Hey newb

[kenshen]

Hey I'm a newb to MaLa and i have a few questions. So coming from hyperspin because the comp i will be using regularly for my arcade isn't strong enough to run it that's no to say my real gaming rig isn't.. But anyway i want to optimize Mala for use with an x-arcade dual just as hyperspin was what is the best way to accomplish this? also i want to run multiple systems those systems being nes snes psx  but as far as i can see right click is the only way to shift between systems is there any way i can make a wheel or menu to select a system that can be accessed and used by an x arcade? And what is controls.ini will it help my x-arcade? Finally does bsnes and nestopia require any extra setup with MaLa?

[Wade007]

You have several questions here. Not sure if I can help you with all of them.

I too am working on a cabinet using X-Arcade Dual Tankstick for a controller. I'm nearly done.
Mala is pretty versatile in how you set it up for each emulator. I'm using a redesigned Retro GUI skin for my Mala frontend. One background for each emulator; MAME, Daphne, M2, Demul, Supermodel 3, Future Pinball and finally a few PC Arcade Ports. No consoles. I don't know of a "wheel" skin for Mala. If you want that, stick with Hyperspin. Mala does support movies however. You can get as creative as you want. I have chosen to simply shift to a new background with the same basic design for each emulator I use. I do not use the "tree" option with Mala, but that might be an option for you as well.

I use the default MAME configuration for X-Arcade as a base and then roll forward those same controls/keystokes etc for the other emulators. Each emulator defines controls slightly differently but ultimately I'm using MAME X-Aracade defaults for ALL emulators.

The only problem I've encountered is matching the two button escape emulator control for X-Arcade used by MAME. That simultaneous button combo is the "2" and the "4" key together. In order to have the same exit command for other emulators I've had to use other software in conjunction with Mala such as Auto Hot Key and/or AllInOne. All other controls, I've been able to map just fine. Mala does support a "hotkeys" function that is very nice. Supports two button exit commands as long as one of those buttons is Ctrl, Shift and/or Alt. I've been very strict about keeping all the same controls settings as Mala therefore I've had to use the solution just mentioned.

I hope this starts to answer some of your concerns.

[kenshen]

yeah it does so how do you select the other systems?

[BadMouth]

yeah it does so how do you select the other systems?

Right click in MALA
Select Options
Click on the CONTROLLER tab
Map something to Prev. Emulator and Next Emulator

If you want to navigate menus and sub-menus instead, you'll have to use Mala tree.
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Mala_Tree

I've never used it, so can't be much help there.

[Wade007]

BadMouth is correct.

I have it mapped so that I just move my X-Arcade joystick to the left or right to choose the next emulator screen. Works pretty slick. I like it a lot.  A new list of games that work with just that emulator then populates each new background that loads. I don't use the Mala tree structure.

If you need more detailed help, I can list out the exact settings and code I've used to get my X-Arcade tankstick working using multiple emulation screens in Mala.

[kenshen]

Thanks a lot guys:)

[kenshen]

sorry for the double post but i got epsxe to run does any one know ahk? I would like to map the exit to the 5 key instead of esc

[BadMouth]

sorry for the double post but i got epsxe to run does any one know ahk? I would like to map the exit to the 5 key instead of esc

Try Mala hotkeys first.
It's under options>other emu config
click on epsxe, then the options tab
put a check next to "use hotkeys"
then click on edit hotkeys
click on new, it will default to "close"
Put a 5 in there.

It works for most emulators, but not all.
If it doesn't work, let us know and we'll do the autohotkey thing.

[kenshen]

yeah all that does is put the emulator in the background putting the front end on top i can even still hear the game running.

