Best way of organizing No-Intro Roms and EmuMovies media to 1G1R

[X1pheR]

Hi Guys,

Hopefully some of you are willing to shed some light on this. I've been trying to set things up with GameEx for a HTPC setup. But I just can't figure out how to organize my rom collections so it included only one, and the best possible, game per region. Excluding any japan or other oriental regions which language I can't read. What is the best way to do this? And with this get accompanying media from EmuMovies.

For example, I started off with the No-Intro Super Nintendo collection. I have the "Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (20141014-214745_CM)" rom set. From EmuMovies I have the "Nintendo SNES [Videos][480p][HyperList 1.1_No-Intro][EM 20150209)" 480p video snap set. I also have the "Super Nintendo [snaps][HyperList 1.1][EM 20110627]" set as well as the other artwork sets for SNES.

So I got all the goodies but now what?

In advance I tried the Auto Downloader with the full rom set but that didn't work out too well. I also read on the forums that it doesn't always work that well also.

As for creating a one game per region (1G1R) list for the roms I've searched and searched. Came across RomSorter but don't know how it works. Don't know if it is the best way to go.

Can anybody help out?

[Adultery]

What I did was created a map file of what I wanted to keep (US mostly) and then ran the file builder option in Map File Maker. That way I keep the full set for archiving and can manually sort out what I didn't want and then copy over only those files.

No matter what it's gonna require some labor... Unless of course you grab a HyperSpin set which are usually pretty clean.

/my 2c

[X1pheR]

Thanks Adultery. I used to collect the whole sets but am now doubting. As sources have become scarce, it's been harder to get up-to-date sets. And sorted I think they will save A LOT of space Any more automatic ways you perhaps have experience with also? I understand it'll require some manual work at some point(s) but am used to that and no problem. Just looking for a more automatic way since I don't know all the roms from the sets so can't decide on my own what to keep or leave out Auto in the way like stick with USA release, otherwise Europe but always keep out Japan. Don't really know what the difference is between US and EU releases anyways besides the region itself of course.

And how did you match up with artwork/video's? Because from what I've read the auto downloader program or integrated in GameEx doesn't work that well. After my post I also came across some Python script called XBMC ROM Utilities which looks like to do the same thing RomSorter does. I was hoping anybody got some experience with them along with the Artwork/Videos sorting afterwards.

[Adultery]

I'm not sure where tut got that Intel, but the artwork downloader actually does a fabulous job.

If you're basing your sets off No-Intro you really should not have any issues.

[X1pheR]

They are indeed based on No-Intro. I downloaded some more recent sets now so will try with those. Which is best to use? The DLU or internal updater in gameex? The thing I'm also missing with those is not being able to specify my own paths. It uses its own system names and art folder names. Also, there is no log to actually see what it did. Did it match everthing exactly or perhaps match some things with fuzzy logic. You know what I mean?

I think I may have found a way now to create the 1G1R rom set based on a parent/clone XML with ClrMamePro. Will update if that works out. Since I already have artwork folders. What to your opinion would be the best program to match my new trimmed down rom set to my artwork folders and clean/rename them?

[Adultery]

I prefer the DSU but others may disagree.

I keep all my art in the sever add bit really concerned with setting my own paths, but the internal downloader likely uses the same code but allows that.

My artwork is all solely based on the downloader, someone else may come in about trimming down your shiz.

[DazzleHP]

Hi there X1pheR!

I can offer you an automatic time-saver alternative that will strip your rom collection in seconds/minutes depending on hardware. There is a disclaimer that comes with this method though: You must have faith in the method!

Actually it's not scary if you backup your roms first

This method will leave you with 1G1R, usually prioritizing US first:

Download RomCenter. Google some Tuts to learn it, there are even some nice posts on these forums if you search!

Download a HyperList!

Load the HyperList in RomCenter

Run it against your collection! RomCenter+HyperList=Clean 1G1R set.... YUM

Rinse/Repeat with all collections

Be aware that you should do this with a copy of each set because using this method will trim your set down to the bare minimum, with only one game per rom. Using a backup will make sure that if something goes wrong you can just copy the original set and try again using different settings.

Trust me on this though - once you get the hang of it you will have the cleanest rom collection you've ever had

[X1pheR]

Hey DazzleHP, thanks for the info! Just what I'm looking for indeed. I already have RomCenter installed so I downloaded a HyperList XML file, the Commodore Amiga to be precise, and tried loading it in RomCenter. But it only takes DAT files or emulator exe's. It doesn't accept the XML. I tried googling "romcenter hyperlist" but nothing useful. Do I have to convert it first? However, ClrMamePro seems to accept the HyperList XML if you feed it. I tried it on the Commodore Amiga set since there is no official No-Intro parent-clone dat available. It worked out pretty nicely. But do you know how the 1G1R sorting priority is for the HyperList files? US first, but then? It seems to leave the BIOS files in. It also seems to have build with the latest version of a rom in mind like v1.5 in stead of v1.0 for example.

But thank you very much for this tip man! I'm doubting, should I rebuild my other sets that I've already done now with the official No-Intro parent-clone DAT files?

And what is now the best way to get the corresponding artwork and video sets from EmuMovies in an easy way for use by GameEx? Do you manually download them and sort them? If so, with which program. Or do you use the Auto Downloader or perhaps GameEx builtin version of the Auto Downloader?

Sorry for the many questions.

