I know you are hoping that we might just write the whole thing for you, but you should at least show some effort. Meet us part way by showing a first attempt at solving the problem with comments indicating where you can't figure stuff out.

A few hints are in order:

1. Read each file once into a suitable data structure. For the config file that might just be a string. For the game list it's probably an array.
2. Iterate over the items in the game list and generate the output files.
3. Take your own advice for updating the config template to generate the named output config file.
4. Always use strictures (use strict; use warnings; - see The strictures, according to Seuss).

I'm guessing one can get awfully rusty in a decade ...

Here's a start.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict; # https://perlmonks.org/?node_id=11151867
use warnings;

open my $fh, '<', 'config.file' or die;
my $configlist = join '', <$fh>;
close $fh;

open $fh, '<', 'gamelist.txt' or die;
while( <$fh> )
  {
  chomp;
  (my $newfile = $configlist) =~ s/floppy0=\K/$_/;
  open my $outfh, '>', "$_.config" or die;
  print $outfh $newfile;
  close $outfh;
  }
close $fh;
[download]

It's not complete, for example, the die messages need to be expanded to something reasonable.

BTW, if a modern perl with Path::Tiny is available, here's how I'd do it.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict; # https://perlmonks.org/?node_id=11151867
use warnings;
use Path::Tiny;

my $configlist = path('config.file')->slurp;
path("$_.config")->spew( $configlist =~ s/floppy0=\K/$_/r )
  for path('gamelist.txt')->lines({chomp => 1});
[download]

Short and sweet :)

Thanks for the quick replies and I understand the animosity. I've managed to get the gamelist file as it should be using scripts but failing when trying to fill in the configuration file and outputting to seperate files. I have actually been at this for about 8 hours with bash scripts and using awk and sed but getting error after error, usually with seperators. I only arrived here after a temper tantrum!

Anyway, enough moaning as this is just what I'm looking for and I'm sure I can get that to work with some thought behind it. I'll let you know how I get on and post the full script if I manage it for any others who still live in the 80s/90s and want to get a retropie and play some old games without doing a time consuming setup.

Thanks for your help!

I had to Google "animosity" to make sure the word means what I thought it means. It does:

"The meaning of ANIMOSITY is a strong feeling of dislike or hatred : ill will or resentment tending toward active hostility : an antagonistic attitude."

which puzzles me because none of the replies you received contained anything anywhere near "animosity".

In my view a key part of interactions on PerlMonks is to teach / learn. Part of being an effective teacher is understanding the level of understanding of the student. I'm very sorry if my attempt to reach that understanding was interpreted as anything other than trying to be helpful!

Yes, please show us what you produce, but with the intent that we provide some constructive criticism and guidance to help you recover your lapsed coding foo.

Optimising for fewest key strokes only makes sense transmitting to Pluto or beyond

I totally agree with GrandFather. He simply reminded you that PerlMonks is not a code writing service and following that he provided you with 4 great hints to writing good, solid code. It's always wise to take a breath and resist the urge to strike out at the ones who are trying to help you.

We wish you well on your endeavors to re-enter the wonderful world of Perl.

"It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done."

There are improvements to be made like adding disk 2, disk 3 etc to floppy=1, floppy=2 in each config file that has multiple disks but I'll deal with that later (or one of you legends could do it for me, lol)! :)

There are assumptions to be made like folder placement and I used a specific rom pack (Amiga-Fullset) but could be modified easily enough for other roms or a different folder arrangement.

