Help with rom specific configuration

dratsum

Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B 1.2Ghz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU, 1GB RAM
RetroPie Version Used: 4.2.21
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: USB Apple Keyboard
Controller used: Ps3 DualShock over Bluetooth
Error messages received: "The file default.cfg contains characters with unknown encoding"
File: /opt/retropie/configs/mame-mame4all/cfg/xxx.cfg
Emulator: Mame4All
Attachment of config files: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fzsjhuths8o67r4/default.cfg?dl=0
How to replicate the problem: Open any rom specific .cfg file with a text editor

I feel like I'm missing something dumb - have been looking all over and haven't been able to track down the solution.

I'm attempting to set rom specific configuration parameters on Retro Pi Mame4all in order to tweak how vector games look on my LCD (gamma / flicker). When I fire up a rom - for example - Tempest, it creates a .cfg file in the path above. When I attempt to open any .cfg file, with the exception of mame.cfg, with nano or my text editor, I get an error that the encoding of the file is unknown. When I open the files, they look like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i97fnvsgmop89g9/Screenshot 2017-09-19 17.34.45.png?dl=0

Screen shot of alert from TextMate: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8vptpaqadqx2s5/Screenshot 2017-09-19 17.34.05.png?dl=0

All the documentation I can find says these should be XML / plain text. I have root access to my pi.

Is rom specific configuration supported in Mame4All? Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Best/d

jonnykesh

@dratsum Those files are not human readable. Not sure where you saw that they were.

dratsum

Thanks @jonnykesh,

I didn't read that they were - but I never read that the were not. The files are accesable through the "configuration editor" in the retropie gui. And in the MAME documentation, it mentions editing the rom config files (romname.ini). But - yes, this was an assumption.

Is there another way I can customize configurations for specific roms?

Thanks / d

caver01

@dratsum Echoing what @jonnykesh said, you really can't manually edit these. When you open the MAME GUI by pressing TAB and make change to a game configuration such as DIP SWITCH settings, or if you map keys this way, those changes get written to the .cfg files you are describing.

In any case, I don't think you will like the look of vector games until you try AdvanceMAME. The other emulators apparently render vector games at 640x480 which can look pretty clunky, but AdvanceMAME is able to use your display's resolution for nice, clean and sharp vector lines. You can also setup transparency, anti-alias, flicker, etc. and it all can be configured using the AdvanceMAME configuration file (one file covers every ROM, and it is human-readable/editable).

You do, of course, need to use a matching romset, so the same roms you use in MAME4All might not work in AdvanceMAME, but it is worth it to get nice vector graphics.

Check out this post I wrote up a while ago which describes every detail you need for getting AdvanceMAME to run vector games nicely.

jonnykesh

@dratsum Is it correct that you are using an Original P1 B?

jonnykesh

@caver01 Was just about to suggest advanceMame but he says he has a Pi B. Does it run on the Pi 1?

dratsum

@jonnykesh Raspberry Pi 3 Model B 1.2Ghz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU, 1GB RAM

caver01

@dratsum

Your first post says you have a model B. You should fix that--you have a Pi 3 B.

jonnykesh

@dratsum Use advanceMame if you have a Pi3. Update your OP, a B is very different from a 3B.

dratsum

@jonnykesh Sorry - first pi. Didn't realize the was another B. Would AdvanceMAME still work with the roms from 0.37b5 Romset?

caver01

@jonnykesh I don't see why AdvanceMAME wouldn't run on an original Pi. Interesting question, but it should work. Not all games will run as smoothly, but it should work. Might be interesting to find out, or see if anyone using a zero is able to succeed with AdvanceMAME.

jonnykesh

@dratsum No, probably not. You need a 0.94 set for 0.94 or a 0.106 set for 1.4 and 3.5.

caver01

@dratsum You should know that the retroarch config files (from rgui) are user-readable, and they are .cfg files too (this is a point of confusion) but they are different than the .cfg files that MAME writes.

jonnykesh

@caver01 I have a zero in a drawer somewhere. Might fish it out some dark rainy night and give it a go. Plenty of those on the way!

caver01

@jonnykesh Me too. I hope to build a minty-pi at some point. It'd be a shame if I cannot play asteroids on it! Actually, the tiny display I would use with it won't require the better rendering anyway!

dratsum

Thanks @caver01

Is what I'm trying to do simply not possible in Mame4All, or would I be able to add my own rom config settings to the retoarch config files?

caver01

@dratsum said in Help with rom specific configuration:

Thanks @caver01

Is what I'm trying to do simply not possible in Mame4All, or would I be able to add my own rom config settings to the retoarch config files?

It is a loaded question with two answers:

it definitely IS possible to do per-rom configs with Retroarch emulators (lr-mame4all, lr-mame2003, lr-fbalpha). I do it a lot for screen rotation, customizing controls, overlays, and shaders. You simply create a file right next to the ROM (not in a sub folder), and you name it the same as the rom.zip.cfg, like this: asteroid.zip.cfg

However:
2. You cannot affect MAME vector configurations using the retroarch config file. You can set the viewport, you can add overlays and shaders and you can even change control mapping, but none of these are MAME configurations, they are more overall settings for the retroarch environment while running the emulator. In some respects, this is nice, because the settings can be used by lr-mame2003, or by lr-fbalpha, or lr-mame4all, as they config would apply equally to all three emulators. You cannot, however, add configurations like Beam Width, or Flicker, as these are strictly mame concepts not controlled by retroarch.

For what you wanted in your original post, AdvanceMAME is your best option. AdvanceMAME plays vector ROMs beautifully, and I use it exclusively for that purpose. It also has superior control-mapping for analog. If you were to setup a home-built cabinet with three trackballs in order to play 3-player Rampart for example, you could do it with AdvanceMAME, and only with AdvanceMAME. That said, lr-mame2003 is far and away the best MAME emulator in retropie in terms of features and rom compatibility, but I use AdvanceMAME for all vector games.

dratsum

@caver01 - got it - thanks so much for help.