MAMEWAH v0.95b Released!

[Minwah]

I've just uploaded this new version, so please feel free to try it out...

As I expect most of you know, this one's a beta, and will have bugs, and doesn't have an updated readme (I hate that part).  So I would suggest MAMEWAH regulars try this version, and others (n00bs especially) wait for the next (better tested) version.

I've had to leave some stuff out, and it is a little more tricky to setup than before.  The 'Whats New' tells you what has changed, but not neccessarily how to use the new/changed feature(s), so you may have to drop me a mail.  I will try and make a FAQ after a while, I suspect a lot of the same Q's will pop up.

Please read the junk on the download page before grabbing...

http://mamewah.mameworld.net

Of course feedback / bug reports would be appreciated...I have not been able to test this one as much as I would have liked.

[SirPoonga]

I guess I am being dense today.  Can I modify key assignments?

[Minwah]

Yes.  Just beware that the old 'shifted' controls have changed...atm you can only specify 1 key assignments.

Sorry, you weren't dense, I just neglected to put any details of what is actually new.  See the attached:

[radiator]

whoo!

the Layout Designer is cool....but it crashes when minimized (Run-time error '380': Invalid property value)

...and in XP you can't use '/' for paths (also causes a crash)

...and what happened to the 'Display Game Info' option? where can I obtain/how do I create a DAT file to display game info?

 

[KevSteele]

Very nice! Thanks for releasing the new version!

Of course, as soon as I started trying to set it up I ended up baffled. I'm going to take a few aspirin and try again.

It looks like there are a lot of great changes, but it also looks like it's going to take some work to figure it all out and get it set up.

I'm going to have to set aside an evening to figure it all out. Should be worth it.

Kevin

[Minwah]

whoo!

the Layout Designer is cool....but it crashes when minimized (Run-time error '380': Invalid property value)

...and in XP you can't use '/' for paths (also causes a crash)

...and what happened to the 'Display Game Info' option? where can I obtain/how do I create a DAT file to display game info?

 

Thanks for spotting those bugs.

Create a DAT by doing 'mame -listinfo > mame.dat' at a commandline, and then point to this in MAMEWAH.  Then refresh the list and you should have all the info - it should display itself by default.

I removed the 'Display Game Info' option, as I thought you would hide/show this stuff in the layout...but I suppose it may be nice to be able to show/hide this info whenever you like (?).

[Minwah]

Very nice! Thanks for releasing the new version!

Of course, as soon as I started trying to set it up I ended up baffled. I'm going to take a few aspirin and try again.

It looks like there are a lot of great changes, but it also looks like it's going to take some work to figure it all out and get it set up.

I'm going to have to set aside an evening to figure it all out. Should be worth it.

Kevin

Yep, sorry, it is a bit more tricky this time around.  Some of the stuff is not obvious either

Read the part about the DAT file in my post above - I suspect this will be the question asked most.

Oh another tip I forgot:  Type the 'Emulator Executable' in first when setting up - it will then try to 'figure' what to use for DAT / NMS / CatVer / ROM path / Snap path / Logo image / No snap image.

NB when using >1 type of artwork, it seems these images may be placed 'behind' the background image (if you're using one).  I've fixed this but am waiting for a while for more bugs before I release an update.

[radiator]

I removed the 'Display Game Info' option, as I thought you would hide/show this stuff in the layout...but I suppose it may be nice to be able to show/hide this info whenever you like (?).

sorry, just me being dumb (never had to create a DAT file before)

i say just leave the 'Display Game Info' option out (now that I know about DAT files )
just needs some documentation...but if anyones like me, i fiddle first, read docs when i can't figure something out...!

[GeoffE]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an NMS file?

  - Geoff

[Minwah]

just needs some documentation...but if anyones like me, i fiddle first, read docs when i can't figure something out...!

I think almost everyone does it that way round to be honest (I know I do).

But yeah, I just hate doing the docs.  Plus, as I plan to release a slightly better version soon it seemed a bit pointless doing a readme when I'll probably have to change it again soon.  Right now I'm happier answering people's mails

[Minwah]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an NMS file?

  - Geoff

That's what I thought  

I believe it originates from ArcadeOS...it is a file which holds game descriptions, against game romnames (short filenames).  This is actually very handy for emulators which use shortfilenames, ie when you cannot tell easily what a game is by it's romname.  Like MAME, except MAME has stuff like -listinfo which you can extract the descriptions from.

