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Author Topic: Frontend All in One Recommendation  (Read 5473 times)

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brained

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Frontend All in One Recommendation
« on: March 01, 2019, 10:01:38 am »
Hello!! I'm in the look of a frontend for an arcade machine that i'm doing for a friend. I was using Batocera as everything, a Recalbox fork based on emustation, but when I try to use two controllers, one of the controllers goes crazy. I was trying to figure out what the heck is going wrong, but I'm just throwing the towel. I can't go any deeper in obscure linux configuration schemes. It seems to be a problem because de the zerodelay encoders on linux have the same name.

So anyways, I'm switching to a Windows build because I feel more confortable. I would like a recommendation for an easy to setup frontend; I would be great something that has "everything" included. Something that doesn't require too much configuration.

Thanks a lot.


surtr

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2019, 10:15:12 am »
I'm using Maximus Arcade on a windows 7 based build.  Has been working great.  Was pretty straightforward to set up and has been working perfectly.

bperkins01

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2019, 10:27:52 am »
Launchbox/Bigbox  - Simple to setup and many features..  Its worth a look
My Arcade Cabinet Build and other projects here:
Centipede, Joust, Joust Cocktail, Asteroids, Galaga, Ms. Pacman Cabaret, Defender, Space Invaders Cocktail
https://bperkins.wordpress.com/

killallhumans

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2019, 05:29:14 pm »
If you'd like to have Pinball tables, you'll need this to make them load like Mame ROMs.
Code: [Select]
#NoTrayIcon

Run(@WorkingDir & "\VPinball.exe" & " -play " & "Tables\" & $CmdLine[1] & ".vpt", "", @SW_HIDE)
Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 2)
WinWaitActive("Player", "")
    If WinExists("Medieval Madness") Then
        Sleep(2000)
    Else
        Sleep(2000)
        Send("{F3}")
    EndIf
HotKeySet("{ESC}", "Terminate")
While 1
    Sleep(1000)
WEnd

Func Terminate()
    WinKill("Player", "")
    WinKill("Visual Pinball", "")
    Exit
EndFunc   ;==>Terminate
Exit
vptplay.au3
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 05:43:21 pm by killallhumans »
Auto•It 3 fixes everything.
Game loading, lights, sounds,
control mapping, screen rotation...
Compile scripts to EXEs and drop them
into your arcade Frontend.

keilmillerjr

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2019, 09:27:23 pm »
You have $7 joystick encoders, and think the issue is Linux? :lol

killallhumans

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2019, 04:47:39 pm »
Yeah, uh...
As he pointed out,
Quote
You have $7 joystick encoders, and think the issue is Linux? :lol
,
sorry, even Windows isn't going to fix that.
Auto•It 3 fixes everything.
Game loading, lights, sounds,
control mapping, screen rotation...
Compile scripts to EXEs and drop them
into your arcade Frontend.

brained

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2019, 08:52:04 am »
You have $7 joystick encoders, and think the issue is Linux? :lol

Yeah.... even though they're cheap encoders work fine... its a known problem with the OS build that I'm using... I've set them both on my mac and they work flawlessly.

killallhumans

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2019, 11:25:29 am »
Dear brained,
Have you ever plugged in another mouse, and asked, Why are there not TWO little arrows on my screen?
Keyboards? Open two notepad windows. Can two people type in their own, at the same time? Right.
Now, move just one USB flashdrive around to each port. New hardware found??? This is nuts...

That is why each controller MUST have it's own unique hardware ID. The Super-I/O in computers is not the same
as I/O controllers in game systems. Joystick and gamepad encoders are set up for one or two players, but you
can't use a set of one-player encoders, as a two-player encoder, unless you could get inside one and change it's
hardware ID number.

This an arcade support forum, not a debate forum. If you already have your mind set on one idea, why ask us anything.
You already have your own answers.
- David
Auto•It 3 fixes everything.
Game loading, lights, sounds,
control mapping, screen rotation...
Compile scripts to EXEs and drop them
into your arcade Frontend.

brained

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2019, 01:13:41 pm »
Dear brained,
Have you ever plugged in another mouse, and asked, Why are there not TWO little arrows on my screen?
Keyboards? Open two notepad windows. Can two people type in their own, at the same time? Right.
Now, move just one USB flashdrive around to each port. New hardware found??? This is nuts...

