Nightlife

I've tried both http://www.mobileairmouse.com/ and http://hipporemote.com/ and both work great! HippoRemote is constantly updated with profiles for programs, maybe GameEX will be included someday! But as-is, either app works flawlessly with GameEX.

I've set up a "perfect" version of GameEx and configured all my emulators only to zap the HD and start over with a clean installation from scratch more times than I can count. I've made the declaration that "THIS TIME, THIS IS FOR GOOD" with this last setup, but we'll see how long that lasts. My setup is juuuuuust about perfect for my TV-based couch-potato setup with gamepads, but I plan on getting a cab in a year or two, so I'll just "start all over again" when I upgrade. Update the romsets, update the emulators, you know, the usual. To me, that's a credit to GameEx. I could have just installed it, dropped a few roms in there, have it generate a few screens, and call it a day. But the more stuff you fill it with, the more fun the software becomes. GameEx inspires us to become completists (albeit to an unhealthy degree).

Anyone know why there are not game descriptions for the NES games Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros?

AHA! Bingo! You nailed it. Got rid of the 1 rogue AVI that was in there, now all the FLVs play fine!!!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!!

Interesting... it plays AVIs just fine when I toss a few in there. FLVs won't play. EDIT: I simply renamed a few FLVs to AVI... Strange because my other systems have the same type of snaps and play (for example, all of my Daphne snaps are FLV and play fine...)

They're FLV. They play just fine in the game list, there's just no random video when MAME is highlighted under "Emulated Games." I tried both updating the mame list and adding a file to the video folder but still no nice...

Holy frijoles! That's EXACTLY what I'm looking for! Works like a charm! THANKS!!!!!!!!

All of my random vids show up under "emulators" (including the newly added Daphne), but MAME doesn't work... it refuses to play a random video. Any ideas why?

I have batches of ROMs, snaps, boxart scans, etc. that are reeeeeeeeally close to matching, but not 100%. Does anyone have any tips (besides manually renaming files) to get them to match up completely? Is there any software or ROM scanners that can analyze a set and "intelligently" rename files to match? As a hypothetical: 10-Yard Fight (U).nes ROM 10-Yard Fight (U)[!].jpg Box art 10-Yard Fight.jpg Snap Is there anything that can do a decent job comparing these files and renaming them all to match? Thanks for the help!

Perfect, thanks for the suggestions!

Just got started! It's already coming along great. Got a lot of work to do, though! Does anyone know a source for high-quality console images?

So I'm thinking about creating a new theme and I was looking for some feedback! Is this a good idea? Would you be interested in it if I put it together? The idea is called, "Retro Room." Each system's background would be the living room for the era in which the system was released, complete with unique TV set, wallpaper, posters, etc. Thought it would be fun to see each game and system in it's "natural" environment! Attached is a mockup I put together really quickly (really, REALLY quickly) so don't mind the crummy placeholder elements. Let me know what you think of the concept!

Tom, how about a little love for MAME and Daphne in the Emulated Games list by giving them random preview vids, too? The other emulators get 'em so MAME and Daphne look a bit lonely. These random preview vids are my fav thing to be in GameEx in a while... excellent choice including them!

To go along with the newest release that features random video previews in the emulator select screen... How about random vids for MAME and Daphne, too? I have my MAME tucked under "Emulated Games" and Daphne turned on, so it'd be nice to have the random preview vids for them, too.

Glad to be the lab rat. Just so happened I was messing with my GameEx setup when the update hit! Works great though, the multi-previews are very nice!

BAM. That was it! Back to working again! Thanks Tom!

No luck. I will try removing GameEx from my system completely using "Add or Remove Programs" and start from scratch...

Wow... I tried moving my GameEx folder from Program Files to my desktop (as a backup) and doing a new installation from the installer into Program Files. The app still will not launch...

Literally nothing... I double-click the exe and the pointer turns into an hourglass for less than a second then goes back to the pointer. The app doesn't launch at all, and the log doesn't reflect anything happening. Have rebooted twice with no luck...

Was working perfectly. Saw the auto-update, hit enter. It downloaded, installed, but never re-launched. So, I tried to manually launch it via the exe and nothing happens (cursor has the hourglass for about 1 second then it goes back to normal). So I downloaded the installer from the web site, ran that, and tried running the exe, still nothing. Looks like the log is not reflecting that the program is even being run since the update... log posted. log.txt

Looks great but Tom, I tried the auto-update and when it finished installing... nada. I can no longer launch GameEX. I tried downloading the installer from the site and running it and, still nada... I double-click the exe and nothing happens at all. Thoughts?

