Hi! A few comments and questions

[ozonejl]

Hey, I'm new to the board and to using this program. First of all, I must say I'm impressed with wincab and its ease of use. It didn't take long for me to figure out how to skin and customize. I just have a few questions that I couldn't find answers to...hopefully it's not annoying. Everyone seems nice around here.

1. I was considering making a jukebox with two displays. From my research, it isn't possible to run a program full-screen in two monitors unless the program specifically allows it. Thoughts?

2. I'm about to do some experiments to see if I can make a skin with old school title strips and a display for album art. Is this possible, or does the jukebox have to be cd style to show artwork?

3. Is there a simple way to link the coin function to an actual coin slot instead of a key? I thought this would be a fun way to make a slush fund for our basement "pub."

Again, awesome program. I had a few suggestions, but I forgot what they were. I've been a little busy the last few days.

[Chris]

Hey, I'm new to the board and to using this program. First of all, I must say I'm impressed with wincab and its ease of use. It didn't take long for me to figure out how to skin and customize. I just have a few questions that I couldn't find answers to...hopefully it's not annoying. Everyone seems nice around here.

1. I was considering making a jukebox with two displays. From my research, it isn't possible to run a program full-screen in two monitors unless the program specifically allows it. Thoughts?

I do not know.  I use DirectX to display the screen; I have no specific provisions for multiple monitors, nor dio I have such a setup to even test it.  Are you hoping to show the same image on both monitors?

2. I'm about to do some experiments to see if I can make a skin with old school title strips and a display for album art. Is this possible, or does the jukebox have to be cd style to show artwork?

No, this is currently not possible; however, you can use a background image on CD labels just as you can on classic labels.  (Oddly, no one has ever used this feature on a CD skin, not even myself.) With an appropriate image you can give it an old-school look.

3. Is there a simple way to link the coin function to an actual coin slot instead of a key? I thought this would be a fun way to make a slush fund for our basement "pub."

Yes.  A coin slot is just a switch with a coin validation mechanism in front of it, so you can hook it up through any method you would hook up any other control panel button.  A "roll-down" type coin acceptor would be perfect for such an application:



Happ carries this and other acceptors at http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/acceptors.htm , but they can be found brand new at half the price on eBay.  Just make sure you choose a mechanical one instead of an electronic one.

Again, awesome program. I had a few suggestions, but I forgot what they were. I've been a little busy the last few days.

Thank you for the kind words!  I apologize for the delay in answering your questions.

--Chris

[ozonejl]

1. Essentially, I was hoping to have two displays in a cabinet set up like this: A bottom screen sitting parallel(ish) to the floor with the card catalogue, and a second screen with song, selection and credit information- plus album art. I think a skin would run like this in a window stretched across both monitors, but I was hoping to make it work full screen in both. I might not even try to make this set up a reality; As time has gone by, my friends and I have been more than happy with one display.

2. As stated, I might jettison my whole original idea in favor of the more conventional skin I've been making. If I get more ambitious, I might do the "album art with old title strips" thing just because I like messing with the program.

3. If anyone has a link where I can learn how to do this, it would be nice. I can go looking on my own, but I like saving time. Do you just solder the switch to a key on the keyboard, or what? Please don't go to a lot of trouble explaining this to me, but if someone has a link to where I can learn, I will gladly follow. I'm guessing I need to look around the MAME forums some more?

Oh, and we're running the jukebox on my friend's Vista computer. Vista sucks.

Thanks for the help. If I turn into a decent skinner, I'll let ya know.

[Chris]

1. Essentially, I was hoping to have two displays in a cabinet set up like this: A bottom screen sitting parallel(ish) to the floor with the card catalogue, and a second screen with song, selection and credit information- plus album art. I think a skin would run like this in a window stretched across both monitors, but I was hoping to make it work full screen in both. I might not even try to make this set up a reality; As time has gone by, my friends and I have been more than happy with one display.

This is theoretically possible using a windowed display; to create a windowed display, simply specify a resolution not suported by your monitor.  However, performance will be lower.  Windowed modes are technically an unsupported configuration, but with a decently powered machine it should work fine.

3. If anyone has a link where I can learn how to do this, it would be nice. I can go looking on my own, but I like saving time. Do you just solder the switch to a key on the keyboard, or what? Please don't go to a lot of trouble explaining this to me, but if someone has a link to where I can learn, I will gladly follow. I'm guessing I need to look around the MAME forums some more?

The most common way to do this would be to use a keyboard encoder (see http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Keyboard_Encoders).  Hacking a keyboard (http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_input.shtml#KeyboardPort) is also an option; most of the "regulars" here will not recommend it due to many drawbacks related to arcade machines but for a jukebox where only one key is pressed at a time a keyboard hack would work fine.  Finally, you could hack apart an old gamepad and connect switches to the gamepad's switches.  If the only input you need is a coin switch this could be an easy and inexpensive way to go, especially if you have an old gamepad that is worn out but still has a couple of functioning buttons.

Thanks for the help. If I turn into a decent skinner, I'll let ya know.

If you have any questions about skinning, please let me know. The skin definition files are poorly documented and not well implemented, so I know how tricky it can be to create a skin.

--Chris