Trimming down the MAME database

[joebreeves]

I feel like this is a really dumb question that's down to personal taste but I'm having a difficult time finding a clear answer - or at least a clear enough answer I can understand.

 

So I have the entire .177 MAME Database XML file configured and I have downloaded all the artwork and I also have the entire .177 split arcade ROM set loaded, but now I want to trim the game list down a little bit so as not to have all the variants and clones of all the games. I'd like to keep the ROMs in their current complete state so I don't accidentally run into a missing ROM file problem and randomly deleting ROM zips seems like I would do just that.

 

I think the user database download feature is down or I'd mess around with one of those.

 

So instead of manually editing each and every line of the xml to get rid of the clones, variants, gambling, trivia, mahjong, etc, games, what's the best way to do this? Is there a download of the top 100 or top 500 most popular games with the variants and other games already commented out?

 

I know that the word 'favorite' or 'popular' means a lot of different things to a lot of people so the question on its face may seem a bit silly.

 

Is Don's Tools the answer? I haven't played with it *quite* yet.

[JoyStickKilla]

Do a search on the forum. This has really been discussed many many times in many different topics. Your search should bring up databases already available with clones, mahjong and all that removed. There are also many people who have created and come up with small databases of their own with "top" or favorite games. And yes there are multiple tools that allow filtering in different ways such as dons.

[32assassin]

Don's Tools is the answer, learn how ALL the programs work.  Once you have a clear understanding on how they work,  you can use them to edit the XML.

 

At the end you can have a fast way to edit your XML,  I only use the programs in the Don's tools folder, and I can edit my XML to what I want in less then 10 minutes.

 

 

I showed someone how to remove the  gambling, trivia, mahjong, (Filter by genre) here

witch is step 1 in my process

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/topic/27918-mamexml-filtering/

[thatman84]

This may be the clones thread Ajent was talking about http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/topic/26943-list-of-mame-clones-worth-playing-redux/#entry241704

 

Also Dons tools is really all you need. I have been pointed to Hyperspin Checker app recently which also looks really good but not tested it yet

[joebreeves]

Do a search on the forum. This has really been discussed many many times in many different topics. Your search should bring up databases already available with clones, mahjong and all that removed. There are also many people who have created and come up with small databases of their own with "top" or favorite games. And yes there are multiple tools that allow filtering in different ways such as dons.

 

I see what you're saying now - I assumed all the databases were submitted to the hyperlist web site and not to things like Dropbox.

 

I'm just kinda getting used to the forum and download layouts, and especially the order of procedures with the applications. I'll look over the linked posts and also at Don's.

 

Thanks JoyStickKilla, agent47, 32assassin, and thatman84.

[Retro Goonie]

It's a very long way to go about it but the way I did it was to try/play/test every single game!

 

If I didn't like a game, it got deleted. If I liked a game I would also try it's clones to see if they were also worth keeping!

Example: Bubble bobble (bublbobl) and its clone "Bubble Bobble Lost Cave (bublcave)"

 

Then use 'Don's HyperSpin Tools' to generate an xml from your leftover roms.

 

I got my MAME games down from 10,000+ to just 1424!

[Metalzoic]

It's a very long way to go about it but the way I did it was to try/play/test every single game!

If I didn't like a game, it got deleted. If I liked a game I would also try it's clones to see if they were also worth keeping!

Example: Bubble bobble (bublbobl) and its clone "Bubble Bobble Lost Cave (bublcave)"

Then use 'Don's HyperSpin Tools' to generate an xml from your leftover roms.

I got my MAME games down from 10,000+ to just 1424!

You've tried every single game!?!?

Now that deserves a trophy.

Sent from my SM-G935V

[Retro Goonie]

You've tried every single game!?!?

Now that deserves a trophy.

 

Lol...to a degree. All the poker, Mahjong, gambling games were easy deletes! It was a long process but enjoyable playing and finding new games I had never played before.

 

Trying to go as fast as possible I would sometimes try a game, get hooked and end up playing it for 1-2 hours!

 

The funny thing was that I had already gone through MAME and trimmed down my list long before I discovered HyperSpin.