Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!)

[AndersHP]

I think it got the job done pretty neatly, and it seems to work faster than clrmamepro and romsorter, and is definitely more user friendly. Thumbs up!

I'd love for an option to sort out NeoGeo games, since I like my NeoGeo folder to be separate, but I guess that comes down to the DAT file, right? So I'll have to use the MAME 0.78u5 'Lite' DAT File mentioned here right?

[markwkidd]

@andershp I'm afraid that the catver doesn't know anything about Neo Geo. I'm worried that an old DAT like the 0.78u5 would be a poor match for a modern FBA but I have no idea if that would actually be a problem.

[cosmo0]

Shameless plug :)

@ismaelzsilva said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

Dude this is awesome! Really simple way to cutdown my romsets. I tried hypersin tools, rom lister, etc, and Simple Arcade Multifilter is the best. Any chances to make a version for MAC system? I am running the .exe in Parallels and its ok, but a native aplication in Mac will be fantastic. Thank you very much!

I had no idea this tool existed, so I built my own, doing similar things in a different way (and more), fully cross platform : https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17255/fast-and-cross-platform-retropie-arcade-roms-manager-gui

[markwkidd]

@cosmo0 nice! I'll be taking a closer look soon!

[jca2112]

Hey, sorry about reviving an old thread.

I'm trying to filter the preferred Final Burn Alpha 0.2.97.42 romset for RetroPie (for a Raspberry Pi 3 as mentioned in the docs) using Simple Arcade Multifilter.

As mentioned previously, I believe FBA 0.2.97.42 is based on the MAME 0.187 romset, so I would be looking for a catver.ini (for sorting) file version for MAME .187, which isn't available anywhere (that I can find). Is okay to use ANY later version of a catver.ini file after 0.187? They only version I see available is for 0.197.

Appreciate any help/info.

[markwkidd]

The current ProgettoSNAPS catver.ini file is evidently designed to work with all versions of MAME 0.165 through the present. That's the one you need for your FBA collection.

[jca2112]

@markwkidd said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

The current ProgettoSNAPS catver.ini file is evidently designed to work with all versions of MAME 0.165 through the present. That's the one you need for your FBA collection.

Good to know, thanks. Would that same MAME .197 catver.ini work for MAME 2003 0.78 roms as well? (One catver.ini file for both MAME and FBA sorting?)

[markwkidd]

@jca2112 said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@markwkidd said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

The current ProgettoSNAPS catver.ini file is evidently designed to work with all versions of MAME 0.165 through the present. That's the one you need for your FBA collection.

Good to know, thanks. Would that same MAME .197 catver.ini work for MAME 2003 0.78 roms as well? (One catver.ini file for both MAME and FBA sorting?)

The current catver.ini will unfortunately not work well for mame2003.

However, I help maintain a catver.ini for mame2003 which, although I'm biased, should work perfectly for you: https://github.com/libretro/mame2003-libretro/blob/master/metadata/catver.ini

If you haven't used github before, use the "raw" link button to access the file directly

[cosmo0]

@jca2112 Hey! FYI my arcade manager has all you need for FBA : https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17255/fast-and-cross-platform-retropie-arcade-roms-manager-gui
I provide several downloadable CSV files to help you manage everything you need.

[markwkidd]

@cosmo0 said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@jca2112 Hey! FYI my arcade manager has all you need for FBA : https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17255/fast-and-cross-platform-retropie-arcade-roms-manager-gui
I provide several downloadable CSV files to help you manage everything you need.

Is it necessary to use the CSV files, or can you use a catver.ini only?

[cosmo0]

@markwkidd You can convert a catver.ini to csv using my tool :) the source file has to be a csv.

[markwkidd]

@cosmo0 said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@markwkidd You can convert a catver.ini to csv using my tool :) the source file has to be a csv.

Hmm.

I am pretty interested in working with your tool, and maybe leaving off of mine altogether, but it's hard for me to get excited about using CSVs when pretty much every other MAME and FBA tool uses DATs and INIs directly. Maybe we can collaborate on something eventually.

Edit @jca2112 I think the other tool is for people with pretty different preferences. SAM is good if you want to, for example, create a folder that only has Lightgun games and Fighters, along with the BIOSes that each require.

If that's your project, you load up the GUI, click on Gun and click on Fighter, and process the folder.

Then maybe you want another folder that is just "Adult" Puzzle games. With SAM you browse down to the Puzzle category, click on the subcategory that says *Mature*, and then you can process out a folder with only adult puzzle romsets.

The other tool is more about providing a curated experience and I think it's better than SAM if you fit into one of the pregenerated CSVs because there is also overlay support etc. But on the other hand if you want to load the latest catver.ini from Progetto and the latest DAT from FBA and then create your own curated folder then I think SAM is still the way to go.

[markwkidd]

This post is deleted!

[cosmo0]

@markwkidd said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@cosmo0 said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@markwkidd You can convert a catver.ini to csv using my tool :) the source file has to be a csv.

Hmm.

I am pretty interested in working with your tool, and maybe leaving off of mine altogether, but it's hard for me to get excited about using CSVs when pretty much every other MAME and FBA tool uses DATs and INIs directly. Maybe we can collaborate on something eventually.

I'm using CSV because it's easy for the user to edit and filter them using Excel or whatever, and do their own list.

I might support dat files directly, I already provide a conversion tool. I noted it in my todo list :)

The other tool is more about providing a curated experience and I think it's better than SAM if you fit into one of the pregenerated CSVs because there is also overlay support etc. But on the other hand if you want to load the latest catver.ini from Progetto and the latest DAT from FBA and then create your own curated folder then I think SAM is still the way to go.

Exactly :)

[snoopmehdi]

Hi all!
Congrats for this amazing job. I have a problem, i use the appropriate catver.ini dat. File and romset for mame 2003 but i do not have any caregorize to choice in window. Do you know what it could be ?

All the best !

[Clyde]

A nice and simplistic tool. I only have one feature request: Pleeease (+ sugar on the top) add a function to mark multiple entries, e.g. an all/none button or common hotkey support (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-LMB, Shift-LMB). It's extremely inconvenient to mark double-digit numbers of genres or make "all but …" selections.

If there already is such a function I'm just too blind to see, I'd be as humbled as I'd be grateful to know it. :) I'm running SAM on Linux via WINE, so that may be a factor if I'm missing functionality that should be there.

[markwkidd]

@clyde said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

A nice and simplistic tool. I only have one feature request: Pleeease (+ sugar on the top) add a function to mark multiple entries, e.g. an all/none button or common hotkey support (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-LMB, Shift-LMB). It's extremely inconvenient to mark double-digit numbers of genres or make "all but …" selections.

If there already is such a function I'm just too blind to see, I'd be as humbled as I'd be grateful to know it. :) I'm running SAM on Linux via WINE, so that may be a factor if I'm missing functionality that should be there.

No I unfortunate don't think you're missing anything -- multiple selection was not on my mind when I coded the tool. Thanks for the suggestion, if I do another version it does need this feature.

[Clyde]

@markwkidd said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@clyde said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

A nice and simplistic tool. I only have one feature request: Pleeease (+ sugar on the top) add a function to mark multiple entries, e.g. an all/none button or common hotkey support (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-LMB, Shift-LMB). It's extremely inconvenient to mark double-digit numbers of genres or make "all but …" selections.

If there already is such a function I'm just too blind to see, I'd be as humbled as I'd be grateful to know it. :) I'm running SAM on Linux via WINE, so that may be a factor if I'm missing functionality that should be there.

No I unfortunate don't think you're missing anything -- multiple selection was not on my mind when I coded the tool. Thanks for the suggestion, if I do another version it does need this feature.

Since you seem to have resumed work on this project, may I humbly remind you of this? 😇

[markwkidd]

@Clyde said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@markwkidd said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

@clyde said in Simple Arcade Multifilter - app for MAME and FB Alpha sets (Get rid of Adult and Mahjong games!):

A nice and simplistic tool. I only have one feature request: Pleeease (+ sugar on the top) add a function to mark multiple entries, e.g. an all/none button or common hotkey support (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-LMB, Shift-LMB). It's extremely inconvenient to mark double-digit numbers of genres or make "all but …" selections.

If there already is such a function I'm just too blind to see, I'd be as humbled as I'd be grateful to know it. :) I'm running SAM on Linux via WINE, so that may be a factor if I'm missing functionality that should be there.

No I unfortunate don't think you're missing anything -- multiple selection was not on my mind when I coded the tool. Thanks for the suggestion, if I do another version it does need this feature.

Since you seem to have resumed work on this project, may I humbly remind you of this? 😇

I've been using SAM quite a bit over the last few weeks and I certainly appreciate the issue with the current GUI here.

My dilemma is that there is a very limited control over that GUI component via AutoHotKey. I can change the list so that Ctrl-A and Shift-Click work, but by doing so the user can no longer single-click several different items in a row to select multiple items from the list.

I've made a test build with that change implemented. Try it out if you will and see what you think about the change: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqgpqm73l46i740/Simple Arcade Multifilterv1.1X-2019-01-15.zip?dl=0

[Clyde]

That works like a charm! I would argue for keeping this behaviour, because it matches most file requesters on at least Windows and Linux (I don't have much experience with MacOS). You could add a short explanation to the list like "Use Shift and Control keys to select multiple entries" or something similar.

However you will decide, your test build gives me the controls I longed for, thanks very much!