RetroArch and custom configs

[Newlander]

16 minutes ago, fromlostdays said:

Rocketlauncher allowed you to automatically launch a config that was named after the system and placed in the /config folder. At the time, it was really awesome. 

Now, though, Retroarch supports custom configs on a per core, per game, and per directory level, so that RL system of managing configs is honestly obsolete. I loved Rocketlauncher, but you're wasting your time trying to keep those configs alive at this point. As stated above, you should learn to use the RA method of config saving.

It works like this where ">" equals "overrides"

Per Game > Per core > Retroarch.cfg

Step 1, open retroarch navigate to the options tab (second tab) go to "Configurations" and turn "Save on Exit" off, then before exiting Retroarch, navigate to the first tab, go to "Configuration File" and click "Save current config".

(What you just did was save a setting in the main Retroarch.cfg. You CAN override this setting on a per core, per game basis but this is a setting you want to apply to ALL systems, so you never should override that setting)

Step 2: launch a game for the system through launchbox. Go to quick menu, set your bezel, any other options you want to apply to ALL the games for that specific system. Once that's done, just go to overrides and select "Save per core override". From that point on, all of those settings will apply to all games that use that core.

Step 3: Optional: Repeat set 2 but instead of saving per core, save as a Per Game Override, and those settings will only apply to the game. 

It really is that simple. You might have to do the leg work again in terms of settings, but you can probably do it all in the time you've been trying to get those old configs to work.

Only last thing, you may want to go ahead and move all of those existing configs out of the configs folder before you start. Don't have to delete them, but every time you save a change or override if the folder isn't cluttered you'll be able to see how RA is saving what and where.

 

ok thank you , slowly getting there , i just can't change my controls is the only thing , its set to retropad , but i cannot change Say B button to Keyboard J  or A to keyboard q , this is another reason i was going through the text  file cfgs per platform any ideas how i can fox this?

and my games are being cutt off by the bezel even though integer scaling is turned on

Edited February 11, 2020 by Newlander

[fromlostdays]

I use a controller, not a keyboard but I'm going to assume they are the same, which brings me to two caveats to what I said above about overrides:

• The first is Controls (which is what you're asking about)
• The second is Shaders.

For controls, you can navigate to the second tab, go to inputs and change the inputs that way, and then save per core, per game etc. I don't recommend this. Now, for controls what you want to do is launch a game first, go to "Quick Menu" and then go to "Controls". You'll see the option to change retropad etc and set all the buttons there. What's neat is that when you're done, right there in the Controls menu you can save the changes per game, per core, or per directory. So saving those changes is done now in the Controls option under Quick menu.

Shaders are kind of the same. You want to save the override right from the Shaders menu, and you can also do it there per core, per game etc.

This is only slightly different than saving bezels and everything else, and the only variation is that all other settings besides shaders and controls you just go to "Quick Menu" then "Overrides" to save it. For Controls and Shaders you do it right in their respective menus.

There was a time when shaders and controls were saved under the same config, but now I'm pretty sure those two get their own configs in different folders.  

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by fromlostdays

[Newlander]

an

3 minutes ago, fromlostdays said:

I use a controller, not a keyboard but I'm going to assume they are the same, which brings me to two caveats to what I said above about overrides:

• The first is Controls (which is what you're asking about)
• The second is Shaders.

For controls, you can navigate to the second tab, go to inputs and change the inputs that way, and then save per core, per game etc. I don't recommend this. Now, for controls what you want to do is launch a game first, go to "Quick Menu" and then go to "Controls". You'll see the option to change retropad etc and set all the buttons there. What's neat is that when you're done, right there in the Controls menu you can save the changes per game, per core, or per directory. So saving those changes is done now in the Controls option under Quick menu.

Shaders are kind of the same. You want to save the override right from the Shaders menu, and you can also do it there per core, per game etc.

This is only slightly different than saving bezels and everything else, and the only variation is that all other settings besides shaders and controls you just go to "Quick Menu" then "Overrides" to save it. For Controls and Shaders you do it right in their respective menus. 

 

it only gives me the option of changing to like a predetermined keys not whatever i want it to be

eg B button (down) (key z) gives me the option of binding that to the d pad buttons or A B + start or select , ill try and set the defualts for everything and then see if i can save that per directory

any ideas how i can make the game scale to the bezel?

[Newlander]

nope that didn't work , i saved a core remap file which seems to be loading but my controlls are not coming across , even tried manually finding the remapfile and couldn't see it

[fromlostdays]

K lets slow down. Haha. For Bezels, You can scale the bezel under the overlays tab, make it bigger or smaller to fit the screen, or you can change the aspect ratio of the game display itself in video options or in most cases core options, but not all systems display at the same aspect ratio to begin with and not all bezels are suited for all aspect ratios so this is a process of trial and error. Try and be more clear about what you're asking from now on. Like this 16x9 bezel for a 4:3 aspect ratio isn't displaying right on this system. You'll get better answers. As it stands I have no idea what you're working with.

Same with controls. You're using a keyboard? You're wanting to change the default keys?

 

 

[Newlander]

1 minute ago, fromlostdays said:

K lets slow down. Haha. For Bezels, You can scale the bezel under the overlays tab, make it bigger or smaller to fit the screen, or you can change the aspect ratio of the game display itself in video options or in most cases core options, but not all systems display at the same aspect ratio to begin with and not all bezels are suited for all aspect ratios so this is a process of trial and error. Try and be more clear about what you're asking from now on. Like this 16x9 bezel for a 4:3 aspect ratio isn't displaying right on this system. You'll get better answers. As it stands I have no idea what you're working with.

Same with controls. You're using a keyboard? You're wanting to change the default keys?

 

 

all my bezels are 4:3

im justing this with an ipac so its a keyboard encoder so yes i need to be able to change everything to keyboard inputs on a per console/directory basis

[fromlostdays]

Ahh I gotcha. Ipacs are a different monster. I'm not familiar with them, but I have seen many threads on launchbox about them. You may want to search the forums.

In terms of your bezels, I'd love to help but "all my bezels are 4:3" doesn't tell me what system, no description of what the result looks like, nothing I can work with at all so my generic answer to this generic question is:

Just make sure all your systems display at 4:3 and you'll be fine.  

Goodluck!

 

 

 

[Newlander]

1 minute ago, fromlostdays said:

 

 

the ones im having issues with are gameboys where the gameplay is supposed to be on the gameboys screen but its cropping the center of the game instead of resizing the window to fit correctly

 

[Headrush69]

12 hours ago, Newlander said:

all my bezels are 4:3

im justing this with an ipac so its a keyboard encoder so yes i need to be able to change everything to keyboard inputs on a per console/directory basis

You should only have to set up your iPac once. The keys get mapped to a virtual RetroPad that is similar to an XBOX controller. So all cores think that a controller is attached.

If you have a core/directory or game you want to change the controls, you make the changes within Retroarch and save a remap that will be applied automatically.

Manually changing configs for this is just making it a more complicated procedure.

12 hours ago, Newlander said:

the ones im having issues with are gameboys where the gameplay is supposed to be on the gameboys screen but its cropping the center of the game  instead of resizing the window to fit correctly

For any bezel that has a reduced screen size, you will have to manually adjust the video parameters.