Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone

Folly

FYI I tried to make a sag.zip artwork file.
However I could not get it working.
Also trying another good file renaming it to sag.zip didn't work and got error in the runcommand.log :
Error instantiating layout view ______: invalid screen index 0

After a search I found this link :
https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/LAY_File_Basics_-_Part_I
It's referring also to standard layout files like this one :
https://git.redump.net/mame/tree/src/mame/layout/sag.lay

Here every segment is in the layout.
Could be the reason that a regular made artwork file doesn't work.
Still guessing though.

Edit :
Found that I have to use and edit the layout from the link.
Experimenting with the bounds in the renamed "internal layout part", seems to have an effect.
Using this will make it half times smaller (or about, not perfectly sure yet) :

        <view name="smaller">
		<bounds left="-23.3" right="46" top="-23.3" bottom="46.6" />

		<!-- default display orientation: visitor side at bottom -->
		<group ref="display">
			<bounds left="-0.3" right="23" top="-0.3" bottom="23.3" />
			<orientation rotate="180" />
		</group>

	</view>

original :

        <view name="Internal Layout">
		<bounds left="-0.3" right="23" top="-0.3" bottom="23.3" />

		<!-- default display orientation: visitor side at bottom -->
		<group ref="display">
			<bounds left="-0.3" right="23" top="-0.3" bottom="23.3" />
			<orientation rotate="180" />
		</group>

	</view>

This could make it somehow possible to use the whole overlay image.

Edit 2 :
<bounds left="-0.3" right="23" top="-0.3" bottom="23.3" /> can be changed into :

<bounds x="-0.3" y="-0.3" width="23" height="23.3" />

I was able to add the element (overlay image), but damn what is it difficult to align.
Seems virtually impossible if you don't precisely understand how it works.
Will have a look again later.

bbilford83

@Folly thank you very much for trying! At least it is usable as it is now Even if you aren't successful with the mame artwork.

bbilford83

@Folly one other question about how you'd prefer gamelists. For whatever reason MAME has a lot of graphical issues on C64 games... some games aren't playable at all (try "Pang" if you are curious). I installed lr-vice as an option just to test and discovered that for the games that didn't work, Vice played them fine. So for at least one or two games in my gamelist I'm making for C64GS, I really only got it working well by cheating and using a different emulator. Is it ok if I still leave those on since the games are in the software list, even if MAME currently emulates them poorly? At least then in the future if MAME emulation improves it will be OK, and if anyone is like me and annoyed the games on the list don't play well they can try out a different emulator.

BTW vice does have the ability to emulate the C64GS specifically, so it is still "the right system" and not just using a regular C64.

Folly

@bbilford83

That is fine just leave them in.

Retrodade

Have these extras been tested in a pi5 yet?
I tried Valerino and Folly M installs all went good till the end hung up and crashed the retro pie set up.
I know the pi5 is early but figured I'd mention it in hopes this all can get carried over to the pi5 and maybe some new emulator installs in the extras packages for pi5

anything in the works possibly?

Folly

@Retrodade

As soon as I get a pi5 I will tests.
Unfortunately, can't buy one over here yet.
Even if I register for one it can take up to 4 months so I don't expect to have one for at least 6 months.

For now, all I can do I test it on a different computer with bookworm.

From your post, really not sure what you tested.
Seem it could be anything.
If you want to test this script then also make sure you test only this one.

If the retropie-setup crashes then it doesn't mean it the scripts do not work.
It could be that you just have script files which are empty due to downloading and having a bad internet connection.
You have to check the files.

Otherwise, if you can't find the problem, then just rename your retropie-setup and clone a new one and add the script as mentioned in the first post.

Btw.
Valerino stopped with his fork, so the lr-mess install stuff definitely will not work anymore due to the renamed lr-mess binary. Although not working it should not be responsible for crashes.

bbilford83

@Folly @DTEAM I am back in my home with my pi and have finished up the last major new system on the list of "consolized" PCs, the Commodore 64 Game System. I have it uploaded to the same place as before, with the gamelist edited as it should be for filepaths and the art included. Again many of these games could be scraped if they were first added to the c64 system, so I defer to you if you don't want to use it, but again the big advantage here is that I have removed all the games that don't work without a keyboard. There were also a fair number where you can play a game in single player mode at whatever the default difficulty level is, but you can't change to 2-player or different difficulties without the keyboard. For those I noted that in the game descriptions.

This turned out to have exactly 100 working games (just a coincidence), so not as many as Zemmix or the XEGS - it seemed like a lot more games needed the keyboard for whatever reason, and also very few C64 games came out on cartridge comparative to other media (the C64GS could only play cartridge games).

