mala & Zsnesw problems

[boboli]

I have been using Mala with my cab & MAME for a while. I tried adding zsnesw to the picture tonight and I can't seem to get Mala to work with the prog.

Mala works fine with Mame.

Zsnesw works fine alone (with SNES roms)

Put the two togethr and it's a nightmare. I can't seem to figure out how to get Mala to allow me to switch to SNES from arcade (I CAn do it, but my way aint pretty. There's got to be a better way).

Even after I switch, I can't get Mala to launch any SNES games. I see the list, and it's accurate. I've followed all instructions I've found - I'm stumped!

Thanks,
Andre

[8way]

By default to switch emulators in Mala its “ctrl + left/right” you can change this in Mala’s control settings. As for loading the game make sure you have "%path%\%rom%.%ext%" in the command line.

[unclet]

I am confused with what you are asking.   Are you saying you can not get ZsNes configured in MALA at all or you can not switch between the Mame and ZsNes gamelists in MALA?

Oh yeah .... which version of MALA are you using and what do you mean "I can do it, but my way ain't pretty" (ie: what are you doing ... please explain).

To add to what "8way" stated ...... you can also right click on your mouse to bring up a popup window in MALA which will allow you to switch to another configured emulator.

[8way]

In case you didn’t know, to get zsnesw to exit with the esc key, open up zsnesw.cfg and look for “KeyQuickExit=0” and change it to “KeyQuickExit=1”. This had me lost for some time cause if you try to set this in the GUI controller setting, hitting the esc key will just exit without setting a key.  Any other key but the ESC key works. What a frustrating nightmare that was.

[boboli]

I figured out how to map a key to switch game lists/emulators in Mala (I'm using RC9). Once I get the Zsnesw game list, I can't get any of the games to load. For MAME, Mala is configured to load a game when I push my joystick left (I'm not at home now but I believe that "open menu" is mapped to joystick left, which causes the game to load).

No matter what keys I map or what joy presses I map within Mala or zsnesw (unless I'm doing it wrong), the SNES games won't load. They don't do ANYTHING.

I currently can't use zsnesw from within MALA at all. The only way I can use it is to open zsnesw directly, and use a keyboard & mouse to load games, etc.

I'm trying to be able to load games from Mala using my joystick and arcade buttons seamlessly (like I can do for MAME).

Thanks for any help you can give with this. I'm really stumped. I was up till 3am last night trying to figure this out!

[unclet]

Did you test starting a ZsNes game from the command window (ie: outside of MALA)?  I believe if there is a problem with how you are requesting the game to start, then MALA will not do anything when you select a game from the gamelist.   This is why testing in a command window is important before you configure MALA with the emulator.

If you can also please pics of your ZsNes MALA configuration pages, that might be useful as well, just to confirm everything looks good.   Go into the "Other Emu" tab and select your ZsNes emulator which you already have configured.   Show us this page of information.  Also go to the Executable tab (I think that is what it is called) and post a picture of the command line execution syntax you are using as well.

[boboli]

I can load a game directly from within znesw. (LOAD:select game from list:double click with mouse). It works fine that way. It's not a command window though - it's a GUI.

I'll try posting config pics when I get home tonight. As for the command line execution syntax, I'm using the pre-configured one for Mala & zsnesw (which is the same as what 8way posted).

[unclet]

I understand ZsNes has a GUI and you can start the game directly from the ZsNes GUI window.   That is a good first step to confirming you have the ZsNes emulator configured how you want it and that your Rom images are valid.   The second step is to see if you can start the ZsNes emulator from the command line without using the ZsNes GUI directly (since this is exactly what MALA will be trying to do).   Executing this second step is important since it will test/determine what types of command line parameters you will requrie to start the emulator without using MALA yet.    Once you get this figured out, then the third step would be to configure MALA for that emulator.

Basically, each emulator you want to add into MALA should be able to be started from a command line.  Since starting games from the command line manually is not how people would ultimately like to start each game (ie: lots of typing), then people use a FrontEnd (like MALA) to execute the same exact command-line syntax to start the games for them.  Basically, the main function of MALA (and other frontends for that matter) is to start the games for you without requiring you to type all the command line syntax in manually.

Anyway, based on your reply above, I do not think you confirmed you could actually start the ZsNes emulator via the command line (ie: in a command window).

So ..... I would now assume you would like to know what a "command window" is and what the heck I am talking about? 

