nullPointer

No. Way. Adultery have you been sent from the future to protect Sarah Conner (and develop MAME Commander in an effort to defeat SkyNet before it becomes sentient)!? If so, I'm with you man! Let's stick it to those robot bastards! FREEDOM! Just kidding. This program is sweet and I'm really excited to see all the progress. I'm also excited to see what becomes of Emulator Commander. If it's able to manage plugin profiles for PCSX2, ePSXe and the like that would be sweet. Great work man.

Off topic - but no Tom Baker love!? (or even Pat Troughton)? Blasphemy! Completely agree on Tennant though.

Dangit . . . meant to link that. Fixed.

Not yet . . . @MadScientistMode=ON O.K. here we go . . . first get two Arduinos (possibly just one). The first Arduino will be wired to a motion sensor device at the entry way to your game room. When this motion trigger is activated the first Arduino will relay the signal to a second Arduino equipped with a W5100 Ethernet Shield, using a modified Sdfrethsh shell having wake-on-lan capabilities. This Arduino pings your router which in turn wakes up the target machine (your MAME cabinet) from a hibernation state. On the target machine set up a scheduled task to run the MAME Screensaver whenever the machine wakes from hibernate. Bada-Bing, instant attract mode (give or take 30 seconds) any time you walk into the room. And no, I don't think this would actually work. (well maybe . . .) @MadScientistMode=OFF

Wow, there are ton of suggestions that came up just while I was typing this response! I'm probably dense, but I'm seeing two suggestions here. I think one of them is doable and the other is not (until someone inevitably corrects my erronious premises) I don't think this is possible, but it's more a fundamental property of Windows than it is a GameEx issue. The thing about the screensaver is that it is actually running MAME games. I don't think Windows can simultaneously run MAME and be in standby mode. Likewise, I don't think there will be a net power savings here as the the processor is still running MAME and the monitor is still displaying it. This sounds like it could be accomplished via the Windows Task Scheduler. The trouble with asking GameEx to handle this functionality is that it tasks GameEx to behave like a surrogate operating system. Ideally you should be able to set up a scheduled task to put the computer to sleep and another to it wake up at predetermined times of day. When the machine wakes up it should continue to run whatever process was suspended during sleep mode. But as you noted, that's the big question; whether Windows can suspend GameEx and wake it up later. Theoretically it shouldn't be a problem, but of course I may very well be full of it! Here are a couple of resources related to utilizing the Windows Task Scheduler: Task Scheduler 2.0 Automate sleep wake in Windows 7 If you decide to pursue any of the above suggestions we'd love to hear how it turns out!

Oooo . . . Now that's cookin' with some grade A propane! Good call bkenobi! I'll have to try it out when I get home. I think once I get everything sorted I'm going to throw these commands into a batch file that accepts the base directory and target directory as parameters. Probably won't use it all that much, but if I need to update my rom sets it's right there ready to roll.

That's a good question, and that's also where my mind went first. The main reason I didn't is because there are actually some Japanese games with USA in the title (I'm away from my GameEx machine, but 'Super Mario USA' is one example I can think of off the top of my head), possibly games from other regions as well. I wanted to filter strictly by Country of Origin, so I made sure to include either the left or right parentheses in the wild card. It's also occurred to me that some sets might include more than 2 countries within the parentheses most likely separated by commas. I think a *USA,* string would be the best bet for picking those up. Also noteworthy is that I've only done this for No-Intro sets so far. I'm pretty sure something similar should work for TOSEC, but obviously not so much for Goodsets (or similar) where everything is bundled together. I think in that scenario the best bet would be to build a custom DAT for filtering which is of course more time consuming.

