lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu

caver01

@dankcushions said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

so you either use the quick menu > options remapping, it stores it on a per-rom basis in retroarch-core-options.cfg (best), or if you use per-rom gamename.zip.cfg, still no conflict.

I am curious about your "best" option above. I use the second approach--defining gamename.zip.cfg files for each ROM. I guess I like the visibility of the individual config files, but I am curious how it rolls them into a retroarch-core-options.cfg.

4.b. For NeoGeo (lr-fba-next) I have controls mapped for neo geo since it differs from fighter games.

not arcade.

Actually, I should have been clearer. My NeoGeo games ARE inside Arcade. So, titles like the mslug series--these are inside Arcade, and I launch them with lr-fba-next using runcommand. So, I have two "flavors" of games that I launch with the fba core and they don't have compatible control maps. And since I can only have one arcade/retroarch.cfg, I need to decide if I want that config to be MAME, FBA fighter, or FBA NeoGeo. It's not too bad. The only difference with separate emu folders (instead of arcade) is that I could rely on one FBA default retroarch.cfg and I could get away with fewer per-rom configs.

It puts a tiny bit more burden on me to configure what I want per-rom, but sometimes I am messing with rotation or aspect ratio too, so I end up with a per-rom config file for that anyway.

dankcushions

@dankcushions

i've given you the documentation for lr-fba-next and 2003 - it gives you the destinations for that stuff. if it doesn't mention any differences for /arcade/ users then there are none in the stuff those pages deal with

actually, i have to correct myself here! there were a few missing, so i've updated https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/lr-mame2003 - sorry!

dankcushions

@caver01

I am curious about your "best" option above. I use the second approach--defining gamename.zip.cfg files for each ROM. I guess I like the visibility of the individual config files,

so you reconfigure what retropad A etc are depending on the game? doesn't this mess up your hotkey combos?

but I am curious how it rolls them into a retroarch-core-options.cfg.

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/lr-fba-next#button-rebinding
from memory they're added to the file as fba-gamename-fierce-punch = "RetropadA" etc, but i'd have to check

Actually, I should have been clearer. My NeoGeo games ARE inside Arcade. So, titles like the mslug series--these are inside Arcade, and I launch them with lr-fba-next using runcommand. So, I have two "flavors" of games that I launch with the fba core and they don't have compatible control maps. And since I can only have one arcade/retroarch.cfg, I need to decide if I want that config to be MAME, FBA fighter, or FBA NeoGeo. It's not too bad. The only difference with separate emu folders (instead of arcade) is that I could rely on one FBA default retroarch.cfg and I could get away with fewer per-rom configs.

that makes sense. seems like something that could be fixed if it was logged, but i dunno.

Riverstorm

@dankcushions said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

there is no 'arcade emulator'

Wow, Dank I thought about it but didn't think you would start splitting hairs. I guess I didn't think you would resort to it but I guess it takes all kinds. It's really not funny because you throw a smiley face up.

if it doesn't mention any differences for /arcade/ users then there are none

Ok, so the lack of Arcade FOLDER documentation implies.

??? 0.133 what?

Serious? If you don't know by looking at it it doesn't matter. It's comments like these that clearly show you don't know several things about MAME that you try to imply that you do know.

It was the same on how ROMs work. You just didn't know as well as you implied. It also shows your lack of programming I would guess you know very little because programmers don't generalize on programming issues/problems like you do, they are clear and concise. You can't buffalo a programmer because they will call your bluff every time. They think entirely different, so detailed, so articulate, so logical.

i don't care about these

Clearly.

Sorry Dank, the only thing I can appreciate is your Avatar probably implies your outlook and how others are treated. I would appreciate if you didn't even reply to any of my posts as I find no value in your replies and I waste to much time defending or explaining myself just trying to get an answer from you when I clearly don't understand and still don't. I don't know what is broken and how a few things work in Arcade FOLDER STILL but I spent a good hour defending my questions and trying to word them so I may get an answer and understand how Arcade FOLDER works.

I found ONE sentence pertaining to Arcade FOLDER in the documentation and none of this /arcade etc. you're speaking of. You answer what you want and skip what you deem irrelevant. Honestly I would rather just not know and never use a feature than argue with you because wow. No need to reply but alas this type of stuff is clearly your forte and you won't be able to refrain.

