starfiretbt

OK, thank you. The video sounded like it wasn't a good idea, or at least not an idea that would work.

I didn't know which category to put this topic under so I guessed dos but I got a dos game called "Wing Commander III" and it comes with 4 discs. I remember playing "Final Fantasy 7" for PlayStation and having trouble with that so it was suggested to make an m3u file to streamline all those discs and it worked, however watching this video I realized that dos wasn't a suggested platform for m3u files. Does that mean I shouldn't make an m3u file or I should?

Okay, what if I get an updated mame emulator and replace the roms I want with individual roms from the nonmerged roms that I've heard some of you mentioned. Because downloading a new, larger rom set when the current one is already large enough just isn't what I want to do. I can keep the old emulator and roms as backup (until I know all the new games and emulator work) and delete them when everything's oky-doky.

Wow, that is a lot to unpack. I'm a little lost. Please bare with me while I try to understand. I have a rom pack, I don't want another larger one taking up more space, I just want a newer mame emulator because some of the games in my rom pack don't work and I'm hoping a newer emulator will fix that but I don't want to have to start all over with a new rom pack. Like I said, some of the games are organized into playlists, but I did hear DeadVoivod say "The ROM names always stay the same" so I'm guessing they would stay where they are in Launchbox? But I don't want an entire terrabyte taken for mame so I don't want more rom packs, I just want the ones I have and maybe more if I feel like downloading a few individual games. C-Beats said "If you grab non-merged you can pare down your collection quite a bit" so I figure that means I can download individual games. So my overall question is 1. How do I get a newer, more functional mame (in other words updating it) while still being able to use the roms I have? I thought I can just replace the whole folder the emulator came in with the emulator but I hear from MadK9 saying that won't work.

But I don't want to lose the mame roms I have now, what if the games I have aren't on the other rom packs? What about the games that are in launchbox? what will become of them? Some of them are in playlists. What if the rom packs are larger? Does this mean every time I update I keep losing computer space?

I want to update my MAME emulator but I haven't done that in a LONG time. Is updating MAME as simple as downloading the latest MAME emulator and folder and replacing the old MAME emulator and folder? I'm afraid if I try it without asking I might screw up my MAME game. I know I will lose the save states but that's not really a concern. I also understand there are things called MAME ROMsets, which for some reason are tied to the specific emulator. Can't I just keep the roms I have? Those romsets get pretty large and I don't want to have to keep getting new ones.

I filled out the information based on their wiki fandom as well as collected a few photos from the web as well as all from the steam page, where do I upload the stuff? EDIT: I am an amateur at this so if anybody has any better information on this game I would encourage them to correct it

I can copy and paste the info from their wiki page if that's okay for you. Generally wiki pages aren't guaranteed accurate especially if they are a fandom wiki; Wikipedia official supposedly has ALA reviewers but they don't have a page for Virtual Villagers 3

I can't find any meta data for Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City. Is it under another name?

Never-mind, I got it fixed. Some people on retroarch discord were able to help me set up a .m3u file that combined a 3 disc playstation game into 1 using this guide https://docs.libretro.com/library/beetle_psx/#multiple-disk-games. I also found a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_1xR_Y1TNg.

I'm having trouble with my save files in retroarch through LaunchBox. I'm playing a playstation game with 3 cd's, I'm on the second cd. If I try saving the game through the usual game save feature (not a save state) while on disc 2 the save won't stay. This only happens when I start the game on disc one (the first disc is the one set up to launch through Launchbox) and switch to disc 2 using retroarch. If I start the game on disc two by right clicking on the game and select "play version/disc 2" then I can save and load saved games during disc 2 so this isn't a serious problem. I believe the problem has to do with the fact that playstation games save using memory cards which the emulator mimics with a file that is disc specific so if I start disc 1 then I can only use the memory card file associated with that disc. My problem is that I think the file that is associated with game saving isn't set up right because like I said I have to start with the right disc to use the right saving file. While I can live with just starting the game on disc 2 what I can't live with is recently when I tried to save the game it said it wanted to reformat the save file and wouldn't let me save or load until I did. When I did I lost all my save files. How do I set up the file for memory cards in a playstation game with multiple discs properly? I can't even access the second memory card, there's supposed to be 2 which I can use under disc 1 but not disc 2.

I'm trying to get "Wing Commander 3" to work in Launchbox and it won't recognize my joystick. I understand sometimes dosbox needs to be configured to be "timed" whatever that means and I've done that before but I thought I remembered there was an option to check a box called "timed" in launchbox, I assumed that did the same thing without special dosbox config files. I can't seem to remember where that box was though and I've looked through the metadata for it. Also the game is DOS but it comes with 4 cd's I haven't gotten to that part in the importing process but I would just add all four under "launching/dosbox/mounts" correct? EDIT: I forgot to mention I see an option for "controller support" under "metadata" but I'm not quite sure how that works

Thank you guys, it imported just fine. I do have other problems with the game but I think that would be best for it's own thread which I will start.

If I add to Launchbox two games with the same name will one copy over the other? I'm sure the answer is no but I'm a little scared to try. I added "Wing Commander III" for playstation but want to try "Wing Commander III" for DOS.

