PurpleTentacle

Yeah, I know the feeling. There's something nice about having everything set up just right, and I hate having to redo it. I tried making a core specific config, and then making a separate emulator entry into LaunchBox so that it loaded the config, like I mentioned. Some of the button settings are an improvement, but not all of them. I think the problem is that some of the changes that have to be made are in the core settings, and some of the input changes are in the general settings. I need to look into it more. It's kind of a shame because I find the using the M30 controller for Sega games feels right. I didn't even grow up with any Sega consoles, but I did play them at a friend's house (not sure how much the M30 would satisfy a hardcore Genesis fan, but I enjoy it).

I tend to just stick to my 8bitdo SN 30 Pro (just ordered the Pro Plus after all the great reviews), but sometimes I like to switch it up, mostly to the 8bitdo M30 (I really enjoy it for Sega games, since the D-pad is a bit more Sega-like, and the button layout feels more legit). Problem is, the buttons end up getting mapped in weird ways, like the L shoulder button ends up acting like the Start button. Now, in RetroArch, it's not hard to remap the buttons, but it is time consuming to do it every time. I know RetroArch has various gamepad profiles so that the buttons automatically get mapped, but I find that the button layout ends up being different than what it should be (for the record, I've tried starting the 8bitdo controllers in the same modes (I.E. X-input, D-input), and issues still exist, like, for some reason, the D-pad on my SN 30 Pro works, but the D-pad on my M30 needs to be remapped before it works). So I'm not sure if there's something that I have set up improperly or if this is simply a an inherent issue when using different controllers... or if RetroArch has a way of dealing with this that I'm not aware of (I mostly use RetroArch when I can, due to how uniform it makes everything). There's 2 solutions that I've thought of, but neither solution is what I'm looking to achieve (to be able to use RetroArch by default, and just have it work). I always have multiple emulators installed for the same system (if available), so option 1 would be to config the controllers settings in the other emulators so that I just use those emulators when I'm looking to use my M30 controller (which would be simple enough since I basically only use it for Sega games, so it would just mean making Kega Fusion configed to work with the M30, but then I wouldn't be able to map my Pro Controller for other systems). Option #2 is to make specific configs for RetroArch, and then setting up new instances of RetroArch in LaunchBox with a command line that loads the controller settings. That way, I can simply use "Launch With RetroArch M30" for when I want to use that controller (and a Pro Controller setting too). Only problem is that I feel that can make things a bit messy, and I prefer to keep things like that streamlined when I can. tl;dr My ultimate goal is to be able to plug in any given controller in RetroArch & have it work the way it should.

Solved it, but I'm leaving this up in case anyone needs it. The command mount A "GazCD\" -t cdrom worked. For some reason, I thought I tried that, but I guess I didn't. So I have Windows 3.1 in LaunchBox, and it uses a bat file with the following commands: @echo off dosbox -conf dosbox.play.conf That config file has "mount C C" in its commands to mount the root directory as the C drive, and then it launches Windows 3.1. Now the problem I'm having is that a program that I've downloaded (Gazillionare) thinks the CD drive is the A drive, so it checks that & fails, since there is no A drive (I can't reinstall it, unfortunately). Now, I've gotten this to work by using the "-t cdrom" command & specifying a directory that has the CD files in it, but the problem is that the path is specific, meaning that if I move Launch Box to another computer, it won't work. Specifically, the command is mount A C:\Users\usernamehere\LaunchBox\Games\Windows3\DOSBox-Win31\CD -t cdrom How do I write the command so that it looks in that CD directory relative to the root directory? The original config file has #mount D "CD\" in it, but even after removing the # & switching the D to A, it doesn't work. I had assumed that "CD\" would make it relative, but that doesn't work. **EDIT:** Just wanted to mention that the DOSBox that's being used in this situation is contained within the directory, "DOSBox-Win31", and not the DOS Box in LaunchBox, so any folder mounted is relative to that directory, not the LaunchBox one. I also tried to mount the folder from within LaunchBox & use the copy of DOSBox from within LaunchBox, and while I can get Windows 3.1 to run, the drive doesn't mount.

Just in case anyone is reading this, and wants to know what the response I got was, here it is: "The MAME libretro core doesn’t support the remapping system, as you’ve found. Instead, you have to use MAME’s own internal remapping system (via the TAB menu). It may be helpful to use RetroArch’s “game focus” mode while you do this if you run into weird conflicting behavior. The core gets updated whenever someone does it. We used to have a guy who did it like clockwork, but he disappeared a few months ago. Dunno where he went, so hopefully he’s okay… If you get the new ROMs, you can indeed just overwrite the old ones. The upgrading comment is for people who use the update patches."

