GameLists: Multiple emuls in same list work-around solution

[loadman]

    I'll have my martini shaken, not stirred.   

 

[swamprat96]

"Do I look like I give a damn?" (Casino Royale)

[SGT]

"Do I look like I give a damn?" (Casino Royale)

No need for the source, I knew where it came from. 

[loadman]

[swamprat96]

I'm glad you knew the source- was not out to offend!

[darkling27]

Hey there, sorry to bump an old post... But i cant find any other threads about this.

Im having trouble getting the pc games to work on my singular game list. I have them appearing on the list with their attact video and Marquee working fine. But when i try to launch them from the list, the command box flashes up and closes too fast too see and the game doesnt start.

The dummy .zip files are in ... F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc
and the .lnk files can be found in ... F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pclink

I have my mame.cmd file as...
------------------
If "%2" == "F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc" goto pcgames


mame.exe %1
exit

:pcgames
cd ..\other_games\pclink
%1.lnk
exit
-----------------------

Any help would be great =]

[SGT]

You might try changing:

Code:

cd ..\other_games\pclink

to:

Code:

cd \MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pclink

If this doesn't work, set Mala to run the command in a normal window instead of a hidden one.  Then, put "pause" in your batch file so you can read the error that the batch file gives after it tries to execute the pc game:

Code:

:pcgames
cd \MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pclink
%1.lnk
pause
exit

One last thing to check is the upper and lower case in this line:

Code:

If "%2" == "F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc" goto pcgames

It is case sensitive therefore the \MAME\MameUI32\other-games\pc must match your actual folder names exactly.

[darkling27]

Ah, i have just realised this is happening to everything on my list, not just the pc games.
When i change the MAME executable back to the MameUI32.exe the mame games work again, but the pc games wont (obviously)

I just removed the ...
------
mame.exe %1
exit
-------
...part of the .cmd file and the pc games now work!!! but the MAME ones dont

So im guessing thats the problem.

I put a pause between the 'mame.exe %1' and the 'exit' and tried to play dr mario (MAME game) it says

-------
F:\MAME\MameUI32>if "" == "F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc" goto pcgames

F:\MAME\MameUI32>mame.exe drmario
'mame.exe' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

F:\MAME\MameUI32>pause
press any key to continue . . .
--------

Am i missing something? =S

[SGT]

Yeah, it needs to be mameui32.exe since you're not using the command line version of Mame.  The problem is with your IF statement.  It doesn't match exactly the rom path that mala is sending to it.  To find out exactly what Mala is sending as %2 put the following as the first 3 lines of your mame.cmd:

Code:

@echo off
echo %2
pause

Then run it.  The first line that displays in the black command window with be the contents of %2 which is also equal to the rom path in Mala.  In your case it should equal exactly (including upper and lower case):

Code:

F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc

If it doesn't, then there's your problem.

[darkling27]

This is my command file currently...
------
@echo off
echo %2
pause

IF "%2" == "F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc" goto pcgames


MameUI32.exe %1
exit

:pcgames
cd \MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pclink
%1.lnk
pause
exit
---------------

All that comes up when trying to play a PC games is...

--------------
ECHO is off.
Press any key to continue
-------------
pressing a key, the wondow closes and no game starts and no 'F:\MAME\MameUI32\other_games\pc' line

Im sure the higher and lower case is fine in the addresses 

[SGT]

Hang in there, its something simple.

It looks like mala is not passing the rom path to the batch file.  In Mala the Mame command line should be:

Code:

%rom% %path%

If it is already set to that, then go to the game list editor and choose one of your pc games and see what the rom path is for it.  You get to this screen by right clicking on a game and choosing edit:

[darkling27]

Ah, none of my pcgames have a path or an .zip extention witten.

filling these spaces in and saving the gamelist doesnt seem to work. Have i missed a step out or just being dozey and not doing what i am ment too? lol

(thanks for the help btw  )

[SGT]

Try refreshing the main game list by right-clicking and choosing that option.

[darkling27]

I now have the pc games and the mame games running 
It would seem that the path and '.zip' fields get reseted when i do something... But the fact is, its working atm, lol!

but now there is one small problem. When i play a pc game, the attract video will still play behind it, which not only is annoying with the sound overlapping the pc game. But it also slows the games frame rate down also... Is there anyway i can stop this from happening? I really would not rather have to turn the videos off or only use a picture for each pc game on the list 

[SGT]

but now there is one small problem. When i play a pc game, the attract video will still play behind it, which not only is annoying with the sound overlapping the pc game. But it also slows the games frame rate down also... Is there anyway i can stop this from happening? I really would not rather have to turn the videos off or only use a picture for each pc game on the list 

You probably need to start a separate thread with this question so that more people will see it.  I'm not sure what the answer might be.

[javeryh]

OK, I'm having a bit of trouble with this... Here is my set up:

mame is located at C:\Arcade\Mame\mame.exe
misfit mame is located at C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\mis.exe

I added the info to the mame.xml file which is located at C:Arcade\Mame\mame.xml and the rom appears in the main gamelist now after refreshing.

Using Notepad, I created a file called mame.cmd in the mame directory that says:

if "%2" == "C:\ArcadeMisfitMAME\roms" goto misfitmame

mame.exe %1
exit

:misfitmame
cd C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME
mis.exe %1 -skip_gameinfo
exit

In MALA, under Mame config>basic>command line, I added the path parameter "%rom% %path%"

I also specified an additional rom path - I selected rom path 2, and entered C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms (where the rom is that I want added to the list).

Finally, I changed the mame executable to c:\Arcade\Mame\mame.cmd

Any ideas where I went wrong?  When I click on mis.exe in windows explorer, the emulator launches and I can load up d2k but not from MaLa...

[SGT]

There may be more than one thing wrong, but this jumped out at me.  Shouldn't this:

Code:

if "%2" == "C:\misfitmame\roms" goto misfitmame

be:

Code:

if "%2" == "C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms" goto misfitmame

Not just Arcade missing, but this line is case-sensitive.

[javeryh]

There may be more than one thing wrong, but this jumped out at me.  Shouldn't this:

Code:

if "%2" == "C:\misfitmame\roms" goto misfitmame

be:

Code:

if "%2" == "C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms" goto misfitmame

Not just Arcade missing, but this line is case-sensitive.

Dang it.  Typo above that I'll fix.  I made sure to match the case for everything... 

[SGT]

So you're saying its a typo in the batch file or just a typo in your message?  Is it still not working?  You probably need to go to the gamelist editor and see what Mala lists for your rom path for one of the misfit roms.  Sometimes a main game list refresh is in order.

[javeryh]

I meant a typo in my message above.  I don't have anything filled in for "Path" like shown in your picture and "zip" isn't there either.  Maybe this is the problem?  Hang on...

EDIT: Also, do I have to configure "Other Emus" to set up Misfit MAME?

[SGT]

No, you do not use "other emus" configuration.  The rom path in the game list editor should have been filled out automatically.  Try right clicking in Mala while your mame game list is showing and choose "refresh main game list".  Then, see if that rom path is filled out correctly for your misfit roms.

[javeryh]

That did it!  Thanks!  I refreshed the main gamelist but the path still didn't get filled out - it's not there for any of the MAME roms either... I never thought it mattered.   

[SGT]

Glad you got it working.  Usually the rom path doesn't matter because Mame knows where the rom path is.  However in this work-around, we need the rom path filled out so it can be passed to the batch file for decision making purposes.

I always had the understanding that refreshing the main game list filled out the rom path.  Have you actually quit out of the game list editor and went back in after you refreshed the main game list?

Irregardless, the main thing is its working! 

[javeryh]

yeah, I refreshed the main list a few times during the process and I guess the path never got filled in.  Thanks for the help - I'm really happy I got this working.

[javeryh]

Could spaces in the folder names be causing problems?  Would it be better to name folders "Arcade_Games" instead of "Arcade Games"?  Does it matter?  I've been playing around with my setup and I can't seem to duplicate my success on another machine in the house and I'm following the same steps - this is all I can think of...   

[SGT]

Possibly is a problem.  A batch file will determine parameters by delimiting them with spaces.  Therefore characters after the first space and before a second space is %2.  Characters after the second space and before any third space is %3, etc...

You can try enclosing the %path% with quotation marks in Mala under the command line parameters:

Code:

%rom% "%path%"

[javeryh]

No luck.  I spent about an hour with it and I just can't seem to figure it out... oh well.  I tried copying the other setup exactly (other than the folder names) and it just won't work.  DK2 shows up in the gamelist but won't launch.  It works by independently launching MisfitMAME but I can't launch it through MaLa and the gamelist.   

[SGT]

The easiest way to trouble shoot is to find out what the batch file is receiving from Mala.  I usually put a couple of lines at the start of the batch file such as:

Code:

echo %2
pause

This of course displays the %2 variable and then pauses the execution so you can read it.  Make sure in Mala that you have the window set to normal instead of hidden so you can see the black command screen.  After this "test" is run, make sure your "if" statements match what the test echo produces, CASE included.

[javeryh]

Hmmm... I think I figured out the problem.  For whatever reason when I go to manually input "zip" and "C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms" for the path when I'm editing "Donkey Kong 2" in the gamelist it does not get saved.  Each time I save the new gamelist and exit out when I go back in the path is no longer there and "zip" is gone too.  I had to save an entirely new gamelist (not save over top of the existing one) and this seemed to fix the problem.  I'm not sure why this was happening... either way, the little bit of tinkering was easily worth it. 

