Sascha-FFM

I am currently building a cocktail table running Mame. The idea is to have the players sitting on opposite sides of the table with the monitor being vertical towards the players. I guess this is a rather common setup for a cocktail setup. Mame supports this natively with the "cocktail-mode". I do not seem to be able to find any BigBox-Theme that would allow to use a "cocktail-mode". Ideally mirroring the screen so that both players can see it easily. On my stand-up arcade cabinet I run the "Retrofresh-Glass-Detailed"-theme and I love it. If there was any chance to use this in cocktail-mode it would be great, but I guess it wont work if it is not prepared for it. If anyone could point me to a working solution - that would be great.

I am currently in the middle of building an arcade cocktail table. The plan is to have two players facing each other, just like on the picture in the first post of this thread. Sorry to raise this older thread, but it is the only resource I found how to make Big Box cocktail-friendly. Is there already a theme that allows to mirror the screen so that both players can see BigBox properly? Can existing themes be modified? I would be really happy for any directions you would have for me.

In case someone wants to achieve the same - which is running the filler magic on a 1920x360 display - here is the working XAML-file. This has been done by @Retro808 So once again a big thank you for your help! <UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="1080" d:DesignWidth="1920" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" FocusVisualStyle="{x:Null}" BorderThickness="0" Margin="0" Padding="0" Background="#000"> <!-- GRID DEFINITIONS --> <Grid > <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <!-- GAME MARQUEE --> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Panel.ZIndex="9" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Stretch="Uniform" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality"><Image.Effect><DropShadowEffect BlurRadius="99" /></Image.Effect></Image> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Panel.ZIndex="0" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Stretch="Fill" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="LowQuality"><Image.Effect><BlurEffect Radius="99"/></Image.Effect></Image> </Grid> </UserControl>

I love it! It is working just as expected. I have re-added the drop-shadow effects from the filler magic and the appearance is just great. Thank you so much @Retro808 This is going to be a real eye-catcher once it is build into my cabinet. Here is the (I guess) final version in case someone with a 1920x360 display is seeking for the same solution. I will post this into the filler-magic download as well. <UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="1080" d:DesignWidth="1920" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" FocusVisualStyle="{x:Null}" BorderThickness="0" Margin="0" Padding="0" Background="#000"> <!-- GRID DEFINITIONS --> <Grid > <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <!-- GAME MARQUEE --> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Panel.ZIndex="9" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Stretch="Uniform" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality"><Image.Effect><DropShadowEffect BlurRadius="99" /></Image.Effect></Image> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Panel.ZIndex="0" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Stretch="Fill" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="LowQuality"><Image.Effect><BlurEffect Radius="99"/></Image.Effect></Image> </Grid> </UserControl>

Yes, I definitely did use colorful ones. And I scrolled through at least 20-30 of them, just to enjoy the new experience with the digital marquee

Sure. This is the merge between my initial version, your addition and the name-fix: <UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:transitions="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf.Transitions;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf" xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity" xmlns:cal="http://www.caliburnproject.org" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="562" d:DesignWidth="1000" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Style="{DynamicResource UserControlStyle}"> <!-- GRID DEFINITIONS --> <Grid Height="1080" Width="1920"> <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <!-- GAME MARQUEE --> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> <TextBlock x:Name="GameMarquee" Visibility="Visible"> <TextBlock.Text> <MultiBinding StringFormat="{}pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png"> <Binding Path="SelectedGame.Platform"/> </MultiBinding> </TextBlock.Text> </TextBlock> <Image x:Name="MainMarquee" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Source="{Binding Text, ElementName=GameMarquee, FallbackValue='pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png'}" Opacity="100" Stretch="Uniform" Panel.ZIndex="1" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> <Image x:Name="MainMarquee2" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Source="{Binding Text, ElementName=GameMarquee, FallbackValue='pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png'}" Opacity="100" Stretch="Fill" Panel.ZIndex="0" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="LowQuality"><Image.Effect><BlurEffect Radius="99"/></Image.Effect></Image> </Grid> </UserControl>

Thanks for you help! I am getting this error message (sorry, couldn't paste so had to do another screenshot) : I understood that the two elements named "MainMarquee" are an issue, so I called the later one "MainMarquee2". This gets rid of the error, but there is no blur effect to be seen. Imaged aligns nicely, but - no blur. Do you have any idea?