Anyway hope this is helpful, next I will probably try to do the Tandy/Memorex "Visual Information System" which you might also want to include.

Happy holidays!

Folly

@bbilford83

Thanks for the work !

Happy Holidays too.

bbilford83

@Folly Happy New Year. I have an update/question about the "consolized" systems and mame romsets. I went back to add non-MAME games that were available (just for my own pi setup). For C64GS, it made very little difference - I added only 12 new games - but C64GS could only play cartridges. I then went back to Atari XEGS, which could play cartridges, floppies, or cassette tapes as I understand it (with added drives that just plugged in... unlike the C64GS which you would have to break apart to try to add drives).

Long story short, the XEGS is going to have massively more games than I originally added once I go beyond the mame set. I am using a TOSEC set, and I have only tested/added games starting with a number/symbol and games that start with "A." According to screenscraper, that should only be about 6% of all games for the system. But already after I finished those, the gamelist has grown from 252 games to a whopping 353 games.

So it is going to probably take me months, but when I am done I assume the gamelist will be much bigger, probably close to 2,000 games. I am sharing this just in case you think it may be worth including this gamelist somehow, even if it isn't automated into the script. Like I could create an extra folder for the "non-mame rom" art and a second gamelist named differently? It seems a shame to waste all the info, and I suspect at least some people would want it (same reasons as before... working without a keyboard, etc.). And even for real hardware, it seems crazy to me that there's no list anywhere of games that could be played on the consolized computer systems.

Any thoughts?

bbilford83

Also, one more quick update, I did the gamelist and art for the Tandy Video Information System today, not that many games so was relatively quick and easy. To my great surprise almost half of the games are scrapable via thegamesdb (not on screenscraper though), but for the rest I had to make up the descriptions myself after briefly playing the games, and I got/made art from a site devoted to VIS (and one ebay listing). So if you or @DTEAM think that should be integrated feel free... it is a pretty awful system (unbelievable load times) but it plays decently and is kind of interesting historically. I don't think you can play it via any other emulator outside of mame. Anyway, as usual I fixed the gamelist the right way and added the art all in the same google drive place (folder: vis).

Related to my last post, though, this is only the chds that are found in the vis mame software list. In the TOSEC list, instead of these ~21 there are 70+. I don't have any idea why, as they all appear to still be good dumps. I'll be adding those to my setup even if you still prefer I only share a gamelist limited to mame romsets.

Folly

Happy new year to everyone reading this thread.
Great start for 2024 we passed the 700000 views.

@bbilford83

Thanks for adding gamelist stuff.
Basically you ask me if you can also add the tosec roms to the gamelists, right ?
It's fine by me.
I would prefer that the mame roms are added first in the gamelist and that the tosec roms added later in that same gamelist.

PiBoyyy

🥳🎉🎊🎈

bbilford83

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Thanks for adding gamelist stuff.
Basically you ask me if you can also add the tosec roms to the gamelists, right ?
It's fine by me.
I would prefer that the mame roms are added first in the gamelist and that the tosec roms added later in that same gamelist.

That is basically my question but I was suggesting something even less than that, like keeping it as a separate gamelist when it has the ROMs that go beyond the MAME software list. Either way the ROMs that aren't from MAME would be at the end of the game list just because I am testing them and adding them as a second batch after I finish the MAME ones, but if you prefer the default to be limited to the software list ROMs I could make that one "gamelist" and the much larger one "gamelistMAME+" or something.

DTEAM

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Happy new year to everyone reading this thread.
Great start for 2024 we passed the 700000 views.

Happy new year Folly !!!!! Very impressive... 700k !

Folly

@DTEAM said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Happy new year to everyone reading this thread.
Great start for 2024 we passed the 700000 views.

Happy new year Folly !!!!! Very impressive... 700k !

Yea, seems to go very fast the last months.
Looks like many people are discovering it.
That's really great ;-)

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Thanks for adding gamelist stuff.
Basically you ask me if you can also add the tosec roms to the gamelists, right ?
It's fine by me.
I would prefer that the mame roms are added first in the gamelist and that the tosec roms added later in that same gamelist.

That is basically my question but I was suggesting something even less than that, like keeping it as a separate gamelist when it has the ROMs that go beyond the MAME software list. Either way the ROMs that aren't from MAME would be at the end of the game list just because I am testing them and adding them as a second batch after I finish the MAME ones, but if you prefer the default to be limited to the software list ROMs I could make that one "gamelist" and the much larger one "gamelistMAME+" or something.