Assumptions: Amiberry is installed, gawk is installed, Amiberry has to be run (at least) once to create your emulator configuration file and to create the config file which will fill in your emulator settings kickstart location, cpu, ram, chipset, sound, display settings etc. Do not add any disks to the config file as this is what the script does. The config.uae file should then be moved from /opt/retropie/emulators/amiberry/conf/ into the folder /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/scripts/

This is my config file (config.uae) and I find this setup works well for most games:

config_description=Configuration for disk
config_hardware=true
config_host=true
config_version=4.4.0
config_hardware_path=
config_host_path=
config_all_path=
amiberry.rom_path=./
amiberry.floppy_path=./
amiberry.hardfile_path=./
amiberry.cd_path=./
;
; *** Controller/Input Configuration
;
joyport0=mouse
joyport0_autofire=none
joyport0_friendlyname=Mouse
joyport0_name=MOUSE0
;
joyport1=joy1
joyport1_autofire=none
joyport1_friendlyname=Microsoft X-Box 360 pad
joyport1_name=JOY1
;
;
;
input.joymouse_speed_analog=2
input.joymouse_speed_digital=10
input.joymouse_deadzone=33
input.joystick_deadzone=33
input.analog_joystick_multiplier=18
input.analog_joystick_offset=-5
input.mouse_speed=100
input.autofire_speed=600
input.autoswitch=1
kbd_lang=us
;
; *** Host-Specific
;
amiberry.gfx_auto_height=false
amiberry.gfx_correct_aspect=1
amiberry.kbd_led_num=-1
amiberry.kbd_led_scr=-1
amiberry.scaling_method=-1
amiberry.allow_host_run=false
amiberry.use_analogue_remap=false
amiberry.use_retroarch_quit=true
amiberry.use_retroarch_menu=true
amiberry.use_retroarch_reset=false
amiberry.active_priority=1
amiberry.inactive_priority=0
amiberry.minimized_priority=0
amiberry.minimized_input=0
;
; *** Common / Paths
;
use_gui=yes
kickstart_rom_file=/test/kickstart/Kickstart4.0.rom
kickstart_rom_file_id=FC24AE0D,KS ROM v3.1 (A500,A600,A2000)
kickstart_ext_rom_file=
flash_file=
cart_file=
rtc_file=
kickshifter=false
;
; *** Floppy Drives
;
floppy_volume=33
floppy0=
floppy1=
floppy2=
floppy2type=0
floppy3=
floppy3type=0
nr_floppies=4
floppy_speed=400
;
; *** Hard Drives
;
scsi=false
;
; *** CD / CD32
;
cd_speed=100
;
; *** Display / Screen Setup
;
gfx_framerate=1
gfx_width=720
gfx_height=540
gfx_top_windowed=0
gfx_left_windowed=0
gfx_width_windowed=720
gfx_height_windowed=540
gfx_width_fullscreen=800
gfx_height_fullscreen=600
gfx_refreshrate=50
gfx_refreshrate_rtg=60
gfx_backbuffers=2
gfx_backbuffers_rtg=1
gfx_vsync=false
gfx_vsyncmode=normal
gfx_vsync_picasso=false
gfx_vsyncmode_picasso=normal
gfx_lores=false
gfx_resolution=hires
gfx_lores_mode=normal
gfx_flickerfixer=false
gfx_linemode=none
gfx_fullscreen_amiga=false
gfx_fullscreen_picasso=false
gfx_center_horizontal=smart
gfx_center_vertical=none
gfx_colour_mode=16bit
gfx_blacker_than_black=false
gfx_api=directdraw
gfx_api_options=hardware
;
; *** CPU options
;
cpu_speed=real
cpu_throttle=0.0
cpu_type=68000
cpu_model=68000
cpu_compatible=true
cpu_24bit_addressing=true
cpu_data_cache=false
cpu_multiplier=2
cpu_cycle_exact=false
cpu_memory_cycle_exact=false
blitter_cycle_exact=false
cycle_exact=false
fpu_strict=false
comp_trustbyte=direct
comp_trustword=direct
comp_trustlong=direct
comp_trustnaddr=direct
comp_nf=true
comp_constjump=true
comp_flushmode=soft
compfpu=false
comp_catchfault=true
cachesize=0
;
; *** Memory
;
z3mapping=real
fastmem_size=8
a3000mem_size=0
mbresmem_size=0
z3mem_size=0
z3mem_start=0x40000000
bogomem_size=2
gfxcard_hardware_vblank=false
gfxcard_hardware_sprite=false
gfxcard_multithread=false
chipmem_size=4
rtg_modes=0x112
;
; *** Chipset
;
immediate_blits=false
fast_copper=true
ntsc=false
chipset=aga
collision_level=playfields
chipset_compatible=Generic
rtc=MSM6242B
resetwarning=false
cia_todbug=true
;
; *** Sound Options
;
sound_output=exact
sound_channels=stereo
sound_stereo_separation=7
sound_stereo_mixing_delay=0
sound_max_buff=16384
sound_frequency=44100
sound_interpol=anti
sound_filter=emulated
sound_filter_type=standard
sound_volume=0
sound_volume_paula=0
sound_volume_cd=20
sound_volume_ahi=0
sound_volume_midi=0
sound_volume_genlock=0
sound_auto=true
sound_cdaudio=false
sound_stereo_swap_paula=false
sound_stereo_swap_ahi=false
;
; *** Misc. Options
;
parallel_on_demand=false
serial_on_demand=false
serial_hardware_ctsrts=true
serial_direct=false
uaeserial=false
sana2=false
bsdsocket_emu=false
synchronize_clock=false
maprom=0x0
parallel_postscript_emulation=false
parallel_postscript_detection=false
ghostscript_parameters=
parallel_autoflush=5
;
; *** WHDLoad Booter. Options
;
whdload_slave=
whdload_showsplash=false
whdload_buttonwait=false
whdload_custom1=0
whdload_custom2=0
whdload_custom3=0
whdload_custom4=0
whdload_custom5=0
whdload_custom=
[download]

