Atomic Front End Available for US!

[Lilwolf]

I second the do not add coin option.  Sure a few will say this is cool... but you wont be a real problem other then them saying oh cool.  But you will get the same from a always on freeplay options also (which doesn't have the same problems)

But the chance (not a chance... the fact) of people putting it on bootlegs should be enought to take it out.

Its been known for a while that its not hard to add (at least for some games).... But making it trivial...

btw, good looking frontend! 

[Magnet_Eye]

I second the do not add coin option.  Sure a few will say this is cool... but you wont be a real problem other then them saying oh cool.  But you will get the same from a always on freeplay options also (which doesn't have the same problems)

As I said, for all of us with coin boxes and tokens it is a cool feature. What good is freeplay?  None. It is good for those without tokens and coinboxes. 


Youki:

I will say perhaps keep it unavailable at the moment until you make a final decision. Do some polls or something to see what the vote on that feature is.

[mahuti]

Do what YOU want. If that means polls... then do that, but ultimately, use your scruples and do what makes sense for your product. No one needs to approve it except you.

[Magnet_Eye]

Do what YOU want. If that means polls... then do that, but ultimately, use your scruples and do what makes sense for your product. No one needs to approve it except you.

True dat. I was gonna say the same thing, but I am sure he knows that. I think he genuinely wants to do "the right thing" here.   

[youki]

Hi,

Yes, not easy decision. may be you 're right, i should make it unavailable. But if i do that, i think i will have less feedback.  Lot of people speak about things without proving is doable or are simply dreaming. When i began to speak about my project on French Forums , trying what they would like in their "ideal" frontend. I didn't have lot of feedback. But when i released the first version, i had lot of feedback.  When i spoke about "coin insertion", the only feedback i had, it was "I don't think it is possible".  So the Fact to prove the concept, it is a good thing to have feedback!..  This topic is itself the proof! 

Some other forums , i less open on the question, i've been bannished just because i provided the version on my website. i won't say the name of the Forums because i contacted administrator and i'm trying to convaince him. And may be we will find a solution.

A part the "coin insertion" thing,  do you like the Front End?

Thanks all.

Youki

[nipsmg]

I think the frontend is great. 

I also think that the coin thing is a great feature, especially that they carry over as well, I love that.  I had toyed with figuring out a way to do that as well, because I too have tokens and a coinbox.  It's good to be able to pump in 25 tokens and get 25 plays of whatever you want.  Great when friends are over.

Maybe adding some kind of text in the bottom corner of the screen that says "Use of this product commercially is in violation of domestic and international laws" would deter people from actually using it in public?

-- Youki:

The frontend is great.  It is definitely the easiest I've seen to configure right out of the box.  I love the animated backgrounds too.  Great work.

[youki]

thanks a lot for your comment! 

That's a good idea the "warning message" on the screen on the pro version. What do you thing guys?


Concerning easy configuration. It was my goal , keep it as easy possible to configure. It is not yet perfect, but each time i try to make it more easier.

Youki.

[terryd]

I think nipsmg had a GREAT point.  If you did make (I hope you do) the coin forwarding mechanism in your FE, then this would surly make it difficult to put in a money making environment.

If you hear comments that you must make your source code available to stay in the compliance of the MAME license, I say NO.  The MAME license applies to MAME and derivatives of MAME only.  In my personal opinion does it reflect in any way to how a FE should be treated.  Making the source code available COULD ultimately nullify the warning system.

[youki]

Hi Terryd,

For the prototype version of the PRO version, i modified mame source because it was the fastest way to test.  But in case i 'd "release" the pro version, the Credit management system will be not a part of MAME itself. It will be outside MAME.  I few solutions one working only on win98 , the other only on XP /NT , and a third one working on both. But each one have advantage and disadvantage. But the technical thing is not my problem now, it is easy to decide. It is the ethic things i'm working on!. 

And thats sure, i will not provide full sources of my coin forwarding mechanism. But if i'm able to do that, other people are too , and may be with less ethic...

[terryd]

I understand your delima...  I'm not sure that the implications of having a MAME machine in a money making environment is as detrimental to the MAME effort as some would have you believe.  There have been MANY instances of operators using MAME to make money.  So far no one has broken down any doors or hauling people away.  I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying that it has not happened yet and I doubt it would ever happen.

