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Author Topic: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v8.2  (Read 552751 times)

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drventure

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #640 on: March 16, 2012, 12:29:01 pm »
Instead of running mame "in" your app, would it be possible to run your app before mame starts?

Use a BAT file, and pass in the name of the rom that mame will load.

In the bat, Run your program before mame, your program does it's check, if it's a game you want to be able to remap, you pop your screen, prompt, remap things and then exit, the bat continues on and executes MAME as normal, and LEDBlinky will run as it usually does.

That's the way I wrote my "ControllerRemap" utility. The only snag with it and LEDBlinky is that LEDBlinky normally loads up the Mame config once, the first time it's loaded.

Then it assumes that the controls files won't be changing.

Arzoo and I have been talking about a possible change where it would be possible to "tell" ledblinky that the controls mapping has changed and he should reread it.



brilliancenp

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #641 on: March 16, 2012, 12:51:21 pm »
That is a great idea.  The funny thing is that it does work half of the time.  I have to do a very specific combination in my front end (AtomicFE) to get it to work but it does.  From what I can tell so far, which doesn't make any sense, if I select the first game to run outside of my favorites menu, it seems to work just fine, if not led blinky doesn't work.  Very strange...  I have been working on this program for a while, and want to add a bunch of other stuff, but I want to get the basic version out there to get some feedback on how to make it better.  I want to make it work with LED Blinky before I release it though.  How does your program work?
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drventure

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #642 on: March 16, 2012, 02:24:43 pm »
ControllerRemap is basically just a file rewriter.

Check my sig for a link to the full thread, the download is there and there's a full PDF that documents everything.

But basically, it's a purely command line app (no gui at all).

You run it BEFORE starting mame, so typically, you'd create a "StartMame.bat" file, and in it, run controllerremap, and then start mame.

For instance you might have a bat file

REM Start of file

ControllerRemap /Remap:c:\mame\ctrlr\MyArcade.cfg

Mame %1 –ctrlr MyArcade.cfg

REM End of bat file


So the idea is that the front end would start the BAT file and pass it the name of the ROM selected.

That would get passed in as %1, ControllerRemap would run, read and then rewrite the MyArcade.cfg file

and then mame would start and load that cfg file.

Like I said, though, LEDBlinky tends to want to read the CFG file only once, when it's first started, so that was something Arzoo has been looking into.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #643 on: March 16, 2012, 07:18:20 pm »
Like I said, though, LEDBlinky tends to want to read the CFG file only once, when it's first started, so that was something Arzoo has been looking into.

drventure,
The current version of LEDBlinky (5.0.0.5) does have a command line option to reload a controller file - did you ever get a chance to test it with your app?
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #644 on: March 16, 2012, 07:25:47 pm »
brilliancenp,
The problem with LEDBlinky should be easy to solve - you just need to make sure the name of your app (whatever AFE is configured to launch) has "mame" in it. So for example, if AFE is configured to run your app as <path>\PlayerSelect.exe, you could rename it to <path>\PlayerSelectMame.exe. Hope this makes sense.

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brilliancenp

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #645 on: March 16, 2012, 09:18:19 pm »
Arzoo,

Thank you so much.  I will try this.  I will let you know how it works out.  Thanks again! :)  I want to make sure it works with your software because, as a developer, I think it is amazing.  I have left a couple of pics in case you are interested. Normal and cocktail mode :) You are the man!
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #646 on: March 17, 2012, 11:21:18 am »
Arzoo,

That worked just as you said!  Thanks again  :cheers:
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drventure

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #647 on: March 17, 2012, 11:40:33 am »
Cool. I did not know about the "mame in the file name" trick.

@arzoo yeah, i knew you'd added that, i just wanted to defer announcing it to you :)

Its on my list to try out this weekend. Life keeps getting in the way.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #648 on: March 17, 2012, 12:32:57 pm »
Cool. I did not know about the "mame in the file name" trick.

@arzoo yeah, i knew you'd added that, i just wanted to defer announcing it to you :)

Its on my list to try out this weekend. Life keeps getting in the way.

Looking for "mame" in the file name was the easiest way to identify any version of mame - not the most elegant solution but it works - and in this case provides some flexibility.

No rush on testing the controller file reload  :)
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #649 on: April 12, 2012, 03:13:36 pm »
Hey Arzoo,
How do I configure LEDBlinky to synch with iTunes music?  Is that just by adding iTunes as its on emulator and forcing it as "jukebox"?

