GameEx & MESS Rom Name Issue

[Adultery]

Cool. Thanks.

[starbuck]

Still at work but found some mess cd xml files. Should give you a start Let me know if this what you need.

[blakepoet]

Its the XML I'm after so i can sweep the XML and add the MESS file name into the existing MDBs GameEx uses. The dat would be more for converting file names. The idea is to not mess with names at all, just to tell GameEx that lnrlndr.zip = Lunar Lander. I hope that makes sense, I suck at explaining things.

Hello, I appreciate all of your work and effort. I'm not sure if this is what you need but it is from the hash folder of the MESS directory.

hash.zip

[Tom Speirs]

We might be going about this the wrong way. Ill look into this but maybe MESS can produce an XML output like MAME does from the command line. Then I could implement some kind of update list method and special support for the new MESS.

[nullPointer]

This is slightly off topic, but I think it's ridiculous for MESS to all of a sudden decide that they need their own unique naming standard. I mean with MAME it's fine since MAME is the arcade emulator, but in the case of MESS these games are emulated on countless other emulators. Not to mention the fact that there are already several perfectly good (and much more mature) naming conventions. It's just dumb. Sorry for the rant.

[Draco1962]

We might be going about this the wrong way. Ill look into this but maybe MESS can produce an XML output like MAME does from the command line. Then I could implement some kind of update list method and special support for the new MESS.

Not sure if this is of help regarding the XML schema.

[Tempest]

Tom is looking for a way to have Mess create the xml files via command line. That would allow him to keep everything current when updating the game lists and DBs. That is how it is done for Mame in GameEx. I think.

[Adultery]

You're right on the money Tempest. I didn't even consider that.

If it doesn't pan out though, I'll still happily "grunt out" the MDB entries.

[Draco1962]

Since MESS is MAME, the same command lines should apply in most cases. I would think it very easy to generate them. I am guessing, however, that it may not be just one file but one .xml for each system emulated (look under \mess\hash\ path for these).

In that case, I would think it might be preferred to have a separate .mdb for use with MESS as opposed to updating every system .mdb from the individual system .xml files. To do otherwise might cause additional bloat on those databases that is not needed when using an emulator other than MESS. Just my 2 cents...

[fRequEnCy]

Since MESS is MAME, the same command lines should apply in most cases. I would think it very easy to generate them. I am guessing, however, that it may not be just one file but one .xml for each system emulated (look under \mess\hash\ path for these).

In that case, I would think it might be preferred to have a separate .mdb for use with MESS as opposed to updating every system .mdb from the individual system .xml files. To do otherwise might cause additional bloat on those databases that is not needed when using an emulator other than MESS. Just my 2 cents...

It can be generated by one file or by system. I don't see a problem with generating with just one file as the names are not duplicated. I already sent command-line to Tom!

[Tom Speirs]

It can be generated by one file or by system. I don't see a problem with generating with just one file as the names are not duplicated. I already sent command-line to Tom!

Hey Frequency. I see no message from you buddy.

[Draco1962]

Don't know if this will only add to the confusion, but there is a command-line program called UME that combines MAME and MESS in one application. Kinda reminds me of The Dark Crystal.

[fRequEnCy]

Hey Frequency. I see no message from you buddy.

Will send you again! Junk IM! LOL.

[Tempest]

Don't know if this will only add to the confusion, but there is a command-line program called UME that combines MAME and MESS in one application. Kinda reminds me of The Dark Crystal.

I have seen talk that they might make an option to compile Mame, Mess, or both. I have no idea if it has been or will be implemented.

I don't know if you can 'see' talk. but I certainly didn't hear it.

[Draco1962]

I can hear colors if that is any consolation. You can find out more about UME here. Not so sure I want to mix my arcade with consoles, but, many of the more recent arcades are consoles at their heart.

[blakepoet]

Hello,

I was wondering if there was any progress on this issue. I'm very excited about getting my retro collection together and this is the only thing that's holding it back. Anyhow, thanks for this great front end. I have been tinkering with it for the past month, and the amount of tweaks and customizations are endless. I purchased the lifetime updates along with emumovies and it is worth every penny!

[Tom Speirs]

Hi,

I do intend to look into it just not had a chance yet.

[gamepimp]

Plz keep us posted on this Tom. Unfortunately, for cheats to work in MESS/MAME/UME, the files have to be named according to the software list. But then as the OP mentioned, they wouldn't show up correctly in GameEx. And then there's the artwork issue to contend with as well. Even though there are better emulators out there for most systems, I have been able to produce the best scanlines in MAME/MESS using the old school scanline artwork. And now with UME which combines MAME and MESS into one, I really only need to worry about updating one emulator instead of dozens. To top it off, all systems can be tweaked using the exact same on-screen menu. I really hope that the devs can get the MESS portion up to speed with some of the better console emulators (BSNES, KEGA Fusion, FCEUltra, etc.) so that it really will be the all-in-one "Swiss Army knife" emulator solution.

[IMBerzerk]

@blakepoet...

I have MESS 146 running Vectrex, A2600, 5200, 7800, and about 12 other emus. I hand-selected the games of all systems I have, all images... named them as I wanted them to appear in the list and added them all in. Took forever and a day, was mind boggling... but it all works without an issue in MESS and GameEx. Maybe there is something wrong with your emulator set up?

Mess really doesn't care what the name of the rom is... as long as the rom is good and compatible with Mess. (.bin, .rom) etc.

Can I work with you on this? I'm and 'old skool' nut... I even have all the classic Vectrex overlays working with the Vectrex/MESS emulator... and that was hell to get right.

IMB

[blakepoet]

@IMBerzerk

Thanks for your help. I am also using MESS 146. I can get MESS to run outside of Gameex, so i don't think its a setup issue. The moment i change the rom filename i get the error: 'xxx.bin not found.' Like GamePimp said above, the game won't work unless the filename matches the name on the software list. It dosent show up correctly in Gameex. I can fix the naming with a map file but that wont help with the artwork.

I can probably get everything to work by using a map file and and manually renaming each snapshot but there are over 2000 roms and it will be a mind boggling project indeed.

As an alternative, I am just using other emulators besides Mess but the aspect ratio is messed up in full screen mode on some emulators. It would be nice to use MESS if only for that reason.