GameEx Release History

.:NEWS & FORUM NOTES:.

There was a long standing bug affecting the speed of the GameEx Menu/User interface, which I did not even know existed until last several versions.

Now it is fixed this significantly improves the smoothness and performance of the Menus.

Because of this, for anyone not keeping up with the updates, I can at least highly recommend now is a good time to get the latest version. There's also been a ton of great enhancments this last week or so, and because of the new error reporting introduced, GameEx is a lot more intuitive about common errors that may occur that would normally kick you out of the front end. In additon Screensaver/attract mode now also has some clever code to detect when the bypass disclaimer keys have been sent to MAME, meaning often pressing a control will exit the screensaver immediatly after a game is launched rather than after some time. Yourll appreciate this if your running on a Cab.

Thanks to everyone for all there feedback and feature requests. As Headkaze said the other day, this is now not software its a community.

Thanks,
Tom ..July 15th, 2007..

TSpeirs: I'm pleased to present the first GameEx release of 2007. There has been a lot of fixes and optimisations and the entire project has been upgraded to .net framework 2.0. Because of .net 2.0, auto update will not work until you upgrade manually to this version of future versions. You obviously need .net 2.0 installed but the setup will automatically download it for you. ..January 31st, 2007..

.:PUBLIC RELEASE HISTORY:.

July 18th , 2007 -Version 8.54:

Fixes error when autoupdate is running
Fixes gameex returing to wrong resolution after running a game

July 16th , 2007 -Version 8.51:

Fixes for oriental/asian systems or any system with a double byte code page

July 16th , 2007 -Version 8.50:

Reduced size of gameex install by 2mb
Hard disk space requirements for the install are also reduced.
Size of default themes download reduced by 2mb
Fixes autoupdate when set to update at startup
Fixes detection of controls to not exit screensaver

July 15th , 2007 -Version 8.49:

Thanks to the best graphic designer I currently know, new not played and live MAME logos by Amos

July 15th , 2007 -Version 8.48:

New and improved Auto Update
- Fixes the IO error
- Frees up MS Windows to do other things (system friendly)
- Can minimize window
- Can cancel by closing window
- No pause before and after running
- Progress bar when downloading
- Can clearly see install running
- Tells you if an error occurs
- (Auto update is a registered version feature)

July 14th , 2007 -Version 8.46:

For registered users - live online MAME game lists, GameEx most played, and MAWS hall of fame
Is it about time you internet enabled your cab?

July 13th , 2007 -Version 8.40:

Cosmetic fix to menu transitions
This fix makes things look 10 times smoother when selecting menu items
I always thought it was because of slowdown in GameEx but not all.
Improvements to frameskipping. Will now skip up to 20 frames, which is how I discovered the above

July 13th , 2007 -Version 8.39:

Frees up more memory before launching
Could fix a few performance and memory problems when launching games on lower spec systems

July 13th , 2007 -Version 8.37:

Added recent new settings to setup wizard
New setting to tell GameEx not to reduce CPU usage, if you want full FPS as often as possible

July 12th , 2007 -Version 8.34:

New MAME Not Played list, listing all the games you have not played in GameEx
Think its another first.

July 12th , 2007 -Version 8.33:

Even less CPU utilization

July 12th , 2007 -Version 8.32:

GameEx now has accurate frame skipping (as opposed to not accurate), and now automatically reduces cpu utilisation based on ticks per frame and refresh rate
The reduce cpu utilisation setting has been removed from the configuration since its now automatic
If you really need this setting back, let me know
Also let me know what kind of CPU utilisation your getting, its on the gentle side to keep the fps up but DO let me know if you get any slowdowns.

July 12th , 2007 -Version 8.28:

Music track details in taskbar now scrolls
New features to specify a different folder of music to play while browsing different emulators
Taskbar stays visible when mouse is over it, so you can see track details (V1 Themes)
If GameEx cannot play a background video (normally due to missing codecs) it will now not error and display the image instead
Fixes rom name instead of game name showing on info page when using a map file
No more command/dos windows are shown.. Ever.. Headkaze will be cracking a beer open!
Improved startup of MAME and in screensaver also
Improved bypass disclaimer, will only send keys when it needs to.
Ambience MP3 will stop (for good) when loading the jukebox
Possible to exit from MAME game in screensaver almost immediately after its started
If the jukebox is disabled and your using a playlist folder or file, gameex will retrieve the tags for each track now
If using a low res aracdeVGA resolution, the control panel will now be completely visible when launching a MAME game.
After exiting an emulator, the current audio track will be resumed exactly from where it was rather than playing the next track

