The MAME Menu
The MAME Menu is a frontend for MAME. It was written in C++ and uses MFC. MFC collections are used for data
and MFC serialization is used for saving various program settings to disk. The frontend reads various data
files from MAME and 3rd party projects as well as parsing the filesystem to find the ROM collection. It is
fully configurable and comes with an NSIS installer.
While in the process of building the MAME box, I was attempting to find software that would make it easy for anyone to use my arcade. I had several requirements in mind. Use of the arcade would require zero knowledge about MAME or how it worked. The user of the arcade should not have to use any PC related devices such as a mouse or keyboard. The user should not even realize a PC was running inside the arcade. The interface should use the arcade controls, spinner, trackball, and buttons to function. The interface should be so simple, that any user could walk up to the machine, and with no instuctions, understand how to find and load the games. I did not find any software that I felt met my requirements, so I built my own :)
My program, The MAME Menu, I believe meets all of these requirements, and even includes some bonus features. t uses the trackball(or mouse, required) and spinner(not required) to navigate through the games, uses the buttons(or keyboard, required) to launch a game or quit the menu, and displays screenshots and basic game information.
Frontend Features (Request a feature)
Source: download
Binary: download
While in the process of building the MAME box, I was attempting to find software that would make it easy for anyone to use my arcade. I had several requirements in mind. Use of the arcade would require zero knowledge about MAME or how it worked. The user of the arcade should not have to use any PC related devices such as a mouse or keyboard. The user should not even realize a PC was running inside the arcade. The interface should use the arcade controls, spinner, trackball, and buttons to function. The interface should be so simple, that any user could walk up to the machine, and with no instuctions, understand how to find and load the games. I did not find any software that I felt met my requirements, so I built my own :)
My program, The MAME Menu, I believe meets all of these requirements, and even includes some bonus features. t uses the trackball(or mouse, required) and spinner(not required) to navigate through the games, uses the buttons(or keyboard, required) to launch a game or quit the menu, and displays screenshots and basic game information.
Frontend Features (Request a feature)
- Navigation of ROMs via trackball and optionally spinner
- Fullscreen display
- Shows no common Windows GUI components in ROM navigation and selection (looks like an arcade not a Windows box)
- Fully configurable fonts and colors
- Fully configurable keys and trackball sensitivity
- Screenshot displays
- Shows game controls
- Filtering of the ROM list
- Password protection of settings (keep your friends from breaking your MAME box)
- Password protection of exiting the frontend (keep your friends from exiting to the desktop)
Source: download
Binary: download