I downloaded the popcap game "Typer Shark," not from official sources as they want to charge me for the game and I already bought the game back when Popcap games had their original website but now thieving game companies like EA sports purchased the website and changed it so my version won't register because it looks for the original website to register, and yes my email doesn't come with a serial number only a "POPid" number which is now useless. But that's irrelevant. What matters is that the game will play in fullscreen but only if the game doesn't move. If I unzip the file at a location it will play fullscreen but if I move it to Launchbox it won't, it will only play in windowed mode. This is only somewhat annoying as I can just unzip it into launchbox (something I hate doing as I like to look at what I got before I just put it into Launchbox) however if I move launchbox to a new computer I don't want to have to reinstall the game. Does anybody have any thoughts as to what might be going on? Or at least any ideas on how to make window games such as that one more portable? Popcap games are really terrible about portability as they tend to store data on my C-Drive.

I just updated my computer using your recommended "FreeFileSync" and it worked PERFECTLY. I created a test file which was backed up and then deleted it on my computer only to have the backup one being deleted as well which is exactly what I wanted. Thank you

That sounds EXACTLY like what I need. I looked the program up, it sounds like it used to be bad for computers as it contained malware but I think they are considered okay now. I will give FreeFileSync a try on my next computer backup and let you know if it worked. I was hoping Window's would have a back-up option that does what your saying FreeFileSync does already built in it's own native back-up so I wouldn't have to download additional, possibly unsafe software that might add to my process list and slow my computer but unless anybody has any ideas I guess FreeFileSync will have to do. Thank you for your help.

I don't know if I can explain this clearly but I like to back up Launch-box onto an external hard drive using either Windows natural back-up feature called file history or by simply dragging the folder onto an external hard drive (both aren't working like I wish). The problem I'm facing is if a file gets created in Launch-box on my C drive and backed up to my external but then I later delete it because I no longer need it it will still remain in the external unless I delete it there as well. Coping a folder over a folder replaces similar files but doesn't seem to remove extra files. This means over time a bunch of useless files that either I or some program creates but no longer need will build up taking up valuable space on my external. Is there a way to copy a folder completely so the folder in a back-up has exactly the same files and no more? I hate having to delete the old back-up so I can create a new one.

I'm aware of that. That's why I said "or is creating a shortcut file and adding that the only way?" I was just hoping there was a way to skip file creating, this is mainly a "can launchbox do this" post.

Is there a way to add a folder as an additional app or is creating a shortcut file and adding that the only way? I have games that store save data in my temp files and others that store in my program data and I'd like to be able to access my save files conveniently without having to scour the deepest recesses of my computer (especially the temp one as that file gets deleted occasionally and a copy needs to be kept).

Someone was able to help me in the retroarch discord. They made a .bat file with the command "mount d E:\ -t cdrom dark.exe" in it and I had Launch box run that instead of the Dark.exe file and the game works perfectly now. I don't have any more problems in this topic right now. EDIT: Just in case I need to reread this solution for future games "E:\" was whatever drive my ISO was mounted on in windows

That worked perfectly as well, thank you. Not important but if anybody else has the same initial question I had I've also noticed (I don't know when LaunchBox decided to do this) that now Launchbox gives me the choice between playing dos games with the standard dosbox or the retroarch version. The games don't even have to be zipped meaning I can play them with both versions. Closer inspection I see that I can check boxes under DOSbox for dosbox or check boxes under emulation for retroarch. My traditionally saved games (non save state) are still available and I haven't lost anything. 1. One problem, some dos games aren't working with retroarch. For example "Star Wars: Dark Forces" when started gives be a black screen that says [CD-ROM ACCESS ERROR]. For regular dosbox the solution was to add the cd to {Mounts} under Launching/DOSBox/Mounts. How do I do that in retroarch and is there a way to keep the CD in mounts? Everytime I uncheck dosbox and check emulator the Launching/DOSBox/Mounts screen "forgets" the cd. 2. Also at first dos games played in normal dosbox and only in retroarch if I right-click "Launch With..." and then "Retroarch" and that was great, I had two choices. Now I have to check one box or the other to specify which but not both. Somewhere I lost the option to use both and now I have to choose one or the other in "Edit Metadata." It's not a real serious problem, but it is an annoying hassle to keep switching if I need to, especially if the Metadata forgets important things like disc mounting every time I switch to emulator.

That worked, thank you. The game is up and running. There now shows up a long list of files. I was under the impression that the file I choose to run would be remembered automatically like when I don't use retroarch but I can write somewhere in the game notes which file I need to select.

I'm still having trouble. I tried compressing the game folder into a zip file and adding that as a ROM using Retroarch as the emulator, I followed the instructions in this video, The video differed from me in that at 2:55 I could choose the emulator Retroarch but I couldn't choose the core, I do have the Dosbox Pure core downloaded and updated. When I try opening the game it does say "roland dosbox pure" temporarily but it also says "No executable file found" and gives me the option to "go to command line" or "exit." How do I find the executable file?

Do DOS games need to be zipped for DosBox Pure to work? Some of the games I want to play on DosBox Pure I have already started playing and I don't want to have to re-download the game brand new and start all over. Besides, some DOS games of mine need files added to them such as patches, mods, and other miscellaneous files that I fear won't work if the game is zipped up. Can zipped folders be edited in that way?