That's a good idea. I'll try there.

Under the Quick Menu? Yes. The problem is that I can't change those bindings for Robotron 2084, for some reason. All of the settings for those controls are blank (they have "--" instead of an actual corresponding action). So for Street Fighter II, it says, "light punch, light kick", etc... but for Robotron 2084, there's nothing. The only way I can change the controls the way I want them is through the Settings --> Input --> User 1 Binds, but there's no option to save it for that game only (as far as I can tell).

1. I want to set up Robotron 2084 so that it uses the right analogue stick to control the firing like a proper twin stick shooter. I was able to do that by going into Settings --> Input --> User 1 Binds (also made it so that the Y, X, B, A buttons shoot in those directions), but I don't know how to save those settings for that game only. If I save it under the Settings --> Input --> User 1 Binds --> Save Autoconfig, then it does that for all other games. If I try to save it under Quick Menu ---> Overrides --> Game Overrides or Quick Menu ---> Controls ---> Core Remap, it doesn't remember the controller settings (I also can't seem to change the controller settings under the Quick Menu ---> Controls). How do I save that control scheme for that game only? I'd love to be able to also save that control scheme for other twin stick shooters. 2. When does RetroArch update its MAME libretro to the latest version of MAME? I have the 0.213 set (still using an older set in LaunchBox, waiting before I update them) but the current MAME libretro is 0.212. I'm assuming there isn't a specific answer to this, and "it's ready when it's ready", but I've never followed updates the the MAME libretro, so I don't know how it works. 3. I always made the assumption that the various MAME romsets work with the specific version of MAME (with some backwards compatibility), although I'm aware that not all roms are updated with each new romset, only the ones that have something to update (at least that's my understanding of it). But I'm confused as to why some updated romsets still only work with older MAME libretros. I.E. some roms within the 0.213 romset only work with MAME 2010, and not the latest edition. I'm also not sure how some of the side editions work - for instance, Capcom Sports Club only works with final burn alpha (as far as I know, I haven't tested them all) - does final burn alpha ever get updated? Or is that just a separate thing? 4. I read that when you upgrade your romsets (at least using clrmamepro), that you're supposed to upgrade romsets sequentially... Is there a reason why I can't just overwrite my current roms with the same roms pulled from the 0.213 romset? I figured out a little bit of a trick to just upgrade those roms by making a copy of the 0.213 roms, and then moving them into my arcade folder (a backup copy of LaunchBox, not my main one), and telling it not to replace the roms that are already there. That way, it moves all the roms that I'm not using from the 0.213 romset, leaving behind the ones that I am. Then I can just copy & overwrite the roms that I'm currently using. Is there any reason why this doesn't work or is a bad idea? I tried this on a backup copy of LaunchBox (I have multiple so I can experiment without making big mistakes), and it worked fine. I just want to make sure I'm not going to cause issues down the line. Sorry for the amount of text, but even after working with this stuff for months, there's still a lot I don't understand.

Ok, glad to get it confirmed that I chose the ideal setting. Thanks. I did notice that a lot of games had multiple options for joysticks/keyboard, etc... I do find that this is part of the fun (and often frustration) of diving into emulation (or real hardware) because it gives you perspective on what it was like to get these things running in their time. I sometimes forget how handy it is to have USB everything, as opposed to different formats, which can lead to incompatibility. At least these days, if a Speccy game doesn't support Kempston, it's as easy as changing a setting. A lot better than simply not being able to play the game (or having to buy the right joystick/adapter).

So I just added a bunch of Spectrum games to LaunchBox, and it took me a bit to realize that I needed to make one of the inputs into the Sinclair Keyboard. I read that the Kempston Joystick Adapter was one of the most popular joystick adapters, so as of now, that's what I made my first input. Is that the ideal default choice though? I'm really not familiar with the Spectrum, except from watching people talk about it on YouTube & such, so I'm still learning the in's & out's.

Ohhh, yeah! I didn't even think of that (even though that was something I've been wanting for awhile). I honestly don't know, but it sure looks like it. The question for me is - how easy is to swap between profiles? It seems like it would be clunky to pull up a separate program from LaunchBox/DOS Box every time you want to switch games. Of course, maybe switching those profiles can be automated in LaunchBox by using the "Additional Apps" option, but I typically prefer minimize doing stuff like that because it increases the chance for bugs or stuff breaking (but for all I know, it might be fine).

