Romset question- purpose of blend, HDD, IPS, RES etc files?

MortalWombat

So I downloaded a romset the other day (not sure if I'm allowed to talk about which system it was for), and had a question about some of the support files I saw that were related to it. Some of them--like the sound Samples for older games-- I had already read about on here/knew what their purpose was, and where to file them (give or take a few minor error messages/questions).

Some of them however I wasn't sure what their purpose was, where to file them, if I'd need them, or if they were even relevant to the games I'm trying to play.

"Cheats" was one minor example, as I'd noticed a "Cheat" listing (w/ an "Enable/Disable A Cheat" option) when you press the Start button in Mame (or whatever emulator you were using). I'd assume these cheat files refer enabling something using the "Cheats" option listed on the Quick Menu?

And assuming the link below-- and the /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/cheats path it lists-- is correct, would I want to save these cheat files into the folder of whatever emulator I'm using for a particular game-- i.e., a pacman.ini file would go in the "fba" folder (or whatever emulator I'm using to run it) in "Configs"? Or would I need to copy it into the folder of EVERY emulator that'll run that Pacman ROM? (and since it's Pacman we're talking about, would I need to include the Puckman.ini files??)
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Cheats/

To a lesser degree, I'm also just curious about these Blend, Flyers, HDD, Icons, IPS, Previews, RES, and Titles.zip files I'm seeing (so far, all I've been able to find is that IPS refers to ROM hacks, and RES is generally a resource list for Valve games like Half-Life, in which case it doesn't look like I'd need those files).

Anyway, just wanted to get some more info on the relevance/purpose of these files. Thanks!

dankcushions

@mortalwombat said in Romset question- purpose of blend, HDD, IPS, RES etc files?:

not sure if I'm allowed to talk about which system it was for

system is crucial as every system supports different extensions, etc.

MortalWombat

@dankcushions In that case it's a Final Burn Neo one (I did noticed that some of the ROMs wouldn't actually run using lr-fbneo-- or in some cases, any of the emulators I selected for them-- but I think I've seen before that my current version of it-- 1.8.8 - Final Burn Neo (v0.2.97.44 7674a22)-- may not be up to date... granted, confirming or learning how to update that wasn't the purpose of my post, but if I find out, all the better I suppose, heh). Running Retropie 4.7.3, last commit 3 weeks ago (3f5b62ad), on a rpi4 (arm71) running on Raspian GNU/Linux 10 (buster).

Mainly just wanted to see for now which if any of these other files might apply to these Arcade/MAME/Final Burn games.

MortalWombat

Darn, does anyone here know what any of these files are, what they're for??

One question I had related to the sound files: case in point, when I try running some of the games that have sound files-- Galaga, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Q-Bert etc-- on Mame2003, I get a warning as the ROM loads (lower-left bottom corner) that the sound samples AREN'T found, despite having copied them into the Samples folder for that emulator(?). So ultimately I just ended up choosing another emulator for those games, but it was weird.

Also I'm wondering: if there are samples FOR a game, but you don't put them in the Samples folder and aren't given that warning when the game loads, what does that mean? The particular example I'm thinking of is the shooter Donpachi. Guess I may have to note exactly which version, but I saw that there's a donpachi.zip of 200 or so MB of samples (mainly music). Due to the size of that zip file, I didn't actually end up putting it into the emulator I used, but I could still hear some of the music included in those samples-- I always try to open to the zip beforehand to listen to those samples to see exactly what they're adding-- and didn't get the warning that the samples were missing (frankly it's kind of odd to see a sample zip the game, since it looks like it was made in 1997, and I understand that sample files mainly existed for pre-1986 games).

Could this just be some gratuitous compilation of the game's soundtrack that isn't actually needed for it to run?

dankcushions

@mortalwombat this does read a little bit like a homework project for us :P try and keep to one specific question.

strange files: these are probably either supplementary files (screenshots, videos, etc) or files that are relevant only for standalone version of FBA (now fbn). eg IPS =

. just google the extension/folder name + fba and you’ll figure it out. the extensions that retropie does deal with are listed on the relevant docs page for the system in question.

samples: did you put them in the right folder ? note it’s in the BIOS directory. all in the docs: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/lr-fbneo/#samples

MortalWombat

@dankcushions yeah I guess for better or for worse I just assumed all you Pi/Retropie veterans would know what all of these files were for, heh. Even upon searching here and Googling, I'm still not entirely clear what some of these-- like the blend and hdd zip files-- are for, so I guess I can assume that the games will (continue to) run fine without them.

But even for the cheats.zip-- something whose purpose seems pretty obvious-- I was kinda unclear as far as where to put them, since the only "Cheat" folder I saw in Bios was just in Mame2000, and a lot of these are for console games.
I did see the topic covered here, but wasn't sure if I could/should ask at risk of necro-posting? (this second article mentioned the Configs folder, but it wasn't entirely clear where I'd put existing cheats/inis files like these).
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3467/cheat-folders/
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Cheats/

Anyway as far as your question, although I had filed those sound Samples in the right folder (they weren't being found when I tried running the games using Mame2003), and had already tried Quitting Retropie using the Main Menu a couple of times (which usually works to recognize new roms at least), it wasn't until I'd turned it the whole thing back on during another sitting/day that the system finally found them.

Still not entirely sure if I need the Samples for this DonPachi game however; I guess I'd probably need to clarify its purpose w/ someone familiar with the game....

dankcushions

@mortalwombat cheats in fbneo: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/27826/mame-2003-question-regarding-lucky-and-wild/13?_=1612257367323

samples in fbneo: i’ve provided you with the link on how to use them and it specifically refers to donpachi: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/lr-fbneo/#samples. if you’re now talking about mame2003 - we weren’t talking about that romset before! please be specific.

mame2003 sample instructions are available on the mame2003 docs page: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/lr-mame2003/#samples