GeorgeBuford

I mentioned to nullPtr that a way to limit the number the video clips played during the attract mode would be useful for my cabinet. Basically a way to play a random video from the specified directory, reset the attract timer and return to the current menu. This could be a variable LimitAttractPlayCount=1, for example. Thanks for listening! -GB

It runs Gamera on startup ( curses based rom selector - think MameGUI, but uglier ). Then it launches a version of AdvMame for emulation, and a background task 'Retrogame' to translate the joystik / button presses to keys. The board is the Raspberry Pi B - so due to processor speed and control panel space limits your rom selection. That said, it is still MUCH cooler than the single game 'Frogger', 'Pac Man' and 'Donkey Kong' versions that I wish I had when I was a kid... http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Coleco/DK.htm -GB

I put together the 'cupcade' cabinet over xmas ( http://www.adafruit.com/product/1783 ). Only burnt myself with the iron a couple of times! The interface for MAME/NES is functional but not pretty. Has anybody tried getting WINE / GameEx to work on Pi? It would be a great front end for this unit. More promising is this platform: http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fitlet/ Specs say it runs Windows at 1.6Ghz, so compatibility shouldn't be a problem. If the roms and extras can be stored on a usb or network drive, sky is the limit for GameEx online. -GB

Thank you both for your quick responses. I am encouraged by your response NULLPOINTER ( if you worked at the Redmond Nintendo shop we are probably neighbors ). I 'had a dream' when I acquired my cabinet frame, and there were no front ends that met my needs at the time. So with a background in programming, I explored the wonderful world of Flash and Actionscript. Obsession and overkill - yes on both! The main idea behind my machine is that when you turn it on, it jumps right to the startup video and the only way to switch user modes / maneuver the menus is with the joystick and buttons. Hiding the Windows OS interface is important; I will replace the shell with GameEx if things go as planned. You step up to the machine believing that some idiot actually created a video game based on the major motion picture I chose ( grin ). I anticipated having to hack into some code to make things work, so having as much of the system open source as possible will come in handy. The important thing will the flexability in scripting. I am 90% sold on the product and will most likely invest in it so I can 'play around'. I will continue browsing and look at the plugins mentioned. Sounds like 'Evolution' will be an interesting research topic as well. This should be fun! -GB

Hi all, After playing with the demo of GameEx, I have a few questions before becoming a lifetime member. Some background. I designed a custom interface for my MAME cabinet using ActionScript 3 and C#. It displays a video on startup, then jumps into a simple menu system. Each 'folder' ( using GameEx terminology ) on my system has a static background, and a random mp3 file plays when it is loaded. Each menu is read from XML files and must be hand edited when new roms or emulators are added. If the menu sits idle for a set amount of time, the mp3 is stopped and a random video is played. If the video finishes or a button is pressed, we jump back to the menu we just left, playing a new random mp3. Eventually, an 'Item' ( rom ) is selected, the game plays, and we return to the launching menu once again. There are also some digital IO signals generated that can be generated at times to control cabinet lighting. This was done by embedding Flash callbacks in the movie clips, telling me when to turn on / off the relay switches. I also check for a special button sequence during the startup video that puts the game into 'adult mode'. This adds the 'R' rated mp3s / videos to the random queue, and prevents kids from learning new vocabulary. I would like to be able to customize the environment as described above, but rely on the GameEx database and internet updates on the 'back end' so I can focus on the interface. In general, I just need to be able skin the beast to match my cabinet's theme. And so I ask you, the experienced GameEx user / developer - WILL IT WORK? Thanks in advance for your input. -GB