Hoakypoaky

What about "combine ROMs with matching titles into a single game"? the default settings checked that box. What does that do? Should it be checked when using split ROMs?

Ahhh thank you! I've been struggling for hours with this. Any other import tips? I put the split ROMs & the CHDs into their own separate folders, then placed those in a folder called mame 188 ROMs, then selected that single folder for import. Will it sort the ROMs & CHDs accordingly? Not sure if the was a box I had to check

i was setting up to use retroarch as my emulator. You're saying I need to use the standalone 188 mame emulator to filter that junk out? i thought I needed some "all killer no filler bat file'? I have no idea what that means.

This is getting frustrating when the YouTube tutorials are different from what I'm seeing on my screen. im about to import my mame 0.188 split ROMs & CHDs. As I stepped through the import settings, there was never a screen that allowed you to check the boxes to skip mahjong, casino, quiz etc etc games. I don't want to import all that crap. Im on the final ready to import screen, and scrolling through the list (which is enormous), I can see these mahjong games etc & duplicate versions of some games listed. If I import all this, does that mean I'll have to go through them one by one and delete? What happened to the screen where you could choose to skip all the junk games? I just don't want a massive mess to sort through after import. I don't even know what 80% of these games are.

Damn I tried to get MKX to work with my xtension control panel (configured for mame), and it almost drove me insane. I gave up. I was able to get the controls mapped in the MKX controls menu (which was a pain), but in the character select screen, the joysticks don't work & I cannot select the player 2 controller layout before the match. Lazy programming by game developer if you ask me. It's unplayable i have no idea how to fix. I tried screwing around with Street Fight V, but got nowhere. Configuring other Steam games like Nidhogg were a breeze. Can you explain in a little more detail how you were able to get MKX & SFV to work for two players?

So it sounds like I don't need any of it. I would like the bezels, but I'm sure I can find them elsewhere. Looks like I can import these into LB tomorrow & try to get my mame setup configured. Still debating going with mame standalone emulator or retroarch. I suppose it's not that big a deal.

Is there any other MAME set I need to download? I have the split roms & merged chds, but I see other bundles for 0.188 like... MAME video snaps 16gb MAME extras 39gb MAME rollback ROMs 8gb MAME ROMs Bios Devices 108mb MAME File manager MFM Data sets 1gb MAME Software Lists Machine bios devices 18mb MAME software lists roms split 55gb what are these sets, and do in need them?? No idea of their purpose.

Quick question... I was able to download the split MAME 0.188 Roms, but when I looked for the 0.188 CHDs, the only ones I could find were merged. is that right? There's no split set for CHDs?

Thanks guys, I missed your last reply. I'll go with the split set & see how it goes

My bad I meant merged is out. So it sounds like non-merged has everything you need contained in each game zip, but it's redundant saving all those dupe parent files & takes up a lot of space, and if you wanted to update you would need to download the complete set. But split takes less space since the parent files aren't duplicated, and the clones can be easily updated. Hmmm. Does LB operate better with non-merged vs split?

what's the advantage of a split set again? It's split into parents & clones, so does that mean I will have like 10 versions of pacman in LB? Or does that depend on how they are imported into LB? The big nonmerged set is def out then.

I keep reading the differences but I'm not getting my head around it

Bad link. Isn't it best to have the non-merged set, as it has everything? Mame 0.188 mergered approx 125gb & nonmerged approx 58gb. Dont you need the whole zip with the bios & roms to run?

Also what is the preferred type of romset to download for the first time? Merged or non-merged sets? This shit is getting so confusing

I just discovered that the Arcade MAME core is for version 0.188, so I suppose I'll need the latest version of roms to match. Is that correct? Also does anyone care to share why they prefer RA over the standalone MAME emulators? Perhaps I should download the standalone emulator as well.

Well I've been working on the arcade this weekend & the further I go, the more questions I have. Sometimes the tutorial YouTube videos are slightly out of date. Anyway, I installed Launchbox Premium & Big Box. I've got lifetime membership to emumovies. Then I downloaded all my Steam games, then imported them into Launchbox. They're all there & run fine, but I'm having issues with configuring the controls for individual games, especially Mortal Kombat X & Street Fighter V. Extremely frustrating, but those questions can wait for another time. I've downloaded Retroarch v1.6.3 & plan on using to to emulate my early systems. I have a fairly good idea of the menus & navigating through the retroarch menus. But now I'm to the point that I need to download the various cores, and I'm finding that there are several versions for a single system (arcadeMAME, Gameboy, snes, etc). I have no idea what the differences are, or which core is the best. Are they different versions based on CPU performance? Care to suggest the BEST retroarch core to download for each system??? My system is a beast & can handle anything. i just wanted to start with MAME first, but hell, there's 10 different cores for arcade alone.

