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I am very saddened to hear this news. As a long time user of MFME in its various incarnations over the years, I can't thank Wizard enough for his tireless work for the scene. I never knew him and only exchanged a few messages when I wondered what a Characteriser was! RIP Chris, you will be missed by all.

My 2p's worth on this is Chris most likely wouldn't want anyone mucking about with his code, by all accounts he never shared any of it with anyone over the years (I stand to be corrected on that if anyone knows different), and kept it very close to his chest. If his family hand over his computers or something at some point to a trusted person then fair enough I suppose, although I can't help but feel that his code will be so bespoke and unique that no one else will be able to do much with it anyway. (There's also the question of how locked down his equipment/drives was in terms of logons, encryption and suchlike.) My gut feeling is that V20.1 is the last version of MFME, which is an incredible legacy and something which emulates the overwhelming majority of fruit machines released in the last nearly 40 years, which is quite remarkable. I can't think of any significant historical techs that are missing, some more recent ones are missing such as MPU6 and is there HEBER and PLUTO or something? MPU6 is a bit of a shame as that's the tail end of Barcrest's output on the £70 jackpot, (and I believe some Reds too), and Barcrest are one of the major, long standing fruit machine companies. In terms of gaps in the fruit machine canon, they pale into insignificance when compared to the truly massive boost FME got with the release of V5.1 in Nov 2016 (so many new techs added), and everything Chris did with the releases since then up to V20.1. As for MFME breaking at some point in the future with a new version of Windows, I'd imagine it'll always be possible to run it in a virtualised environment even if it doesn't run natively on Windows at some point, it's pretty trivial to get old DOS and Windows 95 stuff running on modern PCs even now, for example. It is a worry though I admit, I mean, there's no guarantee that Microsoft won't release some sort of update for Windows 10 next month that breaks MFME in some fashion. However, on balance I'd hope MFME will work trouble free for many years to come yet, the original V5.2 of MPU3/4 from 2001 still runs fine in Windows 10, for example, and that's without even mucking about with compatibility mode. I agree with what Reg said in his original post, that the best way to carry on is take V20.1 as the line in the sand, and see what can be done as a scene to flesh out what's missing in terms of resources, ROMs and artwork for the missing machines, of which there are many. Most of these will probably work in the emulator as it is, some may not, and in those cases we will just have to accept they'll remain non-runners or partial runners. I think it's fine to have this conversation, I don't believe having the conversation in itself is disrespectful, in a way it's the more considered, less emotional version of what was expressed in The Saddest Day and Virtual Wake threads.

Hi there I was just having a quick play with AI upscaling (as it'd be possible to build a tool to automatically upscale existing layouts, removing pixellation). I've been away from the scene for a long time - has this already been done? Here's an example, where I took Dr Who's dark 'lamps off' background image and processed it. Better results could probably be obtained with further fettling, but it shows the 'depixellation' effect well enough. Original image: Processed image: Original image: Processed image: EDIT: came back to this, and grabbed an image of an older machine (Super Nudge Gambler) from one of the posts on this site, to see how the process would look with that: Original image: Processed image: EDIT 2: grabbed another era of machine from an image from this site, and processed that to see how it would look: Original image: Processed image: Original image: Processed image: A test of some larger artwork: Original image: Processed image: Original image: Processed image:

It was JP’s amazing work with mame and fruit machine emulation. He enabled me to create the first Deal or No Deal machine to run. I only built the layout JP did some impressive under the hood stuff. He also created a tool that could convert any mfme layout to mame. A shit ton of work, that he devoured lol Maybe a section for that but I’m not sure mame is the thing going forward ? J

Interesting thoughts, and thanks for bringing this up Harvey. I will mention the key points to the family at an appropriate time and gauge a response. Things are obviously still very raw for them but I will do all I can to get answers from them on all the points above. Please be patient though, this won't be resolved in the next 24 hours. I'll post any answers that I get on this thread if that's ok.

Dear Members, I know this may come across as insensitive to post here - but it is time to have an open conversation I think. The most important thing I ask is please DO NOT click on the link shown here on MFME below boxed in red. Prior to MFME V20, the product was always free and had no donation option. Shortly after the Wine for Wizard campaign, we saw version V20 of the emulator appear with a Donate button. I would like to think that the Wine for Wizard showed Chris that people were happy to say thank you and contribute to the product and this is why that was included. Sadly, due to his untimely passing anything that you donate here will not obviously go to him and it’s very unlikely it will ever get to his family either. Clicking on the button below will simply put money into the account of PayPal and they will earn interest on it as it sits there never to be taken. Assuming you are still reading and not prepared to throw your money away then as a scene we will continue to keep the flame alive for MFME. I am never a spokesman for the late Chris, but I did know him very well. I would suspect he would have created the following do and don’t list just for this situation that we are in. DO NOT buy any products from eBay as it goes against the T&C of MFME and lines scammers pockets. DO NOT throw away your money and give to a corporation like PayPal by following the not needed Donate link within MFME. DO look towards keeping the scene alive by considering one of the following. - Looking on eBay for missing roms - there are still a few thousand games left to be emulated and so many resources missing. - Private purchases of machines that can be used for resources. - Group purchases on machines that again can be used for resources. - Supporting your chosen site such as The Mecca or elsewhere where membership has benefits. As of today, the negative part is the development of MFME may have come to a halt. The only way it can carry on is if the family of Chris decide to pass the code to the scene and they make it open-source. That way development could carry on. We need to assume that it for the moment that it is over unless the family of Chris want his legacy to carry on. Equally as of today, the positive part is history. MFME died once before when development stopped and Chris walked away from the public life for a few years. What happened was the old emulators were still used and people still made games and the scene continued in the few years break he publically took. Where we stand now is what Chris did leave us all with is a version of MFME that is in very good condition and looking at history with the folding of so many real based machine companies, if the MFME source code is never released by his family – the current generation of machines is really at an end and there is so much left to do on older machines we should be busy for years to come. I am going to leave this thread open and pinned ( mainly for the don't give to PayPal's back account reasons ), but it is not disrespectful to have open - adult - conversations on how we take the scene forward and as scene members you all have voices. Reg.

With regards to the other project, I believe I still have all the files on my server if you ever need anything from it or wanted to kick it back up again

Hiya A:E Thanks for the info and offer to test Hey davep180 For various reasons (that I don't want to get into on this thread), we won't know the best way to progress this tech into something usable for a few months. Something will come of it though - I did a project involving FME layouts in the past, and was always bothered by the issue of low resolution (especially as 4k and 8k monitors are already available).

Just out of interest what was the development program called please? With regard to MFME in the future there is probably loads in V20 to keep us going for years, any bugs well we will just have to figure out workarounds. If you look at the number of techs it supports and the fact that Chris new them inside out, that would be a huge undertaking for somebody to pick up and take forward. Big boots to fill for sure.

Cheers Slasher I do have the work backed up (though not the website backend), and good to know there's more copies out there! Just had a little play with some reel symbols as they were always low res (I don't know if that's changed with newer layouts): These are purely upscaled: These had a couple of extra stages: For the upscaling, I'm using the waifu2x library (setting 16x 0n), and for the bars above I ran an unsharp mask and saturation post pass.

Nobody said you were being disrespectful - but simply put the last line was simply not needed and it was easier to delete it all as I was on an iPad. You didn't get a PM, all is good and we leave it at that as far as I am concerned.

Wasn't having a pop mate I assure you, it is something that is and isn't on my mind (still a little disorientated if you know what I mean) I know you are feeling it mate still we all will for sometime but as I have said elsewhere baby steps. Hope everyone is well.

My response was mearly answering a question with a bit of speculation thrown in, we all want the best outcome, we all feel for the loss of Chris and the sadness his family feels. I can't obide programming it irratates me as much as the X, my stance is clear.. I enjoy what was given to me for free, I won't hack it or attempt to do anything with it and will continue to enjoy the FME scene, its been quite interesting over the last 20 years! More so than Brookside, and I liked that. They do that doh don't deh

but their are others that were affiliated and or just as technical as Chris? Look at the help Guitar received?

The debug symbols have been stripped, in other words he didn't want anyone else developing their own version of it (best you can do is reverse engineer it) I've checked version 20 and 5.1. Maybe the original mpu3/4 emulator which I can't find a copy of may shed some light. Overall it looks like it was written in Delphi which is like VB but the language is Pascal.

Wow! The results speak for themselves. Very impressive. Is there a way to implement this?

By the way upscaling has not been incorporated into mfme, as far as I am aware anyway. J

Hey JP. Glad you joined up here my good friend That upscaling is amazing mate, really impressive. If you want a tester, I have access to 4K screen etc. Peace out bro x J

It was a shock. Chris worked very, very hard to keep all those emulated machines alive.

I've read through this thread with a tear in my eye, truly touching and heartfelt messages. Chris had such a positive impact on all of us here now (and the many people who've been regulars on these forums in the past, myself included). It's an inspiration to me how his work helped some people take control of their serious gambling addictions - genuine life-changing stuff. From that place of darkness (for some at least) - this has blossomed into a 20 year explosion of creative light, from a close-knit community that built up around him. From Chris working tirelessly on his outstanding MFME emulator, to people dumping ROMs and capturing artwork from fruit machines far and wide, to others tying these things together to build gorgeous layouts, and yet others making websites like fruit-emu, dadsfme etc, so we could collaborate and bond over our shared love of this unique corner of our culture. For me personally - Chris, through his work - led me on an exciting journey of discovery; delving into the innards of MFME and MAME, learning how fruit machines work, down to such abstractions as segment display signal decoding and coin mechanism security protocols... and he was an all round nice guy in our limited communications. He has certainly left the world better than he found it. I'll be raising a glass tonight to our fallen rider, here's to you Chris, rest in peace.

To be honest @wearecity I doubt I will have any more contact with the family. The brief contact I had, everything that needed to be said was said. There are others that went to the funeral and are also in contact still I believe so if they choose to approach the code for the emulator then that will be between them and the family. On a couple of the conversations they had - it seems they are getting good advice so they won't be ripped off when it comes to what they do with his estate. I do know a fair bit about it and the development platform it was done on ( actually have the copy ), so I suspect with a little time I would be able to remove the PayPal link and the code - but that can only happen with the code. I did ask the family not to tear apart his PC's as that has his lifes work on - they do know that. What I can offer is to try to remove the PayPal stuff if I had the code as I have the software it was built with. I also need to step back a little and let the scene go the way it wants. I am not a leader, it is not my scene and more importantly it is each of you as members that make this brilliant scene what it is. If I am asked to step in and do something if the source code appears I will - but these past couple of weeks took a fair bit out of me and I need to pause if that makes sense.

A very good warning about the donate. I'd leave things largely up to you Reg and anyone else who has contact with Chris's family as to the rest really. I think you guys will know the best course of action. I would like to appeal to Chris's family who may read this, to give Reg or someone else from the emulation community some details as to the best and most appropriate way to honour Chris's memory. For example with a donation to a charity or a purchase etc. I and many other members I'm sure will wish to partake in this. Also to Chris's Family, consider contact again to at least secure the source code for the emulator or assistance in getting it. You can be assured it wouldn't be treated with disrespect, if past to Reg for instance. It could also I'm sure mean removing the donation link or changing it, to donate to elsewhere. As for updates to MFME, I'm not too sure about that as I'm not sure Chris would have approved that, but again, if someone has the knowledge to do it, the removal or change to the donation link from it would be a good idea at least.

How's this for my first Autoplay bash @Chopaholic,took around 30 mins to get the hang of it, this is one hell of a feature on the emulator, damn Wizard how did you incorporate this, love it, just love it. He always wanted me to try something else rather than the usual boring flickers/pluggers, boy wasn't he right. Thanks again mate About a ton behind and if anyone wants any requests I am off the weekend, let me know. NNWW £4.80Happy.rar