sundogak

On the last bullet there is logic to why those are added that way in that is how the MAME names the rom titles with dual names (or more in some cases separated by /), so with that as alt name it picks up the match readily. Many of those alt name changes were made around time that the MAME fullset import feature was added to LB. Ideally there would be different way to do it but such is the limitation now in that the way MAME names some things isn’t ideal. But short version, I wouldn’t delete the alt name like that.

Well, the information is above on how to do it....but here is example of Bard's Tale. You will need to adjust your path's and disk names to your setup: Edit the game and go to Emulation section. Check the box "Use Custom Command-Line Parameters". Copy the command string like below but make sure to update the path/name of disk 2 specific to your setup for data after the -d2 command. Everything before the -d2 command will be the same for other multi-disk games: -noreg -no-printscreen-dlg -r 32 -d1 %romfile% -d2 "G:\Emulators\Apple II\roms\Bard's Tale, The (USA) (Disk 2) (Character).dsk" You then have to use F5 (Disk Swap) to swap disks when asks for character disk (or use mouse if in Window mode, select icon circled in red). In most cases, even though Disk 2 is in Drive 2, many Apple II games will not "look" for a disk in Drive 2 even though loaded (that is how a real Apple II worked). So you have to use F5 to swap from 2 to 1. If you hover over the disk icon it will show which disk is loaded if want to double check things are working as expected. Once you got working then can add command to go to full screen if you want that. For many computer games it is actually easier to keep in window format vs full screen (i.e., use the command above): -fs-height=1080 -noreg -no-printscreen-dlg -r 32 -d1 %romfile% -d2 "G:\Emulators\Apple II\roms\Bard's Tale, The (USA) (Disk 2) (Character).dsk" As said in prior post, you cannot load Discs 3 and 4 automatically within LB. Plus, AppleWin is limited to two virtual drives so the emulator limits that anyway. So when game asks for Disk 3 you have to use the F3 and F4 commands to bring up a File Manager dialog box in AppleWin to select Disk 3 and/or 4. Thus, for games more than 2 disks, it is usually just quicker to just skip trying to setup command for disk 2 and just use F3 and F4 to load disks 2 through whatever. For your other game you do the exact same, but substitute the path for the B side disk after the -d2 command as noted above. You will have to use F5 to swap the B side disk into drive 1 when asks for B side. AppleWin will not detect the B side in Disk 2 so it has to be swapped to drive 1 via F5......this is how a real Apple II worked in that you have to eject and flip the disk.

