MaLa questions from a new user.

[GaryMcT]

I'm trying to switch from GameEx to MaLa since I like the MaLa simplicity and layouts better.

I have a few questions so far:

1) Is there some way to make it more responsive?  Even with the simplest layout (the default), it's really sluggish if you hit up or down on the joystick quickly.  It looks like an input problem since it scrolls really well if you hold the stick down.  I've tried turning off the option that is supposed to give faster scrolling, but that doesn't seem to make too much of a difference.

2) Is there a way to get the functionality similar to GameEx where you can hold down a button to switch from "I'm moving through a list one by one" mode to "I'm moving a letter at a time or a page at a time" mode?

3) Is the source code available?  I'm a programmer and wouldn't mind helping out as time permits to at least fix the problems that I run into and submit diffs.

4) Much less important than the rest, but is there a way to disable audio on the movies for everything but the first runthrough of the movie?  I really like having the audio there when I'm scrolling through the menus, but if I walk away from the machine, I don't want it to keep repeating.

[fatfingers]

I'm not sure about the answers to questions 1 and 4, so I'll not attempt to answer those.

2) Is there a way to get the functionality similar to GameEx where you can hold down a button to switch from "I'm moving through a list one by one" mode to "I'm moving a letter at a time or a page at a time" mode?

You can definitely move a letter at a time.  For example, I have my joystick set to go to the next letter when I press right or the previous letter when I press left.  Bring up the option screen (right click anywhere when MaLa is running, and select options.  Then click on the Controller tab.  In that screen you'll see options for "X <up | down>" and "Letter <up | down>", amongst others.  Click in the field you care to modify, then press the button or joystick direction you'd like.

3) Is the source code available?  I'm a programmer and wouldn't mind helping out as time permits to at least fix the problems that I run into and submit diffs.

The source code to MaLa is not available.  Loadman has just recently taken over development from Swindus, and as I understand it Swindus made Loadman swear on his first child that the code would not be released.  I know many people have offered to help as you have but to my knowledge Loadman has held true to his word.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

 

[GaryMcT]

I'm not sure about the answers to questions 1 and 4, so I'll not attempt to answer those.

2) Is there a way to get the functionality similar to GameEx where you can hold down a button to switch from "I'm moving through a list one by one" mode to "I'm moving a letter at a time or a page at a time" mode?

You can definitely move a letter at a time.  For example, I have my joystick set to go to the next letter when I press right or the previous letter when I press left.  Bring up the option screen (right click anywhere when MaLa is running, and select options.  Then click on the Controller tab.  In that screen you'll see options for "X <up | down>" and "Letter <up | down>", amongst others.  Click in the field you care to modify, then press the button or joystick direction you'd like.

I see that is possible if you are okay with the joystick doing just two things.  What I want is:

1) Joystick up/down to go through the list one at a time
2) Joystick left/right to switch lists
3) Joystick up/down+button 1 to move through the list a page at a time
4) Joystick left/right+button 1 to move through the list a letter at a time

This is an extremely effective way to get around the frontend without a lot of inputs.

3) Is the source code available?  I'm a programmer and wouldn't mind helping out as time permits to at least fix the problems that I run into and submit diffs.

The source code to MaLa is not available.  Loadman has just recently taken over development from Swindus, and as I understand it Swindus made Loadman swear on his first child that the code would not be released.  I know many people have offered to help as you have but to my knowledge Loadman has held true to his word.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

 

That's a bummer.  It may mean that I won't be able to use MaLa since the things I want fixed probably aren't a high priority for Loadman.   I may just end up writing my own front end for my purposes.

[fatfingers]

Well, you -may- be able to use the shift functionality of the encoder you use (if it has one) to get that sort of functionality, but that's out of my league.

Good luck.

[GaryMcT]

Well, you -may- be able to use the shift functionality of the encoder you use (if it has one) to get that sort of functionality, but that's out of my league.

Good luck.

If I use my ipac4, it does have one. . if I use the U360, the shift functionality is a bit wacked.  I think I'm back to GameEx for now until I get around to writing a simple frontend for myself.  MaLa just doesn't seem very responsive to user input.

[Dizzle]

I'll have to look at my setup, but I've got MaLa to do pretty much exactly what your looking for.

I scroll through one game at a time with up/down.
I scroll one letter at a time with left/right.
And I scroll x number of items down with up/down + a "shift" key (which I define in the MaLa setup).

I don't use multiple lists, but MaLa lets you do that too.