What features do you wish were available for your "Dream FE"?

[Havok]

Edited original title - makes more sense..

So, what features are you looking for that are not available in your front end?

Perhaps we can use this thread as a repository for feature requests that the FE devs can refer to...

[FrizzleFried]

I am not going to bother with the important features as most current FE's have that covered for the most part.   Here is a list of what I would like to see in a front end (please note I am currently using MAMEWah,  so I am using that FE as a basis to make my decisions):

(1) Animated GIF support
(2) Built-in Juke Box
(3) HISTORY.DAT support
(4) Hiscore List (use hiscore.dat to create an on-the-fly quick-access list...I know that MAME officially dropped hiscore.dat,  but screw em,  it's easy to compile back in,  and frankly,  a FE is for people who use MAME to GAME not just to "ARCHIVE".
(5) Screenshots and Animations that are the correct dimensions when viewing from a vertical layout.
(6) A "filter by savestates" option for list generation.
(7) A working "screen orientation" option for list generation.

...more will come to me.

[Havok]

Is there a reason for the animated gif support specifically? Wouldn't an avi be sufficient?

[TOK]

I'm not really into lots of fluff like animations and music, so MaLa has my real needs covered. If there was one feature I could have, it'd be the ability to totally disguise Windows.

I've messed with skinning XP and 2000, and there is always just some little hint that you're just running a computer in a cabinet. I don't even mind the POST screen, but something that'd just automatically make the screen black or even display fake arcade machine startup sprites would be killer.

[Circo]

Since a big reason for me making all of these video previews for games, if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs.  If I could only blend the way mamewah handles videos with everything mala does I would be in video game heaven right now.

[meltman]

I would like much better interface support.

Along the lines of mame's interface support with the ability to bind multiple controls to a single function. It seems that every front end I've looked at only allows limited support to do what I want to do.

For example, since I'm using an LPT switch, there are 2 windows joysticks. Mame doesnt care if player 1 up is joypad 1 or 2. The front ends all seem to care though and want joysticks and buttons to be together.

[loadman]

I'm not really into lots of fluff like animations and music, so MaLa has my real needs covered.

FYI  Mala Does do muzac and Has a built in Jukebox and the option to load other 3rd party jukebox  

If there was one feature I could have, it'd be the ability to totally disguise Windows.

Amen to that. It can be a pain

Since a big reason for me making all of these video previews for games, if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs

IDEA   If SWINDUS could change MaLa so that a screen saver option is that all it did was trigger a Plug-in but NOT run it's built in Video or screen saver. That way someone could build a Video screen saver that would suit your needs  

[Circo]

Since a big reason for me making all of these video previews for games, if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs

IDEA  If SWINDUS could change MaLa so that a screen saver option is that all it did was trigger a Plug-in but NOT run it's built in Video or screen saver. That way someone could build a Video screen saver that would suit your needs 

Yes that would be nice, the way Mala is configured now is primarily for one video file, not a collection.  In mamewah you could specify a directory for each emulator so that whatever system you had up it would show the previews for the games and commercials since they were located in the same directory.  With the new videos that I am currently releasing the resolution is high enough that you can not tell the differance between the video and the game itself.  They also have a watermark with the game system logo.  The reason for this is you will be able to point to the preview directory and it can play videos from ALL of the systems and you can tell what system the preview is for.  I just wish I had though of that 2 years ago when I started this project.  Although space was are bigger priority back then, you could't pick up 300GB hard drives for $80. 

Actually thanks to the plug-in system and folks like you loadman, Mala has basically everything that I was looking for in a front end.  It looks exactly the same as Mamewah did on my cab but the lcd support and led-wiz support is top notch.  I was really bummed when the screensaver mode just didn't work right, since I have thousands of hours invested in the emumovies thing, and the screensaver idea was a big motivator.  Just hoping swindus will take a good look at sooner or later, I give lots of good press to Mala in my readme's  .  But in it's current form Mala is not really compatible with my sets in their current format.  But I am doing all new releases in Xvid now for Mala compatability.

