walkthrough for setting up mameplus?

by **xnoob** on Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:19 pm

I'm hoping someone can help me out. I'm trying to get mameplus up and running...I've sucessfully used rom2xlobby and got the database created...when I select a game thru xlobby, a dos prompt flashes and the game doesn't start. I can run mameplus from the command prompt outside of xlobby but it has to be in the mameplus working directory. Under file types, i added mame, associated it with "zip" files, and used the parameter "%mame>parameter%"...I've tried different combinations...with and without the quotes, %game>paramter%, I also added my paths in the mame.ini....nothing seems to work...is there a walkthrough somewhere that can show me exactly how to get it working?
Thanks!

by **xnoob** on Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:06 pm

there's got to be someone out there that can help

by **Marbles_00** on Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:17 pm

Check out this post:
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... light=mame

And follow dalanik entry for how he got mameplus to work for him. It may be what your looking for.

Further in that post, dgemily describes how to get a slightly different version of mame to what you have to work.

Hope this was helpful.

David

by **Marbles_00** on Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:23 pm

Also have a look at this thread:
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... light=mame

More specific, look at 3rdman's entry:

"OK, I've figured it out. Thanks for our help tonihappy, but I really don't want to go the route of unzipping and renaming all my roms. So after some trial and error this is what I did...

The first this to do is to create a database of the roms. Using the "Roms" template I would import the roms and coverart into a database called "snes" (Different emus required different configurations so, for now, lets stick with SNES) Once that was complete, I created a new screen with the Skin Editor called "SNES." In that screen I created a new category called "snes roms" and then pointed to the "snes" database to populate it. Enable thumbnails and you're good to go.

The next step is to go back to the setup screen and goto the File Types tab. I created a new file type that pointed to the emu (In my case it was zsnesw.exe) with ZIP as an extension. I left the offline, start, and end events blank. The most important thing here is to fill out the "Category" and in this case it was "snes roms"...and thats it!

Go ahead and test it...Go to the snes screen you've created and click on one of the thumbnails...it should load the rom properly and if you've got the emu properly configured it should load fullscreen and be seemless.

There were some minor issues I came across configuring Project64 and mame. Here's what I did to get them working. I creating a screen and category exactly as I did with the snes example above. File types was set also the same EXCEPT that both required that I fill in the command line. For Project64, I had to include %parameter% in the command line, after that it loaded the rom and ran perfectly. Mame loaded and ran fine without command line arguements but looked wrong and ran without joystick support. So for Mame, I included "-aspect_ratio 16:9 -resolution 856x480x32 -joy". Its pretty selfexplanatory so I won't bother explaing it.

The only thing left for me to do is create a Games screen and populate it with buttons that point to each of these screens.

Now although I've got most of this nulled out, I still need help on a couple of matters. The only emulator that I'm not satisfied with is Gens. It loads the roms and runs, but it won't load in fullscreen. Can anybody help? Secondly, Is there any way while importing a database to EXCLUDE roms that don't have matching coverart?"

This may also help you.

by **rika** on Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:18 pm

The dragonskin is set up with mameplus
http://www.xlobby.com/files/rika/dragon/dragon12.jpg
You can take a look at the event manager in the skin to get some hints...

Rika

by **xnoob** on Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:16 pm

I appreciate all the help but I still can't get it to work. I'm using Naylia's XlobbyMC Skin that has built in support for mame. I'm going to tinker some more tonight but I feel like I don't really know the rig ht way to do this:) I was able to get music and movies working but this has me stumped. If anyone has any more pointers, I would greatly appreciate it!

by **xnoob** on Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:10 pm

I made some progress last night...if I specify %parameter%, the dos prompt opens and loads the rom. But then something weird happens, the screen flashes like it's going to start the game, then it hangs for a few seconds and goes right back to xlobby. Any ideas?

by **scottw** on Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:52 pm

I am using the same skin and have Mame+ working, I will see if I can help. I do not use the file types, I call an event and using the execute file command under OS.

So basically hit F2, events and under SKIN I have a group called Games. Under that is an event called Play Mame which I added the command OS>execute file and have it setup as follows:

File: C:\mamep\mamep.exe

Arguments: %MAME>parameter% -joy -skip_disclaimer -skip_gameinfo -resolution 800x600x32 -noverbose

Working Directory: C:\mamep\

Then on the page that shows your games I just added Play Mame as the event when you click on a game.

I hope that makes sense I am still learning XL but once you do it ROCKS!!!

Oh and also if you are going to try my approach you may want to remove what you did under the "File Types" section.

by **xnoob** on Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:25 pm

Thanks for tip Scott! If I remember correctly, I don't have a "play mame" event...there is a "games" and "set mame" event...do i need to CREATE this event first?

by **scottw** on Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:49 pm

Yeah if I remember correctly, that skin used the File Type's section but I removed it and created the event. So yes you do have to created the event.

Let me know if I can help any more.

by **xnoob** on Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:04 am

Okay, getting closer now, I added a "play name" group in the skin events list, added the os/execute fie with the same paramters as you listed. The only other step was to add this as a "click event" under the skin editor (item/event/click event).

But now, Winzip is opening inplace of mame. I'm going to try a few other paramters and see if that's the problem. I don't suppose downloading a different version of mameplus would be a solution? I'll post again after some more "tinkering".

by **scottw** on Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:06 pm

Ok I am getting a brain lapse....I had the same thing happen to me. I am trying to remember how to fix it.......

Did you remove the entries you made under File Types.

by **scottw** on Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:22 pm

Ok I think I remember.

When you setup the Category in the skin editor did you give it a name??

Mine is a s follows:

Name: mame

Info Screen: mame_details

Display: %display%

I am 99% sure the problem is your "name" in this section does not match what is in the arguments section of the OS>execute file command:
%MAME>parameter% -joy -skip_disclaimer -skip_gameinfo -resolution 800x600x32 -noverbose

Most likely you don't have the name filled in at all, I think that is what I did.

Let me know

by **scottw** on Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:33 pm

Looking back on some old posts, I may be wrong.
Also in the Argument:
%MAME>parameter% -joy -skip_disclaimer -skip_gameinfo -resolution 800x600x32 -noverbose

The MAME part may be your database name which yours may be named something different.

This is the post I was looking at:
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... light=mame

Post by dgemily at Fri Sep 17, 2004 6:13 pm

Sorry about all the posts, I am still pretty new and learned alot over the past few weeks and may get some of it mixed up

by **xnoob** on Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:07 am

thanks Scottw! I've got the swing it now (I think)...it was the parameter that was wrong. This is what worked with Media Center skin:
mame: %games>parameter%
This also worked with znes and gens. The only trouble I'm having now is realizing that you need separate screens for different emulators. This program is amazing how you can customize every detail. Nice work!