Parental controls and game "sets"

[rEd86]

Greetings.

I am curious if there are any front-ends out there that allows parents to secure the games that are displayed to a user.  I have three young kids and I would like to only allow them to play a subset of games.  Ideally some passcode that unlocks the unit with a certain configuration.  I would have the master passcode to unlock all games, where my 9 year old son might have a different set of favorites than his younger sisters.

Ideally it's not based on Windows login since I don't plan on having a keyboard attached to my system.

Thoughts?

--Ed

[drventure]

Didn't see anything like that in Mala.

But I know what you mean. I'm kind of looking for the same thing.

One possibility is to simply move the full games list somewhere else.

Or setup a BAT file to move the set of full games lists and the limited set back and forth between your MALA folder.

Then, maybe use something like AUTOHOTKEY or some other macro app to detect a certain series of keypresses and toggle between the two sets.

Not exactly easy, but it could work.

Maybe some of the other front ends support that? A quick check didn't turn up anything other than Emuloader, but I've never used it.

[rEd86]

Once I get my cabinet built, I will start to evaluate what front-ends could be modified to support this.  I am a developer so as long as there are some APIs it might be possible to extend them to allow this.

I was thinking the same thing - a sequence of successful button presses unlocks the game set from limited to full access. When a "screen saver" kicks in the system reverts back to limited mode.

If anyone knows of front-ends that can get extended, let me know so I can add them to my evaluation list.

Thanks!

--Ed

[zmartin34]

I am using Hyperspin FE and would very much like to know how to implement something like this. I'm going to follow this thread...

[rEd86]

After reviewing the Front End Wiki, I will evaluate each of these to see which one works for me:

• AtomicFE
• GameEx
• HyperSpin
• MaLa
• Maximus Arcade

Since I don't think any will have this feature built in, I am guessing I'll create a program that will allow you to choose the "player" and it will swap out some config files before launching the FE. If the player is a parent, then some button sequence will need to be entered as a "password" before proceeding. The nice thing about this approach is that it will work for any FE that saves config files, although I don't know if ANY do this! 

If a FE developer catches this thread and has some direction/input, that would be greatly appreciated.

--Ed

[drventure]

That'd be pretty easy with Mala.

The game lists all are stored in a single folder, and Mala enumerates them at load, so you'd just have  rename them back and forth to something it didn't recognize.

I'd be happy to help/test on this one.

[headkaze]

You might like to check out my GameEx Login application which allows you to setup password protected accounts for each member of your family. It also allows you to login using a joystick (you can set passwords like up, down, up, up etc)

[rEd86]

You might like to check out my GameEx Login application which allows you to setup password protected accounts for each member of your family. It also allows you to login using a joystick (you can set passwords like up, down, up, up etc)

Very nice! That's exactly the functionality I was looking for - that moves GameEx higher up on my list.  Did you develop this headkaze?

--Ed

[drventure]

Sounds cool. Exactly what I was thinking (or dang close anyway)

Would this work with Mala (ie are the files that get moved and the program that gets launched customizable or specifically for Gameex)?

[garnerb350]

Headkaze's login program looks like that what you are looking for...

I myself I have Hyperspin...What i did was make different genre lists....You can make whatever list you want....On my cab...I have All Games( minus Adult), Fighter, Favorites, Adult Games...Then what i do is i hide the key to bring up genres...That way, my friends & neighbor's kids nor mine can find em...

[Space Fractal]

Im my own lesser known frontend, MultiFE (yes I known), you can passcode protect any library (which I call in MultiFE, due it also for albums. singles, pc games too) with the main password (set in config), and each library can been shown (but protected) or been hided. I think you could in MultiFe just create 2 M.A.M.E libraries, one "cripplede" with some genres without password and one with the main password with all games. The passcode also used for admin/quit features as well.

No keyboard for password required.

For other frontends, I think the headkaze login can do the job. I do have not tested it.

[zmartin34]

Headkaze's login program looks like that what you are looking for...

I myself I have Hyperspin...What i did was make different genre lists....You can make whatever list you want....On my cab...I have All Games( minus Adult), Fighter, Favorites, Adult Games...Then what i do is i hide the key to bring up genres...That way, my friends & neighbor's kids nor mine can find em...

gamerb, would you mind possibly pm'ing me a mini tutorial on how you did this? I am using the same FE as you and would like to do this. Thanks!