help setting up game launcher??

[Bill S]

I am currently using mamewah as my front end because I had some issues getting game launcher to work.
I have received some suggestions to keep trying game launcher, so I'm in need of some help.
I cannot get game launcher to list any roms.  It just starts up with the title and nothing under it.
I've tried setting up a mame.map, and I gave up on mamescan.exe.  After reading about using mame with the switches in another thread, it looks like I've got that built now, but game launcher still does not list my roms.
I've got gamelauncher installed in c:\glaunch
Mame is installed in c:\mame
My roms are sitting in d:\roms

How do I configure game launcher to see these roms?  I feel like I've tried every option, and nothing works.

Any suggestions?
Or - If somebody has working configuration files and want to send them to me, I'd be happy to try them out.  My e-mail is: buzz@nwonline.net

Thanks - Bill

[visciouslymamed]

You may want to try putting Mame and Gamelauncher on your d drive. I had problems with it not working correctly when I had gl on the c drive and Mame with roms on another. Hope this gets it running for you.

[Jakobud]

Bill,

Do us a favor, and just copy paste your glaunch.cfg and mame.cfg into a reply in this thread so I can look at it and figure out the problem.  I've been using GLauncher for a while now.

Jakobud

[Skipp2k]

Hi Jakobud was wondering if you could help me m8, just started to use glauncher, looks like I set it up ok but it won't detect all my roms.

The roms it dosen't detect I got working by making them all lowercase, but I can't seem to get the number games to show, such has 720.

Have u or anyone else had this problem.


Thanks in advance

[Bill S]

I'll dig out my configs and post them.  
Thanks for the offer Jakobud.

[Bill_S]

OK,  I finally got into the cab and pulled out my config files.
Here's glaunch.cfg:
[Main]
emulators = mame
debug = no
menu_orientation = 0
resolution = 800 600
font_file = slicker.ttf
font_size = 18
antialias_font = yes
screen_shot_delay = 400
screen_shot_brightness = 40
prefer_integer_scaling = yes
background_music = 0
mp3_playlist_file = ./playlist.txt
mp3_volume = 1000
cd_volume = 450
sound_effect_volume = 1000
use_software_mixer = no
path_prefix =
screen_saver_time = 5
screen_saver_text = Game Launcher
initial_key_delay = 250
key_repeat_delay = 125
initial_joystick_delay = 300
joystick_repeat_delay = 125
show_screen_shot_icon = yes
use_animations = yes
turbo_scroll_threshold = 3
large_menu_threshold = 100
unselected_fg_color = 192 192 192
unselected_outline_color = 0   0   0
selected_fg_color = 0 0 0
selected_outline_color = 192 192 64
title_color = 192 192 192
up_key = 84
down_key = 85
page_up_key = 82
page_down_key = 83
play_game_key = 28
next_emulator_key = 98
previous_emulator_key = 100
quit_key = 59
screen_shot_key = 75
skip_song_key = 7
start_song_over_key = 4
joystick_select_button = 0
mouse_input_axis = 3
mouse_input_threshold = 250
animation_method = 1
use_vsync = no
use_vram = yes
use_fullscreen = yes

[Bill_S]

Any help with this is greatly appreciated!

mame.cfg:
[Emulator]

# Emulator name, i.e. MAME
name = MAME

# Short description of emulator, i.e. Arcade Machines
description = MAME Arcade ROMS

# Location of emulator, i.e. c:\mame
directory = c:\mame\

# Name of emulator executable, i.e. mame.exe
executable = c:\mame\mame.exe

# Global options passed to emulator, i.e. -sound 1
global_options =

# Command to run before running executable. If blank, then nothing
# will be run.
pre_command =

# Command to run after running executable.  If blank, then nothing
# will be run.
post_command =

# Name of map file.  A map file maps short ROM file names to full game
# names.
map_file = c:\glaunch\config\mame.map

# Options go before ROM when launching: "yes" or "no".
#  i.e. yes: "emulator.exe -option1 -option2 rom"
#        no: "emulator.exe rom -option1 -option2"
options_before_rom = no

# Directory to look for screen shot images, i.e. c:\mame\snap
# Supported formats are PCX, PNG, and BMP.
screen_shot_directory = d:\titles

# A ROM file is a list of ROMs to use.  If set to "no", ROMs are
# scanned for in the rom_directory.  If set to "yes" a ROM file (which
# is essentially just a list of ROMs) is used instead of trying scan.
# The default is "no".  ROM files are useful for merged ROMs with
# MAME, where the actual ROM names are buried within a ZIP file.
use_rom_file = no

# rom_dir, rom_extension, use_extension, and use_rom_directory are
# only relevant if a ROM file is not used.  They are ignored if not
# needed.

