HTML5 FrontEnd

[Le Chuck]

PS.  I have finally fixed the damaged television on the machine. These are the failed components

It's the switching regulator and the transistor of the flyback transformer

Good news!  So an update will follow soon?     

[zobook]

Hello

You don't need to install any external dlls manually in Windows. Just unzip the following zip file to the directory you copied the exe file
direct link: http://users.ntua.gr/dpiperid/MyWebPage/Catalog/games/QT4libs.zip

Instructions are here:  http://users.ntua.gr/dpiperid/MyWebPage/Catalog/games/FE_tutor/htmlFEtutorEN.htm

Thanks  that solve the problem and the program is running now but....is just a black screen with a cube in the middle and a question mark on one of the faces, like what you get when missing a plug-in on some browsers...

Good to know is written in Lazarus, i just recently move from develop in Delphi 7 to Lazarus because that version was too outdated and the newer versions are huge!! (and also because i can use Lazarus at the computer at work, can't install Delphi because of legal issues).

[arximidis]

Thanks  that solve the problem and the program is running now but....is just a black screen with a cube in the middle and a question mark on one of the faces, like what you get when missing a plug-in on some browsers...

Good to know is written in Lazarus, i just recently move from develop in Delphi 7 to Lazarus because that version was too outdated and the newer versions are huge!! (and also because i can use Lazarus at the computer at work, can't install Delphi because of legal issues).

That means you don't have the mozilla plugin. This plugin is required in order to play videos. I am not using html5 to play videos, because qt4 version doesn't seem to support the video tag on Windows (on Linux works). So, because I didn't want to have two different versions, I decided to use the vlc plugin

Install this program: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
(remember to select full install)

Yes the browser is written with lazarus qt version. It doesn't do much. It's implementing some low level functions that normal javascript can't do (e.g. startup a process). The way is doing it is by reading the url links. If they have a specific form it runs a function (with parameters if any)

[zobook]

That's it!!! Thank you. I happen to have installed VLC but not a full install (particularly, the mozilla plug-in was not installed). I really like the program, it runs smooth and looks really good.
Nice work!!

[arximidis]

Good news!  So an update will follow soon?     

Yes... I am planning an update!

That's it!!! Thank you. I happen to have installed VLC but not a full install (particularly, the mozilla plug-in was not installed). I really like the program, it runs smooth and looks really good.
Nice work!!

Thank you very much!

[arximidis]

New version 2.8.2 of the default theme of HTMLFrontEnd


You now have the ability to run a game by directly selecting a carousel item (with parameters if any)

In settings page select: Directly load an executable file for the selected carousel item (emulator)

If no parameters are required, write {none} to "Roms/Games path" and to "Emulator Command line"
If you want to pass a parameter, for example a specific MAME rom
write the full path of the rom : C:/MAME/roms/1941.zip to "Roms/Games path" entry
and write {rom} to "Emulator Command line" entry

[Le Chuck]

Bad ass, I'll try it out and let you know how it works!

[Le Chuck]

Launching directly from carousel works well - I'm liking where this is heading.  If you're taking requests the following features would be great for the next major update:

A layout editor in addition to the carousel controls would be very helpful
Have option to use .png rather than .gif for the icons in carousel (image quality issues)
Be able to choose background from editor or list in cfg (animated gif/swf support would be great)
Be able to set icon size from editor or a cfg
Be able to set sounds, music etc from editor or a cfg
Add sounds for scrolling carousel
Add .lnk and .bat support
Be able to hide the settings icon in carousel (hot key assignable perhaps)

If there's a way to do some of this already I'd really appreciate the help - either way I really like the flexibility of this FE and hope you can accommodate some of these requests.  If not, thanks anyway! 

[arximidis]

Launching directly from carousel works well - I'm liking where this is heading.  If you're taking requests the following features would be great for the next major update:

Hello! Of course, I am taking account the requests. It's the only way to make the FE better. This is one of the reasons I did upload it

A layout editor in addition to the carousel controls would be very helpful

Not sure what exactly do you mean there

Have option to use .png rather than .gif for the icons in carousel (image quality issues)

You can modify the code to change this. Go to line 425 at main.html (version 2.8.2) and change the .gif to .png.
Also go to line 1101 and change the .gif to .png
(Of course this means you must also change the pictures to png format)
Then go to settings.html to lines 422 and 423 and do the same

