Changing game name on importing rom does not work.

[Peter Cumminsky]

When importing a ROM changing the game’s name on the last screen does not change the game’s name in LaunchBox and it doesn’t import images - I have to Edit the game, change the name, and import images manually each time.

On Windows 10 Pro and a Lifetime License.

[Jason Carr]

Hi Peter, I just tested this and it seemed to work fine. Not sure what I’m missing. I created a test file named t.txt, ran the import wizard to import Commodore 64, changed the name for the game on the last page to 3D Tunnel, and it successfully downloaded the proper images from the LaunchBox Games Database for the 3D Tunnel game.

[Peter Cumminsky]

Try it with a MAME rom on C64 with “use MAME metadata ..” checked. It doesn’t use the MAME metadata and after changing the name manually it does not carry over after finishing the add.

[Peter Cumminsky]

Forgot to mention I’m on 9.9.

[Peter Cumminsky]

I’m on 9.10 and it still doesn’t work correctly. Here’s the steps (and results) to reproduce the problem:

Drag and drop a zip file on the screen not supported by MAME (antiaircraft in this case).

Select the “Arcade” Platform; Select the emulator (DICE (Discrete Integrated Circuit Emulator) in this case as this ROM is not supported by MAME); Select leave in place; …; On the final screen rename the file correctly (“Anti-Aircraft” in this case); press “enter”

It finds the images and downloads them and imports the ROM.

When finished the item is NOT re-named and images are NOT displayed.

Going into “Edit” yields the same results; After checking the LaunchDB box (which HAS the correct information), then manually re-naming and clicking “OK” The images appear and the item is correctly renamed.

NOTE: the item had the correct info, except for the name and even though no images were displayed they were downloaded and placed in the correct locations - just not displayed in either “Edit” or in the grid. - UNTIL I manually re-named the item.

This is a PITA as I cannot import a whole folder as most of them are NOT imported even after renaming then in the final screen, I assume that’s because the re-naming gets lost somehow and they can’t be found in the DB.

This happens on many platforms for me, including those Computers/Consoles/Hand Helds when using MAME or even other emulators. I always use the “Best” emulator for each platform irregardless if MAME or RetroArch support the Platform.

When I use MAME it DOES NOT rename ROMs correctly (except for the “Arcade” platform and still gets it wrong sometimes) and DOES NOT seem to use the MAME metadata for that platform.

I could live with it on platforms with a few games but it is a massive time-consuming effort that I never seem to complete making LaunchBox a frustrating launcher to work with as opposed to say RetroPie on the Raspberry PI which I setup for my 100% disabled veteran daughter.

[Jason Carr]

Okay, I think I understand what’s going on here. If you check the box to use MAME metadata, it should automatically rename the MAME file names to the proper titles. You shouldn’t have to do that manually, and it’s possible that that’s messing it up. What happens if you just run the import, check the MAME box, and don’t rename anything in the final step?

[Peter Cumminsky]

That's what I did originally, just clicked on use MAME metadata (on Atari 2600, etc) and it did NOT rename the games. On arcade names which are not supported by MAME (and may have ROM file names different from MAME) it also did not rename them even if the game was included in MAME, just not working so I used other emulators that do support these arcade games as working (such as DICE, HBMAME, Daphne, Supermodel, RetroArch (Flycast core), Dolphin and Arcade).

That option does no seem to work on non-arcade games in MAME even though MAME supports them and has the metadata for them. I just open the MAME xml file for that platform and copy and paste the correct names after searching for the MAME ROM name. Seems like a simple thing to do with a sub-routine in LaunchBox to me with a couple of tables but I'm not a programmer, just a script jockey.

Note that if the ROM name is the same as the game name, the use MAME metadata option can get it wrong as it tries to use the arcade name which may not be the platforms game name or belong to a totally different game. That means I have to go though every game and cross-reference it to see if it is correct.

What I do now for NonArcade MAME platforms is add a separate emulator to LaunchBox with the path to the MAME executable so I can manually rename the games in the Import ROM tool, not using the use MAME metadata option. That's still a lot of manual work that takes a week or more on some platforms with hundreds of games. It's easier on the RetroArch side but that still leaves the stand-alone emulators (As I said before I use the best, most accurate emulators for each platform and that may not be MAME or RetrArch in a lot of cases).

I just want all the MAME metadata to work on import with out going through hoops and time-consuming workarounds to get to the point I can actually play games. A little extra work is OK but it takes months to get everything imported as it stands now. It seems you are only supporting RetroArch and the arcade side of MAME. There are lots of front-ends that do that already and some even support the non-arcade side of MAME. I really hope you can get LaunchBox into a universal front end "to rule them all".

[Jason Carr]

Okay, I get the request now. This is actually on the current poll as “Proper Support for MAME Software List”.