destrolennox

Draco, I would be interested in what sites you did find that still exist. If you have a moment to post some. -Brendan

This sounds great! I haven't used it yet but if it works as advertized it will be very helpful. Thanks Tempest!

Once the download service is available and GameEx is officially updated to accommodate the codex, this will represent a huge step forward imo. Based on the posts here (I haven't personally tried the new videos) my video library could be reduced more than 50% while doubling the resolution of the videos. Awesome. Too often small/independent developers with great products fall out of favor because they do not strive to remain current (or at least relevant). A big thanks to Tom and Circo for making GameEx and EMUMovies the two best and affordable software purchases I have made in many years. -Brendan

Sounds good. Love the old TV ads. Thanks!

Hello All, I recently upgraded to Pandora One (the "premiere" service) since I have found myself using it daily. It is only around 30 bucks for a year so it was worth a try. Prior to upgrading I tried to use Pandora in GameEx through the WebApps feature. I found it felt clunky and looked like garbage. After upgrading to Pandora One (PO) I found that it includes a small desktop application/widget which (so far) works great. I immediately started thinking about how I could integrate this into GameEx. I have been able to set up a sub-menu under my music menu which launches the Pandora app. The first problem I have is that I have been unsuccessful in loading it with "hide desktop" enabled. Since this widget is only a fraction of the screen with the desktop behind it is worse than using the webapp. Right now I am working on a wrapper for it so I can load PO in the center with a black border. This should not be too difficult. The real annoyance is that I have not been able to figure out a way to return to GameEx, have PO continue to play music AND have GameEx pause the playlist it was previously playing from my MP3 library. I can get GameEx to pause the music when I enter PO (simply a option in setup). By using AHK as the program GameEx launches I can exit the script without exiting PO, return to GameEx and continue to have PO play. However, I CANT figure out how to stop GameEx from resuming the MP3 music. Any ideas? Also I believe that GameEx would benefit greatly if we could somehow incorporate Pandora right into GameEx. If anyone else is interested I will post a possible proposal in the requests section. Regards, Brendan

AlphaUMi, thanks for the overview. The Gamebase/Gamebase64 bit had me confused but you got me sorted. If you don't mind I have a few more questions: What do you mean by: Why would you have to exit GameEx if you dont have Gamebase in order to play your C64 games. Can't they be added to GameEx like any other emulator? Can't you add the Gamebase64 database to GameEx as you would with the other emulator databases? - Lastly I would like your (and anyone else's) opinion on this situation: I have about 20-30 PC games that I run through GameEx. Mainly these are "arcade style" games that are fast and fun for guests (Audio Surf, SF4, HOD3, marble madness, TIM... even Angry Birds and Plants Vs. Zombies for my younger brother..... and me). The rest are DOS games from my childhood like the Kroz and Commander Keen series. Anyway, these games are the only ones on my system that are lacking in detailed information. Thus far I have never experimented with creating databases used in GameEx. I understand that creating databases in GameBase is tedious, but is it at less tedious with Gamebase? I have already grabbed snaps and videos google/youtube but I still need written info like rating, description and the ability to link to games in a series/other platforms. Thanks for the advice and answering my questions. Regards, Brendan

So... from what I gather Gamebase was created specifically for the Commodore 64 library of games, but can be used to create databases of other emulators. Is this correct? I fail to see the advantage to using Gamebase in conjunction with GameEx. While setting up my various emulators (NES, SNES, N64) I instructed GameEx to use their respective databases. While in gameEx I get *** ratings, year and information, other platforms, etc without the use of Gamebase. What else does Gamebase do? Appreciate the help -Confused.

