Demul Exit?

[Howard_Casto]

I'm just confirming because it's so dumbfounding to me that it boggles the mind.  There's no exit key in demul right?

I thought we were done with that crap years ago. 

[BadMouth]

As of v.57, I was still using closemul to exit and a program called nomousey to hide the mouse cursor.

Code: [Select]

cd \Emulators\demul057
start nomousy.exe /hide
closemul.exe demul.exe -run=atomiswave -rom=%1
nomousy.exe
exit
It could all be done in ahk, but I throw things together and once they're working there isn't much motivation to redo them.



I gave v.58 a try when it first came out, but never did anything related to incorporating it into a front-end.

[Howard_Casto]

*grumbles*

Well this is getting annoying.  ahk's don't launch cleanly from the command line, so that's out... and the ahk 2 exe program can't seem to compile the ahk I made!

[Howard_Casto]

Ok I got it... apparently I have to manually set the compile mode to 32 bit ansi.

Let me add some mouse move code so you can get rid of your exe. 

[Howard_Casto]

Ok here is a script that should work ok (you need to compile it)

Run, Demul.exe -run=%2% -rom=%1%
sleep 4000
MouseMove, 1920,1080
~Escape::
Process, Close, demul.exe
ExitAPP
return

After you compile it, put it in your demul folder and launch like so

demulload.exe rom system

I set the mouse move coordinates to 1920,1080.... I figured nobody is going to be running a resolution larger than that. 

[twistedsymphony]

Someone should write a standard for "things an emulator needs to be able to do" and include things like: launch directly into a game in full screen mode from the command line... or: completely and immediately quit the emulator with a keypress or key combination.

actually emulators like Demul just doing those two things reliably would be a huge help 

[Howard_Casto]

Well here's the thing.  Old timer here.  I LITERALLY invented the emulator wrapper/loader as far as this hobby is concerned.  There was a time when nothing (except for mame of course) launched via a standard command line.  So in that respect it is getting better.  That being said I've been fighting the same attitude for 15 years now. 

You'll get authors who say ridiculous things like "Why don't you use the gui?" or "I'm not doing it like mame because mame sucks and I want to be different." and the one that gets my goat "I'm busy writing the emulator, I can't be bothered to add extra functionality."

The answers of course are

1.  Oh I dunno, because my gamepad doesn't have a mouse attached and you know, because these games are supposed to be played on an arcade cabinet and/or with an arcade stick. 

2.  Yeah mame sucks... you wouldn't have been able to make your emulator without mame's help... keep digging that hole. 

3.  Sorry but I'm a programmer, that line doesn't work on me.  In most programming languages adding the word "End" exits the program.  So you are telling me you can't bind a one word function to keypresses/joypresses that you already monitor anyway?

And please don't misunderstand... I don't know the demul team, they probably aren't like this.  I'm just explaining why we still have to deal with that kind of thing and why I don't bother to ask the authors to add the feature anymore. 

Shoot I know the visual pinball guys in particular got down right offended when you asked for command line support back in the day.  Btw visual pinball STILL won't launch properly without a wrapper and because the scripting language is all over the place even wrappers aren't 100% reliable (thus why I don't make vp wrappers anymore). 

Developers hate to hear this, but if you want to do things right... copy mame.  The source is even available, so you can LITERALLY copy mame.  No it isn't prefect, but it's command line interface and input/output system is pretty close. 

That's the reason supermodel is so awesome btw.  The interface is identical to mame's.  It even does listxml output. 

[Howard_Casto]

Btw off topic, but what I'm doing for the Checkered Flag FE is I'm collecting all this oddball junk we need and I'm including it with the download. 

Racing cabs are a pain in the butt as-is, so the least I can do is have you a gamelist ready to go and have all the stuff needed to launch the common emulators. 

[Howard_Casto]

ugh....

Since TS2 is a bit convoluted to setup if you aren't going to take advantage of blinky lights....

Run, emulator_multicpu.EXE %1%
sleep 4000
MouseMove, 1920,400
~Escape::
Process, Close, emulator_multicpu.EXE
ExitAPP
return

That'll do ya for model 2.  Of course omit the "multicpu" part if you are using the standard exe.

