MAMEWAH Config 1.61.1 - Finally!

[screaming]

Okay I know I kind of disappeared for a while but don't be offended, it's not you guys

  My absence, however, has not been in vain! I've been hard at work for the past couple of weeks on MAMEWAH Config, the configuration program for the new-and-improved MAMEWAH 1.61!  This time it even works!  Of course you'll need the Microsoft .NET 1.1 Framework to use it, but it's worth it!

  MAMEWAH Config 1.61.1

I'm sure there will be problems and questions, but I've tried to make it as intuitive and useable as possible to do everything from setting up emulators, filtering/editting game lists, and downloading/installing new layouts.  Check it out and let me know of any problems or questions!

-Steve

[Xelotath]

I just tried your app and it messed up my config files.
Bug1: When I put that the num led should be on and scroll and caps should be off, they all opened when I booted mamewah.
Bug2: I do't know how this happned but when I saved the config in the tool, all my layout files add ._mc after the extension like layout.lay._mc main.jpg._mc etc...
Bug3: I again tried to config the ini using your tool and when I saved my emulator.ini file was renamed to 0000.ini instead of MAME.ini.

Your app could really be good but it needs more tweaking. keep up the good work!

[screaming]

Xelotath,

  Thanks for checking it out!

Bug1: When I put that the num led should be on and scroll and caps should be off, they all opened when I booted mamewah.

  Fixed this one! new version is uploaded..

Bug2: I do't know how this happned but when I saved the config in the tool, all my layout files add ._mc after the extension like layout.lay._mc main.jpg._mc etc...

  When MC saves all your emulators it needs to account for any layout management and emulator re-ordering you may have done.  To avoid stepping all over itself it renames all your layouts to something else, i.e. adds a ._mc extension, then pulls in what it needs. It's always been been good about cleaning up after itself though. Did it crash when it was saving or something?

Bug3: I again tried to config the ini using your tool and when I saved my emulator.ini file was renamed to 0000.ini instead of MAME.ini.

  This isn't a bug. This is to allow you to re-order your emulators in the Emulator Settings tab and have that order be reflected in MAMEWAH.

-Steve

edit: spllinhg

[Xelotath]

No it didn't crash when saving and when the emu ini was 0000 mamewah didn't load it. I don't know why it didn't. Thanks for correcting the led bug.You seem to know some thing about mamawah so maybe you could check my topic (mamewah and artwork) , maybe you can help me. Thanks.

[soroth]

When you save your config for the first time it works correctly, but when you use it a second time and save it, it crashes when it tries to overwrite the layouts (duplicate error?) and it erases all the ini's..  (thank god I made backups  )
Will check the newer version..

[papaschtroumpf]

Nice! here are some observations in no particular order:

- it seemed to have picked up my old config files (mamewah 1.51 I think) properly except for MAME: all my emulators I on drive D: and it picked up the PC games "D:\PC Games List" and all its subdirectories (SNAP, MOVIES, ...). However for mame it "defaulted" to C:\mame\mame.exe which is incorect on my machine

- the PC game list and jukebox wereunchecked becuase there was "no list". If I click on "add list I get an unhandled exception error message, but if I click on "continue", it catually imported my list properly? The mame and gmae boy emulator came up properly. FYI the PC list uses .lnk and the jukebox has a single "start the jukebox.txt" entry in the list

If I click on the save button after viewing/modifying a list, then click "back" it asks me f I want to save the changes even though I just saved (the file is not "dirty")

Some of the setings from the "global settings" (specifically the preview aspect and the movie/music mixing) did not seem to be saved after I went to the emulators tab and clicked save. Maybe it's by design by I would think the "save" applies to any changes I made in any tab. If not, there hsuold be a reminder to save before switching tabs.

I got another uhandled exception when I selected "load mamewah settings" from the menu, then cancelled out of that, then clicked on the "emulator" tab.


