Trouble with importing different games with similar rom title for one platform

[nietzsche666]

I'm wrapping my head around an annoying problem that occurs to me in a few singular cases when trying to import games to Launchbox. I'm sure there must be a simple solution for it, but I just fail to find it right now.

I'm using an older Launchbox version 8.4 for one of my Win10 systems, and want to have one platform for all Arcade games, regardless if the games are emulated through mame, Teknoparrot, Supermodel and so on. No subcategories.

 

Launchbox seems to refuse to import images for games seperately in some cases, if their rom names are similar.

My specific case: I want to import the old classic Contra arcade game into Launchbox and emulate it via mame, but I also want to import the new Contra: Evolution game for the same Launchbox arcade platform, using Teknoparrot. For mame, I need to import a file called contra.zip, for Teknoparrot I need to import a file called contra.xml. It's unfortunate that Teknoparrot doesn't have a more specific title for its setup file I need, but it's what I have to deal with. You can't change the name of the files for these emulators or they won't run these games iirc.

Now, I can point two seperate entries to two seperate DB IDs for both games, and they get recognized as different games from different years, they have the different titles "Contra" and "Contra: Evolution", and have all the data correctly for each of their seperate entries, but all artwork and screenshots images I download for one show up for the other entry, too. And if I delete the wrong pictures for Contra Evolution, they will be missing for the entry of the other game, and vice versa. I assume this is probably happening because except for the suffix the names of the "rom files" (the xml is not a rom file ofc, but for Teknoparrot Launchbox has to treat it as if it were) Launchbox gets pointed at are identical.

Is there a simple workaround for this problem?

Edited August 18, 2023 by nietzsche666
mistake

[nietzsche666]

Correction - It's actually not vice versa. It's just that everything I download or load up as image for Contra will inevitably show up in the entry for Contra: Evolution.

But it doesn't seem to happen the other way round. It's just that all pictures for Contra will override the Contra: Evolution entry and show up in its entry. 

 

It's strange, because I checked and the images in the images folder of Launchbox are even named differently. Contra_ Evolution-01.png, Contra_Evolution-03.png vs. Contra-01.png, Contra-03.png. But the latter ones still always show up for the other entry, too.

[Retro808]

If the games are imported into your LB and show 1) Different Names and 2) are linked to different LBDB ID #'s then when LB downloads the media it should name the images for each game exactly as the game names appear in your LB. So for example take Box - Front image, LB should name each Contra-01.jpg and Contra_Evolution-01.jpg. To be honest with a version of LB that old I do not recall how LB named images. I know current LB (well its been this way for years) can match an image that is named either after the game's exact name or after the rom name. What does the name of the image file for one of the games look like?

[nietzsche666]

@Retro808: Oh, I think we wrote both posts at the same time. Thank you for answering!

Yes, Launchbox 8.4 already gives the images seperate names for both entries. As I wrote, it's Contra_ Evolution-01.png in Box - Front folder and Contra-01.png for the older game in the same folder.

 

But strangely, Contra-01.png will be shown as front box image for Contra: Evolution, too, messing up the entries.

 

[Retro808]

1 hour ago, nietzsche666 said:

@Retro808: Oh, I think we wrote both posts at the same time. Thank you for answering!

Yes, Launchbox 8.4 already gives the images seperate names for both entries. As I wrote, it's Contra_ Evolution-01.png in Box - Front folder and Contra-01.png for the older game in the same folder.

 

But strangely, Contra-01.png will be shown as front box image for Contra: Evolution, too, messing up the entries.

 

The issue is because LB can link an image named either after the rom file or the game name. Since Contra: Evolution's file you imported in contra.xaml it is linking Contra-01 images to it. I am unsure of any workaround due to this.

[nietzsche666]

Ok, I see.

It even happens again after deleting both entries completely, restarting the system, and creating two entries from scratch, just adding pictures manually and not letting Launchbox automatically download anything. As soon as I point the Contra:Evolution entry to the contra.xml, the Contra pictures show up in the other entry.

 

Well, it's an old Launchbox version, that is true. I'll probably not update LB on that system anymore for a minor nuisance like that. I found a hack-y workaround by organizing the image files for the Contra game as game over and highscore pictures only, the Contra Evolution screenshots as title and select - pictures, so the problem isn't that apparent anymore when I'm just clicking and starting these games. And the front box pictures for Evolution is set to box-front, and the one for Contra as advertisement flyer, so the Contra Evolution entry prioritizes its correct front image.