Just FYI and others who may face the same:

What I already did before seeing your post was install ClrMamePro and RomCenter and loaded some parent-clone DAT files in from No-Intro. Both seem to have a 1G1R mode but only as long as there is a parent-clone DAT file loaded. If you load a normal DAT file without clone info then you don't have 1G1R mode to your disposal.

Comparing both my favourite is ClrMamePro. RomCenter let's me sort the priority of the regions but not exclude them. ClrMamePro lets you sort as well as exclude so this makes for an even shorter list! So for those who may be helped by this as well, here is what I did:

1. Install ClrMamePro.
2. Go to No-Intro's DAT-o-Matic, select the system of your rom set and download the parent-clone DAT file.
3. Determine if your system rom set needs a header file on the global No-Intro datset download page. Lookup your system and see if there is a yellow icon thingy on the right side which provides a header download. Extract the archive after downloading and place the extracted XML header file in the <ClrMamePro installation folder>.\Headers folder.
4. Run ClrMamePro and select "Add DatFile" from the Profiler.
5. Browse to your DAT file and select the default location to save it.
6. Open it under "NEW DATFILES" and select "Default".
7. Go to "Settings" in the main window.
8. Add your ROM path(s).
9. Select "1G1R Mode" beneath "Region / Language Mode". (If this option is greyed out, then your DAT file doesn't contain parent-clone info).
10. Select "Regions" from the upper-left dropdown menu. If your DAT file contains parent-clone info with regions you should see them here. Select the regions which you want included in your 1G1R set and leave out those you don't want. As reference, I chose from top (so highest priority) to down: USA, CAN, AUS, EUR, HOL, ASI, BRA, FRA, GER, ITA, SPA, SWE. I left KOR, CHN, JPN unchecked and will be left out. This saves me a lot of roms which I can't play anyway since I can't read the language anyway . Now close the window.
11. Go to "Scanner" in de main window.
12. In the lower left part of the window you will see a lot of checkboxes. Make sure you have all in the right column (Fix) unselected. Make sure you have all in the left column (Check) selected except for "Unneeded". Select "New Scan..."
13. When the scan finishes it will tell you if you have all of the roms in your set for the 1G1R set. If you do you can continue. If you don't you have two options. Search and download for the missing rom(s) or copy an other region version for each of the missing roms from your set to a temp folder. Now press the "OK" button.
14. BEWARE: the following steps will delete unneeded roms not included in the 1G1R set you are wanting to build. ClrMamePro (with its default settings) makes a backup of the deleted files in the <ClrMamePro installation folder>.\backup\<system-name>\... for you but if you want to be completely safe then create your own backup of the set.
15. Select ALL checkboxes from both columns (Check and Fix) and perform a new scan. When this finishes you will have transformed your rom set to a 1G1R rom set so you only have one rom of each version according to the region priority you set earlier.
16. You can save the Have List by clicking that button if you want.
17. Close the window and also close the main window or continu on to other sets. If you are satisfied you can remove your own backup and/or ClrMamePro's backup if you want.

I'm not saying above steps are best practice but this is what I've figured out and seem to work best for me at the moment. Please correct me if I'm wrong in any way.

[DazzleHP]

I can see you ain't no newbie But yes you got my gist!

Whichever you are most comfortable with - ClrMamePro or RomCenter, they both do the same thing, allbeit with different approaches.

Now, i've had a look and honestly i'm not sure what to do with the XML's - when i last did this they were all DAT's - Maybe you can run them against an emu instead? Much like you would do with MAME? At least pre-160 anyways

If it's Amiga you are trying to trim though i'm wondering if GameBase might be a better option for you? Once you have a DB running in GameBase you can eliminate/use filters to trim the database, and once done you can plug-it into GameEx. If you weren't aware - GameEx has GameBase plugin support!

The best way for artwork downloads is to first create an EmuMovies Account, you can create a free account that will give a daily limit, then use the external app that comes free with GameEx! Hit the Windows button> All Programs> GameEx> "Download Artwork and Videos", run that program and you'll get some nice results

[X1pheR]

Haha thanks. Well quite frankly I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this. And now with the addition of the HyperLists it's only getting worse!

Some of the hyperlists seem very outdated. Look for instance to Nintendo 64. It's dated 11/15/2011. While I created a 1G1R set with clrmamepro from the no-intro 06/15/2015! my new set contains 15 roms more. It gets worse with Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Hyperlist is dated 10/16/2014 and contains 791 roms. I created a 1G1R set with clrmamepro from the no-intro 04/17/2015 which contains 947 roms!!!

I do know about GoodBase support in GameEx though I've never used it. No-intro doesn't seem to have any DAT for amiga. But Hyperlist does. I've loaded that in clrmamepro and it gets even weirder. When I want to scan it states that the rom folder doesn't contain any valid set. When I continue with scanning it does state that I have 1954 of 1954 roms. But when I enable all the fix checkboxes it deletes all roms! Luckely I made a backup. So how strange is that. It states I don't have any valid sets. I scan, it says I have them all, but it still deletes them.

I'm have a lifetime subscription with emumovies so I'm covered. It's just that I want my rom sets sorted out as good 1G1R sets so I can start matching them up. I'm also busy with looking at HyperSync since it's supposed to be superior to the DLU (auto downloader).

Quite confusing all of this. Who can help? haha. Surely others have come across this?