Here try this:

Note: I'm going to assume the following locations (change these based on your own directory structure):

Location of zsnesw executable file -->  C:\Emulators\Programs\zsNes\
Location of Super Nintendo Roms --->  C:\Emulators\RomFiles\SuperNintendo\


1) Open a command window (Start\Programs\Accessories\Command Prompt)

2) Change to the ZsNes program folder by executing the following command:

   cd C:\Emulators\Programs\zsNes\

3) Execute the ZsNes emulator at the command line using the command provided below. (Note: Just select a random game to try out.  I am using Earthworm Jim in this example)

  zsnesw "C:\Emulators\RomFiles\SuperNintendo\Earthworm Jim.zip"

  ** Make sure you use the double quotes


4) Did the ZsNes emulator start the game or was there any errors in the command window seen?   Post your findings.

 
Once the emulator/game can started via the command line, then we can move on and configure MALA appropriately.

[swindus]

Maybe it's just the window state setting in MaLa for the ZSNES emu? Hidden can be a problem ...

[boboli]

Thanks for the tips guys. I had not tried to launch zsnes from a command line so I'll try that. I also noticed the window state setting but wasn't sure what it was for. I don't think it was set to hidden but I'll check that too and report all my findings when I get home.

To your knowledge, is there any reason why Mala WOULDN'T be able to use the same menu controls (left joy for launch game) for zsnes as it does for Mala? Those controls work great for my young kids and they're used to that for Mame and it would be nice to keep some consistency.

Thanks again - I'll post my findings tonight.

Andre

[unclet]

Do you mean "as it does for Mala Mame"?

I am pretty sure MALA can be configured to do this .....

[boboli]

correct - was typing too fast

[swindus]

The command 'launch game' does not depend to an emu or game list. Should work any time in any game list with any emu.

[unclet]

boboli:  Check my previous post which details how you should test ZsNes via the command line.  I think you posted while I was updating that post, so not sure you saw all the information of what to do.  Just wanted to try to help you out a bit here.

[squirrellydw]

and make sure you type everything correctly

[boboli]

Ok guys, I'm still stumped. I've tried everything you suggested.

1.  I CAN and HAVE loaded zsnes from command line.
2.  I have Mala configured to load games with a left joystick push - it works fine for Mame, NOT for zsnes

I can switch emulators and I can see a game list with my zsnes roms, but when I push the joystick left, absolutely nothing happens. When I switch back to my MAME game menu and push joy left to select/load game, it just works.

My config options are pasted here, and YES, I've configured the "execution" page with the commands as suggested by 8way: "%path%\%rom%.%ext%"

Alslo, I checked and "window state" is set to normal

I just can't figure out what else to try. I've tried configuring various key presses and buttons to load games- none worked. I tested each ROM (I only have 2 for zsnes) -all worked when I loaded them from within zsnes, but neither did anything when I tried to load from within Mala.

[8way]

Just out of curiosity, have you tried setting a keyboard key to start the game instead of the joystick?

[unclet]

I use a keyboard encoder to assign keyboard keys to each direction of the joystick.   Then, if I wanted to select a game in MALA by pushing my joystick left, then I would simply assign the "keyboard key" mapping related to the player1 joystick left mapping character.

Are you using Analog joysticks instead?


I would do what "8way" suggests just to see if you can map a "keyboard key" to start the game.  Just assign a pushbutton key character in MALA to start the game (under the keyboard tab) and see if you can start the game this way.  This way you can determine whether MALA is configured correctly or whether the problem is with the joystick mappings for non-Mame emulators.

Also, you are using Mala-vRC9 .... I know "RC9a-beta2" is around here somewhere and might have fixed this problem?   You simply download it and replace you existing Mala.exe with this new one (first make a copy of your old one of course).  Just search the forums for this ... not sure which post swindus posted this beta in right now....


(EDIT)
I just noticed in one of your pics you posted that you have J1Left mapped to "start the game" as well as also having it mapped to do "prev list".   Can you have this mapped twice for different things?
(EDIT)

[boboli]

I have tried mapping a keyboard key to start the game - doesn't work for me. Same result.

I'm using UltraStiks - keep in mind, my settings are working fine for loading Mame games from Mala - they're just not working for loading SNES games in Mala.

Basically, the way I'm set up, in a game list in Mala I simply push the joystick left to drill down through different subcategories (i.e. left to enter Genre, Left to enter "Fighting Games" and Left to start a game). This works great for me because it's easy for my wife and young kids to understand - they don't have to remember which buttons to push. However, I don't think the "joy1left" issue is the problem because, as I said, I tried mapping different keyboard keys for SNES and they don't work. Mala just sits there and does nothing when I push the mapped key or joystick.

