SentaiBrad

Yea, it seems like a setting was off if the disc rip is proper.

Personally, I only ever keep English games, with Japanese and European exclusives. I will get Japanese or Euro specifics when I want to mess around with something (Like the Link to the Past Randomizer), and then of course I have Japanese English translated games, even re-trans. I have them all in one folder. For me, I let LaunchBox do all my sorting and beautiful-ness, so them all being in 1 folder doesn't really phase me. The only thing I don't do is mix and match consoles (Famicom and NES being the same in this specific scenario). I also try and keep mine to the Romanji as my Kanji is really bad. Romanji also works by default for most PC's and text options. I'm not even sure if our database can display Japanese characters? I feel like I've seen them on our Database in the past, but I honestly can not remember right now. Obviously, the ideal solution would be to have games have 2, 3, 4, 5, as many names as it needs on the database. English, Romanji, Japanese, European etc. This would also cut down on a lot of technical duplicates that currently exist. Also, what you describe is a really good idea, if it doesn't already exist on the BitBucket you are more than welcome to add it yourself; click Issues/Requests at the top of the forums. As for what I think you should... I don't know actually. All I can tell you is what I've done, and that is rename games where possible (because that's a lot easier than changing the entry on the database as that requires 3 approvals from DB moderators), and only if the name on the database is correct. If the database entry is completely incorrect (with some sources) then I'll go through the process quickly of changing the name on the DB. If it's a Romanji difference, some places say one way and some places say another, then I just go with whats on the Database at the time, it's not worth it in that case. Sometimes I will also put the games in their translated title, even if it isn't technically correct. Even then, I'll match the rom to the database more than likely change it, and add in quotes on the entry the name in translated English. I don't know if any of that really helps, but it's kind of the process I go through. If the game name is actually wrong wrong, then I will fix it, otherwise if it's a "disagreement" I tend to move with the Database than against it. In every single situation, alternate names seems to be the winning idea.

Audio enable shows that it's off, that needs to be on I believe.

Are the games you are trying to load just a cue and a bin/iso file? It should just be the two files. If there are sound files, they need to be in a very specific format or RetroArch will not use them (I forget the specific format right now). Also, have you checked all the sound settings in RetroArch? The sound driver options as well? I know that seems like a dumb question, but I want to make sure I ask all the questions I can think of.

I may be misunderstanding what it is exactly you're asking for, so I'll cover both of what I think you are asking. You can sort the entries by LaunchBoxGames Database ID, highlight the group that doesn't have an ID then run the Images and Metadata Updater there, or during the Images and Metadata Wizard, select the option to only download metadata and media for fields that are missing data. The Metadata and Media tool works the same exact way as the import tool, so if the automatic solution doesn't work then either a database entry needs to be made, an existing database entry needs to be edited or the game will have to be renamed to match the database entry. You should be able to individual assign a game to a LBGDBID, skip downloading anything at that time, then use the tool to download missing artwork and it should grab it from the entry the games are attached to. Unfortunately, we still don't have alternate or regional naming so this situation is a bit more convoluted for the time being. There should still be a ticket for these alternate naming features which should help in the long term. I do notice with a lot of Japanese games, the Romanji of Japanese games differs from source to source, so it's a little hard to nail down. If you are feeling adventurous and want to help us out in this region, we would appreciate any help you can give us in terms of the Database, it is free for anyone to edit within the rules. If the database entry is correct in the end, then maybe think about renaming the rom file instead; I've had to do this a lot myself. I try and add the random missing JRPG from time to time, but there is just too much!

Wow, what a very strange bug...

Everything seems to be great for me on the latest beta now. Yes, but I think Big Box also stores it's Cache here? I could be wrong, but I didn't see another location for it. Try this if you will: Go to Tools -> Manage Platforms. Open up Arcade and check to see if your image paths are all still correct. If they are still correct, I would clear your cache and delete all your Arcade images and run the Metadata and Images updater. Close LaunchBox, delete the Arcade Images folder (or copy and paste it to create a backup of it). Open LB, refresh all your images in the options. Click an Arcade game, Ctrl + A to highlight them all, then Tools -> Download Metadata and Images. It might be a PITA, but it will completely clear things out. Let us know if that fixes anything.

Mednafen and RetroArch use, pretty much, the same exact set up too. The BIOS would need to go in to the proper location for Mednafen, but it's all the same. Same naming conventions and same versions. I wonder how much from BizHawk is similar?