Atari 2600 ROMs usually seem to be in this format, here is an example from a 2600 NMS file:

32 in 1 Game|32in1
3-D Tic-Tac-Toe|3d_tic
Acid Drop|Aciddrop
Action Man|Actionmn
Adventures of Tron|Advntron
Adventure|ADVNTURE
Air Raiders|Air_raid
Air-Sea Battle|Air_sea
Air Raiders|Airaidrs
Airlock|Airlock

Probably not as much use as in the DOS days, but still useful to some perhaps...

[grounded]

Thank You. I have everything setup perfect, no problems, multiple artwork looks great!

Only thing I'm still stuck on the the "renaming" feature for console snapshots. I have the correct path= "C:\nes\snaps\?_02.png" but none of the snaps show up or get renamed.

Keep up the good work!

[Minwah]

Thank You. I have everything setup perfect, no problems, multiple artwork looks great!

Only thing I'm still stuck on the the "renaming" feature for console snapshots. I have the correct path= "C:\nes\snaps\?_02.png" but none of the snaps show up or get renamed.

Keep up the good work!

This feature of MAMEWAH is designed to re-name snaps if you have just taken a snap when playing a game.  ie play a game, take a snap, quit game, MAMEWAH re-names for you.

I am not sure if this is how you are using it, or if you just have a bunch of snaps in your folder you want re-named.  Actually,
even if the latter, I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as you actually load each game up.

Then again, it could just be broken in this new release - I'll check it.

[KevSteele]

Oh another tip I forgot:  Type the 'Emulator Executable' in first when setting up - it will then try to 'figure' what to use for DAT / NMS / CatVer / ROM path / Snap path / Logo image / No snap image.

Thanks! I suspect that'll prove to be an extremely handy tip!

[Onkel_Tom]

Hello Minwah,

I'm sure I'm doing some dumb mistake, but I can't figure it out:
My problem: No Snapshots are displayed

I have e.g.
C:\MAME\ROMS\GALAGA.ZIP and
C:\MAME\SNAP\GALAGA.PNG

Emulator Settings - Misc Settings - Artwork #1 Image Path -> C:\MAME\SNAP

Is anything else missing?

BTW: Even the MAMEWAH-NO SNAP.PNG is not displayed!?

Thanks for your help, Thomas

[Minwah]

Are you using your own layout, or one of the standard 'Classic' ones?  If you are using your own, are you using a background image?

Edit: Just to say your setup does look fine...

[Onkel_Tom]

Are you using your own layout, or one of the standard 'Classic' ones?  If you are using your own, are you using a background image?

No, I'm using Classic 1024x768.lay.
But anyway, I will test this evening at home on my "real" MAME-Machine (actually, I'm using my laptop at work :-)
If I'm facing further problems, I will come back
Thomas

P.S.
Your FE looks pretty cool, good work; can't wait to see how it works with ArcadeVGA in my cab.

[Minwah]

I wonder did you run the setup on your laptop, or just copy the MAMEWAH folder over?

If you did not run the install, then a DLL required to display the images will not exist and the images will not display.  Actually I did exactly this earlier and the same happened.  Just a possibility...

Glad you like the look of it btw

[Zakk]

Awesome, a new MameWah!  

Okay, quick questions before I even get to the 'whatsnew'.

How do I get rid of the clones, and the non working parents?

How do I get that cool 'menu locked hold down p2 to unlock' to come on by default?

How do I get the mp3's playing while browsing (too cool).

I think that's it.  Rock on MinWah!!  

[Zakk]

Okay, got the mp3's working...(how did I miss that?).

The layout editor is very nice, but is there any way to change the colors in the editor itself? everything from the 640X480 layout and up is black on black, and It's a bit tricky to figure out where everything is going to be when you fire it up.  Sorry, you were looking for bugs/questions right?

Man, I'm giddy as a schoolgirl...

[radiator]

How do I get rid of the clones, and the non working parents?

you'll need to create a custom list for that:

Load MAMEwah
press '2' to get the menu up
select 'Game List Options' -> 'Select Custom List' then use 'Custom List 1' (or whichever you want)
press '2' to just back a level
then goto 'Generate Custom List using Filters'

from there you can set which games should appear in this list (more filters too; clones, year, manufacturer, BIOS, screen type, input type, general status, colour status, sound status...)

 

[Zakk]

Holy smokes!  Did you say a FEW more filter options???  

I gotta hand it to you Minwah, if I wasn't your biggest fan before (oh and I may have been!), I am now, and thanks for the tip rad!

[Minwah]

How do I get that cool 'menu locked hold down p2 to unlock' to come on by default?

Sorry, you can't atm (I hadn't thought of it).  Anyone else want this option?...

Thanks for answering the other one radiator

Zakk, I know what you mean about the black on black.  For now what I have been doing is change the background color to say grey, fiddle around with the layout, and then change back to black afterwards.

