bkenobi

If you find any problems with the script, let me know. The only problem I've run into at this point is that the auto-generated game info overlay displayed in screen saver mode doesn't work for AdvancedMAME. I put in a feature request for this, so maybe it's something that can be worked around. Hmmm, I was just thinking. If you use the overlay for screen saver and you see a game you want to play and hit coin1 so that GameEx doesn't quit the game, the overlay still remains. I wonder if that's something Tom could detect and automatically do something to turn off the overlay.

No, GameEx doesn't support roms in subdirectories. It has been requested in the past, but it has not been implemented as of yet. There are possible work arounds, but it depends on what emulator you are trying to use. Some systems already have guides to help make this work (Virtual Pinball comes to mind off the bat).

I just wanted to bump this to let everyone know that this WORKS GREAT!!! If you want to use more than one emulator for the MAME rom set, you can do it nice and clean now! So hears what you do: 1) Set up the emulators you want to use. 2) Create a list of all the roms you want to use with that emulator (Rotary.txt, Guns.txt, Raine.txt, etc.). 3) Edit the MAME_Loader.ahk file to set the correct path for your emulator(s). If you have more than one, you will need to copy the loop used to check the game list file and create more path and exe variables. Compile the loader and store it in the same directory with the rom filter files you created in step 2. 4) Enable and set up AdvancedMAME in GameEx to point to the MAME_Loader.exe. 5) That's it! This is a basic script, but if you have a question, I can try to answer. If it's very complicated, I may need help from one of the more advanced programmers here...

The adult games are determined from the catver.ini file. It has some categories that are listed like "Table Game *MATURE*". If your catver.ini file doesn't have these, then it won't show up correctly under adult.

Bitch...bitch...bitch...

Like I said, I don't use MESS and I don't currently have any Atari roms. I have a few TI-99/4A roms, but that's another story Of course, they aren't set up, so that doesn't help either. Sorry.

The "array out of bounds" error is a strange one. That's the one I was seeing before when the script was crashing. The problem is that the fast scrolling kicked in prior to GameEx loading completely I think. Anyway, the simple solution to try (for now) is to just load GameEx first without the script running. Then, after GameEx is up and going, switch back to the desktop and launch the script. It shouldn't crash... I have a version I run on my racing cab at home and it works just fine. Perhaps the version I uploaded here isn't up to date. EDIT: Yeah, I took a look at what I posted and it is indeed an older version. I noticed a couple things that were messed with. I don't have the final version, but I edited the one you have a bit to comment out the fast movement section and to initialize the mouse position prior to GameEx starting up. Give this a try: Mouse2Key__GameEx_.zip

You must have it running outside of GameEx before it will ever work inside. I don't use MESS, so I can't advise you on how to set it up, but there are tons of threads both here and at other forums that deal with that or perhaps another member can guide you. Once you have it running outside of GameEx, then it's just a matter of sending the right command line and changing a couple settings in the GameEx configuration file to get it going. I can see only one thing that you can try. In your configuration for the command line, you need to have quotes around the path. 16:43:59.6 4/3/2008: Running: cmd.exe /c C: mess.exe a5200 -cart C:\Emulators\MESS\good5200\5200ren\defender (1982) (atari) [b1].zip -joy -now -nonewui should be: 16:43:59.6 4/3/2008: Running: cmd.exe /c C: mess.exe a5200 -cart "C:\Emulators\MESS\good5200\5200ren\defender (1982) (atari) [b1].zip" -joy -now -nonewui So you need to set the command line to something like: mess.exe a5200 -cart "[rompath]\[rom]" -joy -now -nonewui Also, it looks like there is no path for mess.exe. I think it should look like: C:\Emulators\MESS\mess.exe a5200 -cart "C:\Emulators\MESS\good5200\5200ren\defender (1982) (atari) [b1].zip" -joy -now -nonewui

1) Is there sound? Does it sound like its playing in the background? If so, change: ShowDesktop=Falseto ShowDesktop=True 2) GameEx is at a different resolution than the other emulator. One option is to tell GameEx not to change resolutions and get them correct in each emulator. I don't know if that will fix the crash, but that's something you need to check outside of GameEx by running the "Run Last Game.bat" file in the GameEx Start menu.

Interesting. Thanks for the site! It looks to me like unless you want to get some imported racing games (ridge racer, rave racer, etc), you really do get the vast majority of games via MAME, Zinc, and Model 2. I may see about Nebula, but it looks to be a PITA!