Thanks a lot for the advice! In the end I ended up doing something different than any of the options I listed, but I think for me it's the option that will work best. After playing with a couple of ROM sorting utilities, it donned on me that I was trying to make the process way to complicated. So I created a new directory for the ROMS I want to display in GameEx (we'll call it "E:\Emulation\Roms\[system_Name]_KEEPERS" for this example). Next I went into MS-DOS, navigated to my 'old' ROM directory (E:\Emulation\Roms\[system_Name]), and ran a command like this: move *(USA* "E:\Emulation\Roms\[System_Name]_KEEPERS" That still left a few ROMS with names that didn't quite match the pattern (something like "Totally Awesome Game (Japan, USA).zip"). Running the following command took care of the fringe cases: move *USA)* "E:\Emulation\Roms\[System_Name]_KEEPERS" I did the same thing for Europe and World (maybe a couple of others). After running the commands I did a quick verification to insure nothing was missed. Lastly I moved the old directories to "E:\Emulation\Roms\Excluded_Roms\[system_Name]" and renamed the 'keeper'directory to the old name recognized by GameEx (E:\Emulation\Roms\[system_Name]). Bing bang boom done. I don't know if it's the 'best practice' or not but it certainly worked for me. I'm still keeping the Excluded Roms directory hanging around for now, but I'll probably move it to an archive at some point. Incidentally for anyone playing along at home the following commands would have also worked just fine, and would saved me the trouble of navigating in MS-DOS: move "E:\Emulation\Roms\[System_Name]" *(USA* "E:\Emulation\Roms\[System_Name]_KEEPERS"

Hello GameEx Masters I'm in the midst of reconfiguring GameEx on my HTPC. In doing so I'm finally getting around to cleaning up my ROM lists a bit. I'm attempting to set up ROM filters so that only USA, Europe, and World releases appear in my lists. Essentially I'm attempting to filter out Japan, Asia, and Unknown releases from my sets. Currently I'm using the ROM Filter field to accomplish this but I'm getting some mixed results. For some reason it works great for NES, but not so much for SNES. Before I go down the path of troubleshooting that issue, I'd like to ask you guys how you'd go about setting this up. I'm aware that I'm abusing the ROM Filter functionality somewhat in this regard (i.e. it's true intention is to filter by file extension, not necessarily to filter by sub-string on the ROM title). Whichever method I use I'd like to a. achieve my desired filters (obviously), and b. not have GameEx take a huge performance hit. Here are some possible options (in the form of responses to my question), but there may of course be options I'm not seeing: Using the ROM Filter is the way to go. Carry on nullPointer! Let's see your Filter String and GameEx.ini so we can get to the bottom of that SNES issue. Don't use the ROM Filter field for this purpose you Neanderthal! Use the Excluded Files field to list each and every ROM you'd like to omit. Perhaps using Romlister (or something similar) would be a quick and easy way to generate this list. Follow the step above but go one step further and use the generated list to simply delete all those ROMS that you'd like to exclude. You're not going to play them anyway right? (Would this be the best bet in terms of GameEx performance?) So there you have it. Which of these options would be best? Anyone already doing something similar on their systems? Would there be yet another option preferable to any of what I've listed here? Thanks in advance!

Thanks Tom! Your hard work is always appreciated.

Hi Guys, First some background. I have a somewhat intermittent problem of my system crashing due to kernel power errors in Win7 x64. My research on this particular error has shown that the cause is something of a mystery as it can result from any number of issues. That part is neither here nor there, but it does give some background to my current problem in GameEx. To be honest the kernel power crashes occur so rarely that I haven't spent a lot of time and energy trying to address the underlying problem. I experienced a kernel power error tonight while I was starting up GameEx. I think some of my GameEx system files may have been corrupted because now when I attempt to start GameEx it crashes and displays the following message (my GameEx log shows the same): This error seems to be fairly persistent. I've tried reinstalling GameEx, as well as deleting my cache files from \GameEx\DATA\, but the error seems to hang in there. I haven't tried a completely fresh install, but that may be an option if necessary. Any help or advice I can get on resolving this error would be tremendously appreciated. Thanks in advance guys! UPDATE: I just attempted rolling back to an earlier restore point in Windows. This seems to have solved the problem. Sorry for the unnecessary post!

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I just wanted to express my gratitude for this awesome update! No more moving files around after I run the EmuMovies download utility! Bravo Tom!

Well dangit, that's a new one on me. Sorry my suggestion didn't work out. I'd give Adultery's suggestion a go.

