Draco1962

Luckily, the I have found a long list of AppIDs for most of the games released through Steam, so that should expedite the "good name" dilemma quite nicely.

I actually have 2 27" that are the same - with great pictures. I may just use one for a gaming system and the other as a backup. Or maybe just put the second one in the garage for watching stuff, although I hang out there very little because it is overcrowded, usually hot 9 months of the year.

LOL! Yeah, more of the first than the second, but I could be more of the second, I imagine.

We just made the jump to the widescreen HD LCD era last Christmas. We still have several CRT TVs about the house - dunno if I could even yard sale them at this point and not sure if I want to even try using them as part of a cab - just too danged big!

Wow! That is looking pretty damned good for a first theme attempt, Krake! You have provided proof to the addage "If you give a man a match, he will keep warm for a day. If you light him on fire, he will stay warm the rest of his life!" Keep it up! You are on fire!

Thanks Adultery! My intent was not to single out anyone as the whipping boy and, to be honest, I'd rather not have to deal with volunteers! We had become a little lax in our conversations as forum members and enforcement of the house rules as forum staff. @Han - it's all good and, yes, moving on!

I came across this web page with a list of free Steam games. The Free full games links are all active and there are some nVidia and Radeon freebies as well. I am not sure about the Radeon offerings, but, due to my newer nVidia GPU, I qualified for their offer still (the offer is a few years old) and scored full versions of Half-Life2: Deathmatch and Half-Life2: Lost Coast. DOn't forget that Portal is a freebie as well until 9/20!

Would definitely recommend increasing your system RAM. 512MB is a recommended minimum, optimal for XP would be 1GB. Replacing the video card would be good as well.

Well the database itself is still more of a shell so don't get too excited! It is a start. I am in the process of adding descriptions (from Moby Games) and correcting release dates, etc. Also, if nobody objects, I am going to use my judgement as to what the "ROM" name should be for the shortcuts and image files to be referenced. With over 800 titles it will take some time but I think that everyone will benefit from it that uses Steam. EDIT: In retrospect, instead of trying to come up with a different ROM naming convention as Cousalev was using I have decided, since the DB will display the Name of the program, I will stick with the appID that Steam uses in the URL. It will make things decidedly easier on my part, especially if everyone that has Steam games installed can provide me with the Name and URL in the shortcuts the install creates.

Obtaining the .urls as noted in the tutorial will be the crucial part. Since I don't have all 800+ games through Steam, I will have to rely on users such as yourself to provide updates so I can add to the db. I have corrected dates and game details for about 70 out of the 800 thus far. As for Portal - I wangimmesummadat! Others interested can obtain a copy from here.

I know that there are probably more titles (not including mods, patches, etc.) from Steam, but I was able to obtain a list of 800 games to present. I also created an .mdb for those with a collection of Steam games so they can add the .url name in the GoodName field (without the extension), update the number of players, and add in the Description field their own game descriptions. This will pull in whatever snaps, boxes, etc. you may have following the naming conventions outlined in Couslev's document and display the pertinent game history and text for the game. Before anyone says/asks "Game XYZ was released before 12/34/56. Why do you show date 65/43/21?" the dates in the .mdb are the Steam release dates - not the original game release dates! If you want to correct for that, be my guest, however, I think the release date for this category of games by Steam is sufficient. Other than the Name, Date, Developer and Publisher, all else is empty. If I have time to update all 800, then I will do so. If anyone else wants to pick up where I left off, that is fine. For the sake of consistency, I would stick with the .url name as noted previously if you are using Couslev's excellent guide for the GoodName, and I would probably recommend obtaining descriptions from a reliable source, such as Moby Games. In the zip file I have also included an Excel Spreadsheet with the Title, Release date, Developer and Publisher info. EDIT: I am in the process of updating the db to contain the correct release dates and descriptions from Moby Games. If anyone would like to provide me with the url names they have for their Steam games I will be glad to add to the db as well. Thanks! PC Steam.zip

No matter what anyone says, beer, barf, and arcade gaming are not always a match made in heaven - especially around power tools while building your cab! Happy Birthday!

Not long ago I put in a feature request for individual font controls to allow for controlling font selection, size, and color via Theme Editor for the Title, List, Select 1 & 2, Menu, Date & Time, Item Number, Scroller, and Weather text elements. Would be a nice addition for any planned enhancements to the Theme Editor!

There you go blaming me for you having to move your arse and get creative again! I look forward to seeing what you have done so far!

So long as I can change the background as needed to fit whatever theme I have it doesn't really matter. Here is an image I found of the black pad:

You are awesome! Right now just using my Wired original Xbox S-Pads. If you can do the black gamepads that would look sweet!

Once I get the "theme bug" outta my arse, I will probably set it up to display on the second monitor (and stealing your PSD for my personal use)!

Yes

In Theme Editor under Options>Fonts.

I love this forum and have a lot of respect for many of the users, mods, and admins that help to make this place enjoyable while supporting a class-act of a program for the emulation community. That being said, there have been several that have been warned several times by myself and other mods to watch the content of their posts. If the trend continues, it is likely that the next step will be warnings with limited bans for those that insist on bucking the requests of our host and moderators. Please review the forum rules. Especially watch the talk about obtaining illegal software or software in a manner that is illegal, piracy, etc. Also, if a mod or admin asks you to watch your content, watch your responses. If you disagree, then take it up with the mod. If you disagree with his/her judgement, then the admins are your next step. Public disrespect may result with negative consequences. Please show respect for one another and the community at large by following the rules. As Agent J says in "Men in Black": "Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'!"

Please refrain from discussions about piracy or using copies of pirated software. All - Please feel free to contact me or any of the other mods or admins if you have any questions regarding rule 5.

[iNSERT SOUND OF TAPS PLAYING HERE] Support for yet another good emulator bites the dust and mediocrity prevails. Seems we are losing 2 for every new one created as of late.

Can you provide us with a copy of the URL you are attempting to use for the RSS feed from the site?

I am running the Avast free version on my XP Mode virtual machine under Win 7 as MS Security Essentials runs only on Vista and above.

I am running Windows Security Essentials. It has caused me little to no problems with anything emulator or GameEx related. Easy to use, takes up little memory. And it is free as well. Surprisingly has received pretty good reviews being an MS product. One of the least intrusive I have used. Another good one, despite being paid is ESET NOD32.