bkenobi

I used to use advanceMAME, but don't any more. There are a lot of advanced setup steps for getting it working correctly, so you will need to make sure you have it right outside of GameEx first. My guess is actually an improperly setup video setting of some kind. I could be wrong though...

Added a short instruction set to the other thread...

Python is a scripting language that can run on virtually any platform. I have updated the first post to include instructions.

MAME doesn't do anything that the original game didn't do. If the game originally asked for a name/initials, then you can enter those as you normally do. If you don't have the hi-score patch applied, the game will lose your score if you don't have it backing up the game state on exit. If you do have the hi-score patch applied, then it *should* write your scores to the hiscore directory (or whatever you've set it to in the mame.ini file). Hope that helps!

Check out this thread. I just noticed that Brian removed the discussion from the tread (which was mostly just banter anyway). If you have questions about how to use that script, ask there and I will help the best I can.

I created a custom catver.ini file and changed all casino and similar games to *mature*

I read that before deciding to go with the 360 cabinet build. I was anticipating being able to play 270 games without any problems. In practice though, the steering wheel didn't work as well as I had hoped. I can't remember exactly what the issues were, if you got off your lazy butt, you might figure them out yourself As I recall, turning the wheel past 135 left or right would stop rotation in the game (as it should), but when you turned back the other way, it didn't act quite right. I think moved the center of the wheel in a way that didn't feel natural. The best way to go would be to install physical blocks to keep the wheel from turning past 135 each way, but that's a bit complicated. Try a couple games and tell me if I'm off my rocker...

My apologies for sounding blunt. I was mainly trying to point out that we (as a community, not just me) have spent a lot of time trying to answer all the common questions in advance. This is in an effort to help new users get started as much as it is to try to keep the forum easy to use/search by having less repetition of the same questions and answers. Brian already answered the questions you had, so I was primarily trying to suggest that if you have any other questions, you might be able to find them in the FAQ. If not, feel free to post a question, we (as a community) try very hard to get everyone willing to put in minimal effort up and running as quickly as possible. Remember, this is not a paying gig, it's a hobby that we spend a few minutes here and there on (typically). It's supposed to be fun....

Just my $0.02, but if it were me, I would consider loading the emulator on each machine and running the roms off the server. If you want to share configs, you can use Link Shell Extensions to make the emulator think that the original copy of the configs are on a local drive in the correct location. That way you wouldn't get a slow down from the emulator loading or the nag from it being on a network resource.

Not to be rude, but at least 1 and 2 are answered in the FAQ. Oh well...

Well, I would have gone with a pair of U360's or similar analog sticks, but when a local guy basically gave me a pair of LS-30's, I couldn't complain!

I don't consider that insignificant. In fact, I was contemplating whether I should build one myself a couple weeks back. Now I don't have to! Woohoo! hooray for being lazy

If only it could also be a rotary joystick...

steering wheels are considered a dial.

You can also try running the "Run Last Game.bat" file in the start menu. It will give you an error that you can use to solve the problem. If you post the error, we can try to help that way too. Posting the config will give you an answer, but it might not teach you how to spot the error. It's up to you if you want to have the fish or learn to fish

My only concern would be the latency of your network. If you are using a 10mbps network or wireless, then you will not want to play larger roms (MAME CHDs, PSX, Dreamcast, Saturn, etc) as they could take several minutes to transfer. If you are using a gigabit setup, then you might be ok, but it depends on how you have the server set up. If it sleeps most of the time, you will have some lag between requesting a game and the transfer starting. There was at least one thread about a year ago discussing this. Perhaps you can find it with a search.

You might consider making the file read-only if that's a common problem. That won't always work since the program might barf, but it's a little easier than using a script (although only slightly).

Search for NullDC on the forum and you should find everything that you need. There may even be an emulator config in the GameEx installer. If so, you would be able to find it when you pick a config to import.

Ok, I'll try again. steering wheel 1 analog dec = left arrow steering wheel 1 analog inc = right arrow Pedal 1 Analog Dec = up arrow Pedal 1 Analog Inc = down arrow You don't need to set the other analog controls to anything.

What are you trying to say about Keanu Reeves?

Pedal 1 Analog...........Analog control input. This can be a mouse axis, analog stick axis, potentiometer based pedal, etc. Pedal 1 Analog Dec....Digital input to decrement. Digital means on/off, so this is like a button press. If you use a button, it will be interpreted as each press reducing the angle by some incremental value. Pedal 1 Analog Inc.....Digital input to increment. Same but opposite as decrement. For a steering wheel, Dec turns the wheel left. For a pedal, dec will be like pushing the pedal down (typically).

Launch the Setup Wizard for GameEx. Follow through the basic setup (correcting settings as you go) until you get to the emulator setup step. When you are prompted to select an emulator for different slots, you can import preconfigured profiles. Pick a slot and import one for ZSNES. The next few screens set up the emulators you have enabled. Select ZSNES from the drop down and edit settings as appropriate. Make sure you get the paths set correctly. When done, continue with through (continuing to correct settings as you go) until you get to the last page "Verify Setup". If you run this tool, it will show you in red text anything that is not setup correctly. You may need to go back and correct those items for GameEx to work correctly.

You can play pretty much any game in MAME with a keyboard. Now, don't expect it to be accurate, but it is possible. If you want to give it a try, you just configure the increment and decrement inputs instead of the analog input. As I recall, you also will want to adjust the speed by going into the analog settings menu.

That brings up a good question. Did Tom implement a dedicated MAME background in the new version of the themes? As I recall, the background that you have for the main GameEx interface is the same one you use for MAME. I don't really keep up on the theme stuff, so that could have been changed a decade ago.

I don't have any pics with me, but if you have no intent on using the coin door other than for external looks, you can strip down everything attached to the inside. If you do that, then you have a nice door that doesn't get in the way when it's open. If you want to keep all the guts for whatever reason, you still have nice access, you just have to work around the coin mechanisms (minor inconvenience). I personally left them intact on both of my cabs and even hooked up the lights so the coin reject buttons are illuminated. My wife thought I was crazy for worrying about that minor detail, but in the end she agreed that it did make it look better.