Launch Amiga games from Retropie menu

[yorkie]

Hi all,

I’ve come up with a way of being able to launch amiga roms from the Emulation Station menu, rather than having to run the uae4arm GUI. A previous poster suggested modifying the “Start UAE4ARM.sh” script to accept zip files. I couldn’t get this to work though.

Instead I have been using the command line options of uae4arm to pass a config file. I then have a quick-and-dirty script that will create a config file for each adf file in my directory

– use the uae4arm GUI to create a template .uae config file. I based the config file on the A1200, as A500 should play on A1200 but not vice-versa. I also made sure that ‘use_gui=no’ was set. I then edited the file manually so the floppy0 location is set to the following

floppy0=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/DISK1

– then run the following lines of code in the /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga directory, which will create a new config file for each adf file (the name will be the same as the adf file, with .uae appended). The name of the adf file will replace where it says DISK1 in the template file.

for adf in *.adf
do
config=”${adf}.uae”
echo $config
sed “s/DISK1/${adf}/g” template.uae > “${config}”
done

– Finally, change /opt/retropie/config/amiga/emulators.cfg to use the config parameter.

uae4arm=”/opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/uae4arm -f %ROM%”

and /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg so that the uae files are recognised.

<extension>.sh .SH .uae</extension>

Single-disk games should now launch from Emulation Station. One downside of the script is that games with multiple floppies will get a separate config file for each floppy. You have to manually combine the different files into one.

I also have problems switching to the uae4arm GUI when pressing CTRL during a game. An error message appears saying the data/FreeSans.ttf can not be found. I think this is because uae4arm expects to be running from the folder /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm, which does indeed have a ‘data’ sub-folder. I’ve tried copying the data folder to various sensible locations around the pi, but no luck so far.

Anyways, thought I would report my approach in case it is of interest. I’m certainly finding it useful to be able to run games with just the joypad in the same way as other systems.

[tronkyfran]

Great!!!! I’m looking forward to have some time and test it. I dont get the 2 or more disk system though, then Ill need a keyboard anyway¿?

[yorkie]

I’ve got a Python script that will do a better job for games with multiple floppies. It has to make some assumptions about the way in which the adf files are named.

I’ll do some testing and post later.

[yorkie]

Update as promised;

– Modify /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg so that the uae files are recognised.

<extension>.sh .SH .uae</extension>

– change /opt/retropie/config/amiga/emulators.cfg to use the config parameter.

uae4arm=”pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%”

– Download the following two files and copy to your amiga roms folder (i.e. /home/pi/Retropie/roms/amiga)

adflist2uae.py
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6opn1gehvnjtvox/adflist2uae.py?dl=0

template.uae
https://www.dropbox.com/s/be230bhjq86he8l/template.uae?dl=0

Now, from the command line run the Python script in the your roms folder

python adflist2uae.py

This script is used to create config files for each of the games in your folder. If a game has only one floppy (one adf file) it will be straightforward
e.g.
StuntCarRacer.adf writes a file called StuntCarRacer.uae, where the first floppy disk is set to StuntCarRacer.adf

For games with multiple floppies, it will expect files in the form GameXXX (Disk 1 of Y).adf, GameXXX (Disk 2 of Y).adf etc

So, if I’ve got

Sensible Soccer (Disk 1 of 2).adf and Sensible Soccer (Disk 2 of 2).df I will get a config file called Sensible Soccer.uae

You have to make sure that the adf files are named exactly the same, except for the floppy disk number.

You should now be able to launch into the games from the Amiga menu in EmulationStation without the GUI. However if you have a keyboard handy, you can return to the menu by pressing CTRL if you need to change the configuration or save state etc.

Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how to quit the emulator without the keyboard, so maybe we can’t get away with using only the joypad just yet.

[labelwhore]

I just got done running your script. (I haven’t tried the games just yet.) One of my games caused an error. “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis – The Graphic Adventure” has 11 disks, the number of which seemed to screw up the python script. I got rid of that game and moved on for now.

[sander]

when i try to open a game, it goes back to the main screen…

[labelwhore]

That happened to me too at first, your kick13.rom is most likely in the wrong place. Moving it to where the emulator needs it fixed the issue. (I think I actually ended up deleting a symlink and placing it in the folder where the symlink was. IDK where the correct location is, because I had one in the BIOS folder all along.

[sander]

i placed it in the bios folder.
must i config something else?

[labelwhore]

The trouble is, the emulator seems to be looking elsewhere for it. I’m not at home, so unfortunately I don’t have access to my pi to be able to say for sure where I put kick13.rom. If I remember correctly, I put it in the same folder as the emulator itself.

[Floob]

Yes, the BIOS directory is correct, make sure you have the filename case correct.
Details here:
https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Amiga

[labelwhore]

That’s what it says, but I had the same problem until I moved the file. I suspected the symlink was not pointing to the right place, but just deleted it and placed the file where the symlink used to be. That worked for me.

I just started fresh on retropie 3.3 jessie. Previously, I hadn’t messed with Amiga much due to the funky way to launch roms. So I have no idea if prior versions worked out of the box or not.

