Needed Gameex mapped controls to function

[Jondard]

I had a recent topic that was poorly-stated.  I have an arcade system that has ONLY mame roms installed, and I have had problems getting MAME to run on Gameex (when I use Game Launcer Mode Mame only), it loads the stuff shown in the video below.  I have no idea what game this is, or where it came from.  And no idea of how to get rid of it.  I only have around 30 MAME roms installed, and they are cocktail-compatible games. 

 

I had made a backup of the computer hard drive before trying to hook up the controls, then after attempted setup of buttons, I no longer have confidence that I know what anything really is (hooked up 2 joysticks, 2 sets of 10 buttons to USB controller x 2).    I would want to set up ONLY the gameex controller options that will let Gameex allow scrolling game selection (currently works with joystick), select that game, a key to go "back" to original selection screen (either before launching game, or after playing a game), and if possible using joystick, to shut the machine down without having to use a keyboard, mouse, or simply turning off computer power.  All other gameex controller options for this mame-only machine wouldn't be wanted/needed.  I don't want to have other games showed on screen, or other emulator options available (which is what was happening in the attached video).  

 

Can someone please clearly detail exactly which settings to which I will need to map my keys to allow for this limited gameex control?  I prefer to use Gameex to load as it is much nice than simply using Mame64.    I'm not worried that most of my keys will be non-functional in Gameex (but will work in Mame).

 

Thank you!

[Draco1962]

Please attach copies of your gameex.ini and log.txt files.

I am not able to view your video to see what you are attempting to illustrate.

Also, to what thread are you referring as you have posted several.

Details about the type of interface you are using for your cocktail cabinet would also be helpful.

[Jondard]

When I run game launcher mode mame only, I hear a beeping, then an unknown game runs (not one of the installed mame roms). I am attaching an image of the game that runs, and the game selections. 

 

I will attach recent files as requested. Hopefully an easy fix?

 

Thank you! 

GameEx.ini custominput.ini log.txt

[Jondard]

Am I seeing games that I never downloaded because I had it download the "database" for mame during setup? 

[Draco1962]

Are you launching MAME via integrated MAME or emulator slot?

[Jondard]

I direct it in mame settings to the folder where mame was set up after download.  I think that is an emulator slot?   I direct it to that installation (and mame64.exe).  I didn't change other settings and was not aware there was an integrated mame.

 

Are there other settings I need to get rid of if this is an issue with "integrated" Mame?

 

[Draco1962]

The integrated MAME section can be found in the Setup Wizard. Give it a go and point the respective paths to where you have your current MAME, ROMs, and media files installed. Many prefer this to using MAME via emulator slot. 

I expect the extra games you are seeing may be due to the MAME map file being invoked which will have all games. The integrated MAME updates with only the ROMs you have available.

[Jondard]

I have tried several things, all to no avail.  I note also that there is a separate post talking about how no roms show up when the game is loaded.  Here is what I have tried most recently.

 

uninstalled/reinstalled gameex

Removed mame 0.222 (think that was the latest) and installed instead 0.221.  Tested mame 0.221 and all roms I have in my folder function well there (as they had also with mame 0.222).

Did NOT download any emulators as part of the gameex setup.  

DID use the mame configuration to direct to the mame64 folder, mame64.exe location, as well as the roms folder (removed all but current folder for this).  

 

As I start the game (on my laptop now, due to ease of use) using the game launcher mame only link, it shows the loading screen, I get a beep, then it says no games.  This is a persistent issue.  If I try hitting alt or control, I get a different screen with stuff that is not installed on my computer.  

 

I will attach current ini and log files. 

 

It seems that this should not be this hard to get things working.  Almost ready to bail and build a raspberry pi system.  Please help!!!

GameEx.ini log.txt

[tthurman]

It isn't hard at all, but it's easy to load the MAME emulator and by-pass GameEx integrated MAME support, which is what Draco was alluding to.  Then you've got a conflict on your hands because the Game Launcher mode isn't compatible with the emulator selection of MAME.

The setup wizard is a bit dated, but functionally basically the same.

 

With a fresh install of GameEx, you want to focus on the Setup MAME? section and complete it through the Advance MAME Settings section.

Make sure all your directory paths are correct for your particular installation.

Download and install the LAV filters.

Launch GameEx, "Update List" while within GameEx and try and launch a game.

 

From here  you can start tweaking in your inputs and launcher mode, but for now just get the basics up and running.

 

 

 

[Jondard]

Thank you, I'll give it a try.  One quick question.  When I have used the uninstaller to uninstall Gameex (which I've done multiple times), when I go to SETUP, it is already pre-populated with things from the prior install (like my emumovies logon, my Gamex logon) which seems that it shouldn't be there at all.  The last time, I removed the remaining directories AFTER uninstalling, and the same held true.  I just want to make sure that I start with a truly clean install.  What am I missing?  Certainly I don't have to go in to edit the registry?

[Jondard]

I am setting it up again, and again it was pre-populated with stuff.  Also, I don't have an option in setup to choose "only existing roms" in the advanced mame setup (which is right under the verify roms, which I also don't have in the version I am using.  

 

Do I need to use a previous version of the program?  Why can't I get rid of settings after uninstall?  I searched my computer for any trace of gameex before installing--and found none (after I removed the installation folders in programs).

 

I am fine using an older version, if it were still available.  Being able to select "only existing roms" would be super helpful!!!

 

[Jondard]

I should have likely mentioned that I am trying to get the  Gameex Arcade version to work.  The setup screen setup for that does not have the "only existing roms" feature.  

[tthurman]

The online setup wizard guide is what I was referring to when I said it was a bit dated,  but the similarities are still prevalent throughout, just not exact.

The "only existing ROMS" function isn't necessary in GameEx AE, as instead AE verifies the roms in your path.  So in other words it doesn't go looking for anything that you haven't pointed it to in the paths section.  

Also, due to this it wasn't available in earlier releases either, that is an original GameEx option.

 

There is no video on your above post showcasing the problem, but I think I understand what you're describing.  Regardless of that I have no idea where it could be pulling game titles in from items you don't have in the roms folder.  I've never seen this behavior.  What your describing sounds as if the database is coming into play here or possibly a map file, and you don't need those.

 

It is normal for it to auto complete items such as your emu-movies login and GameEx Onine login information., but that's it in my experience.

 

This rompath, is this accurate?

ROMPath=C:\Emulation\Emulators\MAME\roms;C:\Emulation\ROMs\MAME\Roms

Try making a copy of your roms in a very generic path that is completely unrelated to anything you've done before.  Once done, go back into setup wizard and change the path to it and try again.
 

If it doesn't work:

Run "verify setup" at the end of the setup wizard and look for obvious path errors related to MAME.

[Jondard]

I think the issue may be that when gameex starts,  it says no games found-- but ut may be that there are no games of that genre of games, and that if he hit the control or alt key (forget which), it clearly shows some genres of games  (example, vertical shooter) which shows some of the only 30 roms installed.  To get to Ms. Pacman, I have to go through a lot of genres to then find the one that includes ms. Pacman (the reason I built the system was for my wife to play ms. Pacman).

 

Needless to say,  this is suboptimal.  I had a separate question where Tom Spiers said that turning off genres is not supported right now.   Is there ANYTHING I can do to have the machine show all roms installed on a single selection screen?  

[Draco1962]

You could try ensbling Gamelauncher mode which would bypass the menus and load all available games in a single menu. 

Be forewarned that the appearance/behavior (wheel menu, etc.) will not be quite the same. Additionally, if you are having an issue seeing games under the Arcade category in the current GameEx Arcade menus, this will be a problem using Gamelauncher mode.

[Jondard]

The Gamelauncher mode works great--does what I would like it to do for this cocktail arcade table.  I do have a few questions about navigation and an unrelated question.

 

1. Unrelated question first:  the cabinet icons don't change with toggling up/down on the wheel selection (always shows donkey kong).  The cabinet directory setting is accurate--and there are cabinet icons loaded in that directory for almost all of the 30 roms on the system (downloaded using gameex art download feature).  

 

2. Questions about navigation.  on the current setup on my laptop (same keys work on actual arcade computer), the left control backs out a level in the game menu (or changes genre selection), and the left alt goes back to a prior genre selection (which is good in case I find it is switching away from an entire game listing).  On my gaming system, I find that these features are assigned to some buttons (buttons 5 and 6 on a joystick, no idea what "keyboard" button it is directed to) which will likely get pushed randomly and I want to map them to other specific control buttons not on the joystick button area.  By default, what settings are the left control and left alt mapped to in Gameex navigation control?  If I know that the gameex setting is that I need to program, I can map different buttons to it.

 

Thank you!

[Tom Speirs]

Its paging and volume to navigate through the lists in gamelauncher mode. Then there is back and select.

The cabinet you see is the system logo. THEMES\Default - Default\MEDIA\LOGOS\Arcade.png

You do actually have to download MAME and roms and set the paths to where they are. You then need to select update list. On a fresh install or you have no roms or set the path wrong (or use a decade old MAME version), think of the games you see as a demo.

[Jondard]

Thank you!  I'll give that a try!

 

What is the 'escape' equivalent?  The one that would exit out from the currently-played game to take you back to the game selection screen?  Is that  "back" that is programmed in Gameex?

[Jondard]

Got the button selections done properly--and they worked great, for a few times.  

 

now, all control of game selection, etc. works only on the player 2 side of the table, despite buttons being mapped to the appropriate player 1 joystick in the setup.  I went back and re-did selection, but they no longer work on the player 1 side of the table.  my system is untouched inside the cabinet--so no usb was plugged/unplugged.

 

I even tried mapping both joysticks to the up/down/left/right but only the player 2 joystick selects now.

 

With nothing else changed on the system, not sure what is happening here.

[Draco1962]

You are aware that there are the controls for navigating GameEx and launching the games and then, once a game is launched in MAME, hitting TAB and then setting your controls for each game, right?

[Jondard]

Draco,

yes, I mapped the controllers in Mame separately.  The last stuff I hadn't gotten working had been the navigation buttons in Gameex.

Everything was working fine, including the navigation button mapping thanks to Tom's explanation.  But now, instead of navigating Gameex using the player 1 joystick & buttons where things were originally mapped (and then re-mapped), all of the functions are now on the other side of the table--joystick, select, back, etc are all now on the 2nd player joystick.  I am using easyget usb controller boards (2 of them), so that may be the problem.  But it hadn't happened until just now.  And I don't know why it happened just now.  I didn't swap around any hardware on the system.  

 

Player 1 is just now shifted to the other side of the table.  I can of course rotate things another 180 degrees--but wonder if there is any other fix to this?

[Jondard]

Umm, at least Gameex control is no longer on the player 1 side of the table...

 

[Draco1962]

Some USB devices do not retain their affinity (or assignment order) which may be happening in your case  I found this. Perhaps it may give you an idea of where to start in correcting.the issue with your controllers.

 

 

[Jondard]

• is there a product out there that has all connections on a single board?  I have an older cabinet that was a direct-wire single-board device that was a keyboard emulator--and never had issues with that one.

[Draco1962]

I don't have much experience with them as I use sn Xarcade Tankstick, but you may want to look at an I-Pac if considering using another encoder.