CPWizard v2.63 Released

[TheShanMan]

Headkaze, for the most part I'm enjoying having CPW run live instead of using bezels, but there's one thing that's kind of annoying.

I have it set up to go straight to the CP on pause, and I have the "Send Pause Key" option checked. As far as I can tell there is NO way to have mame paused without having CPW up. Occasionally I want to pause a game and see what is behind my CP layout. It would be cool if I could configure a different key to dismiss CPW without unpausing, or have another means to accomplish it, such as exiting to the menu, and then from the menu exiting to a still-paused mame.

Any thoughts on how this could be accomplished, assuming you're willing to make such a change? Bezels aren't much better, but at least you can go into the TAB menu and hide the bezel.

[headkaze]

TheShanMan: I'll have to get used to your new avatar now

The thing is CPW is designed to show when Mame is paused using Mame's output system. It's a reliable way to detect that. If you want to keep pause you would have to turn off the "Use Mame Output" and "Send Pause Key" then CPW detects Mame by searching for it's Window. It will just minimize Mame and show the CP using the "Show Key" set in the input options.

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, I like the current behavior but wish there was a way to get CPW to go away without unpausing at times. I normally want it to show when paused and hide when unpaused. But if I could hit some other key, go through some menu, or something to get CPW to exit back to mame without unpausing. I know it can't be done now. I'm more asking if it's something you'd think about adding support for in some fashion - whatever makes the most sense to you. Or are you saying you don't think it's a good idea to try to implement what I'm hoping for?

Yeah, I'm on a cyberball high this week. Just picked it up tonight. I'm quite thrilled!

[headkaze]

I get what your saying now, so you want to be able to exit CPW without pausing sometimes. Not sure what you mean when you say "Occasionally I want to pause a game and see what is behind my CP layout".

Off the top of my head I can't think of a nice way to add support for it in CPW. It's a pretty odd request really. I can actually think of a really easy way to add support for it in the Mame patch though.

In src/osd/windows/output.c

Code: [Select]

static LRESULT CALLBACK output_window_proc(HWND wnd, UINT message, WPARAM wparam, LPARAM lparam)
{
if (message == im_mame_pause && !(GetAsyncKeyState(VK_ESC) & 0x8000))
mame_pause(Machine, lparam);

That will mean if you exit CPW and have the escape key held down then Mame won't unpause. You could of course make it any key or key combination by specifying the appropriate virtual keycode(s).

[TheShanMan]

I don't think it's that odd but maybe my choice of options isn't the most common. What I meant by that is sometimes I want to see the paused game (because I need to know what I'm in store for when I unpause), but the CP image obscures quite a bit of the game image. If you don't think there's a reasonable way to add that into CPW I understand.

Your source code change might be a reasonable workaround for me, though IIRC isn't there a bit of a delay between exiting CPW and the time that mame gets unpaused? I wonder if a quick push of ESC would work, or if by the time the message is sent and mame processes it, the key is no longer pressed.

[headkaze]

Why not just turn off "Send Pause Key" then you can press the 'p' key when you're ready for the game to unpause? I know it sounds silly to do that since you were so adamant about CPW being able to unpause Mame automatically. But if you only want it to unpause sometimes it really does seem like the best option to me.

Holding down a key while exiting CPW is another option. If you go that way then CPW will minimize Mame first then send the unpause message. As long as your holding down ESC at the time the message is recieved by Mame then that should work fine. I haven't tested it yet but it's only a minor change to the source so shouldn't take much time to test it out.

Is that good enough for your needs?

[TheShanMan]

I guess I'll have to live with it then. I may try the source change, or since it looks like I'd have to be mindful about holding the key down long enough, I may just go back to bezels.

My goal is to keep things super simple for people that won't know the tricks of how I've set things up, while providing power to those who do (namely me). So that's why it's important for pause and unpause to be a one button operation. Returning to mame without unpausing can be convoluted as far as I'm concerned because it's not often that I care about doing that. But there are those times when I can't see what I need to see in order to be ready for action.

It would be cool if there was separate "exit and unpause" and "exit only" key settings, but if you aren't in favor of something like that I understand.

[headkaze]

[public announcement]

All NoLogic artwork was replaced months ago from the CPWizard distribution apart from the "keyboard" graphics that was my own work "touched up" by NoLogic. Today I have uploaded a new version of CPWizard with these keyboard graphics replaced with my originals. CPWizard contains absolutely no graphics by NoLogic whatsover.

[/public announcement]

[TheShanMan]

Don't tell me he's still bugging you? Well, hopefully that brings his interaction with you to a close!

[sWampy]

My control panel has 3 player one buttons one and two, one for the main 8 way controller, a 2nd set for  a dedicated 4 way, and a 3rd set by a spinner.   I can't seem to figure out how to get cpwizard to do this.   Nothing I do seems to work the way I thought it should.   I end up with all these blue lines pointing to multiple buttons, and the last one added is the only one that works.   I

[Dazz]

Hey HK,

I just updated my set to .128u6 this evening and was hoping to do a new compile.  Would you happen to have a bezel file for .128u6?  The latest one that I see on your site is for .127.

[headkaze]

Hey HK,

I just updated my set to .128u6 this evening and was hoping to do a new compile.  Would you happen to have a bezel file for .128u6?  The latest one that I see on your site is for .127.

The diff patch is pretty minimal so it should work for a few versions (diff files only fail to apply if the source has changed substancially). I haven't tried it with .128u6 but it should work. If you have any problems let me know and I'll update it 

[sWampy]

How do I assign multiple buttons to the same key code, and have them all show up as active?   I have 3 player one input one and 3 player one input 2 buttons, I want all the player one buttons enabled for a game that uses player one button one.   I want people to know they have a choice of using the buttons by the 8 way stick, the buttons on the left of the 4 way stick, or the buttons on the right side of the 4 way stick.

[headkaze]

How do I assign multiple buttons to the same key code, and have them all show up as active?   I have 3 player one input one and 3 player one input 2 buttons, I want all the player one buttons enabled for a game that uses player one button one.   I want people to know they have a choice of using the buttons by the 8 way stick, the buttons on the left of the 4 way stick, or the buttons on the right side of the 4 way stick.

You could try using multiple labels with the same key code and link them to different buttons but you probably don't want to use Label Arrows because they could get messy. But it should be possible I guess 

[sWampy]

I put the same label on 3 buttons, I get this.   Surely I'm not the only one with multiple buttons assigned to the same key code, what am I missing.

[headkaze]

I put the same label on 3 buttons, I get this.   Surely I'm not the only one with multiple buttons assigned to the same key code, what am I missing.

I would turn off "Label Arrows" in the Display Options and create separate labels for each button. Hopefully that should work for you.

[sWampy]

Ok, turning off the arrows is better, but it still only highlights one set of player 1 buttons.   It labels all 3, but only one is lit, and it's not always the 1st two.   If I  can I find 4 keys that I don't use can I set mame to use those as alternate inputs for p1b1 and p1b2 and set the labels to these fake keys, will cpwizard highlight them?

[Charles4400]

Is there an updated long hand version of command.dat which is compatible with CPWizard?

I downloaded the Longhand from: http://br.geocities.com/mameultilities/
which is supposed to be more updated than Procyon Lotor's homepage but it doesnt work with CP Wizard...the moves and names of charcaters simply don't show up...am I missing something or is it just not compatible? (I simply replaced that command dat with the existing one from CPWizard)

I ended up downloading the longhand command.dat from Procyon Lotor's homepage, it works fine,  but it says it hasn't been updated since Wednesday, May 25, 2005....

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[headkaze]

CPWizard v2.0 Released

- Supports Command.Dat Longhand format, scroll text by holding joy down, page skips fullscreen, added color coded text for command.dat, new Mame look

Charles4400: CPWizard now includes the longhand command.dat file from that link you posted

Happy New Year

[Charles4400]

WOW I mean just WOW 

Thanks Headkaze! Your stuff is nothing short of AWESOME!

Happy New Years to You & Everyone else here!!!!

Thanks Again!

[headkaze]

You might want to grab Version 2.01 as I've just made it easier to scroll through the text screens

[Dazz]

Hey HK,

I am finally getting around to getting CPWiz set back up on my cabinet...  I used it for a while before and absolutely loved it, but even back then I ran into the same issue I am having now when trying to design the layout.

I was wondering if you thought about creating a zone layout design...  I don't know how to explain what I would like to do, but I'll try my best below.. Just hear me out. 

If I take my monster controller and break it down into zones; I have 5 distinct zones (minus 4 player start buttons and 2 hidden admin buttons Pause and Exit). 



Zone 1:  2 buttons (shared with player 1 button 1 and 2) - 4 way joystick - 2 buttons (shared with player 1 button 1 and 2) - Spinner - 2 buttons (shared with player 1 button 1 and 2)
Zone 2:  Player 1 & 2 sections with 7 buttons each - Street Fighter/Neo Geo hybrid layout
Zone 3:  Trackball with 2 designated buttons (mouse buttons)
Zone 4:  Players 3 & 4 with 4 buttons each in a 2x2 layout
Zone 5:  2 x Pinball flippers, 2 x Tilt buttons, Center Tilt and Pinball Plunger.

I guess these are like your Groups that you have setup already, but allow a person to create different layouts based on only controls/buttons within that group and have only those sections display depending on the game selected instead of the whole complete layout.