@legolas119 1) Such is the state of older computer programs like the Apple II. A keyboard was the typical setup with some games having ability to use a joystick natively. Usually however, you have to use the keyboard to tell the game you want to use a joystick (i.e., pressing "J" to use joystick or "K" for keyboard). Thus, you are either going to have to have a keyboard around, or you will have to use something like xpadder or some other keyboard to joystick mapper. I can tell you though, it is a lot of work and there are lots of different setups to where you can simply treat an Apple II game like you do a cartridge game. They just were not setup that way originally. 2) my settings are below: first part tells it to go full screen but with a height of 1080. Second parts tell it to not register the printscreen button and not give warning (or it complains many times). Third is setting ram to 2 megs. The last tells what disk to load in which drive via -d1 which tells AppleWin that it should be loaded as disc 1. LB will take whatever file is in the "Rom File" listing and append it just after the -d1. -fs-height=1080 -noreg -no-printscreen-dlg -r 32 -d1 3) to load multiple disks you have to use the -d1 and -d2 commands to tell AppleWin which drive to place each disk. So a command line (outside LB) to launch Ultima (substitute your path to AppleWin and games): "G:\Emulators\Apple II\AppleWin\applewin.exe" -d1 "G:\Emulators\Apple II\roms\Ultima I (USA) (Disk 1).dsk" -d2 "G:\Emulators\Apple II\roms\Ultima I (USA) (Disk 2).dsk" within LB you would have to do something like this where %romfile% tells LB to load whatever is the main "ROM" file listing but unfortunately you have to hard code any other disks for other drives in the custom command line parameters like: -fs-height=1080 -noreg -no-printscreen-dlg -r 32 -d1 %romfile% -d2 "G:\Emulators\Apple II\roms\Ultima I (USA) (Disk 2).dsk" LB doesn't have a variable for anything in the Additional Apps listing (i.e., %romfile2%, etc). I had bitbucketed it but doubt will ever raise to level of getting enough votes. Thus, that means you have to hard code EACH multi disk within each game. There is no way to generically setup AppleWin in LB to have it load multi-disks without customizing. There is no "M3U" or playlist feature in AppleWin. Once you have the disks loaded then you can use F5 Disk Swap F3 Drive 1 F4 Drive 2 MAME via the hash files allows games to "auto load" disks 1 and 2 automatically but the problem you get there is you still need to toggle into the MAME UI to swap disks since MAME for whatever weird reason doesn't have a key command like "Disk Swap". If they did, MAME would be the easier to use for multi disks. With either MAME or AppleWin, you are at some point likely to still need to use a keyboard unless you go to a lot of effort to setup things. Just the nature of those computers in that keyboard was first and foremost the input device, mouse and joystick secondary. For a few simple games (Choplifter, Lode Runner, Castle Wolfenstein) it isn't a big deal but once you get to games like Bard's Tale or Ultima you will be better situated to stick with keyboard/mouse. For some others that tend to use (mostly) standard of arrow keys for directions you could map them. But again, there wasn't a lot of consistency initially in games...others used AWSD or some other keyboard combo for directional movement. The other limitation you will hit is that you will only be able to load up 2 disks. So for games like Bard's Tale with 4 disks, you are swapping away no matter what you put in LB as command. There are some hacky deals where folks have converted floppy disks over to an Apple II hard drive (so all load off HD) but it isn't as trivial as copying the DSK files to an HDV, particularly since most had some from of copy protection.

@C-Beats On Beta 4 and 5 appears fixed on issues I captured.

Beta 3 (also Beta 2) Upon a drag and drop ROM add triggering the import wizard, the second import screen for media selection via EmuMovies doesn't remember the last settings used. The prior screen for LB DB media does. Doesn't matter if you use the Check None or select individually.

Inaccurate. If LB names the files it sticks a -01 or series designator. However, it will either match the name or the ROM title upon import of media. It also skips/ignores anything for fuzzy matching that is in brackets or parenthesis. So a no-intro set (which I also have) for say Sega 32X will match files such as "Blackthorne (USA).zip" with your LB title. What LB renames files is different than what it will fuzzy match.

@sozuke *.bin files do not have the cartridge header so the emulator has to either have DB with checksum that will auto load or you have to tell it what to do. The third alternative that works for all is that you convert BIN file to a cart format so the header is installed (like you found via RA). There are a couple threads on this here that cannot seem to find now with more detail, but the tools below will do the job for any emulator. You have to be a bit careful on what type you select in the above method you use, since not all carts use same header (particularly the later versions). If works for you great, but if see oddities crop up or just want to double check then see below. WUDSN - 8-bits are enough - Atari ROM Maker WUDSN - 8-bits are enough - Atari ROM Checker Unfortunately it is a two step process. Use the ROM Checker to see what type of header is needed. It compares the checksum to known list of binaries. I would say it got about 95% of the files I ever tried. Then with the knowledge of what header type it is you use the ROM Maker and use the setting the Checker gave you. Although in theory you could hunt down a set that is already in *.car format, I have found some folks have just renamed the extensions and still a binary with no header (or incorrect one). In the end, anything that was a cart/bin I converted/checked that file had header. Now no matter what emulator you use then it will run. Edit Note: for future readers the discussion for *car and such is applicable for non-MAME emulators (Altirra, Atari800, Kat5200). If using MAME then use the MAME set via Software List. MAME has its HASH files via the a800.xml to figure how to manage various things, including carts.