Oh say I have some PSOne games on disc.... can you rip the ROMs from the disc to your computer? I have some rare ones & I'm not sure if I'd be able to find them. I suppose everything is out there if you look hard enough. Just curious.

That was an awesome reply. Thank you so much! It's funny but my greatest arcade memory is being 8 years old & watching these 17 years olds dominate on Dragon's Lair. I stood there & studied all their moves, I was just blown away how easy they made it look. My hands used to shake just dropping in the quarters for my turn, and at 50 cents per play, not cheap in 1983! Then I always proceeded to die on the flaming ropes 3 times & that was that. Haha. Running Dragon's Lair & Space Ace was the main reason I wanted to do this build. But if Daphne is a pain, then maybe I'll just have to play them through Steam or another option. I just thought Daphne would be best, since I might be able to play games like Cliff Hanger (aka Lupin) as well. I have a Dragon's Lair copy on Steam, but I haven't tried it out yet. The controls always suffer from lag on every system I played it on. Why does the Wii version run so well? Can you have both Retroarch & the dedicated MAME emulator installed on your HD, then just select which one you want to run via Launchbox settings? Sounds like Retroarch will meet most of my console emulation needs. And I'll forget about rocketlauncher, as I don't need more problems or confusion. I'd like to keep things from getting to complicated. Thanks for the tip on CD games. I'll just download the individual PSOne games that I enjoyed to conserve space. Thanks for the top game list suggestion. My Xtension "emulation plus" control panel is a "keyboard encoded device", pc combatable via two USB ports, and pre-configured to MAME. Whatever that means. As long as the steam games recognize the control panel, I suppose it's easy to set up your controls in-game using keyboard input settings. I hope I said that right. I'll have to watch some more Launchbox tutorials on YouTube. Are those videos outdated, or are they a good guide for a noob when doing my setup? Any beneficial forum threads I should read first? I guess I should dive into that noob section.

Thanks for the response guys. I guess I should have been more clear. I'm a child of the 80s, dropped tons of quarters in arcades as a kid. So that means that I want to run all the arcade classics I can find. That's what's most important to me, as well as running Laserdisc games. I'd also like to run all the early console stuff from NES, SNES, N64, SEGA Genesis & and up through PlayStation One. I'm pretty sure my system will be able to handle PlayStation 2, so I could do those too, but maybe later on. I have fond memories of some PSP games, so if there's an emulator I would do those as well. I imagine the ROMs, videos, box art, etc for just these systems will take up a ton of HD space. I have a 6 TB HHD currently. As far as PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Japanese stuff I've never heard of, and more modern systems, I'm really not interested even going there. I didn't even know mobile game emulation was possible. But I definitely want to be able to run my Steam games, like platformers & modern fighting games through Launchbox. As to how I will configure Mortal Combat X, Street Fighter V, and games like Pac-Man 256 though my arcade controls, I'm not sure if that's even possible. Something to figure out down the road. So Retroarch & rocketlaucher are emulators themselves? Or are they used to configure controls across platforms & run the individual emulators? Little confusing, and their websites are hard to follow. Do you need to use one of these? I guess I just don't grasp the purpose of these applications yet. My plan is to install LaunchBox, organize folders, then start going system by system (such as MAME) & download the emulator and the ROM sets. Once I get MAME dialed in & the controls configured, then move on to the next system. I've also read that nitpicking though ROM sets is a bad idea, as it's best to download everything for a system so you're not missing some critical file you need. Correct? How do you configure the controls for each game? Through launchbox, or say Retroarch, or do you need 3rd party input mapping software? You really don't have to configure controls for each individual game across every system do you? God that would take forever, but I have a feeling that is the case. Isn't there a generalized control setup that can be adjusted for each game if defaults are wrong? Sorry my mind was running there. Any help appreciated.

