[GUIDE] Creating and using custom MAME lists

[DazzleHP]

One thing i've always loved about GameEx is all the little features you discover that may at first not seem obvious to you. MAME custom lists may well be one of those features! I've only recently discovered them myself and now can't live without them.

So what are they?

Well, you know all the various lists you can enable in the MAME section of GameEx, for example: Atari Games, Classics, Vertical Games etc etc? Well you can make your own!

"Really?! Well stop babbling and show us how!"

Sure thing For this guide i will be using our High Score Competition custom MAME list as an example. You can grab a live updated version anytime, here. As you can see it looks quite simple, and it really is! Let's break it down:

[FOLDER_SETTINGS]             |                              | This section must be included,RootFolderIcon = cust1.ico    | but is not important. Leave as is.SubFolderIcon = cust2.ico     |[High Score Games]            | This is the Title of your list as it will appear in GE. It can be anything you like!                                <--It's important to leave this gap!1944                          |anteater                      |arkanoid                      | Your game list! Just list the roms you would likebankp                         | included in your list, one on each new line. The onlyblazstar                      | thing to remember here is use the ROM name - GameExbloodbro                      | will take care of formating it for you into nice Titlesbombjack                      |

You can create your lists with Windows Notepad (or any decent text based editor) using the above format, BUT make sure you save it with the .ini extension and NOT .txt (ie: myubermamelist.ini). The filename can be anything you like but obviously it's good practice to give it a name that makes sense to you.

Great! Now what?

Now you need to tell GameEx where your lists are! You should put all your lists into one folder. I have a folder in my MAME directory called "customlists", but they can be anywhere you like. Just make sure they are all together in that one folder.

Next, load the GE Setup Wizard> Custom> MAME Settings. Find Custom Lists Path, and browse to the folder containing all your lists:

Finally, boot GameEx. Go into the MAME section and hit Update List. Wait for it to do it's thing and then back out of the main game list (it will load the All MAME Games list automatically when it's finished updating) and BOOM! There is your snazzy custom list waiting to be browsed

If i've not explained anything clearly just leave a reply and i'll do my best to assist you. Now get creating them awesome lists!

For your pleasure, some lists that i have created:

Dazzle's MAME Shmup Hitlist (WIP):

thedazzlelist.ini

The GC-Wolfman Shmup Comp 2014:

wgcshmuptourney2014.ini

The Internet Gaming Bash of the Year 2014:

IGBOTY2014.ini

Monster Mash 2014:

monstermash2014.ini

Internet Gaming Bash of the Year 2 - 2015:

IGBOTY2-2015.ini - Courtesy of Buzzin69

Enjoy!

TIP: To get the rom name of the games you want to add to your list, i find using Romcenter the easiest method. It will create a database from your own MAME.exe from which you can just search the title of the game you want and it will tell you the associated rom name. It sure beats sifting through 28,000 roms in Windows!

halloweenbash2015.txt

[stigzler]

Nicely presented guide, Dazzle. Now... post your schmup customs...

[DazzleHP]

Nicely presented guide, Dazzle. Now... post your schmup customs...

Coming after the footie match and thanks. I'll be adding a few more things to it in the near future.

[DazzleHP]

Updated OP with the requested list and some extras you may be interested in

[stigzler]

Nice one

[GimmeClassics]

Thank you Darren for this guide !!

Very well written and easy to follow. Creating these custom game lists was exactly what I was trying to achieve

Thank you for your help and sharing this guide with the community !!

~ GC

[starbuck]

@DazzleHP Can I do this for other systems. Example Some systems I have to have setup as 4 emulators. Because, I have folders for USA, JAP, Homebrew, Hacks, etc. If this can be done for other systems, I should be able to have 1 system for Super Nintendo and 3 sub folders underneath. And be able to show them seperately

[Adultery]

Nah it's a mame only feature.

[DazzleHP]

@DazzleHP Can I do this for other systems. Example Some systems I have to have setup as 4 emulators. Because, I have folders for USA, JAP, Homebrew, Hacks, etc. If this can be done for other systems, I should be able to have 1 system for Super Nintendo and 3 sub folders underneath. And be able to show them seperately

As Adultery stated, it's MAME only i'm afraid. You can however achieve what you describe using Custom Menu's and if you've already set them up as different emulators it'll take seconds/minutes depending how quickly you grasp it

[DazzleHP]

Updated OP with the upcoming Monster Mash list.

NOTE: You may need to let Wonderboy Boy (wbml) through the GameEx filter.

[DazzleHP]

IGBOTY 2 list has been posted, courtesy of Buzzin69. Thanks man! Grab it in OP and get MAME'in

[imek]

I created a MAME list just like you showed in your description. The title of the list shows up, but the name of the game I put in the list didn't show up. Here is what I put in the .ini file 

[FOLDER_SETTINGS]

RootFolderIcon = cust1.ico
SubFolderIcon = cust2.ico

[imek's Games List]

primrage

For some reason the game primrage doesn't show up in the list. I also don't understand how GameEx will know how to start the game from just using the name I give it? 

[Amilcar]

Thank you DazzleHP, i use this often now.

@imek,

You probably have it sorted by now but what i did was delete the empty space between [FOLDER_SETTINGS] and RootFolderIcon = cust1.ico.

So final would be:

 

[FOLDER_SETTINGS]
RootFolderIcon = cust1.ico
SubFolderIcon = cust2.ico

After follow the steps DazzleHP provided.

Worked for me.

Hope this helps.