Author Topic: Best Front-End (Read 23493 times)

bigdog1977 · « **on:** September 20, 2008, 04:41:49 pm »

GameEx seems easier to use, but on my computer the grafix of it look a little cheesy when switching around games. I also like the layout that MA has when switching emulators but doesnt seem as user friendly. Please give a reason as of why you like yours better. Thx.

Dazz · « **Reply #1 on:** September 20, 2008, 04:43:48 pm »

I personally use Maximus, but now that HyperSpin is really starting to come along I find myself using it more and more every day.

nipsmg · « **Reply #2 on:** September 20, 2008, 04:51:57 pm »

Between the two, Maximus all the way. It's amazingly easy to set up, looks great, is very configurable, and is just completely trouble free.

For me to actually buy software off the net is rare. When my trial ran out, I absolutely had to buy it.

Edit:

Also, I agree with Dazz, Hyperspin is AWESOME. However, it's really great for a select number of games, especially those with themes already. The other emulators are better for running every rom under the sun. However, keep an eye on it. It is constantly updated and has a great community.

If I made a bartop cabinet with limited controls (and therefore limited games), I would run hyperspin without a thought.

leapinlew · « **Reply #3 on:** September 20, 2008, 05:31:49 pm »

cadmium · « **Reply #4 on:** September 20, 2008, 05:44:32 pm »

Quote from: bigdog1977 on September 20, 2008, 04:41:49 pm

GameEx seems easier to use, but on my computer the grafix of it look a little cheesy when switching around games. I also like the layout that MA has when switching emulators but doesnt seem as user friendly.

I have Maximus and it's perfect for for a dedicated cab. I will say that there are a few quirks here and there, but nothing that's a show stopper. I tried a bunch of FE's and that's the most professional and slick out of the bunch, not to mention pretty easy to set up.

Hyperspin has some promise, but it my opinion it's a little busy visually and I'm not sure how well it will scalle with all of the extra graphics for a full set of mame roms- but of course who really needs to play *everything*?

Anyway, MA is my vote.

TOK · « **Reply #5 on:** September 20, 2008, 06:04:25 pm »

Maximo G+...

Full 3D walk-through arcade support, scrolling menu, movie support, Direct 3D acceleration of all 3DFX games, cheats menu, automated ROM revision forward and back to any version of MAME, LED support, hiscore.dat support in ALL versions of MAME with an automatic screenshot of high scores that can be shown as a screensaver if the user wishes. Best of all, it has built in XBOX 360 emulation, though its very slow at the moment. Games are *just* playable on a quad-core rig.

javeryh · « **Reply #6 on:** September 20, 2008, 07:44:39 pm »

Quote from: leapinlew on September 20, 2008, 05:31:49 pm

Mala

Yes.

DeLuSioNal29 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 20, 2008, 08:26:39 pm »

I chose Maximus Arcade because of all the eye candy, but mostly because of the ease of use. When paired with Admin buttons (select, back, fav and exit) it's virtually kid proof. Everyone who tries it at home figures it out in minutes.

The author is currently working on LED Wiz support for future releases. Then it will finally be complete.

~ DeLuSioNaL

Singapura · « **Reply #8 on:** September 20, 2008, 08:46:23 pm »

I'm currently setting up my PC to replace the 1000-in-1 in my cab. For simplicity I really like to 1000-in-1 menu but for the PC so far it's a tie between Maximus and GameEx. I like both but they still have issues. Hyperspin will be nice when it's out of beta and has full game and emulator support.

Havok · « **Reply #9 on:** September 20, 2008, 10:20:22 pm »

Other!

shmokes · « **Reply #10 on:** September 21, 2008, 01:28:10 am »

Quote from: TOK on September 20, 2008, 06:04:25 pm

Best of all, it has built in XBOX 360 emulation, though its very slow at the moment. Games are *just* playable on a quad-core rig.

What??? A frontend will emulate the Xbox 360? I've never used it, but I know that it sure as hell does not. Nothing does. And if anything did, why would it be a frontend? That doesn't even make sense.

pinballwizard79 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 21, 2008, 01:57:12 am »

I use maximus, hyperspin looks awesome

Popcorrin · « **Reply #12 on:** September 21, 2008, 03:14:25 am »

Quote from: shmokes on September 21, 2008, 01:28:10 am

Quote from: TOK on September 20, 2008, 06:04:25 pm

Best of all, it has built in XBOX 360 emulation, though its very slow at the moment. Games are *just* playable on a quad-core rig.

