johnparker007 Posted August 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2021 Tech update: I am still working away on this DLL injection stuff, it's taking so much longer than planned! I have an issue that happens on one of my 3x test PCs (the slow one). It has to do with a dependency issue, rather than the PC being slower... I'm not sure why this is, but hopefully I can figure a fix - as if it's happened on one of my machines, it will surely happen on some other users PCs too. Also I have an issue to figure out that is happening on@cja272's machine, the injection seems to be causing a crash. Other than that I believe it is working for everyone it can work for (booting/playing MFME machines)... though I may need to get further monitoring in, so that the injected dll writes a file, so I can flash up a warning if the injection failed. Will be glad when this is done, it's dragging on but does need more sorting out so it's compatible for everyone. 5 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cja272 Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 10 hours ago, johnparker007 said: Also I have an issue to figure out that is happening on@cja272's machine, the injection seems to be causing a crash. Other than that I believe it is working for everyone it can work for (booting/playing MFME machines)... though I may need to get further monitoring in, so that the injected dll writes a file, so I can flash up a warning if the injection failed. As long as i right click on the arcade desk top icon and and then click Run as administrator and works fine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 (edited) 44 minutes ago, cja272 said: As long as i right click on the arcade desk top icon and and then click Run as administrator and works fine Aaah ok - thanks very much for letting me know I may have some questions for you at some point so I can try to diagnose why that is (in case I can make a fix in ArcadeSim/dll itself), but at least you've got it working - and the workaround is straightforward! That just leaves me with one more dll issue to solve which I'm hoping to have sorted tonight and a new patch uploaded... phew be nice to work on something else, I'm getting a little bored with the .dll stuff! Edited August 4, 2021 by johnparker007 2 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davep180 Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 Hi JP. Just run the ASim for the first time in a while. It worked! I can now go directly to a machine and it will start up for me when I press enter. Great work mate. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headcook Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 Whiled away an hour on this. Thank you for a great sim:) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 1 hour ago, davep180 said: Hi JP. Just run the ASim for the first time in a while. It worked! I can now go directly to a machine and it will start up for me when I press enter. Great work mate. Thanks. Ah great news, thanks for letting me know it now works with the recent patch, I was hoping it would fix your specific issue with the machines needing the alt-tab Escape 49 minutes ago, headcook said: Whiled away an hour on this. Thank you for a great sim:) Thanks for letting me know it worked [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 (edited) A new (.dll-related) patch is uploaded This fixes an issue which I found preventing the .dll from working on one of my test PCs. There is also now a debug message that appears on the HUD (unless you have the HUD disabled, as I've just hacked it in there for now). This will appear on the latest patch, if after launching MFME it detects that the .dll didn't attach/hook correctly: My hope is that no-one sees this debug message, and the DLL stuff works for everyone now. There's a slim chance this has in some way broken it for people, if so, please let me know @cja272 There's also a slim chance this may mean you no longer need to start 'As Administrator'... though very likely not... but it's worth a shot Some people may now notice they have now turbo startups on all machines (except Smash n Grab) since this update (the dll may have been silently failing before, machine would work but without turbo startup among other dll features). Oh yes, and Smash n Grab can be safely played again, it just doesn't have the turbo startup feature as it seems to cause problems. Fingers crossed this patch hasn't broken things for people! Hopefully very nearly done with this .dll work now, so I can start looking at something different Edited August 4, 2021 by johnparker007 2 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cja272 Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 10 hours ago, johnparker007 said: A new (.dll-related) patch is uploaded This fixes an issue which I found preventing the .dll from working on one of my test PCs. There is also now a debug message that appears on the HUD (unless you have the HUD disabled, as I've just hacked it in there for now). This will appear on the latest patch, if after launching MFME it detects that the .dll didn't attach/hook correctly: My hope is that no-one sees this debug message, and the DLL stuff works for everyone now. There's a slim chance this has in some way broken it for people, if so, please let me know @cja272 There's also a slim chance this may mean you no longer need to start 'As Administrator'... though very likely not... but it's worth a shot Some people may now notice they have now turbo startups on all machines (except Smash n Grab) since this update (the dll may have been silently failing before, machine would work but without turbo startup among other dll features). Oh yes, and Smash n Grab can be safely played again, it just doesn't have the turbo startup feature as it seems to cause problems. Fingers crossed this patch hasn't broken things for people! Hopefully very nearly done with this .dll work now, so I can start looking at something different Hi , i still need to start as Administrator also nortan antivirus is blocking the ddl file so im getting that error message too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) Aah I see - these anti-virus false positives are a such a pain It's because the anti-virus programs use 'heuristics' to essentially guess if a file that they do not recognise is a virus. It's a somewhat safe approach but it does cause issues like this... I guess this started happening with the latest patch as the dll file is now significantly different... At this stage the best I can think of is to exclude the Arcade Simulator folder from your antivirus - for me, the folder is: C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Arcade Simulator For you the path will be the same, but John will be your Windows username. I found a how-to guide here: https://www.lifewire.com/exclude-files-from-norton-antivirus-scans-153348 That should at least stop Norton blocking the dll (it gets recreated each time at Arcade Sim startup). Sorry it's being such a pain on your system man! Once I think the dll is 'done' for now, I'll submit it to Norton to request they whitelist it to stop the flase positives. I can't do that yet, as I still may have more work to do depending on if it's now working for other users or not. I'll also have a tinker tonight, to see if I can make the dll appear less 'suspicious' - it is now self-contained (which is essential really), and also writes a test file to signal it works (which is non-essential). If removing the code to write the test file is enough to stop it being flagged, I guess I could remove that functionality. Edit: I tried removing the code to write the test file, and it's still identified as suspicious by Symantec (Norton) scanning engine. Man what a pain - this dll stuff is needed to control MFME as it's just a closed source .exe, not required for MAME... Edited August 5, 2021 by johnparker007 2 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 For context here's a log from another dev (making a steam game) fighting the same fight against this bloomin' false positives: https://steamcommunity.com/app/779590/discussions/0/2572002906839928114/ I'll try a couple of things tonight, but it may be best I try to get the dll somewhat finalised for now, then submit to Norton in a week or so, provided it seems to be working for everyone without Norton installed, and get it added to their whitelist. 2 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Just download the arcade simulator and started to run. It seems to be stuck on the downloading from dif page any help please 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrbeanstreak Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) Been reading through this topic this is very impressive Edited August 5, 2021 by Mrbeanstreak 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, fits said: Just download the arcade simulator and started to run. It seems to be stuck on the downloading from dif page any help please Thanks for this info I've just tried a clean install and it gets stuck for me too - I must've broken something - I will work on a fix... and post when it's working again Edited August 5, 2021 by johnparker007 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Ok @fits that should be working now, just launch Arcade Simulator and it will now install. (It was broken because I plain forgot to copy a file onto the server with the last patch upload, which broke new installs - d'oh! ) [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 I’ve just reinstalled it and saying 100% in bottom left hand corner. I’m am hopeless on computers so need help on what to do next. Thank you for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 minute ago, fits said: I’ve just reinstalled it and saying 100% in bottom left hand corner. I’m am hopeless on computers so need help on what to do next. Thank you for your help Hmm that's odd it should be working now... could you please try restarting your PC, then launching Arcade Simulator again? [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Don’t know how I done it but seems to be running now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 3 minutes ago, fits said: Don’t know how I done it but seems to be running now Great stuff, glad you got it going! - Click PLAY to play the arcade - In the arcade, WASD keys or cursor keys to move around, plus mouse to look around. When stood in front of a machine, press Enter key and it'll hopefully load up. Press Escape to stop playing a machine and walk around again. There's a lot of bugs at the moment, as this is early days in development still, but it's just about usable! [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 It seems none of the hold and feature lights are working. Looking great keep up the good work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 minute ago, fits said: It seems none of the hold and feature lights are working. Looking great keep up the good work Ah I'm sorry man if it looks like all the machine lights/displays are off like this: Then unfortunately your PC doesn't have powerful enough graphics hardware to run it properly. Sorry again bud. (For reference, that scene above should look more like this:) [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 It is a old machine the card I got is a nvidia GeForce gtx 275 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 5 minutes ago, fits said: It is a old machine the card I got is a nvidia GeForce gtx 275 Yes that graphics card is too old/underpowered unfortunately (it doesn't support certain features that Arcade Simulator needs to draw all the lamps and displays). Standard MFME will work just fine though [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Thank you for you help. If I was to get a new card could you recommend one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnparker007 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 6 minutes ago, fits said: Thank you for you help. If I was to get a new card could you recommend one. Oh god, I couldn't really say! ...it depends what other parts you have in your system (CPU / RAM/ Motherboard etc), what you want to use the card for, budget etc. Last time I tried to upgrade, I ended up buying a whole new PC... I'm too out of touch with all that these days! I definitely wouldn't recommend buying a card just for Arcade Simulator at this stage - it has a lot of months (well years really) of development ahead, it's just an early prototype right now. 3 [ Arcade Simulator ] Pre-alpha installer: http://arcadesimulator.net | Known Issues: https://tinyurl.com/yz4uom2e | Donation info: https://tinyurl.com/yzvgl4xo [ Community Drive ] The drive: http://tinyurl.com/yckze665 [ Fruit Machine Database ] Initial google sheets (WIP): https://tinyurl.com/2c5znxzz [ Fruit Machine ROM Archive ] The archive: https://tinyurl.com/3jhzbueb [ MFME Launch ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/MFMELaunch [ Oasis ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/Oasis [ Sound ROM Editor ] Source code: https://github.com/johnparker007/SoundRomEditor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fits Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Ok cheers for that. Keep up the good work 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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