That is why each controller MUST have it's own unique hardware ID. The Super-I/O in computers is not the same
as I/O controllers in game systems. Joystick and gamepad encoders are set up for one or two players, but you
can't use a set of one-player encoders, as a two-player encoder, unless you could get inside one and change it's
hardware ID number.

This an arcade support forum, not a debate forum. If you already have your mind set on one idea, why ask us anything.
You already have your own answers.
- David

I'm not building a debate here, I'm just looking for suggestions for a frontend for the arcade that I'm building...

Zeosstud

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2019, 01:36:07 am »
Once you figure it out, Hyperspin looks pretty darn good.. It can be a pain to learn, but it certainly has a nice interface and can support many many emulators. 

- Zeosstud

Zeosstud

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2019, 01:38:13 am »
Launchbox/Bigbox  - Simple to setup and many features..  Its worth a look

I would also agree with this, it is certainly worth a look..

meyer980

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2019, 12:38:24 pm »
Maximus Arcade and Atrract-Mode are my two favorites currently.

But if you're looking for something very simple then RetroArch could also be good. I've only used it for Retropie builds but they have a windows version.

tscottn

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2019, 02:22:51 pm »
I have always been a hyperspin guy.. Once you figure it out its not that bad, however I have been using Attract mode on my vertical setup and I really like its simplicity and themes you can download and configure. 

gildahl

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #13 on: March 05, 2019, 02:52:43 pm »
Give GameEx and/or GameEx Arcade a try.  I went from Maximus Arcade to GameEx years ago and have tried Hyperspin, Attract Mode, LaunchBox, RetroArch and others.  They're all good in their particular ways, but I've always found GameEx to be extremely fast/responsive and to have that certain je ne sais quoi that lets me do certain things easily that I can't seem to get working in the others.  Everything from getting port audio and Taito Type X games to work in well behaved ways without pulling my hair out to overriding launch parameters and adding custom scripts in weird custom ways that only I would ever do without it throwing a tantrum.  It also has great game databases.  And I can't tell you the number of times the developer has fixed little obscure bugs that I've reported.  So I've gotta give him and the product a plug here.   
« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 02:57:55 pm by gildahl »

gildahl

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #14 on: March 05, 2019, 02:56:17 pm »
 []

barrymossel

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2019, 02:50:26 pm »
Dear brained,
Have you ever plugged in another mouse, and asked, Why are there not TWO little arrows on my screen?
Keyboards? Open two notepad windows. Can two people type in their own, at the same time? Right.
Now, move just one USB flashdrive around to each port. New hardware found??? This is nuts...

That is why each controller MUST have it's own unique hardware ID. The Super-I/O in computers is not the same
as I/O controllers in game systems. Joystick and gamepad encoders are set up for one or two players, but you
can't use a set of one-player encoders, as a two-player encoder, unless you could get inside one and change it's
hardware ID number.

This an arcade support forum, not a debate forum. If you already have your mind set on one idea, why ask us anything.
You already have your own answers.
- David
Since when is this not a "debate forum", Mr. 35-posts...?

Mr. Peabody

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #16 on: March 07, 2019, 02:55:23 pm »
Attractmode is cab-friendly - meaning mouse-UNfriendly. Won't use it.

GameEx is for newer emulators. It does not accommodate anything that isn't single-click exe.


Since when is this not a "debate forum", Mr. 35-posts...?

Some debate. Some confer. Some state.

keilmillerjr

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #17 on: March 07, 2019, 11:10:55 pm »
Attractmode is cab-friendly - meaning mouse-UNfriendly. Won't use it.

GameEx is for newer emulators. It does not accommodate anything that isn't single-click exe.


Since when is this not a "debate forum", Mr. 35-posts...?

Some debate. Some confer. Some state.

This is a Bring Your Own ARCADE CONTROLS forum. A mouse isn’t an arcade control. But if I have a keyboard, I can launch a rom through the terminal and don’t need a front end. QMC might be something of your interest.

brained

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #18 on: March 08, 2019, 11:53:23 am »
Attractmode is cab-friendly - meaning mouse-UNfriendly. Won't use it.

GameEx is for newer emulators. It does not accommodate anything that isn't single-click exe.


