Author Topic: VertiWAH - vertical MAME frontend - Need Testers! (Read 10423 times)

EndTwist · « **on:** January 15, 2004, 12:37:37 pm »

Hello,

This used to be MYFE, but since I have done major updates, I decided to rename it VertiWAH (hope that's OK, Minwah)

It now is more bug free, has a new layout system, better layout creator, and overall better!

Downloads and screenshots here: http://vertiwah.jbeffects.com

Please post new bugs, problems, questions, and suggestions here!

-- EndTwist

PacManFan · « **Reply #1 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:06:20 pm »

Cool, I'm checking it out right now. I see you're using gdiplus, how are you doing the rotation?

Welcome to the FE developer club, I'll have to teach you the secret handshake now...

-PMF

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #2 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:17:36 pm »

I have a ton of bugs/suggestions.......

First off the ocx's you are using don't self-register.... I get an error and can't even start the fe. Your going to have ot use a proper install program or make a bat that uses regsvr(which i can tell you from experince can be a pain to support)

Secondly your fe appears to be extremely simple, but you are asking the user for far too much data.... all you need from them is the path to mame and the mame exe name.

I'll give examples in vb, but there are similar functions for c++ and all the visual studio languages:

In your cl.exe you ask for the path for mame.... you've aleady asked for that in your ini file so simply read that path.

You don't need to give the user the option as to what to save the gamelist text as..... make a special copy that only your fe uses and you've solved many user errors. (they are dumb, they'll delete it out of the mame directory and then complain to you that yoru fe doesn't work)

Also save it in the front end's working directory. You can get this with app.path in vb.

Which brings me to your third issue. You are asking for the path to the myfe.ini. Why? It's in app.path & "\myfe.ini"

Lastly, you are asking for the windows version so you can figure out which command.exe to call. This sends up a big red flag to me as you shouldn't be calling the command line.

Lets say your path to mame is c:\mame, the code you should run is:

chdrive "c:\mame\"
chdir "c:\mame\"

shellandwait "mame.exe -listfull >" & app.path &"\games.txt"

and poof a gamelist is generated in the myfe folder

(btw the shellandwait command is a function that utilizes the regular old shell command with a waitforprocess call. There are about a million examples of shell and wait on the net.)

Ok I think that covers everything, but keep in mind I can't even get the fe to run yet.

I'm not ragging on ya, I just want to drill in the concept of only asking smart questions. Don't ask the user when their birthday is and then ask them how old they are... you can calculate that yourself with the birthday

Btw I hope you get this thing working... a vertical fe for windows is severely needed.

PacManFan · « **Reply #3 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:28:46 pm »

I got the FE to run, after a little tweaking. Inside your skin file, you're making reference to a gif file that's local to your hard drive. (Don't worry, I accidently did just the same thing w/ Kymaera). You might want to save the image to under your skin directory, and have the application look for it using a relative path.
In your glgen program, you ask for several paths, but what you are really asking for are pathnames and filenames. You might want to reword that.

I still did not see the gamelist appear.

Does your program rotate the artwork, or are you requiring the user to pre-rotate it. (not a bad solution...)?

-PMF

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #4 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:29:34 pm »

Ok the ocx's are registered.... Now its' asking for a file called allgames_tab.gif in my administrator's my pictures folder.

You are linking to stuff we don't have

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #5 on:** January 15, 2004, 01:40:11 pm »

I got a gamelist but only after figuring out some of the confusion that pmf just mentioned. (you need a full path to the games.txt) I still can't get mame to launch though, it just locks up. It might be the way you are launching mame if you are doing it the way you did in gl.exe

EndTwist · « **Reply #6 on:** January 15, 2004, 02:34:57 pm »

Wow, that was quick...

Ok..

Quote

Does your program rotate the artwork, or are you requiring the user to pre-rotate it. (not a bad solution...)?

GDI-Plus is rotating it for me, since I got a .tlb that has all the functions I need. Its pretty nifty.

Quote

chdrive "c:\mame\"
chdir "c:\mame\"

shellandwait "mame.exe -listfull >" & app.path &"\games.txt"

and poof a gamelist is generated in the myfe folder

I'll be sure to fix that in my code. The GLGen program was a quick solution (its still an early FE!)

Quote

Inside your skin file, you're making reference to a gif file that's local to your hard drive. (Don't worry, I accidently did just the same thing w/ Kymaera). You might want to save the image to under your skin directory, and have the application look for it using a relative path.

Doh! I should've noticed that. Ah...I'll fix that ASAP!

Quote

First off the ocx's you are using don't self-register.... I get an error and can't even start the fe. Your going to have ot use a proper install program or make a bat that uses regsvr(which i can tell you from experince can be a pain to support)

Unfortunately, I need the OCXes to rotate the text, but I will make a reg program (or include it in installation)

I'll get to fixing this problems ASAP. Anymore, just post. Also, any sugestions, please post!!

