bkenobi

Issue 1) In order to use a joystick, you have to use the Winterblast plugin. You obviously are using one (hence issue 2), so it comes down to how you are setting it up. As I recall, this is one time that Joy2Key is needed to send the joystick commands to keyboard. If I get a chance, I'll look at my config to remember how I did it. Issue 2) These games apparently don't work with the Winterblast plugin. There is a thread that was just posted that covers this. Look here.

Forgot about the USD -> AUD conversion I agree that a better display would be MUCH nicer, but when I was looking at 27" displays, I couldn't convince the wife that >$1000US for the display was worth the money. Of course, I did not look for used monitors at the time. I figured they would just end up with burn in and be a disappointment. Also, at the time I was under the impression that there was a problem connecting them to a pc without a special vga card, drivers, and constant adjustments for each game. Sounds like it's not really a problem after all! For my current project, I am using a 20" Trinitron tube flat screen CRT. Should look great and will just squeeze into the 19" hole!

HK always has the easy answers

1) Can't answer for sure, I don't know the game. In general though, you can use a joystick to control ANY game/control. So, my answer would be probably, but I don't know. 2) Yes, sort of. If you set up MAME to use the joystick for lightguns, then you can control the cross hairs with the joysticks. Be aware that this is not the best option as far as how fun it is, but it does work if you must use them. It's easy in MAME32. Just go to the properties menu and on the page where you select controls, there is an area that you can choose how you want the trackball, lightgun, etc controlled. 3) You want to set up a generic set of controls in MAME to do this. Easiest way is to launch a game and hit tab (by default). Go to the generic controls section and change the controls however you want. Then, when you launch a game it will default to those. Be aware that if you have any games set up already using the individual game setup, the generic settings will not apply.

There is a guide here that shows how to setup the keys in Zinc as I recall. I think it was written by Nologic. Try searching for "zinc" and see what you come up with.

Just a thought, but is it possible that there is a latency problem when you request the file over the network? What I mean is that although the files may transfer at ~1gb/s there may be a latency for the initial request. I know this is a problem with satellite internet (very high throughput speeds but nearly impossible to play FPS due to large latency).

I don't use videos currently, so I don't know if this is possible. If this is a feature request though, perhaps you could add it there rather than in it's own thread?

I don't know if it's a bug or not, but one way to stop GameEx from making changes to your settings is to set the configuration ini file to read-only. If you leave it that way, you won't be able to delete games inside the interface. So, you would probably just want to change the properties during updates only.

Damn! $875 is more than what it cost me to build my entire first cabinet (parts, paint, tv, etc, etc, etc). Granted I built it on a tight budget, but I didn't end up skimping on anything really. Must be nice to work with an unlimited cash supply

Sounds like you have ShowDesktop turned off? I don't run that emu, but it sounds like it needs to be enabled for it to work. I don't know why it would be sporadic like that though...

Are you trying to control GameEx with player 4's controls? If I understand the question correctly, you want to use P4 to control GameEx in addition to other players, correct? If so, I don't think it's currently possible. I tried putting together an AutoHotKey macro to accomplish this, but I failed miserably. Apparently, I can't write AHK scripts yet...

You may have some specific [ROM].ini settings that need to be changed. You could delete all of the ini files out of the ini directory, but if you do that you will lose all settings for those games, such as key mappings. Unless you have a bunch of specific configurations, that would be my approach, though.

I think he wants the categories removed from the display. I don't use the Jukebox, so I don't know what's listed, but it sounds like it has the same menus as the MAME list. I probably would want them gone, too. Sorry, can't help myself though...

Okay, I'll give it a try. Thanks! Edit: I ran GameEx for several hours in demo mode and no crash! I also played a few games through Zinc, Model2 and MAME without error. I was also able to alt-tab out and return. Thanks for the quick fix!

It did it the first time I started it up. I reset the computer (actually, that's what "PowerOff.bat" does), then relaunched GameEx without any other utilities loaded (JoyToKey was loading) to verify that it wasn't conflicting. It loaded up just fine, so I went to dinner and when I came back it was still playing. So, I alt-tabbed out to relaunch JoyToKey, but it immediately caused this error on alt-tabbing. I haven't had this problem before, so yeah, it's something new. Thanks for looking into it!