What??? A frontend will emulate the Xbox 360? I've never used it, but I know that it sure as hell does not. Nothing does. And if anything did, why would it be a frontend? That doesn't even make sense.

I think TOK is pulling your joystick.

ratzz · « **Reply #13 on:** September 21, 2008, 03:23:48 am »

Quote from: TOK on September 20, 2008, 06:04:25 pm

Maximo G+...

Full 3D walk-through arcade support, scrolling menu, movie support, Direct 3D acceleration of all 3DFX games, cheats menu, automated ROM revision forward and back to any version of MAME, LED support, hiscore.dat support in ALL versions of MAME with an automatic screenshot of high scores that can be shown as a screensaver if the user wishes. Best of all, it has built in XBOX 360 emulation, though its very slow at the moment. Games are *just* playable on a quad-core rig.

Anyone have a link for this fe?

Can't see it in Google

Bender · « **Reply #14 on:** September 21, 2008, 12:02:43 pm »

Quote from: ratzz on September 21, 2008, 03:23:48 am

Quote from: TOK on September 20, 2008, 06:04:25 pm
Maximo G+...

Full 3D walk-through arcade support, scrolling menu, movie support, Direct 3D acceleration of all 3DFX games, cheats menu, automated ROM revision forward and back to any version of MAME, LED support, hiscore.dat support in ALL versions of MAME with an automatic screenshot of high scores that can be shown as a screensaver if the user wishes. Best of all, it has built in XBOX 360 emulation, though its very slow at the moment. Games are *just* playable on a quad-core rig.

Anyone have a link for this fe?

Can't see it in Google

Goolgle "TOK's Fantasy Front End"

would be nice though

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #15 on:** September 21, 2008, 12:09:07 pm »

No love for MAMEWAH?? Easily the fastest front end...once you get the hang of setting it up that is.

I use Mamewah on both my stand up MAME cabs and MALA (at least for now) on my cocktail.

Cakemeister · « **Reply #16 on:** September 21, 2008, 12:16:33 pm »

Quote from: FrizzleFried on September 21, 2008, 12:09:07 pm

Mamewah...Easily the fastest front end....

I'm gonna have to sort of like disagree with you there, yeah.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #17 on:** September 21, 2008, 12:30:22 pm »

Quote from: Cakemeister on September 21, 2008, 12:16:33 pm

Quote from: FrizzleFried on September 21, 2008, 12:09:07 pm
Mamewah...Easily the fastest front end....

I'm gonna have to sort of like disagree with you there, yeah.

You're welcome to disagree, but I've run Mamewah, Mala, GameEx and 3darcade and Mamewah, once set up, is EASILY the fastest performing front end...

Perhaps I should check out your front end, eh?

Cakemeister · « **Reply #18 on:** September 21, 2008, 01:11:56 pm »

IMO Atomic is also faster than MAMEWah.

MPS · « **Reply #19 on:** September 21, 2008, 01:58:29 pm »

Quote from: nipsmg on September 20, 2008, 04:51:57 pm

Between the two, Maximus all the way. It's amazingly easy to set up, looks great, is very configurable, and is just completely trouble free.

For me to actually buy software off the net is rare. When my trial ran out, I absolutely had to buy it.

Edit:

Also, I agree with Dazz, Hyperspin is AWESOME. However, it's really great for a select number of games, especially those with themes already. The other emulators are better for running every rom under the sun. However, keep an eye on it. It is constantly updated and has a great community.

If I made a bartop cabinet with limited controls (and therefore limited games), I would run hyperspin without a thought.

NIPSMG, I would have to agree 100% with everything you said above.

Right now, I'm playing with the 30 day demo of Maximus Arcade in preparation for building a HTPC with gaming capability. I have been very pleased with what I have seen so far, and I will happily shell out the $25 for Maximus Arcade. My only real beef with it is the lack of pre-made skins. I wish I had some more skinning choices as I am just not talented enough with graphic design programs to make my own.