Maybe in a future release I'll change the format

Be able to choose background from editor or list in cfg (animated gif/swf support would be great)

Yes, I will include that. I am also thinking on using html5 for background animations (eg the stars effect)

Be able to set icon size from editor or a cfg

This is a good suggestion. You can modify the code (I think same lines as above), but I will include that feature in the next release

Be able to set sounds, music etc from editor or a cfg
Add sounds for scrolling carousel

I had this effect at the first version of the program, but when I converted it to a multiplatform (using webkit and qt libraries), I removed it

Add .lnk and .bat support

You mean you want to run a bat file? I think you can do that. It may be possible to run it directly. If it's not working try to add an entry for command promt (cmd.exe) in settings.ini and pass the bat file as a parameter (Of cource when you add the entry in settings.ini don't forget to create a directory with the same name inside emulators directory. After all this is the procedure to add new emulators (=items to carousel) without messing with the code)

Be able to hide the settings icon in carousel (hot key assignable perhaps)

I will include that in the next version

[Le Chuck]

A layout editor in addition to the carousel controls would be very helpful

Not sure what exactly do you mean there

When you go under settings inside the FE the carousel settings are listed under "general" perhaps you could add some layout settings either on the same screen or under a separate tab.  That way to make certain adjustments (ie icon size, background, sounds etc) one wouldn't need to manually modify the code.  The Carousel settings are awesome, having that level of control over other portions of the FE would really be useful. 

Hope that helps explain what I was talking about. 

Edit:  Made the changes, a few notes:

If you delete "marquee" FE shows a missing img icon, would be nice to have selection to disable marquees so I don't have to have a blank marquee file needlessly.

PNGs work well, will know how well once I can edit the background - during transition there is a slight degradation in the image but again, once we can get off that white background we'll be able to see how noticeable it is.  I think it should be okay as is.   

An option - not necessary at all - to set music for each carousel item/emulator would be nice, that way music changes as one spins around

Need option to set carousel rotation speed

For the carousel controls, where does the program "grab" the image?  At the bottom left (0,0) or center?  I put the icon size at 640x480 so the PNGs would fill but they seems to be a bit off size, or I'm not positioning them right.  Here are my carousel settings.  FE is at 640x480 also FYI.

xRadius: 1000
yRadius: 320
xPosition: 320
yPosition: -400
Reflection height: 0

It seems like it would be center but my PNGs are getting zoomed a bit - could be because a big part of my images are transparent.  Will play around with it more.  If FE is ignoring alpha channels for positioning it will be hard to correct for.  Having an absolute center based on img resolution would be better.  If it's already like that then disregard and I'll keep fiddling with my settings. 

[arximidis]

When you go under settings inside the FE the carousel settings are listed under "general" perhaps you could add some layout settings either on the same screen or under a separate tab.  That way to make certain adjustments (ie icon size, background, sounds etc) one wouldn't need to manually modify the code.  The Carousel settings are awesome, having that level of control over other portions of the FE would really be useful. 

Hope that helps explain what I was talking about.  Looking forward to updates!

Ok, Already did that!
When I finish the update, I will inform you

[Le Chuck]

When you go under settings inside the FE the carousel settings are listed under "general" perhaps you could add some layout settings either on the same screen or under a separate tab.  That way to make certain adjustments (ie icon size, background, sounds etc) one wouldn't need to manually modify the code.  The Carousel settings are awesome, having that level of control over other portions of the FE would really be useful. 

Hope that helps explain what I was talking about.  Looking forward to updates!

Ok, Already did that!
When I finish the update, I will inform you

Awesome, getting really excited about this one - I've been struggling through so many other FEs to get the look and feel I want.  I really appreciate the quick responses and think that a lot of folks will really find this very useful.   

[arximidis]

Edit:  Made the changes, a few notes:

If you delete "marquee" FE shows a missing img icon, would be nice to have selection to disable marquees so I don't have to have a blank marquee file needlessly.

PNGs work well, will know how well once I can edit the background - during transition there is a slight degradation in the image but again, once we can get off that white background we'll be able to see how noticeable it is.  I think it should be okay as is.   

