Atomic FE

[namedos]

I know there is a forum on a French site for Atomic FE but is there one in English somewhere?

Does anyone know if it is easy to launch PC games from Atomic FE?

Thanks!

[youki]

Hi,

There is no official english forum for Atomic FE , yet.  But i come each days on this forums. So if you have question you can ask me here. Or directly by mail : youki@atomicfe.com

Yes, you can easily run PC game from Atomic FE.

Youki

[danny_galaga]

ok, ive got the front end working and it looks great! but for the life of me i cant seem to figure out how to change the text size for the game list. it looks like i can change it in the 'appearance' tab in the layout manager. but how do i save it/ if i go to the 'general' tab the save button isn't highlighted...

[danny_galaga]

ok, i've got the text sorted! now i can select PACMAN instead of POOMAN! i was able to change the ratio in the advanced tab in manager.however that seems to be the only thing i can do in manager! im having a lot of trouble trying to use the gamelist function. i think something is being lost in the translation. if you look at my screenshot you'll see that there is one game listed in the 'content of gamelist file'. however the only reason it is there is because i manually typed it into the Atomic.cfg.gamelist.txt! all ive done when i used this function is to lose the gamelist altogether! and as an experiment i typed one game in Atomic.cfg.gamelist.txt to see what would happen. isnt this 'gamelist' tab supposed to do that for me? how? why does it say 'content of gamelist' on the top and 'save to exclude file' on the bottom? i found that if i created a file for the 'exclude' list in the advanced tab once again i could manually add things to the list. i get the feeling that the 'advanced options' section could be used to add to the excluded list but i cant quite figure it out. would be handy because it lists the available roms...

one other thing. can i change the names so that, for instance '1942(set 1)' appears as 1942 in the menu? i have a feeling this can be done in the metadata tab but again i dont quite understand. all ive been able to do with it is accidentally remove a name from the menu and not be able to put it back! only way i could was by deleting all of atomicfe and re-installing!
you are probably going to wish you hadnt told me about your FE! but in general it is a great front end and id like to be able to get it right without resorting to just manually adding names into folders.

[danny_galaga]

.

[youki]

Hi Danny_galaga,

First , thanks for using Atomic.

I'm going to try to help you.

So first, i think you find it, but just in case . To change the size of the font , you can do that on the "Advanced Tab" with the FONT X and FONT Y Ratio fields.   If you want change the Font itself , you have to modify the layout with the Layoutmanager.

Then , to change the name of the game (1942 in your example).  You can use the Metadata tab if you want.
You select the game in the list. Then you change the name in the Field "Translation". And you click on "Modify".
But if you have lot game to change, it is may be more convinient to use the notepad. So find the file "FullList.txt" which is in the "Metadata" folder of AtomicFE, and open it with notepad, and you can change directly name which are quoted.


Then concerning game list.  The automatic generation of GameList works only for mame. for others emulator you have to do that by hand.

If your goal, is to make a multi-configuration for mame where game are sorted by categories. I Strongly suggest you use the Multiconf_wizard tool provided with Atomic.  There is Tutorial in the Docs folder (in a ZIP file).  This tools will build your configuration in a eye blink!

Just case, this how work the GameList tab.

- First on the Advanced tab, choose "Use predefined game list" and check "Let Atomic choose file name" (it is better to avoid problems).

- Then go in the GAMELIST Tab
 On the left list, you have the list of your available roms
 On the right list you have roms in your game list. (or nothing no game list defined yet)
 - Select a Categories File  (I suggest Genre.ini)
 - Then (only then) Select a "Catagory". (example : Puzzle)
 - then check or not "Only roms owned".
 (i suggest to not check this check box, Atomic won't display the rom if you don't have it anyway , but if you put the rom later it will display it , if you checked this options it will not be the case)
- then click on "Transfert category button"
-Then you can click "Save"   (not the "save as exclude list" button if you completed your config.)

About the "Save as exclude list"' button.

With Atomic, you can build some "exclude list" . Excluse list are Roms you have in your folder but you don't want see them in Atomic.  For example, you need to have some BIOS for certains type of game, but you don't need to have it in the Atomic List.  So you can put your BIOS in the Exclude list.

To do that.  Select the "categories file" Genre.ini , then as "Category" select BIOS . Click on "Transfert category" button.  and then Click on "Save AS exclude list". (BUT DON'T CLICK on "Save").


I hope it helps you.  But again, i recommand you to try the Multiconf_wizard if you didn't try it yet.
(Don't forget to download  before the PATCH for this tool from my website).

Youki

[danny_galaga]

ok, i managed to work out most of it before you replied! thanks for the quick answers though. i've found that if i'm using the 'gamelist' thing by checking 'use predefined games list' in the advanced tab, i have to uncheck it again before i save. i wasn't doing that and when i opened atomic i was getting a blank menu! so if anyone else is getting tricked by this, there's the answer!
also, if entering the roms to exclude into the 'gamelist' tab, you must do them all in one go. if later you go back and put another game in to exclude, you r previous list is deleted! i just noticed this now while typing. so either do them all in one go in 'gamelist' or else type them in the exclude.txt file. if you type, you have to put .zip on the end of each rom name...
the other thing that was perplexing me (before i just typed the changes in the fulllist. txt) is that there is a small bug in the 'metadata' tab. if you type in a new name there and click 'modify', then it puts the name right next to the rom, like so:

before-  aburner   "After Burner (Japan)"

after   - aburner"After Burner"

and then atomic doesn't seem to recognise a change. so now i know to type it in 'fulllist.txt' and make sure there is a space. then it seems to work...

thanks for a great looking, relatively easy to use front end (",)

danny.

ill test it out on win98 on the weekend. i have the dll file your site says i need. if it works the same on win98 then thats the perfect christmas present for me!

[youki]

Thanks Danny.

I know i have still some "little..." bugs in configuration tools.

Concerning Windows  98 , it will work on it.  therefore some users have encountered some problems, but we finally fixed it.

Few rules for Windows 98 .

- Be sure to have the GdiPlus.dll.  It you have it Keep yours. If you don't have it , you can get the one of my web site.  But don't put both... and avoid to replace the one you have by mine.

-With certains video card driver you must set your Windows resolution to a 16bits/pixel mode before running Atomic.  (not 24 , not 32, not .  Atomic works in 16bits color mode and should switch automatically. But it seems certains drivers under win98 don't switch. .. so you have just to set the Display settings of windows to a 16bit/pixel mode and it works.

That is the 2 main problem i'm aware on Win98.  But if you have problem you can solve don't hesitate to ask , i'm here to help you.

[danny_galaga]

ok, i havent had a chance to test it on win98 yet (my computer is too modern for win98 to give me drivers for the onboard sound and graphics!) but that can wait. how can i get rid of the 'prepare for battle' voice that comes on when a rom is loading? i found how to change the picture in the options tab in manager, but i cant find where to change the sound (or even find a file that i can change/take out).
thanks, danny.

edit: posting these questions always somehow leads me to the answer! the file is called 'gamelaunch.wav' for anyone else who might want to change this. it is in the default video skin file called 'Layout_nuss_space_640x480' . i think id like to change it to the trumpets from the beginning of 'star trekkin' (",)

[youki]

Hi Danny,

Yes, it is the file.

In fact in Atomic, you can have different sound for each layout , or "global" sound.

In fact if Wav files are at the same level of Atomic.exe , they are "global" , it means if a layout have not specific sound these sound will be used. But if the layout have sound layout's sound are used.

If you want disable all sounds , you can do it in the AtomicManager on the "General" tab. Uncheck "Enable sounds".