Sorry that you are having issues. I have a solid tech background and I will tell you when I first started to build my system there was a point about 3 weeks in where I almost threw in the towel. I would encourage you to keep learning and it will not take you long to master the basics. Once you have that everything will start to fall into place. That said, in some ways it will always be completely frustrating. After all, emulation is and always will be "iffy".. In the end I agree with fRequEnCy though. While there are some very knowledgeable folks here, I believe you would end up regretting your decision to pay someone else to set up your system. I am not trying to give you one of those "do it yourself and it will be so much more rewarding!" schpeels. As mentioned, things will change, you will upgrade, new problems will surface, and without understanding how it all works you will find yourself tearing more hair out (and wasting more time/$$) than you are now. There are a lot of great information/guides out there to help. I believe that Tom recently released a new version of his setup guide (http://www.gameex.com/Support/ConfigurationGuide.aspx) arcadecontrols.com was also very helpful to me when I started. I am sure some of the more senior folks here can give more ideas on where to get help. Good luck with whatever you decide. -Brendan

This is a bit off topic (okay almost entirely) but are there games actually worth playing on the Sinclair Spectrum / ZX81 today? Put another way, if you never played a game on those systems before are they still enjoyable or purely nostalgic?

Although I have not personally used TeamBuilder, from what I have read here I fail to see how it is any better/different from LogMeIn. I fully admit this is not my wheelhouse, but I was under the impression that LMI was considered the "leader" in this field. Based on my experience with LMI, the biggest missing feature from the free version is that you cannot copy/paste between the remote PC and your own (this is available in the pro (paid) version). If TeamBuilder allows you to transfer files like that (for free) then I do see the benefit. Based on the video though they seem almost identical. LogMeIn also has an Android app available, though I have never personally used it. Additionally, LMI only requires the software to be installed on the source PC. Any PC that wants to connect to it merely requires an internet browser and connection. That aside, if I want to control a computer within my house I use the Windows 7 remote desktop. My cab is on the other end of the house from my main PC and I use it daily to control within my network. Add a few shared directories and I have everything I need to share (within my home network) without any additional software weighing down my maxed-out-nearly-extinct-dino cab.

Thanks Tom!

Adultery, Do you have a link from tigerdirect for that processor? Thanks! Brendan

Thanks for the reply. I guess I want to know how spending between $100-200 on an upgraded LGA 775 processor on my current system would compare to spending between $300-400 on completely updated components (like you did through microcenter). Any chance you can link to the processor/mobo/ram you mentioned? Thanks for the advice, Brendan

Hello All, I hope you don't mind me asking this as it is not entirely GameEx specific... Right now I am running GameEx on a slightly modified old HP media center pc (m7250n). The current specs are: Intel Pentium D CPU 2.8ghz 3 gigs DDR2 Ram GeForce 7900 GTO Graphics Card Windows 7 32-bit Currently 2D Mame and console games up to early-n64 work great. However 3D MAME, the really cool n64 games (F-Zero X, Golden Eye) and modern PC games struggle. With my current system, what is the most cost effective way to boost speed? My processor is socket LGA 775, and I have found a few LGA 775 CPU options ranging from ($75 - $300!!!!) available from NewEgg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007671%20600005851&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA%20775 One I am interested in is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz ($170): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 Does it make sense to spent almost $200 on a processor that is already outdated? My problem is that going with a more modern socket processor will require me to essentially build up a new machine (new mobo, DDR 3 ram, possibly new gfx card...) Also, I have heard that emulators only cannot utilize multiple cores. How does this affect my purchase decision? Lastly, I have realized that I am running a 32 bit version of win7 when my current processor actually supports 64 bit. I have struggled to find consensus on whether this is hurting my performance. Any ideas? As always, thanks for the input! -Brendan

Thanks for the response bkenobi. Just out of curiosity, anyone else navigate in GameEx with a trackball? I figured it would be a very common method and this issue would have come up long ago. Regardless, it would be great and if others agree hopefully we will see it implemented in the future. -Brendan

I had the same issue all last night using auto-updates. I have GameEx set to require me to authorize the update, so I simply hit "Cancel" after it was clear that something was wrong. This evening I updated without issue and no longer seem to have issues. Hopefully it is resolved for you as well. -Brendan

