Trying to simulate mouse movements...

[Mercuryam]

Hi there,

Been lurking for a few days, thought I would post.

I'm trying to record joystick/trackball/control movements and then play them back on a different machine.  This way, I can have 'demo's' of game play that is customized when we do shows.

Has anyone attempted to do this?  I think I have figured out how to record the movements, but have no clue how to output them (via serial?)  Any ideas would be most appreciative.

-Mercury

[eightbit]

Wouldn't it be easier to just record it into a video file?

[Jakobud]

There is a program called Macro Express I have used for some work purposes before.  It's a brilliant program.  Very powerful.  You can record anything you want and play it back however you want to.  Check it out:

www.macros.com

[Mercuryam]

It's in a dedicated cabinet, so that won't work.  

After further research, it looks like it may be impossible because the control (trackball in this case) is dependent on the clock.

However, i don't believe anything is truly impossible.  

-Mercury

[Jakobud]

Wait a minute.... are you talking about a Mame cabinet with a PC in it or are you talking about an actual dedicated arcade cabinet with the orignal hardware in it?  If it's the later then I don't know how the heck you would ever record the movement of the trackball etc....

[Mercuryam]

OK, I looked at Macro Express and it seems to be in the right direction...

However, can the program output the mouse movements (through serial, perhaps) so that I could control another MAME pc?

That's what I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance.

-Mercury

[jerryjanis]

Check out Mame's "-record" and "-playback" options.  I think that they're exactly what you're looking for.  It will record every second of input be it mouse, joystick, or keyboard.  I think that you just have to make sure that you're using the same version of Mame in the recording as in the playback.

http://marp.retrogames.com uses the recordings extensively as proof that high-score winners really accomplished what they claim.

[Jakobud]

Do you want to control the mouse movement on the other computer in real time?  Or can it be a recording?  Why serial cable?

[Mercuryam]

Yes, I want to control the other machine in real time.  The reason I said 'serial' was because I was thinking the output of the mouse movements (over the serial port) could be directly interfaced to the trackball control of the dedicated cabinet.

I will also look at the web-site.  

Question, though:  I'm sure the record option just creates a file of all the inputs.  What does the -playback option do?  Does it just playback on the same machine or can I output the playback through some kind of physical interface?

Again, thanks in advance,

-Mercury

[jerryjanis]

Yes, I want to control the other machine in real time.  The reason I said 'serial' was because I was thinking the output of the mouse movements (over the serial port) could be directly interfaced to the trackball control of the dedicated cabinet.

My guess is that you wouldn't get the same results repeated twice in Mame even if you repeated identical mouse movements.  In fact I would bet good money that it wouldn't work quite right.

1) I don't know how you would tell your device to begin outputting at EXACTLY the correct moment
2) Even on the same computer being fed identical mouse input, the timing of when the computer will read the inputs will be slightly different.  While replaying an arcade game, all it will take is one tiny difference to completely ruin the whole game.  

Question, though:  I'm sure the record option just creates a file of all the inputs.  What does the -playback option do?  Does it just playback on the same machine or can I output the playback through some kind of physical interface?

-record records all the inputs into a file.  You can then move that file to another computer running Mame, and repeat the exact same game that was recorded.  No, there is no physical device that will playback the file.

This way, I can have 'demo's' of game play that is customized when we do shows.

What exactly are you trying to do?  Why wouldn't you simply record it into a video file or a Mame recording?

[Jakobud]

If you want to control the dedicated cabinet in realtime why don't you just hook up a mouse with an extra long cable that runs into the dedicated cabinet?  Then you can control it in realtime all you want....