Maximus Arcade Forums Have Been down

[spacegoogie]

  Does any one know what's going on with the Maximus Arcade forums? It has been down for days. http://maximusarcade.com/phpbb/

It reads "The Maximus Arcade forums will be back up shortly." How long is shortly? it's been a few days.

 

[mwong168]

Hyperspin FTW   Just kidding, Maximus is a nice front end too and I have both on my cab.

[shateredsoul]

I'm surprised anyone misses those forums.. they were always pretty dead. Yeah, I dunno.. I usually only go there to check if people have unanswered questions.  I feel pretty bad that some people go on there to ask a simple question (and have paid for the software) only to never get a response.  I love Maximus Arcade but usually there was nothing going on in those forums.

Seriously though.. the Maximus programmer shouldn't leave it's supporters out in the cold  , It's unfair that Delusional, a volunteer, be left with the responsibility of dealing with impatient and unhappy (and rightfully so) customers.

I'm just glad I didn't get an x-arcade stick and they advertise on their website   

Seriously though, if anyone gets Maximus Arcade it is super easy to setup and we can help you get whatever emulator you want on there, but throws a bone every now and then 

[Malenko]

I agree the maximus forums are pretty dead lately, but it's extremely useful for a first time setup.  There's a lot of good info on those forums.

I use maximus and love it.  It's the only front end for me.  Pretty easy setup.

so make a wiki page for future users

[shateredsoul]

or maybe an update to the frontend ? hope so

[spacegoogie]

Well here is an update, DeLuSioNaL just sent me an email and told me he was on vacation and was unaware of the forums being down and would find out what was going on when he gets back.
Just an F.Y.I.   

[Focus]

Any update on this as the forums are still down.   

[spacegoogie]

DeLuSioNaL has not talked to Mameseer for a few months. He has no idea what's going. I think Mameseer has jumped ship.

[saint]

Well hopefully it'll come back but I'm happy to host a forum if needed. 

[nickynooch]

It'd be cool if that data could be somehow ported over to a new forum.  Just a TON of useful info on there for Maximus users, especially for first time setup.  I mean my machine is pretty much done (well, they never really are "done" are they?), but I know if I had to start from scratch, I would need a lot of that data for assistance.

Very lame if it is completely dead.

[shateredsoul]

hopefully that's not the case =/, it's a good frontend. Seriously, if he just fixed the x-arcade issue and added a "add your own system" option I'd be happy as a clam.  He could probably just do that and lower the price to maybe $10 bucks, let the community take over the addition of systems and creating configurations that can be shared.

I saved the docs section juuuuuuuuuuuuuust in case.

Also, the latest release of Maximus Arcade (2.10) has become very common in the warez forums... so I hear:angel: (for the record, I paid for my copy). I've seen a lot more videos on youtube featuring maximus arcade and I don't think it's because more people are buying. Brazilian people seem to love Maximus Arcade (many of the newer vids are in Portuguese).

[DeLuSioNal29]

Hi all,

I'm back! After a nice long vacation in Puerto Rico.  

So, Spacegoogie e-mailed me while on vacation notifying me that the forums were down.  (Thanks again for the heads up Goog!)  Obviously this was news to me.  Before I continue I'd like to say the following:  A)  I am a moderator on the forums with limited privileges there.  B)  I don't have access to the back-up that Mameseer (the owner and developer) periodically makes, so I am powerless to do anything to restore or correct the forums.

That said, I'll try to fill you guys in on all that I know so far.  Firstly, I doubt that the forums will ever come up again (could be wrong here - Mameseer, feel free to chime in if you read this).  What leads me to believe this?  

1) Users are not the only ones who's e-mails have been ignored by Mameseer).  I have not heard from him since April of 2010.  Three months later the same deal.  He had replied to me (after many attempts on my end) saying that he had "multiple family emergencies" the last few months prior to April which is why he put everything else on the back burner.  It actually never occurred to me that it could actually have been "himself" that was in trouble.  Sick perhaps?  A divorce?  No one knows.  We may never know, since I no longer hear from him.

