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Messages - akafox

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736
Emulators / Re: Mame setup for windows
« on: August 09, 2015, 07:53:18 AM »
Well mostly they are the same. However, they do add some features that the regular mame does not. Most of th gui based mames add a lot of information in the gui itself. You can display history, the command moves for fighting games, picture of the arcade cabinets and game snapshots for example. MAME plus is command line based, however is has a separate gui if you choose to use it. (It is a separate program.)  It does have one main feature, graphical enhancements. (It uses shaders much like kega fusion or snes9x does.)

 There is a version on mame called advance mame that is made for acrade monitors and graphics cards so the is will look like the arcade originally did, it is outdated however.

The gui can make it easier for new users to set things up. Most people are used to click and pointing. It keeps them from having to use the command line which might be intimidating.

I use mameuifx because it has ways to make test lists so I can make scripts to clean out my mame set easily and quickly.  I used to use mame plus in my windows cab just so I could use the graphical enhancements if I felt like it. it also displayed the list of moves for the fighting games from the menu after you paused it.  My want to use linux in my cab just made me move back to regular mame.

If you are going to build an arcade cabinet with a front end like attract mode you are absolutely right omegaman. There really is no reason to use them. They are just there so that people know they are there.

737
General / Re: Just getting blank screen
« on: August 08, 2015, 10:52:57 PM »
welcome to the forums. I am writing a help but I have not got it all finished. Sounds like you have not generated a list yet. Also I am going to assume that you are on windows? I am also assuming that you are setting up MAME. If I am wrong on either one let me know please.

It's quick and dirty but it works:
 
1. Press the TAB key to go to the configuration menu
2. At top of the list choose (press the enter key) emulators
3. Choose your emulator
4 Tell it where your executable is
(ex. windows: C:\mame\mame.exe
Linux: /usr/games/mame (or just mame))
 MAC OS $HOME/mame/mame64)

5. command arguments type
Code: [Select]
[mame]6. tell it path to your roms
(ex. windows: C:\mame\roms
Linux: $HOME/.mame/roms
MAC OS: $HOME/mame/roms)

7. set your rom extension to .zip (or leave as is)
8. skip to info source select mame (you can't type press up or down)
9. skip down to generate collection/rom list press enter...
10. wait
11. press the esc key twice

you should now have a list

default controls are as follows:
up arrow moves list up
down arrow moves list down
enter or left ctrl key selects game/choice
TAB key enters configuration menu
esc key quits game or backs out for menus or quits attract mode

if not let me know I'll help you if you have any problems

738
Emulators / Daphne emulator setup
« on: August 08, 2015, 02:25:55 PM »
Thanks to Bsoder52 for help on this!

Dahpne (named after the princess in Dragon's Lair) is a laserdisc emulator. (Yes we have a had "CD technology" for years before CDs were popular!) It is a "one-system emulator" that is all it emulates is laserdisc games.

First off the games (discs) are available to purchase or if you actually have a laserdisc player (and disc) you can use that. From my understanding you do not need the discs to play all the games run by daphne. The games are downloaded via torrent through the emulator itself. However, to play Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, Space Ace, or Thayer's Quest you must have the disc!

The default daphne.cfg works but I had some problems wit daphne being started from attract mode. Seems to be the -bank switches. These are dip switch settings and are different for some games. So I made each game a "emulator" so that the entire correct command is sent right so that daphne does not freak out. It took work and some time but it worked great! I added them to my MAME list and deleted each game list so they do not show when I cycle other emulators.

I will post them here..however do not copy and paste them and think they will work because the path is different for your setup I am sure. The part I am pasting..the -framefile switch you replace with your path to your frame file. (ex. C:\daphne\vpld\dlair\dair.txt) The -home directory switch you replace with your "working directory"..the path your your executable file (ex. C:\windows\program files x86\daphne) everything will work if you want to copy and paste them just make sure your paths are right!

