PC Engine, TurboGrafx 16, Super Grafx - all in the same folder?

groviar

I have roms for NEC PC Engine, TurboGrafx 16, and Super Grafx. All have the .pce extension. Do these all go in the same "pcengine" roms folder in Retropie? I'm thinking they do but I wanted to confirm if I've got this right. Does putting them all together cause any confusion with the emulator or scraper?

Specs:
Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberry Pi 3 model B
Power Supply used: CanaKit 5V 2.5A Raspberry Pi 3 Power Supply / Adapter / Charger (UL Listed)
RetroPie Version: 4.1
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected:
Controller used: Xbox One

edmaul69

@groviar super grafx should go in the supergrafx folder. There is an emulator specifically for supergrafx. They might work in the pcengine folder but i dont know if the emulator is in that systems config folder.

groviar

Thanks - I just took another look at the pcengine doc page, and it lists super grafix as a separate emulator but it says they both go into the same "pcengine" folder. So I'm guessing I can combine all 3 sets of roms - PC Engine, TurboGrafx 16 and Super Grafx all together in the "pcengine" folder? I checked and I have the Super Grafix emulator installed by default. I guess what I'm asking is are the TurboGrafix-16 and PCEngine considered the same system, just different roms?

Will that cause any confusion with scraping, having them all together in the same folder? Or is that not a problem?

herb_fargus

@groviar try it and see.

groviar

I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but as a newbie, wouldn't it be better to just tell me, since presumably some of you guys know the answer? I'm trying to get this set up right the first time so I'd rather not place the roms in all the wrong places. I haven't actually even run any roms yet. I'm dumping all the roms in the appropriate folders and I just would like to avoid making any early mistakes. I'm thinking the roms should run okay from the same folder, but how would I know if the scraper is getting confused with both sets of roms in there?

Ideally, the doc page should make this more apparent, but it doesn't. For a newbie, with sets of both NES roms and Famicom roms, the doc page makes no mention of whether they can be combined together. Ditto for the Turbogafix-16/PCEngine page. So these are questions that are likely to come up for a newbie.

I would think that there should be separate rom folders for NES and Famicom (not disk - just the roms), and also separate folders for PCEngine and Turbografix-16, since they are technically different systems that got different game releases. So I"m just a bit confused that they are supposed to be all put together in the same rom folder. But that's fine if that's how it's supposed to be. I just wish the doc pages explained that. The doc pages are very helpful but a bit confusing at times.

backstander

@groviar
You can put all those ROMs in the same "pcengine" folder but when you launch a Super Grafx games you'll need to change the emulator to lr-beetle-supergrafx from the Runcommand.

I personally use 3 folders...I guess because I grew up with a TurboGrafx 16 when all my friends had SNES and Genesis systems. I have a "pcengine" folder for all my TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine games, then I have a "pce-cd" folder for all my TurboGrafx CD/PC Engine CD/TurboDuo games and last I have a "supergrafx" folder for all my Super Grafix games

I'm not at my RPi so I'm working off of my memory but for scraping, it looks at what you have in your <platform> field in /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg Typically the <name>, <platform> and <theme> are all the same name. If you put all of those the same "supergrafx" in a folder named "supergrafx" you should be able to scrape it without issue (I think I only had 1 game not scrape using Sselph's scraper but the scraper built into EmulatationStation found that last one). I've never got the "pce-cd" games to scrape though.

backstander

@groviar

I'm trying to get this set up right the first time so I'd rather not place the roms in all the wrong places.

You can use either "pcengine" or "supergrafx" for your SuperGrafx games.

how would I know if the scraper is getting confused with both sets of roms in there?

Steven Selph's Scraper will compares hashes generated from the files you have with a database of known games to find a match. EmulationStation's built in scraper uses the file names to find matches. I believe that both use the <platform> field but EmulationStation can just look generically at every system if it doesn't recognize the "platform" defined from es_systems.cfg.

Ideally, the doc page should make this more apparent, but it doesn't. For a newbie, with sets of both NES roms and Famicom roms, the doc page makes no mention of whether they can be combined together. Ditto for the Turbogafix-16/PCEngine page. So these are questions that are likely to come up for a newbie.

The documents can be edited by anyone with a free Github account. They are updated by the community in their spare time. You might make a list of the things that gave you the most problems, frustrations or confusions and update these documents accordingly. I was a newbie just 9 months ago and now I try to update the documents when I figure something out. If more users did this, the documentation would be a lot better.

I would think that there should be separate rom folders for NES and Famicom (not disk - just the roms)

The short answer is that the memory on the Raspberry Pi is limited and finite and when you run out of memory because of too many systems, you'd get the dreaded white screen of death!

also separate folders for PCEngine and Turbografix-16, since they are technically different systems that got different game releases. So I"m just a bit confused that they are supposed to be all put together in the same rom folder.

