Unzip or not unzip that is the question

[InfinityFox]

So I'm new to emulation and retro arch and I'm wanting to add SNES roms  and Super Famicom roms. I've been following a great tutorial to setup Retroarch and that is done but I'm a little unsure how to proceed. I have been directed to another great launchbox video on how to run SNES through Retroarch. It explains how to add multiple file types but my concern is that all my  Famicom files are 7z and my SNES files are mostly Zip and a few are .srm and .src. One of the moderators told me that some emulators will run archived roms and others need to be unzipped. So I'm confused as to what to select when adding a system, in fact is there a list of systems that can be run as archived files and a list of what roms need extracting within retroarch? 

Maybe Im over thinking this but a little guidance would be most appreciated

 

cheers

[Lordmonkus]

Hopefully I can answer a couple of questions for you here. Keep in mind I do not use zipped files at all for my emulation, all mine are already extracted.

First 7z or zip doesn't matter, both file types are recognized and handled just fine with 7zip which Launchbox uses to extract the rom files. The only time there may be a problem is if there are multiple files within the archive file, the first file will try and be loaded and if this first file is not an actual rom it may cause problems.

Files with the extension .srm are save files and not rom files at all. I am not sure what the .src files are but I do know they are not rom files either.

Emulators that directly run archived roms will be things like Mame, NeoGeo and some other arcade emulators where the rom archive contains several rom files and these should never be extracted, the emulator needs them to remain archived.

[InfinityFox]

I assume some systems are archived to save disk space? So if we use Retroarch as an example, if files are present that are archived in most cases they don't need to be extracted to run? What is the reasoning behind extracting a file before running, than just leaving it alone. I'm just curious. 

Btw I meant .sfc 

Thanks again lordmonkus for for the help.....

Edited September 22, 2016 by InfinityFox

[Lordmonkus]

Yeah some people keep their roms archived to save on space.

If you are loading a rom through through Retroarch and it is a zip / 7z file it will need to be extracted first. Launchbox will extract it to a temporary folder first, then load it and delete the temporary file after playing, all leaving the original compressed file alone. I believe Retroarch does the same thing as Launchbox but again I cannot say for sure since I have always extracted my files out.

The file type .sfc is a rom file but .srm files are still save files. The 2 rom file types for the Snes is .smc and .sfc.

[Whiteshoe]

The Redream emulator for Sega Dreamcast will not recognize the zipped game files. 

On another point, I was having sounds problems with Redream games with the premium version.

Turned out my Radeon video card (which doesn't support Open GL) was the problem.  I replaced the 

card with a nVidia adapter and all is well (Open GL supported).  

Cheers