Front End with individual ROM settings

[REBIRTH]

I love all the options available in MAME32, specifically that you can set and save settings for each individual ROM (i.e. screen orientation, sound options, video options, etc).  For example, you can set in MAME32 that when playing Galaga to rotate the video 90 degrees (to play on a vertical screen), yet have Defender play horizontally.  I have a rotating monitor and a rotating control panel, so I like the options of MAME32 so I can really individualize each ROM.  I'm just not sold on MAME32 as a front end I want to use forever.

Are there any other front ends out there that allow you to save ROM configurations for each individual ROM?  I found some front ends that allow these types of setting, but they are applied to all ROMS, you can't individualize them.  MAMEWAH comes the closest allowing you to set up multiple ROM starting options - but these aren't stored with the ROM, you have to know what options you want to use each time you start a ROM and then pick that option each time.  This is really good, but I would rather it just be stored for me so once it is set up you do not need to think about it again (really for my kids and guests who will play the machine).

Anybody know of any other front ends that allow this?  I haven't found one yet.

Thanks

[rampy]

Well ... I believe arcadeos does...

But may I suggest taking a step back and thinking about the problem from a different angle.

Why are you changing settings for every rom?  especially since you have a rotating monitor it shouldn't be necessary... should it?

hmmm... my head hurts... it was hard enough figuring out vertical mounting monitor global setting.... but one that rotates ?!?

rampy

[REBIRTH]

Why are you changing settings for every rom?  especially since you have a rotating monitor it shouldn't be necessary... should it?
rampy

For example, the default orientation for a game is Horizontal, even if it is a vertical game.  So to have the orientation rotate 90 degrees to match my now rotated monitor you need the "-rol" in the mame.exe script.  So all the vertical games you can specify in MAME32 to play with the "-rol" in it.  Very easy to do, once for all vertical games.  The only other times I realy change it is for the few CPU intensive games, I'll play with some of the settings to get them to play better.  That is really it, really there isn't a lot of time setting them up - the verticals take about 3 seconds and all the CPU intensive take maybe 5 minutes when I come across one that needs it, and there aren't that many.  BUT - even just for the vertical issue, every front end I've seen can't handle that sort of thing either all games are horizontal or all are vertical (other than Mame32 and Mamewah, though as I said the Mamewah approach forces you to think when starting a game where Mame32 has the settings saved).  

[rampy]

What about that new fancy autoror feature in mame 69/70?

It might just work... if you rotate the monitor for the horizontals... (although I'm still confused so ymmv)

*Shrug*

rampy

[Tiger-Heli]

www.mameworld.net/emuloader will do this and is very similar to MAME32 with more features.

[Howard_Casto]

Agree with teh original response.  You should be looking at why you are making special settings for every game.  It should just be a handful at best.  

Also you should look into ini files and ctrlr files, both of which have a hierarchy which will save you a lot of time.  

[REBIRTH]

www.mameworld.net/emuloader will do this and is very similar to MAME32 with more features.

EMULOADER looks good so far.  Let me play with it some more.  Thanks for the tip.

Agree with teh original response.  You should be looking at why you are making special settings for every game.  It should just be a handful at best.  

Using MAME .70 if you just run every ROM with the default settings, some rotate left, some rotate right, some don't rotate at all when they should, some have their images reveresed/upside down, etc.  If you do not rotate your monitor I guess you can set the default to play all ROMS vertical (or horizontal), but if you let it default to the original game specs they rotate all different ways.  Another example is background art - games like Asteroids deluze, unless you specify to use the background art it won't use it.  I'm not configuring every ROM, but maybe 30 or so (other than saying "play all vertical games with a -rol).

[Howard_Casto]

then make 30 ini files, each named after the rom with the rotate command inside.... then you never have to do it again and you aren't tethered to a front ends specific config files

[REBIRTH]

then make 30 ini files, each named after the rom with the rotate command inside.... then you never have to do it again and you aren't tethered to a front ends specific config files

excellent idea, thanks