RIP-Felix

In the wizard. BTW: GameEx rocks!

I have an x-arcade tankstick controller for my arcade cabinet. I want to make the emulator exit combination to be hold the Player one btn down. Then while still holding player one, press the player two btn. In the wizard I can set both btns but GameEx will exit if one is pressed and then two is pressed, not only while one is still held down. Abviously this causes problems when you and another player are trying to enter the game at the same time. Is there a way to do what I am wanting? If not possable feature request?

Ok, looks like it is a mixed bag of versions and stuff I've not figured out yet. Most of the newer and better games require CHD files that are not included in the file I found, and must be obtained separatly + compatable. Also, I have not figured out how to use them, do I just put it in the rom file with the zip? Simple GameEx question: How do I get GameEx to display the whole game name not the abreviated zip file name which I'm not supposed to rename because mame depends on it.

I've done a little more searching and it seems that each release of mame requires that some games be updated to newer rom versions. First of all, how do I know what version I have and what version I need? I have a trusted site I can get roms from but versions are a mixed bag of strange naming conventions like "Pac Man (PR7026) (Mazooma) (Scorpion 4) (set 1)" with sets through 6 and all kinds of other names for each version of the same game. These just seem like giberish to me. Other emulators ushally only have one version for each language and hacks. Anyone know how I can verify that my my roms will work in MAME? I came across a download for "MAME 0.133 BIOS pack" and also the "Naomi BIOS". The Naomi BIOS are supposed to be required to run Marvel vs capcom or any other sega naomi game. How am I supposed to use these/set them up? Lastly, in the MAME 0.147 folder there are a bunch of other applications like "ldverify.exe" and "chdman.exe". These seem to be drag and drop apps like unecm.exe for PSX emulators. Is there something I am suposed to be doing with these that I'm not?

What did I get myself into? I thought it would be as simple as oither emulators are - download emulator, obtain rom, fiddle with settings and scream "WORK DAMN YOU" until I decide to google why it isn't, then do as I was supposed to in the first place, and finaly get it working. I've done this and am still having real trouble getting strait forward answers. What is this crap? How do I verify that my roms are complete? What the heck is with the directories file? Do some roms need to be unzipped, whereas most stay zipped? Holy bag of maggots Batman, how far does this rabbit hole go?Cabinet Update: The build is mostly finished: The LCD is installed, The bezel artwork is being printed and I will pick it up tomorrow. The Marquee looks nice and the whole thing is taking shape. It has a late 70's feel to it, vintage, but new! The last thing before the assembly is finished it to install the controll panel, whenever it gets here. I haven't calculated the total cost so far but I would estamate it is over $450 at this point. With all the extra stuff I needed that I didn't anticipate, like a hole saw, counter sink drill bit, exacto knife, weather striping, extra acrylic, etc I'm a little suprised I'm still on budgt!

Ok, I have a bunch of games (mortal combat, street fighter 3, and Marvel vs. Capcom 1&2) I'm sure work with MAME but wont load because there are missing CHD or rom files. What Gives? Do I need BIOS files, a different version of MAME, or another rom source? Anyone had this issue? BTW: The cabinet is coming along well. I've finished staining. It came out much browner than the sample wood they had displayed in the store . However it is not a bad looking stain, so I'll give it a go. I can always paint it black if I hate it. I odered the X-Arcade Tanksticks for 159.99 on special, glad I waited ! I've installed the back light for the marquee. Need to figure out how to print my marquee transparancy, Kinkos? Next thing to do is mount the LCD and install the Bezel. After that, in goes the computer and then the software portion. Software will probably be the most difficult part. I've never set up a display vertically before, not to mention all the emulators.

