Favorite Front End

[kaptainsteve]

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.

[Aabra]

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:



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.    Even my Sega Master System set has video previews. 

[joebells]

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.

[Aabra]

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

[tk375]

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.

[Blanka]

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.

[Dazz]

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.

[nuka1195]

it's a poll on fe, where better to give reasons for or against a fe.

[loadman]

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 

[Loafmeister]

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?

[Hoopz]

Added "Angry Bee" to the options of FEs to vote for.

[bent98]

grats on new FE Angry

[balestrum]

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.   

[EVEGames]

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 

[theob42]

Hyper Spin all the way!!!

[TalkingBull]

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.

[Todd H]

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.

[Ummon]

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.

[Haggar]

Last release of AtomicFE rocks. With AtomicStudio you can configure thousand of emus and menus very quickly.

[Sardu]

I used to use FeMame back in 98/99. 

[Ummon]

I used to use FeMame back in 98/99. 

It's still around.

[(+_+)]

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.

[Flack]

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.

[Ummon]

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?

[slasherman]

I like the Maximus Arcade ...and I got a hacked version of it...

[Ummon]

Hacked?

[Visitor Q]

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.

[bent98]

I like the Maximus Arcade ...and I got a hacked version of it...

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

[kaptainsteve]

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

[Dazz]

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.

[Ummon]

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?

[Dazz]

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.

[Ummon]

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?

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.

[Hornpipe2]

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.

[Gatsu]

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?

[ViperStrike]

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.

[Dazz]

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.

[Crapahute]

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.

[Haggar]

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!

[Minwah]

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 

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