Talk:Front-Ends

• Archived discussion

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I didn't like the "Other Features" descriptions. It should use icons, because ABCDE is not rememable.

Just create logos for the "Other Features" and edit!

Please see the discussion thread Talk:Jukebox_Software about -ware in the jukebox software, why "freeware" "shareware" and "Commercial" is choosen.

This one started the discussion about using the table with is lots better then the bunch of text.

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I don't like the "Skinnable" category. I'm going to change it to "Skinning Features". The reason is that some FEs under the "Full" skinnable category really have more skinnable features than others. For example, although the game list in Kymaera can be resized, it still is always drawn as a straight up and down list of text. Plus, I don't think it can use marquee images instead of text. On the other hand, I believe Atomic can do those things, except the skins are not human readable (GRRRR!)

--Buddabing 09:26, 6 September 2006 (EDT)

You right.

If you look on the jukebox section, I have added servial more skin features), wich is a bit more precision. I guess the useing the table and minor changes should suit the skinning feature better. It up to you, what you would doing.

If there are some speciel thing about skinning, you can allways use the indepth page.

--Spacefractal 11:51, 6 September 2006 (EDT)

I've compiled the following skin-related questions which hopefully can be answered for each front end with a chart.

• Can a selectable solid color be displayed as the background?
• Can a changeable image be displayed as the background?
• Can a looping movie be displayed as the background?
• Can skin elements such as marquees, cabinet images, and control panels be added to the skin?
• Are skin elements resizable?
• Are skin elements moveable?
• Is the game list font changeable?
• Can font effects such as bold, italic, shadowing be applied to the game list font?
• Can game list entries be individually moved around and resized?

Only for a few front ends will we be able to answer "yes" to all questions. Movies would being added as the option, if you ask me.

--Buddabing 12:18, 6 September 2006 (EDT)

Grade	Font Styles	Background	Entries	Elements	Resoulutions
Font Only	Yes	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed
Basic	Maybe	Yes	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed
Standard	Yes	Yes	Some	Some	Fixed
Advanced	Yes	Yes	All	Some	Some
Full	Yes	Yes	All	Most	Any

Do I have missed some thing?

The above table should meet most thing, you asked. If some frontend have some thing speciel, it can allways destription in the indepth page or using some foot note.

I do guess a picture previes like marquees is not a skin question, but more than "Other Featuers" one. It nothing about skinning to due.

--Spacefractal 16:59, 6 September 2006 (EDT)

Maybe the skin column should even removed completly? And instead move it to "Other Features". A chart would used a lots with the "Other Features" as well.

Most frontend seen to use "full" skinning, wich doen´ts destription how it act with that. It maybe better to use a chart, with your quastion in thier own page.

Instead it canr renamed to "gui style" with present with style of gui it use:

• List only
• Picture based
• Window GUI
• Full 3D

Or something like this (only a breif example)? Your ideas?

--Spacefractal 18:05, 6 September 2006 (EDT)

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Maybe having two tables is better like you suggest, one for front end features and one for skinning features.

The problem is that a lot of skinning features are unknown because the front ends does not have a good skinning application.

I would prefer not to have a "gui style" column, rather I would prefer the skinning column to be removed entirely.

Front End	Font Styles	Background	Game List Split or One List	Skin Elements
Atomic FE	Face/Size	Color/Picture/Animation	One List	Selectable/Resizeable
MameWah	Face/Size	Picture only	One List	Selectable/Resizeable
Dragon King	Face/Size	Picture/Animation	Split	Selectable/Resizeable
Kymaera	Face/Size/Bold/Italic/Underline/Shadow	Color/Picture/Animation	One List	Selectable/Resizeable
MaLa	Face/Size	Color/Picture/Animation	One List	Selectable/Resizeable

These table entries are not necessarily accurate.

--Buddabing

Let remove the skintab completly and let it add into the features as a "Other Features" Instead. These codes can being used:

• SKF: This frontend can being skinned with a full skinning tool.
• SKN: This frontend can being skinned, but it have not have a skin tool included.

--Spacefractal 06:25, 9 September 2006 (EDT)

Change the page, since I didden't hear from you, but comment it of course. What do you think? The "Other Features" should have thier own page with a chart over all features.

Since I use ST (Skin Tool) and SWT (Skin without tool) is best to tell, a user simply can change the skin in the fly or a easy way (without hassle with the ini or other inhuman things). A frontend can been harder to skin rather than a jukebox software....

--Spacefractal 17:39, 12 September 2006 (EDT)

SF, I disagree somewhat with your last edit, I think Nagware and Shareware are slightly different. For Nagware, the free version of the software has the exact feature list as the registered (paid) version, excepting only that there is a nag screen or advertisements. For Shareware, the registered version can have additional features (like GameEx does).

So, if GameEx had no extra features in the registered version, it would be nagware instead of shareware.

Currently, I don't think any frontends meet the nagware category, but that doesn't mean it should be removed.

Buddabing 20:16, 17 December 2006 (EST)

Because You changed GameEX to shareware, there are no more nagware shown on the list. So why add it, when no nagware was shown? It was just waste of space.

This is just only why I merged it into shareware (since gameEx actuelly have both cripped and have a very annoring nag ever seen, wich I never could past trouch. You are simply forced to pay it. I hear it to rougly minuttes to past it, but I diddent take the time on that one.

--Spacefractal 05:01, 18 December 2006 (EST)

Maybe we can add an "OLD" "OS" or "OLDOS" tag which says the machine can run under an old version of Windows, say Windows 98, or on a PC with very low processor speed or memory? Some users run their MAME cabs on an older PC and this may be useful.

--Cakemeister 08:17, 23 January 2008 (EST)

Ultrastyle is both a frontend and a project?

SF's edit broke the link to the Ultrastyle frontend's wiki entry.

--Cakemeister 20:45, 21 June 2008 (EDT)

Yes, I found out, they have nothing to due with toghether and hence it need to create a new indepth page. They just share the page.

Either UltraMame cab need to been renamed to UltraMame (Cab), or changing this link to the link I created. What do you think?

But I need more info about UltraMame before I created that page (but was going to bed here, it was very late). Hence I changed the link. The FE url is still exists and is on: http://www.mameworld.net/ultrastyle/

--Spacefractal 05:33, 22 June 2008 (EDT)

About your entry from 2006, it can just add a OLD or such that as a "other features". Which is a good idea. Sorry I never saw that.

--Spacefractal 05:35, 22 June 2008 (EDT)

UltraMAME is a cab and a front end and Ultrastyle is just a front end. Since the front end came before the cab, the cab's wiki page should be something else, like UltraMAME (Cab). I would leave the UltraMAME front end wiki page as plain UltraMAME because it was there first.

--Cakemeister 20:40, 22 June 2008 (EDT)

oops. Something went wrong. For some reason I got UltraMame frontend removed. I add that back very soon. I move the pages. UltraStyle FE is state as delation (because it just point to UltraStyle as it should.

--Spacefractal 02:10, 23 June 2008 (EDT)

I think I got it now? Diddent know why I got UltraMame deleted? Anyway UltraMame is now the FE page and UltraMAME the project page. UltraMame is still in development.

--Spacefractal 02:23, 23 June 2008 (EDT)

EmuLaunch works good in a cab, so I don't know why it is under MOUSE frontends. It could work better though. Support for the second player joystick and having all keys to work as activation key would be nice. Now you have to do everything with joystick 1 and button 3. --Blanka 02:23, 29 Oktober 2008 (EDT)

I'm not too thrilled with a separate category for touch screen based front ends, isn't the TOU tag enough?

--Cakemeister 19:51, 4 February 2009 (EST)

TOU is fine, howover is SimpleTouch FE only been designed to run PC games and not emulators. If yes, CMD should been changed to PC. CMD is for these who can run emulators with roms like mame.

--Spacefractal 13:21, 5 February 2009 (EST)