Multi disk games and subfolder configurations

(article needs cleanup)

e.g. zsnes:
if folder-name and romfilename are identical (C:\attract\EMU\zsnes\roms\mygame1234\mygame1234.smc):

executable           C:\attract\EMU\zsnes\zsnesw.exe
args                 -m "[romfilename]\[name].smc"
rompath              C:\attract\EMU\zsnes\roms\
romext               <DIR>;smc

<DIR> just looks at folder names when generating romlist
set as rom-extension <DIR> (smc is not needed in romext if there are no smc files in root rom folder)
and set as argument for zsnes -m "[romfilename]\[name].smc"

just adjust config to appropriate arguments.

emulators like retroarch support multiple rom files by creating m3u lists args -m "[romfilename][name].m3u" In this system, you can use many types of files like zip, iso, smc all under the same wheel/emulator. m3u is just a text file with a list of the roms that are used for any one game (all in the same folder) you will need one m3u for each game in the same folder. switching roms is done in the emulator interface.

One other thing that works for multiple rom types (in folders) under one wheel is to set up multiple emulators and then use "generate rom list" to combine them into one for a display. Both ways take some setting up.

a tip to note here is that [romfilename] and [rompath] add an extra / to the end which can mess up any build. most of the time the /\ effective command line cancels itself out, but some emu's apparently don't like that. Use a relative path like: args -m "..\roms\snes[name][name].m3u"

More instructions: First off, depending on core, if the game consists of just 1 bin and 1 cue file, Retroarch may be able to load the bin file alone and you can just delete the cue without problems. Getting rid of all your unneeded cue files will minimize how many M3Us you have to make, so it's a good idea to check if the core you plan to use will comply. Otherwise f your desired core requires cue files for single-track images, then treat these games as a "multi-file" as described below.

Identify all games which consist of multiple files of any kind, and stuff them in a new sub-folder. For the purposes of this tutorial, let's call the folder "multifiles", so for i.e. a folder of PS1 games, the path would be something like "Retroarch/roms/PS1/multifiles". So in your base PS1 file, you have all your single-file games, plus all the M3U files you're about to create. The multifile folder will contain anything that's not a standalone file.

For every game in your multifile directory, create a text file in the directory with your standalone files and rename it to .M3U. In each M3U, you will have a relative path to the game's cue file(s). For a single disc game, your entire M3U file will just be a single line that says "/multifiles/mygame.cue", unless it's a folder with split files, in which it would look like "/multifiles/mygame/mygame.cue". If you play multidisc games, you probably already know you want your m3u to have a line for each disc, now it just needs the file path added like:

/multifiles/mygame-disc1.cue /multifiles/mygame-disc2.cue /multifiles/mygame-disc3.cue

for this one use - args -m "[romfilename]" and maybe just use romext .bin;.m3u