A Few Setup Questions, Please Help


GAMESHARQ

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So I'm expecting my first ever Wiz any day now and I want to be prepared to use it when it arrives. I have some questions that I would love to get some help on.

1. I downloaded a few emulators - NES, SNES, Sega, and MAME. When I extracted the downloads for NES, SNES, and Sega, they created File Folders for each. Do I just copy the file folders to my storage card in order to get them to work or is there more to it than that?

2. When I extracted the MAME download, it didn't create a file folder like the others. Instead, it created a "7Z" file. Again, do I just need to copy this file to my storage card for the emulator to work, or is there more to it than that?

3. My next question is about the ROMS I downloaded. Like the emulators, I extracted the files and each one created a File Folder. Do I just copy the file folders to my storage card for them to work or is there more to it than that?

4. Should I create folders on my storage card for each emulator and then sub-folders for each game? In other words, do they need to be organized on my storage card in a certain way in order for them to work or does it not matter?

5. Finally, what does it typically mean when there is more than one ROM file to choose from? For example, when I go to download Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (here: http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Sega/Megadrive-Genesis/m) there are 5 files listed. Do I need to download each file, or are they just different versions of the same thing?

Also, is there some sort of beginners guide or tutorial you can recommend I read that would help guide me through the initial setup process? I realize these are probably really noobish questions, but I've never used emulators or roms before so this is all new to me.

Thanks in advance!
 
GAMESHARQ said:
So I'm expecting my first ever Wiz any day now and I want to be prepared to use it when it arrives. I have some questions that I would love to get some help on.

1. I downloaded a few emulators - NES, SNES, Sega, and MAME. When I extracted the downloads for NES, SNES, and Sega, they created File Folders for each. Do I just copy the file folders to my storage card in order to get them to work or is there more to it than that?
yes. but you might want to check out the inimaker if the emulator doesn't come with its own .ini file. it creates a link to the emulator (with proper icon) in the wiz menu.

2. When I extracted the MAME download, it didn't create a file folder like the others. Instead, it created a "7Z" file. Again, do I just need to copy this file to my storage card for the emulator to work, or is there more to it than that?
no, a 7z file is still an archive (like .zip, .rar), you need to extract it and obtain a "mame-something" folder just as with the other emulators.

3. My next question is about the ROMS I downloaded. Like the emulators, I extracted the files and each one created a File Folder. Do I just copy the file folders to my storage card for them to work or is there more to it than that?
some emulators (mame, fba2x) require zipped roms, so you just use the zip file. others (snes, gpsp) work with both the zipped rom and the unzipped file. different emulators use different kind of rom files (.smd, .gen, .bin, and so on).

a word of advice: some zipped roms contain many different versions of a same rom, so it would be better to extract those and only copy one version (the one you want) in the emulator's rom folder. otherwise it would just create a mess in the romlist. I usually unzip them when possible.
4. Should I create folders on my storage card for each emulator and then sub-folders for each game? In other words, do they need to be organized on my storage card in a certain way in order for them to work or does it not matter?
on the sd card you need a "game" folder and inside that you place the emulator folders (so game/picodrive, game/pocketsnes, and so on).

5. Finally, what does it typically mean when there is more than one ROM file to choose from? For example, when I go to download Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (here: http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Sega/Megadrive-Genesis/m) there are 5 files listed. Do I need to download each file, or are they just different versions of the same thing?
I haven't checked the link, but as I said before, games come in many versions. usually you should check out the one with a "[!]" at the end of the name.

Also, is there some sort of beginners guide or tutorial you can recommend I read that would help guide me through the initial setup process? I realize these are probably really noobish questions, but I've never used emulators or roms before so this is all new to me.

Thanks in advance!
well for starters read all the readmes included with emulators. also searching a bit in the forums you will find various help topics with questions on the emulators, infos on which games work and which don't and so on. the best way to learn is a little trial and error.
 
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Thanks. I have a few more questions.

1. What do you mean when you say "obtain a mame-something folder"?

2. Do I put the Inimaker file in each of the emulator folders? Or at the top level of the card?

3. Where do I put the ROM files?
 
GAMESHARQ said:
Thanks. I have a few more questions.

1. What do you mean when you say "obtain a mame-something folder"?

2. Do I put the Inimaker file in each of the emulator folders? Or at the top level of the card?

3. Where do I put the ROM files?

1.By mame-something folder, he means just extract it and you'll get a folder with a file name mame-something (the something means he doesn't exactly know the whole filename)

2. The .ini files go in the game folder.

3. Usually each emulator folder has a rom folder in it. That's where you wanna put it. If not, create a roms folder inside the emulator folder. Then when you start the emulator up on your WIZ find the rom folder, click on it , and your roms should show up.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When I extracted the 7Z mame file, I didn't get a folder named "mame-" anything. Should I just create a folder with a name of "mame-" whatever and move all of the files/folders that were extracted into it?
 
where did you download it from?

I would put all the files in a folder called "mame (version number)".

inimaker goes on the sd card and when you launch it, it creates all the missing ini files for executables (.gpe files) on your sd card (either only in the "game" folder or in the wholw sd card, you can choose).

as I said, read all the readmes you find, they have useful info (also on controls and shortcuts you might want to use for each emulator).
 
To be honest, I've never used any program other than a text editor to make the .ini files. After all, it's a rather simple text document:
Code:
[info]
name=""
path=""
icon=""
The name is whatever you want it to be called, the path is the path from the current directory to the location of the .gpe file, and the icon is the path to the icon, a 25x25 image. My NES .ini looks like this:
Code:
[info]
name="NES"
path="/nes/fceu_rot.gpe"
icon="/game art/nes.png"
I keep all of my custom icons in a folder in the game directory called "game art," by the way. If you want any of those shrunk-down controllers or logos, you can get it from here.

Oh yeah, even though the ROMs have to be in the right folder, most emulators still work if you individually zip each ROM. The easiest way I know of is to:
  1. download WinRAR
  2. navigate to where ever you're keeping your ROMs
    52648228.png
  3. highlight all your ROMs and click add
    97548594.png
  4. make sure it's adding them to .zip files and not .rar
    90622460.png
  5. click "put each file to separate archive"
    90406731.png
  6. delete all of the original ROMs
 
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