us vs them
Code: [Select]
uvt vldp -framefile path/uvt.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600
 Super don xoite
Code: [Select]
sdq vldp -framefile path/sdq.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000001 -bank 1 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 roadblaster
Code: [Select]
roadblaster vldp -framefile path/rb.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940  -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 mach3
Code: [Select]
mach3 vldp -framefile path/mach3.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 01000001 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 interstellar
Code: [Select]
interstellar vldp -framefile path/interstellar.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000001 -bank 1 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 gpworld
Code: [Select]
gpworld vldp -framefile path/gpworld.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 galaxy
Code: [Select]
galaxy vldp -framefile path/galaxy.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 dragons lair
Code: [Select]
dle21 vldp -framefile path/dle21.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 11111000 -bank 1 00110111 -noserversend -volume_vldp 64 -sound_buffer 960 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 esh's aurunmilla
Code: [Select]
esh vldp -framefile path/esh.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600dragon's lair 2
Code: [Select]
lair2 vldp -framefile path/lair2.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -noserversend -sound_buffer 2048 -x 640 -y 480 cobra commander
Code: [Select]
cobraab vldp -framefile path/cobra.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 01000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600bega's battle
Code: [Select]
bega vldp -framefile path/bega.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 00000100 -noserversend -sound_buffer 940 -x 800 -y 600badlands
Code: [Select]
badlands vldp -framefile path/badlands.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 10000001 -noserversend -sound_buffer 2048 -x 640 -y 480astron belt
Code: [Select]
astron vldp -framefile path/astron.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 00000000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 2048 -x 640 -y 480space ace
Code: [Select]
ace vldp  -framefile path/ace.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 00000001 -noserversend -sound_buffer 2048 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 thayer's quest
Code: [Select]
tq vldp -framefile path/tq.txt -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir /home/path -useoverlaysb 1 -bank 0 00010000 -noserversend -sound_buffer 2048 -x 640 -y 480

break down line by line:

tq <-- this is the name of the rom

vldp -framefile <-- this stays the same

path/tq.txt <-- this part you change to your path on your computer and name of your framefile.txt

-blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 <-- this stays the same

-homedir /home/path <--again change this to reflect the path to your home directory for the daphne emulator

-useoverlaysb 1 -bank 0 00010000 <--don't change this part!

-noserversend optional

-sound_buffer 2048 <-- can leave this the same

-fullscreen <--adding this will make it full screen on start instead of a window
 -x 640 -y 480 <- basically your screen size leave the -x and -y part just change the numbers
valid sets are (-x 640 -y 480)  (-x 800 -y 600) (-x1280 -y 1024) (-x 1024 -y 768)

The entire goes on your arguments line in AM. One for each game..make them each a single emulator. All the rest of the information you set up in the normal manner.

I know this sounds like a pain..and maybe I am making harder i don't know. All I know I had problems on my linux machine. The games were acting weird after being launched from AM for me

739
General / Re: Romset trouble (Mame)
« on: August 08, 2015, 01:37:56 PM »
Gyrzor what omegaman and tomek are saying is:

1. start attract mode
2. press the TAB button
3. goto emulators
4. where it says args erase everything there and type:
Code: [Select]
[name]
Correct:

# Generated by Attract-Mode 1.5.2
#
executable           mame
args                 [name]                   <- it should look like this
rompath              $HOME/.mame/roms/
romext               .zip
system               Arcade
info_source          mame

Incorrect:
# Generated by Attract-Mode 1.5.2
#
executable           mame
args                 [romfilename] or "[romfilename]" <-- it should not look like this
rompath              $HOME/.mame/roms/
romext               .zip
system               Arcade
info_source          mame

5. goto the bottom where it says back..back out and then back out again to the list screen
6. try to load a game

Anymore problems or even if it works let us know.

740
General / Re: Need help with images
« on: August 07, 2015, 10:49:58 PM »
You omega using linux?..coming over from the dark side you are..hmm...yes? ;)

741
Emulators / Mame setup for Linux
« on: August 07, 2015, 03:41:32 PM »
MAME: Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

This is what most people want. After all what is a arcade cabinet with out arcade games right?

MAME is one of the easier emulators to set up..and can be the hardest to "get right". MAME is very customizable and can be tweaked down to the last detail.

If you you have no clue what I am talking about go here: http://mamedev.org/release.html

(Note: This is written for basic mame and some knowledge of the "command line" is needed. Most front-ends use the command line version of MAME..thus they act like a gui (graphical user interface) If you want a gui version of mame see below.

