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Illuminated Controls + Software
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DJ Infinity:
I still have some illuminated joysticks from slikstik and I have used them with the LED-Wiz. But no color changing as I only have the blue colored handles. I hope Mameroom will sell them separately as I have projects coming up. I also would like some illuminated 49 way joystick handles for my Blitz 99 machine since I put Electric Ice Buttons in it.  :applaud:
fjl:

--- Quote from: Mameroom on April 29, 2008, 08:57:35 am ---The software even lets you specify a different color for when a control is being used.  For example, you can have all of your buttons change to "red" when the are pushed...and return to their original color when they are released.[/img]

--- End quote ---

Hey! That was originally my idea! I told it to the guys that created the LEDWiz plugin for Mala. You stole it!

Oh well. I also mentioned some other options I'd like to see. Like instead of changing to only one different color, instead change to different colors either slowly or quickly. Basically fade to different colors as its being held down. Or even flashing/dancing to various different colors. Also you can have the surrounding buttons change to a lighter color or pulse like water waves. You can even have it do random different things each time the button is pressed. That'd be cool!  8)
Mameroom:
Well, I have come across what may be a major problem with the software when changing colors on a keypress event.  When multiple buttons/joysticks are used, the color changes just as it should...however, this now creates a major "lag" while in mame.

I'm hoping it is just my low end computer in my Mame cabinet.  I was planning on adding several effects to the keypress events, such as the fade in/out, an "explosion" effects that fades from one color to another, etc...but all a moot point if I can't find a work around for the "lag".

For all the programmers out there, I'm using a KeyHook.dll to capture all keypress events from VB6.  I'm wondering if I rewrite it in .NET and run it as a service if this will correct the problem.  Any thoughts? Suggestions?
arzoo:
It seems unlikely that the keyboard hook is causing the slowdown. But any application that's actively processing at the same time as the emulator risks degrading the game performance. I actually considered adding a similar feature to LEDBlinky (flashing when pressing the credit button – PowerMame did this), but abandoned it for just this reason – I disable my keyboard hook during all game play.

One thing with the LED-Wiz; it takes longer to load the PBA values (intensities), than to load the SBA values (on/off). So you only want to set the PBA one time, unless you need to change colors. Not sure if this will help with your app.
Mameroom:
Thanks for the feedback.  Your LEDBlinky app is a great piece of software!  The whole reason I even considered writing my own was for the Keypress event....which may have been a waste of time.

..I'm going to try it in .net and run it as a windows service with a low priority to see if that helps.  I'll let you know how it turns out....unless anyone has some suggestions.
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