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #650 on: April 12, 2012, 03:48:42 pm »
Hey Arzoo,
How do I configure LEDBlinky to synch with iTunes music?  Is that just by adding iTunes as its on emulator and forcing it as "jukebox"?

LEDBlinky doesn't have the ability to play any music files or sync with iTunes - but it can blink your LEDs in sync to whatever music is playing on the pc. If you configure your FE to launch iTunes (or any jukebox app), you can set it as a "Jukebox" in the LEDBlinky configuration. This is used in conjunction with the Game Play Animation to blink the LEDs in sync with the music. More info here: http://www.dndw.com/ledblinky/Support.htm#Jukebox
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evh347

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #651 on: April 12, 2012, 05:22:46 pm »
Hey Arzoo,
How do I configure LEDBlinky to synch with iTunes music?  Is that just by adding iTunes as its on emulator and forcing it as "jukebox"?

LEDBlinky doesn't have the ability to play any music files or sync with iTunes - but it can blink your LEDs in sync to whatever music is playing on the pc. If you configure your FE to launch iTunes (or any jukebox app), you can set it as a "Jukebox" in the LEDBlinky configuration. This is used in conjunction with the Game Play Animation to blink the LEDs in sync with the music. More info here: http://www.dndw.com/ledblinky/Support.htm#Jukebox

Okay I understand.

Another quick question, if I'm running Mess from Hyperspin to emulate various systems (Atari2600, 5800, etc...), will LEDBlinky still allow me to light active buttons per system, or will it only see Mess as one emulator and not allow different illumination scenes per system?

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #652 on: April 12, 2012, 06:21:17 pm »
Another quick question, if I'm running Mess from Hyperspin to emulate various systems (Atari2600, 5800, etc...), will LEDBlinky still allow me to light active buttons per system, or will it only see Mess as one emulator and not allow different illumination scenes per system?

You'll need to use batch files with MESS to get LEDBlinky to recognize different systems. Here's another thread discussing the issue: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93526.0
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evh347

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #653 on: April 12, 2012, 08:30:42 pm »
Okay new question...
Say I want the game to speak the controls and keep the buttons illuminated when finished.  If I have two buttons that share the "7" key, they both light up and I would prefer that only one of those light up.  How doi ensure that only one of those lights?

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #654 on: April 12, 2012, 09:07:01 pm »
Okay new question...
Say I want the game to speak the controls and keep the buttons illuminated when finished.  If I have two buttons that share the "7" key, they both light up and I would prefer that only one of those light up.  How doi ensure that only one of those lights?

If you don't want them both to light up, you could remove the keycode assignment for one of them - but then it will only light up during animations. If you want each one to light up for different situations, then I'd need more info on exactly how you want it to work.
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evh347

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #655 on: April 12, 2012, 09:44:07 pm »
Okay new question...
Say I want the game to speak the controls and keep the buttons illuminated when finished.  If I have two buttons that share the "7" key, they both light up and I would prefer that only one of those light up.  How doi ensure that only one of those lights?

If you don't want them both to light up, you could remove the keycode assignment for one of them - but then it will only light up during animations. If you want each one to light up for different situations, then I'd need more info on exactly how you want it to work.

Well, I have two buttons that register a key ode of "7", two that register a "H" and "9", "0", and a "Z".  So if any configurations for ROMs that  use any of those buttons, LEDBlinky speaks and illuminates both of those buttons.  Instead of only 1 button for player 1 and 1 button for player 2, player 1 gets two buttons that govern the same keystroke and more buttons ofnthe control panel are illuminated than what I want.

I want to avoid that without having to select a different button for player 1 that doesn't share the same key code as the button I'm intending to use.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #656 on: April 12, 2012, 10:46:56 pm »
Darn it, another question!

Im using HS and LED Blinky 5.0.0.5

What might the problem be if I have "light player start and coin buttons" and "flash player start with credits + other Mame outputs (Mame only)" checked in the Game Options tab of the Configure LEDBlinky app and my player start buttons don't flash?

The credits have been applied, the credit and player buttons are lit, but the player buttons don't flash with that option checked.  All my lights otherwise work fine.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #657 on: April 12, 2012, 10:55:41 pm »
Darn it, another question!

Im using HS and LED Blinky 5.0.0.5

What might the problem be if I have "light player start and coin buttons" and "flash player start with credits + other Mame outputs (Mame only)" checked in the Game Options tab of the Configure LEDBlinky app and my player start buttons don't flash?

