hizzy Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Hi, I was wondering how some of you ROM collectors curate/organize your collections? I keep downloading ROMS, and so I've got quite a few... Is there a system you follow in regards to alphabetization, file naming, folder naming, etc.. I would love to hear! Non-atari people feel free to chime in, too! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltigro Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I don't have that many, but I'm using Launchbox and it automatically sorts them into the different systems and then sorts them alphabetically. I think you can also sort it to have favorites at the beginning or sort by number of plays or whatever, but I've been happy with alphabetical. Maybe if I downloaded a lot more, I'd need a better system, but this works fine for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 (edited) I find ROM packs to be well structured especially ROM hunters packs for the Atari 2600 http://www.atarimania.com/rom_collection_archive_atari_2600_roms.html As for other systems with some looking around you can find good packs however i recommend torrents as they usually have complete packs. If homebrews and hacks i have separate folders for those keeping original retail release packs intact to save confusion. So basically on my backup HDD i have a structure much like this: Games ______| | | | Arcade | |__Mame --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Atari | |__2600 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__5200--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__7800--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Jaguar--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Nintendo | |__Nintendo Entertainment System --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System 64 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System DS --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Game And Watch --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Gameboy --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Super --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | PC | |__MSDOS --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 3.11 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 7 --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 95 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows XP --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Sega | |__Sega Mastersystem --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Sega Megadrive/Genesis --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Sony | |__Sony Playstation 1 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Sony Playstation 2 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | Various - Misc |__Amiga --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Colecovision --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Commodore 64 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Intelivision --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect Basically im very picky how my data files are stored for organization and easy navigation. I used to have ROMs and files ect stored all over the place then a few years back went through the pain staking clean up. Got so sick of trying to find a ROM and searching my HDD for 5 minutes or having to do a file search. Now i know exactly where what file is with easy navigation like a library. Only pain is with MSDOS games as i have to create a structure path aslong as my arm just to mount the directory lol. I also use this directory structure for sub directories for example: ROMs |__ Community Hacks |__ Community Homebrews |__ My Hacks |__ My Homebews |__ Retail Release Complete Set Yeah im fairly sure i have OCD Edited February 26, 2017 by Tony The 2600 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I use ROM Hunter's collection hosted at Atarimania. Very well organized both alphabetically and by publisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzy Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 Do many people keep a separate file for homebrews? Tony's system looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 I find ROM packs to be well structured especially ROM hunters packs for the Atari 2600 http://www.atarimania.com/rom_collection_archive_atari_2600_roms.html As for other systems with some looking around you can find good packs however i recommend torrents as they usually have complete packs. If homebrews and hacks i have separate folders for those keeping original retail release packs intact to save confusion. So basically on my backup HDD i have a structure much like this: Games ______| | | | Arcade | |__Mame --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Atari | |__2600 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__5200--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__7800--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Jaguar--> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Nintendo | |__Nintendo Entertainment System --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System 64 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System DS --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Game And Watch --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Gameboy --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Nintendo Entertainment System Super --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | PC | |__MSDOS --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 3.11 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 7 --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows 95 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Windows XP --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Sega | |__Sega Mastersystem --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Sega Megadrive/Genesis --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | | Sony | |__Sony Playstation 1 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | |__Sony Playstation 2 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect | Various - Misc |__Amiga --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Colecovision --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Commodore 64 --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect |__Intelivision --> Emulator --> ROM's, boxart, manuals ect Basically im very picky how my data files are stored for organization and easy navigation. I used to have ROMs and files ect stored all over the place then a few years back went through the pain staking clean up. Got so sick of trying to find a ROM and searching my HDD for 5 minutes or having to do a file search. Now i know exactly where what file is with easy navigation like a library. Only pain is with MSDOS games as i have to create a structure path aslong as my arm just to mount the directory lol. I also use this directory structure for sub directories for example: ROMs |__ Community Hacks |__ Community Homebrews |__ My Hacks |__ My Homebews |__ Retail Release Complete Set Yeah im fairly sure i have OCD If I send you a hard drive will you clone yours to it [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 If I send you a hard drive will you clone yours to it [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Sure but there is about 500GB of data lol. Thanks, yeah thats the result of near 10years collecting ROMs and a tonne organizing. Basically i started collecting for 2600, Nintendo and Sega but once i had all those ROM's i started collecting for the other systems like 5200/7800, Arcade ect ect the ball kept rolling. Those that make complete ROM packs like Rom Hunter make the job alot easier although with some the other systems there can be some dodgy packs full of hacks and missing ROM's. It's one those things i would go on a mission for a week tracking down ROM's for a particular system then have a break for a few weeks or so then back onto another system ect. I have to admit my PC and PS games are more just the ones i want rather then complete packs, for one there is no packs so it's all individual downloads so they are only games i really want to play. Other issue is there is no way i could store all the data for PC and PS games. Anyway im really happy with what i have, all the cartridge consoles and mame are complete sets 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Nice. I started with the 2600, and 7800. I am thinking of doing Colecovision, InTV and maybe O2 and 5200 and some Atari 8 Bit. Anything newer is out of my time frame. LOL. Would that fit on an 8gb flash? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Without a doubt as the largest ROM set for those systems is the Colecovision thats something like 4MB. I havent ventured into the 8bit Atari computer range and i havent collected for the Odyssey either. But i do have complete sets of 5200, Colecovision and Intelivision 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hi, I was wondering how some of you ROM collectors curate/organize your collections? I keep downloading ROMS, and so I've got quite a few... Is there a system you follow in regards to alphabetization, file naming, folder naming, etc.. I would love to hear! Non-atari people feel free to chime in, too! Thanks! Mine is alphabetical, but organized to mirror my real collection. For instance, if I had a game on cassette, I put it in a cassette folder, even if it isn't actually a cassette dump. Same with cartridges and disks. Homebrews get their own folder, as do non-game applications Now if it's a rom-based console, then I usually put them all into a single directory, alphabetically. But I still separate homebrews File-naming: I don't have a standard here, except "no spaces in filenames" because that can trip up scripts if they aren't written carefully. I've actually written my own front end that I made flexible enough to adopt to any organization scheme I can think of. Because the others I've tried, I've always found too limiting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I separate them by system (of course) and then depending on the size of the collection, I break them out into separate directories by the first letter if there are more than 50 or so. I also like the romhunter packs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 My folder structure is much the same, but my docs and scans are in a different branch, and I have a favorites folder too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Yeah, I sometimes create a favoites folder, depending on how many games there are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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