Daphne ROM import problems

[adamtoth]

Hello,

 

I've read the numerous posts and tutorials on Daphne configuration, but haven't been able to get the ROM import working well. It seems that when I go through the Import ROMs steps in Launchbox, when I get to the confirmation screen, it only lists some of Daphne laserdisc games and not all of the ones that I chose to import. It also doesn't match up the games quite right. This happens whether I choose the ROM zip files to import or the .TXT framefiles. See the attached screen shot of the games it seems to pull.

 

Notice that it is missing Dragon's Lair, Us vs Them, Interstellar, Roadblaster, Super Don Quixote, etc. Also it seemed to get Star Blazer, Galaxy Ranger, and Space Ace matched up to incorrect games. Am I doing something wrong? It just seems to not be able to match up. I'm choosing to scrape as Arcade platform (since these are arcade games, and there is no Daphne or Laserdisc option to scrape as). Any help would be appreciated.

[sundogak]

see this post:

You cannot call the ROM zip files directly in Launchbox (or any front end) if using the Daphne emulator.  In order for Daphne to launch a game it needs to know the framefile and the video disc (VLDP) location as well as other launch options.  If all is setup correctly with name and path, Daphne will pull the correct ROM name.  The above thread gives example of how Dragon's Lair is setup. There are a variety of ways to go about issuing the command line which is why it can be confusing.  But in the end Daphne needs a specific set of commands either through a batch file or some other method and people just go about it slightly differently. Additionally, your paths and naming have to be consistent with your Framefiles, rom names, and VLDP or things won't launch.

There is also this longer thread as well:

Lastly, you can setup Daphne as its own Platform separate from "Arcade" but  you still to set it for scraping from "Arcade" for the LB database since ultimately it is an arcade game. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by sundogak

[adamtoth]

Thanks. 

Yes I know that I can't launch the ZIP files directly. I'm just trying to get Launchbox to recognize some files (ZIP, or TXT) so that the Import process has some games/files for which it can get metadata and images. Afterwards I can change the emulator/commandline settings to call my batch files or daphne directly.

My post isn't about how to get the games to play from Launchbox, it's about how to get Launchbox to fetch correct metadata for the games. If I configure the platform to scrape for Arcade, it doesn't find all the games and gets some of the games incorrect.

It was a lot of work, but I ended up doing the following:

 

1. Create a new Platform called Daphne, and choose not to scrape as anything
2. Start the import process against the ROM zip files in Daphne roms directory
3. It will bring in all the files without any metadata into the Daphne platform, and the Name/Title of each game will be the zip file name
4. (optional) Combine any alternate versions of games together if that's how you like them
5. Edit each game individually, change the title to the correct game name, and click the Search for Metadata button.
6. Find the Arcade version of the game from the list of games that appear in the dropdown and select it
7. The metadata should be populated and it should be linked now to a launchbox db id.
8. Click the Download Images/Media button at the bottom to get the images.
9. (optional) In the platform field, it will now be "Arcade". If that's fine, leave it, or if you want the platform to be Daphne, change it back to Daphne.
10. Change your application path/emulator settings to call Daphne with commandline parameters or to execute batch files, or go through RocketLauncher/Retroarch/your emulator of choice.

With 17 games and a bunch of alternate versions, it took me a couple of hours to get it all straightened out. Now I'll have to try the Singe games with a similar process. It was mostly a manual import process, and I wish Launchbox had better support for importing the Daphne games straight away, recognizing clones/alternates and region variations.

 

[sundogak]

Glad you got it sorted.  I guess I missed the question since you referenced ROM import and your screenshot shows that as well.  You still could have skipped the ROM.ZIP step though.  If using framefile and batch file combo you just import into LB the framefile as a "ROM" (or Batch file if hard coding them) by telling it at the import point to look for TXT file (or BAT). You don't have to go back in that case and redo all the launch paths.  So all my framefiles are in one directory.  I pointed LB to import those as the ROM import, you then do the DB matching like you noted above, etc and done. No going back to alter the launch path/commands. 

