bkenobi

Post your GameEx log file from a crash.

Cool, thanks Tom! That first item bothered me a bit, but not enough to ask for a fix...

This is a known issue with MAME builds 0.118 and after. If you don't want to deal with changing your setup somehow, you should consider going back to 0.117 or earlier.

Actually, the problem I just mentioned isn't CPWizard related. The problem is that I have 2 styles of controls for my cab (Neo Geo and SF). I use the 4 button Neo Geo for anything with 4 or less buttons and the SF layout if it has more. My last question was really a question about MAME since I thought you were saying by creating a NeoGeo.ini file, you could change the way buttons are setup. If I misread, that's my bad.

Actually, those images are perhaps misleading. I guess I should have listed my layouts as 1-4 button games (what I called Neo Geo) and 5-6 button games (what I called SF). I use the Neo Geo buttons as the default layout since those feel more natural. The problem is that I would have to setup a override ini file for any game with more than 4 buttons rather than just NeoGeo games like it sounds like you do. That may not make sense. If not, I can try to rephrase. Last time I set everything up, I did it manually by going to every game that had 5+ buttons and changing their config. I'm not really that interested in doing that again (since I never reconfigured after the controls update in ~118. Any thoughts?

...and it looks great!

He's trying to export CP images so GameEx MAME can display them without CPWizard running. I agree that he should probably filter it out of GameEx if it doesn't work, but he wants to generate all of the other CP's after it in CPWizard so I would still suggest removing it from the list that CPWizard works through.

If that game is really the problem, then if you just move it to a temporary directory or rename it to connect4.zip.tmp or something. If it still breaks, then it's not the game (assuming it is connect4 that it's working on), it's got to be the CPWizard as best I can tell.

If it's always the same number, I strongly suspect it has to do with a specific game. The easiest way I can think to find it is to go to your newly created CP image directory and sort by name (sorting by date/time should result in exactly the same list). Go to the last file in the list and find it's name (for example 1942.png). Now, go to your rom directory and sort by name and scroll down to 1942. The game I suspect is causing the problem should be the next title after the last CP image you created. This should also be the 976th file in your roms folder.

THANKS! I've looked around and only found giant setups to download. I'll definitely give this a try!

What game is it stopping on? That should be the one right after the last one created and probably alphabetical. My first blush would be that there might be a problem with the config file for that game it breaks on.

JCGamer's setup was filled up, so I don't know if I can just add more characters. Also, I want to have a separate box for the other systems, so that would probably require a different screen pack. I haven't found anywhere to download screen packs yet.

If the game and monitor both support higher resolutions than are displayed, it probably means that your video card or your video card's drivers don't support the mode. I think my card maxes out at 1280xsomething, so if I wanted to use 23" monitor (for instance), I would need to get a better video card.

The set that was shared a couple weeks back is pretty cool! The only thing I've been trying to figure out is how to change it a little to include a few more characters. I had envisioned having Marvel, Capcom, and SNK in 3 blocks (so basically adding one more for Marvel). I've seen a setup on YouTube that looks like a good one, but I don't know where to find that screen pack or how to build my own. Any ideas? EDIT: This is sorta what I had in mind... It looks like there's a MUGEN Windows Configurator that works pretty nicely, so maybe that's the answer. I'll see if I can get that to work, but if anyone has any suggestions, that would still be great!

If you created your own themes for MAMEwah, then you would have the source available to just redo things for GameEx. The Theme Editor is really for people who want to take their MAMEwah downloaded theme into GameEx quick and dirty. I've seen good results, but then I didn't try it extensively to say when/why it wouldn't work. I don't think I actually had a problem with it, but I only tried it a couple times before finding one of the default themes I liked.

Yeah, I asked that before HK announced the CPWizard. There still isn't a super easy way to do this, but with the CPWizard, it's something that's manageable.

There was a thread I remember a while back talking about networked versions of MAME, but I didn't follow too closely cause it's not an interest I have. I think HK and/or Brian were the ones discussing that version. I think it can be done, but I don't think it works nicely with GameEx, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, that's cool. I would prefer having a single post with the right instructions rather than having to read through a whole thread. Makes it easier for referencing down the road!

Absolutely right. I should have mentioned that (and thought I did, but I guess I missed it). You should use whatever you have first of all, but if you are going to be doing more than just one job, get the tool that you plan on using over again. For instance, I bought my compressor a couple years back cause I wanted to paint something and knew I had a few other uses for it down the road. If I didn't have the compressor, I would have used screws of some kind. Since I already had the compressor and was given the nailer as a gift, and since I wanted to find a use for it anyway, it worked out perfect. Actually, now that I think about it, the 1x1's mostly came from the deconstruction of 3 cabs (2 that I finished, and one that's sitting in a friend's garage as a future project). I basically just reused what I already had available... I'm not against buying tools. I'm just saying you should buy the tool that makes the most sense for what your overall needs are. This is a cab that has on the order of 50-100 screws. There's no need to spend a ton of money on a cartridge based screw gun when any old drill driver will work for that. If spending a couple bucks saves a huge pain, do it! If it costs more but you have a use for it down the road, consider it! Anyway, back to the point... There's lots of ways to do build a cab. Just make use of what you have and have fun in the process!

Those pocket screws are nice, but for a cabinet, you don't need to buy a jig like that if you don't already have one. I personally used 1x1's and staples and everything is super strong. I've rebuilt 2 Atari cabs and the reason I went with staples and glue is...that's what they did and it's freakin solid! That said, there are a TON of ways to build a cabinet. I personally had a pneumatic staple/brad gun available, so I used that and glue. The Kreg jig would work awesome if you have one or plan on using one in the future. Screws work great if you don't have either (if you don't have a drill driver, you MUST HAVE ONE). Basically, carpenters glue is what holds cabinets together. The screws/staples/brads/etc. are there to hold it while the glue is drying....

A picture is worth 1000 words! If you want all games, change this to "I want clones"

You could also put CPWizard in the logon script for Windows. 1) Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc 2) Select Local Computer Policy -> User Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Scripts (Logon/Logoff) 3) Double click Logon 4) Click Add 5) Click Browse and find cpwizard.exe and set Script Parameters as "-minimized" and click ok 6) Click Apply Next time you logon, you should have CPWizard running. The only problem you may have is if CPWizard starts up slower than GameEx it may steal focus. That will have to be dealt with if it occurs (hopefully not).

GameEx requires DirectX 9.0c. If you have a newer version that is compatible, then that should be fine. It's definitely a DirectX error, so I would try 2 things: 1) Reinstall DirectX like Tempest suggested (sometimes things get corrupt for no apparent reason) 2) Try a different theme

If you have a modern system, tripplebuffer can improve the quality of your graphics by having 3 screens in the queue (one being written to the display, one ready for the next scan, and the last for the next one being written to). If your system isn't up to the task for the current game, you will get slow downs, potentially audio problems, and other possible issues with your game. I couldn't say what other front ends use "typically", I know that GameEx has it and MAME doesn't by default.