best GS emulator for a Windows frontend?
douglas...@yahoo.com
might be a better place to ask...
I'm building an arcade cabinet with MAME and other emulators. I use a
Windows-based frontend called MaLa to provide a simple way for players
to navigate from one emulator to another and launch games. I'd like
to include a GS emulator in the cabinet since it was the first
computer I owned, and I've always thought of it as a great gaming
machine. Also, I love the idea of playing Dueltris head-to-head on a
big arcade console!
I'm sifting through all the available GS emulators out there (Kegs,
Kegs32, XGS DOS, the ActiveGS plugin, its standalone version, and the
two websites running the ActiveGS plugin). Can someone advise me on
which of these emulators might be best suited for use with my
frontend? Ideally, it would have:
1) fullscreen support
2) a commandline interface, so I can use the frontend to launch the
emulator with particular disk images
3) joystick support
Any thoughts?
Many thanks in advance . . .
-Doug
douglas...@yahoo.com
emulators out there, and how each might work for my cabinet...
First, XGS DOS - way old, and doesn't seem to run under WinXP. Off
the list.
Next, I looked at ActiveGS. I found out it's based on an older
version of KEGS than what is currently available. If I knew ActiveX
programming, I might be able to just use this to build something with
a command line which would work well with my cabinet. But the "mouse
hiding" feature doesn't appear to work very well, so I'm kind of
crossing this one off my list (for the time being).
Next, XGS32. Full screen, joystick support, mouse hide works. Can't
seem to find any command line info, and the fact that you have to
launch the program, then launch the emulator (two steps) might make it
hard for this to work in my frontend.
Next is KEGS. It's a more recent version than what's at the core of
ActiveGS, but it doesn't seem to do fullscreen. Off the list.
That leaves KEGS32. Full screen, mouse hide works. I can't find
command line arguments for it, but what I could do is have lots of
copies of KEGS32 folders, each configured to launch a different game
or disk. I can then use different windows shortcuts to launch the
differently configured versions of KEGS32. That solves the problem of
loading different games from the frontend.
The only problem I haven't figured out yet is how to launch KEGS32 so
it's automatically in full screen...
BluPhoenyx
douglas_p01862 wrote:
> OK - I think I'm finally beginning to understand all the overlapping
> emulators out there, and how each might work for my cabinet...
>
> First, XGS DOS - way old, and doesn't seem to run under WinXP. Off
> the list.
>
> Next, I looked at ActiveGS. I found out it's based on an older
> version of KEGS than what is currently available. If I knew ActiveX
> programming, I might be able to just use this to build something with
> a command line which would work well with my cabinet. But the "mouse
> hiding" feature doesn't appear to work very well, so I'm kind of
> crossing this one off my list (for the time being).
>
> Next, XGS32. Full screen, joystick support, mouse hide works. Can't
> seem to find any command line info, and the fact that you have to
> launch the program, then launch the emulator (two steps) might make it
> hard for this to work in my frontend.
On some hardware, the fullscreen mode is flaky too but it works fine for
me. On the plus side, it's been known to run one or two programs other
GS emulators don't. One other plus is the adjustable full screen
resolutions. Unlike Kegs32 which uses a single video mode for full
screen, XGS32 supports several. This has been useful to me on occasion.
> Next is KEGS. It's a more recent version than what's at the core of
> ActiveGS, but it doesn't seem to do fullscreen. Off the list.
This has often been considered a fault. I've rather gotten used to it as
I tend to have a number of support windows open as well such as
Ciderpress, document readers, etc. I have been known to adjust the video
resolution so Kegs will use most of the screen.
> That leaves KEGS32. Full screen, mouse hide works. I can't find
> command line arguments for it, but what I could do is have lots of
> copies of KEGS32 folders, each configured to launch a different game
> or disk. I can then use different windows shortcuts to launch the
> differently configured versions of KEGS32. That solves the problem of
> loading different games from the frontend.
Keep in mind that Kegs and Kegs32 still monitor the configuration file.
It should be possible to manipulate the file when a new disk image is
required. At the very least, you could replace the actual configuration
file with a copy that contains the disk image info you need.
> The only problem I haven't figured out yet is how to launch KEGS32 so
> it's automatically in full screen...
Perhaps a utility such as Auto Hotkey. It's a free macro type program
which should handle this type of thing. This utility might also be
helpful with the disk swapping feature you desire. See above.
You missed one other Kegs. There is a SDL variant and (I think) it can
display full screen but it's been awhile since I looked at it. It is
also based on an earlier Kegs but don't let that fool you, the earlier
Kegs versions were fully functional.
Cheers,
Mike T.