So what's everyone using for a frontend ??

[dashingw]

I'm partial to mGalaxy myself, straight forward and looks good....

[Generic Eric]

You should consider linking mGalaxy and then adding each response.  Later on start a poll.

I don't think I've heard of mGalaxy before.

I'm still deciding.

[BadMouth]

So what's everyone using for a frontend ??

Them's fightin' words in these parts.

Mala 4 Life

If your FE looks like someone else's, it sucks.

[paigeoliver]

Been on Mame 32/ Mameui since a hard drive failure 7-8 years ago. Had Mamewah before that.

[dashingw]

You should consider linking mGalaxy and then adding each response.  Later on start a poll.

I don't think I've heard of mGalaxy before.

I'm still deciding.

Links....

www.mGalaxy.com.  (download the frontend)
http://www.mgalaxy.com/forum/index.php (for everything else)

I have tried Hyperspin, Gamex and, maximum arcade but for ease of use, cost and style remain with mGalaxy. And its Free. It has two icons when installed. One sets up all the emulators paths, controls and themes and the other icon runs the program...

And this isn't mine, I am just a user.

[harveybirdman]

If your FE looks like someone else's, it sucks.

QFT 

cue Hyperspin groupies in 3....2....1....

[horizon]

If youre FE hasnt had any support in the last 3 years, it sucks.

I am using Emulation Station with custom pictures

[harveybirdman]

touche

[dashingw]

If youre FE hasnt had any support in the last 3 years, it sucks.

I am using Emulation Station with custom pictures

Well mGalaxy is still being supported  it had its last update in January, a month ago...

[Typefighter01]

I'm partial to mGalaxy myself, straight forward and looks good....

+1

Crazy easy to set up 

Also, it has a sort of jukebox feature that will play whatever music you want in the background while you surf the game menu. I downloaded arcade sounds (like the actual sounds tape recorded inside a real arcade), and it added to the whole "arcade" experience.

[Hoopz]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=84933.msg889884.msg#889884

[Generic Eric]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=84933.msg889884.msg#889884

It would be interesting to see if opinions changed.

[dashingw]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=84933.msg889884.msg#889884

Sorry, didn't see it.......:-)

[horizon]

If youre FE hasnt had any support in the last 3 years, it sucks.

I am using Emulation Station with custom pictures

Well mGalaxy is still being supported  it had its last update in January, a month ago...

Not directed at you my friend. 

touche

[keilmillerjr]

http://attractmode.org

[Fursphere]

Its hard to pass up the incredible amount of content and effort that's been put into HyperSpin. 

[keilmillerjr]

Its hard to pass up the incredible amount of content and effort that's been put into HyperSpin.

Yeah, but hyperspin makes my head spin. It's like a vw, over engineered.

[05SRT4]

I user Hyper Spin, saw it once and liked it. Took forever to setup to my liking and now im scared to branch away to something else.

Plus the chicks dig it 

[stavros693000]

ive got hyperspin and gameex set up on mine....I really like both
cant wait to try gameex evolution looks pretty sweet.

hyperspin looks great but gameex does so much more I love both of them

[AzureKnight]

mala for my build, I'm happy with it so far.

[Vigo]

Mala here as well. and yeah, I really wish there was some updated support, or a v2. I thought hyperspin got put into update purgatory as well.

[liquid134]

i use mala on my current setup (figured its the best option for my p4 1.8ghz pc with mame .106) i do wish tho that they were updating it....

[tony.silveira]

my history of FE's...

ADVMenu
MameWAH
MALA (current)

currently investigating attract-mode and have it set up for mame.  going to try and make the switch from MALA. might give a couple of others a try also, if i'm going to leave MALA behind, might as well try a few.

[ChanceKJ]

Mainly Maximus Arcade. Its a bit buggy, and it REALLY needs an update from the developer. But found I it was quite a bit more easy to setup and build my own custom GUI's with so that it matches the project i'm working on better. If i do an RPi build down the road i know theres a couple simple and bad ass front end packages for those as well.