The reason PCEngine and Turbografix-16 are in the same folders are because what I said above and because they both use the exact same emulators so there's not a need to separate them.

The doc pages are very helpful but a bit confusing at times.

You'll get it. I was in the same boat about 9 months ago.

groviar

Thanks very much for all the info. This will be very helpful for me.

If I create a supergrafix folder for just the supergrafix roms, will I need to manually do anything to any congfig files for the folder to get recognized, or will Retropie see the supergrafix folder and roms automatically? I haven't had any experience yet with manually editing config files in Retopie.

If I use a separate supergrafix folder, will the fames automatically open with the supergrafix emualator?
If I put the supergrafix roms in the pcengine folder, will I need to select which emulator to use for each rom I play in the pcengine folder, or just when I play supergrafix roms? And will Retropie remember so I only need to select the supergrafix once for each supergrafix rom?

And can I combine the NES and Famicom roms (not the disk games) in the same NES folder or can/should those be separated too?

Sorry for the extra questions - I'm just wondering which way is considered easier to work with. There's only a handful of supergrafix roms so if I only need to set the emulator once for each game it's not so bad.

backstander

@groviar

If I create a supergrafix folder for just the supergrafix roms, will I need to manually do anything to any congfig files for the folder to get recognized, or will Retropie see the supergrafix folder and roms automatically?
If I use a separate supergrafix folder, will the fames automatically open with the supergrafix emualator?

I assume you mean "games" but to be honest I don't remember. It either did or it was the same as "pcengine" folder with both emulators and I had to change the default to the lr-beetle-supergrafx emulator from the Runcommand. If I remember I'll look when I'm at my RPi.

I haven't had any experience yet with manually editing config files in Retopie.

They are basically just text files ;-)

If I put the supergrafix roms in the pcengine folder, will I need to select which emulator to use for each rom I play in the pcengine folder, or just when I play supergrafix roms?

Okay so when you launch a game you are greeted with the Runcommand. The Runcommand is a pretty cool script that's responsible for launching the correct emulators for your games (dependent on the folder they are located in). Some people think it looks ugly but the Runcommand is your friend! Please read this document about the Runcommand:
https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/runcommand

With the Runcommand you can change the default emulator used for that folder or you can change the emulator for that specific game that you're launching...and the best part is? The all knowing Runcommand remembers your choice!

And will Retropie remember so I only need to select the supergrafix once for each supergrafix rom?

Yes
(note: changing the default for a folder won't mess up your custom settings set per a game)

And can I combine the NES and Famicom roms (not the disk games) in the same NES folder or can/should those be separated too?

I put all my non-disk games in the "nes" folder and the Famicom disks in the "fds" folder
(I initially had both in the "nes" folder but decided I needed them separated)(the lr-nestopia emulator will play both)

Sorry for the extra questions

No worries! That's what forums are for.

backstander

@groviar
I got to looking at my notes for setting up "supergrafx" and I had to set everything up my self.

I plan on adding this to the wiki but I'll post it here first to see if anyone has any questions about it.

Here are the steps:
Note: Make sure you have the "lr-beetle-supergrafx" emulator installed already

mkdir /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supergrafx/
mkdir /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/

nano /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/emulators.cfg

lr-beetle-supergrafx = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-supergrafx/mednafen_supergrafx_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"
default = "lr-beetle-supergrafx"

nano /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/retroarch.cfg

# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

nano /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

  <system>
    <name>supergrafx</name>
    <fullname>PC Engine SuperGrafx</fullname>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supergrafx</path>
    <extension>.pce .ccd .cue .zip .PCE .CCD .CUE .ZIP</extension>
    <command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ supergrafx %ROM%</command>
    <platform>pcengine</platform>
    <theme>supergrafx</theme>
  </system>

herb_fargus

@backstander editing /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg is not recommended.

rather make a copy in /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

see https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/EmulationStation#my-es_sytemscfg-is-being-overwritten-on-updates

backstander

Thanks @herb_fargus ! I knew that lol but totally forgot to use it here ;-)
I have updated my post above.

herb_fargus

actually now that I think of it this method should also suffice and may actually be better:

https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Genesis-Megadrive#switching-emulation-station-to-the-genesis-logo

lots of ways to do things anyways.

tapmantwo

Hi @backstander - thank you for your instructions on this, I now have a lovely Super Grafx option in EmulationStation, and it is loading the roms :)

However, I can't get the controls to work - I thought it should just pick up the controls as configured in RetroArch, but it doesn't. Interestingly, lr-beetle-pce-fast, which was installed by default, seems to be working fine. Any suggestions?

backstander

@tapmantwo

However, I can't get the controls to work

I'm not at my RPi right now so I'm going off memory.

First, look in /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/emulators.cfg and make sure it's got the line:

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/"

Then copy/overwright the contents of /opt/retropie/configs/pcengine/ to /opt/retropie/configs/supergrafx/

This should copy over the same controls you are currently using for the PC Engine/TG16.