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Arcade Patches Collection Builder

strygo

strygo

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Download and instructions at arcadepatches.com
Current version: 0.1 (November 1, 2026)​

Every release in this section has its own kit, and until now you built them one at a time. ArcadePatches is one small tool that does it for the whole collection. Point it at your ROM and media folders, pick the games, platforms and regions you want, and it builds them all and hands you finished folders to copy to your setup.

What it does​

  • Finds your games by content. Loose files, ZIPs and 7z archives all work, and nothing needs renaming.
  • Builds for MiSTer, MAME, HBMAME, FBNeo and Darksoft. Choose individual games, platforms and regions, or keep everything selected and it picks up new additions as they arrive.
  • Tells you what's missing. A requirements check lists any ROMs, discs or other media a game still needs, and games that are ready build while the others wait.
  • Fetches the patches, helpers and Python packages it needs, and keeps them to itself. Nothing is installed into your normal Python.
  • Keeps up with releases. Run it again and it lists the new games and new versions, and Update rebuilds what changed. Games that are already current are skipped.

Getting started​

  1. Install Python. Use 3.12 on an Apple Silicon Mac or x64 3.13 on Windows to get the full catalog. Linux and other combinations support a subset, and the plan tells you which games they can't build.
  2. Download and extract the tool, then open a terminal in that folder and run py -3.13 arcadepatches.py on Windows, python3.12 arcadepatches.py on an Apple Silicon Mac, or python3 arcadepatches.py on Linux.
  3. Enter your ROM and media folders and an export folder. Everything is selected to begin with, and option 2 narrows it.
  4. Choose Build. When it finishes, read INSTALL.txt in the export folder and copy each platform folder where it belongs.

Screenshots​

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Good to know​

  • No game data is included or downloaded. You bring your own canonical MAME-format arcade sets, plus the discs, firmware or private keys a particular game asks for.
  • Copying to MiSTer, HBMAME or any other destination is manual. Some soundtrack exports are overlays that need the named game files already installed, so check INSTALL.txt.
  • It doesn't run in the background. Updates happen when you open it.
  • Each game's page still has its own standalone download if you'd rather build just one.
  • On Windows, keep the tool's state folder on a local NTFS disk. Strider EX also needs MAME 0.288 on your PATH.
This is the first release. If something is blocked, wrong or confusing, post it here with your operating system, your Python version and the build-report.json from your export folder. That file leaves out private paths and keys, so it's safe to share.
 
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