Game Menu Shows After Startup Theme

[curtis-r]

I have a minor annoyance that after the default Startup Theme shows for the 5 seconds selected, it disappears and again shows the game menu for a good 2-3 seconds before MAME (have not tried Retroarch) launches.  I thought the emu was supposed to be launching in the background during the Startup Theme, no?

Bigbox 12.9.

[Retro808]

You can set a custom delay per emulator in LB. In >Tools >Manage >Emulators select Mame and edit. Then in the "Startup" tab adjust the startup delay there. This will affect only Mame.

[curtis-r]

Indeed I had in LB a 5 sec delay on all my emus so I changed them to zero.  Then in BB I checked my Startup settings and it already had 5 sec.  When I launch a game, same issue of the menu splashing for a few seconds after Startup screen, before MAME launches.  Also, when I return to LB, all the emus reverted to a 5 sec delay. 

It appears the LB & BB Startup delays are one in the same.  You may have been thinking the emu setting was a delay before it launches, and the BB was how long the Startup screen appears, which would be great.  Regardless, I'm still in the same place as I started.  I assume you don't have this issue?

Edited March 27, 2022 by curtis-r

[Retro808]

1 hour ago, curtis-r said:

It appears the LB & BB Startup delays are one in the same. 

They are not, which is why they each have their own setting page. The emulator specific setting will override anything you have set in the LB/BB global setting.

1 hour ago, curtis-r said:

You may have been thinking the emu setting was a delay before it launches, and the BB was how long the Startup screen appears, which would be great. 

That's not what I was thinking at all. The emulator setting is an override. As mentioned earlier, this setting overrides the global Startup setting in both LB and BB.

1 hour ago, curtis-r said:

I assume you don't have this issue?

Correct, I do not have this issue as I have individually adjusted Startup delays on any emulator that needed it. For Mame I only have it set for only 1.25 seconds as after trial an error this gives me the cleanest transition from the Startup theme to the game.

You need to play with the setting to find the right delay. Also, the delay is how long LB/BB will keep the Startup theme on screen before transitioning to the game. So if your emulator is taking longer you need to increase the time not set it to "0". Keep in mind, from the onset of this feature it has been advised it may not be perfect in all scenarios.

[curtis-r]

This time my MAME delay stuck at 1.25 but didn't seem to make any difference with the menu splashing back for 2-3 seconds.  Still have BB Startup at 5 seconds.

But I noticed this auto-generated code in the MAME LB Running Autohotkey Script section.

; This attempts to bypass any nag screens displayed by MAME when starting a game
SetKeyDelay, 0, 50
sleep 10000 ; Wait 10 seconds before pressing the key.
Send, {space 3}  ; Press the space bar 3 times to ensure we close all screens

Could this relate to my problem?

Thanks for your patience.

[Retro808]

Not sure. I do not use the new stock generated AHK scripts for Mame since I use NoNag Mame builds. Try deleting them and seeing if it helps. I would copy those codes though so you can paste them back if it makes no difference.

[curtis-r]

I remarked-out that AHK stuff, changed the LB startup delay to 0.5 sec, left the BB startup theme @ 5 sec.  No change.  BTW, I also use the NoNag builds. 

So I'm 100% clear, should the startup delay on the LB end apply to when MAME launches after selecting that game in the BB menu regardless of how long the Startup Theme is supposed to splash?

[neil9000]

7 hours ago, curtis-r said:

So I'm 100% clear, should the startup delay on the LB end apply to when MAME launches after selecting that game in the BB menu regardless of how long the Startup Theme is supposed to splash?

It is how long the splash will show for, that is why you were advised that it needs adjusting for your specific system and emulator as the timing is different on all systems. The emulator WILL be loading in the background, but the splash will stay on screen for as long as you set it (default is 5 seconds, which should be enough for most emulators).

[curtis-r]

It really doesn't seem like MAME is starting to launch until the Startup Theme is done.  Could that be?

[Retro808]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:54 AM, curtis-r said:

It really doesn't seem like MAME is starting to launch until the Startup Theme is done.  Could that be?