Once amiberry and gawk are installed, create the following directories in the amiga directory:

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga /games /kickstart /scripts

Move kickstart roms into the kickstart folder.

Upload your rom pack (Amiga-Fullset) to the games folder - the rom pack will extract the games into alphabetical folders i.e A,B,C,D,E,F etc

Folders should look like this, if not create them. - /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/games /0 /A /B /C /D /E /F etc

Create and move the following scripts to the scripts folder.

amiberry.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict; # https://perlmonks.org/?node_id=11151867
use warnings;

open my $fh, '<', 'config.uae' or die;
my $configlist = join '', <$fh>;
close $fh;

open $fh, '<', 'gamelist.txt' or die;
while( <$fh> )
  {
  chomp;
  (my $newfile = $configlist) =~ s/floppy0=\K/$_/;
  open my $outfh, '>', "$_.uae" or die;
  print $outfh $newfile;
  close $outfh;
  }
close $fh;
[download]

amiberry.sh

#!/bin/bash

# remove all whitespace and replace with underscores
find /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/*/ -type f -name "* *" -exec bash -c
+ 'mv "$0" "${0// /_}"' {} \;
wait

# add all games to a list, add the bare configuration file to all dire
+ctories then add file path to list
for d in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/games/*/
do
        (cd "$d" && ls > gamelist.txt && cp /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ami
+ga/scripts/config.uae "$d" &&
        awk -i inplace 'BEGIN{"pwd"|getline d} {print d "/" $0}' gamel
+ist.txt &&
        cp /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/scripts/amiberry.pl "$d" &&
        cd "$d" && perl amiberry.pl)
done

wait
#remove additional files in game folders
sh cleanup.sh
[download]

cleanup.sh

for d in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/games/*/
do
     (cd "$d" &&  rm gamelis* | rm confi* | rm amiberry*)
done
[download]

I also put the amiberry start script in the script folder "+Start_Amiberry.sh".

Once the scripts are saved, run /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/scripts/amiberry.sh and reboot. Now you'll be able to start the games in RetroPie by just clicking on the game file. You will see two names for each game file; one is the config file the script created and the other will be a *.zip file. Click the zip file to start the game, not the config file.