MAMEWAH v1.5 Released (at last)!

[Minwah]

MAMEWAH v1.5 (07/09/04)

Bugs Fixed:

Using '&' in 'Emulator Title' or 'Game List Title' would result in title being incorrectly displayed (fixed),
Hitting exit button with 'Default Exit Button Action' set to 'Give Choice' would not work (fixed),
Hitting exit key >once would play exit sound >once (fixed),
Artwork sizes/aspect ratios may have been incorrect with certain layouts (fixed),
Images may not have been displayed if files were present in the image folder, with the same filename but different extension (fixed),
Sounds may not have been played if files were present in the image folder, with the same filename but different extension (fixed),
Some external screensavers may have caused MAMEWAH to return non-fullscreen and/or without focus (fixed),
Hitting keys while waiting for game list refresh / custom list generation may have (unwanted) delayed effect (fixed),
Windows 98 sound issues (fixed?),
Apparently random Run Time Error 62 caused by corrupted FAV, FTR or CFG files (fixed?).

Improvements (/Changes):

Removed 'Artwork #1 Filename to Replace with Romname' option,
Removed 'Task Switching' option,
Removed About box,
Revamped options menu entirely, removing most options except navigation options and list generation / filtration features,
Added 'Find Game' option for easily searching out games,
Improved options menu refresh to reduce (remove?) flickering while scrolling,
Added broadcasting giving MAMEWAH's main form caption in the format 'MAMEWAH - Emulator Title: Game Description (ROMNAME)',
Replace 'debug.log' with 'mamewah.log', to record games launched, reason for (cleanly) quitting and (some) errors encountered,
Replaced 'emu?' file system (layouts, configs, lists, ctrlr files, filters & favorites) to new 'emuname' system,
Updated /e commandline switch to accept emulator name,
Replaced .CFG file system with new .INI system, which will auto-update with future versions of MAMEWAH,
Removed 50 emulator limit (to 32,767!),
Removed 50 game list limit (to 32,767!),
List-specific sounds may now be used,
Added two new List Generation Methods to work with MAME v0.84+ ('-listinfo' removed from MAME),
Added ability to 'filter' lists with no filters available, in order to remove (clone) [rom info] - just hit 'Generate Custom List using Filters' to apply it,
Made old 'Display Clone Info' feature custom list specific,
Added LCD display support,
Emulator-specific .SCR screensavers may now be used,
Emulator-specific music can now be used,
Added 'Max Favorites' feature for custom lists,
Added movie support for screensaver, intro/exit movies and game movie previews,
Created a new ctrlr ini file input system to handle more events, mulitple input mapping, simutaneous key/input presses, mouse & joystick support,
Menu lock 'hold for 3 seconds' removed (use multiple inputs instead),
Removed Default Exit Button Action option (due to new input system, see below),
Added several hotkey/input shortcuts - see \mamewah\ctrlr\default.ini for full details,
Added 'wrap_list' feature which enabled wrapping of the games list & options menu while navigating,
Probably some things I have forgotten - see the new \docs folder for documentation.


http://mamewah.mameworld.net

Have fun, I'm putting my feet up for a few minutes...  


Edit: just to add, this is v1.5 which for once means something...half of the code is brand new, I have the other half to go.  Since so much has changed be prepared for some bugs...

[walls83]

**shakes his money maker**

NICE Im so happy.  thanks for all the hard work Minwah.

[Onji]

you....are....the....man!

thanks so much!!

All we need is mamewah setup to be updated and we're set!

[clanggedin]

Can't wait to update at home!!

I didn't see Trackball Support. Is it not included in this release?

[Minwah]

Can't wait to update at home!!

I didn't see Trackball Support. Is it not included in this release?

Created a new ctrlr ini file input system to handle more events, mulitple input mapping, simutaneous key/input presses, mouse & joystick support,

Forgot to mention the amusing if a bit disappointing co-incidental removal of mame's ctrlr.ini files, at roughly the same time as I nicked the idea  

[DaemonCollector]

SWEEET!!!, im gonna go install it right now

[darktemp]

What a HUGE list!  I can't wait to finish my cab now

[SpamMe]

With the new emuname.ini structure instead of emu?, how do I go about putting emulators in a specific order (Mame, then consoles by year, then pc/miscellaneous)?

Edit
Really do love the new input setup though. Next/previous letter and mouse support are wonderful!

[pointdablame]

Awesome!!

I have so much work to do here at school though, who knows when I'll get time to play with it *sigh*

Thanks MinWah, I'm sure its great.

[greywolf22]

Fantastic!!  Thanks Minwah, getting ready to install it right now!  Thanks for all your hard work and an awesome FE.  

[JoeB]

Is there an easy upgrade path for people like with with lots of emulators and directories already configured?

[walls83]

No its brand new install with all the changes you have to start over.  But as minwah says prolly the last time you will have to do it.

[clanggedin]

WOW, this just went from "What a great Front-end for beginners" to "Holy Cow - you need to do your reading to run this front-end".

I did notice when I set up the movies that they are not expanding to cover the whole area of the screen shot. Maybe I didn't see the field to change the ratio or something.

