Phoenix: Jaguar emulator - how to automatically start games?

[freeflyer454]

Just got around to loading a ColecoVision romset into my LaunchBox and setting it up with the Rom_Launcher. Found a bug right off the bat:  it wasn't launching roms.   Fixed it in this version.

_Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.exe

[legolas119]

thanks,

 

well, currently i have loaded in Phoenix all my jaguar, 3do and colecovision games and i'm using your "old" launcher version in order to directly load games for jaguar and 3DO in LB. And I don't need to add any new games in my 3 lists. I only need to use your new loaded version in ordert to load colecovision too in LB.

Now, if I want to use the new version of your loader, I have to:

1) save my current phoenix.config.xml and the _phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml files in another location 

2) overwrite my current loader with you new version and keep a copy of my phoenix.config.xml in the emulator folder

3) run again the backup utility of your loader in order to create a new _phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml version

4) Run LB and try the 3 consoles if it is able to load games for all the console

is that correct?

 

thanks!

[freeflyer454]

14 hours ago, legolas119 said:

thanks,

 

well, currently i have loaded in Phoenix all my jaguar, 3do and colecovision games and i'm using your "old" launcher version in order to directly load games for jaguar and 3DO in LB. And I don't need to add any new games in my 3 lists. I only need to use your new loaded version in ordert to load colecovision too in LB.

Now, if I want to use the new version of your loader, I have to:

1) save my current phoenix.config.xml and the _phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml files in another location 

2) overwrite my current loader with you new version and keep a copy of my phoenix.config.xml in the emulator folder

3) run again the backup utility of your loader in order to create a new _phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml version

4) Run LB and try the 3 consoles if it is able to load games for all the console

is that correct?

 

thanks!

Ah.. if everything is already loaded into the backup file, then go ahead and drop in the new exe file.  It should just work.

[legolas119]

yes, my backup file already includes every game, colecovision included. But with the previous version of your .exe it was not possible to automatically load the colecovision games.

 

Good, i will overwrite the .exe file with the new version and i will keep you updated, thanks!

[legolas119]

well, i tried, but when i launch a game with LB it appears this pop up:

(Accesso Negato in italian means "denied access")

if I use your previous version (with 3Do and jaguar) I don't have any issue.

My Antivirus didn't detect any virus or problem.  Microsoft Defender smartscreen detect it as a risk, but even if I have disabled Microsoft Defender, I am still blocked...it is not possible to run it with LB...:(

thank you

[freeflyer454]

I have to exempt the exe in my antivirus (BitDefender), but other than that, I have no problem launching it through LaunchBox.  I've finally tested it with ColecoVision games added to my LB library, and it all seems to work the same as the previous version.

First off, you can try launching it from the command prompt and add the path to the game rom as the argument.  That'll let us know that the program starts Phoenix and changes the config file as it should. Like on my setup, I typed..   

L:\LaunchBox\Emulators\Phoenix [3DO, Jaguar]\Phoenix v2.8.JAG\_Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.exe "L:\LaunchBox\Games\ColecoVision\River Raid.col"

 

As for the LaunchBox error, it sounds like a permissions issue - something denying LaunchBox from executing this new exe.   Maybe some other security software that may be blocking it?  Maybe try running LaunchBox as Admin?  I don't really know how to help with that issue.

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by freeflyer454

[legolas119]

well, it seems that if I run LB as Admin, it works!

but now I have another proble,...  well I currently have 3 different folder, one for every emulator: 3DO, Jaguar and colecovision.  I created 3 different folder instead only one because I belived that in order to directly launch with LB a colecovosion or jaguar or 3DO game, i need 3 different folder. But it isn't true...

in any case, now overwrite your new .exe file only in Colecovision and Jaguar folder, but now if I run the PhoenixEmuProject.exe file, i see only one game (the latest game loaded with that console), in this way. If I run the PhoenixEmuProject.exe in the Jaguar folder, I see this:

if i run the exe from the 3DO folder I see this:

and from the exe in Colecovision folder, I see this:

so, now, i would like to have ONLY ONE folder, and then run LB with the same .exe emulator for all the 3 consoles.  What do you suggest? I have created in the Colecovision folder the backup file with your new .exe file, so I think that the Colecovision folder it the better one and it is better for me to keep this folder and delete the Jaguar and 3DO folders. 

But how I can be sure that all the games loaded in the emulator for the 3 consoles are correctly loaded in the backup file created? Is it better to delete the _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml?  How can I run again the emulator .exe file in order to see all the 3 emulators with thei 3 games list?

I'm confused

thanks!

[freeflyer454]

Not sure I completely understand the situation you describe... You have three Phoenix emulator folders and you would prefer to have one. 

To do that, go ahead and get your single Phoenix emulator folder ready - just make sure it still has that "full" _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml file to go along with the Rom_Launcher.

Then in LaunchBox, under Tools... Manage Emulators.  Then pick the one you want to keep and associate it with the 3 different systems (remember you'll actually be selecting the _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.exe file as the actual emulator exe).  Then go ahead and remove the other unused Phoenix instances.

I'm not sure, but LaunchBox may ask at this point if you want to associate those games with the emulator.  If it does - great!  If not, you may have to do it through the Bulk Edit Wizard.  You do this by selecting one game from one of the systems, press Ctrl - A to select all the games for that system, Right-click and Edit to bring up the Bulk Edit Wizard.  Press Next.  Then for the Field selector, you'll want to pick Emulator and for Value, select the single Phoenix emulator.  You'll do that for each system.

 

As long as you're not actually changing the game rom or bios file paths, then the Rom_Launcher backup file should be good.  If you are moving any of them, then I'd suggest opening the _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml in a text editor and correct the old paths to the new paths.  The xml file is just a ascii txt file and can be easily read and edited.  If you have a bunch of paths to change, then use a text editor with a search & replace feature.

Hope that helps

 

[legolas119]

 thanks, I'm sorry yes I know how to configure LB in order to use a single emulator for multiple console.

well, I have done these 3 steps:

1) deleted 3DO and Jaguar folders (they already had your old launcher version with the xml file that not considered the Colecovision games)

2) in the Colecovision folder I put your new launcher version and I created the new xml file:

3) I configured on LB the emulator in order to use the same Launcher for the 3 consoles (as you described above)

4) I tried Colecovision: perfect!  Then I tried 3DO and Jaguar: there was missing the bios setup, so I have done again the bios set up for both consoles and now they work too!  I think that it is not necessary to create again the xml file because i dind't add any game, I only added again the bios to 3DO and Jaguar configuration. Is that right?

 

thank you!

[freeflyer454]

Yes, it'll work like that.  Only thing is if you ever do a restore from that backup file, you'll have to setup the bios-es again. 

You could always just copy over the bio settings for those systems from the config xml to the backup xml.  Not that big of a deal, though. 

Glad you got it working.

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by freeflyer454

[legolas119]

perfect, many many thanks for your great job

[legolas119]

hi, i still have a little question: I want to add a 3DO game to my collection.  In order to add it and then use it on LB, which are the correct steps?  I suppose:

1) Run _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.exe and push RESTORE. Then answer YES to the pop up. In this way it will replace my previous configuration file.

2) then I have to add the new game to the emulator, as usual. 

3) after that, I have to run again the _Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.exe file and push BACKUP button. And nothing else.

is this correct?

[freeflyer454]

One thing you'll have to do after you import the new games into Phoenix... you'll need to delete the old "_Phoenix_Rom_Launcher.xml" file. 

The way I wrote the script, it won't overwrite it's backup file, so you'll have to do that manually before making a new backup (otherwise, the backup utility will only keep giving you the "Restore" option).

[legolas119]

ah ok!  And during the Restore procedure, is it necessary to check the "enable autokey" option? And is it necessary also during the Backup process? By default it is unckecked.

thanks!

[freeflyer454]

It's not necessary.  That's just a feature I added to the program to easily kill the Phoenix emulator with the Esc key. 

I believe me & some other people had problems getting the AutoHotKey feature in LB to work with Phoenix, so I just put my own version of it into this program as a convenience.

[legolas119]

perfect, thanks!  Done! Everything works as expected