Most popular frontend and why?

[Xenepp]

It's been a while since I've scoured these forums and since I've just got hold of a nice stand-up cab, a PC and some Ultimarc gubbings the only thing left to investigate is the frontend.

I plan to run XP on my P4 with an ArcadeVGA and Mini-PAC, which frontend might suit best?

More to the point, what is everyone using these days and what layouts/schemes are the favorites?

I remember actually seeing a thread ages ago which dealt with hiding XP at boot time and minimising XP components. This is of particular interest since I only plan to run MAME on the cab, nothing else.

I did try to search but nothing came up (I tried with topics I knew existed though and it didn't find them either  )

Anyway, thanks in advance guys!

 -Joel

[Buddabing]

It's been a while since I've scoured these forums and since I've just got hold of a nice stand-up cab, a PC and some Ultimarc gubbings the only thing left to investigate is the frontend.

I plan to run XP on my P4 with an ArcadeVGA and Mini-PAC, which frontend might suit best?

More to the point, what is everyone using these days and what layouts/schemes are the favorites?

I remember actually seeing a thread ages ago which dealt with hiding XP at boot time and minimising XP components. This is of particular interest since I only plan to run MAME on the cab, nothing else.

I did try to search but nothing came up (I tried with topics I knew existed though and it didn't find them either  )

Anyway, thanks in advance guys!

 -Joel

The most popular front end may not be the one that fits your needs.

Please consult the wiki for a front end comparison.

[Anubis_au]

I can't comment on front-ends because I've not looked that much into them yet, however I can help with the threads on hiding windows, shelling your FE etc.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=53467.0

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Hiding_Windows

Good luck with it.

[unclet]

Based on discussions in the software forum, I would believe (in no particular order) that the following frontends are talked about the most:

AtomicFE
Mala
MameWah
GameEx


This in no way means that other emulators listed on the Wiki would not suit your needs .... I am just trying to save you time.   When I was searching for a frontend I did not really want to have to install tons of different frontends to make a decision ... I just preferred to try the FEs which most people were talking about at the time.  Hope this helps you out a bit.

PS:  The frontends listed above will give you a really good taste of what types of options are currently available for use in a frontend. 

[MustardTent]

The most popular front end may not be the one that fits your needs.

Please consult the wiki for a front end comparison.

Agreed.  Take the time to try more than one frontend.  Get to learn how they look/feel on your machine.  Have fun with it -- one of the best parts of making the cab is putting together a really slick user interface.

[Chunce DeLeone]

MALA with the Gamelauncher layout...................Simple, to the point, easy to set up!!!!

[Anubis_au]

When I started researching a new build-from-scratch, one of the things I looked into was windows based FEs, as I previously used DOS based advmenu/advmame.

I looked into Mamewah and Mala, and found I really liked Mala. The interface can be configured to look however you want, and Mala supports some extra functionality that I now want to include in my cab:

1. Program the U360s at game launch, so the joysticks behaves correctly for every game
2. Ledwiz plug-in, so only the buttons used in a game get highlighted.

It is these considerations that make me want to go Mala, but it all depends what you want out of your cab...