I signed up for the beta of Hyperspin several months ago. While it was impressive visually, I would agree with you that it is probably best suited for a cab with a limited amount of games. I just can't imagine navigating through Hyperspin on a PC with tons of games. Despite the massive amount of amazing work they have accomplished so far, the fact that there isn't a good way to handle vertical monitors is a huge turn-off to me. I will be watching development closely, and I hope it continues to evolve. If it becomes what we all hope it will, and if they can come up with support/themes for vertical monitors, I would happily pay for it as well.

The other front end that I thought had a lot of potential was Ultrastyle. It is too bad that the author completely flaked out & bailed on the project. I thought it was a nice looking front end for MAME cabinets, and anyone walking up to it for the first time could easily figure out how to navigate around between games. I installed it on my cab with a horizontal monitor and my cab with a vertical monitor several years ago. I am probably overdue to replace Ultrastyle since there is no more development, and the speed issue when navigating the wheel in vertical mode was never fixed.

Havok · « **Reply #20 on:** September 21, 2008, 02:17:04 pm »

Quote from: Cakemeister on September 21, 2008, 01:11:56 pm

IMO Atomic is also faster than MAMEWah.

I'd have to agree. Especially if you turn off the intro movie...

bigdog1977 · « **Reply #21 on:** September 21, 2008, 04:03:38 pm »

Well Looks like Maximus is ahead! =)

Ian · « **Reply #22 on:** September 21, 2008, 04:39:13 pm »

I use Maximus, I will be switching to hyperspin in the future, just not now.

EVEGames · « **Reply #23 on:** September 21, 2008, 05:59:49 pm »

No doubt about it, 3DArcade still gets my vote.

Honorable mention to HyperSpin, which is still in it's infancy and light on features. Given time, I predict HyperSpin will becoma a crowd favorite.

-EVEGames

gonzo90017 · « **Reply #24 on:** September 21, 2008, 06:08:57 pm »

I'd have to agree with FrizzleFried. Mamewah is the fastest. I tried AtomicFe on an old 400mhz pc and the video previews would run in slow motion. Using Mamewah they ran full speed. I'm currently using Mamewah on a 233mhz laptop and it runs great.

Cakemeister · « **Reply #25 on:** September 21, 2008, 06:48:38 pm »

Discussions of speed unfortunately must remain subjective as very few frontends allow independent measurements of frame rates via Fraps or some other tool.

I still think that Atomic is faster than MAMEwah. If you created an Atomic skin to match the default MAMEWah layout, then had a way to measure frame rates, I would predict that Atomic would come out ahead. In a subjective test, running both frontends with the same skin elements at the same resolution, I would guess that they would look the same. I'm guessing that Youki has already done testing of this type.

DaveStall · « **Reply #26 on:** September 21, 2008, 07:18:45 pm »

Just having finished my cabinet a couple of months ago, I went through almost every available front end trying to find what I felt was the best. After spending a total of about 15 minutes with GameEx I knew I had found the answer. I really like Maximus Arcade as well, but new features and updates seem to be much faster in being released with GameEx. The author is quite open to suggestions as well. If you use your cabinet for other multimedia features as well, GameEx becomes an incredible deal at $25 (assuming you choose to register it which isn't mandatory).

Dave

loadman · « **Reply #27 on:** September 21, 2008, 07:38:49 pm »

I like command prompt .

Fast but feature poor.

C:\ mame invaders

OK

An oldie but a goodie...

Havok · « **Reply #28 on:** September 21, 2008, 09:22:24 pm »

Actually, now that Mame has a front end built in, that isn't too far off...

protokatie · « **Reply #29 on:** September 21, 2008, 10:18:20 pm »

I would say (for me anyways) Atomic, mostly because the layout editor is the easiest of the ones I played with (to learn atleast).

Hmm, Loadman got me thinking. I remember seeing old Batch file based quick loader for software on DOS boxes. That would prolly be the quickest

BTW anyone know how to make a .BAT file input values from the keyboard? (IE used to run a game etc)

NM, I found it: The choice command...

Blanka · « **Reply #30 on:** September 22, 2008, 01:11:42 am »

Which one does best in 1920x1200 blocky graphics all the way? So all output must me 1920x1200@60hz, including front end screens, and no smooth scaling may be used.

headkaze · « **Reply #31 on:** September 22, 2008, 03:51:12 am »

What is Maximo I've never heard of that before?

You put a FE that noone's heard of before yet miss out other popular ones.

