tutorial?

Get help with running Romcenter 3 here. Please do not post roms requests or illegal links, posts will be deleted.

Moderator: Wanderer

Forum rules
No roms requests or illegal links
dukeofurl
Pong
Pong
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:47 am

tutorial?

Post by dukeofurl »

I do not know how to use RomCenter, I would like to. Is there a tutorial on how to use this program?

User avatar
Wanderer
Board master
Board master
Posts: 791
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2001 10:37 am
Location: Milky way

Re: tutorial?

Post by Wanderer »

Hi dukeofurl. Welcome to the forums.

First of all, i assume you have understood the purpose of a rom manager like RomCenter and what "fixing a rom" means. I don't know of any tutorials for RC v2 but RC v3 final is near so any existing tutorials would need some rewriting anyway.

I can tell you some basics so you can try it out. What version have you downloaded? v2.71 or v3RC1?

dukeofurl
Pong
Pong
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:47 am

Re: tutorial?

Post by dukeofurl »

Hi there. RC3. I’ve been involved in emus and roms for years, but I’ve taken a break from it for a few years, and it seems some things might not be the same.
I do understand fixing a rom, such that in the case of Neo Geo or Mame and they are made up of zip files that contain several smaller files, not all of which are right. Whereas roms for 8-bit-nes or snes and the like, are self contained and in a single file. I suppose fixing a rom means getting all the right files in the zip files.
Right now I’m trying to focus on getting a full set of Neo Geo, and select MAME roms. I understand that I have to find them elsewhere, and that I’m not supposed to discuss sites for roms here.

User avatar
Wanderer
Board master
Board master
Posts: 791
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2001 10:37 am
Location: Milky way

Re: tutorial?

Post by Wanderer »

dukeofurl wrote:I suppose fixing a rom means getting all the right files in the zip files.
Right. RC will help you see which files are missing from each zip so you can try to find either the whole zip file or the missing parts.
dukeofurl wrote:I understand that I have to find them elsewhere, and that I’m not supposed to discuss sites for roms here.
Right again. :)

Well, the whole process goes as described below. I'll talk about mame as it is something i'm familiar with but everything i'll say applies (more-or-less) to other emulators.

You have to have a database of all the valid files for a specific version of mame. You can either download a datafile from somewhere in the web (i'm not advertising here ;) but this actually means go to logiqx's site :), the best datafile resource i know) or import it directly from mame. So, you either

a. Download the dat file and go to RC menu "File\New - Load games list from a datafile" and select it, or
b. Go to RC menu "File\New - Load games list from an emulator", select the emulator's exe and RC will extract the datafile from it. This can be done with mame, i'm not sure it can be done with any other emulator.

In both cases, a database will be created with the name you give, which will contain all roms that are supported by the version of the datafile/emulator you selected. You will be able to see all files supported by that version under the "datafile" branch.

After the creation of the database is finished, all you have to do is go to RC menu "File\Add rom path" (or press CTRL+O or drag-drop the path from windows explorer in the tree area at the left panel in RC) and select the path in which all your rom files exist (compressed game files). It will appear under the "rom files" path.

Depending on whether the file is OK or not, the color of the icon of the file is either red, yellow or green. The colors has this meaning:

- Green: Everything is OK, the game's zip file contains all the roms it's supposed to contain (depending on the mode you have chosen in menu "File\Preferences\Romsets" - merged, split or unmerged).

- Yellow: Something is wrong. This color in a game under the "datafile" branch, usually means that something is missing but the game may still be playable. This color in a game under the "rom files" branch, usually means that there is a error which can be fixed by RomCenter without having to download anything or do anything else.

- Red: This means that either the whole zip file is missing or that some roms do exist in the zip file but some others are missing. When you see that, you can be sure the game is not playable.

Now, about the mode. Games coming from the same company usually share some common roms (bioses). Also, some games may be clones (slightly different versions) of another game (main game). In those cases there are also come common roms between them. Depending on the mode you choose, roms are stored differently inside zip files.

- Merged: all roms (bioses and common roms between clones) are stored in one zip file. This will result to large zip files containing all clones of a single game. It consumes the largest disk space of all modes but it has the advantage of having all necessary roms in each zip file. This means that in order to play a game, all you need is this single zip file. It also haves the disadvantage of having all clones of a game in the zip file when all you may need is the main game (waste of space).

- Split: common clone roms are stored only in the main zip file and not in each clone zip file. Also, bioses are stored in separate zip files and not inside the main or clone zips. This mode consumes the least disk space of all modes but it means that in order to play a game (a clone for instance), you will need the clone zip file, the main game zip file and maybe a bios file. If for example you are planning to have a subset of your roms in a flash disk, you may find it a little complicated to handle the files in this mode but that's what RC3's fabulous user interface is here for. To help you find out what files you need in order for your game to be playable.

- Unmerged: All roms in all files. I'm not sure about the use of this mode.

After all these info, when you do everything described above, if you see yellow files in the rom path you have added, just select the whole rom path and press the "fix" button. For Romcenter, "fixing" means rename roms to their correct names, create dummy roms and in general all options you can see in menu "File\Preferences - Fix". RC will do what can be done with your roms. But since you are new in RC, remember: MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR ROMS BEFORE DOING ANYTHING, ESPECIALLY WITH BETA VERSIONS OF RC. When you feel you have understood how RC works and you are using a final version (not an alpha or a beta or even release candidate), you could skip the backup step but IMHO, it's always better to have a backup somewhere, at least in the beginning. Better safe than sorry :).

One final thing. When fixing, all files deleted by RC can go either to the recycle bin or to a path specified under "File\Preferences - General - Backup directory".

If you need any more help, don't hesitate to ask.

dukeofurl
Pong
Pong
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:47 am

Re: tutorial?

Post by dukeofurl »

Hmm, ok, thanks. I've now downloaded at database file, a mame superset, but where do I put the .dat file that RC will be able to use it?

User avatar
Wanderer
Board master
Board master
Posts: 791
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2001 10:37 am
Location: Milky way

Re: tutorial?

Post by Wanderer »

If you have used the installer RC version, the datas are either under "my documents\romcenter\datas" or under "application data\romcenter\datas" in your home directory. If you have used the no-installer RC version, it's under "your RC installation folder\romcenter\datas".

Locked