Maybe I should change the color of the objects borders when it happens to be the same as the background...that would work I think.

Glad you like it Zakk, and thanks for the feedback everyone - very helpful  

[dknight]

 

I finally got a chance to install 0.95b last night and I just want to thank Minwah for all the fantastic new features.  It also looks as if my two questions/comments have already been answered:

1)  Is it possible to set up filters for the gamelists.
2)  It would be nice if the borders around the objects in the layout editor were not black when you have a black background (which is the default if you pick one of the larger classic default layouts)

It was very easy to set up after I had created my DAT file.  I have it set up with three artwork objects (Marquee, Snaps, and Titles).  Once I get the filters going it will be PERFECT.

Thanks again, Minwah!

-Dave

[dknight]

I just had a chance to play around with the MameWah 0.95b filters.  They work very well!

One question:  It looks like you don't support all of the categories that catver.ini supports.  For example, I was able to block out all "Adult" titles using EmuTron's catver.ini category support.

It would be nice if all categories were supported, but I may have something configured incorrectly....

Thanks again!

-Dave

[Howard_Casto]

I can answer this one (sorta)  are you using catver.ini or triggerfin's catver.ini.  The categories are different but tirggerfin's is far superior as the game cats are more detailed and accurate.  In the official catver the adult tag is "adult" (it's never accurate btw and often misses several adult games)  but in the catlist it's a normal category with a "*mature*" tacked on the end.  

[Minwah]

I can answer this one (sorta)  are you using catver.ini or triggerfin's catver.ini.  The categories are different but tirggerfin's is far superior as the game cats are more detailed and accurate.  In the official catver the adult tag is "adult" (it's never accurate btw and often misses several adult games)  but in the catlist it's a normal category with a "*mature*" tacked on the end.  

Thanks Howard, I think the same  

[Onkel_Tom]

I wonder did you run the setup on your laptop, or just copy the MAMEWAH folder over?

If you did not run the install, then a DLL required to display the images will not exist and the images will not display.  Actually I did exactly this earlier and the same happened.  Just a possibility...

Minwah,
you're exactly right, of course. I did not install but just unpack the files, so the DLL was missing.
I did a "normal" install on my cab and the proggie runs fine and the pics are displayed.
Pretty cool piece of software BTW.
One problem I faced was that running Classic 640x480.lay (on Hantarex 15KHz Mon with ArcadeVGA) displayed O.K. (with slight flickering of course) but the Classic 640x288.lay didn't display anything but black screen.
Seems that I have to twiggle around with some settings tonight.
Thanks, Thomas

[Minwah]

One problem I faced was that running Classic 640x480.lay (on Hantarex 15KHz Mon with ArcadeVGA) displayed O.K. (with slight flickering of course) but the Classic 640x288.lay didn't display anything but black screen.
Seems that I have to twiggle around with some settings tonight.

I am not sure what this problem is, it *should* work (myself and some other users have it running OK)...have a play around and let me know how ya get on.

[Onkel_Tom]

Hi Minwah,
found some minor bugs:

When I use the cool Layout Desinger and change something, the local Windows Country Settings apply, e.g. a value of original 9.75 changes to 9,75 (the corresponding German setting). These settings are form the ...LAY-File.
This is resulting in Run-Time-Error 13, Type Mismatch
My solution is to open the LAY-file in texteditor, search and replace "," with "." and it works.

Another point:
In Layout-Designer, menu Display Objects - Main Form
I can choose from Artwork Image #1 to #10
In the corresponding CFG-File these settings are named Artwork #0 Image Path to #9

Cheers, Thomas

[Minwah]

Thanks Onkel,

Does the Run Time Error 13 occur when you run MAMEWAH?  Does it also happen if you re-open the LAY file in the Layout Designer?

I'll change the image no.'s in the CFG file tonight.

[Onkel_Tom]

My wording was a bit confusing:
I get the Run Time Error in MAMEWAH, but the "faultily" LAY-file can be opened without problems in the Layout Designer.
Each time I open and save a LAY file the "."-values are replaced with "," e.g.
...
1024
 768
 986895

 1
 10485760
 16777215
True
 0
 8421504
 16777215
System
True
False
 9,75   <-- HERE
 2
...

It definitively comes from the coutry-specific settings.
If I go (in Win2000) Start - Settings - Control Panel - Regional OPtions - Tab. 'Numbers' and change "Decimal Settings" to "." the LAY-file is saved correctly and of course no Run-Time-Error
[But now my Excel fails :-) ]

[dknight]

Howard/Minwah,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I was indeed using an old catver.ini file (probably an official one).

