Autorun DVD

[DssTrainer]

Hi,

I'm working on setting up a GameEx Auto-run disc that I can just pop into my HTPC and it will load up the GameEx menu and go to town. Has anyone done this in the past? Any tips or advice?

I must say I am defintely a fan of GameEx. I love the more modern look as opposed to the classic style of Mamewah. I will certainly be donating!

[LB11]

Im not really sure what it is you are trying to do. You want to have your games on a DVD, then when you put the disc in gameex will loadup automatically and you can play the games?

If thats the case you would probably have to install gameex on teh harddisk. Then just put a text file called autorun.inf in the root of the DVD with all your games.

In the autorun.inf text file you would probably need

OPEN="C:\Program Files\Gameex\Gameex.exe"

I dont know if it autorun will load something from the hard disk though.

The other option might be to create a batch file or something on the DVD that will launch gameex from the hard disk, then in the autorun.inf it would be:

OPEN=Startgameex.bat

as an example

[iano]

Hi,

I'm working on setting up a GameEx Auto-run disc that I can just pop into my HTPC and it will load up the GameEx menu and go to town. Has anyone done this in the past? Any tips or advice?

I must say I am defintely a fan of GameEx. I love the more modern look as opposed to the classic style of Mamewah. I will certainly be donating!

I'm not sure exactly what you want to do, but if it is what LB11 is suggesting, Tom (Author of GameEX) wont approve as he does not want GameEx to be bundled with roms.

[DssTrainer]

I'm not sure exactly what you want to do, but if it is what LB11 is suggesting, Tom (Author of GameEX) wont approve as he does not want GameEx to be bundled with roms.

Well I don't see a problem with the installation. I mean anyone can copy the gameex folder to a DVD and run it from the disc instead of the HDD, just be sure you copy the correct DLLs from the windows\system32 directory. The Autorun would just be the equivalent to a batch file that finds the relative path \GameEx\gameex.exe when the disc is read by windows

As far as bundling, this is for my own home arcade/personal use so no worries there. I just don't want it to be limited to one PC. If i want to take the disc out and run it on a different PC in my house then I can just carry it around and pop it in and out.

I was just wondering if anyone who has done it has any tips or problems they ran in to.

Id like to make it as simple as possible and set a hotkey for each emulator to load the controller config for people with different tastes than the defaults in controller configs when they come over to play.

The save files and config files are the only things that would likely need to be saved to the HD ... probably just in the mydocs folder. But that shouldn't be a big deal either. I've even thought about doing a USB version to circumvent this problem.

-EDIT- I will also have to put some check in to see if the host PC has dotnet & directx 9.0c installed tho, as that would have to be on the HDD, but that shouldn't be a big deal either

[Brian Hoffman]

Well I don't see a problem with the installation. I mean anyone can copy the gameex folder to a DVD and run it from the disc instead of the HDD, just be sure you copy the correct DLLs from the windows\system32 directory. The Autorun would just be the equivalent to a batch file that finds the relative path \GameEx\gameex.exe when the disc is read by windows

As far as bundling, this is for my own home arcade/personal use so no worries there. I just don't want it to be limited to one PC. If i want to take the disc out and run it on a different PC in my house then I can just carry it around and pop it in and out.

I was just wondering if anyone who has done it has any tips or problems they ran in to.

Id like to make it as simple as possible and set a hotkey for each emulator to load the controller config for people with different tastes than the defaults in controller configs when they come over to play.

The save files and config files are the only things that would likely need to be saved to the HD ... probably just in the mydocs folder. But that shouldn't be a big deal either. I've even thought about doing a USB version to circumvent this problem.

-EDIT- I will also have to put some check in to see if the host PC has dotnet & directx 9.0c installed tho, as that would have to be on the HDD, but that shouldn't be a big deal either

Its not Impossable to create a portable gameex install. Just Very tricky.

Gameex DOES install reg entrys. Obviously if it isnt installed on the PC it wont have them.

However built into Autorun you could do a reg import.

