jman

As long as it's runnin GameEx

Hey Tom, Is there any way you can make a "Most Played" list on the GameEx Live page that sums up all the last played games as they come in, so we can see what the most popular games are? Then to make it really cool, could you make a "GameEx Most Played" in the GameEx front end that downloads this list, and can launch the game if we have it? Or am I getting greedy?

Me being the lazy person I am, got sick of emptying the coin box every time i needed more credits, so I built a RFID scanner kit, and mounted it under the table top so I just have to pass an RFID tag on my keyring past it for credits. I marked where the scanner is by placing another surface protector between the glass and the table top. It's not needed, but I hooked the output up to a relay that's connected to my IPAC. The "clunk" of the relay sounds a little like dropping a coin in... The only problem is that the output is designed to activate a doorstrike, and stays on for 5 seconds. Some games do not accept it as a coin (software anti-stringing or something...) The processing of the 40-bit RFID tags is done by an 8bit 10mhz Atmel AVR microcontroller (itself worth $2), which can be reprogrammed with a serial programmer (about $50). I've downloaded the code used (as it was kindly provided by the makers of the kit) and recompiled it with a 100ms delay - which is how long the electronic coin slot closes it's output for. Now I just need to get the programmer and reprogram the AVR... Tags come in credit card size, keyfob style, and mini dot size. Here's a close up of the mini dot one: I think I'll get an ash tray, and hide one under a felt lining underneath it...

Thanks, It took me about 2 months of spare time. I got together all the PC hardware, then did up some plans - aiming for minimal size, but still around standard cocktail table hieght: I made the cab, then did CAD drawings for the frame, and sent the top off to have the glass cut. Doing it in stages took a long time, but everything fits nicely. With 2 monitors, 8kg steel and about 3kg glass it's not going to move if you bump it, but I'm sure it's lighter than a standard cocktail table (or standup). No female influence - just after something practical and classy...

(inside) (stainless steel) SPECIFICATIONS: CPU AMD Athlon 64 3200+ RAM GeIL 512MB DDR PC3200 HDD Seagate 80Gb, 8Mb cache, NCQ, SATA Motherboard ASUS A8N-VM CSM - GeForce 6150 onboard - Dual VGA out (DVI-D & RGB) - HD audio onboard Monitors 2 x Samsung 172X - 8ms (1280x1024) Network Netgear WPN111 Wireless USB Adapter 802.11G (108Mbps MIMO Tech) Sound Sony Xplod amp - 50W RMS per channel 4 x 4" Sony Xplod 30W RMS speakers Volume - 100k Log dual gang pot Cooling 2 x Antec 120mm Red Fans Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Heatsink Anodised aluminium air vents Input 16 x 30mm Pushbutons Sanwa Joysticks Electronic coin mechanism Ultimart I-PAC 2 Stand 1.6mm 304 grade stainless steel 50mm square tubing Brushed finish Top 19mm solid pine - dark oak finish 16mm MDF base Glass 6mm toughened safety glass

Just FYI: I'm running on .net 2.0, and I have not noticed any issues that were not present on 1.1 I have never had a crash while scrolling through lists of games...

Thanks Tom, Problem fixed.

I've been trying the AutoHotkey method for remapping player 2's controls to player 1. I've got something like this: #SingleInstance force if %1% { R::Send {UP} F::Send {DOWN} D::Send {LEFT} G::Send {RIGHT} W::Send {LShift} I::Send {Z} K::Send {X} A::Send {LCtrl} S::Send {LAlt} Q::Send {Space} 2::Send {1} P::Send {P} } else ExitApp Then I just pass a parameter when i want to activate the remapping, then none to deactivate. The problem is that the remapped keys do not control GameEx. I've alt tabbed out when in the menu, opened up notepad, and all the keys appear remapped as they should be... I've tried setting AutoHotkey to "SendMode Input", "SendMode Play", using the low level hooks. I've also tried enabling/disabling Direct Input in GameEx, and the use slickstick/ipac mode (i use an ipac2 usb), and combining these with the different autohotkey settings. Has anyone got this to work, or know why GameEx does not see these remapped keys? Please help, my cab is nearly ready...

Does anyone have any good ideas for gadgets to add to an arcade cabinet that would make it even more impressive? A few ideas I've had: (next on my to-do list) - Hide a RFID scanner in the cab, that links up to the coin input, so I can swipe one of my security tags past it for free credits. Jaycar sell these for around AUD90. (not likely - as my cabinet is a table: ) - have drink holders that cool the drink - eg. put a peltier cooler on the bottom of each one. Maybe have a pressure switch, or infrared sensor to tell when a drink is in it, to save power.

Or as an alternative, put a volume control on the outside of the cab: http://www.oscarcontrols.com/volume/ My volume control:

Thanks Tom, BTW, this also happens when launching Zinc games (from the MAME list...)

Did you try what was suggested here for the radio stations? http://www.gameex.info/forums/index.php?showtopic=1194 The stations should work in media player, etc. I've noticed that a few of my roms (mame) with bad checksums (or missing a file), although they do work, will not show up. (They don't show up in mame32w under "Available Games" either). Maybe you could use something like romcenter to check the roms?

This was just done in photoshop, the .psd file has all the buttons on different layers, so you can move them around. Just put in a background layer, and you're set. Images were grabbed from the theme designer, and I blurred the little black man out to make the white button. You could turn the white button any colour you want with a filter...

When I have radio stations playing and I choose a MAME game (with sound), the radio volume fades off, MAME starts; but when I return to GameEx, the volume rises back up, radio plays for about 20 seconds, then stops. If I choose the station again, it starts playing. This only happens with mame (Mame32), and not zsnes, fusion, etc. And it only happens with streaming music, and not mp3s. My cab is running on a wireless connection with onboard sound, but i've also tried on my main rig with an audigy, cable to the router, and it does the same thing. I'm pretty sure it's not my internet connection (24mbps - no probs playing games, etc). Any one else have the same problem, or know what is happenning? Cheers.

I put a little ledgend in the bottom left corner of my backgrounds, as I don't have any instructions on my cab: Here's the PSD if you want to play: bak2.zip Fits nicely on a 1280x1024 screen without interfereing with any menus, etc.