Truth be told, i'm trying to work my way away from things that have the need for a Front End. My builds are starting to gravitate toward things that have the GUI already built in, like the ArcadeSD, and these little Namco Plug-n-Plays. Just one less thing to have to deal with.

[harveybirdman]

Truth be told, i'm trying to work my way away from things that have the need for a Front End. My builds are starting to gravitate toward things that have the GUI already built in, like the ArcadeSD, and these little Namco Plug-n-Plays. Just one less thing to have to deal with.

Or actual hardware!  Jamma 4 life! 

[Fursphere]

Mala here as well. and yeah, I really wish there was some updated support, or a v2. I thought hyperspin got put into update purgatory as well.

The author is working on updates, slowly.  The graphics / theme / video crew is cranking out new stuff every day.  The scripting crew (HyperList) is also publishing new stuff almost weekly I think. 

HyperSpin is a full blown community at this point.

[Vigo]

Yeah, I know it is a community, and themes and add-ons are being developed. I am more talking about the once announced Hyperspin V2.

[ChanceKJ]

Truth be told, i'm trying to work my way away from things that have the need for a Front End. My builds are starting to gravitate toward things that have the GUI already built in, like the ArcadeSD, and these little Namco Plug-n-Plays. Just one less thing to have to deal with.

Or actual hardware!  Jamma 4 life! 

Oh trust me, I'm slowly getting there.

I know you guys have heard me harp on this before, and some of you have offered help and such, but Hyperspin just doesn't work for me, on many levels. Over complicated, processing heavy, fragmented, and ubiquitous. Meh. It has its place. I guess.

[yotsuya]

Truth be told, i'm trying to work my way away from things that have the need for a Front End. My builds are starting to gravitate toward things that have the GUI already built in, like the ArcadeSD, and these little Namco Plug-n-Plays. Just one less thing to have to deal with.

Or actual hardware!  Jamma 4 life! 

Oh trust me, I'm slowly getting there.

I know you guys have heard me harp on this before, and some of you have offered help and such, but Hyperspin just doesn't work for me, on many levels. Over complicated, processing heavy, fragmented, and ubiquitous. Meh. It has its place. I guess.

I'm actually surprised, as I think it fits into your "Go Big Or Go Home" mentality. 

Once you start going dedicated, you're hooked. MAME has it's place, but you start to see a machine that plays a few games flawlessly is better than a machine that plays everything with compromise. 

[Vigo]

Once you start going dedicated, you're hooked. MAME has it's place, but you start to see a machine that plays a few games flawlessly is better than a machine that plays everything with compromise. 

The perfect cocktail is a 1-2 mame cabs, and as many dedicated machines that you can tastefully cram into your basement. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

The big question I'm concerned with is:  Which Frontend EASILY supports PC games?  With the explosion of Steam Arcade Games I'm looking for a front end that is compatible with Steam's proprietary method of launching games in addition to MAME and consoles.

Anyone?

D

[yotsuya]

Once you start going dedicated, you're hooked. MAME has it's place, but you start to see a machine that plays a few games flawlessly is better than a machine that plays everything with compromise. 

The perfect cocktail is a 1-2 mame cabs, and as many dedicated machines that you can tastefully cram into your basement. 

That's EXACTLY what I got, brotherman! 

[wp34]

Once you start going dedicated, you're hooked. MAME has it's place, but you start to see a machine that plays a few games flawlessly is better than a machine that plays everything with compromise. 

The perfect cocktail is a 1-2 mame cabs, and as many dedicated machines that you can tastefully cram into your basement. 

So let it be written.  So let it be done.   

[Hoopz]

The big question I'm concerned with is:  Which Frontend EASILY supports PC games?  With the explosion of Steam Arcade Games I'm looking for a front end that is compatible with Steam's proprietary method of launching games in addition to MAME and consoles.

Anyone?

D

GameEx

[ChanceKJ]

I have a few PC games setup in a PC Games section of Maximus I placed in FLYNNs. GTA2, Take No Prisoners, etc  works well for me.

[AzureKnight]

Once you start going dedicated, you're hooked. MAME has it's place, but you start to see a machine that plays a few games flawlessly is better than a machine that plays everything with compromise. 