Here's the last thing I wrote to him in an e-mail:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is starting to get more serious.  It's unfair that I dedicate my time and resources to do the right thing and I get no response from you, at all.  I really believe in this project (as do others) and I think we all need an answer as to what really is going on.  My reputation in the Maximus forum community, along with Youtube and BYOAC is at stake now.  My next fear is that they will report you to the Better Business Bureau and I really don't want that to happen.  Can you please reply to someone?  There are paid users out there waiting for their key."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No response.  At all.

2)  Around the same time last year, he became very discouraged about the whole Maximus Arcade project due to the rampant piracy of Maximus Arcade on warez sites and torrents.  For current users of Maximus, this is noted by the fact that he changed the registration code algorithm when the newer versions came out.  (This was to combat piracy).  It turned out to be a mistake (in my opinion) because it added extra work on his end to send out new registration codes to everyone.  And his time was very limited.

I voiced my concerns and he replied:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes, lack of support is the truth. I've been supplying registrations consistently within 24 hours but I don't have the time for support. Much has changed for me in the past year and I won't be able to lend support. I'd much rather sell the brand and code to someone who can continue its development but with the tough financial state I'm in, I just can't give it away for free. <<EDIT:  (I had asked him if he was willing to make it freeware) >>

I tried my best to get the new plug-in created for keyboard input but the person coding it could not deliver what I was asking, so I'm out my down payment of $300 and I have a plug-in that doesn't do what is needed...  <<EDIT: (Turns out it was unnecessary since the Caplocks fix was the culprit) >>

I'm sorry that you have been taking the brunt of the abuse regarding support. To be honest I thought the 30 day trial would be enough for people to determine whether they want to buy it or not. And I apologize if I seem like I'm dumping on you  -  I've become jaded about the rampant piracy of MA. I'm messaged by Google regarding any new searches for "maximus arcade" and they are always for pirated versions through torrent or rapidshare. It's very disheartening when I think about updating the software...

I can't thank you enough for your assistance in the forums."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So to sum it up, there are 3 theories that may explain this whole thing:
1)  He's dead.  If bills don't get paid, companies tend to pull the plug on things.  I know for a fact that the website and forums are run by two different companies.  They are linked together, but are still separate entities.  So if the forums go down, the website will remain intact or vice versa.  I'm guessing the host shut him down.  That would explain why he is not responding to me... at all.
2)  He's pulled the plug on the project and was tired of what he was reading on the forums with all the disgruntled users out there.  So he killed it in frustration.  (see above about piracy)

My vote would be the first.  (I hope not though - I hope he's OK)  The reason?  He is (was?) a very personable guy who (I hope) would explain exactly why he was pulling the plug had he chose to do so.  He would not simply "disappear".

P.S. - The X-Arcade exiting issue (to my knowledge) has been resolved.  It turns out it's a known issue with Windows while in Maximus and was confirmed the the guys over at X-Gaming.com.  The solution:  Numlock needs to be disabled in the BIOS.

So to sum things up, yeah, I'm a little P.O.'d at the guy.  He left me high and dry and really had me believing that he was really into the project.  I DEFENDED the guy and believed him about his "family issues".  Now, I'm not so sure.  Worst yet, was the fact that everybody in the world was pissed off at me when in fact I had nothing to do with the development.  Sigh.  What can you do...  

DeLuSioNaL29

[Dazz]

Hey DeLuSioNaL29,

If you happen to hear from Mameseer, please let him know that I have webspace that I can host his forums on. Yes, I help run HyperSpin, but I also frequented the MA forums since I've been a MA user for years.  I know there is a lot of valuable information for MA users on those forums and if he is in need of a host I'm more than willing to help out.  Please don't let hosting keep the forums down as hosting is nothing...  Just let me know.

Dazz

[shateredsoul]

Well first of all I hope he is okay. Second, I thought it was nice of you to be on the forums helping and helping keep excitement through different projects you made (such as the intro movie you made). You helped me a lot, sucks that you had to take the brunt of the blame though. 