When you first start MAME you will get an error stating no games found. Go ahead and exit if you have tried. Once you have found games, or roms, place them in your 'roms' directory/folder. If you don't have one you can make one. (Normally in your mame directory/folder to keep everything organized.) (Go here to get test roms: http://www.mamedev.com/roms/)

To begin:
   When you first start mame you will get an error stating no games found. Go ahead and exit. Once you have found games, or roms, place them in your 'roms' directory. If you don't have one you can make one. (Normally in your $HOME/.mame/ folder to keep everything organized.) Now you'll need to open a terminal. Press Alt+F2 in the popup box type terminal (it will very by distro).

Once there type:
Code: [Select]
cd .mame
then type:
Code: [Select]
mame -cc
this will create a mame.ini file in the folder that you are in. This will create a mame.ini file in the folder that you are in. (You can always run the mame -cc command again and have a new mame.ini if you mess it up real badly.)

Your mame.ini will look something like this:

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1
writeconfig               0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath                  <-here 
hashpath                 
samplepath     
artpath                 
ctrlrpath                 
inipath                   
fontpath                 
cheatpath                 
crosshairpath           

   The rompath is the only thing we are worried about right now. You can erase the entire line up to but not including the word rompath. Then type :

Code: [Select]
$HOME/.mame/roms
Now save the changes now type in your terminal mame and start it. You should see a blue box with a list of games you have. You can press enter to start a game or press esc to quit
Your mame now works! you can start a game from a terminal and start a game directly by typing mame game name. Example:

Code: [Select]
mame carpolo
 in a terminal will start carpolo without the gamelist (which is how front ends like attract mode work).

Rom problems:
   First never unzip a rom unless you know what you are doing! MAME can not load an unzipped rom. Roms can be gotten singingly or in "update" packs. You need to have all the needed files in the zip and all the needed zip files. Example: you have galaga.zip but there are other files it needs (.zip files) to start. Why not just put them all together? Well you can and mame will be happy and load fine. However, some of these files are in other namco games (e.x. mappy, rally X, ect.) so now you have them twice, or more, and it's a "waste of space". Loading  from a terminal will spit out any errors of missing files and tell you the extra roms you need. For more information go here: http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/Update286.html pdf version here http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/pdf/Update286.pdf

chd files:
   Compressed hard drive (or compressed hunks [of] data..depending on who you are talking to.) are large (some are HUGE) data files. Mostly this is a hard drive image (ex. killer instinct) or a CD-ROM (ex. street fighter III) or a laser disc (ex cliffhanger). These need to be placed in a sub-folder in your roms folder with the name of the rom. (e.g. /.mame/roms/kinst/)
   
Missing sounds:
   With some older games you need what are called sound samples. These are not  emulated sounds per say but raw sound files called by mame at the appropriate time. With out them you do not hear the sounds in the game. Play galaga without sound samples and when you die your ship explodes without a sound..Who wants that!? So after you find the sound samples you put them in your folder (e.g. .mame/samples) and in your mame.ini change your samplepath:

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath                   $HOME/.mame/roms
hashpath                 
samplepath               <---here
artpath                 
ctrlrpath                 
inipath   
             
Erase everything in front of where it says samplepath and type:

Code: [Select]
$HOME/.mame/samples
Now save the new changes. Now when you run a game like galaga you will have all your sounds!

Why is it a tiny screen! To go fullscreen look in your mame.ini for:

#
# VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     opengl
numscreens                1
window                    0
maximize                  1
keepaspect                <---here
unevenstretch             <---here
centerh                   1
centerv                   1
waitvsync                 0
syncrefresh               0
scalemode                 none

Change keep aspect and uneven stretch from a zero (0) to one (1)

I hope that will get you started with some basics of mame. Happy gaming!

other mame versions:
SDLmame   http://sdlmame.wallyweek.org ([ubuntu] debs and files archives)

wolfmame   http://replay.marpirc.net/ (pre-compiled mame for submitting official high scores) (outdated but works)

gui mame:
http://qmc2.arcadehits.net/wordpress/ (can install from the repositories..you need to have the command line version of mame installed)

742
Emulators / Mame setup for windows
« on: August 07, 2015, 03:32:32 PM »
MAME: Multipule Arcade Machine Emulator

This is what most people want. After all what is a arcade cabinet with out arcade games right?