The credits have been applied, the credit and player buttons are lit, but the player buttons don't flash with that option checked.  All my lights otherwise work fine.

Only works on games that support that. Like Galaga (and/or Galaxian) I believe, and some other old school ones.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #658 on: April 13, 2012, 08:32:26 am »
Okay new question...
Say I want the game to speak the controls and keep the buttons illuminated when finished.  If I have two buttons that share the "7" key, they both light up and I would prefer that only one of those light up.  How doi ensure that only one of those lights?

If you don't want them both to light up, you could remove the keycode assignment for one of them - but then it will only light up during animations. If you want each one to light up for different situations, then I'd need more info on exactly how you want it to work.

Well, I have two buttons that register a key ode of "7", two that register a "H" and "9", "0", and a "Z".  So if any configurations for ROMs that  use any of those buttons, LEDBlinky speaks and illuminates both of those buttons.  Instead of only 1 button for player 1 and 1 button for player 2, player 1 gets two buttons that govern the same keystroke and more buttons ofnthe control panel are illuminated than what I want.

I want to avoid that without having to select a different button for player 1 that doesn't share the same key code as the button I'm intending to use.

Sorry but I’m still confused about your cp button layout. Are you saying that both player 1 and player 2 have a button wired to keycode 7 or player 1 has two buttons wired to keycode 7? If two buttons are using keycode 7, then both will have the same function within MAME – so doesn’t it make sense that they should both light up?
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #659 on: April 13, 2012, 09:26:12 am »
Arzoo,
Yes it does make sense.  I guess the only way round this is if the buttons are assigned to different key codes.

I just think the control panel looks cleaner if only one button is lit if the player is only going to be using that button.  I have an old CO2 control panel from Slik Stik that i recently installed the LED Wiz(s) x4 and 32 EI2 buttons into.  The Slik Stik was designed with buttons that share the same key code.  I'll give you another example...Asteroids uses a 5 button layout and when my buttons are lit, I have 3 other buttons physically lit and when they stay lit, it looks confusing.  The LEDBlinky/Mala video on YouTube showing the Asteroids layout using 5 buttons lit using a different layout that I could use, but I'd have to go into the game and reassign the controls from within Mame and that defeats the purpose of my "asteroids button layout" that was designed into my control panel.

If I want to play a game (dkong) that uses the 4-way joystick, I'll stand in the middle and the jump button is lit immediately to the right of the 4-way stick.  This button is coded to the key code "7".  But there is also a button for Player 1 on the left side of the control panel in the cluster of the typical 7-button fighter layout that shares that key code.  So that button lights up too.

I was just wondering if LEDBlinky allowed a way around that so I could distinguish which physical button lit up instead of relying specifically on Mame's settings.

I still have a question about iTunes though...just to confirm, LEDBlinky will only sync/flash buttons to music playing if the "jukebox" program was launched from the FE?  I'm trying to get Hyperspin to launch iTunes so I can get LEDBlinky to flash buttons with my music, but getting Hyperspin to launch iTunes as anything but a PC .exe has proven to be a real P.I.T.A.  And doing so doesn't get iTunes to show up in LEDBlinky controls config app as an "unknown emulator".

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #660 on: April 14, 2012, 05:21:14 pm »
Arzoo,
Yes it does make sense.  I guess the only way round this is if the buttons are assigned to different key codes.

I just think the control panel looks cleaner if only one button is lit if the player is only going to be using that button.  I have an old CO2 control panel from Slik Stik that i recently installed the LED Wiz(s) x4 and 32 EI2 buttons into.  The Slik Stik was designed with buttons that share the same key code.  I'll give you another example...Asteroids uses a 5 button layout and when my buttons are lit, I have 3 other buttons physically lit and when they stay lit, it looks confusing.  The LEDBlinky/Mala video on YouTube showing the Asteroids layout using 5 buttons lit using a different layout that I could use, but I'd have to go into the game and reassign the controls from within Mame and that defeats the purpose of my "asteroids button layout" that was designed into my control panel.

If I want to play a game (dkong) that uses the 4-way joystick, I'll stand in the middle and the jump button is lit immediately to the right of the 4-way stick.  This button is coded to the key code "7".  But there is also a button for Player 1 on the left side of the control panel in the cluster of the typical 7-button fighter layout that shares that key code.  So that button lights up too.

