[Escape from Demul]

I am a bit confused. Is there a reason you're launching (demul) games through bat files? Are you mixing bat files with AutoHotKey?

[Poor visual quality in Retroarch]

9 minutes ago, Typhoon1944 said:

No disrespect @Koroth and thank you for taking the time to answer, but I disagree.  I've used RetroArch and Launchbox for a number of years and the picture quality has been much better than I'm seeing recently.

I did not meant to belittle you. But in that case, I use RetroArch 1.9.9. and I do not see any degradation in picture quality. But to give an example of myself in this thread; I set up RetroArch years ago too. Then it's easy to forget what settings you actually use and what the default settings are. Let alone that the default settings can change. I use core overrides / per core configs, so I have to configure everything per core and thus I rarely have problems that affect all cores. I think I would go crazy If I have to set up RetroArch a second time and have that second setup exactly match my first setup. I do not know if you directly copied RetroArch setups between pc's, but surely there are hardware differences. So settings that work  on one pc not necessarily work on another. 

[Poor visual quality in Retroarch]

1. By default RetroArch has Bilineaire Filtering enabled which adds a blur to the image. RetroArch > Settings > Video > Bilineaire Filtering.

2. Maybe you want cores for 3d systems to render in a higher resolution?

3. You can use different types of shaders.

But what you consider "low res" or "poor quality" is ultimately a matter of taste. 

[Supermodel Won't Launch via Launchbox]

8 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

Why am I launching a game with the SM UI? Because when I try to launch a game with LB, it doesn't generate anything in the error log for some strange reason.

In your screenshots the paths for the Emulator Application Path in LaunchBox and your Sega Model 3 folder don't match? I don't know if your Z drive is a network drive, but I know some people experience problems with LaunchBox and network drives.

*Edit*

I just converted one of my Model 3 games from .zip to .7z and the .7z won't launch. Like I suggested, in LaunchBox first check your path to Supermodel.exe and then convert a game from .7z to .zip > change the rom path for your game in LaunchBox and see if your game will launch.

*Edit 2*

After posting the above comment I remembered responding too an earlier thread from you about setting up Supermodel. In that thread you wrote you got Supermodel working with zips. So I'm pretty sure your problem is about Supermodel not being able to handle .7z.

 

[How to make LaunchBox and Big Box update all emulators automatically?]

1 hour ago, starmaster said:

The RetroArch successfully set up the other emulators and they works. Just the Dreamcast core isn't.

Have you copied the Dreamcast Bios files to the correct folder?

https://docs.libretro.com/library/flycast/#bios

[Everytime disconnect Pad Xbox360 , MAME lose configuration !!!]

18 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

Also to add, if you hadnt set that default.cfg to read only, MAME deletes the config if you start it without a controller turned on, so that is what was happening there.

Also to add: If you're only going to use Xbox controllers with Mame, set up your controls and copy default.cfg to the ctrlr folder and rename to (for example) Xbox.cfg. Then in mame.ini in the "Core Input Options" section, add the name of your controller config.

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     Xbox

The controller config will persist and does not have to be set to Read Only.

[Exiting Yuzu Emulator using a hotkey (ESC)]

I feel like adding one more bit of information for some further explanation. Yuzu_Admin.ahk (which I added as an emulator to LaunchBox) takes the YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk script and in the line "Game = RomFile" replaces "RomFile" with the path to your rom file. Then it saves the script as YuzuLauncher.ahk. After launching a game, YuzuLauncher.ahk would look like this:

#NoEnv
#SingleInstance
SetTitleMatchMode, 3
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
Game = H:\Roms\Nintendo Switch\Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (USA)\Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.nsp

Run, %A_WorkingDir%\yuzu\yuzu-windows-msvc\yuzu.exe -f -g "%Game%"
Process, Wait, yuzu.exe
Process, WaitClose, yuzu.exe
ExitApp

$Esc::
{
WinClose, ahk_exe yuzu.exe
ExitApp
}

When launching another game, YuzuLauncher.ahk is deleted. Then Yuzu_Admin.ahk (which I added as an emulator to LaunchBox) takes the YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk script again and replaces "RomFile" with the new path to your rom file and saves it as YuzuLauncher.ahk. And so on.