Cheers :) Hopefully this clarifies.

caver01

@dankcushions said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

so you reconfigure what retropad A etc are depending on the game? doesn't this mess up your hotkey combos?

I have hotkeys completely disabled in my all/retroarch.cfg file. As a consequence, I have "ESC" configured for exit, as this is a MAME default and I have a dedicated pushbutton for it on my arcade control panel.

The hotkey combo-thing might be fine on a joypad controller, but it was driving me nuts on my arcade panel--it was just way too easy to drop coins with one button and pressing start would inadvertently exit the game! Imagine trying to re-spawn in the middle of a Metal Slug run, frantically dropping coins and OOPS! you pressed P1 start before letting go of the coin button = screwed. There were other examples, so I just disabled hotkeys altogether.

As for fixing the arcade folder config, it's really not broken--it's just a design choice that comes with a limitation--that libretro cores "share" a single retroarch.cfg file for launching ROMs in the corresponding arcade folder.

I suppose someone is going to run into this problem one day:

Build out a working mame-libretro configuration with a customized retroarch.cfg.
Build out a working fba configuration with a customized retroarch.cfg.
Attempt to combine mame and fba roms into a single working arcade folder.
Run into a retroarch.cfg file conflict, as you can't put both configs into the arcade folder (assuming they are different).

Seems like the best way to correct for this is either:

Use per-rom workarounds like I do
Force any libretro core to use the retroarch.cfg located back in their respective configs folders instead of the one in the arcade folder.

I don't know what kind of effort that would entail. Maybe it's easy, or maybe it's a nightmare. not knowing how the cascading configs are setup, I could understand how this might be way more trouble to "change" than it's worth.

Riverstorm

@caver01 said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

Thanks Caver for explaining the issue that really helps. I see the value of a spreadsheet when jumping into Arcade.

I ran into a similar issue when switching to Libretro cores with a joystick. In non-Libretro cores I was using select+start to exit the emulator/Tab Screen The option is "UI Cancel".

When you're in the Tab screen it backs you out one screen at a time when drilled down. So if you press Tab | Input (General) you could make changes and then press start+select to back out to the main menu to access other options, then press it again to exit Tab back to the game, then a 3rd time to exit the game altogether.

If you have "Config Menu" (Tab) configured without "UI Cancel" configured. You can drill down to say Input (General) but you can never get back to the main screen. It will only open and close the last menu drilled down to when you press select+start and not start at the Main Menu if that makes sense.

Sticking with the joystick explanation and lr-mame2003 the "Config Menu" is the "RetroPad1 Trigger R" which takes away from in game button 6 I think it is. If you're playing a game that requires button 6 you're going to pull up the Tab menu when you actually meant to fire, jump or something else in game.

So you have to resort to using <NOT>. For the "Config Menu" (Tab) it would be RetroPad1 R & RetroPad1 L. Then button 6 would be "RetroPad1 Trigger R" not "RetroPad1 Trigger L". Or that's the best I could come up with for now to stop overlap of buttons.

If you don't resort to using <NOT> you lose actual game buttons since there's no MAME hotkey and you also need to keep the Retroarch hotkeys in mind too.

Before (non-Libretro cores) I was using the left and right analog sticks. Like to pause was "select+right analog down" but analog sticks don't work in lr-mame2003 in the Tab menu so you're pretty limited.

caver01

@Riverstorm I'm not sure I followed all of that, but I guess we gotta do what works, and right now, even with the limitations on a single retroarch.cfg in the Arcade folder, I can get what I need using per-rom configs, but I wish the libretro emulators would simply leverage their respective config folders instead.

Riverstorm

@caver01 said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

@Riverstorm I'm not sure I followed all of that, but I guess we gotta do what works, and right now, even with the limitations on a single retroarch.cfg in the Arcade folder, I can get what I need using per-rom configs, but I wish the libretro emulators would simply leverage their respective config folders instead.

Sorry Caver01, you have a natural way of writing that breaks it down and explains things nicely. :)

I can't quite explain it until I started using MAME Libretro cores "Tab" function keys. Basically the MAME keys trying to leverage pause, FPS and few other functions that aren't Retroarch hotkeys. It's also handy to access the Tab function via controller for tweaks without altering button 1, 2, 3, etc. I was trying to explain it but it didn't quite work.