I know your interest is to see if a credit system is possible at all.  Even though some have said it was impossible.  Just keep in mind that many things thought impossible at one time are now possible!

[youki]

>I know your interest is to see if a credit system is possible at all.

I know it is possible. It works well on my Front End! You can try it, if you download the version from my website. (the version is volontary limited to avoid illegal use)

It was a challenge i wanted to attempt. I succeeded.  Now, the question , should i deliver it freely to the world of mame...  That's the question i try to find answer here. 

[vibez]

I really like the look of this front end.

One problem, I run my cab at 368x240 res. On that res the fonts are not blurred to read. Are there any fonts that will work at that res?

Oh, & would it be possible to make a menu structure like mame32. Where you can browse games based on the catargory.

example

sports----> football

[lokki]

Looks like a pretty cool FE. A little dissapointed there aren't many vertical layouts.

Will try it tonight.

[iwillfearnoevil]

don't worry about the whole commercial thing. lots of people here use mame and the roms illegally but feel better telling other people what they are doing is wrong. i guess it helps them sleep better at night. good luck.

[youki]

Hi All,  Thanks for your feedbacks!

One problem, I run my cab at 368x240 res. On that res the fonts are not blurred to read. Are there any fonts that will work at that res?

The solution is to make a layout which fit to this resolution. In that case Atomic will not stretch the image and the font will be more readable. What layout do you use?  If i have time , i can make a 368x240 native version.

Code: [Select]

Oh, & would it be possible to make a menu structure like mame32. Where you can browse games based on the catargory.

example

sports----> football
Currently, with atomic you can chain layouts to make what i call "multi-configuration" .  There 2 multi-configuration mode, one very simple , the other a little more advance.

TO do that :
-go in AtomicManager, check the "advance option" check box,  new tabs will appear.
-Go on the "Advanced" tab. 
-Check "use predifined game list" check box
-a new tab appears (called "Game List")
-Go on the "Game List" tab
-On the Left you will see all roms you own
-on the "categorie file" combo box , choose "+Sports"
-then on the "select category' combo box , choose "FootBall Amer."
-then click "Transfer category"
-All "FootBall" roms you own will appear now in the right list.
-Click on "Save" Button
-Name your config file "Football.cfg" (the .CFG is mandatory) (Call it Atomic.CFG only if you want it is the configuration loaded when you run atomic) SAVE IT on the same folder of Atomic.exe
-then exit.

Now run Atomic.exe ,  when you are on the frontEnd , press on the "Player 2 Button 1" , a menu will appear with all .CFG file you defined. Choose FootBall.CFG , by clicking on "Player 1 Start" button. A now you will see your football configuration as you defined it.

If you can not display the "select configuration" menu, go to AtomicManager, open the "Atomic.CFG"  go on the "Options" Tab , and check if the "Allow on Fly conf selection" is enabled.  This checkbox need to be enabled for all of your configuration file you can do.

there is another "multi-configuration mode" , where you can navigate directly from the Front End with having to open que "Select Conf" windows. Check the Documention in the Docs\English folder.  It is described in the chapter 5 (Configuration) , paragraph 5.6 (Multi-configuration)

little dissapointed there aren't many vertical layouts.

You can use Horizontal Layout as vertical too. Layout are a little bit deformed due to Horizontal/vertical ration but it works. Just select a Horizontal Layout and select "Vertical" as screen orientation on AtomicManager.

cheers,

Youki

[vibez]

The solution is to make a layout which fit to this resolution. In that case Atomic will not stretch the image and the font will be more readable. What layout do you use?  If i have time , i can make a 368x240 native version.

Thank you! I will check out a few more layouts & see which one I like best.

Currently, with atomic you can chain layouts to make what i call "multi-configuration" .  There 2 multi-configuration mode, one very simple , the other a little more advance.