I just updated to v7.95 this evening. I did not change any settings, I just installed the installer as usual. After completion, I ran the executable (as usual) and GameEx errored out. I rebooted and started GameEx again and let it go to demo mode. It seemed to be working fine, but then when I alt-tabbed out to put it in the background (which I have been able to do without problems from day 1), it crashed. Any thoughts? log.txt: 20:36:20.2 3/23/2007: GameEx: Version 7.95: Starting Log 20:36:20.2 3/23/2007: Operating System Platform: Win32NT 20:36:20.2 3/23/2007: Operating System Name: Windows XP 20:36:20.2 3/23/2007: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: .net Framework 1.1 Installed 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: .net Framework 2.0 Installed 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: 2.16Ghz 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: Running Randomize() 20:36:20.3 3/23/2007: Loading PlugIns 20:36:20.4 3/23/2007: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup 20:36:20.4 3/23/2007: Launching and not waiting: c:\emu\winlirc\PowerOn.bat 20:36:20.4 3/23/2007: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Running Misc startup tasks 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Setting Menu types 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Opening Configuration File 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Getting Configuration Values 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Using Theme: TalkingBull Arcade Theme V1.0 20:36:20.6 3/23/2007: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: TalkingBull Arcade Theme V1.0 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Launching HideOS.exe 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Hiding Taskbar 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Is Media Center running? 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Media Center Mode 0 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Video previews on. Warning: Only recommended on modern systems 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Custom Game Device Input enabled: Getting custom codes 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Snap Delay set to: 3 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Get other settings 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Desktop set to Hide ICONS and set Background to Black 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Backing up Registry Wallpaper Settings 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Start work for Form 20:36:20.7 3/23/2007: Getting Original Screen Size 20:36:20.8 3/23/2007: Initializing Component 20:36:21.0 3/23/2007: MAME Path is: C:\Emu\MAME 20:36:21.0 3/23/2007: Model 2 Path Path is: C:\Emu\Model2 20:36:21.0 3/23/2007: Model 2 EXE file is: emulator.exe 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: Use Model 2 on. m2launcher.exe will launch Sega Model 2 games 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: ZiNc Path is: C:\Emu\ZiNc 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: ZiNc EXE file is: ZiNc.exe 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: Use ZiNc on. ZiNc.exe will launch PSX games 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: MAME EXE file is: mame.exe 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: ROM Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: Catver.ini is located at: C:\Emu\MAME\DAT\Catver.ini 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: controls.ini is located at: c:\Emu\MAME\DAT\controls.ini 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: History.dat is located at: C:\Emu\MAME\DAT\History.dat 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: nplayers.ini is located at: c:\Emu\MAME\DAT\nPlayers.ini 20:36:21.1 3/23/2007: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: C:\Emu\MAME\DAT\mameinfo.dat 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Loading Controls.ini map file 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Snap Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\snap 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: AVI Snap Path is: C:\Emu\Mame\MAMEMNG\ingame 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Flyer Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\flyers 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Cabinet Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\cabinets 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Title Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\titles 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Panel Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\cpanel 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Manual Path: Not Found 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Icon Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\icons 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Marquee Path is: C:\Emu\MAME\marquees 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Loading Custom Emulators 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Loading Emulator 5: Nintendo NES (NEStopia) 20:36:21.2 3/23/2007: Loading Emulator 6: Nintendo SNES (ZSNES) 20:36:21.4 3/23/2007: Using 2D Animations 20:36:21.4 3/23/2007: Using General Font: Trebuchet MS 20:36:21.4 3/23/2007: Using Title Font: Trebuchet MS 20:36:21.4 3/23/2007: Initialising DirectDraw 20:36:21.5 3/23/2007: Creating DirectDraw Device 20:36:21.5 3/23/2007: Using Device: Radeon X1300 Series (Omega 3.8.252) 20:36:21.5 3/23/2007: 307mb video memory available 20:36:21.6 3/23/2007: Setting Resolution to 1024x768 32 bit color 20:36:21.6 3/23/2007: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces 20:36:21.6 3/23/2007: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode 20:36:21.6 3/23/2007: Creating Back Buffer 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Version 2 Theme being used. Loading. 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Loading Button Data 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Loading Font Data 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Loading Layout Data 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Loading Taskbar Data 20:36:21.7 3/23/2007: Loading graphic Surfaces 20:36:21.8 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs 20:36:22.0 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Volume 20:36:22.0 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Arrows 20:36:22.0 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text 20:36:22.0 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Toolbar 20:36:22.1 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds 20:36:28.6 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls 20:36:28.6 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo 20:36:28.7 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit 20:36:28.7 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Snaps 20:36:28.7 3/23/2007: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars 20:36:29.1 3/23/2007: Creating Fonts 20:36:29.1 3/23/2007: Creating Menu Font 20:36:29.1 3/23/2007: Restoring Menu Font From Cache 20:36:29.5 3/23/2007: Creating Game Font 20:36:30.0 3/23/2007: Creating Font Black 20:36:30.1 3/23/2007: Creating Font Black Small 20:36:30.2 3/23/2007: Creating Game Font Faded 20:36:30.9 3/23/2007: Creating Title Font 20:36:31.0 3/23/2007: Restoring Title Font From Cache 20:36:34.3 3/23/2007: Fonts Created Succesfully 20:36:34.3 3/23/2007: 254mb video memory left available 20:36:57.9 3/23/2007: Text/Language: English 20:36:57.9 3/23/2007: Applying Language/Text 20:36:58.0 3/23/2007: Initialising Bass Audio Library 20:36:58.2 3/23/2007: MAME CMD options: 20:36:58.2 3/23/2007: Attempting to load game list 20:36:58.6 3/23/2007: Running: mame.exe -help 20:36:58.6 3/23/2007: Running: C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe -help > C:\Emu\MAME\help.txt 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Detected MAME Version as: 0.113 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Now Outputing mame.exe - Help 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: --BEGIN-- 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: M.A.M.E. v0.113 (Mar 5 2007) - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Copyright © 1997-2007 by Nicola Salmoria and the MAME Team 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: MAME is an emulator: it reproduces, more or less faithfully, the behaviour of 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: several arcade machines. But hardware is useless without software, so an image 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: of the ROMs which run on that hardware is required. Such ROMs, like any other 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: commercial software, are copyrighted material and it is therefore illegal to 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: use them if you don't own the original arcade machine. Needless to say, ROMs 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: are not distributed together with MAME. Distribution of MAME together with ROM 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: images is a violation of copyright law and should be promptly reported to the 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: authors so that appropriate legal action can be taken. 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Usage: MAME gamename [options] 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: MAME -showusage for a brief list of options 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: MAME -showconfig for a list of configuration options 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: MAME -createconfig to create a mame.ini 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: For usage instructions, please consult the file windows.txt 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: --END-- 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Loading last used Game List 20:36:58.8 3/23/2007: Loading Start Page 20:36:59.0 3/23/2007: Setting Music Volume 20:36:59.0 3/23/2007: Creating DirectSound Device 20:36:59.0 3/23/2007: Trying: Primary Sound Driver 20:36:59.0 3/23/2007: Loading Sound Files 20:36:59.4 3/23/2007: DirectSound Device Created Successfully 20:36:59.4 3/23/2007: Creating ICONS 20:36:59.4 3/23/2007: Recreating ICONS 20:36:59.9 3/23/2007: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support 20:36:59.9 3/23/2007: Looking for Device: GP-Wiz 20:36:59.9 3/23/2007: Device Created 20:37:00.0 3/23/2007: Playing intro sound file 20:37:00.0 3/23/2007: Initializing MCE Remote 20:37:00.0 3/23/2007: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx! 20:37:00.0 3/23/2007: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame 20:37:00.6 3/23/2007: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully 20:40:00.0 3/23/2007: Starting Attract Mode 20:40:00.4 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe capbowl -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:43:03.8 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe bongo -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:46:07.6 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe gondo -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:49:11.3 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe cosmogng -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:52:15.3 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe jjack -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:55:19.0 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe imsorry -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 20:58:22.6 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe megatack -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:01:26.5 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe cracksht -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:04:30.7 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe ms5pcb -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:07:34.6 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe bladestl -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:10:38.3 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe pang -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:13:42.1 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe marvins -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:16:45.9 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe boxyboy -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:19:49.6 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe trckydoc -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:22:53.5 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe cobracom -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:25:57.5 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe lrescue -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:29:01.2 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe loffire -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:32:04.9 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe megazone -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:35:08.7 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe ar_sprg -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:38:12.7 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe silkroad -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:41:16.7 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe 3stooges -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:44:20.7 3/23/2007: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emu\MAME\mame.exe kikikai -rompath C:\Emu\MAME\roms 21:45:36.8 3/23/2007: MAME process ended: Exiting attract mode 21:45:40.2 3/23/2007: 307mb video memory available 21:45:58.7 3/23/2007: GameEx has detected a problem or change in your display such as running under remote desktop 21:45:58.7 3/23/2007: GameEx will now reinitialize the display 21:45:58.7 3/23/2007: 307mb video memory available 21:46:03.5 3/23/2007: 307mb video memory available 21:46:20.5 3/23/2007: 21 Consecutive Exceptions Occured: Exiting 21:46:20.5 3/23/2007: First Exception: 21:46:20.5 3/23/2007: Error in the application. 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw.Surface.DrawInternal(tagRECT* destRectangle, Surface sourceSurface, tagRECT* srcRectangle, DrawFlags flags, DrawEffects& bltEffects) 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw.Surface.Draw(Rectangle destRectangle, Surface sourceSurface, Rectangle srcRectangle, DrawFlags flags) 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.DrawBackground() 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.DisplayFrame() 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: Last Exception: 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: Error in the application. 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw.Surface.DrawInternal(tagRECT* destRectangle, Surface sourceSurface, tagRECT* srcRectangle, DrawFlags flags, DrawEffects& bltEffects) 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw.Surface.Draw(Rectangle destRectangle, Surface sourceSurface, Rectangle srcRectangle, DrawFlags flags) 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.DrawBackground() 21:46:20.9 3/23/2007: at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.DisplayFrame() 21:46:26.0 3/23/2007: Exiting GameEx! 21:46:26.0 3/23/2007: Saving Settings 21:46:27.3 3/23/2007: Disposing Plugins 21:46:27.3 3/23/2007: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit 21:46:27.3 3/23/2007: Launching and waiting: c:\emu\winlirc\PowerOff.bat