An option - not necessary at all - to set music for each carousel item/emulator would be nice, that way music changes as one spins around

Need option to set carousel rotation speed

For the carousel controls, where does the program "grab" the image?  At the bottom left (0,0) or center?  I put the icon size at 640x480 so the PNGs would fill but they seems to be a bit off size, or I'm not positioning them right.  Here are my carousel settings.  FE is at 640x480 also FYI.

xRadius: 1000
yRadius: 320
xPosition: 320
yPosition: -400
Reflection height: 0

It seems like it would be center but my PNGs are getting zoomed a bit - could be because a big part of my images are transparent.  Will play around with it more.  If FE is ignoring alpha channels for positioning it will be hard to correct for.  Having an absolute center based on img resolution would be better.  If it's already like that then disregard and I'll keep fiddling with my settings.

I am in the process of including more options to the settings page (change the speed of carousel, removing the marquees and loading a background picture. I have tested animated gifs and the do work)

For now
speed: go to line 438 of main.html and change the speed. 1 is fastest (no animation). Speed must be greater than zero, lower than 1
background: open screen.css (in css directory) and remove the background-color:#fff; (line 4) and replace it with:
background:#fff url(../img/background.gif) no-repeat;
Go to img folder and add a background.gif (it can be animated gif too)

P.S. Show my a picture of how FE is setup if possible. It may help me for the settings

[Le Chuck]

Alright, making some progress here 

The marquee area seems to cut off some of my images. I played around with the background gif trying to get it to repeat using the parameters "repeat" and just putting no parameter but both gave the same result as if "no-repeat" was there. I'm a retard, the gif was compiled to only loop once rather than forever - fixed.  Now the background works great. 

If you add a feature for a video or screen effect (fast zoom in) to execute when one makes a selection and we're pretty much there. 

[arximidis]

Alright, making some progress here 

The marquee area seems to cut off some of my images. I played around with the background gif trying to get it to repeat using the parameters "repeat" and just putting no parameter but both gave the same result as if "no-repeat" was there. I'm a retard, the gif was compiled to only loop once rather than forever - fixed.  Now the background works great. 

If you add a feature for a video or screen effect (fast zoom in) to execute when one makes a selection and we're pretty much there. 

Very Cool!!!   

Yes you are right. The problem is with the div that is still there even if you remove the marquee pictures. In the new version I have included a setting to hide the marquee (including the div section) just by clicking a checkbox

The repeat method in the css is creating a tile effect 

P.S. I was looking for a stars animated gif to include to the next version. You can enable the background picture from the settings page. If it's not so difficult please send it to me to include it
Generally I am looking for pictures, sound effects, background musics etc


EDIT: try this
In screen.css go to #GameTitle  (line 12) and change height to zero. Then go to #GameCarusel (line 13) and change top to zero

[Le Chuck]

Here are two sounds and the starfield gif for your use!

I dropped in the select sound to the current theme and couldn't get it to play.  Tried both wav and mp3.  Deleted the old sound and named it "select" - is that function disabled right now or did I mess something up?

[Le Chuck]

EDIT[/b]: try this
In screen.css go to #GameTitle  (line 12) and change height to zero. Then go to #GameCarusel (line 13) and change top to zero

That seemed to have worked but I found another issue. 

I added some directions to the background and I think the bounding box for the carousel is messing up the background.  Without the text I noticed that the stars skipped just a bit but with it it is very obvious.  You'll note that when I go to the menu the background is fine.  Also, the bottom of the box cuts off just a bit of the Empire Strikes Back icon.  If there's a simple way to fix this great, if not I can move the text to the bottom and just work around the issue. 

I slowed the scroll down to .03, it is very responsive and the icons are smooth, smoother than the video shows.  Fiddled with the sound some more, I can do a custom background music but I can't get the noise to run when I select a game.  I'm wondering if that's because I'm in the carousel menu and not a rom selection menu?  Also, just noticed that "choose" could really use an extra "o".  I'll have to fix that   

[arximidis]

Here are two sounds and the starfield gif for your use!

I dropped in the select sound to the current theme and couldn't get it to play.  Tried both wav and mp3.  Deleted the old sound and named it "select" - is that function disabled right now or did I mess something up?

Thanks for the images (I am looking for better images for the emulators and intro videos)

Yes the sound functions are disabled for now, because I have some weird crashes when opening the settings page (or reloading), at least in Windows 8 (I will test it in Windows XP to see what happens) The problem is caused by VLC and I can't figure out what is the reason. Maybe is a bug of the vlc mozilla plugin.
The sounds are there from the first version og HTML FE which was using microsoft media player with no problems. Maybe I will give the option to use microsoft media player for windows users (instead of vlc)
For now, I will re-enable them (buy giving the option to disable them, if things go wrong)

That seemed to have worked but I found another issue. 

I added some directions to the background and I think the bounding box for the carousel is messing up the background.  Without the text I noticed that the stars skipped just a bit but with it it is very obvious.  You'll note that when I go to the menu the background is fine.  Also, the bottom of the box cuts off just a bit of the Empire Strikes Back icon.  If there's a simple way to fix this great, if not I can move the text to the bottom and just work around the issue. 

I slowed the scroll down to .03, it is very responsive and the icons are smooth, smoother than the video shows.  Fiddled with the sound some more, I can do a custom background music but I can't get the noise to run when I select a game.  I'm wondering if that's because I'm in the carousel menu and not a rom selection menu?  Also, just noticed that "choose" could really use an extra "o".  I'll have to fix that   

It looks very nice!!! 
I see the animation is smooth for you. In my case I cause a pause when it restarts (but I have tested it only in windows 8 with a medium machine)
You can not run any sounds, because they are disabled (I will re- enable them in next version)

For the small cut off, try this (not sure if it works)
In screen.css go to #GameCarusel (line 13) and increase the height property
edit:
The problem is in the following line of code
Go to main.html to line 1075 and change the height of #carousel1 from 380px to a greater value


P.S. I have some great news for the cube effect too. It may be possible to include it, if I play around with the code

[Le Chuck]

The problem is in the following line of code
Go to main.html to line 1075 and change the height of #carousel1 from 380px to a greater value

Line 1095 in mine. 

Changed to 480 - no more issue with icons being cut off.  Still have the break at the top in the the background.  Might be due to the marquee box tho (even though it's set at 0px wide and 0px tall).  Tried several different values and couldn't get that to resolve so it's likely something else.   

There was also an issue with the icons disappearing before the screen edge on the right side during a scroll.  Adjusted Line 13 in screen.css to 640x480 for the  carousel and that cleaned it up. 

The css and html files are well written by the way - I'm starting to be able to hunt through and tweak things on my own and know rather than guess what the outcome will be.  A GUI will always be more user friendly but these give a really great level of control. 

I noticed that the background image doesn't scale - I have 800x600 animation so I had to set the FE size to that and tell everything else to zoom.  It looks great but I'm worried about folks upscaling to maybe 1024x768 - will they need a custom animation or can the backround animation be stretched too?

Uploaded a pic to clarify, also it shows that box that is messing up the background - I'll try and see how many px wide it is in photoshop and track it down that way if I can. 

Also:  went and fixed the background text and left a slightly larger gap between text and border which avoided that trimming issue.  Still something to figure out but this is a fine workout for now.  Really looking great, can't wait to see the new features you have up your sleeve!

[arximidis]

Yes, the background picture can be zoomed too. In fact, this is exactly what I am doing to the new version. Even if this setting is completed, I haven't released the new version due to the other modifications I am still working on
However, remember that zoom always keeps the original ratio of the main window.

If you want to play with the code the modification is quite simple. Instead of changing the body element (restore to the original settings) do the same thing to the #MainContent element in screen.css


As for the problem to the top, yes it's not the marquee. At first I thought it was the marquee that the capturing software was placing 
Well it's the vlc plugin (the one that plays the videos and music)
To hide it go to main.html at line 1061. You will see an element <embed type="application/x-vlc-plugin" name="VLC" id="mvlc"
Just before this line insert the following
<div id="VLCs" style="top:-20;position: absolute;">

The go to the line where the embed element closes (width="0" height="0">) and after that insert the following
</div>
and you will be ok





I am so jealous 
I want my FE to look exactly like yours, but instead of the games, I want the emulators to rotate the same way. That means I need better pictures for the emulators (eg MAME, dosbox, nestopia, visualboy advance etc).
I beleive Maximus arcade and GameEx have nice pictures, but I don't want to include non-free pictures.
Any suggestion?

[Le Chuck]

To hide it go to main.html at line 1061. You will see an element <embed type="application/x-vlc-plugin" name="VLC" id="mvlc"
Just before this line insert the following
<div id="VLCs" style="top:-20;position: absolute;">

The go to the line where the embed element closes (width="0" height="0">) and after that insert the following
</div>
and you will be ok

^ Worked perfect 

Check Hyperspin - there are pic packs available for that - also, I don't believe that MA owns the rights to any of the images it uses.  It's not exactly licensed by Nintendo or Atari so I would personally have no qualms about using their pic packs.  You're not taking code from the FE so I would feel zero issue with doing so.  If you need a pack send me a list of systems you want and I can see what I have on hand.   

Oh, also, check out this video a new user posted over on the SW Skin thread

Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9bDWtWmD2DU2pjTFM2d3Ztd2d0TVhRa2lKUlIyYkdDaGFN/edit?usp=sharing

I thought the moving starfield was a nice effect but nothing really to write home about IMO and then the last five seconds I was floored.  That zoom effect for launching the game is awesome.  If we can get something like that I'd be thrilled.  The background starfield doesn't have to zoom but it would be cool if both could.  The icon zooming away is way cool though. 

[arximidis]

^ Worked perfect 

Check Hyperspin - there are pic packs available for that - also, I don't believe that MA owns the rights to any of the images it uses.  It's not exactly licensed by Nintendo or Atari so I would personally have no qualms about using their pic packs.  You're not taking code from the FE so I would feel zero issue with doing so.  If you need a pack send me a list of systems you want and I can see what I have on hand.   

If it is not so much of a trouble, I would appreciate a pack. For now I would like the emulators of my theme.

I thought the moving starfield was a nice effect but nothing really to write home about IMO and then the last five seconds I was floored.  That zoom effect for launching the game is awesome.  If we can get something like that I'd be thrilled.  The background starfield doesn't have to zoom but it would be cool if both could.  The icon zooming away is way cool though.

Saw it. I have include such an effect in the code, but it's too soon to release it. Not only you can zoom out, but you can rotate as you are zooming or move up while zooming.
It's transparent, meaning it doesn't affect the background. How ever I saw the starfield he is using and maybe you can use it too. So we could also have the effect of high speed when zooming. But for now I will focus on the other effects and sounds

[Le Chuck]

Going through the game list trying to set up the FE - I'm having issues getting certain parameters to save.  I can get mame to save and anything with a direct exe (starfighter/wosn) to save but other emulators I'm having trouble with.  Both my zsnes and project64 require full rom addresses rather than just the rom name like in mame so I'm wondering if that is an issue.  When I go to launch after saving it just brings me back to the setup menu and everything I typed is gone. 

Also, can't seem to run batch files directly.  I've tried putting C:/arcade/bats/SF.bat as an emulator for example.  When I got to the menu I put {none} in the rom directory and in the cmd line and ensure I check "directly load executable file" but no dice.  Also, FE won't save those inputs either.  Thoughts?

[arximidis]

Going through the game list trying to set up the FE - I'm having issues getting certain parameters to save.  I can get mame to save and anything with a direct exe (starfighter/wosn) to save but other emulators I'm having trouble with.  Both my zsnes and project64 require full rom addresses rather than just the rom name like in mame so I'm wondering if that is an issue.  When I go to launch after saving it just brings me back to the setup menu and everything I typed is gone. 

I am sorry but I don't understand anything. Remember, English is not my native language

Also, can't seem to run batch files directly.  I've tried putting C:/arcade/bats/SF.bat as an emulator for example.  When I got to the menu I put {none} in the rom directory and in the cmd line and ensure I check "directly load executable file" but no dice.  Also, FE won't save those inputs either.  Thoughts?

You are doing it wrong. You set a directory for a new emulator (with all the required files, like you already have)
The directory name can be anything you want, but you must remember it (lets say the directory name is CCS64)
Then go to settings.ini under the [ALLOWED PROGRAMS] section. Write an entry with the same name as the directory of the emulator. If, instead of an emulator, you want to run a bat file write the following:
CCS64=C:/Users/dimitirs/Desktop/test.bat
You provide the full path of the bat file

Then go to the settings page and select the emulator (the FE will automatically finds the emulator entry).
To run bat files you must write {none} everywhere like the following picture:



EDIT: When modifying settings.ini, remember to restart the program

[Le Chuck]

Sorry, I'll try and write more clearly 

I am doing as you say, I just did not explain it well.  I have set directory for the new emulator, I modified settings.ini under [ALLOWED PROGRAMS], with SF=C:/arcade/Bats/SF.bat

In settings page I selected the emulator and put {none} everywhere as pictured and selected "directly load an executable file".  I clicked "save" and closed out the program.  Upon restart the settings are not saved and the game will not execute.   