I agree and I can get by fine as it is. I could use the Quick Save and Load vs. MAME pause on a controller and the IPAC I think should work fine with P1+Down with it's hotkey pause function.

dankcushions

@Riverstorm said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

@dankcushions said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

there is no 'arcade emulator'

Wow, Dank I thought about it but didn't think you would start splitting hairs. I guess I didn't think you would resort to it but I guess it takes all kinds. It's really not funny because you throw a smiley face up.

if it doesn't mention any differences for /arcade/ users then there are none

Ok, so the lack of Arcade FOLDER documentation implies.

??? 0.133 what?

Serious? If you don't know by looking at it it doesn't matter. It's comments like these that clearly show you don't know several things about MAME that you try to imply that you do know.

It was the same on how ROMs work. You just didn't know as well as you implied. It also shows your lack of programming I would guess you know very little because programmers don't generalize on programming issues/problems like you do, they are clear and concise. You can't buffalo a programmer because they will call your bluff every time. They think entirely different, so detailed, so articulate, so logical.

i don't care about these

Clearly.

Sorry Dank, the only thing I can appreciate is your Avatar probably implies your outlook and how others are treated. I would appreciate if you didn't even reply to any of my posts as I find no value in your replies and I waste to much time defending or explaining myself just trying to get an answer from you when I clearly don't understand and still don't. I don't know what is broken and how a few things work in Arcade FOLDER STILL but I spent a good hour defending my questions and trying to word them so I may get an answer and understand how Arcade FOLDER works.

I found ONE sentence pertaining to Arcade FOLDER in the documentation and none of this /arcade etc. you're speaking of. You answer what you want and skip what you deem irrelevant. Honestly I would rather just not know and never use a feature than argue with you because wow. No need to reply but alas this type of stuff is clearly your forte and you won't be able to refrain.

Cheers :) Hopefully this clarifies.

this is the second time you have bizarrely taken a post trying to help you as some sort of insult, and following up with a load of your own. i'm so confused as to how you can not understand my answers:

the configs for the collected libretro systems usable by the arcade folder are kept in /opt/retropie/configs/arcade/ folder, which is covered in the table in the wiki (https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/MAME) and the various mame-specific file locations are only documented by the two docs i've written (https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/lr-mame2003 & https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/lr-fba-next). we need someone who uses advmame, etc, to document the rest.

that is all i've ever said. we are all here to help each other and have fun working on this cool project! if you cannot control your behaviour on this forum, you will no longer have the privilege to use it.

Riverstorm

@dankcushions said in lr-mame-2003 will forget controller if started from arcade menu:

that is all i've ever said. we are all here to help each other and have fun working on this cool project! if you cannot control your behaviour on this forum, you will no longer have the privilege to use it.

It's clear you don't have autonomy or I would have been kicked due to our two disagreements. I'm feeling lorded over by your threat of banning my privilege. You are a forum moderator that has authority to ban people? It's a privilege for you to use them also I would imagine or are you vested and do have complete autonomy and that kind of power.

The thing I sincerely ask is what was wrong with my behavior or what is it I need to control? Yes I am very honest and unfiltered and grew up in a very rough, thick skinned environment so you would probably need to be more specific what exactly was wrong with my post in your eyes or perception. What I wrote is how I perceive you, in all honesty, it's my truth. Right or wrong in your eyes.

I thought about it the past few days. I do appreciate respect and appreciate your feedback. I have to say not everyone's style or idea of help in writing is beneficial to everyone. Yours is not so much for me. I don't mean everything but half the time I honestly and sincerely have no idea what you're trying to say. In your thinking process you answer questions perfectly and feel everyone should understand your answer. Your confused and hurt that people don't understand your answers. That's just not the case. Everyone processes information differently and different answers work better for some people. Caver came along and answered everything I didn't understand about Arcade in one post on this thread. I can really relate to his style of writing and answering questions. We all process information differently and his really brings it home for me.

Caver and Floob. When they answer a question It's clear and concise to me. You can see the thought and care in their answers. Floob and videos are analogous. I feel like they genuinely have a passion and want to share. I learn so much from them. Buzz is straight up. He knows the product and under the hood so well he can answer questions very precise, short and to the point.

