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cosmo0 committed Mar 6, 2021
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions src/js/bootstrap.bundle.js

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4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions src/pages/help/customcsv.html
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Expand Up @@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ <h2>How to create a custom CSV?</h2>
<p>
That's it. All other columns are ignored, and are for your usage only, to filter using Excel
or a similar tool. You can do whatever you want, as long as the file is a valid CSV (all
lines have the same columns number, etc).
lines have the same columns number, the column separator must be consistent, etc).
</p>

<p>
Expand All @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ <h2>How to create a custom CSV?</h2>
</p>

<ul>
<li>Convert a DAT file, either yourself or with this tool</li>
<li><a href="pages/csv/convert-dat.html" class="navmenu">Convert a DAT file to a CSV file</a></li>
<li>Use a site like <a href="http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame.php?lang=en" class="blank">ArcadeItalia</a>
and export the search results as CSV</li>
<li>Write a text file by hand, put one game name per line. Just don't forget to add "name;"
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15 changes: 9 additions & 6 deletions src/pages/help/datfiles.html
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Expand Up @@ -10,19 +10,22 @@ <h2>Why are DAT files not supported?</h2>

<p>
DAT (XML) files, used by tools like MAME and CLR MAME Pro, are a great tool to check, rebuild and
convert romsets. However, they lack many useful informations: screen resolution, arcade hardware
(Bally/Midway, CPS X, Sega System X...), emulation status, game type, etc.<br>
They are also generally pretty large, and cannot easily be modified if you don't use specialized
software.
convert romsets.
</p>

<p>
However, my goal is to have an easy-to-use software, and DAT files cannot be edited easily.
Plus, they lack many useful informations: screen resolution, arcade hardware
(Bally/Midway, CPS X, Sega System X...), emulation status, game type, etc.
</p>

<p>
Using a CSV file (wether exported from <a href="http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame.php?lang=en" class="blank">ArcadeItalia</a>
or completely custom-made) allows anyone with Excel (or any text editor) to filter the lists and
create their own custom collection. You can even share them and contribute using Google Sheets.
create their own custom collection. You can even share them using Google Sheets.
</p>

<p>
You can convert a DAT file to a CSV file using this tool, if you already have a DAT file that
You can <a href="pages/csv/convert-dat.html" class="navmenu">convert a DAT file to a CSV file</a> using this tool, if you already have a DAT file that
you like to use.
</p>
42 changes: 26 additions & 16 deletions src/pages/help/emulators.html
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Expand Up @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ <h3>Why so many MAME versions?</h3>

<ul>
<li>The "lr-" versions have been modified to use Libretro, the library used by most emulators in Retropie
and Recalbox, allowing all emulators to have a common control configuration, shaders, menu, etc.</li>
and Recalbox, allowing all emulators to have a common control configuration, shaders, overlays, menu, etc.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/squidrpi/mame4all-pi" class="blank">MAME4ALL</a> is a fork of an old version (2000)
that aims to run games as fast as possible, even on weaker hardware.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.advancemame.it" class="blank">AdvanceMAME</a> is a fork of a not-quite-as-old MAME version
Expand All @@ -30,39 +30,49 @@ <h3>Why so many lr-MAME versions?</h3>
MAME has a stated goal of accuracy over anything else, to reference exactly how the hardware works.
This kind of precise emulation comes at a cost: it requires a powerful computer to run at full speed.
Older version of MAME were less precise in their emulation, and so, are faster. However, they (obviously)
<a href="http://mamedev.org/history.html" class="blank">run fewer games</a>. So, choosing
<a href="http://mamedev.org/history.html" class="blank">run fewer games</a> and have more bugs. So, choosing
a Libretro MAME version is always a tradeoff between speed, accuracy and compatibility.
</p>

<p>
There's a special case with MAME 2003+ (yes that's a "plus"): based on MAME 2003 (old but fast), driven users
have patched a few buggy systems, and integrated a few missing ones from the main MAME branch. As a result, it
runs more games than the base version, but is still quite fast.
</p>