TO do that :
-go in AtomicManager, check the "advance option" check box,  new tabs will appear.
-Go on the "Advanced" tab. 
-Check "use predifined game list" check box
-a new tab appears (called "Game List")
-Go on the "Game List" tab
-On the Left you will see all roms you own
-on the "categorie file" combo box , choose "+Sports"
-then on the "select category' combo box , choose "FootBall Amer."
-then click "Transfer category"
-All "FootBall" roms you own will appear now in the right list.
-Click on "Save" Button
-Name your config file "Football.cfg" (the .CFG is mandatory) (Call it Atomic.CFG only if you want it is the configuration loaded when you run atomic) SAVE IT on the same folder of Atomic.exe
-then exit.

Now run Atomic.exe ,  when you are on the frontEnd , press on the "Player 2 Button 1" , a menu will appear with all .CFG file you defined. Choose FootBall.CFG , by clicking on "Player 1 Start" button. A now you will see your football configuration as you defined it.

If you can not display the "select configuration" menu, go to AtomicManager, open the "Atomic.CFG"  go on the "Options" Tab , and check if the "Allow on Fly conf selection" is enabled.  This checkbox need to be enabled for all of your configuration file you can do.

there is another "multi-configuration mode" , where you can navigate directly from the Front End with having to open que "Select Conf" windows. Check the Documention in the Docs\English folder.  It is described in the chapter 5 (Configuration) , paragraph 5.6 (Multi-configuration)

Yes I really like the multi-config feature. The only problem is that there are approx 140 catagories in the most current catver.ini. This would take forever to create a cfg for each one. Plus it would need updating everytime a new mame build came out. It would be nice if there was a way of automating the generation of these cfg files based on an external list. such as catver.ini available here http://www.mameworld.net/catlist/

[youki]

It would be nice if there was a way of automating the generation of these cfg files based on an external list.

It is already  on my to do list!    May be not in the next version, but in a near future.

Thanks

Youki

[vibez]

It would be nice if there was a way of automating the generation of these cfg files based on an external list.

It is already  on my to do list!    May be not in the next version, but in a near future.

Thanks

Youki

Great! Can't wait to see it

[vibez]

Possible bug?

No matter which Atomic.cfg I use, when I create a game list & press save, the gameslist always gets saved as Atomic.cfg.gamelist.txt. Unless I manually change it in the option tab. This mean that if I create multi configs, the latest config overwrites the orinal gameslist.

For example a profile called test.cfg should create a list called test.cfg.gamelist.txt but instead it creates Atomic.cfg.gamelist.txt

[youki]

Yes , it is a  bug.  Sorry.

To work around:

solution 1 :
-uncheck the checkbox :
"Let atomic choose file name"
- Enter the name of your gamelist file you choose.

Solution 2 :
-Before starting building the game list . Save your Config with the name you want.
- Re-open your config you just saved.
- Uncheck and re-Check the "Let atomic choose file name".
Now the name should be correct.

I'm going to correct that bug as soons as possible!  Thanks for reporting it to me! 

[youki]

Ok, i fixed it.   and Updated the hotfix.  Re-download the hotfix and just replace the AtomicManager.exe file.  It should be better now. 

thanks again.

[vibez]

Thanks, it works perfect now.

I know you already touched on this. But do you know of a way to create a games.llist.txt for each genre?

Maybe using an external tool?

[youki]

Hi,

Waiting my tool, one solution could be to use a Textpad Macro.

You start from CatList.ini or another .ini files ,and each time you find a section [....]
You get the content and put it in a new file. 

But i don't really thing it will be faster than using AtomicManager.

cheers,

Youki

[vibez]

Yeah I was looking at importing the list into excel & when it see's a [...] it would start I new column. But I couldnt get it to work. Oh well, guess I just wait

[JonnyBoy]

I just checked out the frontend. Wow, you are doing one heck of a job making this user-friendly for idiots like myself  . But seriously, it is looking fantastic and you are doing heck of a job updating and fixing all the bugs. By the time I finish my cab I may change to the newest version of Atomic FE, by then it'll probably one heck of a contender.

[youki]

Hi JonnyBoy!

Thanks a lot for your comment!.  And the simple fact you like Atomic Fe it is the proof your are NOT an idiot at all! 

Yes, i do my best to make it easier as possible, and answer all user's needs.