# Directory to ROMs
rom_directory = d:\roms

# List of possible ROM extensions (without the ".")
rom_extension =

# Use extension when launching game: "yes" or "no"
#  i.e. yes: "emulator.exe rom.ext"
#        no: "emulator.exe rom"
use_extension = no

# Use rom_directory when launcher game: "yes" or "no"
#  i.e. yes: "emulator.exe c:\full\path\rom"
#        no: "emulator.exe rom"
use_rom_directory = no


[Options]
# altbeast = -novsync
# smashtv = -novsync -depth 16 -soundcard 0

[jaquer]

I think these are your problems:

executable = mame.exe
rom_extension = rom or
use_rom_file = yes and making sure mame.rom lists all your roms.

Post mamescan.cfg if you want us to troubleshoot that one.

[Jakobud]

Also in your glaunch.cfg make sure

path_prefix = c:\

In Mame.cfg I would change some stuff:

executable = mame.exe
map_file = mame.map
rom_extension = zip
use_rom_directory = yes

I am guessing that the problem lies with the fact that your roms are in a different drive than glaunch.  There is that path_prefix thing that basically just tells all your cfg files that what they are doing (path-wise) occurs in the c:\ drive.  I think another problem is the 'use_rom_directory" you had set to 'no'.  If that is set to yes then your mame command will look like this:

mame d:\roms\pacman

which 'should' work correctly.  If you look in glaunch/logs folder, there are some files in there.  Look at the glaunch.log glaunch.001 glaunch.002 glaunch.003 etc...  these files spit out the command line gaunch sends to the emulator.  So look in there and see if anything looks wierd.  Then goto a DOS window and goto the Mame directory and type in the same command it had in the glaunch.log file.  These things should help you narrow down the problem(s).

Once you get this stuff sorted out you really will see how nice Game Launcher is.  It really is the best FE out there.

Let us know if you still have problems.  I have one more idea that might make a difference.

Jakobud

[Bill_S]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I tried everything Jakobud suggested, but it still doesn't show any roms in the list.
Below is my latest glaunch.log file.
There is no command listed in there that I can type in a DOS window.  Any ideas?

2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Game Launcher v0.9.8
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Allegro 4.0.1, MinGW32.s
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Using screen resolution of 800x600
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] OS type: Windows 98
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Platform: MinGW32.s
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Installing joystick
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Installed mouse
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Warn] Joystick not detected
 2002 13:54:48.360 [Info] Sound card type: DirectSound, device 0
 2002 13:54:48.970 [Info] Graphics driver: DirectDraw accel
 2002 13:54:48.970 [Info] Description: DirectDraw accel
 2002 13:54:48.970 [Info] Using page flipping
 2002 13:54:48.970 [Info] No background music
 2002 13:54:48.970 [Info] Loading font: slicker.ttf
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] Font loaded
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for movable bitmap
 2002 13:54:49.080 [Info] VRAM bitmap for screen shot
 2002 13:54:49.190 [Info] Starting engine loop
 2002 13:55:08.910 [Info] Quit selected
 2002 13:55:09.180 [Info] Average FPS: 57.2
 2002 13:55:09.180 [Info] Exitting
 2002 13:55:09.180 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller
 2002 13:55:09.680 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller: Done

[Jakobud]

Bill, I would go into your mame.cfg and make use_rom_directory = no and then do the following directions:


//
There is a way to get both the mame.map and mame.rom manually....

1. Open a dos window
2. Goto your mame directory
3. type in this command:

mame -listfull > mame.map

(this makes a file called mame.map in your mame folder)

There you go...copy that mame.map file to your glaunch/config folder...

Now for the mame.rom...