Thanks, for all the great info. I will probably get a standard build, like marvel vs. capcom if there is one. From there I can add characters as I think of them, assuming they come with premade fighting moves and all that. EDIT: I found a couple good ones from Infinity MUGEN Team here: http://www.infinitym...=Mugen_Projects They don't look like you can add charicters or reuse them in another build. Looks like I will have to build my own, or just use the premade builds I can find. How should I set up my mugen projects to be launched by GameEX. Each launchs from an exicutable, so far. I will probably make a emulator group for all the mugen projects after that. Never mind, I got it>

When you start the game, enter the SD GUI. Instead of selecting the game press the ESC key (like could happen by accident). SD should close, which in turn closes the wrapper, and prompts GameEX to gain focus back. However, ePSXe was never told to close, so it stays open in the background (at least for me). I tried again today an it still does it, so this one should be reproducable. This is what I tried to substitute into the launch before command: Launch Before: Start "" "C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3\launch_before+DS3.bat" launch_before+DS3.bat: start "" "C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3\DS3_Tool_Enabler.exe" start "" "C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3\SwitchDisc-1.0.3\SwitchDisc.exe" -w "[WORKINGPATH]" -f "[ROMFILE]" It caused the strings to launch simultaneously. We may just be bumping heads with ePSXe's faults. I'll keep an eye out for it, but this one may have just disappeared on us. Lets hope so. I have tested Resident Evil 2 some. The opening videos play without artifacts and when I got to the police department at the begining of the game the screen used to go half black, now it's perfect! However when I went into the ePSXecutor to setup a shortcut for RE2, wonky behavior aptly describes it. I get this error "outofsync.bmp" [followed by a bunch of symbol giberish]". It lets me finish the setup, but when I start the shortcut the emulator starts (I can tell by the analog controller doohicky that pops up in the top right hand corner os the screen) but never loads the game. Nothing displays, except the slowboot, if being used. Even then the playstation logo does not appear correctly. It works when I use the GUI, although I still get the weird error before changing the config, it just seems not to affect anything in that case. EDIT: Nevermind, I got it to work. The error was related to some plugins, and the game not loading was because I forgot to change the command to the new image location.

I like the concept of MUGEN, but am finding it hard to get started. 1) Where do I get MUGEN and what version should I get? (Windows 7 x64) 2) I don't want to go through a whole bunch of adding charicters, stages, and etc. At least not to start. Is there a good starter build that has a good selection of charicters, stages, from all the classics? (street fighter, mortal combat, virtua fighter, etc.)

I'm in and out of the garage today, I'm staining the arcade cabinet, so I will set the game and leave it running. If when I come back I see it has done it again, I'll post what you asked for. I haven't looked into dolphin before, but now might be a good time. I'm game for the long haul if you are. I'll edit back if the (bug wrapper?) rears it's ugly head. EDIT: Ok I have a few things to mention. 1) If you hit ESC while in the switchdisc GUI, switchdisc closes and GameEx gains focus. However ePSXe is still running. Do we need the task kill function again? 2) When you hit the trigger key for a game that does not have a multi disc set, windows spits out an error saying, "there is not a valid disc set for this discfile" or something like that. The problem is that the error sounds but does not gain focus or it gains focus but screws up fullscreen ePSXe game displaying. It would be better if the trigger key had no function in a game without a multi disc set. The tradeoff is that it is harder to figure out what is going on without a message if this is your first time using switchdisc. We need a way to handle this potential problem. The message is useful in troubleshooting, but causes screwy behavior if it switchdisc is accidentally trigered in a fullscreen game. Maybe an option to disable trigger key for games without a multi disc set (aka single disc games). 3) The Wrapper requires the "start "" "C:\[filepath]\SwitchDisc.exe" -w "[WORKINGPATH]" -f "[ROMFILE]"" command to be in the launch before field in GameEx. It wont work in the also launch field. Remember I would like to use my DS3 tool enabler in the launch before slot. I tried the batch method but the start "" is required to get switchdisc to launch through the wrapper, and doing so causes the order to occur simultaneously (eg. the DS3 tool launches at the same time as ePSXe which prevents the controller from being discovered by ePSXe, and defeats the purpose). Would it be possable to allow a user defined program to launch before the wrapper? Perhaps when the wrapper is integrated into SD itself, the launch before field in GameEx will be free for this use. Should I just wait for this to sort itself out? So far I have not been able to reproduce the "Bug wrapper" problem. Maybe a restart sorted it out? Also, have you heard about the memory drain problem in ePSXe? I have had issues in the past of closing ePSXe and reopening it multiple times causing unpredictable windows behavior, resolved by a restart. I thought I'd bring it up because I'm not sure if ESC closes ePSXe the way that causes the memory leak. Before I always closed it through the GUI not the red x close button on the window itself. Something to keep in mind. OH.. Before I forget! ePSXe 1.8.0 has been released and fixed the disc change operation, not to mention making changes to the core that fixed 150 games instantly. Resident Evil 2, MGS, and the final fantasy series are rumored to be amung them! Thought you might be interested.

