How about....cleaner?

[parabolic]

I REALLY want to use a version of GameEx. I have PinballX on my virtual pinball and LOVE IT!

I'm building a multi monitor (widescreen Marquee monitor) MAME cab and have been fighting Hyperspin for over a year now trying to get it to function. I cant stand all the "extra" programs you have to run just to get marquees to show up on a secondary monitor. 

Now I downloaded the Arcade version of GameEx and it works pretty good out of the box. I have yet to get the hyperspin game themes working - like in the video, but the marquees show up perfectly!

With that being said - Is there a way to hide or shut off the extra options and screens? Id like something simple and clean - Im only running MAME so 1 wheel, find the game, select it, it runs. exit the game it goes back to the wheel. Simple.

Don't get me wrong, I like the ability to have all the extra info, flyers, button functions, etc. But not "forced" to have to go through it to select the game.

 

So....does anyone know if its possible to do this...and if so...maybe point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

[Evilforces]

Hi Parabolic!!!

Don't get me wrong, but why you don't try another frontend with less functions like Hyperspin???

What is the reason to install Gameex?

 

I like Gameex for those extra features like the game covers or boxes or the detailed information of each game.

There are other launchers that only do what you need, launch the game and nothing else, like Hyperspin. Why choose GameEx then?

 

Greetings!!

[RedDog]

@parabolic GameEx Arcade is a rerlatively new flavor of GameEx that focuses solely on Mame. Think of it as the standard GameEx with a large number of settings hard-coded. While this makes setup easier, it also means that a number of options have been decided for you. I believe this version is aimed at cabinet enthusists and people who want a simpler setup.

I have worked with the standard GameEx for a pretty long time and I am not aware of a setting that would launch GameEx directly into a Mame games list or the Mame menu. Since the arcade version essentially follows the standard version, I do believe that the option you are looking for does not exist there either. I also did take some time looking over GameEx Arcade to make it happen, but I could not find one.

But, I can definately understand why you might want this feature. I would suggest posting a comment in the Feature Request thread HERE.

 

Now it is possible that I just have not come accross this option you are looking for, so maybe wait a bit to see if any of the other forum goers chime in with a yay or nay.

[parabolic]

5 hours ago, Evilforces said:

Hi Parabolic!!!

Don't get me wrong, but why you don't try another frontend with less functions like Hyperspin???

What is the reason to install Gameex?

 

I like Gameex for those extra features like the game covers or boxes or the detailed information of each game.

There are other launchers that only do what you need, launch the game and nothing else, like Hyperspin. Why choose GameEx then?

 

Greetings!!

I appreciate the question, But as I stated in my original post, I'm looking for something that does dual monitors (FOR MY CAB) with less "fuss" than Hyperspin currently offers to accomplish the feat. I do like the ABILITY to access all the other data, flyers, mappings, etc. However, Id also like the ability to SHUT IT OFF. My experience with having a MAME cab (which I've had for 15 years), that when people - general people - go to play a game, less is more. Something simple to find and identify the game (i.e. videos, marquee, etc) and then start into it to play. Building a MAME cab should be for everyone - not for just me. I can play MAME on my computer if I want to read all the extra BS about every game. I was just hoping that there was going to be more adjustability with GameEx - like PinballX - as I have on my pinball cab.

Again, I believe I stated this in my original post - what was the question again?

cheers

[parabolic]

1 hour ago, RedDog said:

@parabolic GameEx Arcade is a rerlatively new flavor of GameEx that focuses solely on Mame. Think of it as the standard GameEx with a large number of settings hard-coded. While this makes setup easier, it also means that a number of options have been decided for you. I believe this version is aimed at cabinet enthusists and people who want a simpler setup.

I have worked with the standard GameEx for a pretty long time and I am not aware of a setting that would launch GameEx directly into a Mame games list or the Mame menu. Since the arcade version essentially follows the standard version, I do believe that the option you are looking for does not exist there either. I also did take some time looking over GameEx Arcade to make it happen, but I could not find one.

But, I can definately understand why you might want this feature. I would suggest posting a comment in the Feature Request thread HERE.