MAME is one of the easier emulators to set up..and can be the hardest to "get right". MAME is very customizable and can be tweaked down to the last detail.

First off we are going to assume that you know what MAME is and have it installed at ‘C:\mame’. If you you have no clue what i am talking about go here: [ulr]http://mamedev.org/release.html[/url]

(Note: This is written for basic mame and some knowledge of the "command line" is needed. Most front-ends use the command line version of MAME..thus they act like a gui (graphical user interface) If you want a gui version of mame see below.

When you first start mame you will get an error stating no games found. Go ahead and exit. Once you have found games, or roms, place them in your 'roms' directory/folder. If you don't have one you can make one. (Normally in your mame directory/folder to keep everything organized.) (Go here to get test roms: http://www.mamedev.com/roms/)

If you don't like to use a command line you can use a GUI based mame to set up your mame and to even start games. but remember Front ends like Attract Mode use a command line to start games NOT a GUI (basically your front end like Attact Mode becomes your gui to launch games)
See below for versions of GUI based MAMEs note however using a GUI to set up MAME is the same as using notepad+a command line..so the command line instructions need to be read still!

To begin in the command line do this:

You'll need to open a command line prompt:
Press Windows key+R key. A run dialog will pop up. Now type

Code: [Select]
cmd
Once there type:
 
Code: [Select]
cd C:\ then press enter.

Now, type:
 
Code: [Select]
cd C:\mame press enter.

Last type:
Code: [Select]
mame -cc press enter

This will create a mame.ini file in the folder that you are in. (You can always run the mame -cc command again and have a new mame.ini if you mess it up real badly.)

Now open that file with notepad: 

Your mame.ini will look something like this:

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1
writeconfig               0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath         <-here  (ex. C:\mame\roms, you may do multiple paths with ; at the end of the first line and the beginning of the second line)
hashpath                 
samplepath     
artpath                 
ctrlrpath                 
inipath                   
fontpath                 
cheatpath                 
crosshairpath           

   The rompath is the only thing we are worried about right now. You can erase the entire line up to but not including the word rompath. Then type your path to your roms:

Code: [Select]
C:\mame\roms
Now save the changes now type in your terminal mame and start mame by typing mame.exe and press enter. You should see a blue box with a list of games you have. You can press enter to start a game or press esc to quit.

   Your mame now works! You can start MAME from a command line to directly run a game by typing (as an example):

Code: [Select]
mame carpolo
 in a command prompt will start carpolo without the gamelist (which is how front ends like attract mode work).

Rom problems:
   First never unzip a rom unless you know what you are doing! MAME can not load an unzipped rom. Roms can be gotten singly or in "update" packs. You need to have all the needed files in the zip and all the needed zip files. Example: you have galaga.zip but there are other files it needs (.zip) to start. Why not just put them all together? Well you can and mame will be happy and load fine. However, some of these files are in other namco games (e.x. mappy, rally X, ect.) so now you have them twice or more and it's a "waste of space". Load MAME from a terminal and MAME will spit out any errors of missing files and tell you the extra roms you need. (For more go here on that: http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/Update286.html pdf version here http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/pdf/Update286.pdf)

chd files:
   Compressed hard drive (or compressed hunks [of] data..depending on who you are talking to.) are large (some are HUGE) data files. Mostly this is a hard drive image (ex. killer instinct) or a CD-ROM (ex. street fighter III) or a laser disc (ex cliffhanger). These need to be placed in a sub-folder in your roms folder with the name of the rom. (e.g. C:\mame\roms\kinst\kinst.chd)
   
Missing sounds:
   With some older games you need what are called sound samples. These are not  emulated sounds per say but raw sound files called by mame at the appropriate time. With out them you do not hear the sounds in the game. Play galaga without sound samples and when you die your ship explodes without a sound..Who wants that!? So after you find the sound samples (again leave them zipped!) you put them in your folder (e.g C:\mame\samples) and in your mame.ini change your sample path:

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath                   C:\mame\roms
hashpath                 
samplepath               <---here (ex. C:\mame\samples)
artpath                 
ctrlrpath                 
inipath   
             
Now you will have all your sounds!