I grabbed the latest triggerfish one and overwrote my file but I'm still seeing the same categories as before.  Do I need to do something to force a refresh?

Thanks.

-Dave

[Minwah]

My wording was a bit confusing:
I get the Run Time Error in MAMEWAH, but the "faultily" LAY-file can be opened without problems in the Layout Designer.
Each time I open and save a LAY file the "."-values are replaced with "," e.g.
...
1024
 768
 986895

 1
 10485760
 16777215
True
 0
 8421504
 16777215
System
True
False
 9,75   <-- HERE
 2
...

It definitively comes from the coutry-specific settings.
If I go (in Win2000) Start - Settings - Control Panel - Regional OPtions - Tab. 'Numbers' and change "Decimal Settings" to "." the LAY-file is saved correctly and of course no Run-Time-Error
[But now my Excel fails :-) ]

Thanks, I understand.  This bug follows on from the previous version - the problem is I programmed MAMEWAH to expect font sizes to be a 'single' (decimal number).  With the decimal symbol set as ',' (Belgium, France & Holland use this too), this is no longer technically a decimal number, rather a string.

I wanted to check if it opened alright in the designer, as this is programmed differently, it accepts the value regardless of it's type (so it's good that it works!).

I'll fix that soon, and very impressive detective work btw!

[Minwah]

Howard/Minwah,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I was indeed using an old catver.ini file (probably an official one).

I grabbed the latest triggerfish one and overwrote my file but I'm still seeing the same categories as before.  Do I need to do something to force a refresh?

Thanks.

-Dave

Yes, just refresh your games list, then the new categories should take effect...

[Minwah]

Thanks, I understand.  This bug follows on from the previous version - the problem is I programmed MAMEWAH to expect font sizes to be a 'single' (decimal number).  With the decimal symbol set as ',' (Belgium, France & Holland use this too), this is no longer technically a decimal number, rather a string.

What I said here is wrong, I had forgotten I reprogrammed that part

I still overlooked something, but I'm 99% sure I have fixed it now

[Minwah]

Grounded: in case you didn't see in the other thread - the Snap Renaming feature doesn't work this v...fixed next

[Zakk]

Okay, I've got a bug that's driving me nuts...I've tried this on 3 cabs now, 2 with XP one with ME.  If mamewah goes into screensaver (such as slideshow), when you return to the game selection screen, selecting a game locks mamewah up, although it does launch the game in the background.  So if you use taskmanager to shut down mamewah, the game runs.  When you exit the game, mamewah is gone, so you get dumped to desktop.  Trying to set the screensaver type to 'blackscreen' gets me a runtime error (9??), and crashes to desktop (although I've only tested this error on one system).  If mamewah doesn't go into any kind of screensaver, or mp3 background music, I don't get the error....any ideas?

[anthony691]

It is a AWESOME piece of software!

now, Minwah, what happened to my old Favs list? Did it write over it? I would be down and out if it did (I had ~300 games on it).

[anthony691]

Hmmm... would it be possible to make it so the MP3 player thing for navigation et al to be able to browse sub-directorys?

[Minwah]

Okay, I've got a bug that's driving me nuts...I've tried this on 3 cabs now, 2 with XP one with ME.  If mamewah goes into screensaver (such as slideshow), when you return to the game selection screen, selecting a game locks mamewah up, although it does launch the game in the background.  So if you use taskmanager to shut down mamewah, the game runs.  When you exit the game, mamewah is gone, so you get dumped to desktop.  Trying to set the screensaver type to 'blackscreen' gets me a runtime error (9??), and crashes to desktop (although I've only tested this error on one system).  If mamewah doesn't go into any kind of screensaver, or mp3 background music, I don't get the error....any ideas?

I cannot get this problem to occur (in XP)...I assumed you are running MAME?  If so, then is it possible that you've launched a game with a bad-dump?  That could cause a problem.  Does the problem occur if you use MP3's (but not screen-saver)?

I did find the same problem with the blank screen screen-saver, I have now fixed this.

[Minwah]

now, Minwah, what happened to my old Favs list? Did it write over it? I would be down and out if it did (I had ~300 games on it).

It should still be sitting in your MAMEWAH folder called 'MAME-FAVORITES.LST' or something.  It will still work if you rename it, and place it into the 'FILES' subfolder of MAMEWAH's installation folder.  If your MAME is emulator 1 (the one that's selected when you first run MAMEWAH, then name the file as 'EMU1-X.LST', where X is the value 1-20 (custom list no.).

