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

Folly

How is it going with the backgrounds ?

These games have bg.jpg and can work in lr-mess (but not in the script yet).
kdribble
kloneran
knfl
taddams
tddragon3
tgaiden
tinday
tmchammer
trobocop2

We have to find a solution for these games and probably more.
1 - So I can try to change the script so it will also detect bg.jpg and alter the config accordingly.
But this can conflict/be a problem in the long run if more games have to be added with also different background filenames.

An uniform approach would be better, I think.
Something like this :

2 - So it would be nicer,I think, if bg.jpg is converted to a Background.png and that both files are kept in the archive.
3 - Or the layout is altered for Background.pngand then keeping only Background.pngis also a posibility.

My intuition says option 2 .
Keeping original files and make it compatible for our project.

What do you think ?

DTEAM

@folly
I'm gonna do the conversion for files in Google Drive

Folly

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

@folly
I'm gonna do the conversion for files in Google Drive

Are you letting me know when it's ready ?

DTEAM

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

Are you letting me know when it's ready ?

done
I tested It, and It Works. Background.png files are converted with the appropriate namings in**/home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/** "system name"

Folly

@dteam

Cool, isn't it ;-)

Next thing to do is, checking the games that don't need an overlay.
Then I will remove these games from the generating overlay script so no loose config files are generated.

And there are games with 2 screens.
With these the TOP/BOTTOM or LEFT/RIGHT backgrounds have to be joined I think.
We will have to try on how this will look.

DTEAM

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

Cool, isn't it ;-)

👍

When you load a game with Lr-Mess, do you have to select the overlay or it,s done automatically. On my side, I have to load It via retroarch UI

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:

Cool, isn't it ;-)

👍

When you load a game with Lr-Mess, do you have to select the overlay or it,s done automatically. On my side, I have to load It via retroarch UI

Strange, which games did you try ?

The retroarch overlay loads automatically on my side.
I am loading with lr-mess-cmd.
The runcommand.sh will append the config if the loader name (in emulators.cfg) starts with lr-.
So lr-mess-cmd = "...cmd...,". (should work), renamed to mess-cmd = "...cmd...," (doesn't work)

/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/konamih/retroarch.cfg -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/konamih/kgradius.zip" --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg'|'"/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/konamih/kgradius.zip.cfg"

Above execution line from the log, shows that the config is loaded : '|'"/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/konamih/kgradius.zip.cfg" , which will load :
( not in log) /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/konamih/kgradius.cfg ,which will load :
( not in log) /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/konamih/kgradius.png

Check your /dev/shm/runcommand.log if the custom config for the overlay is present.

Check also if you have any overrides :

[INFO] [Overrides] no core-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/MAME.cfg.
[INFO] [Overrides] no content-dir-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/konamih.cfg.
[INFO] [Overrides] no game-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/kgradius.cfg.

I have these config lines used by lr-mess (and lr-mame, I think) in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-core-options.cfg :

mame_alternate_renderer = "disabled"
mame_altres = "640x480"
mame_auto_save = "disabled"
mame_boot_from_cli = "enabled"
mame_boot_to_bios = "disabled"
mame_boot_to_osd = "disabled"
mame_buttons_profiles = "enabled"
mame_cheats_enable = "enabled"
mame_cpu_overclock = "default"
mame_lightgun_mode = "none"
mame_mame_4way_enable = "disabled"
mame_mame_paths_enable = "disabled"
mame_media_type = "rom"
mame_mouse_enable = "disabled"
mame_read_config = "disabled"
mame_saves = "game"
mame_softlists_auto_media = "enabled"
mame_softlists_enable = "enabled"
mame_throttle = "disabled"
mame_write_config = "disabled"

You may also want to try a dummy overlay with lr-vecx to see if it is an lr-mess or a retroarch problem.

DTEAM

@folly

I have this in my runncommand.log

[INFO] [Overrides] no core-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/MAME.cfg.
[INFO] [Overrides] no content-dir-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/konamih.cfg.
[INFO] [Overrides] no game-specific overrides found at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/kgradius.cfg.

in retroarch-core-options.cfg

mame_cheats_enable = "disabled"

The rest is the same than your.

My emulators.cfg seems to be good.

Folly

@dteam

Ok, beats me, I have no clue why it isn't working.

Was your retroach.cfg accidentally saved when you where in the retroarch UI ?
Or did you perhaps create a game options file accidentally ?
( edit : I created a game option file, it's a core option file in /home/pi/.config/retroarch/config/MAME/.opt . It seems not the problem )*

mame_cheats_enable = "disabled"

This should be on enabled if you installed one of the install-system-cmd module scripts.

