New Utility - ZincCab (configuration + "wrapper" in one) v0.82

[Space Fractal]

ZincCab is a utility to simple configure your controllers to get zinc work, which is not really easy, due manual finind VIK codes and such and have no GUI at all.

ZincCab second function is act like a wrapper for other cabinet based frontend easier.

Hence it was created with cabinets in mind and the GUI is really only used for configuration and testing and then use the commandline function of the same app to use with frontend.

Please Note:
- This app is not finish and might have errors, but should been fully functional.
- Can somebody create a nice little picture to the top/right logo and also a app icon for it?
- This app should not require any runtime files, due this is wrote in Pure Basic and not typical Visual Basic.
- Read readme in the included file first.

v0.82 released:
- Doubleclick on a game, start the game.
- Creating dummy file in the romdir, if no zip file is found (do allways that in default romdir and does NOT effect what you have set in rompath). That feature is added to use to show a nice list in frontends.

v0.81 released:
- Joystick was for some reason forgot to add, and all input should now work.
- It now use the last loaded controller profile, regaardless you use the GUI and the wrapper.

v0.80.2 released:
- It now use the last loaded controller profile, regaardless you use the GUI and the wrapper.


TempLink to download the file:
http://www.spacefractal.com/files/App/Zinc_v0.82.zip

[headkaze]

Nice work Space Fractal! 

Can I make a suggestion though? In the Game Controller Mapping section, I always think it's much easier to have a textbox with a button next to it [...] where you press the button and can enter the key from the keyboard. It makes setting up from a cab much easier.

I haven't tried it yet but will give more feedback after I have a chance to try it.

[Space Fractal]

I know it and I would do that for the first. The main problem is the incompatible between ASCII and DirectX values, and these commands I found in Pure Basic forums and help was all ASCii based, so nothing I could do this.

Remember this is also profile based, so I hope users begin to share their profiles so I can include them, example for X-Arcade boards and others, so they are nearly ready to run when a profile is loaded. so other uers does not need to configurere each game again if some games got swapped thier buttons.

The only minor issue I really found now, is the wrapper allways use default.zcp as the controller profile. I look on that issue so it use last loaded profile. {FIXED}

[headkaze]

SF: Take a look in src\osd\windows\input.c in the Mame source code there is a table called "win_key_trans_table" which can convert keycodes from DirectInput Key (DIK), Virtual Keycodes (VK) and ASCII.

[Space Fractal]

Even that list is US only, where some ASCII codes in danish is different, but I could remap after the US keyboard, since I have noticed the user about it from the menu. There exists a similar table I can use from Pure Basic. I might change that in the future.

Otherwice no big issue, due I have renamed all keys to been most human readable as possible, so is still much faster and easier to do that than edit text files by your self and you do that once. ZincFE did the same trick and I diddent have problems with that.

I really wrote this utility to act like a wrapper to (all it does is send the correct commandline args to Zinc and do nothing elsewice), so you can send a ROM name rather than the gamenumber normally used, so it would been usable in MultiFE when the system emulator is finished (its about 80% done or such).

[ahofle]

Hi, thanks for the nice utility.  I am not able to get it to work though.  I tried the default config and even a new one, and I'm using the default keys (same as MAME).  I cannot get a coin to insert in any game, even though it's mapped to 5.  Any ideas?  ZincFE seems to work OK, but I can't stand that frontend and like yours better.

[Space Fractal]

Im looking what it happens later today when I got all zinc roms installed so I can real test it. They are not on my work machine yet.

Did you installed the required plugin listed in the readme? Otherwice Im looking what it happens.

[Space Fractal]

new version released and should fixed the input issue(s). Have tested it on one game yet and it did work now.

[ahofle]

Thanks, works great now!

[ahofle]

Could I make one more minor nitpick request?  Could you make a double click on the game list launch the game?

[Space Fractal]

Request done, that even GUI was not designed to use in "normal mode", but only in "test mode".

The only one ting left I do in next version:
Possible to create dummy file based on full title (which can been used in commandline as well) instead of rom title. but most frontend can use dat or nms files, so no big issue.

[ahofle]

Thanks! 

[mh12]

daaamn this emulator and the controls!

thankfully not a whole lot is set up on my cab yet.. instead of fighting with zinc i just remapped my panel to its default controls.

it was mostly fighting with that Visual Basic config program that lead me to that. this wrapper seemed better

[retrojunkie]

Thanks for your efforts I've used mamewah in my cabinet but i want to transfer mala. Anyway i never used zinc with a front end, the problem is that when i choose "zinc.exe" on the front-end always a black screen flashes then nothing, when i choose "zinccab.exe" zinccab game select menu appears. Is there anyone who give me a trick? 

[Howard_Casto]

Totally unsupported at this point (people still use Zinc?)  but....

http://dragonking.arcadecontrols.com/static.php?page=utilitydownload


Sometimes I get the feeling that people forget I've been around here FOREVER and much like vanilla ice, if there was a problem... yo I've solved it!

[retrojunkie]

Thank you, they're useful tools but i don't know how it's happened that i've choose "zinccab.exe" on the Mala settings last night and suddenly it executed zinc games I supposed never noticed that there is an option on the Mala like "Howard's wrapper", i checked it maybe it fixed the error. Now it's Zinc time!  Thanks everyone 

[retrojunkie]

Dear friends, zinc works perfectly now but there is a tiny problem with controls. I use joytokey with zinccab (i've used it before for nulldc emu too) but only 2 buttons work even with 6 button games. For instance i can use only punch buttons with sf series and checked all keys for player 1 and 2 a few times. Any idea? 

[cloudd]

CONTROLLER.ZNC Winterblaster v1.6 crashes under windows 7 64bit

Thread already created here:

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?30181-Zinc-Controls-NOT-working-in-Windows-7-64Bit&highlight=zinc