Plus I didn't read any docs  

I really like what's been done though.

[arcadecab]

Tried the new version.  Anyone else get a Runtime Error '52' message?  Something about a bad file name or something.  I have the layouts setup as I did with the previous mamewah--it seemed from the readme that the layouts basically stayed the same.  Any ideas?  Minwah?
Thanks.

[walls83]

Is Mr. Butler making a new mamewah set up?

[Ted_Striker]

God now I don't even have to play games on my cabinet.  I'm just standing there with a big dumb grin on my face as I spin the trackball through the list........ whoooooooooooshh...

Great damn job.  Thanks for the effort.

[KevSteele]

It's 3:30 in the morning here and I'm tempted to fire up the MAME cab and get configuring.

Wonderful news, Steve!

Kevin

[paigeoliver]

Does it do vertical natively yet?

Heck, DOES ANY Windows frontend with the ability to shut down the computer on close do vertical?

Oh, and I am specifically talking about frontends with reasonable system requirements, as the computer in question is a 300 or a 350 mhz, so no dragon king or 3Dfe or anything like that.

[Minwah]

With the new emuname.ini structure instead of emu?, how do I go about putting emulators in a specific order (Mame, then consoles by year, then pc/miscellaneous)?

Well the emulators should appear in alphanumerical order, based on the 'emuname'.  Since the emuname is only used for internal purposes (you can make the emulator_title whatever you like), you could use names such as:

1mame.ini
2fusion.ini
3zsnes.ini

...to get them to be displayed in that order.

[Minwah]

No its brand new install with all the changes you have to start over.  But as minwah says prolly the last time you will have to do it.

Correct.  I know it's a pain to reconfigure (since I've had my cab I realise just how much), but after this version you'll never have to do it again

[Minwah]

WOW, this just went from "What a great Front-end for beginners" to "Holy Cow - you need to do your reading to run this front-end".

I did notice when I set up the movies that they are not expanding to cover the whole area of the screen shot. Maybe I didn't see the field to change the ratio or something.

Plus I didn't read any docs  

I really like what's been done though.

Heh, right...it's not at all difficult to configure IMO, but it certainly requires that you know what you're doing to do it...

I think you're right about the movies, in mamewah.ini the 'keep_movie_preview_aspect' option doesn't seem to make any difference.  I guess this is bug #1! - EDIT: Fixed

[Minwah]

Tried the new version.  Anyone else get a Runtime Error '52' message?  Something about a bad file name or something.  I have the layouts setup as I did with the previous mamewah--it seemed from the readme that the layouts basically stayed the same.  Any ideas?  Minwah?
Thanks.

When do you get the error?  Have a look in \mamewah\mamewah.log - see if there are any errors logged in there...

The layouts are the same, unless you use emu/list specific ones, in which case rename eg emu1.lay to mame.lay etc.


EDIT: While fixing some small bugs, I did encounter this run-time error.  From what I can gather it occurs sometimes if there is no valid image (or possibly movie) file in the specified folder.  Email me if you are still getting the error - I think I have fixed it so I will send you the fixed version to try...

[Minwah]

Is Mr. Butler making a new mamewah set up?

I believe so...give him a break tho, I think it might take a while!

[Minwah]

Does it do vertical natively yet?

Heck, DOES ANY Windows frontend with the ability to shut down the computer on close do vertical?

Oh, and I am specifically talking about frontends with reasonable system requirements, as the computer in question is a 300 or a 350 mhz, so no dragon king or 3Dfe or anything like that.

Sorry not yet  FWIW the next half a version I have to do includes a new backend, and new graphics engine which will be able to rotate.  Just don't ask me when...

[clanggedin]

Minwah,

Should I download Mamewah again today to get a version that has the movie problem fixed??

I played more with it last  night and it on ly takes a few minutes of looking at how things are laid out to get a good idea of making filtered lists and adding emulators.

Great work again.


Hey, I have noticed that in Windows XP the screen will change resolutions before it opens opens Mamewah completely. It doesn't do this in .97. Thought you should know.

[Onji]

Hey, I have noticed that in Windows XP the screen will change resolutions before it opens opens Mamewah completely. It doesn't do this in .97. Thought you should know.

Ive noticed this also, it doesnt launch as immediately as it used to, no big deal, just an annoyance.

[simplygriff]

Schweett!!!

I can't wait to try this out.  Unfortunately it may be a while though.  I just moved this weekend and my arcade set-up had to be dismantled.  Right now the only videogame I have to play is Super Mario Bros. on my GBA.

Thanks Minwah!
-G

[MoonDog]

WOW, this just went from "What a great Front-end for beginners" to "Holy Cow - you need to do your reading to run this front-end".

I just installed the previous version a few days ago and then switched to 1.5 last night.  It seems the .ini format is much easier for me to use.  The whole product seems easier to set up, but that is probably just because it took me a little while and a bunch of re-reading to get the previous version working and now I have a better understanding of the configuration.

I started setting my my game lists last night and stopped to show my wife this cool front end that will make it easier for her to find and run the games she likes.  Well, she saw Frogger and we ended up playing for the next hour.  I guess I'll get back to setting up those lists another day.

