Just some basic questions on Gameex

[Caspur]

Hello Gameex forum,

I have been building my NES-PC over the last month and recently finished the hardware part. I started doing the software phase a few days ago, ran across your Gameex front end and I absolutely love it. I have got almost everything working and just need to ask a few questions:

1. Does Gameex support Xbox 360 controllers directly for emulator game play or do I have to use a different program (e.g XPadder)? If it does not support them directly are there any plugins?

2. When I launch certain emulators (e.g Project64) it pops up the small window before starting full screen mode, which to me really takes away from what I am trying to accomplish here. Is there a way to stop this from happening? I'm really trying for a complete gaming experience and want no visible signs the I am running Windows (BTW, my OS is Windows 7 32).

3. When I launch Gameex there's a Gameex splash screen. Is there a way to change this? I'd really like a NES, N64 or PSone active screen. And while I'm asking anyone got any really good ones?

These are the questions I have so far. If I run across anymore (and I will) I'll post them.

Thank you for any help!

[nullPointer]

Hello Caspur and Welcome to the GameEx Forums!

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the software.

1. Does Gameex support Xbox 360 controllers directly for emulator game play or do I have to use a different program (e.g XPadder)? If it does not support them directly are there any plugins?

Yes, GameEx has native support for Xbox 360 controllers. If you have the desire you can customize your input settings for GameEx in the Setup Wizard on the Input Settings screen. You might find that certain emulators still require the use of Xpadder (or similar) in order to maintain compatibility with your Xbox 360 controllers (although these seem to be getting few and far between). If you find yourself in this position I recommend taking a look at Adultery’s Xpadder Plugin so that GameEx can manage the opening and closing of Xpadder for those specific emulators.

2. When I launch certain emulators (e.g Project64) it pops up the small window before starting full screen mode, which to me really takes away from what I am trying to accomplish here. Is there a way to stop this from happening? I'm really trying for a complete gaming experience and want no visible signs the I am running Windows (BTW, my OS is Windows 7 32).

If the emulator itself can be configured to launch without a visible console window, then this is possible. In terms of the application itself, GameEx doesn’t ‘know’ enough about the vast multitudes of emulators out there to predict what to hide and when. As I mentioned though, several emulators can be configured to launch without a visible console window present. Often times this is accomplished via a command line switch or some other setting within the emulator itself (I know nullDC is like this, I’d have to double check whether Project64 allows for this sort of thing). You may need to refer to emulator documentation to figure out what's possible and what's not.

3. When I launch Gameex there's a Gameex splash screen. Is there a way to change this? I'd really like a NES, N64 or PSone active screen. And while I'm asking anyone got any really good ones?

There are a couple of options here. The easiest and most direct approach would be to use the Skip Intro setting found on the Enable/Disable Features screen within the Setup Wizard. Another option would be to use the Quick Startup Resume feature found on the same page.

So those are the easiest answers to this question. If you’d like to get into modification of specific graphical elements of the frontend, then you’ll probably want to have a gander at the GameEx theme editor. The theme editor blows the doors wide open in terms of modifications you can make to nearly every graphical element within a theme. I suggest you take a look at some of the fantastic work occurring everyday in our User Projects forum for some ideas and inspiration. Also check out the winners of our 2012 Theme Competition to get a feel for what can be done.

Lastly don’t forget to post the details of your NES PC over in the Cabinets and HTPC Setups Running GameEx. Most of us here love geeking out over that sort of thing.

Thanks Caspur, and welcome once again!

[Caspur]

Thank you nullPointer for the quick response,

Your post helped greatly. I fixed the second problem in Advanced Emulator Settings by setting "Show Desktop" to black screen so, no more windows pop up boxes. I set the 3rd problem to "Skip Intro" as you suggested and that's perfect.

