cpwizard - one last try, advice appreciated

[shateredsoul]

Ok, I've tried to use cpwizard many times in the past and always end up giving up because of frustration

However, if I do figure this out I hope to create a short intro guide for people like me  

I think I just don't understand the basics of this program so I was wondering if someone could help me by answering a few dumb questions?

1. Do I need to compile a version of mame with the cpwizard diff so that I can display images on a seperate monitor?
2. From reading the headsoft site, cpwizard uses controls.dat.... so if I changed my controller layout how do I let cp wizard know that?
3. where are all the display options found? (for displaying on a 2nd monitor)
4. So.. how does it display control panel images on a second monitor? I mean... do I have to create an image set of all the cp layouts for each game first? or does it just autogenerate it at the moment?
5. I have a 2nd screen that's 15" and if I use it i'd like to have it display the CP layout, flyers, and marquee.. how do you tell cpwizard to do that?
6. Is this fully compatible with windows 7 64 bits? because even when I tried this all out with mame with the default controllers the control panel generated images (using previews) is wrong... so games where you have a fire and shoot button you'll get things like player one has only one labeled button but player 2 has both fire and shoot

 any help would be great

[headkaze]

1. No
2. It reads mame.ini and game cfg files to figure out if you've changed your controller layout in MAME. You just need to make sure your layout is using the same keycodes
3. Edit->Options->Display tab. Secondary monitor feature is called "Sub Screen"
4. By control panel images do you mean the layout display or the CP photos you can download off the net? If you mean how does it generate the CP labels on your layout? If so it generates them by reading MAME.ini and your cfg's. That's why it's important to have all your paths set correctly in Edit->Options->Mame Paths. You can have CPWizard display images inside MAME by generating a set of bezels and applying the diff patch. This is why people get confused there are many ways to use CPWizard. You can run it in the system try and it will generate your CP when you press the Show Key. Or you can generate bezels for showing inside Mame etc.
5. You have to download the artwork you want to use and set the paths in Edit->Options->Mame Paths. To make a layout for your secondary monitor just take a look at Sub (0), Sub (1) .. etc. These layouts that have a (n) on the end will rotate on your secondary display. To set them go to Edit->Options->Mame and set "Mame Layout Sub" to "Sub (0)"
6. It should work in Windows 7 64 fine.

If it is showing controls wrong sometimes it's because of complex settings in the cfg which can confuse it. Best thing to do is delete the cfg folder (backup first) then only configure the buttons you use in MAME. Sometimes it displays extra labels for keys that arn't used. Best way to prevent that is to set the key to "NONE" in MAME.

[shateredsoul]

4. I don't mean CP photos I can download off the net, i mean the feature that lets you create batch images for all the games (it creates a control layout image for all games).  Is this a necessary step if I wan tit to display the layouts on the second monitor? or does cpwizard just use my config to generate the layout each time?

and.. how does cpwizard know which game layout to display? Maybe this an issue having to do with my frontend, I'm trying to integrate this into maximus arcade.

7. (new question) so just to be clear, to have cpwizard do it's thang (display whatever images I choose) on my 2nd monitor.. I have to make sure cpwizard is running but does cpwiz need to receive a message from my frontend to know which game has been launched? or does it automatically detect when mame launches a game?

"If it is showing controls wrong sometimes it's because of complex settings in the cfg which can confuse it. Best thing to do is delete the cfg folder (backup first) then only configure the buttons you use in MAME. Sometimes it displays extra labels for keys that arn't used. Best way to prevent that is to set the key to "NONE" in MAME."

Ok, so a complex .cfg file might be causing the issue.. Last time I tried cpwizard my cfg file was configured for two buttons for all button presses (keyboard and xbox 360 controller)

I have the following layout for my buttons, the only game I reconfigured was the neo geo games

  xxx
  xxx
x

  123
  456
7

but for neo geo I set it to

  XXX
  234
1

Is this too complex for cp wizard?

Thanks for the help! It's starting to make more sense, I'll give it a try when I get home and see what happens.

[headkaze]

4. You don't need to create batch images if you intend to run CPWizard in resident mode (in the icon tray)

7. CPWizard uses Mame Interop to figure out the game your playing so shouldn't matter what front end as long as your MAME is v0.108+

Do you have a neogeo entry in a ctrlr file? If so it should work just make sure mame.ini is in the root of your MAME folder.

[shateredsoul]

4. You don't need to create batch images if you intend to run CPWizard in resident mode (in the icon tray)

7. CPWizard uses Mame Interop to figure out the game your playing so shouldn't matter what front end as long as your MAME is v0.108+

Do you have a neogeo entry in a ctrlr file? If so it should work just make sure mame.ini is in the root of your MAME folder.