This is exactly what I would love to have. Is it best to provide another feature request mirroring Draco's or is that not going to help push it? -Brendan

Hello all, I generally use a trackball to navigate through the GameEx menus and rom lists using my trackball. I recently started using the alternative view which shows the games visually in a grid format. In this mode I am able to navigate up and down through the rows of games, but have to use the joy to navigate left/right through columns. Is it possible to use the mouse to navigate left/right? If not I will have to either disable the mouse entirely in GameEx (really don't want to do this) or revert to the standard text lists as the current setup is too confusing for guests. As always, thanks! -Brendan

Thanks for all the input. Let me address some of the issues: Adultery: No, the issue is not reserved to custom lists. This happens to me regardless of whether I use custom lists. Secondly, the problem persists even when there are less items on the screen than space to fit them. So even if you can see all items without scrolling, the first item is still hidden. (I am running 1360x768) This is true for both standard and custom menus. From my experience, this only happens in the start menu. Emulator menus and such work fine. This issue started a few months after I installed GameEx. After reinstalling fresh (for other reasons) the issue remained. As bkenobi mentioned, it would be nice to have this fixed but it isn't a huge deal. I am running custom menus and like bkenobi I simply make the first item blank. HOWEVER, there is one negative side to this. After I enter a sub menu and return to the main, the cursor now correctly appears on the first item, which is blank. -I should also mention I only run full screen, so I do not know what happens when gameex is windowed. -Brendan

Hello all, Tried searching for this with no success... When I start GameEx the cursor defaults to the second item in my main menu list. This happens regardless of whether I am using custom menus. For Example, if my main menu list starts as such: Mame Music Karaoke When GameEx loads the cursor would default to Music (second item). If you could see the first item, this wouldn't be a big deal, but the first item is hidden above, and it requires scrolling up to even know that it is there. Any ideas? (gameex.ini attached) Thanks! Brendan GameEx.txt

Okay well that is even easier. I admit I didn't try Shark007, due to (what I perceived to be) posts indicating that it didn't fix the issues for all users. This issue aside, do you think there are other benefits to Shark007 over FFDShow (tryouts)? I was under the impression FFD was considered to be the "best" of the bunch. -Brendan

All, I know a few of us have been having issues with GameEx playing FLV files playing without video (or not playing at all) due to Windows Media Player. I was about to give up earlier today when I stumbled upon this guide: Afterdawn Guides: How to play FLV files http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_play_flv_files.cfm The final step in the guide turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle. While 3rd party players such as Media Player CLASSIC or VLC Player only require a correctly configured Codec Pack such as FFDSHOW to play FLV files, WMP additionally requires a FLV Splitter. I downloaded and ran the recommended program (Gabest Flash Video Splitter v1.0.0.4) and... success! The Gabest software is listed for XP, but I am on 32bit Windows 7 and it worked without issue. Gabest Flash Video Splitter v1.0.0.4: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/flv_splitter.cfm I hope that helps. Post a reply if you try this with 64bit Win 7. I would be curious to hear if it works. And with that issue solved, it is beer time. Regards, Brendan

Okay wow, what I wanted was not only built-in but right in front of me! Thank you!

I have a (hopefully) complete 1.40 rom set currently. I have used the GameEx filters to get rid of a lot of the non-working and card games. However there is still a LOT of crap that I find really gets in the way of the true gems I may have yet to discover. I find my friends avoid Mame on my machine because of the overwhelming number of games. Some may be great, but I have a feeling a lot are not. Has anyone created a "best of" filter? I would much rather have 50 GREAT arcade games than 5000 mediocre ones. Any advice appreciated, Brendan

Thanks Draco! That solved my issue instantly. One more quick question... I haven't seen anyone on the chat before. Is there an IRC channel or something similar where gameex users discuss issues/questions. I ask because right when I think I am getting really knowledgeable about all of this, a thousand other questions come up; many of which would be easier articulated in a back and forth chat setting. -Brendan