Can the program generate a log so I can take a look and try and see where it's going wrong?  Thanks!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4f4wr3aterv67jl/ciWcIEWiUf <-- Link to the files you were asking about.  You might need to send me your email address so I can grant you access. 

Shot a video to show the steps I'm taking so you can maybe spot what I'm doing wrong.  Thanks!!

[arximidis]

hmmm, that means there is something wrong with the cookies. All settings are saved as cookies.
Are all the other settings saved normally? 

Try to delete the cookies by clicking the button at the last tab of settings page
When you restart the program all the settings will be with default values, so remember the settings for the carousel (the changes you made to the code will not be affected)

It may be possible that you have accidentally deleted something important, when you were modifying the code 


Edit: If you can't do anything send my the program in a rar file (only the default640x480 directory)

[arximidis]

Don't bother with it. It's a bug

I will fix it and I will upload the new version soon

[Le Chuck]

Don't bother with it. It's a bug

I will fix it and I will upload the new version soon

Cool - sorry it's a bug, glad you're getting it fixed, really glad it wasn't me messing up 

[arximidis]

Cool - sorry it's a bug, glad you're getting it fixed, really glad it wasn't me messing up 

You get this with all the entries, even after deleting all cookies? I get this bug only for the first entry. I can set all the other normally

[Le Chuck]

Cool - sorry it's a bug, glad you're getting it fixed, really glad it wasn't me messing up 

You get this with all the entries, even after deleting all cookies? I get this bug only for the first entry. I can set all the other normally

Haven't had a chance to check today.  I'll delete cookies and try again this evening and report back.

[arximidis]

Haven't had a chance to check today.  I'll delete cookies and try again this evening and report back.

It won't help.
I found the bug!!! 

[Le Chuck]

Haven't had a chance to check today.  I'll delete cookies and try again this evening and report back.

I won't help.
I found the bug!!! 

It didn't, you're right.  Hey, look on the bright side, you're implementing tons of new features, really growing the FE, and there are bound to be bugs.  Glad you found it and hope it isn't too much of a hassle to work through.  You're doing great work man!  Keep it up!!

[arximidis]

New version 2.9 of HTMLFrontEnd and 2.9.1 of the default theme

• Bug fixes.
• Added animation when selecting a carousel item.
• Change the way the settings for each emulator are saved (currently no gui support)
• Add the ability to remove the top marquee
• Add the ability to set background picture (animated gif support)
• Added more settings for carousel.

Currently working on sound effects and adding more options

Download from here: http://users.ntua.gr/dpiperid/MyWebPage/Catalog/games/HTMLFrontEndEN.htm
Don't forget to download the new version of the browser too (same link)

P.S. Le Chuck. You are the ultimate beta tester 

[Le Chuck]

New version 2.9 of HTMLFrontEnd and 2.9.1 of the default theme

• Bug fixes.
• Added animation when selecting a carousel item.
• Change the way the settings for each emulator are saved (currently no gui support)
• Add the ability to remove the top marquee
• Add the ability to set background picture (animated gif support)
• Added more settings for carousel.

Currently working on sound effects and adding more options

Download from here: http://users.ntua.gr/dpiperid/MyWebPage/Catalog/games/HTMLFrontEndEN.htm
Don't forget to download the new version of the browser too (same link)

P.S. Le Chuck. You are the ultimate beta tester 

Now I've got homework!!! Can't wait to try it out!

[arximidis]

Please download again. I have accidentally uploaded the wrong version 

[Le Chuck]

Okay, downloaded about half an hour ago.  In that time I transferred all my files, replaced all the controls.ini with settings.ini files in the emulator folders.  Updated the FE settings.ini, set up the carousel the way I like it, and started fiddling with how to launch games. 

Okay, so I have been able to do the following:  Load lists of roms for MAME, launching a single MAME rom directly from the carousel, loading lists of batch files, launching a single batch file from the carousel, and launching an executable from the carousel.  Awesome!