11.6 Beta 2 Drag and dropping an image that is already in the source image type location (but not linked yet due to naming issue of file) will not work. You either have to drag outside the folder or temporarily select that image as some other type, close, and reopen to fix type. It will move/rename the image at that point. For example, if have a Marquee image within the ..\Launchbox\Images\Colecovision\Arcade-Marquee\Star Trek.png but image needs to be linked to the "Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator" game, if drag and drop, select the image as a Marquee, then close the edit window it will not rename or do anything with the image (image source stays same and no image linked to game). Basically, it isn't renaming a file already within the source image location but a move, type change /rename action works. Although not a typical action, if doing media "packs" and doing the odd fix then this is where comes up. Prior behavior was to simply rename the file to normal LB naming convention.

I had EmuMovies long before I had LB with a bunch of media downloaded. I used the majority of media I had downloaded via sync tool, you just have to do a couple extra steps. Copy the files in the Sync Tool folder to the comparable media folder for LB (e.g., ..Launchbox\Images\Atari2600\Box - Front\ ). About 90% of the files will be picked up by LB as long as you have naming that is either linked to LB DB or using relatively standard naming convention. You just have to refresh (F5) after you dump into LB folder structure. There will be some that are not close or using an alt name that is not in the LB DB but you use use the audit feature in LB to pick those up. Dashes and special characters can trip up the fuzzy naming pickup in LB but you see the pattern pretty quickly. Or, you could just use LB linked to EmuMovies and download directly from LB vs using the sync tool and you skip the step of manually moving.

@sozuke Like Headrush69 said, XEGS is basically an 8-bit Atari computer with no keyboard built-in. So setting RA options like below will work: atari800_system = "800XL (64K)" atari800_system = "130XE (128K)" You can also use the same core for the Atari 5200 if setup separate config path and set to: atari800_system = "5200"

Edit: Disregard...that plague Nahimic service somehow auto updated (I know I disabled it) and it was running causing havoc with LB (and lots of other things such as Future Pinball 2nd screen hangs up). Nuked it and LB was fine. 11.6 Beta 2 Seeing odd graphics glitches with checkboxes and buttons. I haven't altered the Nvidia drivers (just stock/updated version). Before Mouse Over After I mouse over and/or click on the button/check box If close edit box and reopen goes back to default up until I mouse over again. Tried clean reboot. Didn't have issue 11.15.

11.6 Beta 2 - Two Issues: Issue 1: Upon doing a doing a Restore Data Backup (made with 11.6 beta 2) I got the following error: Then crashed when hit okay and would get this dialog box repeatedly until force closed LB: Tried twice and left these behind in data directory. Copied the files manually and worked fine. Was then able to do data restore again after that and seemed to work (so wasn't a permission issue with drive/folder). This happened once before but doesn't seem to be consistently reproducible and suspect some data folder lock issue. Issue 2: I think this has been the case before beta 2, but if you do Import - MAME Arcade Full Set and do not remove the LB entries within the MAME/Arcade Platform it will place duplicate entries in the controller support setup. It will add another entry each time you do full set import. Only way to fix (in mass) is to remove the platform entries before import, but any custom playlists for Arcade/MAME are removed in that case (if not auto populate). Note this isn't the behavior to duplicate other fields such as Additional Apps/Names.

Seems to import okay now with no error. Also, I haven't noticed any spacing /return issues in the notes fields.

