The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Software Forum => Topic started by: Hoopz on September 24, 2008, 08:55:42 pm

Title: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on September 24, 2008, 08:55:42 pm
This poll is setup in order to have one definitive poll that offers several benefits over some of the other "What's your favorite front end" poll.

1.  Users may change their vote at any time.  For example, anyone using an older FE that decides to use a new front end can change their vote at any time. 

2.  All FEs from the wiki are included.  When new FEs become available, I'll update the poll to reflect what's new.

3.  Saint has agreed to sticky the poll so that it's readily available to everyone without having to use the search feature.

I am including all Front Ends listed in the Wiki for several reasons.  This will get closer to being a comprehensive poll of all offerings, including some that haven't been updated in awhile.  It may also attract some members who haven't been very active recently, yet who may be content running their FE.  The more votes we get, the better the poll should be. It may also include FEs that some aren't familiar with and inspire them to research some more.  Finally, if someone points out that a FE hasn't been included, it can then be added to the Wiki.  In the words of Michael Scott, win-win-win.

Obviously, post any comments regarding your favorite.  Let me know if another FE needs added.  And I do realize that command line isn't necessarily a front end.  However, several of the more/most helpful members here use it and I think it's valid to include it.   :)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: polaris on September 24, 2008, 08:59:59 pm
good stuff, ill give it a week til someone posts it again without looking through the stickies :P

Mala  first ive tried no reason to change. :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bigdog1977 on September 24, 2008, 09:47:54 pm
Sweet thanks Hoopz!!! Your not such the A*s Bag I thought your were! hahaha. Where is Maximo G+ on the list kid?  :laugh2:

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on September 24, 2008, 10:04:59 pm
I used to use GameLauncher but development ground to a halt.  I was cool for it's day. ;)

But now days it 24/7 MaLa.  :P

I still use command line for testing (well it is in the list)  ;)

I really like the work that has gone into the development of most of the other FE's though. There are some talented dev's out there.  :cheers:

Don't forget the cool guys who make MAME and FE utilities / plug-ins. They Rock   :cheers:

Am I getting off track again?  Nurse another pill please!!!  :dizzy:

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on September 24, 2008, 10:33:06 pm
+ 1 for Maximo G+
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: somunny on September 24, 2008, 10:46:51 pm
Well, I had to vote for Mamewah as it's the only FE I've used so far.  I have it installed on my 2004 and 2006 cab projects. 

I've never had any desire to change it up but I am planning on using MaLa for The Ark just to try something different.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: TheShanMan on September 24, 2008, 11:06:17 pm
When I saw this thread I thought "oh man, that's ALL we need - yet another 'favorite FE' thread, and on top of that it's stickied!". But your poll is actually an excellent idea!

(mala for me)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bewareofwolfe on September 24, 2008, 11:53:27 pm
The first FE I used was Kymaera atleast three years ago now.
Then It was 3d arcade I loved it, it is cool, but now because of it's ease of use all the goodies it supports etc... I pick MALA
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on September 25, 2008, 08:35:09 am
I've been wondering if XBMC should be added to the list.  If anyone is using it for this function, let me know please.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Space Fractal on September 25, 2008, 09:12:45 am
No multiple choice?

I think I should not vote because I have my own little FE, based on MultiJuke and is on the vote list.

From other authors I like both Mamewah and Mala and would vote on both of them if I could. Its these I have use/used.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: nuka1195 on September 25, 2008, 06:54:41 pm
hoopz, i am writing a plugin for xbmc for mame and of course will use it for media playback.

it will be a while, but i think it's perfect for a bartop, where it supports music, video and pictures along with arcade gaming.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: FrizzleFried on September 25, 2008, 07:30:16 pm
I too vote Maximo!

 :applaud:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: protokatie on September 26, 2008, 01:24:34 am
Well I voted AFE, and I presume Havok did as well..

Just waiting for the 3rd and final vote for atomic from Youki...


:P
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shmokes on September 26, 2008, 11:01:08 am
There may be a couple of minor features that Maximo G+ doesn't do as well as some of the other front ends, but as a complete package I think it is clearly superior to the others in terms of both accessibility and advanced features.  The balance those devs have struck between power and usability is, IMO, as close to perfect as any front end is likely to come in the near future, perhaps ever.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Havok on September 27, 2008, 02:02:54 am
Well I voted AFE, and I presume Havok did as well..

Just waiting for the 3rd and final vote for atomic from Youki...


:P

Haha - these guys don't know what they're missing. Most of them prefer "FE for Dummies" setup over power. Meh.

 :P
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on September 27, 2008, 12:04:00 pm
Quote
Haha - these guys don't know what they're missing. Most of them prefer "FE for Dummies" setup over power. Meh.

hehe... most of them will change they mind when they will try Atomic 0.20...  ;)

And most of my current users don't spend their time to answer poll on forums , they play!!  ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Gatsu on September 27, 2008, 12:22:57 pm
I like MaLa. So far its been the easiest setup for me out of the others that I had on my arcade console. And the visuals are all customizable, and easy to customize. I really dig that. I can make some workable and good looking in very little time.

Sure its got a few bugs, but the developers staying on top of it and actually listening to users in the community, which is awesome. I highly recommend it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bigdog1977 on September 27, 2008, 03:03:11 pm
FrizzleFried what is that picture of in your Avatar??
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on September 27, 2008, 07:42:58 pm
Sure its got a few bugs, but the developers staying on top of it and actually listening to users in the community, which is awesome. I highly recommend it.
Sorry I felt the need to clarify this  ;)
The deal is basically just before Swindus stopped working on it he thew in a heap on functionality that was never fully beta tested, but he was good enough to pass the source code onto me so now I am bust bug squashing then I will add/change other things.
Sorry for the thread hijack  :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: divemaster127 on September 29, 2008, 12:42:21 pm
When will the atomic .20 be out just curious
dm
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: FrizzleFried on September 29, 2008, 12:54:05 pm
FrizzleFried what is that picture of in your Avatar??


You don't wanna know...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on September 29, 2008, 02:01:43 pm
I don't understand the popularity of Hyperspin :dizzy: It looks like the front-end equivalent of Polonaise/Line dancing, of the movie Meet the Grannies, of a Happy Meal, of the new VW Beetle, of leggings and fake curled/blonded hair, of TV calling games, of Char, or well to summarize it all: it equals bad taste.

I was almost the first to vote for EmuLaunch. I like a Mac effort. But it is not fast and complete enough. When it is 5 times as fast, and supports U360 mapping it will get my vote. Now it is Mala.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on September 29, 2008, 04:46:22 pm
Quote
When will the atomic .20 be out just curious
dm

I was expecting end of September. But i got a Baby , so  i will be late on my planning.  Should be mid october.

It is almost finished , we are polishing things.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: joebells on September 29, 2008, 04:50:16 pm
I don't understand the popularity of Hyperspin :dizzy: It looks like the front-end equivalent of Polonaise/Line dancing, of the movie Meet the Grannies, of a Happy Meal, of the new VW Beetle, of leggings and fake curled/blonded hair, of TV calling games, of Char, or well to summarize it all: it equals bad taste.

I was almost the first to vote for EmuLaunch. I like a Mac effort. But it is not fast and complete enough. When it is 5 times as fast, and supports U360 mapping it will get my vote. Now it is Mala.

of course not everyone is going to like it(hyperspin) but I wonder why you think it looks so bad?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: TeutonicDarkness on September 29, 2008, 07:02:45 pm
 
 There are many Front Ends that have feature I like,
or I like the way they look...


However I have to choose the older Version of
Mamewah in Combination with the Setup tool
provided by David Butler.

Most of the other I couldn't figure out or was
turned off by the unusual directory structure I
had to setup... (unusual to me anyway).

However with this combination it can't get any easier!




*** Teutonic Darkness ***
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: LaDite on September 30, 2008, 02:50:38 pm
HI,

Atomic 0.20 is the next No. 1 of the front end

upon its release in mid-October, it will be supplied with a program installation with + 100 pre-configured Emulators

Come see the result (90% ok) :



http://www.atomicfe.com/forums/index.php?board=2.0

LaDite
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: gonzo90017 on September 30, 2008, 04:37:11 pm
Quote
HI,

Atomic 0.20 is the next No. 1 of the front end

upon its release in mid-October, it will be supplied with a program installation with + 100 pre-configured Emulators

Come see the result (90% ok) :

http://www.mediafire.com/?jmwijydjgne

http://www.atomicfe.com/forums/index.php?board=2.0

LaDite

   
The forum link isn't working. Seems you have to register to see the forum.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on September 30, 2008, 06:30:55 pm
I thought Atomic 0.20 was going to be more like HyperSpin but it looks more like GameEx  :o
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on September 30, 2008, 07:54:30 pm
Youki, congrats on the baby!   :applaud:
Quote
When will the atomic .20 be out just curious
dm

I was expecting end of September. But i got a Baby , so  i will be late on my planning.  Should be mid october.

It is almost finished , we are polishing things.
The FE is being polished or the baby????   :laugh2:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: billpa on September 30, 2008, 08:10:03 pm
I don't understand the popularity of Hyperspin :dizzy: It looks like the front-end equivalent of Polonaise/Line dancing, of the movie Meet the Grannies, of a Happy Meal, of the new VW Beetle, of leggings and fake curled/blonded hair, of TV calling games, of Char, or well to summarize it all: it equals bad taste.

Wow...why dont you tell us how you really feel?  ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on September 30, 2008, 09:53:55 pm
I think Hyperspin should definitly be voted best newcomer, and best innovation of recent times. Its nice when something new comes along and people try to do something new and innovate. It takes something special to do something new rather than just reinvent the wheel. As I wouldnt vote for my own front end I voted for Hyperspin.

Credit where its due.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 01, 2008, 03:52:21 am
Quote
I thought Atomic 0.20 was going to be more like HyperSpin but it looks more like GameEx 


The layout you show exists for AtomicFe since the 0.18 , he is donwloadable since a while. He has been inspired by a Mala layout where we added real time reflection effect.

Atomic 0.20 have HyperSKin layout  of course , as you have already seen on video i posted , but it is really not the main enhancement has Atomic was already able to do that , i just added "rotation" effect and the possibility to map layout on game or category.

Atomic 0.20 reserves lot of surprise.






Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 01, 2008, 05:20:09 am
Definitely Hyperspin

While the argument of there not being enough themes was valid in the past... I currently have 243 fully themed games for Mame.  While I realize that there are several thousand - remember that people have typically been making themes for their favorite games first.

What this means is that 243 of the most popular games have been done....  all or at least most of the games you actually play are in there.  The few of your favorites which aren't in there can easily be added with a little effort if you want.

Not to mention all my movie themes.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: RetroBorg on October 01, 2008, 05:36:47 am
Not to mention all my movie themes.

Aabra's movie themes are definitely worth checking out: http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=861
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 01, 2008, 06:42:48 am
ehh - that's an old link Retro before I started modifying the trailers so that there's no black around the edges or 5 second green preview screen before the trailer starts.  This link is a bit more up to date (although more movies have been added since - check the latest post in that thread for a list) and has a video included. 

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=885
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Todd H on October 02, 2008, 08:35:59 am
Over the years, I've gone from Gamelauncher to Mamewah to Hyperspin. Gotta say Hyperspin has quickly become my favorite.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 03, 2008, 08:35:52 pm
I just made up a new preview video today for my movie themes so I figured I'd post it here just for fun as some people are probably confused.  :)  I realize that there are other front ends for movies but I like having the trailers start right away when browsing through the movies.  Call me crazy but I think it's much cooler than staring at some boxart with no sound.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h330mOuhdU

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Havok on October 06, 2008, 05:43:02 pm
My XBox 360 is my movie front end...

 8)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on October 06, 2008, 06:46:05 pm
The reason I like Mala is that it is easy to set up and easy to use while in a cabinet.
I don't like too many choices and selections on the main menu.  Let the frontend open mame up automatically and then the user just has to pick some games.  Too many choices is just too much to think about for those who want to play games, not read/navigate menus.  I want people to focus on choosing a game, not navigating or waiting for videos to stop playing in order to play a game. 

Finally, Mala is pretty easy to set up and get going.  I dont' want to start worrying about collections of attract videos and all this artwork collections that go into folders that I dont' know what their name is?  I mean, isn't the snap and marquee folders in mame enough of this nonsense?   I like the idea of hyperspin, or should i say Ultracade, but for me to use it I would want it just to load up the snaps and marquees from default because I don't want to have to devote too much time to gathering videos and graphics and organizing and setting it up right.

My favorite frontend of them all was Ultramame because it was so simple and looks like, if there was a real "mame" arcade cabinet from the 80's, that it would be it's frontend.  But, the only reason I don't use it now is that I can't install it anymore, it's got some bugs and I can't figure it out.

Ok, so I'm lazy... so what?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 07, 2008, 04:05:18 am
The reason I like Mala is that it is easy to set up and easy to use while in a cabinet.
I don't like too many choices and selections on the main menu.  Let the frontend open mame up automatically and then the user just has to pick some games.  Too many choices is just too much to think about for those who want to play games, not read/navigate menus.  I want people to focus on choosing a game, not navigating or waiting for videos to stop playing in order to play a game. 

I don't think you're referring to Hyperspin here but since you mention it later on I have to assume that you are.  If you're not then please forgive me for this assumption.  In Hyperspin to get from the main menu to actually playing a game takes 2 clicks.  Once on the system (Mame, Sega Master System, NES, Movies, or whatever you want) and once on the game.  My grandmother could use this without getting confused. 

I'm also not really sure what you mean by waiting for videos to stop playing... I don't think *any* front end forces you to wait for the video to stop playing before you can select a game.... I mean that would be awful. 

 I like the idea of hyperspin, or should i say Ultracade, but for me to use it I would want it just to load up the snaps and marquees from default because I don't want to have to devote too much time to gathering videos and graphics and organizing and setting it up right.

I created a little video here as it seems that a lot of people believe that Hyperspin can't do this.  It absolutely can and does.  You don't need individual themes at all.  This is still a work in progress though as you can see for SNES as the wheel images don't exist yet - they're still being created so we're currently forced to use Hyperlogo to generate them.  It still looks pretty good though.  The completed NES default theme though obviously looks better.

Admittedly in its current incarnation (Beta) you have to set up a lot of this manually which isn't that hard but a bit complicated for the average user.  Once it's all done however you'll simply download a torrent which has everything already setup in its correct directory. (with maybe the exception of most videos which you'll have to download from emumoves if you want them) After that you'll simply run the config program to set the rom directories and emulators that you want to use - and that's it.

That's the direction that BadBoyBill is taking the program in. 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=8-7-J5pWO0g



Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on October 07, 2008, 06:02:40 am
Why not have the "wheel" load the marquees from the mame folder as a default?  Also, why not load the snaps as a default.  This way one does not have to load all the extra artwork? 

I admit, I tried to do this w/Hyperspin, but it is too confusing (for me, the average user/moron) to keep track what is supposed to go in "artwork 1" or "artwork 2" folders (I think that's their names).

Thanks.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 07, 2008, 06:29:17 am
Well, I'll say this much - the marquees aren't exactly the easiest thing to find.  Besides the emumovies ftp and private torrent sites - where can you get them?  The roms are much easier to find.  Also, many marquees simply aren't fit for use with the wheel. 

For example Androdun:

(http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7417/androdunpf8.th.png) (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=androdunpf8.png)(http://img183.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif) (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

This is clearly way too big and would need to be modified.  All of the normal ones too would need to be passed through Photoshop quickly (via batch process) to make them all the same size at the very least. 

All that being said there's no reason at all why you can't use the snaps and marquees in a default Mame theme if you wanted to.  Several people are working on a default mame theme in this thread:

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=813

It's a bit weird that we don't have an 'official' one yet.  Anyways, maybe I could do up a mame wheel with the marquees really quickly to use with a default mame theme - it wouldn't take me long.

Still though...  to use snaps instead of videos..... *ugh*  Once you've used video previews.... you'll never want to go back.  :D  Even my Sega Master System set has video previews.  :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: joebells on October 07, 2008, 08:43:19 am
Why not have the "wheel" load the marquees from the mame folder as a default?  Also, why not load the snaps as a default.  This way one does not have to load all the extra artwork? 

I admit, I tried to do this w/Hyperspin, but it is too confusing (for me, the average user/moron) to keep track what is supposed to go in "artwork 1" or "artwork 2" folders (I think that's their names).

Thanks.


They are given generic names like that because you can use them for whatever you want they aren't static and box art has to always go in artwork 2 or anything like that.

There is HyperTheme to help out with themes and such, I don't believe it can import themes quite yet but it will be able to at some point, as of now I think it just helps create new ones. For now you can look at a theme's ini file to get an idea of what artwork is what.

Also BBB has taken the configuration program into his own hands after the previous writer disappeared(completely rewriting it from scratch since the original writer had the source). That alone should make alot of stuff much easier to setup when he finishes it, he just started it a short while ago and already has a bunch of it done.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Aabra on October 07, 2008, 09:48:08 am
Ya, after looking over the mame marquees I realized that there are a lot that would need to be edited.  It's not just a select few.  It wouldn't be hard to convert them all but it would be time consuming.  I'm not all that motivated to do it since I don't plan on using a default mame theme.  All my favorite games already have themes anyways so I don't really mind missing out on a few.

Here's another default theme which I've been working on for the Sega Master System.  The theme itself isn't all that great... in fact it sucks and I'm going to re-do it but I just finished modifying and renaming all the movies and boxart images so that you guys don't have to.  I want to emphasize that this is a work in progress and not what it will look like when done.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXc3yu9aSc
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tk375 on October 07, 2008, 01:48:53 pm
BELIEVE THE HYPE!

I tried a few, Game Ex is good, Atomic Fe is not sexy, but Hyperspin still in its Beta version wins by K.O. :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on October 08, 2008, 03:17:48 pm
If I see the video's here, all I can say is HS is way too slow. 3 seconds between each game option is not going to work.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on October 08, 2008, 04:39:49 pm
If I see the video's here, all I can say is HS is way too slow. 3 seconds between each game option is not going to work.
Guys, this is a poll thread... Let's keep discussion of FE's to their threads.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: nuka1195 on October 08, 2008, 09:03:40 pm
it's a poll on fe, where better to give reasons for or against a fe.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on October 08, 2008, 11:47:05 pm
I think it is great that the users have such a choice these days.

I remember there only being 3 or 4 decent ones.

It also seems to me that FE choice is now based mainly on personal taste rather than just functionality.

Just my view  ;)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Loafmeister on October 09, 2008, 09:44:15 am
If I see the video's here, all I can say is HS is way too slow. 3 seconds between each game option is not going to work.

I don't understand this. I can get to from game 1 to game 300 in just a couple of seconds. You don't have to wait and look at the theme if you don't want.  If you want to start the game, again, you don't have to wait for the theme to play out, just press the enter button!  If I understand you correctly, if you like to just click on the filename and run it, that's cool but obviously a "flashy" front end is not for you. But does that make such a front end, a "bad" front end?

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on November 07, 2008, 10:16:25 am
Added "Angry Bee" to the options of FEs to vote for.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bent98 on November 11, 2008, 11:17:17 am
grats on new FE Angry
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: balestrum on November 12, 2008, 03:59:02 am
Hyperspin without a doubt is the best Ive seen by far.  Although not fully committed to it on my cab.  Only because it does require a decent amount of user interface.  I do not have the time to dedicate to polishing it up.  The supporting community is growing almost daily and pushing out themes.  I cant say enough about the support.  Awesome.  However, in the mean time I'll have to deal with... I hate to say it... Maximus.  Simple plug n play for the kiddies.  Hack.  I know Bill and the rest of the fellas will pull it together and put it in an easily digestable package for the noob.   
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: EVEGames on November 12, 2008, 01:25:32 pm
I am blown away that not a single person is using ArcadeOS.  My first mame cab ran ArcadeOS and AdvanceMAME, and it stayed that way for a long time.  Like everyone else, I eventually moved on to other FEs, but not 1 single person still using gool old ArcadeOS????  It must be the advent of the ArcadeVGA card that made ArcadeOS basically obsolete.  But I still have a soft spot for it and owe a debt of gratitude toward it.
Here's to you, ArcadeOS  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: theob42 on November 14, 2008, 04:26:25 pm
Hyper Spin all the way!!!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: TalkingBull on November 19, 2008, 09:46:57 am
I have used or rather tried out most of the front ends on the list.  I ultimately settled on GameEx mainly because I like the interface... but also because it is so idiot proof to change/fix something.  Tom, the creator, is so good at keeping up with his userbase that if you have a question, it is usually answered right away.  Additionally, he takes requests for additions to new releases and almost always incorporates them.  I have no complaints for GameEx and reccomend it to everyone I know who is building a cab.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Todd H on November 20, 2008, 03:23:36 pm
I recently downloaded the trial of Maximus Arcade and was totally impressed with it. I may use it in my cab when it's done.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on November 20, 2008, 05:26:11 pm
Maximus is a very cool FE. I think all the emulators I set up worked - mame, VP, Daphne - with only setting the exe path, all support files were accessed automatically, didn't have to do anything stupid like find (let alone write) framefiles. However, there were a couple things - for example that I couldn't import mame32 game lists - that held me back from using it. Plus, despite it being a definitively paid-for product, product support isn't what you find with the free one's, or even GameEx. It may be different now, I don't know.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Haggar on November 27, 2008, 05:25:14 am
Last release of AtomicFE rocks. With AtomicStudio you can configure thousand of emus and menus very quickly.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Sardu on November 30, 2008, 12:54:18 am
I used to use FeMame back in 98/99.  ;D

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on November 30, 2008, 05:14:06 pm
I used to use FeMame back in 98/99.  ;D



It's still around.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: (+_+) on December 01, 2008, 11:05:23 am
Why not have the "wheel" load the marquees from the mame folder as a default? 

That was my thought exactly and decided to give it a whirl with my own FE version. It's far from finished and knowing me will probably end up looking completely different in 2 weeks time. I'm nuts in that way.

I forgot to mention, I have an homage to the Mortal Combat, Dan Forden "toasty" popout. Except it is a picture of Eugene Jarvis that randomly pops out from the lower left side. I showed it off to my kids. My 2 sons, my mother in law and I were in hysterics. I'm assuming they were laughing at me and not with me on this one. I had adjusted the random rate to make it happen more often just for the occasion. Sad, but true.


Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Flack on December 01, 2008, 08:04:33 pm
I've used several front ends over the years and even took a stab at writing my own, and my vote goes for MaLa. I appreciate how configurable some of the other options are, but the older I get the more important "ease of installation/configuration" becomes, and MaLa wins that category, hands down. I have spent hours (sometimes days) trying to get some of the others working the way I wanted, but MaLa really was one of those five minute jobs.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on December 02, 2008, 05:13:48 pm
I haven't found a favorite. I have peculiar tastes - I really have no interest in standard xml gamelists, for one - and it's been a matter of what are the most important features I want addressed?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: slasherman on December 07, 2008, 10:28:42 am
I like the Maximus Arcade ...and I got a hacked version of it...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on December 10, 2008, 04:43:21 pm
Hacked?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Visitor Q on December 12, 2008, 10:15:45 am
I like the Maximus Arcade ...and I got a hacked version of it...

Hold out your hand so I can smack it.

Dude, even if you have such a thing you don't got announcing something like that on a forum like this.

ps. Game Ex is the most featured enriched FE out there IMO.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bent98 on December 12, 2008, 03:53:29 pm
I like the Maximus Arcade ...and I got a hacked version of it...

If you like it then buy it. Support the authors.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on December 15, 2008, 07:27:41 pm
To Flack, that is the reason I like Mala too,  it installs easy and you don't have to do a lot of tinkering afterwards to get it just right.  Some of the others, even the great hyperspin, just have too many variables, ajustments and things to download (now, i get ready for pile-on criticisms).

And to (+_+), I agree, why not just load up the mame marquees that most of us probably have anyway?  But, it is not my fe, so who cares?  When you get yours ready, please let me know.

Steve
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on December 16, 2008, 12:39:50 am
To Flack, that is the reason I like Mala too,  it installs easy and you don't have to do a lot of tinkering afterwards to get it just right.  Some of the others, even the great hyperspin, just have too many variables, ajustments and things to download (now, i get ready for pile-on criticisms).

And to (+_+), I agree, why not just load up the mame marquees that most of us probably have anyway?  But, it is not my fe, so who cares?  When you get yours ready, please let me know.

Steve
No, criticism, but if you haven't tried HS lately, then I would highly suggest trying the new build... Build 0.8.0.0 was just released and is usable as a FE out of the box after you set your paths.  You don't have to do anything else to it if you don't want to.  With the text wheel and default themes it runs just like any other FE out.  The individual game themes just add another level that other FE's don't do.  Sure there are lots of other configurations you can do and download themes as well, but you don't have to anymore to get HS up and running.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on December 21, 2008, 02:58:28 pm
No, criticism, but if you haven't tried HS lately, then I would highly suggest trying the new build... Build 0.8.0.0 was just released and is usable as a FE out of the box after you set your paths.  You don't have to do anything else to it if you don't want to. 

Does it just run VP and Daphne by setting one path each?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on December 21, 2008, 08:59:47 pm
No, criticism, but if you haven't tried HS lately, then I would highly suggest trying the new build... Build 0.8.0.0 was just released and is usable as a FE out of the box after you set your paths.  You don't have to do anything else to it if you don't want to. 

Does it just run VP and Daphne by setting one path each?
That's one of the nice things about HyperSpin, you don't have to wait for the creator to add code to add a system/emulator.  If you know how to script for AutoHotKey then you can add anything you want.   

VP isn't included with the standard setup in HyperSpin right now, but it is easily added.   I have asked Bill to add VP into the official HyperSpin release, so hopefully soon it will be.  But in the mean time someone has already integrated VP into the launcher and it works great.  If you would like it I can zip up my VP settings/folders for HS and post it. 

Daphne is a cinch to setup as long as your framefiles are correct.  I have every Daphne game setup (including Roadblasters) and each game has its own theme.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on December 23, 2008, 08:21:46 pm
No, criticism, but if you haven't tried HS lately, then I would highly suggest trying the new build... Build 0.8.0.0 was just released and is usable as a FE out of the box after you set your paths.  You don't have to do anything else to it if you don't want to. 

Does it just run VP and Daphne by setting one path each?
That's one of the nice things about HyperSpin, you don't have to wait for the creator to add code to add a system/emulator.  If you know how to script for AutoHotKey then you can add anything you want.  

VP isn't included with the standard setup in HyperSpin right now, but it is easily added.   I have asked Bill to add VP into the official HyperSpin release, so hopefully soon it will be.  But in the mean time someone has already integrated VP into the launcher and it works great.  If you would like it I can zip up my VP settings/folders for HS and post it.

You mean you're thinking of packing the emu in the bundle?  And what do you mean by someone has integrated it in the launcher?....I'd think that means I can just follow the normal process and set a path or two and then it runs, right?


Quote
Daphne is a cinch to setup as long as your framefiles are correct.  I have every Daphne game setup (including Roadblasters) and each game has its own theme.


What do you mean correct? I'm used to not worrying about it. I just point to Daphneloader and it runs - except it doens't with most FEs. Even with MaLa, though I tried, it was much more effort than that and then it didn't work so I just gave up. One-click or death for me.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hornpipe2 on December 23, 2008, 11:58:17 pm
I am blown away that not a single person is using ArcadeOS.

I use it (and voted for it) - a great simple DOS frontend for my FreeDos-based cocktail cab.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Gatsu on January 08, 2009, 09:42:45 am
I've tried Mamewah, MaLa and GameEx so far....but I'm gonna give Hyperspin a go soon as well.

Mamewah was good but when I tried it, lacked alot of zazzy features. Simple but effective. And some customization.

GameEx was good, but too heavy in the features department. I felt like it was Windows...too much that I didnt need in my arcade cab. And not the easiest to setup. And its not 100% free. ;) Well it is free...if you can put up with a 15 second nag screen at the beginning.

MaLa so far has been the great middle ground. It has features you can implement if you want, but if not you don't have to...and you dont have to look at them. And it took me almost no time to get my own simple theme setup and running mame.

Hyperspin from what I understand looks really cool, but I've yet to give it a full on test on my arcade cab. I'll be giving it a try this weekend for my fighter cab.

I've gotta ask about Hyperspin though...I've got only Fighters in my cab. About how long would it take me initially to set up Mame & Naomi and a couple of pc game to have all the themes, videos and whatnot?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ViperStrike on January 08, 2009, 10:55:43 am
I'm using Maximus Arcade on my new Cab. It's very easy to setup and use. Though as others have mentioned the support seems a bit lacking and it is $25 which I felt was worth it.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 08, 2009, 02:05:32 pm
Hyperspin from what I understand looks really cool, but I've yet to give it a full on test on my arcade cab. I'll be giving it a try this weekend for my fighter cab.

I've gotta ask about Hyperspin though...I've got only Fighters in my cab. About how long would it take me initially to set up Mame & Naomi and a couple of pc game to have all the themes, videos and whatnot?
For HyperSpin, if you have the emulator already working then getting it setup in HyperSpin isn't too difficult. 

Setting up MAME is very straight forward and only takes a couple minutes to setup... the most difficult part of HyperSpin is the game lists.  I will be honest and say that setting up HyperSpin is a little bit more involving than other front ends in the setup part as far as game lists go.  Creating game lists is where HyperSpin lacks right now, but is something that Bill is working on.

If you only have fighters that game list shouldn't be difficult to create at all.  Give me your game list and I'll create a custom HyperSpin database file to get you started with.

As far as themes go; we have themes already created for a lot of the fighting games already.  I think most of the themes for the Street Fighter series is complete.  I am sure we will get a couple SFIV themes once the game comes out.  There might be a couple other fighters that we may not have themes for right now, but if you need something specific you can add it to our request list and someone will get it going.  People are cranking out themes like crazy now... Over 300 themes and counting.

For a game that we don't have a theme for we can easily create a Default fighting theme.  With a default theme; any game that does not have a game specific theme created for it will display using the Default theme when selected in HyperSpin.

Naomi support, I have Naomi running on my system via HyperSpin using the launcher that Brian_Hoffman created for GameEX (It's just an autohotkey script)...  The only issue that I have with Naomi is that I cannot map my player 2 buttons in NullDC.  Only player 1 seems to work in NullDC-Naomi.  I have downloaded Makaron, but I can't seem to get it running at all to test in HyperSpin with.

One thing with HyperSpin though...  You need a somewhat decent computer to run HyperSpin with.  A dual core machine with 2gb ram is preferred.  Slower machines can be used if you turn off the advanced background transitions.

Download HyperSpin and give it a try... If you need any help, join our forums and I'll help get you setup and running.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Crapahute on January 16, 2009, 05:06:39 am
Hi everybody,

As far as I’m concerned, I’ve always been a Mamewah addict. I was not very interested in all the bells and whistles proposed by the “new” front-ends. Nevertheless I recently gave a try to AtoMic FE… and I became a fashion victim! With this front end, you can use effects like Hyperspin but it has more options and it is more versatile. An important thing is that the author is always prompt to help users and to adapt the soft to our needs.

Now, my two mamecabs are using Atomic-FE.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Haggar on January 16, 2009, 09:01:20 am
An important thing is that the author is always prompt to help users and to adapt the soft to our needs.

Yes! That's a great thing!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Minwah on January 21, 2009, 11:37:47 am
I am blown away that not a single person is using ArcadeOS.  My first mame cab ran ArcadeOS and AdvanceMAME, and it stayed that way for a long time.  Like everyone else, I eventually moved on to other FEs, but not 1 single person still using gool old ArcadeOS????  It must be the advent of the ArcadeVGA card that made ArcadeOS basically obsolete.  But I still have a soft spot for it and owe a debt of gratitude toward it.
Here's to you, ArcadeOS  :cheers:

I think it is more the fact that when 'fast' PC's started coming, it got to a point where DOS / DosMame didn't run as well as Windows / WinMame. This is the only reason I personally ditched DOS / ArcadeOS...DOS's stability was much preferred to me at the time (we're talking Win98 era).

I think then the AVGA came out which was really the nail in the coffin. Of course I made Mamewah as a Windows equiv. to ArcadeOS, and you can probably reminisce while editing a few config files...

But yes, ArcadeOS was great  :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Minwah on January 21, 2009, 11:46:50 am
With regard to the poll...I would be interested to know the split of people who use each FE and what screen type they are using.

I say this because a lot of the FE's are geared towards nice eyecandy, but I wonder if people with low res. screens use them? Or are there more people with multi-sync screens than standard res. nowadays?

Just curious...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 21, 2009, 11:54:44 am
With regard to the poll...I would be interested to know the split of people who use each FE and what screen type they are using.

I say this because a lot of the FE's are geared towards nice eyecandy, but I wonder if people with low res. screens use them? Or are there more people with multi-sync screens than standard res. nowadays?

Just curious...
I personally use a 27" flat CRT television on my cabinet using a composite out from my video card.  I run everything at 800x600 and it looks good enough.

HyperSpin scales the themes, images and videos to sizes in relation with the resolution that is being used.  So even at low resolutions HyperSpin still looks pretty good.  Scaling up to bigger resolutions does cause some images not to look as well though.  I know that we have many users that are running arcade monitors and I don't think many (if any) have complained about visual quality in the Front End.

I'm not sure if that's an answer to your question/poll...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on January 21, 2009, 12:02:05 pm
Though I've considered trying a new frontend several times, Mamewah still has my loyalty. I don't really care much about eye candy, I just want to have a good menu system I can work with and gives my guests no problems.

Since you asked about monitors....

Up until yesterday, I was running a PC monitor horizontal at 640x480@60, but now I'm using 1024x768@60 (though I haven't adjusted my layouts yet for the resolution change. It would be a nice feature not to have to do this. Sure, the 640x480 layout displays full screen, but there is a resolution change each time I enter and exit a game)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 21, 2009, 01:51:02 pm
I personally use a 72" flat CRT television on my cabinet

OMG! That is huge. It must weigh 500 kilos :D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 21, 2009, 02:24:15 pm
I personally use a 72" flat CRT television on my cabinet

OMG! That is huge. It must weigh 500 kilos :D
Doh!  I meant 27".  Heh, the largest TV in the house is a 1080p 65" DLP which I have used as my arcade cab screen for a couple hours. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on January 21, 2009, 02:27:26 pm
I personally use a 72" flat CRT television on my cabinet

OMG! That is huge. It must weigh 500 kilos :D
Doh!  I meant 27".  Heh, the largest TV in the house is a 65" DLP which I have used as my arcade cab screen for a couple hours. 

Ha....I was wondering about that.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on January 31, 2009, 11:43:42 am
I personally use a 27" flat CRT television on my cabinet using a composite out from my video card.  I run everything at 800x600 and it looks good enough.

Sounds scary to me. Perhaps you mean component?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: RetroBorg on February 02, 2009, 02:05:22 am
Check this Moon Patrol theme out:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5_0gMhdnvVA
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on February 02, 2009, 10:17:13 pm
Check this Moon Patrol theme out:

Ha. That's cute.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on February 04, 2009, 03:09:38 pm
Added Simple Touch Front End to the list.

Thanks to Lave Laar (developer) and wbuschman for bringing it to my attention.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Adultery on February 04, 2009, 06:09:00 pm
Easy to choose GameEx there. It's head and shoulders above any other FE I've ever used... But that's just one user's opinion.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: lingpanda on February 04, 2009, 07:12:07 pm
GameEx when you demand more from a Front End
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on February 04, 2009, 09:22:33 pm
GameEx when you demand more from a Front End

Just depends what you want out of it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hunk_4TH on February 04, 2009, 09:48:58 pm
Speaking of front end. Does anyone know what happened to Hyperspin's site?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: RetroBorg on February 05, 2009, 01:18:35 am
Speaking of front end. Does anyone know what happened to Hyperspin's site?

It would appear to be down right now.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mayhem on February 05, 2009, 03:56:41 am
(ive posted this else ware as well)

To be honest each FE has it Pluses and Negatives. I personly like nearly all of them as far as im concerned each one bring some thing different to the table and ups the game with each new innovation.

I love Gameex the best though must admit but HS and marla again are both quite conventional and handy for different builds or PC set ups.

Popularity polls like this only prove how insecure some one is over there own proposals. Personly it should be a Question . What would you like to see incorporated in a FE !!! ect ect not which is the best as this is just fan boy trash talk ...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on February 06, 2009, 05:04:34 am
Popularity polls like this only prove how insecure some one is over there own proposals. Personly it should be a Question . What would you like to see incorporated in a FE !!! ect ect not which is the best as this is just fan boy trash talk ...

I think the reason Hoopz started the poll is because everyone was sick of people posting "whats the best FE" all the time. I was also sick of those posts. So the poll is a good idea IMHO and infact cuts down the trash talk because people look at the poll instead of having to listen to the same replies from the same people all the time.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on February 06, 2009, 07:23:46 am
Popularity polls like this only prove how insecure some one is over there own proposals. Personly it should be a Question . What would you like to see incorporated in a FE !!! ect ect not which is the best as this is just fan boy trash talk ...

I think the reason Hoopz started the poll is because everyone was sick of people posting "whats the best FE" all the time. I was also sick of those posts. So the poll is a good idea IMHO and infact cuts down the trash talk because people look at the poll instead of having to listen to the same replies from the same people all the time.
True.  I thought if we had one comprehensive poll that addressed ALL of the FEs, it would allow a better representation of what actually is in use.  The fact that a user can change his/her vote over time allows for changes in use of FEs.

And I really got fed up with the "which is best" threads.  Not only were they cluttering up the boards with subjective questions, a lot of the older members here stopped participating as it was the same thing all the time.  Those questions weren't really reflective of what was in use.  That, and the fact that someone was a smart ass to me when I pointed out the flaws in the poll that someone else started.  I suggested a better way and they acted like I was an idiot.  So, I had to show them I may be an idiot, but I was an idiot who was right.   :P

 ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on February 06, 2009, 03:13:46 pm
I just wanted to say, in the initial post of this thread it says you can change your vote at anytime. It does not seem that its possible to do that, so just thought the inital post should be edited.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on February 06, 2009, 03:18:13 pm
I was pretty sure I set it up that way, but let me check on it.   :dunno
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: retrometro on February 09, 2009, 11:10:01 pm

I tried mamewah and HS.  MALA is easy and flexible.


Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: liquid8 on February 11, 2009, 12:01:03 am
As much as I enjoy using (and looking) at Hyperspin, I currently still give my vote to Mamewah. Even though Mamewah still is a bit difficult to configure, it is comfortable to me and I like the easy way of setting up groups, platforms, and lists... including adding games to lists right from the frontend.. which is important to me.

As we all know, though, it depends on what your using it for, and as Minwah pointed out, your setup.

If you are going for LEDs or Cocktail setups, I can't imagine using anything but Mala. If I was using MCE for my media center, I would go with GameEx, as it integrates nicely. If you want the most customizable frontend ever (with the "cool" factor), use Emulaxian/3D Arcade. If you want a fairly simple setup with eye candy, go with Hyperspin.

I am finally (hopefully) starting to work out my own setup, and I'll be playing with many of these again, or for the first time as sort of a re-evaluation. I am in and out of the emu scene, and love coming to see the improvements and new features in ALL frontends... so keep it up, guys! :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: drewbagel423 on February 12, 2009, 05:02:14 pm
I love the way Maximus Arcade looks and operates, but now that I've got Hyperspin successfully launching PC games for me (the only one that CAN out of the 4-5 I've tried!) I'd hafta say that's my favorite.  But I am having trouble with it regarding some emulators and the fact that it doesn't close them.  Instead I'm told I have to set my emulators to have the same exit key (if the emu supports it) or map a button for the exit key for the specific emu.

It comes with this Hyperlaunch thing which supposedly does the job but I can't find any support documentation on it.  If someone could combine MA and HS it would be the ultimate front-end!


EDIT:  Ok so the guys over there at HS have been really helpful, and I'm getting closer to having a front-end that does EXACTLY what I want it to.  I'm definitely leaning more towards HS at this point.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: boomstick on February 16, 2009, 03:01:28 pm
Only FE I have used so far is MaLa, love it and dont see any need to change at present
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: geocab on February 17, 2009, 11:27:20 pm
Right now I'm using MAMEUI as it is the only FE I knew anything about until I found this forum a week or two ago.  I want to try the others eventually to see if I find one I like better, but as I'm in the earliest stages of cabinet planning, I don't have a real need to change from the keyboard/mouse friendly MAMEUI.  For instance, I briefly tried Hyperspin and although it was definitely flashier, I can find the game I want with the mouse much quicker than scrolling though a wheel.  I'm not knocking Hyperspin, obviously when I want to control my FE from my arcade control panel (when I have one) MAMEUI probably will no longer be the right choice for me. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on February 19, 2009, 03:02:22 pm
Right now I'm using MAMEUI as it is the only FE I knew anything about until I found this forum a week or two ago.  I want to try the others eventually to see if I find one I like better, but as I'm in the earliest stages of cabinet planning, I don't have a real need to change from the keyboard/mouse friendly MAMEUI.  For instance, I briefly tried Hyperspin and although it was definitely flashier, I can find the game I want with the mouse much quicker than scrolling though a wheel.  I'm not knocking Hyperspin, obviously when I want to control my FE from my arcade control panel (when I have one) MAMEUI probably will no longer be the right choice for me. 

Actually, if you have a 'tab' button as a shifted function, then navigating through game lists and such in MameUI shouldn't be a big deal. Then it becomes an issue of, 'it's not arcade authentic'.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jackhammerslam on March 03, 2009, 06:03:50 am
I've used 3d arcade (a pain in the ass to set up but the end result is worth it)
                Game Ex   (straight forward to setup and some nice features but a little basic but it's designed for home entertainment systems in whcih its perfect
                 Hyperspin (has to setting the baby up for mame I just change 2 measly option so setting this up is way too easy, only problem is too much to download with a 3 minute waiting period between downloads (this is the same with Vpforums unless you [romsite name redacted]). this has more pluses than minuses)
                  Mala (I couldn't set this up so i gave up)
                   Atomic FE (this fe crash my system so i went sod it)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on March 03, 2009, 08:18:16 am

Quote
Atomic FE (this fe crash my system so i went sod it)

Did you contact me about that?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Portnoy on March 24, 2009, 02:23:54 pm
Mala was my favorite for a long time but Hyperspin has found a permanent home in my Cab. Heck, I even named my cab after it!

P
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Cakemeister on March 24, 2009, 03:19:05 pm
Mala was my favorite for a long time but Hyperspin has found a permanent home in my Cab. Heck, I even named my cab after it!

P

I'm waiting to see you post in the "unfavorite frontend" thread. We could call that "Portnoy's Complaint". :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on March 24, 2009, 06:31:39 pm
Mala was my favorite for a long time but Hyperspin has found a permanent home in my Cab. Heck, I even named my cab after it!

P

I'm waiting to see you post in the "unfavorite frontend" thread. We could call that "Portnoy's Complaint". :)


 ???

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Cakemeister on March 25, 2009, 09:44:00 am
I guess that joke was a bit feeble.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portnoy's_Complaint

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on March 26, 2009, 06:02:51 am
I guess that joke was a bit feeble.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portnoy's_Complaint



 :laugh2:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dungbeetle46 on April 05, 2009, 09:07:27 am
Mala for me, it handles all my emus and jukebox, easy to configure and great support and development from Loadman :applaud:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: IrishKrush on April 16, 2009, 10:07:55 am
Hyperspin all the way! It is the best I have found, easy to set up, in one great simple to use front end.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Nesagwa on April 19, 2009, 10:58:06 am
Which front end would you guys recommend for an old 500mhz P3 thats easy to setup?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kingb33 on April 20, 2009, 06:25:46 pm
Emuloader is probably for you Nesagwa

http://emuloader.mameworld.info/

not sure why it's not on the list?  it's been around for years
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Banacek on April 21, 2009, 09:26:34 pm
Loved Mamewah, used it for years until HyperSpin came out. Now I have Hyperspin on both the cab and my HTPC.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GoddTodd on May 10, 2009, 03:47:14 am
I just love the look and feel of Hyperspin. It's a bit time consuming to set up but the end result is worth the effort.
However, I have spent way to much time trying to get working with the consoles.
So I think I'm going to make Hyperspin Mame exclusive and use Game Ex for all my other emulators.

GoddTodd

PS Don't forget to send a few bucks to your favorite developer as well.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hazzard on June 01, 2009, 01:10:05 pm
I wonder wich one of these front ends is best for running standard PC games?

I have finaly got hyperspin to launch my pro pinball games, but it was quite time consuming (probably 3-4 hours) to get it to work properly for a newbie like myself..  :dunno ::)


Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bpc on June 01, 2009, 06:52:34 pm
GameEx for me. So simple to setup yet so many features. One of the few 'shareware' programs I have paid for: and WELL worth it.

Tom, the author is fantastic with his support - he seems to add new features by the hour.