<h3>What about Final Burn Alpha (FBA) and Final Burn Neo (FBNeo)?</h3>

<p>
FBA has started life as an emulator of After Burner only (hence the name).
<a href="https://www.fbalpha.com/history/" class="blank">Over time</a>, games and systems have been added,
and it emulated a very large number of games, although still smaller than MAME.<br>
After it was found that Capcom used FBA code with the project's manager approval but without contributors'
approval, most of the team split to create their own fork: Final Burn Neo.<br>
Final Burn Alpha is basically dead at this point.
After some problem with the FBA repository owner, most of the team split to create their own fork: Final Burn Neo.
Alpha is basically dead at this point.
</p>
<p>
The goal of FBA/FBNeo is not accuracy, and as a result, games generally run much faster on recent FBA/FBNeo
The goal of FBNeo is not accuracy, and as a result, games generally run much faster on recent FBNeo
versions than on recent MAME versions.
</p>

<h3>So, which one should I choose?</h3>

<p>
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer, and it varies from game to game, and on your personal preferences.<br>
The generally agreed-upon consensus on a Raspberry seems to be this one:
The generally agreed-upon consensus on a Raspberry Pi seems to be this one:
</p>
<ul>
<li>If you have a Pi 1 or Pi Zero, prefer MAME4ALL because it's much faster</li>
<li>Otherwise, by default, use FBNeo because it's fast, and emulates many games quite well</li>
<li>For all the games that FBA do not emulate, use MAME 2003 because it's faster</li>
<li>MAME 2010 is the preferred emulator for games that do not work in either FBA or MAME 2003, because it's
still mostly fast enough, and has less bugs</li>
<li>Vector games like Asteroids are generally better to run on AdvanceMAME, because it makes them prettier
(although recent versions of MAME have catched up)</li>
<li>Other MAME versions are generally too old (2000) or too slow (2014, 2016), but again, it's a matter of
personal preference, games launched, and hardware.</li>
<li>By default, use FBNeo because it's fast, and emulates many games quite well</li>
<li>For all the games that FBNeo do not emulate, use MAME 2003+ because it's faster than newer versions</li>
<li>For the rest, use MAME 2010 because it's still mostly fast enough</li>
<li>For vector games (like Asteroids) use AdvanceMAME, because it makes them prettier (although recent
versions of MAME have catched up)</li>
</ul>

<p>
Other MAME versions are generally too old (2000) or too slow (2014, 2016), but again, it's a matter of
personal preference, games launched, and hardware.
</p>

<p>
If you have a Pi 1 or Pi Zero, prefer MAME4ALL because it's much faster (even though it doesn't run a lot of games).
</p>
2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions src/pages/help/index.html
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Expand Up @@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ <h2>Help</h2>
Why so many emulators? Which one should I choose?</a>
<a href="pages/help/install.html" class="navmenu list-group-item list-group-item-action">
Install and configure arcade systems</a>
<a href="pages/help/tips.html" class="navmenu list-group-item list-group-item-action">
Arcade emulators tips & tricks</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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9 changes: 4 additions & 5 deletions src/pages/help/install.html
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Expand Up @@ -6,17 +6,16 @@
</ol>
</nav>

<h2>Install and configure arcade systems</h2>
<h2>Install and update arcade systems</h2>

<div class="alert alert-info">
Installing and updating individual emulators is only available on Retropie.
</div>

<p>
<a href="https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/" class="blank">Update Retropie</a> and the emulators
to the latest versions. When asked, choose "update from source": it will take a while (might take
a few hours or even a few days), but it will get the latest version, which can include many more games, be
much more stable, etc.
to the latest versions. When asked, you can update from source (more up-to-date emulator but it will take a
while - might take a few hours or even a few days), or from binary (may be older, but very fast to install).
</p>

<p>
Expand All @@ -27,4 +26,4 @@ <h2>Install and configure arcade systems</h2>
<p>
Go to the <a href="https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/" class="blank">arcade documentation</a> to check
for the configuration paths for MAME4ALL, AdvanceMAME and PiFBA.
</p>
</p>
14 changes: 7 additions & 7 deletions src/pages/help/knownsystems.html
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Expand Up @@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
<ol class="breadcrumb">
<li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="pages/index.html" class="navmenu">Home</a></li>
<li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="pages/help/index.html" class="navmenu">Help</a></li>
<li class="breadcrumb-item active" aria-current="page">Known systems</li>
<li class="breadcrumb-item active" aria-current="page">Why can't I install overlays where I want?</li>
</ol>
</nav>

<h2>Known systems</h2>
<h2>Why can't I install overlays where I want?</h2>

<p>
Each system has strict requirements to load overlays, and they're all different (otherwise where's the fun?).
This utility can only install overlays on know systems, with a fixed and predictable folder structure,
because it has to define absolute paths (and replaces them on the fly while copying the overlays).
because it has to define absolute paths.
</p>

