"Normal" Resolution for MAME Cabinets? / Download Available

[Flack]

I have been working on a MAME/Emulator front end over the past couple of weeks. The goal of my project was to 1, create a front end that is extremely simple to set up and use, and 2, create a front end that is extremely versitile (so that it can support any emulator and/or PC game). My intent was to create something that allows advanced users some options to tweak, but that beginning users can set up in five to ten minutes. I think I have succeeded so far.

One of the things this front end does (like many others) is display screenshots (if available). I am probably showing a lack of programming knowledge here, but it seems to be the only way to do that would be to create the interface using an "intended" resolution. In other words, right now the form is 800x600, so if your cabinet is running in that resolution and the program is launched in full screen mode, it works great. If the program is run at another resolution, it'll look awful.

I know VB programs can be written to be easily resizable, but doing that makes the screenshots and other text information not line up with my background graphic. These are the only options I see:

1, maintain different versions of the program for different resolutions.
2, force users to run a specific resolution (not very user friendly).

Am I missing a third one?

[DaemonCollector]

3) Write the program so it scales accordingly. Not really all that hard to do, just make all the locations and such dynamic based on resolution

[AceTKK]

You'll pretty much find three different user bases for your FE. 

First, you'll have those who use a computer monitor.  For this group, SVGA or above is fine since text stays clear and sharp at high res on a PC  monitor.

Secondly, you'll have users who use a television driven through S-video / component connections.  For these users 640x480 is pretty much the highest res that's usable.  As the res goes up, text becomes blurry and unreadable.

Third, you'll have users who use CGA arcade monitors for their cabs.  These monitors typically run 320x240, and are unable to support higher resolutions w/out interlacing. 

-Ace-

[screaming]

  Is this going to be a front end like MAME32 or like MAMEWAH, DK, etc..?

  If it's going to be like MAME32, take a look at my MAMEWAH Config program.  That's form-based and I support different resolutions.  Basically it comes down to abstracting everything the user can do away from the design (typical design/data theory). I can help you out with that if you need it...

  If it's going to be like MAMEWAH/DK/Kymaera, etc, then you'll certainly need to look into DirectX or Allegro.

-sab

[Flack]

You'll pretty much find three different user bases for your FE.

[Fuzzguitar]

Looks nice so far though.

[wpcmame]

Third, you'll have users who use CGA arcade monitors for their cabs.

[Flack]

If anyone wants to play with the latest version, it can be downloaded here:

http://www.robohara.com/software/ffe-alpha07.rar

It's still currently set at 800x600 but I'm working on that part. There are a couple of INI files included that let you configure the background graphics, colors, sounds, etc. Once it's all done I think it'll be pretty useful for people setting up their first cabinets and as a stepping stone to some of the more complex and powerful front ends.