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

DTEAM

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

I used my script generate-overlay-configs.sh to generate overlay config files and placed the background.png as kgradius.png in /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/konamih/

Have you created a subfolder per games? Did you unzip the mame artwork file to extract the backgroud? For me, the easiest way to manage Artwork is with MAME UI (Select+Y), but It's great to have both options, especialy with your overlay configs generator. Good way to convert MAME artworks to retroarch.

Every systems working fine excepted C64. For system like FM Marty, you have 15 choices. It's realy nice to see all that.

The MAME Basename option never worked for me as it currently is.

It works if I replace (ex.: gamate) :

mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/gamate -v -c %BASENAME%"

By

mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c gamate %BASENAME%"

The hash file folder for the lr-mess should be the same as the one for MAME, but I don't know if you can do that.

/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/hash

It's because MAME generates it automatically during installation and updates. I am aware that if the user is only using lr-mess then there might be some issues but it avoids file duplication and the Hash files will be always updated.

Some MAME Basenames will never worked (like Jaguar), because we are using the names from Retropie (atarijaguar) , but I think It's a good choice to keep Retropie naming .... nothing is perfect!

Great job !!

Folly

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

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

I used my script generate-overlay-configs.sh to generate overlay config files and placed the background.png as kgradius.png in /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/konamih/

Have you created a subfolder per games?

The script creates the overlays directory and subfolders in ovelays directory (konamih, tigerh, etc).
There are no subfolders per game created in, for example, directory konamih.

Did you unzip the mame artwork file to extract the backgroud?

Yes I did, this background is then renamed and used as retroarch overlay with lr-mess.
For MAME standalone I left the artwork zipped in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/artwork/<artwork>.zip.

For me, the easiest way to manage Artwork is with MAME UI (Select+Y)

What do you manage ?, In this way artwork is automatically loaded with MAME standalone.

but It's great to have both options, especialy with your overlay configs generator. Good way to convert MAME artworks to retroarch.

Indeed, I think so too, but it can have some improvement.
And it would be nice if the picture were automatically installed too.
I have to think about that.

Every systems working fine excepted C64. For system like FM Marty, you have 15 choices. It's realy nice to see all that.

The MAME Basename option never worked for me as it currently is.

It works if I replace (ex.: gamate) :
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/gamate -v -c %BASENAME%"
By
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c gamate %BASENAME%"

We can try to change that to improve, agree ?

The hash file folder for the lr-mess should be the same as the one for MAME, but I don't know if you can do that.
/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/hash
It's because MAME generates it automatically during installation and updates. I am aware that if the user is only using lr-mess then there might be some issues but it avoids file duplication and the Hash files will be always updated.

I am not sure yet how the hash tables are used by lr-mess.
On my old install there was a mess.ini somewhere.
On my new install I couldn't find one.
So it will have to wait until we discover how this works.

Some MAME Basenames will never worked (like Jaguar), because we are using the names from Retropie (atarijaguar) , but I think It's a good choice to keep Retropie naming .... nothing is perfect!

Can you try adding a subdirectory jaguar inside atarijaguar like this :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atarijaguar/ jaguar

Great job !!

Thanks !

BTW. Did you try cheats ?
Don't know if it works.

DTEAM

@folly

I'm not able to run lr-mess-basename (doesn't work with coleco and gamate). But with coleco, lr-mess from Retropie works with BIOS in
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms

and hash files in /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame/hash

working

lr-mess = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/coleco/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"

not working

lr-mess-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/coleco/retroarch.cfg -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so %BASENAME%"

For MAME cheat code, you need to run the games with the Hash files and follow the procedure here: (SOLVED) MAME "standalone" Cheats for systems like Coleco, Arcade and more.

Re-edit

In Retroarch (lr-mess), cheatcodes from retroarch load but not working for now
/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/cheats

Folly

@DTEAM

I added your suggestion about :

mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c gamate %BASENAME%"

I have updated the script so this can/will be generated.
Kept the old commands also in for testing, perhaps they have to be deleted.

Folly

@DTEAM

So I understand it works oob in lr-mess if you add the cheats in :
/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/cheats

About the cheats in MAME standalone.
I was aware of the thread and that it can work.
But does it work out of the box with my module-script or do we still have to add something in the mame.ini ?

DTEAM

@folly
Not for now, cheats from retroarch load but not working for now. I'm gonna do some tests. For your script with MAME, I have to do some test for cheatcodes before.

Folly

@DTEAM

For the lr-mess-basename command.
I don't have an idea about this yet.
Future work I presume.

