Attact mode disable bezel?

[Guest frazz]

Hello,

Well, i can't get videos to work in Attract mode without it crashing... I have read the posts on codecs and probably just can't seem to get it right.... so for now I have decided to disable video's and just use the roms for attract mode. However, I have clicked not to use bezels in attract mode. They still show up. I want the bezels when playing games, but not when in attract mode. Is this possible? Any ideas why they would show up even though I click no to the drop down box?

Thanks,

Frazz

[nullPointer]

Which type of bezel is displaying? There are a few different bezel settings in play and they all do something slightly different.

• Show MAME Bezel – Attract / Screensaver Settings: Show Bezel for Mame games. When on MAME will show a nice Bezel detailing the game and showing marquee and icon images at the bottom of the screen.
  

• Use Bezel – MAME Settings | Advanced MAME Settings: Enable and have GameEx use Bezel artwork for Vertical games on a horizontal display. You can modify the images used by changing mame.png and mask.png in the GameEx\Media\Bezel folder. This Bezel displays a single default bezel image for all games meeting the above criteria.
  

• Integrated MAME Bezel – This is configured through the integrated artwork settings within MAME (via the tab key menu). This bezel will display a bezel which matches the game running in MAME (i.e. each game has its own bezel)
  

You might tool around with the above settings depending on the behavior you’re observing within the MAME screen saver.

Welcome to the forums!

[Guest frazz]

Thanks for the welcome. I am using the one in the "Attract / Screensaver Settings:" setup. I say "no" yet it still shows. Any idea?

Also.. wasnt' aware i could use a bezel that matches the games (will have to look at this, sounds interesting).

[nullPointer]

I guess that’s what I was trying to get at. The bezel utilized in the attract mode is not a traditional ‘bezel’ in the way one normally thinks of bezels. It’s an overlay that appears at the bottom of the game screen and displays various information about the game itself. It’s typically not the type of thing you’d want to display while you were playing a game. I don’t believe it’s even possible to display that particular bezel while actually playing a game. Is that the bezel that’s still displaying in attract mode despite being set otherwise in the setup wizard? Only reason I'm wondering is that you mentioned that you wanted the bezel to display during gameplay, but not in attract mode.

So let’s get into some brass tacks troubleshooting. Would you mind posting your GameEx.ini, and your GameEx log after having observed this behavior in attract mode?

Please refer here if you are unsure of how to do that.

[Guest frazz]

Dont have access to the cfg and logs at this time.. but.. maybe i am mistaken. You mention the bottom of the screen is not what i am concerned with, so maybe i am calling it the wrong thing. The "Bezel" I am talking about is the "GameEx" and "MAME" that is down the sides of a vertical game... is that not the bezel that would be removed by that setting?

I don't care if they are there when i am playing the game, but I am old school and although not as common on LCD monitors, I just don't like static images on the screen for long periods of time .. burn in .... never actually seen it on an LCD... but like i said... old school.

[nullPointer]

Yep, this is a case of two different bezels, each with their own setting in the Setup Wizard. You’ll want to have a look at the Use Bezel setting on the MAME Settings screen in the Setup Wizard (it’s under the Advanced Mame Settings section).

I’m guessing that the Use Bezel setting has been turned on. (You’ll also want to turn off this setting if you intend to have a look at the integrated support for bezels within MAME itself).

Let us know how this pans out for you.

Heh … I hear you about the concern over burn in. I still needlessly fret about it as well. I tell you kids today have it so easy, what with their ‘monitors that don’t suffer burn in’, and their ‘smart phones’, and their ‘modern dental care,’ but I digress …

[Guest frazz]

Question: If I turn off the Use Bezel under Advanced Mame Settings.. it will get rid of it during the game as well. Why would there be a setting to turn it off during "attract mode" if that does nothing? Not trying to be a weisenheimer (that even pre-dates me) ...

[nullPointer]

Question: If I turn off the Use Bezel under Advanced Mame Settings.. it will get rid of it during the game as well. Why would there be a setting to turn it off during "attract mode" if that does nothing? Not trying to be a weisenheimer (that even pre-dates me) ...

That’s what I’m saying. Remember we’re talking about two different bezels, and the Show MAME Bezel setting on the – Attract / Screensaver Settings screen is not a bezel in the sense that you’re referring to. Heck, you could have both the attract mode bezel and the traditional MAME bezel displaying at the same time if you so choose (but only during attract mode). So ... two separate settings for two separate bezels which are not mutually exclusive, or even related to one another.

As far as the setting that displays a default ingame bezel for vertical games (found on the MAME Settings screen, but not the Attract / Screensaver Settings screen), I’m afraid it’s a global setting. That bezel will either always display or never display regardless of whether you’re in attract mode or playing a game.

[Guest frazz]

Hey.. Thanks for all the help. I guess that i will need to get the video's working instead... I like the MAME / GAMEEX bezel (in the games) so really don't want to turn it off.

I do appreciate all the help though!

Thanks

[nullPointer]

No problem! Some of our other users are a bit more well versed in GameEx video playback than I, but lets start with a couple basic questions.

• Do the videos play within GameEx itself (i.e. does GameEx display the same videos as previews videos without issue)?
  
• Do you have any non-standard codecs already installed on your machine?
  
• Do the videos display OK outside of GameEx (if they do, it's not necessarily an indication that the videos will play in GameEx, but if they don't it may indicate there's an issue with the video files themselves).
  

Lastly, please consider posting your log when you have the opportunity to do so. You'll want to be sure that you post it immediately after having experienced the error, and exiting GameEx. That will likely be the fastest method to determine what exactly is happening.

[Guest frazz]

• Do the videos play within GameEx itself (i.e. does GameEx display the same videos as previews videos without issue)? - None of these play as previews.. they are the defaults from the Demo\video directory
  
• Do you have any non-standard codecs already installed on your machine? - Not that I am aware or were installed by me.... It is a default factory install (not clean windows)
  
• Do the videos display OK outside of GameEx (if they do, it's not necessarily an indication that the videos will play in GameEx, but if they don't it may indicate there's an issue with the video files themselves). - They are standard AVI and play fine in media player.
  

not sure what the issue is, other than when i try to esape attract mode once in a while it crashes... been doing it through multiple gameex updates. I guess I will pay attention to what is playing each time i try to escape and see if i can narrow it to one video and remove it to see if the problem goes away. Checked the logs right now and nothing significant to report. Will post again under a new thread when it crashes...

Thanks!

Edited September 24, 2012 by Draco1962
This thread is now closed. If the problem re-occurs, please start a new thread.