It would be nice if you could doubleclick on the list and that would immediately open the list editor.

Also, it would be nice not to have to confirm thta since I'm running the porogram from the mamewah directory I want to laod the config from the current directory. Maybe add a  "don't ask me again" checkbox?

Having the help window always on top is kind of annoying, it overlaps the program window on my screen.

Except for those minor issues, this is a great program!

[papaschtroumpf]

I also had some weirdness generating my pinball list.
the "executable" is a custom batch file and the "ROMs" are .zip.
The left pane was blank like it couldn't find any zip in that directory, but after looking at other emus and coming back to this one it worked even though I didn't change a thing???

[papaschtroumpf]

Also there is still something wrong with the movie settings in the "general" tab. They don't stick. I want to paus the music when playing a movie but can't seem to get it to save that settiing.

[screaming]

When you save your config for the first time it works correctly, but when you use it a second time and save it, it crashes when it tries to overwrite the layouts (duplicate error?) and it erases all the ini's..  (thank god I made backups  )
Will check the newer version..

  Did you opt to use _Installed Layouts for your layout folder? MC can only manage your layouts when it uses this directory.

  If so,  send me a list of files in your old layout folder and a list of files in _installed layouts.  To do that, go to Start->Run and type in 'command'.  Then navigate to your mameway\layouts\old_layout_folder and type 'dir >layout.txt'.  Do the same for _Installed Layouts and then eemail me both files.

-Steve

[screaming]

I think there might be a "de-learning curve" when using MC.  I tried to make it so someone who just found out about MAMEWAH could run this program and have a working arcade in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, setting up front ends have been so difficult for  so long that people are used to thinking about it all the hard way...
</soapbox>

- it seemed to have picked up my old config files (mamewah 1.51 I think) properly except for MAME: all my emulators I on drive D: and it picked up the PC games "D:\PC Games List" and all its subdirectories (SNAP, MOVIES, ...). However for mame it "defaulted" to C:\mame\mame.exe which is incorect on my machine

  Do you mean the "preconfigured emulators"  picked up C:\mame\mame.exe? Those are just templates for you to go by and fill in your own settings...
 

- the PC game list and jukebox wereunchecked becuase there was "no list". If I click on "add list I get an unhandled exception error message, but if I click on "continue", it catually imported my list properly? The mame and gmae boy emulator came up properly. FYI the PC list uses .lnk and the jukebox has a single "start the jukebox.txt" entry in the list

  Hmm. This is a more 'advanced'  setup and I didn't get that far yet before releasing MC.  I'm working on it now.

If I click on the save button after viewing/modifying a list, then click "back" it asks me f I want to save the changes even though I just saved (the file is not "dirty")

   Yeah, I've had  complaints about that. It's on my list.

Some of the setings from the "global settings" (specifically the preview aspect and the movie/music mixing) did not seem to be saved after I went to the emulators tab and clicked save.

 No, it will retain your settings when you switch tabs. I'll take a look at this next.

I got another uhandled exception when I selected "load mamewah settings" from the menu, then cancelled out of that, then clicked on the "emulator" tab.

 I'll check it out in a minute and upload a fixed version. This is a definite bug!

It would be nice if you could doubleclick on the list and that would immediately open the list editor.

   Good suggestion! I'll add it.

Also, it would be nice not to have to confirm thta since I'm running the porogram from the mamewah directory I want to laod the config from the current directory. Maybe add a  "don't ask me again" checkbox?

  This is a bug. I'll fix it!

Having the help window always on top is kind of annoying, it overlaps the program window on my screen.

  The minimize button is of no consolation? The help isn't all "that" yet.. it just shows the tooltip for the selected control right now anyway.

  Thanks papa for the excellent report! I'll get on fixing these issues ASAP.

-Steve

[screaming]

I also had some weirdness generating my pinball list.
the "executable" is a custom batch file and the "ROMs" are .zip.
The left pane was blank like it couldn't find any zip in that directory, but after looking at other emus and coming back to this one it worked even though I didn't change a thing???