[twistedsymphony]

I feel your pain. I'm a software developer by day myself and I've run into my share of other developers who piss and moan about having to add additional little features that weren't in the original spec... usually wasting more time complaining than it would take to actually implement the damn thing.

Personally I like versatility and every app I develop now I wrap all of the logic and back-end functionality in an API and then force myself to use my own API when I create the GUI. That way literally ANYTHING you can do in the GUI can be done programmatically by another piece of software.

I've done it enough at this point and have a versatile enough API layer libraries built that it's actually faster for me to build this way, and it makes testing/pinpointing problems that much easier.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would write anything from scratch.  I haven't done that in years.  Ironically checkered flag /pac fe is one of those rare exceptions.  My directX engine was getting a bit cluttered... time to re-optimize. 

I think what bothers me about these emulator issues is on the emulator end of things it's so simple to implement.  I mean obviously there is a function that is called when you navigate the gui and do things that way... it's unbelievably easy to just have a generic command line parser that links strings to functions. 

And stuff like seeing the emulator window when going to full screen... I don't get that either.  Any multi-windowed app should have it's code outside of the windows themselves... aka a main function calls the function to create/show the window AFTER the command line is parsed.  So I'm unsure as to the reasoning to have the window created and THEN parse the command line.  Even if you want to get lazy and call stuff intrinsic to the window, just create the window invisibly and you'll have access to all it's objects. 

And while it's simple to do within the emulator it's sometimes a crazy amount of work to hack a wrapper/loader to do it externally. 


Some of it defies all logic as well.  Like back in the day with zinc instead of using a rom name, each rom was assigned a number.  Think about that for a second.  The emulator still loaded the roms from a zip file, so when that number was passed it had to go to some sort of function that associated the number with a zip file name and loaded those roms.  So isn't using numbers instead of rom names actually ADDING a step?

Currently demul makes us pass the arcade type along with the rom name.  Why?  Inside the emulator we get lists of each arcade type when we access them via the load menu.  So internally the rom names are already sorted by type.  So why do we have to explicitly pass one? Shouldn't it auto-select via lookup and then default to dreamcast mode for unknown roms?

[vandale]

Hyperspin has heaps of good scripts that do a lot of this stuff you guys are mentioning. Worth a try.

[Howard_Casto]

?

I already wrote a solution, took like 4 minutes.  That's not the point.

[twistedsymphony]

ugh....

Since TS2 is a bit convoluted to setup if you aren't going to take advantage of blinky lights....

Run, emulator_multicpu.EXE %1%
sleep 4000
MouseMove, 1920,400
~Escape::
Process, Close, emulator_multicpu.EXE
ExitAPP
return

That'll do ya for model 2.  Of course omit the "multicpu" part if you are using the standard exe.

^what is this script for?
I'm looking for a wrapper that I can put around a PC game to quit on a shortcut key.

[Howard_Casto]

Exactly that.  M2 emu doesn't close with escape.

[BadMouth]

ugh....

Since TS2 is a bit convoluted to setup if you aren't going to take advantage of blinky lights....

Run, emulator_multicpu.EXE %1%
sleep 4000
MouseMove, 1920,400
~Escape::
Process, Close, emulator_multicpu.EXE
ExitAPP
return

That'll do ya for model 2.  Of course omit the "multicpu" part if you are using the standard exe.

^what is this script for?
I'm looking for a wrapper that I can put around a PC game to quit on a shortcut key.

emulator_multicpu.EXE = Model 2 emulator

...although I've never had any issues with the mouse appearing in model 2, so I'd just ditch that and the delay.
It's an autohotkey script.  autohotkey can fix MANY emulator/front end issues and make everything work the way you want it.
All the "hyperlaunch" jibber jabber in hyperspin is just autohotkey. 

Code: [Select]

ESC::
Process, Close, "exename.exe" is the standard for closing things and how most of my scripts look

I try to use:

Code: [Select]

WinClose, "window title"On my newer scripts because it's a bit gentler and doesn't leave the desktop resolution screwed up as often as just killing the process does.
There is an ahk script out there for snagging window titles for things that you can't see a title bar on.

I am not a programmer, but am persistent enough to figure out how to make everything behave the way I want it to. 

[twistedsymphony]

Ahh... I knew it was for Model 2 Emulator but I didn't recognize the script format. I've never used AHK before outside of HyperLaunch and it pretty much hides all the actual script from you.