DTEAM

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

By @DTEAM, C64 and Atari Jaguar not working ( https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29682/development-of-module-script-generator-for-lr-mess-and-mame-standalone/12 )

Only for basename (Hash file)

DTEAM

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

Every systems working fine excepted C64. For system like FM Marty, you have 15 choices. It's realy nice to see all that.
The MAME Basename option never worked for me as it currently is.
It works if I replace (ex.: gamate) :
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/gamate -v -c %BASENAME%"

By
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c gamate %BASENAME%"

We can try to change that to improve, agree ?

yes

Folly

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

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

Every systems working fine excepted C64. For system like FM Marty, you have 15 choices. It's realy nice to see all that.
The MAME Basename option never worked for me as it currently is.
It works if I replace (ex.: gamate) :
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/gamate -v -c %BASENAME%"

By
mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c gamate %BASENAME%"

We can try to change that to improve, agree ?

yes

Did a second fix, because I didn't remove the old ones.
I had to change the names of the old ones to *-test otherwise we had double commands with the same loader name.

So now you can test gamate.

DTEAM

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

BTW. Did you try cheats ?

for lr-mess in MAME UI (with hash files)

put cheat.7z in /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame/cheat

in custom-core-options.cfg

/opt/retropie/configs/""system"" (ex: coleco)

do

mame_cheats_enable = "enabled"

also in retroarch-core-options.cfg

/opt/retropie/configs/all

You must have the real MESS/MAME romset to do that

Boulder Dash - ColecoVision (lr-Mess)

Folly

@dteam

I need some more information to translate this to a proper solution.
I hope I can think of a way to make a good implementation ;-)

Did you run Boulderdash with the loader lr-mess-cmd or lr-mess-basename ?

The custom-core-options.cfg isn't added as config running the above loaders, but is added using, for ex., lr-mess-system-coleco-cart .
Does it work when you use (hash file names) with this loader, for example ?

The retroarch-core-options.cfg should always be loaded, perhaps an idea to add it only in this config.
Can you test, if this works, if you only use mame_cheats_enable = "enabled" in retroarch-core-options.cfg ?

Edit :
I have updated the script so the `install-<system>-cmd module-script will add mame_cheats_enable = "enabled" in retroarch-core-options.cfg.
I hope this is a good solution and that it's not conflicting with something else.

DTEAM

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

Did you run Boulderdash with the loader lr-mess-cmd or lr-mess-basename ?

lr-mess-cmd + MESS romset
and
lr-mess + MESS romset

lr-mess = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/coleco/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"

I think you don't need Hash file to run cheat finally. You just need the good game rom

For retroarch cheat codes, I'm not able to use those. They load, but nothing happens.

Folly

@dteam

Perhaps we want too much and coleco seems difficult on my end.
Reading your reply the cheats addon won't do much, perhaps I have to remove it again.

Can you check your /dev/shm/runcommand.log if you can find something about how cheats are being loaded ?

DTEAM

@folly

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

Reading your reply the cheats addon won't do much, perhaps I have to remove it again.

No, cheats for Coleco roms from Mess romset run well with your lr-mess-cmd. It runs in MAME UI.

Folly

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

@folly

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

Reading your reply the cheats addon won't do much, perhaps I have to remove it again.

No, cheats for Coleco roms from Mess romset run well with your lr-mess-cmd. It runs in MAME UI.

Ok , I will keep my update, for the cheats, in the script then.
( mame_cheats_enable = "enabled" in /all/retroarch-core-options.cfg )

Does the cheat still work when you remove it from the custom-core-config and keep it in /all/retroarch-core-config.cfg ?

And then, when you set cheats on disabled in /all/retroarch-core-config.cfg is it disabled then ?

DTEAM

@folly

Does the cheat still work when you remove it from the custom-core-config and keep it in /all/retroarch-core-config.cfg ?

Good question. I'm gonna do a test

new edit
Yes, It works

And then, when you set cheats on disabled in /all/retroarch-core-config.cfg is it disabled then ?

No, doesn't show in MAME UI

cheats = enable in custom-core-options.cfg only doesn't work also.

So It runs with retroarch-core-config.cfg

Folly

@dteam

Perfect !
Exactly what I was thinking.
Now we know it should work.

Thanks for testing :-)

I could have added it in the custom but then you have to append the config and the config is actually created for the Valerino scripts.
So this solution is perhaps the best for now.

DTEAM

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

What do you manage ?, In this way artwork is automatically loaded with MAME standalone.

Yes I did, this background is then renamed and used as retroarch overlay with lr-mess.

For MAME standalone I left the artwork zipped in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/artwork/<artwork>.zip

I confirm, It works great. Is It doable to get from zipped artworks in the MAME artwork folder, an unzipped copy and renamed backgroud files for your new ovelays directory (konamih, tigerh, etc).
It could be done with your generate-overlay-configs.sh

Maybe if you put everything in the overlay folder without subfolders, you could generate overlay .cfg files for everything in the /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/artwork/ and copy/rename each background

That way, if It's doable , It could be work for arcade games also and handheld consoles overlays!

Folly

@dteam

Yes, I think so too.

Indeed I could implement this in the overlays script.
So then it would create the directories, create the configs and download the artwork and overlays and cheats and place them in the correct place, just in 1 run.
And It would be nice if all files can be downloaded from the same source.

Well I will think about it a bit, but that would be awesome.