Anybody interested in a Coin Counter for GameEx

[The G-Man]

I have written a simple program that keeps track of how many times Player1 and Player2 hit the coin buttons on their cab. I thought it would be nice to see how much money I would have spent in an actual arcade.

Would anybody be interested in something like this? If so let me know. I would like to offer something back to this great community.

Note: I've only been programing C# and .net for a 2 months, so the codes probably a little rough but works as expected.

G-Man

[bkenobi]

I kinda wish this were integrated into the statistics page. A list of games that you've spent the most money on...

[Brian Hoffman]

I kinda wish this were integrated into the statistics page. A list of games that you've spent the most money on...

Hmmmmm.....Do I smell a feature request?

[bkenobi]

Sure, why not. I'll add a request for this. Only question is how it would be implemented (just assume that the number of coins added were used I guess).

[Brian Hoffman]

Sure, why not. I'll add a request for this. Only question is how it would be implemented (just assume that the number of coins added were used I guess).

I think it could be sorted by game name

SF2

4 quarters

1.00 dollar spent

Played 1 time..

Or in my case

sf2

1000000000 quarters

1 million dollars.

Played 10.000 times

[The G-Man]

Thats what I did. I looked into the plugin system to see if I could just implement this as a Game Ex plug-in. But, unfortunately my C# skill aren't "sharp" enough to figure it out right away. I look into it more.

[bkenobi]

I hadn't thought about a plugin. That would work nicely for collecting the data. I really would like to see this implemented in the statistics page though. I don't know how that would work since I don't know where the data is drawn from.

[headkaze]

Unfortunately "how much money you would have spent" can too easily be translated to "this is how much money you have spent, pay up" by an vendor using a Mame cabinet illegally.

This idea is probably going to get a big thumbs down from Tom. I wrote a coin counter program about a year ago and it kicked up a storm of protest. My program not only counted coins but it allowed you to carry over coins to other games. The problem with this is that some people want to use Mame machines to profit illegally from them. This is very much frowned upon by the arcade community and especially by Mame developers. It gives the scene a bad name and it gives Mame a bad name.

It's a popular idea though, I still get e-mails from people asking for it today.

Just my 2 cents, I'll let Tom have the final word on this if he gets around to reading this thread.

[bkenobi]

That makes sense. But, if GameEx doesn't have any way of using the statistics for anything but that, what's the harm. Someone could always write a plugin to limit the use of GameEx anyway, so this wouldn't really change anything. I think it would be cool, but it's not worth fighting for or against IMO.

[The G-Man]

Headkaze, you make a good point. I never thought of it that way.

[Orclord]

Headkaze, you make a good point. I never thought of it that way.

He makes a very good point, seeing as any posts about even hooking up a coin mech you have in your cab are frowned upon and deleted just in case.....

Anything that opens up Mame to commercial operators is a no no..........

[bkenobi]

I agree, but I'm still going to point out that just because the capability to keep the statistics of coins used is available, it doesn't mean that anything is there to allow for charging. If noone wants it, that's cool too, but don't jump to the conclusion that a coin counter STATISTIC is a coin CHARGING capability.

[Orclord]

I agree, but I'm still going to point out that just because the capability to keep the statistics of coins used is available, it doesn't mean that anything is there to allow for charging. If noone wants it, that's cool too, but don't jump to the conclusion that a coin counter STATISTIC is a coin CHARGING capability.

Times played will tell you the same thing....

[bkenobi]

Nope, times played will tell you how many times you launched a certain game. Coins inserted would tell you how many coins were put in for each game. I may only launch SF 1 time in a day but put 1000000 coins in it. Or I could launch Pacman 5 times in a day and only play a single game each time. If you look at the statistics, you would see Pacman as more popular whereas it was only played for 5 games vs 1000000.

[The G-Man]

Wow, I had no idea this was such a heated subject. I understand the concern, but couldn't time played be used in the same way? Somebody could be a jerk and charge per minute. How then is that statistic any different then a coin counter?

[bkenobi]

Exactly my point. A statistic is just a statistic. Unless Tom were to add a hook for time or coin count, I don't think there is any reason for concern. If someone wanted to use GameEx in a commercial venture, they would be able to relatively easily via a plugin, which of course can be written by the end user.

Anyway, I don't know that I would call it "heated", but I would say it is something that has been debated before and is again being rehashed. Not to overstate the point, but I think it would be an interesting statistic, that's all.