I was just wondering if LEDBlinky allowed a way around that so I could distinguish which physical button lit up instead of relying specifically on Mame's settings.

I still have a question about iTunes though...just to confirm, LEDBlinky will only sync/flash buttons to music playing if the "jukebox" program was launched from the FE?  I'm trying to get Hyperspin to launch iTunes so I can get LEDBlinky to flash buttons with my music, but getting Hyperspin to launch iTunes as anything but a PC .exe has proven to be a real P.I.T.A.  And doing so doesn't get iTunes to show up in LEDBlinky controls config app as an "unknown emulator".

There's no way to prevent LEDBlinky from lighting multiple buttons if they use the same keycode. As you suggested, you'll have to reprogram the keyboard emulator so the buttons did not share the keycodes. If you leave the 7 fighter buttons with the current keycodes and re-assign the other buttons, you should only have to use mame to remap the games that use those other buttons (like asteroids). I don't see any other option - sorry.

As for iTunes, blinky should sync the LEDs to any music playing regardless of the source (the FE is not required). From the config app, on the Audio Animation tab, make sure the Audio Input is set to "Stereo Mix" or "Line Out". You may need to enable the "Stereo Mix" or "What You Hear" option for you audio hardware. There's info in the LEDBlinky Install and Config.pdf under the Audio Animation section on how to do this.
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evh347

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #661 on: April 14, 2012, 05:43:13 pm »
Arzoo,
Yes it does make sense.  I guess the only way round this is if the buttons are assigned to different key codes.

I just think the control panel looks cleaner if only one button is lit if the player is only going to be using that button.  I have an old CO2 control panel from Slik Stik that i recently installed the LED Wiz(s) x4 and 32 EI2 buttons into.  The Slik Stik was designed with buttons that share the same key code.  I'll give you another example...Asteroids uses a 5 button layout and when my buttons are lit, I have 3 other buttons physically lit and when they stay lit, it looks confusing.  The LEDBlinky/Mala video on YouTube showing the Asteroids layout using 5 buttons lit using a different layout that I could use, but I'd have to go into the game and reassign the controls from within Mame and that defeats the purpose of my "asteroids button layout" that was designed into my control panel.

If I want to play a game (dkong) that uses the 4-way joystick, I'll stand in the middle and the jump button is lit immediately to the right of the 4-way stick.  This button is coded to the key code "7".  But there is also a button for Player 1 on the left side of the control panel in the cluster of the typical 7-button fighter layout that shares that key code.  So that button lights up too.

I was just wondering if LEDBlinky allowed a way around that so I could distinguish which physical button lit up instead of relying specifically on Mame's settings.

I still have a question about iTunes though...just to confirm, LEDBlinky will only sync/flash buttons to music playing if the "jukebox" program was launched from the FE?  I'm trying to get Hyperspin to launch iTunes so I can get LEDBlinky to flash buttons with my music, but getting Hyperspin to launch iTunes as anything but a PC .exe has proven to be a real P.I.T.A.  And doing so doesn't get iTunes to show up in LEDBlinky controls config app as an "unknown emulator".

There's no way to prevent LEDBlinky from lighting multiple buttons if they use the same keycode. As you suggested, you'll have to reprogram the keyboard emulator so the buttons did not share the keycodes. If you leave the 7 fighter buttons with the current keycodes and re-assign the other buttons, you should only have to use mame to remap the games that use those other buttons (like asteroids). I don't see any other option - sorry.

As for iTunes, blinky should sync the LEDs to any music playing regardless of the source (the FE is not required). From the config app, on the Audio Animation tab, make sure the Audio Input is set to "Stereo Mix" or "Line Out". You may need to enable the "Stereo Mix" or "What You Hear" option for you audio hardware. There's info in the LEDBlinky Install and Config.pdf under the Audio Animation section on how to do this.

Haha! YES!  Thanks Arzoo!  Works great! 

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #662 on: April 25, 2012, 01:07:52 pm »
Arzoo,
LED Blinky is fantastic!  I'm really digging it.  Thank you!

I have a new question...I imported my Intellivision emulator via "unknown games" and I've designated colors for all the buttons I'm using.  I'm running my Intellivision through MESS v145. 

The Intellivision controllers have a lot of buttons.  9 numbers, a '0', ENTER, CLEAR, and three side buttons.

MESS has the ability to assign all of these button, but I'm having trouble getting LEDBlinky Controls Editor  to assign them all correctly to active colors.