[edit] See updates in first post [/edit]

EndTwist · « **Reply #7 on:** January 15, 2004, 05:58:36 pm »

*would anyone care to sticky this?*

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #8 on:** January 15, 2004, 08:09:31 pm »

I wanted to mention this... it's funny about the ocx files..... I've tried installing/uninstalling a few times (to help you debug) and sometimes it complains about teh ocx and sometimes it doesn't. It seems to work after it errors out though. Odd huh?

EndTwist · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2004, 06:25:56 am »

Actually that's very strange...but it won't make too much of a difference in the long run. It's also odd because on all 3 of the computers I've tested it on, I've never needed to register it.

Also, has anyone been able to get it to run now?

EndTwist · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2004, 01:16:19 pm »

New updates! It now auto-setup's itself if you put all the files in the MAME folder. Also, a few problems fixed. I still have some stuff to fix, but its working pretty nicely.

Rod1968 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2004, 12:49:51 am »

Looks Great
Nice simple clean design
I was able to get it to work with a little tweaking
and it looks very promising

Just a few bugs to report:
1 - After unziping and running the GLgen and then
running the MYFE.EXE there are no games in the
games.dat for some reason the myfe.ini sets the
gamelist path to Gamelist=C:\mame\myfe.ini
even after changing it to Gamelist=C:\mame\games.txt
it still doesn't work. The only way I was able to get it
to work was to extract the updated .exe and .ini over
the old files, also even after doing this if I delete the
contents of the games.dat I have to extract the files
over again to get it to work.

2 - I tried changing the font size and style in the skinner and it keeps defaulting back to the original
I saved and reopened the skin to see if the changes
stayed and they do. I also changed the skin to read only, but once I run the frontend it reverts back to
the default font and size

EDIT:
I was able to get this to work by adding the .myf
extention to the file when I saved it. The only problem
now is that the skinner doesn't compensate for the
larger font so the gamelist ends up over lapping
each other

3 - The games.dat file is reporting the wrong game
names for the actual roms available
Donkey Kong/dkong is being reported as
donkey kong jr. (moon cresta hardware)
missile command/missile is being reported
as guided missile
I only put a few roms in the folder so there may be others but im not sure. Also I am aware the missile
command is horz, I just threw a couple of roms in the
folder for testing purposes an that just happend to be one of them.

Great looking frontend
Keep up the nice work
Thanks
Rodney

EndTwist · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2004, 07:32:33 am »

Quote from: Rod1968 on January 18, 2004, 12:49:51 am

Looks Great
Nice simple clean design
I was able to get it to work with a little tweaking
and it looks very promising

Just a few bugs to report:
1 - After unziping and running the GLgen and then
running the MYFE.EXE there are no games in the
games.dat for some reason the myfe.ini sets the
gamelist path to Gamelist=C:\mame\myfe.ini
even after changing it to Gamelist=C:\mame\games.txt
it still doesn't work. The only way I was able to get it
to work was to extract the updated .exe and .ini over
the old files, also even after doing this if I delete the
contents of the games.dat I have to extract the files
over again to get it to work.

That first part of your problem I find weird, because that just shouldn't happen. The way I programmed it, that's kind of unexpected. I'll look at that. The second part of this, where you say you changed it to "C:\mame\games.txt" is only because you need to reset the RunTwice key back to zero.

Quote

2 - I tried changing the font size and style in the skinner and it keeps defaulting back to the original
I saved and reopened the skin to see if the changes
stayed and they do. I also changed the skin to read only, but once I run the frontend it reverts back to
the default font and size

EDIT:
I was able to get this to work by adding the .myf
extention to the file when I saved it. The only problem
now is that the skinner doesn't compensate for the
larger font so the gamelist ends up over lapping
each other

Yeah, I keep having problems with the skinner. It's a huge PITA, but I'll get around to focusing on it soon. They skins do need the .myf extension to be used, otherwise they will not work.

Quote

3 - The games.dat file is reporting the wrong game
names for the actual roms available
Donkey Kong/dkong is being reported as
donkey kong jr. (moon cresta hardware)
missile command/missile is being reported
as guided missile
I only put a few roms in the folder so there may be others but im not sure. Also I am aware the missile
command is horz, I just threw a couple of roms in the
folder for testing purposes an that just happend to be one of them.

Hm...I'll look at this. It has never happened to me before.

Thanks for the feedback!

EndTwist

delta88 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 24, 2004, 12:35:23 am »

hmm, i have a vert mame cab? anyone wanna toss a screenshot up in heeer?

EndTwist · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2004, 08:05:20 am »

Sure, no problem.

Screenshot 1

There are still a couple of bugs I need to work out this weekend, but its getting there.

EndTwist · « **Reply #15 on:** January 30, 2004, 02:24:42 pm »

Hi again!

Sorry I havn't said much over the past few days, been busy.

Anyways, I have good/bad news about MYFE:

1. I am revamping the whole layout structure, it will be much easier to handle.
2. You will be able to add your own tabs & custom lists!
3. Hopefully I will work out some bugs I have been having.
4. When I get to it, the Layout Maker will be redone.

Spaced Invader · « **Reply #16 on:** March 29, 2004, 10:08:21 pm »

Any progress?