Since when is this not a "debate forum", Mr. 35-posts...?

Some debate. Some confer. Some state.

This is a Bring Your Own ARCADE CONTROLS forum. A mouse isn’t an arcade control. But if I have a keyboard, I can launch a rom through the terminal and don’t need a front end. QMC might be something of your interest.

Actually my cab has a trackball that serves a mouse, can't play centipede without a trackball.

hurricanefan

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #19 on: March 08, 2019, 06:58:09 pm »
Launchbox/Bigbox  - Simple to setup and many features..  Its worth a look

I agree with this recommendation. Launchbox is free, bigbox looks better and cost $20 or a lifetime fee of $50 for all future updates. It's still getting updates on a regular basis so new features are always possible.  I'm still a newbie with it but so far its working well for my needs. I haven't tried any complicated themes with it yet but that will happen eventually.

gildahl

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #20 on: March 09, 2019, 07:52:16 am »

GameEx is for newer emulators. It does not accommodate anything that isn't single-click

Curious about what you mean by this.  What's an example of an emulator in this category that doesn't work?

Mr. Peabody

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2019, 09:16:42 pm »
@gildahl: anything you would write a batch file for - like PC games.



This is a Bring Your Own ARCADE CONTROLS forum. A mouse isn’t an arcade control. But if I have a keyboard, I can launch a rom through the terminal and don’t need a front end. QMC might be something of your interest.

Actually my cab has a trackball that serves a mouse, can't play centipede without a trackball.

Exactly.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2019, 09:18:55 pm by Mr. Peabody »

gildahl

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #22 on: March 12, 2019, 06:28:33 pm »
@gildahl: anything you would write a batch file for - like PC games.

These can be handled.  You can either set them up as external applications, or if you'd rather have these games appear in a list like a conventional emulator (which I do), use a compiled AHK script as a proxy for an "emulator" whose roms folder consists of dummy text files containing redirects to the exes that get launched by the script. 

Mr. Peabody

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2019, 08:49:29 pm »
@gildahl: anything you would write a batch file for - like PC games.

These can be handled.  You can either set them up as external applications, or if you'd rather have these games appear in a list like a conventional emulator (which I do), use a compiled AHK script as a proxy for an "emulator" whose roms folder consists of dummy text files containing redirects to the exes that get launched by the script. 

And if you paid for a front end, um........

gildahl

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #24 on: March 15, 2019, 08:32:18 am »
And if you paid for a front end, um........

You do know that batch files are scripts, right?

MaseMan

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #25 on: March 15, 2019, 10:32:19 am »
Launchbox/Bigbox  - Simple to setup and many features..  Its worth a look

This. I'm not a super technical guy with tons of experience, but Launchbox is a breeze, and looks amazing in Bigbox mode. Super simple to setup.

I'm surprised to see anyone recommending Maximus Arcade. I used to use that. Had it for about two or three years. It's an OK front end, but quite out of date, and literally hasn't been supported for years. Pretty big difference compared to frontends like Launchbox, which is *constantly* getting updated with cool new features.

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #26 on: March 15, 2019, 05:05:53 pm »
Launchbox without a doubt. No need to be an engineer to use it. You should watch some of their tutorials on YouTube.

Envoyé de mon LEX722 en utilisant Tapatalk
« Last Edit: March 15, 2019, 11:23:27 pm by fablog »

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #27 on: March 16, 2019, 12:57:04 pm »
But if you're looking for something very simple then RetroArch could also be good. I've only used it for Retropie builds but they have a windows version.

Retropie uses emulationstation as a front end, which hasn't been developed for 3 years or so now.

I have to agree with everyone suggesting LaunchBox. I just recently started using it and its leaps and bounds ahead of anything else I've ever used.

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Re: Frontend All in One Recommendation
« Reply #28 on: March 17, 2019, 10:23:46 am »
But if you're looking for something very simple then RetroArch could also be good. I've only used it for Retropie builds but they have a windows version.

Retropie uses emulationstation as a front end, which hasn't been developed for 3 years or so now.

I have to agree with everyone suggesting LaunchBox. I just recently started using it and its leaps and bounds ahead of anything else I've ever used.


That's not true about emulationstation. The retropie team forked from the original Aloshi version and has continued to tweak emulationstation. Their fork is located here: https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation