bkenobi

Just curious, but what happens if you put the cabinet against a wall and someone hits the keyboard switch? Does it have any kind of "blocked window" shutoff? Some windows do that, but I wasn't sure if that was in the motor or an extra switch attached to the door. I'm just wondering if it pushes the keyboard through the wall or if it will stall out (those motors are freakishly strong from what I understand).

Ahhh, without a cabinet, there wouldn't be anything to build it into! Btw, why not change the batteries to something with more kick to get you up to the 5v if that's what you need? For instance (since you had to modify it anyway), why not go with a 9v and a voltage regulator (if needed) or use some of the other area in the sensor bar and put a couple more AA's in there to keep it wireless. Eh, if it works, it works!

So you took a wireless Wii receiver/transmitter and made it wired? Why not just put it directly in the cab if you are going to go with a wired one anyway? Ehhh, looks good though. Nice work!

Just curious about the window motor. Did you look for a motor that had a specific throw, or were you able to adjust how far the motor ran. In other words, did you just add limit switches to stop the motion at each end or was the motor pre-configured to run for a certain time/distance? I really like this idea since those motors are specifically designed for this type of motion and about the right distance for this stuff too. This could be used to extend a drawer out the front just as easily (for those that have keyboards already set up that way). Good ideas here!

Okay, so your question is really "How do I use a mouse in MAME for gun games?", correct? The answer is that you need to read the MAME docs. However, there's a lot to read, so I'll summarize. MAME changed the input scheme in v0.117u1 so that programs can't create inputs for MAME. That means that Joy2Key, XPadder, WinGun, AHK, etc. can no longer be used to provide custom inputs to MAME the way they used to. What you need to do is use an older version of MAME like v0.117. HOWEVER, if the software you are using for you WiiMote is actually a driver that makes the the WiiMote a mouse (as far as Windows is concerned), then you can use a current build of MAME just fine. I don't know whether this is the case or not, but I figured I would point that out. To set up MAME you first have to turn on the lightgun. Either edit the mame.ini and put a '1' next to lightgun or use the -lightgun switch. Now, to configure the gun, you simply go to the gun setup in MAME. Then select the X Analog direction and move the WiiMote horizontally. Then select Y Analog and move the WiiMote vertically. If the gun is set up as a gun and not a mouse, you will actually have to click the trigger before and after your movement. You should be good to go at this point!!!

Cool, thanks! I'll check this out this evening when I finish my updates.

No knots, but lots of emphysema!

FYI - Maximus Arcade costs more and stops working after 30 days.

I'd use the good stuff for the front/exposed surfaces and then use the non-finished plywood for anything else. I would use MDF for the CP though. When I was cutting test CP's out of plywood, the back side tended to tear out quite a bit (I didn't use any kind of a backer when drilling, so this could have been avoided on a final piece). MDF won't do that (as long as you don't push the bit through) and should result in a nicer finished piece. However, if you take your time you can make anything look good!

You can make it smooth by applying wood filler/bondo and then sanding. But, you will have a nice smooth surface to start with if you go with MDF or a higher quality plywood. Looks like you chose a rough type rather than one that is finished on at least one side. You can get plywood that has finished surfaces on either one or both sides that will give you a nice surface to paint or whatever. You will still need to prime, sand, and paint no matter what you use, so I wouldn't eliminate plywood altogether.

Your best bet is to go through the setup in the Setup Wizard and then run "Validate Setup". It will tell you if any paths are invalid/don't exist. I know that if you have an invalid path in an emulator for your roms for example, that GameEx will crash. This won't happen if you fix the red items the validation tool shows you.

I noticed this yesterday actually. I thought it was just me and my specific config, so I didn't worry about it. The Setup Wizard is not populating the list of database files so the drop down is empty. I have not checked the Advanced Configuration tool yet, so I don't know if it's affected as well.

FYI - From everything I've heard from people on the inside, Windows 7 will likely kill off Vista. Vista is pretty much good to go now, but the public opinion (thanks to Apple's ads) is that Vista sucks. Well, Windows 7 should be exactly what everyone wanted in the first place and more. AND, M$ claims they won't let Apple pull another marketing campaign on them like they did last time. Anyway, good to hear things run fairly well!

Awesome! I'll check this out as well.

I don't know, but sometimes things can be fixed by deleting the cache files in the C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA directory. I don't remember which ones they are, but there are 3 that have been mentioned in the past. Now, I don't think this will help in this case since I think that's mostly rom related data and not likely related to creating snaps. Tom might have to answer this one.

The version of MAME32 that's listed in the Setup Wizard is an old version AFAIK. If that fixed your problems, then it's likely that your rom set is pretty old. My suggestion would be to use a version of MAME (command line, not MAME32 GUI version) that matches your rom set. If you have it working, don't worry about it I suppose, but I think you would be better in the long run using the non-GUI version. Anyway, glad to hear you got it going!

FWIW, I have used Bulk Rename Utility in the past. It is a bit complicated looking, but it can do some cool stuff. I would say it's WAY overkill for most common tasks, but it definitely should work. As I recall, you can even use RegEx in there to give even more customization to your renaming!

I don't want to go to much further with this thread cause I think everything has already been said, but I do agree with the nag screen. I think the point is to make you think about all the work that has gone into development of the FE so that you will appreciate it enough and want to help out financially. The nag screen is a pain in the butt when you are configuring since it makes small changes take forever to get through. I personally would rather have it shorter (~5 seconds rather than 20-30) so that people will still be reminded, but they won't get discouraged. Anyway, IMO free is not having to pay. To you, free is only free if it's full featured. Obviously there are different views that won't be changed now, so I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for picking GameEx!

You first edit the text in the Advanced Config tool, then select "Custom Language", or you can select a different Language (like German). If you choose to use a different language and there is a mistake that you find or you just want to change something, you then need to switch back to "Custom Language". Hope that helps. Oh, and if you find anything that needs fixing, you can make the changes and submit them to Tom for inclusion in a future release. That way they will be available for everyone!

Well, a lot of times if someone doesn't know the answer, a link to somewhere that contains the answer is posted. In this case, I have never played with or researched the fruit machines, so I can't help. Did you try searching for a forum that discusses MFME (if that's the right emulator)? They might be a lot more helpful with a solution or a site to check. Just my thoughts... EDIT: I just did a quick search on google and found a forum that might be helpful. http://www.fruitforums.com

Well, I see what you mean about your interpretation of "free". However, if you are given a program that never requires you to pay for a license never expires, then that is "free" in my opinion. There are a few extra features that Tom has had to pay others for licensing and such to incorporate. Those features are definitely not required in order to use the FE. In fact, I don't think I've used any of the extra features on my cab. Now, if you use the software for a HTPC FE, then you will definitely like some of those additional capabilities. Or, if you use GoodMerged sets then you can have a cleaner setup. But, there are ways of doing the same things as many of these features with a bit of work on the user's part. Anyway, I don't think the term "free" was meant to be misleading and it's certainly not inaccurate. Thanks for your question! Perhaps the info about the license in the FAQ could be expanded a bit...

Can't you use a script to turn on the mic?

Congrats! You now have more experience with MAME than 90% of it's users (cause they never compile MAME themselves).

Well, it certainly lasts longer. Yeah, I said it.

There is no rule against using the registration for multiple computers. It would be inappropriate to share your registration with other people though. If you want, you can register again to help support the software, but there is no requirement to do so.