My On-Screen Overlay setting looks like this.

How is yours when you run a game ?

If you do :

ls -l /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays/konamih

Are your permissions like this ? :

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi

Folly

@dteam

Maybe we have to leave it for now.
Perhaps we will find the solution by accident.

Folly

If we want, it is possible to test the artwork download with this code again :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29682/development-of-module-script-generator-for-lr-mess-and-mame-standalone/37

Matt has changed his program with my suggestions, accordingly :
https://github.com/matthuisman/gdrivedl/issues/12

DTEAM

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

If we want, it is possible to test the artwork download with this code again :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29682/development-of-module-script-generator-for-lr-mess-and-mame-standalone/37

Are you talking about the first version :

#gets the artwork, about 42 files and puts in in the correct path (perhaps a bit more)
#not ok, it has to get 162 files
wget -nv -O /tmp/gdrivedl.py https://raw.githubusercontent.com/matthuisman/gdrivedl/master/gdrivedl.py
python /tmp/gdrivedl.py https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sm6gdOcaaQaNUtQ9tZ5Q5WQ6m1OD2QY3 -P $HOME/RetroPie/roms/mame/artwork
rm /tmp/gdrivedl.py

Folly

@dteam

Indeed, I will have a look at it now.

Running it now, looks good !

Successful !
All 158 files in 28 minutes.

Now we have 2 possibility's for downloading.

Folly

@dteam

I added the download lines in the get-cheats-artwork-overlays.sh script.
What it does :

download cheats for MAME standalone/lr-mess
download artwork for MAME standalone (@DTEAM handhelds)
create custom configs for retroarch overlays and extract backgrounds for running with lr-mess (@DTEAM handhelds)

You can run it directly without even downloading it as a file, with this command :

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/main/00-scripts-00/get-cheats-artwork-overlays.sh | bash

I used the gdrivedl.py for the artwork in above script to make it look really simple and it outputs just one line per file.

My own google download code with curl is a bit more sophisticated, I have another idea with this.

DTEAM

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

I added the download lines in the get-cheats-artwork-overlays.sh script.
What it does :

download cheats for MAME standalone/lr-mess
download artwork for MAME standalone (@DTEAM handhelds)
create custom configs for retroarch overlays and extract backgrounds for running with lr-mess (@DTEAM handhelds)

It works !!

Folly

@dteam

Damn, that's nice.

Tonight I had the idea to only let the the retroarch-overlays create when there is a Background.png available.
Then we don't get configs we can't use.
This way I can keep all game names in the array's
And then I don't have to remove the ones that don't use backgrounds.
Btw. we can also use it now for checking on which games we have to work on.

How does that sound ?

Edit :
I just added an if function in my script, and it's working.
(I do not have the possibility right now to add it on github, I will do that later)

DTEAM

@folly
For overlays, it's frustrating on my end for Lr-mess-cmd. It always points to / opt / retropie / configs / all / retroarch / overlay and not to your directories. I have to do it manually. I am looking to see if I missed something during the installation.

I'll re-install the all thing properly.

Folly

@dteam

Indeed, I that is really frustrating.
Really, I have no idea what is causing this.

Have a look at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg
I remember I had some trouble adding options in the retroarch.cfg in /opt/retropie/configs/all.
So I did it in /home/pi/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg .
Perhaps you have options in there that's causing it.
You could rename it, to see what happens.
You can alway's rename it back.

I could also change the script, so all background files come in that directory.
Would that be a solution ?

DTEAM

@folly

I could change the script, so all background files come in that directory.

It could be good, because like that, you will use the default Retroarch overlay folder for Retropie.

Have a look at /home/pi/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg

I remember I had some trouble adding options in the retroarch.cfg in /opt/retropie/configs/all.

So I did it in /home/pi/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg .

Perhaps you have options in there that's causing it.

You could rename it, to see what happens.

You can alway's rename it back.

I'm gonna try that

Folly

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

@folly

I could change the script, so all background files come in that directory.

It could be good, because like that, you will use the default Retroarch overlay folder for Retropie.

Ok, I will make a commit when I can.
Then I will remove the subdirectory's also.
All overlays are saved in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/overlay
Basically it will look like the artwork directory but then containing .cfg and .png.

I was able to do a commit on github.
I did the change without testing, but should work. (did test : OK)
If you comment part 2 and 3 in the script it will not download all again.
I think you know how to do that.

You have to manually remove /home/pi/RetroPie/overlays.