Mame Commands

[dukeofarcadia]

how do I exit to view commands for a fight game in mame.. but not exit my game..

meaning when I return.. I return to where I was in the game.. I used to know how

to do it..

Also is there anyway to view the Mame Controls (you know that Arcade control panel image)..

while in game?

[nullPointer]

A very good question as this functionality can be combined under one application, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

how do I exit to view commands for a fight game in mame.. but not exit my game..

meaning when I return.. I return to where I was in the game.. I used to know how

to do it..

Basically this functionality is achieved using command.dat, but command.dat is not enough on it's own. It only contains the raw data, you still need some sort of viewer to well, view the data . . . which leads to your second question . . .

(Here's some enlightening further material on command.dat if you're interested)

Also is there anyway to view the Mame Controls (you know that Arcade control panel image)..

while in game?

Once again it's good ol' Headkaze to the rescue. I think CPWizard is the best control panel viewer software available today. The configurability is unmatched by anything else at the moment IMHO. Here's a fairly decent CPWizard tutorial (hopefully Headkaze approves), but it's definitely a 'learn as you go' type of process (though not terribly difficult).

CpWizard doubles as a control panel viewer and a command.dat viewer/parser

[dukeofarcadia]

thanks nullpointer.. but as I remember.. there was 1 button or maybe 2 buttons pressed together that would exit

mame back to the gameex gui.. but would save your spot when you returned to the game.. not a save state.. it

just kept mame paused in the backround while you could look at the gameex interface real quick..

[nullPointer]

Ah yes . . . that my friend is known as the In Game Key, which is configurable on the Input Settings page (under Keyboard Input) in the Setup Wizard

[fRequEnCy]

thanks nullpointer.. but as I remember.. there was 1 button or maybe 2 buttons pressed together that would exit

mame back to the gameex gui.. but would save your spot when you returned to the game.. not a save state.. it

just kept mame paused in the backround while you could look at the gameex interface real quick..

In Game Key found in the Input Settings section of Setup Wizard. Default is "L". Help text is as follows:

This is the virtual key code that when pressed will display the in game menu when playing a game. So you can do things such as view the manual and control panel. NOTE: It wil not work with all emulators and systems.

Dohhhh. Posted at same time. LOL.

[dukeofarcadia]

How do I get it to where I have to press like three keys at once to make that happen.. don't want this

to happen accidentally if you know what I mean

[nullPointer]

Xpadder is my goto software for handling key combinations like this (naturally alternate key mapping solutions are available), so that's definitely one option. Of course not everyone uses key mapping software . . .

Now, I'm going out on a limb here (someone please correct me if this is wrong!), but I think you can specify modifier keys for the In Game Key in the same way that you can do so elsewhere in the system (away from my emulation rig, so I'm unable to test this at the moment). Here's the Microsoft documentation for those key codes (you'll want to use the code specified in the right hand column). Now that still doesn't present an unlimited number of options, but will afford the possibility of key combinations to use for this purpose.

For the ultimate in configurabililty there's also AutoHotKey / AutoIt. Both are pretty good solutions, and a simple script like this would be pretty easy to assemble even for a non-coder. OTOH this solution adds complexity to your overall setup, so I tend to think of this solution as the last line of defense for something like this.

Edit: Forgot to add that link to the Microsoft Documentation!

Edited April 23, 2012 by nullPointer