the biggest things i'm seeing are Categories (clrmame doesn't have/use them) and the fact that my dat says "Machine Name" instead of "Game name"

thanks!

The Machine vs Game issue is easily fixable.
Open cmpro.ini, in Notepad, find the line

Adv_SetElementXML = machine

and change machine to game so it looks like this:

Adv_SetElementXML = game

For the categories question, I am not sure what you mean.
Headers for Redump dats look like this:

     <header>
        <name>Sega - Dreamcast</name>
        <description>Sega - Dreamcast - Discs (1277) (2019-11-14 22-30-10)</description>
        <version>2019-11-14 22-30-10</version>
        <date>2019-11-14 22-30-10</date>
        <author>redump.org</author>
        <homepage>redump.org</homepage>
        <url>http://redump.org/</url>
    </header>

What are the categories you are referring to?

So, i'm at the stage where i need to create my own DAT file but want to emulate the settings/structure Redump's dat files use perfectly.

I'd like to know what dat file creation software is being used, and what settings are used on that software to create the dats, particularly for the saturn games.

the biggest things i'm seeing are Categories (clrmame doesn't have/use them) and the fact that my dat says "Machine Name" instead of "Game name"

thanks!