I am however still having problems with the Xbox 360 controller. When I look in "Input Settings" I cannot find what I am looking for. There is a Joystick Input but, it says it is only for navigation in GameEx. I will list my Input Settings so you can see if I have anything set-up wrong:

Enable Alpha Paging: Yes

Enable Keyboard DirectInput: No

Enable SlikStik and IPAC Support: No

Disable Mouse: Yes Disable Mouse Input

Enable Gamepad/Joystick: YES. Initialize and Use devices below

Gamepad Device to use: XBOX 360 For Windows (Controller)

Cab Control Friendly: Yes

Enable Letter Select: Yes

Trackball Support: No

Loop List: Yes

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keyboard Input

Enable Custom Keyboard Controls: No

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced Keyboard Input

Enable Custom Controls: No

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joystick Input

Enable Custom Joystick Controls: Yes

Select: Button 0

Back: Button 1

Paging: Button 2

Volume: Button 6

Up: Up|POV Up

Down: Down|POV Down

Left: Left|POV Left

Right: Right|POV Right

Previous Track: Button 4

Next Track: Button 5

Play/Pause Music: Button 8

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Global Exit

Global Escape Key Combo: Escape

Joystick Exit: Button 7|Button 3

Enable Escape Key: Yes

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Game Pause

In Game Key: F10

In Game Joystick: Button 7|Button 3

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keyboard Shutdown

Enabled: No

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I cannot figure out how to get the controller working with the emulators. I have a Genuine Xbox 360 Controller and the drivers from Windows Update.

Also, I'm having an issue with pausing the game, when I try to resume all I get is a black screen.

Thank you for all your help.

[nullPointer]

There is a Joystick Input but, it says it is only for navigation in GameEx.

...

I cannot figure out how to get the controller working with the emulators. I have a Genuine Xbox 360 Controller and the drivers from Windows Update.

Also, I'm having an issue with pausing the game, when I try to resume all I get is a black screen.

Thank you for all your help.

Oooooh ... I'm sorry man! I thought you were talking about configuring navigation for GameEx. So yeah ... you'll need to configure controls for each emulator on a per emulator basis. This falls under the golden rule of "Configure the emulator and get it working outside of GameEx prior to adding it into GameEx" Currently there's no way to globally configure controls for all emulators.

I think this project was sort of geared towards doing what you describe, but I've never tried it (and TBH this one always seemed a bit sketchy to me - purely IMO). A project of this nature would be an absolutely massive undertaking.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[KRC]

I also use an 360 controller for everything GameEx related.

The easiest way to make this happen for you would be to:

1. Setup Xpadder with use of your 360 controller. (It's pretty easy to setup and has a ton of options)

2. Setup each individual Emulator outside of GameEx for use with your 360 controller.(Some Emulator's actually pickup that your 360 controller is inserted into your system)

3. Launch the setup wizard and go to input setting's and because you have Xpadder setup with your 360 controller via keyboard you can change the option's in the Keyboard input/Advanced Keyboard input (Basically your 360 controller has keyboard presses)

4. Launch the setup wizard and setup the emulator's.

5. Last but not least you need a way to exit the Emulator's, I find that an advanced emulator config is the way to go for this, If you have an advanced config at the ready It will exit anything that is run through GameEx. The advanced config is located in the Root of your GameEx install or alternatively click Start->All Program's->GameEx->Configuration->Advanced Emulator Config. Once you have setup the Advanced Emulator Config it can be accessed in the Advanced Emulator Setup in the setup wizard. (It's the 14th option on the list.)

Xpadder is the key.

I feel doing it this way will make your GameEx experience very smooth.

[nullPointer]

I do love me some Xpadder, but I'd be hesitant to say that it's essential to the GameEx experience. GameEx itself does have native support for game pads, but as KRC points out some emulators may not be compatible with Xbox 360 controllers. KRC's advice is very good, and Xpadder can certainly facilitate some emulator functionality not otherwise available directly from a controller, but I just thought I would mention that Xpadder is not strictly required for GameEx.