If you add up all the buttons on the Intellivision controller that I'm trying to assign colors in the Config app, that's 15 buttons.  I'm able to assign buttons 1-9 in the "Control" drop down of the Editor app like this (P1_Button1, P1_Button2, etc...) and I can do this all the way to 10.  After that, there are no more options.

I have assigned the Intellivision controller's ENTER button to "UI_Select" and the CLEAR button to my "UI_Clear" button. 

All of my controls are spoken and lit up except the following:
I have two of my fire buttons (what would be the left top/bottom fire buttons on an INTV controller) assigned to "Start1" and "Coin1" controls within the editor.  The button light up and they work fine, but they are not spoken.  I would like those controls to speak.  Running short on options for assigning my only remaining button (the Top Right Fire button) I chose to assign that to P1_Select in the editor.  This button doesn't even light up the color I want it to (let alone speak its function).

I think what I'm looking for is the ability to add more P1 buttons in the Editor app so I can assign more than ten.  Can I do this or am I limited to only what I see in the config drop down? 

Mame has a "controls.ini" file which (I guess) helps LED Blinky know what to speak.  But the LEDBlinky Controls Editor allows some speaking definitions as well.  I don't have a "controls.ini" file for MESS.  I guess I don't know what constitutes when LEDBlinky speaks a user defined control or not. 

Could you enlighten me?  Thanks.



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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #663 on: April 25, 2012, 06:41:21 pm »
Arzoo,
LED Blinky is fantastic!  I'm really digging it.  Thank you!

I have a new question...I imported my Intellivision emulator via "unknown games" and I've designated colors for all the buttons I'm using.  I'm running my Intellivision through MESS v145. 

The Intellivision controllers have a lot of buttons.  9 numbers, a '0', ENTER, CLEAR, and three side buttons.

MESS has the ability to assign all of these button, but I'm having trouble getting LEDBlinky Controls Editor  to assign them all correctly to active colors.

If you add up all the buttons on the Intellivision controller that I'm trying to assign colors in the Config app, that's 15 buttons.  I'm able to assign buttons 1-9 in the "Control" drop down of the Editor app like this (P1_Button1, P1_Button2, etc...) and I can do this all the way to 10.  After that, there are no more options.

I have assigned the Intellivision controller's ENTER button to "UI_Select" and the CLEAR button to my "UI_Clear" button. 

All of my controls are spoken and lit up except the following:
I have two of my fire buttons (what would be the left top/bottom fire buttons on an INTV controller) assigned to "Start1" and "Coin1" controls within the editor.  The button light up and they work fine, but they are not spoken.  I would like those controls to speak.  Running short on options for assigning my only remaining button (the Top Right Fire button) I chose to assign that to P1_Select in the editor.  This button doesn't even light up the color I want it to (let alone speak its function).

I think what I'm looking for is the ability to add more P1 buttons in the Editor app so I can assign more than ten.  Can I do this or am I limited to only what I see in the config drop down? 

Mame has a "controls.ini" file which (I guess) helps LED Blinky know what to speak.  But the LEDBlinky Controls Editor allows some speaking definitions as well.  I don't have a "controls.ini" file for MESS.  I guess I don't know what constitutes when LEDBlinky speaks a user defined control or not. 

Could you enlighten me?  Thanks.

evh347 - you can add additional player controls to the controls editor by manually editing the LEDBlinkyControls.xml file (using notepad or any text/xml editor).

Locate this section:
Code: [Select]
<controlDefaults groupName="MAME"
For each player you'll need to add the additional controls as follows (this example adds P1 buttons 11 and 12, but you can add as many as you wish):
Code: [Select]
    <control name="P1_BUTTON11" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_1_BUTTON11" allowConfigPlayerNum="1"/>
    <control name="P1_BUTTON12" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_1_BUTTON12" allowConfigPlayerNum="1"/>

After you've modified the xml file, you should see the additional controls in the drop-down list. The "Name" of the control (as assigned in the controls editor) is what will be spoken. Make sure the correct keycodes are assigned - if not, the button may not light up. Also, the Coin, Start, and other admin buttons are never spoken.

Let me know how it goes.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2012, 06:43:07 pm by arzoo »
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #664 on: April 25, 2012, 10:25:02 pm »
Is the ledblinky.net site down?  Cant get to it to download.