[johnperkins21]

Since a big reason for me making all of these video previews for games, if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs

IDEA  If SWINDUS could change MaLa so that a screen saver option is that all it did was trigger a Plug-in but NOT run it's built in Video or screen saver. That way someone could build a Video screen saver that would suit your needs 

Yes that would be nice, the way Mala is configured now is primarily for one video file, not a collection.  In mamewah you could specify a directory for each emulator so that whatever system you had up it would show the previews for the games and commercials since they were located in the same directory.  With the new videos that I am currently releasing the resolution is high enough that you can not tell the differance between the video and the game itself.  They also have a watermark with the game system logo.  The reason for this is you will be able to point to the preview directory and it can play videos from ALL of the systems and you can tell what system the preview is for.  I just wish I had though of that 2 years ago when I started this project.  Although space was are bigger priority back then, you could't pick up 300GB hard drives for $80. 

Actually thanks to the plug-in system and folks like you loadman, Mala has basically everything that I was looking for in a front end.  It looks exactly the same as Mamewah did on my cab but the lcd support and led-wiz support is top notch.  I was really bummed when the screensaver mode just didn't work right, since I have thousands of hours invested in the emumovies thing, and the screensaver idea was a big motivator.  Just hoping swindus will take a good look at sooner or later, I give lots of good press to Mala in my readme's  .  But in it's current form Mala is not really compatible with my sets in their current format.  But I am doing all new releases in Xvid now for Mala compatability.

Along these lines, but out of the real of feasible possibility (?), if you could have the screen saver play the videos randomly, but include an option to launch the current game associated with that video straight from the screen saver. So you're just watching the screen saver and the video for a game you haven't tried yet or played in a long time pops up, you press a button and viola! you're right there playing that game.

Edit: Havok just told me that apparently AtomicFE does this already. I had no clue. Just goes to show how talented and creative all the people involved in this hobby are. Even something I thought might be near impossible, you guys get working. I am constantly amazed at what people are capable of creating and then releasing for others to enjoy.

[headkaze]

Yeah thats one of my favourite features in GameEx, the attract mode. It launches the actual emulator and plays it for a while, then randomly changes it. If you like the look of the game you can press the start button and start playing. It also supports other emulators besides Mame and video's (by ratio).

The feature I would like to see at the moment in GameEx is a search feature, which I believe is in the works. Then extending that out into a built in IRC chatroom so we can all gasbag between playing games.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with the features, I'm not that worried about TV support.

[Lilwolf]

Here is my list.

Good way of filtering games... 

One that can run with screen shots, and not just titles.

One that can have more then one group of games for multi control panels or rotating monitors.  And switch them easily.   So when you have your trackball installed, your only looking at trackball games.  Maybe also changing the UI for monitor changes.

One that handles more then one emulator easily.  So you can use zinc, mame36 for some games and latest mame for all others.

One that hides adult games unless you specify your interested.... and you turn them on with a way that kids wont figure out.

One that handles some animation would be nice.  Looking good is nice.

Configuratable UI is good.  But might not be needed to a level that most do. 

I would love to see a good opengl one.  I wrote one that was just getting good... but then had probems that the engine I was using wounldn't work on ATI cards.... but worked GREAT on nvidia.... my dev system uses a nvidia... my cabinet... guess now...

Works with joysticks, keyboard and trackballs..

All I can think about for now.

[Minwah]

Just a few comments:

(3) HISTORY.DAT support

The next Mamewah beta will feature this.

(5) Screenshots and Animations that are the correct dimensions when viewing from a vertical layout.

Mamewah has this, it is just broken in the latest beta(s).  Fixed ready for the next release.

(7) A working "screen orientation" option for list generation.

Again, Mamewah has this, but I think one of the recent listxml changes broke it.  Fixed ready for next release also

[lingpanda]

A FE with built in network play. It could be for those emus that only support it. Or a better wish. Network support for mame. A chat room.(I believe GameEx is doing this). Ability to show more then one screenshot/video on the screen at a given time.

[Minwah]

I would like much better interface support.

Along the lines of mame's interface support with the ability to bind multiple controls to a single function. It seems that every front end I've looked at only allows limited support to do what I want to do.