[Minwah]

Hmmm... would it be possible to make it so the MP3 player thing for navigation et al to be able to browse sub-directorys?

It must be possible, I'll have a go  

[dknight]

I was setting up a custom list and found a bug that is reproducible.  I'm not at the machine right now so I'm going by memory and I'm probably mangling the names of the menu selections, but hopefully you can figure out what I'm talking about.

1)  Select a game on the Main List
2)  Bring up the Game Lists submenu and select "Add Selection to Custom List"
3)  When it prompts you to select the list to add the game to, select the Main List

MameWah will report an error since I'm trying to add an item to the main list but it will then lock up, forcing you to kill the process to get out.

I realize you shouldn't be trying to do this, but I have a problem where sometimes a single button press registers as two key presses, so when I select "Add Selection to Custom List" the second keypress picks the first item in the list (which is Main List).

Perhaps you should remove the "current" list from the "available" lists on that page, since that is never allowed.

By the way, still loving MameWah 0.95b.  I'm setting up custom lists for both of my kids and they are thrilled to not have to wade through 2000+ titles to find their favorite games.

-Dave

[anthony691]

I was setting up a custom list and found a bug that is reproducible.  I'm not at the machine right now so I'm going by memory and I'm probably mangling the names of the menu selections, but hopefully you can figure out what I'm talking about.

1)  Select a game on the Main List
2)  Bring up the Game Lists submenu and select "Add Selection to Custom List"
3)  When it prompts you to select the list to add the game to, select the Main List

MameWah will report an error since I'm trying to add an item to the main list but it will then lock up, forcing you to kill the process to get out.

I realize you shouldn't be trying to do this, but I have a problem where sometimes a single button press registers as two key presses, so when I select "Add Selection to Custom List" the second keypress picks the first item in the list (which is Main List).

Perhaps you should remove the "current" list from the "available" lists on that page, since that is never allowed.

By the way, still loving MameWah 0.95b.  I'm setting up custom lists for both of my kids and they are thrilled to not have to wade through 2000+ titles to find their favorite games.

-Dave

Yeah... it is good for family...

I made a list named "suitable for children" with all of the crazy porno games taken out...

[Minwah]

1)  Select a game on the Main List
2)  Bring up the Game Lists submenu and select "Add Selection to Custom List"
3)  When it prompts you to select the list to add the game to, select the Main List

MameWah will report an error since I'm trying to add an item to the main list but it will then lock up, forcing you to kill the process to get out.

When you say it reports an error, does it crash or is it a 'nice' error?  It should say something like '[gamename] already exists in Main List'.  (I noticed it still says 'Favorites [NOT] Changed').

It just displays this message and doesn't crash on my system...

[anthony691]

1)  Select a game on the Main List
2)  Bring up the Game Lists submenu and select "Add Selection to Custom List"
3)  When it prompts you to select the list to add the game to, select the Main List

MameWah will report an error since I'm trying to add an item to the main list but it will then lock up, forcing you to kill the process to get out.

When you say it reports an error, does it crash or is it a 'nice' error?  It should say something like '[gamename] already exists in Main List'.  (I noticed it still says 'Favorites [NOT] Changed').

It just displays this message and doesn't crash on my system...

I think he means run time error.

I have a bug that probably only exists on my system (more than likely); when I try to use the Catlist game sorting features, it crashs with a run time error exits me... and then when I get back in; the list is complete (well sort of).

Did you figure out how to code to browse sub-directories?

Assuming that the bugs can be worked out of this version of MAMEWAH... I think it is just about done! I really can't see what to add... maybe a clock option like MyHTPC, that would be way cool..., but yeah, maybe MAMEWAH could be complete for the version 1.0

[Thumpa]

is this version of Mamewah stable enough to install and set up ,or should i wait for bug fix version....shouldent be too long would it if i hold off a bit?

Thumpa

[Minwah]

I think he means run time error.

I have a bug that probably only exists on my system (more than likely); when I try to use the Catlist game sorting features, it crashs with a run time error exits me... and then when I get back in; the list is complete (well sort of).

Did you figure out how to code to browse sub-directories?

Assuming that the bugs can be worked out of this version of MAMEWAH... I think it is just about done! I really can't see what to add... maybe a clock option like MyHTPC, that would be way cool..., but yeah, maybe MAMEWAH could be complete for the version 1.0

Could you explain your Catlist prob in more detail, when exactly does it crash etc. ?

I haven't looked at the sub-directory thing just yet...