On the DB side, ultimately, unless someone has input an alternative name in the LB DB then there is no way for LB to know what to link to without manual search (as you found).  After the MAME Full Set Importer feature was added in LB, there was some users adding in alternative names to MAME/Arcade games.  Thus, LB was better able to link to the actual game title. But even that isn't full proof in that MAME can change ROM names on occasion. 

Edited July 3, 2020 by sundogak

[patrickfx]

On 7/3/2020 at 10:58 AM, adamtoth said:

Thanks. 

Yes I know that I can't launch the ZIP files directly. I'm just trying to get Launchbox to recognize some files (ZIP, or TXT) so that the Import process has some games/files for which it can get metadata and images. Afterwards I can change the emulator/commandline settings to call my batch files or daphne directly.

My post isn't about how to get the games to play from Launchbox, it's about how to get Launchbox to fetch correct metadata for the games. If I configure the platform to scrape for Arcade, it doesn't find all the games and gets some of the games incorrect.

It was a lot of work, but I ended up doing the following:

 

1. Create a new Platform called Daphne, and choose not to scrape as anything
2. Start the import process against the ROM zip files in Daphne roms directory
3. It will bring in all the files without any metadata into the Daphne platform, and the Name/Title of each game will be the zip file name
4. (optional) Combine any alternate versions of games together if that's how you like them
5. Edit each game individually, change the title to the correct game name, and click the Search for Metadata button.
6. Find the Arcade version of the game from the list of games that appear in the dropdown and select it
7. The metadata should be populated and it should be linked now to a launchbox db id.
8. Click the Download Images/Media button at the bottom to get the images.
9. (optional) In the platform field, it will now be "Arcade". If that's fine, leave it, or if you want the platform to be Daphne, change it back to Daphne.
10. Change your application path/emulator settings to call Daphne with commandline parameters or to execute batch files, or go through RocketLauncher/Retroarch/your emulator of choice.

With 17 games and a bunch of alternate versions, it took me a couple of hours to get it all straightened out. Now I'll have to try the Singe games with a similar process. It was mostly a manual import process, and I wish Launchbox had better support for importing the Daphne games straight away, recognizing clones/alternates and region variations.

 

It work.  And this remind me to answer that this hobby is not always easy.  When friends ask me ... how easy it is to setup all this.  ....eeeeeeeee easy !!! yeah! lyer!

Edited April 24, 2022 by patrickfx

[X1pheR]

Well another victim here  I setup everything as it should with a bat file, pointing to the framefiles for import. But unfortunately it still doesn't recognize the actual games and sometimes comes with weird games from other MAME I guess. Since it is scraped as Arcade. 

[sundogak]

On 7/14/2022 at 7:07 PM, X1pheR said:

Well another victim here  I setup everything as it should with a bat file, pointing to the framefiles for import. But unfortunately it still doesn't recognize the actual games and sometimes comes with weird games from other MAME I guess. Since it is scraped as Arcade. 

If you are referring to matching the game to the LB DB then for most part, you will have to manually match (override the name, then click the "Search for Metadata" button).  For some Daphne Arcade games, users have added alternate names in the LB arcade database to aid with matching (i.e., like Cliff Hanger = "cliff" alt name) but that is hit or miss.  For MAME, LB "knows" the ROM names and can match when using the full set importer since it is using the MAME internal database to help. But with Daphne, nothing similar is in place. Fortunately, only ~30 games to work through and once linked to LB DB should not have to mess with it again.  

[X1pheR]

@sundogak I was indeed. Too bad there isn't a daphne importer guiding the setup. I was looking in the forums and internet but you see a lot of people which are struggling to get this setup. There must be a way to make this less painful  Thinking about creating a batch file somehow which handles everything or guides the user in setting up with error checks.

[tallpr24]

mine daphney games are playing in spanish, anyone know how to change the language ?