Rom Files vs Rom Set Import

[Error 404]

When I import the whole rom set, none of the games is playable after the import process is done.

But if I import the roms as individual file one by one, everything works fine, except it's a pain to try and import over 1000 files, and I really like how "import rom set" creates sub-applications for games with different versions. I have to do this manually if I import the files one by one.

Please advise. Thanks.

 

[neil9000]

12 minutes ago, Error 404 said:

When I import the whole rom set, none of the games is playable after the import process is done.

But if I import the roms as individual file one by one, everything works fine, except it's a pain to try and import over 1000 files, and I really like how "import rom set" creates sub-applications for games with different versions. I have to do this manually if I import the files one by one.

Please advise. Thanks.

 

A MAME romset is far more than 1000 files, sounds like you are trying to use the MAME fullset importer without a actual fullset, hence why games are not launching, you do not have them in your set.

[Error 404]

46 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

A MAME romset is far more than 1000 files, sounds like you are trying to use the MAME fullset importer without a actual fullset, hence why games are not launching, you do not have them in your set.

sorry, it's 4890 files, not 1000 files.

hmmm..... is there any way to find out which files are missing? i got this rom set from the libretro github.

thanks.

 

 

[Headrush69]

My guess is when importing individual ROMs the full path to the rom is sent to MAME.

When using the full MAME set importer it's relying on the rom path being set in the mame.ini correctly and only passing the rom name.

Just a hunch as I don't use the full MAME set importer and have a curated list on roms I import.

[neil9000]

Also if you are using any version of the MAME emulator that is not version 0.78 then the games imported will not match what you actually have either. For the record, while the 2003 romset is technically a full romset, it is one based off of the 0.78 set that was released in 2003, hence the name, it lacks a ton of games that are in the actual current romsets and really isn't recommended as the go to romset as it can only be used with Retroarch's mame2003plus core or the 20 year old standalone version 0.78, which lacks any of the features of newer versions of the emulator and is simply a poorer emulator, MAME has come a long long way in nearly 20 years.

[Error 404]

5 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

 as it can only be used with Retroarch's mame2003plus core or the 20 year old standalone version 0.78, which lacks any of the features of newer versions of the emulator and is simply a poorer emulator, MAME has come a long long way in nearly 20 years.

ah..... that explains it...........

 

thanks.

[Error 404]

On 8/21/2022 at 4:47 PM, neil9000 said:

Also if you are using any version of the MAME emulator that is not version 0.78 then the games imported will not match what you actually have either. For the record, while the 2003 romset is technically a full romset, it is one based off of the 0.78 set that was released in 2003, hence the name, it lacks a ton of games that are in the actual current romsets and really isn't recommended as the go to romset as it can only be used with Retroarch's mame2003plus core or the 20 year old standalone version 0.78, which lacks any of the features of newer versions of the emulator and is simply a poorer emulator, MAME has come a long long way in nearly 20 years.

how does launchbox distinguish clones from the originals? when i use the set importer, i choose to import clones as extra applications, but there are still some clones that escape this categorization. ie: mortal kombat - mk.zip , jak_mk.zip , tmkombat.zip ,they all have the same game title but different rom names.

this is mame 0.246 rom set, non-merged.

 

thanks.

[neil9000]

1 hour ago, Error 404 said:

how does launchbox distinguish clones from the originals? when i use the set importer, i choose to import clones as extra applications, but there are still some clones that escape this categorization. ie: mortal kombat - mk.zip , jak_mk.zip , tmkombat.zip ,they all have the same game title but different rom names.

this is mame 0.246 rom set, non-merged.

 

thanks.

They will be in the right click menu of the game, thats the whole point you get one entry in Launchbox with all the clones under that game.

[Error 404]

16 hours ago, neil9000 said:

They will be in the right click menu of the game, thats the whole point you get one entry in Launchbox with all the clones under that game.

yes, that's what i thought would happen, but, as an example, i still get two "1492" games.

they have different file names, but i think the game titles are the same, but they didn't get merged into one as one being a different version.

please see the pictures.

maybe i'm just being overly anal-retentive.

thanks.

 

[JoeViking245]

9 hours ago, Error 404 said:

as an example, i still get two "1942" games.

Clones are revisions or modifications of the Parent games' ROM set (the physical files of the originally released game).  Though the PlayChoice-10 cart version (the one on the left) is part of the 194x Series, it doesn't use any of the original files.

So it's not technically a "Clone".  You could almost call it a 'Port' of the game.  Play the PC-10 Arcade version (released 1987).  Then go play the NES Port of the game (released 1985).  You might notice some visual similarities between the 2.  Now play the original Arcade Machine (released 1984) and see 'how it was meant to be'.