ROM filtering guide for clrmamepro. Filter All USA games plus all exclusives from all regions.

[Tommy1981]

I came across this guide for filtering roms with clrmamepro and thought I would share it with you guys. I did not write it and I don't remember which site it came off of but here it is. Hope this helps you guys out. This guide will allow you to filter out all of the USA roms plus all of the exclusives from every other region. This guide uses no-intro rom sets

1. Install ClrMamePro.
2. Go to No-Intro's DAT-o-Matic, select the system of your rom set and download the parent-clone DAT file.
3. Determine if your system rom set needs a header file on the global No-Intro datset download page. Lookup your system and see if there is a yellow icon thingy on the right side which provides a header download. Extract the archive after downloading and place the extracted XML header file in the <ClrMamePro installation folder>.\Headers folder.
4. Run ClrMamePro and select "Add DatFile" from the Profiler.
5. Browse to your DAT file and select the default location to save it.
6. Open it under "NEW DATFILES" and select "Default".
7. Go to "Settings" in the main window.
8. Add your ROM path(s).
9. Select "1G1R Mode" beneath "Region / Language Mode". (If this option is greyed out, then your DAT file doesn't contain parent-clone info).
10. Select "Regions" from the upper-left dropdown menu. If your DAT file contains parent-clone info with regions you should see them here. Select the regions which you want included in your 1G1R set and leave out those you don't want. As reference, I chose from top (so highest priority) to down: USA, CAN, AUS, EUR, HOL, ASI, BRA, FRA, GER, ITA, SPA, SWE. I left KOR, CHN, JPN unchecked and will be left out. This saves me a lot of roms which I can't play anyway since I can't read the language anyway . Now close the window.
11. Go to "Scanner" in de main window.
12. In the lower left part of the window you will see a lot of checkboxes. Make sure you have all in the right column (Fix) unselected. Make sure you have all in the left column (Check) selected except for "Unneeded". Select "New Scan..."
13. When the scan finishes it will tell you if you have all of the roms in your set for the 1G1R set. If you do you can continue. If you don't you have two options. Search and download for the missing rom(s) or copy an other region version for each of the missing roms from your set to a temp folder. Now press the "OK" button.
14. BEWARE: the following steps will delete unneeded roms not included in the 1G1R set you are wanting to build. ClrMamePro (with its default settings) makes a backup of the deleted files in the <ClrMamePro installation folder>.\backup\<system-name>\... for you but if you want to be completely safe then create your own backup of the set.
15. Select ALL checkboxes from both columns (Check and Fix) and perform a new scan. When this finishes you will have transformed your rom set to a 1G1R rom set so you only have one rom of each version according to the region priority you set earlier.
16. You can save the Have List by clicking that button if you want.
17. Close the window and also close the main window or continu on to other sets. If you are satisfied you can remove your own backup and/or ClrMamePro's backup if you want.

Edited August 12, 2017 by Tommy1981

[Tommy1981]

You can also use romcenter with the parent clone dats too do the same thing. I've used both programs and they both do the same thing. If anyone wants a guide for romcenter let me know and I'll post it. 

[FlightRisk]

But there doesn't seem to be a dat file for Mame. And it would have to be updated regularly to keep up with the monthly version additions/changes. Aren't there no-intro, 1G1R, All Killer No filler, US Only, etc dat files anywhere for ClrMamePro? 

[Sturm]

Hey, I followed your method exactly, but I noticed that some games did not get included. For example, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! never gets checked.

From what I can tell, the USA release is a clone of the Europe release. Even though they are a part of the latest No-Intro ROMset, they simply are never added to my "ROM-Paths" folder. I've tried using a "standard" DAT file (rather than Parent-Clone) and it does get included that way, but so do the various "Rev." of various games. I also have to set the region in DAT-O-MATIC when downloading the DAT file.

Both of these issues are fine, and I can deal with them if it means getting Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" (among other missing games, I'm sure). But if there's something that I'm missing while using your method, please let me know, because I do like the 1G1R simplicity better.

[andrebrait]

On 2/3/2019 at 5:50 PM, Sturm said:

Hey, I followed your method exactly, but I noticed that some games did not get included. For example, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! never gets checked.

From what I can tell, the USA release is a clone of the Europe release. Even though they are a part of the latest No-Intro ROMset, they simply are never added to my "ROM-Paths" folder. I've tried using a "standard" DAT file (rather than Parent-Clone) and it does get included that way, but so do the various "Rev." of various games. I also have to set the region in DAT-O-MATIC when downloading the DAT file.

Both of these issues are fine, and I can deal with them if it means getting Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" (among other missing games, I'm sure). But if there's something that I'm missing while using your method, please let me know, because I do like the 1G1R simplicity better.

Although this might be a bit of a necro, I have the same issue.

 

I have tried multiple things but the result is always the same. It just leaves out a number of ROMs, and important ones (like Mario 64 DS, Dragon Quest IX on the DS, etc.)

[MadTc74]

I separate my no-intro games by region using: <https://gitlab.com/untamedyeti/no-intro_1g1r>

 

If you want all your games bucket in a region folder you can try: <https://gitlab.com/untamedyeti/no-intro_region_separator>

Edited March 1, 2020 by MadTc74

[andrebrait]

On 2/23/2020 at 9:36 PM, MadTc74 said:

I separate my no-intro games by region using: <https://gitlab.com/untamedyeti/no-intro_1g1r>

 

If you want all your games bucket in a region folder you can try: <https://gitlab.com/untamedyeti/no-intro_region_separator>

I also ended up coding my own solution, though it's capable of doing a lot more than separating ROMs and it's highly customizable.

Here's the link to it: https://github.com/andrebrait/1g1r-romset-generator

I made a nice tutorial on how to use it: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/comments/f5b2gb/how_to_make_1g1r_rom_sets_using_nointro_dats/

I have polished it and confirmed it works as intended with a number of advanced users, so I'm posting it here in case someone wants to generate good 1G1R sets ;-)

[ci2own]

On 3/8/2020 at 10:16 PM, andrebrait said:

I also ended up coding my own solution, though it's capable of doing a lot more than separating ROMs and it's highly customizable.

Here's the link to it: https://github.com/andrebrait/1g1r-romset-generator

I made a nice tutorial on how to use it: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/comments/f5b2gb/how_to_make_1g1r_rom_sets_using_nointro_dats/

I have polished it and confirmed it works as intended with a number of advanced users, so I'm posting it here in case someone wants to generate good 1G1R sets ?

Thank you very much for this great solution! It works like a charm!