[Feature]: Amber as a RomM client/sync layer for games, BIOS, updates, DLCs and mods

[Baggio94]

What does this relate to?

Other

What problem would this solve?

I use RomM as a centralized library for my ROMs, BIOS files, updates, DLCs and mods, but getting that content onto a new handheld still involves a lot of manual work.

Games need to be downloaded individually or manually copied, BIOS files need to be placed in specific directories depending on the emulator, and updates/DLCs/mods may require their own folder structures.

With a large centralized library, I don’t necessarily want the entire collection on every device either. I mainly want to select specific platforms and, for larger libraries, use my RomM favorites as a curated subset.

I think Amber could solve this by becoming the bridge between a centralized RomM server and Cocoon’s local emulation setup.

What would you like Cocoon to do?

I’d love Amber to provide a platform-based interface for a connected RomM server and allow us to:

• Browse each platform separately.
• Filter games by RomM favorites.
• Multi-select games or Select All and bulk-download them directly to the ROM directory configured for that platform in Cocoon.
• Configure a main BIOS directory and automatically download BIOS files using the folder structure expected by the relevant emulators. For example, BIOS files that belong in the root would be placed there, while Dreamcast BIOS files could automatically go into a dc subfolder.
• Download updates, DLCs and mods into the appropriate directories for each platform/emulator where possible.

Ideally, Amber could also keep track of what is already present locally, making it easy to download newly added games, updates, DLCs or mods later without having to manually compare the device with the server.

The end goal would be for Amber to act as a client/sync layer for RomM, rather than only as a way to download individual ROMs.

What do you do today?

Currently, I manage my collection centrally in RomM and manually transfer or download the content I want onto each device.

I use RomM favorites to curate my larger libraries. For systems where storage isn’t a concern, I keep the full RetroAchievements-compatible set on the server and favorite roughly 10–100+ games per platform depending on the system.

This works well for managing the collection on the server, but provisioning a new handheld — especially games + BIOS + updates/DLCs/mods — still requires a lot of manual organization.

Additional context

My current setup is a Raspberry Pi 5 homelab running Docker. It hosts my movies, TV shows, music, photos, comics/manga, Syncthing, Home Assistant, *arr stack, etc.

I recently upgraded from a 1 TB HDD to an 8 TB HDD and used the additional space to centralize my entire ROM collection in RomM, including games, BIOS files, updates, DLCs and mods.

With EmuDeck coming to Android, I think there is an especially interesting opportunity here:

RomM → centralized library/source
Amber → client/download/sync layer
EmuDeck → emulator installation/configuration layer

EmuDeck could install/configure the emulators and create the expected directory structure, while Amber could populate those directories with the games, BIOS, updates, DLCs and mods selected from RomM.

The dream workflow for a new Android handheld would essentially become:

Install EmuDeck + Cocoon → connect Amber to RomM → select platforms/favorites → download → play.

It could also make maintaining existing devices much easier whenever new games, updates, DLCs or mods are added to the RomM server.

That would be my ideal vision for Amber: RomM as the centralized source, Amber as the client/sync layer, and EmuDeck as the emulator/configuration layer.

Before submitting

• I searched existing discussions and did not find an equivalent request.
• This request describes one feature or closely related set of changes.

[Baggio94]

My setup