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MFME - PayPal warning and Keeping the Flame Alive


Reg
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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.

image.png.a9ab8be8af70537a2c77be1547f561b8.png

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.

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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.

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To be honest if MFME stays as it is from now on then I think it will stand the test of time and a lot of people will get a lot of enjoyment out of it for years to come.  It can pretty much do everything and anything Chris was working on recently would simply have been icing on the top. 

The biggest issue for me is compatibility with future versions of Windows.  People will still be using MFME in 20 years' time - that's how good it is and that's how much it means to people - you can't beat nostalgia,

If someone becomes the custodian (for want of a better term) of MFME and people are able to continue working on it then great, but as you say Reg there is enough here to keep the scene busy for many years - missing resources, layout updates...there's loads to do.

It would be good if that donate link could be re-routed to an account set up by the family so they can decide what to do with any donations.

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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.

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Some good posts there, I've nothing to add really, I'll go with whatever the family decides to do, or whatever we as a group decide.

I heard someone say it would be a shame if MFME wasn't to continue somehow, and I thought well yes of course, but I'd rather it didn't if it meant it comes out as a released product  (Does that make sense?), rather than a fan / community based one.

(You may have noticed for the last 20 years, I always end my posts with "NQ", it was always out of courtesy, like signing your name at the end of a letter.  Well he asked me once why, so when we got the news, I retired it.)

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I was wondering to myself when I had heard the news what the next stage(s) would be, yes there is a lot of work to be done by us to keep us busy, obtaining resources, releasing new machines, re-releasing machines (with better art work) etc.  As far as updates go for MFME what would happen? It can't just stay as it is can it? Or it will it just fade away? Someone will have to take over the project, in ten years time it will probably emulate them new type of pub slot machines and later operating systems etc.

Loads to consider but the main thing on my mind now is that we should have some form of donation to his family as a mark of respect for his work that he did.

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Thanks for all that Reg. Something I didn't want to mention at the time but looks like it's all in hand - what to do with any machines / parts that might have been there. I'm assuming based on the above that someone within the community is helping with that which is nice - should mean that machines / parts are passed on for their correct value to people who would use them and / or collect them, rather than someone taking the lot for way under value and flipping them. At least I hope that's the case.

As for the source code, to be quite honest I'd be happy if someone did have it, and just removed the donate button and perhaps added a small memorial notice. While it would be 'nice' for the scene to have some continuation of MFME, I'd be happy for it to be left as-is, since it was his project. Others would be more than welcome (as they have in the past - JPeMu, Project Amber, BFMulator e.t.c.) to make their own projects to handle specific things?

Speaking of Paypal - having been through the death of my dad a couple of years back, could the family not just contact Paypal and explain the situation and have the account closed to stop Paypal from working? I know when sorting out my dad's affairs that some businesses were very easy to deal with, just wanting a scan of a death certificate, whereas others did want probate e.t.c. - but I'm assuming the Paypal account would have such a small balance that just an email to start the ball rolling would be good.

Edited by slotsmagic
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Currently owned digitals : T7 Encore, T7 Original, Astra iPub and Storm Street Casino.

MFME cabinets : Genesis cab DIY by No1Stoney, Interplay conversion and Vegas Strip conversion (both are works in progress!)

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Not insensitive at all, think we were all waiting on you. It will never be the right time to speak about this but it has to get off first base at some point so well done for taking a leap of faith.

 Saying that members may have already sent money already as a mark of respect, even before his passing there may of been funds in it and as Chris's family as beneficiaries of the Estate should have administrators to look into this, it shouldn't be a problem but with the actual emulator whatever his family decides it is in their hands and I will always respect that.

Anyone who has used this feature you can indemnify the payment with your bank, that essentially means that it is torn back if Paypal refuse like others I have dealt with in the past but that is an absolute extreme and only if it was not properly received.

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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. 

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With v20 there is no rush anyway, we have well and truly been catapulted. Yes or no we still go on. 

Can imagine it now with a smile, Chris would be saying "come on you lot, figure some stuff out yourself". xD Sorry all but having a little reminiscing moment.

It took me a little while admittedly when I first started why is he talking to me like that so abruptly but after getting to know more about him on here as months went on it clicked that dealing with all the stuff he had to here and irl it won't be an an easy task, when the penny dropped I did give myself a proverbial slap. 

Still hurts a little but getting there gradually, I just hope all on here are too.

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Thank you Reg for keeping us informed. And not at all insensitive, we all know its still a very sore point and will be for a long time, but as a scene its must continue to move forward and sometimes we have to say things that we may feel its not the right time! But when is? So ya thanks for bringing to are attention.

Agree with Niallquinn some great points made in the posts above, and again without being insensitive is that Chris's work will stop working with any new windows in future years and all Chris's work will come to nothing.

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On 26/09/2020 at 11:01, Reg said:

I do know a fair bit about it and the development platform it was done on

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.

 

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1 hour ago, Danno said:

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.

 

That was my exact thoughts too.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Danno said:

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.

 

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. 

 

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29 minutes ago, Road Hog Mad said:

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. 

 

 

Seem to recall the leaked versions were built in C/C++ using Borland C5.

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Yeah so assuming you had a copy of the leaked emulator, you could use Delphi to start it up again but only from its current state (whatever state it was in at the time of the current leak), one bonus is you wouldn't be starting from scratch but on the other hand you'd be using stolen code. So on that note that's it from me despite me and others probably wanting progression of the emulator..

 

Good night.

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I think we all just want the best all round outcome as it is still a sore time for this subject.

With all the possible speculating could we just wait on what his family and close friends say, it is a good subject to discuss but we don't want this hurting anyone or turning into something it shouldn't.

I am just thinking of Chris's family at the moment.

Sorry if I have been a killjoy or said anything wrong.

 

 

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