New Big Blue frontend released

[bulbousbeard]

Big Blue now automatically hides Windows's cursors and restores them after you close the frontend. This means that you will no longer see the Windows hourglass/loading cursor when you launch a game, and you don't have to permanently change your cursor files in Windows's mouse settings.

https://sites.google.com/site/bigbluefrontend/

Disclaimer: you don't want to screw around with this. It will actually hide your mouse cursor in every program in Windows until it exits. Big Blue is meant to be run on an arcade cabinet PC--not your standard desktop PC.

[bulbousbeard]

I put in a new experimental feature to override the behavior of the Escape key so that it kills the program Big Blue starts.

This means that you can exit any ---smurfy--- emulator from Big Blue even if it's one of those butt logs like Nebula M2 that doesn't actually quit the program when you press Escape.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wioush0snr60xwm/BigBlueFrontend-12242014.zip

[Malenko]

Disclaimer: you don't want to screw around with this. It will actually hide your mouse cursor in every program in Windows until it exits. Big Blue is meant to be run on an arcade cabinet PC--not your standard desktop PC.

Unless you have the option to disable that, you're going to alienate a good portion of whatever base you have/had.

[bulbousbeard]

Why? The cursor's restored when you quit the program.

[Malenko]

While I do have a MAME cab, I also play it on my desktop. Sometimes I alt+tab away for stuff. I think hiding the mouse is a great idea, especially for MAME cabs, but the option to not hide it would be beneficial to those not on a cab that want to use your front end.

[bulbousbeard]

I see your point for frontends that are designed for normal desktop usage, but this one really isn't. It doesn't even have a windowed mode.

Personally, I never understood why someone would want to use a full screen frontend for normal desktop use when there are things like QMC2.

http://qmc2.arcadehits.net/wordpress/

[keilmillerjr]

While I do have a MAME cab, I also play it on my desktop. Sometimes I alt+tab away for stuff. I think hiding the mouse is a great idea, especially for MAME cabs, but the option to not hide it would be beneficial to those not on a cab that want to use your front end.

Makes no sense. If you don't want to use the front end, and use Mame with a cursor in window mode, then do exactly that. What's stopping you?

Keep up the great work mr big blue dev.

[Malenko]

keil, I was pointing out a benefit to making the mouse hiding optional in a theoretical scenario. If he doesnt take the suggestion, no big deal.

Nothing in my example said anything about not using the front end or using MAME in a windowed mode, so.................

[DaOld Man]

Looks like a nice setup, but I don't see a University of Kentucky reference anywhere??? (Go Big Blue!)

[bulbousbeard]

There's also a configuration utility update coming. I've added the ability to search/filter through the games in MAME by refresh rate. It's kind of interesting to see how many games run above 60hz and stuff like that.

[bulbousbeard]

New version released with Escape key override and some other fixes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFuJLkE7NcI&feature=youtu.be

[bulbousbeard]

I added a useful new feature for SDLMAME, Retroarch, and other OpenGL programs, and I put in the option so you can decide whether or not you want to disable the mouse cursor.

[bulbousbeard]

I made the morning --> afternoon --> night transitions dynamic, so the frontend will actually change while you're playing. Sort of Yu Yu Hakusho esque.



I have two more big features in the works, and I think I'll be able to call this frontend finished.

[bulbousbeard]

Busted ---my bottom--- all weekend, and here's what I've got to show for it:

* Big Blue has video preview support
* Windowed mode is available
* Multi-monitor marquee support
* Dynamic time transitions

[keilmillerjr]

Busted ---my bottom--- all weekend, and here's what I've got to show for it:

* Big Blue has video preview support
* Windowed mode is available
* Multi-monitor marquee support
* Dynamic time transitions

I love the additions you worked on this weekend, as seen in the video. Finally decided to give BigBlue Frontend a try. Using the 01042015 release. I am very impressed.

Here is a few of my suggestions to make this awesome front end even better:

• Allow option in the config utility to remove EXIT from in game menu. You would not want an end user to get back to windows easily.
• Allow option in the config utility to skip the in game menu all together and directly SHUTDOWN.
• Allow game lists to read and sort catver.ini for M.A.M.E.
• Default Key Bindings match M.A.M.E.'s default keys.
• Is there LEDBlinky support?
• Some sort of indication as to which list you are viewing.
• Ability to add/remove to favorites from frontend.

[TeamTEOR]

So glad to see something new being developed. I may just give this a whirl as I am tired of all of the problems I am having with maximus arcade since upgrading to windows 7 from XP.

[bulbousbeard]

Allow option in the config utility to remove EXIT from in game menu. You would not want an end user to get back to windows easily.