   The "left pane"? You mean, in the edit game list screen?   The left pane is for you to load your "roms  to be added", i.e. it's not supposed to "stick". It's used for loading the "default" list or from any number of file formats (XML, LST, DAT).

   I'm a little confused on this one..


-Steve

[Teknique]

I was able to set up mamewah easy as pie! Though my configuration dosent have touchy emus to set up either.   I like the inclusion of the pre-made layouts... there are already lots, but it would be cool to get more links of them there if there are any others hosted somewhere.   Thanks for making an easy config tool screaming!   

However, I am a Castonian - DK 4 life! 

Tek

[screaming]

I was able to set up mamewah easy as pie! Though my configuration dosent

  Thanks for the positive feedback.. I'm glad you like it!

  As for adding the layouts, for anyone that builds a custom layout and wants it included in MC let me know! I just need:

- A URL to a small preview image
- The screensize for the layout(s), like: 800x600, 640x480, etc
- A URL to the layout for downloading (NOTE: Only one layout per zip!)
- A URL the user can go to to find out more information on the layout

Once you send me that information I will add it to the manifest that gets downloaded when you browse the layouts.

-Steve

[Chris]

Of course you'll need the Microsoft .NET 1.1 Framework to use it, but it's worth it!

I'm sure this sounds awful, so please forgive me, but why would a simple config file generator require the .NET framework?  I try to keep the Windows installation on my cab to a bare minimum, with as few services loading as possible, and it would seem to me that most people with Windows in their cabs wouldn't want to install extensions and frameworks unless they are absolutely necessary.

--Chris

[screaming]

I'm sure this sounds awful, so please forgive me, but why would a simple config file generator require the .NET framework?  I try to keep the Windows installation on my cab to a bare minimum, with as few services loading as possible, and it would seem to me that most people with Windows in their cabs wouldn't want to install extensions and frameworks unless they are absolutely necessary.

  That's a valid question and I'm sure lots of people feel the same way..  Ironically, MAMEWAH Config is a lot more complicated that most people will realize. The idea is simple, but I had a (very) bad case of feature-creep-itis!

  20000 lines of code, a dynamic layout browser, dynamic emulator "templates", a pretty New Emulator Wizard, a help system, a controller editor, a game list editor and a few checkboxes and text fields later we have MAMEWAH Config!

  Initially I started MAMEWAH Config for 2 reasons: 1) I wanted to learn the ins and outs of MAMEWAH and 2) I wanted to learn .NET.

  There's nothing special about .NET that MAMEWAH Config *needs*, it's what I had on hand and it was my current programming language endevour.  Really, if you don't think it's worth the .NET installation then go back to doing everything manually Personally on my AthlonXP 1800 main cab computer with 160GB of hard drive space to waste, I don't have a problem..

-Steve

[screaming]

Papa-

 Thanks again for catching these problems! A new version is uploaded at the same link.

...then click "back" it asks me f I want to save the changes even though I just saved (the file is not "dirty")

  This *should* be working now.

Some of the setings from the "global settings" (specifically the preview aspect and the movie/music mixing) did not seem to be saved after I went to the emulators tab and clicked save.

  I can't replicate this problem.  Did you experience this problem after the "Load MAMEWAH settings then click cancel" bug?

I got another uhandled exception when I selected "load mamewah settings" from the menu

  Should be fixed.

It would be nice if you could doubleclick on the list and that would immediately open the list editor.

  Done.

..mamewah directory I want to laod the config from the current directory. Maybe add a  "don't ask me again" checkbox?

  Fixed.

  I'm still working on the "advanced" setup you described above.

-Steve

P.S. As I was working on these, I realized I should probably let you veterans in on a little secret about MAMEWAH Config.