It's unlikely that I will play much with it again since it works just fine for what I needed. I highly recommend taking a look as the structure is all there for doing the fast scrolling. It's just that for some reason when GameEx receives the PageUp/PageDown keys, it breaks. I hadn't thought about sending both the alpha/paging key and the up/down key at the same time though. That would probably make it work just fine. As it is, you would just have to uncomment the fast scroll sections (remove the semi-colon) and give it a whirl.

I downloaded Nebula a while back, but when I went to configure it, I gave up. It's setup is more complicated than zinc from what I saw and since there weren't that many games there, I figured why bother when they play ok in MAME.

The fast scrolling would be very cool and *should* be doable. I didn't hash it out completely because I realized my list was only ~2 pages long and that feature wasn't needed. If you want to use it with a spinner/trackball for your main list, it would be MUCH nicer having it. I envisioned whipping my steering wheel and having it shoot down the list which could be the same with a spinner. I can take a quick look later on if it really bothers you.

If you want everything to power up when the PC powers up and off when it shuts down (marquee, speakers, monitor, etc), then I recommend either getting a smartstrip or if you want to go the cheap and dirty route (I did twice), build a relay controlled power switch for ~$5 and add any power strip you have laying around. The link to the design I used is now dead, but the internet doesn't let anything die! See it here. One other method to control power if you don't want to cut more holes in the cabinet for your power button is to use a remote power switch like this.

Do Raine and Nebula really perform significantly better than MAME?

Good god man! Have you never played a SNES before?

No, that's EMULATION! There's no free lunch here.

True, there are some emulators that will allow you to choose the output screen, but this question was in regards to GameEx as written. At the moment, there is no way to send GameEx to the second screen on startup. Therefore, you have to switch your primary display to secondary. It would be possible to script this event so that you launch the script, it switches screens, and GameEx starts up. Also, it could be done by scripting GameEx starting and moving it to the second screen when it pops up. Either way would work.

There wasn't that kind of ill-will from Nologic. He felt disrespected and so he kindly asked for his contributions to be removed. Although I personally agree that once something has been posted as public domain, it shouldn't be pulled, there is nothing saying that you have to stop using what you already have. All that was done here is the distribution was ceased. If you already have the scripts/loaders/artwork/etc. by all means, keep using it. Anyway, whatever...

The Mouse2Key script shouldn't break GameEx like that. The only problems I have had with the script are that the fast motion portion didn't work. If you have an alpha/paging button set up, you don't need it anyway though.

Okay, I'm just going to post my code if anyone wants to see it. EDIT: Updated with a new version that should work better... MAME_loader.zip

The idea here is that you can set up the emulators any way you want. You could have one MAME directory with multiple versions in the same root using all the same files. Or, you could have different installations of MAME as well as Raine, Nebula, etc. GameEx sends some stuff on the command line that could be filtered off. For instance, the rom path may not be appropriate. In my case, I use the same roms, but it's certainly feasible that the emulator could require older dumps to work correctly. If that were the case, the script could ignore the rom path and just send the rest. It's just a matter of checking to see if the string starts with "-rompath" or not. Probably a good idea to eliminate it though. I personally have that set in my MAME.ini file anyway, so it's just duplication.

This script has not been tested with GameEx yet as it got too late last night (my wife was getting mad ). But, it does launch MAME and MAME Analog+ as desired. This loader is designed to be used in place of calling out the MAME executable in GameEx so there will be one list (the main MAME list) that works with multiple emulators (like the built in Zinc and Model 2 support). Basically, if these files are put in your MAME directory, the path's updated, and the script compiled (I don't think GameEx will work without it being an executable), it should launch either MAME or MAME Analog+ based on the list. It would be pretty easy to set it up to do more emulators if that were desired although I have no plans to do it. I am simply putting this out there so that if anyone else wants to take the next step of making it work with Raine, Nebula, etc. they have a stepping off point. I was also hoping that someone experienced in writing wrappers could take a look and suggest any improvements (or improve it and post).

Correction: You pick the system from the dropdown, not the emulator. In your case, pick [Console] Genesis (or is it [Console] Sega Genesis...). The ones with bracketed text are newer and much better.

You only need one thing on the command line to make MAME work if you use a MAME.ini file - the rom you want to run. If you use a config file, you can de EVERYTHING the command line arguments can do, but you don't have to worry about forgetting them or getting them wrong. As far as MAMEUI, yes you can. However, I believe that it is called MAMEUI.ini. Either way, it can be done by running 'MAME -createconfig' or 'MAMEUI -createconfig'. Then just go through it line by line and edit values to what you want.