bkenobi

I was going to suggest combining it with another song and/or silence in an editor, but greatfish already suggested it...

She was faking it...

GameEx can be changed to any look and feel you like. If you have a specific MAMEwah theme that you like, you can actually convert it to a GameEx via the Theme Editor. Thus, the two look nearly identical.

If your set is 4 years old and you are trying to run a current version of MAME (0.124a last I checked), then you *definitely* need to consider updating. Most roms are probably the same, but there are periodic redumps required to correct certain issues. I would guess that after 4 years, there's quite a few in that boat. Also, you won't have the newer games that you are trying to get working anyway since they didn't exist in your set. I think the current rom set is ~15GB, so yeah, your 5GB set is a little short...

Try running the "Runlastgame.bat" file in the GameEx start menu. It may be helpful to put 'PAUSE' at the end of that file so the error remains after MAME quits. That file contains the actual command that GameEx is running. If you can figure out what's going wrong there, then we can help get it going in GameEx.

Ehhh, I went ahead and put it together... Oh, and it should be obvious, but I just sent <Escape> instead of Alt-F4. If Escape doesn't work with the current version of MAME, just change it to Send {Blind}!{F4} or WinClose, MAME Quit_Combo_Script.zip

It might be easier with keyboard input. I think just changing the Joy1 -> 1 should work, I've just never tried it. It might be better to use the multiple key remapping capability of AHK instead since you aren't using a joystick. If you want to map 2 keys to do the same thing, just use: 1 & 2 :: <action> I would suggest using a timer anyway since you probably want a delay (I think you said you did). If you just have <action> be Alt-F4, you get the same result as you currently have.

Actually, I bet a plugin could do this, but I don't know anything about programming GameEx plugins.

You can't use an Advanced Config file for MAME (I tried). You can use AHK though. I have a script for holding down a couple buttons for a length of time which triggers Alt-F4. Give it a try (you will need to tweak as appropriate obviously). Quit_Combo_Script.zip

Make sure the batch file doesn't exit prior to quiting the game. If it does, it will return to GameEx. Alternately, there is a way to have it watch for the game's process to quit. This is in the FAQ.

No need to use advanced plugins. Just go into the MAME setup (hit 'TAB') and change the 'UI Cancel' setting. You can have multiple keys in there just by pressing them all at once. So, maybe you want to use P1B1 + P1Start + P1Coin (or maybe throw a direction in there on a joystick). Should work fine! I actually have my cab setup to use P2 left + P2 right = quit and P2 up + p2 down = pause.

This has been requested enough times an entry to the FAQ might help...if people read it anyway

They might be using an Imperial track ball which is considered inferior by at least some people. The advantage is that it's a lot less expensive. I don't have an arcade track ball and haven't used the 2.5" PC one I picked up to play around with yet. I keep meaning to give it a try, but it's kinda ugly to sit on the CP, so I'm a bit embarrassed to even bring it out.

Yes, the overlay with the game info only displays for MAME (not Advance MAME either). Also, if you have GameEx set up to play preview movies for a screen saver it obviously won't work.

Actually, if you went with a pre-built CP, you could always customize it by removing the buttons and installing transparent ones and a controller. I believe there are some examples of people who have done this either here, BYOAC, or arcade@home.

I aim to please!

If you like customizing things to EXACTLY what you want, a prebuilt won't make you happy. I know a common technique for configuring these things is to install everything in some corrugated cardboard to get a feel. Then, put it in some scrap plywood to play with it for real. Then, when sufficient tweaking is complete, cut the actual CP and install everything. This could take a matter of a few minutes if you just cut the holes, paint the board black, and drop in the controls. Or, it could take days/weeks/months depending on your measure of perfection. If the Tank Stick or the QuasiCon is "perfect", then go for it! You will probably be ahead after taking time into account unless you are having fun. (NOTE: The tweaking is supposed to be a big part of the fun!)

HOLLY HELL! That's one wide CP! If you want to build a true frankenpanel, I think you are required to have Asteroids buttons and some trigger sticks somewhere, though. Btw, I was going to point out XPadder 5.0, but I didn't want to create a thread just for that. Thanks for throwing it in there.

I give you full credit for finding yet another way to F' up GameEx. WAY to go buddy!

I don't recall the controls for the mouse in GameEx and I'm too lazy to look for them...

Run the "run last game.bat" file in the GameEx start directory. If necessary, add 'PAUSE' to the end of the file so the error stays up long enough to read it. Post that error here if you can't discern the error on your own.

Sorry, I should clarify my references: "vanilla" MAME = The official release by the MAMEdev team MAMEUI = Formerly known as MAME32 AdvanceMAME = Another version of MAME that was modified to improve output on TV's and arcade monitors Analog MAME+ = A version of MAME specifically modified to work with analog controls (spinners, steering wheels, track balls, light guns). Most of the code from this project has been incorporated into the "vanilla" MAME code (and thus everything else that uses it's source), so the project has essentially died off. There are countless other versions out there, but these are the main ones people around here talk about. Also, while you are not required to update your roms with each release, if a rom does get updated/redumped, it will no longer work. It is ALWAYS best to run the same version of MAME as your roms.

The log will help figure it out, but when I started out, my arcade computer had integrated graphics and was rather slow. After bumping up the ram and installing a ATI x1300 pro, things worked much more smoothly. I can't remember which one was the biggest help, but I think it was the graphics card.

Just a not about the touchscreen. If the commands are converted to mouse movements (like many touch screens do), then it will work with GameEx just like any other mouse.

If it makes you feel better, there was a thread a few months back about pacman too. You could count those posts in your tally...