Not sure, but I would say If it was it would affect everyone. Try turning off Startup themes completely and launching a Mame game. Calculate how long it is taking Mame to be launched and show that game on your system. Then adjust the startup delay for Mame in the Manage Platforms setting (not the main LB or BB setting) and see if anything changes. Adjust the time longer than it needs to give it a buffer. Try testing different lengths of time.

[curtis-r]

Great idea.  Will do & report back. thanks.

[curtis-r]

Did some trial & error, and the results are weird. 

Trial 1:

• Launchbox MAME Startup 0 seconds
  • A couple of times I returned to LB & found it reverted to 5 seconds.  It seemed to stick when I made it .125 seconds.
• BigBox Options/Game Startup left Show "Loading Game..."  checked (though I also tried unchecking with similar results).
• Unchecked Enable Startup Screen
• Results: Shows 'Loading' box over the game menu for 3.5 seconds, then black, then at 5-7 second mark the game starts.

Trial 2:

• BB checked Enable Startup Screen & for 5 seconds.  Left everything else the same.
• Results: Startup Theme shows for 7 seconds, then the game menu reappears until the 10.5 second mark when it turns black for 4-10 more seconds and the game appears (roughly 14-20 seconds after selecting game).  Always using Pacman as the game.

Clearly doesn't seem like MAME is starting until the Startup Theme finishes.  BTW, using Default Startup Theme.

[Retro808]

4 minutes ago, curtis-r said:

Did some trial & error, and the results are weird. 

Trial 1:

• Launchbox MAME Startup 0 seconds
  • A couple of times I returned to LB & found it reverted to 5 seconds.  It seemed to stick when I made it .125 seconds.
• BigBox Options/Game Startup left Show "Loading Game..."  checked (though I also tried unchecking with similar results).
• Unchecked Enable Startup Screen
• Results: Shows 'Loading' box over the game menu for 3.5 seconds, then black, then at 5-7 second mark the game starts.

Trial 2:

• BB checked Enable Startup Screen & for 5 seconds.  Left everything else the same.
• Results: Startup Theme shows for 7 seconds, then the game menu reappears until the 10.5 second mark when it turns black for 4-10 more seconds and the game appears (roughly 14-20 seconds after selecting game).  Always using Pacman as the game.

Clearly doesn't seem like MAME is starting until the Startup Theme finishes.  BTW, using Default Startup Theme.

Reading all this and it seems like you did not test what I advised at all.

[curtis-r]

I thought I did what you suggested (aside from I think you mistakenly said Manage/Platforms rather than Manage/Emulators). 

I launched MAME within BB with Startup Theme turned off, and it takes roughly 7 seconds for the game to start.  When I turn Startup Theme on, it seems like no matter what time I set in LB/Manage/Emulators/MAME-Arcade, it still takes a total of 14+ seconds before the game starts.  I've tried .125s, 7s, 14s.  Am I missing some other setting?

[Retro808]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:33 PM, curtis-r said:

I thought I did what you suggested (aside from I think you mistakenly said Manage/Platforms rather than Manage/Emulators). 

I launched MAME within BB with Startup Theme turned off, and it takes roughly 7 seconds for the game to start.  When I turn Startup Theme on, it seems like no matter what time I set in LB/Manage/Emulators/MAME-Arcade, it still takes a total of 14+ seconds before the game starts.  I've tried .125s, 7s, 14s.  Am I missing some other setting?

No. You did not mention you did these exact steps in your other post which is why I said it seemed like you did not do what I mentioned.

Honestly, I am not sure. I know these steps work on my builds. I have seen a few others post they see the same return to LB/BB before the game finally shows up. However, I do not recall if those users ever found a solution. I still recommend adjusting the Startup delay specifically for Mame. In many instances the first time you launch Mame (from a fresh start of LB/BB) it takes longer than subsequent launches of Mame games.

[curtis-r]

Taking this a bit further, I did a fresh install in another folder.  I did the auto-import of my MAME roms as well as the app.  I did not install any media, so everything runs a bit quicker and might account for different findings. 

Upon a game launch, there is a quick flash of the game menu after the Startup Theme before MAME, but what I find odd is that changing the LB MAME emulator startup time does not seem to have an impact.  This is the same I found with my primary install and prior experiments.  I'm so confused.

[InvaderJim]

@curtis-r I'm pretty sure I had the same problem as you, I found the fix in this post.