All about MAME, my Suzuki M109, and other trivia
Unfortunately, I’ve had to give in at last and move my games (MAME cabinet, pinball machine, Alienware gaming rig) into the garage. They’re all living under dropcloths at the front of the garage, out of use and taking up space in a most inefficient (and unusable) way. It didn’t make sense to keep them upstairs any longer, since I couldn’t pay them with the baby in the next room. But it was sad to see them leave the house. (more…)
Well, a while back (probably at least two months) someone asked me if I would change the Flash-based MAME front end to use GIFs for the control panel layout. The idea was that not everyone has my control panel, so it would be nice if there could be a transparent GIF that was dynamically linked…
And now I can’t get the blue Alienware computer up and running. Where the FE source files live. Sigh.
I’ll have to dig through my archive CDs (if I can find them… they’re in storage in a box somewhere, I think) and find the one that has this file. Grrr.
For those interested in MAME and home-built arcade cabinets, the news that Classic Arcade Graphics is no longer selling marquees, side art, or control panel overlays is a bad blow. You could always count on CAG for quality stuff at a reasonable price. I also wonder how many customers they have for the $1000 “Art package” that they’re selling.
It looks like some of the folks who were having problems with my Flash-based MAME cabinet front end were actually confused by the directions in the zip file. I may have to make the whole thing more explicit to ensure that they put the files into the correct directories. Or maybe I should make all the correct directories and then zip everything in a pre-structured form. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that before
Apparently, during a site update, I deleted the Flash MAME FE files from the danzbb.com server. I’ve finally managed to get those Flash MAME Front End files off the Alienware PC (that’s currently homeless due to the remodel) and post the Zip files at mame.danzbb.com. It turned out that I used the projector in the Game Room as a monitor and plugged it in to the network and managed to move all those files onto the network drive, so future updates should be easier ;-)
In the last week, I’ve had three people get in touch with me regarding the Flash-based MAME front end I wrote. This is good for a number of reasons: it validates my sense that this was worth posting on the Intarweb, encourages me to make further refinements, and gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when something you have created is appreciated.
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Well, Windows strikes again. I was working to finally finish up a few last details on the MAME interface, when Windows died. |
Apparently, there’s something corrupted in the default user account, and the MAME bootskin I’m using won’t let me boot into safe mode, so it’s looking like my Windows install is hosed.
I would move off Windows to Linux in a heartbeat, but there’s no equivalent to the Flash fscommand in non-Windows versions, so I’m stuck unless I want to leave my personal, customized front end behind. Which I don’t.
So tomorrow I’ll get the joy of reinstalling Bill’s Frankenstein creation. Again.
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Downloaded from the Internet, click the picture for a larger image.
Here’s a picture of the Stern Stars payfield and backglass. Of course, mine isn’t in this good of shape :-) I believe from the condition of my Stars (and from the smell of it and some things found inside the cab) that my pin was probably in use in a bar and that the use was pretty heavy. There is a lot of playfield wear, especially around the bonus lites in the bottom center area of the playfield. |
With the Stars pin now in the game room, the time has arrived for some serious work to fix it up. I ordered new drop targets and a pop bumper cap from Pinball Resource.
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The bumper cap was an easy fix–two screws
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The drop targets were more complicated. Lift the playfield
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This is finally starting to look more like a game room and less the “the spare bedroom where I just happen to keep my MAME cabinet”
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The Stars come out at night.
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DigDug competes with pinball
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