I agree with Cakemeister speed is relative. For slow machines MameWah and Atomic are in the same ballpark although Atomic can render more complex skins. For faster machines you will probably find that 3D accellerated FE's will win out, ones like Khameleon and my own FE. I must say though for a non-3d accellerated FE and considering the amount of animation and effects HyperSpin does I would say it's damn fast. I even successfully ran HS from remote desktop, so it was streaming through my 100 MBit network and ran quite well.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #32 on:** September 22, 2008, 06:58:31 am »

Quote from: FrizzleFried on September 21, 2008, 12:09:07 pm

No love for MAMEWAH?? Easily the fastest front end...once you get the hang of setting it up that is.

I use Mamewah on both my stand up MAME cabs and MALA (at least for now) on my cocktail.

Seconded, for the same reason. Once you know the score, it's a very 'open' frontend, with pretty much limitless additions in terms of rom/emu support - which is where it counts to me. Plus out of the box it isn't resource-dependant like some of the prettier FE's so can be run on lower-spec machines, yet can still be tarted up if you have something with a bit more juice.

Visitor Q · « **Reply #33 on:** September 22, 2008, 07:10:27 am »

I use Game Ex and HyperSpin.

Game Ex has all the functions and HyperSpin has all the looks. I swtich back and forth right now.

ckong · « **Reply #34 on:** September 22, 2008, 07:23:56 am »

Quote from: EVEGames on September 21, 2008, 05:59:49 pm

No doubt about it, 3DArcade still gets my vote.

I agree, it's by far the most adjustable one and it can look very awesome. I use it on all my three cabs, although I selected a different skin and arcade set for each cab. It has a nice feel to be able to walk in virtual arcade surrounded by all the classic games and hearing the arcade sounds. I must admit that it's not easy to set things up.

Loafmeister · « **Reply #35 on:** September 22, 2008, 08:42:58 am »

Even though 3d arcade didn't get my vote, it will always have a place in my arcade cab, even if it's for a "watch this" moment when I show my friends the cab.

billpa · « **Reply #36 on:** September 22, 2008, 11:15:37 am »

Hyperspin for me. Like a lot of people here who like the process of building their cabs as much as playing the games (or more), I enjoy building themes for this front end. And the default sets for other systems are really nice! Not sure why it gets dubbed as a FE for a limited amount of games. When you boil it down, every FE goes through a list and has features to organize the lists. So if you have 5000 roms, you still have to go through a list whether its Mala, Hyperspin, Maximus, etc. etc.

Dazz · « **Reply #37 on:** September 22, 2008, 11:47:14 am »

I'm with Billpa on this... HyperSpin is just as good at navigating large game lists as it is with smaller game lists. Of course smaller lists look better because they have wheel images and themes. A full 5000 game MAME list is possible and faster ways of navigating big lists (Alpha navigation) is coming in an upcoming release. Default system themes make games that don't have themes completed look and function quite well. LED Blinky support is in the works as we speak and will be included in the next release and u360/gamepad support is coming shortly as well. I think once we get these couple things incorporated along with quick favorites adding, HyperSpin will be on par with functionality of many current FE's.

Hoopz · « **Reply #38 on:** September 22, 2008, 12:03:18 pm »

Someone needs to start a poll, with ALL the front ends possible, and have the damn thing stickied so everyone can find the thing instead of having the same question pop up on a monthly basis.

Just saying....

nipsmg · « **Reply #39 on:** September 22, 2008, 03:17:26 pm »

Quote from: Dazz on September 22, 2008, 11:47:14 am

I'm with Billpa on this... HyperSpin is just as good at navigating large game lists as it is with smaller game lists. Of course smaller lists look better because they have wheel images and themes. A full 5000 game MAME list is possible and faster ways of navigating big lists (Alpha navigation) is coming in an upcoming release. Default system themes make games that don't have themes completed look and function quite well. LED Blinky support is in the works as we speak and will be included in the next release and u360/gamepad support is coming shortly as well. I think once we get these couple things incorporated along with quick favorites adding, HyperSpin will be on par with functionality of many current FE's.

Can hyperspin take a generic game list (i.e. MAME, NES) and walk through the rom list, displaying a marquee, screenshot, and/or video for each game without a specific theme?

It couldn't when I tested it. If it can now, then I'd agree it's probably up to part with some of the others. If not, then there's some ways to go still.


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Author Topic: Best Front-End (Read 23493 times)

ratzz