This is the only FE I have installed, but I don't see any reason to look anywhere else.  Great job Minwah!!!  

[GGKoul]

Trackball Support... WOOHOO!!!

[Minwah]

Should I download Mamewah again today to get a version that has the movie problem fixed??

<snip>

Hey, I have noticed that in Windows XP the screen will change resolutions before it opens opens Mamewah completely. It doesn't do this in .97. Thought you should know.

Don't re-download as I haven't uploaded a fix yet (probably won't for a few days so I can fix some other stuff).

Yes I will try to change the order of the stuff on initialisation.  Basically this has to do with a) checking / updating the config ini files, and b) initialising DirectInput etc.  Hopefully I should be able to clean it up a bit...

[mahuti]

Seems that the new version doesn't work with my VNC server

Maybe I just need a new server.

[greywolf22]

Hi Mahuti,

I used VNC last night without any difficulties after I installed 1.5.  What types of problems were you running into?  Not sure if it's the version that I'm using, or I just wasn't trying to use VNC the way you were using it.

[tapnout]

I have been trying to setup mamewah 1.5 all night. I got it running. But  i turned off my computer to take a break and when i turned it on again i got an error message. It said "run time error" with a bunch of numbers after it. And on the bottom it said "Automation error". Anybody know what wrong? I"m using win98 and the latest version of command line mame.

[Minwah]

I have been trying to setup mamewah 1.5 all night. I got it running. But  i turned off my computer to take a break and when i turned it on again i got an error message. It said "run time error" with a bunch of numbers after it. And on the bottom it said "Automation error". Anybody know what wrong? I"m using win98 and the latest version of command line mame.

Without saying what 'bunch of numbers' you saw I can't give you an answer...some more info like when the error occurred would help too.

[hulkster]

congrats on finally making a mamewah version with 27 numbers after the decimal point  ....but anyway, i installed it on my pc (not the cab, but just a regular pc with xp on it) and i tried to run it but got an error (at work so cant pull it up right now) and then i lost my task bar at the bottom of the screen.  it just disappeared.  i could hit the windows button on my keyboard to bring up the start menu, but thats it.  i just logged off and then logged back on, and it was there again.  anyway, i have service pack 2 installed....does it not work with sp2?  just curious.  im not going to install it on my cab until thats all worked out though

[stiffarmleft]

congrats on finally making a mamewah version with 27 numbers after the decimal point  ....but anyway, i installed it on my pc (not the cab, but just a regular pc with xp on it) and i tried to run it but got an error (at work so cant pull it up right now) and then i lost my task bar at the bottom of the screen.  it just disappeared.  i could hit the windows button on my keyboard to bring up the start menu, but thats it.  i just logged off and then logged back on, and it was there again.  anyway, i have service pack 2 installed....does it not work with sp2?  just curious.  im not going to install it on my cab until thats all worked out though

I have the exact problem using XP without sp2.  The error is "runtime error 339  mscomm32.ocx or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered a file is missing or invalid".  I found that particular file on the net and copied it to my system folder to no avail.  I tried it on my computer at work and had the same issue, so now I am sitting here without a taskbar.

[Minwah]

I have the exact problem using XP without sp2.  The error is "runtime error 339  mscomm32.ocx or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered a file is missing or invalid".  I found that particular file on the net and copied it to my system folder to no avail.  I tried it on my computer at work and had the same issue, so now I am sitting here without a taskbar.

Don't worry, just restart your PC and the taskbar will come back.  My downloads page instructs to download/install the system files...sounds like you didn't do that...

FWIW sorry about the disappearing taskbar...there are a couple of bugs (aside from the above, which isn't really a bug) that will cause this to happen - I've fixed one of these and will fix the other asap...

Edit: Hulkster: let me know what error you get...I'm hoping it is a Run Time Error 52...

[stiffarmleft]

I have the exact problem using XP without sp2.  The error is "runtime error 339  mscomm32.ocx or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered a file is missing or invalid".  I found that particular file on the net and copied it to my system folder to no avail.  I tried it on my computer at work and had the same issue, so now I am sitting here without a taskbar.

Don't worry, just restart your PC and the taskbar will come back.  My downloads page instructs to download/install the system files...sounds like you didn't do that...

FWIW sorry about the disappearing taskbar...there are a couple of bugs (aside from the above, which isn't really a bug) that will cause this to happen - I've fixed one of these and will fix the other asap...

Edit: Hulkster: let me know what error you get...I'm hoping it is a Run Time Error 52...

[Minwah]

If anyone's had problems getting their images to display, please see this thread:

http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=5037&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

stiffarmleft: not sure what you intended with your last post, did you fix it OK?

[stiffarmleft]

If anyone's had problems getting their images to display, please see this thread:

http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=5037&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

stiffarmleft: not sure what you intended with your last post, did you fix it OK?

oops sorry, everything's cool, I just wanted to say that I'd gladly give up my toolbar for Mamewah,  I fiqured it was something I did wrong as not many others had this problem. thanks again:)