The review. I currently have the SN & SF 30 Pro controllers (one for my laptop, one for my desktop), as well as the M30 (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive 6 button style) to really capture that Genesis feeling (it's worth it for me - I never owned a Sega console, but it feels weird to me to play Sega games on a SNES style controller). So obviously, I don't need a new controller, but as you can see, I also love getting a controller that feels right. For the price & intent, I love the controllers I listed. But the new features on the SN30 Pro Plus seem really nice. Rechargeable battery pack, software to customize all sorts of aspects of the controller, and for me, the most important part are the upgraded components. The main flaws of the SN/SF 30 Pro controllers, at least for me, are that the D-pad, once it gets broken in, is *slightly* mushy. I still greatly prefer it to the X-Box One D-pad for retro games, but I have been wishing that it was a little bit better. The analogue sticks also aren't the literal best, although they get the job done quite well. Basically, I think they're great, but if you tend to be observant for these types of things, you'll notice the little flaws (I've read some people have had more serious issues with the D-pad, but I guess I've been mostly lucky). I was planning on getting it at the beginning of October, but what ETA Prime said at the end of the video kind of made me rethink it - which was that you don't really have a reason to get the Pro Plus controller if you already have an X-Box One controller (which I do), unless you really want the customization (which is nice, but not enough to warrant the money alone). I prefer the 8bitdo controllers for retro games because the X-Box One controller just doesn't feel right for it, so I'm wondering how much to read into ETA's conclusion. For those who have a Pro Plus, how much better are the new D-pads & analogue sticks? I'm happy with my current controllers, but if this has the types of improvements to the component quality that I've been looking for, I think it would be worth it for me. Also, with the analogue triggers, do they act as simple on/off, 0/1 style inputs, or does it work like a gas/brake pedal in a car where the amount you push on it tells the games to read it incrementally? (Obviously, this only applies to games that would make use of such a feature.) That's one of the other things I'd like in an upgrade. I'm still thinking of getting it, and then using my SN30 Pro controller for my Android, using a clip. With Launch Box for Android, I'm tempted to get something more dedicated for it, but the cheap ones apparently have issues, and the expensive ones are just too expensive for me. Keep in mind that I don't use my Android *too* much, so I'm much more leaning towards the improved SN30 Pro Plus for Desktop, and my older 8Bitdo for my Android. Anyway, thoughts? Hope that wasn't too long, but there are some specific things I'm looking for.

Try disabling rewinding, if it's currently enabled. For whatever reason, rewind will crash RetroArch when using Dolphin. I made a separate config for the Dolphin core so that I can keep rewind on by default for all other platforms.

Someone on Reddit said, "Shaders on N64 run like garbage since I updated to 1.7.8.", but there's no replies, so I have no idea how accurate that is. I guess I'll wait to see what others say. I usually prefer to let people use it for a bit, just to make sure stuff like that isn't made worse.

I was still on 1.7.6, so I actually didn't realize that they changed it inbetween versions. I did dislike how the text used to get covered by the bezel, but I actually just moved the placement of the text so that the bezels didn't interfere with it. Does anyone know how to change the notifications style? I'd prefer not to upgrade, since it feels like they ruined a perfectly practical aspect of the ui for an aesthetic choice. EDIT: Someone helped me find the setting to revert it back to the text style. It's under settings > user interface > menu widgets OFF. I don't mind the look of the widgets (kind of prefer it it aesthetically), but it's so impractical that it's a really bad tradeoff.

So far, I kind of like some of the new options, even though most are fairly minor (minus the text to speech, which seems like it has potential, but I haven't set it up yet). But there's one aspect that I need to figure out how to change, which is the notification for changing state slots. It scrolls notifications instead of just changing the number, which means that the old notifications has to fade away before the new one can catch up. This means that if I want to get to State slot 50, I have to wait for the notifications to fade away before I can see what number I'm on, meaning that it's *extremely* slow (I have changing the state slot hotkeyed so I can do it on my controller, which is usually more handy than changing it in the menus). I have zero idea what they were thinking of with this design....

Currently updating RetroArch on one of my backup copies of my LaunchBox collection (I'm following this basic guide by ETA Prime, and I'm guessing nothing has changed in how RetroArch is updated?) , so I'm about to try it. Just curious to see what others thought of it so far.

Yup! I decided on PVM Style D93 due to it being based on a Sony PVM CRT screen. Not that I have any attachment to a specific CRT TV, but it seems like a good option to base a palette on. My point was that even if there was a hypothetical 100% accurate palette (which there isn't), ultimately, each one of my monitors is going to replicate those colors differently anyway. This explanation gave me a good idea of how the FBX palettes were made. I'm happy so long as it doesn't have that weird high rez glossy look, if that makes sense. Edit: Just experimented & compared them directly a bit more, and I think I prefer the Unsaturated palette most. It's kind of most accurate to the colors/tones that I have in my head when I try to picture certain NES games...

