forums.marpirc.net

http://mahlemiut.marpirc.net/marpfront001.zip (19k)

Here's a (very) simple frontend I've written for MAME, geared towards MARP usage. Just copy marpfront.exe (it's only 43k) to your MAME folder and you're ready to go.

So far it only works with the Win32 CLI version (whichever is named 'mame.exe'), although I plan to add DOS version support at some point, and for multiple versions with different filenames.

There's no documentation as yet, but do you really need it?

The only things you need to know are:
All options that aren't in the GUI will be the usual defaults set in mame.ini,
and inp files stored in the folder set in mame.ini, as the filename <shortname>.inp. Obviously, <shortname> becomes the shortname of whichever game you're recording/playing back.

Have fun, and let me know of any bugs. Well, it is still a beta, after all.

EDIT: Oh yeah, nearly forgot, .NET is NOT required.

This looks pretty kewl. One problem for me...

The main listbox is empty for me, no matter where I place marpfront.exe. Is there something I'm missing?

As long as you have 'mame.exe' in the same folder, it should work.

I get an "cannot open mame game list" when I run the program, I have put it in the same directory as MAME.
.

Heh, I think I see the problem. I hard-coded the MAME exe as '\mame\mame.exe' Silly me. Give me a little bit and I'll try to fix it all up.

http://mahlemiut.marpirc.net/marpfront002.zip

Try this one.

Ahhh... much better. ^_^

Look slike a good start. For features, I'd like to see a box where you can type in the ROM name, and it will select the correct game.

What does the Sort list by driver checkbox do exactly?

Sorts the list by driver (or shortname), you need to click the refresh button for it to take effect (it's a MAME function).

http://mahlemiut.marpirc.net/marpfront003.zip

Added support for multiple versions of MAME (still Win32 only, sorry).
Edit versions.ini to match any versions you frequently use. I guess this means that you can put MARPFront in any folder you wish now, so long as you include a full pathname in versions.ini.

The attached shot should show that custom versions work.

http://mahlemiut.marpirc.net/marpfront005.zip

Added:
- Short (driver) name search. Enter in a games short name, click find, and the game will automatically be selected for you.
- Total number of games in the specific version of MAME you're using. Remember to refresh the list when you switch versions.
- Changed the About box. Have a look.

Also, renamed versions.ini in the zipfile, so that it won't overwrite the one you're using.