It’s a little screen! To go full screen look in your mame.ini for:

#
# VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     d3d
numscreens                1
window                    0
maximize                  1
keepaspect                <---here
unevenstretch             <---here
centerh                   1
centerv                   1
waitvsync                 0
syncrefresh               0
scalemode                 none

Change keep aspect and uneven stretch to one (1)

I hope that will get you started with some basics of mame on windows. Happy gaming!

other related windows mame versions:

wolfmame   http://replay.marpirc.net/ (used for submitting high scores)
mameplus   http://sourceforge.net/projects/mameplus/files/releases/ (mame that has graphical enhancements, Outdated but usable with an old romset)
hbmame   http://messui.1emulation.com/index.html (used to run home brew mame roms)

             GUI mames:

MAMEXT   http://www.emulab.it/p_emulators.php (Outdated but usable with an old romset)
mameui   http://www.mameui.info/
mameuifx   http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm replaced with Arcade64 https://arcade.mameworld.info/

To set up mame with a GUI most GUIs once loaded you choose 'Options' then 'Directories' and you can set up your paths from there. Basically this allows you to set up your mame.ini file from a gui instead of doing it manually.


743
General / Re: Names vs. Filenames?
« on: August 07, 2015, 03:19:45 PM »
As for your scraping that does not help the list (i don't think). You need to make sure that your executable is set right right. Then for the source use "mame" not the database.net or mess. The info you need is actually built into mame itself. What attract mode does is compare that info to a rom name and then tags that long name to it. If either of those two are not set it will not work.

744
Scripting / Re: automatic coins
« on: August 07, 2015, 06:45:12 AM »
Yeah I know. *sigh* I had to ask though. it'll have to be a "wrapper" type program. I was using a program called closeemu in windows. It was called by the front end to load first that would call itself before launching the emulator..basically it mapped made the esc key to close the emulators that would not close with esc. (The front end did not have a hotkey option.) The program did other things as well..but I only used it for that really. Two threads of interest:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,96878.0.html or
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,47627.80.html

I wonder if mame itself could be patched...wonder how the devs would feel about that....
Headkaze made a program..but I think he got "heat" for it. Not sure why.

745
General / Re: Linux install
« on: August 07, 2015, 06:24:29 AM »
ok. I do not see any output errors in the terminal. I converted everything to png using GiMP just  to check too. Please repost this in the themes section. You'll get better help there. I don't know much about scripting.

746
Scripting / automatic coins
« on: August 06, 2015, 08:00:20 PM »
would it be difficult to write a script to make it so that as soon as the mame game is launched coins are automatically "inserted"? Yes I know that takes away the arcadeness...but for those that don't have a cab it wouldn't matter much. I know that some games can be set to free play but not all of them can. Good idea? Bad idea? I do not know enough squirrel yet to make a script like that..anyone up for the challenge?

747
General / Re: Parents roms only?
« on: August 06, 2015, 04:34:01 PM »
Yeah....that is cool. I need to talk to romlister and see if he'll add attractmode

748
Themes / Re: Multi-layout that uses listbox or wheel via options.
« on: August 06, 2015, 11:00:43 AM »
Ok got a problem. if I turn the CRT shader on or the bloom effect on it kills my vids snaps. Works fine with them off...even works with the "dark shaders" and not error output that I see.

749
Themes / Re: Previous thread (Post your custom layouts here!)
« on: August 06, 2015, 10:21:48 AM »
I will admit I like the whole cabinet idea. Marquee where it belongs, vid snap playing where it belongs. Think you can make one like that but show the control panel pic on the cabinet? I used to use 3D Arcade they did have it show the marquee and even the vid snaps but I always thought it would be cool for them to make the cabs have the real artwork (side panels and control panels) so you could kinda see what the real cab looked like. (I know A LOT of work!) But I did have it play some of the attract videos so when i was walking around it felt like they were playing like in a real arcade. It was cool but it was not the easiest thing to set up.

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Themes / Re: *NEW* Steampunk theme I'm working on
« on: August 06, 2015, 10:12:17 AM »
Good call Nitro! :) I also have to ask where are you getting the wheel art so "fast" or rather how are you making all your wheel art "match your theme? You are not remaking them all I am sure..either that or time moves much slower where you are (and I need to move there). I like how the wheel art matches your theme...that is what makes it a "theme" not just a" cool background with a wheel." It ties it all together sorta speak.

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