[The Lumberjackass]

Hi all,

this is my first post here , and i found this site, and very thread by googling , " why are the maximus arcade forums down  " .

well, to fill you in on a bit of info, the guy is alive ( i was going to say " and well " , but after reading above, maybe the guy isnt
feeling great . but still, i was talking to him only 4 days ago, as i purchased MA from the website and i got a reply with my code
in under 10 hours . not only did i get 2 codes , one for v2.09 and an another for 2.10 , but i also got a code for another website.
Subscribe to EmuMovies at 50% offLINK: http://emumovies.com/maximusarcade/
anyways,
when i got my registration code, i went to the site to get some help, as im a first time user , and thats when i noticed the
forums were down. i didnt think much of it at the time and thought it was routine maintenence and came back next day.
well, they were still down so i emailed him, and basically asked " have i bought dud software ?? i.e - no support , stuck half
way down the water slide , etc etc " .  well, ive heard nothing since , and i doubt i ever will . im just adding this info for all other MA users.

and delusional , ive heard of you before , and you seem like a top bloke who went out of his way to help people. dont be hard on yourself, you did more good for others than for yourself.

[DeLuSioNal29]

If you happen to hear from Mameseer, please let him know that I have webspace that I can host his forums on.  Please don't let hosting keep the forums down as hosting is nothing...  Just let me know.

I'm note quite sure if it's a hosting or monetary issue.  I'm thinking he doesn't really feel it's a priority at the moment.  Again, I'm just guessing since I haven't been able to contact him for quite some time.

D

[Flake]

Damn well this is disheartening to say the least....I've developed an issue with my MA setup where all of a sudden my game menus are all screwed up.

For instance, in my mame master games list only certain games show up but in my game lists but they will show up in my favorites or other games lists such as 8-way / 4-way / sports - football / etc.  So this tells me MA can read all the roms properly but for some reason the master games list doesnt show alot of games.  My Daphne menu is screwed up too.  I tried a clean install a few months ago with no success and have just been dealing with it since.

Honestly though I tried using the forums back then to help me fix the issue with no success so I guess that might not have been the place to look anyway.

I guess at some point I'll try HS again but damn that FE is hard to setup over MA.

Delusional, I wanted to say thanks to you.  You have helped me on a few issues over the last couple years so dont feel your contributions have gone unappreciated because they havent.

[shateredsoul]

I found that Hyperspin wasn't too bad wasn't too bad to setup, they made a bunch of changes and the themes are really easy to install using the new zip format (just one zip for a whole theme).

Generally the easiest ones to setup are mame and the no intro set roms (nes,snes,genesis, master system, turbo grafx, sega m2, n64).  I decided to only use hyperspin for those systems.. anything beyond that is pretty hard to setup and is lacking artwork (ps1, dreamcast, saturn). You'll need the themes and the videos... so that means you need emumovies and to get on the ftp for hyperspin.  If you need help, message me.. i'll point you in the right direction.

Although I'm quite happy with maximus arcade (even though I complain about it), Hyperspin adds a level of professionalism that can't be matched by Maximus arcade. But I do consider Maximus arcade a lot easier to tweak (at least for now). 

[nickynooch]

Sad to hear the updates and thanks for the heads up delusional.  You have helped me with some issues in the past, so thanks for the help.  If the forums are dead I wonder if a tab on this forum is possible?  I know despite the forums being down, there are still a ton of people using it.  I love maximus and do believe it to be the perfect front end for me.

It would be nice if mameseer would turn the forums over to someone else if he doesn't have the desite to run it anymore.  It seems like people are willing to host it for free, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't do that.

Are we certain it is mameseer taking the money and sending out the registrations still?  Could it be an automated process?

I hope the best for him... I wonder when his lack of motivation hit considering the somewhat recent revamp of the website.

The sad thing is his lack of motivation isn't punishing the warez kids, it's punishing those of us who paid for the software.  The warez kids will just move on to the next "free" software.  Those of us who paid stick with it, because we decided it was worth paying for.