For example, when a game that is selected is a 4 way game I would like CPWiz to display ONLY the image that contains the controls/buttons designated for Group/Zone 1 without being able to see any of the other controls. 

The reason why I ask this is because I have spent the last couple hours trying to create a large layout to go with my control panel below.  No matter how I do it everything just looks cluttered in CPWiz with all of the groups/labels and images.

How would you suggest that I create a layout for the above image?  The classic buttons along side of the 4-way and spinner are all shared with player 1 button 1 and player 1 button 2. 

I think breaking it down into user designed zones might make it look cleaner on screen and MUCH easier to create the layout with.

[TheShanMan]

Looking forward to trying this out, hk! I know I've asked in the past for better scrolling, so I appreciate it. My cab is no longer on my network since I've created an "arcade" in my dining room where there's no network drop, so unfortunately it might have to wait for a little while.

[headkaze]

Version 2.02 Released

- Added HiToText Support (Thanks to Fyrecrypts, NOP & HiToText Team)

Dazz: I started off this attached layout for another member on this forum. It has smaller buttons so you can fit the whole CP in. The only problem is getting the labels lined up. I was looking at adding rotated text but I realised it would be more difficult than I first thought to do that. Let me know how you go anyway.

[Charles4400]

I noticed that the new longhand command .dat (the one from http://br.geocities.com/mameultilities/ and now included with CPWiz) though updated, has many non fighting games removed from it (like the 1941, 1944, 19xx etc...) as compared to the Procyon Lotor's version. I havent checked all between the 2 but these were the first I noticed.

Is there a way to merge the 2 together to get both fighting and non fighting games together? I tried to simply copy and paste certain sections from Procyon into the http://br.geocities.com/mameultilities version but it wont show when running....



Thanks HK!!

[Charles4400]

Dazz: I started off this attached layout for another member on this forum. It has smaller buttons so you can fit the whole CP in. The only problem is getting the labels lined up. I was looking at adding rotated text but I realised it would be more difficult than I first thought to do that. Let me know how you go anyway.

I have a 4 player layout as well and was wondering if there was a way to hide certain  control keys which are shared by multiple player controls...

For exampe by mame default Player 2 buttons 5 & 6 and Player 3 Joystick Up and Down both use 'I' & 'K'. This never conflicts when playing the games but when bringing up the control panel layout in a fighting game in CPWiz the ; Player 3 joystick 'Up' & 'Down' gets a label of two of the 'Punches' or 'Kicks' used by player 2.

This would also be the case of having a button and trigger flight stick getting shared labels with shared buttons as well....

Is there anyway around this?

[Dazz]

Version 2.02 Released

- Added HiToText Support (Thanks to Fyrecrypts, NOP & HiToText Team)

Dazz: I started off this attached layout for another member on this forum. It has smaller buttons so you can fit the whole CP in. The only problem is getting the labels lined up. I was looking at adding rotated text but I realised it would be more difficult than I first thought to do that. Let me know how you go anyway.

Thanks HK!  This has helped me out a lot and gave me a good start to what I want to accomplish.  So far I am getting everything setup and it looks nice.

Is there a way to have multiples of the same labels with some being linked to images and others not?  I was hoping that this is how groups work, but I guess not...   I guess I could just not link some buttons, but another grouping I do need to link because I am using small buttons.

The image below shows how I have my buttons linked with each other....  1's are all Player 1 button 1, 2's are all Player 1 button 2.  If I create a Label and link the buttons to the label it I get the arrows as expected.  For the upper buttons (group 5) I would like the assignment to appear close to those buttons, so they will need to be linked to their respective button, but I don't want them attached to the other group (Group 1) labels that will have the same assignment. 

I was hoping that you could assign buttons and images to groups and only those labels attached to that group would link up.  I guess my real question here is...  How exactly do Label Groups work? 

Is what I am trying to do even possible?  Or how would you suggest about doing this?

Thanks for the excellent application and putting up with my stupidity when trying to set this up!

[Gatsu]

I guess Im a complete retard that doesn't know enough about how Mame works.....which is sad.

But I've gotta ask. What is this program for exactly? Setting up your control panel controls for all your mame roms without having to do it with each game seperately?

[Dazz]

I guess Im a complete retard that doesn't know enough about how Mame works.....which is sad.

But I've gotta ask. What is this program for exactly? Setting up your control panel controls for all your mame roms without having to do it with each game seperately?

No, this program comes to life once you select a game from your front end or once you are already in mame/emualtor.  This program shows what buttons to use to play the selected game with, it also shows images of the cabinet, move lists, history about the game and several other things. 

[Gatsu]

ah okie dokie. thanks for the explanation.

[loadman]

ah okie dokie. thanks for the explanation.