Version 11.16 Beta 1 Two issues: Spacing/Return Issue: Any platforms that were edited with the beta have odd returns/spacing in the Notes field. These were not games that were edited but the platform had modifications made in 11.16 versus 11.15. Snap in 11.16 (returns all messed up, but not consistently). I hadn't done any editing or adding of the games with spacing issues. Snap in 11.15 after reverted to Backup (before)...note no add returns in Notes field. There were many throughout with similar issues so wasn't isolated to one game and they were not anything I edited in 11.16. Import Drag and Drop Crashing: If you drag and drop into a platform, go through the normal panes it will crash as you hit next before the "ready to import screen" if the boxes for search for game or any media are checked. It also seemed I also had to have the duplicate check box checked (even though was no duplicate) but hadn't done another pass to see if that was needed. This occurred on two different platforms (also ones I had worked on that created the odd spacing above in Notes). It doesn't crash LB completely and drops back to LB main screen but crashes the import process and doesn't result in the game being added. When I reverted to 11.15 and BU XML set and readded the same games that had issues, no problems in add process.

Make sure you your associated platforms is setup now that you replaced the RA version. Also that your associated platform name is exactly the same as what you have in your LB platform listing (left of screen in LB main window). Screen snaps help here, so snap your Details and Associated Platforms tabs.

No, point to actual exe, not a shortcut. You said you have a working setup outside LB and the cores work there. Point LB to the retroarch.EXE in Emulator Application Path to that working directory and RA where you can see your cores, etc. Basically, if you downloaded a duplicate copy of RA somewhere, then there is no cores in that copy.

If you already have the RA exe then you shouldn't need to download anything in LB. I suspect what has happened is you downloaded an additional copy and that is what LB is pointing to versus the one where you have a working setup. Go to Tools menu in LB and then Edit Emulator. Look at the Retroarch entry and validate the path shown is to your working setup. Use the "browse" button to point to it just to double check.

Interesting, always good to have more resources for media. Thanks for the link/info. Another alternative I have used same reason you capture above (plus have clear logos and banners) is the SteamGridDB site. They are uniform quality and size at 600x900 resolution. If the original Steam Assets are available (most newer era games) there will be a button at the landing page for the game. The Steam Assets are of high quality, although the user creations are pretty good as well (mostly). In your example that is here and click on "View Original Steam Assets" button at left of screen for cover art (just right-click, save as image for 600x900). A bit larger and taller aspect ratio than IGDB but disadvantage is SteamGridDB will only have those games that are sold on Steam (i.e., no Blizzard/Epic Games for one).

I went down this road as well at one point. I wasn't worried about the storage but just preferred to pull from one master set. You can convert the MAME zip files into a iNES/NES 2.0 (*.NES) format using UCon64. The problem is the "on the fly" portion. To convert, you have to provide some key data such as mirroring and mapper type to UCon64 so it properly sets up the header that most non-MAME emulators expect to see. That data could be put in a batch file after unzipping the MAME file but to my knowledge there is no easy way to auto lookup the data needed without doing some code. The MAME NES HASH file actually contains much of the per game information you need for UCon64 to convert to NES. If using MAME as NES emulator it looks inside the zip, goes to the Hash file and compares the checksums and uses the data within the Hash to figure out how to properly run the game with the PRG, CHR, etc, components. Basically, the HASH replicates the header data for NES format. For MAME it makes sense they do it that way since fits there overall model of how dump ROMs, but does make sharing MAME ROM sets with non-MAME emulators problematic (or vice versa really). But with all that, like you said, if you have a full No-Intro set it wouldn't be worth all the gyrations to get from the MAME set to the NES format in that you would need to work custom batch files per cartridge to call Ucon64. I have done a few one-offs from MAME set to use for non-MAME NES emulator but it would be crazy time consuming unless you were a coder.

@twobucksI had swapped motherboards on my PC with working FreeCamMod setup but then after I was having similar issues. At the time I just assumed I messed something up even though had backups with the exact same setup. I was only using FreeCamMod for the single table launch feature so tried an alternative tool since couldn't get it back to working status. If that is case for you, you might want to look at this tool: "Pinball Arcade Loader". If do google search should be the first entry. That seemed to fix my issues with screen focus (even though it did work). Also it fixed some minor issues I always had with FreeCamMod where it would sometimes not launch to table on the very first instance as well as just a complete clean launch into the table. FreeCam seemed to stop at the main screen briefly and move the mouse around then launch (which may be the issue with the screen focus). So if only using the single table feature here is my setup with Pinball Arcade Loader: The key with Launchbox is you need to point to the PinballArcadeLoder.exe as the "emulator" but also have in the Default Command-Line Parameters the full path to your PinballArcade11.exe. The launcher will then take whatever "ROM" (text file pointer) and launch from that. Here is my dummy text pointer to ACDC. Similar to FreeCam the names of the pointers are specific to each game. The "HIDE TEXT" command tells Pinball Arcade to not bring up the intro text, if you want that just leave only the game name pointers. You can do via CMD batch files but I always find it easier and LB seems happier (with Pause Screen) if keep direct to the launcher exe. Make sure you have the "Don't Use Quotes" and the "Use File Name Only" check boxes checked in the emulator screen if using the pointer text file method. I have attached my pointer text files for reference so you don't have to hunt down the table names that the launcher wants to see. Launcher Text Pointer Files.zip

Here you go:

As rough idea for a full set for just ROMs (no CHDs and no software set): Split: ~ 72GB Merged: ~70 GB Non-Merged: ~128 GB The following are "add-on" sets (they need one of the ROM sets above plus the add-on set files): Arcade CHD set is an additional 553 GB. These are typically later era arcade games that had hard drives or CD ROM full images besides ROMs. So quite a bit larger, but you don't have to have the CHD set if looking at early era arcade games only. The website link I gave above will have a flag if game needs a CHD (when you start getting into later 1990s games like Street Fighter III 3rd Strike). A non-Arcade "Software List" set is an additional ~79 GB (this set includes computer type non-arcade emulation software like for home game consoles with cartridges, Apple II, Commodore 64, etc). Software List CHD set ~2.5 TB. This includes CD ROM and disk image sets for non-arcade emulations (like IBM PC CD ROM software, home consoles with CDs, etc).

Correct, unmerged is largest file size in that has all parts and pieces for each game within each zip (so child/clone zips will run if the parent isn't around). Split sets tend to be the most common, however. So you could download a split set, use a ROM Manager to convert the zips to unmerged and then pick and choose. For split sets, the child/clone zip only includes the different parts from the parent, but none of the parts from the parent ROM. So splits can be where you can get into missing parts. Merged meshes all the parents/clones into one zip and is the smallest size for a set but (historically, not so much anymore) some frontends had issues with merged sets in how to parse the merged zip. MAME itself as frontend doesn't care (merged, split, unmerged). But really with moderate speed Internet connection (these days), if you have access to one or other full set pick the one set you know you will use as primary in that it does take some time for a ROM Manager to recombine things into another set type.

Also should have pointed out that need to be careful on how you download sets. Look up MAME "Merged, Split, and Unmerged" rom sets to get more info. You can use a ROM manager like clrmamepro or ROMVault to "remix" one set type to another but still to have all the source parts. If you mix and match set types then you will likely wind up with MAME complaining it is missing ROMs in that some components needed may be in the "parent" set vs the "child" set. For example, Pac-Man is a "clone" of "Puckman" which is the Japanese name and considered the MAME parent. If you are North America based you might just go and download the Pac-Man rom set and depending on where you got it, may miss vital parts from the Parent Puckman rom set (see snap below from above web site that indicates parent/child relationship). Unless you have a poor internet connection (or really only want a few games) you are much better off downloading a complete ROM set and then taking parts away (or convert to an unmerged set) using a ROM Manager. Otherwise it can be frustrating in that MAME will stop and say it is missing XYZ component.

this website will allow you to sort by year, genre, etc. It is updated through current MAME set 0.234. There are also various lists people have put together of favorites and "all killer/no filler" type deals (some on this site). So just depends what you looking for. http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame.php