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RetroArch Core to allow save states in MAME games


TrexCharles

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Hey Guys

I have a bit of a problem. First off thank you guys for making LaunchBox the #1 hookup to play games in style on a nice big 50 inch TV. Well, here's my question. I'm trying to save games when I'm playing MAME. Can someone please help me to be able to do save states on my games. MAME or RetroArch is working so I can save game progress in MAME games. Can someone help me out please?

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1 hour ago, TrexCharles said:

Hey Guys

I have a bit of a problem. First off thank you guys for making LaunchBox the #1 hookup to play games in style on a nice big 50 inch TV. Well, here's my question. I'm trying to save games when I'm playing MAME. Can someone please help me to be able to do save states on my games. MAME or RetroArch is working so I can save game progress in MAME games. Can someone help me out please?

Look at your MAME.INI file located in your MAME emulator directory for this setting:

image.png.abc53ac787ed127ba4369fbd2fb4862a.png

Change the autosave setting from the default of 0 to a 1.  This assumes you are using the MAME emulator as standalone and not within Retroarch. 

Edited by sundogak
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22 hours ago, TrexCharles said:

Ok I've made the change to the mame.ini file using notepad. How do I save & load states? Can I configure the save and load states using a controller button on my xbox one controller?

Per MAME Docs the AutoSave function automatically creates a save state file exiting the system.  MAME will the load that save file when you restart.  Thus, if you just want to start off the game from where you exited the above will work without controller bindings.   Note not all games support save states.  Save states are stored by default in the MAME\sta directory.  

If you want to manually make a Save State you can use the default Shift F7 to save. It will ask for a "slot".  Then the reverse if you want to load a saved state you use the F7 key and select the slot you made earlier.  

If you want to do by controller the easiest way is to use LB built in Pause Menu feature which has options for save/load state and you avoid getting into conflicts on your controller with normal key commands for games. I have my controller XBox button (Button 11) to bring up the pause menu in LB.  You would then have the MAME emulator setup as such to save to slot 1:

image.thumb.png.f9a656af5b2a2bd4b4a15ccafe4f757b.png

image.thumb.png.1f48c0f2eec72ba4e9c02905e61cfa41.png

 

image.thumb.png.0f6e42d5ee530c00084556bb347a76c0.png

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The setting I have in my mame.ini file. What does it do? I have the AutoSave changed to 1. When I play a mame game say The Simpsons. I get far in the game, now I am done playing. With the command of 1 for AutoSave does what? And I'm going to try the LB feature of the Pause Menu, sounds interesting.

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7 hours ago, TrexCharles said:

Interesting

Will this work for RetroArch to for all my other systems? Like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and more?

The above is all Mame standalone specific.  You would need to check which RA emulator cores you are using for those systems to see if save states are supported.  

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  • 1 year later...

@sundogak 

Please tell me, in the new version of Mame (0.268) how to enter this pause menu? I found only just pause and it's just a pause. But how to enter such a menu as you showed above in the screenshots? I still don’t understand what it’s called in Input assignments.

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18 minutes ago, GennadijK said:

@sundogak 

Please tell me, in the new version of Mame (0.268) how to enter this pause menu? I found only just pause and it's just a pause. But how to enter such a menu as you showed above in the screenshots? I still don’t understand what it’s called in Input assignments.

That is the Launchbox pause screen.

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18 minutes ago, sundogak said:

That is the Launchbox pause screen.

There is no such description, but simply a pause that pauses the game and makes the screen a little darker. That is, a regular pause. How exactly do you enter the Launchbox pause screen?
 

Mame 5.png

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I got it. It turns out that launchbox is such a shell :) But I use a separate emulator Mame :))

I didn't know about Launchbox, I thought it was just a website called that :))

Edited by GennadijK
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12 hours ago, GennadijK said:

I got it. It turns out that launchbox is such a shell :) But I use a separate emulator Mame :))

I didn't know about Launchbox, I thought it was just a website called that :))

LB is a frontend to help organize your games. It can launch games using the emulator you choose. The Pause @sundogak is referencing is LB Pause theme features. If you are not even using the LB frontend then you would not see the Pause theme image that sundogak showed in the post. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello, I tried the `autosave = 1` but I still can't use savestate from mame (under launbox/emulators directory).

MAJ+F7 : I allays got error 'Failed to open "rygar\quick.sta" for save state operation".

F7 : allways ask to select a slot, but I can't the list is empty, no choice possible

No problem for my separate Mame.exe

How can I do please ?

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/15/2024 at 9:09 AM, anttonm said:

Hello, I tried the `autosave = 1` but I still can't use savestate from mame (under launbox/emulators directory).

MAJ+F7 : I allays got error 'Failed to open "rygar\quick.sta" for save state operation".

F7 : allways ask to select a slot, but I can't the list is empty, no choice possible

No problem for my separate Mame.exe

How can I do please ?

Did you ever solve this problem?

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