@Retro808 gave me the hint to post in here. I just received a LCD screen that I want to use as a my digital marquee with Big Box. It is technically a 1920x360 display which is presenting itself as 1920x1080 in Windows, but only displays the upper third. I already got it working with an XML that I found somewhere in the forums. Marquees are aligned nicely, but due to the very wide aspect of the screen I get a lot of black to the right and left. Therefore I wanted to use "Mr. RetroLust's Marquee Screen Filler Magic" to introduce those great blur-effects. Unfortunately I do not get the marquees aligned on my 1920x360 display with the blur-effect XML. So ideally I would want to combine the perfect alignment of the XML I found in the forum for my display and the blur-effect, but I am afraid I am lost on how to achive this. Here is the XML that I found which gives me perfect alignment: <UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:transitions="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf.Transitions;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf" xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity" xmlns:cal="http://www.caliburnproject.org" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="562" d:DesignWidth="1000" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Style="{DynamicResource UserControlStyle}"> <!-- GRID DEFINITIONS --> <Grid Height="1080" Width="1920"> <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <!-- GAME MARQUEE --> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> <TextBlock x:Name="GameMarquee" Visibility="Visible"> <TextBlock.Text> <MultiBinding StringFormat="{}pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png"> <Binding Path="SelectedGame.Platform"/> </MultiBinding> </TextBlock.Text> </TextBlock> <Image x:Name="MainMarquee" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.Row="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="8" Grid.Column="0" Source="{Binding Text, ElementName=GameMarquee, FallbackValue='pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png'}" Opacity="100" Stretch="Uniform" Panel.ZIndex="1" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> </Grid> </UserControl> And this is how it looks like. Nicely aligned, but a lot of unused space as expected: This is what I get with the Filler Magic after vertically aligning it to the top. Too big, but blurring works if I use smaller marquees: If anyone would point me to a direction to merge those two XMLs or any other solution to get the FIller Magic work nicely with my display, I would be extremely happy.

Thanks for coming back to me that fast. You made me dig some deeper into the forum and I found this. <UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:transitions="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf.Transitions;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Wpf" xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity" xmlns:cal="http://www.caliburnproject.org" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="562" d:DesignWidth="1000" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Style="{DynamicResource UserControlStyle}"> <!-- GRID DEFINITIONS --> <Grid Height="1080" Width="1920"> <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <!-- GAME MARQUEE --> <Image Source="{Binding Path=SelectedGame.MarqueeImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> <TextBlock x:Name="GameMarquee" Visibility="Visible"> <TextBlock.Text> <MultiBinding StringFormat="{}pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png"> <Binding Path="SelectedGame.Platform"/> </MultiBinding> </TextBlock.Text> </TextBlock> <Image x:Name="MainMarquee" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.Row="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="8" Grid.Column="0" Source="{Binding Text, ElementName=GameMarquee, FallbackValue='pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Arcade - Marquee/_Default.png'}" Opacity="100" Stretch="Uniform" Panel.ZIndex="1" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" /> </Grid> </UserControl> This provides a properly sized and aligned marquee. Now I "only" need to figure out how to merge this with your XML-Magic. I have next to no knowledge there, but I will try.

This is exactly what I was looking for on my new 1920x360 display. Unfortunately it does not look as I hoped. The marquee is displaying too low and a bit to big (therefore cut off). Monitor reports as 1920x1080 towards windows, but only the top third is actually shown. What I did so far is to add VerticalALignment="Top" at Image source and I modified DesignHeight and DesignWidth to reflect 1920x360, but this doesnt appear to do what I was hoping for. Any ideas how I could achieve that I get a picture which vertically fills the screen and is blurred at the right and left (as the monitor is normally too wide to care about blurring top and bottom)?

Thanks for responding, Neil. I will let my son know that he officially is number-one Blasteroids player in the world ?

I really love the Highscore feature of MAME in Launchbox. It adds so much fun to the games on my arcade-machine. I recently discovered that you can filter for all highscores of an individual. By that I found out that I would be number one world-wide in "Blasteroids". Well actually it is my 10 year-old son who played it recently. Obviously this cannot be true. It appears that Blasteroids does not zero the score when you add coins and click continue. The highscore is therefore a bit worthless. The corresponding name and score is RetroEppstein with a score of 761.238. You can delete this score. Is there any way to detect that a score has been reached by using continues and automatically block these from making it into the lists? How can I prevent this of happening in the future? I would not want to miss the highscore feature, but would not want to prohibit my son (or myself) using continues.