Oh well, I saw a lot of posts recently on the forums of people whining a lot.  Maybe that's why they got shut down.  Also, there were a couple spammers hitting the forums too. 

Too many good tutorials there to lose.

Sad if the forums are dead, there was soo much good info there.  We might wanna hit google's cached sites while we can for info.  I have no clue how long that lasts.  I just had to link to it for someone in the byoac software forum section today.

[Havok]

It's a shame you can't at least take up Saint's offer to host the forums here. Even if no new info is posted, all that stuff would still be useful, that is until you upgrade to AtomicFE..

 

[Epyx]

I'm thinking he doesn't really feel it's a priority at the moment.

I know I will be unpopular for this but...oh well. I think taking his site down was the right thing to do. It was clear he couldn't spend time fixing bugs that required fixing or responding to complaints.  Delusional on the other hand has always been helpful (whether that site or this one or via PMs) but I can't say the same for the developer. I registered his product and received no support where I needed support.  Am I a little bitter? Sure I am...if you create a "commercial" product whether hobby or otherwise and charge money for it, you should support it.

I use the word "should"...those are my feelings...the dev obviously didn't agree and if I had known that then I would have plunked my cash somewhere else (like an added donation to this site).  The experience I have had with Hyperspin was the absolute opposite not just in terms of quality but in terms of service.

[The Lumberjackass]

I use the word "should"...those are my feelings...the dev obviously didn't agree and if I had known that then I would have plunked my cash somewhere else (like an added donation to this site).  The experience I have had with Hyperspin was the absolute opposite not just in terms of quality but in terms of service.

you have every right to feel aggrivated . hell, i just bought my registration a code a few days ago and i didnt even know he was pulling the plug  .
but yes, i do agree with you, if he isnt going to support it anymore then the website should come down. all of it . not just the forums , but the whole damn site.
it'll stop people like me ( newbies ) from buying the software and then having to look for help which doesnt exist.

yes, it would be nice to set up a tab here for MA , at least it'd help people who need it.

[saint]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?board=46.0

[The Lumberjackass]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?board=46.0

legend,

thank you

[saint]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?board=46.0

Saint = awesome.  I may post a couple tutorials from the cache'd maximus forum posts before they go away, if I find any good ones.  If it helps, and no one would think I'm a spammer in doing so.

Sounds like a winner  

[Scottk]

I voiced my concerns and he replied:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes, lack of support is the truth. I've been supplying registrations consistently within 24 hours but I don't have the time for support. Much has changed for me in the past year and I won't be able to lend support. I'd much rather sell the brand and code to someone who can continue its development but with the tough financial state I'm in, I just can't give it away for free. <<EDIT:  (I had asked him if he was willing to make it freeware) >>

DeLuSioNaL29

I have never used his application/front end, and have no idea of the quality of said software, but perhaps if there was some interest, and the dude was willing to sell it, maybe a few of us could pool a few bucks together, and just buy the source off the guy, and create an open-source version of the app?

Granted, I have no idea what kind of cash the dude is thinking about, but freeing the software, if the price is reasonable, might be the best for everyone involved, including mameseer.

I am a software engineer by trade, and assuming the deal happened above, I would be able to help fix the various bugs, given that we would have the source.

Just a thought...

[DeLuSioNal29]

So I sent Mameseer over at Maximus a final e-mail:
"I'm sure by now you are aware that the forums on your site have "disappeared".  They have been down since the end of June.  I'm not sure why this has occurred without any warning.  I'm not even sure if it was intentional or not.  But the fact still remains that there was a lot of useful information there that users benefited from which they no longer have access to.

After some discussion, the folks over at BYOAC and myself have revived the project.  The public forum cache for the MA forums has been mirrored over at the BYOAC forums.  In addition I have asked the owner of the site to grant moderator status to myself and he has agreed.  So I will be focusing my energy elsewhere.  I'm just glad that were were able to breathe life into the support of the Maximus Arcade frontend.