Maybe because I've used BizHawk very little, but I find RetroArch to be the easier program to deal with. Setting up the controls is automatic, just plug in a controller it detects (which I would assume most people have by now). If BizHawk emulates a system better than RetroArch though, I would love to see it included in RA. That seems like an odd thing to say, until you realize that Mednafen is a multi-system emulator too, but that's in RA. Actually, those two are extremely close in the way that they act, so it may not be all that much of a stretch.

As a guess, I would say no. A cart and a tape are two different forms of media, and both were present in the Commodore 64. You could probably convert tape file extensions to other tape file extensions, and the same is probably true for cart file extensions.

I do believe this has been requested over on the BitBucket in the past, and it has several votes on it. This would be a fairly important feature to get in; I don't know where Jason would place something like this though. I personally don't have anything zipped, so I almost never think of this feature needing to be added, but it's important.

Actually, in the command line settings compendium that I posted up, C64 actually has a quickload section, but only for 3 file extensions. c64 cassette (cass) .wav .tap floppydisk (flop) .d64 .g64 .g41 .g71 .d77 .d88 .1dd .dfi .imd .ipf .mfi .mfm .td0 .cqm .cqi .dsk cartridge (cart) .80 .a0 .e0 .crt quickload (quik) .p00 .prg .t64 So no, MESS doesn't really load the games any differently, but you may have a better chance dealing with MESS if you are comfortable dealing with it. I've done two tutorials on MESS already, so realistically just plug in Commodore 64 values and settings with the ones from the tutorial and you should be good to go.

The BIOS or games may most likely be wrong in this situation. I didn't encounter perfect play-ability. Also, emulating the Commodore 64 is harder than it should be, and the quick load method with that emulator was one of the best methods I found at the time. I also did this tutorial at a time where I had nothing to do with MESS, so this may be another System I need to re-visit and have a MESS tutorial for it. I'm not sure if it loads the games any differently though.

So it sounds, potentially, like some Drivers are out of sort. I would suggest trying to run something like IOBit Driver Booster and letting it update any outdated drivers it may find. http://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster.php I use this app personally, and it works flawlessly for updating drivers. Another question I have is if you are on the latest version of RetroArch? If your drivers are updated or something has changed, then RetroArch may have potentially released a fix on a later revision. If you are on the latest stable releases, try the latest nightly and see if that makes a difference. You could also try opening up the Game Controllers Control Panel and playing around with the settings in there. Open your start menu, search for "Set up USB game controller", and open the program it shows. I don't use an Xbox One controller, but rather a PS4 controller that the PC thinks is a 360 pad, and when the controller is plugged in both options are in the menu here. So sometimes there is an odd bug where it wants to send double inputs, or it's trying to grab the generic controller driver (which doesn't really work) instead of the simulated 360 driver. There might be a setting in here that you can play around with to get it to work better. It's also worth noting in RetroArch that you can select the driver that RA tries to use. Where it would normally tell you driver name, navigate to that line and press right on your arrow keys to see if you can change the selection. Because I'm using an odd setup, every once in a while I need to come in here to select to proper "device" it wants to try and use. Hopefully one of those solutions, or a combination of solutions will help you out.

That wasn't the problem the user was having, nor does PCSX2 use cue sheets anyways.

Actually, the guy taking the video was trying to sell me that Link on their booth for $30. I actually really really wanted it, but then it got sold before I could make the decision. Actually, Jason just gave me the money to go get it, but by then it was gone (I didn't want to spend more than I already had, but I love Legend of Zelda stuff). Speaking of Retropalooza, Day 0: Travel (The Vlog) is coming out tonight or in the morning for those interested. Days 1, 2 and 3 are to follow, but they take a very long time to edit for quality reasons. If you're also talking about in the Saturday e-mail where I said damn this Texas heat, that was me who said it, and compared to Oregon (where it's been raining ever since I got back), it's a lot lot hotter.

So I got an e-mail about a class action, out of court settlement for the GTX 970 debacle. I purchased a 970 during the time frame and personally qualify. I just need to show proof of my purchase (which is in the Amazon orders control panel); just wanted to spread this around for others who also purchased a card during the time frame. https://www.gtx970settlement.com/Home.aspx

If Monster Arcades will utilize them for us, that might actually be a really good idea. Sticks that can alternate between 4 and 8 ways is a really really smart idea. We also want to try and add a few more buttons because we realized the first one was lacking. We're also gonna be looking in to redesigning the front panel button art as well. We are still so damn proud of the first one, but we certainly found ways we need to make it better.