Cheers,

Youki

[papaschtroumpf]

I can't get it working because I need to install it on drive D: (C: is OS only on my cab and has very little room).
Here are some comments/bug reports from what I've seen so far:

- a real installer would be better, the "use stored path" option is not explained so it's hard to know what would happen if you install in "C:\Program Files" or D:.

- I installed to D:, installed Hotfix 2, the ran AtomicManager, choose English, and started the program, got a "Nom de Fichier Incorrect". It's OK, I speak French 
This is probably due to the isntallation on D: (see below)

- I tried to change the paths ("folders" tab): even though I got a cursor when I click on the path text tab, I can't edit it. Too bad, because all the paths would have been correct by changing C: to D:. Instead I had to browse to each folder individually (just takes longer)

- When I tried to save the config, it tired to save it on C: instead of D:, so it wouldn't since the directory didn't exist. I can't try this FE any further until this is fixed.

- when you click on "close" the confirmation dialog shows "Annuler" instead of "Cancel"



All of these are minor, especially for a beta version, except for the inability to install on a different drive, which prevents me from using the FE at all.

[Buddabing]

I have the exact same problem as papa. Same symptoms.

[youki]

Hi PapaSctroumpf,

I just tested on another drive. And you 're right there is a bug here.. it seems noboby tried to install it on another drive.

[youki]

Hi,

Waiting a fix. To workaround this problem.

if you installed Atomic on a folder which is not a  C:\

You can edit the file Atomic.CFG with the notepad and replace all reference to C:\ by D:\ for instance. It will solve your problem.

In fact , i wanted to deliver a default configuration with the tool , it i had provided a empty one you wouldn't have this problem... but for the 90% of user which install the tool on C: it would required more configuration for the first start.

Hope it helps

Youki

[Popcorrin]

I played around with the frontend some mainly to see what the credit manager was like.  I noticed that if you load up a game and press p1 or p2 start and continue to press either after the game has started you can cause the credit manager to go into the negative on the frontend even though you may have only used 2 out of your 10 available credits in the game.
Another thing I noticed is that it constantly crashes and I think it may have something to do with the mmm videos I created.  Someone else said they were having problems with this.

[youki]

Hi,

concerning the installation Problem of PapaSchtroumpf and buddabing. I put a fix on my website.  I update the Hotfix. Download it, it should fix the problem you should be able to install it on d: or where you want.

Popcorrin. concerning the credit management, it make sense!. I will fix that in case i give a future to this version.   Thanks to reporting to me.

concerning Video , Atomic manage only very simple video format.
mng , Divx..etc.. could be used in Jukebox video mode if you have the right codec for Windows Media player 7 installed .  If you talk about SNAP VIDEO, the format need to be very basic. 16 bit or 24 bits per pixel. AVI.  For format generated by CamStudio works.

Could you send me, of small video file at your format?.  I could try to see what happends.  Because the crash is not normal. If the format is not valid i should simply display the snap.

Coming soon a new hot fix (sorry) a bug has been discover in advanced multiconfig mode , i working on it.

thanks

Youki

[papaschtroumpf]

for non-mame emulators you forgot to translate "repertoires EXE/BAT" in the Folders tab

[Magnet_Eye]

Just wondering how you are progressing with AtomicFE?

[hulkster]

Hi,

concerning the installation Problem of PapaSchtroumpf and buddabing. I put a fix on my website.

[daywane]

It is a cool feature, and I'm sure youki doesn't mean any harm.

[Thenasty]

I run my Spykiller and it reports the file hook.dll is an Adware loo n search from my Atomic Fe folder. Is this something I have to be concerned about ?

[Gunstar Hero]

Delete it.

Then we'll know if it was important or not! 

WTF would a file called hook.dll be for? 

[Thenasty]

Delete it.

Then we'll know if it was important or not!

[Magnet_Eye]

I run my Spykiller and it reports the file hook.dll is an Adware loo n search from my Atomic Fe folder. Is this something I have to be concerned about ?

info i found about it:

Information about hookdll.dll file
File: hookdll.dll
Name: hookdll or SetupHook or Hook DLL
Product: hookdll or Wise Solutions, Inc. SetupHook or Productivity Software Common Files
Company: Wise Solutions, Inc. or Logitech Inc.