Try inquiring in this thread. It's supposed to be possible to do PVR type things in GameEx with this project. Of course, I don't know where it stands...

One option is to remap one of the two buttons to another key. I would suggest changing button 1 from control to a different key since escape is pretty universal, but either will work.

I have mouse disabled as well, and, although I don't use a mouse with my cabinet, I have noticed that when I bump the mouse, it does show up for a while at least. I haven't found a way to disable it completely in GameEx.

That's how it's supposed to work. But, like I said, I don't have my config set up that way yet. From other threads, that's what was used to get things working.

Although it would be cool to have all games light up the control panel, I have to question how valuable it is for console emulators. On the other hand, they all have the same controls from game to game on the same console, so it's just a matter of having a single config for each console...

There is a setting under each emulator in the advanced config that allows you to send keys on exit and such. I have not played with this (I have been using JoyToKey, but have been planning on switching), but other threads have described putting the 'Alt-F4' command in that section. In my configuration with JoyToKey, sending 'Alt-F4' does shut down the emulator correctly though. So, you should be able to get it working with that command.

Yes, installing a new version does not change any of your settings.

This can be done with external applications, but I agree this would be MUCH easier to configure if it were built into the FE!

In regards to question 2) There is a control panel editor that HeadKaze built into the Theme Editor a while back (which is what you are playing with). But, Tom hasn't had a chance to enable custom control panels yet. I would imagine that after that were enabled, you might be able to make it part of your theme (although you might have to make a custom one to do it), which would take care of question 1 as well. Personally, I like the idea of having the CP viewer as a part of the game's screen. I would love to see a picture of a generic cabinet with the game's marquee, a screenshot, and below it a custom CP viewer with the key mappings shown. I don't think I could make it look right on my monitor though...