Favorite Front End

[bpc]

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 

[danny_galaga]

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 (",)

[SirPeale]

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.

[Sosetsuken]

Can I change my vote to "HyperSpin" please?

Thanks

[GaryMcT]

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.

[ChazMan]

I was useing MameWah for Years in the Machines I built. But then I found HyperSpin, And WOW!!!       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!!!   

[yuppicide]

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.

[yuppicide]

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.

[GaryMcT]

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.

[Vamp RN]

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. 

[mh12]

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.

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.

[GaryMcT]

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.

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.

[Beretta]

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.

[Jimbo]

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.

[Beretta]

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 

[billpa]

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.

[Beretta]

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 


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.

[Dazz]

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 


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.

[Beretta]

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.

[headkaze]

You have to register to download MameUI

[Beretta]

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.

[headkaze]

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.

[tehmeh]

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. 

[Parf]

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.

[GaryMcT]

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.

[GaryMcT]

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.

[technocop]

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

[GaryMcT]

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.

[tspeirs]

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.

[GaryMcT]

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.

[rash2236]

http://www.mgalaxy.com/

[dafelandry]

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...

[Crapahute]

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/

[saint]

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.

[Hoopz]

Thanks Saint.   

[youki]

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.

[billpa]

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.

[youki]

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..)

[Hoopz]

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.

[brian_hoffman]

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