It saddens me that this happened without any warning.  Especially the fact that I took time out of my busy schedule to ensure that the forums were spam free, supported (to the best of my ability) and maintained...

I wish you luck in your future endeavors."
Hopefully, he will respond.  I think he owes me that much.  If not, we'll simply move forward with the unofficial support here at BYOAC.

DeLuSioNaL29

[The Lumberjackass]

So I sent Mameseer over at Maximus a final e-mail:
"I'm sure by now you are aware that the forums on your site have "disappeared".  They have been down since the end of June.  I'm not sure why this has occurred without any warning.  I'm not even sure if it was intentional or not.  But the fact still remains that there was a lot of useful information there that users benefited from which they no longer have access to.

After some discussion, the folks over at BYOAC and myself have revived the project.  The public forum cache for the MA forums has been mirrored over at the BYOAC forums.  In addition I have asked the owner of the site to grant moderator status to myself and he has agreed.  So I will be focusing my energy elsewhere.  I'm just glad that were were able to breathe life into the support of the Maximus Arcade frontend.

It saddens me that this happened without any warning.  Especially the fact that I took time out of my busy schedule to ensure that the forums were spam free, supported (to the best of my ability) and maintained...

I wish you luck in your future endeavors."
Hopefully, he will respond.  I think he owes me that much.  If not, we'll simply move forward with the unofficial support here at BYOAC.

DeLuSioNaL29

i hope he replies , at least it'll be closure for you if he does .
but, i do have a feeling he wont respond. as far as i can tell, he's taken your good charity and good nature for a long hard ride to the bank.

if he is able to respond to me in lightning quick time , with regards to getting me a key for MA, then he has the time to at least email you an explaination.
seriously ?, how strapped for time can you be , when you cant even reply to a mail saying , " project dead in water, thanks for everything and looking after my forums, it was good while it lasted , laters dude ".

but thats just my 2 cents .

[I/O]

I think Mameseer did not see the basic support issue coming. Perhaps he was very confident in his code. Perhaps he did not think people would want to do so much 'customization'.

His lack of response to Delusional may be an unexpressed "I'm not sure what I'm doing with it, so I"m not responding" kind of thing. And he may feel guilty.

In any case, he did make a fair effort, given the fairly inexpensive cost of the product to the user. (I mean, if $25 for software is that serious to you, maybe not buying it is the best choice).

The only question remaining is, why did you not express to Mameseer Scottk's interest in a possible acquiring of the source code, Delusional?

[arzoo]

As LEDBlinky supports MA I'll mention that the current version (of blinky) resolves the "Launch.bat could not be written" error generated by Maximus Arcade. I had sent three or four emails to mameseer over the past 6 months trying to get him to fix this issue but as you can guess, he did not respond. In the end, I modified my code to work around the problem.

[n2gaming]

The forums may be down, but the registration codes are still flowing.  I’ve requested codes for Maximus Arcade twice within the past month (June/July 2010).  Both times I received codes for 2.09 and 2.10 within 48 hours.

I’d like to see the site forum come back online though.  It sounds like there is a willing host out there.  But, in the mean time, I’m glad there is an active community here.

I’ve contributed to a number of shareware products over the years, only to see them die out shortly after (Gee, maybe it’s me).  But, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get the initial value out of it.   After all, there was a try before you buy option.  So you kinda know what you’re getting.  And, there wasn’t an on-going maintenance fee being charged.

That said, t’would be nice to see new life for Maximus Arcade, as I think it still is a slick frontend with a future.  Tack on a number of serious followers, with a nod to DeLuSioNaL and his sweet intro, theme, and dare I say “support”.  I think there is enough energy, if given a path forward.

[Insayne]

I liked the idea to pool some money together and "free" the software - make it open source and have it continue...

Since I am however a newbie here, I would like prefer someone like Delusional29 with a proper reputation to run it as people trust him.

I would definately spend some $ into it

[DeLuSioNal29]

FYI,

I was able to log onto the Forums as moderator and view stuff.  So I'm in the process of grabbing what I can a posting it in this new forum.

