What is an ARC file?

This is a file that contains additional information to relate the core RBF file with the core ROM file. It also has configuration information for the core and it can contain DIP switch definitions.

Structure

The order of the elements is important.

Element	Compulsory	Meaning
[ARC]	Yes	Header
RBF	Yes	Name in capital letters of the RBF file without the extension
NAME	Yes	Name of the .ROM file to load in capital letters, without the extension
MOD	Yes	Configuration byte for the core. It can be hex if 0x is used
DEFAULT	No	Default value for the status word if DIP; is used in the config string
DIR	No	Default directory to open files. If not specified, NAME is used.
CONF	No	Config string. One entry per line.
VHD	No	Default vhd file name.
BUTTONS	No	Comma separated list of custom button names for joystick button OSD mapping.
CFG_FILE_N	No	Configuration file MINIMIG[n].CFG to use for Minimig core. n = 0-99.

The bit 0 of the status word cannot be defined as it used for reset. Names for rom and rbf files should be shorter than 8 letters.

Full Example

Note that the config string in the core needs to have "DIP;" defined in it in order to get the CONF lines parsed.

[ARC]
RBF=JTSZ
NAME=LWINGS
MOD=0
DEFAULT=0xFFFFFFFF
CONF="O8,Test mode,On,Off"
CONF="O9,Flip Screen,On,Off"
CONF="OAB,Lives,6,4,5,3"
CONF="OCD,Coin B,4/1,2/1,3/1,1/1"
CONF="OEF,Coin A,2/4,1/2,1/3,1/1"
CONF="OG,Continue play,Off,On"
CONF="OHI,Difficulty,Hardest,Easy,Hard,Medium"
CONF="OJ,Demo Sounds,Off,On"
CONF="OK,Allow Continue,No,Yes"
CONF="OLN,Bonus Life,None,30k/60k,30k/80k,20k/60k,40k/10k0,20k/70k,30k/70k,20k/50k"

What is an ARC file?

Structure

Full Example

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