Well I based Mamewah's input system on Mame's, so it is very similar (well to the old style ctrlr files anyway).  At the moment the only two limitations are:

1) True analog joystick support is iffy....but analog joysticks work fine in digital mode.
2) Joystick devices need to appear in Control Panel as game controllers, and some unusual controllers seem to refuse to work.

[FrizzleFried]

Any ETA on the release Minwah?   I have been waiting with bated breath for god knows how long...i've even fiddled with MALA a little but refuse to go to the dark-side... I need more FORCE...er...enuff with the Star Wars crap...JUST RELEASE B13 DAMNIT! 

[Kaytrim]

I use Game Ex and here are a few things that I'd like to see.  Ability to easily reconfigure the menu system to your own standards.  In particular I'd like to have multiple favorites folders with the ability to add games to each folder.  I'd also like to see the control layout needed for the currently selected game along with the screen shot.

[Minwah]

Any ETA on the release Minwah?   I have been waiting with bated breath for god knows how long

Yeah I know, sorry...I've just been busier than ever with real life lately.  I'm gradually fixing bugs right now so I'm really hoping it will be very soon.  Got a few decisions to make about how to handle some of the history.dat stuff, but that's the only tricky part really.

[shock_]

I wonder has anyone considered or tried making a front end in Flash?  I don't speak Flash or Actionscript myself, but from a moment's googling it seems it can handle launching external applications via EXEC, and would certainly assist those looking for animated everything.  No idea how you'd go with LED support etc, but I don't run LED stuff myself so I'm happy without.

[FrizzleFried]

I can barely wait Minwah...this update will be huge for my vertical cabinet especially.

Plus the History stuff will be nice.

Frankly...I have toyed with the idea of going to MALA,  but I can see no reason now that I have MAMEwah set up and running (mostly) nicely.

[Cananas]

A list with the parent roms and an option, a key to launch this game and another key that opens a windows with a list of clones of that game to select which run (similar to advancemame, but for mamewah, Mala, Gameex, AtomicFe,...

[CM]

Any FE's do a smooth snap/marquee animation like CoverFlow?

[Circo]

I wonder has anyone considered or tried making a front end in Flash?  I don't speak Flash or Actionscript myself, but from a moment's googling it seems it can handle launching external applications via EXEC, and would certainly assist those looking for animated everything.  No idea how you'd go with LED support etc, but I don't run LED stuff myself so I'm happy without.

Actually I did make one once, never could get it to work right though, flash can be finiky about opening up external programs correctly.

[loadman]

IDEA   If SWINDUS could change MaLa so that a screen saver option is that all it did was trigger a Plug-in but NOT run it's built in Video or screen saver. That way someone could build a Video screen saver that would suit your needs 

Yes that would be nice,

Looks like this idea got the thumbs up from the Main man   

[Havok]

Any FE's do a smooth snap/marquee animation like CoverFlow?

Just looked up CoverFlow - very slick! I think Ultrastyle used to do something similar, but is not being updated anymore and stopped working with Mame around version .84. The only problem I have with a layout like that is that with a huge amount of games, it would be difficult to page through to find the game you wanted.

But... Coupled with a search feature, perhaps not so bad. Hmmm....

[Howard_Casto]

How about a fe that writes itself so none of us have to add any of this crap?

[loadman]

How about a fe that writes itself so none of us have to add any of this crap?

Welcome back Howard!     

[headkaze]

Holy crap I just went to post and it mysteriously jumped back when loadman posted. Doh!

Anyways, I was saying..

Nice to see you back Howard! I actually started missing your posts and dark humour!

BTW (While I've got you here) What do you think about the ButtonsIni project for collecting colours of buttons? It would certainly benefit from your experience, but just curious what you think about it?

[youki]

How about a fe that writes itself so none of us have to add any of this crap?

AtomicFE 0.19 will read your mind and auto-configure itself without even having to touch the keyboard or the mouse.And of course will auto-implement all feature you dream! 

I just introduced a new concept the :  Think and Play! 

 

[CM]

How about a fe that writes itself so none of us have to add any of this crap?

AtomicFE 0.19 will read your mind and auto-configure itself without even having to touch the keyboard or the mouse.And of course will auto-implement all feature you dream! 

I just introduced a new concept the :  Think and Play! 

 

Will a user-manual for this be available?   