I don't mind, you can put them all in 1 gamelist.

Folly

@DTEAM @bbilford83

Luckily, yesterday I was able to order an 8GB PI5.
Expecting it tomorrow.
Curious how everything will work on the PI5.

bbilford83

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Thanks for adding gamelist stuff.
Basically you ask me if you can also add the tosec roms to the gamelists, right ?
It's fine by me.
I would prefer that the mame roms are added first in the gamelist and that the tosec roms added later in that same gamelist.

That is basically my question but I was suggesting something even less than that, like keeping it as a separate gamelist when it has the ROMs that go beyond the MAME software list. Either way the ROMs that aren't from MAME would be at the end of the game list just because I am testing them and adding them as a second batch after I finish the MAME ones, but if you prefer the default to be limited to the software list ROMs I could make that one "gamelist" and the much larger one "gamelistMAME+" or something.

I don't mind, you can put them all in 1 gamelist.

OK, for now the only gamelists I've gone beyond the mame list are the C64GS and the VIS, and I am still adding more VIS. But I will update C64GS shortly and VIS when I'm done (soon).

FYI, while the VIS list was almost half scrapable when I just did the MAME files, now that I expanded to TOSEC almost none are scrapable. I have been adding my own descriptions and pictures I am digging up from various places. So it might be worth integrating more than I thought... the system is awfully obscure.

Also FYI, I don't know if this is the case for all systems and I just never noticed, but for some reason VIS won't play any games that have an apostrophe - ' - anywhere in the title. Gives some weird syntax error in the runcommand log. But it works fine so long as I remove the apostrophe. Took me a while to figure out that was the problem!

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Thanks for adding gamelist stuff.
Basically you ask me if you can also add the tosec roms to the gamelists, right ?
It's fine by me.
I would prefer that the mame roms are added first in the gamelist and that the tosec roms added later in that same gamelist.

That is basically my question but I was suggesting something even less than that, like keeping it as a separate gamelist when it has the ROMs that go beyond the MAME software list. Either way the ROMs that aren't from MAME would be at the end of the game list just because I am testing them and adding them as a second batch after I finish the MAME ones, but if you prefer the default to be limited to the software list ROMs I could make that one "gamelist" and the much larger one "gamelistMAME+" or something.

I don't mind, you can put them all in 1 gamelist.

OK, for now the only gamelists I've gone beyond the mame list are the C64GS and the VIS, and I am still adding more VIS. But I will update C64GS shortly and VIS when I'm done (soon).

FYI, while the VIS list was almost half scrapable when I just did the MAME files, now that I expanded to TOSEC almost none are scrapable. I have been adding my own descriptions and pictures I am digging up from various places. So it might be worth integrating more than I thought... the system is awfully obscure.

Keep up the good work ;-)

Also FYI, I don't know if this is the case for all systems and I just never noticed, but for some reason VIS won't play any games that have an apostrophe - ' - anywhere in the title. Gives some weird syntax error in the runcommand log. But it works fine so long as I remove the apostrophe. Took me a while to figure out that was the problem!

Yes, now you mention it.
Indeed, if a game has a singel-quote - ' - lr-mame/lr-mess will refuse to work.
It's the same reason why we can't add an empty joystick slot.
It's because the options for mame in the libretro cores are added between the single-quotes.
That is basically the only way we can add the options to the lr-mess/lr-mame libretrocores.
If somehow an extra quote is in the middle of the added options the runcommand will be read until that quote assuming it's the last quote and therefor refuse to work.

bbilford83

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Also FYI, I don't know if this is the case for all systems and I just never noticed, but for some reason VIS won't play any games that have an apostrophe - ' - anywhere in the title. Gives some weird syntax error in the runcommand log. But it works fine so long as I remove the apostrophe. Took me a while to figure out that was the problem!

Yes, now you mention it.
Indeed, if a game has a singel-quote - ' - lr-mame/lr-mess will refuse to work.
It's the same reason why we can't add an empty joystick slot.
It's because the options for mame in the libretro cores are added between the single-quotes.
That is basically the only way we can add the options to the lr-mess/lr-mame libretrocores.
If somehow an extra quote is in the middle of the added options the runcommand will be read until that quote assuming it's the last quote and therefor refuse to work.

This makes sense... I bet I never noticed before because as long as I was keeping in mame softwarelist roms those never would have an apostrophe. The ones I'm using now have full titles in the names so those have possessive nouns in them. Thanks for the explanation!