Cool! Ok one last thing, so my mame.ini file is in the "ini" folder.  I'm using mameui instead of just mame but I relabeled mameui to mame.exe .. that shouldn't be an issue right?

I'll also give it a try tonight to see how it goes.  Thanks for the help! 

[shateredsoul]

not sure what i'm doing wrong.. mame ini points to omars arcade (and i know it's set up correctly because my control panel does work).  It seems to be using mame's default keys. 

for example i have the following for my buttons

  FNT
  UYX
Z

cp wizard is displaying

 LCon LALT Space
 Lshift Z  X
C

[headkaze]

Move your mame.ini file out of the ini folder into the root folder. CPWizard only looks in the root (same place as Mame.exe)

The name of the Mame exe shouldn't matter.. MameUI.exe should work fine.

[shateredsoul]

cool. so I have the images and art displaying very nicely on my second monitor.  It looks great by the way!

I still can't get the control panel to look right though.. i moved the mame.ini to the root folder (where mame.exe is) and i even tried moving the .cfg to the root folder to see if that made a difference. The buttons are still labeled wrong =/ I'm almost there, I can taste it.  

*edit* just had a though, is it reading the default.cfg or does the program read the mame.ini to see where the file is located, I copy and pasted the relevant parts of my mame.ini to show that this is not the issue.

Also I just noticed, even with these default controllers.. player 2's buttons don't match player 1's (like in street figher the last 2 kick buttons are missing).  I guess this is the part that confuses me.  Even if it doesn't match my buttons, why are the last 2 kick buttons not showing w/ labels?


I even deleted every .cfg but the .cfg I used, I tried copying and pasting everything from my .cfg to the default.cfg just in case it was reading that. I troed it with a fresh install of mame.exe (not the gui version) i get the same keys missing from player 2 in street fighter games. I place the mame.ini and controller file and still nothing.  I'm stumped. It feels like I'm missing something  simple.

*edit**edit* ok, so the last 2 buttons for player 2 are missing because the mame defaults for p2 button 5 and 6 are mapped onto a joypad.  So it must be reading the default.. but from where? I deleted all the .cfgs

rompath                   roms;K:\Games\MAME\roms;M:\---They-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named-Here---\mame32b\roms
samplepath                samples
artpath                   M:\---They-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named-Here---\mame32b\artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr
inipath                   ini
fontpath                  .
cheatpath                 cheat
crosshairpath             crosshair

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     "Omars Arcade"
mouse                     1
joystick                  1
lightgun                  1
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                1
steadykey                 0
offscreen_reload          0
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.3
joystick_saturation       0.85
natural                   0
uimodekey                 auto

[headkaze]

Hmm I've never tested CPW with a ctrlr file that has a space in it. Try renaming your controller file to OmarsArcade and remove the double quotes from mame.ini.

ie.

Code: [Select]

ctrlr                     OmarsArcade
The cfg files should remain in the cfg folder. Only mame.ini needs to be in root.

PS Don't forget pressing 'L' while MAME is running brings up the menu.

PPS I've attached a couple of extra sub screens you might like. You can copy them into your CPWizard\Layout folder and check them out. I like the new game info one called "Sub (3)".

[shateredsoul]

nope =(, is there an easy way to have it reset all the inputs? so far i've just been deleting all the paths when i test out different options

[headkaze]

Are you shutting down CPWizard each time you do that? CPW loads all the data when it first launches.

Post your CPW layout and ctrlr file.. the keycodes match okay?

[shateredsoul]

yes, I tried renaming the controller file to "default.cfg" and changed it to default without quotes on mame.ini but still have the same issue

I tried cheating by deleting the player 2 controlls and copying the joy and buttons from player one over .. but then all these blue lines came out connecting the buttons, and the neo geo games would still be displayed inproperly. I think if worse comes to worse I'll just display player 1's controlls and center it.... people will get confused about the neo geo layout but oh well.

Have you tried this with personalized control files before? maybe it only reads the ones generated for specific games in the .cfg folder. I still don't get where it gets the default controllers from unless they're embedded into the mame.exe.

[headkaze]

Can you zip up your CPW layout file, CPWizard.ini file, your ctrlr file, default.cfg and post them here? I'll take a quick look it's normally something simple.

I have tested it with custom ctrlr files before (my cab has one) and others have used them. So it shouldn't be a problem, not doubt it's something simple.

[shateredsoul]

cool thanks I appreciate the help

[headkaze]

Are you sure that is your layout? The keycodes don't match, you have to change the layout so the keycodes match your CP. CPWizard has a built in editor for creating your own custom CP to match your cabinet's CP.