  As you know, MAMEWAH has an unedittable "default" list (i.e. the -0.lst) that always contains a full list of your games for that emulator. To avoid confusion when in MAMEWAH Config, when you see your emulators and emulator lists in the Emulator Settings tab this default list is hidden. It's hard coded to set it to not cycle in MAMEWAH and is only used to pull games in to another edittable list. In other words, MAMEWAH Config sets it to what it really is which is a "reference" list of games for that emulator.

  When you create a new emulator in MAMEWAH Config this is 100% seamless and the user doesn't know the difference.

[screaming]

Also there is still something wrong with the movie settings in the "general" tab. They don't stick. I want to paus the music when playing a movie but can't seem to get it to save that settiing.

  Fixed this too, BTW!

-Steve

[screaming]

Papa,

- the PC game list and jukebox wereunchecked becuase there was "no list". If I click on "add list I get an unhandled exception error message, but if I click on "continue", it catually imported my list properly? The mame and gmae boy emulator came up properly. FYI the PC list uses .lnk and the jukebox has a single "start the jukebox.txt" entry in the list

  After I wrote out the previous comment, I went back and re-read this post by you. The unhandled exception crash is a bug that should be fixed, but the note will explain the other weirdness you were having.  I'll try this set up on my home arcade just to be sure it works, but I don't see why it wouldn't!

-Steve

[papaschtroumpf]

- it seemed to have picked up my old config files (mamewah 1.51 I think) properly except for MAME: all my emulators I on drive D: and it picked up the PC games "D:\PC Games List" and all its subdirectories (SNAP, MOVIES, ...). However for mame it "defaulted" to C:\mame\mame.exe which is incorect on my machine

  Do you mean the "preconfigured emulators"  picked up C:\mame\mame.exe? Those are just templates for you to go by and fill in your own settings...

No, I mean I had a working set of 1.51 config files, I installed 1.61 on top of it, didnt' start mamewah (I think) but went straight into your config program to see if it would read the previous config files (from the older version of mameah). It did mostly a good job at it, most things came up with all the right paths and so on, but not mame. I do want to stress that most everything else was imported properly (layouts and all) which I was glad to see.


when you say "I fixed it" do you mean that you posted a new binary to download or are you going to make an annoucement when there is a new download available?

Keep up the good job, I'm already loving it!

[screaming]

I uploaded a new version with all the improvements you came up with... It's at the same URL as before (link is in the first post).

  Is there any way you can send me your 1.51 emulator config for MAME so I can check it out?

-Steve

[papaschtroumpf]

I'm not home right now but I have a backup. I can probably send you a zip file that has all the config, but also a copy of the directories that old the "weird" setups such as my jukebox and pc games list for example. You wouldn't be able to "play" them but you should be able to exercise the list generating engine or whatever. FYI, almost everything is installed on drive D: on my cab.
I'll PM you a link when I have the stuff assembled (hopefully tonight)

[str1der]

Hey Screaming,

          I really like that clock you have on your website. Did you write that or did you get it from somewhere?

[screaming]

I wrote it.

[APFelon]

Last time I tried MAMEWAH config, it didn't have network support. Since I do most of my upgrading, sorting and INI configuring on a networked computer, is it possible to add network support? Doing routine maintanance on a standard res arcade monitor is hard on the eyeballs and gives me a headache in short order.

APf

[screaming]

Last time I tried MAMEWAH config, it didn't have network support.

  Eh?  Network support?  Why don't you just map a drive?

-Steve

[tumult]

I really like that clock you have on your website.

ditto.

[APFelon]

[qoute] Eh?  Network support?  Why don't you just map a drive?

Because I totally forgot that I could. 

APf

[Invader_Stu]

Hi,

To those of us that have never heard of Mamewah Config before, can you give us a brief description of what it does etc?

Many people here have their cabs setup 'pretty much' how they want them, so what benefits are there to installing Mamewah Config? Or is it more for people setting up their Mame Box from scratch?

