Help with running external programs

[Twitami]

I am building a MAME cabinet, but I also want to play a lot of the PC games that I have bought from Real Arcade and other sources. I can't seem to figure out how to get this to work. Ideally, I would like them to just show up as a list of games (like in the main menu, I would have MAME, Visual Pinball, and PC Games). I played around with the configuration, but Gameex just exits for a minute, then comes back. Any help?

Thanks!

Brian

[hansolo77]

You can configure each game to run as an individual emulator and check the box 'treat as 1 pc game'. You can also configure PC games to load up under the MORE PROGRAMS menu. Another thing you can do is setup 1 emulator, call it PC Games, then make a folder that has a shortcut for every PC game you have. Then tell GameEx too look for the .lnk files and it will list them all that way.

As for your problem with GameEx exiting and reloading.. is it doing that when you try to load a game? It may be that the configuration is wrong. GameEx may show the program, but unless it's working outside of GameEx, it won't work. Soon as the program GameEx calls crashes, or fails to load, GameEx opens back up. This is particularily a problem with the latest version of MAME. It uses a new renderer which makes GameEx crash if you it configured to use the Bezel artwork. Make sure that's set to NO if you're using any version of MAME that is newer than 106. If GameEx closes and doesn't show anything, that might just be because the game isn't running in full screen. Make sure that is setup correctly in the emulator/program. Also, you might have to change the option in GameEx config for 'show desktop'. Usually, showing the desktop solves a lot of problems related to games not running in full screen.

Hope that helps ya. On behalf of myself and everybody else here in the GameEx world, welcome to the forum! Enjoy your stay, and remember to just ask if you have a problem. We've all been there. The last thing we need is people bashing the program because they can't get it to work.

[Twitami]

Oh, adding a category named PC Games and having the shortcuts set up sounds like a great way to do it. However, I have no idea how to go about this. Any help?

By the way, I would NEVER knock gameEx..the very first time I tried it I bought it. I thinkit is a great program!

Brian

[LB11]

Oh, adding a category named PC Games and having the shortcuts set up sounds like a great way to do it. However, I have no idea how to go about this. Any help?

By the way, I would NEVER knock gameEx..the very first time I tried it I bought it. I thinkit is a great program!

Brian

I might be wrong but I think you set it up just like any other emulator. and instead of showing a directory of roms, you show a directory of shortcuts.

I also tried it, set it up to see how it works and I bought it yesterday! I cant wait to go home and try the new features.

[hansolo77]

Yeah, all you need to do is install your games. Then create a folder on your hard drive. IE; mine is setup like this...

D:\Games\PC GAMES

In the games folder, I have a folder for every game system/emulator. So that's one for MAME (d:\games\mame), sega (d:\games\sega) and so on. This is where I installed all my emulators. For the PC games, they're installed using their default paths. That means, most of the time, that they're installed in C:\Program Files\[whatever]. Once I've installed them, you just create a shortcut to them and save the .lnk file to the D:\Games\PC GAMES folder. Now in GameEx, you just configure it to look for ROMS in the D:\Games\PC GAMES folder, and set the rom filter to *.lnk. Then for the command line, you just use "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]".

[Adultery]

Yeah, all you need to do is install your games. Then create a folder on your hard drive. IE; mine is setup like this...

D:\Games\PC GAMES

In the games folder, I have a folder for every game system/emulator. So that's one for MAME (d:\games\mame), sega (d:\games\sega) and so on. This is where I installed all my emulators. For the PC games, they're installed using their default paths. That means, most of the time, that they're installed in C:\Program Files\[whatever]. Once I've installed them, you just create a shortcut to them and save the .lnk file to the D:\Games\PC GAMES folder. Now in GameEx, you just configure it to look for ROMS in the D:\Games\PC GAMES folder, and set the rom filter to *.lnk. Then for the command line, you just use "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]".

So you mean to tell me...

I have my Start Menu's 'More Programs' section tightly organized, so it has it's own section for games I installed onto the PC. I could, theoretically, just point GameEx to the All Users -> Start Menu -> Programs -> Games folder and it'll always show the games in the list?

Never thought to do it like that! That, sir, is a great idea!

Is it possible to create intro movies for them as well using this method?

Also, do I have to specify a 'working path' for these games?

[headkaze]

There is already a config in GameEx for PC Games, all you have to do is import it using the Advanced Configuration or the "Emulator Selection" in the Setup Wizard.

[Twitami]

How do I set up the Command Line part in GameEx?

[hansolo77]

I don't know all that! LOL! But yea, theorhetically, I suppose you could just point your rom path to to the start menu folder. As for the working path goes, I think it's blank. As for the working path, the way I see it, GameEx uses the working path as the folder where the program (emulator) is located. For instance, in shortcuts, they have the option "TARGET" which is the full path and executable. Then they have an option below that called "START IN" which is the path where the computer will look for the executable. Like, you could have a program called "hansolo.exe" in C:\Program Files\hansolo77. The shortcut could be setup as TARGET: C:\Program Files\hansolo77\hansolo.exe. It could also be setup as TARGET: hansolo.exe & START IN: C:\Program Files\hansolo77. So, taking that info into GameEx, I'm assuming the ROM PATH is the path where the games are, and WORKING PATH is the path where the emulator is. At least that's how i've got my setup as. For Sega Genesis, I've got the rom path as d:\games\sega genesis\roms\ and the working path as d:\games\sega genesis\ with the emulator installed in d:\games\sega genesis\.

As for creating videos/snaps.. I've not tried that. For my purposes, I just grabbed a screenshot off the internet and made a /snaps/ folder to save it in (using the same name as the .lnk file of course).

Which brings up another tidbit. If you make a shortcut for say Aliens VS Predator 2, change the shortcut filename from AVP2.exe to the full title. Then just make sure you use "" quotes around the the command line (windows don't like spaces in filenames). Then GameEx will find the file "Aliens VS Predator 2.lnk", rename it to "Aliens VS Predator 2" and all will be hunkydory.

[headkaze]

1. Run the Setup Wizard, choose "Custom" Wizard Mode, and then select "Emulator Selection" and "Emulator Setup". Click Next.

2. Copy the "PC Games (Shortcuts)" config over to the left. Click Next.

3. Change your Working Path and ROM Path to be the location of a folder contain the shortcuts (lnk's) to your games.

[hansolo77]

LOL! I didn't even know you put that in there. It looks exactly like I was describing! You might have to make an adjustment to the setup though. The quotes on the command line might be needed to make them work. I could be wrong though, it's been awhile since I looked at my PC games setup.

[headkaze]

LOL! I didn't even know you put that in there. It looks exactly like I was describing! You might have to make an adjustment to the setup though. The quotes on the command line might be needed to make them work. I could be wrong though, it's been awhile since I looked at my PC games setup.

Actually that config works okay without double quotes. I'm using it on my cab and my shortcuts have spaces in the names too.