In your ctrlr file you have

Code: [Select]

             <port type="P2_JOYSTICK_UP">
                <newseq type="standard">KEYCODE_J</newseq>
             </port>
             <port type="P2_JOYSTICK_DOWN">
                <newseq type="standard">KEYCODE_K</newseq>
             </port>
             <port type="P2_JOYSTICK_LEFT">
                <newseq type="standard">KEYCODE_L</newseq>
             </port>
             <port type="P2_JOYSTICK_RIGHT">
                <newseq type="standard">KEYCODE_M</newseq>
             </port>
But you just sent me the Default.xml layout which has KEYCODE_R, KEYCODE_F, KEYCODE_D and KEYCODE_G for P2_JOYSTICK_UP, P2_JOYSTICK_DOWN, P2_JOYSTICK_LEFT and P2_JOYSTICK_RIGHT.

What you need to do is right click on the label and select "Properties". From that you get a Properties window. Where is says "Code Value" double click on the code and a drop down list will come down. Go through all the labels and match your keycodes with your CP.

[shateredsoul]

Doh!. I see, so if my layout in cpwizard doesn't match my ctrl file why did it display player 1 correctly when I was testing it? Hmm or did it just go to the default because none of the keys matched?

I'll go ahead and fix this later tonight, or tomorrow, I left home to a coffee shop for some studying. I'll let you know what happens.

So if I get the cpwizard layout to match my my button layout, then it should work? right?

2. Now that I have most of this figured out (well at least hopefully), does cpwizard detect other emulators automatically as well? Or do I have to set it up to display the proper layout?

[headkaze]

As you edit your layout save it then select View->Preview and you can select a game to check the controls are displaying correctly.

CPWizard uses MAME default key mappings (which are read from CPWizard\Data\InputCodes\MameDefault.txt) and then remaps them based on the ctrlr and cfg files. So since you are using some default keys they are showing up. You should (hopefully) be okay once you match them correctly.

2. Err, CPWizard is designed to work with other emulators but unfortunately I have not tested it much because some emulators don't like being minimized. CPWizard does so much to make it easy to setup it still ends up really hard to explain how to use it. It does have a help file Help->Help but it is a bit old and many features are not covered. Also currently "Sub View" does not support other emulators besides MAME either.

[shateredsoul]

As you edit your layout save it then select View->Preview and you can select a game to check the controls are displaying correctly.

CPWizard uses MAME default key mappings (which are read from CPWizard\Data\InputCodes\MameDefault.txt) and then remaps them based on the ctrlr and cfg files. So since you are using some default keys they are showing up. You should (hopefully) be okay once you match them correctly.

2. Err, CPWizard is designed to work with other emulators but unfortunately I have not tested it much because some emulators don't like being minimized. CPWizard does so much to make it easy to setup it still ends up really hard to explain how to use it. It does have a help file Help->Help but it is a bit old and many features are not covered. Also currently "Sub View" does not support other emulators besides MAME either.

Ahh ok, yeah the mame stuff alone looks great and should be enough for now. Thanks again!

[headkaze]

BTW Check Reply #8 I added some extra Sub layouts that wern't in the CPWizard install (although I did upload them today). I think you will like the game info screen and also there is a layout that demonstrates showing a layout with a marquee below. Quite alot of customization available for the Sub View to show different info.

[shateredsoul]

Nice! I hadn't caught that.. sorry I'm half asleep.  Caffeine is dragging my body along the day. I was thinking maybe I could write a cpwizard for dummies guide and maybe provide some previews for these subs somehow (unless you already have this?).  If I could figure out how to do those animated .gifs that would be pretty cool preview for the different subs.

I've started helping out at  http://retro-replay.com/ for fun, as well as my own blog at http://maximizedemulation.wordpress.com/ i'll probably just end up double posting whatever i post on my blog at retro-replay.

[headkaze]

Tell me about it, I'm half asleep and wide awake thanks to caffeine too!

Retro-replay looks cool although their Nintendo DS section is highly neglected. We released Warhawk DS, Manic Miner: The Lost Levels and The Detective Game all retro remakes and popular games but no mention of them

[shateredsoul]

Tell me about it, I'm half asleep and wide awake thanks to caffeine too!

Retro-replay looks cool although their Nintendo DS section is highly neglected. We released Warhawk DS, Manic Miner: The Lost Levels and The Detective Game all retro remakes and popular games but no mention of them

you are right, it is neglected 

I figured out how to make the gifs now I just need to figure out how to take a screen capture from my second screen, wait i'm suppose to be working.  Okay i'll be back tomorrow. 

[shateredsoul]

I lied, I'm back because I was kicked out of the coffee shop  

So I did what you recommended but now it only shows the keys that happen to overlap with the default mame setting. Check it out, i'm pretty sure it should be working now.