I just wondered for those of us who have already configured most of the stuff we want, why would we want a config program?

Dont get me wrong, its sounds like a heap of work you've done, no doubt of which is l337 and useful, I just dont know anything about it -sorry if this is the first noob post!

[papaschtroumpf]

The mamewah config file can be a little cryptic and confusing for some users. I think they're not that bad and have been configuring mamewah by hand ever since I started using it.
Also creating filtered game lists from within mamewah is not the most user friendly, although I think it's perfectly acceptable.
mamewah config is basically a GUI that allows you to edit the config files and list files by just clicking chekboxes, browsing to where the paths are, etc... making it more user friendly.


- First of all you only want this is you run mamewah as your front end.
- If your cab is "done" and you don't think you're going to mess with mamewah anymore, it's toolate to use mamewahconfig (but I, for example, am continuously tinkering with my cab setup"
- if you're really familiar with the mamewah config files, you may still like to edit them directly rather than learning the idiosyncaracies of a new application. There are also a few things that are not yet implemented in mamewah config

The best I can tell you is give it a try, but make sure you backup youe mamewah.ini and the "files" folder in the mamewah folder

[screaming]

To those of us that have never heard of Mamewah Config before, can you give us a brief description of what it does etc?

  MAMEWAH Config is a program that helps you configure MAMEWAH (obviously), and much more. MAMEWAH Config has a ton of features already:

• Easy, user-friendly editting of all of MAMEWAH's config files, including game lists and controllers.
• A Layout Browser that will let you pick and choose a layout from the internet and it will download and install it for you. The list of available layouts is dynamic and will be updated automatically to the latest list every time you use it.
• You can re-arrange emulators and emulator lists through a drag-and-drop  Explorer-like tree.
• When you add a new emulator, MAMEWAH Config will take you through step-by-step through a nice wizard interface that will guide you along the way.
• When you add a new emualtor you can pick from a list of emulator templates (thanks to JCrouse!, also dynamically updated, that will help you configugure your emulator with a known setup. Imagine trying to set up Dahpne in MAMEWAH, choosing the Daphne template, then choosing the correct path to the EXE and ROMs and you're done!
• MAMEWAH Config is viewable with a 800x600 resolution, for those people that have low-res TVs. Once I finish working out the kinks I'll add other resolutions like 640x480, 480x640, 1024x768, etc.
• Commandline builder that will let you build your commandline and commandline options using only your mouse. This also makes use the emulator templates.
• A handy controller editor for customizing MAMEWAH inputs to your control panel. Eventually this will include a panel designer to make it more intuitive. The plan is to add support for JCrouse's CPViewer and Buddabing's CPMaker. Right now the Controller Editor only supports global controller files though. In the future you will be able to create/edit controller files specific to each emulator layout.
• A basic game list editor that you can use to upgrade your list of ROMs. You can pick and choose which ROMs to add to each list and filter in/out the ones you want/don't want. You can also import from an older MAMEWAH .LST file, a MAME-style .XML file and a plain ol' .DAT file.
• When you're editting the game list you can also edit the command line specific for that ROM.  This will allow you complete control over how your ROM is ran.  ("Rom is ran" sound weird for some reason..)

I'm sure there's more features that I'm forgetting...

  Anyway, most people will find MAMEWAH Config useful only if they've never set up the new MAMEWAH 1.61 before. Dave Butler's MAMEWAH Setup program only works for older pre-1.0 version of MAMEWAH, so since Minwah upgraded MAMEWAH there hasn't been an interface for configuring it.

  If you're already up to the latest and greatest version of MAMEWAH then you will benefit from MAMEWAH Config when you upgrade MAME (or any other emulator) because you can be picky about which games you add to your gamelists. You can also rename the description of the ROM (what MAMEWAH shows in the gamelist for each ROM) to anything you want. Don't like that "(set 2)" or "(japanese version)" at the end of all your ROMs in your gamelist? Edit them out!