Brian, I agree with you completely. And, after a while of experimenting and reading the docs, I came to understand why things are a certain way in Hyperspin, and it makes sense. For my money, GameEx has ease-of-use locked-down, and I look forward to seeing Hyperspin evolve the way GameEx has over the years. I want to also say that I have the utmost respect for everyone involved in both GameEx and Hyperspin. They are both truly wonderful pieces of software and, as you say, serve different purposes. I don't mean to discount Hyperspin and it's truly not fair to brush it off (definitely not my intention). It's really great. It just takes a particular type of user with the correct files with the time and passion to get it all "hooked up" and working right.

I know I may be opening a can of worms, and perhaps the topic is a bit taboo. But I feel it is important that people get an opinion of HyperSpin from the perspective of a seasoned GameEx veteran. Like many others, I was hypnotized by the flashiness and good-looks of this piece of software. After reading blog posts and seeing plenty of youtube videos, I decided to give it a go. I started from scratch, using a brand-new clean installation of XP and fresh romsets. I was going to set it up from the ground-up as a whole new HTPC experience. The first thing anyone will notice is just how pretty it is. It's the "Michael Bay" of FEs... lots and lots of eye-candy. And, at first-glance, it seems like setup will be a no-brainer. There's a separate app for configuring the exe, and you just point the app to your roms and your exe's for the various emulators. I had MAME set up and working like a dream in no-time flat. Pairing it with the companion emuvideos available on the 'net and you have a pretty nice system. Easy, right? Well, the truth is, it has a ways to go when it comes to the other systems. Admittedly, I never got to that point with the other systems before I threw in the towel. I logged two days (about ten hours) of dedicated work to see if I could recreate the elegance and ease-of-navigation of my GameEx setup. The result was not a success. The primary point-of-difference of the two pieces of software, and this is a huge one, is its database structure for displaying games. Each system in HyperSpin must have an XML that has the entire list of games. Right now, the method for obtaining this XML is through their web site (and an online portal that is still being developed, as I was unable to access it), and your romsets MUST correspond to the naming conventions of the versions they chose to use. If you don't have the same set (and, arguably, it's neigh-impossible to find the matching sets, especially if you're supposed to bring your own), you must create your own XML through a variety of 3rd party apps. This is, again, where the trouble is. In order to have a flawless setup, you must have a matching: - XML file - romset named in a matching naming scheme - screenshots or videos in a matching naming scheme - boxart, cabinets, etc. in a matching naming scheme If any of this is missing, you must be prepared for hours of manual labor ensuring everything matches up. And, besides, that, there are not uniform places for additional artwork files across themes. You'll drop artwork into a folder hoping it will show up, and realize a theme is not configured to use that folder. You must use "Artwork 2" instead of "Artwork 1," and the only way to determine this is through trial-and-error or reading through ini files. Now, for us GameEx users, we're a bit spoiled. You point the app to your roms, and the list is populated. Need screenshots? Use the automated system. It's a level of convenience that doesn't exist in HyperSpin. Now, can you blame the software for users not having complete and matching romsets and extras? Not at all. However, GameEx is just that much more usable without matching sets, which is the camp I feel most of us are in. Finally, the attention to detail is lacking with any and all emulator setup. Even something as tricky and particular as Visual Pinball has been handled with aplomb in GameEx. Not yet in Hyperspin. Now, truthfully, this FE is in its infancy, and it already has oodles of loyal followers. And, I can truthfully say that if you can, in fact, get a perfect setup working in HyperSpin, I'm sure it's a marvel. So, the main question: Is there any reason for a GameEx user to jump ship? In my opinion, no. The ease-of-use is just not there yet... you will spend hours moving themes, art, and roms into various locations, hoping it all matches up, and tweaking options to get everything to function. It is a lot of work, and the return on investment, in my opinion, just isn't worth it. I look forward to watching it develop and grow, and in a year or two I may give it another go. But right now, I simply wish the flashiness was backed by a solid, easy, and effective way of getting everything "into" the system instead of fussing about, hoping for the best. I hope this has been helpful. It is just one man's opinion, and certainly I applaud both pieces of software. But after spending ten hours with Hyperspin, it sure feels good to come home to GameEx.

Bueller?

I LOVE the GameEx Advanced Config Editor! I'm using the Joy Mapping function to give joystick control to Jum52 (an Atari 5200 Emulator) which, for some reason, doesn't play nice with my joystick. It's working great, but I noticed that it only displaying options for remapping my first (of two) joysticks! Is there any way to remap the keys of a second joystick? Thanks for the help!