The perfect cocktail is a 1-2 mame cabs, and as many dedicated machines that you can tastefully cram into your basement. 

This sir...is my dream, and if I dump the pool table I have a LOT of room in my finished  basement.

[ChanceKJ]

Sin!

Don't you dare abandon a perfectly good pool table!

[BadMouth]

Sin!

Don't you dare abandon a perfectly good pool table!

I used my pool table as a nice level flat surface to build my cab on, then chucked it. 
ok, it was a particle board table I got on clearance for $100 and may have not been considered perfectly good by some.

[mgb]

My arcade cab has Mala for its simplicity.
I've recently been setting up a console emu pc for someone else so I've been messing with front ends.
I'm messing with Launchbox and it's pretty cool for scraping box art and what not from online.
In the past I have used Mamewah and Atomic.
I'm messing around with Maximus again and considering it for my htpc/ console emu machine.
This machine boots into xbmc and I have a menu to go into Maximus. This works well because I also have a menu to goto steams big picture mode.
I'm contemplating changing my vertical arcade cab over to Maximus also.

[AzureKnight]

Sin!

Don't you dare abandon a perfectly good pool table!

It is far from "perfectly good".  It came with the house when I bought it.  I'm not a pool table fanatic so I'm sure what I'm about to call these things is probably wrong but...the felt is really, really worn in many places and rather loose.  The slate under it is pitted and cracked in spots with debris under the felt.  I've managed to smooth out a lot of the debris but not all.   It has a full ball return system but two of the pockets are broke.  The plastic logo is shattered.  The outer corners are cracked or missing and the wood grain has been covered over badly with now peeled wood grained contact paper.  It is barely serviceable to casual players.  It does see use a few times a year at family gatherings but that has reduced over the last 5 years.  I think I have used it alone twice over those 5 years.  I may restore it some day...

But to have a row of nintendo cab or two / Tron cab / 720 / mame machine / sit down driver / pinball or two...yeah that is a win to me.  

[DeLuSioNal29]

I'm contemplating changing my vertical arcade cab over to Maximus also.

Just a word of caution, Maximus rotates vertically only one way.  So your monitor needs to be rotate left (with the bottom facing the right side) in order for it to work.  If your monitor is rotated left it will be upside down and you'll need to remove and re-seat your monitor (since there is not option to rotate left in the Front end's software).

D

[keilmillerjr]

The big question I'm concerned with is:  Which Frontend EASILY supports PC games?  With the explosion of Steam Arcade Games I'm looking for a front end that is compatible with Steam's proprietary method of launching games in addition to MAME and consoles.

Anyone?

D

Attract-Mode

[mgb]

I'm contemplating changing my vertical arcade cab over to Maximus also.

Just a word of caution, Maximus rotates vertically only one way.  So your monitor needs to be rotate left (with the bottom facing the right side) in order for it to work.  If your monitor is rotated left it will be upside down and you'll need to remove and re-seat your monitor (since there is not option to rotate left in the Front end's software).

D

thanks for the heads up. My monitor is set up with the bottom to the right so I should be good there.
last year, I messed with Maximus on this cab but ended up going back to Mala. I can't for the life of me, remember why. I guess I'll try again.

[danny_galaga]

Its hard to pass up the incredible amount of content and effort that's been put into HyperSpin.

Yeah, but hyperspin makes my head spin. It's like a vw, over engineered.

You're obviously not talking about MY VW 

[Le Chuck]

I'm not entirely sure which end is the front

[mgb]

Its hard to pass up the incredible amount of content and effort that's been put into HyperSpin.

Yeah, but hyperspin makes my head spin. It's like a vw, over engineered.

You're obviously not talking about MY VW 

Nice notchback

[AzureKnight]

I'm not entirely sure which end is the front

So now we get to the real point of this thread, he must not know either...
"So what's everyone using for a frontend ??"