[BadMouth]

In this case closemul would probably be simpler.
I'd pretty much forgotten about it and used autohotkey for everything until I was working on setting up my newest cab the other day.
I'm using it for Model 2 and Demul 0.57 as well.  Now I just have to get rid of the friggin' mouse pointer that Demul v0.57 moves to the middle of the screen.
It would probably work for Supermodel as well.

http://vertrixgame.com/component/content/article/7/11-closemul

Place the closemul.exe and closemul.ini in the same folder as epsxe and change the ini file to read:
Exit Key 1=53
(you might also have to type "epsxe.exe" in the ini somewhere, but I think it works without it)

In Mala other emus setup, go to where the command line is for epsxe.
Add closemul.exe and a space in front of what is in there now.

There is no need to write out the name of the emulator and game name in the command line like in the example on the closemul webpage.

I don't have epsxe installed in Mala, so I can't guarantee this works.  
I tinkered around with epsxe outside of Mala, but decided that I didn't like playstation games enough to warrant the amount of space they'd take up.

A quick explanation of why I'm recommending this instead of Autohotkey.....

Launching an autohotkey script while still having Mala launch the emulator can cause everything to just hang until the autohotkey script has exited. (which makes it useless)
The solution is to have the autohotkey script launch the game instead, but since Mala can't pass the rom name to Autohotkey, you end up having to make an autohotkey script for every game.

.....actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if the autohotkey script would still hang if it were added to the command line like closemul instead of put on the pre-command line in Mala.  I'll have to experiment with that.

[kenshen]

that could be interesting... Closemul kinda works gonna tinker with it...

[BadMouth]

Sucks about closemul.  Maybe 53 is the wrong keyboard code, but in the example they give #2 is 50 & #4 is 52.

Curious about why you want to use 5?  Seems like it could accidentally be pressed fairly easy on an x-arcade.

Autohotkey script woud be:

Code: [Select]

5::
Process, Close, epsxe.exe
Launch that, then launch Mala and see if epsxe hangs or it works.
If it works, then put it in your windows start folder and it will always be active, which I don't really like,
but it will work.
(if you need to stop the script, right click on the ahk icon in the taskbar)

Also, if any other emulators won't close through mala, you can add them to the bottom.

Code: [Select]

5::
Process, Close, epsxe.exe
Process, Close, znes.exe
Process, Close, Emulator.exe

[kenshen]

It worked boo ya thx dude

[BadMouth]

It worked boo ya thx dude

 

If you want to try doing it so it only runs when the emulator is launched, try this:

Code: [Select]

5::
Process, Close, epsxe.exe
Exitapp
Return
The Exitapp will exit the emulator and exit the script when 5 is pressed.  (it will only work once)
Then put the script in the same folder as epsxe and add whatever you named the autohotkey script (we'll use "exit.ahk") to the command line in Mala.
like so.....

exit.ahk (then whatever is already in the command line)
           ^space

I've never tried adding it to the command line before.
When I put something like that in the pre-commands, it Mala won't launch the emulator until I press 5 and the script exits.

It's worth a try if you got the time.

[steveggz]

There is a program I am using now to help me exit from winUAE batch files (CTRL-F11 = exit) and Z26 (Atari emulator). I'm in no way affiliated with the program nor am I advertising it. I'm just happy I found something that works after trying so many defferent keyremapper programs. It's called "ATNSOFT Key remapper v1.4".

There is a 30 day trial which I'm still on right now but it looks like I'm going to have to buy it very soon.

If this helps anyone.

[kenshen]

One final question if you will so I'm trying to use instant sheller to completely hide windows but when I'd do auto hokey stops working what do I do?

[BadMouth]

One final question if you will so I'm trying to use instant sheller to completely hide windows but when I'd do auto hokey stops working what do I do?

I haven't done it myself, but from spending too much time on these boards I know you have to convert it to an exe and run it as a service at startup.

To convert the ahk to an exe, just right click on it and select compile.

To run it at a service, have a look at the links from the wiki:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Utilities#Run_Files_as_a_Service
or in this thread
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69169.0

That's about all I can tell you.
If you have any problems doing it, post in the software forum.