ROM

A desktop ROM collection manager for RetroBat and Launchbox formatted libraries. Scans your ROM folders, detects cross-system duplicates, and lets you move or permanently delete unwanted copies — all from a single UI.

Features

• Cross-system duplicate detection — Finds games that exist across multiple systems (e.g. the same game on PS2, GameCube, and Wii) using smart name normalisation that strips region tags, disc numbers, and punctuation
• Browse & manage all games — Flat view of every ROM in your collection with search, sort, and system filtering
• Move to Hidden — Moves unwanted ROMs to Hidden/<system>/ folders, keeping them out of your frontend without deleting anything
• Permanent delete — Optionally delete ROMs and their associated media (artwork, videos, manuals) in one operation
• Gamelist-aware — Reads gamelist.xml files (EmulationStation / RetroBat / Launchbox format) for clean display names. Falls back to filenames when no gamelist is available
• Unscraped filter — Quickly find games that aren't in any gamelist, so you can identify ROMs that haven't been scraped yet
• Pagination — Handles large collections (tested with 48,000+ games) with configurable page sizes
• Operation logging — All move and delete operations are logged to rom.log in your ROM root folder

How It Works

Gamelist-Based Naming

ROM uses gamelist.xml files to display clean game names. These are the same XML files used by EmulationStation, RetroBat, and Launchbox to store scraped metadata.

<gameList>
  <game>
    <path>./Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 1).chd</path>
    <name>Final Fantasy VII</name>
    <image>./images/Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 1)-image.png</image>
    ...
  </game>
</gameList>

When a gamelist is present, the <name> field is used for display. When it isn't, ROM falls back to the filename with region tags and disc indicators stripped — so Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 1).chd still shows as Final Fantasy VII.

Duplicate Detection

Duplicates are detected by normalising game names across all system folders:

1. Strip region tags like (USA), (Europe), (Japan)
2. Strip disc indicators like (Disc 1), CD2
3. Remove punctuation and collapse whitespace
4. Compare across systems — a game must exist in 2+ different system folders to be flagged as a duplicate

Folder Structure

ROM expects the standard RetroBat/Launchbox folder layout:

your_roms_folder/
├── ps2/
│   ├── gamelist.xml          (optional)
│   ├── Game Name (USA).chd
│   ├── images/
│   └── videos/
├── snes/
│   ├── gamelist.xml          (optional)
│   └── Game Name (USA).zip
├── Hidden/                   (created automatically by Move)
│   ├── ps2/
│   └── snes/
└── rom.log                   (created automatically)

Each system has its own subfolder. Gamelists are optional — the app works without them, just with less polished display names.

The Hidden/ folder is automatically excluded from scans.

Two View Modes

MANAGE Mode (default)

A flat list of every game in your collection. Use this for:

• Browsing your full library
• Finding unscraped games (toggle "Unscraped only")
• Searching for specific games
• Sorting by name or file size

DUPLICATES Mode

Grouped cards showing games that exist across 2+ systems. Use this for:

• Identifying redundant copies
• Deciding which system version to keep
• Bulk-moving or deleting duplicates

Installation

Download

Grab the latest ROM.exe from the Releases page. No installation required — just run the exe.

Build from Source

Requirements:

• Python 3.12+
• Windows 10/11

pip install customtkinter pyinstaller Pillow

Build:

python -m PyInstaller --onefile --windowed --name ROM ^
  --icon=icon.ico ^
  --add-data "icon.ico;." ^
  --add-data "banner.png;." ^
  --collect-all customtkinter ^
  main.py

The exe will be in the dist/ folder.

Usage

1. Launch ROM.exe
2. Click Select Folder and choose your ROM root directory (the folder containing system subfolders like ps2/, snes/, etc.)
3. Click Scan — a reminder will appear to ensure your gamelists are up to date
4. Browse games in MANAGE mode or switch to DUPLICATES to see cross-system duplicates
5. Use the checkboxes to select ROMs, then:
   • Move Selected — relocates files to Hidden/<system>/
   • Delete Selected — permanently removes files (with optional media cleanup)

Tips

• Update gamelists before scanning — Run your scraper (e.g. via RetroBat or Skraper) before scanning for the best display names
• Network paths work — You can point ROM at a network share like \\SERVER\roms\ - but this can be very slow.
• Hidden folder — Moved files go to Hidden/<system>/ inside your ROM root. These folders are skipped during scans. You can manually move files back if needed
• Check the log — All operations are logged to rom.log in your ROM root folder for reference

Enjoy!