[Exiting Yuzu Emulator using a hotkey (ESC)]

6 hours ago, Aevans0001 said:

can you send the contents of your script here?

The way I found to run Yuzu as admin from LaunchBox without UAC prompt is convoluted and takes a few steps.

1. Create a new text file and copy/paste the below script to that text file. Save the text file as Yuzu_Admin.ahk (so with an .ahk file extension.)

#NoEnv
#SingleInstance
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%

FileRead, YuzuLauncherTempFile, YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk
StringReplace, YuzuLauncherTempFile, YuzuLauncherTempFile, RomFile, %1%
FileDelete, YuzuLauncher.ahk
FileAppend, %YuzuLauncherTempFile%, YuzuLauncher.ahk

Run, C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn "Yuzu Admin"
Process, Wait, yuzu.exe
Process, WaitClose, yuzu.exe
ExitApp

2. In LaunchBox create an emulator. For example Yuzu Admin. In the "Emulator Application Path" point to AutoHotkey.exe in LaunchBox\ThirdParty\AutoHotkey. In the "Default Command-line Parameters" field add the path to the Yuzu_Admin.ahk script between double quotes.

3. Create a new text file and copy/paste the below script to that text file. Save the text file as YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk (so with an .ahk file extension.) Make sure the created scripts (Yuzu_Admin.ahk and YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk) are in the same folder.

#NoEnv
#SingleInstance
SetTitleMatchMode, 3
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
Game = RomFile

Run, %A_WorkingDir%\yuzu\yuzu-windows-msvc\yuzu.exe -f -g "%Game%"
Process, Wait, yuzu.exe
Process, WaitClose, yuzu.exe
ExitApp

$Esc::
{
WinClose, ahk_exe yuzu.exe
ExitApp
}

Before we continue, first an explanation of what the scripts do. The Yuzu_Admin.ahk we added to LaunchBox as an emulator, in the first part takes the YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk script and adds the rom name and file path then saves the script as YuzuLauncher.ahk. The second part starts the Windows Task Scheduler task we yet have to create. The by YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk script created YuzuLauncher.ahk script is what we are going to add as a Windows Task Scheduler task and is executed with admin privileges. It starts Yuzu with the -f -g command-line parameters and the path to the rom file. It also has the LaunchBox exit script for Yuzu in it.

4. Then create a Windows Task Scheduler task. I am not going in to the details right now how to create a scheduled task because I assume you know how to do that. In the "Application Path" of the task point to LaunchBox\ThirdParty\AutoHotkey\AutoHotkey.exe and in the command-line field add the path to YuzuLauncher.ahk between double quotes. (in my case "E:\LaunchBox\Emulators\Nintendo Switch\YuzuLauncher.ahk"). Make sure to tick "Run Task with highest priority". Then go back to the Yuzu_Admin.ahk script and in the line: Run, C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn "Yuzu Admin" replace Yuzu Admin with the name of your task. Of course you must set up your Switch games to use the "Yuzu Admin" emulator. 

*Note*
I don't intend this write-up as a guide. More a proof of concept because in my opinion something like this is more for advanced users. The scripts reference script names: (Yuzu_Admin.ahk and YuzuLauncher_Default.ahk) so when copy/paste/saving the scripts, you HAVE to save them with those names. Anywhere a path is mentioned (in setting it up in LaunchBox or the scripts themselves), the paths must be edited to reflect your setup.
*Note 2*
All this is to run an emulator (Yuzu in this case) with Admin Privileges, no UAC prompt and still being able to exit the emulator with Escape from LaunchBox while LaunchBox provides the rom names and file paths. Because this setup right here is quite convoluted, I am curious if someone knows of an easier way.

 

*Edit*

TLDR: Add a script to LaunchBox as an emulator that passes the rom name and file paths to a second script. The second script starts the emulator with those rom names and file paths, but is added to the Windows Task Scheduler to be executed with admin privileges.