No, thank you for your perseverance and continued interest in SwitchDisc. If it were anyone else, they'ed have given up on me by now, believe me. I know I can be a pain in the butt sometimes. So again, it's great to see someone out there with a passion for their product who is willing to put in the work it takes to live up to their promises and make the product achieve its potential. I tell you my friend. that is sorly missing in this country. I can't tell you how may projects I've seen that had great potential fail because the people behind them lost interest. Good for you, good for Switchdisc, and good for the rest of us who can enjoy the fruits of all the hard work people like you put in to make an idea a reality. Ok, enough pride puffing for one day...

You can't get rid of me that easy. Now that we killed the ninja gremlin . We can turn our attention to nullDC. Now you must be wishing you hadn't said this: NullDC 1.0.4 r50 Emulator Config: Switchdisc Config: Oh, I guess I should mention some other things I noticed. 1) An alternative to autohiding the mouse cursor like GameEx does, you could make the default placment of the mouse in the Switchdisc GUI be in the bottom righthand corner where there is enough room to hide it (in windows at least). That way people who use remotes or controllers don't get botherd by it. Just an athestic tuch professionalism. 2) While I was writing this, again I knoticed the screen go black with a "loading please wait" from GameEx flicker very briefly then another instance of GameEx opened. I closed this one and the one previously minmized was still there, but now it's on the Game list in GameEx not the game that was playing. I was in a game testing to see if I could reproduce the problem. I don't know if this will occur in game with fullscreen or even windowed yet, but at least when minimized while working on something else it reoccurs. I wonder if this will go away when you integrate the wrapper's functionality into switchdisc? I have a feeling that simpler is better in this case. Having a frontend launch a wrapper, which alows a program to launch a frontennd, that in turn launches an emulator, while still runing the program, all so a GUI can be called to close the emulator and launch the emulator again, without having the original frontend take focus back prematurly, is a convoluted process to say the least. Crazy thing is, it works! 3) If I am in switchdisc and I press the Back button to return to the game without switching discs, ePSXe still goes to the windowed mode. Is there a way to make it go back to fullscreen in this case? When you switch discs it closes the window and starts the other disc which is set to open into fullscreen automatically, so I haven't run into this before. Perhaps a "send keys after switchdisc exit without disc canage" option would be useful {the name needs work}. This way I could send [MENU, RETURN] in this special case. Otherwise this is an instance where you would require a mouse and keyboard to get back into the fullscreen game, something we are trying to avoid.

Disregard most of the previous post. It was the fact that I chose TAB for the Switchdisc involkation trigger. When you mentioned that, it makes perfect sence that it might be interfering in the process. You might consider making a list of keys to never choose as the trigger in the readme so no one else makes that mistake. Holy cow, that has been throwing a munky wrench in the works from the very start. It's always something simple, isn't it? I will procede to slap myself repeatly in the forhead, yell DOH!, then repeat 3 time for emphasis, take 7 bloody marys shoots for the perfect number of sobering drinks, and finally kneel down and beg for forgivness on the alter of public opinion. PLEASE DONT JUDGE ME...lol. Just to be clear, Switch disc just completed it's first full disc swap on the world stage! Good for you SD! Well, maybe we should leave that up to Null to decide. Not like there is a prize, except the joy of solving a major Playstation emulation problom and enjoying its use! Here is the LOG: Notice the "Command options parsed successfully" line:

No, the Switchdisc GUI comes up and displays only the disc set for the game I Choose in GameEx. It displays the name I told it to in the "Disc Display Name" field.So that part is working:) I agree. It does everything correctly until just after the send keys. So it windows the fullscreen game and fails to execute the Disc Switch Command. It does not spit out an error message like "Failed to execute Disc Switch Command", if that helps. I don't know if you programmed it with error handling message boxes or not, but that might be helpful. Here you Go: Switchdisc config: Emulator Config: After launching, say Chrono Cross Disc 1, GameEx looses focus and the game starts up in full screen like I have it set to do. Switchdisc has opened in the system tray as it is supposed to (the ePSXecutoer_wrapper dids a fine job of killing that Ninja Gremlin ). Upon pressing the trigger Key (I have it set to TAB. Great point! I wonder if this is changing the current focus selection etc. I will try setting it to F9 as I don't use that...YEP THAT WAS IT. IT WORKS!!!) the Switchdisc GUI appears fullscreen with a mouse pointer (something I would like not to be on screen, it could be hidden until the player uses a mouse). It will not accept input until I click onscreen to give it focus over ePSXe. If I click on the minimize button in the top right of the SD GUI, I can verify that Switchdisc has windowed ePSXe as per the "send keys before" settings I choose. The images displayed are the correct artwork I choose and only for the chrono cross set, so just 2 images. They are also named correctly acording to the "Disc Display Name" I choose. No emulator name as you mentioned before appears. When i navigate to disc 2 and select it, switch disc diappears and ePSXe stays windowed without any change in behavior. There is no error message or anything to suggest anything happens after that point. Switchdisc is still running in the system tray and will continue running until I press esc with focus on ePSXe. At which point GameEx gain foucs back and Switchdisc exits. While I was writing this post I left chrono Cross windowed and running in the background, without having involked switchdisc. After about 10 minuets GameEx came back into focus over this post! I checked the tray and switchdisc had exited. ePSXe was still running. I have the "Auto exit game after" and "auto exit game inactivity' options disabled. So it wasent that. Possable bug in the wrapper (thats kinda funny sounding)? I think it would be benificial to have all this documented for future reference, but if you or I get tired of the back and forth we can send a PM and workout a time. I'm in PST so after 10pm MST would be fine for me if it's good for you. We're not there yet, I don't think.

I changed the switchdisc command to --cmd "<QUOTE>[DISCPATH]\[DISCFILE]<QUOTE>" and left the GameEx command as --cmd "<QUOTE>[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]<QUOTE>" Is that right? The results are still no disc switch. This string from the log makes me think the working path is not right. "Cannot locate emulator matching these parameters (ItemID = WorkingPath = C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3)" The working path I put in is the location of epsxecutor_wrapper.exe. I thought that is what you told me (at least for GameEx). Maybe switchdisc needs the shortcut location here?

Just enought time for a quick post. I need to pick up some family at the airport tonight so I'm gonna spend some time with my Dad until thay get in (maybe catch that Lincoln film if I can get there in time). Well, I can tell you that the ePSXecutor settings are good to go. The shortcuts launch fine in GameEx without the wrapper or switchdisc. Or by them selves. GameEx: Working path = C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3 [the folder containing ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe, since it is the setup like the emulator] Rom Path = E:\Michael\GAMES\My Games\All Games (Files)\PSone\ePSXe Emulator\ePSXecutor frontend\Game Shortcuts [the folder containing the ePSXecutor shortcuts] Command = ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe --cmd "<QUOTE>[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]<QUOTE>" Switch Disc: Working Path = E:\Michael\GAMES\My Games\All Games (Files)\PSone\ePSXe Emulator\ePSXecutor frontend\Game Shortcuts Rom Path = E:\Michael\GAMES\My Games\All Games (Files)\PSone\ePSXe Emulator\ePSXecutor frontend\Game Shortcuts Command = ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe --cmd "<QUOTE>[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]<QUOTE>" [i don't know why it got changed in the log or wherever you read it from. It is good in the configurator and in GameEx] Are you saying that the working path in switchdisc needs to be the same as the working path in GameEx[the folder containing ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe, since it is the setup like the emulator]? Let me give that a try real quick...Nope, no change. Here is the log: Config: Emulator Config: Runitgame.bat:

Send keys? I immagine if the GUI is launched then a combination of send keys could navigate the GUI to either change discs or load a game. Trouble is how to get it to load the game you want. That part would have to be passed from switich disc via the "[DISKPATH]\[DISKFILE]" command. I figure you have an idea how to acomplish that since you brought it up, unless I guesed wrong and lost the bonus points. Ok, I tried what you suggested but it seems even bugier than before. My first try to load a game from GameEx, the screen went black untill ESC was pressed. Second time, the game started without sound, switchdisc failed to switch the disc but sound came back when it windowed the game. Third try, I started the game and switchdisc outside of gameEx and it made the windows error sound and disappeared after ESC was pressed. Switchdisc Config: Should work this time Log:

Switchdisc Log: This is the error: EmulatorType is NULL - Cannot determine emulator. SwitchDisc invocation was flagged as unsuccessful. Some configuration settings are likely invalid SwitchDisc GUI: Closing GUI Switchdisc Config:

Thanks, null. I forgot to put Start "" before the lanuch before and after command. It works fine now. I can smell the finish line! 1) The GUI come up fine, but doesn't select the screen [it won't move right or left until the mouse is clicked on the screen]. I have [MENU, RETURN] set in the cinfigureators "send keys before GUI" field. I thought this is supposed to solve that problem. 2) When the next disc is selected, switchdisc GUI disappears and the ePSXe game is windowed. It does not switch the disk. So there is a setting inside the confugurator I still have to get right. When I hit ESC switchdisc closes and GameEx comes back correctly. This is an example cmd I use for the ePSXecutor links: "-loadbin "E:\Michael\GAMES\My Games\All Games (Files)\PSone\ISO\ePSXe (1.6.0)\Croc 1.img" -slowboot -nogui" I'm wondering if the nogui command takes away the disc switching ability. I mean if it is based on GUI navigation then the nogui command would undermine that approach, right? So All I need to do now is to get switchdisc to Switch Discs, and we're golden!

Much closer. Problem: 1) When GameEx looses focus it waits for switchdisk to close before starting the game.

Better: The focus left gameEx, the desktop appeared (without the start bar at the bottom, wierd), nothing else until I pressed ESC. Then focus went back to GameEx. Switchdisc meanwhile had been running all the time and did not close until I closed it. Would you mind posting a working config?

Got the wrapper, Sweet! However, I'm a little confused how to use it? Here is what I tried: 1) In the "Emulator Setup" screen within the GameEx wizard I put the following into the "Command line" ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe --cmd "<QUOTE>[ROMPATH]\[ROMFILE]<QUOTE>" 2) In the Advanced Emulator Setup" I put the following into the "Launch Before" C:\GameEx\CONFIG\Switchdisc\SwitchDisc-1.0.3\ePSXecutor_wrapper.exe GameEx lost focus and waited for the game to start, nothing happened, GameEx reappeared. The readme did not explain how to setup the wrapper in GameEx, just what commands to use. Emulator Config:

Yea, sorry about that. I thought that I was asking too broad a question in this thread and that thoes who might be using a vertically positioned screen would see the other post easier than sifting through my wall of text in this one. Thanks for the noob check, I will keep that in mind:) In any case, I'm kind of commited now that the cabinet assembly is essentially done. Total cost so far is about $170. I still need to stain and clear coat the wood (painting would be easier, but I like dark stained wood better). I also need to install the controls, TV, computer, and etc. So there is still aways to go.

I an building my first arcade cabinet and want to use my 32" LCD mounted vertically. This will allow vertical scrolling games like 1941 to fill the screen better and 4:3 content to be just about right. At least that is the theory. Has anyone tried this? If so, what chalenges did you face and what solutions did you come up with.

Is there anyone using a vertically mounted screen? I'm curious what kind of hurtles to look out for. I already ran into issues trying to get FCEultra to run in fullscreen with windows displaying vertically. Ultamatly the only way I could get it to display at all was with the windowed mode. I suspect there is a custom resoulution I could have used to make it work, but I couldn't find one. Any ideas?