As for the status of the forums, it looks like Mameseer disabled them himself.  So the theory of him not paying the provider is out the window.

I actually grabbed a snapshot of the admin log showing that he did so on the 19th of June.  (see below) Which would explain it.

D

[Phil]

Really too bad about the drama, MA is a great FE.
I'll keep lurking and helping as much as I can.

[Chappie]

What really upsets me is that I tried MA for a few days and then made the leap to buy it in late June and after a few days of waiting for my reg code he sent me one. So he has no problem accepting money after the fact he knew he was essentially backing out of the program. MA became unworkable for me due to the black screen upon exiting a game which really ticked me off more.

Steve

[DeLuSioNal29]

The black screen when exiting is a known issue.  Fear not, we here at BYOAC can help.  Simply create a new post with your problem and we'll do our best to help.

D

[bclinton]

What really upsets me is that I tried MA for a few days and then made the leap to buy it in late June and after a few days of waiting for my reg code he sent me one. So he has no problem accepting money after the fact he knew he was essentially backing out of the program. MA became unworkable for me due to the black screen upon exiting a game which really ticked me off more.

Steve

Exact thing happened to me. Personally I hope the guy eats sht and dies. He took the money knowing darn good and well he would give no support. I hate to be so negative but hey he's a dirtbag for doing that. I hope they pirate the heck of it. I hope he's reading these messages. Things have a way of working themselves out for crooks like him.

[deepblue]

Exact thing happened to me. Personally I hope the guy eats sht and dies. He took the money knowing darn good and well he would give no support. I hate to be so negative but hey he's a dirtbag for doing that. I hope they pirate the heck of it. I hope he's reading these messages. Things have a way of working themselves out for crooks like him.

I personally think you and some others are getting a little too worked up over a $25 dollar purchase (filling your car up with gas costs twice this amount).

First off - the app works, and is actually rather good...I would still buy it today over other offerings knowing it will have no foreseeable new development. Second - nothing has changed here: Mameseer stopped giving support a LONG time ago, and Delusional and the community have been providing the support via a forum...which has now been ported here to a more active community.

So what's your beef? If you're having issues post them in the forum and we'll help you. Perhaps if we're lucky someone will assume control of the project and deliver some enhancements and new features, but to my knowledge the core functionality of this FE works fine (at least it does for me).

[bclinton]

Exact thing happened to me. Personally I hope the guy eats sht and dies. He took the money knowing darn good and well he would give no support. I hate to be so negative but hey he's a dirtbag for doing that. I hope they pirate the heck of it. I hope he's reading these messages. Things have a way of working themselves out for crooks like him.

I personally think you and some others are getting a little too worked up over a $25 dollar purchase (filling your car up with gas costs twice this amount).

So what's your beef? If you're having issues post them in the forum and we'll help you. Perhaps if we're lucky someone will assume control of the project and deliver some enhancements and new features, but to my knowledge the core functionality of this FE works fine (at least it does for me).

In my case I registered it and a couple of days later I had problems. Left posts and never heard a word. I have since moved on to GameEx and all is fine. This was a couple of months ago - I cant even remember what the problem was but others posted the same issue and never heard a word. That's not really important now. What's important now is that this guy continues to accept money and the buyer has no idea that he is on his own. If I would have known this before I bought it I would not have bought it. I really don't care what his issues are. That fact that he continues to accept money tells me he's a dirt bag. Here's another thing. If this problem was known by his minions ahead of time than shame on them for not bringing that to light.

[deepblue]

You could be right on the dirtbag thing - but that's a far cry from "eat sh1t and die".

Again though - I don't think continuing to sell the software is necessarily wrong, because it does work, and if users can be directed here for support, then they should be all good. If he was promoting new features and enhancements to be delivered in the future, I'd have a problem with it. From what I've seen posted here users are getting their registration codes within 48 hours still.

And for the record, I don't think Mameseer had minions. Delusional is/was a volunteer who's help is hugely appreciated. Outside of that I think it is a one man show.