[Newest TeknoParrot 1.0.0.643 not working with LaunchBox]

25 minutes ago, drewjbx said:

Hey guys... the latest TeknoParrot ver. 1.0.0.643 is not launching games. (I only tested DOA6)

My games work fine with that version of TeknoParrot. Although I don't have DOA6

25 minutes ago, drewjbx said:

I have multiple TP emulators installed for various different games. To play the newer apm3 games you need the latest TP. I added the newest version as a separate emulator with all the same options and command line arguments but the game only opens up the UI and wont launch the game. The game loads just fine from TP manually.

In LaunchBox have you set up the game to use that particular install of TeknoParrot?

[Visual Pinball X + Bigbox ... a starters guide]

1 hour ago, marcosgaming said:

Try with table AC/DC but are 50% tables that give me this alert. 

Ok. I tied with the AC-DC Pro-1.0 table. To run that tables you need a rom. When I put the rom in the VPinMAME\roms folder and launched the table I got that disclaimer, but only the first time. If you tick "Yes, I am" > OK, the second time you launch that table you won't get that disclaimer anymore.

[Visual Pinball X + Bigbox ... a starters guide]

2 hours ago, marcosgaming said:

Every game that i launch appairs a notify windows security

Visual Pinball X does not need to run with admin privileges. If you right click VPinballX.exe > Compatibility, make sure "Run as Administrator" is unticked.

2 hours ago, marcosgaming said:

A lot of games of Visual Pinball X that i launch appears a message of Copyright, is this :

I only have a handful of tables in Visual Pinball X and do not recall seeing that message, but in LaunchBox I have set up Visual PinBall X like this:

With command-line parameters: -minimized -exit -play

[How can I launch a game directly from within Launchbox (not the emulator then the game)?]

1 hour ago, vince16 said:

Demul stays there for a little while, and I get the message "Demul doesn't respond" or w/e, but in the end it works.

It could be because the first time an arcade games starts, the emulators creates a "nvram" files. Basically a file with the arcade boards bios / service menu settings. But anyway, you can hide that by using the LaunchBox startup screens.

1 hour ago, vince16 said:

How the hell did you come up with that "-run=naomi -run=" stuff??? lol

Not only is it mentioned quite a lot on this forum, but other forums as well. But if you want to know what command-line parameters an emulator supports, open a command prompt and go to the emulators folder. In the case of Demul type: demul -h (or demul -help) and Demul lists which command-line parameters it supports.

1 hour ago, vince16 said:

Say, since you seem to be so savvy with that emulator, you wouldn't happen to know the reason of that horrible distorted sound I (and many other people on the internet, apparently) get with Demul nowadays, by any chance? Some people say it's due to a lack of power of the PC used, but over 10 years ago I was using Demul (albeit with my DualShock 3, not 4), without any sound problem, and that PC was a lot less capable than the one I'm currently using for my emulation endeavors, so I very much doubt that's the reason. 

I don't have any issues with Demuls sound. But I would start by verifying that Demul indeed runs at 60 fps (or 60 hz). In Arcade / Consoles systems sound is quite often linked to the game's framerate. So if the emulator does not reach the game's framerate it can sound garbled. This not necessarily has to be because your pc is not fast enough, but there could be a slew of other causes.

- First the emulator configuration. Demul has 2 graphics plugins. gpuDX11 and gpuDX11old. I use the first one. Also there is a video setting called "Max Layers" . I have it set to 64, but having it on 128 can be demanding.

- Then you have the Windows power management settings.

- But maybe more important are the power settings in your graphics card control panel. In my case the Nvidia control panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > Demul.  The Nvidia default nowadays is "Optimal Power" but in fact is quite aggressive in forcing graphics cards in their lowest clock state. Which is fine for browsing but for gaming "Adaptive" is better. (Sometimes even "Prefer Maximum Performance".)

- And lastly, Demul hasn't been updated in over three years. Since Demul is a closed source emulator and seemingly not being developed anymore, I consider Demul a dead emulator. For Dreamcast, Naomi and Atomiswave I use the RetroArch Flycast core and only use Demul for systems that have no other emulator.

[How can I launch a game directly from within Launchbox (not the emulator then the game)?]

4 hours ago, vince16 said:

Sega Rally 2 runs OK (some versions at least), but the cars have no sound, or something like a slight vacuum cleaner sound.