[markc74]

Previously I would have said MALA but since getting my head around Attract Mode I'm a convert - it rocks. With patience and a rough concept of how to program the layouts you can make it do whatever you like.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=attract+mode+frontend

I had an ideal frontend layout in my head where rather than pick from a list you had a row of arcades next to each other and you scrolled left and right to 'walk' down the row to pick to the game you wanted to play while still seeing the games on either side (rather than scrolling through a text list) and Attract mode lets me create that*

I think if attract mode gets more popular we'll start to see themes that can pretty much do what most other frontends do anyway (except maybe hyperspin which is not my cup of cha anyway)

*Disclaimer - I've been a programmer for 20 years so it wasn't a massive jump to learn it.

[bfauska]

Previously I would have said MALA but since getting my head around Attract Mode I'm a convert - it rocks. With patience and a rough concept of how to program the layouts you can make it do whatever you like.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=attract+mode+frontend


I had an ideal frontend layout in my head where rather than pick from a list you had a row of arcades next to each other and you scrolled left and right to 'walk' down the row to pick to the game you wanted to play while still seeing the games on either side (rather than scrolling through a text list) and Attract mode lets me create that*

I think if attract mode gets more popular we'll start to see themes that can pretty much do what most other frontends do anyway (except maybe hyperspin which is not my cup of cha anyway)

*Disclaimer - I've been a programmer for 20 years so it wasn't a massive jump to learn it.

Yours is one of the most promising ones in the results of that youtube link. Of course since you didn't link directly to it I'm only guessing but since the cabinet is Blip and the games are laid out the way you describe I'm pretty sure it's the one.

I've been using Mamewah in my cabinet for years but since I'm planning on doing a PC upgrade (to a still used but less used computer) I am probably going to switch to something more win7 compatible.

I've been playing with Hyperspin on a different computer but it is pretty resource hungry, how's Attract Mode compare in that regard?

[ChanceKJ]

 

[Richardgregory]

Still setting up Hyperspin, but for most part MAME portion is almost done, but not quite.  Also, have Maximus Arcade as well on the same PC.  I'm using Hyperspin because of the attractiveness of the graphical interface, but then again, simple is not necessary a bad thing such as with Maximus.

[bulbousbeard]

It's really hard to justify using Hyperspin when we know it interferes with the behavior of MAME.

What's the point of a frontend that can't even run programs properly?

[bulbousbeard]

Its hard to pass up the incredible amount of content and effort that's been put into HyperSpin.

There's an incredible amount of bad content. I'm not sure how much good content there is. Really, if you're even somewhat discerning, most of the Hyperspin themes are flat out BAD. The only reason Hyperspin's so popular is because most people have poor taste and can't distinguish good aesthetics from tacky crap. 9 out of 10 themes mix multiple completely different art styles from games made years apart from each other. It's a complete mess.

[yotsuya]

It's really hard to justify using Hyperspin when we know it interferes with the behavior of MAME.

What's the point of a frontend that can't even run programs properly?

We "know" that? How so? I haven't had any issues with it running games in MAME.

[bulbousbeard]

It's really hard to justify using Hyperspin when we know it interferes with the behavior of MAME.

What's the point of a frontend that can't even run programs properly?

We "know" that? How so? I haven't had any issues with it running games in MAME.

Look at the GroovyMAME forums. You can't even run MAME with triplebuffering and multithreading with it. It's untrustworthy software.

[yotsuya]

Well there's your first problem: I don't run GroovyMAME....

[DeLuSioNal29]

I run GroovyMAME and it works fine with Hyperspin.

[bulbousbeard]

Well there's your first problem: I don't run GroovyMAME....

Even standard MAME has the same problem. Really, people have such a high tolerance for poor performance, it wouldn't surprise me if the people who "have no problems" are actually experiencing them but are just clueless.

[yotsuya]

Well, if a problem isn't perceived, is it really a problem?

[bulbousbeard]

Well, if a problem isn't perceived, is it really a problem?

Yes. I mean, there are people in this forum (whom you'd expect to be a little bit savvier) who actually make the argument that running games at the wrong refresh rate is unnoticeable.

[yotsuya]

[bulbousbeard]

I think it's more like:

[Vigo]

[jukingeo]

Ok, in Windows, my favorite overall front end is currently Mala.