[empardopo]

I get the next error

Firma con problemas:
  Nombre del evento de problema:   CLR20r3
  Firma del problema 01:   bigblue.exe
  Firma del problema 02:   1.0.0.0
  Firma del problema 03:   549b4cc7
  Firma del problema 04:   irrKlang.NET4
  Firma del problema 05:   1.0.4534.25937
  Firma del problema 06:   4fc77113
  Firma del problema 07:   187
  Firma del problema 08:   69
  Firma del problema 09:   System.Windows.Markup.XamlParse
  Versión del sistema operativo:   6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.4
  Id. de configuración regional:   3082
  Información adicional 1:   0a9e
  Información adicional 2:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Información adicional 3:   0a9e
  Información adicional 4:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Lea nuestra declaración de privacidad en línea:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0c0a

Si la declaración de privacidad en línea no está disponible, lea la declaración de privacidad sin conexión:
  C:\Windows\system32\es-ES\erofflps.txt

when I launch the frontend.

I'm using W7 64bits.

Any idea?

Greetings!

Btw, in what language have you programmed it?

[bulbousbeard]

when I launch the frontend.

I'm using W7 64bits.

Any idea?

Greetings!

Btw, in what language have you programmed it?

C#. Do you have .NET 4.5.2 installed?

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42643

If you have it installed, try repairing .NET and making sure you have .NET security updates installed.

[bulbousbeard]

I've been busting ---my bottom--- on this thing to get in some awesome new features before the next release.

I completely rewrote Big Blue's input handling to use the Raw Input API. This is not only lower latency, but--you guessed it--Big Blue now not only supports mice, but it also supports multiple mice. This means you can have an all-trackball cabinet and still fully control everything--even the two players in the mini-game. For testing purposes, I've got three mice hooked up to my computer here, and I can use one to control the Rampage monsters, one to control the R-Type ship, and one to control the volume.

What was that? Yup, Big Blue now has global volume controls that can be mapped to not only keyboard keys but also mice axes. This means that you can get separate spinners to use just for volume controls on your cabinet with no additional software installed. I really want this next release to be impressive, so I'm going to test the crap out of everything on my cabinets until I feel everything is rock solid, but I'm confident that this thing is going to have the most unique features of any frontend for windows by the next release.

[keilmillerjr]

Awesome! I can't wait to try out the new release!!!

[bulbousbeard]

More progress. I wasn't able to finish this as quickly as I had hoped. This shows the preliminary new input mapping interface.

Raw Input is mostly working now. Just need to polish things.

[bulbousbeard]

More progress: I added Xbox 360 gamepad support to Big Blue. What's pretty awesome about this is that you can actually use the 360 pad's middle "guide" button to exit out of games you launch from the frontend. It basically works like the Escape key typically would. You can even use the 360 thumbsticks to control the volume of the machine while you're in a game you launched.

 

[bulbousbeard]

Because the Hyperspin/emumovies blow (most of them are 30fps garbage), I've started making 60fps videos of all the good video games (there really aren't that many). It's getting pretty polished and sexy over there.



 

[bulbousbeard]

I put up a new "beta" version of Big Blue on the site. This was an enormous amount of work for me. I added so many things, I'm sure some errors slipped in there somewhere, but I wanted to get something out.

https://sites.google.com/site/bigbluefrontend/

• Video preview support (requires Windows Media Player); I might switch this to use VLC later, but Media Player on Windows is so fast, it's hard to justify using anything else
• Windowed mode
• Multi-monitor support
• Each category and game can now have a marquee image defined that displays with the current selection; this marquee can display either on a secondary display for "dynamic marquee" cabinets using ultra-wide LCDs or in the background of a primary display in windowed mode
• Mouse support (up to 5 mouse buttons supported)
• Support for multiple mice and keyboards
• Added XInput support; you can even exit from games by pressing the Xbox "Guide" button
• Ability to change the frontend's resolution in the configuration utility
• Global hotkey support
• Global volume adjustments
• Option to either show or hide the border in windowed mode
• Rewrote input handling system to use the Raw Input API
• Day to sunset to night transitions now happen dynamically
• Updated configuration utility to support binding multiple devices to inputs in the frontend
• Configuration utility now parses Linux USB's USB device list to report human-readable names for devices
• Rewrote the "input trapping" feature to use a Low Level Keyboard Hook so that it can now trap even system keys such as the Windows key
• Fixed the "PRESS START" graphic displaying during the shutdown sequence
• Optimized many graphics and events
• Added separate volume controls for both the frontend/mini-game and the videos, so you can set either one at arbitrary volumes
• Added Damnd to the exit sequence's marquee window
• Added sound effects for selecting a category, going back to the category list, and selecting a game
• Added option to turn trapping the mouse cursor on and off
• Both the categories and game list save their position now, so if you don't select a different list, you won't lose your place

[keilmillerjr]

I get this error using windows 8.1 and the latest beta (see pic attached).

I add games to the game list. Let's say for example, all Mame SNK games. Now I need to add some snapshots and proper titles. Whoa! That's a big list to go through. Any way to set a snap directory with snaps matching rom name, and proper title automatically?

