Map files and command line arguments

[zolakk]

I am trying my hand at getting C64 going through gameex, but due to the games having different command line settings (which drive, flip lists, etc) I am having a bit of a problem. I sorta got it working with a set of batch files, one for each game and filtering the emulator for *.bat, but hitting esc to return to gameex causes gameex to crash. I suspect it is because the esc trick kills the batch file but leaves the emulator running fullscreen. I figured the workaround to this would be to setup a map file, but even after removing the filter, I get "No roms found".

For testing, I have setup a map file with just one rom as shown below (all one line, the board moves it to two):

-flipname E:\Emulation\C64\Roms\Su_Sweet_(7523)\Su_Sweet_(7523).vkm -autoload E:\Emulation\C64\Roms\Su_Sweet_(7523)\SUSWEET.D64  -confirmexit -fullscreen "Su Sweet"

I have tried with the game name in quotes (as taken from gameex's generated map files) and with the pipe as mentioned in the docs to no avail. I have tried everything I could think of but cannot get this resolved. Is it perhaps that the "rom name" is too long or that it does not like some of the characters (or spaces)? I could probably work around this by creating a separate launcher to handle the loading / unloading of the emulator if I had to, but I think i'm too close to resort to tactics like that at this point. Just in case, here is my current emu config for that section as well:

[Emulator_16]
Enabled=True
STARTPAGENAME=C64
TITLETEXT=C64
StartPageLogo=Commodore C64
ROMFilter=
RomsInFolders=False
RomPath=E:\Emulation\C64\Roms
SnapPath=E:\Emulation\C64\Snaps
WorkingPath=E:\Emulation\C64
MapKeys=True
WaitBeforeKeys=
SendKeys=
ReplaceDash=False
ReplaceUnder=True
Capitals=True
RemoveBrackets=True
ShowDesktop=True
Debug=True
MAPFile=E:\Emulation\C64\C64.map
AlsoLaunch=
Command=x64.exe "[RomFile]"
OLDatZip=
TitlePath=E:\Emulation\C64\Snaps
BoxPath=E:\Emulation\C64\Boxes
LaunchBefore=
LaunchAfter=
CartPath=E:\Emulation\C64\Carts
configFile=
ExcludedFiles=
CustomBackground=Commodore 64.png
PlayMusic=
PCGame=
DATABASE=
DumbyValue=
GamesIn7Zips=
PlayInScreenSaver=True
ManualPath=E:\Emulation\C64\Manuals
DontShowInfo=
ShowMostPlayed=True
RandomMostPlayed=
CDCheck=
CDCheckFile=
lastgame=

Any thoughts?

[zolakk]

*bump* any ideas?

[headkaze]

I dont think map files are designed to replace the file name that is launched, but simply what is displayed in the list. So if you have funky ROM names you can have them mapped to more reader friendly names.

If you decide to go the batch file way, variables are very handy for passing information to them from GameEx. You can use these variables to save you from creating batch files for every game. Here is an example.

In GameEx you have

x64.bat [Rom] "[RomFile]"

Then in the batch file you can have..

@ECHO OFF
IF %1 == "SUSWEET" x64.exe -flipname E:\Emulation\C64\Roms\Su_Sweet_(7523)\Su_Sweet_(7523).vkm -autoload %2 -confirmexit -fullscreen "Su Sweet"
IF %1 == "NEXTGAME" x64.exe -autoload %2 -confirmexit -fullscreen "Next Game"
EXIT

Okay it's a long and painful way to do things, but I can't really think of an easier way to do this. To solve your ESC problem you can add the following line to your Emulator config.

LaunchAfter=taskkill.exe /IM x64.exe

That should kill the emulator to return back to GameEx (hopefully)

[Nologic]

Okay maybe I'm nuts but as I see it we have three main things here:

Su_Sweet_(7523).vkm

SUSWEET.D64

"Su Sweet"

My question is why don't they share the same name?

Su Sweet.vkm

Su Sweet.D64

"Su Sweet"

Also is there some large mass of supporting files for these games...or is it just the two files generally?

If its just two files, why not simply place all files in one folder.

With every thing in a single common folder for all games...and common naming for supporting files you could probably get away with:

ROMFilter=*.D64

Command=x64.exe -flipname "[ROMPATH]\[ROM].vkm" -autoload "[ROMPATH]\[ROM].D64" -confirmexit -fullscreen "[ROM]"

Now I realize you said each game has to use a different command line string...but do you really need seperate strings?

Basically meaning will the emu shit its self if you pass it a bogus option...like for a file that doesn't exist?

I'd personally try making a generic command line string and see about finding out if it'll break the emu or not before getting carried way with a bunch of strings..or batchs.

My thoughts...

[zolakk]

I had a feeling that map files weren't designed for this kind of thing but I figured it's worth a shot. The files aren't named the same (even though they should be) because I was just experimenting for now with map files. The way the rom collection is setup, there are disks (-flipname, -autoload), tapes (just -autoload) and carts (-loadcrt). You have a great point in your last post with the gameex command string, i'll play around with that and see what comes up.

Thanks