Author Topic: best frontend for a beginner (Read 5896 times)

langdoguk · « **on:** July 26, 2006, 06:56:57 am »

PLEASE HELP , Pretend I don't know ANYTHING about programming , or ini ,cfg , zip etc , and I wanted to use a frontend for my cab (I'm lucky I got mame working

) what is the best one for a simpleton, I've tried a few ,read the read me's try and set rom path's etc(

) but just don't understand them. Is there any short ,easy to understand (eg right click on , and copy to )links for an easy frontend.
I've been trying to do this ages ages, but just can't , everywhere I read the guys in the know are saying put this in your *** file , and move this into a *** , and I end up more confused than when I started.
Think I might be looking for the dot to dot version.
would be grateful for any links to the dummy version , THANKS Craig

cdbrown · « **Reply #1 on:** July 26, 2006, 07:04:42 am »

mame32 would have to be the simplest around

loadman · « **Reply #2 on:** July 26, 2006, 07:24:09 am »

Quote from: cdbrown on July 26, 2006, 07:04:42 am

mame32 would have to be the simplest around

Ditto.

When you are more confident and want a FE that does not look like windows and hides windows check out the WIKI and try some.

Have Fun

severdhed · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2006, 08:43:54 am »

mame32 is by far easiest for beginners..thats what i set up my 10 year old sister up with. once you get beyond that...MALA is pretty simple to work with.

youki · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2006, 08:51:04 am »

Yes, Mame32 would be the best for you but it is not very cab friendly.

If you want a multi-emulator one, try mine with my plug'n play module: AtomicFE

Most of the module require no configuration to play. You have just to copy your roms in the required folder. that's all.

Only what you have to do :

Download and install AtomicFE (nothing to configure)
Download and install plug'n play modules you want (about 40 are already avaiblable)
Copy your roms in wanted folder for each module
run Atomic.exe and Play!

(It is very simple, few module more advanced require a little bit more configuration, but most of them require nothing).

later, if you wish you can customize as you want. But it will require more skill like others Front End.

destructor · « **Reply #5 on:** July 26, 2006, 09:23:08 am »

My 5 years old daughter use mame32

Samanai · « **Reply #6 on:** July 26, 2006, 03:33:58 pm »

Mala is a breeze.

gamecreature · « **Reply #7 on:** July 26, 2006, 04:02:19 pm »

I love Mala to death, but for someone who's never used an emulator, Mame32 is undeniably the way to go. But once those training wheels are off...

97thruhiker · « **Reply #8 on:** July 26, 2006, 06:19:08 pm »

Mame32 is by far the easiest. I've used Mame32FX for years. As Youki mentioned its not very cab friendly and you cannot access multiple emulators with it. I'm currently using MaLa and love it. Pretty easy to use and set up. This is coming from someone who has had a terrible time in the past trying to set up a frontend.

langdoguk · « **Reply #9 on:** July 27, 2006, 09:30:19 am »

thanks for the replies guys, I can get mame 32 to work no bother but I was looking for something that would look a bit better for my cab,( still has to be dummy friendly thougk

)

gamecreature · « **Reply #10 on:** July 27, 2006, 09:39:45 am »

In that case, I'd reccomend MaLa. I tried pretty much all of the front ends, from the obscure to those shouted from the rooftops here on this forum. Some of them refused to work, others worked right out of the box. The one that seemed to require the least amount of hair-pulling (and don't get me wrong, every single one of them had something that left me scratching my head) was MaLa. Fortunately, UncleT has written a fantastic guide for setting up MaLa here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=56010.0

You should have no problems.

Havok · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2006, 04:53:46 pm »

I have tried all the major (and minor

) front ends out there. Mala is good, however for pure ease of use and quick setup, I would definitely have to recommend AtomicFE - there are plug and play modules that allow simply that: you download the module, put the roms in the correct directory, and you are done! If you are not one to run configuration files, or go through various setups, it really can't be beat. It is especially nice for Daphne configuration, if you want to run LaserDisc games. (Daphne can be a bit of a pain to config and get running with a front end.) Plus there are some really nice looking themes available with the plug and play modules. You can check it out Here.

I have been using it for a while, and I really like it. Youki is the developer, and is very active here and on his English support board if you have any problems\questions.

97thruhiker · « **Reply #12 on:** July 27, 2006, 07:29:03 pm »

Quote from: Havok on July 27, 2006, 04:53:46 pm

I have tried all the major (and minor ) front ends out there. Mala is good, however for pure ease of use and quick setup, I would definitely have to recommend AtomicFE - there are plug and play modules that allow simply that: you download the module, put the roms in the correct directory, and you are done! If you are not one to run configuration files, or go through various setups, it really can't be beat. It is especially nice for Daphne configuration, if you want to run LaserDisc games. (Daphne can be a bit of a pain to config and get running with a front end.) Plus there are some really nice looking themes available with the plug and play modules. You can check it out Here.