Gameex also has the ability to run from a specified gameex.ini

The autorun would effectivly call Gameex.exe -config .\data\gameex.ini or somthing.

in the gameex folder EG.. [APPPATH] you will have an emulators folder. For arguments sake we will call it NES.

So in the command it would look like "[apppath]"\emulators\nes\Nestopia.exe "[rompath]/[romfile]"

This ways it knows where the emulators are.

My verbage is probably incorrect but it may work.

However it wont be supported.. We dont need anyone making gameex distros with roms ya know.

[Tempest]

Well I don't see a problem with the installation. I mean anyone can copy the gameex folder to a DVD and run it from the disc instead of the HDD, just be sure you copy the correct DLLs from the windows\system32 directory. The Autorun would just be the equivalent to a batch file that finds the relative path \GameEx\gameex.exe when the disc is read by windows

As far as bundling, this is for my own home arcade/personal use so no worries there. I just don't want it to be limited to one PC. If i want to take the disc out and run it on a different PC in my house then I can just carry it around and pop it in and out.

I was just wondering if anyone who has done it has any tips or problems they ran in to.

Id like to make it as simple as possible and set a hotkey for each emulator to load the controller config for people with different tastes than the defaults in controller configs when they come over to play.

The save files and config files are the only things that would likely need to be saved to the HD ... probably just in the mydocs folder. But that shouldn't be a big deal either. I've even thought about doing a USB version to circumvent this problem.

-EDIT- I will also have to put some check in to see if the host PC has dotnet & directx 9.0c installed tho, as that would have to be on the HDD, but that shouldn't be a big deal either

Something smells funny....

[DssTrainer]

We dont need anyone making gameex distros with roms ya know.

Ah i see. thats your worry. No prob.. I'm using it more in the mentality of a console..

1. Pop Disc in

2. Play games

Similar to the "Big Ass Emulation Disc" for Xbox... but i guess that would be a distro of sorts... all the same.. its just for personal use.

TBH i'm surprised this idea isnt common.. especially since a lot of programs are going the "Portable" direction so they dont have to reconfigure and reset everything when they install a clean Windows install. Keeping it on a disc will leave it ready to go no matter where or what.

[Tom Speirs]

Yeah, if roms are on the disc I dont approve of this. Whether its personal or not is irrelevant. If it really is personal then there no reason you cant install it on each PC.

EDIT: If I thought it was going to be benneficial Id do it myself.

[DssTrainer]

I suppose. Not to be rude disrespectful, but it is a bit naive to think nobody is making/selling arcade cabinets with GameEx.. as its a lot nicer than Mamewah... Thats the pandoras box of making too good of a front end I guess . All the same, I'm not saying anything wrong with your wishes, and I'm not making any cabinets for anyone.. I'll just go along with my plans as I DO find it beneficial to have one single "master" disc of all the games ready-to-play

[Brian Hoffman]

I suppose. Not to be rude but it is a bit naive to think nobody is making/selling arcade cabinets with GameEx.. as its a lot nicer than Mamewah... but all the same, I'm not saying anything wrong with your wishes.. I'll just go along with my plans as I DO find it beneficial.

Theres a FE advancedmenu that you can DL on a bootable Linux distro that comes with all needed runtimes. Perhaps you may want to look there.

[DssTrainer]

I've looked into Linux options (KnoppiXMame, LinuxEmu) as well, but i'm a windows guy and windows has native gamepad support for my gamepads

[Tom Speirs]

I suppose. Not to be rude disrespectful, but it is a bit naive to think nobody is making/selling arcade cabinets with GameEx.. as its a lot nicer than Mamewah... Thats the pandoras box of making too good of a front end I guess . All the same, I'm not saying anything wrong with your wishes, and I'm not making any cabinets for anyone.. I'll just go along with my plans as I DO find it beneficial to have one single "master" disc of all the games ready-to-play

Im not Naive, your assuming things. I cant stop someone doing something I dont want them to. Unless there legit and I can get legal. Like I said if its for personal use theres no need to do it, as its pretty easy to copy over a gameex install. The only benefit would be if you were to put on someone elses pc, which is not for personal use. Hence why I am not happy with it.