July 9th , 2007 -Version 8.27:

New low resolution Ultimarc ArcadeVGA theme included, with suitable settings for running at 640x288 out of the box
New theme included 'Media Center - Background'
Various small startup errors fixed thanks to error reporting
Minor cosmetic fixes
Fixes to snaps not showing when switching between certain themes

July 7th , 2007 -Version 8.24:

Improvements to error reporting. Better support when internet access is not available or has limited connectivity.
In the case there is an error playing a startup video, GameEx will now still continue

July 6th , 2007 -Version 8.23:

Thanks to the new error reporting (loving this!) fixes an error when switching themes for unregistered users
I encourage everyone to report your errors. I know with MS it seems its futile, but I can assure you with GameEx its making a huge difference.

July 5th , 2007 -Version 8.22:

Thanks to the new error reporting just fixed a bug affecting brand new users
Also found someone trying to hack the registration! (Bastards!)

July 5th , 2007 -Version 8.21:

GameEx now features error reporting
When an unhandled error occurs, you will have the option to email me the log file. It can be turned off easily, and you can also set it to always submit error reports. By default it will ask.

June 30th , 2007 -Version 8.20:

External applications now have an also launch setting for launching processes asynchrously. So there now in line with MAME and emulator support
Fix to disable mouse setting. Now disables mouse wheel.
In addition new setting to just disable the mouse wheel

June 26th , 2007 -Version 8.19:

If available control panel will be shown for nine seconds or until key/button press when launching a game
In game control panel shows and exits much quicker. It also shows a screen capture of the game as the background
External applications now have options for launch before and launch after

June 25th , 2007 -Version 8.18:

For registered users AutoHotKey style real time key remapping via an advanced emulator configuration file
Automatically creates default MAME ROM cfg file before launching a game
Fixes HTML apps turned off by default on a new install
Much quicker exit from emulators when using an advanced configuration file

June 16th , 2007 -Version 8.16:

It may not seem much from these release notes, but theres a lot of code gone into this release
Finally with help from Headkaze the Sendkeys used in GameEx is now fully stable and improved. It works better and fixes crashes in windows and gameex when sending keys to an emulator from GameEx and when sending keys on exit via an advanced config file
On the subject of advanced config files, 12 gamepad buttons are now supported, and there's a new section for remapping keys similar to AutoHotKey. Its not quite good enough for realtime gaming but is meant to cover the common issue of when credit and start buttons cant be redefined in PC games, and avoids the need for additional autohotkey scripts in that scenario. Its not far off realtime and does handle simultaneous keys, and Im pretty certain I can get it realtime in a future release

June 11th , 2007 -Version 8.14:

Support for RMVB Videos (codecs required)
Fixes Karaoke when VMR9 enabled

May 5th , 2007 -Version 8.10:

Thanks to Ben Baker:
- Updated fixed model 2 support
- Much friendlier defaults in setup wizard for new installs
- Moving and sorting emulators in the setup wizard retains your favorites
Model 2 emulator 0.4 games now supported in GameEx
Fixes issue with loading screen not displaying
Fixes issue with file names that contain apostrophes
Improved loading speed when launched from Media Center
Fixes issue with adding GameEx to Vista X64 Media Center start page
Much better display quality of themes when shown at different resolutions

April 29th , 2007 -Version 8.09:

New database driven favorites and statistics. This will improve stability, reliability, validation and integrity of your game data
The data will be automatically be upgraded, but you will loose any stored video aspects
This is going to be much better going forward
There's new viewable statistics in GameEx for registered users and these are also available from GameExtender
Much faster and enhanced 7-ZIP support, GameEx will only extract the entire archive when launching, in the menu the files in the archive are just listed

April 18th , 2007 -Version 8.06:

Updated setup wizard thanks to Ben (AKA Headkaze) with more themes to download and added settings for emulators
Should fix an error on Vista with colourkey at startup
Now properly places my games on media center start page on Vista x64

April 17th , 2007 -Version 8.05:

Should fix issue where sometimes minimizes at startup
Improved key press detection in screensaver. Fixes screensaver detecting input and exiting when there is not any input
Fixes Karaoke re-enabling Jukebox when its disabled

April 14th , 2007 -Version 8.04:

Fixes MAME launch before command when in screensaver
Fixes dialog text colour to be white instead of black in default (media centre) theme

April 10th , 2007 -Version 8.02:

Bug fixes and minor speed improvements

April 8th, 2007 -Version 8.01:

Supports MKV Videos (codecs required)
Upgrading GameEx forces a re caching of graphics. Should fix a few issues
Emulator groups now properly turn off any databases

April 6th , 2007 -Version 8.00:

Fixes Karaoke
Fixes track navigation not working in slideshow
Fixes two launching emulator stability issues, that address a windows error and gameex closing (not showing gameex log)
Fixes and improved m4a audio support
Updated model 2 loader script by Ben Baker for latest version of the emu
New "Emulator Groups" feature. This allows several emulators to be in one list
Fixes show info page setting for emulators
New emulator setting to not have an emulator launched from random game, and not display in most played. Useful if you've set up an emulator to launch a comic viewer or picture viewer etc
Emulator also launch setting now allows passing of GameEx variables such as [ROMDIR] and [ROMFILE]
For registerd users: CD/DVD support. GameEx can check for CDs and prompt for insertion. Allowing protected retail games to be integrated into the front end, and allowing access to offline content.
Fix to autoupdate. Will no longer reset language back to English
Happy easter and thank you for all your continued encouragment and support. Enjoy!

April 1st , 2007 -Version 7.99:

Fixes radio station genres not showing
Fixes GameExtender publisher issuing new user name each load
In case you didn't notice Gameextender live page now links to MAWS when last played game is from MAME

March 31st , 2007 -Version 7.98:

Small maintenance release
Fixes MAMEseries when games in list start with open bracket
MAME series list update faster
Fixes screensaver not running after updating MAME list

March 25th , 2007 -Version 7.96:

Should fix issue when Alt-Tabbing
New Portuguese (Brazilian) language translation thanks to Cristian Azevedo Magadan

March 22nd , 2007 -Version 7.94:

Improved MAME series support. Now lists all clones
Fixes a couple of font drawing issues going back several versions

March 21st , 2007 -Version 7.93:

MAME Series support
A list update is required

March 20th , 2007 -Version 7.92:

Improved snap/preview handling. GameEx will use existing image if it's the same and not reload it. It also handles corrupt and invalid images better.
Fixes wrong game displaying in info text when on game info page
Should hopefully fix focus sound stopping playing after a while

March 19th , 2007 -Version 7.87:

LCDPlugin 1.91 thanks to Headkaze
Fixed cfg xml reading error
Fixed config bug
Also if your on dialup and new to GameEx I apologise for all the updates. Its just like that sometimes with the project.

March 19th , 2007 -Version 7.85:

MNG and avi previews wont reinitialize and restart when navigating between list and info page
Makes things a lot smoother and tighter
Fixes playing MPEG videos full screen
Fixes videos previews restarting with the new preview feature

March 18th , 2007 -Version 7.84:

Now that video previews play a lot better in GameEx, I've implemented what I think is an awesome feature, and that is GameEx can now preview your actual video/movies
Its on by default, although I recommend it only for modern systems (dual core etc)
The setting is under multimedia in the advanced config if you don't like it and want to turn it off. Although I'm loving it here!

March 18th , 2007 -Version 7.83:

New emulator setting to control whether the most played games display at the top of the list or not, as opposed to always doing so before
Media Center theme now has Vista style sounds. Thanks to the MCESoft Vista Media Center SDK

March 17th , 2007 -Version 7.80:

VMR 9 support for Videos
The quality is greatly improved

March 17th , 2007 -Version 7.79:

All issues since 7.73 should now be resolved.
Fixes anormorphic video aspect in vista
DVD and Video aspect ratios are now separate. So you should only have to set the DVD aspect once
GameEx now remembers aspect ratios for your videos

March 14th , 2007 -Version 7.73:

Full video and DVD support in Vista
Volume control working in Vista
Windowed mode in Vista Aero is enhanced and no longer shuts down Aero
Cosmetic enhancments to the user interface when showing game info header, it fades.
Title toolbar auto scrolls out and hides with V1 themes when mouse not active, when set to always show
Fixes list issues after selecting play random videos
Fixes issue with not able to disable screensaver in some cases
Create snap on thread feature has been removed
New theme included "Media Center" and is the default
When playing a video or DVD windows screensaver is disabled
Full support for HTML apps in Vista
More responsive when playing videos or dvd's
The MAME list update is much more system friendly, and will allow you to do other things on your PC while its running, and no black screen when in full screen and alt tabbing out
Fixes volume control with SlikStik and DirectInput
Thanks to Headkaze - Theme Editor 1.76. It supports custom layouts for the different modules, but I still need to implement this in GameEx.
Should fix text being truncated in V2 themes when game list is shown on the left of the screen
Window Maximize button enabled when GameEx is displaying in a window<
New settings to change resoluton and refresh rate based on frame rate of DVDs and Videos
When GameEx is windowed it will now only draw to the screen when it has focus.
New setting to make the menu text same size as the game text. To turn on in theme.ini use MenuTextSameSize=False. This is a very welcome feature for low resolutions on cabs.
New theme.ini setting GradientTitleFont=True. And LowerCaseTitleFont. Look at the new Media Center theme for example
New functionality to be able to stop and start Jukebox with gamepad, keyboard and arcade controls
3D transitions are slightly faster and improved
Updated MCE Glossy theme for widescreen usage
The GameEx display main loop may run a little faster
GameExtender server uses less cpu time

February 25th , 2007 -Version 7.66:

Videos now work in Vista
GameEx can now play protected windows media videos
Includes latest version of Ben Baker's LCD/LED Plugin

February 19th , 2007 -Version 7.64:

Snap preview alternates to another artwork image
Added folder snap for pictures and videos
Clock animation when time changes
Please wait zoom animation
Fixes not been able to use all game devices to navigate
Fixes retuning to wrong position in list after exiting screensaver

Bit of a bling update.

February 14th , 2007 -Version 7.60:

Vista Fixes and compaitbility updates
Caching of menu font for quicker startup and return from apps

February 10th , 2007 -Version 7.57:

For all you theme creators out there, custom layouts are now implemented for emulators. Sorry it took me a while to do this. Have fun, lets see what you can do!
Should fix any outstanding issues with updating the MAME list
Snap images/ICONS are now supported for custom MAME lists
Includes Ben's LCD Plugin 1.68.Beta. Read more about it on the forums.
Minor updates to the setup wizard and theme editor. Thanks again to Ben Baker for his continued hard work and support

February 4th , 2007 -Version 7.55:

Fixes catver.ini
Fixes multiple MAME rom paths
There is also an offline install for the game manual viewer on the download page

February 3rd , 2007 -Version 7.53:

Fixes and compatibility updates for Windows Vista and 64 bit versions of Windows
Should now run out the box on Vista
The Setup and applications have been digitally signed
Ben Baker's Setup Wizard 1.74
Fixes picture and slideshow transitions with latest ATI video drivers and on Vista
Asta La Vista.

February 1st , 2007 -Version 7.52:

LCD/LED Plugin 1.5 Beta
Ability to have custom MAME lists in MAME32 ini format
Ability to import MAME32 Favorites.ini
Fixes .net framework error at startup
Should fix install exception if your GameEx install is old
Updated MAME support files
Fixes issues when using latest versions of catver.ini

February 1st , 2007 -Version 7.51:

Improved startup/initialisation speed.

January 30th, 2007 -Version 7.50:

The main new features and enhancments are as follows:

Setup wizard now features a search for setting feature.
Includes Ben Bakers LCD/LED Plugin
Plugin system 1.3 with included .net 2.0 source code templates
Speech plugin now speaks game descriptions
New plugin - random arcade sound
For registered users theres a PDF game manual viewer for MAME and emulators
New setting to disable the game information page at the emulator level
New setting to have gameex not hide the windows taskbar
Picture and slideshows now show the GameEx toolbar when the mouse is active
The progress dialog bar when playing videos and dvds now takes up less screen space
GameEx should startup and run faster
Fixes menu crash issue with certain themes
Fixes games not launching when game information page is disabled in certain configurations
Fixes display issues with certain fonts
There's more but that's the main changes

Coming soon is search functionality and a new additional theme/interface style.
I would like to again thank Ben Baker for his continued help and support.