I have been using it for a while, and I really like it. Youki is the developer, and is very active here and on his English support board if you have any problems\questions.

Thanks for the link / update on the modules for Youki's AtomicFE. I'll definitly have to give it a try again. By the way, does anyone know who the cheesecake is in the screenshot section of his page (the one between the Donkey Kong Jr. and Dragon's Lair layouts? Is that Tara Reid?

loadman · « **Reply #13 on:** July 27, 2006, 07:33:44 pm »

Quote

By the way, does anyone know who the cheesecake is in the screenshot section of his page (the one between the Donkey Kong Jr. and Dragon's Lair layouts? Is that Tara Reid?

I think so?

Havok · « **Reply #14 on:** July 27, 2006, 08:57:28 pm »

Yup!

Taradise!

youki · « **Reply #15 on:** July 28, 2006, 03:53:45 am »

No, no.. it is not tara raid , it is my wife....

ok.. i'm joking... it is tara raid. and it is not my wife...

ahmer · « **Reply #16 on:** July 28, 2006, 07:29:50 am »

MameWah is the Best FrontEnd for Ever!

Mala has some Exiting New Features But MameWah is More Easy to Configure and a lot of People Loving it to use with in thier Cab...

langdoguk · « **Reply #17 on:** July 28, 2006, 07:44:07 am »

Getting there

, managed to work AtomicFE but there are some games missing that were working in mame 32???
also was doing fine with MaLa , started it up set mame path and it created a xml. then set rom path and snap path , then it stated it would load gamelist I clicked yes it said done , but when I started it up there was no games list

was all going too well , bet it's something simple I'm missing , think I'll do computing when I go to big school

youki · « **Reply #18 on:** July 28, 2006, 07:54:10 am »

Concerning AtomicFE , what module did you use?

What version of MAME32 you were using.

Are game are missing in the list? or just not work?

langdoguk · « **Reply #19 on:** July 28, 2006, 08:16:26 am »

I think I'm using v0.16 Atomic FE and version 0.59 mame32 , the games seem to be missing , eg: wonderboy 3 , but they are okay with mame.
was very easy to set up unlike the usual ones that say their easy then baffle me.

youki · « **Reply #20 on:** July 28, 2006, 08:24:49 am »

When did you get your version of Atomic? The current one is 0.17-1 (and normally today if i have time to put it the 17-2 )

Anyway your problem is not related to Atomic Version.

So, you did'nt used a plug'nplay module , you made your own configuration?

Are you sure you pointer to the correct roms folder, and that in that folder the wonderboy 3 exists?

Or when you say "Missing" you mean see it in the list but you can not see the SnapShot?

Could it be a probleme of sorting? On AtomicManager on the "general" tab , did you check :
Game List sorted ? or Game List sorted by game name?

The first options sort by Roms name , the second by game name. I suggest you choose the second one.

langdoguk · « **Reply #21 on:** July 29, 2006, 10:26:48 am »

I've found the game I was talking about, my mistake

, it's slightly in a different position ,

loving Atomic FE now , works great , excactly what I wanted

how would I change the layout of it to one from the homepage , some of the game names are too big (eg: street fighter 11 might be :eet fighte , too many letters for the bubble can I fix that to start from the first letter?)
sorry to be a pain

I seem to have more games through Atomic FE , I had 520 on mame32 and I have about 650 in Atomic FE can I check they all work without going through one by one.

all in all I'm getting there and doing okay( cause of the help) and can't wait to finish to play ,play ,play

youki · « **Reply #22 on:** July 29, 2006, 10:49:29 am »

Hi,

To change a layout , download it and unzip in a folder.

Then run AtomicManager.exe , open the config file where you want change the layout.
Go to the "folder" tab.
and Make point the "Layout Folder" field to the folder where you unzipped the layout.

Some layouts can display 'Flyer' , 'cab', 'title" or other graphics , for this layout you can make point Custom1 folder and Custom2 folder to the folder where are your image.

Then just save.

Layout are done in a specific resolution (ex : 640x480) , Atomic will adapt automatically the resolution of the layout to the resolution of your screen.

As Atomic "Stretch" the image to fit the resolution , if you choose a layout with a resolution bigger than the screen one the result could be not very nice (mainly on fonts) .
In the other way is better.

AtomicFE itself can not check if your games work or not. I think you will have to use external tools like RomCenter or ClrMame .

Concerning the name of the game. You can change the displayed name by editing the file :
FullList.txt that is in the METADATA folder . (open it with the notepad).

Or you change change the Font alignment in the list for the layout by opening the layout with AtomicLayoutEditor , selecting the list , and change the Alignment option on the palette.

You can change Font size the same way.

What layout do you use?


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