running PC games

[Domia]

Well after trying for a while I am curious to know how you guys handle PC games in GameEx, especially the remapping of keys.

I tried Autohotkey scripts and got my game to run but cannot get to the point where I close Outrun 2006 and GameEx regain focus with original key mapping.

Every time when I close the game I get back to windows and have to manually exit the script for GameEx to regain focus. I wrote another script who would kill any open script and put this in my "LAUNCH AFTER" but it doesnt work...(works fine when started manually but I don't know why GameEx doesnt launch it)). Just curious if you guys found another solution because there's so many great PC games out there.

Thx for the help,

Dominique

PS: Can GameEx remap keys?

[Tempest]

Please help me understand. Is this a sequel to this Topic:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry54740

Where I was trying to help you?

Or a prequel to these:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...pic=7371&hl=

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry55363

Edit: Post your runitgame.bat, as shown in #4 on this page: http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=6451

[Domia]

Please help me understand. Is this a sequel to this Topic:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry54740

Where I was trying to help you?

Or a prequel to these:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...pic=7371&hl=

http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry55363

Edit: Post your runitgame.bat, as shown in #4 on this page: http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=6451

Tempest,

I will post my runitgame.bat tonight when I get home.

Thx

For the help,

Dominique

[Domia]

Tempest,

I will post my runitgame.bat tonight when I get home.

Thx

For the help,

Dominique

Here is the runitgame.bat:

C:

CD "C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun"

"C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun\Outrun 2006.ahk"

c:\documents and settings\domia\desktop\pc games\outrun\outrun close.ahk

Here is Outrun 2006.ahk:

Run C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun\Outrun 2006.lnk

WinWaitClose, Outrun 2006

exit

1::Esc

LControl::Enter

LShift::f

Here is outrun close.ahk:

DetectHiddenWindows On ; Allows a script's hidden main window to be detected.

SetTitleMatchMode 2 ; Avoids the need to specify the full path of the file below.

WinClose Outrun 2006.ahk - AutoHotkey ; Update this to reflect the script's name (case sensitive).

thx

fdomia

[Tempest]

Here is the runitgame.bat:

C:

CD "C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun"

"C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun\Outrun 2006.ahk"

c:\documents and settings\domia\desktop\pc games\outrun\outrun close.ahk

Try putting Quotes around the line in "Launch After"

"c:\documents and settings\domia\desktop\pc games\outrun\outrun close.ahk"

[Domia]

Try putting Quotes around the line in "Launch After"

"c:\documents and settings\domia\desktop\pc games\outrun\outrun close.ahk"

I tried but no luck.. (

[Domia]

I tried but no luck.. (

Something I realized last night: GameEx doesn't run the "LAUNCH AFTER" script because it doesnt have focus!

When I exit the game it takes me back to Windows and hangs until I manually exit the script. As soon as the script is unloaded GameEx pops back up and I guess run the "LAUNCH AFTER" script...

So I guess the solution is with Autohotkey and not in GameEx which makes me think that a simple key mapping option would be great in GameEx.

I'd be interested to know how you guys run your PC games?, having to grab the mouse to kill the script in order to get back to GameEx is not a big deal but it kinds of ruin the arcade cabinet idea..

Dominique

[Tempest]

Last Chance...

Try changing your Outrun 2006.ahk to:

SetTitleMatchMode, 2
Run C:\Documents and Settings\Domia\Desktop\PC games\Outrun\Outrun 2006.lnk
WinWait, Outrun 2006
WinWaitClose, Outrun 2006
ExitApp
1::Esc
LControl::Enter
LShift::f

Since you are already waiting for outrun to close, this will terminate the script after Outrun closes.

You shouldn't need anything in "Launch After"

[Palmore]

Not to fork off of the original AHK questions, but do you use an i-Pac?

What I do with my setup is have 3-4 "Default" i-Pac templates.

"Arcade"

"PC"

"Main"

"Console"

Then depending on the system I'm loading I reprogram my i-Pac accordingly using LAUNCH BEFORE

If the computer game requires special config, I either Load the PC control panel and then change the games settings to reflect my keys, or I create a custom panel in the i-Pac software and load that panel at LAUNCH BEFORE.

here's an example of my OutRun 2006 setup

(Game EX Config)

Launch Before - CALL D:\Arcade\Data\Scripts\Game\[ROM].bat

Launch After - CALL D:\Arcade\Data\Scripts\System\unload.bat

[ROM].bat points to the game name + .bat, so I named everything with underscores and use game EX to strip them from the games name.

i.e.

OutRun_2006_-_Coast_to_Coast.lnk

OutRun_2006_-_Coast_to_Coast.bat

and so on

(OutRun_2006_-_Coast_to_Coast.bat)

@ECHO OFF

ECHO Loading Control Panel...

D:\Arcade\Data\Apps\IPac\WinIPAC.exe D:\Arcade\Data\Apps\IPac\Panels\PC.ipc

Now my controls for Outrun are loaded and the game loads from the shortcut (.lnk).

If you use this method, you have to have a batch file named the exact same as the .lnk file for each game. and u MUST use the CALL statement to launch the file, so it returns to Runitgame.bat upon calling the other batch file to load your panel settings

I mapped my "exit" key to Alt+F4 and it closes the game right away and Game EX takes back over, no need to exit any scripts.

Unload.bat reprograms my i-Pac back to my GameEX controls and I go about choosing my next game

[bkenobi]

I'm curious about reprogramming ipac controllers? Do these use an EEPROM chip to store the settings, or are they flash memory? The reason I ask is that I know flash has a limited number of writes before the memory "wears out". If you reprogram the chip every once in a while, no biggie, but if you are doing this for every game, the writes could start to add up quickly. Also, if it's on a EEPROM of some kind, is that also rewriting the ipac code every time, or is that located elsewhere? If you are writing the controllers main code each time, couldn't it get corrupted.

ehhh, these are WAY off topic, but I figured I would throw these out these if anyone knows. Thanks!

[Palmore]

Pulled from Ultimarc's home page FAQ's

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac5.html

More about programming:

Alternative key code sets can be programmed and stored. The programming can be done either via a utility on the PC or using the built-in Interactive Mode. You can assign the key code for each input in shifted or unshifted mode and select which of the inputs is the shift button. After assigning all the buttons, the codes are downloaded to the I-PAC and stored in EEPROM which keeps the settings even after power-off. The settings are also written to a file so you can have as many of these configuration files as you want and download as required, either manually or automatically via a batch routine. Click here for more info about programming. There is no practical limit on the number of times the EEPROM can be re-written. In fact the chip manufacturer guarantees one million R/W cycles, but in practice the actual limit would be even higher.

[bkenobi]

Well there you go! So the only down side to reflashing is the slight delay during the actual write. Sounds like it's a good solution to me.