I'll have to play around with that a bit tonight. thanks

[BadMouth]

You can pull off just about anything with AHK.
Everyone should know how to remap keys and kill programs.
Those things are so simple they can be learned in a few minutes.

http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm
(a better, more emulator specific way would be just to search for ahk scripts in the byoac software subforum)

The Taito Type X games on my stand-up cab are from back when they were first released and are very finicky.
Raiden IV wouldn't launch if my front-end (Mala) was running, so I have an AHK script that:

1. Puts up a loading screen to hide everything
2. kills Mala
3. posts the command to have a pololu motor controller physically rotate my screen
4. remove the loading screen
5. then when ESC is pressed, it
6. kills Raiden IV
7. resets the desktop resolution
8. writes to the mala.ini file to skip the intro video, set orientation to vertical, and note where the user was in the gamelist
(mala writes this on exit, so it doesn't get done when killing it suddenly)
9. relaunches mala

Crazy number of workarounds, but in the end it works the way I want it to.
I can launch and play Raiden IV from my front-end like any other game.

The only big limitations are that key binding doesn't work on emulators like MAME that get their input via raw-input and on Vista and later it cannot block keys.
(MAME will accept fake gamepad input though and if you compile your own it's a one line change for it to accept fake keys)

Other than that, anything that can be done in windows by you, can be automated by ahk.

[twistedsymphony]

I've never played around with it as the only front end I've used is HyperSpin and the machine I built with TTX and other problem emulators HyperLaunch has all the necessary AHK scripts built.

I'm currently building a Fix it Felix cab with a vertical monitor and figured I'd load up 100 or so vertical games through MAME with a hyperspin front end, I'm not using HyperLaunch at all because it's completely unnecessary for this setup. Howard's Fix it Felix wrapper works great for that, and mame doesn't need any help launching natively from HyperSpin.

However I decided I want to run Ikaruga as that's my all time favorite bullet-hell shooter, the PC I'm using is too slow to run Demul so I got a copy of the PC release, easy enough to launch that but the only way to quit to go to the game's menu and take the "exit" option... so basically I just need a script that executes an [Alt]+[F4] when I push [Esc]

[Howard_Casto]

Well there's a reason I'm using "process, close" and not some other closing options, particularly for demul.  Depending upon the version, alt+f4 is broken... it doesn't work.  Also some of the arcade games for demul, I can't remember which system, hang and crash if you try to close or resize the window while the emulator is in full screen.  So closing the process is the only way to do it definitively. 

That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.  Forcing a program to exit via external means can potentially cause all manner of memory leaks or hangs/crashes.  It would be so much simpler if the authors would just add the option.

That being said I think model 2 can be closed via alt+f4.  I was just being lazy.  For that matter I probably could have used my old command line wrapper on my site I wrote in 1999... yup... I've been dealing with this stuff that long.  My wrappers pre-date ahk. 

[nugarp]

I filed an enhancement request for hot key exit functionality a week or two ago on demul's google code issue tracker. One of the devs accepted it but marked it as low priority. Not sure it will ever get done. If you're interested in the same thing, maybe it would help to get some more people requesting the feature on that issue. It's annoying because demul doesn't save the nvram if you exit via AHK, which is what I'm doing too .

I should also note if anyone has any clue when it comes to disassembly/debugging, I thought maybe we could hook into the screenshot key to exit but I never really learned how to debug/disassemble and failed horribly at figuring out the routine that is called when you hit exit from the GUI.

[twistedsymphony]

alright... I'm sold on AKH. using Howard's post above as a guide I wrote my Ikaruga launcher and had it running how I wanted in about 2 minutes time... it works very cleanly too. 

@nugarp, is there some way we can "vote" on the fixes/enhancements proposed for demul?

[nugarp]

@nugarp, is there some way we can "vote" on the fixes/enhancements proposed for demul?

I wish. The closest we can probably do to it is add replies and make sure they see them.

https://code.google.com/p/demul/issues/detail?id=228&sort=-id&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Priority%20Reporter%20Owner%20Summary

[BadMouth]

alright... I'm sold on AKH. using Howard's post above as a guide I wrote my Ikaruga launcher and had it running how I wanted in about 2 minutes time... it works very cleanly too. 

