Need help with Slikstik controller config and mamewah

[SmokinGun]

This should be an easy one but I can't figure it out.

I built a cab and recently decided to format the hard drive and start over from scratch.  It's a slikstik cab with a slikstik classic controller.  I am running mame .90.  I used to use mamewah setup to do all of the configuration for me, but when I go to their web site and install it it tells me it is not compatable with the current version of mamewah.

So, I've never set this up manually before.  When I go into mame to play a game, all of my controlls are messed up.  I downloaded the slikstik classic .cfg files, but I don't know where to put them to get mame to use them.  I searched my hard drive for mame.ini and only found one listed in the mamewah folder, so I guess mamewah relays the controller config to mame?  I don't see anything in this file to tell mame what controller config to use.  Also, my controls are a little messed up in mamewah.  My player 2 up and down arrows work, but player 2 left and right do not work.  They used to skip games just like player 1 but a little faster.  How do I edit this go get it working again?

[Minwah]

For MAMEWAH, edit \mamewah\ctrlr\default.ini, and set the inputs accordingly (I am not sure what the SlikStik's mappings are).  You'll probably need to read \docs\ctrlr.txt to understand how to do this.  Note that this is completely separate to MAME...

For MAME, you should have a suitable ctrlr file supplied - have a look for \mame\ctrlr\slikstik.cfg.  Assuming you have this just set 'ctrlr slikstik' in your \mame\mame.ini file.

[SmokinGun]

I already tried to specify the controller in the mame.ini file, but I don't have a mame.ini file.

[SmokinGun]

Can anyone help me with this?  I know my old cab had a mame.ini on it, I just can't figure out why I don't have one on this build. 

[GGKoul]

Here is a listing of all the control settings.

http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac2.html

Or you could contact SlikStick for assistance.  As most people here have built there own control panels and aren't familiar with the SlikStick config file.

[SmokinGun]

GGKoul,

I appreciate your reply but I'm not having a problem finding controller files.  I'm having a problem telling mame where to look for the file at.  I know when I had it setup before, there was a mame.ini file and there was a line in there that I pointed it to look at the controller file.  My problem is that I have no mame.ini file.  Any idea why?

[zaphod]

Through a DOS prompt, navigate to the directory where the mame.exe resides.  Type MAME -CC.  That should create a default mame.ini for you to edit.

[SmokinGun]

I'll give it a try when i get home zaphod.  It still doesn't make any sense that the .ini wasn't there to begin with, but if this fixes it I could care less why.

[SmokinGun]

Ok, I went home and ran the mame -cc command and got a mame.ini file.  I then went down to the entry for ctrlr and changed it to "slikstik" just like it says in the windows.txt file supplied with mame.  I launch a game, mame and mamewah controls are messed up.  I then found a field in the mamewah.ini called ctrlr.  I put "slikstik" into that field, controls still messed up.  I tried to type in slikstik.cfg and c:\mame\ctrlr\slikstik.cfg, same problem.  In the mame.ini, ctrlr is listed as "ctrlr #".  I tried typing in the number 3, as it was the 3rd controller profile, same problem.  I checked the file permissions, they weren't read only.  XP SP2 has this thing that detects if a file is copied from another computer and blocks it.  I turned that off, same problem.  I downloaded a slikstik.cfg file from slikstik and overrode the existing slikstik.cfg in the mame ctrlr folder, same problem.

I believe it is reading the mame.ini file as I turned disable game warnings to a 1 and it stopped making me jiggle the joystick left and right for street fighter alpha 3 to get rid of the ok screen.  How do I make this work?

[jcrouse]

At the top of the mame.ini file all of your paths should be specified. The path for "ctrlr_directory" should be ctrlr. In this file you will need a file named slikstik than contains the mappings for MAME. Then further down the file where you saw the line that said:

# ctrlr     ....something else

set it to

ctrlr        slikstik

That should take care of mame. Now for MameWAH, in the MameWAH folder there will be a ctrlr folder. In this folder you need a file, lets call it slikstik.ini, that contains your settings for MameWAH. Look at the default.ini file in the same folder for an example. Modify it to suite and save it as slikstik.ini. Now go into your mamewah.ini file in the root mamewah folder and under the "misc options" section set the ctrlr parameter equal to slikstik. This will tell MameWAH which ctrlr file to use. That should do it.

Good Luck,
John

[SmokinGun]

That was it, thanks jcrouse.  I knew it was going to be something stupid like that.  I didn't realize the # sign was there to indicate that the ctrlr line was left blank.  I changed this and it works fine.

Also, for those that don't know; the slikstik ctrlr file that comes with mame is outdated.  There is a newer slikstik.cfg file available from the slikstik website. 

Now I just need to go back and manually edit the mamewah ctrlr file to get my controls back to normal in mamewah.  I miss mamewah setup ;(

I've also got some problems with mame game resolutions showing up incorrectly, but I'll save that for another thread.  Thanks again!

[zaphod]

What I do for the resolution issue is in the mame/mame.ini file, I change the resolution.  It works perfectly for me.  The line I use is:

resolution              1024x768x16

[Minwah]

Now I just need to go back and manually edit the mamewah ctrlr file to get my controls back to normal in mamewah.  I miss mamewah setup ;(

Screaming's equivilent for recent versions, 'MAMEWAH Config' is under development.  I have a feeling it will be pretty popular

[SmokinGun]

This is getting off subject, but if you go into the mame.ini file and just change the resolution to  1024x768x16 won't that make all the roms appear at that resolution?  I thought all games had a seperate resolution which is why the ArcadeVGA card supports switching to all of those resolutions in order to make the games look right on my WG9200? 

I ran the Mamewah resolution setup and set it to autoconfigure mame resolutions, but after doing that some of the vertical scrolling games are not centered on the screen, and some of the games came up as a ? in the desired resolution.  For the questionmark ones, I hit autoadjust again and it changed them to another resolution. 

Also, there are some resolutions where I get a black hole displayed on the screen.  That happened on my old setup as well.  I remember having to mess with the mamewah tool to get that hole to go away.  I think I changed to a different resolution.

Anyway, my question is am I doing this right?  Is there a better way to get all of the resolutions to show up correctly in mame?  As of now, some games look fine, while others do not show up centered in the middle of the screen. 

[zaphod]

I have a PC monitor so that could be the difference but the resolution change makes every game look right on my cab and that was the easiest fix for me.  That was how I fixed any layout issues on MAME32, on a game-by-game basis.

[Zeosstud]

Smokin Gun,
                     For what its worth I set my resolution at 800x600 fof my WG D9200 and have not had any more issues with video.  Used to go "Out of Range" on a number of games, doesnt do that at all anymore.  Running Windows XP on a P4 2Gig with a nvidia card and the WG D9200 I run the desktop at 800x600 too.  I certainly have not tried all 5000+ games but the 100's I have tried are good now. 

Rodney