WinUAE quicksave-file per gameconfig [SOLVED]

[parasol]

Hello,

Im using MA in my cab.

I've read some post about ppl having their state files loaded automatically each time they load a game with MA...
I know that when a spedific savestate is loaded, all further quick save/ load action goes to that specific savestate file.

But I prefer not to load automatically but having a savestate file for each game alterable via quick save/ restore.

Is it possible to specify a savestate file (*.uss) in the game config file to tell winuae which savestate file should be used for the quick save / restore save option?

any help is much appreciated!!

[zorrobandito]

From my documentation:

To start from a saved state use the following command line:

winuae.exe -config="[rompath]\[name].[romext]" -cfgparam statefile="[rompath]\[name].uss"
e.g.
winuae.exe -config="configurations\wizball.uae" -cfgparam statefile="configurations\wizball.uss"

You can keep the uae and uss files in the same directory and with the same name which makes for easy MAMEWah loading:

emulator_commandline [emurootpath]\[emuname]\WinUAE1530\winuae.exe -config="[rompath]\[name].[romext]" -cfgparam statefile="[rompath]\[name].uss"{dosbox}{safelaunch}

You should be able to convert the above for any front-end...
 

[parasol]

As I wrote before its not my main goal to start a game from a saved state!!
I have mapped quick save and load to may gamepad! When I use quicksavstate eveytime it saves as default.uss. For example turrican. I want to tell winuae to use quick save/ restore with the turrican.uss file (instead of default.uss).

is that possible without have to load turrican.uss file before?

[zorrobandito]

Ah, I see. My apologies I couldn't quite see what you were after. One way I can think of would be to load the game with a 'blank' turrican.uss file (e.g. starts at the title screen), then quicksave will work. The only problem would be that the next time you play, it will load that last save.

Another suggestion might be to create a separate directory for each game and then each game could have it's own save path specified and its own default.uss. Bit of a hassle but you could do it for some of your favourites. You'd have to change the StateFiles path and save it, then load that -config.

[parasol]

 i ill try ur second suggestion. (and will do it for ALL my favs)

thx



upate: the config setup in winuae confuses a bit. When i start winuae through MA I usually load two configs. First the game config, second my host config.
By actually looking into the game config files it seems all neccessary parameters are present?!!? So why using host config?
Does host config override game configs? Can u setup something like different hostconfigs for each game?

Maybe someone can clear things up a bit or point me into the right direction?

[zorrobandito]

It's more of a question for the WinUAE folk but AFAIK if you're not loading a save state then you should only load one config:

winuae.exe -config="configurations\wizball.uae"

I would have thought that the second config you load would override the first, can you post your command line? As you can see from mine, I only load the one config and it sets up all Amiga parameters as well as all emulator parameters (hard-drive location, key mappings, etc).

[parasol]

this is my MA command line:
-s use_gui=no -s gfx_fullscreen_amiga=true -config=%file -cfgparam stateflie="E:\WinUAE\savestates\%name.uss" -config=E:\WinUAE\Configurations\Host\Host.uae

I thought its necessary to also save a host config as the gui suggests but it wont load the statefiles that way.  (%name = config name without extension AND %file = configs' full path... for non-MA users!)

[zorrobandito]

Hopefully iy's just a typo in your post or you're going to kick yourself but check

"stateflie"

should be

"statefile"

and all the initial switches can be set in your host.uae file, so you could strip those away too.

[parasol]

hell yeah !!!   Thx for ponting that out  


It seems I do have to load my hostconfig. My controller layout wont work properly without it. I checked some gameconfigs and noticed they contain the default input layout.   While other host specific content seems to be there as my video output matches my prefered settings...



In my case it seems I do have to create different hostconfigs for all gameconfigs with identical names. And load them together through command line.

ALso when I make hostspecific changes in the gui and then safe gamesname.uae under the hardware tab, those changes wont be safed.

How did u achieve to have all necessary information in one gamesname.uae?

[parasol]

Ok, I'm totally satisfied with two configs per game (game and host). That gives me the freedom to use any input layout I want with any game. Works like a charm!


Nonetheless I wanna try to set up different "default.uss" for each config. I ve put all favs in different folders (as zorrobandito suggested) and updated the paths. What command do I have to set into the configs to specifiy the default save paths? I dont find a save variable in the configs that I could work with?!

[zorrobandito]

OK, this is tricky to explain but WinUAE has an unintuitive Load / Save config option that doesn't always save to the currently loaded file and means you need to regularly reselect the file you want each time you perform another save. Fact is, you can save all settings to the one config file. Here's how I (consciously) very carefully do it:

1. I *Load* the configuration I have already made.
2. I make the changes to my settings.
3. Going back to the Configurations menu, I highlight the configuration from the list and then press *Save*.

You can test if it worked by loading another file, then load your new file.

I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense...

[parasol]

think I got what u mean.. and it works with one config now!!

1. loading hardware/gamesname.uae
2. loading host/gamesname.uae
3. saving under the "configurations" tab

I have to say I tried that method before but it didnt work. musst have mixed sth up...


Do you have any more hints how to set up custom quicksave paths? I'm quite stuck on that..

[zorrobandito]

After testing my idea it doesn't work. You can't specify different paths per config, only per emulator. Sorry to get your hopes up

The only way you could do it would be to create a separate bundle, with a unique instance of WinUAE.exe and the appropriate paths for the State Files e.g. T:\Emulators\Amiga\WinUAE2200\Configurations\Paradroid90\

[parasol]

yes, sth like that came to my mind too. Maybe I could do that. After all every game has its own folder now.  

thx for helping me out

[parasol]

Ok!
Thx to the developer of WinUAE Toni Wilen, its now possible to change the default savestate name (default.uss) via config command!

Im pasting the information from the English Amiga Board WinUAE-PublicBeta-Thread:


WinUAE 2.3.3 Beta 6:

- added "statefile_name" configuration file entry, sets default statefile name (normally "default.uss")
- fixed jittery raw mouse movement
- resolution autoswitch should now work correctly, no more strange centering without autoscale.
- analog stick mapped as a mouse had wrong and unstable speed
- rarely used configuration entries were only supposed to be written if they had non-default value. re-saving configuration will reduce size of most config files. Older bug.
- "Integer scaling" visible in GUI (AF specific feature originally), selects biggest integer scaling ratio that still fits on screen
- "VSync (new)" renamed to "Low latency VSync"
- Input panel configuration #1-#3 can be renamed by manually editing config file (input.x.name=name)
- GUI allows FPU in cycle exact modes. Not much point but if you really want to enable it..

http://www.winuae.net/files/b/winuae_2330b6.zip


syntax: statefile_name=gamename.uss


This allows anyone who is using Amiga Emulation with multiple configs in his cab, to easily integrate seamless quicksave & quickload action.  

[zorrobandito]

Parasol, not sure if you suggested it to the WinUAE team but if you did - good job! I hadn't really considered what to do about state files so your questions and solution has prompted me to get it done!

Thanks.