And it's author is a super kewl dude 

[sWampy]

Version 2.02 Released

- Added HiToText Support (Thanks to Fyrecrypts, NOP & HiToText Team)

Dazz: I started off this attached layout for another member on this forum. It has smaller buttons so you can fit the whole CP in. The only problem is getting the labels lined up. I was looking at adding rotated text but I realised it would be more difficult than I first thought to do that. Let me know how you go anyway.

Thanks HK!  This has helped me out a lot and gave me a good start to what I want to accomplish.  So far I am getting everything setup and it looks nice.

Is there a way to have multiples of the same labels with some being linked to images and others not?  I was hoping that this is how groups work, but I guess not...   I guess I could just not link some buttons, but another grouping I do need to link because I am using small buttons.

The image below shows how I have my buttons linked with each other....  1's are all Player 1 button 1, 2's are all Player 1 button 2.  If I create a Label and link the buttons to the label it I get the arrows as expected.  For the upper buttons (group 5) I would like the assignment to appear close to those buttons, so they will need to be linked to their respective button, but I don't want them attached to the other group (Group 1) labels that will have the same assignment. 

I was hoping that you could assign buttons and images to groups and only those labels attached to that group would link up.  I guess my real question here is...  How exactly do Label Groups work? 

Is what I am trying to do even possible?  Or how would you suggest about doing this?

Thanks for the excellent application and putting up with my stupidity when trying to set this up!

I have this exact problem, can't figure out how to deal with duplicate buttons one and two on my 8-way/4-2way/spinner/trackball.

[headkaze]

Okay guys v2.04 is released with support for multiple Label Links using the same input code. Please let me know if it works okay 

[Dazz]

Okay guys v2.04 is released with support for multiple Label Links using the same input code. Please let me know if it works okay 

Seriously?  Downloading right now!  You're awesome HK!

Seems to work well.  Thank you.

One more small issue... Can TAB not be a mapped input?  I'm trying to map the Show key to TAB, but it only moves between the selection boxes instead of accepting the TAB for the binding.

Ok, more thing... what type of input would I use for a Spinner?  I tried JOYSTICK_1_XAXIS_RIGHT_SWITCH, but it is alpha out when I select a spinner type game.

[Popcorrin]

I have been playing around with cpwizard and I like that you can display the proper colored buttons.  I was wondering if this might be expanded to joysticks and trackballs since that information is in colors.ini?

[headkaze]

Dazz: I've fixed that TAB issue for next release although for now you can open CPWizard.ini and place it in there using Notepad

Code: [Select]

[Input]
ShowKey=KEYCODE_TAB
Popcorrin: I will consider your request, thanks for the feedback

[Charles4400]

Is controls.xml (and MinInfo.xml) the only file which CPWizard reads for the control panel layout as far as which text and to buttons layout gets sent to the CPWiz labels?

I'm tryin to edit some controls for certain games and some are trickier than others such as AmoredAttack (armora).

I'm currently trying to edit just the controls.xml and then getting CPqizard to rewrite the MinInfo.xml by going into 'Mame Paths' and reselecting the mame.exe path and clicking ok to 'refresh' it that way in order to  reflect changes made to controls.xml....

Are there other files I should be looking at to change the text & button layout for each game which CPWizard reads?

Thanks!

[Popcorrin]

I must say after playing around with cpwizard that it is one very impressive program.  I have it working perfectly with mame.  I'm not sure which way I like it better, exporting bezels or using cpwizard to dynamically create the cp's.  Both ways work very well.


   I had a question. 
I use mess for a few systems.  Is it possible to take advantage of the bezel.diff and the output system with mess the same as with mame?
   

[Popcorrin]

I got to thinking, for the systems on mess you will realistically only need to set up a single layout for each system that shows what buttons on your cp correspond to what buttons on the controller for each system respectively.  I created one for the snes by switching a few things around in the n64 layout that comes with the standard download. 
It would be quite an undertaking to create a controls.ini file for all the individual games under each system.

I created a layout for snes and placed it in the artwork folder.  I was able to display it by going into the mess menu and selecting show cp but I couldn't get the bezel.diff to work with mess so that it showed the cp when I press pause.

I do wish there was a way though to take advantage of the database files and display game info on a per game basis.

Also, is there an easy way to save a png of a layout.  I ended creating a png of my snes layout by setting the export function of mame to use my snes layout.  I ran it for just a second and then renamed the output for one of the roms to snes.  I disabled the showminiinfo so there wasn't any game info on the png.

[Popcorrin]

Good news,  I started with a clean source and gave the bezel.diff another shot and it is now working perfectly with mess. 

Now to disable loading screens and warnings.       The mame hiscore.diff causes the mess compile to error out.