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    How To Create Favorites System in Retropie (yes system, not folder!)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas and Development
    favoritessystememulationstaion
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    • lilbudL
      lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
      last edited by

      @TMNTturtlguy Only having to manually select the emulator for each rom. I tried to create a batch script to automatically select the emulator for the rom extension. But it never worked... probably cause I don't know how to code.

      Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

      Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

      TMNTturtlguyT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • TMNTturtlguyT
        TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
        last edited by

        @lilbud yeah, that is the downside. I tried to read through the runcommand file to see if I could figure it out, but it is still over my head and it was about 3am when input this post together. I am going to keep looking at this, but I just don't see how it will be possible. The one idea I have would be to write instructions that all .nes files always default to a certain emulator. That way we are not trying to match settings from another file/folder, but just generally stating that a certain file is always run by a certain emulator. Downside to this is that .zip files probably wouldn't work, the roms would have to be unzipped, for just this folder anyways.

        Next issue at hand, gamelists. Since this is a new roms folder, it will need a new gamelist. My first thought is to manually create it by copying out each game entry from their original list and pasting into a new file. Then manually changing the image and video snap locations to add in the path to their original location so you don't have to have art on your system twice for the same rom.

        Future wish idea, can I create a shortcut file in the favorites rom folder so it shows on the favorites game list and have the runcommand Follow the shortcut path and actually open the original rom from its original folder. Now this idea solves all issue! It would use the original emulator and artwork by default.

        Problem is i am better at art and idea generation than writing code!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • TMNTturtlguyT
          TMNTturtlguy @HoolyHoo
          last edited by

          @HoolyHoo said in How To Create Favorites System in Retropie (yes system, not folder!):

          I did this quite a while ago and decided to organize the "Favorites" into subfolders by consoles. (See this thread:https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4233/sub-folders-default-emulators).

          Like I said in the top post, I assumed that this has been done before, I just didn't find anyone who shared how to actually accomplish it. See my reply to @lilbud about launching emulators. I think that the main benefit to setting up this type of folder is to have 20-30 roms in it, not hundreds....otherwise it defeats the purpose of favorites. I am also interested in the all MARIO and all TMNT possibilities, it won't be the end of the world to launch 15-20 roms and set the emulator one time. Any additional thought you have learned would be a huge plus. Thanks

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • SanoS
            Sano
            last edited by

            Very nice tweak.

            Juste thinking of something similar, but that would unfortunately require huge modifications on ES :
            Being able to modify the carrousel to switch components between Systems/Game Genres/Editors/Custom keyword (Mario, Sonic, ...)

            This would probably require to replace the gamelist.xml files with a global DB, but could be so nice, and would easily allow to implement game search too...

            My 2 cents.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • TMNTturtlguyT
              TMNTturtlguy
              last edited by TMNTturtlguy

              Update: I am currently trying to figure out all the runcommand code and how we can get the emulator to autoselect so we don't have to manually set it up. Here is what i think i have determined so far:

              /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh tells us that if "sys" is called out then we use argument 3 = which says to look to the favorites folder we created in /opt/retropie/configs/. Nothing earth shattering figured out here. If we keep looking down in the file we find the function default_emulator() { Again, i don't know what i am doing here, but it looks that this is telling us to go to the folder we created in /opt/retropie/configs/ for favorites and look at the emulators.cfg

              In emulators.cfg we list out all the emulators that can run in our system. We can also call out ONE single emulator to run as the default launch emulator. the runcommand.sh file says we can do this by stating default = "emulatorname" for example default = "lr-mame2003"

              So now what i need to try to understand is if we can create code in the runcommand.sh that allows us to do an ifstatement that says "if rom = .nes " Then:

              local key
              local config="$EMU_SYS_CONF"
              
              case "$type" in
                  emu_sys)
                      key="default NES"
                      ;;
              

              Then we can go into our favorites/emulators.cfg and add the following: default NES = lr-fceumm

              I am probably waisting a lot of peoples time here, so i apologize. I am sure this is much more complex than what I am thinking, my hope is that this might jump start a few ideas that others can expand upon or point me in the right direction. OR tell me I am way off base! Thanks for your time.

              lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • lilbudL
                lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
                last edited by

                @TMNTturtlguy Here is the script I tried to write

                #!/usr/bin/env bash
                
                for file in /tmp/*; do
                if echo "$file" | grep -q '.gb$'; then
                /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-
                gambatte/gambatte_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/mario/retroarch.cfg "$file"
                elif echo "$file" | grep -q '.nes$'; then
                /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-
                fceumm/fceumm_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/mario/retroarch.cfg "$file"
                elif echo "$file" | grep -q '.sfc$'; then
                /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-
                snes9x2010/snes9x2010_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/snes/retroarch.cfg 
                "$file"
                fi
                done
                

                If anyone is good with bash, tell me what i did wrong.

                Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                TMNTturtlguyT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • TMNTturtlguyT
                  TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
                  last edited by

                  @lilbud I think i might have it for you, right now you are telling the script to write the launch for the .gb files to emulator list, that list does not actually run/startup the emulator. The emulator set as default is what will launch unless the rom itself has directions save to /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulators.cfg

                  What we could do is create the script to add the following output for each rom in your mario folder. Here is what the required output is:

                  mario_romname = "emulator"
                  for example my turtles system - TMNT
                  TMNT_tmnt22p = "mame4all"

                  So all the script needs to do is look in your mario folder for file types .nes and then output mario_supermario = "lr-fceumm" to /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulators.cfg

                  I am not good with scripts, but maybe you can test writing this and report back?

                  lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • meleuM
                    meleu
                    last edited by meleu

                    Hey guys, I didn't read all the thread, sorry. But as far as I understood the OP is about creating a theme for favourites, not implementing a way to manage its contents.