I had this exact same problem (You can pretty much skip the wall of text, just skip down to fRequEnCy's solution). I think these commands should work for you: start "" "C:\GameEx\Batch Files\Xpadder\Future Pinball Open.bat" start "" "C:\GameEx\Batch Files\Xpadder\Future Pinball Open.bat" I think either this or Adultery's solution should do the trick for you (two solutions to achieve the same end)

If you decide to go with ComicRack as an External App, I found something that might be helpful to you. As I mentioned ComicRack supports custom scripts and plug-ins. Here's a user created plug-in that creates a 'cover-flow' type view for your library. CoverFlow in Info Panel This would probably be closer to something you could scan through with simple navigation, as opposed to mouse navigation. OK I'm done adding additional posts to a [RESOLVED] topic (sorry). This probably became more of a 'Social Club' thread a few posts ago anyway. Good luck han!

Yes, you configure ComicRack to find your books through its library manager, and you can then browse them from within the program. As far as how well it integrates with GameEx, I couldn't really say. I mostly use GameEx on my HTPC, and I don't like doing a lot of reading on my TV so I don't have ComicRack on that system. I do have both on my laptop, but again I've never tried to integrate them since it's easier to just launch ComicRack than it is to launch GameEx and then ComicRack for the purposes of my laptop. I can fiddle around with it if it would be helpful. ComicRack does have configurable keys within the reader, but they're in the form of a dropdown list so arrow mapping would work, but direct controller mapping not so much. I'd probably use something like Xpadder anyway so I could utilize controller macro combinations. As for the Library manager, it's more similar to the library management in Windows 7 (with several specialized features) than it is to a launcher like GameEx. Once again I think something like Xpadder would be your friend in this capacity so that your controller could act like a mouse for the purposes of browsing the Library. Also worth noting is that for GameEx, the External Applications setup in the Wizard has a setting for Emulate Mouse, so that might also be a winning combination (that Tom, he thinks of everything!) It's worth mentioning that ComicRack is extendable through scripts and plugins. I haven't messed with them at all, so there may be something out there to enable the missing features you describe.

Sweet! Glad you got it working! In a weird sort of way managing your books in a sortable sub-folder structure sort of ties into the 'playlist' functionality that a number of us have inquired about in feature requests. It would certainly tie right into grouping your books however you see fit. As an aside, I really, really dig ComicRack as my preferred comic reader, primarily due to the highly customizable interface and library features. I also started with CDisplay, but switched to ComicRack and haven't looked back. I was going to suggest it earlier, but wasn't sure that was the option you were looking for. Due to it's extended library features you could set it up as an external app and let it handle the organization of your books. It wouldn't be as clean as having everything centralized in GameEx, but ComicRack is one sweet app. Time for a boost of confidence. I think it's awesome having you around, and I like reading your posts. You've got a lot of enthusiasm about GameEx and the community, and I think that's really positive. I think part of what you're feeling may be partly due to the fact that you're such a prolific poster (which can also be a good thing, and in your case I think it is). The thing is, when you are a large volume poster on any forum, some of your posts are going to be very well received, and some of them aren't. That's just the law of averages. I think all of our high volume posters on this forum have been taken down a peg or two on occasion. To quote every mafia movie ever made, "It's not personal, it's just business." Don't let it get you down man. It's just the interwebz.

Basically, what you're talking about sounds a lot like a .cbz. It's a zip which contains an ordered set of images in reading layout (most commonly used for comic books - a .cbr is the same thing in a .rar format). GameEx has supported cbz and cbr for a while (although I have yet to try it). I'm with the fellas, try it out and see what happens. If it doesn't work try changing the extension to .cbz. Nothing to lose!

As far as Shadows of the Empire goes, many people have reported success with Mupen64. I haven't had too much trouble with PJ64, but I've also never played to the point in the game where many people report the need to reconfigure plugin settings mid-game using PJ64. There's a guy called Bighead that has a fairly comprehensive list of best known plugin settings covering a wide range of N64 games (also including most of the popular emulators). I wouldn't go so far as to call it gospel, but it's the best list of this type that I've seen for N64 emulation. Bigheadâ??s N64 Multiple Game Configuration If PJ64 isn't cutting it for Shadows of the Empire, I'd definitely give Mupen64 a shot using the settings in that guide.

Wow Draco this is awesome! Just yesterday I finally broke down and got a Steam account. (I couldn't resist a free copy of Portal - which is available until September 20 in case anyone wasn't aware). Naturally my first thought (after thinking, "Sweet! I just got Portal for free"), was, "I need to go back and re-read all those GameEx-Steam integration threads." This database addition couldn't be more timely! Thanks again! I'll be keeping a close eye out for any updates.