FYI since you're new to ahk, on a computer that has it installed you can right click on the script and compile it to an exe.
That exe will work even on computers that do not have ahk installed. 

I use it so much though, that it's one of the first things I install on a new emulation PC.

[twistedsymphony]

FYI since you're new to ahk, on a computer that has it installed you can right click on the script and compile it to an exe.
That exe will work even on computers that do not have ahk installed. 

compiling to exe actually what I did... I didn't realize I could use a raw ahk script without compiling 

[Randizzl]

Hey Casto, first off, thanks for the script.  It works nicely for atomiswave and naomi roms, but I'm wanting to do this with dreamcast images as well.
Is that possible?

[stigzler]

Hmm... encountering the same palava. Amazing when the simple+essential (key to close) gets overlooked in the face of the complex.

So, trying to get AHK to close demul 0582. Sadly,

Process, Close, demul.exe

Not doing it my end.

Tried all sorts - grabbing the PID via the window name (the DX one) + process close via that - again - no dice.

Know key's triggering etc + process,close working on other apps in the same script. Any ideas?

Full Script:

Code: [Select]

#NoEnv
SendMode Event
DetectHiddenWindows, on

;test vars:
;1 := "nullDC"

emu = %1%
msgbox, "Emulator passed: " %emu%

$Esc::
if (emu = "ePSXe")
{
;msgbox, "Triggered!"
WinActivate, ahk_class EPSX
WinWait, ahk_class EPSX
WinWaitActive, ahk_class EPSX
ControlSend,, {Esc down}{Esc up}, ePSXe ahk_class EPSX
WinWait, ahk_class EPSXGUI
WinActivate, ahk_class EPSXGUI
WinWaitActive, ahk_class EPSXGUI
WinMenuSelectItem, ahk_class EPSXGUI,, File, Exit
;msgbox, "Done!"
return
}
if (emu = "nullDC")
{
winget, nullDC_PID, PID, nullDC
Process, Close, %nullDC_PID%
return
}
if (emu = "DEmul")
{
msgbox, "Triggered!"
Process, Close, demul.exe
return
}

ExitApp

[stigzler]

Doh. Nemming - figured it. You have to compile the script and run as administrator.

That's a PITA for debugging. Think these Demul guys should loosen up....

[Demon-Seed]

Hey Guys
I have been trying to get DEMUL 57 to work in Hyperspin. I got it working, but it will not exit.
I have posted on RL forums and HS forums no luck yet.  I read this post, I copied the script, compiled it but do not understand how to get it to work with HS etc... no idea what it does. I noticed that the post is older,. maybe there is an alternative way no? I have tried the in exit key configuration in HS.

thanks
jim

[stigzler]

Try this via AHK:

Code: [Select]

#NoEnv
SendMode Event
DetectHiddenWindows, on
#singleinstance Force

$Esc::
{
Process, Close, demul.exe
return
}
return

Compile to .exe. Right Click exe. Choose Compatibility > tick "Run as administrator."

Test by running exe. The run Demul. Press escape + should close Demul.

No idea about the HS side I'm afraid as don't run it - but should just be simply "also launch" the exe when Demul launched?

[twistedsymphony]

If you're using Hyperlaunch along with Hyperspin then this AHK for quitting demul should already be in the HL module for demul...

make sure your HL modules are all up to date and that you're using the right module for your version of demul...

if you're not using hyperlaunch then you should because it's fantastic and it does 99% of this kind of stuff for you.

[Fursphere]

If you're using Hyperlaunch along with Hyperspin then this AHK for quitting demul should already be in the HL module for demul...

make sure your HL modules are all up to date and that you're using the right module for your version of demul...

if you're not using hyperlaunch then you should because it's fantastic and it does 99% of this kind of stuff for you.

HyperLaunch 3 or Rocket Launcher (rlauncher?)      (the HL3 team broke off and created RLauncher)  http://www.rlauncher.com/   Its supposed to work with a ton of front ends now - no longer a HyperSpin exclusive. 

HyperSpin team is providing HyperLaunch 2 again with the HyperSpin install package. 

[twistedsymphony]

I'm using HL3 on my setup and AFAIK it's not limited to use with HS. I wasn't aware of RocketLauncher, will have to check that out.

Either way, it shouldn't matter, if RL is a split from HL then it will work the same way and both should handle demul exit when configured properly.