C64 and Mamewah

[Walkinshaw]

Has anyone here setup the whole Gamebase collection or atleast a few hundred games of the C64 with Mamewah ?

I would like to know how you listed each game. Either by ROM FOLDER only or as I read in a previous post by someone, they said they made a DAT file and filled in the games. The only problem with the DAT is with 16000+ games I don't plan on filling out each one.

Or if anyone can suggest an easy way to List the games so it can show a clear description of the game rather than just a ROM FOLDER only format I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks

[Minwah]

Muttley is the C64 authority here I would say...hopefully he will chime in...

I know he uses WinVICE with MAMEWAH, and has the GameBase collection.  Whether anyone has made a full DAT, I am not sure, but I wouldn't bet on it  

[Muttley]

Sorry for not replying to your PM Walkinshaw, I've been too busy setting up and playing with my cab.  

I use WinVICE as an emulator, but I don't use the GameBase 64 collection (well, not on the cab).  Basically there's a load of junk in GameBase that's unusable on a cab due to needing a full keyboard, plus there are many duplicates and text only games that I don't want.  So I'm being selective about which games I put on the cab, which also helps the whole thing work better.

Basically I load the game I want up in the emulator, and then instantly save a snapshot (select Snapshotp -> Save Snapshot Image -> and then select a filename and tick the Save currently attached disks images and Save currently loaded ROM images).

Then I create a screenshot for the game and save it with the same name as the snapshot image.

I also create a DAT file called x64.dat and stick that in WinVICE's directory.  This contains entries like the following:

Code: [Select]

game (
   name uridiumplus
   description "Uridium+"
)
The MAMEWAH config is set up as using VSF rom file extensions, don't show DOS box, plus the additional command line command -autostart, and of course DAT and ROM folder for game list generation (can't remember any other specifics right now).

I also then modify the vice.ini file to set ConfirmOnExit=0 and FullscreenEnabled=1.  Then you can use Alt-X to exit the emulator.  I also set the emulator to use my ArcadeVGA's 384x288 (which is 50Hz) and tick the VBLANK synchronisation.

Result = Silky smooth 50Hz scrolling in all those games that jitter like hell on a PC monitor.  

I'm planning on making a custom I-Pac key code set for c64 emulation which will include the ability to do Alt-X to quit, plus all those well used keys on the c64 (F1, F3, F5, F7, Run/Stop, etc.).  Currently though I'm having problems with programming my I-Pac (need to open a support call with Andy tonight).

If you need any more help I can post copies of my config files tonight once I get home.  

Cheers

Muttley

[Walkinshaw]

Thanks Muttley,

I have a similar setup and can run the games quite easily with the method you posted a month or so back. (Similar to the one here)

I was sort of looking for the easy way out and thought someone might of made a DAT file with alot of games in it or maybe even the whole C64 collection. Saves me doing it manually =). I have a keyboard inbuilt in my current cab, nicely routed into a small piece of wood that slides under the control panel so that should not be a problem. I grew up on the C64 and there are a lot of games I loved playing on the keyboard.

Guess I'll do what you do and whatever I play I'll just make the adjustments and configure each one as I play them.

Thanks again.

Edit - I like your new C64 skin which I downloaded, but I missed the C64 keyboard from your original skin. I edited yours to add it and I think it looks much better with it ;-) Just some feedback.

[Muttley]

Thanks Muttley,

I have a similar setup and can run the games quite easily with the method you posted a month or so back. (Similar to the one here)

I was sort of looking for the easy way out and thought someone might of made a DAT file with alot of games in it or maybe even the whole C64 collection. Saves me doing it manually =). I have a keyboard inbuilt in my current cab, nicely routed into a small piece of wood that slides under the control panel so that should not be a problem. I grew up on the C64 and there are a lot of games I loved playing on the keyboard.

I think it's possible to get into the GameBase64 database (It's just Access based I believe), so maybe with some custom DB queries (or exporting tables to CSV format) you could hack together a script to automate the building of a DAT file.

Edit - I like your new C64 skin which I downloaded, but I missed the C64 keyboard from your original skin. I edited yours to add it and I think it looks much better with it ;-) Just some feedback.

Yeah, I quite liked the C64 on the original, but I thought it was a bit tatty looking due to being from a low-res magazine page scan.  I couldn't find a decent hi-res picture of a c64, so until I do I thought I'd leave it off.  

Muttley