Thanks for the response LordMonkus! I will definitely setup the folders as you suggested. You lost me on the last paragraph though, as I'm not familiar with the utility software options available. I'm assuming you're referring to scan line generator add-ons? And since you know my PC specs & what my system can handle, I'd be very interested to hear what you would suggest for my Launchbox install. I will get Launchbox Premium with a lifetime license. I also plan on getting a lifetime EmuMovies licence as well. In fact I'll get whatever license I need to make this frontend look awesome. I want to run Big Box with every presentation option, make it look like what I see in the youtube videos. But I still don't understand what the purpose of options like Rocket Launcher or Retrofit do, and which one should be installed. Are they necessary, is one better than the other? Is that the bridge between Launchbox & the individual emulators? I have no clue at the moment. I guess I'd like to know what would you install if you had this powerful system? Just point me in the right direction. You seem to have a wealth of knowledge on this subject

So I figured I would give an update on my build so far. I've been working on the cabinet & the computer build over the last month. I said I wasn't going to go crazy, but I decided that I wanted to run Big Box with all the presentation bells & whistles, and I wanted to be able to run all of my newer Steam Library PC games from this computer as well. And if I was going to do that, might as well go big for possible VR someday (who knows). But I was just having too much fun building this thing! In any case, here are the PC specs... Intel i7 7700K CPU overclocked to 5.0GHz Asus Strix z270e motherboard 32GB Corsair Dominator DDR4-3000 RAM Corsair H115i CPU cooler Asus Strix 11GB GeForce GTX 1080ti GPU Samsung 960 evo 250GB SSD (for Windows 10 64bit Home install) WD black 6TB HDD (for everything else) Corsair 850W PSU Corsair air 540 mid tower case (fits perfect in cab, plenty fans & airflow) Went with a 32" VIZIO 1080p TV for the cabinet, but not by choice There just wasn't a 32 inch gaming monitor available in 1440p resolution with the features I wanted. Perhaps I will swap someday when someone manufactures a high end 32" gaming monitor at 144hz. I also bought a Dayton audio DTA-120 amp & ran two Alpine SPS-410 4" speakers in the cabinet, so I'm really happy with the sound results. Graphics for the cabinet will come after everything else is finished. The 32" cabinet & control panel comes from Rec Room Masters. Love the cab itself, very study & solid. The control panel is their "emulator plus" edition, with two 8-way & a dedicated 4-way suzo happ joysticks, with trackball & a spinner. The whole control panel connects to the pc via two usb connectors, so I'm curious how hard it will be to dial in and setup. I want to swap the joysticks out for something better, these seem pretty loose & cheap. Been looking at options on ultramarc's website. Perhaps their 4 & 8 way mag sticks? Any suggestions appreciated. Now the hard stufff begins setting up the Launchbox software. Honestly I have no idea what I'm doing, and have so much to learn. Going to dive into the YouTube Launchbox tutorials, but I wish there were written step-by-step instructions (for newbies) on the BEST way to install Launchbox & setup all the files & folders on your hard drive. I know everyone probably has their own way of doing this. I have a lot of research to do. I just want to avoid any common mistakes. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome I know I will need help at some point

Yes I've changed the PC build specs since deciding to ditch the VR idea. Not going that crazy. Like to put the money into a high end gaming monitor instead. I'd love to find a 32 inch gaming monitor with 4K resolution & 144Hz refresh rate, 2ms response time. G-Sync would be nice too. Unfortunately it doesn't exist. So have 2 options basically... 1) Go with the Acer Predator XB321HK now (32" 4K 60Hz 4ms G-Sync) for approx. $1300 2) Go with VIZIO 1080p 60Hz TV now for $200, and wait for monitor manufacturers to make the monitor I really want. They make those full featured gaming monitors at 27 inches, just not 32 inches. So I would think someone will make one soon enough. So I'm really leaning towards waiting & rolling with the TV for now.

So if I don't go G-Sync (which is not looking likely), then a 1440p/60Hz monitor would be ok then. Hmmm. I don't think you answered before, but why would they make a 4K G-sync monitor with just a 60 Hz refresh rate? What's the purpose of that? Perhaps it's just an older monitor.

Also.... what is considered an ideal response time? I've seen gaming monitors ranging from 1ms to 6ms. Some monitors list the response time in their specs, but not the refresh rate.

I understand the benefits of G-Sync, high refresh rates, and low input latency. I need a 32 inch flat screen monitor with at least 1440p resolution & 144Hz refresh rate. Hell I'd take anything over 100Hz at this point. But it does not exist. I've looked at all the major manufacturers & searched Amazon, Newegg, etc. Those BenQ gaming monitors would be great, but again, they don't make a 32" gaming monitor. The problem is that there are not many choices in the 32 inch flat screen monitor size, so I think I'm stuck.