[SGT]

Hmmm... I think I figured out the problem.  For whatever reason when I go to manually input "zip" and "C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms" for the path when I'm editing "Donkey Kong 2" in the gamelist it does not get saved.  Each time I save the new gamelist and exit out when I go back in the path is no longer there and "zip" is gone too.  I had to save an entirely new gamelist (not save over top of the existing one) and this seemed to fix the problem.  I'm not sure why this was happening... either way, the little bit of tinkering was easily worth it. 

Any chance that gamelist had its file attribute set to read-only?  Got to thinking that if you moved the game list from one computer to another using a CD or DVD, I have seen the file attributes become read-only after copying from CD to hard drive.

[javeryh]

Hmmm... I think I figured out the problem.  For whatever reason when I go to manually input "zip" and "C:\Arcade\MisfitMAME\roms" for the path when I'm editing "Donkey Kong 2" in the gamelist it does not get saved.  Each time I save the new gamelist and exit out when I go back in the path is no longer there and "zip" is gone too.  I had to save an entirely new gamelist (not save over top of the existing one) and this seemed to fix the problem.  I'm not sure why this was happening... either way, the little bit of tinkering was easily worth it. 

Any chance that gamelist had its file attribute set to read-only?  Got to thinking that if you moved the game list from one computer to another using a CD or DVD, I have seen the file attributes become read-only after copying from CD to hard drive.

Hmmm... good idea - I will check.  Off hand, could this also be the reason MAME decided to stop saving high scores?  It worked yesterday and now everytime I turn the cabinet on all the scores are gone.  It wont even save them when I exit out of a game back to the MaLa gamelist.

[SGT]

Hmmm... good idea - I will check.  Off hand, could this also be the reason MAME decided to stop saving high scores?  It worked yesterday and now everytime I turn the cabinet on all the scores are gone.  It wont even save them when I exit out of a game back to the MaLa gamelist.

Its possible, though high scores can be finicky.  At some time, you patched the Mame source code and recompiled, etc...?

[BamBam]

Check it out:

Once again SGt, you never seize to amaze me  , but how did you get your control panels to look like they are at the perfect angle on your arcade?

[SGT]

but how did you get your control panels to look like they are at the perfect angle on your arcade?

Thanks.  It really helped the looks to build up the photo of the black cabinet much higher on the sides than it originally was.  It helped to hide a lot of the imperfections and made the control panels blend in better.

I really did nothing to the control panel snaps.  Not all of the control panels look perfect, but a large number are already at the perfect angle.   I have only recently started to photo manipulate those that are angled severely by rotating and stretching and shrinking, etc...  I am not extremely picky on this.  

Many of the photos of the control panels and marquees are diffferent shapes and sizes so its important to tell Mala to NOT keep the aspect ratio for layout snaps so that it resizes in all directions.  This makes it look a LOT better though its not for the purists that want a historically accurate photo.

[kanon]

sorry for my ingles..

all roms appers in mala but emulator dont star. cps3


if "%2" == "C:\juegos\emuladores\cps3" goto cps3


mame.exe %1
exit



:cps3
cd ..\juegos\emuladores\cps3
emulator.exe % rar
exit

[SGT]

Kanon Hola y bienvenidos!

What folder contains the cps3 roms?  Is it?:

Code:

C:\juegos\emuladores\cps3

What folder contains emulator.exe? Is it?:

Code:

C:\juegos\emuladores\cps3

What folder contains mame.cmd?  Is it?:

Code:

C:\juegos\emuladores\mame

This line:

Code:

emulator.exe % rar

should be:

Code:

emulator.exe %1

There may be more wrong, but I will not know until you answer my questions above.

[kanon]

yea de roms and emulator, in same folder, wiht pacht rom2 C:\juegos\emuladores\cps3
and cmd in C:\juegos\mame\mame.cmd
thanks for you time and help  
mame work god.

[SGT]

The following should work.  Have you tried this yet?

Code:

if "%2" == "C:\juegos\emuladores\cps3" goto cps3

mame.exe %1
exit

:cps3
cd ..\juegos\emuladores\cps3
emulator.exe %1
exit

Don't forget that in Mala, your commandline for Mame should be:

Code:

%rom% %path%

Also its always a good idea to refresh the main game list.

[kanon]

tanks but dont work, ill test but not work emulator dont star, im read all post.. sorry for my ingles mala is a nice front end

[SGT]

It works fine for me.  Does CPS3 emulator work fine by itself (without Mala)?  If it works fine by itself, please attach screenshots of your Mala configuration for Mame and the new contents of your mame.cmd file.  Did you refresh the main game list?