Update to the latest version of Supermodel. Newer versions of emulators tend to have more bugfixes. To fix the graphical glitches in Sega Rally 2, in Supermodel.ini put:

[srally2]
PowerPCFrequency=100

Where the name of the rom goes between the square brackets.

BTW. I only import the parent version of games into LaunchBox. For me having every version of a game only clutters BigBox / LaunchBox while I never play them. (I make an exception if there are some major differences. For example Scud Race / Scud Race Plus.)

[How can I launch a game directly from within Launchbox (not the emulator then the game)?]

You can download the latest version of Supermodel from the Supermodel forum https://www.supermodel3.com/Forum/ (You need to register first.)

4 hours ago, vince16 said:

Funny that... what did the emulator expect?

I will start with your second error:

It is like Lordmonkus explains, because you have rom versions that are not matched to your emulator version. Generally speaking you want recent roms with a recent version of Supermodel.

Your first error:

In Supermodel\Config\Games.xml there is a list with which roms each game .zip must contain. Supermodel checks the game upon starting, including a crc check. Some games need some extra roms not found in the Mame sets. (Needed for force feedback.)  Emergency Call Ambulance and Dirt Devils want epr-19338a.bin found in scud.zip. You can unzip those games and copy epr-19338a.bin from the scud folder to the eca and dirtdvls folder. Then rezip the roms in the eca and dirtdvls folders to eca.zip and dirtdvls.zip. Le Mans 24 needs epr-18261.ic9 found in the Model 2 game Sega Touring Car Championship (stcc.zip). 

[How can I launch a game directly from within Launchbox (not the emulator then the game)?]

In Demul > Config > Plugins and Paths > Roms and Bioses Paths, add the paths to your (Naomi 2) roms and bioses.

Then in LaunchBox add the command-line parameters: -run=naomi -rom=

and tick all three checkboxes beneath.

For Model 3 point to supermodel.exe as the emulator.

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

3 minutes ago, Sleepybones said:

Downloaded the latest dev build, unblocked it, installed it, still the exact same problem unfortunately.

The last thing I can think off, is to make sure you do not run it as Administrator.

*Edit*

BTW. When you troubleshooting problems like this, it is always a good idea to reboot your pc before reinstalling software.

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

4 minutes ago, Sleepybones said:

I'm pretty sure it's project 64 crashing, it hangs around in the task manager even when I close the window

the window refuses to alt+enter or alt+f4 out, too.

I do not use Project64 but I downloaded the latest dev. build and it works fine on my pc. Just remember if you download a zip or an installer of Project64, first right click > unblock before unzipping / installing.

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

14 minutes ago, Sleepybones said:

-I don't have the Dev3.0, program, I'm using the setup_project64_3.0.1-5664-2df3434.exe installer in portable mode

I just downloaded the installer, but the installer needs to be unblocked too.

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

8 minutes ago, Sleepybones said:

I don't think the problem is related to fullscreen mode either, as it just happened with windowed mode.

Maybe Project64 gets hidden by the LaunchBox startup screen? Can you disable the startup screens?

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

35 minutes ago, Sleepybones said:

edit: upon further inspection, any setting I try to change inside of project64 seems to undo itself when I apply and close the config menu...?

Try the following:

- If you downloaded a Project64-Dev-3.0 zip, right click the zip > Properties > Unblock. Then extract.

- If you have installed Project64 on your Windows drive, install in an other location.

- Check if Project64.cfg is not read-only.

[First N64 rom I launch through launchbox crashes Project 64]

In Project64 > Options > Configuration have you ticked "Enter Fullscreen Mode when launching a Rom"?

And in LaunchBox have you set up Project64 like this?

To close Project64 from LaunchBox go to: Tools > Manage Emulators > Project64 > Running AutoHotKey Script tab and add:

$Esc::
{
WinClose, ahk_exe {{{StartupEXE}}}
}

 

[Can't import anything?]

*Note*

Before importing any TeknoParrot games into LaunchBox, first set them up and test them in TeknoParrot!

 

First I have set up TeknoParrot with a custom platform name (Arcade Recent, to separate it from my Mame games) like this:

I use the following command-line parameters: --startMinimized --profile=%romfile%

and only the checkbox "Attempt to hide console window" is ticked.

Then in the Associated Platform tab I entered my platform name.

In LaunchBox > Tools > Manage Platforms I added my platform name and set "Scrape As" to "Arcade".

 

Then importing the roms:

I import .xml's from the TeknoParrot\UserProfiles folder. (When you have set up and configured your games in TeknoParrot, TeknoParrot will place a .xml in this folder.)

I unticked "Show Default Platform" to find my custom platform name and leave "Scrape As" empty by clicking on the dropdown arrow and scrolling up to an empty field.

Untick "Search for Metadata" for now.

The only drawback from importing the TeknoParrot\UserProfiles folder .xml's as roms is, that after importing your games into LaunchBox you manually have to edit each game's title in order to scrape for metadata and media. (Right click your game > Edit. Edit the tile of the game and click the button "Search for Metadata". If meta data is found go to: Media > Images and click the button "Download Media".)

[CHDs for MAME - what to play and what to throw?]

I do not download full CHD sets. If I want to play a game in Mame and it gives an error, I check the aforementioned site (http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/) if the game needs a CHD. You can do this by searching on rom name and then scroll down to "Files" and then "Required Files". Then I look for the CHD on a certain "Archival" site. There are too few playable good games that require a CHD to warrant the download (and storage) of a full CHD set IMO.

[Merged? Non-merged? Split? What do people prefer?]

3 hours ago, vaderag said:

The following still breaks

rompath                   "I:\CLEAN ARCADE SETUP\Roms\MAME 0.234 ROMs (non-merged)";"I:\CLEAN ARCADE SETUP\Roms\MAME 0.232 CHDs (merged)"

But the following works 

rompath                   "I:\CLEAN ARCADE SETUP\Roms\MAME 0.234 ROMs (non-merged)"

In my mame.ini all rom paths together are between double quotes. Not per path like yours:

rompath                   "H:\Roms\Arcade Classics;H:\Roms\Sammy Atomiswave;H:\Roms\Sega Model 2;H:\Roms\Sega Model 3;H:\Roms\Sega Naomi;H:\Roms\Sega Hikaru;H:\Roms\Sega Naomi 2;H:\Roms\Sega SystemSP;E:\LaunchBox\Emulators\Arcade Classics\_Mame_Bios"

I added the rom paths via the Mame configuration menu, not by editing mame.ini. (I also use Mame 0.234 and no problem Mame recognizing the rom paths.)

[Supermodel Help]

3 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

1.) When I launch a game and go fullscreen, it seems like the fullscreen window is much larger than the display itself, but the resolution is set only to 1920x1080.

Have you tried right clicking supermodel.exe > Properties > Compatibility >  High DPI scaling, tick the checkbox and set to "Application".

 

3 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

2.) Games seem to run too fast. I've tried changing the CPU frequency, and this seems to do something sometimes, but not always.

In Supermodel.ini try if VSync=1 or Throttle=1 makes a difference.

 

3 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

3.) Scud Race will not launch. I've tried multiple roms with no success.

scud.zip and scudplus.zip both work for me. Needs nothing special. When you start a game with Supermodel, Supermodel opens a command window. Look if it shows an error about your rom. Supermodel has a Games.xml were it lists (and checks) which roms a game zip must contain. (Model 3 roms / zips are part of full mame sets.)

*Edit*

Oh sorry. I jus remembered. For Scud race to work, you must start the game and enter the service menu. Then go to "game assignments" and set "Link ID" to "Single".

 

3 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

4.) Are there certain commands I should run from Launchbox when launching? Or, certain commands I should place in the .ini file?

I use no command-line  parameters for Supermodel in LaunchBox. Everything is configured in Supermodel.ini.  If you want to specify per game settings you can add the rom name like this in Supermodel.ini:

[srally2]
PowerPCFrequency=100

 

 

3 hours ago, Rik3Rr said:

5.) When you play Star Wars Trilogy, what do you map the joystick to? An actual joystick, your mouse, or your 360 controller's stick? The last option seems quite difficult to use for aiming. Just curious of others' preferences.

I have yet to play Star Wars Trilogy. I haven't even configured the controls for Star Wars Trilogy yet.