Brendan  8)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: danny_galaga on June 05, 2009, 07:55:47 am

just the mame32 front end for me. Still using win98 on my cab. When i finally have to update to tiny XP, i'll probably go to atomicfe. It was easy (relatively, i'm a tard when it comes to these things) for me to set up on my pc, and Youki is very helpful (",)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SirPeale on June 05, 2009, 02:24:33 pm
I am blown away that not a single person is using ArcadeOS.

I use it (and voted for it) - a great simple DOS frontend for my FreeDos-based cocktail cab.

Both the cabs in my kids room use it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Sosetsuken on June 25, 2009, 05:20:09 pm
Can I change my vote to "HyperSpin" please?

Thanks :D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on July 03, 2009, 02:45:53 am
I'm torn and haven't voted yet.  I've tried most of the frontends so far for my first Mame machine.  GameEx is by far the most professional and easy to use, but it's also not very pretty.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ChazMan on July 05, 2009, 11:11:41 pm
I was useing MameWah for Years in the Machines I built. But then I found HyperSpin, And WOW!!!    :notworthy:   It Pops!!  Everyone who see's it loves it!!  It does not look like a PC running emulators, It looks like something WAY better!!   So give it a Try!!!   :afro:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: yuppicide on July 19, 2009, 11:54:12 pm
I am currently trying out Hyperspin. Visually it's very nice, but I can't get it to work yet. I've got a post opened on their forum.

I can run it just fine, I have it setup to only show MAME so far, but I can't get any games to start or artwork to show up.

Out of you who tried it, what do I do? Also, how do I scroll down to say "Quiz Dragon" quickly? It'll take me forever to get there as it stands now.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: yuppicide on July 21, 2009, 02:04:48 pm
I've logged my vote for Hyperspin. After a few questions on their forums I was up and running. It's a very nice program. Visually stunning, works great, the intro movies are great, etc.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on July 21, 2009, 04:20:48 pm
I finally decided to vote.  I voted for GameEx since it seems like it has the braindead simple functionality of reading the mameui favorites directly as your list of favorites.  There are too many hoops to go through with most of the rest of them with managing your favorites list.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Vamp RN on July 22, 2009, 11:28:29 am
I'm just getting started and I am using MALA.  I finally have it looking halfway decent, so I a terrified to even try anything else.  I just can't bear the thought of having to redo all my stuff all over again. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mh12 on July 23, 2009, 06:58:58 pm
I'm just getting started and I am using MALA.  I finally have it looking halfway decent, so I a terrified to even try anything else.  I just can't bear the thought of having to redo all my stuff all over again. 

a wise choice!
i had [another popular frontend] for a good while, and i moved from win2k to XP. instead of dropping in all of my old files, i took the chance to start clean, with MaLa (and the Retro GUI layout). it's been brilliant. eventually i want to work on a layout for it - looks straightforward enough.

Quote
I voted for GameEx since it seems like it has the braindead simple functionality of reading the mameui favorites directly as your list of favorites.

well i doubt many people here could say they used mameui much at all. but i'm sure the lists are saved in a simple enough format, and those should be as portable as possible, absolutely.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on July 23, 2009, 07:09:10 pm
I'm just getting started and I am using MALA.  I finally have it looking halfway decent, so I a terrified to even try anything else.  I just can't bear the thought of having to redo all my stuff all over again. 

a wise choice!
i had [another popular frontend] for a good while, and i moved from win2k to XP. instead of dropping in all of my old files, i took the chance to start clean, with MaLa (and the Retro GUI layout). it's been brilliant. eventually i want to work on a layout for it - looks straightforward enough.

Quote
I voted for GameEx since it seems like it has the braindead simple functionality of reading the mameui favorites directly as your list of favorites.

What do you use to edit your game lists in MaLa?  I may give it a try (again I think?)  Can you configure it to do things like "show horizontal games but no vector games", "show vertical games, but not vector games", "show vector games only"?  I like to have a single favorites list that I use on multiple machines configured appropriately for that machines cababilities.

Thanks!
Gary

well i doubt many people here could say they used mameui much at all. but i'm sure the lists are saved in a simple enough format, and those should be as portable as possible, absolutely.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Beretta on July 28, 2009, 02:54:41 am
i've never bothered with front ends before but currently evaluating them since there is no easy way to load the games in a cabinet.

this hyper spin sound good but it's site download section requires you to sign up for their forum? or is there another place? i dont care how good it is im not signing up for their forum just to download it.. every one wants you to sign up for something on their web site these days, it's lame.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Jimbo on July 28, 2009, 04:19:59 am
It's also lame to moan about a 30 second forum signup, when a bunch of people have spent countless hours writing some really great software and are giving it away for FREE.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Beretta on July 28, 2009, 05:46:35 am
if every one did that just so they could download it they'ed end up with 100's or 1000's of 0 post users, does this make any sense at all?

having im guessing less then 10% of the forum accounts active is kinda a waste.. but i suppose looking at the number of total accounts gives a warm a fuzzy feeling  ::)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: billpa on July 28, 2009, 10:09:11 am
It's not really about how many people sign up.  Inevitably, you are going to have a question or feature request, etc.  You would have to sign up anyhow to do these things.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Beretta on July 28, 2009, 02:34:36 pm
not every one who uses a piece of software is gonna 1. have questions, 2. want added features.

it is backwards to have people register, before they even try it, not everyone who tries it is gonna keep it either.

i was wrong about one thing.. they have roughly 950 accounts that have at least 1 post out of over 7600.. thats more then 10% i predicted.

although roughly 350 of those have 2 posts or less.

clearly this is a highly efficient system.

my first post was basically to ask if there was a place to download i missed.. but after taking a closer look it seems that most if not all of the forum is open to guest viewing except the download section  :laugh2:


EDIT: you know maybe im being unfair about this, so i've sent off a email to them using their contact us page.. perhaps they have good reason im not thinking of.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on July 28, 2009, 08:01:18 pm
not every one who uses a piece of software is gonna 1. have questions, 2. want added features.

it is backwards to have people register, before they even try it, not everyone who tries it is gonna keep it either.

i was wrong about one thing.. they have roughly 950 accounts that have at least 1 post out of over 7600.. thats more then 10% i predicted.

although roughly 350 of those have 2 posts or less.

clearly this is a highly efficient system.

my first post was basically to ask if there was a place to download i missed.. but after taking a closer look it seems that most if not all of the forum is open to guest viewing except the download section  :laugh2:


EDIT: you know maybe im being unfair about this, so i've sent off a email to them using their contact us page.. perhaps they have good reason im not thinking of.
Heh, Bilpa is one of the HyperSpin team members, but to answer your question...  Why not register?  The 30 seconds it takes for you to register is NOTHING compared to the amount of time that developers put into their products.  Not to mention.. registration is free and hell the application is free. 

It doesn't matter how many people post after they register.  We have it set to where different usergroups have access to different downloads and download times...  The point is that the registration system gives us more control over the server loads.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Beretta on July 29, 2009, 06:01:05 am
yes i've since been talking to someone on your team badboy i think..

and although i (sort of) understand the reasoning a little better now..
i think the arguments for registration was pretty weak and could be worked around..
still it's your guys project and you do what you like at the end of the day.

one reason i think had some validity was bandwidth control.. namely hot linking.

i made suggestions of referrer tags, captcha codes, or offsite storage on free file hosts (there are a number of both good & quick ones out there megaupload.com & newload.in are both great even as free services)

this would of course save you guys money on hosting since 100% of the bandwidth for downloads would be eliminated.

none of those was well received.

the sticking point was contact with users.. but imo this is somewhat faulty.

1. 0 post account does'nt = user (they could have decided not to use it after testing)
2. just because someone is using hyper spin does'nt mean they wanna be bugged about "updates"

i personally think message boards should be an "after the fact" concept.. for when you're interested and wanna talk more about it, not a requirement to get your foot in the door.

lets also consider that the 85% of those inactive accounts are taking up names that other more interested/active users might like to have.. but can't.

i also dislike the idea of registering for every little thing, sure HS is just one thing.. but what if i had to go register to download mame? and download my favorite webbrowser (seamonkey), to watch a youtube clip (individually), etc etc..

registering seems like such a small request on it's face but it sometimes it is'nt, and can become a slippery slope.

this sort of reminds me when i opened up a bank account, my bank gave me checking and a savings accounts.. i told them.. nah i dont want the savings accounts, i was givin savings account anyway, true to my word i did'nt use it they closed it after 12months of inactivity.. pretty moronic if you ask me.

now honestly i could probably find a copy of HS offsite as quickly as it would take me to register.. i've spent much more then that discussing it.. so this is'nt a "time" issue here, this is'nt a "lazy" issue.. it's a principle issue.

i do hope people can understand my POV on this, even if they dont agree with it.
and i do not expect you guys to change your operating protocol over there.

now that i've gotten about as much insight from badboy as i think im gonna get (really more then i thought i would at first) im happy to leave it the way it is, although i think the reasoning is weak i'll respect it and not beat a dead horse to death, or is that redeath? or maybe back to life?, er anyway you get the picture.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on July 29, 2009, 07:01:38 am
You have to register to download MameUI ;)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Beretta on July 29, 2009, 04:43:38 pm
where is that? i thought mame32 was now mameui? which case i was able to download .132 a couple weeks ago no prob.


go here: http://www.mameui.info, click download, enjoy.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on July 30, 2009, 05:00:05 am
where is that? i thought mame32 was now mameui? which case i was able to download .132 a couple weeks ago no prob.


go here: http://www.mameui.info, click download, enjoy.

I meant MameUI. You used to have to register on FilePlanet to download it, but it looks like they have direct downloads now.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tehmeh on August 03, 2009, 04:08:56 am
Cast my vote for Hyperspin, most professional looking, and fantastic community support and work has put into graphical packs which are all free to download.  Was using mamewah before so it took me a while to get used to it, but it definitely has more of an arcade feel than that.  :cheers:
Title: Hyperspin
Post by: Parf on August 03, 2009, 11:51:08 am
I'm loving Hyperspin! Got all the emuvideos and the themes loaded up, and fixed the few 4 player games I want to load with the 2 player versions. At this point, and only running games that have themes I think I've got 500-600 to scroll through. I had to delete a couple though. Chiller and Splatterhouse just were not appropriate for my 4 year old son. It just looks cool.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on August 11, 2009, 06:04:54 am
Just about to give mala a try again since I'm tired of GameEx bloat and I don't find any of the themes to be all that attractive.  I like the idea of cab pictures/marquees/vids and not much else.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on August 12, 2009, 03:17:57 am
Switched from GameEx to MaLa. . so far so good.

How do I change my vote again?  I'm not seeing it.

I wish MaLa had the "shifted" functionality that the joystick gets in GameEx. . that's the only thing I miss so far.  In GameEx, you can use the joystick to navigate, and hold down a button and move the joystick to navigate different (by letter, by page, etc.).

I can make MaLa look much more like what I want than GameEx so far.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: technocop on August 16, 2009, 04:50:11 pm
Gary, mala does have that functionality. I have mine set up so that holding the 1up button and moving the joystick shifts through the letters like you described.

it was pretty simple, details here:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Mala_Config#Basic
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on August 16, 2009, 05:30:19 pm
Gary, mala does have that functionality. I have mine set up so that holding the 1up button and moving the joystick shifts through the letters like you described.

it was pretty simple, details here:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Mala_Config#Basic

i think the problem is that I'm using a u360 encoder which is treated as a gamepad, not a keyboard.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on August 30, 2009, 10:52:33 am

How do I change my vote again?  I'm not seeing it.


Although the first post says you can change your vote at any time, its never been possible.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: GaryMcT on August 30, 2009, 10:59:51 am

How do I change my vote again?  I'm not seeing it.


Although the first post says you can change your vote at any time, its never been possible.

Is that fixable?  Seems like that would make the survey more useful.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: rash2236 on September 14, 2009, 03:27:25 am
http://www.mgalaxy.com/
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dafelandry on September 16, 2009, 06:35:43 pm
Wow after 4 diffrent FE's i have my heart set on AtomicFE..... Mgalaxy was first and I was VERY happy with it... then i figured i have a MAME cab why not get some console emus... so Mgalaxy (being a mame only FE) was out of the question.... Then i figured Mala would be sweet.... treid it out (configured everything) but due to the fact im using an old compaq presario the FE was too harsh on my computer... lagging, slow boot and such.... Tried Hyperspin and wow overall that FE is definatly the cats ass... it to raped and pilaged my computer..... Then i came across AtomicFE and its module plug-ins.... just deleted all other emulators and kept my roms in one folder (sub folders for each console) and dloaded the modules for each emu i need and it was good to go... not as intense and pretty as hyperspin but freindly enough to "the old family pc"..... now if i ever decide to upgrade my pc to something more current Hyperspin would EASILY take my vote... but because im too cheep to upgrade my pc AtomicFE FTW.....

Added a Kvm (with audio) to my DC VGA Box...so i could play the arcade roms my pc cant handle (Gauntlet Ledgends, NFL blitz, Crazy Taxi) and use the pc exe launcher for house of the dead 1-3 and Mk trilogy...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Crapahute on September 27, 2009, 06:28:05 am
If you want to stick with Atomic and you like animated layouts for Mame games (like with Hyperspin) have a look at the layouts already made for Atomic here : http://www.mamedata.com/atomic/ (http://www.mamedata.com/atomic/)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: saint on October 02, 2009, 03:52:48 pm

How do I change my vote again?  I'm not seeing it.


Although the first post says you can change your vote at any time, its never been possible.

Is that fixable?  Seems like that would make the survey more useful.

Fixed, you can change votes now.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on October 02, 2009, 04:55:22 pm
Thanks Saint.   :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 05, 2009, 05:10:50 pm
Wow after 4 diffrent FE's i have my heart set on AtomicFE..... Mgalaxy was first and I was VERY happy with it... then i figured i have a MAME cab why not get some console emus... so Mgalaxy (being a mame only FE) was out of the question.... Then i figured Mala would be sweet.... treid it out (configured everything) but due to the fact im using an old compaq presario the FE was too harsh on my computer... lagging, slow boot and such.... Tried Hyperspin and wow overall that FE is definatly the cats ass... it to raped and pilaged my computer..... Then i came across AtomicFE and its module plug-ins.... just deleted all other emulators and kept my roms in one folder (sub folders for each console) and dloaded the modules for each emu i need and it was good to go... not as intense and pretty as hyperspin but freindly enough to "the old family pc"..... now if i ever decide to upgrade my pc to something more current Hyperspin would EASILY take my vote... but because im too cheep to upgrade my pc AtomicFE FTW.....

Added a Kvm (with audio) to my DC VGA Box...so i could play the arcade roms my pc cant handle (Gauntlet Ledgends, NFL blitz, Crazy Taxi) and use the pc exe launcher for house of the dead 1-3 and Mk trilogy...

As said Crapahute, you can have almost the same effects than Hyperspin with AtomicFE  and it will surely work on your old compaq. (a 800mhz machine is generally good enough for most of  the layouts)

You can find all layouts for mame ,here : http://www.mamedata.com/atomic/  and even some for other machines.



Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: billpa on October 06, 2009, 10:51:04 am
As said Crapahute, you can have almost the same effects than Hyperspin with AtomicFE

The only reason you have the same "effect" is because you guys ripped all of the artwork from HyperSpin.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 06, 2009, 05:38:15 pm
Quote
The only reason you have the same "effect" is because you guys ripped all of the artwork from HyperSpin.

As the Hyperspin layout authors ripped the artwork from flyer, marquee and other sources.

For lot of layout we took as base , Artwork from hyperspin layout that we have reworked for AtomicFE (Exactly as you guys reworked artwork you grabbed on the net  to use it with hyperspin)

And if you look closer you will find a good number of layout what are not available for hyperspin yet.

And concerning layout itself they are all different from hyperspin ones.  (Animation, sound..etc..)



Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on October 06, 2009, 05:51:50 pm
This is NOT the place for bickering about who took what from whom.  A lot of great ideas are brought about by end users whether it be front ends, encoders, other items that we all now take for granted etc. 

There are very few original ideas and those that are new, are quickly duplicated in many areas of life.  Most of the software experts on THIS board are very helpful towards each other.  This thread isn't going to be used for a he said/(s)he said type of argument about who was first. 

Please.

And thank you.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: brian_hoffman on October 06, 2009, 06:29:11 pm
Thank you HOOPZ,
I agree lets not take this thread and trash it, there is already a couple threads here on this tone regarding HS and other Fe's. This is Saints board, lets not trash it.

Let the polls speak from themselves.

Brian Hoffman
Title: Calling a spade, a spade.
Post by: billpa on October 07, 2009, 01:20:59 pm
Sorry Hoopz...but I have to politely disagree.  This is not bickering on my part. Yes, this might not be the place to vent my frustration but it is only fueled by numerous posts touting Atomic FE being able to look like HyperSpin via their cleverly named "HyperSkin".

Frankly, I don't care what FE people use or how many people use "X" Front End (not knocking this thread, just mean I am not here to push one FE over another).  I do care about someone not only blatantly stealing work from others, but also re-packaging it in the same manner.  Here is just one of many examples, a side by side comparison of the download areas for both sites. You wouldn't even be able to tell which one is which if I didn't label them.

(http://i35.tinypic.com/2lxgxmo.jpg)

The fact is youki, you come to the HS site and you download the themes and then use the files for your own front end.  You do not try to hide it.  In fact it is one of your selling points for Atomic FE...boasting how you can get the same look as HS, although not even close to the same performance or design.  Your argument that we get these images off the web (so we are stealing) is weak at best.  I would say 80-90% of all of the images we use are taken from joymonkey's art site...a site that you cannot download from unless you donate.  There are at least a few dozen members that specifically donate to joymonkey's site just so they can use his high quality artwork.  But it doesn't end there.  Because each of those images needs to be cut out in Photoshop, which takes a lot of time.  Then everything needs to be laid out, animated, etc. which takes even more time.  There are tons of games that do not have suitable artwork...the resolution is too low.  So our members retrace the artwork in Illustrator/Inkscape/Corel Draw.  This takes loads of time!

Then there are games that do not have any real type of artwork besides a logo...and our members actually create original artwork inspired by the game.  Many of the background images are original designs as well as other artwork in some themes.  You absolutely have no right to take any original work without the permission of the creator.  Do you understand that there is original artwork in those themes you are stealing youki?

It's not even like you tried to get permission.  You were pretty straightforward about taking the art once it was available and you are quick to dismiss all of the hard work that went into it.  Honestly I might not be as pissed as I am if I didn't check out your "HyperSkin" layouts page and see that it is an exact duplicate of the HS themes download section.  Probably the only thing that surprised me is that you leave a line next to each of your layouts stating it was "based on the work of".  Like anyone visiting your site would know that this actually means you downloaded a theme made by a HS member, extracted the artwork, laid it out identical to that them and repackaged it as your own.  Even your starter MAME pack is almost identical to the starter pack HS released.

I don't code.  I don't know anything about creating a program.  The only skill I have to contribute is artwork.  There are a lot of people like me in the HS community and we pride ourselves on creating great artwork with high standards.  To see all of that taken without any disregard is quite disappointing and definitely speaks volume of your character youki.

Sorry...this is my last post here.  I am fed up.  If youki wants to take the argument to PM, so be it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on October 07, 2009, 01:22:50 pm
I skipped reading all that and translated it as:

WAH!  :hissy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on October 07, 2009, 01:58:35 pm
Billpa,

I appreciate your perspective and your post does speak volumes about the situation.  All I would ask is that anyone who wish to discuss this move it from this thread into a thread devoted solely to that topic.

I can see both sides and empathize with both parties.  My preference is that this thread not turn into a bickering contest that's happened so often in the past on these boards.   I would like to keep this thread as focused on the topic if at all possible.  The posts about Maximo G+ not withstanding...

I can see that you're frustrated and hope you continue to help with Hyperspin because of your obvious talent. 

I appreciate everyone's help here.

Ginsu: not helpful.....

Thanks,
Jeff
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on October 07, 2009, 02:53:29 pm
Ginsu: not helpful.....

Billpa found it funny.

I was trying to diffuse the situation with humor instead of letting it turn into a flame war in this thread (exactly what you'd hoped to avoid).

I wasn't fueling it. (Come on, Jeff, you know we've both fanned the flames before, but this wasn't one of those times...)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 08, 2009, 05:32:02 am
Please Billpa don't insult me. you don't know me.  We are talking about hobbies not Business here. keep it friendly.

I have alway credited sincerely the fantastic job that HS layout creator did in matter of Artwork.

My "selling" point (selling is funny, because Atomic is totally free, and i even don't force the user to be registered or what ever else to download something)  as you say ,is just :
 
"If you like hyperspin look but don't have a enough powered machine , Atomic is a good alternative". 

Where Hyperspin needs a 3ghz machine with 1 giga or more ram and accelerated graphics card ,   Atomic needs a  celeron 800mhz with 256 mega of ram and a standard VGA card. (so don't talk me about hyperspin performances).   

I don't try to compete with Hyperspin (anyway i could not, no time for that), i just propose an alternative usable on low end machine. That's all.

Hyperspin is a very nice looking FrontEnd , the layout are really fantastic ,  And if you have a high end machine you should use it. I don't pretend my Atomic is better or even try to compete.  At least on graphic aspect.   It is lot of harder to make an animated layout for Atomic than it is for HS.

and last point, The layouts you can see have been done (or ported from HS (and it ask lot of work , just try you will see...) by AtomicFE community not by me  (i made about 40 i think   on the 600 or more available).

Did you care about the author of the original artwork you ripped? Do you  have the feeling you stoled their work?

Now, if there is legal issue  on layout i made myself . You can prove you have some copyright on artwork. I will change them no problem.

and speaking about my website what duplicate HS Download Section  , you didn't noticed it is not my website. i didn't made this website and it is even not hosted by me.  If you want see my web page for the layout download it is here :

http://www.atomicfe.com/Downloads/Layouts_in_progress/download_layout.php

And i insist : All Artwork have been reworked for AtomicFe , and not take as is.  i repeat : just try to port one of your layout on AtomicFE and you will see the amount of work. And you will see that what you need to do , is the exact same thing you did from the orignal Artwork you reworked.

Anyway i understand your "frustration" ,  i had the same feeling what i saw everybody say "waooouh" when they first seen Hyperspin whereas AtomicFe offered the same possibilities (except the spin) since years.   Hyperspin marketting is lot better than mine!   :D   

I'm not in business , i just propose a FrontEnd for Free and Really for Free .  If you like it i'm happy  , if you don't like it I understand.  Now there is a good choice of very great front end. The Time of pionner is finished.
The only think i wish is that  some great front end stay Free.