I'd like version 1.0 to include everything *I* want, have as few bugs as possible and my code to be as well written as I can.  Expect v0.951b soon (tonight maybe) which is just a bug-fix & a few more things added to .95b.  Then I anticipate 1 or 2 releases before the big 1.0  

[Minwah]

is this version of Mamewah stable enough to install and set up ,or should i wait for bug fix version....shouldent be too long would it if i hold off a bit?

It's actually turned out to be very stable, most if not all bugs reported are only minor.  The thing is to just beware there is no documentation.

The next release will be an update, so you will need to download and install v0.95b anyway, so you may as well go ahead and try it out.  I'd recommend installing into a separate folder to v0.9 (if you already use that).  Expect the next update v soon

[dknight]

When you say it reports an error, does it crash or is it a 'nice' error?  It should say something like '[gamename] already exists in Main List'.  (I noticed it still says 'Favorites [NOT] Changed').

It just displays this message and doesn't crash on my system...

It is a 'nice' error that says something followed by "press and button to continue".  At this point it is locked up.

FYI, I'm running on Win98SE and I did a clean install (didn't overwrite an old version of MameWah).

I'll check it again this evening and try to get some more specifics of what causes the problem.

-Dave

[Minwah]

It is a 'nice' error that says something followed by "press and button to continue".  At this point it is locked up.

FYI, I'm running on Win98SE and I did a clean install (didn't overwrite an old version of MameWah).

I'll check it again this evening and try to get some more specifics of what causes the problem.

OK I think I have got to the bottom of this after trying it on a Win98 system...

It doesn't actually crash!  The problem is after you press a key, it just takes a LONG time to hide the message and continue...this big delay makes it appear to hang.

This is a Windows 98 problem that crops up a few times in this version, switching emulators/lists can also cause a big delay.  The problem seems to be when I clear the lists held in memory - it just takes ages under '98, under XP is very quick.  Since all my programming was done under XP, I did not forsee this problem.

I am unsure what to do about this atm - I need to have a fiddle around (!).  It seems like the kind of thing that will be difficult to eradicate altogether, but hopefully I can improve it...

[dknight]

OK I think I have got to the bottom of this after trying it on a Win98 system...

It doesn't actually crash!  The problem is after you press a key, it just takes a LONG time to hide the message and continue...this big delay makes it appear to hang.

This is a Windows 98 problem that crops up a few times in this version, switching emulators/lists can also cause a big delay.  The problem seems to be when I clear the lists held in memory - it just takes ages under '98, under XP is very quick.  Since all my programming was done under XP, I did not forsee this problem.

I am unsure what to do about this atm - I need to have a fiddle around (!).  It seems like the kind of thing that will be difficult to eradicate altogether, but hopefully I can improve it...

Yes, you're right.  It does eventually return but takes a LONG time.  I guess I was being a bit too impatient...

I've also noticed the slowdown when you move off of one of the large lists.  It would be great if you could find a way to reduce this.  Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Thanks!

-Dave

[colonelsnow]

I agree. Having a command line emulator front end that does not work at decent speed  on anything other than XP is a big problem.

If the bugs can't be worked out is it possible to implement some of the new features in the old version. Ie links to 'PC' games, and the layout editor?

[)p(]

This is a Windows 98 problem that crops up a few times in this version, switching emulators/lists can also cause a big delay.  The problem seems to be when I clear the lists held in memory - it just takes ages under '98, under XP is very quick.  Since all my programming was done under XP, I did not forsee this problem.
...

Maybe you could post some more details what is going on...would make it easier to give suggestions...as i can't see how dumping the memory itself should be the problem.

peter

[Minwah]

I agree. Having a command line emulator front end that does not work at decent speed  on anything other than XP is a big problem.

If the bugs can't be worked out is it possible to implement some of the new features in the old version. Ie links to 'PC' games, and the layout editor?

Of course I am not happy with this problem, but atm I do not have a '98 machine to test on (actually I have found one at work, but it does not have VB on so I can't track the problem exactly yet).

I can say that I will not be adding new features to the old version (kinda defeats the object of a new version), but I will have to find some way around the problem.  

[Minwah]

Maybe you could post some more details what is going on...would make it easier to give suggestions...as i can't see how dumping the memory itself should be the problem.

Excuse my vagueness, since I have not tracked the problem exactly...I am partly basing my earlier statement on some previous experience....

The part that I *think* is causing the problem is when I clear the variable arrays containing the game info:  I use 13 arrays for various info (romname, description, year etc.).  Now when I re-generate or swap lists, I clear these arrays by doing either 'Redim romname (0)' or 'Erase romname' depending on the situation.  After these are cleared it either generates new or reads from a list (file) stuff to re-populate the arrays.