 

But I still wonder if there is a less crude way to get done with that buggy behaviour in that older version.

 

 

[Retro808]

32 minutes ago, nietzsche666 said:

But I still wonder if there is a less crude way to get done with that buggy behaviour in that older version.

It's not a version thing. It is quite simply how LB works. LB can link an image that is named either as the rom file is named or as the game is named. Since your Contra images are named Contra-01.png for the original Contra game and the rom file (well we know the TP game is not a rom file) that you imported for Contra: Evolution is contra.xml the LB logic is telling it to also link images named contra to Contra: Evolution games. Just one of those very, very rare instances this logic can create a disconnect. 

Contra: Evolution - imported file name "contra.xaml"

Contra (arcade game) - downloaded image named "contra.png" or even "contra-01.png"

LB is comparing both the game's actual name and the file name of the game to see if any images match either name and that is why it is linking them. 

[skizzosjt]

I went through the same song and dance with this. Media would be duplicated. Worse, when I went to for example delete a video I would assume it is deleting the video for a single game....but two games are attached to the same file it would have seemed. Just as nietzsche666 suggests, the old school game videos also end up also attached to the new game versions, I saw the same behavior. So, as I delete the old school arcade video from the newer games thinking there would be two instances of the video in the video folder, there was not. It was still just one so I deleted the file I wanted to keep, I just was trying to remove wrong media mixed up between the games. It was quite the musical chairs kind of situation for a hot min. 

I did manage to sort this out for the two games this occurred to me with, Contra vs Contra Evolution and Rampage vs Rampage (2018). I'll have to check what I actually did to resolve it though and let you know

[nietzsche666]

@skizzosjt:

 

True, it's not the first time I had this problem with importing games to Launchbox. It happens rarely, but it happens for a handful of cases.

Not Rampage for me, but it happened two or three times with other games.

 

I just can't remember what the other ones were right now. I'm going to have a look at my collection, maybe I remember then.

 

If you found a method to sort this out, it would be great to know.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by nietzsche666

[skizzosjt]

4 hours ago, nietzsche666 said:

If you found a method to sort this out, it would be great to know.

here is what I did for emulator setup

and what I did is make a more of less second profile file, a "dummy" if you will. I added the extension so it is written out twice, for ex "contra.xml.xml". since I selected the checkbox to remove the extension, the command line syntax for TeknoParrot is still valid as it will actually still include the intended extension, the first one, while removing the 2nd one due to the checkbox. this in turn resolves the media mixup dilemma due to the file name per LB logic is really "contra.xml" and that no longer will match up with the expected "contra" string. 

 

 

so you will need to create the bogus file. it can be completely empty, we are just using it for this file name work around as TeknoParrot loads the profile file in \TeknoParrot\UserProfiles for it's default file path. since we are just sending the file's name, it will instead still look there and doesn't really use the contents of the file we are pointing to.

 

 

 

[nietzsche666]

YES!

Works, and I have no picture duplicates because it tricks Launchbox to assume a different filename. Great idea.

Going to have to modify my Teknoparrot Arcade entries because my basic TP emulator syntax has changed now, but it's only about 10 games so far, no big deal.

 

I was thinking about batch files autostarting the emulator and games automatically and let go of Launchbox using emulator by itself for these few games, but I'm not sure if and how that even works with Teknoparrot.

 

Thank you very much!

 

[nietzsche666]

I just realized I probably don't even have to modify my general Teknoparrot arguments. I could just create a new emulator entry for Teknoparrot Version 2 or so, for Contra (and similar cases) only and can leave the rest as it is, very nice.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by nietzsche666

[skizzosjt]

9 hours ago, nietzsche666 said:

I just realized I probably don't even have to modify my general Teknoparrot arguments. I could just create a new emulator entry for Teknoparrot Version 2 or so, for Contra (and similar cases) only and can leave the rest as it is, very nice.

from checking out my setup last night I originally setup an AHK script to launch Teknoparrot games. but due to how it works, it would need the file name to be proper, such as "contra.xml" and not "contra.xml.xml"

so only the couple games that needed this treatment due to identical names are being launched directly by the emulator. so I did the same, I have two "emulators" in my emulator list to launch TeknoParrot based games