Ok, now if you have issue with my post , please PM me.   Sorry to have post here, i didn't want answer. But I wanted to clarify things for all other.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Silas (son of Silas) on October 08, 2009, 06:24:48 am
Getting back to the original thread...

W00T!!!! Wah!cade has a 'MASSIVE' 0.6% of the votes... other than me who were the other 2 Linux users out there who use it?

I feel a steady uprising in our midst........ or maybe not  :laugh2:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Avinitlarge on October 09, 2009, 04:09:34 pm
Im using Maximus Arcade. Fair enough, You have to pay but I think its worth it. Its easy to setup, Easy to use. I cant fault it to be honest. The support could be a little better though.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on October 10, 2009, 02:07:00 am
Getting back to the original thread...

W00T!!!! Wah!cade has a 'MASSIVE' 0.6% of the votes... other than me who were the other 2 Linux users out there who use it?

I feel a steady uprising in our midst........ or maybe not  :laugh2:

Perhaps there should've been platform-dependent threads.


Im using Maximus Arcade. Fair enough, You have to pay but I think its worth it. Its easy to setup, Easy to use. I cant fault it to be honest. The support could be a little better though.

Yeah. Curious thing that the majority of support for such a 'paid-for' product has always been from the users.....
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Avinitlarge on October 10, 2009, 07:03:17 am
The support could be a little better though.

Actually, I'll rephrase that. The support is more of less non existant
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: abispac on October 10, 2009, 06:13:40 pm
If atomic fe its sucha great FE for his creator, why trying to make it look like hyperspin? bad bad bad....... :cheers:  be original.....
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on October 10, 2009, 07:17:47 pm
If atomic fe its sucha great FE for his creator, why trying to make it look like hyperspin? bad bad bad....... :cheers:  be original.....

Because it can look similar to Hyperspin, though running on lower specs. It's not the default look of AtomicFE anyway, but it is an option for those who don't have a fast PC in their cabinet.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on October 11, 2009, 12:17:58 am
Because it can look similar to Hyperspin, though running on lower specs. It's not the default look of AtomicFE anyway, but it is an option for those who don't have a super fast PC in their cabinet.

I didn't realise HyperSpin needed a super fast PC to run it? I remember running it through Remote Desktop and it ran at a fairly decent framerate, so as far as I could tell it didn't even need a fast video card.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: brian_hoffman on October 11, 2009, 12:22:09 am
Yea, I guess it depends on your vision of superfast, HS should be used on a 2.0 dual core for best perormance,
Although I have it running pretty well on a little ATOM 1.6 like what you see in most netbooks ok.

If you are using a PIII 600 using dosmame and expect to run HS you are not going to have much luck.

:)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ginsu Victim on October 11, 2009, 12:33:22 am
"Super fast" was the wrong thing to say.

I meant that there are people who use computers that are lower than 1 Ghz in their MAME cabs. I wasn't trying to say you have to have a top of the line PC to run Hyperspin, but there are some people who want that look, but didn't have an option until AtomicFE offered one.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on October 11, 2009, 09:36:37 pm
And, the layouts are totally different (which I'm getting from youki's comments are not simple code translations or something, but manully done). It's mainly the background art that's the same.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: CadeFreak on October 14, 2009, 07:30:01 pm
Looks like a fight between Atomic Fe and Hyperspin! Finish him!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dizzy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SlayerAlex on October 16, 2009, 05:10:42 pm
I skipped reading all that and translated it as:

WAH!  :hissy:


same here. In the end though i do like Hyperspin nbetter.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ryglore on October 19, 2009, 04:41:12 pm
After working with it for the past month and fine tuning it. I must say, I love MaLa.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: CadeFreak on October 19, 2009, 05:04:56 pm
Please Billpa don't insult me. you don't know me.  We are talking about hobbies not Business here. keep it friendly.

I have alway credited sincerely the fantastic job that HS layout creator did in matter of Artwork.

My "selling" point (selling is funny, because Atomic is totally free, and i even don't force the user to be registered or what ever else to download something)  as you say ,is just :
 
"If you like hyperspin look but don't have a enough powered machine , Atomic is a good alternative". 

Where Hyperspin needs a 3ghz machine with 1 giga or more ram and accelerated graphics card ,   Atomic needs a  celeron 800mhz with 256 mega of ram and a standard VGA card. (so don't talk me about hyperspin performances).   

I don't try to compete with Hyperspin (anyway i could not, no time for that), i just propose an alternative usable on low end machine. That's all.

Hyperspin is a very nice looking FrontEnd , the layout are really fantastic ,  And if you have a high end machine you should use it. I don't pretend my Atomic is better or even try to compete.  At least on graphic aspect.   It is lot of harder to make an animated layout for Atomic than it is for HS.

and last point, The layouts you can see have been done (or ported from HS (and it ask lot of work , just try you will see...) by AtomicFE community not by me  (i made about 40 i think   on the 600 or more available).

Did you care about the author of the original artwork you ripped? Do you  have the feeling you stoled their work?

Now, if there is legal issue  on layout i made myself . You can prove you have some copyright on artwork. I will change them no problem.

and speaking about my website what duplicate HS Download Section  , you didn't noticed it is not my website. i didn't made this website and it is even not hosted by me.  If you want see my web page for the layout download it is here :

http://www.atomicfe.com/Downloads/Layouts_in_progress/download_layout.php (http://www.atomicfe.com/Downloads/Layouts_in_progress/download_layout.php)

And i insist : All Artwork have been reworked for AtomicFe , and not take as is.  i repeat : just try to port one of your layout on AtomicFE and you will see the amount of work. And you will see that what you need to do , is the exact same thing you did from the orignal Artwork you reworked.

Anyway i understand your "frustration" ,  i had the same feeling what i saw everybody say "waooouh" when they first seen Hyperspin whereas AtomicFe offered the same possibilities (except the spin) since years.   Hyperspin marketting is lot better than mine!   :D   

I'm not in business , i just propose a FrontEnd for Free and Really for Free .  If you like it i'm happy  , if you don't like it I understand.  Now there is a good choice of very great front end. The Time of pionner is finished.
The only think i wish is that  some great front end stay Free.


That's why i voted for atomic fe!  :cheers: youki has done so much for the front end industry! As soon as i clear my credit card debt I'm planning on donating some cash via the atomic fe website!  :notworthy: Atomic Fe is wicked! Really easy to work with also!  :applaud: especially the scrolling street fighter menu (scrolling) found this video on you tube of it!

Mame frontend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qok8XbGlUxo#)

Would love to see something like this just mortal kombat :) i don't have the skill for that tho!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Antropus on October 19, 2009, 08:49:09 pm
Hmmm, I don't know but I find those HS and AtomicFE themes EXTREMELY busy and not pleasant to the eyes. So many colors and everything moving at same time! I don't know if I should look at the background, movies, title, flying logos etc. I worked as a graphic designer for a long time before I got to the film industry and I can say that those templates are really hard to 'read' most of the time.

I use Maximus Arcade on my machine and I can say it's BY FAR the most pleasant front end visually speaking. Great taste and some subtle stuff that make it look really professional and well thought visually. On the down side and this is big, like others mentioned, the support is ridiculous to non-existent. A paid product that gets an update every couple of months and the author don't even bother to answer people's questions or most PMs, leaving everything for DeLuSioNaL29 to answer, who is actually a very helpful guy, a voluntary that really try hard to help others but there is only so much he can do. Mameseer, be nice to your clients dude. Answer to their questions and fix those bugs that are there for a while, most notably the errors related to director. You have a great potential piece of software but you're slowly killing it and this is unfortunate...

I'm not saying the other ones are bad at all! I believe they are probably great frontends just by looking at what people are doing with them, with lots of amazing tools and all, but the current themes being developed are not helping in my opinion. No offense. HyperPin looks very clean and pleasant visually though. Effective and cool. Now I just need a virtual pinball machine so I can install it :-(

My 2 cents.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 20, 2009, 04:47:53 am
Quote
Hmmm, I don't know but I find those HS and AtomicFE themes EXTREMELY busy and not pleasant to the eyes. So many colors and everything moving at same time! I don't know if I should look at the background, movies, title, flying logos etc. I worked as a graphic designer for a long time before I got to the film industry and I can say that those templates are really hard to 'read' most of the time.

In fact it really depend of what you want do. AtomicFe can do exact (if not extremely close) same layout than Maximus too. And if you don't like animated layout you can do statics one. AtomicFe is extremely flexible.   (Don't know for HyperSpin , anyway its target is cleary animation)

Maximus is nice , well done, but you pay for it and you don't get support.  Where you can have other 'as good' Fe for Free and have a really dynamic and helpfull support. Mala, Mamewah, AtomicFE , GameEX (you have to pay too here, but at least you have a real support).
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on October 20, 2009, 05:35:42 am
I do like the Maximus Arcade design, it's nice and simple. I actually made a theme called "Maximum Arcade" for GameEx which looks very close. As for HyperSpin being too busy visually; I don't think it's the main problem for me it's keeping up with all the themes, and the fact there will probably never be one for every game. I think if the HyperSpin team had some sort of auto theme download then it would be much more attractive. But then you have the problems of who pays for the bandwidth but I guess they could have some sort of subscription service for it.

GameEx - Running a Maximus Arcade Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_aH2K2G1YU#)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 20, 2009, 05:48:57 am
You can do the "machine" selection menu  you can see in that video with GameEX?
MAME Cabinet Maximus Arcade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXndJ1o-oJE#)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on October 20, 2009, 05:55:48 am
You can do the "machine" selection menu  you can see in that video with GameEX?

I did ask Tom if he could add a horizontal menu system like Maximus and he said he might add it as a feature in the future.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Antropus on October 20, 2009, 01:51:24 pm
You can do the "machine" selection menu  you can see in that video with GameEX?
MAME Cabinet Maximus Arcade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXndJ1o-oJE#)
That would be sweet! I installed MaLa a long time ago and I was playing around with a new version yesterday. Looks pretty solid so far but I would love to know if would be possible to get the horizontal menu you mentioned as well, like in Maximus.

-Kris
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Antropus on October 22, 2009, 09:18:35 pm
Quote
Hmmm, I don't know but I find those HS and AtomicFE themes EXTREMELY busy and not pleasant to the eyes. So many colors and everything moving at same time! I don't know if I should look at the background, movies, title, flying logos etc. I worked as a graphic designer for a long time before I got to the film industry and I can say that those templates are really hard to 'read' most of the time.

In fact it really depend of what you want do. AtomicFe can do exact (if not extremely close) same layout than Maximus too. And if you don't like animated layout you can do statics one. AtomicFe is extremely flexible.   (Don't know for HyperSpin , anyway its target is cleary animation)

Maximus is nice , well done, but you pay for it and you don't get support.  Where you can have other 'as good' Fe for Free and have a really dynamic and helpfull support. Mala, Mamewah, AtomicFE , GameEX (you have to pay too here, but at least you have a real support).
Can AtomicFE create an horizontal animated menu for different system selection, lets say, swf animated elements like in Maximus? Exactly what you have in the video you posted. If so, I'll surely give it a try! I would like to reproduce the exact theme I have running on Maximus right now. My problem with maximus is the bug when generating/refreshing game lists. CPS3 games for example I'll cause a Director Player error (that happens with other systems as well - like Kawaks - and yeah, I know CPS3 games will play fine on mame...) and even after complaints from other users, the director player problem was never fixed. "install a fresh version of Maximus" didn't solve the problem either. So, if I can get the same options for theme creation, easy to use and fast, then I'll switch FEs for sure. Also, out of all main FEs, Maximus seems to be the least supported by the author. I hope I'm wrong.

-Kris

edit: I just found this one. Great looking theme and showing it's probably possible:
Immortal Amiga Layout Preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFRDv2NpHkQ#)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on October 23, 2009, 04:23:34 am
Quote
Can AtomicFE create an horizontal animated menu for different system selection, lets say, swf animated elements like in Maximus?


Yes, of course it can. If you try to do the tutorial  , you will see the default layout for "Selector screen" use this kind of effect.

But Atomic does not use SWF . 

The only thing , i think , that maximus does and not Atomic yet is the transistion effect between screens. 

However may be the creation of this kind of layout ask more work that on maximus (not sure, i never tried Maximus).

AtomicFE is extremely Flexible , but sometime the flexibility can have a price in "complexity".   

But at least for AtomicFE you have a very active support!  ;)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SophT on October 25, 2009, 04:41:30 am
Quote
I think if the HyperSpin team had some sort of auto theme download then it would be much more attractive. But then you have the problems of who pays for the bandwidth but I guess they could have some sort of subscription service for it.

Rumor has it this is on the way.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ummon on October 28, 2009, 01:39:00 pm
Hmmm, I don't know but I find those HS and AtomicFE themes EXTREMELY busy and not pleasant to the eyes. So many colors and everything moving at same time! I don't know if I should look at the background, movies, title, flying logos etc. I worked as a graphic designer for a long time before I got to the film industry and I can say that those templates are really hard to 'read' most of the time.

You just have to see contrapuntally, dude. Heh. Though I agree there is a certain elegance to the overall scheme of MA.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: brian_hoffman on October 28, 2009, 04:17:50 pm
Quote
I think if the HyperSpin team had some sort of auto theme download then it would be much more attractive. But then you have the problems of who pays for the bandwidth but I guess they could have some sort of subscription service for it.

Rumor has it this is on the way.

Ya, about that. Its not going to be happening(at this point in time). We know it would be super convenient but do not want to give users the impression they have to "pay" for themes. They are currently free to download individually and some users create packs on the FTP for donating members. FTP contains the same content as the HS contains and some WIP stuff from our user base.

Looking ahead a subscription service is of course a great way to generate reoccuring revenue, the question in what kind of content or service we can provide that would be worth it to the end users? While the themes downloading may be seen as worth it for those that have the money and not the time to set up HS itself, it takes away from the fact that HS and its themes are free. As always donations are welcome and as a bonus FTP access is granted to those that can donate.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Pig_Vomit on October 29, 2009, 06:22:45 pm
Hoping to take delivery of Mini Cabinet soon (shout out to Turnarcade :applaud: )
Been playing with a few FE but settled on Hyperspin
Very professional looking & easy set-up for a noob like me.
Just smashing  :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Alpha17X on December 10, 2009, 02:19:31 am
For a long time it was Game EX,  but then someone talked about Hyperspin, and it was litterally everything I wanted in a front end.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: secret80sman on January 19, 2010, 12:18:57 pm
The new version of HyperSpin looks amazing. I've stopped tweaking my current version of the program and just waiting for that release because all the newly added features. Definitely worth the wait.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Nataq on January 22, 2010, 08:56:47 am
My vote for AtomicFE. For the endless possibilities (it really seems so!) and for the great support. It's nice to be able to get help directly from the programmer (Youki) and to know he is listening to new ideas. I just asked him something yesterday and he coded some new codes for the next patch to fix the issue I had. Awesome. I like the fact that its free and that it can run on low spec computers while still able to blow away anyone that watch it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 25, 2010, 02:17:57 am
Who made the other two votes for Emulaunch  :dunno  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 25, 2010, 02:25:12 am
The new version of HyperSpin looks amazing.
Is there a Youtube movie that shows Hyperspin with movies and games NOT supported?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: billpa on January 25, 2010, 01:07:45 pm
The new version of HyperSpin looks amazing.
Is there a Youtube movie that shows Hyperspin with movies and games NOT supported?

Not sure what that means Blanka...care to elaborate?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 26, 2010, 12:08:09 am
Hyperspin looks like it is only fun with games with a custom style. I was wondering how it looks when such a style lacks.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 26, 2010, 01:12:13 am
Hyperspin looks like it is only fun with games with a custom style. I was wondering how it looks when such a style lacks.
HyperSpin uses what we call a default theme when a theme for the specific game does not exist.  For almost all consoles we have a "generic" style (aka theme) that shows the video (or screenshot), box art, and selection text (or wheel image).  Check out the attached image.  This is the default theme for Neo Geo in HyperSpin.

Here is a video of HyperSpin using a default theme.  This is the default theme for Neo Geo.

HyperSpin v1.0 Neo Geo Default Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDvEjfQi3c#)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 26, 2010, 01:48:20 am
Yeah, but this uses graphics for the game titles as well. What if they do not exist? Do I get some fancy Helvetica then?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 26, 2010, 01:56:46 am
Yeah, but this uses graphics for the game titles as well. What if they do not exist? Do I get some fancy Helvetica then?
Yes, there is text that can replace the use of wheel images.  However, the text is really just a place holder as the images really make the wheel look nice.  The text is just as boring as other text based front ends, but you can select out of a couple fonts if you really want text.

If you are worried about having games that don't have a wheel image... The whole MAME collection, all 6000+ games, almost all have a title image created.  Our team has been cranking out wheel images and they have completed a huge majority of them.  Right now they are going into each game and getting a screenshot of the title screen and then taking the title screen and tracing the title image to use on the HyperSpin wheel.  It's a grueling task and these guys have been working on wheel images for almost a year straight.  Wheel images for almost all other systems have been completed.

Here is a quick video showing what a text wheel looks like in HyperSpin.  There are different options that you can use to change the text and colors, but I haven't messed with them. The video below shows what the default is.

HyperSpin No Wheel Images Test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G95XhkKzFdU#)

The thing with HyperSpin is that you can go from extremely basic layouts with only a screenshot and text to fully animated and elaborate themes.  There are people that simply use a full screen video and list text to fully animated themes with rotating 3d box images.  HyperSpin is extremely customizable and with the new version coming out soon there are even more items that can be customized.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Blanka on January 26, 2010, 05:00:06 am
 :notworthy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ragnar on January 28, 2010, 01:06:47 am
I like the idea of favorites.  I wish there was an FE that supported passwords though.  I'd love to be able to lock kids out of games like mortal kombat.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: youki on January 29, 2010, 03:16:49 am
Atomic supports password.  there is a parental control feature.

you can create  "screens"  that are accessible only with password (password you can enter with the control panel of course).

there is also password feature to exit the front end, to avoid kid to go back to the system or shutdown the cab by accident.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on January 30, 2010, 02:14:11 am
I like the idea of favorites.  I wish there was an FE that supported passwords though.  I'd love to be able to lock kids out of games like mortal kombat.


Check out GameEx Login (http://www.headsoft.com.au/index.php?category=gameex&page=login). Everyone in your family can have their own avatar and password (or no password), their own favourites list and theme. All options can be customized individually so you can remove adult games for your children etc.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: scept1c on February 04, 2010, 02:59:19 am
i like the appearance of Maximus Arcade. I' can say that's my favorite. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: coffinsnail on February 10, 2010, 01:12:09 pm
a poll like this might be better set with letting the person vote for 1-2 or 1-3 diffrent ones, as sometimes its hard to pick just one, as in the case of one does this but the other does that, now if they both did x and y id pick it. so really letting people have two choices would have gotten a better feel for what people like for  a front end.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SophT on February 16, 2010, 07:28:12 am
Quote
that are accessible only with password (password you can enter with the control panel of course).

it should definitely be uuddlrlrabba
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: smalltownguy on February 16, 2010, 07:47:17 am
+1 ;)

Now, if only there were a 'select - start' button on my CP....
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Necro on February 16, 2010, 04:28:50 pm
Quote
that are accessible only with password (password you can enter with the control panel of course).

it should definitely be uuddlrlrabba

SophT, your geek license has been revoked.  Please hand it over at the door, I'm sorry.

It's U U D D L R L R B A (Start or Select Start).
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SophT on February 19, 2010, 04:27:51 am
SophT, your geek license has been revoked.  Please hand it over at the door, I'm sorry.

It's U U D D L R L R B A (Start or Select Start).


ah-ha.  Then you wouldn't be getting into my cab with the Konami code ;)  But seriously, that code (not the konami one) was used in some games, can't remember what though...  I wanna say NBA jam or UMK3 on SNES...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Necro on February 19, 2010, 12:14:52 pm
Hehe :)  Was that one of the big head ones or something like that?  I do remember that from when I worked at a Chucky Cheese like place...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Howard_Casto on February 20, 2010, 12:37:19 am
I like the idea of favorites.  I wish there was an FE that supported passwords though.  I'd love to be able to lock kids out of games like mortal kombat.


Hey now, I was raised on Mortal Kombat and I turned out fi.... err nevermind
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: romshark on March 04, 2010, 06:41:41 am
Wasn't sure what to vote for, since I use both Mala and 3D Arcade. My computer boots to Mala by default, though, so I voted for that one. I can actually run 3D Arcade from a menu option in Mala.

Mala I can use for selecting a game quickly. Plus, my non-arcade stuff (NES, SNES, Jukeboxes, ect) are all on the menus.

3D Arcade is more for the WOW factor. No console game, only arcade games. Lately I've been doing lots of tweaking. Making sure cabs are lined up, enough space for players to get to the controls, proper airflow between cabinets, classic and kids games towards the front, more mature stuff like Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and House of the Dead toward the back, installed a soda machine...
 :dizzy: ...maybe I'm taking my little virtual arcade a little too seriously.  :lol
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Harakiri on March 05, 2010, 09:30:42 am
Hello!

I'm looking for a minimalistic GUI for MAME. The latest MAMEGUI that i compiled successfully crashes randomly (such as the previous one) and most of the frontends are biased towards arcade cabinets. I'm looking for something like this:

(http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/images/xmamegui/screenshot01.jpg)

It's very frustrating not being able to use xMAMEgui with basic mame though...  :'(

If anyone knows of a similar approach to this please let me know ok!?

Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: deweyhewson on March 05, 2010, 12:18:24 pm
I like the idea of favorites.  I wish there was an FE that supported passwords though.  I'd love to be able to lock kids out of games like mortal kombat.


*laugh* One of the reasons why I LOVED Mortal Kombat (and other games) when I was a kid was because my mom forbade me from playing them...

 >:D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SophT on March 06, 2010, 12:41:02 am
Quote
If anyone knows of a similar approach to this please let me know ok!?

The simplest one is MAME's built-in FE.  Just run mame.exe without any command line options.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: 200X on March 06, 2010, 07:58:30 am
I like the idea of favorites.  I wish there was an FE that supported passwords though.  I'd love to be able to lock kids out of games like mortal kombat.


You are mean  :(
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on March 06, 2010, 08:06:07 am
It seems most folks prefer visuals over content, which is where GameEx stives. Ill keep pushing on though.

Blatant promotion below ;)

GameEx 2010 With Emumovies HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S11VvsB5Fxg#ws)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: 200X on March 06, 2010, 08:13:05 am
Im using Maximus Arcade. Fair enough, You have to pay but I think its worth it. Its easy to setup, Easy to use. I cant fault it to be honest. The support could be a little better though.

The support just plain sucks. They have been asked to fix a (most likely) simple problem with LedBlinky but no dice. They won't even answer anyone's questions.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Firebat138 on March 07, 2010, 12:20:13 pm
Gotta love HS...  Still setting up some stuff, but I love me some eye candy, although I find myself using plain old Mame64 sometimes.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Harakiri on March 09, 2010, 03:17:58 am
Hello!

I'm looking for a minimalistic GUI for MAME. The latest MAMEGUI that i compiled successfully crashes randomly (such as the previous one) and most of the frontends are biased towards arcade cabinets. I'm looking for something like this:

(http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/images/xmamegui/screenshot01.jpg)

It's very frustrating not being able to use xMAMEgui with basic mame though...  :'(

If anyone knows of a similar approach to this please let me know ok!?

Thanks in advance!

I found the solution to my very own problem!

If you tried to compile the lastest MAMEUI using MAME compiler and you are experiencing random crashes here's a simple solution:

1- Compile the latest version of MAME

2 - Download MAME+GUI mamepgui-1.5.0.win-20100305 (http://mameicons.free.fr/mame32p/download/mamepgui-1.5.0.win-20100305.zip)

3 - Run the program, locate compiled version of MAME, set the rom directories and other options

There are no crashes with this setup. I noticed that MAME+ emulator by itself doesn't skip nag screens in certain games so i decided to try this setup and it works flawlessly.

Have fun! :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: eclipso on March 14, 2010, 12:49:06 am
It seems most folks prefer visuals over content, which is where GameEx stives. Ill keep pushing on though.

Blatant promotion below ;)

GameEx 2010 With Emumovies HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S11VvsB5Fxg#ws)

For me I actually prefer this type of FE. I enjoy having all the historic data at my finger tips as well as being able to play alot of great games.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: RobbyMac on March 14, 2010, 01:31:56 am
I use maximus/ Easy, simple, customizable. Support sucks I know.
Hyperspin has alot of eyecandy... but ultimately I want to play games, and navigate through menus quickly and easily... I'm not much interested in being entertained by the front end.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on March 17, 2010, 05:47:32 pm
I use maximus/ Easy, simple, customizable. Support sucks I know.
Hyperspin has alot of eyecandy... but ultimately I want to play games, and navigate through menus quickly and easily... I'm not much interested in being entertained by the front end.

 I've not completely given up on Hyperspin, but I definitely have had trouble.  If they add a auto list generator (based on your games) then I'll come back and check it out. Funny thing is that I think having the box art for nes and snes games is way more interesting than the themes... the boxes give me more nostalgia.  I might come back to it when they've had more time to work things out and make the theme, wheel image, box art, collection a little less painless.  I think I heard Dazz was working on on a folder for the ftp that would have all the art already setup so we'll see. I must say hat I do like how easy they made it to add emulators.

Maximus us just really easy to setup, and it doesn't look that bad, it's pretty nice.  The support does suck, but many issues have already been solved or are not too hard to figure out. I must say that I love it and a lot of the issues can be fixed with a hopefully upcoming update. Lets keep hoping on that.

I think if I was having a group of people who loved videogames over I'd use Maximus Arcade, if I was having a party with non gamers and wanted the cab to be out then I'd use hyperspin and have MAME as the main wheel.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: 200X on March 17, 2010, 07:08:49 pm
I have almost everything set up for Hyperspin.  :applaud: A couple of emulators are still giving me problems.

I already prefer it over Maximus Arcade. It looks nice, it's more fun...and support is great. Sure, it's a pain in the butt to set up but I think it's definitely worth the trouble. If the MA crew would have fixed the ledblinky problem, I still would be using MA. But I'm glad they didn't because it forced me to take on the challenge: Hyperspin!  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: scept1c on March 23, 2010, 09:34:10 am
HyperSpin, Mamewah was the previous one.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on March 23, 2010, 11:14:17 am
I just setup Maximus Arcade with all my emulators.. every console system (including gamecube, wii, and ps2) + mame + sega m2 + sega naomi.  I think I just need Amiga, turbo duo cd, and virtual boy (can't find a good emulator for this though). Other than that, I'm pretty much done setting it up.  I might not even add these systems as I never even plaid them.

I was able to install gamecube, wii, and naomi by hacking other systems  and changing the art.

Hyperspin is great, and like I've said before.. when they change it so that it scans your folder for you, I'll go back and try it again.  I'll even download all the videos again from emumovies.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: 200X on March 23, 2010, 04:30:58 pm
I just setup Maximus Arcade with all my emulators.. every console system (including gamecube, wii, and ps2) + mame + sega m2 + sega naomi.  I think I just need Amiga, turbo duo cd, and virtual boy (can't find a good emulator for this though). Other than that, I'm pretty much done setting it up.  I might not even add these systems as I never even plaid them.

I was able to install gamecube, wii, and naomi by hacking other systems  and changing the art.

Hyperspin is great, and like I've said before.. when they change it so that it scans your folder for you, I'll go back and try it again.  I'll even download all the videos again from emumovies.

Dir2Xml isn't too hard to use.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: gaffner on April 06, 2010, 09:13:56 am
I just setup Maximus Arcade with all my emulators.. every console system (including gamecube, wii, and ps2) + mame + sega m2 + sega naomi.  I think I just need Amiga, turbo duo cd, and virtual boy (can't find a good emulator for this though). Other than that, I'm pretty much done setting it up.  I might not even add these systems as I never even plaid them.

I was able to install gamecube, wii, and naomi by hacking other systems  and changing the art.

Hyperspin is great, and like I've said before.. when they change it so that it scans your folder for you, I'll go back and try it again.  I'll even download all the videos again from emumovies.

Hyperspin does have this option... it's called HyperList.  It took about 10 minutes for me to figure out how to use it, but it's worked pretty well.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mud409 on May 13, 2010, 01:42:44 am
I seriously have a hard time believing that most people are using hyperspin. It's likely the most preferred frontend for looks, but definitely not the most widely used. Most cabs I've see have mala/mamewah or gamex
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on May 14, 2010, 10:29:37 am
I seriously have a hard time believing that most people are using hyperspin. It's likely the most preferred frontend for looks, but definitely not the most widely used. Most cabs I've see have mala/mamewah or gamex

There is a pinned topic on their forums asking people to vote, so that might have something to do with it ;)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on May 14, 2010, 01:31:22 pm
Hey tspeirs, I have a question for yah. How easy is it to integrate naomi, aotmiswvae, ps2, dreamcast (via nulldc), and different types of emulators like this? Am I limited to the systems you have added in, or are there easy ways to add in new systems?

It seems most folks prefer visuals over content, which is where GameEx stives. Ill keep pushing on though.

Blatant promotion below ;)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on May 14, 2010, 01:34:14 pm
Also, is there an easy way to modify the layout of the control panel viewer you have integrated? I have a hybrid layout (neo geo + street fighter)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on May 14, 2010, 08:16:33 pm
I seriously have a hard time believing that most people are using hyperspin. It's likely the most preferred frontend for looks, but definitely not the most widely used. Most cabs I've see have mala/mamewah or gamex

There is a pinned topic on their forums asking people to vote, so that might have something to do with it ;)

 :droid  :P
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on May 14, 2010, 09:00:25 pm
People can only vote for one at a time so unless they're asking their moms to sign up to vote too, I don't see any reason to be worked up about who is leading.

The other thing to consider is that there is probably a huge number of people who either don't visit this site or will never vote for whatever reason. 

Here are some stats that Saint pulled for 2009:

1,093,737 unique visitors (measured by unique IP addresses)
2,237,321 visits

1.1 million unique IPs.  Assume most of us browse from home/work/school/phone/vacation/in-laws etc, I say that's maybe 8-10 different IPs per user.  100,000 unique people visiting the site a year?  Perhaps. 

We have 658 votes.  Not the biggest sample to base anything off of.   :dunno
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on May 14, 2010, 10:28:00 pm
I seriously have a hard time believing that most people are using hyperspin. It's likely the most preferred frontend for looks, but definitely not the most widely used. Most cabs I've see have mala/mamewah or gamex
HyperSpin must be doing something right... 

Looking at the official forums for the various front ends... The HyperSpin forum has by far the most active community out of any other front end.  ??? HyperSpin has close to the same number of members as BYOAC.

BYOAC:
2110658 Posts in 195220 Topics by 18812 Members

HyperSpin:
Threads: 7,685, Posts: 72,256, Members: 17,386

Maximus Arcade:
Total posts 7814 • Total topics 1793 • Total members 1739

GameEx:
Total Posts: 59,423 
Total Members: 5,214

Mala:  From what I can tell Mala uses BYOAC as their Official forums.

Not to mention, HyperSpin is also the newest front end out with only 1.5 years where MALA has been around since the stone ages, GameEx and Maximus both have been around for 3-5 years.  We may be the new kids on the block, but we are doing something right.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on May 14, 2010, 11:11:23 pm
Looking at the official forums for the various front ends... The HyperSpin forum has by far the most active community out of any other front end.

I think the stats would be alot different if users didn't have to join the forums to download it. In my experience most people join forums to get help, but I would say in HS case it would be to download the program and themes. I'm not saying which FE has more users but that fact combined with the pinned topic probably doesn't hurt the numbers it's getting :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on May 15, 2010, 12:35:42 am
Looking at the official forums for the various front ends... The HyperSpin forum has by far the most active community out of any other front end.

I think the stats would be alot different if users didn't have to join the forums to download it. In my experience most people join forums to get help, but I would say in HS case it would be to download the program and themes. I'm not saying which FE has more users but that fact combined with the pinned topic probably doesn't hurt the numbers it's getting :)
Well, we could always ask Circo to see which version of Emumovies are being downloaded the most... As far as I know HS is the only FE that supports FLV video.  Surely people wouldn't be downloading 8-13gb of files not to be using them. 

I do know that since the HyperSpin release the number of subscribers to EmuMovies services have more than doubled within a couple months and has steadily increased since then. 

If you really think the pinned thread on our forums is skewing results here; I'm more than happy to have that thread removed...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on May 15, 2010, 01:38:27 am
Hmm...... define active, when people start a thread on the forums (at least lately) it stays on the main forum front page (without any new responses) for a while depending on various things though.

Seriously though, hyperspin is great.. so are many other front ends.  These poll numbers will not reflect which is best for you, try a few of them out and make the decision yourself.

We should have people post pics of their cabs with their frontend instead of a poll, I have searched for hyperspin cabs (on youtube) in the past out of curiosity, wonder if they hyperpin people are so exhausted after setting up their frontend that they don't have as much energy left for the cab ;)

I seriously have a hard time believing that most people are using hyperspin. It's likely the most preferred frontend for looks, but definitely not the most widely used. Most cabs I've see have mala/mamewah or gamex
HyperSpin must be doing something right...  

Looking at the official forums for the various front ends... The HyperSpin forum has by far the most active community out of any other front end.  ??? HyperSpin has close to the same number of members as BYOAC.

BYOAC:
2110658 Posts in 195220 Topics by 18812 Members

HyperSpin:
Threads: 7,685, Posts: 72,256, Members: 17,386

Maximus Arcade:
Total posts 7814 • Total topics 1793 • Total members 1739

GameEx:
Total Posts: 59,423  
Total Members: 5,214

Mala:  From what I can tell Mala uses BYOAC as their Official forums.

Not to mention, HyperSpin is also the newest front end out with only 1.5 years where MALA has been around since the stone ages, GameEx and Maximus both have been around for 3-5 years.  We may be the new kids on the block, but we are doing something right.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on May 15, 2010, 06:23:02 pm
If you really think the pinned thread on our forums is skewing results here; I'm more than happy to have that thread removed...

You seem to think I care. I was just making an observation.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on May 15, 2010, 06:54:19 pm
I would like to keep this thread as focused on the topic if at all possible.  The posts about Maximo G+ not withstanding...
This dude seems to have a good perspective on this thread.  Can't we all just get along?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on May 16, 2010, 06:09:10 am
MALA has been around since the stone ages,
Well that is one figure out of all posted I would question.  :laugh2:

If anyone cares, I believe MaLa was introduced to BYOAC in 2005. Before that it was a very basic FE  based in Germany.

[Late Edit] I should remind you that 'SWINDUS' has done most of the work on MaLa. [/Late Edit]

P.S  Good luck to you sir. I really don't care if you have 99% of the users here. I do it for fun  ;D     When I am not having fun I don't work on it.  :P
It is a bonus that it suits some others users requirements and I get a kick out of positive/constructive feedback so that inspires me to work on it more.

Sorry for the thread HiJack. I will crawl back into my hole again.   ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on May 16, 2010, 09:28:25 am
Well that is one figure out of all posted I would question.  :laugh2:

If anyone cares, I believe MaLa was introduced to BYOAC in 2005. Before that it was a very basic FE  based in Germany.

P.S  Good luck to you sir. I really don't care if you have 99% of the users here. I do it for fun  ;D     When I am not having fun I don't work on it.  :P
It is a bonus that it suits some others users requirements and I get a kick out of positive feedback so that inspires me to work on it more.

Sorry for the thread HiJack. I will crawl back into my hole again.   ;D

Good for you Loadman, and here's hoping it stays fun.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tspeirs on May 16, 2010, 09:34:56 am
Hey tspeirs, I have a question for yah. How easy is it to integrate naomi, aotmiswvae, ps2, dreamcast (via nulldc), and different types of emulators like this? Am I limited to the systems you have added in, or are there easy ways to add in new systems?


I like to keep GameEx questions over at http://gameex.info (http://gameex.info). So please head over there and ask your questions. Cheers.

To answer this one. Your not limited to anything in GameEx, however that does add a layer of complexity for some systems.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: celly on May 17, 2010, 02:46:55 am
You've got my vote Tom!  GameEx for me.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on May 17, 2010, 09:44:59 am
I'm all over the place! I can't settle for just one FE. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Draco1962 on May 17, 2010, 07:46:10 pm
GameEx is my preferred, although I will occasionally dabble with a few of the others.  That being said, I am willing to bet that there are some, like me, that use several frontends depending on the project it serves.  # of users and forum posts is a crude yardstick at best to guage how many people may use a particular FE. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: WhereEaglesDare on May 18, 2010, 01:47:04 pm
I really liked GameEx but not I have my button and sticks connected and now I am having issues.

The one feature that GameEx has that I like a lot better than the others in the internet radio player.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on June 02, 2010, 10:33:35 pm
You can install internet radio players in other frontends, some jukeboxes even have that option.  Why is gamex's internet radio player so great? (seriously, I'm curious)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Raitsa on June 04, 2010, 05:04:59 am
GameEx is my choice, it does all i need easily and a heck of a lot more, meaning i have disabled most of the GameEx´s functions in my own cabinet :laugh2:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: damphon on June 12, 2010, 03:31:35 am
I'm a fan of Hyperspin it feels like a real arcade machine, not like a computer.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jimmy2x2x on August 12, 2010, 04:41:41 am
My 2 cents

MaLa is amazing for a free FE, the system requirements and boot speed are second to none!
Loadmans tireless support and constant improvements and praiseworthy, thanks loadman ;)

Hyperspin is the opposite for me, heavy system requirements and slow boot speed
But the results are show stopping - if you have the horsepower and time to set it up right
its probably the most impressive FE

Maximus Arcade, for me this one falls between MaLA and Hyperspin, moderate system requirements
and an acceptable load time for a visually impressive FE.  Maximus's real strengths, for me at least, are its
very easy configuration, global 'quit emulator' key binding and excellent community support.
Its just so clean looking! Look at it gleam  8)

I haven't had time to check out any others, but I intend to when I do have the time.

For me right now, and a lot of this is down to my target PC.

1) Maximus Arcade
2) MaLa
3) Hyperspin

Its so nice to have so many quality choices for Front Ends, I hope they all enjoy the success they rightly deserve
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on August 23, 2010, 04:05:11 am
Hyperspin is the opposite for me, heavy system requirements and slow boot speed
But the results are show stopping - if you have the horsepower and time to set it up right
its probably the most impressive FE
Slow boot speed?  What kind of speeds are you looking at?  With the intro video turned off, I can have HyperSpin loaded and running within 8 seconds after launch.  The 8 seconds is with complete wheels, images and text.  If your setup was taking longer on a decently specc'd machine then you're running into something else causing the longer boot times.  Perhaps invalid character in the XML files, incorrectly named or rogue file or something similar.  We have also noticed slow downs/lag happening if you have some USB control devices plugged in or if you have Windows Defender Realtime scanning turned on.  Windows Defender seems to be trying to scan every image that's loaded in HyperSpin upon launch and that definitely slows the launch speed.  Other than those issues there should be very little boot time with HyperSpin as it doesn't scan or query other databases for game lists.  It uses XML which is loaded dynamically as you navigate the wheel.     

I've been a Maximus user for about 7 years and Maximus has always had one of the longest boot times out of any Front End.  It has to go through a scan process upon each launch which can last up to 30 seconds depending on how many systems you have setup.  Not having the ability to add emulators other than the "supported" emulators greatly crippled MA for me.  Not to mention the lack of support and development from the developer was the final straw for me as a user.  I'm not sure where you get "Excellent community support" from unless you are considering the BYOAC forums for support.  If so then yes, there is good support here.  However, there is NOT any support or community involvement by the developer.  However, with that said, MA is still a good front end, especially for beginners.  I still have it installed and load it up every 6 months or so, but I don't use it on a regular basis like in the past.

I also used Mala and MameWah for a while as well before settling with Maximus long ago.  Both are great at what they do, but both are basic front ends.  Both have very quick loading times that are slightly faster than HyperSpin by perhaps 3 or 4 seconds.  Both will run on very low system spec's.

GameEx is also very nice front end and it is fairly easy to setup for beginners.  I tried using it on my MAME cabinet, but it was too Windows like.  If I was running a HTPC then I would definitely consider it to integrate into HBMC or Windows Media Center for a seamless environment.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on August 23, 2010, 05:12:06 am
GameEx is also very nice front end and it is fairly easy to setup for beginners.  I tried using it on my MAME cabinet, but it was too Windows like.  If I was running a HTPC then I would definitely consider it to integrate into HBMC or Windows Media Center for a seamless environment.

Here is a theme I made for GameEx recently based on a MaLa theme. Does it look too "Windows like"?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jimmy2x2x on August 23, 2010, 05:20:25 am
Very nice!

Clean and clear
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: PsychoMikey on October 01, 2010, 05:05:08 am
Finaly took the step to setup HyperSpin with all the bells and whistles.
Once you get your rom's renamed correctly it's very easy to use.

AWESOME!!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: janX on October 31, 2010, 11:16:42 am
I'm all over the place! I can't settle for just one FE.  



Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx   Maximus Arcade   HyperSpin   GameEx  



Hey shateredsoul, Fancy meeting you here  ;D

I'm the same way. No one front end seems to have everything I want or need, so I tend to like different front ends for different reasons. My problem is I don't have a cab so I use my PC as a multimedia machine which is why I look for so much in a frontend.

My current vote is Maximus Arcade just because I have it set up so well on my PC, but I'm loosing interest, as MA is no longer being updated.

My vote may change soon to HyperSpin as it has a huge community behind it, it's very visually appealing with themes and is pretty versatile for adding content.

Once HyperSpin is set up 100% odds are my vote will change to GameEx a few months later  :laugh2: as GameEx seems more suited for someone who is looking for a more multimedia based frontend like me, but I haven't done much on this frontend yet.

Oh if only I could take all my favorite features from each frontend and put them into one. Yep, I'm picky  :D So expect my vote to change from year to year.

If anyone has suggestions for a multimedia frontend please let me know.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on October 31, 2010, 02:03:20 pm
Hey Janx,  yup I still think maximus arcade is a great frontend.  I think I just grew bored with the limitations.  Hyperspin gives me a lot of freedom.  As long as I can figure out the code, I can add it in. 

I do think that gamex would be better for a multimedia theater center, hyperspin is great on the arcade though. Oh by the way do you still need to take a look at my script? I just realized it needs a lot of work still.  I hadn't fully tested everything.. my main issue is getting the controls to work with all systems.  I'm probably just going to use xbox 360 controllers w/ n64, dreamcast, ps2, and gamecube.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ahmer on November 08, 2010, 02:55:25 pm
My all time favorite is Mamewah due to its classic layout.
For Modern Friends AtomicFE is good.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: JenkNZ on November 23, 2010, 10:07:24 pm
i like the 'mame.exe' only thing it needs is to be able to scroll through games with joystick. is there any FE like that? all text no setup?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: MagicManPA on January 01, 2011, 11:32:00 pm
Of the few that I have tried, I decided on Mala. Very easy to use & does what I need it do. I don't need 100 fancy bells & whistles. I just want to pick a game & play.

Now if I could figure out why it won't save a gamelist for any emulators outside MAME I'd be golden.  :cry:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on February 23, 2011, 03:08:22 pm
Here's my observation;

Q. Which of these frontends actually works with the latest mame?
A. Almost none.   They either don't install (Ultrastyle, Mala) or have serious bugs (loss of focus issues in both Mala and Arcade Maximus).   If you think this is not so, just try your favorite with the latest mame and see.

The problem is that the frontends get too complicated, then bugs find their way into the software and they can't be kept up with. 

I am sticking with Ultramame.

Why?  4 reasons.

It can be accessed completely from the control panel.   It installs.  No bugs. It works.

Kaptainsteve
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on February 23, 2011, 10:37:04 pm
Here's my observation;

Q. Which of these frontends actually works with the latest mame?
A. Almost none.   They either don't install (Ultrastyle, Mala) or have serious bugs (loss of focus issues in both Mala and Arcade Maximus).   If you think this is not so, just try your favorite with the latest mame and see.

The problem is that the frontends get too complicated, then bugs find their way into the software and they can't be kept up with. 

I am sticking with Ultramame.

Why?  4 reasons.

It can be accessed completely from the control panel.   It installs.  No bugs. It works.

Kaptainsteve
I hate to say this, but it sounds like you don't know what you are doing...  What version of MAME are you trying to use? 

All front ends should work perfectly fine with the latest MAME.   I personally use HyperSpin and we have no issues at all running the latest MAME.  I have also tested Maximus Arcade using the latest MAME and have no issues with focus.  I haven't used MALA in a long while, but I don't see why it would have any issues with the latest version of MAME.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Celsius on February 23, 2011, 11:15:58 pm
Using Mala and mame...no installation problems and works perfect
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on February 24, 2011, 12:19:04 am
Yeah, i've had no issues with hyperspin or maximus arcade either. W hyperspin you just have to make sure you have the right xml to match your set, maximus arcade scans it for your.

Either way, whatever works for you!

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on February 24, 2011, 10:08:12 am
I've installed Max Arcade and it runs fine except when you hammer the player 1&2 keys simultaneously to exit a running game then I get the Maximus black screen of death and then a loss of focus problem where you have to restart the pc to fix it?      

 I've experienced the same problem with another frontend upon exiting yet when i use simply mame32, I do not get the problem.   This makes me believe it's a problem with compatibility with my op sys (or something like a driver or my ipac) and the front-ends.

Install mame 141,  RUN a game, then exit by hammering the P1&2 buttons and see if you experience this too.  

Thanks.

P.S.

Funny, but I thought that maybe using a stripped down xp was the problems so I just reinstalled a completely new OEM XP and Maximus Arcade, and upon exiting the first game, got the same error as above/always.  This is with compete all-round fresh installs.  There is definitely a major bug in that frontend.  

So, I just  installed Mala and got this crash log;

2011/02/25  23:06:14.48   Error: Exception Message: Scan line index out of range, Object Function: LoadPicture, Exception Class: EInvalidGraphicOperation, Object Class: TTimer

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Firebat138 on February 24, 2011, 12:27:31 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on February 26, 2011, 07:21:51 pm
I've installed Max Arcade and it runs fine except when you hammer the player 1&2 keys simultaneously to exit a running game then I get the Maximus black screen of death and then a loss of focus problem where you have to restart the pc to fix it?      

 I've experienced the same problem with another frontend upon exiting yet when i use simply mame32, I do not get the problem.   This makes me believe it's a problem with compatibility with my op sys (or something like a driver or my ipac) and the front-ends.

Install mame 141,  RUN a game, then exit by hammering the P1&2 buttons and see if you experience this too.  

Thanks.

P.S.

Funny, but I thought that maybe using a stripped down xp was the problems so I just reinstalled a completely new OEM XP and Maximus Arcade, and upon exiting the first game, got the same error as above/always.  This is with compete all-round fresh installs.  There is definitely a major bug in that frontend.  

So, I just  installed Mala and got this crash log;

2011/02/25  23:06:14.48   Error: Exception Message: Scan line index out of range, Object Function: LoadPicture, Exception Class: EInvalidGraphicOperation, Object Class: TTimer


Your issue isn't a MAME 141 issue....  This has nothing to do with MAME at all.  This is definitely an issue with either your OS or even your hardware.  What keyboard encoder are you using? IPAC? 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on February 27, 2011, 07:08:46 pm
Dazz, thanks for your help and not calling me stoopid this time, believe me or not, I appreciate it.  I may be stoopid, but I don't like being reminded of it in a public forum.

I think it's a prob btwn the frontends, possibly mame, and the xp.  I've now ruled out Ipac. I thought it might be the P1&2 shift esc combo pattern but after assigning a single key to the esc function I still get the hang up after the Max Arcade screensaver exits a game (at some point, I haven't caught this happening live, it's always when i'm out of the room) . With the reassigned keys I don't have the problem escaping running games and getting the BSOD though....  I think this is something that happens when the mame exits a running game.

So, when the pc just sits with Max Arcade on and  it goes to screensaver mode, then at some point I get the BSOD.  If you exit the emulator w/a right click you come back to the FE, but it is out of focus meaning you can't click it from the control panel.   YOu have to restart the pc to bring it back to normal.  

I've installed windows clean, and a clean mame (I use the mame with the interface in it - MameUiHi )and max arcade and still can't out run the problem.  

It could be the version of mame I run too. I run MameUiHi and maybe if i ran a straight mame w/out the built in gui I'd eliminate this problem?  I havent' tried this yet.  It's the only option I have left until I get a new power supply for my other pc w/the better video card....

I take that back, the reassigning of keys didn't work either.  I just exited RallyX and got the BSoD....

Another tidbit... I installed the regular mame.exe and started up Max Arcade and got the focus issue without having a chance to get mame start or get involved???  I ran Max Arcade, entered Rally X, started the game, hammered on the esc key, and it crashed Mame, Max and the desktop (lost the task bar)...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on February 27, 2011, 09:51:44 pm
Ya, my first reply to you was a bit harsh.  I just saw that coming in and immediately blaming MAME or the FE's for issues is discouraging to the new users that would be checking out this thread.  I was just playing defense so the newer users wouldn't get discouraged.  Hell, I even went back and installed Maximus Arcade after 2 years of not using it to verify that it worked with the new version of MAME.  Being part of a software design team it's discouraging for people to blame something on software when its obviously not the software that's causing the issue.  So, my apologies.

If you are getting a BSOD, it shouldn't have anything to do with the FE, MAME or anything. BSOD's are almost always caused by hardware.  Your issue sounds like it is RAM related.  You might want to run your RAM through MEMtest and let it test for errors.  http://www.memtest.org/ (http://www.memtest.org/)

Your IPAc shouldn't be causing the system to BSOD unless you have corrupted drivers.  Make sure that your all of your system drivers are updated.  You may also want to update the firmware/BIOS on your motherboard if it's an older one.  

I would suggest moving away from using P1 & 2 as exit though.  I had P1 & 2 set to exit on my cab as well, but this causes issues when you have 2 people playing a game.  If both people die and have to re-start and hit start at the same time it will kick them out of the game.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on February 28, 2011, 04:19:56 pm
Sorry, I didn't mean Blue, I meant Black Screen of Death.
Whooops....
No, the hard drive's fine.
There's some conflict going on that occurs exiting the running games when you hammer the esc keys...
I'm still working to figure it out... we'll see.
I'll get back on it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on February 28, 2011, 06:50:13 pm
Check your Windows sticky keys or the ease of access keys (whatever it's called now).  Make sure Windows isn't doing something wonky based on the key presses.

Run command line Mame instead of MameUI.  That should be one of the first things to try.  Eliminate the MameUI frontend altogether and see how it does.

Or, the alternate route, is to test em all in Notepad and try various key combos to see what causes the issue.  1 player buttons v. it happening on two player games.

Or, reprogram the Ipac to use non-normal keys.  But that would be time consuming and a last resort.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on March 10, 2011, 03:48:14 pm
I installed game-ex and Mamewah, and they both work great and there is no more conflict.  Whatever it was I think it has something to do with the ipac and multiple/simultaneous button pushes with certain FE's cause conflicts when exiting a playing mame game.  But with MameWah, things have straightened out.

My vote for favorite is now MameWah.  

I use a cabinet, mamewah's simple and easy.

It boots right into the mame game menu, you just select a game and play, perfect.

It also has all the options you need for a cabinet type instal and to hide windoze.

Perfect, and thanks MameWah!~
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: BobA on March 22, 2011, 03:02:46 pm
I used to use emuloader quite a while ago.  I see that it has been updated.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: nickynooch on March 24, 2011, 10:32:35 am
  :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on March 26, 2011, 10:30:52 am
Thanks for the reply.

But, no I don't have both screensavers on.

I just switched to Mamewah and absolutely no more problems.   
Mamewah is exactly what I want and no more, so I'm very satisfied with it.

I just wish I've used it earlier.  I think it was the only one I've never tried.  I don't want tons of set-up complication and onscreen menus to navigate and wait to load.  I just want mame games easily accessible on my Arcade cabinet.   MameWah does the trick.

Two thumbs up.

Thanks.

Steve
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: BELLcadia on April 01, 2011, 04:40:14 pm
Maximus Arcade is the only FE I have tried at this point.  But I really like it.  I would like to try hyper spin but all I hear is it is hard to set up.  Plus my comp might not have enough horse power to run it.  I have a Intel P4 3.0 mtz dual core with 2 megs of ram.  Is that enough? I did not know MA had a screen saver 2.  
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: wol-nz on April 06, 2011, 12:48:52 am
I've used a very simple and clean cut FE called mGalaxy - so basic no mods but it is what i need http://www.mgalaxy.com/ (http://www.mgalaxy.com/)
Wish i had the time to give HyperSpin a shot tho.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on April 06, 2011, 08:54:59 am
I've used a very simple and clean cut FE called mGalaxy - so basic no mods but it is what i need http://www.mgalaxy.com/ (http://www.mgalaxy.com/)
Wish i had the time to give HyperSpin a shot tho.
I've added it to the list.  Thanks for letting me/us know about it.

As always, if there are others that need included in the poll, please post them and I'll edit the poll appropriately.
 :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SNAAKE on May 30, 2011, 03:20:06 pm
is there a way I can setup a windows7 computer to boot directly to a front end witout windows at all? dual boot perhaps. personally I use a xbox for emulators but my brother wants a cabinet with a computer that boots to a simply front end.

I should be doing more research but figured Id ask here first.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: danny_galaga on July 08, 2011, 08:20:07 am
New incarnation of my cab is now using Mala. It was Atomic FE, which was great, but Mala is now more useful for me

edit: hmmm, how do I change my vote?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: codefenix on August 31, 2011, 11:24:01 am
I vote Wah!Cade, because my cabinet's OS is Ubuntu.  There simply aren't any other frontends on Linux that offer the same customization options. 

( although please correct me if I've overlooked any ;) )
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Frankdavis on September 12, 2011, 02:42:22 am
Wah!Cade is good, but have you heard about "phpmyadmin" it is highly recommended for MySQL front ends and very suitable with Ubuntu.




 :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Mister Hat on October 03, 2011, 10:33:18 pm
Unfortunately I really don't have much choice besides WahCade. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mamefreak2 on October 12, 2011, 11:10:10 am
Can't comment on the other front ends but I just started using Hyperspin and I can't say enough good things about it. I'm not a computer guy and there are definitely some tweaks here and there that you learn along the way but overall it's pretty easy to learn and the front end just looks awesome.

As an added bonus, the forum over there is great and the folks have been extremely helpful in getting me set up. I'm not completely done yet but I'm close and when it's done it's going to look awesome.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Gray_Area on October 13, 2011, 05:51:48 pm
For a decent looking interface, with a fair amount of features, and relative ease in making a simple and decent looking layout, I've used Mala on all my machines - main, horizontal rig; vertical rig; and specialty rig (about twenty games).
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ripsnort on October 20, 2011, 09:22:20 am
I've tried about 70% of the listed frontends and for me nothing beats hyperspin, sure you may need a better spec pc but a p4 will do it. Secondly I didn't see 3d arcade this was a brilliant idea though a bit buggy but it still tops most of the others as a multi system FE
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Porkans on November 08, 2011, 07:16:28 pm
Didn't have the patience for hyperspin and couldn't customize some emulators in maximus. Definitively staying with Mala.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: drventure on November 08, 2011, 08:36:32 pm
I +really+ wanted to use 3darcade, but the configuration of that thing just completely bamfuzzled me. Still, it's pretty dang sweet looking.

Maybe one day I'll go back and try it again, but Mala works great, is easy to write extensions for, and is particularly easy to get setup and going in the first place.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shmokes on January 10, 2012, 09:28:36 am
Is there a way to easily make Hyperspin elegant? I think it has tons of potential, but out-of-the-box it's an assault on the senses. There's just WAY too much going on at all times. I think the default skin/theme designers are in serious need of a lesson in white space and, perhaps, a dose of Ritalin.  ;D

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: drventure on January 10, 2012, 09:32:29 am
Funny. That's exactly what I thought the first time I checked out hyperspin.

I suppose it lives up to the name, but, yes, if there were some more "subdued" themes out of the box, I'd find it more appealing.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 22, 2012, 04:38:52 pm
Is there a way to easily make Hyperspin elegant? I think it has tons of potential, but out-of-the-box it's an assault on the senses. There's just WAY too much going on at all times. I think the default skin/theme designers are in serious need of a lesson in white space and, perhaps, a dose of Ritalin.  ;D


Funny. That's exactly what I thought the first time I checked out hyperspin.

I suppose it lives up to the name, but, yes, if there were some more "subdued" themes out of the box, I'd find it more appealing.



What kind of "subdued" themes would you be looking for?  The thing with HS is that you can make it look as flashy or as "subdued" as you want.  If you have a theme from another front end it can be easily adapted for use within HyperSpin.

Do you have an example of a theme you would like to see done in HyperSpin?

BTW - I have a theme that makes HyperSpin look exactly like Maximus Arcade.  It's not quite finished yet and I'll have to dig up the files and see if I can resurrect it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: drventure on January 23, 2012, 12:19:19 am
Hey Dazz.

That's a tough one. I'm not really much of an artist. Just to be clear, HS is really impressive stuff. It's a very cool, slick looking interface (hell, my Mala theme is a kind of a rotating wheel, a bit like HS, but limited to what Mala can do).

Maybe a theme with a little less of the full screen animations, something like that.

I'll have to download the latest HS and try it out again...
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shmokes on January 23, 2012, 06:22:20 pm
In terms of general feel I have something in mind like the Aeon series of themes for XBMC. It's unfortunately not an arcade frontend theme, but it's an example of a theme that organizes and presents an enormouse amount of info from a variety of sources in a clean, elegant, yet visually impressive way. Really, Hyperspin is pretty cool. It can do a lot of awesome stuff. I just think it falters from trying to do it all at once.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Howard_Casto on January 24, 2012, 01:31:00 am
You know it's funny.  Back in the day when I used to make these things I was constantly stuggling to add as much stuff as possible.  Now that I'm "out of the game" and I've taken a step back I realize it was a colossal waste of time, at least visually.  The amount of games (via a gamelist or graphical representation) that can be shown on the screen at once and how smoothly it can be displayed is FAR more important than the type of blending effects and animations it can display on the screen at once. 


As you said, the key is getting as much displayed on the screen as possible without it looking like a massive train wreck. 

I wrote a custom fe for my pacman cab last year that supports nothing but a snapshot and a title image (sort of like a marquee).  Both image elements support animation and the transition from game to game is smooth.  I've got more enjoyment out of this barbones fe than I ever did out of rd, lazarus or dk.

Hyperspin is easily the most impressive looking thing out there, but much like 3darcade and some of my  eclectic works looking nice doesn't always make for good navigation.

I also think one of HS's major flaws is it's reliance on flash animations, which I talked about ages ago when it first came out.  Because they are full screened I would imagine that it would be a major pain in the butt to adapt them to another theme.  So yeah, you can do a custom theme, but you have immediately lost all of those great animations that makes hyperspin, hyperspin.  Even if you do alter the main theme  a little you might not be able to do something as simple as change the color scheme.  Why?  Because all of those great animations were made with the default colors in mind... you make run into contrast issues.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 24, 2012, 04:19:59 am
As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator. 

Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet.  There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all.  They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.

I agree that some themes might overdo the animations.  I will sometimes modify a theme and remove the animation based on my personal preference. 

Seriously, take a few minutes and download our HyperTheme.  Find some artwork, or heck take artwork from your favorite them from another FE.  Drop them into our theme creator and see how easy and basic you can create a theme. There are a couple HS theme creation tutorials online as well.

Heck, give me a link to your favorite theme from another fronted and I'll create something very comparable.  It would be fairly easy to take a Mala theme and convert it for use in HS.



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.888922,-96.768292
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Howard_Casto on January 24, 2012, 05:07:08 am
As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator. 

Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet.  There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all.  They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.

I don't think you got what I was talking about.

Let's say I do create a new theme.... well those hundreds of flash animations created for the mame theme aren't going to look right... so I can't use em.  If I want fancy animations for each game then I'm going to have to make my own or tweak the exists ones... manually.....  thousands of them.  If I don't use the flash animations then what I've got is basically every other fe out there.  If that is the case then what is the point of using HS?

I don't think that the way HS is setup is bad at all and I do NOT think you should change it... that's what makes it special.  My only point was HS is definately not for everyone and I can understand why some choose not to use it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 24, 2012, 08:40:34 am
As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator. 

Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet.  There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all.  They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.

I don't think you got what I was talking about.

Let's say I do create a new theme.... well those hundreds of flash animations created for the mame theme aren't going to look right... so I can't use em.  If I want fancy animations for each game then I'm going to have to make my own or tweak the exists ones... manually.....  thousands of them.  If I don't use the flash animations then what I've got is basically every other fe out there.  If that is the case then what is the point of using HS?

I don't think that the way HS is setup is bad at all and I do NOT think you should change it... that's what makes it special.  My only point was HS is definately not for everyone and I can understand why some choose not to use it.

I guess that's what I'm confused about and something I've been trying to get a clear answer for since the very begining.  People have asked for less of "an assault on the senses" or "subdued" themes in the past and I'm not quite sure what they mean by that.  I'm assuming that they mean no flash animations or special transitions and make it look/act like other FE's.

Also, I guess I'm confused as to what flash animations you are talking about...  There are several different kinds of animations that can be used.  Some of the themes are completely animated such as our Moon Patrol theme.  These themes take talent and experience in flash to create.  Of course someone with no flash experience isn't going to create a theme as elaborate as this one.

HyperSpin - Moon Patrol Theme by BadBoyBill and Neonnets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_0gMhdnvVA#)

Some themes might have animated characters that were done in flash.  Yes, these animations are normally done for that specific theme.  Again, these are more advanced themes and of course editing them would require skill.

Then you have our canned, or built in, animations.  These can be seen here (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=89).  These are the most widely used animations on themes.

These are simple animations that anyone can do just by using our theme creation program, HyperTheme.  It really is just a matter of selecting the image and applying the animation style to that layer.  The theme editor also allows for the editing of existing themes, so if you don't like one of the canned animations or think another animation would look better it can be changed fairly easy without much experience.  If you don't like the throbbing game title, then edit the theme, select the game title, remove or change the animation settings, and then save the theme.

Don't worry... HS isn't going to be changed.  It's going to stay special and become even more special with the next update.  We just want people to know that themes can be made to be however you want. 

I wouldn't mind knowing why someone wouldn't choose not to use it... I can see where people with machines less than 3 years old. We all know that a Pentium 1 w/24mb of memory wouldn't run it. I also see where some people would be turned off with the current Navigation scheme.  If it's not for the themes/animations, then what's keeping some from using it? 

Seriously, I don't benefit from people using HyperSpin or not in any way.  Donations go straight to Bill, the creator of HS, and I've never seen a single penny of it.  I just think that it's a quality product with a great community backing it and pride myself on our users excitement.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Howard_Casto on January 24, 2012, 09:21:18 am
Well if you take away all the fancy animations and such, what you have is a fe that has a fairly iffy backend, high resource requirements, questionable navigation and a complex setup.  A ton of fes have this problem.  It is impressive enough visually that if you like the looks of it you'll put up with these minor annoyances, but if you don't care for the default theme, there isn't any point in bothering.

In terms of the asthetic problems with the main theme... that video you just upped about gave me a seizure. ;)  It is a beautiful, expertly crafted flash animation.  One that unfortunately is too jarring a transition between it and a simple list.  Notice how the snapshot... the only thing that is important in that whole screen is barely noticable.  Form is great, but you need function as well.  The primary things displayed on the screen should always be the games artwork, the gamelist and relevant game info.  Animations are cool and enhance things quite a bit, but they should never distract from the actual data.

Also there is a factor of theme cohesion.  All the custom flash animations for HS are completely unique and lack any visual cues, transitions or color schemes to tie them all together.  When I think "animated theme"  I think just that.... the theme itself should be animated.  There might be an animated background...  the game artwork might move around or be textured on something interesting.... you might even get a very unobtrusive sprite or animation related ot the current game when idle, but the entire theme should remain as a whole unchanged and any game specific elements you do introduce should never overpower, much less completely override the main theme.   That doesn't mean you are limited to one theme of course.  You can have a different theme for each gamelist which I know HS can do.  The thing is that the current flash animations, particularly the custom ones, are so overpowering that it feels like the whole theme gets changed every time you select a different game.  That's just a bit much.

So no people aren't saying to ditch the animation and transitions, they are saying to make them tasteful.  ;)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: yotsuya on January 24, 2012, 09:38:16 am
Dazz-

I just recently upgraded the computer in my main MAME machine, and I was finally able to run HS after running AtomicFE. I've enjoyed HS's flexibility and have had a lot of fun creating my own themes in HyperTheme. I'm really looking forward to v2.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: headkaze on January 24, 2012, 09:57:50 am
Horses for courses ;)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shmokes on January 26, 2012, 09:37:35 am
My last post was made on an iPad, so finding and posting an example of the Aeon Nox XBMC skin wasn't very feasible. Here it is:

My XBMC.avi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmvMuZfKc4E#ws)

A couple of things you'll see here: One is what Howard was talking about. See how each game, movie, TV show, music artist/album, has its own artwork, info, etc., but how all of that stuff exists within the theme?  Never, at any time, no matter what you are looking at, are you taken out of the Aeon environment. It's all a seamless, cohesive experience.

The other thing is that a metric ton of information is being displayed at any given time, but it's always classy. Imagine that same video where instead of the little tick-tick-tick noise you here when scrolling through lists or selecting menu items it instead played a short sound sample from some random movie. Because that what Hyperspin does.

I see no reason why Hyperspin could not be skinned with something every bit as elegant as that Aeon theme. It strikes me as a very powerful front end. But as it stands, it has been designed to be as outlandish and in-your-face garish as possible by default. I lack the talent and motivation to skin it myself, but I think these are things that the Hyperskin team ought to think about. Hyperspin appears to be designed to appeal to adolescent boys. It makes me think it was designed with something like this in mind:

Mario Approves Of Loud And Outspoken Television Ads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaMTIb686yg#)

I'm honestly not trying to just be insulting. I see Hyperspin and I want to use it. But both times I've tried it (once when it first came out, once last week) I had to switch away. It's too much.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jimmy2x2x on January 26, 2012, 03:00:15 pm
Nice post Shmokes, I much prefer the relaxed elegant approach to front ends.

Hopefully V2 will have something for everyone


Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on January 26, 2012, 09:22:19 pm
My last post was made on an iPad, so finding and posting an example of the Aeon Nox XBMC skin wasn't very feasible. Here it is:

My XBMC.avi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmvMuZfKc4E#ws)

A couple of things you'll see here: One is what Howard was talking about. See how each game, movie, TV show, music artist/album, has its own artwork, info, etc., but how all of that stuff exists within the theme?  Never, at any time, no matter what you are looking at, are you taken out of the Aeon environment. It's all a seamless, cohesive experience.

The other thing is that a metric ton of information is being displayed at any given time, but it's always classy. Imagine that same video where instead of the little tick-tick-tick noise you here when scrolling through lists or selecting menu items it instead played a short sound sample from some random movie. Because that what Hyperspin does.

