FE - Sewer Gears v0.01 Now Available - ArcadeFE.com

[Regor]

Just wanted to let everyone know version 0.01 of my first front end is available at ArcadeFE.com

I will be starting my rewrite of the application in the next few weeks and would like as much good/bad input as I can.

Some features I want to include in the next rewrite:
* 640x480, 800x600 support
* All emulator support
* Video or screenshot before launching game
* MP3 playlist support
* Build List utility will become an all in one isntaead of including FE settings as a propritary utility.

Please remember this is a BETA of the first release, so it is not suggested to run this as your primary FE. If you do not find any bugs or I do not receive e-mails with suggestion I will be forced to add bugs and bad features (just kidding). 

On another note I hope to get my ArcadeVGA and 27" arcade tube soon so I can start desiging GUI's that are optimized for a true arcade feel.

[MameJunkie]

The Software section has a FE list thread.
You should put the info there so anyone looking for a FEs will see yours.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=41601.0

[Buddabing]

Hi Regor,

FYI this thread belongs in the software forum.

So far, so good. I've got a few comments.

1) If you type in paths to roms and mame in the setup program, your program can't find them if there is no closing backslash. The program should be smart enough to detect this.

2) The setup program doesn't minimize and it doesn't go to the background if another window is clicked. This is necessary, for example, if the user needs to download the catver or the controls.ini files.

3) If you cancel the setup app, the FE launches and starts generating the game list. Seems like you would want to have a way to abort the setup more cleanly.

4) It takes a looooong time to generate the game list, and even longer to read the controls.ini.

5) In the drop list to select a key to change categories, add a disable option. Some users, in order to foolproof their cabinets, might want the user not to be able to change game lists.

6) In the setup program, put somewhere that the default button to bring up the settings in the FE is S, the default button to bring up the button layout is B, and the default button to launch is enter. That should lessen the "WTF can't launch a game" factor.

7) Maybe add "are you sure" if the user presses ESC (or other exit button).

For use in some cabinets (ones with certain types of arcade monitors), you'll need to add even lower resolutions than 640x480. My cabinet, for example, runs at something like 368x240.

I personally would love it if a front end provided a single game list for the user rather than one for each emulator. Then, whoever was setting up the FE would set up the games to work best on each emulator. My family members don't care about Daphne, Zinc, or others, they just want a list of games. No front end that I have tried does this.

[Lilwolf]

Mine does.  I thought they all did now.  I initially added it so I could use older versions for system16 games running older versions of mame.  And analog+ mame for others.   But its GREAT since my cabinet can play zinc games perfectly, but not so good in mame

I personally would love it if a front end provided a single game list for the user rather than one for each emulator. Then, whoever was setting up the FE would set up the games to work best on each emulator. My family members don't care about Daphne, Zinc, or others, they just want a list of games. No front end that I have tried does this.

[AllisterFiend]

I personally would love it if a front end provided a single game list for the user rather than one for each emulator. Then, whoever was setting up the FE would set up the games to work best on each emulator. My family members don't care about Daphne, Zinc, or others, they just want a list of games. No front end that I have tried does this.

Hello Buddabing,

   Just to let you know, I use Dragon King and it does what you are looking for.  I use MAME and Daphne together but everything shows up on one list, no one knows what emulator is being used when they scroll thru the list and select a game.

Later,

Allister Fiend

(keep up the good work on the projects you are working on)

[Regor]

Hi Regor,

FYI this thread belongs in the software forum.

So far, so good. I've got a few comments.

1) If you type in paths to roms and mame in the setup program, your program can't find them if there is no closing backslash. The program should be smart enough to detect this.

2) The setup program doesn't minimize and it doesn't go to the background if another window is clicked. This is necessary, for example, if the user needs to download the catver or the controls.ini files.

3) If you cancel the setup app, the FE launches and starts generating the game list. Seems like you would want to have a way to abort the setup more cleanly.

4) It takes a looooong time to generate the game list, and even longer to read the controls.ini.

5) In the drop list to select a key to change categories, add a disable option. Some users, in order to foolproof their cabinets, might want the user not to be able to change game lists.

6) In the setup program, put somewhere that the default button to bring up the settings in the FE is S, the default button to bring up the button layout is B, and the default button to launch is enter. That should lessen the "WTF can't launch a game" factor.

7) Maybe add "are you sure" if the user presses ESC (or other exit button).

For use in some cabinets (ones with certain types of arcade monitors), you'll need to add even lower resolutions than 640x480. My cabinet, for example, runs at something like 368x240.

I personally would love it if a front end provided a single game list for the user rather than one for each emulator. Then, whoever was setting up the FE would set up the games to work best on each emulator. My family members don't care about Daphne, Zinc, or others, they just want a list of games. No front end that I have tried does this.

great information here. I am doing my 1st re-write of the base application now and am including many of the feedback I have been recieving. I will check for all the problems you have found so far in the next edition. 

I was just ahving the games list descussion with a friend today. Should I have emulators broken up with their own genres or should I list all front ends together under the genre? Some of the ideas I though of if I grouped them together would allow the suer to specify label colors so they could identify the console/arcade the game is from. Other included popping up a small icon somewhere on the front end to identify the emulator type. the other idea which I like is to give the user the choice in settings to group all emulators together in the genre lists or to seperate them. I will be coding two addional key settings if emulators can be cycled through.

Ya I knew the 1024x768 resolution wasnt a good choice and defiently want to offer 800x600 and 640x480 in the final builds.

Again thanks for the feedback, and keep it coming.