headkaze

pacman: AFAIK there is no program to do what you want because you don't say what the xml file is. It could be any format so I doubt there is a program that can take any xml file and rename snaps to match it. Rapid Fire: Howard's Generic Artwork Renamer doesn't use dat files at all. It uses a source, destination and ROM folder, that's it. The dat file in the archive is just to store it's settings.

You can't. They are the exchange format we use here. When the database is finished it will be released with GameEx, so no need to download the files.

Thats a nice start Flash, as I said in PM perhaps we could get a program to extract info from the fpt files. I don't know if there is info saved in the actual file but if there is it would be a great way to get a database started and save some time. I had a quick look at an fpt in a hex editor and couldn't see anything but maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.

I've never used a JPAC before but if your plugging a keyboard into it I assume it works the same as an IPAC but with a jamma harness instead. So in that case it should look the same to the PC as an IPAC AFAIK.

There should be no problem using an IPAC with the Raw Input system. The reason they use it is so they can read multiple keyboards and multiple mice. I believe it also allows higher resolution of input. Because an IPAC is just emulating a keyboard it should work fine in Mame. I would go to the GameEx main page and download "Virtual key code lookup" from the Wrappers & Utils section and use it to see if Windows can detect your joystick.

I'm glad you take the database thing serious Flash because it means they will end up being more accurate and that can't be anything but a good thing. I'm sure Tom will get around to fixing these minor "issues" eventually and if worse comes to worse I can just filter them out in GameEx DBM and create new mdb's. I must admit I do agree with displaying the Name field over the filename though, or at least having the option, because it does give us the flexibility to correct any errors in the name as well as use characters that are not allowed in a filename. Actually come to think of it currently the Name field isn't used for anything is it?

Cheers Tom! Hopefully I'll get some time in the near future to get all the databases done with just the Moby data, later we can fill in the missing games.

Are you getting an error message at all when you run it from cmd.exe? Perhaps your rom does not match your Mame version?

Thanks for derailing my thread Brian! I will have my revenge! HyperSpin forums here I come! lol j/k

Well I made 77 default LWAX animations for the GameEx plugin, but they are designed as generic animations that will look good on any setup. The best way to make good LWAX animations is make ones specific for your CP layout. So I would recommend you download Arzoo's LEDBlinky Animation Editor and create some.

Arzoo and I designed the LWAX format for animating LED's and he wrote software to create animation sequences. You can download LEDBlinky Animation Editor from here. Once you setup your LED's in the plugin, check the GameEx\PLUGINS\PluginLCD for a file called DevicePort-Input.ini. You will need this file to tell LEDBlinky the configuration for your LED's. Once you've given LEDBlinky that file then you use the layout editor to position the LED's to match the layout of your CP. From there you can load or save LWAX files for use in GameEx. Just make sure you save them to GameEx\PLUGINS\PluginLCD\LWAX folder.

You need to assign Input Codes to your controls in your "LED Input Map". Once you have done that correctly, go to your "Profile Editor", select MAME then click on a game. It should light the correct buttons (and colors if you have RGB LED's) for the game.

That looks brilliant! But forgive my stupidity, who is the character and what system is it for? I will fix up the edges no problem, in fact all the artwork I find I cut out freehand using the marquee tool. There is no way to get the edges right using the magic marquee. I'm very much a perfectionist when it comes to things like that, kinda like how you are with the databases EDIT: I'm guessing it's JetPackWilly?

As a member of the database team should have a copy of GameEx DBM and that program uses this format. If you copy it into the Data\Xml folder you can then convert it to mdb from there. There is no point in doing it really unless you intend on updating it in some way, as I have already sent this as an mdb to Tom and it will be included in the next version of GameEx While I have you here are you still interested in working on some databases? Seems we only have Flash actively working on some at the moment. I've also updated GameEx DBM quite a bit from it's first release to make it easier to make them.

Thanks Flash, but Sonic graphics are the easiest to find. I found a website with heaps of hires pics of Sonic and friends, but thanks anyway! Try and find hires stuff of some of the classic arcade characters. Heh it's near on impossible!

Thanks Flash. I wonder who are these 4 people downloading the database before me are? To whomever is doing that this data is in xml format so it can't be used in GameEx and the data is also copyright so you can't use it for anything else. Ok if this is final then I'll be converting it to mdb and sending it to Tom. I'll let you know if I find any errors. Also can you keep checking the categories are coming out okay. If you find a problem with them let me know, I'll show you the algorithm I'm using to "guess" the categories from the other columns and maybe you can help me improve it. I don't think I even have any calculations for "Traditional" category. Perhaps you could just check it over for me anyway? I'll PM you now.

Here ya go

Doing a list update should update the icons.

Well I tried their taiwan site and it just redirects back to the NVidia driver download page. Normally their drivers should work fine. I tried going to the NVidia site and selected TNT2 from the legacy list and it links to the same driver Brian linked to, so I have no idea why it didn't detect your card. Maybe try going to driverguide and do a search on there for it.

Here a link to the drivers http://www.prolink-usa.com/english/driver/vga1.html

If you look at the bottom of the card I believe you can actually read "TNT2". What does it say exactly?

I have found a few characters searching Google that way but I guess the main problem is finding the graphics. I do have a Pikachu already cut out actually, just haven't found a system for it yet. I thought Tetris would be better suited for GB but I think Pokemon graphics would look nicer actually.

The icons are cached to an image file, can't remember the name but check the GameEx\DATA folder.

Thanks for the Lucas Arts artwork, that will be useful for a ScummVM theme Don't like the R-Type one much as it looks too much like a model unfortunately

Okay I edited the first post to show the characters I'm looking for marked with (*) and some are still needing suggestions. So if you want to help with this then finding character and hardware graphics at 512 x 512 or higher res or make a suggestion. Obviously it's easy to suggest a character, hard to find one so it's much more help finding the graphics. I don't want suggestions that are your personal favourites but that were the most popular games/characters for the system to represent it.