Andre

[unclet]

Well, I dont understand the whole left-left-left thing when selecting a game.  Seems like you might have MALA configured differently than I do .... possibly using MALA trees or something ...   

On my cabinet, when I change to a specific emulator, then MALA displays the game list right away.  I scroll down (using the joystick) and then press a button to select the game to play.   Seems like you have multiple levels you need to go through in order to select a game to play and I am not familiar with that type of set up.

It might just be a bug in MALA which you discovered.  Swindus is pretty good at fixing things like this, so hopefully he will come around again and lend a hand ... or two 

[boboli]

I don't have Mala Trees set up.

I have my Mame Mala lists sorted by game type, controller type, year, etc.

When I open Mala, it goes right to a list of these hierarchies, and then I press left to drill down to the games within each category.

Once I choose a game I want, I press left again and it loads the game.

I mapped a button (keyboard encoded with ipac) to switch emulators.

My SNES list is NOT sorted by hierarchies - it's just a few games, so the whole list of games appears when I switch.

Once there, I can scroll through the list with my joystick (up/down) but no matter what I do, I can't get any SNES games started from within Mala - I've tried mapping buttons (keys), I've tried mapping joystick presses, etc.

I may try trashing my Mala config and starting over tonight.

[8way]

You’re not making any sense, or maybe I’m not understanding you correctly. But how is it possible that you are switching between categories by pressing left and then starting the game by pressing left again. How would Mala know if when you press left you what it to switch categories or start the game?

[unclet]

This is what confused me as well .... thought it was some MALA tree thing , guess it was not.   Perhaps MALA allows using "left" to keep going down the hierarchy but when you can no longer go down anymore then MALA uses "left" to "Select" the game.   I do not know.... I am not familiar with your set up.

Did you try (for testing purposes) to set your joystick mappings in MALA not to have "J1Left" be assigned as two separate mappings at the same time?

[8way]

For testing I tried setting the same key for changing gamelist and starting game. When the key is pressed it just starts the game it does not change the gamelist. So it basically just cancels one command out, not sure on how it chooses which to default to. So basically not really sure what going on here, I thing you should just start from scratch like you mentioned previously.

[boboli]

I finally figured out the problem (though the "fix" breaks something else).

I am using Catver.ini with Mala - it breaks the main game list into more manageable categories (genre, controller, manufacturer, etc.)

When I open Mala, I'm presented with the main categories. If I want to choose a "fighter" game, I push left at the "genre" menu, then I push left at the "fighter" subcategory, and then I push left when I find the game I want within that subcategory. It has always worked great like this.

When I added SNES, I assigned a key to switch to SNES game list, but I could never get a game to start no matter what I mapped "start" to.

I was messing around with game list menu when I turned off the "browse" option. Once I turned off "browse" I was able to start my game with the left joy - it finally works!

NOW the problem is that I lose the catver functionality of Mame - I have to scroll through 6000+ games.

Does anyone know if there's a catver for SNES? Maybe if I have a category file for both emus it will work? This kind of bums me out but at least I know what the problem was - I just don't know why.

Thanks all for trying to help on this one. If anyone has any idea how to fix this "bug" or if there's something else causing the problem that I haven't considered yet, I'd greatly appreciate it

THANKS!

[8way]

As far as I know the only way to separate console roms would be using GoodTools if you had you roms as a GoodSet. But that would only separate them by Region and then I don’t know of how you could have mala use that info. So basically the only solution I could think of is using “ROMLister” on your mame roms to create separate gamelist according to categories. Then turn off Browse in mala and set it up to were left switches gamelist, a button + left switches emulators, and a different button + left start the game. Personally I would set start game to a single button press. This is a fairly simple navigation, in fact it’s how I have my cab setup, and I never had anyone complain about having problem navigating around.

[unclet]

Yes, I have "Start a game" in MALA mapped to my white Player1 button.   This is how most every arcade works .... press a button to "start".  Anyway, glad you made progress.

As for scrolling through 6000 Mame games to play .....   why not use MalaGamelist to create some gamelists (based on genre) for you.   When MALA starts on my cabinet I have it set to show my "Favorite" Mame games only, however, I also have the genre gamelists created as well (ie: Shooters, Fighters, Lightgun, etc..).

[boboli]

Thanks all. I'll try these. My most frequent user of the arcade is my 4 year old son. He gets a little confused by all the buttons since they're not labeled - that's why I went with Left joy and he's been using it for about 6 months that way. Maybe the Game lists will work.