[yorkie]

[quote=113587]I just got done running your script. (I haven’t tried the games just yet.) One of my games caused an error. “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis – The Graphic Adventure” has 11 disks, the number of which seemed to screw up the python script. I got rid of that game and moved on for now.
[/quote]

Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t test on games with that many disks. It doesn’t do a very clever job of working how many disks a game has. Glad to hear it mostly working ok though.

[quote=113914]The trouble is, the emulator seems to be looking elsewhere for it. I’m not at home, so unfortunately I don’t have access to my pi to be able to say for sure where I put kick13.rom. If I remember correctly, I put it in the same folder as the emulator itself.
[/quote]

The ROM path in the template file is

kickstart_rom_file=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/KICK31.ROM

So, this is probably where it expects to find the file.

If you wish to use a different rom, for the time being you’ll have to edit the file template.uae. At some point soon I’ll change to script so that you can specify the ROM and also chipset.

[labelwhore]

[quote=113968]/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/KICK31.ROM[/quote]

Oops! Now that you say this, I remember why I did what I did with the kick roms. I replaced the symlinks with the rom files because I wanted to keep the rom folder ‘clean’.

Sorry for the misdirection.

[sander]

when i start a game the i must choose a default emulator for it.
i can only choose for aue4arm.
then i wil get to the main menu and i can select a game but i goes straight back to the main menu.
i put all the rom files in de roms/amiga dir.

the configfile emulators is chenged to this:

uae4arm=”pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%”default="uae4arm"
default="uae4arm"

[dustloop]

I need to set this up and try it when I get home.

To practically consolize the Amiga in Emulationstation is an amazing thing!

Thank you for all your hard work doing this :D

[labelwhore]

I just popped in here to say thanks once again for this. It works with everything I’ve thrown at it so far.

[sander]

how did you get it working, mine just pops back to the main menu.

[labelwhore]

Take a look in the template for the kick rom location, then place the kick file where it’s expected.

That’s the only thing I did that’s not part of the instructions.

If it turns out that the KICK31.ROM is in the right place (and named correctly, it’s case sensitive) and it’s still not working, it’s possible that the game you’re trying to launch needs a different kick rom. While everything I have tried so far works with KICK31.ROM, I haven’t tested everything. You may want to try manually editing the .uae file to point to a different kick rom and see what happens.

[sander]

I’ve changed everything the way i should, then when i open the rom (swos.uea) i get a screen where i must choose the default emulator:
there is one option: aea4arm when i select this option i get once more the screen where i must select the default emulator. the it will jump back to the mainscreen of emulationstation.

when i look at my amiga config file it looks like this:uae4arm=”pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%”default=”uae4arm”
default=”uae4arm”

[labelwhore]

that’s actually makes a lot of sense. You need to be using UAE4ALL for this to work. It can be installed from the retropie_setup script.

nvm, I got mixed up

[labelwhore]

I see an extra default=”uae4arm” in there. Assuming aue4all isn’t installed that file should look like this:

uae4arm=”pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%”
default=”uae4arm”

[sander]

when i change that i get a screen where i must choose the default emulator again:
there is one option: aea4arm

the same problem remains. i’ve used a clean install

[labelwhore]

Well, at least that file is correct now. That choose emulator screen is ok, you should just be able to select the default option for the emulator, uae4arm, then select launch. The next time around the game should just launch using that emulator, unless you change it by hitting a button.

Is there anything in tmp/runcommand.log?

[sander]

Nope the file is empty, the games still won’t boot up, when i klick on a game i go straight to the Uae4arm setup when i fill all the paths correctly it wil start the game.
No luck for me….
i added my config file and game file.

[attachment file=”Sensible World of Soccer 95-96.uae.txt”]

[labelwhore]

Something that fouled me up recently when creating a new emulators.cfg file for another emulator was that I created the file on my windows machine. I used textpad to create it. When I saved the file, I forgot to save it as a UNIX file. What that did was add a hidden carriage return at the end of the first line in the file. THat carriage return caused the emulator to not start. Maybe there’s something like that going on. Try opening the file with textpad then re-saving it as a UNIX based file, if you previously edited it in windows.

https://www.textpad.com/

[yorkie]

The config file looks Ok to me. In your emulators.cfg file, you have an extra default=”uae4arm” at the end of the first line

uae4arm="pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%"default="uae4arm"
default="uae4arm"

but it should be

uae4arm="pushd /opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm/; ./uae4arm -f %ROM%"
default="uae4arm"

[marclandis]

I used the python script by yorkie but changed the following files:

/opt/retropie/config/amiga/emulators.cfg

uae4all="/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/+Start\ UAE4All.sh"
default="uae4arm"
uae4arm="/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/+Start\ UAE4Arm.sh %ROM%"

/etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

<extension>.sh .SH .uae</extension>

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/+Start UAE4Arm.sh

#!/bin/bash
game="$1"
pushd "/opt/retropie/emulators/uae4arm"
if [[ -z "${game}" ]]; then
./uae4arm
else
./uae4arm -f "${game}"
fi
popd

This allows to start the games directly or start the gui if needed.

[vincedj]

great yorkie, your script is fantastic and work but I have a question: is there a way to skip without mouse the initial menù of the game that have unlimited live or a pirated menù ?

which setting of joystick use ? use the default of retropie ?

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