[BillyB]

I think a coin counter would be a really cool idea. Also I think it's a bad idea to NOT do something just because a few idiots may use it a wrong way.

[Orclord]

I agree it would be a good statistic....

All I'm trying to do is warn the person who writes it that he will get a load of crap come his way should it become widely publicised....

And Yea I was on crack when I said most times played.....I was thinking you would only play a game once, which is wrong...

The timer method has also been discussed in the past.....In fact the Arcade manager where I bought my cab was VERY interested in such an idea and asked if it could be done, not only with Mame (Once I explained what it was) but also with Playstations and X-Box's....

No doubt proggies have been written and are in use as we speak...

But just to point out again the attitude on them.....

Rule #9 from Mameworld...

"9) Discussion concerning mame cabinet coin mechs or credit transfer systems is also strictly forbidden. Sorry, there are no exceptions regardless of what your intent is. The information can be abused by others."

[bkenobi]

That rule is intended to keep physical coin mechanisms out of the machine and operable. The transfer system is actually something that was pseudo-discussed earlier, but with a timer type setup. I still don't think that a statistic of how many times a button has been pushed is violating the rule or even the intent of the rule. In this case, we are simply speaking about a system that keeps track of the number of "coins" that have been put into the system and leaving it at that. If someone were to find a way to hook into that and somehow use that number for something, THEN there would be a violation of that rule. HOWEVER, I think you would be better off writing that code from scratch anyway since hacking into another compiled code (which isn't all that complex) would be more work than just writing it from scratch anyway!

Oh, and physical coin mechs are in MANY MANY cabinets already (since a lot of people just use old converted cabs). Both of my machines have them! I don't know how many people hook up the coin switch (which is just 2 wires per mech), but that in itself would be a violation of that rule...

[emphatic]

I have a coin mechanism in my MAME cabinet since I feel it adds to the experience. I don't see how a coin counter would add to the experience though. Unless you were an operator in the past, there would be no nostalgic addition to the overall cabinet authenticity either. Right? But what if it was a GameEx live! only feature?

Emph

[Orclord]

That rule is intended to keep physical coin mechanisms out of the machine and operable. The transfer system is actually something that was pseudo-discussed earlier, but with a timer type setup. I still don't think that a statistic of how many times a button has been pushed is violating the rule or even the intent of the rule. In this case, we are simply speaking about a system that keeps track of the number of "coins" that have been put into the system and leaving it at that. If someone were to find a way to hook into that and somehow use that number for something, THEN there would be a violation of that rule. HOWEVER, I think you would be better off writing that code from scratch anyway since hacking into another compiled code (which isn't all that complex) would be more work than just writing it from scratch anyway!

Oh, and physical coin mechs are in MANY MANY cabinets already (since a lot of people just use old converted cabs). Both of my machines have them! I don't know how many people hook up the coin switch (which is just 2 wires per mech), but that in itself would be a violation of that rule...

All I'm doing is warning the man....

And yes I have a coin mech in my cab....A bit more complicated to hook up because it's an electronic validator...

And yes for the last time I agree that would be a good statistic....

Clarification time.....

It does not matter if you wire the coin mech up and use it in a private house, as like a piggy bank......

Shit hits the fan if you do it in a commercial premises as it's looked upon as making profit out of Mame....

Which is why if someone posts a proggy that has possible commercial uses it is frowned upon by the powers that be........

Jeeeeeeeeeesus......

I'm coming across as a tow the party line fanboy of Mame and MameDev.....

Which I am Not.....

Anyway as I said just warning how it would be recieved in "official" circles

[headkaze]

I agree with most of what Orclord has been saying in this thread. I have a coin mech in my cab also, but if I release a coin counting app to the pubic, it's a little bit different to having a coin mech in my cab. These guys can write there own plugins, yes, they can write there own coin counter apps too, but if you release software to do it your encouraging the behaviour. That's the bottom line.

I don't think sounding like a "tow the party line fanboy of Mame and MameDev" is necessarily a bad thing. Let's not bite the hand that feeds us retro gaming goodness

[Orclord]

I don't think sounding like a "tow the party line fanboy of Mame and MameDev" is necessarily a bad thing. Let's not bite the hand that feeds us retro gaming goodness

You know what I mean.....Just did not wanna come across as anal retentive which some people can be when it come to Mame....

I was just pointing out the "Pitfalls" of such a program....

Ohhh and I'd bite Haze's hand anyday.....

[bkenobi]

It's cool. I didn't want to know how much I spend on SF anyway (too painful)