Thanks,

Brett

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #665 on: April 26, 2012, 12:57:25 am »
evh347 - you can add additional player controls to the controls editor by manually editing the LEDBlinkyControls.xml file (using notepad or any text/xml editor).

Locate this section:
Code: [Select]
<controlDefaults groupName="MAME"
For each player you'll need to add the additional controls as follows (this example adds P1 buttons 11 and 12, but you can add as many as you wish):
Code: [Select]
    <control name="P1_BUTTON11" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_1_BUTTON11" allowConfigPlayerNum="1"/>
    <control name="P1_BUTTON12" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_1_BUTTON12" allowConfigPlayerNum="1"/>

After you've modified the xml file, you should see the additional controls in the drop-down list. The "Name" of the control (as assigned in the controls editor) is what will be spoken. Make sure the correct keycodes are assigned - if not, the button may not light up. Also, the Coin, Start, and other admin buttons are never spoken.

Let me know how it goes.

Worked perfectly, thanks again! 

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #666 on: April 26, 2012, 08:17:09 am »
Is the ledblinky.net site down?  Cant get to it to download.

Thanks,

Brett

Not sure what the problem was but the site is up now.
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #667 on: May 22, 2012, 09:59:15 am »
Arzoo,

I got my cabinet lighting running, and LEDBlinky has been on my mind again lately. I was wondering if any changes or additional features were in LEDBlinky's future. Some things I have been thinking about are:
  • Being able to define cabinet lighting LEDs as such (Cab1, Cab2, Cab3, and so on) instead of defining them as a control that isn't used.
  • Have a seperate animation editor for cabinet lighting. (Or can I do this by having 2 animation editors named differently already?)
  • Mentioned before, but be able to have different cabinet animations for FE, gameplay, and screensaver (I would really like to see different cab lighting based on game selection as well, but that seems like a huge undertaking on many levels).
  • A little flexibility with default control colors. At the least, I would like to have different default colors per player. What would be great, would be to choose different default colors per player per button (or other control).
LEDBlinky is the main tool that makes my cab what it is, and I thank you for it! If it could do just a little more, it would put the cab over the top. If any of the above is too much work, I understand, LEDBlinky is great as it is already. I can't thank you enough for this contribution, truly amazing! :applaud:
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 10:12:35 am by Nephasth »

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #668 on: May 22, 2012, 02:28:00 pm »
Arzoo,

I got my cabinet lighting running, and LEDBlinky has been on my mind again lately. I was wondering if any changes or additional features were in LEDBlinky's future. Some things I have been thinking about are:
  • Being able to define cabinet lighting LEDs as such (Cab1, Cab2, Cab3, and so on) instead of defining them as a control that isn't used.
Need more info on what you're asking here.
Quote
  • Have a seperate animation editor for cabinet lighting. (Or can I do this by having 2 animation editors named differently already?)
From the animation editor, you can create an LED layout for you control panel and another one for you cab LEDs. Both layouts would include all the LEDs, but you could push aside the ones not in use. Or better yet, make copies of your DevicePort-Input.ini, manually edit out the cp controller(s) in one and the cab controller(s) in the other, then point each animation layout to the edited files.
Quote
  • Mentioned before, but be able to have different cabinet animations for FE, gameplay, and screensaver (I would really like to see different cab lighting based on game selection as well, but that seems like a huge undertaking on many levels).
Possible in a future upgrade, but you're the only one who's asked for this feature.
Quote
  • A little flexibility with default control colors. At the least, I would like to have different default colors per player. What would be great, would be to choose different default colors per player per button (or other control).
This seems like an odd request as the default colors are only used for games not defined in the colors.ini file. I guess you could edit the colors.ini file and make changes like replace all P1_BUTTON1=Red with P1_BUTTON1=White for example.

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #669 on: May 22, 2012, 04:03:00 pm »
  • Mentioned before, but be able to have different cabinet animations for FE, gameplay, and screensaver (I would really like to see different cab lighting based on game selection as well, but that seems like a huge undertaking on many levels).
Possible in a future upgrade, but you're the only one who's asked for this feature.

That actually sounds like a good idea to me too.  Could have the cabinet animations in a bright flashy attract mode when it's in FE/Screensaver mode and have things perhaps dim down and be less distracting (or perhaps react to the audio) during actual gameplay... 

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #670 on: May 22, 2012, 04:06:45 pm »
That actually sounds like a good idea to me too.  Could have the cabinet animations in a bright flashy attract mode when it's in FE/Screensaver mode and have things perhaps dim down and be less distracting (or perhaps react to the audio) during actual gameplay... 

