Zombeaver

Is there a way to always hide the menu bar and always enable scroll lock by default? I've been messing with MESS tonight. I'm using the latest MESSUI off of EmuCR.

Right, but if you're going to go as far as to say "anything really good on it is available elsewhere" it makes it sound as though those versions are synonymous - they're not. For people interested in running the FM Towns versions of adventure games, I'd just recommend using ScummVM.

Now hang on a second there. FM Towns might not have "exclusives" in the sense that the term is typically used, but it did have the definitive versions of several great point and click adventure games (Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, etc.) because it had great sound thanks to CD audio. Luckily most of these versions can be emulated directly through ScummVM. Whether or not the rest of the library is worth setting up a dedicated emulator for, I can't comment on, but I can tell you that if you're into point and click adventure games from that era, there are several that are enhanced in the FM Towns version.

Yeah, RA covers a lot of the bases from the get go. Thankfully, some of the other emulators have ways to rebind the close function to a new key or combination of keys. MAME doesn't allow simulated keyboard inputs to be sent to it for whatever reason (which is why Controller Automation's close function doesn't work to close it) but it does allow you to assign a key or combination of keys for it's own close function, just like you would any other input in MAME (via the Tab menu) - I just set it up to close on Back+Left Bumper input which is the same keys I have assigned to close via Controller Automation. CCS64 is a bit of an odd one. In fact, I think it might be the only one I'm still using AHK for. The $End:: function can be changed to whatever key you want, I just needed it to be something other than ESC. I actually need to look into how to use an AHK script to hook into a combination of Xinput button presses. I know there's a way to do it but I haven't read up on it enough. I think the buttons are just "Joy1" through "Joy10" (the triggers might be something different though). I'm not sure how to do a combination of them though... EDIT: Huh... looks like you just have to use "&" between them... I may have to try that. EDIT 2: It says "except joystick buttons" though so maybe not... https://autohotkey.com/docs/Hotkeys.htm#combo

Hmm. The script shouldn't require that to my knowledge simply because using that script isn't closing the emulator via the emulator's own close function. It's actually just closing the process following the corresponding keypress (in this case, ESC). In some cases this can actually create a problem - some emulators don't save settings changes properly if closed via this AHK method - MAMEUI for example. Using this script isn't sending a key input to the emulator - it's just saying "When you press this key, whatever you launched will close." You could create a AHK script that would send specific inputs to the emulator (like Alt+F4) but that's not what's happening with "Process, Close, {{{StartupEXE}}}". Using $Esc::Send !{f4} shouldn't hurt anything, but it wouldn't be sending an Alt+F4 input - it'd end the process and also send an F4 input. I still use the AHK script for CCS64 because Controller Automation's close function doesn't work for it. You actually need access to Esc for navigating CCS64's UI however, so I changed $Esc:: to $End:: which closes the emulator when pressing the end key. EDIT: Ah, okay gotcha.

What's up with the Send !{f4} bit out of curiousity? Typically I don't use AHK scripts anymore (Controller Automation's close function normally works) but I've never had an instance where what I posted above didn't work whenever I actually used it.

You can also add it as an auto hotkey script in the emulator entry: ; This section closes [platform name] when pressing Escape $Esc:: { Process, Close, {{{StartupEXE}}} }

I have no idea how the awesome X6800 cover for Phalanx got turned into the abomination that we got for the SNES cover... Phalanx is a great game but you wouldn't know it based on bearded banjo man Normal: Scanlines: Normal - Version 2: Scanlines - Version 2:

I'll add that to the list as well.

I was helping someone in chat last night and it occurred to me that it's probably worth posting about as a sortof FYI/FAQ for others. The topic was "proper" media naming for automatic matching in LB/BB. I think the majority of the confusion stemmed from the fact that there are multiple ways in which the media can be named and it will still match (which is a really awesome feature, but it's something not everyone is accustomed to); and they're matched on the basis of your own library and your own rom files. Let's say you have an entry in your library that's titled "Final Fantasy VI" and an associated rom file named "FF6(1994)(Squaresoft).zip". In this scenario, your media could be named in any of three ways (actually four if you include appended numbers but we'll get back to that) and it will automatically associate with your LB/BB entry. It could be named based on the library title, the rom file name minus special characters, or the rom file name with all special characters. Final Fantasy VI.jpg - matches the library title; this will work FF6.jpg - matches the rom file name minus special characters; this will work note however that appended numbers (-0#) do not work in this scenario. FF6(1994)(Squaresoft).jpg - matches the rom file name with all special characters; this will work FF6(1994).jpg - includes special characters from the rom file, but not all of them; this will not work FFVI.jpg - doesn't match either the library title or the rom name; this will not work If you're matching by title and the title includes characters that are invalid for Windows file names, that character needs to be replaced by an underscore in your media file name. So if your game title is Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, your media would need to be named Super Street Fighter II_ The New Challengers.jpg. This requirement also applies to titles that use an apostrophe, despite the fact that apostrophes are usable in Windows file names. Additionally, for most types of media you can append a number at the end of the file name (formatted as -0#) and they'll match in LB/BB. So if you have 4 images in your Screenshots - Gameplay folder for Final Fantasy VI, they could be named as below and they'll show up in order in LB. Final Fantasy VI-01.jpg Final Fantasy VI-02.jpg Final Fantasy VI-03.jpg Final Fantasy VI-04.jpg For media other than screenshots, doing this will typically cause them to cycle randomly each time you select the library entry. Platform media is unique in that the files can be named anything, they simply need to be in the correct folder. If you want to add in your own platform banner for Super Nintendo, it would need to go in Launchbox -> Images -> Platforms -> Super Nintendo -> Banner. The actual image file could be named anything but so long as it's in that folder it will show up as a banner for SNES. Additionally, you can put in multiple images for platform banners and platform fanart (again, named anything) and it will cycle between them randomly whenever you select the associated platform in BB. Note that this doesn't work for platform clear logos as you have to clear their image cache for them to reset. I think this covers just about everything. If anyone else has anything else to add though, I can add it into the post.

