[RESOLVED] GameEX Attract Mode Video Problem

[the_greeze]

Hi,

I have a small problem with the attract mode on my setup. I have it running perfectly with MAME games; after 60 seconds, attract mode kicks in and selects a random game from my favourites and runs it for two minutes, selects new random game , runs it etc. etc. Works perfectly.

However, I want to include some gameplay videos (of Steam games) in the attract mode. I have put two videos in the folder for experimentation. The attract mode will kick in after 60 seconds as usual and GameEX will run a MAME game for two minutes. A video will then play (as expected) for two minutes but, once it's over, the screen remains black. The next random MAME game can be heard running but I have a black screen.

Possible focus issue? Any help, much appreciated.

Thank you.

Log and .ini files attached.

GameEx.ini

log.txt

[RedDog]

Hey Greeze,

I didn't see anyone chime in on this yet, so I decided to take a look. I had not used Attractmode in a while, so I did some testing. It does look like to may have come upon an issue or two.

One issue I experienced is that when a video is shorter than the two minute timer, GameEx displays that last frame of the video and then appears to stall. If you have fade out at the end of your videos, I can see it appearing as a black screen. Can you check how long the videos are that you have in your folder in case they are too short?

Another issue I came across is that if a video is longer than two minutes, GameEx continues to play the video past the two minute mark and does not switch focus to game #2 (which is what I would expect to happen). The log indicates that GameEx is does try to launch the game though, but as you theorized, it appears that the video is not ending and focus doesn't change to the game. On a side note, if I wait two more minutes, the next video does fire.

Could you do me a favor? The log.txt file you posted did not capture anything related to the Attractmode. Would you run GameEx, leave it idle for about ten minutes, ESC out, and then post the resulting log.txt file. I am curious if it looks similar to mine so far.

Also, please confirm if what I am describing matches your current experience with Attractmode.

I have also posted my own log.txt and GameEx.ini files in case this needs to be given to Tom.

 

PS: Cool cab man!  

log.txt

GameEx.ini

[the_greeze]

Hi RedDog,
Thank you for your reply and efforts so far. 

I can confirm that your findings seem to match mine… 

Case 1:
Videos shorter than two minutes hang on the final frame. The next MAME game can be heard playing in the background. Once the two minutes has expired a video will play again and hang on the final frame. Repeat etc…

Case 2: 
Videos longer than two minutes will play their full length and hang on the final frame. The next MAME game can be heard playing in the background. Once the two minutes has expired a video will play again and hang on the final frame. Repeat etc…

Originally, my videos were 2m 30s long with a fade-in and fade-out. I have removed the fades and experimented with videos of 1m 30s and 2m exactly. Same results as above.

It does seem that the videos are stealing focus from MAME as well as not timing-out to match the attract mode config.

New log file attached as requested (purely attract mode - no games launched).

Thanks again for your help. Maybe this is one for Tom??? 

log.txt

[RedDog]

2 hours ago, the_greeze said:

Thanks again for your help. Maybe this is one for Tom??? 

I do think so. I have changed the title to give him a heads up.

@Tom Speirs Both Greeze and I experienced similar issues with Atractmode when videos were included. Greeze's post and my post above cover the scope of the issues pretty well. Attractmode appears to work perfectly when videos are not included.

[the_greeze]

Thank you.

Let's see if Tom can shed any light on it. 

[DazzleHP]

Hey guys,

Which OS are you running? And are all your video files in the same format? For example are they all .mp4, all .wmv, all .flv etc or are they a mixture?

[RedDog]

Hey Dazzle, we are both running Windows 7 Home 64bit and using .mp4 video files.

[DazzleHP]

Thanks!

Solely .mp4's, meaning there is not one video file that is not mp4, not one, between either of you?

[RedDog]

Correct on the .mp4s. Greeze's log.txt file only showed .mp4 files being used, so that was as far as I tested.

[the_greeze]

RedDog is correct; only .mp4 format used... 

[Tom Speirs]

Ill take a look.

Cheers.
Tom.

 

[the_greeze]

Just a polite 'bump' to see if you've had a chance to look into this yet Tom? 

[DazzleHP]

You can be sure he is

[Tom Speirs]

I cant duplicate here (windows 10). Do you have codecs installed?

[the_greeze]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for taking a look

Would they be the LAV codecs? How do I check (been a while since I installed all this stuff!)?

[the_greeze]

LAV codecs are installed (see attached screenshot) 

[Tom Speirs]

I think I've found the problem. See if this fixes it.

 

GameEx.zip

[the_greeze]

Tom, I can confirm that you have fixed the issue. Many thanks!