The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Front End Support => MaLa Frontend => Topic started by: severdhed on September 15, 2009, 04:09:12 pm
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hey guys...on our cab at work we have MALA running and working great. we just recently discovered that you can set it up to show the number of times a game has been played. i got that working just fine, but we would like to reset the counters back to 0 to start counting from this point. I couldn't find how to do this? is there a file that i need to wipe out somewhere?
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I know there's a reset game count option in MAMEUI, but I don't know about the command line version.
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I'm away from my cab, but I believe there are files in the Mala directory named something like "MostPlayed". I remember them being created when I enabled that listing.
I suppose to be safe you could (1) uncheck the box for the most played lists in Mala, (2) quit Mala, (3) delete the files from the Mala directory, (4) restart Mala, and (5) re-check the "most played" list box to create "fresh" lists.
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we are not using the most played list. and i do not have a file called mostplayed, or anything resembling that.
i just figured this had to be saved in a file somewhere that i could delete or something
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I am at work now. but I am just finishing my buddies cab for him. I had transfered all the files from one hd to the other, and i am using the games played feature in my layout. I can't remember what I did (I deleted something) and all his games played are back to zero. Let me check into this tonight and will get back to you tommarow.
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awesome, thanks
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well, i made a little progress...but not enough. i started randomely removing files from my mala directory hoping to figure out which one saved this counter info, no luck.
however i did discover that it is part of the actual gamelist. if i am on the all games list and launch a game, it adds to the counter, but only in that game list. if i switch to my test gamelist, the counter did not change. so the play count is per game list. also, if i refresh the main game list, it resets the counter for the main list.
i tried opening my test list in the gamelist editor, and then saving it under a new name, this carried the counters over with it. the problem here is that i cannot find a way to clear the counter on any game list other than the all games list.
any ideas?
i dont really want to have to manually recreate my custom gamelist.
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I remember now what happened, i had to recreate new gamelists using romlister for the second cab. This reset the counters.
But there must be another way to reset them without recreating the gamelists?
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**oops - let me check on that first ***
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Ok, here's a down and dirty way to zero out the number of times a game has been played. I can not stress the following enough:
BACKUP YOUR MALA FOLDER BEFORE CONTINUING.
I would feel very badly if you corrupted your gamelist(s) by following my method. I HAVE TRIED THIS ON Mala 162g ONLY! Also, I have only tried this with custom game lists for MAME. I have not tried the Mame Main Game List The procedure will be slightly different for other emulator lists. Especially those with roms that do not have a ZIP extension. Do not try this on non-Mame gamelists!
Step 1. Download the hex editor XVI32, here:
http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm
Step 2. CLOSE OUT OF MALA.
Step 3. Using the hex editor, open the game list that you want to zero the number of times played.
Step 4. Click Search at the top, then click replace.
Step 5. Change all options and settings to exactly what I have in the screenshot below. If it is not exact, you will corrupt your gamelist.
Step 6. Click Replace All
Step 7. Save it. That's it. Good Luck!
If it doesn't work for you, zip up your (original- not a corrupted) game list and email it to me. PM me for my email address.
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Thanks SGT,
Will try this as soon as i get a day off!!!
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ok, i tried this, and had mixed success. i can make a new game list and add games from the main game list, and successfully use this method to clear number of plays. however the game list that i actually care about will not clear. i tried it on two different computers...i go through, it says it replaced 49 entries and then i save it, but the number of plays are still there. i tried opening that game list in the editor and saving it as a different name, still nothing. this game list was created on an older version of mala, then brought over into the 1.0.4.5 version that we have now...i am assuming that is part of the problem.
i guess we will just have to make a new list...i just wish there was an easy way to do this.
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Sorry to drag up such an old thread but has anyone ever figured this out?
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Maybe I'm looking at this question in an overly simplistic way, but can't you just right click on the Mala menu you want to clear the count on and select "Refresh game list".
Whenever I do that on my Mala set up (IE: when I add new games) it zeros out the playcount for all the games in that menu.
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Maybe I'm looking at this question in an overly simplistic way, but can't you just right click on the Mala menu you want to clear the count on and select "Refresh game list".
Whenever I do that on my Mala set up (IE: when I add new games) it zeros out the playcount for all the games in that menu.
That and SGT's method above would lead me to believe that the play count is stored in the gamelist (as are a lot of things in MALA).....
You can convert the gamelist to a simple text file using mlgconverter.exe from this thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,101104.0.html (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,101104.0.html)
Make the changes to the games you want, then convert it back.
That would allow you to do it on a per-game basis.
I'm not saying this works and don't have time to mess with it myself, but it's something to try.
Please report back if it works. (I think it should! ;D )
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Maybe I'm looking at this question in an overly simplistic way, but can't you just right click on the Mala menu you want to clear the count on and select "Refresh game list".
Whenever I do that on my Mala set up (IE: when I add new games) it zeros out the playcount for all the games in that menu.
Ya, I could go that route. Tho it means I would have to go thru and remove some of the games I don't want on the list, again. Was hoping for an easier fix. I guess maybe I should just delete them out of the rom file all together. Lazy ;D
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I know this is a very old thread, but i'm setting up a cab for a friend and i copied the mame and mala directories over from my cabinet. I'd really like to clear the number of times played for these games so he can start from scratch on his system.
Mala seems to have fallen by the wayside now, but it works well and I know how to use it. Do any of you know how to clear this out?