Is there a way to launch games from the command line?

RetroArch General
#1

With the ScummVM and DosBox cores? I know you can do this with ScummVM and DosBox directly, but it doesn’t seem to work for me with RetroArch.

Normally to launch, say, DOTT from the command line, you’d use something like this:

“C:\games\scummvm.exe” -f -p “C:\games\retroarch\scummvm\dott” tentacle

this doesn’t seem to work with the ScummVM and DosBox Cores.

“C:\games\retroarch.exe” -L “C:\games\retroarch\cores\scummvm_libretro.dll” -f -p “C:\games\retroarch\scummvm\dott” tentacle

or just

“C:\games\retroarch.exe” -L “C:\games\retroarch\cores\scummvm_libretro.dll” -f -p tentacle

Btw, sorry if this post is in the wrong forum. I wasn’t sure where to post this.

Thanks!

#2

I’m not sure how scummvm works, but I think you have to use the autoexec to launch stuff with dosbox.

#3

I created a .conf file for it and it actually works with a standalone install of dosbox, but for some reason it doesn’t work with retroarch using the dosbox core. I noticed I can’t type most of the time in the DosBox core as well. Is this some sort of bug with RetroArch and the DosBox core?

For example, to run a dos game such as hugo’s house of horrors with dosbox, I created a hugo.conf file with the following code:

[autoexec]
mount C "C:\games\dos\hugo1"
C:
cd \
hhh.exe
exit

Works perfectly with a standalone copy of dosbox, but doesn’t work with the dosbox core with retroarch.

#4

Hmm. Yeah, could be a bug. I think that should work in Linux, so Windows may be in worse shape there. Regardless, dosbox core is getting a rewrite soon, so you’re probably best off waiting for that. :confused:

There’s an onscreen keyboard overlay you can use to type, but it’s a little wonky, too (I need to revisit that one and make sure everything is positioned properly). I was, however, able to type everything using a combination of physical and onscreen keyboards in Windows, though it hangs on mounting, in my experience.

#5

Thanks for the info. I’m glad there are plans for a rewrite of the DosBox core.

Does anyone have any info about how to do this with ScummVM? Can’t seem to get it to launch via the command line.

#6

Late revive, but did you try loading the .conf from the command line? I know the latest dosbox core supports loading the config file. I wonder if that would solve the issue. I am not sure if this is a solution.