Yeah, this is the philosophy that I'm leaning towards. I care about palette accuracy in the sense that I just don't want the colors to be wildly off from what it should be (I.E., let's say a sky of teal instead of a sky blue color), but I don't need it to *exact* because there are too many factors to determine what "exact" would mean. Hell, the colors on my second monitor differ from my main monitor a bit, so it's impossible for me to make color representation uniform anyway. As far as Mesen vs. Nestopia, one of the nice things about LaunchBox is being able to setup multiple emulators, including multiple setups for RetroArch to use different librettos for the same platform. Unless I'm using save states, it's handy to be able to switch back & forth between them as my needs suit me (for example, using the Mesen libretto in RetroArch on Castlevania III causes constant popping noises, so I use Nestopia instead - although the Mesen emulator itself runs it fine).

Oooo, I'll have to take a look at this once my brain starts waking up. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I have the entire Atari library, so it would probably take quite a bit of effort. I kind of enjoy putting on the scanline shaders sometimes, but not by default. I'm still split on how much I prefer aesthetics vs. authenticity, but I find that when the bezels look right, it kind of helps make it feel more authentic & like I'm not playing on a LCD/LED monitor, ironically enough. Semi-related - I was also reading up about the differences between the various NES emulators because my understanding came down to "Mesen is the most accurate", but not much else, but sometimes I feel like Nestopia runs smoother for me (running on a laptop while watching Twitch w/ a second monitor) . That got me to read up about palette choices for the NES (specifically for Mesen)... point being that once I start down a rabbithole of emulation options, I can't dig myself back out. I actually recently upgraded the firmware on my 8bitdo controllers, and it actually made a huge difference in latency, so just throwing it out there that it was one of the best things I've done for my setup recently. Also, Barnstorming is a ton of fun for such a simple game. I actually got a fairly good time semi-recently.

I usually pick whatever the latest version of the game is, but that's not always the best version. Sometimes some interesting bugs are removed (like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!! had a glitch when you fought Sandman (not 100% sure that it was removed in later games, but that's what I was told), but it's the kind of thing that would almost never happen unintentionally). Anyway, I'm generally clueless as to which versions of any particular game is the best. I know some arcade databases list some info on differences in versions, but I'm also curious if there are versions of a game that people consider to be the "unoffical-offical version to play". Consoles don't typically have as many updated versions of a game, but obviously some games do, and it would be good to know which to pick. Anyway, how do you handle the option when you have the choice? Do you look it up? Are you like me & just pick the most recent release?

ha, the ultimate dilemma retro gamers have when emulating...

Yeah, that's what I do now. I meant a hotkey to make it instant so that I can turn it off/on, depending on my mood. I toggle it off/on in the menus at the moment, but it does make it feel a bit more involved every time I want to load a new game. Not a huge deal or anything, but it would make it easier for me.

huh, it's been so long since I've played a real Atari 2600 on a CRT that I don't remember that it does that naturally. I kind of wish RetroArch had a toggle for overlays/bezels, since that would give an easy method of disabling it for games where it becomes an issue. Oh well.

This is a screenshot taken directly in RetroArch, so the actual bezel got cutoff, but it's obviously there when I'm playing the games. As you can see, the game is a bit off-center (as far as I can tell, it's not the bezel that's off-center). NES games fit within the boarders (albeit not perfectly - there's a bit of space between the game & the bezel, but the bezel doesn't cover up anything), but Atari 2600 games are off center. I tend to really like the bezels, so I'd like to keep them where I can. Unfortunately, cutting off the edges is handicapping myself, so I'd like to see if I can fix it. Related, I also have N64 games that aren't zipped, so they don't follow the NoIntro naming conventions. Is there an easy way to fix that without reimporting the games (like replacing the file extension in a config file or such)?

Screenshot attached shows what it looks like when I try to download a platform video. If I hit "cancel", the cancel button will get grayed out, but nothing else happens. From there, I just close LaunchBox & relaunch, but none of the Platform Videos will download for me. In the case where there was a video already, the old video just got deleted, although no new video was saved. Any ideas? I think there was another situation where it would hang like that, but I can't recall what it was (I think it might have had something to do with importing games, I can't remember exactly, though). I am able to download media for the games, though (box art, clear logos, videos, etc...).