I do like the overall look of Hyperspin, but the need to have a larger machine just for the front end just didn't justify it.  Otherwise if I did have a more powerful machine I would revisit that.

Before Mala, I had MameWah for the longest time.

I Linux I like to use MameWah's cousin, Wah Cade.

[Malenko]

I currently use MaLa, havent really updated MAME or Roms in a while, and MaLa is cray cray easy to make skins for.

I looked at attract mode but I glanced at what it takes to make a skin, and I dont have that kind of time.  I looked at big blue, but Its not skinable (yet?) and I dont want the built in game.

[MTPPC]

I'm contemplating changing my vertical arcade cab over to Maximus also.

Just a word of caution, Maximus rotates vertically only one way.  So your monitor needs to be rotate left (with the bottom facing the right side) in order for it to work.  If your monitor is rotated left it will be upside down and you'll need to remove and re-seat your monitor (since there is not option to rotate left in the Front end's software).

D

You can always flip your yoke wires to get the right orientation.

[mgb]

Just a quick question on Maximus.
Are unlock codes still being generated

[DeLuSioNal29]

MGB - depends who you ask. It's hit or miss. But now that the author has partnered with XArcade he may have gotten his act together. YMMV.

[otsep]

You're obviously not talking about MY VW 

I'm a HUGE VW fan and that is beautiful.

[knightrdrx]

I've been working on Maximus Arcade for almost a year. I keep changing my mind about stuff..adding new games etc...but I'm going to wrap it up this week so I can just relax and play.
When I add new games the game lists get messed up. It's annoying but I won't change to anything else at this point.
And I like that I can leave it on the main menu and not have a video running while I leave the room.
It supports everything I want.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I abandoned Maximus ages ago. But how do you get Steam games to work with their proprietary URL shortcuts?

[WindDrake]

I've been using GameEx for the last couple years. Works great.

[Fursphere]

I abandoned Maximus ages ago. But how do you get Steam games to work with their proprietary URL shortcuts?

Just point to the game EXE instead. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

I abandoned Maximus ages ago. But how do you get Steam games to work with their proprietary URL shortcuts?

Just point to the game EXE instead.

That doesn't work with some Steam Games.

[bulbousbeard]

As far as I know, Big Blue will run anything that can be run from the command line. Haven't encountered any program that it can't run.

Yup, works perfectly in Big Blue without any batch files or ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.



Big Blue doesn't care what the program is. It will run anything.

[Fursphere]

I abandoned Maximus ages ago. But how do you get Steam games to work with their proprietary URL shortcuts?

Just point to the game EXE instead.

That doesn't work with some Steam Games.

Ok, I figured this out for ya.

Step 1 - Right click on game in Steam and "create shortcut on desktop"
It should look something like "steam://rungameid/282440"
Step 2 - Create a batch file (plain text) called something like "game.bat"
Step 3 - In the batch file put "explorer.exe steam://rungameid/282440"
Step 4 - Point front end at the batch file you created.

If Steam isn't running, but is registered properly, it'll start Steam then start your game.

(steam://rungameid/282440 is Quake Live on my system - don't know if that's universal or not)

Enjoy!

[ahofle]

Well there's your first problem: I don't run GroovyMAME....

Even standard MAME has the same problem. Really, people have such a high tolerance for poor performance, it wouldn't surprise me if the people who "have no problems" are actually experiencing them but are just clueless.

Can you elaborate on the issues with refresh rates with GroovyMAME and hyperspin?  I run that configuration with correct refresh rates, resolutions, etc using MAME's ini files. 

[danny_galaga]

I'm not entirely sure which end is the front

So now we get to the real point of this thread, he must not know either...
"So what's everyone using for a frontend ??"

[BCThunder]

I recently put together a computer for my 8 year old, and found a great front end called Launch Box.  It has some great features like importing box art from thegamesdb.net, and the ability to import games from your Steam Library.

[mgb]

I recently put together a computer for my 8 year old, and found a great front end called Launch Box.  It has some great features like importing box art from thegamesdb.net, and the ability to import games from your Steam Library.

I was just recently trying that one out too. Very nice for consoles