Volume adjustment question

[johnnybleu]

I don't know if this is in the right forum or not, but here goes... Ok, I'm now working away on the software portion of my mame cab build- setting up the emulator, roms, front end, playing with the options, making various adjustments, etc etc etc.

However, I noticed something that really bugs me.... It seems that not all games have the same volume level, and not all games even allow you to actually set the volume. Recent Midway games have a built-in volume control, for example, while others have no such option, via the test mode or otherwise. I assume that this is due to the fact that some boards had a physical volume control right on the PCB, like Capcom boards, correct...?

Anyway, what I want to know is what would be the best way to set the volume for each game (individually, if I have to) so that I don't constantly have to fiddle with the volume control on the finished cab- assuming, of course, that this is possible. I'd like to set every option and parameter beforehand so that when I go to play on the cab, I don't have to adjust anything every time I switch games.

Thanks in advance!

[johnnybleu]

Ok, I realize now that I should have added a few details to my question....
I'm using Mamewah, with mameuifx32.

Thanks.

[TelcoLou]

I think in the latest version of MAME (0.128), there's a slider control for volume; hit TAB to bring up the options menu.

[johnnybleu]

Yeah, you can set the "core" volume for mame using the "~" key. While it's probably not the option I'm looking for, I'm starting to think that it might be the only way to go....
Is there a way to have it set differently for each game, and have MAME remember those settings?

My ultimate goal here is to have the cab with no visible admin buttons or volume knobs- it should be as authentic as possible. Therefore, if I could avoid having to set the volume every time I change game, that would be perfect.

Thanks!

[johnnybleu]

Okay, I've made some kind of progress here....
I figured out you can set the volume for each game via the .cfg files. Sortta.
Thing is, I'm not really sure what the values mean, and they dont' seem to have a direct impact on the games themselves. I mean, I've managed to adjust the volume on some games, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it- meaning the values don't seem to have a concrete relation on the outcome.

Does anyone here know what all the values mean, and what they should be set at? Also, whenever I run a game, it seems to reset or change some of the numbers I put in, as well as the volume within the game itself. Here's an example of the volume code from a .cfg file.

<mixer>
            <volume multiplier_final="256" multiplier_final_max="256" multiplier_mixer="4390" multiplier_mixer_max="4390" />
        </mixer>

If anyone has any information that might help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[headkaze]

You might be able to do what you want using Command Line Volume from here. It's a little util I wrote that will save and restore the current global volume. You can use a profile for each game by sending it the ROM name as a parameter and it will store and restore the volume last set while playing the game so you should only need to set the volume once.

[johnnybleu]

Well, thank you!
That might just be what I'm looking for... However, will it work with mamewah (or any FE other than GameEx)? Also, would it allow you to set the volume for each game with the same emulator, or just for each emulator?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I read through everything, and that's what I could gather. I don't exactly know what I'm doing when it comes to programming and such....

Thanks again!

[headkaze]

It should work fine with MameWah, you just have to run it before and after an emulator. Most FE's have a variable to you can send the ROM name as. Something like [ROM] or {ROM} etc. So you can use that so save a different volume profile for each game.

[johnnybleu]

Ok, great.

Well, I was able to create a .dat file for a few games, but I still have a question... How do I get this profile to load when I boot up the game? It doesn't seem to be doing it automatically. I assume I have to do a bit of creative programming?

I'm really sorry for all the dumb questions, but I'm not really good with all the software programming, configuration bits. Which is why I went with mameuifx32, rather than the vanilla Mame. Of course, I also realize that I'm essentially running a frontend through a frontend.... 

Thanks again!

[headkaze]

As per the readme.txt you need to read and write the volume profiles

Launch Before line:

Code: [Select]

volume.exe -read -file [name].vol
Launch After line:

Code: [Select]

volume.exe -write -file [name].vol
Then when you run the game set the volume and it should keep it that way for next time.