I've gotten General Midi and GS Wavetable to work (neither of which sound great with stock drivers, but they work), but still no dice on Munt. The weird thing is Munt shows that XM6 is connected but it's just not actually sending any MIDI messages to it. It has a monitor (on the right side) that shows when MIDI messages are being sent and it's just not doing anything. Bassmidi + a soundfont would make GS sound a lot better but I've not actually messed with that much. It's just one more rabbit hole

Nice! Thanks! Still trying to get Munt to work. It seems like it should. In the MIDI tab it's listed in the "out" devices and, when the board is enabled, starting the game prompts to select the device. But all I'm getting after that is silence... I know my install of it works because I use it all the time for DOS games.

Alright so I'm gonna save the Munt part for another time. I have the feeling it'll work with some more tinkering but I'll get back to that later. All you have to do to get XM6 Pro-68k to work is to dump the bios into the same folder the .exe is in. You may want to rebind the default controls (it recognizes a 360 controller automatically, but you might not like the default buttons - I didn't). To do this go to Tools -> Options -> Joystick tab and you should see your controller listed at the bottom (Device A). Click the setup button and you can rebind them (albeit somewhat clunkily). I changed mine to Button 1 = Port 1-Button2(B) and Button 3 = Port 1-Button1(A). This makes you jump with the A button and attack with the X button in Akumajou Dracula. To get it to work in LB, simply add the emulator to LB (no special command line switches/check boxes necessary). If you have a multi-disk game, enable custom command line parameters in the game entry and use: %romfile% "path\to\disk2.dim" What I have not been able to figure out yet is how to get it to launch into fullscreen. I haven't found a list of command-line switches for it. I've tried -fullscreen but that didn't do anything.

Figured it out - just had to restart the game. Munt doesn't actually seem to be working though. I've already got it working with LB (testing with Akumajou Dracula). Pretty easy too. Will report back soon.

So I'm testing XM6 Pro-68k which seems pretty good. It appears to recognize Munt in the Midi section (listed as "MT-32 Emulator"). I can't figure out how to actually make use of it in game yet though...

Hmmm... sounds like I've got some research to do. It's always somethin'!

So is this using standalone MESS then? I've never had any success with MESS via RA, but I've never used standalone. I have some familiarity with the 68k library and have been curious about giving it a go for a while now. I love shmups so it's a good fit, but a ton of them are arcade ports and I have MAME for that. There are probably enough exclusives to still make it worth it though. I remember playing a Windows version of Cho Ren Sha years ago and loving it. I've always wanted to check out Geograph Seal too because I'm a huge Jumping Flash fan. Do you happen to know if any emulators (MESS or otherwise) support software midi modules like Munt? I use it for DOSBox, but the 68k had midi support, including external modules. I'm not sure if any of the emulators support it though.

Honestly we do have stuff like this, they're just really few and far between. I've got a couple of good local shops, though none are anywhere near this massive. There's one in Philadelphia that I've always wanted to go to called Classic Game Junkie.

Yeah if it just closes with no error message I'm inclined to think it's a problem with your bios files. It's not guaranteed, but that seems the most likely to me; especially if literally no games are working with it (and those rips are working with other emulators apparently). The System sub directory is the correct one to put them in. Echoing lordmonkus, I use the Genesis Plus GX core and it works great for Sega CD.

No, certainly not. There are plenty of games (shmups in particular) that are in English, and others (fighters and shmups) that are fully playable even in Japanese. There are also a significant number of English translations for games, especially for SNES. Romhacking.net is a good place to start for that. I'm not sure what you mean there. I know there is some degree of integration with Dropbox that's possible but I have no experience with that whatsoever. I don't use Dropbox at all. Why not look into Steam In-Home Streaming? Your situation is actually perfect for it because so long as the host computer is capable of playing the games, you should be good because the host does all the hard work - you're playing it on the host and streaming it to a client (a different computer). As long as the host is decent, you can basically play it on a toaster. You can setup LB/BB as a non-steam application in Steam and stream it via In-Home Streaming.

I'm sorry, it must be done.

Could be, I dunno. I pulled up process monitor and I'm using like 20% CPU and 20% RAM while it's running...

Yeah I normally have it turned up - most stuff around 6ish but I specifically remember having to dial it down to 4 on Mednafen Saturn because higher than that was causing audio problems. I have no idea why I can no longer use it now...

So...I seem to have fixed it...I guess. I have to turn frame delay to 0. I've had it on 4 for a while now and it's been fine. For whatever reason though, now it has to be on 0. Vsync/Hard GPU sync being turned off have no impact.

Well I thought maybe that was it too, but it's only pulling the settings for that specific core and there are no reference to the core specifically in Retroarch.cfg. If I pull up BSNES for example, it has different settings. If I switch back to Mednafen_Saturn (following a fresh delete/redownload), it loads the same old custom settings (from where, I can't figure out).