 

Now it is possible that I just have not come accross this option you are looking for, so maybe wait a bit to see if any of the other forum goers chime in with a yay or nay.

Thanks for the response! I appreciate you taking the time to look into it for me. Again - its a simplicity thing for when I have a party and have 50 drunk people trying to figure out how to load a game. Its the difference between a console and pc gamer. Console its put it in and play. Usually on a pc theres alot more to getting a game to run then just putting a disc in and turning it on.

[Draco1962]

I have not tried it, but regular GameEx has the Lite Mode option... I believe it may just play the games upon selection.

[Gildahl]

I do this using the fix to emulator option. 

[parabolic]

10 minutes ago, Gildahl said:

I do this using the fix to emulator option. 

Whats that?

 

[parabolic]

21 minutes ago, Draco1962 said:

I have not tried it, but regular GameEx has the Lite Mode option... I believe it may just play the games upon selection.

I'm going to load the Full GameEx then and see if I can strip it down.
I hope Tom considers this as an option for EVO. GameEx runs so solid for me - just has too much fluff for my needs

 

 

[tthurman]

Dunno....perhaps

[Gildahl]

15 hours ago, parabolic said:

Whats that?

 

Sorry, I see now you are using Arcade Edition.  Regular GameEx has a "Fix to Emulator" option under the Enable/Disable features menu in the wizard.  This is effectively  GameEx Arcade "without the extras" (for me anyway).  Normally I like "the extras", but sometimes during a party, I want a truly minimalistic setup.  To do this I have a custom menu configured to use the wheel and containing my MAME games.  The background video is set to use the video theme videos.  I then use the Fix to Emulator option to force GameEx to boot straight to the game list, and that is effectively all you get--the game list and no more.  

[parabolic]

3 hours ago, Gildahl said:

Sorry, I see now you are using Arcade Edition.  Regular GameEx has a "Fix to Emulator" option under the Enable/Disable features menu in the wizard.  This is effectively  GameEx Arcade "without the extras" (for me anyway).  Normally I like "the extras", but sometimes during a party, I want a truly minimalistic setup.  To do this I have a custom menu configured to use the wheel and containing my MAME games.  The background video is set to use the video theme videos.  I then use the Fix to Emulator option to force GameEx to boot straight to the game list, and that is effectively all you get--the game list and no more.  

Cool! Ill try that - next step is trying to figure out how to configure the wheel - Arcade mode its built right in. Im not sure what I have to do to get it working in normal GameEx

 

[Gildahl]

Should be easy.  Before turning on the "Fix to Emulator" feature, use "Change View" in the front end until you see the wheel and things look the way you want.  Then exit and turn on "Fix to Emulator".  It should retain the view you selected sans the menus.

[RedDog]

On 2/9/2017 at 5:07 PM, parabolic said:

Cool! Ill try that - next step is trying to figure out how to configure the wheel - Arcade mode its built right in. Im not sure what I have to do to get it working in normal GameEx

I thought I remembered a feature like 'Fix to Emulator', but I could not find it...so I thought I was mixing up my front end programs.

• You can use this option with standard GameEx, but a few things to keep in mind:
• You will have to set Mame up as an emulator (ie disable Mame in the Mame Settings section)
• If you have a lot of roms, you will want to build a game list by using a mapfile or by limiting the roms in your game folder. If you want a lot of games in your list, that is quite a bit of manual work.
• You will have to find a theme that works for you. I could not find any specifically build for the circle menu yet.
• You will have a bit more configuring to do before you can it how you like it (since Arcade has a fair amount hard coded)
• You will need to use the Change Views option to 'find' a view that uses the 'circle menu' option.

I don't doubt you could do this, but I would still suggest posting a feature request in the thread and see if Tom replies before doing all that work. Since this feature is already implemented for emulators, I wonder if implementing it for the "All MAME Games" list in Mame wouldn't be too difficult (assuming Tom can spare the time).