For an executable:
In FE settings.ini:  WOSN=C:/arcade/wings/wings.exe

In WOSN EMU settings:
ROM = {EXE}
ROMPATH =
COMMAND =
ROMLIST =
ROMEXT = *.exe
WAIT = yes

For a batch file:
SF=C:/arcade/bats/SF.bat

ROM = {EXE}
ROMPATH =
COMMAND =
ROMLIST =
ROMEXT = *.bat
WAIT = yes

For launching a rom directly from the carousel - tested with MAME, should work with any EMU tho
SW=C:/arcade/mame/mame64.exe

ROM = {EXE}
ROMPATH =
COMMAND = starwars
ROMLIST =
ROMEXT = *.exe
WAIT = yes

(note that to do this we don't use a rom path, or else it will load the rom list and then just pass "starwars" as the command for every rom - we are pointing the program at mame64.exe in this case, not at the roms). 

ERRORS: 

I could not get the background to work.  Checking and unchecking the selection box had no effect.  I am stuck on white background.  I didn't want to fiddle with the css or html files without letting you know about the issue.   

When entering the settings menu from the FE half the time I get a crash with the following message: "Access violation.  Press OK to ignore and risk data corruption.  Press Cancel to kill the program."  I've tried pressing both - both end with the FE hanging. 

When zoom is enabled the carousel icon moves off center, gets a portion trimmed, and then zooms.  After exiting the game the animation plays in reverse but still trimmed and off center.  Once we get the background working I'll shoot video of that so we can track down what's causing it.  The effect will be really cool once we get it ironed out. 

Overall, awesome!  It took longer for me to write this post than it took to setup the FE.  A few little tweaks needed to this update (sound on launch ready yet?) and I think we'll be there.        

[arximidis]

I have uploaded a new version of the theme (2.9.4). I have added some fine tunning for the zoom in effect. You now can control the speed, the initial poition or even the ending posiiton (you can make the image move up, down, right or left while zooming
download: http://users.ntua.gr/dpiperid/MyWebPage/Catalog/games/HTMLFrontEndEN.htm
Also download the new HTMLFrontEnd browser and replace the older one

First see how my theme is working, before you do any modification

ERRORS: 

I could not get the background to work.  Checking and unchecking the selection box had no effect.  I am stuck on white background.  I didn't want to fiddle with the css or html files without letting you know about the issue.   

When entering the settings menu from the FE half the time I get a crash with the following message: "Access violation.  Press OK to ignore and risk data corruption.  Press Cancel to kill the program."  I've tried pressing both - both end with the FE hanging. 

When zoom is enabled the carousel icon moves off center, gets a portion trimmed, and then zooms.  After exiting the game the animation plays in reverse but still trimmed and off center.  Once we get the background working I'll shoot video of that so we can track down what's causing it.  The effect will be really cool once we get it ironed out. 

Overall, awesome!  It took longer for me to write this post than it took to setup the FE.  A few little tweaks needed to this update (sound on launch ready yet?) and I think we'll be there.        

I have noticed the crashes and I am working on them. Maybe it's the mozilla plugin that crashes (event if you disabled the music).
I will test it and see what is wrong

I don't know why the background is not working for you. For me it works perfect.
Make sure you replaced all the files (not just the html).

The proper way to do it, is to use my version of code and then go to emulators directory and delete the entries. Then paste your emulator directories.
Also delete the cookies (Note: Deleting the cookies will not affect your emulator's settings)

As for the problems regurding the zoom animation, it's better to test the new version

P.S. I will fix the problems with the sound effects soon (I hope)
I will add
effect while rotating the carousel and while selecting. In the future I will add the ability to use different sound or intro for each emulator

[Le Chuck]

Awesome, I'll have more time tonight to play with it and see if I can get the background sorted out.  Look forward to getting it going. 

Once we get this rolling good it would be cool if you could take a crack at that moving background from raygun.  His most recent video links the movement to the carousel (or whatever he's using) and it looks pretty sharp. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9bDWtWmD2DOHFDMzQ5YnRtbGtYMUV2SjBJWEQtV2RKcjUw/edit?usp=sharing

You can snatch up the source from http://www.chiptune.com/starfield/starfield.html if you haven't already. 

[arximidis]

I did included it and it looks damn good (I told you I would)

How ever I didn't inlude the stars moving around, depending on which key you hit, because it doesn't look good. Only the high speed effect

I will upload the new release soon

However, I don't know if the starfield code is free (meaning open source)

[Le Chuck]

I did included it and it looks damn good (I told you I would)

How ever I didn't inlude the stars moving around, depending on which key you hit, because it doesn't look good. Only the high speed effect

I will upload the new release soon

However, I don't know if the starfield code is free (meaning open source)

No idea on the starfield code, didn't check it that closely.  To everything else you said: