is this script possible?

[swaffar]

so i'm about to start my first project... it's going to be a control panel with everything build inside... just the power and video cables running out so it will be portable.  i've decided on using maximus arcade and love everything about it except for the fact it doesn't show control panel art.  my original idea was to try and wire my button LED's so that when i selected a game only the used buttons would illuminate.  the only problem is that they're still not labeled with what they do.  i was thinking of installing a small (4 or 6 inch) LCD in the middle of the control panel itself under the plexiglass.
HERE'S MY QUESTION
how hard do you guys think it would be to script a plugin for maximus arcade to display a jpeg or png (on this built-in display) that shows the button layout for each game while you're loading/playing it?... while still displaying the game on the primary screen?  is this something i should even pursue?

thanks for your input.

[9innail]

It seems like it could be done using CPWizard. I dunno though, you'd have to ask one of the programming gurus. But that would be one amazing control panel. 

[arzoo]

LEDBlinky will illuminate the buttons and also speak their function when you start or pause the game. But your idea would be very cool. I agree with 9innail - check CPWizard out first.

[cadmium]

What I have done is use CPWizard to generate control panel layouts that get displayed during game pause.

The way it works is you layout your CP in the design view, then you can generate png's/zip's for each game that highlights (usually) labels the buttons specific to the game overlayed on your cp. Overall it works really well.

There are a few ways to run CPWizard, you can have it generate them on the fly and display them dynamically with CP Wizard running all of the time, or you can do what I did and use their source patch and compile a custom build of mame (I also compiled a few other patches in at the same time) to just show the CP on pause.

There are various options on what you can display, game info, etc. I went with just the CP as I like to keep things simple.


If you choose to keep CPWizard in resident mode, it can also show a lot more information and has it's own menu to navigate. That seemed like overkill to me.

[swaffar]

yes, after looking at cpwizard all the info is too much... i want this to seem as close to the real thing as possible.  thanks everyone for the input.

well, i'm active duty air force stationed in germany, waiting for my parts to get in.  i've got the entire month of september off for leave so i can't wait to get started on my project.  i'll be sure to post some pics of the progress.  right now i'm actually debating on what to use for the control surface.  probably just wood with plexiglass, but i was thinking polyethylene would be really cool.  that's the stuff that's used to make those slick, white cutting boards.  that seems like a good stain-resistant and durable surface.  it could even be cleaned easily.  what do you guys think?

[headkaze]

I actually use CPWizard to generate the bezels and apply the patch to display them in Mame on pause. I run it along with my PlugInLCD plugin for GameEx so when I pause Mame each button lights up and the label is spoken. It also lights the buttons using the colors of the original game.

You should be able to do the same thing in Maximus arcade using CPWizard's export bezel, the patch and arzoo's LEDBlinky program.

[swaffar]

thanks for the info, but once i started ordering all my parts i scaled my project down considerably.  it was a little too ambitious for a first project.  I compiled a new MAME with the CPWizard patch among others.  I've decided to backlight using a single LED light panel instead of wiring individual LED's for each button.  And once I made my mock-up panel, I've decided to go from 4 to only 2 player controls.  This has less to do with money, and more to do with the fact that 4-player controls are TOO B I G.  I shaved my parts list down to the following:
two players using Mag-Stik Plus'es
U-Trak trackball
Mini-PAC
TurboTwist 2 spinner with 7" wheel add-on
i may or may not order an LCD compatible Light gun or two... but that's easy enough to add at a later date.