Draco1962

If you have Windows Media Center, you can launch GameEx from within. I also believe that there are a few forum members that are successfully using VB launches as an external program.

Hi - You mention using Windows Media Center. Are you using Windows Vista or 7? If so, are you also launching GameEx via WMC on the second monitor?

I appreciate the assist! I am working on a db for the Infocom titles and will probably add the Scott Adams titles to it.

d'Oh! Well that seemed to work for a few. Will need to check my paths again but I think I am on my way. Thanks!

Rodney - the attachment appears to be a partial log file. Please attach a copy of the entire log.txt file and gameex.ini file. Thanks!

Well, sorry for starting something! Text Adventures (or Interactive Fiction as it is officially referred to or preferred by the writers) hold a very important place in early PC entertainment. They were the "first person shooter for 2nd person thinkers!" Kind of the interactive adventure books of the computer age. Creating snaps will probably not happen here, might have to pull something from box art, etc. As for new logo files.. maybe but not today! LOL! Here is my ini from my setup (you can launch Setup Wizard, select Custom, then select Emulator Selection. Next you will highlight on the left colum the emulator you want to export a config, then click on the Export Emulator icon in the middle column - piece of paper with right arrow).

@Se_lees - Well that is good news about Daphne. It can be a bit of a bear to get going with much of the limitation being the demands of the Daphne software itself. Would you say we can cross Daphne off the list for now? A few questions and a suggestion - What version(s) are you running of Visual Pinball? I know that there are quite a few that run VP8 and VP9 as separate emulators because VP9 has compatibility issues with tables created through VP8 and prior. Are you using Visual PinMAME at all? I would also recommend reviewing the forum post here as there is some useful conversation regarding the setup of VP in GameEx (with a config example or two) and a link to the VP Loader that may be of help to you as well, especially with correct exiting from a table. Now that you have detailed further what you are looking for, this sounds like it might be resolved by a feature request made by yours truly a while back. What I was looking for was a feature to create a "play list" on a per emulator basis, cross emulator basis (e.g. create an Asteroids play list of all Asteroid incarnations from MAME, Atari2600, NES, etc.). This would function very similar to a "Favorites" list This would not require any manipulation of game lists within the emulator (MAME32 in your case). I am not certain what would be required in implementing such a request. Even if it could be setup with multiple play lists (or Game Groups) per emulator if global is not possible would be a big plus. Again, since this is a functionality enhancement issue, we will need to defer to Tom and Headkaze to see what may be possible along this or similar lines.

I think you will find your answer here. Save states are not supported by all games, you will return to where you left off if save states are supported by the game, however, not all save states are compatible between all versions of MAME.

Will have to give Level 9 a looksie. Regardless of which format (.dat or z3, 4, 5, etc.) I get the same error. If you wouldn't mind exporting your emulator config for it that would be awesome!

Glad those two items are resolved. Tom will have to answer for how the files are randomized. Regardless of whether or not there is a repeating pattern in the randomizing process, I think he has met your concerns regarding. Regarding Visual Pinball - there are the ROM filter settings where you may enter the extensions of the files to open (e.g. *.vpt) or multiple file extension types separated by semi-colon (e.g. *vpt;*tbl). As for what you are asking regarding Daphne and the multiple MAME ini files for Favorites, I am not sure that is possible but will defer this to the community and Tom. I do have a few questions to ask if you don't mind entertaining them: Are you currently using any front end software and, if so, what? Another question based upon the issues you have presented regarding the MAME Favorite ini files and Daphne and dependent upon a positive for a front end in use currently or in the past - Have you found any front end that will handle these as you expect? This is not meant to bait you, just trying to see a clearer understanding of where you are coming from. Regards, Mike

Sure does help - me and a few others that are interested! Yeah I love that about WinFrotz GUI so our older eyes can enjoy the game. Better for big screen or cab or desktop. EDIT - Can you confirm your settings for the ROM filter, etc.? I am not sure why but I encounter a "Cannot open Story" via GameEx, however can open outside just fine.

Griggs - just to let you know I haven't forgotten. I am going to ask one of the more experienced mods to jump in and take a look. I will be the first to tell you if I don't know something or am a little stumped. Right now, I am a little stumped and that could be in part due to running on fumes lately and not being able to get a good nights sleep in the past few weeks. Excuses aside, I think that with some more experienced help we can get this working for you.

