Draco1962

Just when I thought it was safe to go into the water.... now my sounds (launch, focus, select, etc.) are no longer working. Sounds within the games avi snaps and games themselves are working just fine. Time to trash the cache one more time...

Not entirely sure what was going on. I am using my no intro set as well. I was prompted for the update 3 times and I am thinking that the DB may not have loaded correctly. I did a reboot of my PC and then was prompted for the update - accepted the update, then went back into the 5200 games and the biography option showed in the command bar and when selecting a game. Guess I'll chalk this up to being cache-strapped...

I am using MESS as my emulator for Atari 5200 and the ROMS list not pulling DB names\biographies. Any suggestions on how to fix? Thanks!

Nothing wrong with skins ('cept maybe the green one ). I am not 100% certain, but since it is receommnded to install codec packs in addition to GameEx, there is probably little if any in the way of codecs native to it. I have had good luck with the Shack codecs, others Vista.

Not naming any other frontends *cough* where the response from the creator is probably about as frequent...

Thanks! I "borrowed" it from somewhere...

An excellent source for all of those can be found at emumovies.com . Another is Greatflash's site The RetroBytes Portal . You may also want to check out the various links and logo packs found at gameex.net. EDIT: LOL - I gues Tom and I were responding at about the same time!

I found the problem - when using Custom Menus you must ensure that the item is enabled in the configuration... d'Oh!

I run into a wee bit of a stumbling block using custom menus. When I click on Jukebox, nothing happens. All was working well when using canned menus.

No issues with it here

Alrighty then. Here is an example of my first attempt at using Custom Menus. One area of concern is that Jukebox functionality appears to not work any longer. Since my machine is not a dedicated HTPC, I am not overly concerned, but want to make sure that I have that ability should I desire it. Also, I am in the process of modifying my Carbon & Steel theme to fit this new schema. One question I have is will this custom layout translate if I were to zip it and upload it to share? Below is a screen scrape of my layout. .:.EDIT - a few additional tweaks via the config editor and Jukebox restored

Looks like a Window Blinds skin - I know some people have problems with Win Vista/7 running Aero. I wonder if there may not be some conflicts with the skinner he is using. And yes, it is really, REALLY green! In a "When Mars Attacks the Exorcist" kinda hue.

Celly - thanks again, I had missed a few steps and the pdf definitely helped to get my collection up and running through GameEx! Off topic, have made a few changes and tweaks to the Carbon & Steel theme (background and foreground changes, custom menus, etc) and will likely be sharing shortly for you to review. I am curous, however, if I create custom menus, will the layout, etc. be packaged with the theme or just on my machine?

Same here as well...

You can find the Shark007 codec packs here. If you are running 64-bit Windows 7, be sure to get the x64 pack as well. Tom - can we have the link for Shark007 Codec packs link placed on the Recommended Downloads or Links page of the GameEx.net site?

Depending on the type of crash encountered, is it possible for the log to abend incomplete? I wonder if he is pulling from a corrupt file in the cache? <looking down - still see training wheels attached>

OK, I started working with the Custom Menus today and the first thing I noticed is that the Mame biographical data is missing and I see many more copies. Do I need to run the update list again to get this information to show again and pare-down the files to not show duplicates? Thanks! EDIT: I tried what I though above and this worked. I have come up with a new hiearchy to suit my needs as noted in another thread. I will try to post any issues I run across so as to assist anyone else wanting to delve into custom menus.

To be honest I hadn't thought about that as an option... well, I am humbled <prostrate on the ground> I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

Or, at least be able to order on the Start Menu as follows: MAME Laser Disc Games (or Daphne) WinKawaks FB Alpha Zinc (I think you get the idea - any of the emulators listed as Arcade could be selectible as a Start Menu Item same as MAME) Emulated Games (Consoles, Handhelds, etc as they are handled currently) Search Multimedia...

Tom - is it possible to have Daphne show up in the Start Menu with Mame? If not consider this another enhancement request from yours truly! My thought process is if someone is running a true multi-arcade system and not emulating the consoles and handhelds, having the Arcade emus such as Daphne, WinKawaks, etc. as selectable options to show on the Start Menu after MAME instead of limted to Emulated Games would provide another layer of flexibiltiy and control of what is displayed, ease of use, cab-friendlier for those not wanting all the toys that GameEx has to offer.

You AREN'T the Black Sheep of the GameEx family?

Correct me if I am wrong, but if a side is missing in the file, couldn't one simply reverse the image in Photoshop, GIMP or other image editing software? Granted, if there is any text it will be backwards, but... if you don't have the original to work with, it is better than to be missing a side. .:. EDIT - Correcting myself and questioning if it is an incorrect coordinate for the side-art in the .x file?

The names for the snaps, vids, etc usually follow the same naming convention as the ROM file. Look for the Skinny Match thread in this forum for the link to a very useful utility for finding the best matches between your artwork and ROMS. This was written by Tempest and will help to best match whatever images/vids you collect to the ROMs you have in short order. I may be coming to you regarding some of the emulators at some point . There are some games DBs created for the various consoles, but that is an area I have yet to delve into.

I am not sure how much experience you have with using the various emulators. I am relatively new to it and found it easy to get overwhelmed with all the features that this frontend has to offer. So I decided that I would start with MAME and work up to the others. I installed it, made it work outside of GameEx, then through GameEX, then Project 64 (N64 emu), etc. Then I started plaing around with the Theme Editor and making my own themes, logos, and the like. I have to admit to doing a lot of backwards engineering of existing themes, testing tweeks here and there. I am not a pro at this by no means. Besides Tom, we have quite the pool of talent - Tempest, Adultery, Headkaze, Bkenobi, Brian Hoffman, Greatflash are some pretty sharp guys with a few years of GameEx and emus under their belt. Celly, Vsilvalopes, Krakerman, Drakendoder are a few others that can be counted on to chime in with their experience or constructive criticism to help you along as well. .:.EDIT I forgot to add Frequency (another GameEx God and Guru Extraordinaire) and, of course Circo at EmuMovies - great collection of video snaps!

To answer some of your questions -