[Gildahl]

Just a few notes:

* While it is correct that you'll need to setup a separate emulator for MAME (i.e. create a custom mapfile), you don't need to disable MAME in Mame settings (or any other configured emulator) if you already have that setup.  At least I don't seem to need to do this.  When you turn on Fix To Emulator, just pick the number correlating to the emulator you setup for MAME under Emulator Selection.  It would be great if Fix To Emulator worked for emulator 0 (MAME) or the Favorites list though. 

* I think the wheel works in just about any theme.  I personally use default-Deep Purple as my theme, but the wheel seems to be selectable in other theme's I've tried including default-default.  Just use change views before turning on Fix to Emulator and you should find it.  I should note that if you're using video themes as the background video the theme you pick doesn't actually matter much since, you never really see it--the background video and wheel are effectively your theme. 

* If you like the pop-up descriptions in Arcade, be sure to turn on "Enable Popup Descriptions" under Display Settings.  I can't remember whether that is turned on by default or not in standard GameEx.

 

[parabolic]

Awesome! Thanks for the input - Ill mess with it today. 
I think its Ironic that to make it a cleaner and simpler setup you have to do more complicated amounts of work.

too funny!

I went as far as to try and use the pinballx frontend - that didn't work how I had hoped as well.

[RedDog]

@parabolic Glad we could help. Do keep in mind that standard GameEx allows for a pretty good amount of customization due to its many options. Just don't let the amount of "stuff" overwhelm you. Take a chunk at a time.  

Also, sorry for jacking your thread with my chat with T-man.

@tthurman Hey bud, let's continue our chat by pm. I will message a bit later.

[parabolic]

I appreciate all the input. Im probably going back to HS. Ive been messing with this for 2 days straight and the whole point was to get something working with less "brain damage" than I was having with HS. 

my HS setup is about 95% functional , I just didnt like having to use Rocketlauncher, EDS, and HyperMarquee programs (not plugins) just to run a second display for marquees. I was hoping that GameEx would have a better interface, but in the end - its pretty damn convoluted- to me.

Thanks again for all the help.

[Gildahl]

Not sure about all your issues here, but I'd suggest keeping GameEx around and continuing to learn it even if you go back to HS.  I had HS & GameEx installed side by side for a while and finally determined that GameEx was considerably easier to maintain over time.  Once you get a few of its ideosyncracies under your belt, it really is a fantastic piece of software.  Support is also superb.  There are at least three or four bugs that I've found that Tom fixed within days and sometimes hours. 

[Draco1962]

I have to agree. There are also some fine Plugins that manage the marquees beautifully by Stigzler and others in the User Apps subforum. 

GameEx is far easier to manage than Hyperspin IMO. As has been said, there are some idiosyncrasies to deal with as they are not the same in how they are written. 

[parabolic]

Like I said - I was ALL FOR getting GX to work. Its just SO DAMN CONVOLUTED!! I mean - Tom did a good job of putting the pop up help bubbles for brief descriptions, but man......ALL I want is for it to boot up to the mame emulator, show the marquee, use the "wheel", and show the ala hyperspin style game theme videos, go right to the game when selected, then exit back to the mame wheel.

But for me its easier said than done.

At this point I can get it to go to the mame wheel right off, but it still gives me another screen when I click on the game. Before I had it going right into the game somehow that changed as I was figuring another issue out.

Seems like every time I figure one thing out something else changes.

Plus I cant find in the FTP where to get the game video themes (recorded hyperspin style)

Sorry to be such a whiny bitch - its just frustrating to me. Being something that is so basic takes so much effort to achieve. 

[Tom Speirs]

You are looking for the "show game information" setting.

The video themes are from http://www.emumovies.com

[parabolic]

1 hour ago, Tom Speirs said:

You are looking for the "show game information" setting.

The video themes are from http://www.emumovies.com

Awesome! Thanks Tom! I was looking on the GAMEEX FTP

[parabolic]

9 hours ago, Tom Speirs said:

You are looking for the "show game information" setting.

The video themes are from http://www.emumovies.com

Tom, is there a way to use pinballx in cab mode and rotate the video? That would work perfect for me - nice and simple.