<p>
Expand All @@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ <h2>Known systems</h2>
<li>
Edit the paths in the downloaded cfg files:
<ul>
<li>Move the files located in <code>overlays/fbneo/arcade-xxxx/</code> where you want
<li>Move the files located in <code>overlays\fbneo\arcade-xxxx\</code> where you want
(including the "common" folder).</li>
<li>Move the <code>overlays/roms/romname.zip.cfg</code> files where they need to be; it depends
on the system: next to the roms? In a special folder? Check the doc, ask around.</li>
<li>In the <code>romname.zip.cfg</code> file, edit the paths to point to the config files</li>
<li>Move the <code>overlays\roms\romname.zip.cfg</code> files where they need to be; it depends
on the system.</li>
<li>In all <code>cfg</code> files, edit the paths to so everything matches nicely.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
10 changes: 8 additions & 2 deletions src/pages/help/romsets.html
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Expand Up @@ -9,7 +9,13 @@
<h2>Which romsets are supported?</h2>

<p>
Only merged and non-merged romsets are supported.<br>
If you use this tool to copy a split set, the clones won't work because the parents won't be copied.<br>
Only merged and non-merged romsets are supported.
</p>

<p>
If you use this tool to copy a split set, the clones won't work because the parents won't be copied.
</p>

<p>
Support for split set is not planned, because it's much more complicated than what I want to do.
</p>
29 changes: 29 additions & 0 deletions src/pages/help/tips.html
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@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
<nav aria-label="breadcrumb">
<ol class="breadcrumb">
<li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="pages/index.html" class="navmenu">Home</a></li>
<li class="breadcrumb-item"><a href="pages/help/index.html" class="navmenu">Help</a></li>
<li class="breadcrumb-item active" aria-current="page">Arcade emulators tips & tricks</li>
</ol>
</nav>

<h3>Arcade emulators tips & tricks</h3>

<p>
Just a few random tips that might come handy.
</p>

<ul>
<li>If at the start of the game you see weird things appearing (lines, artifacts, loading screen,
"system check", etc), don't panic, it's normal: the emulators also emulate the booting sequences</li>
<li>In MAME, you can use a keyboard to open the ingame menu using TAB, or various submenus
using function keys</li>
<li>Check the DIP switches, they will allow you to change difficulty, number of lives, and
even sometimes activate cheats</li>
<li>NeoGeo games don't use DIP switches, and instead you must open the system's BIOS to change
settings like difficulty. In MAME it's in the TAB menu, in FBNeo you press start a few seconds
while the game is launching</li>
<li>There is a free NeoGeo bios replacement with more options called
<a href="http://unibios.free.fr/" class="blank">Unibios</a>, it will allow you to switch
between the arcade and home console version of the games (not sure if you can do it with the
default BIOS).</li>
</ul>
6 changes: 3 additions & 3 deletions src/pages/help/what.html
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Expand Up @@ -23,19 +23,19 @@ <h3>An example of typical usage</h3>

<ol>
<li>On the main menu, select <strong>Manage games list</strong>, then <strong>Download a pre-build CSV file</strong>.
FBA is the preferred emulator by default, so click on <strong>FBA 2017</strong>.</li>
FBA is the preferred emulator by default, so click on <strong>FB Neo</strong>.</li>
<li>If you have a game pad with analogue sticks (like Xbox or Playstation), download <strong>set-classics-pad</strong>.
Otherwise, download <strong>set-classics-stick</strong>.</li>
<li>Go back to the main menu, and select <strong>Manage roms</strong>.</li>
<li>If you have a full FBA romset somewhere, select <strong>Copy listed roms from a full romset</strong>.
<li>If you have a full FB Neo romset somewhere, select <strong>Copy listed roms from a full romset</strong>.
If you already have a large selection of working games on your pi, and want to trim it down, select
<strong>Keep only the roms listed</strong>.</li>
<li>Select the CSV file you previously downloaded, fill the folders as required (target \\retropie\roms\fba
or \\recalbox\share\roms\fba), then enjoy your great-but-smaller games selection.</li>
</ol>

<p>
FBA is great, but it's missing a few games and systems, like vector games (Asteroids...). If you don't want to miss anything:
FB Neo is great, but it's missing a few games and systems, like vector games (Asteroids...). If you don't want to miss anything:
</p>

<ol>
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