Yea, we would probably stick to another table top version, but we're debating on redesigning it a bit.

We did give it away, to the owners and operators of the convention. We have and will be working with them in the future for a lot of things, and Billy (of Game Chasers) receiving the machine is in an episode of the Game Chasers. As a bit of comparison, we sponsor the CU Podcast vids that can get anywhere from 20-40k views (we only do 2 a month), and a Game Chasers episode is 140-180k. So not only did we get tons and tons of positive foot traffic and reception, but one of the biggest Retro Gaming YouTube channels loves the product and wants to work with us. I've left details vague on purpose. Honestly, yea, it was a big thing to giveaway (and we're going to be ordering more), but we did this with very careful thought put in to it. The convention was amazing, and we killed it.

If there is a game that should have been imported, and you know it's missing, it could be that our importer is looking for a different file that you may have trimmed. I know you said you went over it with a fine comb, but it's possible. Out of the entire MAME Rom pack was imported, I have about 2885 games with 33 thousand files, and I unchecked several check boxes (I wanted Rhythm games for example).

So MAME is extremely tricky, and if you get a MAME Rom set, do not delete any rom files unless you delete the entire family of ROM files, and even then, a rogue random game could require one of those files. One file in the roms folder is not simply one game. Sometimes it can be, but for the most part 1 game = 2 to 15 files; It depends on several factors. A game from Japan for example, may have 1 file, the parent rom, then have been patched and now have a child rom that you need to launch to get the patched game, but it still requires the parent rom. Then say that game was patched again, then translated in to English, then patched 4 more times (a random number). This could leave another 6 child roms, plus the first child rom and the parent rom, leaving 8 rom files for 1 game. If you want to launch a the patched English version, you need to launch the child rom and (usually) have to keep the entire line of Rom for the integrity to be kept, or if you need to / want to launch a clone or alternate version. If the game title doesn't require the entire line of roms, then it will always require the parent rom. There is never an exception in this case (I don't think, but someone can correct me just in case). CHD files are Cloned Hard Drives that have data from a game in the files, from the motherboards hard drive inside the cab. The same thing holds true for what I said above given a random example I made up, but then if it's a game that requires a CHD, now you must add on the CHD structure as well. Now the game requires an extra file, in the appropriate folder. We internalize the names and sort through the packs games based on the information we receive from the MAME Development Group (at least I believe it is they who put this out each version). They have a list of all the internal names and what each of them mean, then LaunchBox converts that in to real names that can be easily read and scraped. After that, we know exactly what each game is. Each game has identifiers on it so that MAME knows what information to give the player about the game. We take that info and give the user a choice. I am unsure how many games is actually in the MAME set, but it's a lot smaller than the file count of ROMs and CHD's. There are also BIOS files in the MAME Rom pack that can be required by a few games, or several hundred, it just depends. The MAME Packs also have the Software List BIOS as well, so it works really well for MESS. Both the MAME and MESS tutorials go over each case in what I think is the best plan of action. You can get a merged MAME Rom set if you need to save on space, but every time there is a new version and you want to update, you'll need to download a new merged pack. If you have a split pack, then you can download, for example, .176 to .177 update packs. @CriticalCid will tell you that you need to use a program like CLRMamePro to merge them successfully, but I've honestly not had any issues dropping the new MAME rom update pack in to my roms folder and just overwriting all. There is probably a lot we can tweak with our internationalizations, and we don't update that list every single update (it's actually a pain in the butt to do from what Jason tells me). Really, not much changes from version to version, so even I personally am on a few versions back only because I don't want to download another 400-500GB's of data. Hope this info helps. Ask any questions if you need to, I am more than happy to answer.

Well as a quick run down of it: You download MAME .177 (I think that is what we are on). You download a MAME .177 Rom pack and a MAME .177 CHD pack (the CHD pack is very large). You put them in the MAME roms folder and start importing in LaunchBox. Point the importer to your ../MAME/roms folder, call the Platform Arcade (for Database purposes), then click next. The Importer should change to show the MAME Import option. Check or uncheck based on your personal preference. If the menu doesn't show up, check the box during import "Force MAME Metadata" or something to that effect, then you should be done and be able to let it import.

I thought I made the current MAME tutorial that, but it's probably time for an updated version, and you are right: there is probably a lot more I can do there. So, sure. I don't have a time frame per-se, we have a tutorial planned for after we get back from Texas (so next friday's tutorial), but after that Jason and I will talk about it. MAME is certainly confusing.

Everything but video, and you need LaunchBox Premium as well for it to work within LB.