MAME instruction cards?

[Johnny T]

Hi all,

Well, I've only been messing around with Launchbox for a very short time so I'm still finding my way through all the features.

One part that I think is brilliant is the fact that when I click a MAME game there is an option to see the Manual. However, the manuals for MAME games are generally the manufacturers instructions to the arcade owner for setting the machine up - dip switch positions etc.

I would much rather see proper instructions for the game so I'm thinking of creating some "instruction cards" for my favourite MAME games (and maybe some other emulators) and then finding where the current 'manual' is kept and over-writing it with my own instruction card.

My first question is.....

1) Is that possible to do? Or will it just get over-written next time I import games?

2) Does launchbox only accept .pdf for these files or are there other compatible file types?

3) As this is maybe a common request, is there a set of instruction cards already printed somewhere?

4) Is there a way to access the 'manual' (instruction card) whilst in-game?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[DOS76]

1 it is possible and the only way it could be overwritten is if you instruct LB to download media in bulk and replace what you already have then it would be overwritten but if you instruct it to download missing media withour replacing anything you already have it shouldn't of course any media you get that doesn't come directly from LB should have backed up just to be safe anyway.

2 LB I believe only does accept .pdf for manuals

3 If there are they aren't from LB or hosted anywhere that LB can download them from

4 No currently LB can't access Manuals from in game so if you were to create them and keep them in the manual section you would still have the same limitations

[Johnny T]

Hi Dos,

Thanks for the info. I've been doing some more digging and found a plugin for LB that allows a remote browser to access things like current game being played, manual for current game etc so technically I suppose it would be possible to set up a second device (old tablet or something) to sit and display the manual.

It would be good to have the manual available 'in game' though via a shortcut key or something. I may fire it in to the suggestions box!

I think the problem with the instruction cards (as I envisage them) would be that they would be specific to the system they were running on. i.e. I envisage an instruction card that shows the controls relating to my own cabinet which obviously would be different to other peoples situation. I might have a think about this though and see if there's a way of doing this without it taking me the rest of my natural life

Thanks again for all your help