[papaschtroumpf]

... if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs.  If I could only blend the way mamewah handles videos with everything mala does I would be in video game heaven right now.

!!!! I thought it did. I was about to try Mala, but video screensaver is a major part of the "attraction" of my cab when it's idle. if I can't do that maybe I should reconsider. I also learned earlier today that AtomicFE doesn't do it.

Easy and intuitive list filtering would be nice.

compatibility between version configs should be a must (I'm looking at you mamewah)

support for controls.dat (or integration with johnny5, cpviewer)

compatibility with old versions of MAME (I'm still running a custom build of 0.82 I think, I'm worried some day FEs won't work with it)

per-game options (overrides defaults), this is especially important for PC games, which are a big part of my cab

proper handling of focus "weirdness" when launching PC apps or emulators.

[Circo]

... if Mala handled the video screensaver option right, ie play one after another, configurable for every emulator, no timer etc it would be just about perfect for my needs.  If I could only blend the way mamewah handles videos with everything mala does I would be in video game heaven right now.

!!!! I thought it did. I was about to try Mala, but video screensaver is a major part of the "attraction" of my cab when it's idle. if I can't do that maybe I should reconsider. I also learned earlier today that AtomicFE doesn't do it.

Easy and intuitive list filtering would be nice.

compatibility between version configs should be a must (I'm looking at you mamewah)

support for controls.dat (or integration with johnny5, cpviewer)

compatibility with old versions of MAME (I'm still running a custom build of 0.82 I think, I'm worried some day FEs won't work with it)

per-game options (overrides defaults), this is especially important for PC games, which are a big part of my cab

proper handling of focus "weirdness" when launching PC apps or emulators.

Don't worry Mala will be handling the video files correctly very soon, swindus is making some changes so that loadman can make a plugin to handle them correctly.  Believe me with all of the work that I have put into emumovies it is very important to me as well, and these guys are all over it. 

As far as per game options I think mala needs a little work on that as well, I am running lots of pc games, but I still have some work to do as far as per game stuff.  If there is anything needed, which I think there might be I will let those guys no about it.  From my experience the Mala team is pretty quick to add features as the need arises.  With the support of Led-wiz and LCD panels already quickly implimented, I have put my vote in the Mala camp lately. 

[Minwah]

compatibility between version configs should be a must (I'm looking at you mamewah)

I have to keep people on their toes one way or another 

[youki]

!!!! I thought it did. I was about to try Mala, but video screensaver is a major part of the "attraction" of my cab when it's idle. if I can't do that maybe I should reconsider. I also learned earlier today that AtomicFE doesn't do it.

Since few minute AtomicFe does that!       Not yet released. But the next coming version have this feature.

[loadman]

Don't worry Mala will be handling the video files correctly very soon, swindus is making some changes so that loadman can make a plugin to handle them correctly.  Believe me with all of the work that I have put into emumovies it is very important to me as well, and these guys are all over it. 

Shall we call this the 'EMUMOVIES' Screen saver ?

[Circo]

Not that I deserve it, but absolutely! 

[Lilwolf]

Who uses a screensaver?

I have windows shut down the monitor and everything... So I can wiggle the joystick and wake up my cabinet.  And not feel like I'm pumping so much electricity in it... but love that its always on.

[Minwah]

I have windows shut down the monitor and everything... So I can wiggle the joystick and wake up my cabinet.  And not feel like I'm pumping so much electricity in it... but love that its always on.

Switch it off you icecap melter :p

[loadman]

Who uses a screensaver?

Think of it as a video 'attract mode'

So I can wiggle the joystick and wake up my cabinet.

I wish my wife would do that to wake me up 

..Sorry had to be done 

[headkaze]

So I can wiggle the joystick and wake up my cabinet.

I wish my wife would do that to wake me up 

..Sorry had to be done 

 

[Circo]

Who uses a screensaver?

I have windows shut down the monitor and everything... So I can wiggle the joystick and wake up my cabinet.  And not feel like I'm pumping so much electricity in it... but love that its always on.

Actually the cabinet is usually off when not in use, but when company is over or whatever between paying it makes an excellent attract mode as loadman said.  Just another little bit of bling so to speak.