                    If the user is supposed to manage files/gamelist.xml manually I would suggest to use symbolic links (or full path in gamelist.xml).

                    But why don't we test the branch of this PR?: https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation/pull/131

                    • Useful topics
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                    • rpie-art tool
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                    lilbudL TMNTturtlguyT 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • lilbudL
                      lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
                      last edited by

                      @TMNTturtlguy said in How To Create Favorites System in Retropie (yes system, not folder!):

                      mario_supermario = "lr-fceumm

                      Shouldn't that say:

                      mario_nes = "lr-fceumm" ?

                      Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                      Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                      TMNTturtlguyT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • lilbudL
                        lilbud @meleu
                        last edited by lilbud

                        @meleu yeah, but we get sidetracked easily. Could you look at the code above and see what's wrong?

                        Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                        Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                        meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • meleuM
                          meleu @lilbud
                          last edited by

                          @lilbud sure. Will do as soon as I get home.

                          • Useful topics
                          • joystick-selection tool
                          • rpie-art tool
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                          • TMNTturtlguyT
                            TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
                            last edited by

                            @lilbud said in How To Create Favorites System in Retropie (yes system, not folder!):

                            Shouldn't that say:
                            mario_nes = "lr-fceumm" ?

                            no, it should say the name of your system folder: mario then then name of the rom: supermario = emulator

                            I am just using supermario as the name of your rom

                            lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • lilbudL
                              lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
                              last edited by

                              @TMNTturtlguy So, like this:

                              mario_supermariorpg="lr-snes9x-2010"

                              Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                              Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                              TMNTturtlguyT 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • TMNTturtlguyT
                                TMNTturtlguy @meleu
                                last edited by

                                @meleu i just read the PR branch, not sure it is doing the same thing?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • TMNTturtlguyT
                                  TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
                                  last edited by TMNTturtlguy

                                  @lilbud yes, but you need a spaces between (either side of the =)

                                  mario_supermariorpg = "lr-snes9x-2010"

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                                  • TMNTturtlguyT
                                    TMNTturtlguy
                                    last edited by

                                    SO i am still working on the runcommand.sh file from above.....i am making progress with the default idea, but now it reads both defaults as launch. I need a way to tell the runcommand which defualt to use. Can someone tell me what "$type" is signalling? Here is what i am trying to do:

                                    function default_emulator() {
                                        local mode="$1"
                                        local type="$2"
                                        local value="$3"
                                    
                                       local key
                                       local config="$EMU_SYS_CONF"
                                    
                                     case "$type" in
                                        emu_sys)
                                            key="default"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_cmd)
                                            key="$EMULATOR"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_rom_old)
                                            key="$SYS_SAVE_ROM_OLD"
                                            config="$EMU_CONF"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_rom)
                                            key="$SYS_SAVE_ROM"
                                            config="$EMU_CONF"
                                            ;;
                                    esac
                                    default_process "$config" "$mode" "$key" "$value"
                                    
                                    case "$type" in
                                        emu_sys)
                                            key="default NES"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_cmd)
                                            key="$EMULATOR"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_rom_old)
                                            key="$SYS_SAVE_ROM_OLD"
                                            config="$EMU_CONF"
                                            ;;
                                        emu_rom)
                                            key="$SYS_SAVE_ROM"
                                            config="$EMU_CONF"
                                            ;;
                                    esac
                                    default_process "$config" "$mode" "$key" "$value"
                                    

                                    }

                                    I added the second case and when i launch it is picking it up. But now it says it is launching from both emulators. So i need to tell it to launch default NES for only .nes files. Thanks for any help or thoughts you might have.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • TMNTturtlguyT
                                      TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
                                      last edited by

                                      @lilbud @meleu I think the issue with having to run a script is that you will have to do this each time you create a new "favorites" or "Mario" or any system. You would also need to run the script any time you add a new game to the "Mario" system.

                                      If we can find a way to get the runcommand.sh to do this for us, it will work all the time. What i have done is created a copy of the runcommand.sh file and named it runcommandfav.sh. In my es_systems.cfg, i have just changed the runcommand file to the fav.sh file and left all the normal systems running off of the standard runcommand.sh file. This way we don't effect anything we already have set up.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • TMNTturtlguyT
                                        TMNTturtlguy
                                        last edited by

                                        Just an FYI for anyone reading through this thread. The directions at the top in the very first post do work without any issues. I have now implemented this on 2 separate builds with 2 different branches of ES running (main branch and screensaver branch).

                                        The long line of posts are simply @lilbud and myself trying to find a away to avoid having to set the emulator for each rom in your folder. You can follow the directions in the first post and create any system you want, like "Fighters". You can put any roms from any systems in there, you just have to manually set the emulator the very first time you launch the rom by pressing "A" button and setting the emulator for that rom.

                                        lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • lilbudL
                                          lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
                                          last edited by

                                          @TMNTturtlguy Does anyone know Recalbox manages favorites? Cause watching the videos, it seems like they got this figured out.

                                          Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                                          Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                                          TMNTturtlguyT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                          • TMNTturtlguyT
                                            TMNTturtlguy @lilbud
                                            last edited by

                                            @lilbud Recall box vidoes is what inspired me last night! I saw @fernbuilds videos that had Batman and Mario and Sonic systems, and thought it would be so cool if we could do that. I can build a bartop machine and put cool TMNT graphics and marquee on it and run all the TMNT games ever made! I probably need to grow up some day!?!

                                            So like @lilbud has asked, any recall box experts out there? @fernbuilds, any thoughts?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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