cannot get mame / project 64 to work on my vista media center

[dbl]

Hi, I am new to this product so please forgive me if I am asking questions that have been asked before...

I have installed gameex onto my windows vista media center so that I can play mame and N64 games whilst in bed using a wireless controller.. thats how sad i am!!

Thing is I cant get it to work, heres what I get...

MAME -

I can see the games in the list but when I click on them to run the screen goes black and I get nothing until I press back on my remote.

I installed AdvancedMame and Mame32 during install but I am not sure if you need both? Where do you put the roms for example?

Project 64 -

When this runs I can hear the games music but I cant see anything on screen. If I RDP onto the computer and run Project64 in that I get a direct3d error so I downloaded the latest video drivers (ATI Radeon X300) and also the MS Direct X pack but still the same.

Does anybody know what this is happening? My media center machine is an Elonex Artisan box if that makes a difference.

Thanks a lot, DBL.

[bkenobi]

GameEx is designed to run anything that can run via a command line. It is possible to run other games/emulators/programs if they don't work off a command line, but it's a HUGE pain in the butt!

As far as your question, typically we use the standard version of MAME released by the MAMEdevs (sometimes called "vanilla" MAME). You can run MAME32, but since you aren't using the GUI anyway, there's not much point in it.

The advancedMAME section is for those that want to run the AdvancedMAME derivative. This version is better for some people who have certain hardware (arcade monitors is the main thing). It sounds like you are using a TV or PC monitor of some kind, so you probably don't need to worry about that.

The main thing with EVERYTHING when working with GameEx is that you MUST have it working from outside the front end prior to trying inside it. If it's not working on it's own, it obviously won't work in GameEx.

Also, if you have a problem with GameEx itself I suggest you post your GameEx log file. It contains error messages, related system info, and commands being run.

Finally, if you want to see what error message MAME or any other program is spitting out that GameEx is hiding, you can run the game in question, quit the game, and exit GameEx. Then, go to the Start menu and find "Run Last Game.bat" in the GameEx menu. When you run that, you will get an error message that can help figure out what's going on. If it flashes up and disappears too quickly, edit the file and add "PAUSE" in a new line at the end and run it again.

Let us know if you need anything else!

[Stu1983]

Finally, if you want to see what error message MAME or any other program is spitting out that GameEx is hiding, you can run the game in question, quit the game, and exit GameEx. Then, go to the Start menu and find "Run Last Game.bat" in the GameEx menu. When you run that, you will get an error message that can help figure out what's going on. If it flashes up and disappears too quickly, edit the file and add "PAUSE" in a new line at the end and run it again.

Tom is there any chance you could add the PAUSE to the bottom of the batch file for us? It's not really a big deal but it would be nice, any time I need to run the last game batch file it's because I'm debugging, though maybe you see the run last game batch file as a feature so people can play the last game without firing up GameEx rather than a debug tool like I only use it for.

Stu

[Tempest]

Hi, I am new to this product so please forgive me if I am asking questions that have been asked before...

I have installed gameex onto my windows vista media center so that I can play mame and N64 games whilst in bed using a wireless controller.. thats how sad i am!!

Thing is I cant get it to work, heres what I get...

MAME -

I can see the games in the list but when I click on them to run the screen goes black and I get nothing until I press back on my remote.

I installed AdvancedMame and Mame32 during install but I am not sure if you need both? Where do you put the roms for example?

Project 64 -

When this runs I can hear the games music but I cant see anything on screen. If I RDP onto the computer and run Project64 in that I get a direct3d error so I downloaded the latest video drivers (ATI Radeon X300) and also the MS Direct X pack but still the same.

Does anybody know what this is happening? My media center machine is an Elonex Artisan box if that makes a difference.

Thanks a lot, DBL.

For PJ64, make sure you have the emulator itself set to fullscreen - I think its options>video options>options or something like that...

Did you get everthing working? I noticed you didn't reply back...we will help with (almost) anything!

[dbl]

For PJ64, make sure you have the emulator itself set to fullscreen - I think its options>video options>options or something like that...

Did you get everthing working? I noticed you didn't reply back...we will help with (almost) anything!

Hi Guys, thanks for the info. I will try these later tonight, at the moment my PC is connected to a LCD telly but I dont suppose that should make a difference.

Thanks again.

[dbl]

For PJ64, make sure you have the emulator itself set to fullscreen - I think its options>video options>options or something like that...

Did you get everthing working? I noticed you didn't reply back...we will help with (almost) anything!

Setting the emulator to full screen did the trick, cheers. Just one thing though, when I play PilotWings 64 the video isnt too hot. Is this something to do with my video card do you think or is there a better emulator that p64?

[dbl]

Guys,

Its working now!!!! both with N64 and MAME. I reinstalled MAME32 and tested it outside of Gameex first.

This is running on my media PC connected to the bedroom telly so I need a wireless game pad. I dont suppose you can use PS3 or 360 pads can you?

Now all I need to do is get the ZX Sprectrum emulator working on it!!!

Excellent product.

[bkenobi]

PS2 work (don't know about PS3) directly if they have a USB plug. If not, you will need to either hack them or buy a PS to PC adapter from Radio Shack or wherever.

360 work but require an adapter. There may be an issue with them going to sleep, but I don't know anything about that as I haven't used one.

There are a lot of opinions on controllers, but if you are going to buy something anyway, you might consider just getting the Logitech Wireless gamepad. I've heard a lot of good things about them. I haven't used one personally, but I use Logitech XBox controllers and have had zero issues with them. VERY nice!