Looking for NES Emulator with configurable keys and save state support

[markronz]

Hey there-
   I had been using MESS as an emulator for NES until now, but the save states in that don't work.  When I try to save my SMB3 game for instance it says save states are not supported for that game.   Ideally I'd like to be able to save and load game states.   So I'm looking for a new emulator and was hoping someone could give me some advice.  Here is exactly what I need the NES emulator to do:

1.  Be able to save states.
2.  Be able to assign custom keys for the controls (including key presses such as Alt and Ctrl)
3.  Be able to assign custom keys for saving and loading a state in a game.  I do not want to have to use the mouse or the toolbar menu. 

Any help would be appreciated!

Also, if I''m not asking too much, I will at some point be looking for emulators to do the same for SNES, Genesis, Gameboy and GBA as well.   So if someone knows emulators for those off hand, that would be great too.  I would just be happy knowing a NES emulator for starters!

Oh, and I am just using a Windows PC if that matters, not a Mac.

Thanks!

[Don]

I use Nestopia and you can customize the key inputs for almost everything. I haven't tried using save states but I'm almost sure it has it and if it does you can definitely change the inputs for it. Hope it works for you.

[markronz]

Thanks for te tip.  I checked out NEStopia and it definitely has some promise.   The only thing I can't figure out how to get it to do, is to map multiple commands to the same control.    I have a NES USB controller hooked up to my cab, but I don't want to force the player to use it.   I wanted to let them be able to either use the arcade controls OR the usb NES controller.    I guess I should have mentioned that in my original request.   

Does anyone know if there is a way to map two things to both control player 1's controls in NEStopia?

[Dazz]

I don't think there are many that are going to let you map multiple controls for the same player.  You can always use XPadder and just set the USB Nes pad buttons to match that of MAME.

[nitz]

You should be able to map multiple commands to the same control using Autohotkey. Wouldn't be too difficult to do.

[markronz]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.   I tried out about 10 emulators for NES last night.   Seems like NEStopia is my best bet, along with using either XPadder or AutoHotKey.   I had been avoiding them until now, but I think it's finally time I set that up as it should simplify a lot of things...

Small follow up question though, sort of related, sort of not.  Does anyone know if XPadder or AutoHotKey recognizes multiple mice?   As in, my trackball and my gun are recognized as mice.   I might want to "remap" a click on the gun, but not on the trackball.   So is either one of those smart enough to remap a specific mouse?  Or does it treat every mouse all at the same time?

[dermoerder]

I'm not sure about XPadder or AHK, but GlovePie can definitely read multiple pointing devices separately. That piece of software was just indispensable for all the mapping of keys and gamepads on my cabinet.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I used a hacked version of FCE Ultra, which is arcade cabinet friendly.  Can't remember all the features, but one of them is having a dedicated pause key mapped to the letter P.

[markronz]

I had this once upon a time as well.  But in this case, I've decided to use XPadder.  It remaps my NES controllers very well.   Although some day I plan to look into GlovePie.   I think it might help me with some different issues...

But in this case XPadder did great for my NES controllers!

Thanks for the info everyone!