MultiFE - plain weirdness

[Ummon]

I'm not saying it blows or anything. I'm saying it's format, in particular it's 'set up' format, is just weird. Totally unfamiliar. I thought of actually trying to figure it out, but it doesn't have a high enough resolution available for me, and it wasn't obvious one could be created, nor how if so, so I thought I'd just pass. Not dogging it, just not digging it.

[Space Fractal]

What can I do, since you just critic somehing without telling me how I can help and what you trying to do, but I do try:

The newest version of MultiFE (few day before you post this one), MultiFE do now only use FullScreen and I removed the windowered mode which can been a bit weird, since it is THAT mode you could set the resolution for, NOT the fullscreen. Now in newest version MultiFE allways use the desktop resolution, regardless which one it is, just make sure you use a 4:3, 16:0. 16:10 or 5:4. Here I use 1920x1080 pretty fine without felled upscaled. If you have a other format, tell me which one you use and I create a "skin" for that format.

I have also redesigned MultiFE homepage (about 2 weeks ago), so the help section should been easier to find around.  a bit and there is a help section to look on.

Otherwise if MultiFE Crash on start-up, the main problem can been the graphics driver, the desktop set at 16 bit resolution, otherwise send me the multife.log file, so I can checkout what it happens.

Hope this post help you out (I hope you test version 2.09.3+).

The MultiFE author
Space Fractal

NB. No more EDITS.

[Ummon]

Well, I kinda figured you'd set it up more for arcade cabs. I thought it was strange to have Ctrl as 'select', as Enter is a common one. Also the options as they were named weren't familiar. What you mentioned you adjusted sounds good, though. I admit I had the older version that I just hadn't gotten round to, and I'll get this new one and try it out. Also, anyone else who's tried this out/uses it, chime in. I'm curious to hear of your experience and all. I bet SF is, too.

[Space Fractal]

Remember config is inbuilt with the FE and not outside, so it use MAME default too, so even in CONFIG use MAME Default. In MultiFE SELECT is the ACTION BUTTON 1 and PARENT is the ACTION BUTTON 2 as they show in the top toolbar. That is why ENTER is not used. So no weirdless here.

Howover ENTER is used as a OKbutton as well for the Jukebox GUI mode, but it should use as alternative for ACTION BUTTON 1 when Jukebox GUI is not used, but some reason it does not work in config, so that one is really a small bug, so I can look on that soon.

The same is ESCAPE, but in MultiFE it allready used as a QUIT key, but I could might been redesign that, so you use it as ACTION BUTTON 2, when CONFIG is open, so you cant quit here. I can look on that too soon.

But of course you can remap all keys and it change in both FE itself as well CONFIG, and it effect CONFIG as well in normal use.

And final: Some config, button names could been better, but have tried to have them a order which they should been used under configuration.  Library should might been changed to Profile now? I do I have called them Library because MultiFe actually was a jukebox software to a start with and I use still use that term in my homepage.

[Ummon]

action button '#' : um, you mean it's set to mame default. I wondered that. Blech. Most FEs have '1' and '5' - game start and coin up, respectively - as select, etc, buttons.


So I messed around with it a bit. I now see how this is minded. It was really rather strange how the navigation in the configuration menu is. It's certainly not implicit to select new libraries by pressing 'right' on library '#' (much less that 'sideways scrolling' in system format includes mame as one). And resetting a library seems to require exiting and restarting the app.

The jukebox (at least by default) is set up to put all tracks in an infinite list, rather than by 'folders'. Understandable, but not preferable to me.

Incidentally, I couldn't get mame games to load. It says there are some, but I think it's set to list all games in the xml rather than how many I actually have.

I dunno. It was many many minutes beyond what I consider should be normal to find one's way around and configure a few emulators. I'm sorta burnt on it.

[Space Fractal]

MultiFE is actuelly designed to use with a 4 button neogeo layout which have all colored buttons, that hence I use the top toolbar to tell what they does (hence they are RED, YELLOW, GREEN and BLUE, colors that can been changed on the toolbar). These four buttons is the 4 fire buttons MAME use by default too. I called them Action Buttons, simple because they are dynamic change what they really do, where you are in the list or you example using the Search, Song Queue, games etc. The toolbar is the heart in MultiFE and hence I can't use 5 and 1 this time, otherwise MultiFE would just been another typical FE with same controls. MultiFE was pastly a Jukebox software, before it went to a Frontend.

For launching game, I need to checkout the multife.log, so I can see what it happens, if you actually have the game. Yes, it show all games in list from the XML, until you click on Optimize Database, which clean up all games you doesn't have controls for and also checked if the rom is in the roms dir. In next version I think this should done automatic after creating database to remove missing roms.

For the Jukebox I think you is using Singles which is do that way by default, but it have many configuration on that (MultiFE was a Jukebox application only in the past).

NB. For refreshing a library is done if you do something changed when hiding the config or by pressing F5 (Refresh). I think it was documented? There is no need for a Save here, due it normally do that automatic.

[Space Fractal]

Just updated to 2.09.4 for fix above issues (Enter diddent actually work in Config as it should and ESCAPE can been used as parent in Config). This mean Escape does NOT exit MultiFE directly while you are in the Config.

The main issue now is the Escape Key is hardcorded to quit emulators (due it use a external application to run these games), its a issue I look on later.

I have updated it to 2.09.5 to fix some program launch problems as well the Quit Key you remap to should sync with thay key you want to quit emulators with (no hard coded ESCAPE anymore).