It's titled default2, for some reasons the file kept getting corrupted when i tried to upload one zipped file

*edit* another idea, do you have a working ctrl, cpwiz layout, and mame.ini with a hybrid layout? I could try it out and see if it works, technically it should work since cpwiz reads the mame.ini in the root folder and mame reads the mame.ini file in the "ini" folder.

I gave it another go right before bed, so I figured out that using a commandline mame (138u2) that I can get it to read default.cfg (in the cfg folder, not the ctrlr folder). However, mame won't read a neogeo section from this file =/ , this is not using the mame.ini . I think the issue i'm having is getting the mame.ini to point cpwizard to the right file. Can i point cpwizard to my ctrlr file manually and just skip mame.ini?

[MKChamp]

This is why this community is great. Companies would get paid thousands for this level of support. OK...getting out of this thread. Sorry, I was in the middle of production support for the company I work for and was reading this in the middle of a deploy.......

[headkaze]

Okay shateredsoul.. where were we? Well I have some good news and bad news.. the bad news is I found a bug in CPWizard. Not overly serious but serious enough to cause some raised eyebrows. I actually implemented a pretty poor xml validator and because your ctrlr file didn't have a '<' character at the start of the file is refused to read it.. the good news is I fixed the bug

One other thing I noticed you hadn't "Label Link"ed the buttons to the correct keycodes so I did that and attached is your fixed layout file. I have tested it with your ctrlr file and all seems fine now

So yeah, just head on over to download the latest version. Installing over the top should not be a problem.

Let me know how you go! 

[shateredsoul]

Nice! One thing though, i can't open the attachment (must be the same issue i had with attaching one zipped file). I bet if you zipped 2 or 3 files together it would work. I could have sworn i edited my buttons though. hmm

*edit* I label linked them and it works   thanks man!  Smurf yeah! I don't mean to nitpick but it would be cool if you knew how to address the last minor thing.

So the correct buttons don't always fade out or get highlighted for the games, any ideas? Only the highlighted buttons show up in the sub screen (the ones that are faded out show up blank). I should add that there were a bunch of blue lines I got rid of

*edit* neveeeeeeeeevermind, I see what you meant by label link... so you have to reconfigure the panel to reflect your keys and label link them to the appropriate key.  Ok got it. Thanks man  I really do appreciate your time and patience (above all your patience).  Thanks man

[shateredsoul]

so i thought i'd post the guide I created in case anyone might find it helpful, the only thing I haven't figured out is how to display the move lists (like for streeet figther II) on the subscreen but other than that it's working pretty great.  Awesome once you get it up.
http://maximizedemulation.wordpress.com/

[Rick]

so i thought i'd post the guide I created in case anyone might find it helpful, the only thing I haven't figured out is how to display the move lists (like for streeet figther II) on the subscreen but other than that it's working pretty great.

I am just about to start working on this, but I figure I'll read your instructions first.  (After headkaze's FAQ and Instructions, of course.)  It's great to see the support you've received from headkaze in this thread!  I'm always impressed when developers correspond directly with their target audience.  I really appreciate that kind of dedication.

Personally, I think I'm going to try and build/design a 'simple' interface from CPWizard...  Something that will complement my own layout, without being too technical.  I'm thinking (out loud here, so feel free to jump in) that I'd like to put a 'help button' on my control panel, which could trigger CPWizard to show the control panel inputs once pressed.  I'm not sure if this can be done, but I'll read the guide first, and see what I can figure out.  I don't think I'll need/want much more than that, personally (sorry headkaze) but this program looks all-powerful.  I'm amazed at what it looks like it can do!

Awesome once you get it up.

That's what she said.  (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

[Donkbaca]

I don't think you need a help button, you can set it up so that CP wizard pops up when you pause

[Rick]

I don't think you need a help button, you can set it up so that CP wizard pops up when you pause

That's awesome. Do you happen to know if there's a way to have MA show it as the 'Loading' screen?  I know MA can pause for that screen for a predetermined amount of time, but perhaps it could be a custom screen of the controls. (I'm not holding my breath, of course.)

[headkaze]

That's awesome. Do you happen to know if there's a way to have MA show it as the 'Loading' screen?  I know MA can pause for that screen for a predetermined amount of time, but perhaps it could be a custom screen of the controls. (I'm not holding my breath, of course.)

CPW can show a CP for a set amount of time. For example

Code: [Select]

CPWizard.exe -emu mame -game 1942 -timeout 5000 -show
So if MA supports the ability to launch an app before a game, then you should be able to pass the ROM name using a variable. In GameEx it's [rom], in MaLa I believe it's %rom% etc.

[Rick]

So if MA supports the ability to launch an app before a game, then you should be able to pass the ROM name using a variable. In GameEx it's [rom], in MaLa I believe it's %rom% etc.

My most sincere thanks!  I'll work on it!  (This is awesome.)