Sometimes I feel wrong but in this case I feel I did nothing wrong. Half of the time I see no benefit in your answers for me. I have to respectfully say I would prefer not to interact if possible. Not everyone in the world is meant to be friends or get along perfectly. Sometimes personalities collide on such a large global venue as this. Which is ok. You can be respectful of someone and not like them. I guess some people you just have a natural draw or pull towards them like a leader and others not. Some people you can't help but to like them and can't explain why. They just have an aura. You want to be around them and learn about them. You have a natural curiosity about what makes them tick and how they think. What do they do in their free time. I feel like I get along with 99% of the people here.

You feel disrespected and/or misunderstood with your answers? If we need to interact or are working on the same idea or post I will show you the respect I think you're trying to garner from this post. I will definitely be more self aware when I answer or see a post from you. This is honest as I can be and I think I understand what your trying to say and hope you were able to get what you needed also.

For the record and in the simplest terms. I am here because of my love and passion of the 80's arcades. I have no hidden agenda or dark political objective. I have nothing to gain. It's a simple passion and love of gaming and I to enjoy partaking in such a cool project!

Have a great weekend and I hope we can move on and put focus on RetroPie from here on out. Long live RetroPie! :)

dankcushions

@Riverstorm i am a moderator. i've only banned spammers. i don't think it's a great look to ban people who you are disagreeing with or whatever, but i don't care for insults about my attitude, skill, knowledge, avatar! etc. i don't think i need to defend my contributions to MAME, and helping people, etc. they're small compared to what others have done, but i'm proud.

i'm not hurt that you didn't understand my answer. it is slightly annoying when this stuff is in the wiki and you keep saying it's not, but if you can't get the information out because of the way that it's written in the wiki, then it's the same difference i guess! the docs always need improving, and your posts prompted me to update a few things, so that's positive :)

listen man, i'm sorry that i was blunt with you and chose to dissect your post rather than explain it in a different way. fortunately there are others who are better at this! but for real i want both you, caver and all the other arcade fans on-side so we can get MAME on retropie the best it can be :)

Riverstorm

@dankcushions I agree I did exercise that boundary when you tore into my post like a bad paper mache and I am sorry. You did take a poke too regarding my posts being a load which I would assume is of the number 2 kind.

I agree it's terribly annoying to answer the same questions over and over. It's just human nature when visiting a new site but also a good way to attract more people and bring them on board expanding a project. A project is only as good and full of potential as it's leaders. I was never good at diplomacy due the family system I grew up in is the survival of the fittest.

I'm sorry but I get lost in your responses many times. I try to read and reread to find the answer, feature or bug I am trying to understand. In the end it's not meant to be personal I just wrote it off as a different style of communication that probably doesn't work for me and I just need to steer clear and stick to what works.

I have a hard time when someone says it works for me. Well that's a great starting point to know it's a working feature. I do like reading and reading Wiki's or watching video is great but I have to say I have missed some information due to the "flow" but you can blame the end-user's lack of ability or the writer but the end result is the same. Another post asking a question on how something works.

Some features I think work one way to discover my base understanding was incorrect so any further knowledge gained is skewed due to my original perception and understanding. That's the same for software bugs. I am thinking one way only to discover my original thought process is off and building knowledge from a bad base well it just compounds the resolution and understanding. Brew that together with people that all communicate and perceive differently and you have a recipe for disaster. It's inevitable it will happen once in a while.

I am easily bait-able and will go hook, line and sinker with whoever if I believe in what I am doing. In person or in writing it doesn't make any difference. If I may get beat up from a bigger guy in a face-to-face encounter it was never a deterrent. My boundaries are bit rigid for lack of better words and I need to make them a bit more flexible when it comes to life. It's a life long project I think. I don't have the energy to sustain arguments like some do. Not now anyways. I have two older sisters and younger brother and sister that like going to bat and we have/need a boundary that we respect or all hell breaks loose. It's like an uneasy truce some days. Growing up we scrapped it out, literally, physically.

Anyway before I write a book it's water under the bridge and I'm sorry. It's hard not to take something personal when you're at it every day. Maybe I just need a break as I am loosing focus that this is supposed to be fun and I should be enjoying this. When I first discovered RetroPie I was elated with nostalgia and sentiment. I should have kept my cool and not poked at you. Have a great weekend.