EndTwist · « **Reply #17 on:** March 30, 2004, 06:34:52 am »

Unfortunately, no. Life has been getting in the way. Hopefully soon I will have some time.

EndTwist · « **Reply #18 on:** April 09, 2004, 10:24:59 pm »

I will have a new release within a few days hopefully. Just getting some more bugs out.

Changes:
1. Layout format revamped.
2. Layout maker changed somewhat.
3. Less buggy!

It's obvious I can't compete with other FEs, so I don't know if I will continue it publicly after this coming release. Maybe by private request. Too bad there isn't more intrest.

EndTwist · « **Reply #19 on:** April 30, 2004, 08:42:55 pm »

MAJOR MAJOR UPDATES!!!

See first post!

EndTwist · « **Reply #20 on:** May 01, 2004, 11:13:27 am »

No one has had any bugs/problems/suggestions?

I know this software isn't perfect!

EndTwist · « **Reply #21 on:** May 11, 2004, 06:01:23 pm »

Ok, I need testers to kick some bugs out at me! Just PM me or send me an email if you would like to test. If you'd rather, just post any bugs you find here.

-- EndTwist

bdsjake · « **Reply #22 on:** May 12, 2004, 11:54:13 am »

Hi, I am looking for a frontend for a vertical cab I am building and will try yours. I may not be the best to beta test however, but will try it out.

thanks,

EndTwist · « **Reply #23 on:** May 12, 2004, 02:57:06 pm »

Heh, not a problem! Thanks for tryin it. Obviously its still a WIP, but it's getting there. If you encounter problems/bugs just post here.

bdsjake · « **Reply #24 on:** May 12, 2004, 10:08:12 pm »

well, first of all, big kudos to you because...

...the friggin' program *works*!

unlike others that go vertical, and I think I've tried them all b/c of this cab I am planning, I was able to get yours working on the first try (actually, I did have to download and install gdiplus.dll or something like that, no big deal). no errors, no lockups.

fyi: Win98SE, Dell Celeron 400

I love the shutdownwindowsonesc option b/c I cannot update this computer to do power button windows shutdown.

now,

1. I had to generate a game list by hand, creating a gamelist with notepad. Any way to automate that? I probably won't run that many games, so also not a huge deal, but if I wanted to see all 1000+ vertical roms, would be a big deal

2. Couldn't d/l from your webpage the layout designer 1.01

3. Maybe get the skins looking a little more "Mamewahish"?

4. can we remap keys? eg, you have control to start game, can it be remapped so that 1 (Player 1) also works to start games?

anywyay, you're doing it for free so these aren't critisms, I appreciate the work you've done already!

ps, why don't you and minwah get together and combine programs? (I know, simpler said than done)

thanks,

EndTwist · « **Reply #25 on:** May 13, 2004, 06:54:42 am »

1. Guess I forgot to mention that if you clear just about all the info in the vertiwah.ini, it autogenerates a list if its in the mame dir. Anyways, I'll make a list generator app ASAP.

2. Fixed.

3. Just a matter of making your own skin. The Layout Creator is by no means perfect, therefore it does still need some work. I'll try to get to that ASAP too.

4. Heh, you hit the next item on my ToDo list. One of my top priorities.

Last - I probably should inlcude gdiplus.dll next time

Quote

ps, why don't you and minwah get together and combine programs? (I know, simpler said than done)

Heh, much simpler said than done. 2 different programs, 100's of lines of different code...not so easy...

bdsjake · « **Reply #26 on:** May 13, 2004, 09:51:51 am »

ok, I'll try the autogenerate method, I did install vertiwah in the mame directory. When you say clear almost all from vertiwah.ini, is there some stuff that needs to be left in?

again, thanks, good start on a frontend!

oh, I still can't get over how easily it rotates w/o complaint!!!

thanks,

EndTwist · « **Reply #27 on:** May 13, 2004, 10:55:16 am »

This is basically what an empty vwah.ini file should look like:

vwah.ini

Code: [Select]

[Paths]
MAMEEXE=
MAMEPATH=
MAMEROM=
MAMEART=
Gamelist=
Music=

[Music]
PlayMusic=True
Volume=5
Loop=True

[Skins]
SkinName=blank

[Misc]
DisableAltTab=
ShutdownOnEsc=
ScreenshotFileType=.png
RunTwice=

Boz · « **Reply #28 on:** August 20, 2006, 02:58:04 pm »

Quote from: EndTwist on January 15, 2004, 12:37:37 pm

Downloads and screenshots here: http://vertiwah.jbeffects.com

Dead link

max8061 · « **Reply #29 on:** September 01, 2006, 04:09:34 pm »

Old thread...

Boz · « **Reply #30 on:** September 01, 2006, 08:32:31 pm »

Quote from: max8061 on September 01, 2006, 04:09:34 pm

Old thread...

You're an asshat

loadman · « **Reply #31 on:** September 01, 2006, 08:40:35 pm »

Carefull

Boz · « **Reply #32 on:** September 01, 2006, 09:05:50 pm »

We shouldn't be posting here loadman. This is an old thread.


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