1. Goto your mame roms folder (in Dos again)
2. type in this:

dir *.zip /b /on > mame.rom

(this makes a file called mame.rom in your roms folder)

3. Open this new mame.rom in Wordpad
4. EDIT > Replace
5. In the replace window replace:

.zip  with   <nothing> (just leave the second box blank)

This will get rid of all the .zip extensions in the file.

Copy this mame.rom to your glaunch/config folder

You are done. No need for Mamescan...



Now I have this theory that perhaps GameLauncher has a problem with the roms being a different drive (D instead of C).  So I would make a new roms folder on your C drive and copy 5 or 6 roms to it and setup your mame.cfg so that it is looking at that folder on your C drive.  If it sees the roms, then you know that the problem lies with the roms being on another drive...

We are slowly narrowing this down.  We will figure it out.

Jakobud

[Bill_S]

I think we just about have it here.
I followed your instructions to make mame.map and mame.rom files.  And set use_rom_directory to no.  I also set the use_rom_file to yes.
Now glaunch lists all my roms and the games load.  That is great news.  The only problem now is that the rom names are the zip file names, and not the long, understandable name.

Any ideas on how to fix that?

Thanks big time for all the help so far!

[Dave Dribin]

I think we just about have it here.
I followed your instructions to make mame.map and mame.rom files.  And set use_rom_directory to no.  I also set the use_rom_file to yes.
Now glaunch lists all my roms and the games load.  That is great news.  The only problem now is that the rom names are the zip file names, and not the long, understandable name.

That's what "mame.map" is for: to map the short names to the full names.  Did you run this command that Jakobud mentioned:

mame -listfull > mame.map

-Dave

[Jakobud]

Yes, sounds like you didnt make the mame.map file correctly.  Make sure that after you make it you move it to the glaunch/config folder too.  See if you open the mame.map file in your favorite text editor (like wordpad) it will look something like this:

dkong          "Donkey Kong (World)"
mk2             "Mortal Kombat II rev3.1"
ninjaw         "Ninja Warriors (World)"
tempest       "Tempest (Set 1)"
etc....

it has the names of the zip files on the left, and the actual romset name on the right in quotes.  So in glaunch, when it looks at the list of rom zip file names, it looks at the mame.map file to determine what name to display for it.

and the very nice thing about using the mame.map and mame.rom files is that you can open them in a text editor and choose which games you don't want to display.  All you have to do is remove the filename from the mame.rom file and it won't show up in the game list.  Because, who needs to choose from 5 different versions of Donkey Kong or 10 different Mortal Kombats or something...

Sounds like you just about got it.  Game Launcher can be a pain to figure out how to set it up correctly, but once you figure out it's workflow it's very easy to setup all sorts of emulators on it.

Jakobud

[Bill_S]

hmm.  I did make the mame.map file and put in into the config directory.  I don't know why glaunch isn't using it.
Tonight after work I'll try to copy and paste in the first few lines so you can make sure it is ok.

[Bill_S]

OK, here's the first few lines of my mame.map file.  It is located in c:\glaunch\config:

Name:     Description:
puckman   "PuckMan (Japan set 1)"
puckmana  "PuckMan (Japan set 2)"
pacman    "Pac-Man (Midway)"
puckmod   "PuckMan (harder?)"
pacmod    "Pac-Man (Midway, harder)"
hangly    "Hangly-Man (set 1)"
hangly2   "Hangly-Man (set 2)"
newpuckx  "New Puck-X"

[Jakobud]

hmmm try getting rid of that first line:

Name:     Description:

that might make it work...

Jakobud

[Bill_S]

Took that top line out.  Didn't help.
It's like glaunch isn't even looking at my mame.map file.

[Bill_S]

OK, I figured out what's causing the problem, but I need help fixing it.
Game Launcher appears to be case sensitive.
I noticed all the games listed in mame.rom were completely upper case and in mame.map they were lower case.  I switched some in mame.map to upper case and BAM, they work.

My issue now is, how do I convert all the games in the list so they match in mame.rom and mame.map???

Update:  I was able to convert all the upper case characters in mame.rom to lower case using MSWord.  It works great now!!  Thanks for all the help in getting this running.

[Jakobud]

np