I believe (99% sure) it is the actual 'Redim blahblah (0)' that is causing the delay.  I recall hitting on this problem when writing the previous version (but it only happened when generating a list, so wasn't as noticable).  I found clearing some of the arrays with values of "" in code prior to the Redims made *some* difference.

I cannot explain why this is such a major problem in '98 and not a problem at all in XP.  Presumably due to the different way the two OS's work.

Any help would be very much appreciated, in the meantime I'll see what I can do...

[)p(]

Maybe you could post some more details what is going on...would make it easier to give suggestions...as i can't see how dumping the memory itself should be the problem.

Excuse my vagueness, since I have not tracked the problem exactly...I am partly basing my earlier statement on some previous experience....

The part that I *think* is causing the problem is when I clear the variable arrays containing the game info:  I use 13 arrays for various info (romname, description, year etc.).  Now when I re-generate or swap lists, I clear these arrays by doing either 'Redim romname (0)' or 'Erase romname' depending on the situation.  After these are cleared it either generates new or reads from a list (file) stuff to re-populate the arrays.

I believe (99% sure) it is the actual 'Redim blahblah (0)' that is causing the delay.  I recall hitting on this problem when writing the previous version (but it only happened when generating a list, so wasn't as noticable).  I found clearing some of the arrays with values of "" in code prior to the Redims made *some* difference.

I cannot explain why this is such a major problem in '98 and not a problem at all in XP.  Presumably due to the different way the two OS's work.

Any help would be very much appreciated, in the meantime I'll see what I can do...

ah multiple arrays in vb...you should definately talk to hc he is the expert when it comes to vp arrays
I don't know vb so this could be totally wrong ;-)...instead of clearing the items in the array object... why not destroy the object completely at once. And create an new array object for the new list. That is more or less how i cleanup when switching lists.

peter

[Xochi]

Anyone have ePSXe working using iso images with MAMEWAH 0.95b? I set a general option of '-loadiso' and enabled the 'show dos box' option which ePSXe seems to need... ePSXe starts but  doesn't load the image. I'm suspecting the command line order may be messed up.  Does MAMEWAH allow you to specify command line order like Game Launcher does?

I could probably fix it by running it via a script/batch file, but figured someone probably has already gotten it working since both MW and ePSXe are pretty popular.

Thanks for any tips.

[GoldenBear]

Posted this question outside this thread and it was suggested I post it here as well.  Is there anyway to control Mamewah funciton using a gamepad/joystick/etc. without mapping keystrokes to individual buttons.  

Using multiple Gravis USB Gamepad Pros, if that helps any.


GoldenBear

[anthony691]

Posted this question outside this thread and it was suggested I post it here as well.  Is there anyway to control Mamewah funciton using a gamepad/joystick/etc. without mapping keystrokes to individual buttons.  

Using multiple Gravis USB Gamepad Pros, if that helps any.


GoldenBear

I can't really understand the question... the buttons are completly cfgable... you can change the assignment of any button in MAMEWAH. I would assume it would work w/ your setup.

[GoldenBear]

Hmm...Well, when I try to configure Mamewah controls, I push enter on P1 Up, it says enter key, I push up on my gamepad and nothing.    Seems it doesn't recognize my gamepad or I can't assign Mamewah controls directly to Gamepad buttons.  

Am I missing something, or is it not possible to do what I am trying to do?  Keeping in mind that I'd like to avoid assigning keyboard keys to the buttons as a workaround.  

GoldenBear

[Minwah]

ah multiple arrays in vb...you should definately talk to hc he is the expert when it comes to vp arrays
I don't know vb so this could be totally wrong ;-)...instead of clearing the items in the array object... why not destroy the object completely at once. And create an new array object for the new list. That is more or less how i cleanup when switching lists.

Well I think that is a similar approach to what I have done...the Erase command more or less kills the array, and then I redefine it and use it again.  There are no actual objects used, only variables, so I do not think there is another way of emptying the array (except Redim).  Thanks for the reply, maybe I'll bug HC now

[Minwah]

Hmm...Well, when I try to configure Mamewah controls, I push enter on P1 Up, it says enter key, I push up on my gamepad and nothing.    Seems it doesn't recognize my gamepad or I can't assign Mamewah controls directly to Gamepad buttons.  

Am I missing something, or is it not possible to do what I am trying to do?  Keeping in mind that I'd like to avoid assigning keyboard keys to the buttons as a workaround.  

GoldenBear

Unfortunately, you cannot do this  MAMEWAH works only on keypresses.  I would be interested to add this feature, but atm I don't know how, and won't have time to do it for a while anyway.

