Allright, I had a lot of requests from people about more emulators being supported in MAMECenter, as well as a prettier interface and the ability to launch Windows games and applications.

I've been disconnected from the 'net for the last few days since I've moved house, so I used the time to finish off EMUCenter, which is designed to cater for all of these wants.

You can download a beta version from http://www.push-a-button.com.au/products/mce/vista/emucenter/index.php

It currently supports MAME (with automatic scanning of ROMS, metadata loading and screenshot finding).

It also can be used for...

   Windows Games & Apps

   Sega Master-System, Genesis, X32, SG-1000 and SG-3000's through Kega Fusion

   Super Nintendo games though ZSNES

   Commodore 64 games through CCS64

   And many more, including N64, Gameboy, PSOne, WonderSwan, Dreamcast, Amiga etc.

   You will of course need to download the appopriate emulators from the links provided on the product page.

   REMEBER TO CONFIGURE EMUCENTER BEFORE TRYING TO PLAY GAMES - OTHERWISE YOUR GAME LIST WILL BE BLANK. You can get to the configuration program from your Start menu, in "All Programs / Push-A-Button / EMUCenter". The product webpage will tell you how to get the basics up and running - you just need to tell EMUCenter where your emulators are, and where to find your games.

   TECHNOJARGON:

  Oh, and one last thing - if you are a die-hard fan of a particular system that I haven't included in the list, feel free to create your own game source. You can find all of the ones for the built-in emulators in your Application Data directory, in Push-A-Button/EMUCenter/Emulators.

   You can create a fairly simple XML file to tell EMUCenter how to start games using your emulator of choice. Just make sure it accepts command-line parameters.

   Just make sure you send me copies of your XML files so I can distribute them with the next version of EMUCenter.

 

 

  
 

 

thanks for all your hard work IB, im gonna give it a try as soon as i get home

Sweet! Will try it out asap!

Can't download the file x86. Is 0kb...

Thanks

I'm using Vista x64 spanish.

The installation was smooth. All ok.

I execute the configuration utility. I select game platforms, MAME, and I browse to the executable of MAME. I go to automatic update, and it searches MEME for games. It finds a lot. But when I go to MediaCenter, there is not games. How can I save the automatic update search? It is not saved by default?

Regards!

 

I know it says its simple to do yourself, but one emulator that I would highly suggest would be an NES one.

Also, x86 link should be:
http://www.push-a-button.com.au/downloads/EMUCenterSetupx86.msi

Its currently http://www.push-a-button.com.au/downloads/\downloads\EMUCenterSetupx86.msi

As for some feedback... for Windows games, it'd be nice if it would close out of MCE, because MCE uses so much resources that its might slow down some games.

Secondly, I know this is a weird situation, because Steam is strange, but I tried loading my desktop shortcut to Half-Life 2, and it loaded Steam but then didn't enter into HL2 like it should (the shortcut works correctly.)

Third, (this is nitpicking) the logo doesn't look all that professional, I think something lower key would work better.

Lastly, it'd be great if it installed automatically to the Online Media strip, instead of having to enter programs.


Edit:  Also, is MAME the only one which metadata exists for?  

McGiverGim

   There must be a problem saving the data - it automatically saves when you press 'close' - you don't need to do anything at all. I haven't been able to test the x64 version, since I don't have a 64 bit installation of Windows Vista. Perhaps there's a problem there, or a translation issue. One thing to try is pressing 'Close' from the main screen rather than pressing the 'x' button - perhaps there's an issue there.

   I'll add a logfile to the program - this should let us see if anything is going wrong when the data is saved.

JHoff81

   Yeah, I'm thinking of putting in a 'Hide Media Center On Launch' option into certain emulators, since I've also got some minor problems on one of my machines with running KEGA when Media Center is in fullscreen. The only drawback is the violent flickering that will occur when the game launches, but that's survivable.

   I've never tested the program in running desktop shortcuts. Perhaps you can copy the actual command-line from your shortcut and paste it into the game properties? This will let me know if it is a Steam-specific thing, or if it's just that EMUCenter can't handle shortcuts.

   Hehe - hey, I like quirky logos. Nah, it's just a placeholder while I come up with something better and sexier. Later versions will probably have something much nicer.

   Um...the program should have installed itself to Online Media automatically (it does on my x86 test machine). Did you install the 64 or 32 bit version?

   And finally, yes - MAME is the only program that actually has a plugin to extract metadata for you automatically. But you can right-click on the metadata list when editing a game to add your own metadata to the list. Well, you SHOULD be able to...I'm not entirely sure I ever tested the function.

   This way you can create your own types and you aren't forced to source it all from MAME. I personally have a 'Rating' metadata that I use so I can quickly find my favourites.

    Well...to be honest I only have a dozen or so games in my collection, so I don't really need it...but I like being able to see only my absolute favourites :)

johff81

   Oh, and I'll look at throwing in an XML file for Nestopia to get Nintendo Entertainment System games working. Although I can't promise anything, since I don't have any NES games (never owned one).

Aaah, what happens using the shortcut is that it directs to the steam.exe file, which means it removes the "applaunch -220" part from the end of it, which is necessary for HL2 to launch, and not just Steam.  It installs for me to the Online Media> Programs section, where I'd rather it was just on the front page under the Online Media section, using x86.


Without using the shortcut, HL2 still doesn't launch properly.  The correct command is

"C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe -applaunch 220"

Also, I'm getting issues with DirectDraw when I try to run ZSNES, I believe its because MediaCenter tries to take control of DirectDraw exclusively or something along those lines, because it works fine without using Emucenter to load it.  (In fact I can't load anything unless I minimize MediaCenter first)  

One other little nitpicky thing I was thinking.  If you're going to include Windows game support, maybe GameCenter would work better than EmuCenter, but its not that big of a deal either.

I'm getting a Unable to launch EMUCenter error when i click the icon....

EDIT: I figured out the problem, had to delete the push a button folder from appdata

johff81

Yeah, that problem with Media Center having exclusive access to the DirectX surfaces and input handles will be resolved once I add the option to minimise Media Center when you run your games.

By the way, could you try using the following command to launch HL2 - "C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -applaunch 220

INCLUDING THE QUOTE MARKS

Sometimes a space in a path name such as "Program Files" will cause Windows to have issues launching a process. By quoting the whole thing, you end up formalising which part of the path is the command and which part are parameters.

Although...it may still not work quite as well as I would hope, since I think there may be an issue with EMUCenter jumping in and trying to put quotes around your command anyway. I may have to play with the Windows system to allow command-line parameters like that. Hmm...I'll take a look at it.

Extremely Dodgy Workaround Enclosed:

As a radical solution, you could try copying the 'Windows.xml' file from the emulators directory, rename the copy to 'Steam' and edit it, putting '"C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -applaunch [Path]' in the 'Run' element and changing the other details from "Windows" to "Steam".

This would give you an emulator called 'Steam', and then you would create a new game with a path of '220'

bdizzle

Is there a 'Details' button in the dialog box that comes up? Have you gone into the configuration tool and set up some games? And which version are you using - the x86, or the x64?

EDIT: Deleting the Push-A-Button folder from AppData will mean that EMUCenter can't save your game details or find any emulators. You'll be able to start the program...but that's around about it. I'd imagine you can't play games.

When I try the path including the quote marks, I get a popup "Media Center Extensibility Host has stopped working" and within Media Center, a "Program Stopped Responding" message about EmuCenter.

The "dodgy workaround" does work semi-properly though.  It launches the game, but doesn't detect the game being closed, because Steam stays open after the game is closed.

(If it makes you feel better, Microsoft's Games Explorer has issues with Steam as well.)

Hmm...yes, that would be true. OK - I think I'll add an option within the games that tells EMUCenter not to bother waiting for the game to end.

So that's two new changes - Minimising the Media Center window when you're in fullscreen, and adding a flag to let some emulators return immediately without waiting for the game to finish.

Ok - keep those bugs coming in...this is what a beta test is all about.

I have a few issues;

1. I use the config utility to set up the location of the emulators and a few games for each.
     This works great, until I click the Automatic Update button...
         It will pull all of the MAME roms in just fine, however as soon as I close the config utility, i lose all of my settings.

2. When in Media center EMUCenter loads fine and lists the games i put in.  However I cannot launch the emulators for ZSNES or KEGA.  If I try to launch KEGA, nothing appears to happen, but if I minimize Media Center, I see an error message that says, KEGA cannot launch becuase it does not have priority control, or something to that effect.  If I run KEGA independant of Media Center, it works just fine.  I have a similar issue with ZSNES, will not launch from Media Center, if i minimize Media Center, I see an error message about not being able to draw something.   If I run ZSNES outside of Media Center, I have no issues.

If you need more details regarding my particular setup, let me know.

-B