It might be more accurate to say that itâ??s in a persistent vegetative state. Technically I havenâ??t seen anything to indicate that Zilmar has left the project, but yes, my impression is that Jabo was probably the more active, prolific developer of the pair (at least in recent times). His absence will likely mean that the project is over for the time being (and maybe for good). Really though, itâ??s not like this is a huge departure from the â??normalâ?? release cycle for Project64. Itâ??s been dead for quite a while on any sort of meaningful level (at least as far as I can tell). I would also love to see Project64 go open-source in the future, but given the history of this emulator Iâ??m just not sure that weâ??ll see that happen. It's a shame really.

All I can say is . . . Wow! . . . Those look amazing! Great work! The SMB aesthetic is absolutely brilliant! I'm really impressed. Glad that my meager efforts inspired you to produce such amazing results. I'm still slowly slogging my way through controller screens for my console and handheld systems. IRL stuff has been biting me in the butt lately, so progress is slow. Here's a question I've been pondering recently. I can use CPWizard for MAME, but I'm not really sure how to address controller screens for some of other arcade based systems (Naomi and Atomiswave spring to mind). I also don't have a good game plan for representing controller mapping on any of the 'computer-based' systems (Commodore, Amiga, MSX, etc). Any tips on producing controller mapping screens for these systems? Any chance of a preview?

Man, sorry to hear about your time in tech support hell. What a nightmare! To be honest I just use my PS3 for BluRay (in the same way that my PS2 was my only DVD player for a long time). Iâ??m not a Sony fanboy or anything, but PS3 has served me well as a fairly solid BluRay player. You obviously pay a bit more than you would for a run of the mill BluRay player, but get the added bonus of a game console (and if you're really lucky identity theft ). - Plays ALL BluRays, preferrably in less than 3 minutes. PS3 has played everything I've thrown at it, but my selection of BluRays is admittedly limited. Sony is updating the PS3 Firmware all the bleeding time (it can get annoying actually). I think the upshot of the incessant updates is that they can address problems like you describe relatively quickly (although to be honest most of the updates have nothing to do with BluRay). As you pointed out BluRay is Sonyâ??s baby, so I think theyâ??ve got some real vested interest to keep everything operating smoothly. - Accesses BD Live functionality (although there's never really anything out there worth having this for anyway) Never tried this on PS3, due to my limited selection of BluRays. According to this it should work. Given that the linked article is from 2008, I imagine theyâ??ve got it fairly well implemented at this point. - Allows playing of downloaded media/movies without limitations on bitrate/format. PS3 does play quite a few formats natively, but also has the added bonus of streaming from any DLNA compliant device, which includes computers capable of running Windows Media Player 11 (or higher), and PS3 Media Server (along with a handful of others). At that point the question is whether your streaming device is capable of transcoding a given format. In my experience that answer is typically yes (at least with PS3 Media Server). Bitrate will potentially be better if youâ??re playing content directly from the PS3, but limited drive space can become an issue (a FAT32 formatted external drive should take care of that I guess). - Has Netflix (not required, but a plus if the layout/menu is decent). PS3 is Netflix capable. Funny you mention the menus. When I first put Netflix on my PS3 I thought the menu layout was pretty good. Then Netflix decided to change it, and now Iâ??m less enthused. Itâ??s not terrible or anything, just not as good as it was.

Well played sir, well played. But um yeah, something like what you describe is what I'm looking for. @hansolo77 - This falls under the "If you want one so bad . . ." comment I made above. I think it would be really awesome to get involved in a project like this (though personally I don't claim to have an all encompassing knowledge of the world of emulation), but like you I don't have a lot of spare time. I think something like this could work really well as a team project, but even then, most of the spare time that I do have, I'd rather spend with my two year old twins. So yeah, I guess I should really put up or shut up in this case!

@han - Dude, I think those screens are pretty decent! I really like the idea of diagramming the button configurations to the emulated controller. Not an easy thing to do! Man I hear you about the Bandai Wonderswan. That thing is a pain in the butt to configure controls for, let alone diagram. Lastly, you're giving me way too much credit to say that I have more skill, maybe a bit more practice, but honestly I borrowed most of my inspiration from the other guys around here. Just out of curiosity do you still use that Saitek controller?