[Tom Speirs]

Im not Naive, your assuming things. I cant stop someone doing something I dont want them to. Unless there legit and I can get legal. Like I said if its for personal use theres no need to do it, as its pretty easy to copy over a gameex install. The only benefit would be if you were to put on someone elses pc, which is not for personal use. Hence why I am not happy with it.

By the way, its really only designed to run off a hard disk, I think yourll have a lot of problems because it will try to write to the dvd. Basically it does need to be installed to work.

I could make changes so it didnt need to do it, but like I said Im not going to.

EDIT: Im not saying it wouldnt be cool, Im just saying its not a good idea for the project.

[headkaze]

-EDIT- I will also have to put some check in to see if the host PC has dotnet & directx 9.0c installed tho, as that would have to be on the HDD, but that shouldn't be a big deal either

If it was for personal use then why would you need to check for dotnet and directx? Surely you would have those preloaded on your machines.

[Tom Speirs]

Hey HK, is it me or is your sig broke?

[Brian Hoffman]

Hey HK, is it me or is your sig broke?

Sig works fine for me.

[DssTrainer]

If it was for personal use then why would you need to check for dotnet and directx? Surely you would have those preloaded on your machines.

I guess I'm envisioning the ability to bring just a disc and perhaps gamepads with me to visit family, pop in the disc and play without having to do a bunch of setup and file copying to their PC. I suppose to be realistic, if my cousin says "awesome disc, can I get a copy" i would say "sure"... i suppose thats not technically "personal" but its the kinda same as me installing it all on his PC for him. But not many in my family are PC Literate... so problems later on would cause headaches for them. Where as a dvd has it all ready to rock, ala console style. I mean I could just make a data dvd with the GameEx Installer, dotnet2.0, and some zipped up roms.. the only diff is that I would need to install it to use it, but it doesn't really change the fact that its a copy of GameEx on a disc with other roms.

[bkenobi]

Actually, I think if you read the license for MAME (and probably other emulators as well), you will see that they strictly forbid distribution of MAME with any ROM on it. Now, I understand that this is "personal use" that you are trying to describe, but it's still putting MAME on a disc that is essentially distributable. I'm not linked to the MAMEdevs in any way, so I can't speak for them, but I think they would be pretty disappointed by this type of endeavor also.

I do think it's a cool idea though.

[Tempest]

If it was for personal use then why would you need to check for dotnet and directx? Surely you would have those preloaded on your machines.

I think this it what I was smelling...

[Tempest]

I guess I'm envisioning the ability to bring just a disc and perhaps gamepads with me to visit family, pop in the disc and play without having to do a bunch of setup and file copying to their PC. I suppose to be realistic, if my cousin says "awesome disc, can I get a copy" i would say "sure"... i suppose thats not technically "personal" but its the kinda same as me installing it all on his PC for him. But not many in my family are PC Literate... so problems later on would cause headaches for them. Where as a dvd has it all ready to rock, ala console style. I mean I could just make a data dvd with the GameEx Installer, dotnet2.0, and some zipped up roms.. the only diff is that I would need to install it to use it, but it doesn't really change the fact that its a copy of GameEx on a disc with other roms.

Justification is a wonderful thing....

(I always just blame it on "The voices in my head")

[DssTrainer]

Heh.. I do love the sense of ethics in the emulation community, even if it defies all common sense.

I suppose someone could put it on a hdd and use the shell launcher tutorial and just clone the hdd.

Very well then.. I'll make 2 discs.. one with GameEx. one with Roms

[bkenobi]

There is a bit of irony in it, but it's as much because of licensing as anything. Since the roms are owned by someone (though in some/many cases, it could be considered abandonware at this point), any programmer could get in serious shit if he allowed his work to be associated directly with illegal rom distributions. On the other hand, very few people actually own the boards for the roms they possess, so the software is typically used for running roms that are not legally owned.

However, GameEx is a front end. It is not designed to run any rom directly, so there is no gray area with it. It is designed to run any program that has a command line interface, but with special features to make MAME work great. Either way, if you limit your efforts to putting GameEx on it's own disc, you shouldn't be violating Tom's request as far as I can see.