That does make sense  :)
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #671 on: May 22, 2012, 07:50:29 pm »
Arzoo,

I got my cabinet lighting running, and LEDBlinky has been on my mind again lately. I was wondering if any changes or additional features were in LEDBlinky's future. Some things I have been thinking about are:
  • Being able to define cabinet lighting LEDs as such (Cab1, Cab2, Cab3, and so on) instead of defining them as a control that isn't used.
Need more info on what you're asking here.
When defining LEDs in the config menu, you can assign them to P1B1, P2Start, Pause, up to something like P1B83 I think; but there is no option to assign an LED as a cabinet lighting LED (as far as I know), only to controls. Not that it really matters I guess, maybe I'm just nit picking?

Quote
Quote
  • Have a seperate animation editor for cabinet lighting. (Or can I do this by having 2 animation editors named differently already?)
From the animation editor, you can create an LED layout for you control panel and another one for you cab LEDs. Both layouts would include all the LEDs, but you could push aside the ones not in use. Or better yet, make copies of your DevicePort-Input.ini, manually edit out the cp controller(s) in one and the cab controller(s) in the other, then point each animation layout to the edited files.
I'll have to mess around with it some more.

Quote
Quote
  • Mentioned before, but be able to have different cabinet animations for FE, gameplay, and screensaver (I would really like to see different cab lighting based on game selection as well, but that seems like a huge undertaking on many levels).
Possible in a future upgrade, but you're the only one who's asked for this feature.
neohusky brought it up back last November, which is what planted it into my head. I know there's not too many people that have controlled LED cabinet lighting though... :-\

Quote
Quote
  • A little flexibility with default control colors. At the least, I would like to have different default colors per player. What would be great, would be to choose different default colors per player per button (or other control).
This seems like an odd request as the default colors are only used for games not defined in the colors.ini file. I guess you could edit the colors.ini file and make changes like replace all P1_BUTTON1=Red with P1_BUTTON1=White for example.
No, I like colors.ini just the way it is, LOVE colors.ini. But for games not listed in colors.ini, that use the default colors, it would be nice to have, let's say, P1's controls in red and P2's controls in blue instead of both players' controls being in the same color. Or if someone wanted to, to have the default colors set up like: P1B1 - Red, P1B2 - Yellow, P1B3 - Blue, P2B1 - Red, P2B2 - Yellow, P2B2 - Blue; or some other combination of colors - for games not listed in colors.ini.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2012, 07:53:35 pm by Nephasth »

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #672 on: May 22, 2012, 10:11:59 pm »
Arzoo,

I got my cabinet lighting running, and LEDBlinky has been on my mind again lately. I was wondering if any changes or additional features were in LEDBlinky's future. Some things I have been thinking about are:
  • Being able to define cabinet lighting LEDs as such (Cab1, Cab2, Cab3, and so on) instead of defining them as a control that isn't used.
Need more info on what you're asking here.
When defining LEDs in the config menu, you can assign them to P1B1, P2Start, Pause, up to something like P1B83 I think; but there is no option to assign an LED as a cabinet lighting LED (as far as I know), only to controls. Not that it really matters I guess, maybe I'm just nit picking?

If I understand correctly, you're referring to the port labels you assign in the GenLEDBlinkyInputMap app. Actually - you can type any value you want (not just select from the list).
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #673 on: May 22, 2012, 10:46:59 pm »
Sweet. I thought it was just a drop down menu.

What are your thoughts on the multiple default colors?

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #674 on: May 23, 2012, 09:16:14 am »
No, I like colors.ini just the way it is, LOVE colors.ini. But for games not listed in colors.ini, that use the default colors, it would be nice to have, let's say, P1's controls in red and P2's controls in blue instead of both players' controls being in the same color. Or if someone wanted to, to have the default colors set up like: P1B1 - Red, P1B2 - Yellow, P1B3 - Blue, P2B1 - Red, P2B2 - Yellow, P2B2 - Blue; or some other combination of colors - for games not listed in colors.ini.

Now that I think about it, you can already do this with the controls editor. For each emulator, you would create a <default> set of controls and assign any colors you want. If a game doesn't have an entry in the colors.ini, blinky will use the defaults you defined in the <default> controls.
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #675 on: May 23, 2012, 10:54:16 am »
If I understand correctly, you're referring to the port labels you assign in the GenLEDBlinkyInputMap app. Actually - you can type any value you want (not just select from the list).