If you're set on using MAMEWAH, you'll have to map the buttons to keys, sorry  

[Minwah]

Anyone have ePSXe working using iso images with MAMEWAH 0.95b? I set a general option of '-loadiso' and enabled the 'show dos box' option which ePSXe seems to need... ePSXe starts but  doesn't load the image. I'm suspecting the command line order may be messed up.  Does MAMEWAH allow you to specify command line order like Game Launcher does?

I could probably fix it by running it via a script/batch file, but figured someone probably has already gotten it working since both MW and ePSXe are pretty popular.

Thanks for any tips.

Have a look at the file 'debug.log' in the MAMEWAH folder (after you've tried launching ePSXe).  This will show you if the commandline order is wrong (I suspect it is too).

If the commandline should read 'epsxe -loadiso game', you could try editing the 'emu?.cfg' file in the \FILES subfolder of MAMEWAH, and change the 'Emulator Executable' to 'c:\epsxe\epsxe.exe -loadbin' (with your path of course).  It *may* work, let me know what happens

[GoldenBear]

MinWah, so chances of seeing direct joystick control are slim to nill?

Crap.

Anyone know of anyother windows frontends that allow direct joystick control?

[radiator]

did a quick search in google for an app that game map joystick axes/button to keyboard presses, and came up with this if it's any help?

 

[Minwah]

MinWah, so chances of seeing direct joystick control are slim to nill?

Crap.

Anyone know of anyother windows frontends that allow direct joystick control?

Sorry  

The main reason is I don't know how to do it.  I am sure I could find out, but atm I do not have time (I've a feeling it isn't very easy).  Also, the vast majority of people use keyboard encoders etc. so there are very few people asking for this feature.

Is there any major reason why you don't want to map the buttons to keys?  I realise it's not ideal, but I haven't tried it so I wondered if it doesn't work very well or something  

[GoldenBear]

Well, the reason I'd like to avoid mapping keystrokes to the buttons is because there is a bug, either in the gamepad software or Mamewah, where the keystroke method will work fine in the beginning.  I can select a game, play the game, and then exit all using the gamepad.

Once I exit the emulator though, I try to control mamewah again using the gamepad and it doesn't respond.  If I use the keyboard it will respond just fine though.  Also, if I push alt-tab occasionaly I can regain gamepad control but not always.  This happens regardless of what windows task switching is set too.

 

[BuZz880]

I have this problem too using controls mapped to the keyboard - or using a keyboard for that matter.  My sense is it won't be fixed by direct joystick input.  What is actually happening is the MAMEWAH "Window" is moving to the background and simply needs to be re-selected, alt-tab usually works as you have found.  Clicking the mouse may work too.  Me I usually just shoot the screen with my lightgun to fix it.  

I do not get this problem that often because I have made sure all my games are told to "close on exit" in their own executable properties.  Otherwise some of them particularly DOS based remain in the front (even though they may be minimized) thus taking control away from MAMEWAH.

What might work the rest of the time and I have been meaning to try is if you setup a shortcut to MAMEWAH and specify in its properties that you want MAMEWAH to run fullscreen perhaps that will cause it to retain foreground priority.

Regardless, the solution to your problem I think is probably more easily fixed in the O/S or in MAMEWAH itself.  

[Zakk]

I have this problem too using controls mapped to the keyboard - or using a keyboard for that matter.  My sense is it won't be fixed by direct joystick input.  What is actually happening is the MAMEWAH "Window" is moving to the background and simply needs to be re-selected, alt-tab usually works as you have found.  Clicking the mouse may work too.  Me I usually just shoot the screen with my lightgun to fix it.  

I do not get this problem that often because I have made sure all my games are told to "close on exit" in their own executable properties.  Otherwise some of them particularly DOS based remain in the front (even though they may be minimized) thus taking control away from MAMEWAH.

What might work the rest of the time and I have been meaning to try is if you setup a shortcut to MAMEWAH and specify in its properties that you want MAMEWAH to run fullscreen perhaps that will cause it to retain foreground priority.

Let me know if you get a working fix to this, I think this is the problem I have been having too.  It also seems to recognize some shortcuts or hotkeys, as sometimes in 2 player games I have been booted to desktop or to mamewah, but with the start bar visible (and have to switch back to mamewah).  

[anthony691]

The wierd thing is; that everyone has had different problems. These problems mentioned as of late don't effect me... which is really wierd...

[Minwah]

I don't seem to have any of these 'focus' problems either...from memory I did have a few similar issues while developing MAMEWAH in Win 98...I thought I'd fixed it, or it seems to be OK in XP.

Email me the emulator(s) & settings etc. you are using & I will try to fix.  Not now tho, I'm drunk