I see no reason why Hyperspin could not be skinned with something every bit as elegant as that Aeon theme. It strikes me as a very powerful front end. But as it stands, it has been designed to be as outlandish and in-your-face garish as possible by default. I lack the talent and motivation to skin it myself, but I think these are things that the Hyperskin team ought to think about. Hyperspin appears to be designed to appeal to adolescent boys. It makes me think it was designed with something like this in mind:

I'm honestly not trying to just be insulting. I see Hyperspin and I want to use it. But both times I've tried it (once when it first came out, once last week) I had to switch away. It's too much.

By default, HyperSpin is designed to be an ARCADE experience.  When you walk into an arcade you see flashing lights, sounds, screen animations, cartoon like characters, video game like artwork, etc.  First and foremost; HyperSpin was made to be used in Arcade cabients, not an HTPC environment.  However, we have many members that use HS on their HTPC's.  If you want a HTPC design, such as Aeon, then spend time and learn to create what you want... or wait until someone releases such a theme.  Just because it's not included with the initial download; it doesn't mean that there isn't such themes.

Again, with a little work HyperSpin can look and act exactly like Aeon.  If you don't don't like the game sounds when moving the wheel... simply delete the wheel sounds in the \media\main menu\sounds folder.   

This theme pack is actually still being worked on.

Hyper Aeon (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8122)

(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6228/nintendokopiekopie.png)

When HS 2.0 comes out we'll probably see more similar themes.  2.0 has a customizable coverflow system that will allow people to create different wheel types.  Below is just an example of the coverflow with the reflections being added automatically.

(http://www.hyperspin-themes.com/images/hyperspin/wip/HSCVW.png)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mamefreak2 on January 30, 2012, 12:29:43 am
Nice post Shmokes, I much prefer the relaxed elegant approach to front ends.

Hopefully V2 will have something for everyone

I'm not a computer guru by any stretch and didn't know anything about even using photopaint. But it's really, really easy to customize.

They give you a million soundeffects for when the wheel changes. I found it to be a little busy so I eliminated all but one. Now when the wheel switches to a different theme I get the guantlet 'gong' when you add in a quarter. Really nice and professional and it took me all of about 5 minutes to go through the sounds and pick which one I wanted.

Creating themes is really easy to do to. In my spare time I've created 5 or 6 that have been posted over there as well. It's an awesome front end.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Sparkolicious on February 14, 2012, 05:43:35 pm
I absolutely LOVE HyperSpin. In fact it is the only reason I got back into my arcade rig.  I used mamewah back in the day, and it worked, but it was way too plane IMO.  I went from never having seen HS to setting up multiple systems and changing themes in about a week.  I don't see what is so difficult about it really.  Their forums are FULL of information, and with a modest donation, you have access to all kinds of themes/art on the FTP.  

Quote
It strikes me as a very powerful front end. But as it stands, it has been designed to be as outlandish and in-your-face garish as possible by default. I lack the talent and motivation to skin it myself, but I think these are things that the Hyperskin team ought to think about. Hyperspin appears to be designed to appeal to adolescent boys.

Man I am pushing 40 and it still appeals to me! :D   I mean I think the outlandish and in-your-face garish design is exactly what a lot of people expect out of an arcade machine...  Stand in the middle of an 80's arcade and you get what I mean.  For me, that is the exact experience I want to create in my game room/bar.  It all comes down to personal preference....  In the words of the not so famous anywhere else but New Orleans Howard Lee "Hokie" Gajan... "I guess that's why they make chocolate AND vanilla"  

HS FTW!!!  :notworthy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Necro on February 16, 2012, 11:30:02 am
I would love to use hyperspin....just need a flip-x option and I'd switch over in a second.  (cue the Ballad of the PITA Mirror Cab)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dazz on February 16, 2012, 10:59:06 pm
I would love to use hyperspin....just need a flip-x option and I'd switch over in a second.  (cue the Ballad of the PITA Mirror Cab)
This might be a possibility in v2.0.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Maniacmat on February 22, 2012, 05:11:36 am
This is my first post on the forum and I hands down voted Hyperspin, I used another frontend in an old machine and found it painful to customise etc, but Hyperspin in one day I managed to setup my mame collection, Neo Geo,N64, C64 Atari, Sega master system, Megadrive, Nintendo, and Super Nintendo.  I still have a few minor tweaks here and there, but all are playable and very easily change between them. 

One thing I have a problem with Dazz is scrolling through large numbers of letters, I can go left a right to skip to the next letter, if I have something like Moon Patrol in the middle of the M's it can take a week to get to, maybe a speedup after a few seconds, this might already be a feature??

All in all, hyperspin is killer!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: wivelden on February 22, 2012, 07:39:35 am
Dazz
Whats the minimum requirements for HS?
Does it need a decent graphics card?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: shateredsoul on February 22, 2012, 04:08:20 pm
Dazz
Whats the minimum requirements for HS?
Does it need a decent graphics card?


http://hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6537 (http://hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6537)

I just googled "hyperspin requirements"

any modern pc should be able to run it fine (even the cheapo desktops)... but probably not on netbooks

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Necro on February 23, 2012, 11:10:18 am
I would love to use hyperspin....just need a flip-x option and I'd switch over in a second.  (cue the Ballad of the PITA Mirror Cab)
This might be a possibility in v2.0.

Woot!  But I'll stay unexcited until it's released. :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Acids on May 30, 2012, 06:44:35 am
I am blown away that not a single person is using ArcadeOS.  My first mame cab ran ArcadeOS and AdvanceMAME, and it stayed that way for a long time.  Like everyone else, I eventually moved on to other FEs, but not 1 single person still using gool old ArcadeOS????  It must be the advent of the ArcadeVGA card that made ArcadeOS basically obsolete.  But I still have a soft spot for it and owe a debt of gratitude toward it.
Here's to you, ArcadeOS  :cheers:

I started that way as well.     Once setup it was cool and worked like a charm.
My mame collection grew rapidly and my hardware kept getting better so i kinda outgrew it.

the good ole days huh  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Wade007 on November 05, 2012, 06:53:39 pm
Mala is great. I chose Retro GUI as my design/skin for Mala.

I was able to alter the vector files to support all the arcade emulators I've chose to use in my home arcade build.

See my blog article here highlight the software side of things including Mala and Retro GUI:
http://www.cheapskategamer.com/pc_game_stories_and_news/building-an-arcade-emulation-cabinetpart-one-software/ (http://www.cheapskategamer.com/pc_game_stories_and_news/building-an-arcade-emulation-cabinetpart-one-software/)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: nylaine0416 on November 21, 2012, 10:06:13 pm
good stuff, ill give it a week til someone posts it again without looking through the stickies
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Coru on November 23, 2012, 04:02:34 pm
hyperspin <3 looking forward to 2.0. any word on when thats coming out?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Eldritch1969 on November 24, 2012, 03:11:31 am
I use Mala. Simple and efficient.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tcolar on November 29, 2012, 01:47:18 pm
I use MameChose, the frontend I wrote in the last couple month :)

https://bitbucket.org/tcolar/mamechose/overview

I'd like to add it to the wiki, but can't seem to find a  way to register/login there .....
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: rtkiii on January 10, 2013, 02:03:42 pm
I thought Hyperspin was going to be great but it needs to many extra tools to work the way Maximus Arcade works with one application.  Chaning to that.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: silar on April 12, 2013, 07:20:35 pm
I've tried a few different FE's and have to say Hyperspin is by far hands down the most feature packed, 'Does everything I want it to do', front end.  At first I was a little overwhelmed by everything with it, until I tried a few others and realized they just didn't even compare.  I ended up sticking it through and spent a little bit of time each day over a week playing around with it.  Once I got into it, it wasn't overwhelming at all.

I ended up purchasing the platinum membership, and a subscription to emumovies so I didn't have to manually download all the themes and movies for the emulators and games, but I do like that fact that you can download all that on your own if you don't have the money or aren't willing to pay.

I'm kinda with the others that to me for an arcade system, I'm not going for some elegant, snooty, ipad looking, media center looking front end  :P.  I want a 'slap your mama in the face', bold, bright, arcade looking, easy to get use to front end  :notworthy:!

Even my wife and kids love to use it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: wcndave on April 23, 2013, 01:21:55 pm
Hi, I know this post has died down recently, but I will be adding my vote for MaLa, as I tried HS and had no clue how to get started.  Even just working out which of the many downloads I needed seemed complex.  I must admit though that I did not invest a huge amount of time trying.

MaLa worked right away, has loads of options, I created my own skin and edited the layout in no time at all, and it looks great / fast / simple to use.

Before I sing those praises too much though, I have encountered some problems, and also have a few doubts that could lead me to having a proper go at HS.

1. the last update to MaLa was 19/6/2011.  No update in two years...
2. Focus, on starting up with windows, the "start" button (but not the taskbar) is visible on bottom left and has focus.  I actually had to map some keys to alt+tab to get around this.
3. Intro video.  I have a video which then merges into the layout.  On launch from windows it's fine.  On startup I get a blank screen until the layout loads.  This means that with a kick as OC computer ad windows loading in 6 seconds from cold start, and replaced post / windows loading messages that all blend, my really kick ass "start up showing off sequence" is ruined by no video.

I really think that the lack of releases for it means that this won't be resolved, and I don't blame a developer who's not getting paid for getting bored of a project after a while, however this definitely pushes me towards HS again...

Can anyone speak for where MaLa is/is going?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: keilmillerjr on April 23, 2013, 01:42:20 pm
Can anyone speak for where MaLa is/is going?

I sent him an email Sunday:

Quote
I noticed the last WIP was 1.745 in 2011. It has been a long time since an update has been released. Will there be any further development?

Quote
Yes, just ran out of motivation

It takes a lot of hours to keep active

One day :-)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: retrostark on April 25, 2013, 09:23:18 am
weird to think that i have not heard of some of these. i am also surprised to see some of the results of the poll.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: wcndave on April 27, 2013, 04:19:37 pm
Quote
Yes, just ran out of motivation

It takes a lot of hours to keep active

One day :-)

Thanks for that, I shall try my query on the Mala help board then, rather than here.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: unclet on May 19, 2013, 07:57:34 am
Quote
I shall try my query on the Mala help board then, rather than here
You can always try PM'ing BYOAC member "Loadman" directly for MaLa help.  Not sure if he is still working on it or not, but I know he inherited the Mala code to work on from the original designer many moons ago.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Chris John Hunter on May 25, 2013, 04:01:24 pm
Hi

I have started a thread for Build Your Own Front End.

If anyone is interested in creating their own front end. That can either operate on its own or as a parent to other emulators / front ends please let me know on the other thread.


Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stavros693000 on June 25, 2013, 08:53:39 am
I've tried a few different FE's and have to say Hyperspin is by far hands down the most feature packed, 'Does everything I want it to do', front end.  At first I was a little overwhelmed by everything with it, until I tried a few others and realized they just didn't even compare.  I ended up sticking it through and spent a little bit of time each day over a week playing around with it.  Once I got into it, it wasn't overwhelming at all.

I ended up purchasing the platinum membership, and a subscription to emumovies so I didn't have to manually download all the themes and movies for the emulators and games, but I do like that fact that you can download all that on your own if you don't have the money or aren't willing to pay.

I'm kinda with the others that to me for an arcade system, I'm not going for some elegant, snooty, ipad looking, media center looking front end  :P.  I want a 'slap your mama in the face', bold, bright, arcade looking, easy to get use to front end  :notworthy:!

I really love hyperspin but I would have to disagree about it being the most feature packed............that honour would have to go to GAMEEX hands down in the feature rich department.
it semms the 4 most popular are HS,GameEx,Mala and maximus although why so many people love maximus I don't know guess each to there own.

Hyperspin is what I use when kids or guest are playing cause its so easy and professional looking(but a ---smurfette--- to set up.....especially when u got 50,000+ roms/emus and all videos in avi :angry:)            ....but yeah looks totally awesome

and when its just me using I like to run gameex just because there soooooooooooo much features and is awesome HTPC system but can get confusing for guest who never use it but hyper spin just scroll through wheel..........cant go wrong

Even my wife and kids love to use it.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stavros693000 on June 25, 2013, 08:57:07 am
I really love hyperspin but I would have to disagree with SILAR about it being the most feature packed............that honour would have to go to GAMEEX hands down in the feature rich department.
it semms the 4 most popular are HS,GameEx,Mala and maximus although why so many people love maximus I don't know guess each to there own.

Hyperspin is what I use when kids or guest are playing cause its so easy and professional looking(but a ---smurfette--- to set up.....especially when u got 50,000+ roms/emus and all videos in avi :angry:)            ....but yeah looks totally awesome

and when its just me using I like to run gameex just because there soooooooooooo much features and is awesome HTPC system but can get confusing for guest who never use it but hyper spin just scroll through wheel..........cant go wrong

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: DickTurpin on July 10, 2013, 05:24:59 pm
I don't like Hyperspin. Its too in your face. Are there any new ones out all the ones I've seen seem quite dated.
I heard there was going to be a Hyperspin 2.0 But that was some time ago and I've seen nothing since.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Wade007 on July 11, 2013, 02:18:33 pm
I don't like Hyperspin. Its too in your face. Are there any new ones out all the ones I've seen seem quite dated.
I heard there was going to be a Hyperspin 2.0 But that was some time ago and I've seen nothing since.

I like Mala. Can be skinned to fit any need/look. Free. Plays all emulators and PC games.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dagg on July 16, 2013, 09:06:40 am
I have been gone 10 years but still using mamewah but I may explore other stuff.  I have it configured for marquees and music while browsing and about 6 emulators.  Fits the bill but with little kids I am thinking about something more like maximus so I dont have to be involved when they turn it on.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: zelony on October 06, 2013, 06:05:03 pm
I use GameEx on both of my MAME machines.  It is easy to use and works great with Windows XP.  The best part is that it has no problems with putting the PC to sleep and waking up from sleep, since that is how I have the power button on the arcade configured.  I like some of the other Front Ends, but I started with GameEx and I don't see any reason to switch.  My brother is a huge fan of HyperSpin. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Southern Dad on October 06, 2013, 09:05:08 pm
I use Maximus Arcade because of how easy it was to set up and understand.  It was worth $25 to me for the ease of use.  Like a previous poster I have little ones that use this arcade.  Maximus is simple enough that a five-year-old is able to play Ms Pacman, Frogger and Joust with no issues. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ppv on October 08, 2013, 09:55:16 am
If it wasn't for the much needed parental controls, I would be using Mala. It's dead simple to use, lots of layouts (and easy to create one). It's just a shame that it isn't updated anymore, or open sourced.
I tried MA, but it did a weird bug on me where I could not update game lists at all, and Mame took ages to open only for it to stop working, so blah.

So I stuck with AtomicFE. Much less easy to use, layout editor is a PITA but it works very well.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: loadman on December 07, 2013, 05:15:49 am
If it wasn't for the much needed parental controls, I would be using Mala. It's dead simple to use, lots of layouts (and easy to create one). It's just a shame that it isn't updated anymore, or open sourced.
I tried MA, but it did a weird bug on me where I could not update game lists at all, and Mame took ages to open only for it to stop working, so blah.

So I stuck with AtomicFE. Much less easy to use, layout editor is a PITA but it works very well.

I woke from my Coma  :dizzy:  Wow so this is the future then

The reality is that I have changed jobs three times in the last two years hence the lack time for MaLa.

.  Message me in the MaLa section with your perental control ideas  ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: rawbe on March 25, 2014, 10:28:38 pm
My vote is for Mala. Easy to customize and looks great! I am very happy with it!

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: cools on March 26, 2014, 11:11:12 am
Attract-Mode. It's the FE I've been wanting for well over a decade.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: drventure on March 26, 2014, 12:40:17 pm
If it wasn't for the much needed parental controls, I would be using Mala

I know the post about this is a bit old, but my Arqadium plug in for Mala has some support for parental controls. Basically, it prevents launch of any game tagged in the game list as adult. See my sig for the link.

It might not be exactly what you're after but I'm open for suggestions.

My votes still with Mala, although Raygun and Lechucks start wars front end is starting to look pretty sweet!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Le Chuck on March 26, 2014, 12:55:04 pm
If it wasn't for the much needed parental controls, I would be using Mala

I know the post about this is a bit old, but my Arqadium plug in for Mala has some support for parental controls. Basically, it prevents launch of any game tagged in the game list as adult. See my sig for the link.

It might not be exactly what you're after but I'm open for suggestions.

My votes still with Mala, although Raygun and Lechucks start wars front end is starting to look pretty sweet!

Props to Arximidis for that, I'm just the skin guy constantly flogging the whip on whoever stumbles into my path for an FE that actually does what I want  ;D

I was a huge proponent for MALA, and it still absolutely has a place in certain builds I do, but HTML5 FE is really starting to come along.  It's not quite there yet but man, it is well on its way to being something special. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: raygun on March 26, 2014, 02:59:26 pm
My votes still with Mala, although Raygun and Lechucks start wars front end is starting to look pretty sweet!

My version for star wars is just a layout in the Attract-Mode frontend.

That's my vote too but i'm biased.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: arximidis on May 13, 2014, 01:30:39 pm
I beleive the battle is between hyperspin, MaLa, Maximus arcade and GameEx
All the others I don't think they really have a chance (and that it doesn't mean they are inferior)

If the community doesn't support them, soon or later they will die...  :(
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jimmer on July 06, 2014, 06:14:59 am
Attract Mode for me. I've only tried it and MaLa.

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: haynor666 on December 08, 2014, 02:53:31 am
MAMEWAH - it has all I need to run mame, taito typex, nestopia, daphne games.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bulbousbeard on December 26, 2014, 12:17:45 am
I'm kinda with the others that to me for an arcade system, I'm not going for some elegant, snooty, ipad looking, media center looking front end  :P.  I want a 'slap your mama in the face', bold, bright, arcade looking, easy to get use to front end  :notworthy:!

I guess it depends on how you define "arcade looking," but to me, Hyperspin doesn't look like an arcade at all. It looks like what it is: Flash animations. When I think of arcades, I think of 2D pixel art.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: haynor666 on December 26, 2014, 06:15:33 am
I guess it depends on how you define "arcade looking," but to me, Hyperspin doesn't look like an arcade at all. It looks like what it is: Flash animations. When I think of arcades, I think of 2D pixel art.

That's why I use MAMEWAH with Bomb jack custom theme build in game graphics :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on December 29, 2014, 09:49:29 am
Added Big Blue to the list.  Shoot me a PM if I need to add any others.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on December 30, 2014, 10:52:36 am
Added HTML5 FE and Attract-Mode to the list also.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on January 06, 2015, 09:21:23 am
Added Inertia to the list.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: bulbousbeard on January 08, 2015, 11:11:13 am
Should Emuloader and QMC2 be added to this list? They're frontends more for the desktop than arcade cabinets, but they're still frontends.

http://qmc2.arcadehits.net/wordpress/ (http://qmc2.arcadehits.net/wordpress/)
http://emuloader.mameworld.info/ (http://emuloader.mameworld.info/)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on January 08, 2015, 12:45:42 pm
I haven't heard about Emuloader in years.  I'm surprised that nobody pointed it out before.  I'll add them both.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: keilmillerjr on January 09, 2015, 03:22:24 pm
OpenEmu is pretty cool. http://openemu.org (http://openemu.org)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Le Chuck on January 09, 2015, 03:55:46 pm
Users should get more than one vote.  I use different FEs based on what build I'm doing. 

Right now I have both MALA and HTML5 FE running at the house and am anxiously awaiting the chance to try that new one by emb.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on January 13, 2015, 08:47:03 am
I can't change how it was setup now.  And when I started the thread, there was a lot of vitriol here about who's FE was better.  I would trust most people to vote just once per FE that they used on one machine, but I could easily see a few idiots voting 5 or 10 times for the same FE that they used just once....

It's a good idea in theory.  I'm questioning the need for the thread to still be stickied.  We still get people asking which one is "best" from time to time. 

Users should get more than one vote.  I use different FEs based on what build I'm doing. 

Right now I have both MALA and HTML5 FE running at the house and am anxiously awaiting the chance to try that new one by emb.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: yotsuya on January 13, 2015, 03:28:34 pm
I haven't heard of 3/4s of those Front Ends.  :laugh2:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Vigo on January 13, 2015, 04:13:19 pm
Where is the "No Front End Front End"?  :duckhunt
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Le Chuck on January 13, 2015, 04:21:43 pm
Three front ends command 70% of the use base.  That's actually smaller than I thought it would be.  If you bump it to five tho it jumps 20% more leaving a field of random stuff I've never heard of or some very newly added ones to account for the remainder.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: cool_factor on January 23, 2015, 09:31:03 pm
Can anyone tell me if Dazz is. Still active on this forum? He lives in the same city as I do, Keller TX
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: rtkiii on February 12, 2015, 04:50:11 pm
I cannot seem to find where I can change the vote.  I used MameUI very early on when I voted but moved to GameEx over a year ago...which is GREAT! 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: keilmillerjr on February 13, 2015, 08:19:36 pm
Can anyone tell me if Dazz is. Still active on this forum? He lives in the same city as I do, Keller TX

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=profile;u=8047 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=profile;u=8047)

Last Active: January 21, 2015, 07:50:30 pm
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: wp34 on February 24, 2015, 09:44:28 am
I played a little with Attract Mode last night and am very impressed so far.  It is pretty easy to configure and I like that I can use a text editor to make changes and setup emulators.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tkersting on February 24, 2015, 10:33:41 pm
MaLa. Using it on a old penguin 4 and it runs fine.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Garetmax on February 28, 2015, 01:26:40 pm
Voting for GameEx :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tthurman on March 01, 2015, 07:10:34 pm
Cast my vote for GameEx as well.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stevodevo on March 02, 2015, 08:33:22 am
Cool thread... I built my arcade back in 2004 but only really 'finished' a few years ago...

Mamewah all the way.  Not sure but I think it was the new kid on the block when I was building and had all the hype.  I've never heard of most of these but maybe I'll give them a try someday.  My only gripe with Mamewah is that it relies on a ton of config files that can get a bit tricky to manipulate and upgrading to new versions is a bear.

My 7 yo uses it regularly so no problem with it being kid friendly.  Thanks Minwah!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Minwah on March 03, 2015, 12:28:47 pm
Cool thread... I built my arcade back in 2004 but only really 'finished' a few years ago...

Mamewah all the way.  Not sure but I think it was the new kid on the block when I was building and had all the hype.  I've never heard of most of these but maybe I'll give them a try someday.  My only gripe with Mamewah is that it relies on a ton of config files that can get a bit tricky to manipulate and upgrading to new versions is a bear.

My 7 yo uses it regularly so no problem with it being kid friendly.  Thanks Minwah!

No problem, glad you are still happily using it!  :)

It certainly doesn't have the bells and whistles that some of the newer FE's have, but that doesn't bother me too much. I always run my cabinets at 15khz on CRT's (384x288 in frontend max) and am quite happy to have a simple layout so it works well.

I am currently working on a computer / console emulator system so have been configuring several emulators (7 consoles and 6 or 7 computers) so can feel your pain on the configuration side of things!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: zabrin on April 26, 2015, 04:31:32 pm
I am going to have to say GameEx. I just find it so easy to use and setup. It is now the only FE I use. I like the Steam integration which is why I switched from Hyperspin.

Just my .02...

Z.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stigzler on April 27, 2015, 07:08:12 pm
Shouting out GameEx too. Depends what you want, I suppose. GameEx is great for a beginner and once you get into it - you can get more advanced with it too - using supplemental scripts etc. What attracted me to it when picking my first front end was how customizable it is. That's ultimately what put me off hyperspin - all the videos/demos of it looked mainly the same - flashy but generic.

Again, before being shot down - depends on what you want. Kinda view Hyperspin as the Apple of Frontends - you get an attractive looking end product that's universally recognized. GameEx, on the other hand, allows you to tinker a great deal. Also, very regulalry updated + dedicated team around it. I'd recommend it especially to people who know they are going to end up wanting to take it apart, see how it works and mod it to how they want it to look.

Haven't used the others - so dunno about them! (oh, apart from tinkering with that 3D arcade FE ages+ages ago - that was pretty funky).
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: tma on May 12, 2015, 06:38:53 am
Yay! HyperSpin
Took a bit to figure out but well worth the effort.   :applaud:

thomas
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Phreakwars on July 15, 2015, 06:08:04 am
I would have voted Hyperspin, I do indeed like it alot. I did a custom compile of mame for it a couple years ago and installed it on my son's laptop and he just loved it. I actually haven't gotten around to trying the newest version of it yet but I have downloaded it to play around with it.

But anyways... I voted Atomic FE. I kind of like the way the Atomic Studio lets you configure things to your liking. I tried a couple of the other ones, but they seemed to just give me a headache for the most part.. Perhaps I'll go back and give them another look. I do see there are ALOT of FE's listed, many that I have not even heard of, so I will for sure look into some of these other ones. But, I've already put alot of effort into how I have configured Atomic FE so far, so I really don't see myself scraping that project to take on a whole new one for the cabinet I am in the process of building.. What's funny, is back in the day (Windows 98), my 2 fav's would have been ArcadeOS, and Tim Eckel's Arcade@Home.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dr.prodigy on July 17, 2015, 07:00:50 am
I, of course, vote for FEEL, even if it's not in the list ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on July 17, 2015, 07:53:27 am
Finally, if someone points out that a FE hasn't been included, it can then be added to the Wiki.  In the words of Michael Scott, win-win-win.

Let me know if another FE needs added. 

I, of course, vote for FEEL, even if it's not in the list ;D
Poll updated.  I've not been active on the Boards in a few months but if someone would have sent me a PM, I could have updated the OP before now.   ::)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dr.prodigy on July 17, 2015, 01:21:06 pm
Hi Hoopz, thank you very much, as a voter and of course as FEEL developer ;)
You've been really fast, even if I didnt follow the "official procedures" (sorry for this!)..
Thank you!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: keilmillerjr on July 20, 2015, 06:59:39 am
Poll updated.  I've not been active on the Boards in a few months but if someone would have sent me a PM, I could have updated the OP before now.   ::)

FEEL was announced to the public here on the forum almost exactly one month ago. A few months ago we didn't know about FEEL. It's a good addition to the list. I love new development.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on August 25, 2015, 08:24:33 pm
Hi Hoopz, thank you very much, as a voter and of course as FEEL developer ;)
You've been really fast, even if I didnt follow the "official procedures" (sorry for this!)..
Thank you!
Sorry, I took your OP as being passive aggressive.  I was cranky and realize it wasn't your fault.  Thanks for posting about your FE and I hope it's going well.   :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Elaphe on October 04, 2015, 10:49:59 am
My vote goes to EmuLoader because it can work both as a very powerful and massive game manager and database and also as a traditional frontend, as simple as you wish. In any case, it's extremelly easy to setup and that's a great advantage. It's true it's not arcade-cabinet oriented in the looks and the controls, although I have fixed some of these lacks with the use of AutoHotkey. The support offered by its author and the constant evolution and updates makes it better every day.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Soundwave on October 10, 2015, 03:44:20 pm
I like GameX. I have it set so that when it boots, you can hear the audio ambience of an arcade room, kinda helps set in the mood. Just takes a lot of time to get it set up. Plus it can show cabinets, marquees, flyers..etc
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ian on December 15, 2015, 07:33:12 pm
I am really really really liking MGalaxy. It works very nice.  :applaud:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jtslade on December 15, 2015, 07:47:02 pm

Can't comment on the other front ends but I just started using Hyperspin and I can't say enough good things about it. I'm not a computer guy and there are definitely some tweaks here and there that you learn along the way but overall it's pretty easy to learn and the front end ....,

Side note, mamefreak2 just finished getting Hyperspin setup 100% this week.


I'm only 7 years in on one of my cabs and still tinkering with it.. Maybe someday it will be complete..




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: jtslade on December 15, 2015, 07:52:27 pm
MGalaxy does look pretty straight forward.  Should be good for parties with a short list, or maybe if you can lock it to only favorites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Ian on December 15, 2015, 10:56:52 pm
MGalaxy does look pretty straight forward.  Should be good for parties with a short list, or maybe if you can lock it to only favorites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, it's incredibly simple. either do a favorites list which is easy or just alter the database. Either way I have all my videos and emulators playing with in a couple of days. No issues and it's very simple to navigate.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: someoneelse on February 24, 2016, 07:31:37 am
MaLa for a CRT Cab, due to the perfect support for cabs with automated rotating monitor (Quadro Games Jumbo) and because of RetroGUI with its built-in abstract control panel display(Players, Buttons & Controls).

My old setup (for LCD) was Hyperspin, but I would use GameEx these days if I still had a LCD setup.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ArcadeBliss on March 31, 2016, 04:55:15 pm
Need to add AttractMode to the list: attractmode.org. Great and flexible frontend
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on March 31, 2016, 04:58:02 pm
Done
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: kaptainsteve on July 07, 2016, 02:54:50 pm
Can you still vote?
I've changed and now I am an AttractMode convert.

http://attractmode.org/ (http://attractmode.org/)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ppv on July 07, 2016, 07:53:34 pm
I played a little with Attract Mode last night and am very impressed so far.  It is pretty easy to configure and I like that I can use a text editor to make changes and setup emulators.

First FE I tried that I got up and running within an hour. Really impressive. If only skin building was easy though! ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: ArcadeBliss on July 08, 2016, 02:45:28 am
I played a little with Attract Mode last night and am very impressed so far.  It is pretty easy to configure and I like that I can use a text editor to make changes and setup emulators.

First FE I tried that I got up and running within an hour. Really impressive. If only skin building was easy though! ;D
True.  Skin building is ulyra flexible even to the point that i mage custom menus nit natively available in the frontend. You shoud visit the themes section of tge AM forum,  there have been some awesome themes lately.  Even one that emulates a comic book.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Soundwave on October 24, 2016, 11:17:20 am
Anyone looked into Launchbox lately?  They put in a lot of really attractive features in their new versions. I'm trying to figure out if it's better or equal to GameX, need to find a feature comparison list.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Toni on November 17, 2016, 02:19:10 pm
I am using Atomicfe as my frontend. The postive things with atomicfe is that it is easy to configure, most emulators works good on it. It has good looking layouts, so the good thing is its simplicity and nice interfaces.

I recommend atomicfe to people who want a simple frontend to set up :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: yotsuya on November 17, 2016, 05:52:48 pm
I am using Atomicfe as my frontend. The postive things with atomicfe is that it is easy to configure, most emulators works good on it. It has good looking layouts, so the good thing is its simplicity and nice interfaces.

I recommend atomicfe to people who want a simple frontend to set up :)
Agreed.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: 8BitMonk on November 17, 2016, 10:17:33 pm
Not sure if anyone else noticed (maybe I missed the memo?) but Hyperspin updated their site and has a new series of tutorial videos that are very professionally done. 
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Titchgamer on November 18, 2016, 04:48:26 am
Not sure if anyone else noticed (maybe I missed the memo?) but Hyperspin updated their site and has a new series of tutorial videos that are very professionally done.

Didnt know that but its about time they did!!
Great FE but a ---smurfette--- to set up for the first time!!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: aqsmorningview on February 03, 2017, 09:19:55 am
ok does anyone have a video or something on how mameui turns into a front end?
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: SNAAKE on February 08, 2017, 11:26:48 am
hyperspin for windows

attract mode for pi even tho its not as smooth

I like emulation station for PI too..it may not look that fancy but everything works and smooth
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Gh0sty on February 17, 2017, 03:43:59 am
Launchbox.
2017 I completely changed to LB, its the mosty easy to setup FE, it grabs automaticaly all the Media stuff for you,
and if you like you can even use Hyperspin Game Videos (Game Theme's), just a click and you get everthing from EmuMovies.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: aqsmorningview on February 24, 2017, 12:53:28 pm
im probably just gonna make my mameuifx my front end,its clean and to the point.yes its not flashy but i just neede something to come up instead of my windows desktop so it feels like an arcade and not a computer.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: djrobx on March 11, 2017, 02:02:45 am
I'm completely blown away by AttractMode.    I thought I was stuck with Mala for my 3 sided cab, but I was able to duplicate what Mala did very quickly with  AttractMode's plugin system.    In fact AttractMode even was able to load the customized theme I did for Mala, but without all the weird transparency artifacts.

Not that I used my Mala theme for long, there are some absolutely gorgeous AttractMode layouts.   Really brilliant stuff.

But best of all, this is OPEN SOURCE, meaning that we'll always be able to evolve it or fix it as needed even if the author loses interest in the project.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: DronttiEdvard on March 11, 2017, 11:35:29 pm
Is there any front end that lets you browse by game series or genre ignoring the platform it is made for and not just by emulator and a-z. I'd like to see all games in lets say mario universe under one menu. All fighter games under one etc. It would be nice to have favourites for game series too so that there is no fillers inbetween
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stigzler on March 12, 2017, 06:29:04 am
Is there any front end that lets you browse by game series or genre ignoring the platform it is made for and not just by emulator and a-z. I'd like to see all games in lets say mario universe under one menu. All fighter games under one etc. It would be nice to have favourites for game series too so that there is no fillers inbetween

You can do this via GameEx with this plugin:

https://www.gameex.info/forums/files/file/537-custom-lists/ (https://www.gameex.info/forums/files/file/537-custom-lists/)

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: DronttiEdvard on March 12, 2017, 09:24:34 am
Looks like lots of work to do all that manually but I guess it is just the price I need to pay for it
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: stigzler on March 12, 2017, 09:44:05 am
o.O
Remarkable.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: keilmillerjr on March 13, 2017, 06:19:31 am
Is there any front end that lets you browse by game series or genre ignoring the platform it is made for and not just by emulator and a-z. I'd like to see all games in lets say mario universe under one menu. All fighter games under one etc. It would be nice to have favourites for game series too so that there is no fillers inbetween

Attractmode can do this.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Soundwave on April 02, 2017, 05:04:48 pm
My new favorite front end is Launchbox with emu movies subscription. Only downside is that it doesn't seem to have an attract mode like GamEx does. Hopefully I'll get around to finishing my arcade cabinet this summer.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: AlexFLA on May 25, 2017, 12:29:03 pm
Launchbox and specifically BigBox needs to be added to the list of frontends.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: fablog on May 26, 2017, 07:55:04 am
+1 for Launchbox + BigBox. No more Hyperspin for me.

Envoyé de mon Nexus 4 en utilisant Tapatalk

Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on June 15, 2017, 08:42:04 am
Let me know if another FE needs added. 
I'm not as active on here as I was nine years ago when I started this thread.  It's helpful if someone would PM me when I need to add a new option.   :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dr.prodigy on June 15, 2017, 09:46:15 am
Hi all, I'd like my frontend project (F.E.E.L.) to be added to this list.
 
It's a long lasting project (I gave it birth in the far 2011!), and IMHO (but also in my users' opinion) is quite valuable and rich in features, and better than a lot of commercial projects.

Talking technicals, it's very light, meant for Win PCs (also very old ones) and mainly oriented to arcade cabs and/or bartops.
It's compatible with horizontal and vertical 15khz Crt screens, and LED button dashboards.
Suitable to run and manage *any* number of roms and emulators with the highest level of personalization on commands, skins etc.

More info on the relevant homesite:
http://feelfrontend.altervista.org

Important news: I recently released the whole core code under LGPL open source license and published it on GitHub :
https://github.com/dr-prodigy/feel-frontend

Feel (hehe) free to contact me thru pm, website comments, fb, etc.. I'll try to help out with any question about it.

Any votes/suggestions/contributions are welcome, thank you very much.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on June 15, 2017, 09:49:07 am
FEEL is on there.  4th from the bottom.  It was added on July 17, 2015.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: dr.prodigy on June 15, 2017, 09:53:55 am
Oh sorry I've forgotten! Just got at first page and - believe it or not - I couldn't find it in list (I'm on smartphone, not really comfy in reading the web version and see the poll) :-S

Okay, anyway, I hope the additional info I just added (especially about its recent opensource release) will be useful all the same!

Thanks and sorry again :)

Inviato dal mio ONE E1001 utilizzando Tapatalk
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hippie459MN on July 05, 2017, 02:30:04 pm
I dont know how I have missed this topic all these years. LoL

For me, I have been using EmuLoader for years and pretty much what I have stuck with and I really like it. I might give a few other a shot when I get around to building another cab. Hopefully soon. :)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: UncleToyBox on September 13, 2017, 11:53:41 am
I've built two different machines so far.

For my pinball/MAME emulator, I run PinballX. It was my first project and is fairly easy to configure to work with multiple platforms.

I also built a bar top MAME system that didn't suit Pinball X. After trying a few different front ends, I ended up dropping the money on Big Box.  Setting it up took very little work and I like the amount of configuration left up to the admin.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dragon89o on April 05, 2018, 03:27:04 pm
FEEL is on there.  4th from the bottom.  It was added on July 17, 2015.

Hey, actually trying to reach you are you able to send me a direct message? It's saying I'm not allowed to send you a message or have access or something. I'm unsure what I need to do to gain access.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: PL1 on April 05, 2018, 03:55:54 pm
I'm unsure what I need to do to gain access.
Your PMs should be enabled now.   :cheers:


Scott
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on April 05, 2018, 04:47:30 pm
FEEL is on there.  4th from the bottom.  It was added on July 17, 2015.

Hey, actually trying to reach you are you able to send me a direct message? It's saying I'm not allowed to send you a message or have access or something. I'm unsure what I need to do to gain access.
You're trying to reach me or the FE author? I just update the thread. The FE author deals with the FE.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Dragon89o on April 06, 2018, 03:14:04 pm
I'm unsure what I need to do to gain access.
Your PMs should be enabled now.   :cheers:
Scott
Ah, thanks did an Admin just need to do that for me? I thought there might be some milestone of posts I needed to reach first haha.

FEEL is on there.  4th from the bottom.  It was added on July 17, 2015.

Hey, actually trying to reach you are you able to send me a direct message? It's saying I'm not allowed to send you a message or have access or something. I'm unsure what I need to do to gain access.
You're trying to reach me or the FE author? I just update the thread. The FE author deals with the FE.

Actually you. I'll send you a pm in a min.

Sorry for side tracking the thread.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: OlDirty on August 16, 2018, 02:41:39 am
I'm using Launchbox/Bigbox on my 2 arcade cabinets (Egret 2 / Egret 3). On the horizontal cab Big box doesn't look good because of the CRT resolution.  :dunno On my vertical CRT cab Bigbox looks ok.

But it's a very easy to use software. I really apreciate that as a Frontend Noob.  :notworthy:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: n2gaming on September 16, 2019, 09:53:14 pm
I gonged my Maximus Arcade/Windows 7 front end in favor of LaunchBox-BigBox/Windows 10.  Got nine years out of MA.  So I count that as a good investment.  But I just ran into problem after problem managing multiple Mame versions and associated games lists.  So far I'm impressed with the ease of setup with LaunchBox-BigBox.  Spent a little bit of time tuning the settings along with AutoHotKey to behave like MA.  But it was pretty straight forward stuff and fun to tinker with something new.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: RpT on October 21, 2019, 12:13:30 pm
Why no Pinup System? - Best choice for any vpin cabinet today!!!   :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on January 18, 2020, 06:30:47 pm
Why no Pinup System? - Best choice for any vpin cabinet today!!!   :cheers:


I am including all Front Ends listed in the Wiki for several reasons.

Let me know if another FE needs added. 
:dunno
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: psakhis on February 12, 2020, 04:14:07 am
Emulastation!! with a prepared CRT theme.

Even though i use Launchbox for scrapping and a python script for generate gamelist.xml

Emulastation at 450x270@50 it's perfect for CRT  ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mrlee on April 24, 2020, 02:13:11 pm
I resurrected my cab after 10 years lol

It used to have AtomicFE which worked pretty well I tried to install the newest version but couldn't get it to work so tried Hyperspin which is ok'ish but
I'm not sure I like it that much to be honest

Really out of touch with all this stuff lol
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: JohnnyJedi on April 24, 2020, 10:25:47 pm
This should be re-done again 2020... many outdated ones and new ones now around.. specially LB/BB.... one of the good ones now days..
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on April 24, 2020, 10:35:04 pm
This should be re-done again 2020... many outdated ones and new ones now around.. specially LB/BB.... one of the good ones now days..
It's updated with all FEs that have been listed or had the dev ask to be listed. People can change their votes if they want. I think leaving it as is meets everyone's needs.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: JohnnyJedi on April 25, 2020, 05:15:31 pm
Hmmm, you got votes from years ago. and maybe folks that are no longer active..   should be all from scratch now in 2020... new fresh poll... IMO....
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: markc74 on April 25, 2020, 07:13:21 pm
Hmmm, you got votes from years ago. and maybe folks that are no longer active..   should be all from scratch now in 2020... new fresh poll... IMO....

You're right. Those 1462 people who voted have probably changed their mind.  :o

Most peeps setup a frontend. Get it working and leave it alone. Holding a new vote wont change the most popular ones IMO.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on April 27, 2020, 03:47:22 pm
Hmmm, you got votes from years ago. and maybe folks that are no longer active..   should be all from scratch now in 2020... new fresh poll... IMO....

You're right. Those 1462 people who voted have probably changed their mind.  :o

Most peeps setup a frontend. Get it working and leave it alone. Holding a new vote wont change the most popular ones IMO.
I think the only thing a new poll would accomplish is eliminating folks who were active on the site years ago but may not be now.  They wouldn't vote and it would eliminate votes for some older FEs.

This thread got into a little bit of a pissing match which wasn't the point of it. It wasn't supposed to be a popularity contest. Rather, we used to see a metric ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- ton on posts asking the same question.

Some of the more popular FEs with active communities plugged the pole and encouraged their members to come vote. I'm fine with that as perhaps those members elsewhere visited the site to vote and perhaps contributed to our community.

Anyone can start their own thread and create a poll. Unless Saint or PL1 wants this one changed, I'm leaving it as is.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Osirus23 on June 05, 2020, 11:41:08 am
Most peeps setup a frontend. Get it working and leave it alone. Holding a new vote wont change the most popular ones IMO.

I do too. But the frontend I chose for the rig I built in 2008 isn't the same one I chose when I built a another one in 2019.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Hoopz on June 05, 2020, 12:40:27 pm
Most peeps setup a frontend. Get it working and leave it alone. Holding a new vote wont change the most popular ones IMO.

I do too. But the frontend I chose for the rig I built in 2008 isn't the same one I chose when I built a another one in 2019.
Perhaps changing your vote to the newer FE is the best solution in that case. It's not perfect but better than nothing.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: P-chan on October 06, 2020, 09:19:31 am
Recently purchased Bigbox and it's ridiculously good.  There are lots of themes to choose from and it identified MOST of my games correctly on the first swipe.  I had to go in and manually change a few of them to get the correct images to show up, but once I figured out how to do that it only took a few minutes.  My machine now boots up directly into a nice menu of games with attract mode (I haven't played with this yet) and everything.  Really good.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: mameotron on May 07, 2021, 12:09:10 pm
For whatever it's worth - I use Turbo Mame.  Not on your list, it was discontinued probably in 2006 or thereabouts, and I doubt anybody else uses it.  I like it because you just run it and play.  No loading game lists, no messing with settings, you just play.

Turbo M.A.M.E. 2004 v0.79
by Tasos Tzimorotas
(c) 2002-04

Still works today on the latest version of Windows.  In fact, it's worked on all versions of Windows Ive ever tried.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: Phreakwars on May 07, 2021, 02:14:06 pm
This is like what?? A 13 year old topic? I'm not sure if I ever responded, guess I'd have to go back through pages and see. Wow 13 years. So many new ones have popped up, so many good ones have died. 13 years ago?? What was I using then.. Arcade@Home maybe? All time classic fav is for sure ArcadeOS, I'm almost tempted to do an ArcadeOS build for shits and giggles and stick it into one of those stupid Arcade1Up cabs just to show how superior it is to that junk sold today and those wannabe Raspberry Pi conversions. But yeah, I think my favorite over the years, is probably Hyperspin, but then if I was going to choose one for someone to use themselves today, as of 5/7/2021, my choice for them would be Attract Mode using the Hyperspin display. So much easier to setup then the actual hyperspin, and it performs real well on older hardware (not much older). It's a good choice and offers easy customization. And, it's cross platform, so you can set it up almost identical in PC & Pi's 3&4. I'm still playing around with it for a recent (PC) cab I'm building, still need to add hyperspin game animations and what have you, transitioning over from an actual hyperspin setup right now, but here's what it's looking like so far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fVQFldsdQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fVQFldsdQ)
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: janetgamer on August 25, 2021, 08:06:42 am
LaunchBox is easily one of the best game-launching and interface tools ever released on PC.

Unlike similar programs, LaunchBox requires relatively little in the way of technical know-how, yet is extremely flexible and configurable.
Title: Re: Favorite Front End
Post by: PL1 on February 02, 2022, 05:52:55 pm
Test post for Hoopz's email notifications.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,166153.msg1751781.html#msg1751781 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,166153.msg1751781.html#msg1751781)


Scott