Just did this. Thanks for the help on this!

No, I like colors.ini just the way it is, LOVE colors.ini. But for games not listed in colors.ini, that use the default colors, it would be nice to have, let's say, P1's controls in red and P2's controls in blue instead of both players' controls being in the same color. Or if someone wanted to, to have the default colors set up like: P1B1 - Red, P1B2 - Yellow, P1B3 - Blue, P2B1 - Red, P2B2 - Yellow, P2B2 - Blue; or some other combination of colors - for games not listed in colors.ini.

Now that I think about it, you can already do this with the controls editor. For each emulator, you would create a <default> set of controls and assign any colors you want. If a game doesn't have an entry in the colors.ini, blinky will use the defaults you defined in the <default> controls.

:banghead: Don't know why I thought I couldn't do it before, but now I have my defaults set for different colors for different players. Thanks on this too! For some reason I was trying to set up the defaults in the "common" tab. I love LEDBlinky's "Black" BTW, I use it for all my start buttons that are defined as "White" in colors.ini as well as my default color for start.


I had a thought about cabinet lighting last night. Would it be possible to treat it similar to control colors? Have LEDBlinky look in colors.ini (or some other file) for which animation to pull up when a game starts. If the game doesn't have a cab animation defined in colors.ini, LEDBlinky would pull up a default animation for gameplay. This way I could create animations for certain games that I wanted them for, but still have a decent animation (default) for games that don't get played as much or games I haven't yet created animations for. I don't know how hard or easy this would be to add to LEDBlinky, but it seems like it could give users (all 2 or 3 of them? :-\) a little more flexibility with cabinet animations if they wished to do all the work for creating the animations and editing colors.ini when appropriate. Thoughts?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 10:58:53 am by Nephasth »

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #676 on: May 23, 2012, 11:31:59 am »
I had a thought about cabinet lighting last night. Would it be possible to treat it similar to control colors? Have LEDBlinky look in colors.ini (or some other file) for which animation to pull up when a game starts. If the game doesn't have a cab animation defined in colors.ini, LEDBlinky would pull up a default animation for gameplay. This way I could create animations for certain games that I wanted them for, but still have a decent animation (default) for games that don't get played as much or games I haven't yet created animations for. I don't know how hard or easy this would be to add to LEDBlinky, but it seems like it could give users (all 2 or 3 of them? :-\) a little more flexibility with cabinet animations if they wished to do all the work for creating the animations and editing colors.ini when appropriate. Thoughts?

What I would probably do to implement this feature is to use animation files with the rom name. So for example, if you created an animation called joust.lwax, then it would only load for Joust. If the <rom>.lwax file did not exist, then use the default animation.
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #677 on: May 23, 2012, 11:41:54 am »
I had a thought about cabinet lighting last night. Would it be possible to treat it similar to control colors? Have LEDBlinky look in colors.ini (or some other file) for which animation to pull up when a game starts. If the game doesn't have a cab animation defined in colors.ini, LEDBlinky would pull up a default animation for gameplay. This way I could create animations for certain games that I wanted them for, but still have a decent animation (default) for games that don't get played as much or games I haven't yet created animations for. I don't know how hard or easy this would be to add to LEDBlinky, but it seems like it could give users (all 2 or 3 of them? :-\) a little more flexibility with cabinet animations if they wished to do all the work for creating the animations and editing colors.ini when appropriate. Thoughts?

What I would probably do to implement this feature is to use animation files with the rom name. So for example, if you created an animation called joust.lwax, then it would only load for Joust. If the <rom>.lwax file did not exist, then use the default animation.

SWEET! ;D

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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #678 on: May 23, 2012, 02:25:07 pm »
SWEET! ;D

Adding the additional cab animations (for each individual event) is not really difficult. The majority of the effort would be the configuration app and the documentation. The config app is already crammed with stuff, and I don't want to increase the window size - it's designed to work at very low resolutions. But I have an idea, so I think it's doable. I'm swamped with other work - so no promises on when this feature will be added, but I will get to it.
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Re: LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v5.0
« Reply #679 on: May 23, 2012, 05:30:21 pm »
I'm swamped with other work - so no promises on when this feature will be added, but I will get to it.

No rush on my end. This is great news! Definitely something to look forward to. :notworthy: