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Wizard - A Virtual Wake


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Raising a glass to wizard who presented me with a hobby lasting almost 20 years.  No other person has changed my life in the way he did and I will be forever grateful.

I was at work today and TBH not noticing the time at all, but for some reason I stopped what I was doing and checked my phone - bang on 3pm so I stood still and had my own private two minutes in absolute silence.  During that period it dawned on me what massive effect he actually had on my life with his creation of MFME.  I brought me to a communiity which I'm proud to have been a part of and in which I have made lifelong friends. 

Thank you Chris - for everything!!

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R.I.P. Wizard

It takes a special person to devote so much of their time creating something and then to make it freely available to everyone for free, you Sir well and truly fall in that category.  Like others on here i had no interaction with you but it still feels like losing someone we knew, which i think is down to how much your creation impacted on our lifes. 

Thank you for the joy you have given me over the last 14 years and i hope you had a decent send off and you certainly deserve it.  Now if you'll excuse me i'm going to spin around and hammer that JPM behind me and toast every jackpot in your memory.

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Thank You Chris  for saving us all from our personal 'demons' with your amazing Emulator. i have made many new friends and learnt a lot about Fruit machines thanks to all your hard work of coding your fantastic programmes and the sites that evolved from this.

I raise a glass to you sir, thanks for everything.

Be at rest

Ricardo.

 

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Chris, Gone but never forgotten.

You are one of the good guys, a guy that developed something phenomenal that allowed you to enjoy your hobby, and you shared it with us to allow us to enjoy our hobby too.

A top bloke who devoted a lot of time, skill and effort over the years and never once asked anything in return from any of us.

I used to be addicted to the machines years ago, and you have helped me overcome that. You have also brought back a lot of happy memories for me that I associate from past machines that, has only been possible because of you.

You wanted to see us be happy with our hobby, and for that my friend, you truly are a diamond ♦️ 

I don’t drink alcohol but I raise a drink to you Chris, rest in peace mate.

 

 

 

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Heres to you Chris wizard Wren I hope your MFME legacy lasts forever

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May You can in peace with the knowledge that you have given whole communities the chance to forge new long term friendships and share similar stories with each other about past lives where we all had the addiction of the fruit machine.You have created something special and unrivalled in the MFME software which has recreated those machines we loved or hated and brought all the memories flooding back and gave us a reason to keep coming back sharing more and more stories and to make more friends.

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For Fruit Machine Preview Video's    https://www.youtube.com/@akfortyfive4574/playlists

These video's created by me are solely to showcase the talent of the creators and all who helped in bringing these machines to life,they are in no way a guide on how to play the machine or show how to exploit it

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Oh Chris. I really don't know where to start. So let me start with my day today. The day of your funeral. The day I spent doing what you loved.

This morning I woke up and went to collect a fruit machine. Yes, another Maygay. After driving home I struggled, as usual, to get the machine in the house on the laughable home made ramp I built all those years ago. It was 26 degrees today and the sweat was pouring off me. An hour later the machine yielded and was in my shed, the ramp now broken. Just like my heart. Yes that's the shed already stuffed with machines, stuffed with parts. I learned from the master on that one. This afternoon the roms were in my new reader being dumped ready for a layout. I then fired up MFME to check the roms and thought about the reason I wanted emulation all those years ago. Solid Silver. So I went back to my old development folders and found the folder of six different versions I started and abandoned. Hundreds of hours of work. Nowhere near the time you put into coding of course. So I found the most recent and tried to load it and of course dat files are no longer supported. So I took the long road, loaded into 5.1 saved out and back into 20.1. Each time being forced to read your copyright notice to the end. Each time reminding me, (c) C.J.Wren.

Once the layout loaded, I was horrified. It looks awful. No wonder I abandoned it, for the sixth time. Then I remembered how far I have come since I abandoned the last one and the reason I have progressed so far. Your emulator.

When I started this my artistic skills were truly awful. Stick men, blocky cars with two wheels, a sun with a smiley face. That was about my limit. Then you changed all that.

I was always interested in emulation and sought out Spectrum, Amiga, SNES etc then wondered one day about fruit machines. The idea was somewhat preposterous, why would anyone want to play a fruit machine on their PC? Of course I searched anyway not expecting to find anything. Of course I didn't. I checked again, and again, and again as time passed. Then I eventually found your Nifty Fifty demo. Credit limited, very classic layout, no sound. Laughable now - but I was hooked. When Nifty Fifty starts it says "HI THERE". Yes it's cheesy, but you really did have me at "hello". I spent the rest of that afternoon in the office reloading the demo trying to beat my previous bank. Not a single iota of productivity. I must have reloaded it a hundred times or more. Highest bank? God knows. It was so long ago - but like so many of us a day that sticks in the mind. We all remember the day we discovered fruit machine emulation. Your emulation.

So then started the journey. The forum sign ups, the downloads. The Hovel, Poundrun. Me seeking the elusive Solid Silver. Buying my first machine (Nudge Nudge Wink Wink) and finding you on ICQ. The nervousness, the trepidation as I typed. I thought why would you waste your time talking to me? I need not have worried. A few days later I am visiting you in person to dump the roms. Oh. My. God. I couldn't believe it. You lived alone. You lived my dream. As you led me through the house showing me your collection of pinballs, arcade cabinets and parts I was in awe. Star Wars upright in your kitchen? WTF! It was heaven. Heaven of course until you then showed me your garage. An unbelievable collection of MPU3's. Never seen anything like it before, your garage door was like stepping through a portal straight into an early 80's arcade. Your personal babies. Not a chance I could play them!

Then at some point you achieved my dream, my personal holy technological grail, M1 emulation. I started taking this a bit more seriously.

I visited you several times over the years. More roms to dump, some bits of tech for you to look at. I remember your excitement at the program card you hadn't seen before. You wouldn't let me leave with it! Some months later, it was emulated. Of course it was emulated. You relished the challenge with insatiable hunger. Any feature I requested, duly considered if not always implemented. Any bug I raised, later fixed. You even emulated mechanical machines from schematics showing just how far you were willing to go to achieve the perfect emulator. Your dedication surpassing all others.

Of course the journey hasn't been without its upsets and turmoils. I don't need to remind you of these. I had to personally remove myself from FME for a while. You did too. While I was engaged in other serious matters, you were still there working on some of the bugs we discussed. The emulator grew and grew. What a treat to come back to. Blended lamps, wonderful. Untold new techs. Multi player boxes. Video support. Your never ending drive for perfection.

When I look back at the years gone by I now realise what MPU34 and MFME are. They are windows into our personal pasts. It's like your great aunt who you see once a year pulling out the photo albums. You see yourself, 10/20/30/40 years ago. In this case the photo album is the emulator. Everyone has their favourites from their past. When they discover your emulator and a DX for the machine they used to play, you transport them back in time. You tap their personal history, their memories. As they play and think about the times they used to play the real machine, holidays they were on, towns they visited. That's MFME. Everyone's own personal history book. Every book with different pages. Every player with different favourites.

So Sunday night happened. On my phone, browsing the fruit machine groups on facebook I saw the announcement with a link to Desert Island Fruits. The news was you had been taken from us. I immediately dropped everything and went straight to the PC. As I read Harveys words I couldn't believe it. It must be a joke. Then I saw the funeral list. Christian J. Wren, Ilford. I knew where you lived. Then it hit. This was serious. Devastating news. Then the replies came. The outpouring of grief. Bloody hell. I was grieving, others were too. We were united in grief. Equally shocking, the amount of emotion for someone most of us have never met. The words people posting hitting home like right hooks. So many of us in tears. Why was I personally so upset? All you did was dump some roms and have a laugh with me a few times. Of course, it's that hook you have. Your life's work on all of our PC's. Our personal history books, open and playable. The emulator connects us all. All thanks to you.

Then my eyes were further opened. It's not just a few hundred UK fruit machine players here. Just last night I saw a comment on Degsys YouTube video from a member of the German scene and how you touched their lives too. They are running their German machines in the emulator. Your emulator is not just national, it's worldwide. You have literally touched the lives of people around the globe.

Now the development is over. There won't be a 20.2 (c) C.J.Wren, at least not on this earth. My personal anger is palpable. Some bastard illness or accident has befallen you. Cruelly denied you the chance for your own perfection when you were so close. We don't know what the cause was, but I hope we do eventually find out. Something to direct our blame, our anger. Our Wizard taken from us at least 30 years too early. Will this anger bring you back? No. Will it lead to a new emulator release, no - but it sure will help us feel better with something to blame. Of course you are no doubt the angriest of us all. You never got to fix that coin mech bug, that video machine will never run properly, you know the list.

I know exactly what you are thinking up there. Why are we wasting time on this when we could be working on layouts? Just let us have our moment. To let you and your family know how you have personally touched our lives, changed our lives. The addicts you have cured. The escape you have provided. The entertainment you have given us. Literally the lives you have saved. Yes Chris, you did what so many of us fail to do in life, you made a difference.

As I am typing this out I wonder if I can post it. Does it need little improvements here and there. Small changes. It's your fault sir. That drive for perfection you have fired within me. Like so many layouts before now this message will never quite be good enough - but post it I must. I must because I have to let you know what a difference you have made to my life, to all of our lives. The emulator that took me out of my destructive means of escape, arcades. The emulator that then became my means of escape, without the cost of credits. The emulator that then became my cost, buying machines and storing them!

I can only hope that there is a heaven on the other side. No doubt when you arrived in heaven and were asked what you wanted in paradise, it was a PC and a spiritualised copy of your development environment. There's still work to be done, after all. Maybe you can look up Roy Howell and get a bit more info, he's hopefully up there with you somewhere, nothing like a bit of inside knowledge from the top man.

As for us, what else can we do but do what you want, such is your power. We will carry on. Find machines. Dump roms. Create layouts. Remember that sixth version of Solid Silver? The dream you realised for me? Yes of course I will start again. In 4k. With your shiny new 20.1 emulator with all the features I so desperately wanted so long ago that you have poured your time into. It's the only way I have to honour your memory, using your creation to the best of my ability. Will the layout ever be finished? You know the answer to that one Chris - but I will get it out there for you, dedicated to your memory. Your life changing emulator.

I could type so much more Chris. Then like usual, I will miss the deadline. So in its imperfect form, it's time to release this work in progress. v1.0 of my memories of you, my eternal thanks.

So it's farewell my friend. It is my hope that one day we will meet again. I'll bring my roms and my spirit warehouse of every machine ever made. You will bring your perfect MFME v65.3, (c) 2065 C.J.Wren. We will share a beer. Share some more memories. Pump out some fixed layouts for the FME afterlife. Can't wait.

 

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Chris, you were a gentleman, a scholar, a genius, a friend, and a brother to us all.

never did we dream that one day we would be playing all our favourite fruit machines on the p.c

and remembering our misspent youth.(happy days)

but!! you realised that dream with your passion with your brilliant emulators.

not only that, but you saved countless people from the dreaded curse of gambling and losing everything they had.

you have had a big impact on us all and we thank you for that.

your parents must be very proud of you, because i know we all are.

may you rest in peace my friend, and may god bless your family and friends 

at this sad time, and give them strength to carry on.

 

god bless ...    seb

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I know I'm a little late here,but i'm gonna post anyways,just a thankyou and a toast to chris for being who he was,and how he will be remembered.A class guy who really should still be here with us now. :(

Goodnight and God bless Chris.

Maybe not here, but certainly not forgotten!

on a bender as we speak,probably won't make it to dinner time.

 

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I don’t do pictures, not a pretty face you see.

but say here on my tea break, and coincidentally a work mate is now playing “you raise me up” a stringed version

and yes you did raise us all up, lifting the bar emulation wise every time an update was released. You did it better so we had to respond but releasing better layouts

your first recent update v5 was a milestone for me pushing my mini layouts in to the mega large realm of the many other creators 

we had layouts I made which wouldn’t run, double impact with it’s tri-banded reel, the only one around apart from hip hop but you implemented the band into I think v6.1 

flip band layouts with the three coloured lamps within

a few other of my layouts became a reality due to your updates

cannonball run with its five lamp colours in one

reflex and £100 roms

i bet there’s loads more 

I asked for minor things to make my life easier, no problem for you it came within the next update

some members would say tuff make do with what you’ve got!!! Not you, you went that extra mile to reach perfection.

As for continuing with layout creation etc it should carry on as he didn’t continue with the update for it all to be lost in time and we All need to work as a team and put ALL personal differences aside for the sake of all he’s done.

Personally as a tribute to the great man I’d love to see the very first classic/dx be given a v20 makeover.

move only tea at work but 

here’s to the great wizard who cast a spell over us all I hope you’re playing your emulator in 777 heaven somewhere

 

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I made a piece of music a while back,which I feel is a fitting tribute to wizard,this tune has never been heard by anyone before as I am quite reserved and very self conscious.It may make you a little sad,but you are probably feeling like this anyways.It's the least I can do to honour a wonderful human being, which is exactly what we found in Christian J Wren..The tune is called MFME Magician. R.I.P. Chris!

Dedication to Chris J Wren - MFME Magician.rar

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35 minutes ago, bungle said:

I made a piece of music a while back,which I feel is a fitting tribute to wizard,this tune has never been heard by anyone before as I am quite reserved and very self conscious.It may make you a little sad,but you are probably feeling like this anyways.It's the least I can do to honour a wonderful human being, which is exactly what we found in Christian J Wren..The tune is called MFME Magician. R.I.P. Chris!

absolutely awesome music 👍

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For Fruit Machine Preview Video's    https://www.youtube.com/@akfortyfive4574/playlists

These video's created by me are solely to showcase the talent of the creators and all who helped in bringing these machines to life,they are in no way a guide on how to play the machine or show how to exploit it

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Sleep well Chris - You programming legend.

We ALL hit the Jackpot the day you invented Fruit Machine Emulation.

It is really uplifting to hear people speak about you and your life beyond Fruit Machines.

It is also wonderful that you were able to spend years working on something you were so passionate about and dedicated to.

The way you reverse engineered and worked out the fruit platform technologies is an outstanding achievement and still boggles my mind (and this coming from a professional software developer of 25 years)

I am honoured to have known you and raise a glass to you sir.

May you rest in peace.

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Although I never got to meet you in person, I had the chance to message you several times and praise you for your excellent MFME which has been appreciated and loved by so many.

Here's to you and may you rest in peace.

Sadness that you are taken so young.

Never will I play MFME and not think about this sad time.

Love and best wishes to everyone you've left behind and everyone missing you.

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I never did get to meet you but would have done if I could have prized that Wild Cherries from you! Still can't believe it. You were 1 in a.... well would like to say million but more than that. You brought a great deal of pleasure to many and for what? You never asked for a penny for all the years of hard work you put in. Always happy to help as you helped me out a few times. A truely sad day, RIP Chris.

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Still shocked by the news, have been spending a few days reflecting what Chris has meant to me and indeed our community.   Like most of us, I have not met him personally but have had discussions and debates about the merits of "X" over "Y" and why "this" is better than "that". 

From the first time I loaded MFME and played Barcrest's Cash Lines, I thank you.

And every time I am able to play the Classic's that fill me with smiles and memories of my misspent youth, I thank you.

When I load Impulse and grin that I can still (almost) always get the Jackpot on 11th  Heaven, I thank you.

Thanks so much Chris.    

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takes the Wizard.   Thank you for everything.

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