Newbie Questions

[Roger]

I'm in the process of configuring a Windows Media Center and wondered if there was a plug-in that would use Mame and game roms. That's when I discovered GameEx.

I played around with Mame and these roms a long time ago and have been out of th loop on it for quite some time. With that said, I have a few questions that I hope someone here on this forum can answer for me.

First of all, what is the best way to configure GameEx to use Mame? Which emulator works best or should muliple emulators be setup?

In addition to using the MAME functionality of GameEx, it seems there are a huge number of other features that would be very useful in Windows Media Center. I just don't know where to start. I work in IT so, I know my way around a computer but this world is pretty new to me.

Is there any sort of Quick Start Guide or something that explains how to get started? BTW, I tried running a game (Gorf) was the name of the game. But even once I was there, I wasn't able to figure out which keys on the keyboard to use to fire the gun. I was able to move left and right and that's about it.

I would really love for someone to spend a little time explaining some of these things to me. What other features of GameEx are most popular? Radio, TV.

Like I said, this software looks like it has lots of potential and looks to be pretty good quality. Sorry to make this so long, but I'm at a loss here.

I'm also planning to send a donation, at least the $25 minimum, but perhaps more if I can get this working to the potential that it seems to be capable of.

Thanks for any and all help.

Roger

[fRequEnCy]

http://gamesdbase.com does not include games. Discussion of obtaining or downloading roms is not allowed in this forum. Please read the rules first. This post has been reported. We will be glad to help you with your other questions once you verify that you understand the rules.

[Brian Hoffman]

Roger,

Welcome to the fun world of emulation, where everyone knows the information you want yet no one can give you the information you need. We were all new once. As much as you dont like to read "google" is your friend. It really is the best start.

So, you played Gorf.. An older amusing game. I had it for my VIC20.. Anyways I am assuming your are playing it in MAME. Mames default keys are Ctrl and Alt for buttons 1 and 2. That should get your space fighter shooting.

Gameex is a front end and has little to do with the emulation it self. So please take the time to familiarize yourself with the emulators you are choosing to use.

Emulators, are written by different people, some are discontinued some are not, some older ones work better than newer ones. Some games simply do not work with certain emulators.

Gameex has the ability to "group" emulators together. So if you have a few rouge games that work better in a different emulator. you can group the two together, for a seamless presentation.

MAME, is the best (most compatible) arcade emulator. Sure there are others, but... It would be a hassle to go through the many variants of arcade emulators. In my opinion you would use Mame for all but Naomi and Atomis wave systems.

[Roger]

I should have read the rules. Didn't notice them. But I get the picture. I will read the rules and respond in the affirmative once I have.

Brian,

Thanks for your comments. I get the picture there too. So, leaving game emulation completely out of the picture, as I will figure that out on my own. What other features of GameEx are worth diving into?

I want to build a Media Center computer so feature rich, that I can dump my DirectTV and use the Media Center almost exclusively. I have an MP3 collection of about 40K songs.

[Tempest]

We will attempt to help you with emulators, and really just about anything we can.

We just can't talk about acquiring roms, due to the fact that it is an illegal activity, and we can't help you in that way.

Brian was just explaining that GameEx is a front-end, a program which allows you to run other programs seamlessly so that the user doesn't need to know how to run each individual program.

The forums here have an abundance of information. I prefer to use the google site search to search the forum, as I think it gives better results.

I wrote a couple of tutorials that you may be interested in. 'How to ask for help', and 'How to set up an emulator' may help you. Click on my signature to view the tutorials.

To answer your question, GameEx will make a good jukebox for your music. Many people use GameEx just for media in an HTPC.