Sharing is caring, Krake! I'll show you mine (Infocom logo file) if you show me yours (setup details)! Also, will probably try to compile a db for the most common retail games so that we get the neat info pops in the themes.

To be honest, I just googled them using Infocom and Text Adventure as my keywords and then clicked on links of some of the sites listed in various links pages.

The attract screensaver is built around your favorites. So as you add games to your favorites list, it will cycle through those.

LMAO! Glad to shake things up for ya, bud! I had a chance to boot it up outside of GameEx briefly and give it a quick go. I have to say that for a program that has little support, it doesn't seem too shabby. Kinda hard to get a good feel as there really isn't much in the way of a "user community" around it or the whole Infocom adventures in general - mostly loose collections of websites, half of which no longer exist.

Tom - thanks as always! It is rare that programmers have the latitude and concern to make these kinds of changes to suit the users' needs. Stay rare, my friend!

Original Item 1 - Arcade Ambiance will only only point to one mp3. Fixed in version 11.82 to point to folder. Original Item 2 - Attract Screensaver only go down to 2 minutes between games Fixed in version 11.82 to minimum of 1 minute between games displayed. @se_lees - can you update to this latest version, please, and advise if this is working for you as expected? You will need to change the Arcade Ambiance to the folder setting.

@se_lees, All, My wife is having surgery today and I will be of limited availability until later Wednesday. Please provide the information I requested and responses to my post and I will attempt to address upon my return. Also, anyone may feel free to step in if you have an answer or suggestion to address se_lees responses instead of awaiting my return. Thanks everyone! Mike

Thanks for the shares! Filfire, while it looks like it is a little more "feature rich" may not fit what I am looking for so far as a cab/htpc friendly program is concerned with the addition of the option pads. I will definitely take a closer look at the options both provide I am looking within whatever program to have a simple interface, be able to launch to full screen, adjust the font, background and text color selection for distance reading on the big screen, and require minimal mouse use. WinFrotz, so far, looks very promising.

Have you looked through the Setup Wizard for the Enable/Disable features section? There are many functions there that can be disabled. Some modules will have their own section that can be disabled within.

Does anyone have any experience using WinFrotz, the Infocom Text Adventure emulator or know of a better emulator? I loved playing these and wasted many an hour when I had my first 8-bit system and want to add them in for play through GameEx.

Thanks, Ian. I admit I had to bite my fingers to keep from posting a negative response initially, but I truly think he has some legitimate concerns. If he is willing to roll-up his sleeves and get a little dirty in the details then I am willing to help where I can and ask for help above my "pay grade" on his behalf to get answers. So far, his response has been to provide some needed info to get things started so I ask all to give some space and not react to the initial post and let's see where this lands. We all have some level of love & loyalty to this software and our forum friends and if there is a chance to add one more, I will do what I can to help as I know all of you will.

Marking this one as [RESOLVED] !

There is a utility called The Randomizer written by one of our mods, Tempest. Per the description: "The 'Randomizer' can be used to randomize files for which GameEx would normally only use one static file. E.G. startup video, ambience.mp3 files, background images, etc." I think that use of this may allow you to shuffle several files for use. I reread the original post regarding Item 4 and Daphne. "Daphne: (minor) setting the exe directory does not affect the 'options'." Please provide more details as prior forum posts did not appear to relate to this directly. "(MAJOR) there are still extra Cobra Command entries, with blank entries after that. Not all the games are default. I mean, seriously, either put in all the supported games - or don't put none of 'em in. I anticipated this, though hoped for difference." I believe that the intent behind placing some games and command lines was to provide example. I cannot speak for all the extra Cobra Command entries. Perhaps these can be cleaned out in future releases, however, we can also remove them ourselves so they do not show up in the menu (they shouldn't anyway so long as each Game is not showing in the config as Yes to Enabled). I do not see this part of the Daphne issue a deal-breaker but, perhaps, as a clean-up opportunity. EDIT: As Mesk noted in a following post, GameEx is no longer supporting the Advanced Configuration app and is using the Setup Wizard. For our troubleshooting we may refer to the Setup Wizard from time to time. You will see the Cobra Command repeated there as well even if you upgrade from an older version. Again, you may check these to ensure they show disabled and delete any text reference in the fields for them. This one may require Tom and or/Ben's attention unless one of the other admins or mods has any further feedback to provide.