Software Support > controls.dat
controls.xml outdated
SirPoonga:
--- Quote from: Space Fractal on September 07, 2008, 03:12:55 pm ---1. The service buttons is listed in the controls.ini (which I use) as separate buttons (as SERVICEx= entry), but is not counted as a in-game button. But since you can't switch a game in Mame (which only emulate one game inserted as I known), they are not really useable anyway. So I think its pretty correct. I do see all games should got listed, so they got better label?
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Isn't one of the service buttons to put it in test mode or for sometype of setup. It;s been a long time since I looked at it.
--- Quote ---2. I see also many entry listed number of buttons used in the PCB and NOT the game its self? I think that wrong, I see mirrored buttons should not count (as these games would been playable with a one joystick + one button panels). Examples is:
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This is where it's tough to judge between accuracy and usability. This is where an unofficial control.dat would be useful. If you were making a front end and you asked mame for the controls information it will return 2 buttons. You then use controls.dat to figure out what to label those buttons.
--- Quote ---To the last the Headkaze utility is a good one to check all entries in a great user interface. I think clones could been marked as "use parent", if the controls is the same?
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The controls.dat file supports clones. I always have said if someone wants to add a clone give me the information and I will hard code it. The submission form doesn't support clones. there are far fewer clones that don't have the same controls as the parent so it is more viable to just add them to controls.dat.
this is also why I don't think colors.ini should be in controls.dat. There's like less then 5% of the games in mame have specific colored buttons. The FE developer could combine them at runtime if he likes.
Let me get a website going again for the project and we will figure out where to go from there. Good news is I found a backup of the site's php. I have a database backup from this last march.
Space Fractal:
Personally I do like colors in controls.dat, since they have something with controls to do.... Any Fe's that doesn't support that would just ignore that.
For accuracy and useability, I think a new argument is needed (for asteroids example):
<Player Number="1" NumButtons="5" MinButtons="3">
Layouts for unused buttons is then ignored (here button 4 and 5).
miscDetails could then state about how the deficient about the 3 buttons and 5 buttons layout.
I think in that way more games would been playable when they begin to filter out games based on number of buttons with the minimum required buttons (if mame example list unused buttons which can been filtered out).
NB. in MultiFE (which currently not support this file yet) I would use controls.dat weighted higher than mame outout, if mame contain some inaccuracy about number of buttons, due to the driver used. I think this was the whole points of this project.
headkaze:
Okay my little app has been released to check out.
SirPoonga:
--- Quote from: Space Fractal on September 07, 2008, 06:44:04 pm ---<Player Number="1" NumButtons="5" MinButtons="3">
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That's a possibility.
I'm thinking about using controls.dat to learn Silverlight. It won't take much to add something like verified and two different button numbers. I could add hat quick and then look at rewriting the site.
headkaze:
--- Quote from: SirPoonga on September 07, 2008, 11:24:21 pm ---That's a possibility.
I'm thinking about using controls.dat to learn Silverlight. It won't take much to add something like verified and two different button numbers. I could add hat quick and then look at rewriting the site.
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I hope my work over the weekend hasn't been in vein :o
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