  Also, using the Controller Editor, you can re-map your controls when you add a new joystick, or re-flash your IPAC because the ALTs and CTRL keys are getting in the way.

  Uhm. My fingers are pooped If I think of anything more I'll update this list...

-Steve

Edit: Added the ability to edit game-specific commandline options to the feature list. I forgot about that one!

[papaschtroumpf]

I missed the controller editor. that's cool!

[screaming]

I missed the controller editor. that's cool!

   What feature is MC missing?

-Steve

[jdsabin1]

Sorry to be so clueless, but I am trying to use your program and have a really straightforward question that I hope is easy to answer. I am using the latest MAMEWAH and I have loaded the latest MAME, and have all the ROMs in the ROMs directory. When I start MAMEWAH I now see 5500+ games.

Can I use your program to delete the games I don't want to see (like all the clones, games that don't work, games I simply don't want to appear, etc) from this gigantic list of games that appear in MAMEWAH in a simple and straightforward fashion? Like I said, I fiddled with it but don't see any simple way to do this type of thing and I am sure you can do this somewhere.

Any help or step by step would be most appreciative.

Thanks,

-Jeff

[screaming]

Can I use your program to delete the games I don't want to see (like all the clones, games that don't work, games I simply don't want to appear, etc) from this gigantic list of games that appear

  Yeah! Double-click on a game list and you should see a list of games on the right.  Anything that's in this list will show up in MAMEWAH, so add and delete to your heart's content

-sab

[jdsabin1]

Double click on a game list where exactly? Here is what I did ..

I clicked the + sign beside M.A.M.E. in the Emulator settings tab which then opened up a 'Filtered' box. I right clicked on that and chose the option called 'Edit Game List'. That opened up a list of what appears to be all the games on the left hand side. On the right hand side where it says 'M.A.M.E. Filtered', there is nothing, it is blank.

I am just confused as to what steps to take to delete games from the list that MAMEWAH is using. Can you step me through that at all?

Sorry to be such a pain .

[screaming]

Double click on a game list where exactly? Here is what I did ..

I clicked the + sign beside M.A.M.E. in the Emulator settings tab which then opened up a 'Filtered' box. I right clicked on that and chose the option called 'Edit Game List'. That opened up a list of what appears to be all the games on the left hand side. On the right hand side where it says 'M.A.M.E. Filtered', there is nothing, it is blank.

I am just confused as to what steps to take to delete games from the list that MAMEWAH is using. Can you step me through that at all?

Sorry to be such a pain .

  Did you, by chance, create your configuration manually and then use MAMEWAH Config after? Not that this is bad, but this would explain what you're seeing..

  Select all the games on the left-hand side (click 'All'), then click 'Add'. Now all the games will be copied to the right-hand side.  Edit that list as much as you want, just click Save, then Back when you're done.  Then, finally, go to File -> Save.

-sab

[phildo77]

I must be retarded.  ALL I want to do is remove and categorize games into like 5 game lists.  I can get it to work using the description field BUT I don't think that is what I want.  In the catver.ini it lists categories like *mature*.  I can't for the life of me get it to recognize mature.  I see a "category" field but it does nothing and filters nothing even after I've imported the latest catver.ini.  Someone tell me how to filter using catver.ini IN mamewah config.  It seems straightforward but I must be missing something.  Its driving me crazy.
I don't want to have to manually remove some of these games as I am setting up a box for use with kids.  IE no mature and maybe some other categories like puzzle, casino etc.

Any help here?

[Circo]

I can no longer find this program available for download.  Does anyone have a link to it?

[sc1103]

I can no longer find this program available for download. Does anyone have a link to it?

http://www.bluecamel.org/2005/02/26/mamewah-config-161/

[iwillfearnoevil]

i can't find any working links for this, anyone have one?