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Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 12:46 pm
by AtomicShroom
I'd like to be able to organize games by category. For example I'd like to have a folder that contains only the best games for each system, but also one that contains all the games, including the best ones. The only way I see this being possible right now is by actually duplicating roms, which wastes valuable space.

Is there a way to use shortcut files like in Windows to simply point to roms? Or am I missing any other way to achieve something like this?

Thanks!

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 1:20 pm
by AngelicLiver
I would imagine you would just need to create soft symlinks for each rom? The arcade-organizer script does exactly this.

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 3:40 pm
by AtomicShroom
Ohhh this looks like exactly what I need, thanks!

Though having to go through commandline is a bit of a hassle. I was hoping I could pop my SD card onto Windows and have a visual interface where I can easily just select the files I'd like shortcuts for and be done with it. But oh well...

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:51 pm
by aberu
AtomicShroom wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 3:40 pm Ohhh this looks like exactly what I need, thanks!

Though having to go through commandline is a bit of a hassle. I was hoping I could pop my SD card onto Windows and have a visual interface where I can easily just select the files I'd like shortcuts for and be done with it. But oh well...
Just save this script and copy it over to your /media/fat/scripts folder and run it from the OSD.

https://github.com/MAME-GETTER/_arcade- ... ganizer.sh

It's easier than making individual shortcuts.

Also, there were loads of updates to MRA's to help organizer do it's job better, so you might want to run your update script first.

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:50 pm
by jca
aberu wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:51 pm ...
Also, there were loads of updates to MRA's to help organizer do it's job better, so you might want to run your update script first.
Are you talking about this tweet from Porkshop Express:
You’ll be seeing lots of MRA changes in the #MiSTerFPGA. These add metadata and sometimes fix controls. I hope the arcade organizer script will soon use this info to sort games. Couldn’t have done it without @WalrusFPGA
and birdybro. Some names have changed so delete as needed.

I don't know what this is about but some changes are coming.

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:29 pm
by aberu
jca wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:50 pm
aberu wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:51 pm ...
Also, there were loads of updates to MRA's to help organizer do it's job better, so you might want to run your update script first.
Are you talking about this tweet from Porkshop Express:
You’ll be seeing lots of MRA changes in the #MiSTerFPGA. These add metadata and sometimes fix controls. I hope the arcade organizer script will soon use this info to sort games. Couldn’t have done it without @WalrusFPGA
and birdybro. Some names have changed so delete as needed.

I don't know what this is about but some changes are coming.
Yes. In the MRA files (which is what you are using to load each arcade game in the menu) a lot of metadata was added (screen orientation, button layout, etc..) so as to improve the interaction with the arcade organizer script (among other things). Also this data might be useful with future features if standardized.

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 1:45 pm
by AtomicShroom
aberu wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:51 pm
AtomicShroom wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 3:40 pm Ohhh this looks like exactly what I need, thanks!

Though having to go through commandline is a bit of a hassle. I was hoping I could pop my SD card onto Windows and have a visual interface where I can easily just select the files I'd like shortcuts for and be done with it. But oh well...
Just save this script and copy it over to your /media/fat/scripts folder and run it from the OSD.

https://github.com/MAME-GETTER/_arcade- ... ganizer.sh

It's easier than making individual shortcuts.

Also, there were loads of updates to MRA's to help organizer do it's job better, so you might want to run your update script first.
Oh but I’m not looking for Arcade (at the moment anyway), but rather Consoles.

Re: Possible to have shortcut files to games (i.e. How to organize)?

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:09 pm
by aberu
AtomicShroom wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 1:45 pm
aberu wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:51 pm
AtomicShroom wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 3:40 pm Ohhh this looks like exactly what I need, thanks!

Though having to go through commandline is a bit of a hassle. I was hoping I could pop my SD card onto Windows and have a visual interface where I can easily just select the files I'd like shortcuts for and be done with it. But oh well...
Just save this script and copy it over to your /media/fat/scripts folder and run it from the OSD.

https://github.com/MAME-GETTER/_arcade- ... ganizer.sh

It's easier than making individual shortcuts.

Also, there were loads of updates to MRA's to help organizer do it's job better, so you might want to run your update script first.
Oh but I’m not looking for Arcade (at the moment anyway), but rather Consoles.
Yes, you can manually do symbolic links in the same way I believe. But currently there is no script to do so. It would be a lot of work I think as it would require a separate database to reference when running the script online. Would be cool if someone made one.