_name.xml file and do a Find/Replace to change all .cue to .chd. Just make sure LaunchBox is closed and done saving any data in the background, before editing.
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1 hour ago, totoro said:
1. What about portability of all of this pinball software stuff?
Unfortunately, not an option. As you noted, the backglass server as well as VPX itself stores data in the Windows registry.
1 hour ago, totoro said:2. Some games come with backglass files or media. I was wondering how your "tables" folder should look like?
That's a personal preference. You can just put all tables (and their dependencies) in the Tables folder. Personally, I think it's ugly. And if it's not yet, it will once you start accumulating more tables.
I create subfolders in the Tables folder for each table. Then for tables that are in a series or have different versions, I'll create sub-subfolders.
Example: Batman
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I was hoping one of the developers would chime in.
I doubt it has to do with images as they're showing. It's the text to the right of the image that's 'having issues'.
You are using the original Default Theme. Correct? Not a modified theme? Have you tried using a different theme to confirm that 'the issue' is only with the Default Theme?
The only other thing I can think of is that maybe a font size got changed. Try going to Tools, Options and resetting the defaults.
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There's a plugin that'll do all that for you...
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Not saying there's not a possible bug, but it should show. This is viewing "All" with a 'filter' using the Default theme (same as you).
Showing logo and Platform name.
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11 minutes ago, Sbaby said:
I just tried it with an original XBOX360 controller, even with the latter it doesn't shoot anything, not even diagonally.
That's what I'm using too. The only thing I can think of is: when using this controller, after loading KRULL, press TAB and verify that Input settings for P1 RIGHT STICK/xx are set like what's in the above screenshot. If the right-stick is still not throwing, at all, manually set (reset) those 4 directions to the right joystick.
If after manually setting it and it still doesn't throw, then I really don't know why this is happening to you.
As for PS controllers, I don't touch the stuff. So can't help there.
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13 hours ago, Sbaby said:
I would like to set the fire on the right analogue stick of the xbox360 controller
Using the default input settings, it's throwing ('shooting') correctly in all 8 directions for me.
If moving UP (Left stick Up) and throwing RIGHT (Right stick Right), it throws to the right.
If moving UP (Left stick Up) and throwing UP/RIGHT (Right stick Up-Right), it throws to the upper-right.
If moving UP (Left stick Up) and throwing UP (Right stick Up), it throws up.
etc.
Just make sure you're being deliberate with your right stick movements. i.e. Make sure you're moving the stick straight UP and not slightly to the right of UP.
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If you have a button on your panel assigned to a mouse left-click, use the trackball to move the cursor and double-tap the button over your BigBox shortcut on the desktop. My panel has 3 buttons for mouse clicks, but don't think that's very common.
If you don't have a dedicated mouse left-click button on the cab, you could assign a shift function to one of the existing buttons for left-click. This might be the cleanest way and might actually be useful, in general.
Pretty sure you can't assign a macro to button presses on encoders.
An alternative 'macro' would be to create an AutoHotkey script that will start when you turn on the cab (launch at startup). The script can be made to detect a certain button press or button-combo press and start BigBox. What's in the script will depend on how your board is configured. Keyboard or Xinput mode. And of course, which button(-combo) you want to dedicate to starting BB.
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One way I know of is:
Depending on the Theme you're using, when viewing the games, go Left or Right with joystick (or arrow keys) and select the 'hamburger menu' (left of the letters, next to the search icon).
In the popup, select Favorite and Is True. Apply.
Scummvm Launchbox problems
in Troubleshooting
Posted
It looks to me like EpicFail's method (which I did not use) has you create an Emulator in LaunchBox and then associate that emulator to your ScummVM platform. So now (after you had done all the other steps to set up per the EpicFail method), if you edit a game and go to the Launching - Emulation section, the checkbox for Use an emulator to play this game is checked. Which is not using the "built-in ScummVM feature". (Red box, image above)
To edit the game, select it and then press Ctrl+E.
Since you have the games already in LaunchBox and assuming the EpicFail method didn't alter or delete any of the innate LaunchBox ScummVM files (only added new files), to [directly] use the built-in ScummVM feature you should be able to:
That's how I set mine up. One thing (among others) EpicFail does is, with using his emulator method he's made it so the games are truly portable (copies the ini file from AppData and uses command line parameters to start the game(s)). Which unfortunately you can't do [easily] with the built-in feature.
Back to your original post... (now that I know little more of how yours is setup)...
Not knowing how the EpicFail plugin was built, you might be able to hide the batrunner window. Edit the emulator you created and check the box Attempt to hide console window. If that doesn't work, edit the emulator and in the Startup Screen section, check the box Hide all Windows that are not in Exclusive Fullscreen Mode.
Again, not having followed the EpicFail project, a quick search says something about an option was added to eliminate the need for batrunner altogether.