Frontend: in-game snaps + title snaps

[Stormrider]

Is there any MAME frontend that lets you use in-game snaps and title snaps in the same position and automatically switch between both at a specific interval?

[youki]

With AtomicFE you can do that.

You have to do a layout where you superpose SNAP and TITLE at the exact same place.

said, you put Title under the snap.

Then you can , thank sto "display event" option of the layoutEditor , make blink the SNAP and specify the interval you want.

You can say for instance: Show snap for 10 seconds , then hide it for 15 second and show it again.

And the result should be what you want.

[Stormrider]

Great. I'll try it. Can I make a 320x240 res layout with AtomicFE?

[youki]

Of course.

The object to use for your Title is what i call Dyn Custom . (1 or 2 )  It works as SNAP , you can specify a folder where are the images in  AtomicStudio in "DEfine Layout Folders" menu for your "screen".

If you didn't manage to do it , i can do a quick layout template for you .

[Stormrider]

Thanx. I have a low res layout made for MaLa, but this frontend editor can't do what I intended to do with snaps. I'll try to reconvert it to AtomicFe, but first I have to try it and check that all the features I need are there, which are not many or exotic, since my layout is quite simple: possibility to have a dual layout (vertical and horizontal) and switch between them with one key, full screen loading screen, full screen splash screen or video (on start), custom sounds for every event, letter by letter browsing, display game information, random game selection...

http://www.alvarezeninternet.com/malalayout/

[youki]

All you say can be done.  But i think , seing your layout, some part are not "straight" foward in Atomic because not documented or require a custom plugins.  (as display the detailed information of the game).

And by default swith layout from vertical to horizontal with one key is not managed. In Atomic , you have to do a menu to choose "vertical" or "Horizontal" ,  and according to your choice you enter in a screen that is oriented as you want.  (Atomic has also an autorotate feature , but it is the same layout that is rotated).

Otherwise you can do what you want, but will require to make a plugins that in fact manage almost entirely your layout.

Honestly, if the only feature that is missing for you , it 's just the SNAP/TITLE blink.  I guess you could ask loadman to implement it in the next release. It is not something difficult to do.  Could be done in a couple of hours , i guess.

[Cakemeister]

With Khameleon you would have to define an animation to do this. You could, for example, dissolve one into the other, or fade one out then fade the other in, or you could move one in from offscreen as the other moves in, or you could just transition from one to the other like Atomic is doing.

With Hyperspin it would work pretty much the same. You could define artwork 2 as your snapshot and artwork 3 as your title. Then you can define the animations to make them appear in succession. Most likely you would need use a default theme for all games to make it work right.

I'm going to guess that HeadKaze's unreleased front end will have this capability, too.

[headkaze]

I'm going to guess that HeadKaze's unreleased front end will have this capability, too.

Appreciate you putting in a mention for me but to be honest with you I've lost interest in my FE and have moved onto other projects. I think the FE scene is becoming a bit saturated and it seems like every second person is writing a FE these days. I don't see the point if you only have a handful of users. When I first started work on my FE there was no HyperSpin and I felt there was a niche for a more graphically animated FE. While I did have quite alot of cool ideas like separate user login's for having your own favorites and game lists, cocktail split screen mode with full rotation support, built in layout editor, flash style animation support, and a bunch of CPWizard features planned it had potential for being a great FE. The problem is that with Real Life (R) and the fact that you can't make a living from writing and maintaing a FE makes it less appealing to put in the time and effort required. And to be frank is there really a need or want for a new FE?

I have been quite involved in the development of GameEx, and have written many apps for it including it's Theme Editor, Setup Wizard, Plugin Manager, LED and LCD plugins, Ultrastik plugins etc. I even wrote GameEx Login recently which was an idea taken from my own FE so members of the family can have their own avatars with username's and password protection so you can have your own game list and theme's as well as preventing children from having access to adult games. I still think GameEx is a great FE and if Tom ever gets around to implementing a Direct3D interface I think many more of my ideas will go into it so there is potential for some of these ideas to see the light of day. I just don't think I have the time or motivation to spend working on my own anymore.

[Cakemeister]

I've lost interest in my FE and have moved onto other projects.

Release the source code. Let it live!

[Stormrider]

I chose MaLa for my layout because it's quite simple and actually it worked perfectly. It's very easy to use and has made posible  every idea I had in mind. I have already told about the the dynamic snapshots idea to Loadman. He says it's not gonna happen, at least at the moment. The only option for me then is to use videos, although I don't like the idea very much. They are too stressing for the cpu.