Add more filter options?

Game list while using front end can clip a long name. Any way to have smaller text, or possibly text that scrolls horizontally?

It is called "big blue", but maybe allow to change menu colors from blue/yellow to grey/white or some thing that might match some cabinets more nicely.?

[bulbousbeard]

Those are great suggestions. I'll do that.

I just updated the configuration utility in the archive. Hopefully, this one will fix your error. What happened, I think, is that one of your USB devices wasn't in linux-usb.org's list of devices, and there wasn't any exception handling on it. We'll see...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xwo0u5024twxfub/BigBlueFrontend-02012015.zip

Thanks!

[bulbousbeard]

Okay, I revised the Add/Edit Emulator windows so that you can enter string formatters to prepopulate thumbnails, video previews, and marquee images.

This way, it'll automatically use the file name to populate these values.



I'll have a build up tomorrow with this in.

[keilmillerjr]

Those are great suggestions. I'll do that.

I just updated the configuration utility in the archive. Hopefully, this one will fix your error. What happened, I think, is that one of your USB devices wasn't in linux-usb.org's list of devices, and there wasn't any exception handling on it. We'll see...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xwo0u5024twxfub/BigBlueFrontend-02012015.zip

Thanks!

Clicking on Controls now opens the Edit Controls window, as it should. Thank you.

My Devices

• Howler Controller v1.0
• Filemate Keyboard 3FMNK2210UGN-R
• Dynex Wired USB Mouse DX-WRM1402

[bulbousbeard]

I put up a new version that supports string formatters in the emulator entries and fixes some minor screensaver problems I found.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fixnmbbww8anvny/BigBlueFrontend-02022015.zip

[bulbousbeard]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6e5zhqhq23qi1m7/BigBlueFrontend-02032015.zip

You can now choose the size of Big Blue's text. Here we're saying that the text size is going to be half the normal text size:



We get this result:



I'm not doing absolute font sizes, because Big Blue does some calculations to determine the correct proportions of the game list.

[nitrogen_widget]

Is this front end not skinable or rotatable?

[bulbousbeard]

It's rotatable, but it's not skinable. Unlike basically every other frontend, when you rotate it, it actually makes the snapshots and videos 3:4 aspect ratio so that vertical games aren't distorted. The frontend is basically a game. Making it modifiable would fundamentally change the built in game.

[nitrogen_widget]

One of my many future projects is a dual player rotatable.
the kids would love the ability to fight it out to pick a game.

Will check it out then.

[bulbousbeard]

One of my many future projects is a dual player rotatable.
the kids would love the ability to fight it out to pick a game.

Will check it out then.

Not only that, but Big Blue actually supports multiple monitors. It's the only frontend with native multimonitor support.

[jmike]

 
Haven't been on here for a while but this is looking great!!
Thank you bulbousbeard for all the work you been putting into this.

 

[empardopo]

It's rotatable, but it's not skinable. Unlike basically every other frontend, when you rotate it, it actually makes the snapshots and videos 3:4 aspect ratio so that vertical games aren't distorted. The frontend is basically a game. Making it modifiable would fundamentally change the built in game.

It would be a nice feature do skinable.
Greetings!

[Malenko]

It would be a nice feature do skinable.
Greetings!

I agree, but I can understand that it takes away from the front end being a game.  The game however, is one thing thats holding me back from using this.  If there was a non-game mode that was skinnable, Id be in.

[bulbousbeard]

I'm going to release the source code for it after I clean it up, so you'll be able to change it in whichever way you want to change it.

To "reskin" it, though, you'd probably end up just removing a lot of the layers in the frontend. Big Blue isn't really a flat skin. It's several layers of parallax scrolling and triangles. Right now, the sky background is 5 layers, the moon/clouds are 1 layer, the bushes are 1 layer, the crowd is 1 layer, the fighters are 1 layer, the Rampage monsters, R-Type ship, and buildings are one layer. A lot of the code in the frontend is just handling the game logic, so without any of that, it should be fairly simple.

I have considered putting out a separate frontend that's just the game list, image/video snapshot, background, and foreground layer with the ability to make the background scroll or not, but I haven't got around to it. Big Blue is just my personal dream for a frontend theme.

I've also seriously considered making a Galaga themed frontend for cocktail cabinets where two Galaga ships can fight each other, but I haven't come up with a great way to integrate the snapshots/video with the Galaga starfield in a way that doesn't look stupid.

[Malenko]

I have considered putting out a separate frontend that's just the game list, image/video snapshot, background, and foreground layer with the ability to make the background scroll or not, but I haven't got around to it. Big Blue is just my personal dream for a frontend theme.

I think this is the way to go. I need a replacement for MaLa since its not being developed for anymore. Id be down with pumping out a few basic skins.